#the novels. but like before that when he was a young young kid just post attack he was probably just living feral in an alleyway or smth | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

purpleenma · 17 days

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This is not my typical art or meme post but a doubt surfaced in the Mcspirk Discord server about TarsusIV and if Kirk was on the list to die or to survive. So I made a kind of shallow dive in the net to see if I was able to find an answer, and I could say I did, but boy did I also find something I was absolutely NOT expecting.

For the record canon or alpha canon in Star Trek is what we see in the shows themselves.

(Some people may include here scriptwriters or directors publications/comments and interviews relating their work on the show and their intentions while making it, in general any of the key people that contributed to the canon we see in the shows. For others this is considered beta canon so it's a kind of grey area.)

Beta canon is all the rest under the Star Trek brand; novels, videogames, manuals, comics, etc.

Having established that more or less, here we go:

In alpha canon the answer to if Kirk was in the list to die or survive is; "it's tricky" xD

Memory Alpha in all accounts points to him being one of the other 4000 people that survived the mass execution, although it is not exactly specified that he was on any list to survive. There were previous scripts where Jim says he was, but it was scrapped among other things. Still, if Kodos executed the 4000 colonists all together in the antimatter chamber, and we haven't heard of any escapees or switches between people, I think it's safe to say he was on the list of survivors. However, I think it's important to note that we don't know if later Kodos just chilled, ordered more people killed or there were more deaths due to his ruling the more the situation became dire. And we also don't know how long he lasted in charge, since I couldn't find an exact time when help arrived either; it just states it arrived earlier than expected but too late to save the 4000 killed. So we can't be certain how much time elapsed from the mass execution till help finally got there.

Kirk is listed as a survivor of the TarsusIV Massacre, that encompasses all the struggle since what would be the uprise of Kodos and ordering those executions, till the unknown time later when help finally arrived. But we seem to be left to wonder if he could have been sought for later executions or persued in any way. In fact when we think back at what happened to his friend Tom Leighton, who was also a survivor and one of the nine witnesses, it is understood the damage to the side of his face either was caused by Kodos himself or took place during the massacre at least, maybe caused by Kodos enforcers.

Since we don't know exactly what happened and for how long after the mass execution, we can't be sure what or who was the cause. Like most of it, it's left to interpretation. But when you get into account that him, along with Jim and Kevin Riley, who were all rather young then, are from the few people who could identify Kodos because they saw his face, added to his wounds, makes you think that at least there was some big turmoil and, be it on purpose or not, these kids ended either in Kodos presence himself when most didn't even know his face, or could retrieve that photo we see in the TOS episode from Kodos' headquarters or some other important place that may store such data. As one ST Discovery novel (beta canon) suggests and also tells us more of what transpired after the execution.

So yes, alpha canon, or "the" canon left it ambiguous on purpose, since any intent to specify was scrapped before the TOS episode Conscience of the King was produced.

But here is where it gets juicy; beta canon (specifically Memory Beta) tells a very different story, one that made me have to read the paragraph twice and fact check because wtf xD

Two novels you'll see listed in the screenshot detail that Kirk was, in fact, on the list to die, but he escaped, saving Kevin Riley while he was at it. And not only that, but that Kirk was saved by SAREK who MELDED with him to erase the memory, because he also saved KODOS and gave him his new identity (wtf Sarek? You did that because you thought it was the logical thing to do or how come?? This could have tremendous implications...)

I don't know if any of you guys knew this but I sure didn't and the fic potential for this is unimaginable xD Maybe many of those that made Tarsus fics including Spock and/or Sarek there are based on this piece of beta canon but yeah, shocking.

I'm aware that Shatner touches on more about what happened in TarsusIV in some of the ST novels he wrote, like "Star Trek: Academy #1 Collision Course" and the "Autobiography of James T Kirk". For the latter I believe I read an excerpt some time ago that talked about riots and the situation getting really violent, but I couldn't find any information in this small search and I don't have the spoons to read the book right now, so take it with a grain of salt.

In the end it is all up for interpretation and you can go either way, but you sure get some interesting details in the various levels of canon xD

#star trek #star trek tos #tarsusiv #kodos #james t kirk #jim kirk #sarek #alpha canon #beta canon #the tarsusiv massacre #shallow dive #purpleenma #star trek analysis #makes me think of what did Sarek think of Jim when he saw him again in Journey to Babel after all those years and what he did

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jo-harrington · 1 year

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Heaven - Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: Eddie had written off ever finding his person. Yeah he could fool around and have some fun, but at the end of the day no one would look at him the way he wanted them to. Until you came along and, in the most unexpected way, changed his life forever.

Pairing: Eddie Munson/Fem!Reader

Warnings/Themes: Fluff, Love at First Sight, Soulmates(?), Criticism of Religion/Catholicism, Implied Sexual Encounters, Implied Supernatural Encounters, Angst, Abandonment, Biblical and Other Literary References

Note: Set before Hell, we have our introduction to Reader/OC for my Van Helsing AU/Kas!Eddie series, As Above, So Below. Once again, this can be read as a stand-alone, but if you're planning on reading the eventual series, you might want to read the prequels.

That being said, this fic and the subsequent fics/chapters in the series will not be for the faint of heart. Please check the above warnings and ask yourself if you are in the correct headspace to proceed. I am happy to answer any questions via PM or Ask.

You can find the As Above, So Below masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

"Your place in heaven will seem to be made for you and you alone, because you were made for it. Made for it stitch by stitch as a glove is made for a hand."

—The Business of Heaven, Daily Readings from C.S. Lewis (1984)

March 1984

When Eddie met you, he had all but given up on finding love.

He had heard it all before.

He was young. He still had the rest of his life ahead of him. Maybe love wasn't in Hawkins. He just needed to have patience.

But it stung to watch the others receive affection, care, and understanding when he waited. Wanting, deserving, but never receiving.

Until you walked into the Hideout, wet and weary after a long drive to an unfamiliar place in unforgiving conditions.

You weren't some spectacular beauty, or otherworldly siren, or heavenly angel that he would expect in a fantasy novel or a DnD game. You were, quite frankly, a mess. But as you turned and nodded your head along to the music, Eddie swore his heartbeat was louder than Mickey's relentless assault on the drums.

He approached you at the end of the set as you sat at the bar nursing a cherry coke and circling want ads in the classified section of the Hawkins Post.

He asked you if you liked cheese fries before he even said hello.

And the laugh you made was loud and honking, but it was nevertheless perfect.

You were a disaster made, he hoped, just for him.

June 1984

“The trumpet shall sound and the dead shall rise,” Eddie muttered as he traced the words etched into your forearm. “That from the Bible?”

"Yeah."

“That’s pretty badass.”

While all of his classmates were dressed in their best clothes—their caps and gowns—being celebrated by the fanfare that befitted the class of 1984, you and Eddie were spread out in the back of his van in your underwear, studying each others tattoos after a day of swimming and skipping rocks at Lover's Lake.

It was a lazy kind of day.

You had sensed his anxiety in the days prior, when you asked about the end of the school year, about his plans after graduation. He initially wasn't going to tell you that he wouldn’t be graduating. He tried to skirt around it. But somehow you knew.

You always knew. Because you knew him.

You suggested a day out, just the two of you. Something special. As opposed to the many "dates" he had taken you on where his friends ended up tagging along. You promised you didn't mind, but he would have liked to kiss you freely without some doofus making lewd noises in the background.

But your idea had been perfect.

Graduation was played up to be some kind of achievement, something special. But how could it be when you were surrounded by a hundred other kids who all knew the same shit you did. Probably didn’t even know it, actually; they were just good at remembering it for a little while.

How could that feel special?

But this? Learning about you? It was more important than math or science or some other useless bullshit.

Knowing you—loving you—was the most special thing he could ever achieve. And he was proud to say that he was getting straight A’s.

“Listen," you started as Eddie pressed a kiss to your skin. "I know all of the love-thy-neighbor-Jesus shit is pretty lame. But…I don’t know, some things are cool.”

“Care to elaborate?” he asked.

“Some of the Saints…reliquaries, catacombs, the Book of Revelation,” you shrugged. “You can kind of choose what you want to believe in, I guess.”

“Isn’t that kind of the point of organized religion?” He huffed and rolled onto his back, pulling your arm across his torso so you could rest your head on his shoulder and your body could drape across his comfortably.

"Isn’t what the point?" You fished the sharp pendant of your necklace from between your bodies and laid it on his bare chest beside his.

His was simple, a guitar pick he'd caught at the first concert he ever attended.

Yours, intricate, a silver cross with flowers and vines intermingled around the arms. Hyacinths, you told him once. As though he knew what they were. But he made a mental note to try and find them for your birthday, since you seemed to like them enough to have a necklace with them.

“Well, it's organized. That you all believe the same…I dunno. Stories? Lessons?” He rambled on as his hand gestured absentmindedly.

“It's all just…rules made by old men,” you scoffed. “Some stuffy guy in the Vatican says…I don’t know…don’t step on a crack or you’ll break your mother’s back and earn a one way ticket to hell? And I’m supposed to believe it?”

“That’s just a superstition.” He paused for a moment and snorted. “Kind of ironic that I, a supposed devil worshiper, am telling you this, Miss Catholic School.”

You rolled your eyes at him but still smiled.

“Pretty sure if someone knows more about Satan between the two of us,” you giggled. “It’s me.”

“Shhh, you’re gonna ruin my reputation.”

July 1984

The 4th of July fell on the most perfect day.

It might have rained a little earlier that morning, but Eddie had certainly slept through it, and it made way for perfect skies and just the slightest slickness to the grass as he and the boys ran around the open fields surrounding Weathertop.

The van was full of fireworks, and Jack's mom had set them up with sandwiches and a few coolers of iced tea and lemonade. Mickey brought the beers. Eddie had the good sense to invite some of the younger guys too, which meant Gareth's mom had sent him along with a few extra pies she had made.

Apple, Strawberry Rhubarb, and Cherry—Eddie's favorite.

His mouth watered for the tantalizing summer feast, but he craved you more.

You were a little late to the party, having worked the opening shift at Bradley's, but before long your clunky, hand-me-down Marquis pulled up alongside his van.

"The freezers went down at work," you called to the boys. "So I have, like, a hundred boxes of bomb pops. Can I get some help before they melt? I have no A/C, so it’s hot as Hell."

It had just reached the height of the day, and the boys whooped and tripped over each other to get to the sweet, icy treats.

"In the backseat," you reminded them. "Not the trunk."

“Why don’t you let me take a look at your car?” Eddie asked, snaking his arms around your waist.

“To fix the a/c? If you want.” You shrugged but beamed at him. “It was my grandpa’s car. It’s on its last legs anyway.”

"At least let me look at the trunk." Eddie offered and you rolled your eyes at him, pushing him away from you playfully. "What? Then you wouldn't have to shove, like, a hundred boxes of bomb pops in the backseat."

"I swear, the trunk is just rusted shut at this point," you supplied with a laugh. "There's no use."

"Whatever you say, sweetheart," he pouted. He knew you knew when he was fishing for a kiss, but you gave in to his pouting anyway and immediately chased after his lips to plant one on him.

That night after the feast is consumed and everyone is enjoying the fireworks, Eddie couldn’t ignore the feeling that things were about to take a turn for the worst.

His closest friends would be gone soon, off to college and leaving him behind. His band practically broken apart, dreams shattered, if not for Gareth and Jeff.

Everything was changing.

And the only constant he could count on now was you.

He couldn’t help but worry how long it would be before you'd leave him too.

October 1984

The cicadas chirped and buzzed wildly. A mourning dove that had nested on top of the trailer in the spring and was still there and cooed restlessly, calling for a mate that had left it behind. The cheap window units Wayne had gotten from the hardware store ages ago chugged and clunked away to keep the trailer just on the side of cool enough to wear clothes.

They were sounds of summer, not fall, and most certainly not Halloween. But it was an unseasonably, disgustingly hot week, and it did nothing to help Eddie get into a chilling, haunted mindset as he planned a special one-off campaign for Hellfire on the 31st.

His repeat senior year hadn’t started off too well. The teachers were unforgiving, the students unkind. But he had promised Wayne he would try.

Things like the band and Hellfire certainly made it bearable.

You made it bearable.

You’d been working a lot of nights lately, but still made time for him and promised him special incentives and treats if he did well in school.

If he showed up on time for a week, you could have a sleepover at your apartment. Pass a test with a grade above a C, you’d tell him a secret.

He hadn’t gotten quite so good of a grade on a test yet but he had written a killer essay in English and he had negotiated your participation in Hellfire for Halloween, since the roster was slightly lacking this year. It hadn’t even taken much negotiation, really; you were just as excited to learn everything about him as he was about you.

So you’d spent a lazy Sunday afternoon with him as he explained the mechanics of the game and helped you create a character.

“…I forgot to mention if you do pick a rogue, you have proficiency in de—what’re you looking at now?”

He’d paused his lesson to grab some drinks, and when he returned, you were frozen in place, staring intently at a page in his players guide, brow furrowed. One of your hands clutched the book tightly, and the other touched the words on the page almost reverently.

He set your sodas on the nightstand and then glanced over at the book.

“Ah, we hadn’t gotten there yet,” he laughed and flopped down on the bed. “Tsk, tsk, reading ahead. But don’t worry, paladins are really cool. They pledge an oath to a deity—devote their whole lives—and then get this…divine ability so long as they uphold it. They can heal or even smite—”

You slammed the book shut at that and Eddie jumped in shock. You refused to look at him for a moment, rubbing your hands over the cover of the book in contemplation, before you looked up at him with a smile that didn’t quite reach your eyes.

