#pretty sure god spent an entire year creating him

[sato111u]

teen gojo, who has a massive crush on reader!

pure fluff ahead

“let’s goooo guys, what is taking so long!?” gojo was annoying his two best friends again, deeply insisting in going to the coffee shop down the street.

“why are you in such a hurry, the coffee shop closes at 9PM, it’s currently 4:36PM!” geto was sick and tired of gojo whining.

“yeah satoru? why are you so eager to visit this coffee shop mhm? i heard it’s not even that good.” shoko knew why. she knew exactly who the reason was.

it was you.

gojo wanted to see you, even if it meant sitting in the coffee shop just to take a few glances here and there. you always spent your free time studying or simply hanging out with your best friend in this coffee shop, it was your favorite place.

shoko and geto had give this situation a thought, and were dedicated to help gojo, without him knowing.

they left their lecture hall, and began walking to the coffee shop.

as soon as they come in, gojo’s head scans the entire room in order to find you.

there you were. definitely not a coincidence.

gojo tries to hide his grin, and looks at the counter, to figure out what he was going to eat. he needed his friends to think that he was actually here for the solo purpose of trying their delicious deserts.

as soon as the three best friends order, they try to find an available table to eat.

luck was on gojo’s side, since the only two tables available were only a few meters from yours.

as soon as the three of them settle down, shoko gives geto a mysterious look, and he nods.

“hey satoru, isn’t that y/n? the girl that went to the same high school as you? and she goes to our college right? different major??” shoko said in teasing manner, making gojo blush hard.

“yeah satoru, you should definitely go say hi.” geto added making gojo’s forehead sweat.

“no um she looks busy.” gojo tried not to stutter.

“that’s so rude! what if she already saw you walking in, that’s not how your mom raised you!” shoko said.

“oh shut up, yesterday you asked me and geto to hide you cause you saw a guy you used to be friends with!” gojo bit back.

“it doesn’t matter satoru. you should say hi, i’m pretty sure she saw us walking in.” of course geto was going to knock some sense into gojo’s head. shoko nods agreeing with geto.

“alright! i’ll go say hi, you guys are annoying.” gojo got up angrily, but throughout each step his body softened. he was didn’t want to seem unpleasant or angry in front of you.

…

it has been half a year since you guys had talked. seeing each other for the last time at prom.

you were a friend of utahime’s, who was also a friend of gojo. however, utahime probably wouldn’t agree. gojo’s parents and utahime’s parents had been friends for a long time, which forced them to create a friendship. their relationship was weird, consisting in gojo annoying utahime while she rolled her eyes in return.

you guys chatted a few times, always interrupted by utahime begging gojo to leave them alone.

during prom, utahime had more patience for gojo, since she was busy talking and taking glances at shoko, who was there as gojo’s plus one. one hour in, and those two where no where to be seen.

this opened the opportunity for gojo to getting to know you better, without utahime getting in way.

you guys spent the rest of the prom night on the school’s football field, talking about random topics, such as your mutual love for deserts.

your conversation was interrupted, when shoko called gojo, announcing that utahime was super drunk. of course, as her plus one and best friend, you and gojo quickly went to her rescue.

gojo’s opportunity to ask you number was ruined with your quick departure.

and of course, whenever gojo asked utahime for your number, she always said no.

…

“y/n? heyo!” gojo mentally slapped himself. who says heyo?

you giggled.

his heart felt warm.

“oh my god! satoru!” you got up from your chair and opened your arms, initiating a hug. gojo was not ready for this.

you wrapped your arms on his back, arms going underneath his arms. he quickly hugs back, placing his hands innocently in your middle back.

you smelled so good. his legs felt weak. he never wanted this hug to end, his body almost gave up, almost dropping his head in the crook of your neck.

you are the first one to let go of the hug. the cold breeze that passed through your bodies woke gojo back to reality. making him pull himself together.

“how have you been?” he asks, hoping you didn’t notice his nervous tone.

“i’m good! i haven’t seen you around! utahime told me we were attending the same college, and i was so excited to see you!!” you said. gojo’s stomach was doing cartwheels at this point, and his palms were sweaty.

“i have seen you around sometimes, but you always look pretty busy! but today i really wanted to say hi to you. haven’t talked to you in a while and i missed you” gojo’s confidence was slowly coming back, making you the nervous one.

“well i’m glad you came to say hi! do you wanna sit or are you here with someone else??” you invited.

“i’m here with you geto and utahime, wanna join us?” gojo asks. he wanted to spend more time with you, but he wasn’t going to leave geto and shoko by themselves, after begging them to come with him.

“it’s okay then!! i think i’ll stay here and continue studying!” you say.

“how about we hang out soon? then we can both talk more. it can even be at this cafe” gojo already took the first step of getting the courage to talk to you, he was definitely not gonna waste this opportunity to ask you out. as friends ;)

“yeah that sounds nice!” you replied.

win win

“okay okay, can you give me your number, so we can text details?” gojo confidently asked.

“yeah of course” you said smiling.

you grab a small piece of paper and write you number on it, signing y/n and a small heart. you gave the paper to gojo, whose heart warms after the cute touch.

“i’ll text you when I get home! bye y/n, stay safe! and don’t study too much!” he said, making you both laughed at his concerned self.

“bye satoru, you too!” - there it was, the sweet way his name came out your mouth.

gojo smiles and goes back to geto and utahime, mentally congratulating himself.

his smile was big. gojo’s heart truly felt warm.

geto and shoko watch him, as he sits back down on his seat.

“soooo?” shoko asks.

“i got her number” gojo says confidently.

“so you do like her! it was so obvious anyway” geto teases him.

“shush, let’s eat, i need to hurry up home so i can have an excuse to text her.” gojo said, before taking a huge bite of the chocolate muffin he order.

-

gojo’s text 🩵

DO YOU GUYS WANT MORE?!?!?!?! LIKE A MINI SIRIES

#gojo fanfic #gojo x y/n #jujutsu gojo #gojo fluff #gojo smut #jjk gojo #gojo x reader #gojo saturo #gojou satoru x reader #gojo satoru #gojo x you #jjk satoru #jjk fluff #jjk x you #jjk #jjk x reader #jjk season 2 #jjk smut #jjk leaks #jujustsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu nanami #jujutsu satoru #jujutsu sorcerer

[babybadger]

Charles takes you to Monaco for the first time and youre scared because you dont fit that lifestyle

The flight to Madre

When you met Charles as an intern at Ferrari, you never would have imagined that 2 years later you would be at the airport waiting on his private plane to go meet his entire family. This was stuff of fairytales- of fan fiction. He had spent the whole morning trying to comfort and reassure you that everything would be fine with his family and the trip but you still weren’t convinced.

You were both cosied up on a couch on your phones waiting on the announcement that your plane was ready when you suddenly locked your phone and stared at the door infront of you. “Whats got your brain rattled behind those pretty little eyes?” Charles questions as you continue to stare at one of the blank walls in the private lounge. “Does your mum have a favourite colour?” Charles looks slightly taken aback. He removes his arm from round your shoulders and leans slightly away from you to get a full view of your face. His eyebrows crease as he looks at you confused. “Okay out with it, what’s really going on? Why are you asking such a question?”

“I just realised I haven’t packed much red stuff. I don’t know I just wear it so much at ferrari and all my long gowns are red for ferrari events so i don’t really buy summer stuff in red cause red in like my work colour but then i saw a tiktok saying meet your mother in law in her favourite colour so she has a good first impression. But you’ve never told me her favourite colour so what if it’s red and I don’t have any clothes that are-” “Mon amour, calme-toi, tu penses trop à ça. She’ll love you, you’ve met arthur and enzo. You have nothing to worry about I promise.”

You giggle through the worry, “Cha you know i have no idea what you’re saying in French. My A in my exam when I was 16 in school means very little in a conversation with- oh my god does your mum know i don’t speak French? You need to teach me French on the plane!”Charles giggles in return as he looks in front of you to see the airlines crew member coming towards you telling you the plane was ready. You both stand up, Charles picking up both of your backpacks in one hand and using the other to wrap round your waist and pull you into him as you walk.

“Well I can’t teach you the whole language in one flight my love, but I can teach you some phrases to impress mi madre. That’s mum by the way.” Charles laughs as you roll your eyes. “I know that my love, I just don’t want your mum to ask me questions and I look stupid because I have no idea.” Taking your seat in front of him on the plane you sigh. “Y/N baby, she’s so excited to meet you. When she facetimed yesterday she asked what she should cook because she wanted to make sure you liked her cooking. You two are as bad as each other, stop being so stress babe.” You smile and lean over the table “It’s stressed babe, stop being so stressed.” He mimicked you leaning his elbows on the table, his face centimetres from yours. “See no one can be perfect, especially in a second language.” A smile spreads your face and you close the gap creating a very gentle kiss.

#f1 x reader #f1 imagine #f1 blurb #f1 imagines #charles leclerc #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc imagines #charles leclerc x reader

[starlightlacrimosazpsff]

♧ 𝓑𝓮𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓪 𝓟𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓽𝔂 𝓜𝓪𝓼𝓴 ♧

CO-WRITTEN WITH: @heiayen EVENT HOSTED BY: @soleillunne

SYNOPSIS:

Being a spy has its own set of challenges. Being a spy for a vigilante group, in a nation ruled by corrupt officials that dare to usurp the rightful authority of governance, is at an entirely different level of difficulty. You decided to accept the job of spying on a pretty boy from Inazuma, suspected to be a threat for being an accomplice with a dangerous diplomat from Snezhnaya whom was also an exile from your own nation. Due to your own hubris, you may have just earned a new archnemesis.

ENTRY TYPE: Event Submission, GN!Reader

WARNING(S): fight scene with a bit of blood, descriptive violence, degrading language, etc...

CHARACTER: Scaramouche

•

•

•

Curse the gods and curse the heavens, this was the last time you signed yourself up for a bigger job! A political affair, maybe something bigger—Inazuma’s most important politician’s son is possibly colluding with one of Snezhnaya’s worst politicians. No one knew why and to make it worse, there was quite the chance whatever they were planning was in one way or another related to the very nation you lived in for years now: Sumeru. Frankly, it was a mess...

…and somehow, you managed to put yourself in the middle of it.

Everyone got concerned when Alhaitham first brought the news to light because no one knew what it would mean for Sumeru. The rulers here were not to be trusted, willing to do gods know what for their own gain. That was also why this group got created, to stand against them and fight for what was right. You offered to spy on him and, yes, you were greeted with objections from Nilou and Cyno— both claiming it would be too dangerous for you. However, in the end, you got the green light.

—and, oh, how bad of an idea it was.

Scaramouche had perfected the act of a corrupt politician's innocent son who did no wrong, and could not be judged by his mother’s crimes when he has proven to be different. He was polite to others, always with a gentle expression on his face. When you first started the job, you could not even believe that this man could possibly be planning something terrible.

Most importantly, he was really pretty.

You knew it should not matter to you, no; but you seriously could not believe someone with a face like his could be a bad person. Then again, they do say not to trust a pretty face.

Ignoring your inner crisis, the job was not that bad at first. Yes, it was pricey because Scaramouche was often a guest of expensive places; and you therefore got the chance to eat expensive food, drinks and just enjoy the life of luxury. It was not with your money either, because all of that was covered under mission expenses by Alhaitham. He did scold you to not order dishes that are too expensive, or you will be the one paying for them. You listened because you knew he absolutely meant it. Still, it was great to enjoy the life of the rich for once. Obviously, it was not all that pretty every time; and sometimes, you would just spend hours walking around with your camera while trying to spot Scaramouche and see what he was doing or if he was talking with anyone.

It was fun, until it was not.

The serenity that surrounded him, combined with the gentleness of everything he did was driving you mad. You were having a hard time genuinely believing that he was behind any kind of political affairs. He literally was so polite to an older waiter in a restaurant! You sat in your chair, staring in shock until another waiter placed food on your table.

There was just no way.

🦋

There was a way, actually.

It was sunny that day when you were simply sitting and observing him again. Nice weather, nothing was happening. You could have just spent this day at home, chilling; but alas, you still had a man to spy on. You could not rest until you were 100% sure that nothing threatened Sumeru, especially when two influential individuals from different nations are suspected to be behind said threat. Fortunately, it seemed that the heavens finally listened to you and you got a lead.

As you sat in a spot high enough to avoid being noticed, you suddenly noticed Scaramouche grab his phone. You wasted no time turning on your camera and zooming in to clearly capture his face.

It…was new.

