Thinking about König
Mainly, thinking about his anxiety being like my anxiety. It's social anxiety but more than the "oh no, people, scary!" That people tend to generalize it as.
That's not to say that it isn't like that. Yes, people are intimidating, especially large groups of them. Or if you're being put in a command position. Or if you're in a position to be judged... Which is most situations. (Public speaking, especially for school projects is especially bad).
But it's not just shyness. It's also the aversion.
Walking through the halls, with a dead sort of stare. Not intentionally intimidating, but it's very much a resting bitch face, look at me and I'll kill you sort of expression.
Saying as little as possible to people he's not comfortable with.
"yes."
"no."
"I don't like that."
"I don't want to."
"we are not friends."
Staring so intently at people that it unsettles them.
"-and that's why I think... Why... It's... Is everything okay, Colonel?"
"Ja, why?"
"You're, uh... You're looking very intently."
"This is just how I look. Eye contact is important."
"uhh... Right, it's just... I haven't seen you blink?"
"I blink when you blink."
Like, yes, of course there are situations where he gets mousy voiced or sweaty palms. But not at work, no. At work he's able to conjure up, maybe not confidence, but something.
At a restaurant though? Speaking softly, making himself small, saying please and thank you after every sentence. It doesn't matter what the server does, he's always soft spoken and polite, nervous. If he asks for no pickles and they bring him his dish with pickles, he'll eat it. If he orders a chicken sandwich and they bring him a burger, he'll eat it. If he tells them that he has a deadly peanut allergy and they bring him a tub of peanut butter... He'll send that back, but he'll be polite about it.
"Oh, ja, I'm sorry, I... This isn't what I ordered. Oh, no, no, it's okay, don't apologize. I'm sorry. You're busy. It's fine, I understand."
Sometimes during mission briefs he will randomly growl and smack his fist on the table. People think he's mad at them and straighten up, stop sipping so loud, on their best behaviour. He actually just got mad at himself, remembered something embarrassing from his past.
He almost acts like a narcissist. Passes by a mirror, winks at his reflection: "How's it going, good looking?"
Makes jokes about being the pretty one. People think he's full of himself.
He actually hates himself but has replaced negative self talk with show boating. He doesn't hate himself any less, but he tells himself to kill himself way less often!
Always has some sort of plan. An escape route, a plan of attack. Watching the people around him nervously.
Sits in the back of the room so he can watch everybody. Sits with his chair pushed far back so he can stand quicker.
Glares at people who walk by. Gives their dogs heart eyes. Prays that the owners realize and ask him if he wants to say hello. He's too awkward to ask permission. And he's too angry looking for people to offer.
Represses lots of anger from incidents he feels he can't lash out in, goes batshit in training or on missions. (I used to do kick boxing, the gym people had to keep coming up to me and moving my punching bag back because I was hitting it too hard).
The kind of person to, when going to someone's house, immediately look for signs of a pet. If he finds it. The animal is now his best friend. Goes to a party hangs with the dog type of beat.
Thinks smoking pot would help him. But the idea makes him nervous. Which he thinks, smoking pot would help... But the idea of smoking pot makes him nervous. But he–
Will just lie to get out of shit.
"Hey, we're going to get drinks tonight, do you want to come?"
"ah, I can't... I promised to get dinner with a friend."
Goes home and enjoys a night alone.
Avoidant. Will just not do things that cause him stress. Hasn't been to the dentist in years because talking to the lady at reception makes him nervous. What if the phone signal is bad? What if it just keeps breaking up? What if she can't understand his accent? What if when he gets to the dentist they hate him for the state of his teeth? What if he goes to the dentist and they steal his teeth?! It's happened before! He's seen articles!
Gets adopted by extroverts by being unhinged.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Horangi asks.
"I heard that human meat tastes like pork... The best pork, actually." König says absently.
"Huh... And you know this why?"
"I was curious."
"okay... Let's go to dinner."
"Ja, let's."
A sort of dry air about him that comes off as a lack of empathy. But he's just got so much going on in his brain that he can't focus on emoting anything but augghskft.
Will stare off into space with a blend of the hundred yard stare and the most murderous expression known to man. He's not mad. He's just thinking.
Undiagnosed autism
Forgets people's names, gets to nervous to ask again. So he just calls everyone "you".
