#i just think it is interesting because yeah there is definitely evidence of him being a not great leader (especially in life) but like the | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

starglitterz · 7 months

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♡ SPICY. // PART ONE

❝ ‘cause i’m too spicy for your heart, ring the fire alarm! ❞ // attractive things the genshin men do

✧ feat ; al-haitham, ayato, childe, cyno, diluc, heizou, kaeya, thoma, wriothesley, xiao x gn!reader

✧ warning(s) ; fluff, suggestive, implied kamisato!reader for thoma’s, reader is shorter than ayato for his part, modern au for wriothesley, traveller!reader for xiao’s

✧ a/n ; yeah yeah i’m a slut we all know that already let’s move on 🙄 /lh i was brainrotting sm LOL i hope u guys enjoy!

part one︱info︱part two

please reblog + leave comments ! it helps a lot w motivation <3

✦ “are you listening?” AL-HAITHAM’s voice cuts through your messy thoughts and you scramble for your pen to scribble some nonsense and at least pretend you were concentrating. your eyes are glued to the paper in front of you, too embarrassed to meet his gaze after what you were daydreaming about him. without warning, he uses his index finger to tilt your chin up to face him with a curt “pay attention.” his green irises bore into yours, scanning them as if to discover why you haven’t been focusing and the intensity of his gaze makes heat rise to your cheeks. his actions clearly result in the opposite of the desired effect though, because it’s made you ten million times more distracted, too busy thinking about your tutor doing things that certainly aren’t academic.

✦ there’s definitely something in the way that AYATO leans down to hear you better. it’s a simple gesture, but when he bends down to listen to what you’re saying, it proves that he’s putting in the effort to continue the conversation and is genuinely interested in your chatter. or even if it’s something like leaning against the door frame, a reminder of how idiotically tall he is, it always gets your heart beating quicker and you lose your train of thought. but maybe he isn’t as clueless as you think he is, because the smirk playing about his lips as he admires your flustered expression while you stumble over your words definitely says otherwise.

✦ sometimes when you see CHILDE’s idiotic smirk, it takes everything in you not to punch it off his face. however, when he’s in the heat of battle, the way his lips curl just so as he lifts an eyebrow at his opponent daringly, almost as if he’s asking them “you really think you can defeat me?” you’d rather punch him with your lips. the sheer confidence he exudes as he fights, the casual manner with which he switches his bow to his hydro polearm, the easy grin dancing about his mouth – it’s incredibly attractive.

✦ it shouldn’t be a big deal, but whenever CYNO wraps his arms around your waist from behind to pull you into his embrace, you swear your heartbeat accelerates to the speed of light. he’ll rest his chin on your shoulder too, and if he’s feeling mischievous (which is practically all the time), he’ll tilt his head ever so slightly so he’s at the perfect angle to press fleeting kisses against your neck. you can almost feel his smile against your skin as you shiver from the sensation of his warm lips.

✦ DILUC is not one for grand public displays of affection. you don’t mind, you’re fine with it, but one day another patron at the angel’s share keeps flirting with you, and suddenly you feel the winery owner beside you, one arm snaking around your waist almost possessively. “it’s nice to meet you,” he murmurs to the other man in a tone icy enough to freeze over hell. his fingers tap a steady rhythm against your hips and you feel like his touch is branding you through the layers of fabric. it evidently gets the message across because the poor customer leaves immediately with his tail between his legs, and all DILUC does is squeeze your waist lightly and press a soft kiss on your forehead as a hint of a smug smile curves his lips.

✦ being a genius detective and also just being really annoying are certainly not mutually exclusive, as HEIZOU continues to prove every single day. case in point; the way he’s proudly walking around the tenryou commission, the array of wine-coloured bruises you left on his neck last night blatantly out for display. the other inazumans who notice look scandalized, while kujou sara seems dangerously close to bursting a blood vessel. “heizou!” you hiss, pulling him into a secluded corner to scold him, “why didn’t you wear a scarf or something?!” the detective merely gives you his trademark grin and winks playfully, “why should i? it’s a mark of your love, i wouldn’t want to hide it~”

✦ one thing’s for certain whenever you talk to KAEYA – he will give you his undivided attention. you love that about him, but sometimes his piercing gaze is almost distracting, the varied shades of sparkling blue a stark contrast to the matte black leather of his eyepatch and often making you veer wildly off-track to whatever you’re telling him about. it only worsens when you catch his stare sometimes drifting to your lips, but he’ll shake his head as if jolting himself out of a reverie before he continues looking at you and nodding like he’s been paying attention this entire time. and if you call him out on it, he’ll just raise both hands in surrender, “sorry, babe, i can’t help it – you just look so kissable when you’re talking!”

✦ THOMA is an absolute softie, always making your favourite foods and spoiling you as the housekeeper of the kamisato clan. it makes sense that you’ve never realised just how strong he actually is. but then you catch a glimpse of him one evening after a long day’s work, and as he lifts up the edge of his shirt to wipe the glistening sweat off his face you think you could collapse. the gesture exposes his toned abdomen, muscles clenching as he lets out a soft groan, and the only coherent thought running through your mind is; why has he been hiding this the entire time?! maybe it’s time for you to switch the kamisato housekeeper uniform to a crop top…

✦ WRIOTHESLEY is a gentleman who’ll never let you take a cab home alone, especially not after a long night out in the city. but as he’s pulling up to your house, your thoughts are definitely nowhere near appreciating how sweet he is, rather you’re admiring how close his muscled arms are to your face while his hand is on the back of your seat as he turns to check the rear mirror. from the passenger seat, you get the perfect view of his side profile, his chiseled features, the barely visible trace of stubble on his chin, his stormy gray eyes… he’s like the dark male lead of every romance manhwa. and when he catches you looking, he gives you a smile that’s almost teasing, “like what you see, beautiful?”

✦ even though XIAO is the one who’s supposed to teleport to you whenever you call his name, you can’t help but find yourself gravitating towards him whenever he says yours. it must be how he utters it, softly, lovingly, almost reverent in his gentleness as if you’ll shatter before his eyes if he whispers it even a decibel louder. and sure, he calls you by several petnames (butterfly, dove), but the way your name slips past his lips like a prized jewel will always be your favourite. sometimes it feels as if your name is going to be worn out from how often people use it, begging you to help them with miscellaneous tasks and pushing you to exhaustion. but during those late nights at wangshu inn as you rest in his embrace, he whispers your name as if it’s a secret for just the two of you and the stars and you can’t help but think how lucky you must have been to be born with such a pretty name, created for your adeptus lover to murmur with so much affection lacing his tone.

GRR i lowk love this... hope yall do too! don't forget to check out part 2 when it's published as well <3

#✏️ — quill writes !#genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #al haitham x reader #ayato x reader #astronetwrk #childe x reader #cyno x reader #diluc x reader #heizou x reader #kaeya x reader #thoma x reader #wriothesley x reader #xiao x reader #kamisato ayato x reader #tartaglia x reader #ajax x reader

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riddlerosehearts · 4 months

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thinking about how people who watch the emperor's new groove and somehow come out of it shipping pacha and kuzco, or thinking yzma only became evil when kuzco fired her and that she would've been a better ruler than him, are both so wrong in so many different ways and are also missing one of the things that i absolutely love about the movie. which is that, the way i see it, pacha and yzma are counterparts. as parental figures to kuzco.

like, just to get this out of the way first, yzma was a dismissive asshole to a peasant whose family was starving. and yeah, if kuzco had been in her place he definitely would've also done that, which... is why she would not be a better ruler than him. she'd just be the same because they're both horrible people in the exact same ways. her reaction to being fired is to plot murder, and as soon as his funeral is over she sets everyone to work on replacing paintings of kuzco with paintings of herself and covering the palace with imagery that makes it clear that it's all about her now. i'm not even sure why this is a discussion tbh.

and also, kuzco is literally a teenager. he's barely 18 years old. source: in the movie, yzma says at his funeral that kuzco was "taken from us so tragically on the very eve of his eighteenth birthday." she also claims in the movie to have "practically raised" him, to which kronk replies "yeah, you'd think he would've turned out better". and sure, she could be exaggerating, but what evidence do we have that she is? we learn absolutely nothing of his parents, who are never mentioned even once in the movie, or of anyone else who could've raised him, and she's his advisor who for some reason sees no problem with attending to royal duties in his place. most likely because she's his regent. also, i'm not exactly a fan of the sequel tv series "the emperor's new school" but it does have something that backs up my point: kuzco is revealed to be an orphan and just before his father went and got lost at sea, he asked yzma (who was also his advisor) to take care of kuzco if anything happened to him. so, yeah, the writers who worked on the series clearly thought that yzma genuinely did raise kuzco, and nothing in the movie contradicts this.

and i find the idea of her being his only parental figure for pretty much his whole childhood incredibly interesting because, and this also goes back into why she wouldn't be a better ruler than him--she mirrors him as a reflection of what would've become of him if he'd never met pacha. they're both incredibly arrogant, power-hungry, selfish, and cruel, with a tendency to blame their problems on everyone but themselves. yzma was even originally going to have her own reprise of kuzco's theme song "perfect world", which i really wish had been kept:

[ID: Lyrics that read:

I'Il be the sovereign queen of the nation And the chicest chick in creation I'm the cat with all the cream and ooh-la-la This deadly concentration Will put an end to my frustration Now this perfect world begins and ends with moi

What's my name? Yzma, Yzma, Yzma Yzma (what's my name?) Yzma, Yzma (What'd you say?) Yzma (Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!) Yzma. End ID]

(this song can be fully heard in "the sweatbox", the documentary about the making of the movie, and is also on youtube btw)

anyway, i'm sure yzma would not exactly have been the most nurturing or hands-on guardian, especially given that she and kuzco don't exactly treat each other like family. but it makes a lot of sense to think that her behavior influened kuzco's throughout the years. and for the entire movie, she remains determined to kill him. when he tries to reason with her and admits that he should've been nicer, she says the same thing to him that he originally said when he fired her. she never grows or changes and in the end, she hurts the one person who was willing to stand by her (and even then, kronk had never fully been on board with her plan) and he ends up trying to crush her with a chandelier. kuzco on the other hand is able to realize the error of his ways, come to regret who he was in the past, and start taking steps toward being a better person. his theme song gets a reprise where it's changed from a song about one person being the center of the world to a Power Of Friendship song. why? because, as i've already mentioned, he has pacha.

pacha, who similarly to both yzma and kuzco is in a position of authority as the leader of the village but unlike either of them is gentle and humble. who isn't afraid to stand up to kuzco and be honest with him even though he's the emperor, who agrees to take him back to the palace but has no obligation to be so helpful, kind, and caring toward him--and just about every reason not to be--and still chooses to be anyway. pacha who is 45 years old (also stated in the sweatbox documentary) and can see that kuzco is practically still a kid, not a single day over 18, who has time to grow and change. pacha, who already has a wife and two kids with another on the way, but practically treats kuzco like one of his own. who acknowledges that if kuzco dies all his problems will be gone and then still worries about him and goes out of his way to rescue him after he wanders into the jungle. who sees kuzco shivering at night and covers him with his poncho, who carries him when he's genuinely too weak to keep walking, who refuses to give up on him even after repeatedly being betrayed by him because he believes there's good in everyone.

also, while yzma ends up repeating kuzco's harsh words of dismissal as she tells him of her plans to kill him, kuzco had previously repeated pacha's words that "nobody's that heartless" after he saved pacha's life. and as the movie progresses kuzco and pacha's relationship becomes more and more equal and is constantly contrasted by moments of yzma being cruel and unappreciative of kronk's kindness. a good example of this is how kronk is constantly being forced to carry yzma everywhere on his back while yzma literally walks all over him and steps on his hands when she gets down, whereas when pacha briefly carries kuzco after the latter collapses he tells him he'll have to walk the rest of the way later and kuzco doesn't even protest.