That usually calm expression of his dropped and got replaced by a scowl. It was a new expression of his, one that you have not seen at all, so you watched him closely with blatant curiosity. Whoever he was talking to, they have clearly angered him—judging by the furrow of his brows and his lips curved into a frown. He yelled too, you noticed; and despite being no lip-reader, you could swear the words he yelled out were insults and curses. Somehow, a part of you felt satisfaction watching the person you were observing for weeks lose their cool completely.

You fought a smirk creeping on your lips. You could not explain why.

You shook your head and brought your attention back to him. The call went on for a few minutes before he ended it with a spat of insults, or so you guessed.

While you had no idea what he was talking about on the phone or if it was in any way related to your current mission, it was still a move.

Guess you should update Alhaitham about it…

🦋

The heavens were on your side for once. When you returned, you handed the recording to Alhaitham. Some time afterwards, you received the transcript of Scaramouche’s conversation. Some of the words were missing since he just was not able to lip-read them, but you were grateful for his work either way. You were even more grateful for the news that came with the transcript.

Scaramouche was, indeed, talking with the very person you and your team suspected: Il Dottore. In Snezhnaya, he was known for his questionable morals, to say the least...and work ethics. There was a saying that if anything was going wrong, it was probably his fault. He studied at Sumeru’s academy but was ultimately expelled and banned from the nation.

For the sake of your sanity, you did not ask why.

However, all this gave you a clear image of upcoming troubles if you did not act in time. You did not know the details yet, but knowing that someone as unpredictable as Il Dottore was related to the case—

You blinked. This was no good.

You looked back at the transcript.

According to it, Scaramouche and Dottore were meant to meet soon at some party for rich people which was actually great for you. You could spy on both suspects at the same time, after all. You knew it would be hard, but even the tiniest chance of getting any more information was worth the risk that came with it. Who knows? Maybe Scaramouche would yell some important details in some fit of anger, and you would overhear it…

That would be the ideal scenario, but not likely to happen.

You liked to dream sometimes.

Also, yes, you were right about the fact he was yelling curses...and insults. Plenty of them even, to the point where Alhaitham—according to the small note he left—just refused to write them down. You laughed to yourself upon reading said note.

Somehow, you could not help but feel… excited at the thought of meeting him.

It was weird. You could not give it a name, but you somehow became too intrigued and personally fascinated with him for your own good. You wanted to meet him, talk to him, and see the carefully crafted mask of politeness with your own eyes. You wanted to see it slip, see a part of the real him come out.

The ugly side that he tried so hard to hide from everyone.

Be the reason the mask slipped.

…gods. Maybe it was your sign to rest for the day. With even more questions and even fewer answers, you got up from the desk and started packing up your things.

The party was this week, after all. You should start preparing.

🦋

Dining in expensive restaurants was one thing.

Attending expensive parties full of important people was another.

Getting an invite for yourself would be hard, given how—well, you were not that important in society. Alhaitham was, on the other hand, so you simply went as his plus one. It was honestly not a bad thing since, thanks to it, you had someone to call for help in case anything went down.

You hoped nothing would.

The first part of your plan was—

“Oh! Are you alright?” A voice asked. You blinked and looked at just who exactly you bumped.

You blinked again. Oh.

You only ever saw him in pictures and from a distance, so only now you realized how…genuinely pretty he looks. He is so beautiful that he could pass as a vintage doll, very pretty.

Too pretty for a human, you would dare to say.

“Yes, yes...! I’m sorry for bumping into you.” You said, smiling.

Scaramouche smiled back, although something was off about it.

“Are you here alone?”

“Oh no, no…!” You shook your head, “I’m with my friend.”

You wondered how many questions he could ask and how many answers you could give him before it would get suspicious. You try to subdue your body language to absolute neutrality to cover your tells.

“Where is your friend?”

“He’s…” You looked around. Truth be told, you actually had no idea where Alhaitham was, “...somewhere?”

“What a friend he is, to leave you alone at a party.” He clicked his tongue and shook his head, “Mind if I keep you company?”

Oh, no.

“There’s no need.” You waved your hand, “You must be busy yourself, I don’t want to waste your time.”

You did not want to risk anything by spending even more time around him. Your plan was simple: it was to bump into him, stick the little microphone to his clothes, and happily listen to his conversation with the Snezhnayan politician. Once that was done, you deactivate the bug so it does not get traced back and you can go back to headquarters in Sumeru with Alhaitham discreetly.

You did the first part and managed to stick the microphone to the inner edge of his suit. Now, you planned on leaving as fast as possible; but alas, that did not happen.

“I insist.” He smiled wider.

A shiver ran down your spine.

You did not understand why he would insist on staying with you. From all the time you spent watching him, he did not seem like someone so willing to accompany a stranger for no reason. Even when he was wearing his gentleman mask, he would always avoid prolonged idle chats and act reserved in the background.

There was no way he somehow found you out, right?

“Well...?” He tilted his head, the curve of his lips dropping just a tad.

“If you insist.” You forced a smile.

His own grew back into a beaming grin.

You had a terrible feeling about it, but still let him lead you deeper inside his web.

“What’s your name?” He asked, and you gave him the first fake name you could think. You were not worried about him somehow calling your bluff. After all, how in the world would he find out?

You just hoped he would not ask about Alhaitham.

He hummed with a nod. “Your friend is…?”

“He’s a businessman!” You blurted out. Good gods, it was as if he read your thoughts and decided to make things harder! “He didn’t have anyone as his plus one, so asked me to come.”

“A businessman, you say?” He raised his eyebrows and you nodded.

“He’s a very busy man, so that’s probably why he left me alone here.” You figured that maybe rambling for long enough would buy you time to find a way of leaving, “He took over his parents’ company at a very young age and did very well, so obviously a lot of people admired him—huh?”

You turned your head at him when you heard him laugh under his nose. What was his problem?

“Do you always talk a stranger’s ears off?” Scaramouche questioned, a glint of amusement in his eyes.

“Well, I guess you’re special?” You shrugged; and before he could reply, you spoke again, “If you mind it, then maybe you should talk now? About yourself, maybe...?”

He looked at you and, somehow, you felt cornered by him in a room full of people.

“About myself...?” He chuckled lowly and leaned toward you, “Don’t you know it all already? Or maybe you’re not as good of a spy as you claim to be?”

You froze, stiffening from head to toe at his statement.

You were busted.

Scaramouche gracefully swiped a flute of champagne from a passing waiter. He keeps his eyes on you, the majestic midnight blue darkening into a burgundy shade. This is a glimpse into the true self you have been wanting to see, yet it sent chilling thrills throughout your body. To witness the seamless change between his hollow kindness to ominous threat, it almost made you flush with shame as a spy when you compared how his facade is legitimately smoother than yours.

“You sure hold a lot of confidence to spy on me,” he chuckled derisively, “yet you can’t even lie properly to save your life. Just from your rambling, I can tell you must have good backing. The downside is your supposed friend must be fairly recognizable. If you out him as your accomplice, your entire operation could fall.”

He took a sip from his glass, elegance blending perfectly with shrewd composure.

"The only smart thing here," he hums as he swirls the liquid, "is that plus-ones are not officially enlisted on the invitations. That means you get to hide your name from me, just a little while longer. That also means your friend gets to keep his dirty secret of being involved in these clandestine operations."

It was very impressive how he managed to deduce all that from one conversation with you. The sheer audacity that he was even laying it all out in the open for you showed how it barely made a difference to him. You have a lot to learn as a spy, it seems. This experience and encounter have just humbled you.

Scaramouche is quite a monster.

You shudder to imagine what it would be like to deal with Dottore.

“So, tell me.” He almost purred, “What’s your objective here, little mouse?”

You gaped incredulously, “Little mouse…?!”

Scaramouche blinked a few times, mocking a surprised expression.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” He teases haughtily, “I was trying to be nice but perhaps you prefer a more accurate nickname. How about a little fly? You sure love acting like one with how you kept hovering for the past few weeks just to get some dirt on me.”

You gritted your teeth as you glare at him, utterly humiliated and infuriated. He casually observes you from head to toe as he drinks the rest of his champagne. As he does, his other hand busied itself in dismantling the bug you implanted on him. With a smirk, he presents it to your face. He leans forward as if to intimately impart a secret.

“Not good at hiding your emotions either…” he notes tauntingly, “Am I your first job, little fly? Quite audacious of you, I must say.”

Your target sneers as he casually crushes the gadget in his fist, displaying an uncanny strength despite his delicate appearance. He drops it and stomps on the object for good measure, whispering to you. For the first time, you realize how dangerous Scaramouche could really be and how arrogant you have been by taking this job.

“You ain’t slick.” He laughs sharply, “How about I show you how it’s done?”

At that moment, he releases just a tad bit of killing intent that makes you instinctively shove him away from you without any coherent control over yourself. The rest of his champagne spills on your clothes, and he gasps—now playing the perfect gentleman again. He sets aside the glass on a nearby table, producing his handkerchief to wipe the stain on your arm and patting your torso lightly.

“A thousand apologies…!” Scaramouche said gently, “I didn't mean to startle you. It’s most fortunate the champagne did not spill too much on you.”

He then smiled so chivalrously that it made you blush. This man has a rotten personality yet his mask is flawless, especially with that pretty face! You know it is fake, a point being proven regarding how much he looks down on your own skills. In fact, because of this play, he has everyone’s attention now. He started the scene, and so he gets to control it—cornering you mercilessly.

“Go ahead.” His eyes seem to goad you, “Call for help from your friend. Let me see who else is behind your operations as I make you fall apart.”

To your credit, you managed to do the exact opposite. You were sure Alhaitham is also holding himself back from approaching for the same reasons. If you were going down, he cannot possibly reveal himself to Scaramouche and Dottore. It was all too clear you made too many mistakes when it came to spying on Scaramouche. The realization hurts your pride, but you have nobody else to blame but yourself. Thus, you did not resist as he touched your arm—deceptively tender as you feel his nails dig as a warning.

“Allow me to escort you to get cleaned.” Scaramouche offers gallantly.

It was not a request. Either you go with him, or he finds a way to hunt you down later.

You complied peacefully.

However, as soon as you are both out of sight and earshot, you will fight back. It was a shame you would have to bruise that pretty face, but the bastard deserves the hit.

He will pay for underestimating you.

🦋

Scaramouche saw your resistance coming.

In the dark of night away from the party, you turned your arm in such a way he was forced to bend his hold. With his balance off, you aimed your free fist towards his face but he dodged effortlessly—that pretty smile still on his face. Burgundy eyes gleam under the moonlight, as if pleased to see your spirit.

It was ironic how you had wished to be the reason Scaramouche’s mask falls off.

However, he was the one doing it to you.

That knowledge serves to piss you off even more as you lunge forward. Hit after hit, he dodges skillfully with the reflexes and agility of a graceful feline. At one point, he boredly taps your wrist away to misdirect your fist and proceeds to use your momentum against you by aiming his knee against your stomach. In a last minute maneuver, your body twirls in a way that would have made Nilou proud. As you fall, one of your hands plants on the ground to help you spin a kick towards his face. He raises his arms to block to which you swiftly flip away to gain some distance.

“Not bad,” Scaramouche smirks appraisingly, “it seems you’re not so hopeless after all.”

He flicks his wrists, showing that the power of your kick did not leave him unfazed. However, you paled a bit when he ended up producing a butterfly knife. Frankly, the tricks he displayed with it impresses you; but you quickly covered it up with a dark glower.

“Don’t pout, little fly~!” He coos in a sickeningly sweet tone, “If you’re dirty enough to intrude on my privacy, I’m dirty enough to use weapons on an unarmed person.”

You huffed, “You seem to put a lot of effort on someone you deem as an insignificant insect.”

He scoffs back at you, “Don’t flatter yourself. I just want to see you bleed for causing this much trouble for me.”

“If you kill me here,” you bluff, “you won’t have a way to cover it up.”

Scaramouche pauses before manic glee flashes in his eyes. He snorts before erupting into full chortles. His cheeks flush pink in genuine hilarity, lips spread wide open with laughter. It made him appear innocent, a young man who was having the time of his life. Alas, the context is darker than that for you. It shows from the glint reflected in those malicious amethysts that glare back at you.

“Why,” he chirps boyishly, “are you scared, little fly?”

He scowls bitterly, “You really think you’d be the first murder victim I’ve cleaned up in these sorts of gatherings. I have plenty of experience, and I know how to handle your type while making it look like an accident...or just have you go missing entirely.”

The blade in his hand glints menacingly as he points it at you.

