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kaisacobra · 3 months

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A Step Into the Future - Sam Carpenter

Summary: A cuddly morning with your girlfriend Sam turns into a conversation about your future.

Warnings: None, just pure fluff.

Word Count: 1.8k

You were never particularly religious, but in moments like these, when everything was calm and you were in the arms of the person you loved most in the world, you truly felt like you were in heaven.

Soft snores reaching your ears and a warm, slow breath on your neck had become your favorite alarm clock. It was worth waking up earlier just to have the sight of your girlfriend peacefully sleeping beside you, in one of those rare moments when her expression wasn't burdened with worries and a sense of alertness.

Moving slowly to avoid waking her up, you raised your arm to her sculpted face and brushed some strands of hair aside, wanting to get a complete view of Sam's face. The way the sunlight seeped through a crack in the curtain illuminated Sam perfectly, giving you a breathtaking sight.

Samantha Carpenter was the greatest work of art you had ever seen. A face like a Botticelli painting, a body like a Michelangelo sculpture, a voice like a siren's song, and a heart kept like a precious jewel.

Your thoughts spoke louder, and you allowed yourself to gently slide a finger over the soft skin of the bridge of the woman's nose, finding it adorable when she involuntarily wrinkled her nose in response. You enjoyed being able to take pride in recognizing Sam's subtle signs, having carefully studied her reactions throughout the early stages of your relationship. This allowed you to notice certain things, like the change in the rhythm of her breathing, even if she pretended to still be asleep.

"Darling?" You whispered as softly as you could, just in case you had misread your analysis and your girlfriend was actually asleep.

But soon your theory was proven correct when Sam let out a husky grunt and hugged your torso with both arms, trapping you in a grip that honestly didn't bother you at all. She shifted in bed until she rested her head on your chest, releasing a sigh of contentment when satisfied with the proximity.

You gave a small smile and began playing with her hair without thinking too much. Some time ago, at the beginning of the relationship, you used to wonder if Sam would ever let you get close for real. Now, you knew that no one who knew her would believe you if you said the older Carpenter was like a cuddly kitten that complained if she wasn't touching you at every possible minute.

The peaceful silence was interrupted for a moment by a loud complaint from Sam's stomach, who quickly moved to bury her face in the crook of your neck. "No," she spoke firmly but with a voice laden with playfulness and drowsiness.

"No, what?" You laughed, letting her get more comfortable beside you, even if it meant she was two steps away from being on top of you.

Sam lifted her head just enough for her voice not to be muffled. You couldn't see her face clearly due to the position, but you could identify her still-closed eyes. "You were going to suggest getting up for breakfast. My answer is no."

"But, darling..." You laughed again, amused at how a just-awakened Sam was practically a stubborn child. "You're hungry, aren't you? I can go make a quick breakfast and come back to be with you."

Your girlfriend made a protesting noise and held you tighter in her arms, as if you were planning to escape at any moment. Of course, you weren't going to complain, after all, there was no more perfect place in the world than Sam's arms. She shook her head slightly. "You're forbidden to leave. We'll cook something later, together."

"Forbidden?" You chuckled. "By whom, exactly?"

"By me, your amazing girlfriend."

You laughed a bit more and decided to gently stroke Sam's scalp, feeling the woman slowly soften under your touch again. That had to be one of your greatest achievements—the fact that Sam trusted you so much to allow herself to be vulnerable, even if it didn't come naturally to her anymore.

She shifted a bit more, this time wrapping her legs around yours. "I could do this for the rest of my life, you know?"

Vulnerability and even a hint of embarrassment shone through Sam's voice, and although you couldn't see her face completely, you could see a part of her cheek starting to turn red. Adorable, you would say.

"Hold onto me like a koala?" You teased, feeling her lightly pinch your arm in retaliation. She muttered a curse in Spanish, and the warm breath from her mouth hit a sensitive area of your neck, sending a shiver down your spine.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), Sam seemed too sleepy to notice your reactions and tease you back. Instead, she spoke again slowly, as if sharing a huge secret. "No, idiot. This. Waking up with you by my side, every day."

"Oh." You responded with great eloquence, feeling your entire body heat up and butterflies flutter in your stomach as if you were the protagonist of a teenage romance. Sam wasn't one to express love with words much, but when she did, you could barely contain yourself from looking like a smitten fool. "I could do that forever too. Truly become your family."

Your trembling voice betrayed how much you had wanted to have this kind of conversation for a while, even if you were leaving the actual meaning implicit. Still, you knew Sam would understand what you were trying to say.

"You already are family. We don't need to get married for that." She spoke, but soon realizing how her words sounded a bit harsh, she moved back a bit and locked eyes with you, your faces just a few inches apart. "Not that I don't want to get married! I do. Someday. But you don't have to wait until then to feel like part of the family."

Once again, a small party seemed to settle inside you with Sam's words and the sight of her in front of you, her face flushed with shyness and the admission that she envisions a future with you. Taking advantage of the closeness, you cupped her face with one hand. "Thank you. It means a lot to me."

You're welcome. The words hung implicitly in the air as she turned her face just enough to kiss the palm of your hand. Sam's brown eyes were still small due to sleepiness, but they already sparkled like the most beautiful jewel you had ever seen. You felt very lucky.

Seizing the opportunity, you decided to delve a bit further into the subject. "Would you like to expand this family with me? In the future, of course."

Sam squirmed a bit, and you knew she was reluctant to think about that answer. You started to gently stroke her jaw with your thumb, trying to calm her and convey the message that you would be okay with whatever answer she gave.

"I kinda already have three kids, you know?" She said with humor, and you opened a smile in response. It was true that Sam was very protective of her sister, Tara, and the two twins, Mindy and Chad. You could see how much she cared for them and how hard she worked to make sure she could provide some of the things they liked.

"Oh yes, how could I forget?" You replied still humorously, and you were ready to let the subject drop there, not wanting to pressure your girlfriend into anything. However, Sam seemed not to have finished her train of thought.

She bit her lip, looking hesitant. "It's just that... I don't have the best history with my parents, as you know. And I don't have the best overall history, damn, I don't even have a degree, and..."

"Hey, hey. One step at a time, okay?" You reassured her, placing a kiss on her forehead that made her release a relieved sigh. "Firstly, you're not like your parents, no matter what you think. Secondly, it's not too late to start college if that's what you want."

"No, it's not possible." Sam shook her head, looking away to your collarbone with some shame. "I have to work to pay for the apartment rent and also support me and Tara. I don't have time for that."

You frowned and held the Carpenter's chin, making her look at you. Even embarrassed, Sam could still be intimidating enough, and her gaze gave you the same feeling of being struck by lightning, as if electricity ran through your veins every time your eyes met. "I could help you if you wanted."

"No. It's not your obli-"

"I'm not being forced to do anything." You cut her off, shaking your head and smiling to show that you were serious. "You know I have a well-paying internship. I could move here, share the bills and a room with you. It would be less burdensome, and you could work just one job and use the rest of the time to study. What do you think?"

Sam seemed to be in an internal battle, looking at you with admiration and trying to fight back the tears that were on the brink of her eyes. She reached out to caress your face. "You don't have to do this."

"I would like to." You reassured her, pulling her closer to envelop her waist in a hug. "Besides, I'd finally get rid of that small dorm and my weird roommate."

Sam scowled, her voice laden with jealousy. "You mean that flirt who's always hitting on you? You know, I'm starting to think it really is a good idea for you to move in, maybe now that bitch will understand that you're taken."

You laughed at Sam's indignation but didn't say anything to disagree. She was right, after all. At the end of the day, you were very well taken, and you were perfectly fine with that. The sunlight streaming into the room through the curtains seemed a bit brighter now, and although you didn't want to burst your bubble of happiness with Sam, you really needed to start preparing for the day ahead.

