#this scene is pretty long comparatively so sorry about the no asks | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kikohao · 3 months

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ᅠᅠᅠᅠ ⠀⠀⠀⋆˙. operation: one bed

★ ㅤㅤpairing ; agent!jeonghan x agent!reader ★ ㅤㅤsummary ; you and jeonghan were assigned a case together, you both played the roles of an engaged couple. why is it that you had to share a bed to sell the act? ★ ㅤㅤthemes ; spy au, one bed trope. fluff, mentions of seungcheol, soonyoung, and joshua ★ ㅤㅤwarnings ; cursing, kissing, slight jealousy, use of nicknames ("babe") ★ ㅤㅤword count ; 2k ★ ㅤㅤtaglist ; @nonononranghaee @abodyhasbeenfound ★ ㅤㅤa/n ; one bed trope with jeonghan has been rotting my mind for almost a week omg im really happy i was able to finish it on time! i've never really wrote a "kissing" scene before so im really sorry if its weird bye 😭 requests are always open! (texts, ot13 scenarios, drabbles, fics, mtls, etc) send an ask to be added to my taglist! likes and reblogs appreciated! <3

"Agent Kim, do you hear me?" You try to maintain a formal persona, as you talk into your built-in earphones as you make your way to the grand venue.

"Loud and clear. Make sure your earpiece is switched on at all times." A tuneless voice followed.

Upon entering the hotel, you and Jeonghan were greeted by the expansive lobby that screamed elegance and sophistication.

"They must be bloody rich," Jeonghan muttered quietly, but loud enough for me to hear. He was right though, there were multiple marble chandeliers, casting a warm, golden glow upon all the guests.

It was extraordinarily exquisite.

"Pass the details," Jeonghan spoke into his earpiece as we moved to a certain corner of the corridors, hoping to maintain a low profile throughout the whole party.

After a few shufflings of his notes, he responded.

"Agent Yoon, you're Jacob Choi, son of the most prestigious Grand Celestial Palace. I'm pretty sure no one would go into more detail about you, but make sure they buy the act. We can't risk anything. Agent Y/N, you're Ana Wang, Jacob's fiancee, I'll get back to both of you with more details on the individuals. For now, you both are an engaged couple, seemingly having an Alliance with Mr. Lin."

"Got it."

You and Jeonghan made your way towards the reception to mark you both in now that you've got your "personal" details. By doing so, you both were accompanied by a middle-aged man, possibly someone who worked there. He wore a black suit and bow, around 5'8?

"Keep an eye on everyone you see tonight," Agent Kim spoke from the earpiece.

"Why are you so tense?" Jeonghan muttered, "I'm not." You replied swiftly with a scoff earning nothing but a soft chuckle from him that kept on making my ears ring.

Why did your stomach suddenly start to churn? You disregarded it, possibly assuming it was hunger or thirst. Your train of thought was interrupted by a man who made his way towards us. He looked old, although, his rosy cheeks and flawless demeanor said otherwise. Guess he was the well-known, Mr. Lin.

"Oh, Mr. Choi!" He exclaimed out loud for everyone to hear, grabbing Jeonghan's hand and shaking it vigorously.

You tried extremely hard to keep in the giggles that were trying to escape your mouth as you looked at Jeonghan's reaction to the sudden interaction from the man. You forcibly had to look away because you knew you'd fuck things up the second you made eye contact with him.

"It's been so long! How're you and your fiancee? Ms. Wang ain't it?" He questioned, looking towards you. Maybe it was just you and your overthinking capabilities, but you swore something was off about how he looked at you compared to how he looked at Jeonghan, but you decided to brush it off.

"We're doing quite well, thank you." Jeonghan put out, maintaining a calm composure that very well contrasted with his normal personality.

"How's your mom doing? I'm so sorry that happened to her," continued the man. You and Jeonghan shared a quick glance at each other, one that said -- "Oh we're so fucked if we mess this up."

"Mom is doing quite well, thanks for asking. She's doing much better." You replied, noticing the intense tension that followed. Seems like staying here for too long may be risky.

"Babe, why don't we get something to eat? I'm starving." You shared teasingly, looking at Jeonghan, enjoying the flushed expression that lay on his face as you managed to throw in a pout to make it seem more genuine. You both needed to instantly get away for a while to ask Agent Kim about the next plan, and this was the only resort.

Jeonghan excused himself as walked towards one of the empty tables, hand in hand. As soon as we took our seats, Jeonghan voiced through his earpiece, "What do we do next?"

"So far, we haven't found anything. And, I'm guessing neither have the two of you. I checked with Agent Kwon regarding the party details. Seems like everyone attending is encouraged to stay the night, I'm pretty sure it's just for them to make more affiliates, either that or just to show off how rich they are. Either way, I and the crew think it would be beneficial if you did so, in order to uncover more details on Mr. Lin, it would also help in selling your facade since I'm pretty sure he's catching up with suspicions of his."

"Are you sure about that?" You spoke softly into the earpiece, observing the surrounding area, "It sounds quite risky,"

"It is, indeed, but it's your call on whether you want to."

You look at Jeonghan, he seems to have similar thoughts as you do -- he doesn't seem too fond of the idea.

"What do you 'reckon?" you ask him, simultaneously taking a sip of the non-alcoholic wine they'd provided all the attendees.

"Well, it is pretty risky. But, we'd better do as per Mr. Kim and Mr. Kwon since we'd have to put up with these titles until we get the requirements. It'd help sell the act." He finally spoke.

It was unusual. It was unusual how he seemed calm and collected amidst something like this. You'd imagined him to be some kind of reckless person like the persona he usually played so you weren't quite fond of going with him.

You nodded -- he had a point. The faster Mr. Lin believed us, possibly the quicker we could get this case over with.

And, this was it.

Jeonghan hurried towards the hotel management before it was too late to get a room while you sat at your spot, gazing at everyone who attended such a social gathering.

Guess you realized you zoned out when a young man, maybe in his 20s, sat next to you and started up a conversation like good old friends.

"No way, Ana? Is that you?" He put up a question, his face in awe.

"Oh, yes, hello." you manage to spit out, giving off a small smile as you gaze at Jeonghan, his back facing towards you as he converses with the management team.

Guess I'm fucked.

"You were never the one for these kinda parties, you always mentioned that they were too crowded. Guess you grew out of your phase?" He smiled cheekily avoiding the fact that he most possibly just insulted you, or at least the role you're currently playing.

Is this gaslighting?

A phase? How is not wanting to go out and talk with people a phase? You didn't know who Ana was nor did you ever meet her, but you most certainly didn't like someone like him straight up insulting someone.

"What is that supposed to mean?" You questioned, maintaining a small smile. The last thing you wanted was your cover to get blown.

"Oh, Nothing. How's Jacob? He be treating you well?" He continued as he took a small sip from his cocktail drink.

You nodded, glancing every now and then at your so-called "companion" who's left you to talk to some guy who supposedly knows you. It made you laugh how he thinks he's all that -- you could easily spot how the guy was wearing a worn-out suit and tie, most probably already used, and how he just seemed sketchy.

"Keep an eye on everyone you see tonight,"

He did seem quite sketchy.

You spotted Jeonghan making his way back, guess God did hear your prayers after all. As soon as the guy spotted "Jacob" making his way towards us, he excused himself and left. Possibly to get another drink.

"Guess who managed to get us a room with my good looks," he winked at you, holding the keys high up. You couldn't help but chuckle.

Cute, you thought. Instantly regretting it when Jeonghan pointed out who flushed your face looked.

"Oh shut it, Yoon. Look, now you've ruined the mood." You shot back before he got a chance to say something sly.

His smile didn't last long though. "Oh and, who was that?" He asked, most likely mentioning the guy who'd been talking with you while he went to get the keys.

"Some guy who knows Ana. No clue, but he seemed sketchy." You replied, taking the keys from him.

A few hours passed with nothing but talking with the other participants, drinking, eating, talking again, drinking, talking...

"Huge thanks to everyone who was able to attend today. I wish all those returning back home a safe ride. Everyone who's staying for the night, you may make your way towards your rooms. Have a wonderful night!" Mr. Lin spoke out after clinking his wine glass, attaining attention from everyone present in the hall.

You followed Jeonghan as you made your way toward your room, slightly gazing in awe at all the picturesque art on the walls.

As soon as we entered our rooms, we both noticed the same exact thing.

There was only one bed.

One bed.

Anyone would expect Jeonghan to take up the sofa that was present in the room. Well, guess what? You were wrong.

There was a minute of silence before Jeonghan spoke out loud. "I'm taking the bed. You can take the bed if you want, but I'm not taking the sofa if that's what you're thinking." He smirked as he took off his shoes and placed them on the shoe rack before heading towards the bed.

Well, what did you expect?

That Jeonghan would give up the bed?

No chance and not at all surprising.

"You're such a gentleman aren't you?" You placed your shoes alongside him, making your way to the bed, not ready to give it up either. "They should've sent Joshua with me," You sighed out loud for him to hear.

"Joshua?"

"Well, anyone taking a good look at us would know that we're meant to be," You reasoned, followed by a breathy scoff from Jeonghan. You cooed at his reaction, "Aw, babe, didn't know you were the jealous type," you added, teasingly. You hated to admit it but playing Ana was fun.

"Yeah, right."

We both had got into bed by the time it was 11. You switched the lamp that was present in your dimly lit room.

4 AM.

He stared right at me, with his dusk-brown eyes. But, it wasn't a normal stare. But a stare that held desire within. You both faced towards each other, the middle barrier made of pillows long gone.

"What?" You slurred slightly, still half-asleep, heart, leaping in your chest.

It was now that you realized that you failed to realize how ethereal he looked. His tired eyes bore into yours, as his bangs lay lazily on his face.

He leaned in slightly, reducing the gap between us.

"Your eyes are really pretty," He muttered. It always amazed you how he didn't have much of a deep voice like other men, but still seemed dominant without it.

That was a stab to the heart. Not in a bad way though. In a way that made you want to kiss him. You wanted to hold him.

Maybe it was an exaggeration, but you swore you couldn't breathe as soon as he gently placed his lips, carefully molded into a heart, onto yours, locking it in place for a swift second before pulling away.

It lasted like a second or two, but your face looked as if you'd just run a marathon.

"Yoon, are you drunk?" you finally spoke out, not believing what just happened. You thoroughly enjoyed it, but how could he kiss you just like that?

"Yoon doesn't sit right with me, 'Babe' sounds much better."

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tavina-writes · 7 months

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MDZS Society! aka: there's a lot less killing than you'd expect

This follows from this post and also the recent translations of MXTX’s most recent interview (which I can now no longer bother to find bc this has been sitting in drafts for like, siiiix months? More? Oh god anyway.) which reminded me about my feelings regarding MDZS society and how different it is from the martial societies we see depicted in typical modern wuxia. (Small disclaimer, I am a wuxia genre fiend and I love like, thinking about fictional societies so this is like, “AHA! You’ve unlocked my trap card!”)

For the purposes of this, I’m going to be looking at MDZS/CQL’s depiction of the jianghu (which I think is fairly similar! I don’t actually think the show writers made CQL’s jianghu/martial society more genre typical than it was in the book) and comparing that with modern classic wuxia (mostly Jin Yong and Gu Long works.) For this comparison, I’ll be looking at a Jin Yong book — Legend of the Condor Heroes (which is widely considered the starting point of modern wuxia as a genre) — and one Gu Long book — Dagger Li/Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword (widely considered his most popular work) — and seeing how their societies differ from MDZS society.

This will likely come in two parts because this one was already getting long, and I don’t think we can fit “how often does nobility exist in a typical jianghu and what do bloodline sects look like normally versus what they look like in MDZS” in this post along with the main topic of “is MDZS society a particularly physically violent place?”