idk if i'm even explaining well what i'm trying to say here. but basically, if yzma actually raised kuzco and contributed to his current behavior, then she and pacha both are figures who guided him and helped him grow. only yzma helped him become the tyrant that he was at the start of the movie, who was selfish and callous and saw everyone else as beneath him. whereas pacha helped him see the value in being selfless and considerate of others. and in the end, yzma is stuck as a cat and nobody is concerned about her. kronk has found a new job that makes him genuinely happy, while kuzco has decided to build a hut on the hill next to pacha's and effectively joined his family. in the sweatbox documentary it's even mentioned that chicha and the kids were at risk of being removed from the film, but it was decided that they needed to be there because having just pacha as a single guy who lived alone wasn't interesting enough--kuzco needed to go from having basically an empty world where he had nobody to being able to come together with pacha's whole family. and i just think that's incredibly satisfying and beautiful. it also leads up to one of the few things i really do enjoy about the emperor's new school, which is the fact that during the show kuzco moves in with pacha and chicha and pretty explicitly thinks of them as basically his parents while he's like a son to them.

idk. i feel like my mind went in a million different directions while i was writing all this. but i guess i just think that for all of the praise the emperor's new groove gets for its comedy and for how hilarious yzma and kronk in particular are as a duo, the movie also has a lot of genuine heart that gets overlooked. kuzco's character growth and his unique dynamic with pacha is, for me, really what elevates the movie from just a funny movie that i like to one of my favorite disney movies. and i wish more people appreciated that aspect of it and saw it as a found family story in the same way that treasure planet, brother bear, and lilo and stitch are all found family stories.

#disney #the emperor's new groove #help i wrote a whole essay about this movie #and i didn't even mention how much i love the way kuzco's home life is contrasted with pacha's #ugh. they have one of the most interesting and unique dynamics ever in a disney movie. i love them #love how kuzco gets away from yzma's toxic influence by way of accidentally being adopted #by the guy whose village he almost destroyed for a theme park #they're ENEMIES to FOUND FAMILY.... sobs #kuzco #pacha #yzma #kronk

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kaeichi · 1 month

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ღ ˚⋅ coffee talk — mikage reo.

mikage reo is not addicted to caffeine.

that's what he keeps telling nagi, anyway. the latter doesn't know why he keeps reiterating that “fact” either—he doesn't even care, nor does he believe him in the first place—but even someone like nagi would suspect something is amiss solely by the way reo keeps coming back to the coffee shop that the heir deemed second-rate not too long ago.

today marks day eleven of visiting said coffee shop in a row; nagi barely steps his foot in, and he already wants to leave.

“welcome, reo! and nagi too!”

that something that nagi suspects comes in the form of a living, breathing person; one that usually takes reo’s order and makes his specialized coffee for him.

(“it tastes different somehow, nagi!” reo had explained to him the other day, justifying his countless visits and spending too much on tips—though for the pro soccer player and CEO of a business corporation, absolutely nothing is too much for him. “you should give it a try. i swear, that barista has magic hands or something. i've had so many macchiatos before, but none of them has tasted so…delectable, so lush, and so—”

“oh, i’m sure.” nagi commented offhandedly, zoning out and hoping this is just another one of reo’s many fleeting interests.)

unfortunately that is not the case this time, especially not with the way reo’s legs immediately go stiff when he advances rather awkwardly over the counter, as if he suddenly forgot how to walk just by the sound of your voice. nagi can tell how you pretend not to notice, a gentle smile on your face beckoning him closer, your eyes as warm as the yellow string lights hung on the walls around the quiet shop and the freshly ground arabica beans that you’ve been brewing in the back.

this is so…yeah, no. nagi should definitely just leave.

“the usual caramel macchiato today? or just a regular latte this time?” your eyes look up from the register when reo doesn't verbally reply, peering at him through your lashes, and he wants to smack himself for accidentally being entranced by your lips moving and taking too long to answer. he can already hear nagi’s voice taunting him: get a grip already, reo.

“yes, please.”

“…sorry, which one?”

he takes a second to breath. he has to, or else he'll end up making an even bigger fool of himself. “uh, i'll just get a latte. since i already had one this morning.”

you then focus your full attention to him, a teasing look evident in your gaze. “you should really tone down the caffeine intake, reo. i can't imagine how that'd be healthy for you.”

“haha, consider it as a compliment to your coffee-making skills.”

there is an actual growing concern that you have for him, since he has been showing up for the past eleven days and getting macchiatos or lattes; at times even twice a day, so your mild unease is valid. there is also that possibility that he's been getting those for someone else, but you discard that thought when you see him stay in the shop sometimes, leisurely drinking from his steaming mug as he types away on his laptop on nights that he's not overly busy.

nonetheless, he remains your favorite customer, and it's not just because of his generous tips and all. you do wonder what he does for a living; would it be rude to ask? though, you suppose you can reserve that question when you start to get to know him personally on some other occasion.

wait, get to know him personally? you glance towards the elegantly dressed male once again once you're done pouring the scalding liquid onto the disposable cup, taking in his lavish appearance and slicked back violet hair—you can't help but think he may be out of your league.

but something tells you that you shouldn't be afraid, not with the hint of pink dusting his cheeks and the earnest, tender smile that always adorns his face whenever he talks to you.

“my shift is ending in five minutes. if you wanna wait, then maybe we can head out together…?”

you're relieved to have taken the chance, because the purple-haired male suddenly jolts, “y-yeah, of course! let me just tell–” when reo turns around to see that his companion is nowhere to be found, he sighs. “…nevermind.”

he hears you stifle a giggle, a sweet melody falling in his ears, and he's so glad he found the time to squeeze in this quick trip tonight despite his hectic schedule. when you hand him his latte, the corners of his mouth inadvertently lifts up as he sees your handwriting on the cup in black ink:

Reo ღ ◡̈

a few minutes later, after you have changed out of your black apron and gathered your stuff, reo walks out of the coffee shop with you, the chilly autumn air breezing past his skin.

his eyes flit downward when you rub your hands in an attempt to heat them up.

it's cold tonight, coldest it has been in a week, yet reo feels warm all of a sudden, even though he barely had a sip from his drink. he wipes his free hand on his slacks, a build up of sweat coating his palm. he regrets not taking his blazer off in his car, because it now feels uncomfortably tight around him, and since when did it get so hot—

“you okay, reo?” you cast him a side glance over the shoulder, eyes raking over his restless form, “you're so fidgety.”

“sorry, yeah. it's just the coffee.”

you give a pointed look, wordlessly reminding him again that maybe he should dial it down or some. it's fine, he's not addicted to caffeine, to something else maybe, but not caffeine. reo’s gaze drifts downwards again, glancing at your empty palm again, and… oh.

that must've been why his fingers kept twitching. for now, he refrains from reaching out, hopeful that this wouldn't be his last encounter with you, and that he'll eventually find the courage someday.

slicked back hair reo.... reo i need u so bad ples

#ik theres alot of coffee shop AUs but u can never go wrong w one #this was js supposed to be a short drabble how did it end up with 1k words #pushing my third wheeler nagi agenda #hes so sick of them #blue lock x reader #mikage reo x reader #reo mikage x reader #blue lock imagines #reo mikage #mikage reo #mikage reo fluff #reo mikage fluff #reo mikage x you #mikage reo x y/n #mikage reo x you

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prismatic-ink · 3 months

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insane and deranged new hermit speculation

aka, one of them is very likely to be Joel.

First, some context.

Jimmy knows who the new hermits are. he said this in one of his Chunklock streams a WHILE ago, but I kinda thought he was joking. but he reconfirmed it in his current stream, with the cheekiest grin. now why would he know that....

also, Pearl said she had an important Minecraft recording that she had to cut her stream early for at 7 am Australian time, and based on Doc tweets, this seems to be the first HC 10 recording. Currently, Jimmy, Martyn, FWhip, Sausage, HBomb, and Scott are streaming, and they might not still be streaming till then, but if they were the new hermits they probably wouldn't be streaming right now. That leaves the two most hyped potential new guys: Skizz and Joel.

another VERY interesting tidbit of information: In Tango's patreon discord server, Cleo said that if the new hermits had TCG cards, they'd be Balanced/Builder and Balanced.

Skizz first. He would probably be the Balanced type. I don't really need to get into him being friends with so many hermits, we all know it.

However, I will say, after the last Imp and Skizz episode where Skizz talked about not having enough time to do anything I do think he isn't going to be in HC 10 unfortunately. It seems like it won't be in the cards until he goes full-time content creation. Also, Doc said the new hermits didn't know him that well, and while Skizz isn't like besties with him or anything he's been in his circle long enough to know him at least a little bit.

But what about Joel?

Balanced/Builder DEFINITELY fits Joel to a T. While his content is focused on building, he's also good at PVP and is a prankster, making him balanced. He's also close with hermits blah blah blah but here's some more EVIDENCE (actually just wild speculation). Why would Jimmy know about this? Yeah, he's close with Grian, but still. Maybe because he, Grian, and Joel came back from their trip yesterday, and the recording was today because it was the earliest possible time for it to happen for all hermits to be there, and Jimmy was filled in on this. It also explains why Jimmy seems so excited about knowing the new hermits to the point he's spoken about it twice. Obviously, he would be excited for his friend.

also this is straight up copium at this point but the shadow people on the new banner are based off a Steve and Alex model. If they were both guys I feel like they wouldn't go through the effort to make them different models. maybe,,,, maybe lizzie ldshadowlady? even though she probably wouldn't be into hermitcraft? maybe?? or at least a new female hermit. because that's the biggest thing against Joel not being a new member, if Lizzie isn't there with him it would be kinda strange ngl

#ALL of this hinges on the HC recording being today #cause a lot of people got ruled out if it is today #honestly the most important thing here is the tcg hint #like that is a huge pointer #man i sound fucking insane lol #hermitcraft #hermitcraft s10 #smallishbeans #skizzleman #grian #jimmy solidarity #ldshadowlady

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autistichalsin · 3 months

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Okok, so I've been thinking a lot about your post about Halsin always being in love with the player character in good runs and it reminded me of something: Halsin's platonic end in the epilogue proves your point a thousand times over.

So for a little context my tav and Halsin were very flirty with each other throughout the game, but she rejected him in Act 3, as her romance with Gale took first priority for her. (Idk if picking the flirty dialogue options effected his epilogue dialogue, but I dont think it does) So I ended the game with my tav being happily married to Gale and being close friends with Halsin... but it was so obvious that he was still in love with her!

When you platonically hug any of the other characters in the epilogue they'll be like "Oof! Thanks friend! Its good to see you!" But Halsin hits you with the longing gazes and sweet nothings like "Your embrace makes me feel safer than any armor could" and "if only we could stay like that forever"

And his little infodumping about ducks as he gives you the whittled duck he made... I know a neurodivergent expression of love when I see one.

Like... maybe I just have Halsin brainrot, but THAT, to me, looks like an expression of heartaching longing.

YEAH the epilogue definitely gives STRONG evidence for this- not only because of what you pointed out with the hugs, but then the fact that the dialogue for "player in a poly relationship with Halsin who didn't go to the commune" and "platonic friend" are the same (minus a poly romanced player being able to ask for a kiss), which is why it comes across as so flirty and full of longing- it was written to be applicable to both, but with the result that now, he comes across as still in love with a non-romanced player! And the post-hug lines are the same for everyone, solo romanced, poly romanced, or friendly, hence him having such romantic things to say. And they're tight hugs, since you can say "oof, that's quite a squeeze you've put on me, Halsin!" which gets you a sheepish apology.