She seemed to read your mind, as she always did, given the connection between you two, and just nodded in agreement, a sign that she also agreed to get up and shake off the laziness.

In a last moment of calm, Sam approached you and spread small kisses over your chin, cheeks, and forehead, finally stopping at your mouth and kissing you with true love and affection, creating not only a physical connection but also a connection of souls. You embraced the contact, responding to the kiss with the same passion, forgetting about anything else but Sam's lips.

As she pulled away, Sam smiled contentedly. Her hair messy because of the bed, red puffy lips, and eyes with sleep residue didn't prevent you from seeing her as the most beautiful woman you had ever seen on Earth. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too." You whispered back, your voice laden with emotion.

You didn't know what to expect from the future, but one thing was certain. Whatever it was, you would have Sam Carpenter, and Sam Carpenter would have you.

#scream #scream vi #scream 2022 #scream x reader #sam carpenter #samantha carpenter x reader #samantha carpenter #sam carpenter x reader #melissa barrera #melissa barrera x reader #sam carpenter imagine #sam carpenter x you

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rainbowchaox · 2 months

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Why Pissa Works: Qsmp Analysis Essay

This is more of an analysis of the relationship in general and why it’s so important to understanding both Missa and Phil as characters. And it’s a disgrace if you ignore their relationship as it’s very important to their characters. I already delved into them as characters but I miss them and therefore I want to dissect the dynamic in this essay. And why it works so well. This time I am having some help from friends to give me their thoughts on them as well. As they are as “normal” about them like me.

At the start no one really knew what sort of longing and pining and loyalty that would spawn from what is practically a random lottery. Missa and Phil being together was fate. I think no other pairing would have clicked so well for Missa or Phil. They were sorta destined to be together to be husband’s. But no one could have guessed how important they would be to each other. No one would have guessed how important this random lottery would be.

When they were paired. They immediately clicked. They immediately joked and laughed. They had fun together. And that was the spark for their relationship to blossom from. They were THE couple. Everyone was jealous of them. They were disgustingly happy. And there was always a GREAT something between them from Day 1. There’s reasons why Chayanne and eventually Tallulah are so protective over their marriage. But even then, they were just cute. They didn’t have the extra something that changed us for the better and the worse. What really made Pissa so special. Until……

The four months of utter pain. Of yearning. Of everyone accepting that things might be over before things really could blossom. But it wasn’t the end for someone. It never was the end for Phil. Time is different for someone touched by death. “Phil is patient and doesn’t take breaks between meetings as difficulties. Their relationship will never sour. When Missa is there, he picks up where they left off.” an excerpt from my talks with Ash. And she is completely correct. I have mentioned this plenty of times in my previous essays about their characters. But Phil doesn’t mind he has to wait for Missa. Time passes differently for immortals. But also Missa just being Missa has long acquired his loyalty. Something hard to get but harder to lose.

And it’s because of Phil utter loyalty and willingness to wait that their dynamic really was able to bloom. Missa took his heart. The less Phil can do is wait. Because when Missa does Phil always has so much fun with him. Missa always reminds Phil why he stays loyal to him. Missa is JUST so good. Phil can see that.

Phil always had valid reason to move on from Missa especially during the four months. No one knew he would return. And he almost gave up hope by the end. But throughout the four months he mentioned him, he looked at skulls all sad, and he yearned for him. And when he came back? He was so happy. He never blamed Missa but you can tell he wants to spend time with him more. You can tell he missed him. You can miss someone being gone and not hate him. He just missed his husband.

“Missa also rolls with the punches a lot, when Phil says there's a new kid, Missa takes that and immediately bonds with Tallulah, when something crazy happens, Missa is there to eventually bring a smile to his family faces. They both don't get hung up on the craziness in between.” As quoted directly from my friend Ash. She is right. This right here is what changed the pissa dynamic for the better. Phil notices things and he noticed how kind and wonderful Missa is. Phil remembers others kindness.

Missa is always on his family side. Phil can depend on him always. So of course he is also Tallulah father. Missa was happy to take that responsibility. Missa is there to bring a smile to his family even in the rainiest of days. He is there when they need time to just enjoy living instead of surviving. Which is addicting to a man that only knew how to survive. Theres reasons why Phil fell for Missa.

Phil doesn’t verbalize his emotions. He is always a show not tell type of character. But it’s clear to anyone he adores missa. He stares at skulls missing him. He has his obession with giant Missa. He always has a place for Missa in his home. He collects Missa art like shinnies. He is so darn possessive of him. He loves Missa so much and it’s clear through his actions.

Missa also brings him great comfort in general. Missa is similar to him in the ways that matter but his complete opposite in other ways. Phil is emotionally repressed while Missa emotions bleed out like ink. Phil is skilled in fighting and surviving while Missa is best at music and art. Not skills you really need to survive.

So they always had this sweet dynamic and it grew with patience, with love, and a healthy dose of yearning on both sides. Enjoying each other when they are able. Soaking each other affection and love. But then Purgatory happened.

And they got spilt up. And this caused both to realize they just didn’t love each other. But they needed each other. Flaws and all. And that they definitely couldn’t harm each other. That they always been each other homes. They needed to separate to realize how important the other is. They both had their realizations. And post-purgatory we did see an uptick in very affectionate pissa.

And it was beautiful to see how their relationship has grown. But then Prison happened. And they fully showed everyone how much they care about each other. Phil and the kids just soaking Missa being present. Them being so happy despite in actual prison. Phil being possessive over Missa. Phil and Missa finally kissing (numerous times).

Purgatory may have made them realize they needed each other but prison made them realize they wanted each other. They wanted to be a family. They wanted to be happy. And it made both of them selfish. Which was they always sorta wanted.

They say I love you with every glance. They say I love you with every tired cuddle. They say I love you with every smile. They say I love you when they are watching the kids sleep. They say I love you protecting each other. They say I love you finally letting the others see them vulnerable. They don’t need to use words. They know they love each other. And that’s beautiful. No wonder why we are so “normal” about their sweet relationship.

#qsmp #pissa #qsmp pissa #pissa newspaper

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marciaillust · 13 days

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How long does it take for you to finish drawing?

I'm an artist (beginner) and i unconsciously set unrealistic goals for myself and need a reminder of how long it takes to complete a drawing, Thanks.

Hi! In the context you presented it in, that is a really interesting question, so I'll try to approach it thoroughly. I hope I won't make you roll your eyes too much.

Where to start, where to start... I guess the first thing I should say is that there is a difference between time I spend preforming the action of <drawing>, and the time I spent <working> on a particular piece. The first would be counted in hours, the second one - days. I'm a big believer in slowing things down, and giving things time - going through options, gathering research and references, taking breaks every 1h of sitting and drawing - and seeing things through until I achieve the goal I set at the beginning of the process.

The goals are usually different each time: "quick design", "character exploration", "analysis of an artist's linework and experimenting with the knowledge gained", "creating an aesthetically pleasing image", and so on and so forth. Of course I don't write these down like it's a school assignment, but knowing in the back of my head what I'm actually doing helps me manage my expectations. I also enjoy being conscious of why I create - when I was younger regardless of what I was doing I had the thought "AND IT MUST LOOK GOOD AND PRESENTABLE! BECAUSE PEOPLE WILL LOOK!" ...and I think that obsession is the cancer of creative process.

Since the goals for each picture are different, the time I'll spent on achieving each one will be different as well, because the "satisfactory results" lay in different places. For example, the Marcile sketchpage was created in one afternoon, and took approximately 3 hours. The goal was to play around with a brush that has no opacity forcing my lines to be more decisive. I did that and so it is "finished". There's nothing else I want from it.