This post discusses how often cultivators are socially expected to kill people. Like, actual living human beings instead of, say, monsters or ghosts which have been categorized differently than like, human beings.

EDIT: I forgot to talk about Dagger Li but this was already much too long sorry. Feel free to hmu for more thoughts though.

Now, it might be easy to think that cultivators killing actual people is a really common thing in MDZS/CQL universe! After all, they do have martial arts training and one of the prominent things about the first life is just how many people die both in the Sunshot Campaign and the fallout afterwards. However, I would argue that a lot of the traumas and related issues and reactions that happen in MDZS happen because cultivators are, by training and education, not actually prepared for killing actual living breathing human beings! (And also that the morality of this world prevents it for the most part)

Now, we do actually get a pretty good window into what the typical training is like for young cultivators in MDZS, because we get a fairly well defined schoolhouse scene where LQR is asking them questions about "how do you tell the difference between various different problems we have to solve?" and "how do you go about fixing this problem?" and none of those include the moral quandary of "if I, a young cultivator out in the Jianghu, see a guy who is doing something I morally disagree with, under what circumstances do I beat him up and/or kill him." This does not appear to enter the curriculum at any point, leading me to believe that the morally correct number of people not like, ghosts or ghouls or fierce corpses, a regular average MDZS cultivator is supposed to have killed is approximately 0.

Which. Is a thing you get in a normal martial arts wuxia jianghu. There is generally the threat of "oh yeah this that or the other faction will be doing shitty things and thereby try to murder you." Instead, in MDZS/CQL most of the heirs of sects are...attending school together. Doing teenage things like partying and gossiping and attending classes.

And sure yes, there was a case of WWX and JZX trying to beat each other up. But the sects did sure let their kids stay at Lan summer camp for months on end (sometimes repeatedly, see NHS) without fearing for their lives or that anyone would steal another sect's techniques or otherwise causing real havoc or intersect warfare etc.

Which is infeasible in any other sort of Jianghu situation. For example, contrast this scenario with this scene from LOCH where Guo Jing's shifus are giving him advice since he is newly 17 and about to set out by himself into the great big world:

Guo Jing therefore bid farewell to his teachers. They had witnessed his battle against the Four Demons of the Yellow River, and were not too greatly worried. The young man had proved that he knew how to use the skills that they taught him. Therefore they let him leave alone. On one hand, the meeting of outlaws in Yanjing worried them greatly, so that they could not ignore it; and on the other hand, a youngster always had to travel the jianghu alone, in order to learn lessons that no teacher could pass on. At the moment of parting, each made their last recommendations. As usual when the Six spoke after one another, Nan Xiren was the last one to express himself. "If you cannot defeat the enemy," he said. "Flee!" He knew that given Guo Jing's dogged character, he would prefer to die rather than to surrender, if he met a master, he would certainly fight to the bitter end, even at the risk of death. That was the reason Nan Xiren gave him this common sense warning. " Martial arts have no limits," added Zhu Cong. " As the proverb says, 'For every peak there is one yet higher', so for every man there is one stronger. Whatever your power, you will always one day meet a foe stronger than you. A true man knows to retreat when necessary, when facing grave danger, it is necessary to contain one's impatience and anger. This what is meant by the adage, « If one preserves the earth and its forests, one does not fear to lack firewood ». It is not therefore not cowardly to take good advice! When the enemy is too numerous and that you cannot face them there, it is especially necessary to avoid being too reckless. Keep in mind Fourth Shifu's advice!"

Does this seem like the sort of advice that any Young MDZS Cultivator would get? "You're a good kid, but when you go out into the world, there will be people who straight up want you dead even though they met you 15 minutes ago, you cannot persist in fighting with these people because they will want you dead and you are a baby cultivator who needs to learn to run away when shit gets rough or you will be dead."

And again I come back to how MDZS cultivators are more like occupational ghostbusters because this really does inform how their society functions and runs and how everyone reacts so badly to the Sunshot Campaign beginning and its aftermaths and possibly explains how JGS could get his way after Sunshot.

Because what happens when you get a society that does train heavily in martial arts and have Able To Kill Real People Weapons who spends most of their time solving very black and white situations of "okay is this ghost whose eating people's livers good or bad? y/n?" and a clear hierarchy of "how do we get rid of the ghost eating people's livers in town x" instead of say "is it morally correct to kill this group of bandits who's been threatening the town" or "is it morally correct to kill this shitty businessman who's been holding people hostage and threatening to hack off their limbs" you have a reduced level of philosophical musing on like, "what is the purpose of martial arts, which is designed to kill people and what do I use martial arts for?" and "under what circumstances and situations would I personally find it morally correct to kill a man?" Which are all questions that Wuxia coming of age stories typically have, and I think MDZS does have, but expressed differently.

Again, it appears that the number of Real Live Human Beings that it is morally acceptable to have stabbed in your life is approximately 0 in this universe, and the expectation that you, personally, might have to fend off people trying to stab you over brunch is also approximately 0.

This also leads to a situation where like, questions of vengeance have very difficult escape hatches! If your parents are murdered on the job by an evil rampaging ghost, this is very sad and tragic and now you're an orphan and of course that's not good, but this is a occupational job hazard, not like, "Yeah Joe Bob from the sect down the street murdered my dad because #Reasons~, and now it's my legacy to grow up to murder Job Bob from the sect down the street to avenge my dad."

(I have a whole essay about how this pertains to both of the Nie Brothers, and how it pertains to JGY and also Jin Ling, and how this seems to routinely fuck people up in MDZS in a very specific way we don't typically see in other wuxias, but this is getting SO long as it is).

But yeah "the socially acceptable number of real living people (instead of ghosts or demons or fierce corpses or whatever) to have killed in your lifetime as a cultivator is approximately 0" means that the Sunshot Generation gets really really fucked up by all of this "killing real people" they did.

Which! might be why JFM was so slow to move on "yeah the Wen are threatening to kill your heirs." <- socially inconceivable behavior. Why society in general is so shocked by Xue Yang and the murder of the Chang <- which would be bad normally but not quite like this. And why no one did anything specific about JGS even if they felt he wasn't entirely correct. What are they going to threaten him with? Death???? A trial of his peers? Social Shunning??? Public shame???

"But Tav how does this relate to CQL!Su She's morality?" I hear you ask. Well you see, the question of "he should've been ready to die for his sect!" is utterly baffling in a society where nobody is expected to be ready to die for their sect on a regular basis because the idea that you should be ready for someone trying to stab you before brunch is utterly nonsensical in a world where most people expect that the baseline number of murders a cultivator does in their lifetimes is 0. That's the world he lives in.

On this regard CQL!Su She is utterly blameless. Nobody handed him a rulebook or expectations sheet for "the sect down the street will try to kill you" nor SHOULD they expect he'd be ready to die at a drop of a hat when no part of the education or social expectations include "ready to die for your sect because it's routine for people to try to kill you."

If you don't even expect to be stabbed and possibly die at a discussion conference where there are lots of cultivators from many sects why on EARTH would you expect to be facing down death in your own home when there's. cultivators here to kill you, this situation is so out of left field?

#modao zushi #mdzs #meta #my meta #su she #this is not a society *without* violence to be clear #but it's not the sort of place where it'll have been acceptable to murder and maim before breakfast #and that's why traumas happen as they do #I've been sitting on this for ages #please don't discourse in my notes about if 'murder' is a good thing or a bad thing #this is just an observation on like #'is it societally common for cultivators to run around killing people?'#the answer to this question is no

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angelbaby-fics · 6 months

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i just saw requests are open so sorry if it’s too late to ask!!!

could i request something along the lines of Daddy!Stucky with a little who loves coloring/drawing/crafts and Steve usually does them with the reader cause he’s artsy but he’s not home so she asks Bucky to do it with her, but he’s not artsy so he’s hesitant but he obviously still does it cause that’s his baby. And it turns out he’s really good at it and has tons of fun

(sorry i just kinda word dumped i hope that made sense)

🩰

Masterpiece

Word Count: 1k

A/N: Okay, first of all can we just appreciate this gif??? he looks so pretty & squishy & i just wanna kiss him all over hehehe 💕 anyways i really really love this idea!!! and i had a lot of fun writing it! :D so i hope you have a good time reading it 💕

When it came to artistry, your daddy was your idol. Steve had been drawing since he was very young, very long ago, and so he was rather good at it. You loved to color alongside him, each drawing the same subject and comparing your masterpieces when you were finished. You were so mesmerized by the way he intuitively connected one line with another, visualizing the whole picture in his head as he brought it to life on the paper. Steve always told you that yours was better, and even though you knew he had to say that because he was your daddy, the compliment still made you beam.

You’d recently gotten a brand new sketchbook, and you were hopping with excitement to fill it up with art. When you woke up that morning, the first thing you did as you tumbled out of bed was grab your bucket of markers in one hand, sketchbook in the other as you sprinted out to the living room. You scanned the room for Steve, drinking his morning coffee on the couch like he usually was. But he wasn’t there today. Instead, Bucky was on the couch, and he looked up from his book as you burst into the room.

“Good morning, pumpkin,” he said with a loving smile. “Where dada?” You asked, your artistic tunnel vision making you ignore your Baba completely. “Well hello to you too,” Bucky said with a cheeky grin. “Daddy’s gotta work today, so you’re stuck with me, muffin!”

“Oh, okay.” You said, putting down your art supplies and joining Bucky on the couch. You tried to hide your disappointment - you loved spending time with Bucky after all - but you’d been so looking forward to drawing with Steve that day. “What’s wrong, doll, don’t you like me?” Bucky joked.

“Of course! But… wanted to draw.” You replied, whispering the last part. It was no secret that Steve was the one you always drew with, and Bucky played the role of a high end art dealer or a museum curator when you were ready to display your work. You’d never drawn with him, and you weren’t opposed to it, but it just wasn’t something you were used to. “Well I could try to draw with you if you’ll let me, sugar.” Bucky suggested, hoping to still salvage your perfect day.

“Really?” You asked.

“Sure! In fact, why don’t you teach me how, since you’re the one who’s good at all this art stuff.”

That about changed everything. You were more than eager to teach your Baba a new skill, feeling quite proud of yourself being the highest authority on art in the family now that Steve was away. You tore a page out of your sketchbook and placed it on the coffee table in front of Bucky. Then, grinning mischievously, you dumped your bucket of markers out onto the table. Bucky’s eyes widened at the mess, knowing it would more than likely be him cleaning it up when you were finished, but this was simply part of your artistic process.

“It's good to have all the colors in front of you so you know which one to use next!” You explained.

Bucky didn’t see why you couldn’t have all the markers in front of you in the bucket, but he decided it was best not to argue with an expert. You picked up your first color, dark green, and motioned for your Baba to do the same. You’d easily decided on a simple topic for his first picture, something simple. A scene in the park. It had all the components of a classic coloring picture: trees, grass, birds, butterflies, and anything else your heart desired.

Once you explained the concept to Bucky, the two of you got to work. Your face down, you were laser focussed on your own artwork. You never once popped your little head up to check on Bucky’s progress. The same couldn’t be said for him, however. Your Baba glanced over every few minutes, smiling to himself at your concentrated face, tongue poking slightly out of your lips as you determinedly colored in each blade of grass and tree leaf. If only he could get you to focus this hard on cleaning your room. Only when you’d finally completed your work did you break your concentration, setting down your final marker with a flourish as you looked up expectantly at Bucky, waiting for the praises to start.

But something caught your eye.