And you're SO RIGHT about the duck! That is a "I express affection through my special interests so here have my favorite thing, a duck" if there ever was one. He really just goes "aw fuck it" and stops masking at the epilogue- not getting that "you can say that again" wasn't literal? Being weirded out by the phrase "I'm all ears"? His lil awkward dance that shows he has ZERO rhythm at all?

OH, and, one other thing that is both autistic Halsin AND "I love the player" coded- when he sees you, he says, "you made it! Now the revelry can truly begin!" Showing that he blatantly favors you over everyone else, AND not quite being sensitive enough to realize that maybe that could be worded a little better.

So. Yeah. Halsin is always in love with you unless you raid the grove, and he is autistic AF. And that expression is FULL of longing, it's not just you.

#halsin #halsin silverbough #bg3 #baldur's gate 3

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defectivevillain · 1 year

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fake dates [and real ones, too]

pairing: jake peralta x reader

reader’s pronouns: he/him

summary: Jake and you are assigned to intercept Michael Augustine's criminal activities. You're not sure which part of the night will be more difficult: the mission itself, or pretending to be engaged to Jake Peralta.

“Table for two, please.”

“I’m sorry, there’s nothing available,” the hostess says mechanically. You share a worried glance with Jake. Well, that’s not good. Your mission can’t fail before it’s even begun. The two of you were assigned to follow behind Michael Augustine, a notorious identity thief. He stole a laptop that has access to over 100,000 Social Security numbers and he’s apparently planning to sell the laptop to an interested party from China. Jake and you were told to watch Augustine and intercept the handoff of the laptop. It’s not a hard mission, but the restaurant’s inability to find you a table may prove to be a big problem.

“Oh no,” you remark sadly, trying to think of a cover story. “Tonight’s a really important night for us. Johnny and I just got engaged and… this is where our first date was.” You blink at Peralta, who seems to recover from the sudden shock of it all. To your surprise, the detective puts a hand on your arm and smiles at the hostess. Right, for the mission, you remember. You have to be touching to sell it.

“Yeah, it would mean so much to… Casper… and me if we got a reservation,” Jake continues. It takes every ounce of strength you have not to react. Casper, as in Casper the friendly ghost? That’s the fake name Jake chose? You groan internally. “But I didn’t know if he was going to say yes.”

Now it’s your turn to be surprised. The hostess is staring at you expectantly. You know that you need to lay it on thick if you want her to believe that you’re truly an engaged couple. In a burst of spontaneity, you lean forward and kiss Jake on the cheek. His eyes go wide and he looks genuinely startled. You turn to the hostess and manifest a confidence that you don’t quite possess in the moment. “He was so nervous,” you whisper to the hostess, as if you’re telling her an inside joke. Your heart is racing in your chest but the smile on your face doesn’t falter.

Fortunately, the hostess seems to eat the act right up. “Well, I’ll see what I can do for two young lovers,” she smiles, looking down at the screen.

“Yeah, we’re lovers,” Jake remarks, clearly feeling a bit flustered and overwhelmed. You subtly elbow him in the side and he stops talking. A small part of you wonders why Peralta seems so off-kilter. Is the idea of dating you really so bad to him? You push that thought away before your mind can needlessly spiral. The hostess steps away for a moment to speak with someone. When she comes back, there’s a waitress smiling at you.

“Right this way, you two.” You both exchange surprised looks before you’re led to your table. The waitress lays down two menus and promises to be back with drinks in a few minutes.

“Well, we’re here,” you say, sitting down in the chair Jake had scrambled to pull out for you. Your voice only cracks minutely, a feat you’re rather proud of. The menus are laid out in front of you and empty glasses recline on the luxurious white tablecloth.

“Yeah,” Jake nods, evidently feeling as perplexed and lost as you do. He takes a deep breath. Jake seems to be rather practiced at assignments like these, because he looks entirely unaffected. If you didn’t know him, you’d think he was enjoying his night as any other person was. “We’ll be fine. We just have to pretend to be more sophisticated than we actually are. Should be easy, right?” The grin on his face is definitely a little tight at that. You can certainly sympathize. “I think you’re missing the part about us being lovers,” you decide to point out. That will be the most difficult part of this assignment. This restaurant isn’t super fancy, so you’ll get by with basic table manners. Your so-called engagement with Johnny- Jake- will be harder to maintain. “Johnny.” You’re kind of bad at remembering to call people by their names. This will be tough.

“Right,” Jake grimaces, a strange expression flickering on his face for a fraction of a second. He smoothly adjusts his posture. “Here, hold my hand. It’s only very sweaty.” The detective reaches out and leaves his open palm on the table.

“I’m nervous, too; it’s okay,” you reassure him, reaching out to clasp his hand. Jake murmurs something under his breath about different reasons, but you can’t hear exactly what he says. Instead, you settle for squeezing his hand in a reassuring gesture. The detective actually seems to relax at that, as he sends you a grateful smile. “Do you see him?” Jake sends a glance to his right and, sure enough, the enamored couple is sitting at a booth a couple hundred feet away.

Surprisingly enough, the dinner proves to be rather boring. Jake and you order, but you’re not anticipating actually getting to eat your food. Sure enough, Augustine and his partner are already done eating by the time the waitress walks away with your orders. You hear Augustine get up and put on his coat, as his partner walks back to the car. He heads off into the direction of the kitchen. Evidently, the chef will be making the handoff. You grab Jake’s hand and drag him after you, until you’re both awkwardly hovering in the hallway. The two of you look into the kitchen, only to see him talking to the chef. You don’t see any actual handoff being made. Perhaps he just knows the cook? Jake seems to be just as confused as you are, as he keeps trying to adjust his view of the kitchen.

Unfortunately, Jake’s movements seem to catch the criminal’s eye and Augustine turns his head suddenly, his eyes catching on Jake and you. You swear under your breath, turning to Jake. He bites his lip, quickly looking back at you. The criminal is still hovering on the edges of your vision, even when you focus on the detective. What the hell are you going to do? He’s spotted you- the mission is practically over.

While you’re entirely helpless, Jake seems to come up with an idea. You nod to let him know that you trust him and his expression morphs into a grimace for a fraction of a second. Before you can ask what the grimace is for, Jake’s kissing you. You stiffen for a moment, until you remember that it’s just for cover. You put your hands on his waist and pretend not to notice Augustine hovering near the two of you. You almost forget that you’re on a mission, that you’re hiding in plain sight from one of the most prolific criminals in the city. Unfortunately, a pointed cough breaks you out of your thoughts and you remember the man’s presence. Jake and you break apart quickly.

“Oh, we’re so sorry,” Jake apologizes smoothly, a graceful smile on his face. You conjure up an embarrassed expression, which isn’t exactly hard to do given the situation. Your grip slips from Jake’s waist, but he grabs your hand and interlaces your fingers. The rest of the conversation begins to escape your notice, as Jake prattles on about engagement, dating, and other things. Eventually, the criminal seems satisfied, because he walks away. You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding.

Jake and you wait a few minutes before following Augustine’s lead and walking outside. It appears he’s taking the package to a park. Thankfully, you don’t have any close calls and the criminal is soon gone. Jake and you position yourselves so that the package is within sight. You then turn to Jake. “I can’t believe you named me fucking Casper,” you blurt out, the moment the two of you are safely away from prying eyes. “As in… Casper the Friendly Ghost. Really?”

“Hey, Casper is a cinematic masterpiece,” Jake remarks, sending you a disbelieving glare. He looks behind him at the package- it’s still there. The detective turns back to look at you again. “Besides, it was the first thing I thought of.”

“I’m so glad that I resemble a ghost in your mind’s eye,” you snipe. Jake rolls his eyes, evidently not wanting to even dignify your remark with a comment. For a few moments, there is nothing but silence. You look around the tree you’re hiding behind. There’s no one near the package.

“Ugh, I’m starving,” Jake groans, drawing your attention back to him. “Never actually ate anything in the restaurant.” You nod in agreement. Neither of you ended up even touching your plates. It really was a dine and dash, but without the dining. You shove your hands in your pockets, feeling a little restless.

“Know what I’m getting on my way home?” You grin, excited to brag about your future meal.

“Yeah,” Jake nods quickly, before proceeding to rattle off your favorite meal. It takes you a few moments to process that he gets everything correct, down to the tiny details of your favorite drink and what restaurant you’ll go to. You blink at him a few times.

“That’s exactly what I’m going to get,” you agree, staring at him in disbelief. Jake nods and sends a glance over his shoulder, evidently checking if the handoff is taking place. You take the opportunity to dissect the expression on his face. He didn’t seem to make that comment out of jest. You suppose you underestimated how well he knows you.

“I will be having pizza,” Jake announces, an excited grin on his face. “Two Meat Supremes from Tony’s, served display temperature.” You can’t help but grimace.

“That’s gross.” You shudder at the thought of eating lukewarm pizza that had been sitting on a display all day. You love pizza, of course, but display pizza is an entirely different beast. You look over to the package, only to find that there’s someone standing near it. Fuck. “Jake-”

“It’s not cold,” Jake tries to justify, rolling his eyes. “It’s just… significantly less warm than it should be.” As much as you’d love to spend far too much time debating with Jake over the morality of display pizza, you have other things to worry about- namely, the mission.

“No, Jake, he’s looking at us,” you hiss, brutally aware of the guy staring at you. You have to do something and you have to do it quickly. Fuck! There’s nothing you can do. Except… “Well, I guess we’re doing this.” You take a deep breath.

“What-”

This time, you’re the one to make the first move. You grab his collar and surge forward, kissing him before you can think to hesitate. For a selfish moment, you let the assignment, the criminals, and everything simply fade from your mind. It’s just Jake and you. Surprisingly, Jake doesn’t stiffen or freeze up. Rather, he reacts immediately- his hands snake up your waist and he pulls you flush against him. Unfortunately, you don’t have the time to savor the moment, and you have to break apart so the criminal doesn’t get away.

“NYPD, you’re under arrest!” You yell, gun pointed at the man. Jake seems to recover a few seconds later, and he pops out from behind the tree to stand next to you. “Hands up in the air.” You’re expecting Jake to make a characteristically badly timed remark about the two of you being only partners, but amazingly enough, he doesn’t say anything. You decide to focus on alerting Rosa and Boyle, who are quick to finish apprehending the criminal and send him on his way. Before long, the four of you are piled back in the van.

“How’d it go?” Charles is quick to break the somewhat awkward silence that had descended upon the vehicle. He is nearly bouncing in his seat, evidently asking for some sort of explanation. You don’t know how to rationalize what just happened, admittedly.

“So normal,” you blurt out, immediately wincing at how strained your voice sounds. Jake is sitting up front next to Rosa, so you can’t see his expression. Unfortunately, you’re too discombobulated to maintain an unaffected appearance. Charles’s gaze is digging into the side of your face and you’re just about to make up another stupid excuse when Jake interjects.

“We kissed.” You inhale sharply, not expecting him to outright say it. Although, now you’re glad that you can’t see Jake’s face, because it would surely be twisted in discomfort.

“What?” Charles screeches, his energy somehow increasing even more. He looks at you giddily. You’re not quite sure what to say, so you instead look to the side and remain silent. Your heart is hammering in your chest. “Tell me everything!” Charles grabs your shoulders and starts shaking you.

“We had to do it, um, to maintain cover,” you manage to choke out, only sounding rather strangled. Your remark doesn’t seem to convince Charles, because he only exhibits more energy and excitement. You’re certain that he’d hit his head on the ceiling if you weren’t sitting in a big ass van. As is, he’s making you dizzy just looking at him.