“I think I’ll be a rogue,” you nodded. “That sounded really cool.”

“A-are you sure?” He asked.

“Yeah.” You cleared your throat and sank down into his pillows. You rested your cheek against his shoulder, nuzzled him slightly, and shoved the book back into his hands. “So what else do I need to play?”

November 1984

Eddie woke abruptly to frantic banging on the front door of the trailer.

It had been raining when he went to bed, which usually helped him sleep. At first he thought the storm had just gotten stronger.

Until he heard your voice.

You had abandoned the front door in favor of the side door near his bedroom. You tripped over the bowl he left for the stray cats and swore viciously. He chuckled tiredly until the banging started again and his heart seized in his chest.

You weren’t knocking. Your hands were practically slapping at the door.

“Please, God, please, please.” He could hear you muttering desperately.

He kicked the soft comforter off and pushed himself out of bed to get to you. As soon as the door was open you crashed into his chest, your arms wound around his waist, and you sobbed. Great, broken sobs that made his heart break.

He was about to put his arms around you, to soothe you and ask you what was wrong, when he smelled it.

Smoke. Fire. Acrid and cloying, engulfing you.

He looked down and was shocked. You were filthy; covered in dirt and soot and muck. The edges of your clothes and the ends of your hair were singed. You were visibly shaking.

"W-what happened?" Eddie asked frantically, prying your arms from around him, trying to see if you were hurt. He froze at the sight of blood caked on your hands and wrists. His stomach churned when he noticed the streaky stains it left below your nostrils. "Are you ok? Are you hurt? What happened?"

You simply shook your head and collapsed back against him.

He couldn't help the fear that overtook him, but he stayed strong as he pulled you into the trailer. As he got you into the shower and washed...whatever happened off of you. There were no cuts or burns or bruises. He tried to ask again, once you had calmed down enough that the tears fell silently and the only sounds you made were an occasional hiccup.

The next morning you were fine. You told him there was an accident at Bradley's. But there was no report on the news or in the paper. The building was fully intact. All of the staff were present and happily employed. You had no problem going back to work; in fact, you did so with a smile on your face.

Eddie never asked.

Because he knew you had secrets.

You never told him.

Because he never got a better grade than a C.

A month after that night, though, Hawkins National Laboratory was shut down and abandoned.

January 1985

"...can't I have anything for myself. It's unfair." Your muffled voice pierced through his dreams and pulled him into awareness.

He had been a light sleeper after that night in November, especially when you stayed over. You muttered in your sleep sometimes; it would wake him. You'd shift just far enough away; that would wake him too.

You had never had a full-on conversation before, though.

"Sins of the father, and sins of his father before that. Blah blah."

He blinked the bleariness from his eyes and watched as you paced at the foot of his bed. You wore nothing but your necklace. The cross swung wildly as your arms gestured and when you turned on your heel to continue your endless back and forth. Your voice was hushed.

It was half of an argument with an unseen adversary.

“I need a break…I know I haven’t been at this for long, but I’m sick and tired of it already.”

He vaguely wondered if you were hallucinating. A bad high. You’d always been reluctant to smoke with him but he had insisted tonight. After tangled limbs and quiet declarations in the sanctuary of his bedroom. Words of worship whispered to one another. The buzz beneath his skin had felt foreign and he figured the weed could mellow it out.

Maybe it had the opposite effect on you.

But then Eddie felt it.

As awareness settled over him, he felt an unseen, suffocating presence. It felt like the days where the weight of the world rested on his shoulders, only this time...the weight of the entire universe, every atom and every molecule, every moment--past, present, and future--existed all at once in his small bedroom and crushed him flat on his bed.

You continued on your one-sided rant and he didn’t know how you managed to move so freely when he felt so trapped, pinned in place by the weight of it. He tried to get your attention but he couldn't move, couldn't breath.

In the corner of his eye he swore he could see it. Blazing fire and wings and eyes.

He gasped and looked but saw nothing there. Still, the suffocating weight closed in on him further, pressing and squeezing, crushing him. And fear gripped him tightly. He wrenched his eyes shut and for the first time, probably in his life, he prayed.

He begged for it to go away.

Because if it didn't. He was going to die.

The bed shifted with your weight as you crawled to him and as soon as your hands reached him, he could breathe again.

“Eddie, oh my god please, are you ok?” You asked frantically, cupping his face in your hands. “Please say something.”

He gasped for air and sat up, clutching your hands to his face. You were his lifeline, his savior.

He closed his eyes and a million thoughts raced through his mind.What the fuck was that? Are you ok? Maybe he had a bad high, not you? Was it a nightmare? What the fuck was that?

February 1985

Your goodbye was expected. But that didn't mean it didn't cut him straight to his core.

You had been waiting for him one Friday night after Hellfire; he had driven the guys home only to find you waiting outside the trailer. Your car was packed with your belongings, similar to the way it had been the night you had stumbled into Hawkins.

He felt like vomiting as soon as he saw you.

You fed him some story about a sick, dying grandmother. How your mother had left a message on your answering machine begging you to come back home.

"She needs me," you told him.

"I need you," he replied desperately.

You couldn't do much more than shake your head and break down in tears.

"I'll come back," you promised. "It won't be long. Just wait for me."

In hindsight, he wished he had screamed and cried and begged you to stay. He wished that he had offered to go with you. Chicago wasn't that far. Wayne would have been mad, but then...Eddie would still have you.

Eddie was a good liar, though. He could fool anyone if he tried hard enough. He could even lie to himself.

He smiled and nodded and pretended to understand.

"Sure," he agreed. "I'll wait."

Your eyes started watering and you pulled him into the tightest hug. He wrapped his arms around you numbly, and as he did, he vaguely remembered some bullshit myth--

How humans were created...conjoined together. 4 arms, 4 legs, a head with two faces...but the Gods feared their power, split them in two. Condemned them to spend their lives apart.

--And he wished that he had some sort of secret, divine power to meld himself back together with you. Because surely, you belonged there with him. And if he concentrated on squeezing you just right, you would simply fuse together and you would never be apart again.

Life didn't work that way though.

You reluctantly pulled away from him and pressed a wet kiss to his lips.

Before you got in the car to drive away forever, you took off your necklace and pressed the cross into his hand. It practically burned.

"Don't lose that," you told him. "I'll be back for it."

He closed his fist around it and nodded, unable to trust himself with words.

He watched as you drove away, stayed standing outside until he couldn't see your tail lights anymore.

He let himself in the trailer, glad that Wayne was still at work--

You'd be back. You promised. You loved him. He loved you. You told him almost everything. You brought him hope. And care. And you made him feel complete. You'd be back.

--as he threw your necklace into the furthest corner of the room.

As he screamed in agony.

“Life moves very fast. It can go from Heaven to Hell in a matter of seconds.”

—Eleven Minutes, Paulo Coelho (2003)

#Eddie munson x reader #Eddie munson fluff #Eddie munson angst #stranger things fic #stranger things Eddie munson #As Above So Below

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shebrakesforrainbows · 2 months

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What if I told you that Tony's fate isn't as ambiguous as we thought? What if I told you that we know exactly what happened to him?

And what if I told you we've seen it before?

Throughout the events of GGY, we're illuminated to the life and times of Tony Becker, a snarky and unpopular preteen boy obsessed with uncovering the truth in every story he runs into despite the consequences it may have on his real life and surroundings. Plagued by unresolved feelings of anger and denial from his father's imprisonment due to federal charges, Tony has developed somewhat of a "main character" complex. He believes that the world should attest to his discoveries, going so far as to resort to petty crimes in order to maintain a steady flow of evidence for his focal research points.

As we follow Tony's misadventures in trying to uncover the identity of the mysterious Pizzaplex hacker "GGY", we gleam the fact that he's not quite popular amongst his peers, and is in fact seen as "nerdy" or "weird" by them. His only companions are Ellis, known as "Boots", a long-standing childhood friend, and Greg, aka "Dr. Rabbit" or "Rab", a boy adopted into the friendship-turned-trio some months prior to the events of the story. Tony believes he's "outgrowing" Ellis, and theorizes that in time, he may only find interest in Greg (or Gregory as he's more commonly known as, which I'll be referring to him as for the remainder of the post to avoid confusion).

"Over the summer, Tony had started feeling a little impatient with his best friend, Boots. It felt like Tony was starting to grow up, but his longtime friend was content to stay a little boy." "Tony had a feeling that Rab had layers that Boots would never have. Tony had a terrible feeling that he was outgrowing Boots and might soon just want to hang out with Rab. That would be awkward in the extreme."

― The Bobbiedots Conclusion, "GGY" (p.8)

So off the bat we're shown that Tony doesn't seem to have much of an interest in developing meaningful relationships with other people, only those who he deems as "complex" as him. Whether that be out of a social awkwardness or any other insecurity is kind of left hanging in the air for debate.

However, he does take a notable interest in Gregory. This is mentioned multiple times in the first few pages of the story alone.

""Rab" was a relatively new friend. Spotting the unfamiliar kid who'd looked a little lost at the start of the school year a couple months before, Tony had introduced himself just to be friendly. He and "the new guy" had hit it off, and Tony invited him to work with him―and Boots―when they'd gotten their first creative writing assignment."

― The Bobbiedots Conclusion, "GGY" (p.7)

"More than once, Tony had caught Rab with a rigid expression on his face, as if he was contemplating something intense."

― The Bobbiedots Conclusion, "GGY" (p.8)

The story makes a point to repeatedly let the readers know that Tony is "different" from the average kid; that he's misunderstood and others simply don't get him. This, in fact, is arguably one of the main character traits we get from him throughout the events.

"Kids like Boots and Rab, who came from well-off families, didn't understand yet what kind of worries and struggles most people had to carry around. Life came easy to kids like Tony's friends (and most of his classmates), but Tony knew that many kids, and most adults, got beaten down by life."

― The Bobbiedots Conclusion, "GGY" (p.14)

So in essence, we have a smarmy young brunette kid with a missing father who's unpopular amongst his peers, has an affinity for nonfiction handwritten literature, and feels like nobody gets him except for one person, and is left with a seemingly ambiguous fate.

A character we've seen before this. Long before this.

Tony's general description matches that of prior Fazbear Frights protagonist Millie Fitzsimmons essentially to a T. Of course at first that does seem like a bit of an obvious comparison― "well yeah, all the Fazbear novel kids are gonna be similar in one way or another, they're kids". Which is fair argument to make, but the rabbithole goes much deeper than just that of the general personality comparisons.

Count The Ways shows Millie being trapped in the stomach hatch of a salvaged Funtime Freddy, who is notably missing a hand. Whilst stuck within, Funtime Freddy gives Millie the decision of how he will kill her. Dehydration, starvation, hypothermia, impalement, electrocution, or decapitation.

He gives her a list with 6 items. A number that perfectly matches the amount of (legitimate) high scores we see mentioned throughout the events of GGY.

PBD ABC KXT CRF RAE TRE

Sure, that can be chalked up to another coincidence as well. It's a stretch, and not really a strong connection, especially given they don't have much to do with each other. But those two points aren't where the similarities end.

It's worth mentioning, however, that both Tony and Millie have been separated from their fathers, with Tony's in prison for embezzlement and Millie's teaching in Saudi Arabia, and as a result both have moved in with a grandparent.

Throughout his investigation, Tony is notably stalked by Glamrock Freddy. This isn't just implied by Tony's sway on the narration, but full-on confirmed.

"After just a couple steps, though, a flash of glowing white caught Tony's eye. He looked to the left, and his feet faltered. He was being watched... by one of the animatronics. Tony looked up into the gleaming white eyes of the big orange animatronic bear with the red, armored shoulder pads and the black top hat―Glamrock Freddy. Thinking that Freddy was just being friendly, the way the animatronics were during their Sunday stroll around, Tony lifted a hand and waved at the bear. Freddy, however, didn't return the gesture. He just kept his intense gaze on Tony, as if sizing Tony up. Suddenly chilled for reasons he didn't understand at all, Tony looked away from Freddy and hurried on. After a few more steps, Tony glanced over his shoulder. Glamrock Freddy was still watching him. Goose bumps popped up on Tony's bare arms as he practically ran out of the Fazcade."

― The Bobbiedots Conclusion, "GGY" (p.33)

"Remembering what had happened the last time he'd seen the bit of luminous white, Tony barely turned his head and used his peripheral vision to check out what had gotten his attention. And as he'd expected, he spotted Glamrock Freddy. The animatronic was pacing Tony, three feet or so behind Tony's right shoulder. It looked like Glamrock Freddy was shadowing Tony. But why? (...) Maybe it was just a coincidence that Glamrock Freddy was walking in the same direction Tony was going, just a few feet from Tony. Tony risked another glance at the animatronic. He quickly looked straight forward again. Nope. Not a coincidence. Freddy was clearly focused on Tony."

― The Bobbiedots Conclusion, "GGY" (p.41)

It goes without saying that Count The Ways' main antagonist is Funtime Freddy. Glamrock Freddy, and Funtime Freddy. Both notably variants of the original top-hatted troubadour.

Both notably missing their hand(s) at one point or another.

The duration of Millie's torment takes place inside of Funtime Freddy's stomach hatch. Again, something we see reflected in Glamrock Freddy's mechanics and design throughout multiple installments.

Whilst GGY doesn't necessarily have its own central antagonist, the closest thing to an actual threat that Tony seems to encounter is Glamrock Freddy. The two Freddy variants who are explicitly known for their intense shift in the expected behavior of a Freddy, and who were built with some kind of hollow opening in their stomach small enough to host children.