Bucky’s sheet of paper, sitting just in front of him on the table, was an explosion of colors. Abstract shapes swirled into the familiar forms of trees and flowers, but only when you squinted. The sky was purple, the grass was red, the trees burst with fiery orange leaves. Your brow furrowed; this art was gorgeous, but it made no sense.

“You drawed that?” You whispered in awe.

“Yeah, you like it, babydoll?” Bucky asked proudly.

“It's so pretty and crazy!” You said, looking up at him with wide eyes.

Bucky chuckled. “Is that a good thing?”

You nodded eagerly, not wanting him to think you were insulting his talent.

“How did you even think of that, Baba?” You asked, shocked at his unconventional approach. It had never occurred to you to portray things in a way other than what you considered normal. Bucky had opened a whole new world for you.

“I don’t really know, it just came to me.” He replied modestly. “Do you wanna try?”

Bucky offered up a clean sheet of paper to you.

When Steve came home a few hours later, he wasn’t greeted at the door as usual with a kiss from Bucky and you jumping into his arms. Normally your absence would make his heart race, but it only took him a minute to turn the corner and see the two of you, his husband and his precious baby, working hard together over a piece of paper. A rainbow rendition of Steve’s famous shield, the star in the center made up of tiny swirls and dots. He already knew he’d treasure this masterpiece forever.

#little!reader #stucky x little!reader #bucky x little!reader #daddy!stucky x little!reader #daddy!bucky #daddy!stucky #marvel agere #agere fic #cg!bucky #bucky barnes x little!reader #chloe's fic #🩰

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euphorix-moon · 9 months

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Sweeter than Sweet

Jealous!Ellie x Fem!Reader

Synopsis: Ellie introduces you to her friends for the first time at an ice cream shop. Things were going great until you run into your ex...Abby

Wc:1.1k

A/n: I just love jealous Ellie and decided to write all about it

You and Ellie have been dating for about 2 months, and you guys have been nothing but happy from the start. You guys kept your relationship pretty quiet at the start, but now Ellie has decided that she wants to introduce you to her two best friends, Jesse and Dina. Ellie had set up a date for the four of you guys to meet up at an ice cream parlor tonight.

Ellie had given your hand a squeeze of encouragement, sensing your nerves as you two walked closer to the entrance. "Don't worry, babe, I'll know they love you. Also, I haven't told them we're dating yet, just so there's no added pressure of meeting them for the first time. You smiled understandingly at the response.

You two had walked in and immediately heard the sound of a woman screaming from across the room, Ellie, we're over here! Ellie smiled, waving back, and the two of you walked over to the table Dina and Jesse were sitting at. Someone is surely excited to see her, you mused to yourself. You two had sat down, and Ellie introduced you to both Dina and Jesse. You had found yourself getting comfortable easily with Ellie's friends, and you were thankful for that.

You had learned that Dina and Jesse were dating and that three of them had met and became friends in college. At that time, you were also able to share small facts about yourself. Conversations flowed smoothly between the four of you until the talking quieted down when an unfamiliar voice appeared, asking for an order from each of you.

You had turned your head to look up at the worker who was supposed to be taking your order, but you were instantly filled with surprise at who you came to look at.

"Omg, Abby, it's been so long; I never thought that I'd run into you in a place like this!" You stood up, hugging the woman, the both of you laughing in the embrace. "Don't you remember? I told you that one day I wanted to own an ice cream shop. Ellie loudly cleared her throat, breaking the conversation between you and Abby.

Realizing that three other people were staring at her confusedly. Abby apologized for getting distracted by introducing herself to the rest of the group as the owner of the shop and explaining that you two had dated in high school. Ellie was confused at first when she first saw the very friendly relationship between the two of you, but as soon as Abby mentioned that you two had previously dated, her guard went up. "Interesting, why'd you two break up? Jesse asked curiously. Abby had glanced at you cautiously as if searching your eyes for an answer, in which you continued, I moved out of the state for college. We decided to end things there because we didn't think we could handle a long-distance relationship".

"It was a melancholic day for me and one of the few things that I regret," Abby continued, smiling softly at you. You smiled back at her before staring back down at your hand, nervously fiddling with them.

"Can we order our ice cream now? Ellie had asked bluntly, Oh, yes, I'm sorry. Abby had taken their orders and left to get the group their ice cream. Ellie had thought that would be the last she would see of the woman.

She was so wrong.

Ellie had barely eaten her ice cream, losing her appetite quickly as she watched the scene go on to her left. Since the shop wasn't too busy, Abby brazenly brought up a chair to the group table and invited herself into the group outing. Ellie had been not so secretly glaring at Abby the entire time as she was chatting with the rest of the table. Ellie had found herself comparing everything about Abby to herself, not getting what all the hype was about—that the entire table seemed to be so unbothered by Abby's uninvited presence.

Your hot fudge sundae was turning out to be a messy affair. The chocolate sauce had somehow spread all over your mouth.

"You’ve got something on your face. Abby said, using her thumb to wipe away a smudge from your cheek, leaving you extremely flustered at the action.

"Els, are you okay?" Dina whispered,Ellie had found herself broken out of thought by a concerned Dina. Ellie smiled. "Of course I'm fine; why'd you ask? Dina had pointed at Ellie's ice cream cone. She had zoned out due to her own anger; she hadn't realized that she had gripped her cone so hard that the ice cream had dripped all over her hand. She had dumped the ice cream on a plate and covered it with a napkin. Licking off the remaining evidence from her hands.

"Ellie How did you like your ice cream? Abby asked, either not noticing or ignoring Ellie's aloof attitude toward her. Oh, yeah, it was great—delicious even. Ellie smiled, lying through her teeth. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. How about you, Y/N? Abby smiled at Abby before looking back at you. "I really enjoyed my sundae; I'm kind of bummed Ellie finished her ice cream; I really wanted to try her strawberry ice cream".

Well, maybe one day you can come back, and I'll make sure to have one ready for you on the house. You know, maybe we should exchange numbers so we can meet up again. Maybe I'll show you around the shop. There's always a seat open for you. Abby smiled shyly at you, and you yourself laughed again out of nervousness. You weren't really the best at these types of awkward situations.

Ellie snapped at that point.

She reached over, grabbed your face between her hands, and pressed your mouths together. You had opened your mouth in surprise, and Ellie took the chance to shove her tongue in. The chocolate and vanilla in your mouth mixed with her own strawberry, and you both eagerly licked up the sweet taste.

They finally parted, and Ellie deliberately let her tongue slowly lap the outline of your lips, licking up the chocolate sauce that she had missed. You just breathed heavily in response, your mouth slowly curling up into a smile.

"Now you know what mine tastes like. Ellie had a smug grin plastered on her face, but her eyes were trained on Abby, who had looked a little hurt by the scene that had unfolded in front of her.

Woah, woah, woah! Everyone had turned to look at a shocked and confused Dina and Jesse. Both of their mouths were agape, and both of their spoons clanged on the table.

Dina finally spoke.

Ellie, I thought you said you two were friends!

A/n: i hope you guys enjoyed, as always feedback is encouraged

#ellie tlou #ellie williams x reader #ellie x reader #ellie x y/n #ellie x you #ellie williams #ellie williams fanfic #tlou #tlou2 #fanfic #abby the last of us #abby x reader #abby tlou #lesbian

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kitorin · 1 year

Text

how they react when they catch you simping for a fictional character

pairings. shidou ryusei x gn!reader, itoshi rin x m!reader, mikage reo x gn!reader (separate)

contents. crack, smau, a sexual joke and a half (it's just ryusei being ryusei) shinonome akito slander (I'M SORRY I PROMISE I LOVE HIM BUT RIN DOESN'T), exposing my taste in men, written all in lowercase, spoilers for sounds of a summer event (project sekai)

a/n. i thought of this bc i questioned if i liked rin or akito more 😭, and sorry for rin's being so long since i had the most ideas for him :>. i also have no confidence with crack so please bear with me and it's my first smau

shidou ryusei - seong taehoon (how to fight / viral hit)

when he caught you gawking at the new viral hit chapter, taehoon specifically, he immediately joined you (as he should)

he straight up yelled "smash" at that one scene where taehoon's snacking and he's wearing a tight shirt so you can see all of his muscles

he begs you to re read the series with them, and now you two read each update every week together, fully engaged in the story and taehoon's abs

attempts to recreate all of taehoon's kicks (i headcanon that does taekwondo and has a black belt :>), proudly shows them off to you, with a huge grin on his face (please fawn over him too)

also extensively practices so he can show them off by incorporating them into soccer somehow (doesn't matter if it ain't practical he just wants to impress you), and if he ever has to use them on anyone making you uncomfortable

he probably has a folder in his gallery dedicated to every panel he loves (which is basically all) and recreates his absolute favs (with you as his photographer)

makes a lot of jokes about being in love with taehoon (so do you), but he'd stop them if they made you uncomfortable, and reassures you that a drawing can't compare to how sweet, amazing and perfect you are

honorable mentions to baek seongjun being his second favourite

wants you to do taekwondo as well cause now he has a thing for it after discovering taehoon

"i swear to god men who do taekwondo and can actually fight are so hot,"

"isn't that you?"

"... you don't agree with me...?"

"no you have a brilliant point"

itoshi rin - shinonome akito (project sekai)

during the sounds of a summer festival event you spent so much time glued to your phone, full combo-ing literally every hard, expert, and master song you possibly could, leveling up all character ranks, sacrifice countless of hours of sleep (if it's for akito it's very much worth it), and even contemplate spending money

you even tweeted about how badly you need him

rin notices the bags under your eyes, and the lack of sleep you had been getting, he's worried and when he asks you you're too focused on the event story to even register what he says, as you're on the brink of sobbing at young akito and ena

he observes as well, and immediately is jealous of how much of your attention this fictional character was receiving from you

as you're about to spend another few hours grinding, he stops you

"dumbass you need to sleep, and give your eyes a break"

"no i don't, i need summer festival akito,"

"who and what?"

soon you're rambling on how much akito's backstory and struggles already hurt, and how wholesome yet painful the event story was, with akito quitting soccer and ena encouraging him to give music a try, and it only nurtures rin's envy

"you're going to cry for a ginger guy who quit soccer and started his ambition because of his older sister? how lukewarm,"

"yes i am?? and he looked cute as a child and now he's a pretty boy with the best vocals. their event cards are beautiful too i need them. didn't you start soccer because of sae anyways?"

"tch"

"rin... are you jealous?"

"... no, i just don't get what you see in this idiot. i never quit soccer when it got hard and i know how to persevere, i don't give up, i don't experience despair when someone's better than me-"

"so you're jealous,"

"no"

"rin you always have and always will be my number 1. akito can't do anything you've done for me, and can't even compare to how pretty you are,"

"damn right,"

despite being salty, he still installs the game to read the stories, out of pure curiosity and wants to understand what kind of stuff you like

he ends up adoring ena and akito's relationship (the supportive part only ofc), as well as tsukasa and saki's (and secretly wishes sae was as affectionate as shizuku since she reminds him of sae in the past)

you do not shut up when you seem him struggle with hitorinbo envy on master

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID AKITO WAS LUKEWARM,"

"he is, i was just curious why you liked the stories so much,"

"YOU SPENT EVERY FREE CRYSTAL ON THE FIND A WAY OUT EVENT AND NOW GRINDING FOR MORE,"

"... i want his boyfriend"

"YOU READ THE MAIN STORY TOO ?! and you don't need touya you have me"

"THAT'S HOW I FELT ABOUT AKITO,"

"YOU FEEL INFERIOR TO A LUKEWARM GINGER?"

mikage reo - kang tae moo (business proposal)

he heard you squealing at a scene of tae moo getting flustered after sunghoon suggested his feelings for hari

he thought that you were having a heart attack and thought something was wrong

reo doesn't even need the show's context to be invested immediately, as he joins you and watches with great interest

after seeing you simp over tae moo, in secret, he binge watches the rest of the series in attempt to mimic any romantic scenes

full on posts the "do you know what my credit card and my love for y/n have in common? they simply have no limit" on his not very private twitter account, and it leaves you flustered by all the comments saying how lucky you are and their jealousy

deletes any comment revealing the source of that line (silently apologises to the writer(s) and credits ahn hyo seop for its brilliant execution)

little does he know nagi made a tweet exposing him

also recreates other cute scenes from the show, and starts looking for more kdramas to watch and recreate (still gets fully absorbed in the plot and dialogue)

innocently smiles when you realize he's just a kang tae moo copycat

"i didn't copy him i'm the inspiration behind him, rich, smart, pretty and utter perfection,"

"i can't deny the second part... i can't believe nagi's seen business proposal,"

"wait what?"