On the other hand, the cover of Asterism took about 10 days to create, the goal of which was to make "an aesthetically pleasing cover picture taking colour inspiration from the works of (specific list of artists)". I took my time designing it so that it looks aesthetically pleasing, made sure the anatomy is "correct" (a nebulous statement when it comes to stylised humans), took my time masking, and picking colours, and shading. I wanted it to "look good" to my own eyes so if something was not working I would go back, change it, alter it, move it around... that's the wonderful thing about personal art, you can take as long as you like making something satisfactory.

The funny thing is, with what the Asterism cover actually is (a cellshaded image), it could have been done probably in 4 days by the me 4 years ago. But that person was willing to sit 8-10 hours a day to draw with no breaks, she had little social life, and treated herself as a little circus seal performing tricks so that people clap around her, and the clapping was soooo nice because it meant that people remembered her and she mattered. And it worked for her! For long 10 years! Until her arm gave out, and the reality of never being able to draw again became more tangible than ever, and it's been following her like a fog ever since for the past 4 years. The me today works about 4 hours a day and every hour I take about a 30 minute break. I also don't post half the stuff I draw. There is also another aspect that dictates the speed of creating and that is familiarity with the subject matter. The less you know something, the fast you'll draw it! But as you get to know the intricacies of the process, and see all the building blocks, it will start taking *longer* because you will start accounting for every block. But then you'll eventually get familiar with the blocks and so the time spent on a picture will go down again! The cool yet overwhelming thing about art is that, there are always hundreds of building blocks. Form, composition, ambient occlusion, saturation, hue, light balance, line form...... and those are just the *some* of the generalised *categories*. And each category will have it's own subsection of building blocks! And then those blocks will interact with each other to create completely new area of expertise! This is crazy! Marcille sketch page took me only 3 hours to create because I am already quite familiar with linework - I have drawn 3-4 comicbooks worth of linework. This also means I am familiar with believable anatomy, more or less, which got utilised in the Asterism cover - the main bulk of linework got created during a 3h livestream. So.... what's the answer.... "It's all relative" is so unsatisfactory and probably not what you looked for. But you can draw something in 3 days and kill your body over it. Or you can become an expert in a field and dish the same picture out effortlessly in 8 hours. You can also split that 8h block over multiple days bringing you back up to 3 days. You could even add a whole day of visual research which might make your picture only marginally better. And even if we calculate it in terms of raw working time, pen-to-paper, like a self-inflicted capitalist tumor, that time can fluctuate still due to personal visual library and knowledge base. If I asked Tom Fox how long it takes for him to create his sketch pages his answer would probably be downward of 30 minutes. Yet I need whole 3 hours to create something *less* anatomically correct than him. And so here we are at the end of this perhaps unnecessary essay. And all we learned is this: it depends. Dry, not nuanced tl;dr, my personal timings: single sketch - 30mins; single linework pic 1-2h; Cellshaded illust - 16h; Rendered illust: 20-25h.

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freakadr0id · 2 years

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ROTTMNT Charater Fighting Style Analysis - Part 5: April O'Neil

Oh, would you look at that? It's finally here! After three weeks, multiple rewatches, and several pages of notes and drafts in Word, I've made it to the final individual character* analysis.

This is a continuation of my series of posts analyzing each of the Turtles' (+April's) fighting style, their strengths and weaknesses in a fight, and how Rise uses that to highlight different aspects of their character. I highly encourage you to read the first one (Leo's) before hopping into this one for full context. There is a bit of a TL;DR at the end.

[Part 1: Leo] [Part 2: Raph] [Part 3: Mikey] [Part 4: Donnie]

Last, but ABSOLUTELY not least, is our Girl with the Plan and President of the Dorky Pals for Life Club…

April O'Neil: The Scout/Jack-of-all-Trades:

My analysis for this one might be a bit of a surprise for some, considering a few people have said they already have an idea of how I might categorize her. Going into my analysis, I too thought I had a pretty solid understanding of the way she fought, but by the end, I found that there was so much I missed - I ended up coming to a conclusion that was quite different than what I was expecting.

Fighting Style:

Dynamic and Precise

April is a very strong, energetic, and multifaceted fighter, which allows her to hold her own in battle, even when she's the only human present. She is a primarily offensive fighter with a diverse skill set that she is able to utilize in almost any situation. With her bat, April demonstrates a surprising amount of physical strength as her weapon requires a significant amount of force in order to be truly effective. She also has gymnastic skills that make her a notably agile fighter, giving her an advantage in both speed and maneuverability. She approaches battles with great enthusiasm, amplifying her overall movement and attacks.

In this sense, April's fighting style is rather similar to Mikey's, as they are both quick, nimble fighters that excel offensively while implementing acrobatic movements to deliver quick attacks and make up for a defensive disadvantage. However, she distinguishes herself with a weapon that is very different from Mikey's and by having a larger, more practical set of skills that require unique tactics. Instead of mystic powers, she has a wider range of general skills that end up being incredibly beneficial in battle. She has a fluid fighting style that undergoes the most changes in the show as she learns new techniques from both her allies and enemies and incorporates them into her method of fighting.

Despite the energy she brings into battle, April is surprisingly meticulous in the way she approaches her fights. Instead of running wildly into battle, she is actually quite deliberate in when and how she attacks. April doesn't blindly attack enemies and only goes in for a strike at opportune times, aiming to deliver a few quick, accurate hits that efficiently damage her foe. This gives April the ability to participate and contribute to fights as a human without putting herself at unnecessary risk or becoming a liability.

Strengths and Roles in a Fight:

Jack-of-all-Trades

April is the generalist of the team. While the other members of the family tend to stick to one type of technique or a particular style of fighting, April has knowledge and experience in multiple fighting techniques, skills, and occupations that make her an adaptable fighter. This makes her perfect for "rounding out the team" by providing some extra strength and making up for any weaknesses that may be present in the team. Because of her dynamic fight style and ever-growing list of skills and techniques, April occasionally fights with an amalgamation of the other turtles' roles and fighting styles. April is seen acting as the Wild Card by keeping enemies on their toes with fast movements and nontraditional weapons; a Bruiser/Pummeler (a slugger, if you will) by delivering multiple hits in quick succession with her bat; or even a Striker by going for those accurate, singular attacks. If there's a role that needs to be filled in a fight, odds are April can deliver.

April also has the largest set of practical skills on the team, thanks to the experience she has gained from her numerous (former) jobs. In situations where a very specific set of expertise is needed, April can usually provide that to some degree. This makes her a versatile asset to the team in ways that even Mikey can't be, particularly with battles set in urban or unconventional environments. One of April's greatest strengths as a combatant is her ability to use the environment around her to her advantage - that comes with her dynamic fighting styles. Granted, that applies to all members of her family, but because of the considerable variety of knowledge and experience at her disposal, she has more options when it comes to utilizing her surroundings. Some of her skills are incredibly hyperspecific, however, usually limiting which ones she can use at any given point.

The Scout

April also acts as the team's Scout [No - I'm not just saying this because she happens to have a bat]. She is the one that usually goes ahead of the others before, or at the start of, a battle and gathers information about the enemy and their movements. This typically involves April disguising herself in some way and infiltrating the enemy from within, but there are times when more conventional stealth is needed. She is small and quick enough to sneak past enemies and through different environments, giving her multiple options for her investigations. April also provides information to the team during battles, as she can still apply her "stealth" abilities and use her agility to move around the battlefield quickly and mostly unnoticed.

April's precise fighting style also plays into the Scout role as she can quickly get in and out of fights when needed, which is beneficial both when she is by herself or in a group. A scout needs to be fast, precise, and agile to make up for their lack of defensive capabilities - this fits April's fighting style and abilities to a T. The Scout role plays directly to her strengths as a combatant and decreases her risk of harm as a human in chaotic mutant battles.