Then, he attacks.

You sucked a breath through your teeth, flinching to instinctively dodge the stab he aimed at your eye. He is very fast! He is lightning fast, and fluid too. He was not just stabbing or mindlessly swinging. Every movement is precise and nimble, like an assassin who has eliminated all sorts of targets. For every swipe and thrust, he makes use of his entire body and especially his flexible wrist which flicks to aim at the slightest weakspot he sees within a blink. At one point, you manage to kick him back and his moment of shocked astonishment made your chest swell with pride. However, your smug grin immediately falters when he dashes at you while changing hands for his blade and vanishes in a split second—

—only to reappear behind you to hold your entire body in a chokehold, pointing the blade straight to your jugular. It applied enough pressure to cut, making you wince as your skin bled. His lips almost seductively graze your ear, chuckling softly.

“Give up, mousey.” Scaramouche murmurs.

You grunted, “Never.”

“Fine. Then perish.”

On cue, a smoke bomb drops by yours and Scaramouche’s feet. You did not hesitate to elbow him in the gut when his hold loosened in alarm and distraction. You then made a swift escape and barely dodged the blade that blindly flew past your cheek. It embeds onto the cobblestone pathway with a metallic clang. At the same time, your keen hearing detects the sound of a familiar bird call that can only come from the ever quick-witted Alhaitham. With a relieved sigh, you follow the sound into the darkness.

You need a drink as soon as you get back to headquarters.

🦋

Scaramouche silently stood alone in the garden.

He was leaning against a pillar, one hand in his pocket. He then holds up a vial of your blood to the moon, having collected it from the blade that nicked your cheek and neck. It was a meager sample but more than enough for Dottore to know everything about you once Scaramouche hands it over to him. The thought left a bitter taste of disdain in his mouth, but this is not his expertise and he wants results.

He wants to see you again.

Clacking footsteps made his ears twitch but he did not move from observing the crimson elixir as it glowed beneath the moonlit gaze.

“They got away.” Scaramouche informs the stranger coldly.

“Really now?” Dottore laughs humorlessly, “You’ve gotten soft.”

“Shut the fuck up!” The younger male hissed, “Let them and whatever company they keep have this false sense of security. It would be more advantageous for us anyway.”

He shoves the vial towards the unethical doctor, crossing his arms in haughty irritation. His dark burgundy eyes stared blankly at where he last saw you—held you in his arms, and felt shivers down his spine as you fought him with the ferocity of a wild beast.

“I know their type.” Scaramouche gruffly explains, “They would bite their own tongue rather than start talking. They make for a lousy spy based on their skills, but their attitude is stellar for the job.”

Dottore grins widely, “Ha! Careful there, Balladeer. You almost sound doting as you praise the vermin.”

Scaramouche gives him a murderous expression.

“Just get out of my sight!” He spat, “We’re done here.”

Unwilling to spend more time with his co-conspirator, Scaramouche makes himself scarce from the premises. One of his hands combs through his hair agitatedly before loosening his collar with a deep scowl. He can feel his arms bruising after the scuffle, making him laugh under his breath. You surely gave quite the fight even if he had no plans to really kill you tonight.

“Let the games begin, mousey.” He mumbled, “I do love a good chase.”

The Balladeer hopes you were better at running than spying.

It would be boring if he catches you too soon.

•☆••☆••☆•

#genshin impact #𝗜 αnσdчnє sαвαísm 𝗜 #genshin oneshots #event submission #gn!reader #scaramouche #kunikuzushi #wanderer #wanderer genshin #scaramouche x reader #scaramouche x you #wanderer x reader #wanderer x you #kabukimono #kunikuzushi x reader #kunikuzushi x you #kabukimono x reader #kabukimono x you #the balladeer #fatui harbingers #saudade; milestone #slight!tw #sfw

[youmakemyhearthowl]

Punk Princess

Ao3| Part 1| Part 2| Part 3 (Next Part) |Part 4| Part 5| Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8| Part 9 | Part 10

Eddie really was just trying to get through the day unnoticed by Tommy and his goons. He’d been prepared to spend his second senior year with his head down and his eyes on the graduation prize. So when he heard whispers through the halls about some ‘freak’ he felt dread coil in his stomach. He hasn’t even done anything yet, it was the first day of classes for shit sake and he’d been late getting in. 

So when he was scurrying around the halls trying to find a pen in his backpack, glancing up at Tommy’s voice and spotting a literal punk god with Robin Buckley hanging off his arm he was a little surprised. But when his eyes tracked over the body of the other boy, he’s pretty sure his brain completely just turned off when he caught a glimpse of the face attached to the body. 

Steve fucking Harrington in all his glory was wearing a cropped mesh top, and what looked to be a black battle vest. But that wasn’t the end of what the fuck was happening because his hair was shaved on the sides and his face, Jesus Christ his face, was painted with a black charcoal around his pretty brown eyes, and fuck was that a piercing in his lip? In his eyebrow?? 

Hold the fuck on is that a hanky in his back pocket?

Eddie’s pretty sure he made some kind of noise as he stumbled and spilled the contents of his backpack over the hall floors, scrambling to pick it all up while his eyes were still locked firmly on Steve. 

He’s pretty sure Tommy had said something towards him at that point but his brain hadn’t even fully booted back up when he watched a determined look coat Steve’s face as he drew the other guys attention back to himself. Eddie couldn’t stop the noise he made at that pretty sure his entire face was tomato red now as Steve shot him a soft smile.

“They’re called shit kickers.” Steve offers, catching Tommy’s gaze. “Wanna find out why?”

And for fucks sake, no one, no one should look that attractive stating they were going to basically kick someone's face in, but Eddies pretty sure he just completely blue screened because the next time he was even aware he had a body, Gareth was pulling him away from the scene where a teacher had at some point stepped in. 

Eddie noted with disappointment that it looked like Steve hadn’t gotten to give Tommy a demonstration after all.

“Eddie..” The tone Gareth took was a long cultivated one, used specifically when Steve Harrington was involved, and Eddie cringed before smoothing out his expression, he was prepared to go on a long winded rant about how jocks were apparently stealing the looks outcasts had spent years creating and getting ridiculed for.

He knows that's what he was going to say.

“Holy shit Gareth I want to get down on my knees and worship that man.” Is what ends up coming out, and Gareth’s face does a weird mix of disgusted and unsurprised, his brows twisting together.

“Christ Eddie.”

“Did you see him Gareth? I’m pretty sure my brain had to do a full reboot.” Just as they were rounding the corner to their shared first period class, Eddie's feet stopped working and he stumbled roughly into a very firm back. The head attached to said back turned around slightly with a startled expression that turned into a smirk and honestly Eddie shouldn’t be surprised his brain goes offline again, because holy fuck.

“You sure do trip a lot, Munson.” Steve's voice comes out with a well practiced boredness to it that should be insulting, if it wasn’t for the playful twinkle in his eyes as he turns around and faces Eddie, who’s being manhandled to standing back up straight by Gareth. Eddie can feel the snarky, playful reply on the tip of his tongue, his whole body alight with the fact that finally, finally for the first time Steve is talking to him. Eddie is only slightly ashamed to admit that he’d spent a few sleepless nights imagining what he would say if he ever got to talk to Steve. So subtle flirting is what he’s prepared and ready to throw out at him. 

“Only if I can lick those boots.” Is what comes out instead. Eddie is pretty sure he feels his face explode, because what the hell?? Fucking get on the same page he shoots the thought to his brain and mouth filter as he pulls a chunk of hair up to cover his face. Steve looks startled for a second, before a slow devilish smile spreads across his face.

“I’m more into being the one that does the boot licking, but I’ll keep that in mind, babe.”

Eddies pretty sure he goes into cardiac arrest right there in the hallway.

Ao3| Part 1| Part 2| Part 3 (Next Part) | Part 4| Part 5| Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8| Part 9 | Part 10

#Punk!Steve #Punk Steve #Steve Harrington #Eddie Munson #Steddie #Steddie fic #Gareth is a good friend if not a little done with Eddies shit #God this is so fun to write #Punk Princess fic

[ineed-to-sleep]

7 + 12 + 26!

7. What circumstances led to your tav becoming their class/subclass?

Her entire life has led up to being a rogue/thief, basically! She was a little kleptomaniac and had a knack for being a menace from a very young age. She just *had* to get her grubby little hands on everything and if something of yours caught her eye, it was no longer yours.

As a kid she spent a lot of time on her own, mostly because her caretaker(her uncle) wasn't... *around* that much. He would often leave her with enough to fulfill her basic needs and go out on hunting trips for several days. She was scared at first to be all alone, but after some time getting used to it, the boredom started settling in. Walking around the house and playing with old trinkets in her uncle's attic wasn't cutting it anymore, she needed some action in her life, and she decided to make that everyone else's problem 👍🏻 She went out into the nearby town, made some friends, made some enemies, and discovered her passion for taking things that don't belong to her, invading spaces where she's not supposed to be, and telling people the most dogshit lies to get herself out of trouble. She was a natural.

The town she lived by was West Harbor, in Merdelain, and she ended up expanding on her skillset by doing the most insane thing a child growing up in the Mere can do- she went out into the swamp. By herself. Several times. She explored nasty lizardfolk caves and Illefarnian ruins alike. How she survived is honestly a wonder, but she did, and learned to handle herself in difficult terrain and both create and disarm mechanical and magical traps, as well as learned a few magic tricks on her own. This was of course only the start of her rogueing career- she had another 40 years ahead of her to develop that skillset- but I'd say she was off to a pretty good start.

Putting the rest under a readmore bc this is getting a little long snjsjsjdk

12. What opinion does your tav have about the Gods?

She would like to have a word with them. She's not mad ok she just wants to talk.

So, you know how I mentioned it's a wonder she survived in the swamp? It was mostly a little bit of skill and a whole lot of luck, but in the beginning, she had a little leg up because of the blessing of a certain goddess.

You see, most wilderness is protected by Mielikki, primarily goddess of the forest but patron of all rangers, regardless of the terrain they choose to traverse. Nawen's uncle was a favored of Mielikki and she was both confused and fascinated by his religious practices. She would watch him pray, mimick him and learn the words to the prayer like a song. She took one of the symbols of the goddess he had in his altar, tied it to a cord and wore it like an amulet, just like he did. Traversing the swamp, there were times where she felt magic emanating from it, and a sudden streak of luck whenever she prayed. She believed it was the goddess, somehow, choosing to help her. And for that she was grateful, she had a positive view of the Gods.

That didn't last long though, because as she grew up and moved into the city, delving into its criminal underground, she felt the magic slip and the presence of the goddess fade. It's been over 20 years since she hasn't felt any sort of divine intervention and hasn't been able to rely on another God since. She felt abandoned by her, loved and then cast out like an old toy, and she knows it's probably because of her life choices, but she still feels bitter about it. She believes the Gods don't truly care for anyone and are only concerned with whatever suits their whims- and sure, she can see how that sounds awfully similar to her own attitude and it would be hypocritical to judge them based on that, but she still thinks it's stupid to idolize, follow and dedicate your life to someone like that.

26. Does your tav have a treasured item with them? If yes, what is it and why is it special?

Yeah, she still carries that symbol of Mielikki around ajajdjksk for all of her cynicism towards the Gods, she still feels wrong about throwing it away and in some little part of herself deeeeep deep inside, hopes that Mielikki will look at her again and show her that she cares. She doesn't wear it as an amulet anymore though and just has it usually in a pocket or kept among her things in her camp chest.

#hope that made sense!! I had a great time writing these and drawing these sketches of her sjkwkskf so thanks for sending this <3 #also I will not lie to you. when I was researching and deciding what god her uncle would worship #I mostly picked mielikki bc I took one look at her symbol and went that's it. that has to be it #I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make my edgy ebony d'arkness dementia ravenway rogue worship the mlp goddess #asks #bg3 #tav #oc.nawen #nawenlore #sleepyscribble #ask game

[smallidarityyuri]

Sculptor Joel and Muse Jimmy Smallidarity

The Muse was beautiful. That was the entire reason that the Sculptor would stare at him for hours on end recreating his beauty, to picture perfection. That was the entire reason the Muse would sit still for hours on end. Because he knew his worth. He knew how beautiful he was, and so did the Sculptor. Jimmy knew he was more beautiful than the marble statues recreated in his picture.

He couldn't help but wonder, though. Had anyone ever praised the Sculptor? Surely after spending days and days, sometimes months on something so beautiful that he deserves to know his worth.