“To maintain cover,” Jake reiterates. This remark seems to go in one of Charles’s ears and right out the other. The rest of the car ride is split between Charles asking you for explicit details and Rosa telling him off for shouting, but smirking in the rearview mirror all the same.

Finally, after what seems like an infinitely painful amount of time, you’re back at the precinct. The four of you briefly stop by your desks before walking back out to the parking lot. Boyle carts Rosa off somewhere- evidently to a birthday surprise of sorts- which leaves Jake and you. The two of you are silent as you walk down the path towards the parking lot.

“What do you say to display-temperature pizza?” Jake asks, shoving his hands in his pockets. He seems uncharacteristically restless, for some reason. You try to think about what could be making him so nervous, but nothing comes to mind.

“I say hell no,” you shake your head, unable to shake the shiver that goes down your spine. Jake’s face quickly falls and you realize that you’re likely giving him the wrong impression. You do want to go with him. You just… don’t want to eat hours-old pizza. “How about takeout?” Jake raises his eyebrows at you, evidently not expecting you to offer an alternative.

“Yeah, sure,” Jake agrees. There’s a dazed expression on his face as he looks at you. He’s squinting at you as if trying to discern if you’re joking. Evidently, Jake must realize that you’re entirely serious, because he nods. “Cool, cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool… Cool.” He pushes his hands further in his pockets and then frowns.

“What’s wrong?” You ask.

“Um… I don’t have my keys, actually,” Jake remarks, after searching his jacket and pant pockets several times. You take a deep breath and motion for him to follow you to your car. After getting in your car, Jake is visibly stiff. “This is cool. Cool, cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool… cool.” You roll your eyes and pull out of the parking lot with an exasperated smile on your face.

#b99 #b99 x reader #b99 x male reader #Jake peralta x reader #Jake peralta x male reader #male reader #x male reader #masc reader #transmasc reader

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ouidamforeman · 11 months

Text

This may make me look like an idiot bc I can’t articulate myself BUT!!!!!!!! Big Queer Good Omens meta incoming

I want to talk about This Neil Gaiman ask for a minute because I figured out why I really like his blanket response to this “discourse” a lot but still somewhat disagree on the nuance, and why fandom attitudes about this bother me much much more than his open ended response like this one

Under a read more because im going to get Insane

First of all this is going to be riddled with my own viewpoints on queerness as a transmasculine nonbinary person who reads too much theory so if u disagree please be polite lol

So like. To begin with I really don’t think Neil is obligated to understand these nuances or even comment on them, let alone explain them to fans desperate for validation, so the fact that he’s been able to answer so eloquently is pretty impressive considering how vicious fandom is. But I want to specifically talk about what I think he means here and why that seems to bother fandom so much sometimes, and how fan interpretation of these ideas he presents can get Really weird and interesting imo.

In my view, Neil is answering this from a Doylist perspective, as in like. To the real life human audience, angels and demons are inherently queer because they don’t fit into traditional human definitions of genders and sexualities. This especially comes across in his insistence that Aziraphale and Crowley aren’t gay because they aren’t human men, but they ARE queer. This literally just looks to me like him saying “yeah so no angels and demons fit into these categories so they’re definitely queer from our perspective but I understand ‘gay’ as being two men and i don’t think that fits because it’s narrow” and while I disagree on some nuances here for reasons I’ll get into I think this makes total sense as an author describing how, from his perspective, an audience is intended to view these nonhuman characters.

However, I’m much more interested in a more Watsonian explanation of how A&C are queer, one that’s much more relativistic and honestly not something I expect Neil to go over every time he gets another ask about this???? My opinion has always been that A&C choosing human queer masculinity is significant and that it gives evidence to them being nonbinary, transmasc, gay, ace, aro, anything that people headcanon really. Because they are presenting themselves as queer in a HUMAN way in universe imo, which makes them queer not just by the standards of the audience but by the standards of other angels and demons in the story? I think that the fact that they were created as sexless and genderless and then CHOSE human gender presentations, whether nonbinary or not, that reflected themselves, and then them being in love with each other in a human way IS what makes them queer, not Just the idea that an angel without a gender or sexuality/romantic or other relationship orientation is inherently queer from the average human’s perspective. People who just want them to be Human Cis Gay Men are really missing this idea I think.

The thing is though. And I don’t think this is Neil’s problem to solve or whatever, nor does it mean “stop liking that angels and demons are genderless”. The thing that annoys the shit out of me. Is that fandom, even queer fandom, took Neil’s Doylist explanation of celestial beings’ gender status and just didn’t think any further about it. To this day people insist that A&C MUST be nonbinary forever just because they’re an angel and demon and were made that way. Like literally just inventing Fantasy Biological Essentialism again which is annoying as hell to me, another nonbinary person. Again, the fact that they were created without any sense of gender or biological sex and then chose any humanish gender for themselves at all whether nonbinary or not is what makes them queer in universe I feel. I think the “they’re an angel and demon so they’re inherently nonbinary and can’t be anything else” is shit tbh.

To reiterate, I think Neil is responding about this from a Doylist perspective aka “to the real life audience all angels and demons are queer because they don’t fit into human genders and sexualities” but I am focused much more on the Watsonian idea that A&C are queer in universe bc angels and demons can choose their gender presentations like humans can and everyone else hasn’t figured it out bc they haven’t been on earth to figure out what gender even is. I feel fandom gets weird about this because lots of people still see gender as something solely internal and inherent, when I genuinely don’t think that’s all it is. It’s internal feeling, external projection/behavior, and both of those as a reflection of social experience all at once. The feelings and internal sense of Knowing your gender or lack thereof is inherent to your self identity, but your gender is also informed by what you understand genders as, and what presentations you understand and have access to! Aziraphale and Crowley can be Human Genders because, because they’ve been on earth, they 1)know what gender is, 2)can see those feelings reflected in themselves, and 3)through that understanding choose how to present based on their feelings! They don’t just have to be genderless celestial beings in the sense angels are if they don’t feel like it anymore! They can be like “oh actually I’m a queer man” or “oh I’m nonbinary but in the way that I’m among humans and I’m not a man or woman.” I just feel like only considering them queer from a human or angel perspective but not both is sort of undermining the themes in the text against bioessentialism in favor of the instant validation of “oh they’re angels so they must be nonbinary.” Perhaps having any human gender presentation is queer to the average angel. Our internal feelings and sense of self knowledge as queer people is inherent. How we act on those things and assign meaning and labels to them can be anything! A&C can be anything they feel like! They don’t have to be the classic celestial beings above gender! I feel like they would love and have fallen into human gender customs just from so long on earth, and that doesn’t mean they can’t be nonbinary or agender. It means they, as a part of humanity, saw and understood human genders and realized what gender they were in relation, whatever you headcanon that to be. And that’s more queer than “god made them without sex and gender so I guess their species makes them inherently one thing”!!!!!!

#good omens #book omens #neil gaiman #good omens meta #go meta #queer #idk guys. Just really not liking the biological essentialist takes in queer fandom especially #why did u have to make up biological essentialism for fantasy creatures. please #I don’t blame Neil for this btw literally chill about him who cares #anyways lol

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batsplat · 14 days

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Chad reed on always the entourages creating the drama. I cannot believe that is what caused rosquez downfall but also given the level of Vale's celebrity and the way he carried himself, I can totally believe that it was the entourage (iPad stand I'm looking at you) that brought the end

(about reed's 2020 quotes in this) yeahhh I mean the downfall was caused by a whole bunch of factors, not just any one thing... like all great tragic narratives, it feels inevitable from a global perspective and yet thoroughly preventable in its specifics, with loads of points where you think, 'oh, if things had just gone a little bit differently'... there's this tension in how, in the end, maybe it would've always gone wrong, but a lot had to come together for it to go wrong in quite such a spectacular fashion

reed's definitely correctly identified one of the factors - the entourages, and valentino's entourage specifically. though fwiw, I did cut off the article before reed predicted the marc/fabio rivalry was headed a similar way (this was from 2020, obviously before the arm injury):

for better or for worse, fabio has skipped the villain arc to head straight to the depressed frenchie arc

regardless of whether this rift would have happened or not, the idea that marc would have gotten a new appreciation for the situation valentino found himself in is at least an interesting one. though if anything, the rivalry with fabio would have more closely paralleled valentino's with the other aliens (new talent coming through, but with the previously dominant rider still a regular winner). now is the time marc's learning what it feels like to come back from a prolonged absence from being competitive at the highest level - and of course with a new superstar simultaneously making his debut

so yeah, anyway, tragedy, you can point to all sorts of strains and pressures and tension inherent to professional sport that were exacerbated by the personalities involved and the influence of the media and the passage of time etc etc. but never mind all that, let's get back to entourages! I know you mention everybody's favourite b-list shakespeare villain, but I'm going to basically mostly ignore him because it's well-trodden ground. yeah, it does help to have one guy who's whispering poison into your ear for a prolonged stretch of time before showing up at your motorhome doorstep with a bunch of telemetry and a dream. and yeah, there were people in valentino's entourage definitely encouraging this path to doom. but what I'm also interested in is the flip side - why nobody stopped him

I would like to submit into evidence this passage detailing the thoughts of vale's mechanic alex briggs. now briggs in this excerpt blames two groups for how things went down in 2015:

the yamaha side (specifically the press group) for not talking him down from the ledge before the presser

the crew chief and other assorted italians on the team for being too "yessy" and not standing up to him

let's briefly (for a given value of the word) focus on the first one. if you're a random yamaha pr person and you see the valentino rossi run to a press conference (given he was late) with a bunch of papers in his hands (well, he's not actually holding the papers in those gifs, but presumably somebody's got them), it's probably a tough ask to expect you to hold up the valentino rossi and ask him what exactly he's intending to do with those papers. also, is he really going to back off because you, random yamaha pr person, have asked him to please not accuse the competition of sabotage? added context is that some at yamaha were aware of what valentino thought about the race at phillip island (which we'll get to in a sec), but god knows if the pr people did. unless he confided in anyone on the yamaha side what the plan was, a lot of them would have been blindsided too - which does come back to the problem of how big a deal valentino is and how maybe you're a little more cautious about questioning what he's about to do with those papers than you would be with somebody else. it does feel like perhaps a bit too much to expect for them to have launched some last-minute intervention, or to even know what kind of intervention they could have gone for beyond low-level comedy hijinks to stop him from even getting to that room. why did nobody from yamaha place a banana skin in his path

but we do know that at least some in yamaha were aware of valentino's great big phillip island sabotage theory, because lin jarvis has very helpfully told us as much (from the post-sepang media scrum):

Q: Do you think it was a mistake for Valentino to [provoke?] Marc so much on Thursday with a very personal and hard attack? Jarvis: There are always many different ways of addressing different problems - Valentino chose to do it in that way. Perhaps that is what provoked Marc into being quite aggressive on the track. I really don't know, you need to ask Marc not me about that. Every action has a consequence. That's life. Q: And did you know before that Valentino was going to be so aggressive with Marc in the press conference? Did you know before? Did you discuss with Valentino about this decision or you didn't know until it happened? Jarvis: Personally, I was not aware of that. I was aware of Valentino's opinion of the race in Australia, but I was not aware... but I was not aware that he would - Q: Don't you think because Valentino at the end of the day is an employee of Yamaha he should discuss before with you about such an important decision, to attack a rider of another factory in such a heavy way [...]? Jarvis: You can't control every incident, everything that happens and you know, generally we have a very good [...] relation, connection with our riders, we talk to them before about things before, but anyway I think this is something Valentino felt strongly about and it was his decision and that's it.