Utility:

As a fighter, April is particularly well suited for individual, one-on-one battles. Her primary weapon, a bat, is a generally short-range melee weapon that requires a good amount of accuracy and is limited by its small reach and defensive capabilities. Her fighting style incorporates this by focusing on accurate attacks and accurate timing while utilizing dynamic movements to increase her optimal attack range. When combined with her established proficiency with her bat and adaptive creativity, April becomes a formidable opponent in fights with a small number of opponents. Even without her bat, however, April's ingenuity, agility, and large skill set make her an extraordinarily capable fighter one-on-one.

However, due to her overall lack of mystic powers, limited defensive strength, and the natural restrictions of her weapon, April can struggle in fights with more enemies. Not only is she at greater risk of harm with so many moving parts, but it also doesn't work as well with April's fighting style - she simply doesn't have the range or attacks needed to affect a wider area. That isn't to say she isn't able to handle herself in group fights (she very clearly can), but it just isn't her strong suit.

Some of April's numerous abilities that give her the title of "Jack-of-all-Trades" can be incredibly situational and require a specific set of circumstances and environmental conditions in order to be utilized. While she still has these skills to use to her advantage, not all of them can be used at one time, although at least one of her skills will probably be applicable in any scenario.

How it Plays Into Her Character:

As a member of a family full of mutants and magic, it is only natural for April to want to contribute to the team by participating in fights - but as the only human in a family of mutants, this also means she is left at a bit of a physical disadvantage in comparison to the others. Most people would likely feel a sense of inferiority or weakness in the face of such a disparity, but not April O'Neil. One of April's greatest strengths as a fighter and as a character is her persistence and clever thinking, which is seen in her fighting style. Instead of getting discouraged at her apparent disadvantage to her brothers, April persisted and found ways to use her own natural abilities to her advantage. She may be physically weaker than the turtles, but by implementing a fighting style that relies on precise attacks and her agility, she is less likely to get hurt while still doing a significant amount of damage to the enemy. Her dynamic and precise fighting style embodies April's ability to adapt and persevere even when things are against her.

April's role as a Scout is indicative of April's intelligence while forcing her to dial back on her impulsive tendencies. It is essential for anyone acting as a scout in a battle to be intelligent and clever to be able to acquire information and make observations that are actually useful to the team. April demonstrates her intelligence and quick wit by always assisting the team with the knowledge that is essential to their success, and constantly observing different elements of a battle, even when not formally acting as a scout. The Scout role does, however, expose a potential challenge for April when it comes to impulsive actions. As a whole, I wouldn't say that April is an impulsive character - she is certainly the most level-headed of the bunch - but as the oldest sister to a bunch of teenage boys, it is only natural for some of that to wear off on her from time to time. April is usually pretty tactical about when and how she goes into fights, but there are a few times in the show where she can rush right in if she's especially passionate about something. In order to fully be effective in her fighting style and roles, she has to be sure to not give into those impulses and keep a steady head throughout the fight.

In a Team Fight:

In a coordinated group attack, April is best suited for an initial or follow-up attack. Her speed and agility mean she can get in and out of a fight quickly and her precise fighting style creates a perfect combination to provide a solid initial set of strikes to weaken or disorient an enemy. This doesn't provide much in the way of setting up the next attack, but it could be followed up with an equally quick attack from someone else. Her fighting style also lends itself to a quick follow-up attack and is particularly effective if the opponent is disoriented prior to her attack. April's quick movements and attacks can add to the enemy's confusion and deal significant damage at the same time.

However, April does not do well in a position that requires her to set up for the following attack, nor is she fit to go last in a team attack and deliver a final strike. Since her attack style implements a small number of precise hits to damage an enemy, she does much better at targeting specific weak points on an opponent rather than worrying about how someone else could further add to her attack. Her physical limitations and lack of mystic powers also restrict her ability to deliver the last attack (at least, not by herself). While it doesn't mean she isn't a strong fighter, being the final attacker in a team attack doesn't work well with her physical strengths and the advantages she has with her fighting style.

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[TL;DR: April is a Dynamic and Precise fighter with very fluid and adaptable fighting techniques and a tactical and accurate approach to her attacks. Her large, diverse set of practical skills and flexible fighting methods give her an advantage by acting as a Jack-of-all-Trades. April also operates as the team's Scout by using her intelligence and precise fighting style to gather information and make quick, opportunistic attacks on an enemy. These all demonstrate her tenacity, perseverance, and creativity by presenting it through her adaptive fighting methods and approaches to battle.]

I have a feeling this one may be a bit divisive... I'm pretty happy with what I've come up with here, but it took some serious self-persuasion to get past the titles and categorizations I already established for her in my brain prior to my analysis - and I think that will be the case with a few others. Hopefully I’ve managed to make my case well enough.

Thank you so much for all your support on this little "series." You have no idea how much it means to me to have people actually read these, much less receive such positive responses to them. I'm thrilled that many of you seem to enjoy reading these posts almost as much as I enjoyed making them. DON'T WORRY - THIS IS NOT MY LAST POST FOR THIS SERIES. I have one more kind of "Wrap-up" post planned after this as an overview of their collective team dynamics, miscellaneous thoughts/"corrections", a brief explanation as to what inspired me to dedicate hours of my life writing these silly things, and (if you guys are interested) a small breakdown of my thought process and approach towards my analyses. I don't have a fully planned time to release that, but know it will be coming at some point in the near future.

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project-sekai-facts · 9 months

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helloo

if you want too could you do a relationship analysis for Mafuyu and Kanade? you’re very good at turning thoughts into words and i feel they’ve got a really interesting dynamic.

Kanade and Mafuyu’s relationship is complicated, to say the least. I often see people write their dynamic off as toxic and the thing is, that’s not necessarily untrue. Less so where we are now, but it’s not wrong if you’re reading events pre-Carnation Recollection.

Here’s how it works. Mafuyu and Kanade are both severely depressed, both have been suicidal at points. They are not healthy. They found each other, both of them being people that life hadn’t been kind to. They don’t talk about it, though. When they do, they become dependent on each other to live. It’s not healthy.

Kanade’s talent caused her father to overwork himself into a coma, leaving her with a saviour complex. She hurt her father with her music, she’s never going to let it hurt anyone again. She forms Niigo in hopes that she’ll save someone, and she does. She saves Ena, she saves Mizuki, but it’s not enough. When Mafuyu is on the brink of giving it all up, Kanade promises to keep composing until she can save Mafuyu. She projects her complex onto Mafuyu.

Mafuyu wants to die during the main story, but Kanade’s song is able to get through to her. It doesn’t save her by any means, but it left enough of a mark on her to manifest into the SEKAI. Kanade promises to save her. Someone cares, someone is willing to help. But how can anyone help Mafuyu when she can’t help herself, when she can’t help them help her. She doesn’t know what she feels, she doesn’t even know she can feel anything. But Kanade believes there’s more below the surface, more to keep searching for.

Kanade needs to save someone, Mafuyu needs saving.

None of the songs save Mafuyu, they barely have an effect on her, so Kanade keeps going, and going, and going. She needs to save Mafuyu because she wants her music to save people. It doesn't have to be Mafuyu that she saves, Mafuyu just happens to be there.

However, Carnation Recollection brings some changes. Here, we have the arrival of Luka. Luka who’s honest, not afraid to push the N25 members when they need to be pushed. She tells Kanade that her song will not save Mafuyu. Why is she doing this? What does she want this song to achieve? What does she want Mafuyu to see and realise with this song?

She realises later on that the difference between her music and her father's music is that his had warmth. Warmth because he wanted his music to make Kanade and her mother smile.