He spent hours on little details, biting down on his lip with a furrowed brow, a brush behind his ear. He would carve marble with such precision you could tell he had many years of experience, and had learned from those who would sculpt the gods. He could create the folds in fabric and make them look perfect. You could tell that he put his entire life into this art, to preserve the Muse's beauty.

Jimmy frowned. Who would preserve the Sculptors beauty? Surely if he put this much into his life preserving the beauty of someone like the Muse then he would only deserve the same. It felt kind of unfair that the only thing keeping Jimmy alive after he died was how pretty he was.

The Sculptor was beautiful too. He was just as beautiful as the Muse. He had a beard that well framed his face and showed his age. He had beautiful dark eyelashes that make his eyes more bold, that make his eyes look like the brightest trees you've seen. His nose is large and has a bump to it. An Italian nose, Jimmy suspected. His face was very round, but not young. His hair was fluffy and stuck out messily in the back and on the sides, but had been well kept for the most part.

His skin had blackheads and blemishes and bumps of all sorts, calloused, scarred, and cut. It only made him more unique, more beautiful. Jimmy wanted his beauty to be preserved just as much as the Muse had already been preserved.

Unfortunately Jimmy was just the Muse. The Muse was the one who was painted and sculpted, not the Sculptor.

While the Sculptor sculpted him, Jimmy would stare at him and his beauty. Not that the Sculptor minded of course. Jimmy would stare and paint his beauty in his mind, and Joel would stare and paint his beauty in person.

#solidaritygaming #smallishbeans #jimmy solidarity #joel smallishbeans #trafficshipping #smallidarity #my writing #<3 #empiresshipping

[honourablejester]

Zerxus and Asmodeus

Okay. So everybody is talking about this conversation, and I’m going to talk about it too, because wow. It’s so much. It’s incredible, absolutely fantastic, terrifying.

So. Thoughts.

Firstly, that whole conversation read to me like two people who are secretly pretty certain they’re enemies testing each other out and seeing how each other reacted. I do not think Zerxus was a complete idiot. He’s a proud, angrily compassionate man, and his first instinct in most situations is to fix whoever’s bleeding first and go from there. He was inclined to protect and heal Asmodeus before he ever got close enough to see the resemblance to Evandrin, and when he did realise the resemblance he immediately felt he was being tricked. Also, he has a pattern of trying to get information through kindness and persuasion: see also Alessander and Sofyra. Just because he’s being nice to somebody does not mean he’s not pumping them for information at the same time.

He spent most of this conversation trying to figure out what Asmodeus is, wants, and is capable of doing. Who he is, where he is, how is he likely to react. He wants to know how Asmodeus sees himself, where he came from, what his crimes were, who broke him out of prison. He offers kindness and aid and compassion and the pursuit of justice, but nothing that breaks his own morals or endangers anything he himself cares about. (The gods and potentially Avalir, he’s very angry at this city, can go suck a dick, but mortals as a whole are something he’s fiercely trying to protect). There are lines in the sand. He’s not just falling head over heels into this conversation.

Is he being breathtakingly foolish in asking certain questions and telling his entire agony to the Lord of the Hells? Absolutely. But what I mean is that it seems a calculated risk. An exchange. Zerxus is using kindness and compassion the way Asmodeus … is using gratitude, weakness, brokenness, and fellow-feeling. (And flirtation?) As a means to get closer, to find things out, to lure, to take off guard. This wasn’t a one-way conversation.

I’m nearly positive that Asmodeus wants Zerxus to do something with the Calix/Name Tree. Likely destroy it? Between the vision in the first episode and his words in this one with Evandrin and the tree, he’s definitely angling for Zerxus to possibly have reason to destroy or at least interact with the tree. He’s also, with a sledgehammer, planting seeds of doubt and strife between the Ring of Brass. And he’s not even lying to manage it, because the truth is more than good enough. I mean, the Lord of the Hells, the Father of Lies, is good at his job. Breathtakingly, terrifyingly good. He knew about Evandrin from the start. He knows where Avalir is without Zerxus telling him. He’s had cultists infiltrating the city for the past two goddamned weeks, this is 100% a set-up to use Zerxus for whatever the last step needs to be to get the betrayers all the way onto the material plane.

The thing is, though, I’m pretty sure Zerxus is aware of all of that. He spun the conversation out to try and buy the hour for Atonement. He tried to gather all the information he could. And then … there was this bit:

Asmodeus: And I thought to help. I had seen the gifts of love and courage and honour and sacrifice and I said: these are the greatest gifts we could create, and we must make them matter. And I said, these will matter because, in their absence, we will know deceit, and in their absence we will know betrayal. In the absence of love we will know viciousness—I thought I was expanding on a creation. I thought I was making something that would make the earlier work more … more. And then years passed and time passed and the gifts I had made … Mortals called them evil, and said that they were wicked, said that they were wrong, and I said, well, yes, but that is the point, is it not? That … And they hated me, and none said prayers to my name, and I turned to my kin and my brethren and I said, does this strike you as fair? None of them spoke. None of them said a word in my defence. All were happy to watch as my gifts were not seen for what I intended them to be. And then others decided to grant even more. Many of us were already hated. Many of us were already seen as something worse, something abominable, but that, those stories, those things that shaped that, they were aided or egged on or pushed forward by the others, and in that time of pain and sorrow, they then stepped forward and gave more gifts: they gave magic. The primordials … They were giving the ability to shape reality to the things that they had used their ability to shape reality to shape. We had already leant on the hospitality of the primordials enough. We had leant on it enough. And we stepped in and said, the game has gone on too far. The primordials rose up against them, and … and … The prime deities, as they call themselves, stepped in to fight them, to double down on their overreach. Our promises were to the primordials, and we were called betrayers.

Zerxus: Easy.

Asmodeus: I have been burning for so long.

Zerxus: They used you. They did. And I’m sorry for that. I can help you. You say you know me? When the time comes and you step from this void into our world, don’t you forget me. Don’t you forget the kindness that we’re capable of. Because we’re your children too. We are made of the same stuff. That what you initially created, we come from the same thing. And if you remember the stories as well as you seem to, then you know that at some point you turned your pain on us. They used you and then you used us to get back at them. I have a son, that’s not of my blood, but that is my son. I met Evandrin when he was just an infant, and I held that boy in my arms, and I fell in love with him, I am his father. But he is not of my blood. And in that same way, we are your children. Please remember that. Don’t take your pain out on us. Spare us. And I will help you. I will help you confront those that did this to you.

Asmodeus: I don’t give my word lightly. You have my word on this, Zerxus Ilerez. Not for all the ages of the world will I forget you.

--- Exandria Unlimited: Calamity, Episode 2

I fucking love that speech and that response. Thank you, Brennan Mulligan, for putting those words in Asmodeus’ mouth, and Luis for that response. Oof. So much in that. So much.

The thing is, I’m pretty sure the Father of Lies isn’t lying here. Putting a bit of a spin, yes, but not lying. Because this is such a perfect test of Zerxus’ reactions, and Zerxus failed his response so bad. So bad. And not for the reasons it looks like. This was a test of Zerxus’ morals. And Zerxus failed, because he has them.

Let’s look at Zerxus first. This is the part where you know he knows Asmodeus is an enemy. Because he’s begging. He’s not promising to let Asmodeus the rest of the way out of his prison, he’s saying that when Asmodeus gets out, because he’s assuming he will if they can’t stop him, to remember him and his kindness and spare mortals because of it. Compassion for compassion. What I give to you, give back to me. Spare us, spare the people I love, and I will serve you and aid you against your enemies.

That’s … That’s a thing you promise when you think the other guy doesn’t like you, and when you’re afraid the other guy might win. That’s not an honest offer of service. That’s a bargain for the life of the world. Sweetened with healing and fervour and the promise not to flinch.

Because Zerxus … can’t serve Asmodeus genuinely. And his answer told Asmodeus as much.

And the best and worst thing of it was, it wasn’t a failure of conviction or persuasion that told him so, it was a failure of empathy. Because Zerxus answered wrong. He answered the wrong wound. He answered his own wound, the one he saw (was let see) echoed in Asmodeus, and failed the truer, more personal wound Asmodeus offered him.

Zerxus promised a home. He promised healing, aid, compassion for what had been done. He promised the pursuit of justice against Asmodeus’ enemies. All the things he so desperately wants for himself.

And he ignored completely Asmodeus’ first and worst wound. And worse, inflicted it again.

Assuming, of course, that Asmodeus is telling the truth of his view of the Schism. But whether or not his emotions are as real as he portrays them to be, that’s the wound he offered, and that’s the wound Zerxus ignored and repeated.

Spare us. Don’t hurt us. Don’t take your pain out on us.

But pain was Asmodeus’ gift. If he’s telling the truth. Treachery, deceit and suffering were his gift. And they were repudiated. They were rejected. None spoke up in defence of their necessity. None worshipped him for the gift of them.

And Zerxus, exactly the same, just rejected them all over again. Because he is human. Because he is kind. Because he is hurt. Because he cannot accept pain. Because he will not accept evil as a gift.

Asmodeus told him that all he had wanted was for mortals and gods to understand what evil was for, why it mattered, and Zerxus just asked him to get rid of it for their sake, to point it away from them so they wouldn’t have to deal with it.

And he had to do that. He had to, because to do otherwise is to reject who he is and what he believes. He cannot accept evil. The pursuit of justice, yes. Anger against the guilty, yes. But not the destruction of the innocent. Not the acceptance of pain. Not the acknowledgement of evil and betrayal as a necessity for existence.

Not the destruction of all that he loves.

And, of course, none of this was ever going to work anyway. Offering compassion as a bribe to the Lord of the Hells was never going to work. But it’s not … it’s not necessarily because Asmodeus is lying, scheming and tricking and just playing with Zerxus, but because they are incompatible. Because kindness is the wound. Kindness is the betrayal. And Zerxus didn’t understand that. His empathy failed him. He saw his own wound, and not Asmodeus’.

He failed the test.

The entire rest of this conversation, Asmodeus smiles and turns onto Zerxus’ own nature and wounds. The lies and the betrayal lurking around him. The thing Zerxus gave him to use. He smiles and solemnly swears never to forget him, and turns immediately and gently back to using him. Breaks Atonement, and sets Zerxus up against his fellows.

And I swear … I swear it’s why he picked Zerxus in the first place. Not just because he’s available, godless but in contact with the divine like the oracles are, not just because the city has so perfectly primed him to do what Asmodeus needs him to do. But also because he is kind. Instinctively, intrinsically kind. Because he offered Asmodeus compassion. Because he rejected, in that same action, everything Asmodeus is and believes he has offered creation.

It's the same reason, the exact same reason, that Asmodeus will go for Sarenrae later. Of all the gods. Not Pelor, not the Dawnfather who smote him across Avalir in the Zerxus’ vision and who seems to be his current main threat, but Sarenrae. The goddess of compassion. The pure antithesis of his being. The one being in creation who, in trying to help and redeem him, will wound him worse than any other. He will target her, as he has targeted Zerxus, and he will do everything in his power to destroy her. As, I’m very much afraid, he’s going to destroy Zerxus.

And, again, it’s not even necessarily out of hate. If he is telling the truth. It might not even be because he hates them.

I had seen the gifts of love and courage and honour and sacrifice and I said: these are the greatest gifts we could create, and we must make them matter.

How much do I love Brennan Mulligan right now, for this single sentence? You don’t even know. What a statement. What makes good matter? The existence of evil. What makes evil matter? The existence of good.

You have my word on this, Zerxus Ilerez. Not for all the ages of the world will I forget you.

Of all the mortals on Avalir, and of all the Prime Deities, Asmodeus chose Zerxus and Sarenrae. To attack and to exalt.

Zerxus has a choice here.

He can choose to betray humanity. He can let himself be tricked, not in terms of fighting for or against the gods, but in terms of his own principles and relationships. He can choose to follow Asmodeus’ breadcrumbs, he can give in out of selfishness and anger and despair. He can find out what was hidden from him, turn from compassion and choose vengeance instead, and Asmodeus will welcome him, and will use him, and will destroy him. Another puppet for a betrayer god.

But if he doesn’t. If he holds to himself. If he chooses compassion all the way down. If he chooses love and courage and truth and honour and sacrifice. If he gives himself into a betrayer god’s service not out of evil but out of a desire to protect what he can. Or if he called Asmodeus to him, to remember him and come to him for aid, so that he could fight Asmodeus when he emerged and betrayed them to destruction. Then Asmodeus will destroy him completely.