©kouyun : do not repost, plagiarize, change, or translate

#blue lock #blue lock x reader #blue lock x you #blue lock x y/n #shidou ryusei #shidou ryusei x reader #itoshi rin x reader #itoshi rin x male reader #blue lock x male reader #itoshi rin #mikage reo #mikage reo x reader #mikage reo x you

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lab1rynth · 1 year

Text

YAN!SERVANT

(Someone sent an ask for this but tumblr ate it, Im sorry!!)

Yan!Servant who's worked for your family since you both were children. He was assigned to do as you say, when you say, as well as being your playmate so you hadn't bothered your parents. He was pretty damn good as his job seeing how he wasn't fired after years of service.

Yan!Servant who knew everything about you, exactly what you wanted down to the smallest detail, who'd stay behind you wherever you would go and keep you company. He delt with your spoilt self, and he was quite proud of how far he has come with you. It was barely a job to him anymore, you guys were friends!

Yan!Servant who started getting more protective over you when you got into the dating scene, he gave you an hour long lecture on dating safety. Telling you how horrible men are and how you'd most likely have to settle for less than perfect.

Yan!Servant who honestly gets a little mad when you go out on blind dates, he sits in a both next to you and your dates, watching and making sure you're safe and comfortable. A few of your dates called him out on his staring, and a few got quite uncomfortable and found any excuse to leave.

Yan!Servant who comforts you after your failed dates, saying how its their loss for not seeing how amazing you are, saying how nobody is worthy of your presence. He gives you a small hug and asks you if you want to take a walk around the city.

Yan!Servant who finds himself staring at you more often than normal with a blush on his face. Hitting himself over his feelings, he was not allowed to feel this way, he couldn't! You wouldn't have to settle for less if you settled for him, yet he's still a lesser person. You're of wealth and he and his family are basically just leaching on that money.

Yan!Servant who starts painting you in his free time, painting every miniscule detail until it was picture perfect. Yet the paintings still couldn't capture your beauty, nothing could compare. He'd rather see the real thing rather than paper.

Yan!Servant who does exactly that, he stares at you for hours on end with a little goofy smile on his face. His head rested on his hand as he imagines a future with you, why didn't you see that you were destined to be more than friends? It was so obvious.

Yan!Servant who starts sending you little notes with flowers he had found at a little flower shop nearby. He starts being more touchy, hugging you, cuddling you, holding your hand, placing his hand on the small of your back. He brings you your favorite food and drinks without being asked.

Yan!Servant who lets out a sigh when he figures out you couldn't care less about what he was doing for you. He knew you were spoilt, but in all his years of being your servant he would've never described you as ungrateful. That had started to change.

Yan!Servant who cant understand how you'd be so oblivious to his advances. He hadn't known how subtle he'd actually been but still! He's done so much for you and the least you could do is return some love his way!

#male reader #x fem!reader #x female reader #x gn reader #x male reader #x male y/n #yourprettyboyswriting #x female y/n #yandere x you #x masc reader #x f reader #x m reader #x reader #x gn y/n #WhiteBall

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dumbass-tumbler-cryptid · 2 months

Note

I often see people describe Spider as a neglected child. Do you think that is totally accurate? Would Norm and the other scientists have set rules and boundaries? If Lo’ak and Spider did something stupid together would Jake punish both of them? What would a scene like this look like?

Hello! I know you sent this question to other creators like a month ago. Sorry this took me so long to get to. I’ve been busy and I really wanted to give a detailed answer to this but I could just never make the time until now.

So short answer yes I definitely think Spider is a neglected child.

Long answer:

While I do believe some of his basic physical needs were met like food/water/shelter I don’t believe all his physical needs were met. First is just basic safety and while I don’t think his foster parents the McCosker’s physical beat him they definitely didn’t seem to care about him. From what we see in the comics and in the movie Spider was allowed to leave the base by himself at a very young age, like around 7-8 from the look of him. I personally take huge issue with this. I’d love to know how far away the village is from Hells Gate because maybe if it was super close, like you could see it from base kind of close, then I don’t think it’d be as bad but either way your letting a child, who is already super tiny compared to his huge surroundings loose in a jungle that we are told point blank from Jake’s narration is dangerous! Like it’s one thing to let your kid walk to a friends house to teach them independence but what parent would let their child do that if they could be potentially eaten by a tiger or trampled by a rhino. But that’s exactly what the scientist and the McCoskers are letting Spider do! That is just so negligent to me.

Next is Spider’s hair which I know we talk to death about for a lot of different reasons. So I actually have the exact same hair texture that we see baby Spider having so I can personally attest to it tangling easily when not properly maintained. After looking at 7-8 year old Spider i feel like I can pretty confidently say those aren’t dreads they’re mats. That’s what dry, unwashed, un brushed curly hair looks like after weeks.

From my research children typically need help with taking care of their hair until around age 12 and so the fact that his hair is matted tells me no body is helping him. And that could lead to issues down the line because matted hair can grow mold which will obviously make you sick. Even when we see Spider at 16 he hasn’t learned how to maintain his dreadlocks properly. They’re uneven, there’s unlocked hair sticking out all over the place. Really to me it looks more like he did his best to do something with his hair after all the childhood neglect. So yeah not putting in the effort to properly take care of a child’s hair when they’re to young to do it themselves is a form of physical neglect in my eyes

Now onto bigger issues.

We see from the comics that Spider’s foster parents just flat out don’t care about him. Other creators have gotten into that so I won’t go on about it. What I will go on about though is that I think it’s a failure of every adult that saw how neglectful and uncaring the McCosker’s where to Spider but did nothing. They did nothing because it was easier for them to do nothing. Sometimes foster placements don’t work out and when that happens you find an alternative until you find something that best fits the child. They didn’t do that! They did what was easiest for the adults and that was to turn a blind eye. I’m guessing after the events of the high ground comics that Spider didn’t even really have a guardian to answer to. He was basically just a ward of the rebels. I really do hope we get to see him interact with characters like Norm and Max post his kidnapping because from what we see in the movie Kiri was the only one worried about him. I think it would have been nice if during the scene where Jake and Norm are talking about Kiri’s seizer Jake asked if Norm had any new information about Spider, so we the audience would see that these adults do care about this kid. We don’t get that though.

And honestly I take huge issue with Jake’s treatment of Spider. I didn’t like it when I first watched the movie and never felt like he earned the “son for a son” line because again we never even saw him care about Spider aside from him asking Neytiri not to kill him which is beyond bare minimum. Reading the comics made me straight up appalled. My jaw hit the ground during the climax of the story when they are being chased by R.D.A, shot at, the forest is burning and Jake told Spider to turn himself in because he was slowing them down! And my poor boy just promised to keep up!

And I know Jake believes that they won’t hurt Spider because he’s just a kid but 1. Why would you even think that? Seriously what evidence do you have that the R.D.A wouldn’t hurt this kid. They are your enemy! They’re literally shooting at you as you speak! What makes you think they wouldn’t shoot Spider on site! Why would you even take that chance with a child’s life! Even if they do accept his surrender then what? Are you okay with this kid being sent back to Earth? Or being forced to live on the R.d.A’s base with little to no say of what happens to him? And 2. They do hurt him! A year later when Spider gets kidnapped Ardmore was willing to turn Spider into a vegetable to get the information she wanted! The only reason that didn’t happen was because Quaritch stopped him. This is just going to be an all me rant for a second but I could never leave a child behind like Jake did with Spider. I don’t care how tough you think he is he’s 16! And he was left in the enemies hands on an absolutely insane amount of good faith that they wouldn’t stoop low enough to hurt him. They fucking tortured him. And if Jake had at least payed lip service to being worried about Spider I’d be slightly more inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt and say there was nothing he could do to get Spider out of Bridgehead, he had to protect his others kids. But he doesn’t. He says that Spider’s a tough kid and that’s that.

So to wrap this up Spider was incredibly neglected. Based off of everything I said above it seems to me that the adults provided bare minimum necessities and then just let him run wild which is no way to treat a child especially when their young. We’d be here all day if I started up on the emotional neglect of this boy. I truly hope we get to see Jake treat Spider better in the next movie and that we get to see Spider interact with Norm and Max.

Those are my thoughts. If anyone disagrees I’d be happy to have a respectful conversation about it. I’m always curious to hear other people’s opinions. 💙

#spider socorro #miles spider socorro #avatar 2 #avatar the way of water

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joyburble · 1 year

Text

So, we see Donfang Qingcang reading on screen several times, and I think it's an important character message.

On encountering a problem, in episode 4, that can't be addressd by violence, what is the first thing our character does? He RTFMs. He sends Shanque to fetch the Fucking Manual, and he Reads It. What. In fact, they both read it, at least until they find the right bit.

Iconic. And adorable.

Definitely much less surprising in a Chinese genre than it would be in any English-language genre. But this section is so spectacular I want to give it a lot of weight.

The scroll is extremely long. He baulks, for a second, at the length,

but this, his face says, cannot possibly defeat him: he backs himself (I love it) and gets down to work.

It's illustrated. I'd love to hear from someone who can read any part of the text. He engages in detail with the content.

He continues in episode 5, having made some progress, and still backing himself to work out what it all means.

He takes it out on the balcony to study it by daylight. When his plans don't succeed at first, he doesn't reject the information, he thinks about it harder and compares it with the data.

Then something interesting happens: after making Orchid's tummyache better, he sits down, and without any stated reason tries to read something else, which looks like a completely normal book:

He can't focus because she's so sad, but we get a glimpse of the corner of a title label. When he puts it down, we can see it's a paperback stitched in the traditional Chinese manner.

It could be anything, but looks a reasonable size for a novel. There are also some other books on the table. Maybe they're technical works from Xiao Lanhua's library, and he's just bored and curious?

This wouldn't be as clear if it was the only example, or if we saw other characters repeatedly reading. But I don't think we do.

In episode 18 post-whump we learn again that what he does to relax and distract himself, when in pain and/or wanting attention, is read a book. It's a slim volume with a vertical format and a pretty, embellished cover. Perhaps a book of poems?

In Episode 26, now knowing he is loved, he is reading for fun again, with no explanation asked or given. Another sewn book, but in this case it has a hard cover with a shiny and colourful design. What could it be? Who knows? It seems to be making him smile a little.

The message we are getting, here, is that what he does when he wants to relax and enjoy life, is read. We’re supposed to understand that in his natural disposition, minus his father’s crimes and his profession of violence, he is a gentleman and a scholar. He is curious. He is capable of handling new information. He has brains and capabilities and ingenuity. He has a big ego, but he can put it in the engine room, not the driving seat. It's a gently-delivered message, but I think it contributes a lot to our perception of the character.

In dream-world episode 31, he is reading a scroll with Xiao Lanhua. Are they reading a story to each other? Doing the voices?