So what does she want? Well she doesn't want Mafuyu to disappear, but that's because she's projecting her personal losses and complex onto Mafuyu. She wants Mafuyu to stay alive so she doesn't get hurt.

The better question is how does she want Mafuyu to feel? What does she want Mafuyu to do with this song? She wants Mafuyu to find herself, but Kanade doesn't know who Mafuyu is. She remembers Luka's words, and thinks about what she wants Mafuyu to feel. She wants Mafuyu to feel the same way her mother did when listening to her father's music. She wants Mafuyu to smile. It's still personally driven, but it's an improvement, she's growing. This isn't just for her anymore. And it works, Mafuyu feels something, she feels warm. It's different from the coldness she's felt her whole life.

Mafuyu's life lacks any warmth, Mirage of Lights makes this clear. Her mother is cold, she doesn't care about Mafuyu, she just cares about what Mafuyu is. Talented, smart, overachieving; that's what she cares about. Mafuyu is just a vessel for her to project the perfect child onto.

Kanade's song made her feel something new. She's not sure how or why but she wants to find out. After looking at a photo album from when she was a child, she realises that she was able to feel emotions differently back then. Kanade's song managed to chip at the person she once was.

When Mafuyu falls ill, Kanade looks after her. Not for her own needs but because she cares. Mafuyu feels something again, the same warmth and love her mother used to give her before everything went bitter. It's something she hasn't felt in a long time.

It's here where holding hands becomes something of a recurring thing for the two of them. While the Gunjou Sanka MV illustrates this, this is the first time it's actually in the original text. Kanade holds Mafuyu's hand until she falls asleep because she cares, she wants to make Mafuyu feel better, she wants her to smile. All the things her mother used to do for her. All the things she doesn't have anymore.

What was once dependence becomes something else. Trust, solace, refuge.

Don't worry. I'll stay right here. Here, hold my hand. I won't let you be all alone. I won't go anywhere…

I want you to feel what I did. I want you to smile the way I did back then.

I think I can keep moving forward. Right, Kanade…?

At one point during Intersecting Melodies, Glowing Warmth, Honami calls Mafuyu Kanade's friend. Kanade seems surprised, maybe a little confused by that. But at this point I think that's what they are. They aren't just acquaintances or groupmates anymore, it's not just Kanade trying to save Mafuyu. It's Kanade genuinely caring for Mafuyu, trying to make her smile and feel. It's Mafuyu who's grateful for Kanade's care and determination. Later on in that event, Mafuyu seems to realise the same thing. Seeing Kanade happy makes her feel warm, helping Kanade makes her feel warm.

The next time they hold hands is in Guiding a Lost Child to What Lies Beyond. It's warm again. Kanade helps her, the rest of N25 are kind to her and help her. It's nothing like she feels at home. She's not afraid of them. It's home.

By immiscible discord it becomes truly apparent that Mafuyu's mother doesn't care about her. Everything she does makes her daughter hurt, more and more, it's cold and painful. But Kanade is the warmth to fight back against that cold. She remembers her own parents, her family. They wanted the best for each other, they wanted each other to smile. It was happy, comforting. Warm. Mafuyu doesn't have that, but Kanade is determined to let her have it, even if her actual family isn't involved. Kanade promises to stay by Mafuyu's side, because she cares her. She loves her more than her mother ever could.

And then by Saying Goodbye to My Masked Self, Mrs Asahina views Kanade as an enemy. She outright says to Mafuyu at one point that she loves her, not Kanade. She only wants what's best for her. But she doesn't. The person who truly cares, understands, wants to help her, and loves her...

is Kanade

When Mafuyu runs away, she goes to Kanade. She knows where Ena lives, Ena had even said that she would probably be able to take Mafuyu. But Mafuyu goes to Kanade. Kanade is home, her real one, more than her family.

Where we are in the game now, it's clear that they are very important to each other. In fact, they're probably the most important people to each other. Kanade's family cannot take care of her, but they love her. Mafuyu's family doesn't truly love her, but they can take care of her.

Neither of them are really in a good state to do it, but they can take care of each other.

---

Kanade and Mafuyu's relationship isn't an entirely healthy one. It's comes from a foundation that makes their relationship a potentially toxic one, but they learn to heal. Healing is what their dynamic is about. Kanade projects her complex onto Mafuyu, Mafuyu is dependent on Kanade to live. It's not healthy, but they heal together.

Kanade realises her selfish goals, she reworks them. She doesn't just want Mafuyu to survive, she wants her to live. She wants to see her smile, she wants to see her be happy. Mafuyu experiences a sense of comfort with Kanade for the first time in years. They grow to be friends rather than just acquaintances, the complete dependency wears away into something closer to trust, comfort. A mutual bond that's hard to pin down but is built from a developing love.

Kanade and Mafuyu are opposites. Everything about their lives is opposite, though it all links back to warmth vs coldness. A happy family who loves each other vs a "happy family" who loves the concept of what their child is. A warm person who makes music vs an icy person who takes it away. Asahina vs Yoisaki.

Despite all of that, they both hurt. Their pain is different but they can relate to how it feels. Neither of them want to hurt anymore, and it becomes neither of them wanting the other to hurt anymore.

Kanade and Mafuyu's relationship is complex. It was started by a complex. But I think looking at it now, it's much more than it started out as.

#i impulsively wrote the first part of this at 1am sorry for any errors #asks #mod talks #love is used platonically because that's the canon way but interpret how you like i guess #kanade yoisaki #mafuyu asahina #i did not proofread this at all #project sekai

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bhaalsdeepbat · 3 months

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Some Astarion Endings Thoughts. This is mostly just analysis ramblings and going over the endings and how Ascended Astarion and Spawn Astarion differ.

You have the free the spawn ending, where the cycle of abuse is ended and the Player Character chose to give the other spawn a chance to either be the monster they were made to be OR try to be more than that. And it isn't a perfect solution because, yes, they're rabid, starving vampires. There is always a chance that choice goes wrong, especially if player choices led to the Gur being wiped out AND the other 6 spawn being killed during the ritual.

Mercy killing, not sacrificing the spawn, is seen as an equally good choice, though it's complicated for the reasons stated above. None of the Spawn are there by choice and mercy-killing them takes away the freedom and autonomy that Astarion was very lucky to have even experienced. It's a hard decision, but the characters recognize it was either this or risk unleashing a HOARD of ravenous Spawn. The Underdark is uniquely qualified to be home to 7000+ hungry Vampire Spawn, but not everyone is going to go down there. In fact, if you send the spawn there, you find out not all of them even make it to where they decide to settle.

Mercy killing the spawn ensures no one else can be hurt by any of the spawn, whether it be their bloodthirst or violence as a reaction to the cruelty they experienced. However, the spawn made by Cazador ARE all innocent people. If you play Oath of Devotion Paladin and mercy kill the spawn, you will break your Oath because every single victim of his is just that. A victim. Astarion has a few moments throughout the story where he tries to convince the player - and himself - that not all of Cazador's victims could be innocents, but they very much are.

Astarion desperately doesn't want to see himself in them. The spawn in the cells are a reflection of what he was like when Cazador had him locked in that tomb or when Cazador had him starving on bugs and rats, and he has NO idea what he looks like anymore. I'm not even sure he's fully convinced he doesn't look partially like that tbh

The third option for Astarion's spawn ending is to just leave the other spawn in their prisons, which is seen as a really fucking cruel fate. Killing them is better than just leaving them there to starve for the rest of their eternal lives. This is also Astarion's cruelest choice, the one he makes to spite the player AND the other spawn because of how helpless he feels if he's not properly convinced to give up the power that was just within his grasp. If he cannot be fully free of Cazador and the pain he caused, then none of the other spawn can, either.