So that he will matter. So that he will matter as nothing has ever mattered before, and so that Asmodeus will remember him for all the ages of the world. Because good matters most, compassion shines brightest, only against the backdrop of evil and destruction. If Zerxus chooses good, that will be Asmodeus’ gift to him.

That … is what it might mean to have the love of a betrayer god.

And I hope, I hope so bad, that that is the choice Zerxus makes. Compassion. Even in the face of destruction. Compassion for Asmodeus, if he wants to keep offering it, and compassion for whatever his friends have done. Because there is no cynical way out of this. There is no way to trick this onto the right course, the course that leaves evil unmade and humanity safe. Asmodeus is evil, and he exists, and he is coming. Zerxus is damned either way. He is betrayed either way. And in that circumstance, kindness only wins by existing also. By continuing to exist. Because if evil must exist for good to show what it is, then the reverse is equally true.

Offering compassion to the god of evil is as futile a thing as you can do. Offer it anyway, because he will have no choice but to remember it. Offer it to him and to everyone that you can.

Zerxus’ choices in this moment don’t matter at all, but at the same time they matter more than anything. And if he is telling the truth, as I dearly hope he is, that was, in many ways, Asmodeus’ gift. And I hope that Zerxus takes advantage of it.

And if Asmodeus is lying through his godly teeth, saying only what we want to hear, casually hates Zerxus’ and everyone else’s guts and felt nothing this entire conversation except the quiet satisfaction of a manipulation going to plan, well, we can still take those words as inspiration anyway.

God, I fucking love clerics and paladins in apocalyptic stories. Hot damn. Throw this in, throw all the evil and bleakness of the world in front of us, have it matter, have the point be that it matters, and then let the characters make the choices they must make. Not because it will matter practically, not because their choices mean that they will win or even survive, but because the choice, by existing, matters in and of itself. Because by making it, by choosing between them, they allow both evil and good to still exist.

If Zerxus falls, it’ll be an achingly painful story of the inevitability of mortal weakness in the face of pain. And if he fails but doesn’t fall, it will be an achingly painful story of how much good and love and compassion might be worth, even when they fail.

This conversation, this whole subplot with Zerxus and Asmodeus, is so good. So much my jam. This perfect exploration and play with the pain and flaws of good, and the virtues and necessities of evil. I love it. Because I do agree with Asmodeus on this one thing: there is nothing quite like virtue in damnation, nothing so beautiful or so terrible to watch. The contrast is everything.

#exu calamity #exandria unlimited calamity #zerxus ilerez #asmodeus #i love this plot so much #spoilers #episode 2

[dovelydraws]

Tell me abt your ocs 👁👁👁👁

oh GOD I have so many asldjfljk um!!!

I'll start with my dnd/pathfinder character Revun, since I've been posting about them a lot recently!! I'm no longer concerned about sharing spoilers because I got all my party members to block campaign spoilers hehe 💕

^ Made this little icon of them for discord recently (he/they/she)

The backstory doc i originally handed to my GM was over 5k words long, (plus there's also been several nights of me rambling in their dms expanding on all the stuff I'd Already Written) so I'm gonna try my best to. condense this lmao

Revun's bio parents were both human; their mom made a deal with a daemon while she was pregnant to save her father's life from a severe illness that would have killed him, and as a consequence of that her child was born a tiefling.

The social stigma of having a tiefling child (everyone just immediately knows she made some kind of deal with a fiendish entity) became too much for them to handle, so their mom and grandfather chose to abandon them four years after they were born, and start a new life elsewhere where no one knew them. Revun spent the next seven years in an orphanage, until they ran away to go try and join a mercenary group that passed through town at one point.

Throughout Revun's life, they've been haunted by a spirit in the shape of a black wolf with gold eyes that match their own. It only appears when they are in the middle of having a near death experience- so far, that's been twice. The first was when they were 11, and they nearly froze/starved to death out in the woods after running away. The second was after a disagreement with their boss/somewhat father figure lead to him nearly killing them at 25.

While Revun never learned all the details of their mom's deal, they at least are somewhat aware that whatever she did saved their grandfather's life. They are convinced at this point that whatever happened must have created some sort of imbalance in the afterlife or something, and this wolf was expecting a new soul that day that never came. And now, it's stalking Revun waiting for them to drop dead, to take them as a replacement like some sort of debt collector. I'm unsure if this is actually the case since I decided to leave the details up to my GM, but this is what Revun believes and they are absolutely terrified of it.

Speaking of that mercenary group, they did take them in and save them that night, but it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Revun ended up spending the rest of their childhood in a pretty toxically masculine environment, and with an expectation placed on their shoulders to always follow orders and never try to argue, even if they may be uncomfortable or feel something was a bad idea.

A portion of the mercenary company was hired to act as bodyguards at a prestigious vineyard, of which had recently made some enemies with their business competition. Revun spent about a year and a half there, becoming very close friends with the winemaker's daughter, until the deal fell through and the company was offered more money to destroy the vineyard and kill the family/any workers on the property to make sure there were no witnesses. Revun nearly died getting their best friend to safety and trying to help any workers they could find, fighting against the only family they'd really had the chance to know.

They somehow managed to escape, and were found laying on the side of the road a couple miles away from the vineyard by some passing travelers, who were able to patch them up and drop them off at the next town. They'd been separated from everyone- their entire social safety net was gone, their worldview completely changed overnight. That was a Lot for them to handle, so they kind of just... Didn't.

They've decided to just try to move on, forget everything that happened and everyone that was ever important to them. Start a new life somewhere else. Don't think about it. Pretend it never happened.

All of this has ended up creating a guy with a lot of self loathing, abandonment issues, anxiety and paranoia, and a Very Stubborn "don't worry about it! :)" attitude.

I love them so much. They make me feel like this:

#campaign spoilers #asks #thank you. thank you so much for asking. you have no idea how much i've been dying to talk about this guy. #putting them in a little jar w/ airholes and then shaking them around violently #dove speaks #revun #I'm keeping it to just them for now bc otherwise this post would get insanely long #but I'm hoping to start posting art of my future webcomic characters soon! I'm currently working on character sheets for them

[wack-ashimself]

For the hype, 'The Creator' was actually quite fucking basic.

Sure, it had a few good twists and turns but....I have a rule.

If your movie wasn't super expensive and pretty, would I still watch it?

And the answer for this one is a pretty sturdy 'no.'

Because this movie is ONLY worth the watch for how stunningly beautiful it is AND how visually entertaining the fights are.

Plot wise, story wise....weak as fuck. ESPECIALLY the lead.

SPOILERS.

AI robots nuke LA. USA goes genocide on all AI (mostly in Asia for some reason). Lead is USA solider who hates AI, sees them as things, treats them as such the WHOLE ENTIRE MOVIE, then, changes his mind at the last minute because of his dead ex, who was super Pro AI (tho he spent tons of time with her where, logically, if he was gonna change his mind, it would've been when she was ALIVE.)

His motivations made NO fucking sense. He was allowing the kid AI (ultimate weapon that can control everything) to stay alive to find his ex, then, he does, and goes 'well, after killing countless innocent humans AND robots, I guess I was wrong.' There were WAY too many moments before this he SHOULD have changed his mind. When he did was convenient for the script, not logical for his character.

So lame story. BUT here's more plot holes cuz I was REALLY looking forward to this movie, and it pissed me off.

-The nuke in LA? Tho they GLOSS OVER IT, they basically say there was no way it was AI, it was a human computing error. But they don't say if it was USA people, foreign governments, etc. So the REASON THE MOVIE HAPPENS was a lie, then they never clarify the lie AT ALL. LAZY.

-How his wife survived a DIRECT BOMBING and was rescued: never covered.

-His wife KNEW he 'used' to work for the enemies. And, it turns out, she's the fucking leader of the AIs. SO....WHY WOULD SHE NOT KEEP EYES ON HER HUSBAND THAT JUST TURNED SIDES?!

-How his wife created the super AI, before she went into a coma, it was hidden for 5 years, and only THEN the bad guys figured out it existed. The Ai was underground, in a vault. WHO THE FUCK TOLD THEM? It wasn't the god damn lead! I mean, if his wife DID trust him (at least at the moment) why did she not tell her husband of the AI based on their unborn child? Either she DID trust him or not. Cuz it seemed like she was 1/2 way both ways. Contradiction.

-The first sky bomb knocked the lead out, made him forget some things. The 2nd sky bomb....he just ended up in a boat. Cuz why the fuck not?

-Where is literally any of Asia's federal government's military? They say it is new Asia, small vulnerable towns (and they all look poor) so...HOW THE FUCK ARE THEY REGULARLY AFFORDING TO BUILD COMPLEX AI ROBOTS!? THEY DON'T HAVE THE RESOURCES OR MANPOWER!

-Where is literally the rest of the world? No joke, most of the movie is the USA using a sky bomber to bomb all of Asia. Without proof or reasoning. The rest of the world is okay with this? Also Asia is the ONLY country working with AI?

-Again, anti AI usa. THEY USE AI. Primitive stuff, but still use it. And you're telling me a SPACE BOMBER doesn't have SOME level of AI? Fuck off.

-This is just me, personally, but if someone was hit with a remote sticky grenade and got on my helicopter, no they didn't; I'd kick them the fuck off. Mofos-this is war. And I ain't going to kill 5 people in hopes I save 1. That's just stupid. Looks good in movies; stupid on fucking paper.

-The bad guys had no reason to bring in the lead alive (and prove that by letting him roam free) outside of 'for the movie to happen.' Nor to let him kill the super AI except, AGAIN, 'for the movie to happen.' TERRIBLE fucking logic.

-If AI have a sleep mode, known to all, why would they not either uninstall it or block it? Sorry but if I was an AI, I'd spend all my time finding out ways to upgrade my body.

-Once on the space station, why in the world would the bad guys only send PART of their solders? If this is a 'they could destroy the base' kind of moment, SEND EVERYONE. Within the base and outside.

-How did the AI child know to upload her mom's consciousness into another AI body? THEY HAD NEVER SEEN OR HEARD OF IT DONE! ('The lead told the AI.' Only that her mom was on the stick. She still should not have known what to do with it.)

-How did some of the escape pods land after the ship? How did the ship crash, and escape pods that launched BEFORE it crashed, land after? It looked good; made no fucking sense.

-Space base of not, the bad guys still have tanks the size of 20 city blocks. ....this better not open for a sequel.

-I'm sorry, but at the end of the day, with how many humans and AI he killed, the lead isn't even an anti hero. He's a bad guy that did the right thing in the end. BIG difference.

-GPS. Sorry but super AI, space bombers, space shuttles flying like planes...BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE GPS ON EVERYTHING?! People to tanks to anything else. SO many future tech movies do this: we can go into your BRAIN....but fuck if we cant find you within a city of 1000s of cameras. DUMB.

Worth seeing, not worth thinking about. It will make you dumber. I will never understand how me, a regular guy, can find plot holes in multi million dollar movies which the script had to go thru MANY levels of approval. But this is what happens to 'art' when you want it to be profitable, not make a point.

'The Creator'. 6.4/10.

ps-best part? Ugh. Do I have one? It was a pretty movie. Hm..I liked the lead AI kid. Good actor. Actually, all of the acting was spot on. It was...what they had to work with script wise...ok. I do have 2 fav parts. Both DUMB AS FUCK, but I loved them. Not once, but TWICE in this movie animals unintentionally killed the bad guys. It...was unexpected, but fun. DUMB, but fun.

Side note: for how much this movie pushed the idea that AI and human were equal, make a note every time an AI is killed. A good...1/4 of the time, they play it off as comical. Not the human deaths, but the AI ones....

#movie #movies #movie review #the creator #spoiler #spoilers

[missingmywing]

Haurchefant, Estinien, Joker, Haru, Zack, Tseng, Xaldin, Lexaeus :)

kitty holy shit you created a monster. this was seven pages in my gdocs

RIGHT HERE'S THE ESSAY

Haurchefant, Estinien, Joker, Haru, Zack, Tseng, Xaldin, Lexaeus

First impression

Haurchefant: I did not trust him. The rest of Ishgard was being terrible, they made a terrible first impression, and I was fully convinced that he was also going to be a dick. And then when he wasn’t I was fully expecting him to stab me in the back. He very quickly and thoroughly proved me wrong and I fell for him quickly.