note the use of the word "personally", which does leave the door open to others within yamaha (outside of valentino's inner circle) knowing what was going to happen. jarvis, unsurprisingly, comes down pretty firmly on the side of 'well what were we supposed to do'. given that jarvis admits he knew valentino's theory and is hardly a stranger to valentino's modus operandi - after all, he was already team boss at the time of another tense press conference in sepang eleven years prior that took place in the wake of valentino accusing a competitor of messing with him - you do have to wonder whether yamaha could not have tried a little harder to stop valentino. but again, accounting for the power of valentino's status and the power of his character, I'm personally unconvinced yamaha could've done much to convince valentino to change his mind

so then: the italians. a little bit of context - briggs started working with crew chief jerry burgess in 1994 and both of them were on mick doohan's team for all of his five 500cc titles. when doohan's injuries forced his retirement, valentino inherited his championship-winning team upon moving up to 500cc. jb was vale's very first crew chief in the premier class, and him as well as briggs have been working with vale since december 1999. understandably, this is a very tightly-knit group. it is one that made the jump to yamaha with valentino - here's just a quick excerpt (also from oxley's valentino rossi: all his races) about briggs' thoughts on that move:

When Valentino decided to defect to Yamaha, he was determined to have his crew go with him. Only one stayed at HRC. "We first got to know about the Yamaha deal in Portugal, I think [September 2003]," Briggs continues. "I wanted to stay with JB, because I hadn't finished learning what I wanted to learn. "I remember a clandestine meeting in the car park at Phillip Island, about salaries and how everything was going to work. It was really exciting. When I very first started working with Honda the whole group was very much a team. Towards the end we felt like it started to become a bit us and them: the engineers and management, then the mechanics and the riders. They'd sort of got too big for their boots - they'd designed this wonderful bike, so it was like it had nothing to do with us. That made it easier to leave.

and also about the move to yamaha, from the 2020 barker biography of valentino:

But with his trusted crew chief Jerry Burgess and most of his other team members from the Honda garage agreeing to defect with him, Rossi had the crew he needed, not only to win but also to enjoy his racing. It was a heartening display of loyalty and something of a risk for all involved. ‘When I announced to the mechanics that I was going with Valentino they said, “I’m coming too,”’ Burgess later explained. ‘Some of those guys were leaving very secure jobs and taking a big gamble.’

the group also survived the move to ducati (obviously a deeply frustrating two years not just for the guy riding the bike) and the move back to yamaha. but then, valencia 2013, valentino announced his decision to fire jb in a press conference organised for the pair of them. his 2013 season had been deeply frustrating - yes, he had gotten a podium in his first race beating both marc and dani, but after that generally speaking he couldn't come close to matching the other aliens when healthy. he was comfortably the fourth best rider that year, scrapping and clawing his way through midfield battles and having to rely on misfortunes befalling the three title contenders to achieve his podiums and his sole victory at assen. he was considering retiring at the end of the 2014 season once his current contract expired, but wanted to try everything he could to see whether he could be competitive again against the world's very best. and so, he made the decision to roll the dice and get himself a new crew chief, the italian silvano galbusera

now I have to say, personally I have a lot of time for this decision (even if it was maybe not... uh, enacted in the most graceful of manners, given how sudden it was). I come from a sports background where a certain ruthlessness in personnel decisions is encouraged and generally praised - if something isn't working, you should have the courage to make a change, even if it's deeply uncomfortable (including on an interpersonal level). also, while it was a sudden departure, it's not like burgess was that keen on sticking around much longer (again from the same oxley book):

Valentino ended his collaboration very suddenly at the end of 2013. Burgess was shocked but not too much, because he already knew that he was coming to the end of his own career. "When it ended for me I'd already been doing it 30-odd years and I'd told Valentino a few weeks earlier that I wasn't going to sign any more multi-year contracts. I was 60 by then, so I'd go year by year. I'd already signed a contract for 2014, but I would've thought if we hadn't had any more success by then that there wasn't much point in continuing. I felt we would win more races but I was more doubtful about championships. "I'd read enough sporting biographies to know that sportsmen change their coaches towards the end of their careers. It can give them a spike in results but it doesn't change the overall story. Looking back, Valentino's career went on longer than I expected. He enjoyed some success but no more championships and that's what you race for. Of course he was in the unique position of being able to get a factory bike until he retired. He was very special and deserved everything he got."

which, look. again, personal bias, but to me it's reasonable to part ways with somebody who doesn't think any more titles are plausible, because at that point it's just somebody who has a very different view on your career than you do and may well not stick around for much longer anyway. also, at the end of the day, jb was wrong! valentino came extremely close to winning another title, and just because he didn't, doesn't change the fact he could have. if it had rained on the 8th of november 2015 in valencia, we might be having a very different conversation. (or if they hadn't changed the bloody qualifying format post-2012.) honestly, if the 2016 and to a lesser extent the 2017 season had gone just a little differently - a working bike in mugello here and an unbroken leg there - he could have been a genuine title threat in two more seasons. in any case, what it does show is that valentino even at the end of 2013 was still as determined as ever, was ready to engage in what was a huge gamble (given how almost all his success had come with the highly decorated jb) on the off chance he might find what it took to win again. this will not have been an easy decision for valentino. here's a write-up of the presser at valencia, that stresses how uncomfortable the occasion was, how surprising a decision it was to jb, but how publicly at least there was a lack of recriminations (which, to be fair, wouldn't be much fun to do in a shared presser):

(you'll note that the phrasing in the presser about athletes attempting to extend their carrers by changing things up is echoed in what he says in that book interview where he adds that it doesn't change the overall story, again suggesting he didn't really believe valentino would be competitive. he also uses the same phrasing in ANOTHER interview that confirms as much, but I think you get the point.) valentino said at the time, "it was a very difficult decision for me because I have a great history with jeremy. he is not just my chief mechanic. he is like part of my family. my father in racing". this is somebody he'd been working with since age 21, somebody who is not only revered within the paddock for his work with several of the sport's greats but is also a man who valentino obviously has a close personal connection to. meeting for the first time when vale snuck into the honda pit to check out the bike he might ride next season, hitting it off immediately, countless rowdy dinners together, parties, jb and another older colleague sitting back when food fights started, watching valentino grow up, working with him throughout all his big manufacturer switches, all his successes and all his failures... as much as anything else, it's evidence of how strong vale's desire to win was, how determined he continued to be, to make this choice at this stage of his career. and jb was open to the idea (at least publicly) that it might end up being a smart call:

the 'dirtiest' part of the whole affair is how it was actually carried out - it's not great form to tell your crew chief the day before you end up doing a press conference together to announce your choice. for whatever it's worth, this is how valentino justified the timeline:

and lastly, which I think is the most key part, is valentino's belief. because at the end of the day, the only reason why he's doing any of this, and the only reason why what was to come was possible at all, is that he himself still thought that he could challenge for another title - as much as that belief had come under strain:

now what this piece also goes on to say is that nobody believes this will work. nobody believes that firing jb will lead to better results. people expect that this is going to lead to his retirement, quite possibly at the end of 2014. it's worth just remembering sometimes how extraordinary valentino's return to the top of the game post-2013 really was, how it went against how we expect a rider's competitive lifecycle to work, went far beyond the longevity exhibited by any top rider before or since - all while going up against riders who are widely believed to be some of the best to ever do it. valentino beat jorge in both 2014 and 2016, and remains one of two people to outscore prime marc marquez over the course of a season. not to engage in too much rossi prop here, but sepang 2015 can't really be understood without all the frustration that led up to it, to this one golden chance, this miracle that everybody had believed to be impossible (sometimes even valentino). this wasn't supposed to be happening. it was happening. and then, so so close to the finish line, valentino could feel it slipping, slipping, slipping away

but of course, we still don't know whether changing crew chiefs is the key factor that made him competitive again. maybe he just needed a bit longer to get back into the swing of things post-ducati disaster. maybe the bikes just started to suit him better. hey, maybe it was that nifty exercise regime he'd engaged in a wee spot of espionage for so that he could pinch it off his teammate. what we can say, however, is that valentino's choice both tells us a lot about his mindset, as well as (to finally bring us back to the actual point of this post) representing a massive shift in his 'entourage'. this is what briggs is referring to in his quote - the italians. the new crew chief. the people who couldn't stand up to valentino. now obviously, as mentioned above briggs had worked with jb for the better part of twenty years and can hardly be considered a neutral party. here were briggs' feelings on the matter (yeah it's from the same oxley book again, I got it new for eighteen quid which is a very generous price, would recommend):

When JB was out at the end of 2013 it was like losing my mechanic dad. I remember being in the garage when we found out about it. Then they arranged a kind of farewell, a kind of hodgepodge farewell. It was terrible, I didn't like any of it. I was just hiding behind one of the bikes in the garage, crying, going, what's going on here? It didn't seem right to me. I think maybe Valentino thought he would get faster again sooner, but I think it took at least a year to get the taste of the Ducati out of his mouth. I think if he'd stayed with JB we would've won the championship in 2015.

which. look. we don't have time to unpack all that. but. the point is that obviously briggs wasn't exactly a massive fan of the change within valentino's team, and his comments about the 2015 season do have to be read with that in mind. as to whether vale really would have done better in 2015 with jb at his side, your guess is as good as mine. all that being said, a part of me wonders how much losing that grounding presence enabled valentino's late-2015 spiral. maybe not in terms of talking valentino out of the great big fluctuating lap times treachery theory - to state the obvious, valentino got himself involved in plenty of drama during jb's time as a crew chief. jb himself occasionally helped add fuel to the fire in those feuds, like his infamous comment about how he would be able to fix the ducati's issues in 80 seconds that casey still brings up every three business days (the comments were poorly phrased but also somewhat taken out of context, in that jb was talking about a specific set-up problem). he's generally been pretty happy to be forthright about valentino's rivals, for instance this about casey:

My feeling at the time was that Casey probably only had one game plan, and having watched Casey over the years, he doesn't have a plan B. If it doesn't go his way from the outset, it's probably one of the weaknesses that he had through the youth that he had, through the lack of experience that he had. That's not a criticism of him per se, he was still only 22 at the time.