Regardless of the player's decision on what to do with the spawn, if Astarion is kept a spawn, he's able to empathize with the other victims of Cazador and see himself in them. He is forced to contend with the fact that NONE of them deserved to be caught in Cazador's cruelty. In his Spawn ending, he sees the other spawn for what they are: victims of a cruel man trying to play power games by using people as pawns and currency.

Ascension is meant to represent locking into the cycle of abuse. For Astarion, this first step is achieved by sacrificing over seven thousand souls. This move alone changes the Spawn from representations of himself, and the depths of the horrors he experienced, into currency to trade for the power to ensure he will never be in that position ever again. Rather than victims of the same horrors, they become a necessary price to pay in service of elevating him to a station above their own.

And he does see himself as a being above everyone else once he Ascends. He sees mortals as cattle. Potential pets or food, but animals that need to be herded all the same.

This includes Tav/Durge.

The whole plan to seduce Tav/Durge was born from the person Astarion was while still reeling from two centuries of of Hell. It was habits and survival instincts from living under Cazador that start to unravel when the reality of it all starts to set in. You catch peeks of who he is behind his carefully constructed mask of charm and prepared scripts, poison delivered with sweet words and a perfectly composed smile.

When he confesses, he wants to give Tav/Durge something real, but it also a mirror to what will happen in his diverging pathways. If he remains Spawn, he can give them something real. They're equal, loving partners. Ascended Astarion sees their partner as a potential pet to be loved, lavished, but ultimately owned.

The ownership is for a couple of reasons. One is so that he can ensure he has someone who will never turn on him. It's clear he has an alignment shift to being straight up evil and wants to conquer...and he talks about it in front of Faerun's best monster hunters. He needs to make sure Tav/Durge isn't included in that. He also wants to make sure they never leave him. Since he never faces what Cazador did, nor does he face the fact that things ARE changing and it's generally a good thing for people to grow and relationships to change with that growth, he wants to make sure things remain in stasis. Spawn Astarion trusts Tav/Durge to not do anything to hurt him and trusts the future they have together, whatever that may be. Turning them into a Spawn when Astarion Ascends ensures that there IS no change. Ever. Tav/Durge and the relationship are quite literally frozen in time.

Once Astarion Ascends, he stops seeing any of his companions as anything but potential pawns. His Origin Ascended ending provides an excellent glimpse at how he views the companions. Their collective strength is just ripe for plucking and he isn't afraid to make them spawn by force. I think the coldness the player can comment on after he Ascends is because he no longer feels any kinship toward the companions. He can create a script and run through it, but there won't be warmth where his beating heart is still rotted to its core.

Ascending him also starts him on the path to becoming another Cazador. If you go into the room with Vellioth's skull AFTER the ritual, rather than before, you get specific interactions with the various items that are WILDLY different from Spawnstarion (who also reacts differently depending on if it's before or after the ritual).

Astarion shows hesitation if taken into the room BEFORE the ritual, because he's forced to see the names of the people he has to sacrifice to ascend AND he sees how pathetic Cazador is when it comes to Vellioth. If you interact with the list of names or Vellioth's skull after choosing NOT to ascend, Astarion shows more remorse and empathy.

and as a side note THAT is who he is beneath the burden of his pain, when he is able start freeing himself from it. cazador's symbol is the knot of rats. Astarion sees the knot and cannot see himself in it, even though he himself is just one of the rats who happened to escape.

Ascended Astarion, on the other hand, is flippant. There's a list of names of ALL the spawn he sacrificed to ascended, and he just. He doesn't take seriously AT ALL that he just sent all those souls to be tormented in the Hells. Ascended Astarion never sees himself as a rat to begin with. He sees himself as a victim, but the others caught in Cazador's trap were all unfortunates and other bad words he can use to make them seem less deserving of empathy (empathy that he no longer has, when he ascends imo)

Astarion spent the first two acts feeling like he needed to rely on them for protection because he never felt his own strength was enough, even though his kit is fucking BROKEN. Ascending him affirms that he wasn't strong enough to protect them in any meaningful way as is, and also that no part of him was enough as just a spawn. He doesn't want to continue to rely on the player for protection, but Ascended Astarion is more than happy to make the most powerful beings in Faerun his spawn so they can keep him protected. All that power from the ritual, and he wants an army of powerful Spawn to do the dirty work for him.

As an extension of this, turning romanced Tav/Durge into a spawn is to make sure he has complete control over the one person he views as stronger than himself. Slaying Cazador is something he always credits to the player. Ascended Astarion is constantly haunted by Cazador and what he did. Tav/Durge was the one being stronger than him, which makes them a threat if they ever turn on him. Now, he knows he has one person he can always trust.

He even starts laying out the building blocks to potentially set rules similar to the ones Cazador had for his spawn. The way he starts mentioning them is very manipulative, too. They're statements made to seem like he's just expressing the depth of his devotion (still creepy), but he's really setting up being able to reiterate the rules without it being weird once the tadpoles are dealt with. He's fully aware that the tadpole will prevent Spawn!Player from being completely under his control. It's why you can break up with him before the end, but then he refuses to let the player go at the very end.

Spawn ending, when not romanced, Astarion decides to just travel by himself and become a hero. He doesn't find another group to travel with. He goes by himself. Spawn Astarion recognizes his own strength, embraces his Vampirism, not as something that taints him, but as a power to be unleashed on the real monsters. HE does the dirty work.

I love love love exploring both endings and I love the way Astarion's character can grow depending on player choice, then completely branch into two different ways once you hit the Ascension vs Spawn choice.

ty for reading my ramblings. I know this wasn't a straightforward analysis or anything, and def doesn't have an actual conclusion or like. point beyond character exploration. a lot of these thoughts are just me thinking character through so i can write them better. i want to explore these aspects of him, but I do ramble things first to get general characterization thoughts out.

#bat plays bg3 #astarion #bg3 #spawn astarion #ascended astarion #long post

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haggishlyhagging · 3 months

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It has been said that female separatism is radical feminism's natural and logical conclusion. Most radical feminists have chosen not to follow their politics all the way to that end and do what they can to avoid, ignore, or deny it. Anti-separatist feminists engage in what has been called "thought termination," meaning the act of refusing to follow one's own thoughts to their logical conclusions, in order to justify their decision to stay connected to males. They also encourage this thought termination in other women, wanting to undermine female separatism as a legitimate political and personal choice for their own selfish reasons.

When making political and feminist analysis or when attempting to determine in your own life if a particular decision is feminist or anti-feminist, it is useful to ask the ancient Roman legal question: "Cui bono?" or "Who benefits?" Of course, women do stand to gain certain rewards and privileges from engaging in male loyalism, misogyny, and anti-feminist actions, but whatever the matter at hand, an anti-feminist and anti-female decision will ultimately benefit males the most. When we ask "Who benefits the most?" from women and girls choosing to lead male-inclusive and male-centric lives, the answer is clear: males do.

The most recent studies have found that heterosexual marriage makes men happier and women more unhappy overall. The overwhelming majority of domestic labor and childcare continue to fall on the wife's shoulders in heterosexual marriage throughout the developed world, and this is true even while most married heterosexual women in developed countries work full-time throughout adulthood. Heterosexual and bisexual women openly admit to experiencing sex in their heterosexual relationships that ranges from inorgasmic and boring to violent, humiliating, and painful. Outside of heterosexual relationships, women and girls often find themselves on the losing side of unequal relationships with male family members and friends who take advantage of their labor, emotional and otherwise, and do not reciprocate or bother suppressing their sexism.

The power struggle between males and females has always been sexual, both in the carnal and reproductive sense. Even the word patriarchy rests on the sexual, social, and familial arrangements that exist in a predominantly heterosexual, mixed society where men and women live in constant contact with each other: rule of the father assumes that women and girls are in a position to be ruled, both socially and physically. It assumes the presence of a man.