Estinien: Estinien chill. That’s it, that was my whole impression of him for a long while. Getting farther into Heavensward… okay no actually my opinion didn’t really start to change until Stormblood when he did start to chill XD

Joker: I love him. I want to be him. He’s so cool and snazzy and badass I am incredibly jealous of his everything even now, but he was absolutely my high school crush and was the first fictional character that made me actually understand the “I’m literally in love with a fictional character, they are everything” and he’s still incredibly fun and heavy to write. …. hence why I wrote a 200k fic with him at the center of most of the one-shots. He’s still one of my favorite ever fictional characters.

Haru: “Oh god this is awful. This poor girl. I’m dying from the secondhand embarrassment. Mona why would you do this to her. Haru I’m so sorry.” I sympathized with her a because Morgana was being petty, while she was just trying to escape a terrible situation, but I was also very worried about what trouble the two of them would end up getting into because I was scared the Mona situation was setting up for someone to die or something. Which technically it was, just not P3 level bad XD

Zack: I would like to reiterate that my first experience with FFVII was AC followed by Crisis Core, which meant I went into the game with very little idea of who people were or what was going on. Which meant that, aside from Lightning (bc I got into FF through XIII) Zack was my first true Final Fantasy protagonist. I loved him from the first, his excitement and enthusiasm was endearing - even if his naivete made my fifteen year old self roll my eyes. But watching him grow and mature, watching the sheer unfairness of everything, and then the ending - I loved him, I’ve always loved him and he was one of the first characters I actually took the time to learn to write properly, and was the one to actually get me into serious writing. So you could say the puppy made a pretty good first impression on me :)

Tseng: “Oh he’s pretty. And serious and competent, but he does have a really subtle and dry sense of humor. Okay he’s already one of my favorites in this game.” I completely skimmed past him in ACC, but CC is where he caught my attention and made me love him.

Xaldin: Okay I’ll be honest, you’re asking about something that happened almost a decade and a half ago, when I was like. Nine. I’m pretty sure my impression was “Wow he has a lot of lances, that’s cool! I wanna do that- AAAAAAA WHAT’S GOING ON WHY IS THIS FIGHT SO HARD - WHAT DO YOU MEAN I’M MICKEY MOUSE WHAT’S GOING ON?!?!”

Lexaeus: Similar to above, except it was “Whoa, he’s giant and looks strong - DID HE JUST USE RIKU TO BREAK THE ROOF??? AAAAAAAAA-”

Impression now

Haurchefant: He’s the best. I love him. He sweet and supportive and was willing to lay down his reputation to offer us sanctuary and his life to protect us AND HE DESERVES THE UNIVERSE. He may not be as complex or as deeply compelling as Emet, but gods if he doesn’t reach into your soul and grab ahold of your heart. I have so many feelings and thoughts and headcanons and story clips for him I can’t even begin to describe how much I love him.

Estinien: BOY OH BOY TALK ABOUT COMPLICATED. I mean not really at this point, but Heavensward sure was. I love this idiot. He spent the entire first three patches on a one-track mind about how much he hated dragons and wished for nothing more than to wipe them out (making my WoL who was, you know, Tiamat’s daughter disguising herself as an au ra, very uncomfortable) and then from SB on he was their biggest advocate and basically became a wyrm therapist and its. It’s just so funny. This tsundere dumbass who can’t use money. He saves our asses then casually drops us off with Aymeric without a word and brushes off thanks. He cares deeply but hell if you’ll get him to admit it. I have just as many feels and headcanons and story snippets with him as with Haurche - probably more given Etheria’s lore and backstory - and I adore him very much.

Joker: Pretty sure I gushed about him enough above, my feelings have not changed in the slightest. He’s super complex once you start digging into his reactions to things - his phrasing, his sprites, his model motions and quirks - and it’s so much fun to write him and explore his character. I love him so much, he’s still the character I know the most about and relate to the most because there’s so much there once you dig into it.

Haru: I lovvveeee herrrrr. She doesn’t get enough screentime, and her arc was… bland and shallow and, as others have pointed out, probably shoehorned into the story last minute. She and Makoto weren’t actually originally supposed to be part of the PT, they were added later into development, which is probably why they have the weakest arcs of any of the PTs. She has enormous potential, and Strikers did pretty good at helping develop that out… though Atlas continues to actually refuse to address her biggest character point. I don’t know why, but can we please have an honest conversation with her addressing her feelings about Akechi and Shido and what her father was doing and participating in, and how she feels about what he did to her, even if he’s dead now. Atlas are cowards these are important to her character and if they don’t do it then I will.

Zack: Zack is still a beloved character for me, even if he isn’t one of my absolute favorites anymore. There’s a lot to explore with him that canon hinted at, which most of the fandom seems to ignore. He has layers and depth, and he’s just as tragic - if not more - as any of the Soldier Three. Everything he went through, how much he lost even as he tried to cling to it, how he grew up and slowly lost all his naivete… and then his relationship with Kunsel that we never truly get to explore, and how others view him and who he is as a SOLDIER as much as a person and where the dichotomy there lies… I still love him a lot, and really love how subtly complex he is.

Tseng: He’s always been a really fascinating and fun character for me, and I still really like him. His complexity with Rufus, the other Turks, and Zack and Aerith is fascinating as well. I don’t write him as much as others (partially because I still have yet to hunt down an english version of Before Crisis) but he’s a really interesting character that I have fun with when I do have the opportunity to write him.

Xaldin: Well admittedly most of my hcs are adopted from or inspired by other people, but hooo this is a bitter and heartbroken man who is definitely projecting and refusing to admit it with that whole… whatever is going on with Beast’s Castle. I hced that even before seeing other people’s, but it was pretty validating to see that I wasn’t the only one who looked at Beast’s Castle and went “oh yeah, that’s someone who got a very messy divorce.” I love exploring his relationship with the other apprentices, as well as all the Keybladers, now that everyone’s back and the worlds are starting to heal. He accidentally dads the younger kids - as do most of the apprentices tbh - and is constantly exasperated by it. This not what he signed up for. He didn’t even want the damn thing back. Dammit.

Lexaeus: I love him. Textbook definition of a gentle giant. Much more purposeful dad-ing of the kids running around, and very subtle dad-ing of Ienzo bc Ienzo’s huffy and a bit touchy about the other apprentices treating him as a child or trying to care for him - Aeleus has a few theories as to why, but he’ll let the other keep his silence as he always has - and overall just trying to care for everyone and make up for the ten years in the Organization.

Favorite moment

Haurchefant: Much as I love/hate the Vault, and it is definitely up there - the way he and WoL just exchange a look and then go for it without having to say anything will forever be my favorite thing. But my actual favorite moments are in ARR when he both chastises you and praises you post-Shiva, and then after the banquet when he welcomes you and promises you safety, and then after the trial when he gives you the chocobo. It… I know everyone always thinks of the Big Thing, and “a smile better suits a hero” is engraved in everyone’s hearts, but my truly beloved moments are the smaller ones, and his quiet - or not so quiet as it may be - faith in us.

Estinien: Well his entrance into the Dragoon questline is hilarious, and his money trouble in Thavnair is equally so, but in terms of my actual favorite moments with him… honestly just, his conversation with Tiamat was good, but Vrtra. Gods his interactions with Vrtra are top tier. I can’t pick one, because everything from the first meeting with Varshahn where they both recognize each other and Estinien worries after him because of the scales, to the first real meeting where they call each other out and Estinien accepts the favor, to their conversations during the Final Days, and how Estinien goes out of his way to get Vrtra’s people to convince him to go after his sister… Estinien is so good with the dragons, especially Vrtra, and his scene in Ultima Thule in the world of dragons was just the perfect encapsulation of how much he’s grown. I love him so so much.

Joker: Favorite moment… I have to admit, I love the interrogation room, and the fact that Akira shows true vulnerability for the first time while still holding onto his rebellion as much as he can (refusing to sign and literally smacking the clipboard away, his little smirk at the end, etc.). He has other really good moments too - your first impression of him with his rush through the casino is excellent, as is his entire awakening scene and his refusing to let Maruki fall - but I think that one shows the most honest sides of him.

Haru: My favorite Haru moment… I guess it has to be her awakening, because it's lovely and her finally having enough and turning on her father - plus the drama of the awakening itself - was great. Oh, and her moment in Strikers when she says "We kind of hate the cops :)" is excellent. I liked her moments with Mariko in Strikers as well, but… they weren't as powerful as her awakening.

Zack: Just one? Ohhhh there's several that I love, but I think my top two are the end of CC when he gives Cloud the sword with his little spiel "You'll be my living legacy." Tied with that is his cameo in ACC, his encouragement of Cloud was wonderful "You've beat him before, haven't you?" Smaller moments - his interactions with Yuffie, his shenanigans with Aerith, his hurt at Angeal, and if course when he first meets Cloud - are wonderful and really flesh him out as a character, but those two are my uncontested top.

Tseng: Again I haven't gone through BC yet which apparently has some of his best moments, but of the stuff I have seen his scene with Cissnei is my favorite - his "we're going directly against orders here because Zack's our friend and Aerith misses him. Go get him back before the infantry." It's such a humanizing moment, and shows who he is beneath the Turk. But all his moments teasing Zack with the most dry humor are fun too.

Xaldin: Hmm it's hard to choose a canon one because he doesn't have many. The intro to his fight is awesome and I've always loved that. His moment in the added Org scene in the KH2.5 remix do an excellent job at setting the tone of the Organization, just casually throwing lances at coworkers it's fine. His minor scenes in BBS were fantastic because because they showed who he was before the Organization and the much more human sides of him (worried about Ven running off on his own, throwing Lea and Isa out of the castle with the most done look, etc) so those might be my favorite.

Lexaeus: I can't say the 358 scene introducing limit breaks because that's mean and not actually my favorite moment with him, but it is hilarious. Lexaeus no. Don't punch children even to trigger an LB. My actual favorite is probably either the same as Dilan - those BBS scenes are great - or in COM when he apologizes to Zexion for failing to stop Riku and then dying. Like. Ouch. There are layers to that, and really shows how much Lexaeus cares about the others even after years in the Organization without a heart.

Idea for a story

Haurchefant: I have many. So so many. I have lists. Tbh though I kind of want to see him interacting with G'raha, just the two of them talking about WoL's adventures and G'raha barely restraining his excitement about getting to talk to The Haurchefant. It'd be funny. Likewise I think it'd be fascinating for him into interact with Hythlodaeus, I think they'd get along. In terms of a canonical scene, I'm eventually going to write the scene where he finds out that Etheria is an au ra (she spends all of ARR with a cloak and mask to hide it), and then another with his reaction to the whole "dragon in disguise" thing because it'll be fun.

Estinien: Please give me stories about what he and Aymeric got up to as kids going through training. Give me their shenanigans and careful troublemaking. Give me Aymeric dragging him out of his shell, and Estinien picking fights with people who try to talk down and spread rumors about Aymeric. Give me them sneaking out of the barracks at night to go buy decent food from a vendor, or just hang out on a roof somewhere. Give me the snowball fight that ensues after Aymeric shoves snow down Estinien's shirt, or their squad mates getting annoyed at their unsubtle flirting. Give me the scene after we rescue Aymeric from the Vault and Estinien is helping tend his wounds, or after we rescue Estinien from Nidhogg where Aymeric is watching over him. Give me SB snapshots of Estinien coming to terms with exactly what he is now, and how he feels about it, or after we get back from Ultima Thule when he has to come to terms with what happened to the rest of the dragons and tell the ones here on our star. It's… there's so much potential with him, and I'm glad we're starting to explore it with Vrtra.

Joker: *Gestures to my 200k one-shot collection* I think I have a few. Tbh though I really want a snapshot fic of Akira working at Crossroads, getting comfortable with both the environment and getting into the crossdressing scene, having fun with it. It would be a lot of fun, and really sweet. Plus pretty dresses, and he canonically likes crossdressing anyway so like. Gimme more. Let him have fun.

Haru: I want a fic of her going after Sugimura. I'm still so mad we didn't go after him in Mementos for her confidant, and it definitely contributed to her confidant feeling weaker than the others’. I also want her to have a proper confrontation/conversation with Akechi about… everything. I know there are plenty of fics for it already, but I wanna do my own take eventually.

Zack: So I have a few I started and never finished… but for a new one, ghost au could be fun. Everyone always does "Zack lives", but it could be fun if Zack still died and just followed Cloud around as a ghost, and Cloud and Aerith are the only ones who can see him. Cloud would remember everything in this au, but that would not make he or Zack any less confused.

Tseng: A fic exploring what the Wutai war was like for him, and what his ties to Wutai even are. Does he care, or is he completely disconnected? For a less heavy idea, I want a fic with he and the other Turks trying increasingly desperate and convoluted methods to recruit Kunsel to the Turks, and failing every time.