Seems pretty cut and dry to me.

But that's not everything. Throughout Count The Ways, Millie takes interest in a boy named Dylan who shares her hobbies and interests. Dylan, she feels, is the only one who understands her, and despite their meeting being very recent, she falls for him.

The bell rang, signaling that lunch period was about to end. Dylan leaned toward Millie and half whispered, “Do not ask for whom the bell tolls.” “It tolls for thee,” Millie finished. Where had this guy come from? Toledo, sure, but how was he so sophisticated and knowledgeable? She had never met anyone like him. Dylan stood up. “Millie, it’s been a rare pleasure. Would you and your imaginary friend mind very much if I joined you two at lunch tomorrow?” Millie felt the corners of her mouth twitch in an unfamiliar way. “We wouldn’t mind at all,” she said.

― Into The Pit, "Count The Ways" (p.93)

Dylan, obviously, is a stand-in for Gregory in this scenario. Whilst we don't see much interaction directly between Tony and Gregory, we do see a lot of bonding between Ellis and Gregory. Throughout the chapter the two of them are shown to be much closer to each other than they seem to be with Tony. I believe Ellis is reflected in Count The Ways through the character of Brooke, Dylan's girlfriend.

“Like Brooke?” Millie’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “What, you don’t approve of Brooke?” Dylan said. “She’s blonde and basic,” Millie said. No need to mince words. The truth was the truth. “Have you ever had a conversation with her?” Dylan asked. “Do you even know what she’s like?” Had Millie ever heard Brooke say anything? She was quiet in U.S. government class, Millie assumed, because she had nothing interesting or important to say. “I’ve never talked to her,” Millie said. “I don’t talk to just anyone.” Dylan shook his head. “Well, Brooke isn’t just anyone. She’s smart and well-read and nice. She wants to be a veterinarian. Why does it matter what color her hair is?” Dylan looked at her so hard it was like he was looking through her. “Millie, I’m disappointed in you. You, of all people, with your black wardrobe and black eyeliner and black nail polish. It seems like you’d know better than to judge a person based on her appearance. You don’t like when people do it to you, and yet you’re guilty of the very same crime. I’m pretty sure that’s called hypocrisy.” He stood up. “I think this conversation is over.”

― Into The Pit, "Count The Ways" (p.104)

Tony rather harshly judges Ellis for being "childish" the same way Millie labels Brooke as "basic", in spite of Gregory/Dylan showing interest in them. I'm not going to say this is a hint towards Tony's true feelings towards Gregory or anything, but...

But I digress; this is simply all buildup, evidence to what I intend to properly prove― Tony's seemingly ambiguous fate, and how this all ties into Millie's experience. At the end of the story, Gregory invites Tony to the Pizzaplex with him under the guise of cheering him up.

Greg stopped and took a step back toward Tony. "Listen," Greg said, "how about you meet me at the Pizzaplex when you get out of here. In an hour or so? I have some people I want you to meet. We'll have some fun, and you'll forget all about the story and getting detention." Tony wasn't all that keen on going back to the Pizzaplex. He couldn't be in the place now without thinking of GGY and the modified animatronics. "Come on," Greg pressed. "Say yes. We'll get you cheered up."

― The Bobbiedots Conclusion, "GGY" (p.69)

Most people assume that the "people" Gregory wanted to introduce Tony to were the animatronics, ready to snuff him out for knowing too much and sticking his nose in places it shouldn't be in. Though, what if I proposed the idea that these aren't people at all― but rather concepts?

Everybody knows the popular phrase “Say hello to my little friend!”, coined by Al Pachino in the 1983 cult classic Scarface. Obviously, he's not referring to a real person or any kind of cuddly animal. This "friend" refers to the grenade launcher in his hands, that he uses to blow away the five men standing before him.

It's not likely, but perhaps the "people" Gregory mentioned were instead torturous instruments or concepts, in the form of the six options Millie had been given.

Dehydration, starvation, hypothermia, impalement, electrocution, or decapitation. All potential options to be done to Tony by Gregory's little friend.

The little friend that had been lurking in the background the entire time, privy to the things Tony had been getting into.

The little friend so loyal to Gregory that his own programming would bug out, and he'd betray the virus living inside of his own systems just to keep safe in a twist that even Gregory himself, who once worked closely with the animatronics under the control of Glitchtrap, cannot explain.

Of course, Millie's fate is also left ambiguous at the end of Count The Ways. However, that only brings the theory full circle in terms of comparisons to make between the two stories' protagonists. We can be lead to believe that both escaped their seemingly grim fates... but at the same time, we're also given the implication that they did not.

At the very least, I believe Count The Ways is supposed to represent what Tony experiences after the events of the story come to an end. Given all the glaring similarities of both kids that fall into place when lined up, there's no doubt that at least a little bit of Tony's journey is meant to be reflected upon through Millie's.

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emotionallychargedtowel · 2 months

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Hira's parents and his self-defeating tendencies

I was talking to @sorry-bonebag and @wen-kexing-apologist about what role Hira's parents might have played in creating the weirdness he displays throughout both seasons of Utsukushii Kare & Eternal. I started writing a response and it got too long and, well, now it's a post.

Before I talk about Hira's parents and the tendencies in him that they helped to create, I want to note that family of origin is just one of the influences that form us as people. Parents and caregivers have a huge influence, as do other family members. But so do peers. The bullying about his disability that Hira experiences nearly constantly is one of the biggest influences on his personality.

Hira's parents appear extremely briefly at the very beginning of the series. His mom fusses a bit about him being on his own and his dad is very "he has to take care of himself sometime" about it. We know they took him to specialists for his dysphemia, bought him his camera, etc.

Their departure is a show thing, by the way, and isn't present in the novel. In the novel they continue to live with him through high school and, if I remember correctly, part of college. But they don't play a big role in his life. The main things that happen involving them are either instances of Hira hiding things from them (or attempting to) or instances of his mother briefly, sporadically, having a big burst of worry about him. It would make sense if the show version of his parents were the same way aside from the leaving-him-to-live-alone part of things, though that’s not shown.

The rest of my thoughts are largely headcanon since I’m working backwards from his personality to guess about his formative years, but they match up with the little bit that’s shown in the series and how his parents are in the novel. I see Hira as having a self-defeating personality in a lot of ways. The typical etiology of this kind of personality (the set of conditions that lead up to it) is supposed to be a rather deprived childhood that is punctuated by occasional bursts of parental attention when the child is seen as in crisis somehow (or when they attract attention in other self-defeating ways, like intentionally getting in trouble).

This reminds me of something Nancy McWilliams writes about in Psychoanalytic Diagnosis, attributing the idea to someone named Emmanuel Hammer: “a masochistic person is a depressive who still has hope.” [I should note here that “masochistic personality” is an older term for self-defeating personality that is not meaningfully correlated with masochism in a sexual sense. I think that, despite how he might appear at first glance, Hira actually isn’t sexually masochistic or submissive. I have a whole mostly-written post about this that I hope will see the light of day eventually.] In other words, whereas the background that creates a depressive personality involves deprivation that's intense enough that the person gives up on the possibility of receiving the love they need, the self-defeating personality has had enough success with occasionally getting their needs met that they keep trying. If that’s what happened with Hira, it would be consistent with what we see of his parents in the series. We know they pulled out the stops at certain points when it comes to his dysphemia. Anyone who’s a parent can tell you how hard it is to get a good specialist to see your kid, even when they have some kind of glaring issue and you have decent healthcare access overall. The fact that they managed to get him in with a specialist is notable all on it own. (I actually have some stressful phone calls I need to make today in a similar vein, seeking specialist help for one of my kids.) They also spent a lot of money on a DSLR for a young kid. And yet they’re OK with letting him live alone and after that point remain very hands-off. It also seems like despite the attention they paid to his dysphemia during that one period, by the time of the series they’ve totally stopped trying to support him about it.

Basically, I think his parents are largely neglectful (emotionally rather than materially) but that every so often, they freak out and pay a bunch of attention to him because they perceive him to be in need of rescuing. When he was young, he probably appreciated the attention when it happened, but at the time of the series he gets those needs met in other ways and/or displaces that need for attention onto Kiyoi. The idea of seeking attention in this way maps especially well onto his relationship with Kiyoi, because he seeks Kiyoi’s attention and approval through exactly the sort of strategies typically used by people with self-defeating personalities. Here’s McWilliams again:

Reik (1941) explored several dimensions of masochistic acting out, including (1) provocation [she refers to a previous anecdote about a woman who feared angry outbursts by her partner because of experiences with her father; she would act out in ways that antagonized him in order to “get it over with”], (2) appeasement (“I’m already suffering, so please withhold any further punishment”), (3) exhibitionism (“Pay attention: I’m in pain”), and (4) deflection of guilt (“See what you made me do!”).

I can think of plenty of instances of provocation (the first type). Hira often does things he knows will make Kiyoi angry, and sometimes visibly relishes the negative attention.

One good example is the scene in Eternal where he creates a totally avoidable misunderstanding by vaguely talking about how “a divorce is going to happen” because of an affair, which Kiyoi takes to be referring to their relationship and specifically, to Hira cheating. When Kiyoi rears back to punch him, Hira protests for a moment but then says being killed by Kiyoi is actually a longstanding wish of his. It turns out it’s Naho-chan who is getting divorced because her husband cheated. Hira could easily have spoken more clearly when he brought this up by using subjects in his sentences. When he first brings up divorce, Kiyoi says, “Who are you to decide on your own without me agreeing? What dissatisfaction do you have with me?”, which makes it clear he thinks Hira is referring to something involving him. Yet Hira continues to speak without subjects when he elaborates and says the reason for the divorce is an affair. He only clears up the misunderstanding after Kiyoi has lost all patience and is (legitimately!) freaking out. There's no way this isn't, on some level, intentional.

One version of appeasement (the second type of self-defeating acting out) that McWilliams talks about is criticizing oneself before others can do so. It’s no exaggeration to say that Hira talking himself down to Kiyoi is a defining characteristic of their relationship. There are lots of examples of this but a particularly classic case is his constant refrain about being a “pebble.” His invitation for Kiyoi to “Please hit me as much as you want” after their fight in season 2 is another example of appeasement.

It’s hard to pin down specific examples of Hira employing the third type of acting out, exhibitionism. It makes sense that it wouldn’t be, though. This is a very covert type of exhibitionism that doesn’t announce itself. I think you can observe it in subtle ways, though. For example, when Shirota dumps tomato juice on Kiyoi, a bunch of it gets on Hira as well. Afterwards, Kiyoi cleans the juice off of himself as best he can, seemingly as quickly as possible, and changes his clothes. But when he talks to Hira afterward, dried drops of juice are clearly visible on Hira’s face. Acidic juice on one’s face would probably feel uncomfortable, but he intentionally doesn’t wash it off. It’s like he’s wearing these stains as a badge of honor and proof of his mistreatment.

I think deflection of guilt, the fourth type, is less characteristic of Hira than the others. He tends to absorb guilt rather than deflecting it, blaming himself in a way that often takes the form of the self-critical form of appeasement.

I think it's worth noting that he also employs appeasement as a strategy in the hostile environment of high school. His biggest rule in school is to avoid attention as much as possible, so exhibitionism and provocation aren't acceptable options. (He does disobey Shirota in a way that could be considered provocation when the rift between Kiyoi and Shirota first starts to form, but I think that's more a case of overt rebellion.) We don't see him employ deflection of guilt, though his teacher does seem a bit more forgiving of his attack on Shirota given what he knows about Hira's experiences with bullying. But appeasement? When he can't avoid attention entirely, that is his go-to strategy. It doesn't draw much, if any, additional attention this way. He can demonstrate to people who pose a danger to him that he's not a threat and is ready to comply with their orders if it will allow him to avoid mistreatment. It's only when he finds a kind of vicarious strength in Kiyoi (see my post here for more on that aspect of Hira) that he starts to deal with the bullying in other ways.

So, yeah. Hira's parents initially formed these patterns in Hira, peers deepened them, and they came out in his relationship with Kiyoi. A big part of the shift that needs to happen in order for their relationship to last is for Hira to stop using self-defeating strategies to sneakily get his needs met by Kiyoi and start seeking what he needs openly and assertively.

Maybe now would be a good time to brush off those other in-progress Utsukare posts and try to finish them off while I have a bit of momentum, huh?

By the way, if you’re interested in my previous Utsukare posts, I have a master post here with links to everything.

#utsukushii kare #utsukushii kare meta #utsukare #utsukushii kare analysis #psychology of bl #psychoanalytic theory #self-defeating personality #hira kazunari #kiyoi sou #hira x kiyoi

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copperbadge · 4 months

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For a long time I didn't want to spoil events in Royals/Ramblers, but now that it's posted, I can post little bits from the two novels I'm working on currently and I'm finding so many good moments to share.

This is from the football novel, where Paolo the professional footballer has been informed roughly an hour ago, while being functionally kidnapped from Galia, that his party friend Jerry got a job, found a lifemate, changed his name back to Gerald, and had a kid, all while Paolo wasn't looking...

It wasn't long before they were pulling into a little parking lot at the back of the Shivadh palace, edged by a well-cared-for kitchen garden, plants a trifle scraggly in the way oft-harvested herbs and vegetables can be.

Paolo had been to the palace a handful of times before, mainly to be honored for his triumphs as a footballer. Then, generally, he'd been meeting Parliament and King Michaelis on formal terms, so it was a shock to him to see the old king (his king, the man who had ruled since his parents were young) standing in the kitchen garden, in a worn red rugby shirt and black trousers faded to gray, holding an infant in a blue dress. When he saw them he smiled, coming to greet them.