Female separatism is the unavoidable, ultimate conclusion of radical feminist politics for the simple reason that separatism alone prevents the male objective driving men's oppression and domination of the female sex: using women and girls as sexual, domestic, social, and economic resources. If this is the point of patriarchy, how can anything other than female separatism be the solution to it? In a system where males already have all the power and control, women and girls will never be able to change their own status or achieve liberation from oppression through cooperating with males and granting them everything they demand.

Males want sexual access to female bodies above all else, and furthermore, they rely on women and girls to perform the domestic labor, social labor, and professional labor that keep men comfortable physically, emotionally, and psychologically. For thousands of years, men universally made sure that women and girls could not survive independently of them by locking us out of education, paid work, and the political arena and refusing to give us basic rights to own money and property. They knew and feared that if women had the option to survive and thrive apart from men, most of us would choose to do exactly that.

The only reason women now have the legal rights and protections that allow us to reject heterosexual marriage and motherhood is because we fought hard for those rights and protections over the course of at least a hundred years in developed countries, and we are still fighting all over the world, not only to gain what we lack but to protect what we have. Men have never yielded any political concessions to women willingly, easily, or readily. They have resisted us every step of the way, and they will never cease their attempts to take back the progress we've made.

If female separatism was of no consequence to the male sex, they wouldn't have spent all of recorded history making it virtually impossible. They wouldn't now be going out of their way to destroy any and all female-only spaces, both physical and digital, in the name of transgenderism. They would not have lorded physical and sexual violence over us since the beginning of time as punishment for our resistance and disobedience.

-Sekhmet She-Owl, “Female Separatism: The Feminist Solution” in Spinning And Weaving: Radical Feminism for the 21st Century

#Sekhmet She-Owl #female oppression #patriarchy #female separatism #radical feminist theory #male parasitism #male entitlement #male oppressors

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hainethehero · 10 months

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Steve Rogers Headcannon- why Steve was so against the Sokovia Accords (trigger warning as this analysis involves SA/r*pe)

I think we can all agree that the MCU absolutely desecrated Steve Rogers' character to the point where people actually believe he's a horrible person- especially after Civil War. But I've had this headcannon about why Steve was so vehemently against the Sokovia Accords and its never been more obvious after She-Hulk.

From the jump (CATFA), we see that the serum is generally regarded as "property of the U.S government/SSR" thus, whoever is injected with it becomes government property by proxy. Ironically, after getting the serum Steve's freedom becomes limited. He has to follow orders and put on a show for the senators because they're the ones who have the power and position to fund the fight against the N*zis. He's their dancing monkey. We even see evidence of this when Steve is made to parade about like a showgirl in this scene 👇

Now, throughout the MCU there's an ongoing interest in Steve's "virginity" and cheap jokes at his perceived lack of sexual proclivities. We see it in CATFA, CATWS, Avengers 1 & 2 etc. Which leads us to She-Hulk. There's this whole reveal in that one episode that Steve lost his virginity to a showgirl on one of the USO tours.

This is where my headcannon comes in.

I don't think he lost his virginity consensually. I think he was forced into sexual acts by powerful men like the senators and military officials who saw Steve as a literal puppet and of no true value as he was not being used in battle or the war yet. Remember, they initially saw him as a failure because the serum was lost and their plans for an entire army of allied supersoldiers were lost after Erskine died. Now, for anyone who knows the comic Steve Rogers, it's not in his character design to have sex with a random girl he just met on tour- a tour which by the way didn't last that long.

We did see, however, that Steve is easily taken advantage of, esp in this scene 👇

Which ultimately leads to my main point, Steve was against the Accords because he knew that giving up their autonomy meant physical, mental and sexual abuse. The government wouldn't just be able to control where they went but also who they worked for and as he said in CACW, "[the UN] is run by people with agendas and agendas change. If we sign the accords we surrender our right to choose."

Steve knows what that much power (over super-powered beings like the Avengers) can lead to and he doesn't want that to happen to them. Add on the very heartbreaking case of how Bucky's autonomy was stripped from him as well and that only strengthens his case.

I just find it hard to believe that Steve would lose his virginity so cheaply and honestly shame on the writers for even insinuating that. He was taken advantage of and assaulted and this is one of the main reasons why he's against giving up his freedom to the very same people who would use and abuse him without a second thought.

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pandamoniumvibes-27 · 3 months

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I been wanting to speak about my character Analysis of Velvette for a long time so I might as well put it here.

Please note that this has spoilers for all of season 1 of Hazbin Hotel.

Since I first saw Velvette i thought it was very Interesting the change they took with her character.

In the pilot she is young energetic and gives chaos energy but in the final product we see that they changed Velvette to be overall more mature.

Velvette in Hazbin Hotel’s first episode is shown as a master of fashion, overbearing, and she knows what she is good at. Velvette in episode 3 is way more interesting.

While it is ironic that Velvette doesn’t actually even fight against the angels in episode 8 I think this says a lot about Velvette’s character. It’s easy to write her off as a coward after this but if you look deeper into it it’s slightly surprising.

It’s no surprise Velvette is great at observing and great at manipulating (assuming that because she is overlord of social media) it’s shown so clearly in episode 3. Velvette’s goal when attending the overlord meet was to gather information and see who had power. Velvette is easily able to see Carmilla killed the Angel and immediately tries to manipulate her and the other overlords to fight the angels.

The Vees were hoping Carmilla or Alastor would pick a fight with the Angels. In the last song of episode 8 Vox and Valentino sing about how because of the extermination they can now gain more control. Velvette also isn’t dumb she heard what Carmilla said about how picking a fight with the Angels is a death sentence and I think this is what surprised me the most.

After looking back at it more it made sense to me why Velvette actually took Carmilla’s advice. Velvette like I said before knows what she is good at she knows that if someone like Carmilla who has more power than her says fighting the Angels is a bad idea then it’s true. Even though Velvette comes across like she doesn’t care about what any of the overlords say but while she might not respect them she understands they have more power.

Velvette is soo interesting because while so many take her saying she is the backbone of the Vees as her having knowledge of social media it’s actually the fact she can observe so well.

Also something I found cool was even though Velvette didn’t speak all of episode 8 you can see she is clearly listening. It’s a great way of showing how Velvette spends more of her time observing before acting unlike Vox and Val who don’t fully think before they act.

#velvette #vox #hazbin hotel vox #valentino #valentino hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel velvette #hazbin hotel #character analysis

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epiclamer · 9 months

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Please just domestic fluff between a married hero and villain? Hero reminds villain that thanks to them they learned to hug? Im so sorry if the request is straight ass weird i just want comfort and fluff.

For my girl @save-the-villainous-cat (Happy International Girlfriend (wife) day!!!!!!!!)

An Embrace

Long days were normal for the two of them, neither were really set on a schedule and for the most part when they did get time off, the other was busy working. Villain was more of their own boss, while the hero had their superior breathing down their neck every other second.

But both jobs were busy and risky. Both of them knew that.

Yet they had overlooked it when cupid’s arrow struck and love at first fight happened.

The hero was the first to cave, but the villain was often making the first moves. The criminal liked to think of their lover like a puppy, always needing guidance, attention and reassurance. However, the hero found the exact opposite analysis of their lover, concluding that the villain was like a cat; sly, introverted but still cuddly.

It was the perfect balance of opposites attract. Unfortunately, they couldn’t balance their work-life scale just as easily.

And the villain knew this, they knew the struggle and they knew it took a toll on their marriage as well, so when they had caught news that their spouse had taken a day off, Villain didn’t hesitate to wrap up early and head home. Greeting their partner with a skip in their step as they entered through the door way.