Xaldin: I want to see him interacting with the keybladers post-3, just reluctantly being a parental/authority figure and cursing the fact that he cares and is going out of his way to help them with things. This is why he didn't want his heart back, dammit, now he cares about people.

Lexaeus: There's a couple I've thought of, but I want to see his thoughts during the Organization. His actions in CoM make it clear that he's still keeping an eye on Zexion - whether Zexion wants it or not - and he was as caring as he could be towards Vexen. I want to see what he thinks and what he's trying to do about his fracturing family during the days of the Organization.

Unpopular opinion

Haurchefant: Probably a bold opinion, but I'm glad that they haven't retconned his death even though people are calling for it. Fics are one thing - I an au where my WoL panic-soulbinds with him to keep him alive after all - but canon is its own thing and his sacrifice had far too heavy an impact and important to the story to be able to bring him back without ruining that whole scene and arc.

Estinien: He's not stupid. I know we all like to make the jokes about his money sense, the fact that he couldn't tell Alphinaud and Alisae apart, and the endless floor tank jokes, but Estinien isn't stupid. He was bad with money because he'd likely never had to spend it before - he was Ishgard's star soldier, after all, so they'd have supplied him with weapons and armor, plus rations, and the rest of the time he probably hunted for himself. He'd probably never had a lot of money to spend, going from farmboy to obsessive military weapon. The fact that he'd learned and overcome it by 6.1 makes that clear. And he's far from he first one to mistake Alphinaud and Alisae for the other - especially since he might not have even known that Alphinaud had an identical twin.

Joker: I don't like the "uwu gay softboi" fandom likes to foist on him. I like shuake, I ship it, but Joker is definitely not the type to pine helplessly to the exclusion of everything else going on. Like he has his soft moments, but - I don't know, I just hate when fandoms turn complex characters into one-dimensional ship fodder, or turn them into characters without the ability to stand up for themselves.

Haru: Haru wasn't a bad character, she wasn't pointless, and while her arc was the weakest I don't think removing it and her would have made the game better. She could have been handled much better, but she wasn't handled that badly.

Zack: Same as Estinien: Zack is not stupid. He's actually pretty smart! We see this several times throughout the game! Everyone looks at his personality at the beginning of the game, takes it at face value and then uses it as his whole personality and that's… not at all accurate. He's naive and reckless at the beginning of the game, but he grows out of it very quickly once Angeal leaves - and by the end of the game I'd say he's surpassed both Angeal and Genesis in both skill and general competence. One does not evade ShinRa for a year with a helpless, unconscious friend dragging him down, even with the occasional help of a single Turk - with significant intelligence and competence. Zack is smart, he's just a fourteen/fifteen year old at the very beginning of the game.

Tseng: Not sure this is unpopular by this point, but Tseng is definitely not heartless, and the only reason he's a "stalker" is because he's a government mandated one. He might be concerned about Aerith in general, but he (and the other Turks) wouldn't be following her around without orders. And there's at least one scene I know about in BC where he's chastised for being too caring and worried about others.

Xaldin: I don't… actually know of any fandom opinions about him? Fandom generally ignores him. 

Lexaeus: Same with this one, unless we're talking about the "attempting to murder a child in the name of training" jokes about Roxas, but I don't think I've actually seen anyone taking that seriously.

Favorite relationship

Haurchefant: Honestly his relationship with the WoL is just wonderful, no matter how you hc your WoL (and mine is particularly wonderful to me because of the layers involving them both). If we're talking about outside of WoL, his relationship with Aymeric is fascinating. We don't get to see much of it, and we never find out exactly how they view each other - be it actual friends or simply positive coworkers with the same views - but the scenes they are in together just have such interesting vibes that make me want to explore it.

Estinien: If you'd asked me before 6.1 I'd have said Aymeric without hesitation, but now I have to say that it's Aymeric tied with Vrtra. His big-little brother relationship with Alphinaud is cute, and his terror of Tataru and Krile is hilarious, but Aymeric and Vrtra are still my two favorite to see by far. WAIT NO I FORGOT. ALSO GAIUS. He and Gaius are fascinating, I want to see a whole fic/side story of what they were up to during SHB and how they got along, how they worked together. What little we saw was both badass and fun, and I want to see more.

Joker: Hmmm canonically I have to say that Akechi and Futaba are tied, though he has really interesting relationships with most of his confidants and if we're talking outside the Thieves then Sojiro, Iwai, and Ohya/Lala are my favorites. For slightly less canonically (sort of), his relationships with the other wildcards are FANTASTIC. Q2 was so much fun. In general, he and Yu are my favorite relationship to write just in general because there's so much to explore. So many layers for both of them.

Haru: Hmm probably either Morgana or Akechi. Granted we never get to see much of either in canon (#giveharuscreentime) but in terms of potential she and Akechi are the most interesting to me. Her friendship with Mona is adorable, and I love how supportive they are of each other. In that respect, she and Ryuji are a close second.

Zack: Oh man, this one's a close tie between Cloud and Aerith. They're both so great, layered and emotional and angsty. My favorite underrated relationship though is Zack and Kunsel, hands down.

Tseng: I'd have to say Rufus, because there's so much going on behind the scenes there that we never see, but that is absolutely there and is probably really cool and involves a lot of underhandedness and political maneuvering that would be so much fun to see. Rufus' relationship to all the Turks is really interesting, but especially Tseng since Tseng would have been the most involved.

Xaldin: Hmmm most of the relationships are… not actually ever shown in canon. We get glimpses and implications, but we don’t actually get to see them. Generally I love seeing the apprentices being family in fic, and the idea of Dilan reluctantly being a parental figure to the younger keybladers post-3 is fun.

Lexaeus: Same problem as above, but from both fics and my own hcs I really like the potential of his relationship with Ienzo - from the time he was a small child, through the Organization, and post 3. He definitely seems like the one Zexion trusted the most - probably because he let Zexion do what he wanted, whereas Vexen was a meddler who stuck his nose into things - so it’s fun to consider how he watched out for him through the years even when everything else had fallen apart.

Favorite headcanon

Haurchefant: Ohhh this one I’m torn, I have two. The first is semi-canonical, and that he’s a chocobo breeder - he loves his birds and found a lot of solace in their company when the pressure and judgement of being a claimed bastard became too much for him to handle, and he’d retreat to the stables to calm down and recuperate. The second one is that he and Aymeric are actually closer than we see in canon - they’re just really subtle about it because the rumors about Aymeric are unconfirmed and Haurchefant won’t be the one to shine a spotlight on his friend. But there’s shared understanding there, and they’re fairly close friends because of it.

Estinien: This is honestly only headcanon by the thinnest of veils, it’s basically canon, we just don’t get the details. But I like the idea that Estinien’s merge was more than just that he saw Nidhogg’s mind, but that their very souls merged. Maybe not as completely as Shiva and Hraesvelgr, but Estinien is as much or more dragon than he is elezen by this point, his very soul is part Nidhogg’s. He’s… kind of a combination of Estinien and who Nidhogg used to be, the noble soul who protected the star that he was before rage consumed him. So Estinien now is the combination of who the two of them were before they lost themselves to revenge, and he acknowledges that even if he won’t… quite openly admit it. (“Then you and Alphinaud threw my eyes off the bridge, and I’ve never known peace since.” NOT VERY SUBTLE THERE ESTINIEN.)

Joker: While this shouldn’t be hc, it apparently is because Atlas is cowards. Akira has severe trauma from the interrogation room. Don’t touch his wrists, don’t hold him down, not to mention the nightmares, needles, certain phrases (tell him to take responsibility for his reactions and you’re at risk of triggering a panic attack)… and he does not like or trust the police. Period. If you’re in uniform you’re an enemy, and if you want him to trust you you’re going to have to work damn hard for it.

Haru: She’s resentful towards Akechi for taking her opportunity with her father, she’s angry at him… but she doesn’t actually hate him. She wants to, she really does, but he’s… he’s too similar to her, both his situation and his feelings, and she can understand why he did what he did. She hates that she does, that she can’t hate him, and that she really does want to forgive him, but… she really can’t bring herself to hate him. She doesn’t forgive him, even if part of her wants to, because it wasn’t fair and she can at least hold onto that. (In aus where he lives, she decides that the best revenge is to be genuinely kind and caring and unconditionally warm to him, because it makes him intensely uncomfortable and alarmed. Being bitter and spiteful and angry would be letting him win, giving him what he wanted. This was more rewarding, and kind of funny. Not many people looked like they wanted to run out of the building when confronted with a genuine smile.)

Zack: He’s smart, and is perfectly capable of being a manipulative little shit when he needs to be. He can also tell pretty easily when someone is lying to him - once Angeal and Genesis smack the rose-tinted glasses off of him in Banora, he becomes intensely and uncomfortably aware of every little lie and omission and corruption within ShinRa told to him. He tries his best to ignore it, but… well, by the time Nibelheim happens ShinRa’s reaction isn’t even a surprise. He wouldn’t have expected anything less, really.

Tseng: I don’t… really have many? He’s incredibly loyal to Rufus, and despises Hojo and the President, but those are basically canon anyway.

Xaldin: He won’t admit it, but he’s weak for kids. Lea and Isa were annoying as hell, but he was grudgingly fond of both of them (right up until they got themselves killed, sticking their nose into danger that never should have been theirs to contend with - it should have been his. His and Aeleus and Braig and Even, those two and Ienzo never should have gotten involved.) After 3, Xion, Roxas, Namine, Ven, and Kairi make him cave to things far too easily for his comfort. Kairi especially, hanging around Radiant Gardens again as she is, brings up far to many memories of lost days for him.

Lexaeus: I don’t… really have many for him? He also really likes kids, though he isn’t a tsundere about it, and even through the Organization was worried and caring about his family. Broken apart and jagged though they were, at least they were still here for him to keep an eye on. It was good that he died before Zexion though - if he hadn’t he would have reacted very badly, and would have been even more incredibly guilty when he woke back up after DDD.

#ask meme #character meme #ffxiv #ffvii #kingdom hearts #haurchefant de fortemps #estinien varlineau #joker #akira kurusu #haru okumaru #zack fair #tseng #xaldin #dilan #lexaeus #aeleus #ugh so many tags #why do i bother organizing my blog it's a pain #i love character memes #but good fucking lord #this is so long

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck Ch. 132 reaction

[The Journey’s End]

Akira being revealed to be sitting slightly to Fuuko’s left during Ragnarok is, likely unintentionally, the funniest god damn thing to ever come out of this series

Cus like...you gotta figure that from the moment G-Liner broke and Anno Un died, he was just chilling with the group the entire time. This raises a lot of questions, like who he went with when Fuuko was taken by Under or how he reacted to Fuuko being STABBED IN THE HEART

Did he know who Ruin was? He must have, right? Ruin must have existed within Information’s vision, unless he was literally only just created post G-Liner? But that’d be weird, considering that he has a scar already. I kind of doubt Sun designed him with a scar, I’m pretty sure his entire thing about being created by God is a bunch of bull, but whatever

Anyway, I think it’s extremely fitting that Akira is the one who both closes out the old and opens the new loops. Not only is he the author surrogate, lamenting the end of the current story and expressing his hope for what he’ll be able to do in the future (possibly an expression of the fear of Undead Unluck potentially being canceled before reaching that conclusion like so many other Jump manga), but he’s also a major impetus for the entire story thus far

Akira wrote To You, From Me, the story that allowed Fuuko to continue living right up until she would meet Andy. For all intents and purposes, he saved Fuuko at the very beginning of the manga, so it’s only appropriate that Part 2 begins with Fuuko saving Akira WITH the story that he allowed her to “write”

Also, fun bit of trivia, the new manga that Akira is talking about being in Jump that week (Sep. 11, 1972, issue #39) is Astro Kyuudan, and the issue of Jump he’s carrying actually has the cover in question!

Astro Kyuudan is about a baseball team made up of boys born with baseball-shaped birthmarks and unique powers that they use to build the ultimate baseball team. I have to wonder if this series was an inspiration for Tozuka, considering that Undead Unluck is about a group with special powers trying to form the best team possible to achieve their goals (in this case killing God instead of going to Koshien). Apparently it’s a series known for doing unconventional things with the sports genre, which is appropriate, considering that Undead Unluck does a decent number of unconventional things with the battle genre

Back on topic, Akira once again found G-Liner, which presumably had again become Information’s host, but that’s a little odd since A) that means that the selection of the Artifact was pre-ordained instead of random as it was stated, and B) that the timing of Information’s capture was the same. I’m going to chalk this up to Tozuka not wanting to get bogged down in the details and instead wanting to do something compelling, which I definitely feel, I’m just the type to think about that kind of thing

Now, here’s the odd thing:

Fuuko’s got her long hair again, tucked into her shirt, implying that Andy hasn’t been around to cut it, but it’s been about 100 years since Fuuko should have been placed in the Loop. Has she really not run into Andy yet? Or are they split up for some reason, like covering as much ground as they can for recruiting the rest of the Negators? 