"Hello, my beautiful," Gerald crooned, reaching out for the infant, cuddling her to his chest. She giggled and burbled, a little gross, like most babies Paolo had encountered. Gerald smoothed down her deep auburn hair, wispy and soft, as he spoke to her. "Were you good for Saba? Mm? No, I never was either." He turned to Paolo. "Paodet, my daughter, Serafina. She's just turned seven months. I believe you've met the King Emeritus. He's just turned sixty three," he added, grinning.

"Gerald's still catching up to Sera when it comes to manners," His Grace said drily, bowing. "Good to see you again, Mr. da Fano. Welcome home."

#shivadhverse #poor paolo #he blinked and Jerry was suddenly a grownup #look out paolo I'm about to hit you with the grownup stick as well

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late-to-the-party-81 · 1 year

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Good Graces

AN: Cos Seb's latest looks have us all in a chokehold, but I'm too old to imagine him as my dad's best friend - so ex's best friend it is!

Beta'd by @sgt-seabass

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Moodboard and banner by me

Relationship: Ex's best friend Bucky Barnes x MILF Reader

Word Count: 3.7k

CW: Flirting, Lust at first sight, Explicit sexual content (vaginal fingering, jerking, unprotected PinV sex (reader is on BC)), Secret sex.

When Lee, your ex-husband, had asked if he could bring a new friend with him to the twins party you inwardly rolled your eyes. He said it was for moral support - he was worried about judgemental looks and remarks from all your (his) old friends - but part of you thought he just wanted to show off his latest barbie doll.

He may have cheated on you with Layla from his office, but you’d heard through the grapevine that it hadn’t lasted one month past your divorce. No doubt he’d found someone new. Young. Skinny. No stretch marks and no fupa. Fuck him.

However, for the twin’s sake you decided to be the bigger person and had agreed that it would be fine. Hopefully, with all the other folk coming, adults and kids, you’d be able to avoid him and his ‘friend’.

You were still running around like a headless chicken when he arrived. The garden was decorated, the bouncy castle was inflated (which your kids were currently testing out with a few of their friends who’d arrived early), but you were still bringing all the food outside to the table.

Your dad had offered to man the grill, and was currently prodding coals with more intensity than you thought it needed, but it was keeping him out your hair. You loved your dad, and he loved you, but sometimes he was hard work. Not as hard work as Lee.

The gate hinges squealed and then the wood banged against the gate post as the closer swung it shut.

“Hey, darlin’.”

Lee stood, looking slightly awkward and slightly sweaty, two badly wrapped gifts in his arms. Hopefully he’d bought something from the list you sent him, unlike at Christmas.

You put on your best ‘guest welcoming’ smile.

“Hi Lee. Glad you could make it. The twins will be glad to see you.” You turned toward the bouncy castle.

“Cassie, Isaac, your father’s here.”

Your kids shouted with joy and jumped off the inflatable, and ran towards Lee.

“Daddy!”

He knelt and managed to put the presents down before the two barrelled into him. In moments like this you found it hard to still be angry with him. He might have been a useless husband and not always the best father, but he did love his kids.

You looked around, realising you didn’t see a stranger’s face, and wondered where his friend was. You were about to ask him about his mysterious guest when the gate opened again.

The breath froze in your lungs as the man pulled off his sunglasses. Tall, lean, brunet, a slight scruffy beard going to grey in places, with aquamarine eyes and laughter lines at their corners. His hair was slightly on the long side, curling up at the nape of his neck. Navy pants, a navy t-shirt and a navy suit jacket. It should have looked over the top for a kids birthday party, but somehow it didn’t.

He walked towards you, a smile on his face, hand outstretched.

“Hey, you must be Mrs Bodecker. I’m Bucky. Bucky Barnes. Lee’s friend.”

Your nose screwed up a bit as he spoke.

“Please don’t call me that. I’ve only kept the name so the kids don’t get confused.”

He chuckled, not offended by your response in the least.

“Understandable, but I thought it might be a bit…” he looked you up and down, “... presumptuous to call you by your first name straight off.”

Call me whatever you want… and I’ll do whatever you want…

You tried to get your dirty mind under control. It was your kids' party for god’s sake. You must be more touch starved than you thought. Sex had never been high on your agenda; it had never been the mind-blowing, toe-curling experience your romance novels had made it out to be. But you hadn’t been totally adverse to it with Lee, especially at the beginning of your relationship.

However, this friend of his, Bucky, looked like sin on legs; like one of the hero’s from the cover of said romance novels. Just looking at him you wanted to throw caution to the wind, get a bit wild and a bit selfish.

“So, Bucky introduced himself to ya, darlin’?”

For once you were actually grateful to Lee. His reappearance by your side pulled you out of your erotic daydream.

“Lee, please. I’m not your darlin’ anymore.”

He dropped his head, chagrined, and you tried to ignore the brief quirk of Bucky’s plump pink lips.

“Sorry, force o’ habit. What do you need me to do?”

“Can you and Bucky keep an eye on the bouncy castle? There’s a couple of chairs set up. Just make sure the kids don’t have shoes on, or loose jewellery, and no more than 10 at a time.”

Bucky smiled at you over Lee’s shoulder.

“I’m sure we can manage that, eh bud?”

You smiled back. “Thanks.”

You made a quick escape then, darting back inside to get more food and also get yourself a cold drink. You were just putting the now empty glass on the draining board when your friend, and neighbour, Gabi, came in through the French doors.

“Who the heck is that hot guy with Lee?”

“He’s called Bucky. Apparently he’s a new friend. Gotta say, not the type of friend I was expecting Lee to bring, but I’m not disappointed.”

Turning, you opened the fridge and pulled out a bag of grapes. Gabi was grinning at you as you pulled each one off the stem and placed them on a platter.

“I’ll say! He’s rather yummy looking.”

“Gabs, you’re married!”

She plucked a grape off the platter and popped it in her mouth.

“Yeah, but I’m not dead. I can window shop. No harm in it. You on the other hand…” She looked at you with a sly smile and waggled her eyebrows.

“No. One, it’s the twins’ party. Two, I only met the man five minutes ago, and three I don’t need a man.”

Gabi rolled her eyes as you counted off your reasons on your fingers.

“I’m not telling you to jump him under the piñata. But you could get his number. And I’m not saying to start a relationship with him. I’m just saying that he looks like he knows how to please a woman.” She looked out of your kitchen and across the garden to where Bucky and Lee were organising the kids on the bouncy castle. “Look at those fingers! And I’ve noticed already that his tongue keeps trying to escape his mouth. Just think what he could do with those!”

“Not helping!”

“Pssshh, I’m helping plenty. Woman to woman- do it! You need a good dicking down. You deserve a good dicking down.”

You glared at her and she grinned, before throwing up her hands.

“Okay, okay. I won’t say another word on the subject.” She mimed zipping her lips and throwing away the key and you could help but laugh.

“Come on, you perv.” You nudged your shoulder against hers. “Let’s get the rest of this food outside so my dad can start his slow but steady pace on the grill. Hopefully the fruit kebabs will keep the kids happy until the hotdogs are cooked.”

For the most part you managed to get on with the party, pandering to all the kids present, and ignored your unexpected, and distracting guest. It was difficult though, because somehow your ears had honed in on Bucky’s deep, syrupy voice, and everytime his melodious laughter rang out across your garden you found yourself looking toward him. And to make matters worse, when you did, his gaze seemed to lock with yours. He’d smile at you, eyes sparkling with mischief, and something more intimate that you were trying to ignore. Which was hard when he tipped back his head to swig from his beer bottle and a drop somehow escaped his lips and ran down his jaw, then down the firm column of his neck to disappear into the opening of his shirt. How you managed not to launch yourself across the grass and lick the errant rivulet up, you weren’t sure.

When it became time for the cake, you brought out the split MineCraft/Star Wars confection that your friend Jackie had made and placed it on the table in front of the excited children. It was then that you realised that you’d left your box of matches inside, but before you could turn around to get them, a lighter appeared in front of your eyes.

You met Bucky’s grin, and smiled back without thinking, before ducking your head down and away, returning your attention to the task at hand. Or at least trying to.

When the party wound down, you were glad that some of your close friends and family stayed back to help tidy up. Isaac and Cassie ran up to their rooms with some of the other remaining kids, intent on playing with their new toys and you tried not to think of the mess in their rooms you’d have to tidy up tomorrow. At your request Lee started to deflate the castle. He wasn’t a bad man overall, but you’d just not been right for each other.

Gabi was taking down the decorations and chatting to your dad, while he cleared up the grill paraphernalia, as you started to carry the empty and part-empty food platters inside. Taking a moment for yourself, you rested your hands on the counter top, letting it take your weight. Your eyes closed, and you let your head drop, taking in a few deep breaths.

“How are you doing? Need any help in here?”

You jumped and turned around at the sound of Bucky’s voice. Somehow he’d almost completely snuck up on you and now was breathtakingly close. “I…um… just having a breather. It’s been a pretty full-on day.”

He took a step forward, and you had to tilt your head up to continue looking at his face. His very handsome face. “Bet you have a lot of those, sweetheart. When did you last do anything for yourself? I really can’t believe that Lee cheated on you. If you were my wife I don’t think I could have kept my hands off you. He’s my friend, but he’s an idiot.”

You snorted and then covered your mouth with your hand. “I plead the fifth. And do you go around flirting with all your friend’s ex-wives?”

His eyes roamed over you, unashamed and blatant. “Only those that could be categorised as ‘MILFs’ and I’ve only met one of those…”

“Smooth, Mr Barnes.”

His tongue slipped out from between his lips and ran over the lower one, and you couldn’t draw your eyes away. “Is it working?”

“Is what working?” You shifted an inch closer, your hand resting on the blue suit jacket he was wearing, feeling the smoothness of the fabric.

“Me trying to get into your good graces?”

“Is that what you call it?”

“You could call it something else, if you want.” His head lowered, his intentions telegraphed, giving you time to move your own away.

“I do want…” Your voice was low and soft as you instead raised your head to meet his lips.

There was no finesse. There was just unashamed want, like a starving man facing his last meal. You fisted the lapels of his jacket as your mouth opened under his. You drank in his kiss and returned it with fervour. You were drunk on him, drunk on lust and could feel heat pooling in your abdomen, a feeling so strange to you, due to its previous rarity.

Part of your brain kicked in enough to realise that should anyone come up towards the house from the garden, or the kids come downstairs, you would be caught in a rather compromising situation. But you didn’t want to stop.

Instead, you stepped away from the counter, using your body weight to gently steer Bucky backward toward your pantry.

You released his lips and jacket long enough to open the door to the small walk in cupboard before stepping in and dragging Bucky after you. His lips fell back to your neck and you could feel his smile as he pulled the door shut behind himself. Your fingers tangled into his hair as he kissed your throat, the hair of his beard tickling you. Lee had never had facial hair, so it had been a very long time since you’d experienced the feeling.

All thoughts of Lee were pushed from your mind as your back was pressed up against the shelves, the cans and jars stored on them juddering slightly. Bucky’s hands roamed your body over your sensible dress. When his thumbs brushed over your nipples you gasped and arched your back. You heard Bucky chuckle, and then groan as your hips pressed up against his, his erection obvious through his pants.

You wrapped your arms around his waist, under his jacket and started to pull his shirt out of his pants. You needed to feel him, get your hands on his flesh. There were no words between you, just gasps and moans of pleasure as you pushed the soft cotton up to curl your fingers into his back as he unbuttoned the top half of your dress.

Your hands returned to Bucky’s hair again as he ducked his head to suckle each breast in turn through the lace of your bra, the stiff fabric creating an almost painful friction against your peaked nipples as it was soaked by his tongue.

His hands, in contrast, were pulling up the hem of your dress, stroking over your bare thighs to cup at your sodden core. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d been so aroused. You were aware that you moaned his name as he’d touched you, because he sucked at your breast even harder. His deft fingers stroked you over panties until you were pleading breathily in his ear. When he finally pulled the damp cotton to the side and slid a finger inside you, you swear you had a small orgasm, from the way your body trembled and the breath was pulled from your lungs.

Bucky pumped his digit into you a few times before returning his lips to yours. You wondered why, but then he pressed a second finger into you and you cried out into his mouth and he swallowed the noise. You tugged the hair at the nape of his neck and he growled before pumping his wrist harder and curling his fingers inside you.

“Come on, sweetheart. I know you can give it to me. I just know you're gonna cum so beautifully. You fucking deserve it. That’s it, baby, that’s it.”

He muttered against your lips and cheek as you kissed and nipped his beard, but when he felt your legs tremble, and heard your breath hitch, he kissed you deeply again as you came. Later, you were glad that he had.

You heard the noises you made in your own ears, squeaks and mewls, as your body surrendered to a little known pleasure. Your head spun as you drew in breath through your nose and your grip on his hair tightened even further. Bucky’s fingers continued to stroke you, albeit more softly as he guided you through the aftershocks, and you felt the world come back to you, although your legs felt like jelly and your mind felt all floaty and light.

Slowly, Bucky withdrew his fingers from the clutch of your body, leaving your aching and empty. You whimpered, but Bucky shushed you gently, rubbing his nose against yours.

He then leant back and, in the crack of light coming from under the door, you saw him raise his fingers to his mouth and slowly suck on them in turn. When he moaned you felt your pussy clench, imagining that he was making that noise tasting your essence from the source. And, despite the fact that you’d just had the most mind-numbing orgasm you could remember, you wanted more from him.