So apparently in his imagination it's a bonding activity too: you can read together with a person you love and share your reactions. A bit like you and I are doing now.

Finally, I think they published this behind-the-scenes shot for a reason (thank you @moonsupremesblog, and I'm sorry this probably should have been a reblog of this post but I got too far in before I remembered)

We can see it's Dylan Wang referring to a script, but we do a double-take because it's totally in character, the lighting, composition, and depth-of-field intentionally reinforce that effect, and we have to look at the plastic cover and the little place-tags to realise it isn't.

#cang lan jue #lbfad #love between fairy and devil #dylan wang #wang he di #reading on screen #cdrama #dongfang qingcang

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missbunnybunny · 1 year

Text

Hide & seek

141 + könig x gen z member

A/N: Readers goes by the code name Widow in my writing. Along with she/her pronounces. I am biased with König and Ghost but for this story, König and her are the main pair. The reader is Latina, I'll use Spanish more in the next story. I know 0% about the military, I'll do my research and try my best. Am not good at writing at all just saying.

Minors do not interact!

CWs: Dark Humor, Age gaps, simping, crude Humor, cursing, might forget some but if I do lmk. I can't spell right for the life of me, my bad. This is a long read sorry.

" This is going to be fun" ghost turns to his side where the giggling voice said. Looking at the shorter girl to his right. " what did ya do?" He asked in a serious matter-of-fact tone.

"Huh I didn't do anything..yet," you said pouting, the last part coming out as a whisper. Hoping he wouldn't hear, but he heard you.

Ghost frowned and said in a more worried full tone " Widow, you didn' burn some shit up again'. Right?"

You looked up and gasped offended by his comment. You almost burn down the entire kitchen ONCE!, while trying to cook. One time was enough to get you banned from touching the stove, and you now need a babysitter to make sure you don't do somethin' stupid😒.

Soap walked up behind you and said " His right, you know lass." Scaring the living shit out of you. Turning around whit a pale face and slightly shaking. You hit soap on his arm saying " don' ever do that to ME."

Soap laughed loudly amused at your terrified look. Ghost sighed and shook his head, telling soap to stop scaring you half to death.

Captain price's voice came booming into the room. He walked along with Gaz, Gaz waved to you and you did the same.

"all right now that everyone is here, I have two announcements. First, we have a new team member. He will be arriving in 10. And lastly, it was widows turn to choose a training exercise."

Widow smiled widely, ghost stared a hole at her head, as he looked down at her. Soap looked pale and as for gaz, he was trying to hold his laugh.

Ghost finally spoke, breaking the long dead silent " Kid..What.did.You.do?" His deep timber voice said in a commanding tone.

Slowly backing away from the tall masked man and talking slowly" I might have asked...to play hide and seek. An' captain agreed😅" as you said the last part as you ran to hide behind Gaz.

Soap was trying to hold ghost back from giving you a verbal beatdown. " big bro, hide me" you told gaz giggling. Everyone on squad 141 was your family, and gaz and soap always hit you like the big brother type.

Ghost broke free and soap put his hands up when you looked at him. " sorry, did all I could" he stated while smiling. Running away from the tall man you yelled at soap " YOU LYING BASTARD, YOU LET GO." Ghost closed in on you as you stared at the older men, looking side by side for an escape.

To everyone, this was a normal occurrence. The scene was like a parent scolding their child for their Wrongdoings. Funny but for the receiving party it was like looking into deaths door. I mean you had the ghost, death was the next right option.

Before ghost could scold Widow a *HUMVEE pulled up. The only thing on everyone's mind was ' Widow got lucky this time'.

Squad 141 all stood in a line waiting for the new addition to the team. Altho it just looked like gaz, soap, and Ghost were the only ones in the line. Widow looked so small compared to all of them that they practically hide her by accident.

Price looked straight ahead as a very tall figure came out of the HUMVEE (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle.). He had to duck down as to not hit his head, once he was fully out it was like looking at a big, but like a Big bear.

Price extended his hand to shake them with the tall man, after some small talk price turned around to face the group. " Alright everyone, this is könig. He will be with us from now on." The captain said.

Everyone started to introduce themselves " your' pretty tall ain't ya. Am soap, let's get along" soap stated. " nice to meet you." Gaz said shaking könig's hand.

König walked to the next person in line which should have been Widow, but he couldn't see her and so he walked to ghost.

Price notice it and walked a little closer, after a little while he finally realized what happened. " Gaz, Ghost please step aside your hiding Widow," he said shaking his head while taking a cigar out.

Ghost and Gaz looked to their side and realized that they in fact hide the small woman from view. " sorry Widow." Gaz said "sorry, kid," ghost said. As they finally move aside. " hello, am Widow. It's nice to meet you könig." Widow said almost shyly.

Widow extended her hand and Shook his hand. König and Widow had off the bat one thing in common nervousness and social anxiety around new people.

But after some small talk, widow would warm up to you, after getting to know you of course. Lastly, it was ghost's turn. Ghost shook his hand and said, " welcome to the unit".

After some time price spoke up " alright everyone get in the HUMVEE, will be going to the training site." Berugently everyone got into the viechle, price explained to könig what was going on. To which the tall man asked " hide &seek?" he asked confusedly. Hearing his voice for the first time gave you chills, not scared chills but a thrilled chill that just set a fire in you.

Gaz said it was widows idea and to be prepared for hell. " When it comes to this Exercise, widow doesn't hold back" price stated. After a comfortable silence, they finally made it to the training site.

" Widow can you explain how we play hide and seek" price said still smoking his cigar. "Okey. The way we play hide and seek is like a manhunt. Everyone has 10 mins to get a paintball gun and find a spot. After the 10 mins are up, I will get into possession. You have an hour and a half to find me before I snipe you all down. The last still standing or the first to kill me wins."

You said happily this is in fact your favorite training exercise. Ghost hates it because it hurts like a motherfucker, soap doesn't like it cuz it's hard to get the paint off. And as for gaz he quite enjoys the exercise. Except when he gets hit on the back of the head.

" alright get your weapons boys, " captain price said. He asked könig if he wanted to participate to which the man nodded, in response.

After everyone was set in their positions, captain price said that they had an extra 5 minutes. Widow was still looking for just the right gun, and she found it. A 468 PTR BLACK KING BOLT ACTION DMR SNIPER PAINTBALL GUN.

After the 5 minutes, Widow was ready for the hunt. " you ready kid." Asked price. You gave him a smile with a thumbs up 👍🏼. " yeah, it's demon time finna hut some bitches".

Being small had its ups and downs, but in this situation, it was your biggest advantage. So many hiding places, after surveying your surroundings you found the best place to hide.

A big tree had fallen and since it was surrounded by bushes the roots were well-covered. After making sure that no one was there you gave the word. The hunt was on and the boys now had an hour and a half to hunt you down.

After what felt like forever ( ten minutes or so 🙄) you spotted your right prey. Soap was surveying the area with his gun and reporting back. He was doing a good job, every sound had him looking around and making sure that it wasn't you.

Staying still as humanly possible you Held your breath, the closer he got the more your trigger finger inched. The need to pull the trigger was strong, like an addiction. You needed to wait for the right moment, 20 feet, 15 feet, 10 feet, 5 feet. Perfect -BANG- the sound of hitting your target dead center in the chest.

It was heavenly, Almost euphoric. Hearing cuz in his native language was all the better. " Sleekit, Bastart." ( sneaky bastard) the Scots man said. Then he yelled hit.

Now that your spot was given out you had to move, slowly walking deeper into the forest where the vines grow long and in numbers.

After stopping and crouching at the smallest sounds in fear of getting killed you come to a stop. Right in front of you was quite a beautiful site, a willow tree with low-hanging branches.

Perfect for climbing and most of all hiding, an Eagles eye view. After making sure the boys hadn't been there or around it you climb the tree.

From your communication earpiece, price spoke " first kill soap, 3 remain." Looking Throw your scope, checking to see your, next victim. You spotted Gaz and Ghost doing a swipe, könig nowhere to be seen.

Gaz was the clearest target after he moved from his hiding place from behind a tree. " just a lil closer, come on" you said under your breath. Gaz moved slightly to the right and at that moment you pulled the trigger.

"Well look who's getting sniped at the back of the head." You chuckled, watching as the said man got hit. You wanted to stand up and scream " I like your cut g" so badly but couldn't.

"Damn it" Gaz said angrily throwing his hands up and yelling hit. As you went to find the masked skull man, you found that he was living up to his name. Man's become a real ghost and ghosted you as fast as you pulled the trigger.

Now könig and Ghost were the last men standing. After what felt like forever searching for the tall guys you heard a Crunch from under you. You Stiffened, Your heart was beating fast and loud in your chest and ears. Ghost was under you looking around trying to find you.

You always wondered how such a tall man could move so fast without making the slightest noises. You felt like you were being hunted by a vicious beast, hoping he wouldn't look up you slowly pulled out your gun. Stopping every time he moved, you aligned your gun at him, put your finger on the trigger.

Just as you were about to pull the trigger he looked up, dead eyes looking straight at you. Your heart stopped and you thought that for a second you soul left your body.

He moved to bring his gun up at you, that snaped you out of your dice. Pulling the trigger and hitting him on the shoulder, your breathing was heavy. You felt so out of breath that you might get dizzy.

Ghost stared at you for a moment. Looking at the terrified look you had, he shoke his head and called out hit. " sorry for Scaring ya doll" he said to you.

Captain price called out again " 20 minutes left, last man standing is könig." He said.

You were still thinking that if this was a real battle Ghost would have slattered you without a second thought. You where so in your thoughts that you didn't notice könig under you.

You where sitting with your back the tree. Looking straigh ahead, only snaping out of it when you felt something on your leg.

Wide-eyed you looked straight into königs hooded eyes, before you could even grab your snipe. You were heading straight to the ground, landing back first. That shit hurt like a bitch.

König stood over you pulling his gun out, quickly getting on your feet. Slightly whining from the pain in your right foot.

You ran with your hand gun in hand, looking for a place to hide. But sadly the hope was short lived.

You looked behind you to see königs arm streched out a second later you where caught and on the ground.

The mountain of man Sat on top of you, Pining your arms above your head with his big hand. You tried to wiggle out but the more you struggle the tighter his while became.

He pulled his gun out and shot you in the stomach. You whined, the sound almost coming off erotic. Getting shot by a paintball close-range hurt like a motherfuckering bitch.

König let go of your hands and got off of you. With teary eyes and shaking hand, you pressed your earpiece " Am hit" you Stated.

Everyone back at the entrance was expecting you to loudly yell " I win ya old bitches. Kiss my ass " like you usually would. But instead, you called to admit your defeat.

You sounded out of breath and in pain. They waited for you and könig to come out.

König extended his hand out to you, you took it with a shaky smile. You stood up and König let go of your hand. The warmth of his hand on yours was immediately missed. König turned around to walk off, you took a step forward and began to fall. König turned around just in time to stop your face and the ground from having a meeting.

" Are you okay, Maus" (mouse) he asked. His voice was low and worried, it sounded like honey. You were starting to get addicted to his voice, only after meeting him hours ago.

You shook your head negatively, " I think I Sprain my ankle" you told him. "sorry" könig said. You told him that it was okay and that you had fun. You really did.

He said sorry again and He picked you up, carried you bridle-style. Your face was 50 shades of red, you felt like you could explode at any moment.

As he carried you, you sank deeper into his arms feeling his warm embrace comforting. Tho it was making you sleepy. As you came to the entrance ghost was the first to speak. "Widow, you okay?" Ghost asked looking at you in the tall man's arms.

You smiled and told him " yup, am Gucci. Just fucked up my ankle while running." You told the older man, while he stared daggers into poor könig. To which König nodded his head in agreement.