(this is about laguna seca 2008 and how he helped valentino win that race, including in plotting out vale's rather ruthless tactics - which casey was of course not exactly a fan of.) or these. uh. harsh comments about dani from spring 2010:

Q: Is that atmosphere or track knowledge? Is it like the Spanish finding something extra at the racetracks in Spain? JB: Well, therein we show the weakness, don't we? If you can get up on that weekend, on the technical racetracks of Spain, why can't you get up on the technical racetracks like Australia, where the Italians do? Lorenzo is a guy who will and does. Stoner has been able to get up on tracks all over the world. Unfortunately, Dani Pedrosa's into his 6th year in MotoGP, and he's won 8 races, Jorge Lorenzo's two months into his 3rd and he's won 6. It's night and day between those two, is the way I see it. Dani's an extremely fast rider, but a shockingly poor racer. Q: Were you surprised at Jerez [2010] when Pedrosa fought back when Lorenzo passed him? JB: When did Dani fight back? With two laps to go, and he didn't even get close enough to try to come back. Dani has never been a fighter in races, he's a lovely kid, don't get me wrong, but you can see that Lorenzo, having Pedrosa in front of him, it was never going to be the way he was going to finish that race. He was going to finish on the ground or he was going to finish in front of Pedrosa. That's the sort of race that we want, we had that with Biaggi and Valentino, and from history with Schwantz and Rainey. All the good riders have always had somebody they have had to put the target on the back of. It was Doohan and Gardner, and Doohan won that battle hands down, and I think Jorge Lorenzo's going to win this battle [with Pedrosa] hands down.

kind of a dick! so his attitude to valentino being valentino has generally been a) well having enemies is good, actually, with an added slice of b) good luck to his enemies :) - see also this quote (from the barker biography) in the context of the gibernau rivalry:

And that made Rossi even more dangerous, as Jerry Burgess pointed out: ‘Valentino is the sort of rider I wouldn’t want to get angry. He can take you apart on the track.’

so yes, jb is also perfectly brutal in his own right, as you presumably have to be to work alongside valentino so closely for so long. he is, however, also somebody valentino has a massive amount of respect for, somebody who helped turn him into a legend and is responsible for a lot of vale's success - not least, of course, in the pivotal move to yamaha. he was replaced by a man of a far far lesser stature in the sport, one who presumably would have been grateful to valentino for the biggest job he was ever going to get. if briggs is right and there was a shift in valentino in 2015, surrounded as he was by italians (derogatory) who could not stand up to him, who allowed valentino to insist on war and peace on the pit boards, to focus more and more on things that had nothing to do with riding... it would be going a little too far to say that valentino was missing an adult in the room given he was, in fact, in his thirties and should have been capable of being that adult. and who knows what jb would have said or thought or done about the great big childhood hero deception theory. but sepang 2015 was the culmination of a lot of things, including a pressure cooker of a season that grew more and more tense and put more and more stress on everyone involved - perhaps for none more so than valentino. maybe, just maybe, if he'd had somebody around him with fifteen years of experience in handling him, who could have just occasionally told him to knock it off, to concentrate on the racing, to keep things simple (always jb's defining philosophy), to maybe not get so wrapped up in the great big spanish collusion theory...

or maybe it wouldn't have mattered! maybe we're getting cause and effect all wrong here; maybe valentino was deliberately fashioning his entourage into one that was only going to give him positive feedback. maybe he would have just stopped listening to jb, maybe the very decision to fire jb makes it clear he was no longer interested in what jb had to say. it's a tragedy, after all! maybe it was always going to go like this. maybe it was always going to end like this

speaking of entourages, marc's manager played a bit of a cameo role in fanning the flames just a little further (article from marca, 26/10/2015):

alzamora obviously will be somebody valentino is familiar with, having raced him in 125cc and also having just coexisted in the paddock over the years. valentino could of course be lying, but idk, why would he? he's already made his case by this point, and what if alzamora were to contradict him? if it's true and this conversation did happen, you do have to say it's a spectacularly unhelpful intervention from alzamora. even if marc was mad at valentino, why the hell are you telling valentino this AFTER sepang 2015? what's the plan here buddy

^ 1999 world champions: alzamora in 125cc, vale in 250cc and alex criville in 500cc. people think motogp lore is complicated but if you know like, five guys, you're set for about twenty years of drama

which does get to the heart of the matter - a lot of these people have big egos and their own agendas and they love to run their mouths. they like talking a big game and getting involved in things they really shouldn't be getting involved in. is reed right that these people in the riders' entourages 'created the drama'? well, no, I think the two men at the centre of this particular tragedy were plenty capable of doing that themselves. nevertheless, you can point to how professional sports (and motogp in particular) forces you to rely heavily on a small group of people to keep you sane at the centre of the storm, and the risks that can emerge when that small group collectively unmoors itself from reality. you can point to the perils of fame, both in making your reliance on your inner circle so unnegotiable as well as in providing you with the status and power and ego to ignore anyone who might wish to change your mind. you can point to specific figures in this story who managed to incite the conflict between the two of them, as well as how the pressure cooker competitive environment they were operating within helped set up the ultimate catastrophe. you can point to how valentino lacked anyone with the power to stop him - both in the direct sense of forcing him to reconsider and the indirect sense of commanding his respect enough to make him see sense. maybe, just like in 2004, valentino had simply been "looking for an excuse" and he was always headed down this path. or maybe if somebody had just held him back a little that year, kept him focused on his riding, maybe if the right person had intervened at the right time...

maybe, maybe, maybe. that's why it's a tragedy

#valentino rossi #rosquez #//#4693 #i get the sense he's unpopular on here but EYE will miss lin jarvis. i think he's funny sorry. him and his certifiably insane employees #i loveeee that media scrum love his very dry lil summary of events acting like we're not so so far down the rabbit hole #anon: man fuck that ipad stand #me: lemme tell you a tale about a man called jerry burgess and the daddy issues he inspired in multiple grown men #and yes the fact that valentino unceremoniously dumped his 'paddock father' is. interesting :) i get him ughhh #also on the flip side i am curious what kind of conversations were going on in the marc camp during that sepang weekend #alzamora's two big contributions to the rosquez saga: 1) trying to stop marc from going to the ranch #and 2) telling vale that marc was mad at him for argentina and assen and in doing so helping back up vale's theory #what was he cooking

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dabisair · 3 months

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Dabi x gn!reader

Warnings: talk of death, reader is implied to be in therapy, Dabi is definitely nothing like Dabi, soft Dabi.

A/N: Uhh I guess I just need a hug? That's it, that's your summary too. Reader just needs a hug.

“Tell me why I’m humoring you right now.”

“Because you like me more than you want to admit.”

“Ha ha ha. Very funny, doll.”

“Because I knew you would be awake, and you knew you would answer?”

“Alright, alright,” Dabi sighs, shifting fabric reaching your ear as he moves, “so?”

“So…”

“Th’fuck’re you callin’ me for at two in the morning?”

“I don’t- sorry, I know, I just… I can’t put it into words, I guess.”

“Whatever.”

“I don’t really have a reason to be here, you know?” you pick at your quilt. A panic attack was keeping you awake, and you hoped that talking to someone as apathetic and uncaring as your raven-haired paramore would help, “I don’t have a purpose.”

Dabi scoffs, the sharp sound of a lighter coming to life bringing a small smile to your lips, “not the person you should be talking to about that, doll. I ain’t no help. Call that stupid bird, he’s a hero, he can help.”

“Yeah, that’s why I called you. I’m offended, honestly. You think I’d call him? Ew. Gross. I’ll pass.”

The howl of laughter that escapes Dabi - pure delight and ecstasy at your disapproval in regards to the wing hero - brings a bigger smile to your lips. Calling Dabi, well, that was the right choice. Talking to him was already helping!

“Tell me what else you’d pass on~”

“Oh my god, everything? Whatever comes out of his mouth is just pretty words and prettier lies. I have no interest. There’s little he can do to actually keep my eye.”

“Yeah~? Glad you feel that way - but for what it’s worth, I still think you should have called him, not me.”

“Why, cuz I’m sad and lonely and hate every second I spend alive? Call him so that he can swoop in on his big wings and save me?”

“I mean, sure. Better than talking to a villain about it.”

“Hey,” you wet your lips, shifting on your bed, “you are a villain. You would do it if I asked you to, right?”

“Do what?”

“Kill me.”

His silence carries from where he is, to where you are, a terrible weight that sits on your shoulders. It forces a sigh from your lips, “living is difficult and I don’t like it. I don’t like difficult things. I don’t like working, but I don’t like having nothing to do. I don’t like being awake. I don’t like being alive. If I had a choice in the matter, I would have rather never been here a single second.”

Dabi maintains his silence, but his next breath is one of anger. His heat is palpable despite the distance between you.

“Keep talking like that and I will kill you.”

“Date and time?” you try to joke, a nervous laugh bubbling up your throat.

“You have the fuckin’ gall to ask me to kill you and then be afraid of the prospect?”

“Yeah? That’s the funny thing about it, D - or I guess, the annoying thing about it. I am scared. Maybe when it happens I won’t be, but y’know, I like to think about things.”

“Stop thinking about it, then.”

“I can’t turn it off like that,” you huff, leaning back against the headboard, “I try, promise.”

“If anyone should be thinking like that, it’s me, dumbass.”

“But you have a purpose. You have a drive. You have a reason to be here - what reason do I have? None.”

“You have a life,” he snaps, and you think that maybe he was right. You should have called Hawks, because in your knowledge of Dabi being a villain, you had always thought he would never be bothered by you talking about the things that troubled you the most.

Evidently, you were wrong; you were wrong because his breaths are heavy with anger, and his tone is laced with distress.

“Friends, family, you have that.”

“And they have each other. My friends have other friends. My family has other family. They don’t need me - I’m not needed. My presence it’s not… it’s not needed. I don’t bring anything special or important to anyone around me.”

“You little brat,” he spits; something breaks in the background, and you’re not sure where he is, but you’re immediately worried.

“Don’t do something stupid, D.”

His laugh is incredulous, “me do something stupid? Take a look in the mirror, baby! You don’t want me to do something stupid, then stop talking stupid.”

“... okay. Fine. I see your point. I still don’t want to be here.”

“Because no one needs you?”

“Yeah.”

“I need you.”

You jump in your skin, hearing double. There’s a knock at your window. You stare at him, leaning against the glass, eyes illuminated by the azure flames he has simmering in his chest.

“Uh--”

“That date and time you wanted? Right fucking now,” he gives your window a good whack with flat of his fist. The blow is strong enough to put a few cracks in the glass, “open the fucking window.”

You drop your phone on the nightstand, not as scared as you thought you might be. He’s pocketing his own phone by the time you get to the window and unlatch it to let him in. He backs you right up to your bed, knocking you down onto it with his chest.

His finger is in your face as he leans over you, rage making the skin under his eyes bubble, “I’m not your therapist.”

“Nope, no, no you’re not.”

“But I know when you’re panic-talking.”

“Source needed.”

“Source being how well I fucking know you.”

You reach up to cup his face in your hands, the realization settling in that you actually scared him. Now you feel the tears gathering in your eyes, taking a deep breath to stabilize yourself. It becomes more difficult when he covers one of your hands in his.

“Sorry,” you muster, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

He makes no effort to deny it.

“I just - I just struggle to find a reason to be here - to want to be here. It takes too much effort to be alive.”

“Then let me be your reason - tonight, at least,” he leans back, balancing on his knees as he shucks off his jacket.

You feel infinite amounts better when his weight settles against you, arms wrapping tightly around his neck. Weary eyes slide closed, fingers twisting in the back of his loose shirt.

“Next time, just tell me you need a hug.”

“Okay.”

“You’ll have to make this up to me,” his words are warm, face nuzzling against your neck.

“Okay.”

#dabi x reader #reader x dabi #dabi x you #dabi x y/n #mha #bnha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia

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accirax · 3 months

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Fourth Anniversary Art Analysis

(Credits to DRDTdev for the art, obviously. Please support the original post.)

Yeah guys, this is definitely Charles, trust me. (/j)

In all seriousness, the reveal of what Teruko's brother (more or less) looks like got me thinking about a couple of things. I'd like to ramble about them in a space less directly linked to the public fourth anniversary art!

The first is that we've (basically) confirmed that Teruko's brother is older than her, something that I don't think we actually technically knew until now! I always got those kind of vibes, but it's nice to know for sure.

The second is something that most people have picked up on-- his white hair color. Between DRDT and altDRDT, the only people who we've seen with white hair up to this point are XF and Dandelion (I think those are the names people agreed upon???). Both of those seem... unlikely to be Teruko's brother, although, for what it's worth, they do both use he/him pronouns. That's not to say that Teruko's brother couldn't have dyed his hair after he and Teruko last parted, and still be someone else we know, like Teacher. However, I could also easily believe that DRDTdev may have wanted to draw this art as a soft disconfirmation of the "Teacher is Teruko's brother" theory before people got in too deep. It's too bad, though, I did like that one.

One of the reasons why I liked it was because of the synergy with Teruko's favorite color being red due to "association." However, even if Teruko's brother still is Teacher, it seems like he has no red in his design as of the last time Teruko saw him. I suppose red could still be his eye color, but I'm going to take this mean that Teruko's positive association with red is due to somebody else-- likely either Xander or Mai, or possibly still Teacher, but without him being her brother.