You wanted everything.

You practically yanked his fingers from his mouth, bringing them to your own and licking up them, before smashing your lips to his in another feral, needy kiss. Bucky pressed you harder against the shelves, but you ignored the discomfort as the wood dug into your spine; you were more intent on reaching your goal. Your hands went to the fly of his pants as Bucky pulled your dress right up with one hand and massaged one of your breasts with the other.

Your right hand slid into his briefs, a smug sensation filling you when you felt the wetness of his precum on the waistband. The feeling was short lived though, overtaken by a combination of shock and some trepidation when you felt how big he was. Your fingers didn’t meet around his girth, but it didn’t deter you. You stroked up his length, wanting to give him back at least a portion of the pleasure he had given to you.

You touched and devoured each other, but eventually you both became impatient. Bucky lifted your right leg and hitched it over his hip, taking his cock from your hand and pressing towards you. You shuddered with pleasure when he slid his tip through your folds, coating himself in your arousal.

Winding your arms around his neck you braced yourself as he slid home, rocking into you with more care than you’d anticipated. Your eyes rolled back and your eyelids fluttered as you gave yourself over to feeling. Feeling him stretch you wide. Feeling him fill you like you’d never felt before. A gasp left you as he got as close as he could, and then stilled. You could hear his breath in your ear, breaths that let you know he was collecting himself.

“You feel more amazing than I thought. Fuck. Gripping me so tight, I don’t know how I haven’t cum yet.”

You clenched at his words and he groaned at the sensation.

“Can I fuck you, sweetheart? I fucking need it, and I think you do to. I wanna fuck you until you see stars, until all you can say is my name. I want to swallow your cries again, and again.”

You couldn’t speak, just nodded your head against his neck and bit down on your lower lip as he canted his hips back, dragging his cock through your spasming walls before firmly thrusting back in. You sucked in a deep breath through your nose, trying to hold on to your sanity as Bucky fucked into you again. But your sanity slipped away moment by moment as he upped his pace.

When his hands came round you and under your ass to lift you up properly, so you could wrap both legs around his waist, your brain was a puddle.

Now he’d lifted you Bucky had more leverage, thrusting into you harder and faster. Jars clinked against each other, packets of seasoning fell over and a can jumped off the shelf and rolled across the floor. You ignored it.

In fact, you barely noticed it, nearly all of your focus on the way Bucky was making you feel.

The way your skin tingled all over. The way he kept swapping between kissing you with ferocity and burying his face in your neck. The way his fingers gripped your ass, no doubt leaving bruises. And the way his cock was moving in you just right. Touching all the right spots. The spots you hadn’t thought you had.

There was a gradual tightening within you, an incremental build up, and you knew, just knew, that this impending orgasm would make the one you’d had only minutes ago seem pathetic in comparison. Bucky thrust into you like a man possessed and you swapped one hand to grip the shelf above your head for stability, rocking your hips against his in a wild dance.

Your body froze when you came, every tendon and muscle stretched out tight as electricity danced across all your nerve endings. Your blood was rushing in your ears and stars danced on the backs of your eyelids; you’d never felt anything like this.

“Sweetheart, oh god, I’m so close. Where should I cum?”

You forced your brain to tune in enough to answer him, despite the delicious aftershocks shooting through your body.

“‘M on the pill…”

You’d barely finished answering before Bucky burrowed his head into your neck to muffle his shouts of ecstasy as he pumped you full of his cum. You clung onto him, coming down from your high as he recovered from his own. All was silent for a few minutes, other than the sounds of your combined breathing. Slowly he lowered your legs to the floor, and you moaned as he slipped from you and you felt his cum trickle down your thigh. You reached behind you, pulling a few sheets from the paper towel roll and used it to clean yourself up a bit, before neatening your dishevelled appearance. You weren’t sure what to say to Bucky, now that reality was creeping back in, but he picked up on your reticence.

“Hey.” He cupped your cheek and tilted your head up to face him. The low light threw shadows over his face, but you could still make out his questioning expression. “Are you okay? Please don’t say you regret that, because I don’t. Not one bit.”

“No. It’s just… um… well I don’t really do this. Like ever.”

“Do you mean two orgasms back to back, or having sex with a virtual stranger in your pantry?”

You giggled at the absurdity of it all. “Both!”

Bucky shifted closer again, pulling you against him. “Well next time, maybe we can try a bed and I can try for three. How does that sound?”

“It sounds perfect. But first we gotta sneak outta here first without the kids, or Lee, noticing.”

“That’s second. First, I gotta kiss you again.”

Tag list: @christywantspizza @jobean12-blog @bucky-bucky-bucky-bucky @tuiccim @yarnforbrains @sidepartskinnyjeans @flordeamatista @krissy25 @bodeckersdiamonddoll @goldylions @luxeavenger @wheezy-stucky @doasyoudesireandlive @chemtrails-club @seitmai @talia-rumlow @poppunksnowwhite

#bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x female reader #ex's best friend bucky barnes #late writes

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natuhcake · 3 months

Text

This is an excerpt from my Diapered Errands Novel that I’m writing. Currently 45 pages in. Let me know if you Sissies want me to post more of this on here. I normally post it on Deviant Art

Chapter Four: Fun on the Swings

“Wakey Wakey little one! We’ve made it to the park! Aren’t you excited!”

I looked outside and saw a park with a jungle gym and some swings. It was enclosed in a gate and had a large sign on it. Only ones under age 9 are allowed to play here.

Tiffany looked at the sign and opened the gate latch and walked me into the park. She then closed the gate and latched it shut.

“Here let’s get you on the swing” Tiffany exclaimed.

Tiffany brought me over to the swing set and I quickly hopped onto the swing.

“Silly girl! You act way too young to be on the big kids swings. Let’s get you on those” Tiffany pointed to the baby swings with baby seats on them. They looked too small for me but Tiffany insisted.

“I don’t think I’m going to fit…” before I could finish my sentence she picked me up and placed my two dangling feet into the baby swing. I could tell instantly that I was too big and that’s when she let go of me and with my body weight I fell into the baby seat. Both of my legs went through the leg holes and my diapered bottom squeezed inside.

“See! You fit! Let’s get you in the air”

I could tell that I was stuck in the chair, it was very tight but Tiffany didn’t care. She began swinging me up and down and cooing at me.

“Look at how high you’re going, girly! Why don’t you say “weee” for Mommy”

To not make matters worse I listened to Tiffany and began saying “weee” as she pushed me on the swing.

“Wee, weeee, weeee!!” I yelled! Forgetting where I was

I began to worry, what if someone saw me like this, riding on the baby swing in a Pink Satin Romper, buttoned up the back to the top. Pink Satin Bonnet tied around my next and matching pink Satin Booties and Mittens button on. In addition to my pink pacifier attached to my Romper. I tried to see if I could pull myself out of the seat but I couldn’t. My silky mittens weren’t giving me any grip to pull myself up. I’d pull and pull but they just weren’t gripping enough.

Tiffany stopped pushing after a while and was about to take some pictures.

“Oh shoot! I left my phone in the car, I’ll be right back honey, don’t go anywhere!” She said. Before I could attest she placed my pacifier in my mouth. I began suckling the pacifier while I waited for Tiffany to return. After a few minutes I began to worry and turned around in my seat to see if I could see her in the car. The car was not there, it was not in the spot that she parked in and I couldn’t see her MiniVan anywhere. Luckily the park was empty but I needed to get out of the seat. I quickly began to start pulling myself out of the seat but it was really really tough. I was making some progress and then my grip slipped and I fell deeper into the baby swing seat. I began sweating nervously and I ended up filling my diapers with my lunch along with some warm pee. I continued to clutch to the swing. Just when all hope is lost, I see a car pull back into the parking lot. I couldn’t tell what kind of car it was as the sun was setting and was blocking my view but they pulled into the same place Tiffany did. All of sudden the car door opens and an older man comes out. He has a green jumpsuit on and looks to be the groundskeeper for the park. He has brownish long hair and seems to be coming my way.

More Cumming soon!

#sissy crossdress #sissy diapered #sissy cd #happy #blouse #sissy crossdresser #cuteness #humiliated sissy #sissy stories #sissy crossdressing

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sebsallowapologist · 10 months

Text

The Older Sallow

Sebastian Sallow x F!MC

Rated: 18+

Word Count: 1.9k

Warnings: cursing, mentions of death/murder, at first this was going to be a fun little Sebastian jealousy fit but then it got angsty, oops,

Sebastian’s older brother comes back to reconnect with his brother after the death of their Uncle Solomon. Sebastian tries to make peace but it seems his brother can’t help but flirt with his girlfriend.

(Older Sallow brother inspired by this from @deathlysallows - the whole post is seriously amazing.)

When Sebastian was young he used to worship the ground his brother walked on. Six years older than him and Anne, Henry was everything Sebastian wanted to be, until their parents died.

Before they passed Sebastian had worshipped the ground Henry walked on. He was cool, knew how to talk to girls, and was one hell of a quidditch player. But after the Professors died, and the kids were moved into Solomon’s home in Feldcroft Henry become more distant. Never coming home from school for the holidays. Spending summer breaks working with friends - always an excuse to not come home. Henry dropped out of school his sixth year, and after that wouldn't even respond to Sebastian or Anne’s owls. Suddenly Sebastian was invisible. He felt like he’d lost his parents and his brother in one swoop.

He was 10 when Sebastian stopped hearing from his brother, until one morning at his sixth year, a letter was dropped off next to his plate one autumn morning.

The name above the return address in the upper left corner made him freeze.

H. Sallow.

“Right Sebastian?” His girlfriend asks. “Sebastian?”

“I’m sorry darling, what was that?” He asks, not taking his eyes off of the cream envelope in his hands. “I said it’s quite cold today - are you alright?”

“Yeah uh- I just remembered that I left my charms book in my room. I’ll meet you there, yeah?” He says, hopping up from his seat and giving her a quick peck.

Ominis furrows his eyebrows. “Sebastian?”

“I’ll see you there!” Sebastian reiterates, waving behind him as he walks out of the great hall.

He makes it down the hallway and ducks behind a statue, ripping the letter open now that he has a semblance of privacy.

Baz-

I’m going to be in Hogsmeade next week, I have to visit for work and I thought we should get together. Catch up as brothers and all. I’ll be staying at the Hog’s Head Inn.

Let’s meet on Friday for a drink. Anne tells me you have quite the pretty girlfriend, she’s of course welcome as well.

-H

Anne? Henry had been in contact with Anne?

Sebastian stuffs his note in the inside pocket of his robe and turns, making his way to class before his head starts to spin.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

Later that night Sebastian and MC are relaxing in the Slytherin Common room, MC resting most of her body on Sebastian’s as she reads from her novel, and he thumbs through his ancient runes notes.

“My brother send me a letter.” He brings up quietly, breaking the peaceful silence. MC’s head shoots up to look at her boyfriend, locking eyes with the brunet. “Brother? You have a brother?”

“I do. Henry, he’s six older than me.”

“How do I not know you have a brother?”

Sebastian shrugs, trying to wave off the history he has with his older sibling. He never liked talking about his brother, keeping his mind from wandering on where he was, or if he was alright. Ominis was the only one he’s ever really spoken to about Henry. He rarely even brought up the subject with Anne.

“He moved out a while ago, we’ve grown apart.” He says casually. “But he’s uh- spoken to Anne and I want to see if, maybe, he says something that could help us be... normal again.”

“That’s great, Seb.” She smiles, patting him on the chest. “It’ll be nice to talk to family.”

“Yeah.” He mutters, not really believing the chat will be all that nice. “Would you come with me? It’s at Hog’s Head on Friday.”

MC grabs his hand and squeezes, “I’d love to go with you.”

Sebastian squeezes her hand back, kissing her knuckles before he returns to his notes.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

On Friday MC follows her boyfriend into the run down pub in the Hog’s Head Inn, scanning the room for whoever could be Sebastian’s mystery brother. She spent the last week trying to wrap her head around the fact that he boyfriend had a while sibling she didn’t know about. She knew how much Sebastian missed his sister, maybe reconnecting with an estranged brother could help heal that hole in his heart a bit.

MC was thrown. The man in front of her looked just like Sebastian, but he was just.. older. More mature, he was just Sebastian but... filled out. Well cared for stubble graced the man’s chin, making him look just the right amount of rugged. Familiar warm brown eyes met hers and a smile made the freckles on his cheeks dance. He was dressed well, keeping up with the most up to date fashion trends, wearing nothing that would be sold in Hogsmeade.

“Sebastian!” The man says standing up from his seat at a table next to the big window. Sebastian drop’s MC’s hand to hug his brother, clapping his hand on the man’s back.

It’s like all the nerves had melted off of Sebastian as they hugged, like the time wore on both of them.

They pull apart and his brother turns his eyes on MC. “Merlin, Anne was right she really is a beauty.” MC blushes, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Anne’s very sweet.”

“Henry. Henry Sallow.” the man says, pulling MC into a hug. “Oh!” She says, surprised at the contact with the borderline stranger. He’s practically holding her up in his arms, her toes were the only part of her touching the ground anymore.

She chokes out her name as an introduction and Sebastian puts a hand on his brother’s shoulder, signaling him it was time to let go. He lets MC down, but his hand lingers on her lower back. Despite the warm greeting, Sebastian has the urge to cut his brother’s hand off at the wrist.

“Sit! Sit! I have some fire whiskeys coming for us.” Henry says, sitting back down in his chair. He turns his attention toward MC, angling his body to face her. “So tell me about yourself, you’re a Slytherin?”