Ghost looked at you again and asked " ya sleepy?". Almost Immediately you responded with a yes. Everyone chuckled it was so like you to get sleepy when you finished a mission or any work. " yup totally Widow" was going around everyone's mind.

It was lights out immediately, "am gonna take a lil nap, night every...one " and just like that you fell asleep in königs arms.

Ghost looked at könig and told him "sorry mate, ya gonna have to carry her until we get to the base. She would kill ya if ya wake her up. In her word, she turns into an angry Grimling." Ghost walked off to the HUMVEE.

Soap patted the tall Man's back giving him a thumbs up " good luck" and off he was. Gaz only shook his head and told könig "come on, I'll get the door for ya".

König sat in the HUMVEE with an asleep Widow in his arms, she was holding him like a koala. As König looked down at her, he thought to himself " This isn't so bad." The tall man smiled under his hood, it was like heaven having her in his arms. And 141 was a nice addition to the whole deal.

"Sweet dreams, my little maus" könig whispered to the sleeping woman. Squad 141 was about to get interesting. A hyper Widow and the silent man könig, wonder how it all will turn out.

Ight am going back to hibernating until I wake up again. Peace out everyone 🫥✌🏽

#könig cod #könig x reader #cod x reader #gen z shit #ghost call of duty #soap mctavish #gaz cod #cod price #long post #Widow🕷

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tmagpposting · 4 months

Text

Alice’s Attitude

and why I don’t think it’s going to save her.

I haven’t seen a lot of people talking about the implication of Alice's attitude towards the incidents and horror elements so far, so I’m going to. Someone else may have already made a post about this, but I haven’t found anything yet, and I couldn’t find a way to get this out of my mind without writing it down. Naturally, I’m also going to inflict this long-winded and potentially needless analysis on all of you, since I spent 2 hours typing it out (sorry in advance). TW for blatant overuse of parentheticals and politics towards the end. This draws on content from TMAGP episodes 1-3 and TMA overall, particularly the series finale.

I feel like a lot of us going into TMAGP and having listened to TMA already were probably pleasantly surprised by Alice’s attitude of “The Horrors? Just say no!” since a lot of TMA revolved around the idea that curiosity and investigation of the fears usually doomed people to be consumed by one of them, as we saw with a lot of the Archive staff, particularly Jon. I certainly was. Though her ideas about how to deal with the incident reports are definitely somewhat callous, in the context of TMA, they feel very pragmatic, and I found myself thinking, “finally, a character who knows what genre she’s in and refuses to surrender to it.” I’ve been seeing a couple people agree with this, and say that her approach might even help her stay afloat when things start to escalate as the conflicts of TMAGP develop in the coming episodes. I thought that too, at least for a while.

After thinking about it for several days, I don’t think this is the case. Given TMA’s themes and propensity for tragedy, and Jonny’s approach to tackling social issues, I don’t think Alice’s apathy is going to save her. In fact, I think it’s potentially going to be the character flaw that will doom her in the first place.

1. Alice already cares (not about the horrors, but about people)

To start with, I’d like to point out that Alice will only be able to maintain her apathy to a limited extent, and when people she cares about start being harmed, she is going to get involved. In fact, we can already see this happening. Ep 3 notably starts and ends with Alice making a plan to get Central IT involved in looking into their computers, when she tries to mention them to Colin in the first scene, and when she asks Sam to call them on her behalf in the final scene. I’d argue that the issue comes up because she’s concerned about Colin more than fixing the OIAR’s computers. She tells Sam it’s because Colin may not be able to handle FR3-D1 as well as he thinks he can since he’s been working on it forever with very little positive progress, but given the additional context of the starting scene, I think it’s reasonable to assume she also wants to meddle for Colin’s sake. In the first scene of ep 3, she seemingly talks more softly/slowly than usual (to me, it sounds like she’s trying to be soothing when compared to how she normally talks, even outside of the times she’s actually soothing FR3-D1), she doesn’t make too many digs at Colin as he sounds increasingly stressed, and she asks gently and subtly about calling Central IT for help when she is generally pretty direct when she seriously wants something (like all the times she repeatedly shuts down Sam’s questions because she wants him to stay out of danger). It sounds like she’s trying to slip it in as a half-joke, but Colin treats it as a genuine suggestion when he usually either brushes off her jokes or plays into them instead, so I think it was her actual intent to involve Central IT even at that point. Furthermore, Gwen tells Sam something along the lines of “Alice is the only one [Colin] tolerates” in a previous episode, they have good banter throughout so far, and Colin’s explosive reaction to Sam mentioning the app completely deflates when he learns it was Alice’s idea. All of this seemingly demonstrates a bond that goes pretty far beyond what I’d think of as a basic work relationship with no actual friendship involved. Colin is already pretty deep into investigating FR3-D1 to the point that it’s probably going to be detrimental for him based on him threatening/ranting at the computers in the first episode, and Alice is already trying to intervene on his behalf. Simply put, she is doing a pretty bad job of pretending not to care and staying out of it so far, and we’re only 3 episodes in.

With that in mind, I don’t even think Colin will be the primary reason she’ll get involved as the series goes on, and I actually think Sam is being set up to be the one to draw her into much of the conflict. She cares enough about Sam to find him a job when he’s having a rough time, based on their conversation in the bar, and she tells him not to care about the incidents precisely because she cares about him, and doesn’t want him to get sucked in and hurt by them. With Sam’s propensity for curiosity established and likely being set up to be one of his fatal flaws, Alice will probably get drawn into the conflict whether she likes it or not if/when Sam goes digging and actually stumbles on something dangerous later on. As a side note, I really do think Sam’s curiosity is being set up to be something big here, since he repeatedly wants to look into the Magnus Institute and says it’s a “blast from the past,” he wonders about how the code system works and how it could be improved, and he’s generally shown to ask a lot of questions about the OIAR, Gwen’s backstory, etc. He asks about things more often than I think he would if his questions were purely an expositional device for the audience and not actual characterization (I could make a post just about this, but I think other people have definitely already done that). Finally, our very first introduction to Alice as a character in TMAGP shows her trying and failing to be glib and uncaring about Teddy leaving, where she jokes with him casually before admitting, sincerely and somewhat hesitantly, “I’m gonna miss you.” If her failing to not care about something in the opening scene of the entire series isn’t going to turn out to be important, if not Jonny Sims style foreshadowing of some kind, I’ll eat my hat.

2. Apathy kind of sucks, actually (thematically and otherwise)

Alice being saved by her refusal to care, assuming she manages to maintain it, feels too much like an easy out for the kinds of stories TMA was trying to tell, and clashes with its sensibilities in my opinion. A lot of people fall into the trap of nihilistic apathy when thinking about the state of the world right now, and TMA even acknowledged this in the series with the Extinction beginning to emerge as a new entity/fear. Between worsening climate change, the gradual rise of bigotry and the increasing trend toward fascism in the western world (especially america, it sucks here), escalating international conflict, poverty and the worsening cost/standard of living, like the fact that a majority of people my age will probably never own a house and our college debt is going to eat us alive, etc., it feels like we’re all circling the drain and no one with the power to help is interested in doing anything other than making it worse to make themselves money. A lot of people think the only way to cope with that is to decide to not give a shit, which is a pretty natural response to being constantly confronted with worse and worse news every year that shows no sign of stopping. This has also naturally inspired a lot of doomerism and a rise in insincerity/irony poisoning and cynicism in popular culture that’s really hard to escape even if you avoid the news entirely.

However, the idea that not giving a shit about the problems in the world can somehow spare you from them is a) ludicrous, since they won’t go away if you decide to ignore them (a majority of the TMA statement givers didn’t previously know or care about the fears, and they got screwed over regardless), and b) definitely not supported by TMA’s cannon or themes. Surrendering to the idea of your own helplessness is precisely what TMA ends by specifically not doing. Jon sunk into a hopeless state of mind throughout S5, with the culmination of this process being his proposal to let the world end and allow the End to consume everything, including the rest of the fears. It wasn’t necessarily that Jon didn’t care or was apathetic, especially since one of his primary motivation was to avoid inflicting the fears on another universe, rather, he didn’t think anything could be done to stop the fears from destroying his world or whatever world they ended up in, which is the same deterministic mindset that Alice’s style of apathy stems from (“I can’t change or fix it, so I don’t care”). The other characters refusing this course of action and banishing the fears is what ultimately spares TMA’s universe from the sort of extinction it would’ve had if they’d accepted that it was hopeless and Jon had gone through with what he wanted. TMA ends with the central takeaway that you can’t give in to the idea you won’t be able to fix things because then you won’t try, and shows the characters subverting their helplessness and actually solving the problem of the fears by getting rid of it at the source (the ethics of sending the fears somewhere else are definitely debatable, but that’s a totally different post). The idea that Alice could be saved from the consequences of the problems in TMAGP’s world by choosing not to care flies in the face of the conclusion to the previous series. Alice’s refusal to care won’t save her from whatever TMAGP has in store, and judging by the events of TMA, fatalism and apathy might even seal her fate.

Some of these points of evidence might be a little bit basic “water is wet” types of statements and I probably could’ve explained this in half the time, but I really do think that Alice’s apathy isn’t going to turn out to be very useful to her and I wanted to include everything I could think of that led me to believe that.

TLDR, Alice is just as screwed as the rest of the cast, if not more so, and her attitude is not going to get her out of it.

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sakumz · 4 months

Text

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a/n : I LOVE HIM JSKZKALSBZJSKZJJX ALSO HELLO??? I've been busy with college it's only the first month and there's drama already HAHAHAWHAGS

[ h. kaoru x gn reader ]

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" geez, you broke another girl's heart? what a loser. " you snifle a laugh as you watch the girl run away, calling kaoru a jerk as he puffs his cheek out to you.

you hear kaoru slam shut his shoe locker as he swings his bag over his shoulder, ready to leave. he gives you a look, hoping you'll drop the act and leave him alone.

" what? " you question when he stares a little too long for comfort at you.

" nothing... with all these girls flaunting themselves at me, I hate to admit but I'd rather you do it to me, " he confessed.

" how can you say that so casually! " you shout as you fled from the scene.

it's been two good ol weeks eversince kaoru spilled those strange words. he acts as if he never said such words to you. he brushes it off whenever you try to bring up the topic. he just sighs as he fakes a smile to you. he's a loser to you after all.

" ne~ earth to y/n~ " ritsu sings as he pokes your cheek with his fingers, making you drop your fork in the process.

you're having tea time with ritsu and to his dismay, rei is here too. you're knights producer and rei's wonderful deskmate. how can rei skip this opportunity to spend time with his beloved friend and brother. even if he has to be drain by the sun, if its for his beloveds. he can do anything.

" sorry, " you mumbled as rei picks up your fork and give you his.

" you alright? you seem pretty out of it lately. " rei reads you like a book. you can only pout as you can't hide anything from the old vampire. ritsu whines as he wants to know what's on your mind as well.

" kaoru. " hearing the name from your lips, perked their interest highly.

" what about him? " ritsu asks.

" he... " you start, only to be interrupted by the sound of a slap.

the three turn back to see kaoru and a random woman. ah... a lovers quarrel? you can't help but snicker at him. his lover seems to leave him alone after giving him a slap. rei calls out to the blonde as he sheepishly takes a step to you and the sakuma bros, sitting next to rei and directly opposite from you.

" what happened? " rei questions as the blonde sighs. another fail date, he can't stop thinking of you, calling his dates your name and comparing them to you too. he really is a loser at love and a loser to you.

" y/n's the problem, " he mumbles as he directs his attention to the floor, making him earn a kick to his shin.

" I didn't do anything! " you argue back.