Acts cold and indifferent. He just really hates small talk, doesn't understand it. Why say something if it's not important? He doesn't care about your grandchildren. Or your wife. Or your morning.
Is the world's best host mainly out of fear. Asking if you need food or a drink or a blanket or if–
König who after confrontations, has to take a step back, hands shaking slightly. But who's also still super pissed and ready to throw punches at the drop of a hat
König who worries so much about physical affection that it just becomes too much. Hugs are suffocating, hands are held too tight, cuddling is like being smothers. But it takes him a long time to initiate anything. God forbid you initiate anything. Hug the man and he bluescreens
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hello i’m sorry, i’m so sorry (I’mnotsorry) but has anyone written about the scars Steve is definitely going to have in a thin ring around the base of his throat from the demobat’s tail?
Those aren’t just bruises, in the first image you can see raised, damaged skin. Abrasions at the least, from the demobat gripping and shifting and sliding as it tightened its grip. Filthy abrasions, too, being from the Upside Down. Animal injuries are dirty. I have scars from YEARS ago that were small scratches at the time, discolorations now. I was scratched by a goose once when I was 10, and that minor injury remained lashed over the back of my thumb for well over a decade. I have thin, pale discolorations of my forearms right now from over 8 years ago, made by a the slip of a bird’s foot. A small circle between my pointer and middle finger from when I was bitten in high school, 20 years ago by a rescue parrot while I was helping out. Animals, even our mundane ones, have bacteria of all sorts that can become minorly infected and cause healing to take longer, to cause scarring to form. I can’t even imagine how much worse an injury from something in the Upside Down is.
I’ve seen fics where they talk about the one on his side, but these are the delicate ones I want to see mentioned. These are the ones I want to see Eddie touch with reverence for the horror of it, with respect for the fear that had come with them. The ones I want to see Steve draw in a too-quick breath when they’re touched, because he remembers the rough tail wrapped around his throat, dragging him down to his death, strangling the air from him. The one that bit him hurt him, this one made him panic, if only briefly. This one made him vulnerable to the others. These are the ones everyone is going to see, day to day. The ones he has to live with constantly instead of only with himself. The ones he’s gonna touch, himself, absently.
and i’m just curious if anyone else has written about them, or if I’m gonna have to do it myself
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maryssa @carpisuns has been one of my best friends for over two years now, and I just want to take a second to talk about how wonderful she is and how much of a joy it is to know her.
I first knew maryssa as an incredibly talented author, and then as an incredibly talented artist, and then as a dear friend. she is so wildly intelligent, thoughtful, kind, and funny that it’s so hard to picture my life now without her in it. hardly a day has gone by in the last several years that maryssa hasn’t made me cackle the ugliest laughter or made me want to start crying from her insanely thoughtful encouragement. she doesn’t take herself too seriously which is fun and refreshing but also sometimes makes me want to shake her by the shoulders and shout, “do you know?? do you know how incredible you are???” because she is. maryssa brightens up my life in such a unique way; it is so obvious how genuine her care is for the people around her.
the notion that maryssa is selfish in any capacity is genuinely ludicrous to anyone who actually knows her. literally last month I mentioned offhandedly in our group chat that I was feeling stressed about money, and the next day I saw maryssa had sent me $60 through kofi which helped me pay for gas that month. any time any artist we know opens commissions, maryssa is first in line because she has such a genuine love for supporting her friends, both with a constant stream of encouragement as well as with her resources. she’s taught me so much by her example of generosity and thoughtfulness. maryssa is an extremely talented and highly educated writer and editor and has offered up her english skills to help me on so many occasions, just because she is kind. she’s listened to me talk about the dumbest things on my mind as well as the important things, and has always - since day one - treated me with kindness and respect. she treats everyone like that.
when I think about what it means to be an encouragement, I think of maryssa. when I think about what it means to love people well, I think of maryssa. when I think about what it means to be brave, I think of maryssa. I wish that anyone who thinks they can know everything about a stranger from a few labels in their bio could have an ounce of the character maryssa has - that they could learn to be half as kind as she is. you don’t know anyone’s story until you’ve lived it. and how inspiring it is to me that maryssa has lived her story and come through it so kind and strong and brave. how grateful I am that I get to know her.
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