“Uhm.” MC says, she wasn’t expecting to be the one in the line of questioning. Looking at Sebastian she tries to catch his eyes, but he’s looking off at the wall, studying a picture like it’s his favorite book. An intensity in his eyes she’d never quite seen before.

“Yes, I’m a Slytherin. It’s how I met Sebastian. It’s so nice you reached out so you two can connect.” She smiles, trying to kick the conversation onto the reason they’re all here. Sebastian looks back at his brother, waiting for him to say something.

“I was a Gryffindor back in the day. I was actually quite shocked when Anne and Sebastian were both Slytherin. They must take after our parents more that I.”

“Ah. Okay.” MC says, sitting back in her chair. Okay, Handsome? Yes. Smart? Maybe not. She feel’s Sebastian’s leg bouncing under the table and she puts a hand on his knee.

The contact snaps Sebastian out of whatever disassociation he was swimming in and he locks eyes with his brother. “Why are you here, Henry?”

“I told you, I’m here for work.”

“No. Why are you here as in why are you here, inviting me for a drink like we haven’t seen each other in six years!”

“A man can’t want to catch up with his only brother? You’ve grown!”

“Be serious, Henry. You don’t disappear for six years and then talk to me like nothing’s happened.” Any good feelings had ended at that hug.

Henry’s face fell, no longer trying to be charming about any of this. He leans his forearms on the table. “Anne told me what happened last spring, what happened to Solomon.”

Sebastian jumped back in his seat like Henry had slapped him.

“No. No.” Henry says, putting his hand on Sebastian’s forearm. “I just- Anne found me looking for family. She’s alright? I have her staying with me in London.”

“London?” MC can practically see Sebastian’s wheels start turning on how he’s going to get to London to see his sister.

“I think you did the right thing.” Henry tells him, and Sebastian stills. He pulls his arm away from Henry’s embrace.

“What are you talking about?” Sebastian asks and MC coughs, catching the waitress come around with the fire whiskey. “Sh!” She says and the boys stop, sitting up straight in their seats.

As soon as the drinks are down the two of them take the small glass in their hand and knock back the drink, putting the glasses back down on the table at the same time. Merlin, as tense as this all was it was like seeing the same man six years apart.

“Anne is upset now, but she’ll get over it. You know how dramatic she always was.” Henry says, shaking his head with a smile on his face like he was recalling a lifetimes worth of memories with Anne.

“How are you so unserious about this?” MC whispers, sitting back in her chair and taking her fire whiskey in one go as well.

Henry opens his mouth but Sebastian’s cutting him off. “Are you bloody kidding me? I did- what I did was horrible. I have nightmares about it, I feel- so much guilt and it’s nothing to you?”

“I’m just not surprised. You know how Solomon was.” Henry says defensively.

“And don’t tell me Anne is being dramatic, she has every right to hate me.” Sebastian’s hands were shaking. “You show up here, after not talking to me for ages, flirt with my girlfriend, and then tell me the thing thats been keeping me up at night isn’t a big deal?”

“Sebastian.”

“Go fuck yourself.” Sebastian spits, standing up at the table and turning on his heel, grabbing MC’s hand in the process.

“I’m your brother!” Henry shouts.

“I don’t have a brother.” Sebastian answers, his voice unwavering.

His holds onto her hand tightly, walking them quickly out of the Inn and to the nearest Floo Flame, taking them both to the room of requirement in silence.

Once they’re there MC just stares at her boyfriend. She doesn’t know what to say, she can’t even tell how he’s feeling, he’s looking behind her, his hands in fists at his side. “Sometimes.” MC mutters. “It just helps me to scream-”

She can’t even finish her sentence before Sebastian is letting out an earth shattering scream. She clamps her hands over her ears and waits for him to be done before wrapping her arms around his middle.

“I’m sorry your brother is a prick.” She mumbles into his sweater.

“Me too.” He sighs, resting his cheek on the top of her head. They’re quite for a few moments. “Did I see you looking all Doe eyed at him?”

MC blushes. “No.”

“Liar.” he mumbles.

“Well, I just thought that maybe you could grow one of those little beards?” She mumbles and Sebastian chuckles.

“Even if he’s handsome he’s a right git.” She tells him, and gets on her tip toes to give him a kiss.

#sebastian sallow x reader #sebastian sallow #sebastian sallow x mc #Sebastian sallow x you #sebastian sallow fanfiction #Hogwarts legacy fic

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a-manicured-lawn · 2 months

Note

So I know you like Spirit…what do you think his role would be if he is added to Jojo’s Lay boys? Any headcanons for his personality?

I DO LOVE SPIRIT HOWD YOU KNOW is it cause I won’t shut up about him?

Well! If he was added to Jojo’s cast, I’m honestly not sure. There was an old post mentioning a link with rivets in his tunic in the profile banner back when she was answering asks on tumblr, but she refused to say who exactly it was. There’s been a few suspicions that this rivet hero is in fact the riveting Hero of Spirits himself!

Much as I hate to say it, if spirit were to officially find himself on the LU roster, that is probably what he’d look like. An aged-up version of himself, probably with a few more years of service under his belt, although as a knight or as an engineer is the real question.

Ingame, there’s a dialogue option with Spirit’s Zelda (Phantom? Spooky?) where she’ll ask you what you want to do after the adventure. You’re given three options: be a knight, an engineer, or undecided. If you choose a knight you’ll get an endgame cutscene of Spirit fighting in the courtyard as a knight trainee, and if you choose an engineer you’ll get a cutscene of him driving past the castle and I don’t know what happens if you pick undecided someone please let me know I always pick engineer.

If Jojo goes the knight route I worry he may become a carbon copy of the other knights and knight adjacents in the Chain as a rough blend of Wars, Sky, pre-Calamity Wild and Legend.

Should he be an engineer, however, I believe he may find his place alongside Four servicing more magical items as Four handles swords and shields. He may also serve as an inventor, finding novel and more modern solutions to issues the Chain faces.

However, this speaks mostly to his physical place in the chain, rather than his personality. Unfortunately, with no manga and just his ingame personality, a glass of water has more life than him. The only time he shows any kind of interest outside the player is in response to his Zelda, and that’s to blush when he first sees her and to be delighted when she threatens violence. Thus, any personality has to be built ground up.

Now, I’m not Jojo (obviously), but with such a blank slate I can’t help but add my own ideas and model for an LU spirit (which has a WIP! It’s HUGE!) to add onto the Chain.

Ingame, Spirit and Wind actually have the exact same character models, only changing Wind’s clothes into engineer duds. Thus, I’d headcanon them as identical twins. Slightly different, just because they are still separate heroes, such as giving one or the other freckles or paler skin or different eye colors (blue vs green vs black?) to help tell them apart, but otherwise basing it off of clothes.

For personality, I’d honestly make a foil to Wind. He’s a bright, exuberant young kid, which would be paired beautifully to a shyer, more reserved twin. I’ve noticed that in canon all of the Links tend to have forceful personalities (yes, even Hyrule, shy Hyrule is fanon but if I’m wrong PLEASE tell me I love shy hyrule) which can lead to personality clashes. However, with a quieter personality in the mix, it can lead to Wind “stepping up”, so to speak. Making sure Spirit is heard over all the hubbub, sharing stories to keep Spirit out of the spotlight, etc etc.

However, if spirit were to become canon I doubt that’s how it would go. It’s a bit out there, especially considering the other Links’ personalities like I mentioned before. The fandom represents, though! There’s SO many Spirits out there by now and I am DELIGHTED each time I come across a new one!

#lu spirit #spirit tracks #linkeduniverse #linked universe #spirit linked universe #Lu theory #lawn clippings #ask!

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punknicodiangelo · 1 year

Text

Rick Riordan is a cishet white goyische man. We knew this. But you can see this in his writing, no matter when. Yeah, he's grown, but he didn't grow astronomically.

In this post I'll be talking about how history, women, queer people, and POC are handled in Rick Riordan's YA novels. I'm Jew-ish, very queer, and was socialized as a girl, but I'm white so POC tell me if I overstep or get anything wrong and feel free to add!

Also this is long af, way longer than I intended, so under the cut it goes!

The Pact and Wars

I think I've talked about this before (cannot find the post) but the way history is handled is so racist and antisemitic. Wars are not because of their real reasons, but instead conflict. WWII is made to be because Hades, Zeus, Poisiedon, and their kids had another spat, instead of the fascism and racism that really caused it. The Civil War, instead of being about racism, was made to be about a fight between the romans and greeks. The wars we see in series have no connection to real world events, why couldn't the old ones be the same? It also deminshes the accomplishments of real people. For example, Harriet Tubman is said to be a daughter of Hermes. To me, this says a black disabled woman can't do great things without great blood in a world where that exists

Annabeth

Annabeth is a girl boss, and this would be great, if her writer wasn't a cishet man. Being strong is equated to being mean, physically and verbally. When she thinks Rachel likes Percy, a guy she isn't even dating, she gets pissy at them for even hanging out! She constantly demeans Percy and hits people who anger her, including Percy, and this is treated as cute and quirky. And then her trauma is dismissed and diminished by a boy who went through similar treatment. Sorry Percy also was hurt by who his author is, but it makes things worse with Annabeth's portrayal. Also she once says people don't take her seriously because she's blonde. During HoO. With Piper and Hazel right there

The Hunters

The Hunters of Artemis, in mythology, are a group of women and sometimes men who joined Artemis to escape the deeply misogynistic culture at the time, and there are sapphic undertones to much of their myths! In the books, they're portrayed as man hating, romance hating, and functionally aroace. Hippolytus is completely ignored. Zoë is constantly talking down to Percy without giving him a chance and makes probably the dumbest decision by choosing Bianca for the quest in Titan's Course. Jo and Emmie were kicked out for finding love. I'm aroace. I love aroace rep. I'm overly weary of (cis white) men. But the way the Hunters are written is so similar to how angry anti-SJW youtube saw feminists

Nico

Nico is forcibly outed in one book and in the next gets a boyfriend with literally no personality or relationship with him up to that point. The drawbacks of shadow travel so clearly align with disability. He's also obviously depressed and deeply traumatized. Yet Will gives him no medical autonomy, something we disabled folk have to deal with all the time that's really very ableist. I love Nico, but the way he's portrayed just isn't great

Sadie and Carter

Sadie and Carter are biracial and look wildly different. This is good representation from what I've heard, but not how it's different or some incidental stuff. Carter, the boy, has dark skin and dark, coily hair, while Sadie, the girl, has pale skin, striaght blond hair, and pale eyes. This plays into colorism where darker people are seen as more masculine, as does Carver being the host to the god of war. Sadie is also a young girl who's put into a relationship with a god who kinda bullied her at the start. Carver is also in a relationship with a person who was hostile, but she gets better so I'll let is slide

Leo

Leo is latino, and stereotypical at that. Je is constantly flirting with everyone and looked down upon. As a Leo who is not an astronomical Leo, he deserves better especially when you consider c//leo

Piper

"I'm not like other girls" girl who's hailed as absolutely gorgeous. She was born on a rez that didn't exist at the time which just goes to show the lack of research. Her eyes are kaleidoscope, which is a trait none of her siblings, or her mom, have. She's cut off from her culture enough to not know the significance of feathers but has plenty of memories of her grandfather who lived on the rez. Also, she's a cleptomaniac. I love Piper, I like how she's representation for a person who was cut off from her culture and longs to know it despite living with her bio family because I and a few friends are the same, but Piper is still a stereotype. I also feel like the veganism plays into the whole spiritual nature stereotype, but I'm not sure so don't quote me

Frank

The only confirmed greco-roman demigod without dyslexia is also East Asian. I think the stereotyping is obvious it doesn't help that the only two Asian characters before him, Ethan and Drew, were antagonists. He was infantalized while fat and then had a magic glow up for... no reason, really, but that matters less here. Also he's dating a seventh grader as a tenth grader basically and I'm trying to not spoil stuff but the end of the Tyrant's Tomb is bullshit from a lore perspective imo

Hazel

She's a black girl whose parents both had very dark eyes and hair, yet her eyes are gold and her hair is paler than her skin, and both of those last two are described as looking like foods. Again, she is the age of a 7th grader. See Frank. And this may be the fandom's fault, but it seems she's always either infantalized or adultified from what I've seen

Will

All we know about Will Solace in BoO is that he's attracted to men and a medic son of Apollo. I bet you didn't remember he was at the Battle of Manhattan or that he's counselor because all his siblings died. And that's a lot of kids. Also he calls Nico nicknames he doesn't like. See Nico for further criticism of Will

Alex

Alex is called the adjective form of a slur multiple times. I could talk about how the grammar of that sucks, but *gesturs vaguely.* She gets transphobia from nearly everyone and disowned. I thought fantasy was supposed to be escapist, personally

Other stuff

Samirah is a hijabi, but we see under her scarf at least once and that feels really disrespectful, especially considering how observant she is of other stuff. Only women or close family (brothers, direct descendants, or direct ancestors) can see a hijabi's hair. Even if Magnus, Hearth, and Blitz are like family that usually isn't enough. She should have gotten a regular valkyrie's cloak imo. Some stuff feels off about Hearth but I'm not D/deaf so I'll hold my tongue on that as I'm not sure. Lavinia could use more yiddishisms in her speech and I'm curious to know what sect she was if her rabbi wasn't cool with her being a lesbian, but they do exist so *shrug.* There's probably something I missed with Reyna and Hylla, I feel like there is, but I can't remeber so it just gets an honorary mention

@afrolatinozuko

#rr crit #anti frazel #anti caleo #anti percabeth #anti solangelo

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frogizz · 6 months

Text

The Untamed Mind Dump (Spoilers duh)

(I have yet to read the novel for MDZS, and I am on Episode 47 of The Untamed so I want to do another mind dump like last time)

Jin Guangyao, I've been suspicious of him ever since I saw that face of his (I am not calling the actor ugly or anything like that, I can acknowledge its the acting that made him look suscpious not his actual face.) But I didn't excpect for him to be that sick of a human being.