Lastly, and most importantly, I find it highly interesting that, at this point in time, Teruko's brother is shown with several scrapes and bandages, while Teruko has absolutely none. It got me thinking about the nature of Teruko's luck.

I wonder if Teruko's bad luck operates in a way where it will hurt whoever is around her until she's the only one left, at which point it has no one to attack but herself. (The only comparison I can think of is to the Death card in the card game Fluxx, so shout out if you know what I'm talking about.)

As long as Teruko is the "protagonist," her luck will go after the "side characters". But, if Teruko isolates herself, then the luck will go after the hero.

Now, there is a bit of contradictory evidence going on here, because Teruko has had unfortunate things happen to her since entering the killing game and being around other people. Most notably, the time that she slipped and fell while holding the cake, and when Xander tried to kill her. That's why I'm wondering if there's also an element of how much Teruko cares about these people involved. Like, if Teruko cares less about someone, they don't pop up as a "side character" punching bag as much. Or, if Teruko caring about someone is the inciting incident to turning an entire group of people into "side characters"-- that way, if she had no friends at any of the schools she attended, she could have avoided dooming them all.

Teruko cared a lot about Xander, so his betrayal was the tipping point. After she took one last blow, the scales tipped and more bad things started happening to the other students than to Teruko. Teruko falling down transformed into the much worse luck of Min dying. And, from then on, the "side characters" started taking the brunt of the bad luck (J's secret being revealed, Eden being bullied and threatened, Ace nearly dying, etc), while Teruko remained mostly fine.

If there is an element of how much Teruko cares about people involved, it would give her a lot of incentive to be a loner and actively make people dislike her.

Anyways, just a thought. This one is pretty off the cuff, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'm missing something or overstepping here.

Happy fourth anniversary DRDT, happy ???th birthday Mai, and a happy day to all of you!

#drdt #danganronpa despair time #drdt spoilers #teruko tawaki #fanganronpa #i couldn't finish the mm theory for today but at least i have something to celebrate the anniversary #which i totally forgot was today #probably because i've never celebrated it before (<- started watching in may 2023)#if teruko's brother ISN'T teacher (or charles lmao) i wonder how/if he will impact the plot #maybe not at all #i'm not fully counting out teacher being her brother yet btw this could still be an intentional mislead #my theories

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ineffableducks · 9 months

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I THINK CROWLEY WAS A SERAPH?????

yes like the seraphim. like the highest order of heaven. like. the angels who have six wings and eyes all over them.

i understand that i probably need to provide evidence even though this is definitely just a headcanon currently. i'm very interested in mythology as a pagan, and i study demonic and angelic hierarchies in my spare time. so this is something i'm very interested in and i feel like i've cracked the case.

SO a couple things from the new season have been making me think that crowley was a rlly high ranking angel.

like we all knew that it was a little weird how he had the power to literally stop time in the first season. and then in this season, we see him literally manufacture star nurseries and nebulas. he's a lot more powerful than he lets on. as someone else described, he's incredibly powerful and being "just some guy" about it.

anyway we get some hints about what level of angel he's at. in the last episode, muriel tells him that only those ranked thrones or dominions or higher can access certain files in heaven. and crowley can.

now quickly, here are the ranks of the angels.

now, higher orders don't necessarily mean they are more powerful. in the context of good omens alone, gabriel is the supreme archangel and the most powerful. and even though principalities (like aziraphale) are ranked closer to god, they are less powerful than archangels.

so yeah crowley totally could have been an archangel, except they're ranked below thrones and dominions which means he couldn't have accessed the files. it doesn't even seem like saraqael could have accessed them, as she just watched even though she is an archangel. so i think crowley once upon a time was a higher rank than an archangel.

so that leaves four candidates. dominions, thrones, cherubim and seraphim. and thanks to a little line in episode 201, i think i've worked it out.

when beelzebub warns crowley about heaven's extreme sanctions, crowley tells them that (paraphrasing), "extreme sanctions aren't a thing. we just made them up to scare the cherubs."

THE CHERUBS. now, the plural of cherub is cherubim, and a cherub is often depicted as a baby angel, with similar iconography to cupid. so it makes sense that he's describing making up a story to scare the baby angels but it ALSO implies that the cherubim were ranked beneath him.

what's the only order of angels above cherubim? seraphim. va-voom.

and in case i need to further prove my case, do you know what the base word for seraphim is? it's the hebrew saraph, which means "burning" and sometimes is used as a noun to denote... "serpent."

i've never really been into the fan theory that crowley was raphael before the fall. and now i don't think i do, mainly because im convinced he was one of the seraphim and raphael is always described as an archangel.

we might never know crowley's angel name, if it was different to his demon one. but i think the main takeaway is that he was a lot more powerful than first impressions might serve.

#good omens #crowley #ineffable husbands #good omens 2 #go2 #gos2 #good omens season 2 #good omens fan theory #fan theory #angelology #angels #david tennant #neil gaiman #good omens 2 spoilers #good omens spoilers #ineffable spouses #pre fall crowley

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zizz-asdf-re-r-o-u · 2 months

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Headcanon time: Who might be on the aroace spectrum in a sex game?

I missed arospec week by... a few weeks lol. And hey look i'm making a Nukani headcanon post instead of a questionable theorizing analysis for once! If you have contributions for characters I don't have enough info on (especially Quincy), please add on!

Disclaimer: I'm aromantic but allosexual. For me, this means I experience sexual attraction, but not romantic attraction. In my local kink scene, I actually personally know several community members + friends who are asexual or aromantic or both, and some engage in sex while some don't. And lastly for demographic proof only, I'm in an unofficial discord server where some unspecified members are asexual, but they still play this porn game, so yes not everyone who plays this game are into romance or sex.

TLDR: someone can be asexual or aromantic or on the aroace spectrum and still have sex but that varies for everyone!

Now that that's out of the way, here are my headcanon times! None of this is true or ever will be true due to the marketing of a porn harem game, but I think it's fun to headcanon! Feel free to disagree cause I know how people reacted to that "Is Aster trans" reddit post.

Speaking of Aster. I think he's also aroacespec! In his SR room 5, we got text narration ONE time that he gushed or orgasmed or something with a vague hot rod behind Eiden's back. But we've never seen Aster naked nor involve his genitals with another body in the 5 H scenes we have with him. And unlike EVERY other character, he’s only described to have orgasmed once. He also constantly talks down on morvay’s sexual habits, and while it’s a running gag that’s played for laughs, isn’t it possible Aster actually thinks this way? But is still willing to engage in sexy times with Morvay because they're essence creatures so that's how you exchange essence, and they’re basically an old married couple & deep down they do care about each other. And remember what I said about aromantic or asexual people who still engage in kink or sex.

Next, Karu my beloved chew toy. At the time I wrote Garu/Karu analysis part 1, I thought both of them were firmly allosexual but also presented some evidence someone could use to argue Karu might be demi or aroace or something else. But the more I think about it, the more I think yeah, he might be. Or he’s just a tsundere. I swear I'm not delusional and am a logical canon-based theory fan. (Btw, according to google searching, it is possible for different alters to have different sexualities, so this does not apply to Garu).

Quincy- I have never watched a Quincy intimacy room (including his SR & R cards that I have unlocked) but my vibes based off all the other story content with him makes me think he might be in the umbrella, so Grey-ace, Demi, etc. From what I’ve heard other people say, Quincy has had a lover in the past but currently only has sex if Eiden begs for it. This might fit into the definition of people who don't really care for sex themselves, but is interested in it for their partner. If anyone has Quincy cards and has more information, please let me know!

Huey: ok so we have almost no information on him. But he didn’t have sex with his clan members. He was definitely not romantically invested in any of his clan members nor do I recall him having hints of being sexually or romantically invested in anyone else, which does not equate aromantic or asexual but its still possible. And that’s all I got. Anyone got additional input?

Eiden: ah our beloved Eiden. Let’s ignore that in meta, he’s supposed to be the audience self insert (even though he’s the least self insert type MC ever) and therefore he is not going to “prioritize” one ship over another.

Anyways, so I am 100% sure he’s not asexual. BUUUUT he has not expressed romantic lovey dovey attraction to his clan members. More significantly, he does not seem to pick up MULTIPLE clan members’ romantic hints towards him. Yes in Fateful Aegis, Eiden says “I love you too” back to Yakumo, but it’s prefaced with something like Your grandparents love you and I love you too-ish, which to me indicates found family love. Kuya has said the Chinese/Japanese equivalent of “I love you” (“the moon is bright/the moonlight is beautiful tonight”) and that totally went over Eiden’s head. Dante & Edmond are also intensely crushing on Eiden… but they’re tsunderes so it’s probably gonna take forever to get across. The other members are different types of dedicated but open relationships rather than traditionally romantic relationships (except for Rei, who’s still getting there). And I think this is a great thing! All these varying relationship styles that are given the same weight & importance & Eiden has such appreciation & care for all of them, despite not providing traditionally romantic affection back.

Aromantic people can still love their friends & family! We’re not heartless emotionless creatures. We just may not experience or be able to comprehend romantic attraction. And i don’t think that’s a defect nor a bad thing.* And I think it’s especially cool when we compare Eiden’s bad hookup habits in the real world with how he has multiple regular partners that truly value him and a new found family in Klein. If he was aromantic this whole time, it’s kind of a positive perspective, isn’t it? Some aromantic people do experience “squishes”, which is a term for when we feel emotional desire for a platonic relationship. Obviously none of Eiden’s relationships are truly platonic due to the sexual element, but they all lack the romantic element from Eiden’s side.

(Anyways, Eiden won’t ever “reciprocate” romantic love because it’s a harem game, but shhhhh. Also to anyone who says it’s an Asian game and the characters aren’t going to say “I love you”…. Well in their newest intimacy rooms, both Kuya and Yakumo literally just did. Heck one of Forest Night Kuya’s sprite dialogues repeats that!)

So yeah, I hope you enjoyed this pointless headcanons!

*Speaking from my personal experience, I’ve have several sexual partners over time, but I never had the desire to date them or be romantically invested in them. And a weirdly telltale sign, that Jaidenanimation pointed out quite nicely, is that when she listened to romance songs she was like “wait that’s what people experience when they’re in love???” I’ve read a TON of romance and have heard a TON of love songs, but I cannot relate to any one of them. I literally have not felt any of those feelings. And when I have sexual partners, the horniness is definitely the forefront compared to any “falling in love” feelings. I did have what I now realize were several “squishes” in high school/college. What squishes feel like to me, are like “I wanna be your friend & you’re really cool & I cherish you! Like a lot! And also I don’t mind if you fucked me!” which emotionally feels different from “I’m in love with you!!!” (Which yeah i still don’t know what “in love” feels like, and I’m fine with not knowing!).

#personal #headcanon #nu carnival

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sincerelyhannahx · 6 months

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To celebrate Asexual Visibility Week (which Happy Asexual Visibility Week by the way omg), here is a list of characters who are now asexual because I said so:

Crowley and Aziraphale (Good Omens) I mean, this is basically canon for me already but their relationship genuinely means so much to me because it's not inherently romantic or sexual or even strictly platonic, they just have such a strong emotional bond and love each other in a way that I think could only be asexual. And being fairly new to my sexuality (not even a year yet) I really needed them in my life. Maybe I don't want an allonormative relationship - maybe I just want what they have. Idk they're just really special to me.