" that slap did you real good, huh? " ritsu chuckles as the blonde blushes.

" it's really your fault y/n! I can't stop thinking of you. I do love you, why can't you say you love me too? is my feelings for you not obvious enough? am I really just a loser to you? do you not love me?! " he shouts as he slams his hands against the table, making the cutlery jump as well as you from the sudden noise.

rei can't help but pat his friend's back, hoping to provide him with some sort of comfort. ritsu looks over to you, that sudden action definitely scared you did it not?

" look, I'm sor- " kaoru was interrupted by you

" you really are a loser, a sore one too! i love you but I don't think I'm worth your time, " you fidget with your hands as kaoru sighs one more time.

he grabs your hands in his and said, " it doesn't matter. I'm happy as long as you love me back, you're worth more than anything the world can give. "

hearing the new love birds find love, the sakuma bros are very happy for their friends and wish them to be happy and long lasting.

#sakumz.pdf #ensemble stars x reader #enstars x reader #ensemble stars #esworks #kaoru hakaze x reader

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choclatecoveredlove · 2 years

Text

“Pumpkins!!”

sorry for forgetting about tumblr lol,,

synopsis: carving pumpkins with the dormleaders

dormleaders x reader

Riddle

wait let him just check that it comply with all the rules

luckily it does

he’s still kinda hesitant tho thinking about what his mother would say

but he pushes away the thought seeing how excited you are

riddle honestly sucks at carving, he get the insides everywhere and carves a really unsettling face which he intended to be cute

he carves like 10 more pumpkins until he makes a halfway decent one (he just wants to impress you!!)

he ends up having a lot of fun!! it’s one of his favorite activities!!

“Darling look at this one! Do you like it? It’s definitely the best one so far! Not better than yours though.”

Leona

you woke him up from his nap for this???

he rolls back over and ignores you

you will have to drag him and beg him to get him to even touch the pumpkin

eventually he gives in and puts a little effort into carving a pumpkin

it’s really really basic and he made a huge mess that poor ruggie will have to clean up, but hey, he did it!

now you gotta make it up to him with cuddles

“Can’t believe you woke me up for this. You’re definitely gonna make it up to me later..”

Azul

he does not like the mess

but he trusts the process

but he’s honestly really good at it though!!

he doesn’t talk during the whole process bc he’s concentrating, he’s gotta get it perfect!!

does pretty, intricate designs which he displays around the lounge!!

floyd broke one of his pumpkins and azul tried to kill him

azul has still not forgiven him

“Hmm… okay done. What do you think? Thank you, I think i’ll put this one by the bar.”

Kalim

you came to the right man!!

he’s so pumped!!!

he’s never actually done it himself before, servants were the one who decorated for him

he makes such a mess (poor, poor jamil) but he’s having fun so it’s okay!!

he’s carvings are a little weird looking but over all they’re very cute!!

he keeps the seeds so jamil can cook them and they can be a snack for later

“ This was so fun!!! Can we do it again some time?”

Vil

he’s kinda hesitant

like he wants to because he knows it’ll make you happy but also,, messy :/

eventually he caves and does it anyway because he cares about you more than a little mess

he makes such pretty ones!! they’re carved with flowers and hearts and one with a poison apple

he surprisingly doesn’t make that big of a mess (especially compared to kalim and leona lol)

he gives them to you to help decorate ramshackle with because you have no decorations

“What do you think beloved? Thank you, you can have it. Perhaps it will make ramshackle look more festive.”

Idia

he doesn’t understand the appeal

he would rather just make you a mechanical jack o lantern then actually touching a living thing and making a mess

but ortho tells him he’ll have fun so he begrudgingly goes along with it, complaining the whole time

he, unsurprisingly, is pretty good at it (and he knows it)

like leona, idia also makes you make it up to him afterwards through both video games and cuddles

“Ughhh I wanna go back to my room already.. can’t believe both of you talked me into this.”

Malleus

OVERJOYED you asked him to do this with you!!

malleus honestly doesn’t care if he makes a mess as long as he ends up with a good final result

btw he is a MASTER at pumpkin carving!!

he makes like whole scenes with shading and stuff

he also decides to carve his fellow dorm members, which he gives them as presents (sebek bawled his eyes out when he saw his)

he also carves you with like extreme detail but he doesn’t give it to you, it’s for his eyes only

“Thank you again for inviting me to join you, love. I hope we get to do this together again next halloween.”

#still have 13 matchups sitting in my drafts #smh #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #riddle rosehearts x reader #leona kingscholar x reader #azul ashengrotto x reader #kalim al asim x reader #vil schoenheit x reader #idia shroud x reader #malleus draconia x reader

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project-sekai-facts · 8 months

Note

idk if I can ask u this but what is ur opinion on arata and kotaro

hello first off SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG FOR ME TO ANSWER but no i don't mind giving my opinions on the side characters

Arata and Kotaro are actually two of my favorite side characters! I didn't like them that much at first to be honest but they've definitely grown on me a lot recently.

I think Kotaro is really overlooked actually. Like I still see people bring up his actions in the main story when he’s moved on a lot past that, and then just write him off because of it. And I mean, it’s probably because he never got too much screentime between then and Power of Unity, but since he’s been making more regular appearances I think they’ve taken his character in a really interesting direction. He initially became a singer because he wanted to be a cool older brother for his baby brother and just happened to see RW at that time, which pushed him into street music. He just did it as a passtime because he was sort of good at it. However, RW did have a big impact on him, just like it had on An and Akito, even if he was only sorta casual in the street music scene. He admits in POU that the reason he never went further was because he was afraid, and seeing VBS putting their all into it inspired him.

It’s sort of subtle up until Light Up the Fire, but Kotaro doesn't have a lot of self-esteem or confidence in his singing. I think the first time it's ever brought up is in Power of Unity as far as I remember, where he asks once or twice if he's holding everyone back. LUTF makes it really clear that he has a lot of insecurities: he believes he's holding everyone back and he believes that he has no talent compared to the others. And that's what sticks out to me, because 3/4 of VBS have felt the same way. Kohane, Akito, and Toya all at some point or another believed they were holding everyone back, be it because they were a rookie, lacking talent, or had no resolve. Kotaro has been all of those and it’s obvious that he is written the way he is to serve as a mirror character to those three. He's had the same insecurities but the way he goes about dealing with them is totally different. While VBS had each other to rely on, Kotaro doesn't have a singing partner or group. He's a solo artist. And while he works with VBS, Arata, and EVER, he isn't part of any of their groups. Even Arata who also works alone still has Souma, but more on that in a minute.

(Also just an aside, I think he’s a mirror to Kohane slightly more than the others, and that slightly being the fact that VBS is what got him inspired to take this seriously, because that’s how Kohane got inspired she saw the others and wanted to be just like them, she wanted something to throw herself into and give her all to. The fact that she’s the main one who tries to call out to him when he breaks down in LUTF I think also plays into this, like it seems to hint that she’s able to relate to him.)

I really think Kotaro is much more than how he was presented in the main story and could definitely become a pretty strong side character if he ever got an event with a bit more focus (like how Vivid Old Tale gave Nagi a lot of screentime or POU had a lot of focus on Arata). Also clpl have you ever considered giving Kotaro a partner please give him a partner. Considering you rubbed in how important singing partners are before now why haven't you even tried to give him one?

Arata has definitely been given more development than Kotaro and I genuinely think he has one of the best arcs of any side character. Like he starts out as a rival for Akito, a foil to Akito. He's basically everything Akito wants to be, and also kind of a dick. Him getting beat by Taiga though, even though it was a small moment, was definitely an important turning point for him because it put him on the same level as everyone else. Because even he has someone better than him.

Oh and his development in POU was so good I'm probably gonna go on a little tangent about his relationship with Souma now because it's so important to his character. Arata's doing all of this for Souma. Souma was the one who wanted to do street music, Souma was the one who took Arata to RW, everything was Souma's dream, but it was still important to Arata. They were partners after all. But that's what it is. Were. Even if Arata wasn't the one who was in that car accident, it still took a toll on him. Souma has been forced into a position where he isn't going to be able to achieve his dreams, so Arata has to carry all that weight on his back. Surpassing RW suddenly has become so much more important to Arata because he wants, needs, Souma's dream to become a reality. The thing is, with how caught up he was in doing everything for Souma, he approached everything on his own. Surpassing RW isn't something he can do alone; the original was a collaboration between several groups, there's no way Arata could do it alone. He needed to work with people again, which he finally realised in POU.

Actually I think one of my favorite moments in his arc has to be his showdown with Taiga in LUTF. Because he's been able to overcome what was holding him back, he's actually able to get closer to Taiga's level. That is, until Taiga drops the "we're not so different" bomb. Because that moment is so powerful. Because at that point we see Arata as less of a foil to Akito and more of a parallel to Taiga. Both of them went through a similar loss of a partner, and Taiga uses that to get under Arata's skin and he goes for a deep cut. Souma is incredibly important to Arata, and Taiga knows that and had a similar experience of losing someone important to him, and is able to see exactly what’s still holding Arata back from reaching his full potential. Arata is doing all of this for Souma. For Souma. Taiga points out that Arata isn’t carrying Souma’s dream, he’s clinging onto the idea to cope with his grief. The thing is, Souma can’t surpass RW anymore. Arata’s loaded that responsibility onto himself, without even considering his own feelings on the matter. As Taiga says, Arata is good, great even, but he can’t be the best unless he asks himself if he wants this. Arata can’t even say that he is carrying Souma’s dream, that he does want to do this and he isn’t just clinging onto the idea to cope, and it crushes him to the point of leaving Shibuya.

Honestly I think leaving was what was best for Arata in that moment. Because he does need to take a step back and just let himself actually process his grief. Because even if Souma is still alive, that partnership was still lost and Arata had dedicated everything to that partnership and to Souma, and really he still does. And honestly I think this is what he wants even if you take Souma’s dreams out of the equation, but he needs time to himself to think about what he wants. I don’t know when we’ll next see him again honestly it might be a while but I’m interested to see how that goes. Arata is surprisingly developed and nuanced for a side character and the fact the devs managed to do this across 3 events, two of which he only appears in for a couple chapters is insane. Oh yeah also I like him a bit more than Kotaro if the wall of text wasn’t obvious.

#it's actually impossible for me to give my opinion on a character without writing a character analysis instead #asks #mod talks #apologies again for taking literally 2 months to answer this #arata tono #kotaro mita

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mseirtaku · 1 month

Text

Me watching travesty that was Kung Fu Panda 4.

Under 'read more', I have my full (unsolicited) thoughts on the fourth film - warning, I don't have much good to say about it 〔´∇｀〕;;

SPOILERS! + LONG ASS POST!

So... I'll start with the positives, because honestly, I do love aspects of this movie.

Any scenes featuring Li and Mr. Ping are the absolute highlights of this film. Love them, ship them, hilarious chemistry between them. I'd watch a whole film dedicated to just them.

Though not as funny as the previous films, it’s genuinely funny, like, some jokes are deadass hilarious. (See above for example lol)

Genuinely, the main villainess, the chameleon, has such a cool design and Viola Davis provides such a good voice for her. The animation whenever she transforms is so cool.

Jack Black as Po is just so charming, you can't help but find Po so likeable.

For what little we saw of Tai Lung, he was a treat to see.

Great animation, lovely scenery, love the little animation flairs during the action scenes

Alright, now time for the negatives... Which unfortunately there is a lot of. I’ll go step by step and build up to the bigger picture I’m trying to visualise here.