Wei Wuxian being the scapegoat all over again

Damn these people love to gossip

I forgot about Wei Wuxian offering his Golden Core to Jiang Cheng

I miss Jiang Yanli bro

I also miss Wen Qing

At least I have Wen Ning, he is so awesome

I have the firm belief that while Wen Ning and Wei Wuxian are responsible for the death of Jin Zixuan, I know damn well Jiang Yanli's blood is not on Wei Wuxian's hands. Heck, I kind of think even though Wei Wuxian was the cause of Jin Zixuan's death, that that situation was obviously curated from the start, there was no intention to kill anyone that day because Wei Wuxian was doing this all in self defense. (Still sad that Jin Zixuan had to be a casualty).

I legit don't remember Su She before episode 45

The way I had to pause, sit up, stand up, walk around when that lady revealed Jin Guangyao tortured his father like that and what he did to Qin Su??? OH MY GOOOODDDDDDDD

Lan Wanji, you're the best supporter and best friend ever (I know in the novel he's Wei Wuxian's lover but in The Untamed their relationship is still amazing as best friends).

Wei Wuxian is such a great leader and protected those teens well (most of them are teens right? they all seemed kinda young)

I feel so bad for Jin Ling, all of his family's dirty laundry being aired out from both sides because his (defected) martial uncle is infamous for doing dirty tricks and is the supposed one who killed his parents, his maternal uncle being really hard on him, his paternal uncle being absolute scum and him doing things worse than what Wei Wuxian was ever accused for, and then to top it all off, he is constantly bullied.

To add to that, Jin Ling's outbursts are to be expected, he's just like his maternal uncle, really emotional. Jiang Cheng has had his outbursts of anger and aggressiveness (verbal and/or physical) and this could be the only way Jin Ling knows how to express himself.

At first I thought Jin Ling was an arrogant and stupid spoiled brat but I just want to hug this poor kid, the trauma of not having his parents and knowing that they died brutal deaths, the bullying, just everything. Just let him have a nice and warm blanket while snuggling with Fairy for once, please?

Speaking of Fairy, can people stop threatening the dog please? Like, they're such a good boy/girl (Netflix subtitles swapped them at somepoint from he to she and then it so I have no idea).

I WAS CRYING WHEN LAN SIZHUI STARTED TO REMEMBER HIS PAST AND THEN WEN NING WAS TRYING TO CATCH UP WITH HIM BRUH I WAS UGLY CRYING, SOBBING, THEY'RE FAMILY, THEY DESERVE TO SPEND TIME TOGETHER, THE LAST OF THE WEN FAMILY AAAA

I am such a sucker for reunited families, families with close bonds, found families, I don't know why, but it strikes me in the heart in such a painful and joyful way.

Zewu Jun, I always have mad respect for this man and I understand how he needs to make his own judgement and not only trust the words of others, I just can't blame him for that. But man was I afraid that he betrayed everyone by actually being 100% on Jin Guangyao's side knowing everything he did in episode 46, but he looked as confused and weirded out as ever so thankfully he isn't on his side anymore, I love this dude, I'm his biggest supporter.

I'll make each of these things their own post because I have so much more I want to say.

#the untamed #mxtx novels #wei wuxian #jin ling #jiang cheng #wen qing #wen ning #lan wangji #wen yuan #lan sizhui #mdzs #the untamed mdzs #jin guangyao #qin su #su she #meng yao #zewu jun #lan xichen

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dreamsofminnie · 1 year

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“False Confidence”

Kazuha | Childe —x gn!Reader Smau

00- Prolouge | Word count-> 1,032

Eleven times–

–a heart has been broken off. Four times were immature love; too young to understand the concept it means to treasure someone else as much as yourself.

The other seven, just couldn’t handle the commitment it requires to respect their partner and barely putting in the effort at all.

And eleven times–

–did the world wound you with this pathetic human emotion called love.

You read a lot of romance light novels, play otomes, and engage in those romance advice posts on instagram–with the occasional astrology signs about love.

No wonder you know a lot and even get high expectations. But you know not to reflect those expectations onto reality.

Your number of exes mirrors the harsh realities. But so does the learning from them.

Even when your outer exterior showcases this flirty person who charms a lot and is all the more popular; your confidence is false.

False as in you hide your inner turmoils deep within as to not fail yourself yet again. Even if all those crushes/relationships were premature or actual dating, you tell yourself that you grew up lonely so it's natural to reach out to someone.

Your heart has already been so bruised. Protecting it is most natural to you now—the only thing you can do now.

[Name]: Love status. . . Loading

1st. . . Middle school year 1. A boy who was quiet and sweet; turned on you when he was getting bullied for liking you and pushed you away without saying a reason. [Heartbreak one]

2nd. . . Middle school year 2. A boy who picked on you because he liked you; but you ended up finding out he does that to a lot of people. [Heartbreak two]

3rd. . . Middle school year 3. A girl who confronted heartbreak two when she saw you sad; she didn’t feel the same and only wanted to help you. [Heartbreak three]

4th. . . Middle school year 4. A trans kid who you have played together at recess throughout middle school; they liked someone else. [Heartbreak four]

5th. . . High school year 1. A studious guy who dated you for a month before you found no connection with him sadly. [1 Month | Heartbreak five]

6th. . . High school years 1-2. A tomboy girl who you met freshman year and dated for half of year 1 until year 2 where she left you because you weren’t sufficient. [6 Months | Heartbreak six]

7th. . . High school year 2. A pretty and popular girl who wanted you for a trend about two equally gorgeous people dating being unreal. [1 Week | Heartbreak seven]

8th. . . High school year 3-4. A fun energetic guy who he fell at first sight at a school concert. The longest love you ever had and the most passionate one. He fell first, you fell harder but he left first, due to an argument about his increase in sexual desire. [1/2year | Heartbreak eight]

9th. . . College year 1. A genderfluid who hooked up with you and wanted more; they wanted to claim you and admitted that their eyes were drawn to you from the party they met at. You thought they were romantic but their intake of alcohol and sneaked drugs against your lips covered up their immense obsession over you. Lumine and Aether had to pull you out from the toxicity. [2 Months | Heartbreak nine]

10th. . . College year 1-2. An adventurous girl who plans nice and exciting trips with you. Forest hiking, mountain climbing, snowboarding, scuba diving–you couldn’t keep up; your studies failing as well, since you were out exploring the world instead of at campus studying. Broke things off nicely for a change. Keeps in contact sometimes. [4 months | Heartbreak(?) ten]

11th. . . College year 3. Childhood crush; your first ever crush. (Heartbreak one) He has gotten taller, more prettier and more bolder; he first noticed you in the hall and heard your name and recalled his middle school with you and he fell for you once again. You could tell he was lovestruck when he was reading romance and acting upon swoon worthy cliques to win you over. After a month of courting you, you started dating. But he thought your relationship isn't exclusive since you’ve only just started. So you caught his leaked private social media pictures of him with in a red light district area…The most messiest breakup. [1 Month flirting/ 5 Days dating | Heartbreak(!!!) Eleven]

Analysis. . . >Heart has been closed off.

ღ･*:.｡. .｡.:*･ღ

“AaaaugGgH. I’m so done. I’m sooo soo! Do–ne!” The harsh flop to the couch shook the other two residents with the kicking of your legs against the seat soon after. Your groans didn’t falter even through the muffleness from the fabric stuck to your face.

Lumine kept munching on the large bowl of popcorn, her face towards the T.V watching as a black screen unfolded her view in a board uninterested stare.

Aether was more attentive and watched you faceplant beside him into the large seated cushion. He was concerned and intrigued at what yet-again took your inner solace away this time. Brushing the stray hair from your face as you looked up at him with a large frown.

“Number 15.” Two pairs of eyes moved to the source of those words as Lumine kept eating her snack in unamusement.

“Burger king foot lettuce??” The quiet muffledness in your voice added to the concealed laughter from Aether.

“What the fuck! No! I meant this is the 15th time you have said you're done with dating this whole month!!” Lumine accusedly pointed at your lazy posture in annoyance.

You grumbled back into the soft cushions of the couch hiding away your face from her with the help of Aether since he sat in between you both.

“I mean it this time.” You grumbled and drew star shapes into the side of Aether’s thigh which rested just above your head.

She huffed and passed the popcorn bowl to Aether. You hurriedly sat up and snatched some popcorn from the bowl, feel much more energy you quipped in a remark that the twins gave you an unamused stare for–silently saying that you are the dumbest person they’ve ever known.

“I’m still going to flirt with as much people as I want. I’ve adopted it as my personality trait.” Your grin was blinding—in idiocy or coping mechanism, you would say it’s both.

Previous | Masterlist | Next

Synopsis-> You were bored so you took the cute guy’s phone which lay open on the coffee table at your friend’s work place. And took a selfie of your face and pinned it as their lock screen. And now you are being hunted by the phone’s owner who's now curious about you from your flirt and run. Through your flirtatious ways, you have never been able to maintain relationships; you always keep an arms length away. You don’t believe you deserve love at all, so why not flirt with strangers?

•Dedicated post @noirinnn for her birthday bc she loves angst😙

Taglist-> –@pokidot @scarletttcroww @noirinnn @melodiesoffadedroses @x4ndr @liilactears @ilovekazuha271 @ghostlysyntaxed @ferumie @cryastre

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tatiana-love · 2 years

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Theodore Nott Headcanons!!!

disclaimers: hi darlings! this is how I envision this specific character, it’s okay if you envision him differently!

post type: headcanons, fluff

trigger warnings: none, I think

author's note: this is my first time writing anything!!! I got this idea from @honeystevie. I thought that making my own headcanons would be helpful for shifting. making this was fun so I’ll probably make more posts like this in the future. feel free to make a request! english is not my first language so be nice to me pls. anyway, I hope you enjoy this suuuuper fluffy, random post! <3

not proofread!! gif is not mine!!!

Theo Nott (General) Headcanons:

He’s a classic Aquarius; he values freedom, is intelligent, and tends to be slightly detached.

When he first meets people, he’s slow to warm up to them.

Despite being well known around school, he’s more introverted and observant than most of his friends. At social events, you can typically find him off to the side by himself or sticking by his friend group.

He can be… grumpy.

And sarcastic.

And a little cunning.

But he’s also determined, disciplined, focused, and a fast learner.

He has a soft side too!

He’s been through a lot, okay!

Since he lost his mother at a young age, and his father has always been quite cold towards him, Theo’s learned to become self-reliant. So, he HATES asking people for help. He would rather do something the wrong way than ask somebody for help with something.

That being said, he seeks comfort and escapism through reading.

He loves everything from classic literature to fantasy novels.

Once Draco caught him reading “Twilight”. Theo never heard the end of it.

He rolls his eyes whenever Draco brings it up.

Theo’s always been drawn to moody and artistic things. As a kid, he liked Tim Burton movies.

His favorite seasons are autumn and winter because he likes cold, snowy days when he can stay inside and watch a film or read a Stephen King book.

Most of his clothes are dark colors. A deep, dark teal is his favorite shade to wear because it’s the perfect mixture of blue and green.

He wears a big, chunky ring which contains his mother’s birthstone, and he NEVER takes it off.

You’ll usually find him in a sweater with a collared shirt underneath, slacks, and Converse high tops.

When it’s extra cold, he wears a black leather jacket.

Theo secretly has a thing for Ravenclaws. During his 3rd year, he developed a crush on Luna after seeing her in the library, but he never got around to talking to her. He just admired her from afar.

Theo: *staring at Luna*

Draco: “Nott, what on Earth are you doing?”

Theo: “Huh? What? Nothing…”

Draco: “Er, alright then…”

Theo: *nervously sips water*

Draco: “Anyway, as I was saying, that Lovegood girl is such a freak.”

Theo: *chokes on water*

Luckily, Theo’s gotten a lot more confident since then.

Speaking of secrets, Theo likes to write… but only Blaise and Hermione know about that.

Did I mention that Theo and Hermione are friends?

Although they were wary of each other at first, they slowly grew close by bonding over their shared interests. She brings out a softer side of him.

Ron and Harry never warmed up to Theo though.

Blaise, however, is his closest friend. They’re both introverts who had complex childhoods, so they sort of just understand each other.

Theo & Draco knew each other long before attending Hogwarts. Even though Theo finds him to be obnoxious at times, he looks back on his childhood memories with Draco fondly.

Draco & Pansy like to annoy Theo for fun to try and get a rise out of him.

It usually doesn’t work.

But when it does work it’s truly… something else.

He bottles up his feelings, so when he lets them out it can be explosive.

Of course, Draco found this hilarious at first… but remember when I said Theo was observant? He knows EVERYONE’S secrets. And if someone really pushes him, he’ll use their secrets to get even with them. Including Draco who learned that lesson the hard way.

On a lighter note, Theo’s a cat person. I imagine him adopting a black cat at some point. It would probably be a girl and he would probably name her after a character from a book that he likes.

Theo is someone who cares deeply about the people who are close to him despite his initial aloof demeanor.

He’s the kind of person to send letters to his friends or leave notes around for them to find.

He’s got perfectly messy cursive handwriting.