Belle (Beauty and the Beast) Belle being ace removes the beastiality aspect of the story so I think this is best for everyone involved. (This goes for Tiana too, actually - ace!Tiana, let's go). But she literally fell in love with the Beast because of his personality after spending a long time getting to know him (and because of a Library but ykw me too girlie). And it helps that I've had a strong attachment to Belle since forever (and I actually played her in a school production when I was 6).

Peter Pettigrew (Harry Potter) Right, so I do hate Peter and I wouldn't do this if I didn't have to, but omg he is so asexual. And definitely not saying that asexual people are going to betray and murder their best friends but I feel like not fitting in with his very allonormative group and maybe not even knowing what the term asexual means could be an interesting motivation for his actions. Peter feeling like he's broken somehow for not feeling what the others are feeling, thinking there must be something wrong with him since everyone else is falling in love, viewing himself as unloveable because platonic love isn't enough when everyone else has a brilliant romance, turning to the Dark Lord because he's been left behind but maybe this will fix him... and then losing that platonic love too and realising he didn't need fixing after all and his friends were enough, but now it's too late. So, anyway, ace!Peter makes me sad.

Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games) "There's never been anything romantic between Gale and me." This is 100% because Gale is a walking red flag but I'll take it as an aroace thing too. “Remember, we’re madly in love, so it’s all right to kiss me any time you feel like it.” The fact she didn't fall head-over-heels in love with Peeta as soon as he said this is honestly all the evidence I need. Also trying to act like you're madly in love with someone? I know it was for survival but, again, I'll take what I can get. "What I need is the dandelion in the spring... And only Peeta can give me that." This is not an allosexual relationship, I will not change my mind. Personally, I think Katniss is probably demisexual and I love her for that.

The Doctor (Doctor Who) If I had a nickel for every time David Tennant played an 'immortal' genderfluid asexual non-human who loves the stars and humanity, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice. And if I had a nickel for every time I was in love with those characters, I would also have two nickels. But, yeah, the Doctor is asexual, that's just canon for me (and David Tennant said it too soooooooo).

Zoe Nightshade (Percy Jackson) The Hunters of Artemis are a sisterhood that requires you to swear off love and relations with men. Oh no, what a sacrifice! Come to think of it, she also has a connection to the stars - this is becoming a recurring thing.

Artemis, Athena, and Hestia (Greek Mythology) The fact there is a trio of asexual goddesses will never not make me so happy. In the Homeric Hymns, 5, To Aphrodite, Aphrodite is described as having "no power" over these three, which basically just confirms what everyone was already thinking. Artemis is quite literally the Maiden Goddess, who asks her father, Zeus, to forever remain a virgin and protect those who wish the same. Athena never took on any lovers (and in the Percy Jackson series, her children are conceived through her thoughts and born in the same way she was). And Hestia just wanted to be left alone with her hearth, also never marrying or having children.

Barbie (Barbie) "To do what?" Girlie literally has nothing going on down there (for the majority of the movie, idk what happened at the end) and doesn't understand why Ken wants to stay over because they're girlfriend boyfriend. The point of the Barbies is that they show women can be everything so, legally, no one can stop me saying she's an asexual icon.

Regulus Black (Harry Potter) I apologise to all the Jegulus stans out there but you can pry Regulus from my cold, dead hands. Asexual and Bi/Pan friendships are my absolute favourite (shout out to me and my bestie <3) and that is exactly what he's got with Pandora. Also, after Sirius was disowned, the responsibility of continuing the Black family line would fall to Regulus and that aroace pressure makes for some beautiful angst. And it means he's okay with sacrificing himself because at least he won't have to force a life he doesn't want. Why does the Marauders era always turn so sad so quickly?

Inej Ghafa (Six of Crows) Again with the Asexual and Bi/Pan friendships - I'm really just projecting myself and my best friend onto Inej and Nina, but who's going to stop me? I could say Ace!Kaz as well but I think his is more just a trauma response than a sexuality.

Elsa (Frozen) and Merida (Brave) Watch out, Disney; I'm coming for all of your princesses. I'm putting these two together because they could be asexual but I could also see them as lesbians - or maybe they're both.

Charlie Weasley (Harry Potter) He is the blueprint. Mum wants me to get married and settle down? Yeah, okay, but have you heard about dragons?

Newt Scamander (Fantastic Beasts) He is also the blueprint. Yeah, okay, but have you heard about every beast to ever exist ever?

I could keep going but I won't (for now). These characters mean so much to me and my asexuality and these headcanons honestly make me so happy. But honestly, we need more asexual characters in media because we're so underrepresented and it's such a serotonin boost. Like, in S4 of Sex Education, I actively gasped and had such a big smile on my face when O came out as ace (at the representation, not the being forced to come out). Anyway, Happy Asexual Visibility Week!

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mrs-gauche · 7 months

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If the Spirit!Solas theory happens to be true—and I’m confident it is—then it really gives you a new level of respect for how much restraint this guy has.

I’m talking specifically about his interactions with Dorian. The part where Dorian is trying to convince Solas that enslaving spirits is cool and neat and not wrong because ‘spirits aren’t people.’

Imagine having the strength of character to listen to someone tell you to your face that you are not a person and therefore undeserving of the most basic civil rights without immediately decking them in the face.

Solas puts up with tool much, man.

Oh yeah, definitely! 😂 (As much as I feel for Dorian just trying to find some common ground...) I guess that one line in Tevinter Nights does a great job of putting Solas' attitude on this matter in a nutshell.

[…] roared not in anger, but with quiet contempt. "From this moment, should you ever bind a spirit, then your life is mine."

Keep in mind, Solas has witnessed spirits suffering from the consequences of creating the Veil for at least a thousand years at this point, if only from the Fade. When he's saying "It hurts. It always does." to the Inquisitor after returning to Skyhold and Wisdom's death, he's referring to the countless times he had to watch his friends being drawn to the waking world, either forced, or to see them “wish to join the living”, only to be twisted, bound, corrupted, killed, you name it.

"How small the pain of one man seems when weighed against the endless depths of memory, of feeling, of existence. That ocean carries everyone. And those of us who learn to see its currents move through life with their fewer ripples."

Much like a lot of his banter with Sera taunting him about his grief for the past, at this point, Solas is so old and has witnessed so much history, so much pain, that Dorian's remarks couldn't possibly evoke any real anger from him. It's so insignificant compared to what he has seen. There's a reason why Weekes keeps emphasizing how friggin tired Solas truly is. This is after all the general perception of spirits in present Thedas, aside from a few cultures like the Avvar. He can't blame Dorian for Tevinter raising him to think of spirits as nothing more than "amorphous constructs", just like he can't blame the Dalish for the knowledge lost to time. Similarly to any other argument he has with the other companions, Solas' frustration/resentment is almost never aimed at them personally, but rather at the current state of the world that shaped their perspective. (As is also evident in how his banter always ends up with them eventually coming to terms and grow a mutual/respectful relationship. The only exception being a low approval Inquisitor and Iron Bull if he chose the Qun over the Chargers… In that case, the hostility was definitely personal. 😂)

(That being said, I'm SO hoping for any kind of serious emotional outbreak from Solas in DA4, since there's still like a thousand year old trauma that needs to be addressed. lol)

But yeah, I think, going by his actions in Tevinter Nights, Tevinter is definitely not ready for what's probably coming for them in DA4, now that Solas is actually able to change things. 👀 And isn't it interesting how he will now be facing the Imperium, which was essentially built on the ruins of the empire he brought down/the same slavery based system he once rebelled against, so history kinda repeats itself? lol

I think it's also very telling how Solas will immediately counter Dorian's comments on the treatment of spirits in Tevinter by directly comparing it to slavery.

Dorian: "There's no harm putting them to constructive use, and most mages back home treat them well." Solas: "And any that show any magical talent are freed, are they not?" Dorian: "What? Spirits don't have magical talent." Solas: "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were talking about your slaves."

But the beautiful irony in this, as I've talked about in this post, is how this draws a direct parallel to how Solas, in return, doesn't recognize the people of the waking world as real either, at least not until after the Inquisitor considers Wisdom a living being worth saving. This and his admission to the Inquisitor after he returns to Skyhold is imo the turning point in his character development. Imo, this is what leads him to say "Not at first. You showed me that I was wrong." in his high approval ending in Trespasser.

And this is also why I think that the theory of Solas intending to save the spirits first and foremost would make for such an interesting story actually.

The waking world doesn't view spirits as real people. Just like Solas can't accept the people of the waking world as real. So, what will happen if he tears down the Veil, and the Fade and the waking world become one again? The Inquisitor was potentially willing to save Wisdom despite it having already turned into a Pride demon. And in doing so, the Inquisitor unintentionally put up a mirror in front of Solas' face and basically went "If I can see them as real people worth saving, why can't you?".

And if the spirit origin theory is true, then it could make for a fascinating inner conflict. Solas, living in both the waking world and the Fade, having been a spirit and a corporeal person, is now facing the question of who "his people" actually are. Where does he belong? After all, his biggest fear remains to "die alone".

While this was said in more of a joking manner, Weekes' words from 2016 really put it into perspective here. Solas sees himself in that old fisherman he saw in the Fade. He is "the one who lived". So, I picture it like this… Solas is left alone in the Fade after the creation of the Veil. Spirits are now his only company for the next thousand years. Whether or not those spirits were the remaining souls of the elves he tried to save, we don't know, but regardless, I truly believe they are his people. But he is not a spirit. At least, not anymore.

Cole: "You don't need to envy me, Solas. You can find happiness in your own way." Solas: "I apologize for disturbing you, Cole. I am not a spirit and sometimes it hard to remember such simple truths." Cole: "They are not gone so long as you remember them." Solas: "I know." Cole: "But you could let them go." Solas: "I know that as well." Cole: "You didn't do it to be right. You did it to save them." Inquisitor: "Solas, what is Cole talking about?" Solas: "A mistake. One of many by a much younger elf who was certain he knew everything."

In this banter, Cole reveals to us that Solas' mind immediately goes from "It's hard for me to accept I'm not a spirit" to "the people that were lost when Solas created the Veil". To me, this pretty much confirms that the people of Elvhenan and spirits are connected, if not one and the same. It's assumed that the Evanuris mined the Titans to somehow create bodies for spirits to inhabit, and that Mythal gave Solas a body against his will. There's also the theory about the creation of the Veil having caused the separation of body and spirit.

You know, I've written so much about this in previous posts and I don't want to sound like a broken record, but if we consider all those little clues and look at all of his dialogue in that context, it just makes so much sense to me, that what he wants to do is primarily to save the spirits/destroy the barrier for them to enter the waking world without their purpose getting corrupted. There's also still the matter of the Blights and red lyrium otherwise probably consuming the entire world. 😅 I think that's what he's referring to when saying "What I am doing will save this world" in Tevinter Nights.

And remember, "Dread Wolf" is still literally an anagram for "World" and "Fade". 😂 Both worlds colliding is quite literally in his title. lol Whatever the six eyed high dragon sized Dread Wolf actually is, as far as we know, he only seems to exist within the Fade, but how exactly is he connected to Solas and what will happen to him if he tears down the Veil (which btw is also definitely gonna happen… I mean, besides the fact that the Veil is getting weaker regardless of Solas' actions)? ANYWAY.

Sorry for rambling so much (and I feel like my English is a little rusty, too 😖), but I haven't talked about this stuff in a while and the lack of news is killing me. 😂 But your message gave me something to think about again, so thank you! :)

#oh no this got so long again 😖#solas #also again Bioware I beg you please give us that ''Solas calling his spirit army and charging into battle'' moment from TN 👀#tinfoil time #da4 #''Spirit self. Seeing the soul. Solas. But somehow sorrows.''#watch us play DA4 one day and none of this turn out to be true 😂#but I'm gonna die on that hill lol

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