Fuuko telling Akira about the previous Loop presents the perfect framing device for us to learn how she’s spent the last 100 years, so I’m sure it’ll be made clear soon enough

Backtracking a bit, Fuuko’s declaration that she and everyone else would negate the Gods is as strong of confirmation that they’ll be fighting Luna as I think we could possibly ask for. When she turned to face Luna, we saw the burning Earth framing her determined expression, as if to say that the whole world had her back and that the Earth itself was declaring the Sun and Moon their enemies

The image of Andy’s skull, or the portion that holds his eyes at least (the most recognizable part of Andy in my opinion) floating through space and biding its time is one that I imagine will stick with me for a long time, especially with how it contrasts how bright and bombastic the last several chapters in the Sun fight were

Seeing countless Suns emerging to initiate Ragnarok was honestly chilling, and brings up the question of what’s going to happen after they manage to defeat Sun next Loop: are more just going to keep popping up? Do they only need to defeat one, or do they need to defeat all of them? Will Sun admit defeat if they manage to beat just one, or will its consciousness be defeated in that moment?

There’s clearly a lot more to this than initially suggested, and most likely a lot more build up to the finale than I anticipated, so we might actually hit the four year mark after all!

Time will tell, but I’m very excited to be along for the ride!

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews

[procrastinatorproject]

For the fic asks, two heart emoji and a clown walk into an ask box:

💖 What made you start writing?

💞 Who's your comfort character?

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

Ohhh, what illustrious guests! Thank you so much for visiting my inbox! Let's see....

Sparkly Heart (💖): What made you start writing?

For as long as I can remember, I have been making up stories in my head. I was fully 20 years old before I realized I could probably call this "daydreaming", for me it was always just "making up stories".

I started writing them down in earnest when I was... 11, I think? Took me a few more years to find out I had technically been writing something called "fanfiction", and other people did it, too!

I basically didn't read or write any fic for 10 years, before I slowly started to rediscover it in 2019. I couldn't even tell you what got the ball rolling. I'm pretty sure it was the discovery that this kind of story I had tended towards and always felt deeply ashamed for enjoying not only had a name (Hurt/Comfort), it was so incredibly popular it had a nickname (whump) and entire fests and huge communities dedicated to it! And then I discovered Musketeer fics and the wonderful, wonderful people writing them.

And then season 1 of Star Trek: Picard aired, and against my expectations, I fell instantly in love with it. And a lot of people whose Musketeers fics I loved also started getting into the Aramis in Space fandom. And I started out 2020 by thinking: "I'm going to start writing again. I'm going to write, and at some point, maybe in a year or so, I might have enough practice and be good enough that I dare post something I have written. Maybe."

Sharing the first bit of substantial writing I had created in ten years with a friend was one of the most insanely nerve-wrecking experiences, but it was also exhilarating! My conviction to wait and practice for a year or so before posting anything went out the window pretty quickly, and I posted the very first real story I had put on paper. The first story in my life I ever finished, I think. And then the dam was broken.

And MY GOD the amazing friends and community this adventure has brought me 🥰

Dancing Hearts (💞): Who's your comfort character?

Er... I think it's going to come as a surprise to absolutely no-one that it's Emil 🙈

I just... I love to read and write stories with this man in them. He is snarky and irreverent but also caring and kind, under the slightly exasperated exterior (because he is part of Rios, so how could he possibly be anything else?)

I have loved him from the very first moment he stalked onto my tv screen, and I can't wait to continue writing things to give him more life and adventures.

And I should probably mention the other holos, too. Those five hyper-competent disaster boys make me feel all warm and fuzzy and at home, and if I could only ever write stories about them for the rest of my life, I'd be content.

Clown Face (🤡): What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

The entirety of A Night at the Opera.

I laugh at my own jokes and my own writing A Lot. But this one... when I started dreaming up the idea for it, I think I spent a good fifteen minutes sitting in my armchair and just cackling like a maniac!

And then there were so many jokes and exchanges in it that just made me laugh out loud when they occurred to me, and then again when I wrote them down, and then again every time I reread them.

But as a taste, I am always going to be proud of this particular exchange (talking about the roomba-like cleaning bots):

Xyr leaned around the Tactical Hologram to get a better look, wincing as he accidentally put weight on his injured hand. “So, what exactly is it you hope to do with the bot if you catch it?”

“Emmet and I have some exciting ideas to increase their defensive capabilities”, Enoch replied, rising slightly from his crouch to get a look of the action over the top of the others’ heads.

“I don’t know, they already seem plenty capable. The way they keep disappearing to evade capture?”

[...]

“Just imagine what they could do with a few added features.” Enoch waggled his eyebrows again.

Xyr seemed deeply intrigued. “What sort of features?”

Enoch said “Statically charged forcefields”, at exactly the same moment that Emmet said “Knives.”

I don't know why this one gets me so hard, but I always burst out laughing at "knives" 🙈🤣

Thank you so much for your ask, this was a blast!

If anyone else would like to join the fun, here is the list of questions 😁

#lili's writing adventures #writing #fanfiction #star trek picard fanfiction #a night at the opera #@curator on ao3

[totodiletears]

Why you should read The Serpent Gates duology by A. K. Larkwood

Or: if I'm going to complain about how people haven't read this enough to create a fanfic scene, I should at least explain why it's worth reading

This duology consists of The Unspoken Name and its sequel The Thousand Eyes. It's a fantasy taking place in a world composed of several worlds, connected by gates which take you to a place called "the Maze" where you can travel between worlds. You can even risk visiting dead worlds, worlds devoid of life and slowly being reclaimed by the Maze. And that's not going into the history of this place. The basic gist without spoiling important plot details: there used to be a race of giant snakes running a multiple world empire, but they, their world, and their goddess are dead now.

But who cares about the setting and lore and shit? We've got CHARACTERS! There's a decent-sized cast here, but there are three characters in particular who across the duology get plenty of POV time and good proper character arcs.

Also none of these three characters are straight. I feel like this is worth emphasizing: these characters are queer as all hell.

Csorwe: most important in book one, where she gets the privilege of being the protagonist. Her character arc is pretty well completed by the end of that book. Her background is pretty well described in The Unspoken Name's tagline, "Priestess. Assassin. Traitor." She grew up in what was effectively a death cult, where she was given the role as the Chosen Bride who would be sacrificed to a death god when she was 14. When the time for her sacrifice came, she instead turns against her faith and runs away with a visiting mage named Sethennai and grows into his right hand. Oh, did I mention she's an awesome butch orc? She is. Total blorbo material too. By the end of The Unspoken Name I was so proud of her. You GO, girl!

Talasseres Charossa: usually referred to as Tal. Your first impression of this guy is he kind of sucks. Much of this is because you're seeing him through Csorwe's eyes. Her first impression of him was pretty terrible, and after that they spent years both working for Sethennai and competing for his praise. This setup does not lead to a good working relationship. But let's be fair, we can't blame entirely blame Csorwe for this impression. Tal's a mess. He doesn't care about a darn thing besides pleasing Sethennai, and he's an ass to everybody else. But it's okay, because he undergoes CHARACTER GROWTH!!! Even just finishing the first book is enough to make you way more positive toward him, and the second book? Hoo boy. Did I say I was proud of Csorwe? Fuck that. As of The Thousand Eyes, Tal's the one I'm proud of.

Qanwa Shuthmili: a mage with a passion for historical research. She comes from Qarsazh, a place where magic is seen as evil. Magic comes from patron gods, which god depending on where the mage came from, and in Qarsazh this god is a feared god indeed. For this reason, those born with the ability to use magic are either killed or forced to live very strict lives. Their lives aren't considered their own at all: they may only live to serve Qarsazh in the way Qarsazh demands. Shuthmili insists the future set in front of her is fine and exactly what she wants, but is it really? Talking about Shuthmili is kind of hard because, while she sure is an important part of the first book, she moves to a protagonist role in The Thousand Eyes so a lot of development is saved until then.

Look I really adore these characters and I think everybody should give them a chance. Also a warning: there are times things look very, very bad for them. Bad enough it might seem hopeless. When that happens, keep going. Just keep fuckin reading. The characters aren't giving up, so why should you?

#plz read and yell about it with me

[snow-system-wol]

Getting up and moving on after nearly dying may be a common part of being the Warrior of Light, but it doesn't get much easier. Sharing his head with a teenager with clear abandonment issues, who has chosen now of all times to be active, does not much help.

(A short look into the Snow System's worries.)

Ao3

It's silly, really, isn't it? A bit selfish even, but… well, isn't that just how teenagers are? S'chaim can't really be blamed for his own uncontrollable thoughts, even if they're driving S'ria a bit up the wall. It isn't as if it's purposeful. At moments like these, it can be hard to tell who is feeling or thinking what, and it turns into a jumbled mix. S'ria-S'chaim mess, an anxious adult and a melodramatic teenager, blurring into one stressed individual – what could go wrong?

The First is more or less saved (as safe as any Shard could be, for now), and S'ria is no longer about to die. So those were both absolutely good things. Genuinely, it was so good to spend time properly with G'raha, no secrets, to celebrate with everyone under the night sky, to have a moment to breathe at all.

That warmth and giddiness fades from his chest and the kindness and praise passes, though – and suddenly he isn't feeling well at all. It isn't as though he needs people constantly telling him he's doing good, but… maybe S'chaim does, right now? S'ria would expect to feel calm now that he's out of danger, but that adrenaline just hasn't passed, and now he's still scared but all the more distressed for not knowing why it's lingering.

It eventually sinks in that the problem might be, at least in part, loneliness.

The others have their own lives, which is more than understandable. They've spent years here, some even longer than others, of course someone would put down roots in that situation. He can't imagine how Thancred must have felt, being here alone for as long as he was.

But S'ria hasn't been here nearly so long and he feels like the only person he's actually gotten close with from this shard is G'raha (if that counts), and he isn't even sure where they stand. He… shouldn't be jealous of the fact that the others have entire lives here that they'd rather get back to than stay at the Crystarium for a little longer but – gods, he is. It does not feel good to admit.

Them heading out again so soon doesn't have to be his fault, but a part of him wonders if it possibly could be. Was his near failure enough to shake their faith in him? Did they finally realize that he was truly a bit of a hassle to deal with? Did he do something wrong and not even realize?

(And oh, Alphinaud, he knows the truth about his condition and so many other things besides – would he rather keep his distance?)

Ah, but really, this probably has little to do with him, even if he may be overwhelming to talk to at times. They like him. They have said this, some more explicitly than others. Surely that would not change so suddenly?

Still, S'ria, or S'chaim, or both of them – they are afraid. They want that fear and anxiety to leave but – how, when this is solely a self-created problem?

They itch to go to one of them, to ask "are we still alright, do you hate me?" – but that was truly a terrible idea. If they are afraid of seeming too needy, then that would just be making things much worse. If the answer is "no", then this would all look rather paranoid, and if it is "yes", then what an awkward and impossible chat that would be.

An alternative instinct is to go to G'raha for comfort, who always seems happy to see him. That doesn't feel good either. They are still not sure if G'raha is still considered a "close friend" as they try to recalibrate, but he didn't deserve the burden of having these anxieties dumped into his lap, and what's more – this is actually a pretty pathetic problem to tell someone. Maybe he doesn't want to show that part of him to G'raha.

This is their issue, and they just have to sit with it. And acknowledge that the Scions probably don't actually hate them.

And wait for it to truly sink in that the world is no longer about to end.

#snow-system #ffxiv-oc #ffxiv-reactions #s'ria 🌸❄️ #writings #a little look at a side of snow system mental health issues that we don't tend to show so much #yes there's the ptsd and absolute trauma sure. but there's also just. quiet anxiety #this is also a much older thing #not written long after the other end of 5.0 story #the lack of perspective :( G'raha would not judge for this #a good bit of this is likely also kickback from the post mt gulg mental health crisis #brain chemicals need to reset to normal ish #he takes some time but manages to get past this mess on his own #and he does start VISITING the others more when there's msq lulls