Theo for sure has a pen pal that he’s been writing to for years under a fake name. He shares his poetry, secrets, and short stories with them.

Unlike Blaise and Draco, Theo is not really concerned with his public image.

When he finally does open up to someone, he’s much softer, warmer, and sweeter than he was before.

He’s an insomniac. His eyes are always a little puffy from a lack of sleep.

His cologne smells like sandalwood!!

#theodore nott #theo nott #theodore nott x reader #harry potter #harry potter headcanon #draco malfoy #blaise zabini #hp headcanon #theo nott x y/n #theo nott x reader #slytherin

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mask131 · 9 months

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Some times ago Neil Gaiman posted on his Tumblr blog about a project he had of, if I recall correctly, a movie adaptation of “Journey to the West”. One of the reasons he gave as to why he gave up on the project was that he realized that this work didn’t need to be retold by an European - I do not have the exact quote, I am just saying things out of memory. This post, and the topic of “Should non-Chinese people make fictional works based on Journey to the West?” made me think back to a book that would have made me answer “Yes, non-Chinese people can retell Journey to the West”. And this book would have made me answer that - if I had been asked - because it is such a beautiful and funny book. I even hesitated to share about it here because this book is truly one of my little treasures. I read it when I was a pre-teen and it marked me deeply and if I were ever to lost it I’d buy it again because I couldn’t imagine having a library and not having this book with me. And it isn’t just teenage nostalgia speaking because, re-reading it as an adult, I still find new entertainments and fascinating meanings and implications that I completely missed as a young kid not knowing much.

I had a bad literature school-teacher at the time and when she heard about me reading it, she answered that it wasn’t good for young minds to read these kind of works because they “mixed the genres” and blurred the lines of the categories of literature - she much preferred that kids would have much more categorized works that clearly and easily fit into one genre or the other. That’s the kind of bad literature teacher you’ll probably all recognize somehow, and this already places this book as one of the things these people do not like. But to take this book merely to spite those that wrongly understand literature would be a shame, because this book deserves to be loved on its own for the shere amount of work, poetry and love that its own author put into it.

This book is probably the greatest French reimagination of “Journey to the West” I can think of - it is “Le Singe Egal du Ciel”, “The Monkey Equal to the Sky”, by Frédérick Tristan, originally published in 1972, but still printed to this day. And before the Journey to the West purist start attacking me like rabid dogs, I insist on the term “reimagining”. It isn’t an adaptation of the work, and it is not a question of being a faithful translation of the original epic. It reimagines, re-arranges, re-creates the Journey to the West plot and characters into a story that is, on its structure and foundations, identical, and yet couldn’t be more different than it. And it is a good thing, because it is the power and strength of this book.

I heard that Tristan’s books were translated in English - which doesn’t surprise me given he is one of the great French authors of the late 20th century - but since I do not know if this specific book was translated, and under which title, I’ll use the French title translated into English, The Monkey Equal to the Sky. What is “The Monkey Equal to the Sky”? It is, as I said, Journey to the West retold, but condensed, trimmed down and cut short to fit into one nice fantasy novel of forty-two chapters. Some of you hearing that might feel some sort of self-righteous nausea, saying “If they cut down anything from the original plotline, it is not worth it, better read the full original”. But again this would miss the point of this wonderful book: to someone with bare knowledge or no knowledge of the original epic, it is a great introduction and first discovery, by having a shortened story centered around the key characters and events, while also being different enough so that when said nocive in ancient literature gets to read the original epic, they’ll have an entirely new world to discover. But to the other side, to those who are very familiar with Journey to the West, it will be a fun entertainment and deforming mirror, as Frédérick Tristan truly plays with the original text, creating a game of correspondances and analogies, uniting several different characters into one, inter-connecting strongly the “before” and “after” parts surrounding Sun Wukong’s imprisonment under the mountain, and ultimately making it even more obvious than the greatest monkey of them all is the main character and protagonist of the tale.

Because this is what Tristan wanted to do before all: tell the story of Wukong, all about Wukong, as the protagonist, hero, antagonist and villain of his own tale all at once. The story might be changed, but trust me, the character of Wukong isn’t in the least, because this book is filled with the spirit of Journey to the West and the Monkey King, if not with the detail. I will tell you already the very bold move Tristan did, to really make this story even more about Wukong than it was originally: in Tristan’s novel, there is no Tripitaka. The monk that is charged with fetching the sacred texts in India and who is surrounded by three disciples is rather... Sun Wukong himself, or rather his fictional equivalent here, The Monkey-Equal-to-the-Sky (also undergoing his religious name, Aware-of-the-Vacuity, Conscient-de-la-Vacuité). It might seem like an insane thing to do, but it WORKS. Of course, those that will be looking for some of the readings of the epic - such as a dissection, exploration and study of the human soul, psyche and personality between the various impulses, emotions and vices, throughout the metaphorical characters of Tripitaka and his disciples - will be disappointed because Tristan’s novel is not a psychological one. But instead, what you have is a careful balance between existential horror and a cosmic farce - some sort of impossible mix of Lovecraft’s cosmic dread mixed with the world-questioning humor of Good Omens, and even then the comparison is a very poor one missing out on the very peculiar, unique and poetic feel of this novel. It is about this monkey, who is all powerful and yet constantly bound and chained by something, it is this monkey that clearly is the voice of reason of the world and yet acts like a madman, this monkey that is a living paradox - and the story is about how his very existence throws an ordered world into chaos and forces it to be rebuilt and undergo a full renewal. It is the story of how, by merely existing, this character that does both heroic deed and monstrous actions, challenges the very notions of supreme powers, of existence, and of reality. It is a buffoonic Shakespearian comedy where the trickster-monkey mocks, beats up and scams everyone and everything, it is an apocalyptic work where we see what happens when something unexpected and that should not exist destroys the very foundations of the world, and it is a philosophical and religious investigation as the monkey searches for, studies, explores and quests for the powers, the meanings, the morals and the truths behind religion, absolute purity, true virtue, and the world.

It sounds like a LOT for a novel that is actually a shortened and condensed version of Journey to the West, but that’s the secret: by mixing various characters into new ones, by changing slightly the focus of the story, by giving new angles to some episodes and scenes, Tristan opens up a whole new space and vast expanses of literary terrain on which he adds tons of fascinating content and fresh details to retell the story with new meanings. Frédérick Tristan himself put a Warning in his text as a foreword, explaining the various inspirations of his work so that people did not mistook his novel for a mere adaptation of Journey to the West: because beyond the great Chinese novel we all know, he also took elements from other texts that also told of the legend of Sun Wukong (Journey to the West merely being the most famous and most complete of the various tellings of this ancestral legends), as well as various stylistic ingredients and poetic tones from the various historical translations of the work in Europe - such as the first French and British translations. In the same foreword, Tristan does spell out his intentions of completely reversing the original meaning of the novel by making Sun Wukong take the place of Tripitaka during the pilgrimage to India.

And even beyond his extensive researches surrounding the figure of Sun Wukong himself, Tristan also slid in his novel various elements from both European and Asian traditions. European because he places here and there subtle references to European fairytale structures or old European myths (though I have to say they were subtle enough that I didn’t notice them until it was pointed out to me). As for the Asian inspiration, this allows me to break down another of the arguments people who do not know about about Frédérick Tristan might raise: what does an old white French dude knows about China anyway? As it turns out, a lot, and that’s not just his obsession with the Sun Wukong legend. Frédérick Tristan lived from the late sixties to the mid-eighties half of the time in Eastern and South-East Asia. He was at the time not a yet recognized author, but a mere specalist of the textile industry, forced by his father to inherit the textile business of the family against his son’s poetic and literary aspirations. His positions led him to work on official business matters in China, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos - and during his trips, visits and stays there he became enamored and fascinating with their history and culture. China most of all became his main dream and subject of study: “The Monkey Equal to the Sky” is but the first of a series of six “Chinese novels” each one taking inspirations from various elements of Ancient China. Sometimes he retells and weaves stories based on Chinese myths, like with “The Monkey Equal to the Sky”, whereas other times he rather explores various religious and philosophical aspects of China through the means of fiction. In one he recreates the koan genre in the rules of the art, in another he proposes a fictional exploration of the roots and teachings of taoism, and in yet another novel he pays homage to the works and style of Pu Songling.

And if he knows so much about China, it isn’t just because he loves to write stories about it - he also published serious, profesionnal, recognized works about Ancient China. His most famous work being “Houng, les sociétés secrètes chinoises”, an essay about secret societies in China centered around the rites and practices of the Tiandihui. And his historical and cultural knowledge of Ancient China, its philosophies, its literature and its secret societies helped him recreate another semi-historical semi-mythical China for “Journey to the West” or rather an anti-Journey-to-the-West, to be played in.

I could speak much more of Frédérick Tristan, of his work, and of the beauty of this novel, but I will merely say that, if you enjoyed Journey Through the West, and enjoyed its characters, you will definitively find Tristan’s novel very entertaining. And if you ever have the chance to read it in French, do so, because - again - I do not know if an English translation is available, and if it is I cannot attest of its quality since I never read it, but I hope the brilliantness and fun of the text will be carried on throughout the language barrier.

#journey through the west #sun wukong #frédérick tristan #the monkey equal to the sky #novel #china #ancient china #french literature #my favorite books #books to be read at least once in your life #french novel

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bunglegaydogs · 11 months

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Mori's a little shit

I have so many things piling in my head that I want to rant about, and all of them are going to be fucking novel length, so for that I do apologise.

However, let's get into the crux of this post.

This one probably won't be as long, but it is just me rambling on and on about how much I hate Mori but love the way Asagiri wrote him to be a pretty complex chacter. I despise the fucker though.

I don't think it needs to be said, but I'll say it anyway; Mori's a piece of shit. We all know this. We all fucking know this. He's a manipulative, sick, twisted man who uses people for his own benefit and doesn't see the value in ther lives, only in how they can be useful for him. Two prime examples of this, of course, being Yosano and Dazai. I'm going to go so much more in depth into these two in this, don't worry.

Mori uses people to his own gain and manipulates their actions without them ever realising it until it's too late or has already happened. Sound familiar? YEAH IT FUCKING SHOULD. Dazai. Having been under constant surveillance and command by Mori for four solid years, he's bound to pick up some things. Like he said, "Someone drilled that information into me." sorry it was "Someone imprinted that knowledge into my mind before." I think Im thinking of a different translation I read? DOESN'T MATTER SORRY LOL. Anyways, Having been under the direction of Mori as such a young kid, and having nobody else there for him, Dazai naturally picks up Mori's instincts and demeanour, etc. Also, the fact that Mori has drilled battle techniques into him and taught him all he knows shows this. There are moments we see that Dazai is behaving like Mori did, or would. This is just how much Mori has been around in his life to affect him to this degree, and taught him relentlessly how to be in life and in battle and when strategising. We already see that Dazai is a cunning little shit before he joins the PM in the opening of Fifteen, where he rattles Mori by what he says.

God, there's so much to unpack in this one fucking thing.

But, I'm going to do a separate post going more in depth about Dazai and Mori's relationship as well as Yosano and Mori, I'm going to touch upon them in this though because God it's awful.

"That's why Dazai cannot die."

Mori isn't looking out for the wellbeing of a 15 year old, he's looking out for how much value and worth he has in his plans. After everything is in place and it's all gone according to plan, Mori gets rid of his subordinates accordingly. Just like Odasaku. Then, when things don't go to his plan, and the people he used leave, he grows bitter and resentful. When Dazai left the mafia, he grew bitter and still saves his executive spot for him. When Yosano was taken away to the institute, he grew resentful that he'd lost such a valuable asset to the war. Man's was obsessed, Elise's wholeass demeanour and outfits and everything changed after Mori had lost Yosano. It's fucking creepy. Elise is literally a younger Yosano, and that shit's vile.

Not only is this guy a big nonce, but he dehumanises the people around him and pulls the strings so that it goes his way. Whereas Dazai's predictions and proficiency at seeing every outcome and every detail are for the ADA and helping people, Mori only uses this skill to control and manipulate people into doing his bidding.

When Yosano was clearly distressed and did not want to keep going any longer, he manipulates her by shooting the soldier and forcing her to save him. It's so fucked up. It's so unbelievably fucked up.

We can't really see how much he has affected anyone else in the mafia, as these are the only two we get a pretty solid backstory with Mori for. However, another example of Mori being fucked up is Kyouka; just what the fuck happened there?

Kyouka sees a glimpse of Mori and it sends her into a full blown frenzy. She literally breaks down. Now, I don't know if that's because of him reminding her of the Mafia or being in the Mafia, or if there's something else that we don't know and that Kyouka was also manipulated and a victim of Mori's abuse, too.

If you couldn't tell, I fucking love Yosano and Dazai and I actually hate Mori for what he put them through. But, Asagiri is such a good writer, and the way he writes Mori is so fucking spine chilling and awful in such a good way to read. Asagiri's writing shows the depth of these characters, and makes them actually people with personalities, not just some words or drawings on a page. Harukawa bringing the life to them through his art is actually just stunning, and the expressions he's able to show with just the eyes, the hands, the stance, everything. These two are the perfect duo in writing and art, and honestly, I fucking love them.

Sorry sorry, rant over.

In conclusion, ngl Mori's a little bitch.

#mori ougai #osamu dazai #yosano akiko #bsd #bungou stray dogs #ada #pm #port mafia #armed detective agency #kyouka izumi #anime #manga #analysis but not really its just a rant #i fucking hate mori #petition to make HIM dress up in fucking dresses

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