The Kung Fu Panda

Po’s character arc was pretty much complete at the end of KFP3, when he has his epiphany and finds that his true self lies in not restricting himself to one label, but by embracing everything that makes him Po. His identity by this point is very well realised. Unfortunately in KFP4, the tacked on conflict of him needing to retire the Dragon Warrior title and choose a successor just… Doesn’t make sense for his character at this point. Not to mention, the movie repeats a joke ad nauseam where no one knows who Po is, or of his adventures, jokingly chalking it down to a ‘regional’ tale. You’d think the literal saviour of China would be well known. The world-building feels so much smaller for it. Unfortunately, this movie is very determined to undermine the impact of the last three movies, all to prop up the wisecracking and super cool shitass Awkafina character. Sorry, not sorry, but Zhen is a terrible character just for that reason alone. If Kung Fu Panda wanted to pass the torch down, Tigress or even Tai Lung would have been a much more compelling option, seeing as both were telegraphed to be potential Dragon Warriors in the past. Speaking of…

Tai Lung

Man… The trailers got my hopes up that KFP4 would feature a long awaited redemption arc for the OG villain of the KFP films. Instead, he’s delegated to a cage for half his scenes, and received the barest minimum of character arcs in the finale. Granted, he was still entertaining to watch, but he was totally under-utilised.

To continue the topic of identity, the film missed the chance to ask this: “Who is Tai Lung without his kung fu?” All his life he’d been raised with huge aspirations to become the best kung fu master, and to eventually gain the dragon scroll (which he was denied.) In KFP4, the chameleon summons him from the spirit realm, and drains him of all his kung fu skill. Therein lies the missed opportunity for a compelling character arc, now that he’s been cast out as a supposedly useless body into the real world. And who better to help him figure out his identity other than Po himself?

I could go on forever about the various fanficy rewrites and plot ideas, but I don’t want to let this get any longer. So I’ll talk about one more topic.

The Chameleon

I love her design, I love her voice acting, but compared to Tai Lung, Lord Shen and even General Kai… She’s simply a weak villain. (Too small to learn kung fu… Really?? With characters like Mantis and Viper who deadass exist in the same franchise???)

‘I’m the Chameleon! I do nothing but change!’ holds such potential for a far more interesting backstory. Instead of being rejected for her size, suppose that it was seen by many king fu masters that she simply didn’t possess a true spirit of a kung fu warrior. As explained in this film, their abilities are harnessed in the spirit/soul, not just the physical body. Perhaps she didn’t want to work for those abilities properly. She wanted the easy way forwards. She didn’t want to put in the proper time and effort to become a master of the craft. Spurred on by what she sees as rejection, she learns sorcery to take on any number of identities of kung fu masters. So many identities she could use to fool herself into believing she was someone talented and gifted in the art of kung fu. But it’s only a lie she tells herself. And so, she takes the drastic action, and decides to start summoning these masters from the spirit realm. But even as she slowly grows in power through the course of this film, maybe a strong sense of imposter syndrome starts to set in. These powers aren’t truly hers - what value does a carbon copy of something original have? Nothing. She never properly worked for them and made them her own.

Anyways. I’m almost done writing.

Quick fire round of criticism;

Akwafina’s shitass character

Furious five just tossed aside except for a non speaking cameo. Tigress got done so dirty - if there are gonna be like three more films, they should have been about her

WHAT DID THEY DO TO LORD SHEN’S CHARACTER MODEL

The goofy-ass way he was attacked and then thrown into the cage, the disrespect lol

Li (the victim) and Lord Shen (the genocidal maniac who destroyed his village and killed his wife) somehow existed in the same space and did not get into a conflict.

Why does Kai still exist in the spirit realm? I thought he was literally skadooshed to be extra double dead lol. Like spirit literally eradicated

Akwafina’s shitass character

The villains bowing to Po feels super unearned given how under-utilised they were. I can see it working, just not in the plot we got in the end

Po’s character feels weirdly dumbed down, it’s hard to put my finger on it

Fart joke :(

The innocent and cute but secretly psycho baby bunnies are the definition of anti humour. They’re so fucking obnoxious and cringey

For some reason, the character designs of new characters feels super incongruous and out of place.

The Dragon Warrior isn’t an inherited title, it was given during a time where China needed a hero. Why does it need to be passed down?

Ȁ̸̺͚̮̘̔̌̇̋͛̀́́̒̉̅̐ķ̶̲͍̘̖͈̭̮̝̩͐̃̎̕w̴̙̖̫̿̿͜a̸̧̠͎̰̲̠̮͇̰̼̱͂̋̃̇̑̍̊̂̎̾̓͝f̶̛̼͓̱͖̖̭͓͍͚͋͛̍ḯ̶͕̈́͛̀̎̆͛n̶͖͓̻̉̆̎́͆̌͌͂̾̉̚a̷̡̻̟̟͍̳̙̰͔̬̜̐̏̾̍̊̎́͂͊͝’̷̢̢̭̬̹̪̟̰̣́̈́̌̈̑̄̔͗̓̃̄̐s̶̡̹̙̖̲̝͎̳͔̍͑́ ̷̢̤̈͊͛̚s̸͓̪̠̼̪̤͈̜̎ȟ̵͇̥͈̟͖͈̣̞͚̘̩͍̓̅̀͐͗͛̏̉̀̒͘͜i̸̛̦͕̖̙̲͔̗̙̘̥̣̰̖͖̭̓̄͂̋́̍̓̃͘t̴̯̯̔̑̈̽̇̋̈́͌͛á̴̡͍͓͎͍͈̖͖͎̼̀́̅̿͌̂̌̆͠s̷̢̳̙̦̯̥̮͕͍̃̃͑̂̎̑̍̀͒̊͘̚͝͠͠s̴̪͖̼͈͂̏̚ͅ ̶͕̺̟̙̲͓̘̟̠͇̩̖̠̦̫̄̅̋̓̈́̓̆͋͝͝c̴͕̤̮̎̿̎͐̀̐̊̆̓̍̾̈́͠h̵̛̝̑̋̎̃̈́̆͋͒̅͊́͑͠͝a̷̡̹͍̳̘̪̰̰̤̼̎̄̈́̚ͅŗ̷̝̲͚̻͚̮͕̳̙̭̻̄͆̇̐̄̐͂͘a̴̡̢̯̩͓͓͂̄͑͗́́͂͠͠c̸̨̺̖̪̙͖̯̟̠͙͐́͊̾̅̎̏͠͝t̸̛̗̣̳̠̯͎̫͔̣̱̞̂̅͑̀̈̄͋̈́̆͘͝e̸̢͎͙̻̩̦̹̜̩̦̖̫͍͂́̌ͅr̵̨̄̅͐̍̏̅̀̃́̇̇̅̕͝

That’s all I have really. Sorry for straying so much into fanfiction territory, but it’s an integral part of my criticisms. I could honestly write forever, but I mainly wanted to share this silly redraw of the Tai Lung meme using Lobster and I’s silly Kung Fu Panda Hetalia gijinka crossover AU nonsense lol

If you read this all the way to the end, congrats! And sorry - I never do long text posts like this lol

#hetalia #hws thailand #crossover au #kung fu panda #kfp 4 #kfp 4 spoilers

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letteredlettered · 5 months

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Re: the ask about reading -- do you have any high fantasy recs?

I think the definition of "high fantasy" is pretty loose, but I generally take it to mean heroic fantasy that's really heavy on world-building, like Lord of the Rings.

I honestly cannot say that I have recs. I liked this stuff not because it was good but because it satisfied my id; the recent thing I found was the same way. Here follows some explanations, but if you're looking for recs, I don't have them.

I grew up on this kind of fantasy and read a lot of it. I read a ton of Terry Brooks, but now I'm kind of embarrassed about it. I also read the first book in Wheel of Time, but could not get into it. It's very slow, and I like some very dense, slow things, but I am a very slow reader, so there has to be some reward for a very slow pace, which there definitely is in something like LOTR, but imo was not there in WoT. But then I got into Sword of Truth, and read like three before I had to quit because the misogyny and the writing were just so, so bad. Like, it still hits lots of my kinks! But I could not stomach it.

So then I found this guy called George RR Martin--this was long before the GoT tv show; I only knew one person who had ever heard of him--my aunt, who btw recced me Wheel of Time and Sword of Truth, and was the only person in the world I knew who read this type of stuff. (Incidentally she was the only person I'd ever met who had read LOTR when I was a kid. I did not grow up in a population that did much reading for fun. My family read a lot! But not like me.) I was quite into the first book of A Song of Ice and Fire but in the end the misogyny and bad writing were even worse than Sword of Truth. (I remember one time years later when I met another living soul who had heard of these books and it was such a disaster talking to him. He was like, "Misogyny? What do you mean, misogyny??? That world is just like that!") Anyway, GRRT was why I quit high fantasy like that. I just got very tired of these worlds that hit so many kinks of mine that also made my skin crawl and made me feel kind of dirty for reading them. (I'm not knocking on anyone who likes these series! I don't think it's misogynist to read them or enjoy them! I just got tired of them!)

Anyway so you're asking because I mentioned recently in another ask that I had recently got back into reading high fantasy because I found a series that interested me. I'm so sorry to have misled, because the series interested me but I cannot, and I can't stress this enough, I cannot rec it. It is not good. It is misogynist. It is poorly written. It is all of the things that I did not like about Sword of Truth and GoT! And Terry Brooks and whatever other series like those I read! But it has this very scientific approach to the world-building that seems very keen on explaining exactly how the magic works in a way that I'm very attracted to, and it was really different and refreshing compared to a lot of stuff that seems very hellbent on this medieval Europe dragons and sorcery vibe.

Anyway the series is The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. I know! I know! I'm literally telling you this with my hands over my face; I'm so embarrassed. But look. Look, let me tell you, the best, the absolute best thing about reading a book by an unpleasantly conservative Mormon (who by the way, worships Orson Scott Card; now you know why I'm embarrassed) is that all of the writing comes across as deeply repressed. No one is allowed to have sex in these books, not even heterosexually. There are no ships in the first book. In the second book one ship emerges and another begins to emerge, but the one that gets realized does not have any sex scenes and also the man is deeply conflicted about having sex with the woman at all.

The result is that everyone reads as really flaming gay. Now, you might ask why I don't just go read LGBT books by LGBT authors, and let me tell you--I do! And they're good. But I think the world-building is interesting in the Stormlight Archive, and additionally--I like things where everyone is repressed and no one gets to have sex. And sometimes that happens because of censorship; witness my adoration of The Untamed. I don't condone the censorship. It sucks! But frankly, it can be hard sometimes to get media that doesn't have a lot of sex and romance but still hits certain narrative kinks, and honestly this is probably a big reason I like so many kids' shows too, because romance is often not the focus.

And I know there are now a lot more stories that feature asexuality or aromanticism! Which is great! But it's not what I'm looking for either. I'm not not looking for things that are explicitly ace or aro. I'm looking for things in which sexuality doesn't even seem to exist in that world, where everyone seems super oblivious to the idea of sex, where everyone is constantly gagging for it and does not seem to realize they could get what they wanted by just making use of their genitals. Why am I attracted to this? I do not know.

I can tell you're still looking askance at me, since I obviously like romance. I love it! But for some reason, I either don't like how lots of media does it, or I'm just tired of it, or I just want to do it my own way, so canons with intense relationships and no sex are often something I can really get into. (I still love romances as well! Variety is the spice of life!!!) Anyway, that's what I liked about The Stormlight Archives, but I definitely cannot rec them. Also while it's seems like it's trying not to be racist, it's also racist, in that fantasy racist way that claims it's not about skin color but is a metaphor for skin color and might actually be about skin color, really, when you think about it. And it's very gender essentialist. Honestly I could write a very long post about the ways in which these books offend me. But I still enjoyed reading them.

#high fantasy

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