“Sweetie, are you up yet?”

There was only a groan in response from the other side of the bedroom door. Perfect.

The villain hummed as they made their way in, finding their hero wrapped halfheartedly in blankets, hair a mess, with their limbs bending in positions that could only be comfortable to someone completely limp. They smiled, heading over to sit on the edge of the bed. “I took the rest of today off so we could spend some time together, love. I know we haven’t had time to ourselves lately, and I want to change that.”

There was that winning smile, every time the criminal saw it it was like falling in love all over again. Even exhausted the hero still managed to express their excitement—something the villain loved about them.

“How does breakfast sound? Scrambled eggs, bacon and toast, just how you like it? Might be able to fry up some hash browns while I’m at it too~”

The hero hummed something unintelligible, eyes still sleepily shut before reaching out their arms and grasping onto their lover’s pants. Giving only a second of thought then pulling the villain in and on top of them in bed. Sinking into the warmth of their significant other with glee, if they could be greedy today they most definitely would.

Their first instinct was to pull away, but Villain blamed that on their criminal habits and trust issues. Once their brain registered no sign of threat they managed to relax, as much as they were crushing the other, they knew Hero loved it and they couldn’t will themselves to destroy the moment. So they laid patiently, rubbing one of the hero’s strewn calves as they chuckled softly into the blanket.

“Miss me much?”

“Mmmm…” The hero shifted and slowly maneuvered the villain and themselves into a more comfortable position, face to face, arms wrapped around one another. “D’you remember how to hug?”

The villain smiled, pressing an innocent kiss atop of the hero’s lips. “Haven’t been able to forget since the day you became mine.”

That managed to coax a small giggle from the exhausted crime-stopped, as well as another soft kiss shared between the two. “‘S not what I meant…”

“Mmm, I know, honey.” Behind the hero’s back they intertwined their own fingers, pulling the other even closer—if at all possible. “Lock your fingers.”

Sleepily but surely the other repeated after them, slurring words as they messily tied their fingers together.

“Elbows in.”

Hero’s grin only stretched as the steps went on, the pair pushing their elbows into the other’s ribcage for maximized closeness. They loved hearing it, they knew it by heart, but it was the hero’s number one reassurance when it came to love; the steps of a hug.

“And pull tight.”

They squealed as the villain crunched them in their arms, noses brushing and hearts beating against one another’s. It was perfect.

Love was perfect.

And in their heart they knew it always would be as long as the villain was by their side.

“And kiss!!” That part was optional for anyone except the two of them. A kiss was almost mandatory at this point in their relationship, especially since moments like these were becoming rarer than usual with the overloads of work.

The villain sighed, rolling their eyes affectionally as they came in for another kiss, one more sensual and intimate this time. Mouths open and tongues twisting together, carefully, gently. Just how the hero liked it.

“And kiss, my love.”

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enha-sua · 3 months

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( 🤎 ) ... UNDERSTANDING THE DYNAMICS IN ENHYPEN ( SAY VERSION ) !

💕💭: once again pretend that post i made about making it a poly thing never happened , it's strictly just sunghoon and heeseung, but i had this prepared already so

( 🤎 ) SHIP NAME: SAY

romantic level: 25%

( 🎶 ) … their song: pov ( ariana grande )

TOP THREE SAY PHOTOS:

— say analysis: although they might not be together jay is able to see each someone for who they are and excepts every part of that person — and that's how he is for sua , he sees her for her , flaws and all — past traumas and all and he doesn't try to change her , but encourages her to be the best person she can be.

sua is also a person who sees someone and excepts them for the; that's probably why they mesh well. encourages him to do what he wants and not worry about what people say like she does.

(🤍) … top three rence moments that alter reality :

JAY RANDOMLY BUYING HER A GIFT !

it was probably the cutest thing ever , it was during one of his vlogs, he was randomly out shopping when they were in america and he walkes past a store he always saw a store that she always shops at online, making a comment about how he always see's her shopping, but he walked past it.

it then cut to him walking out of the store with a bag in his hand, showing the camera what he had purchased for you , saying he was gonna give it to you when you met him for dinner.

THE CONCERT HUG !

it was during one of their concerts it a fan recorded a video of sua who was standing off at the end of stage listening to them speak — though out the video you can see him inching closer and closer until he gets to her , and wraps his arms around her waist and she rest her head on his shoulder.

it was a cute moment but people were confused because it was so random, so someone asked and he explained that she wasn't feeling good that day and he could see she wasn't doing good so he wanted to make sure she was okay. people thought it was so cute he knew there was something wrong immediately.

SUA GOING TO HIS GRADUATION !

this wasn't filmed any where a person who went to his school said something about it on twitter — they said that she didn't come until much later , but she did greet him and sunoo at the door with flowers.

they said that he was most happy to see her and stayed by her side the entire time. they said he held the doors open and was a total gentleman and when they left they saw him open the car door for her and it made all the girls swoon at how sweet he was.

©️ENHA-SUA

#kpop added member #kpop reactions #kpop addition #enhypen 8th member #kpop female addition #kpop female oc #enhypen added member #kpop female member #enhypen female addition #enhypen female member #8th member of enhypen #enhypen addition #fictional idol addition #fictional idol oc #fictional idol community #fictional kpop idol #fictional kpop oc #enhypen female oc

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i-guess-im-into-this-now · 10 days

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The Apothecary Diaries

S1E8 First Watch

Here's where I watch The Apothecary Diaries for the first time and give my thoughts, analysis, predictions, and occasionally I stumble into a joke.

If you want to start at the beginning:

Episode 1

My character cheat sheet

Luomen - Maomao's father

Verdigris House - brothel

Meimei - courtesan at Verdigris House

Lihaku - the military officer who took Maomao home

Jade Pavilion - Lady Gyokuyou's residence

Hongniang - head LIW at Jade Pavilion

Maomao wakes up at her father's house and is disoriented, her subconscious not having adjusted to the change. She comments on her oily hair, already missing the comforts of the Rear Palace. We are seeing a Maomao who wants to feel at home in her father's home, but no longer does. It's like that saying, "you can never go home again."

Maomao worries about her father's ability to keep working since he's becoming elderly. Maomao isn't there to tend the herb garden and help him. What will become of him if she remains in the palace?

A servant from a brothel comes to get help. There is an emergency and two people have collapsed. Maomao takes charge and is able to resuscitate a man who stopped breathing. Her medical skills truly are all encompassing.

She requests charcoal and sends the servant girl to fetch Maomao's father, but on the way out the girl glares at Maomao. Is she upset that Maomao saved the courtesan and her customer? Does she resent being sent on this errand? We shall have to wait and see.

And hmmm, I'm still leery of this father-daughter dynamic. Maomao saved two people's lives and all her father tells her is that she has done a "fair job." Maomao responds with sarcasm but I get the impression this is fairly common. Maomao striving to impress her difficult to please father. This really puts into perspective why she responds so well to the praise she receives it at the Rear Palace. She's craving validation.

Luomen is a medical genius, one that Maomao has been trying to live up to all of her life. In her time learning with her father, Maomao has absorbed a lot of knowledge and experience but doesn't recognize the greatness of her own abilities as she sees them only in how they compare to her father.

Maomao thinks there is something wrong with the story that the two people she saved were trying to kill themselves. She goes to check on the man and prevents the young servant girl who scowled at her earlier from murdering the man.

Turns out the guy Maomao saved was an ass who would lead on courtesans and break hearts. He's the son of a wealthy merchant who simply smooths away any issues with money. Attempts on his life had been made before and this is merely the latest. Maomao agrees to remain quiet on this issue since making it known would cause problems for the ladies of the brothel. Hoes before bros.

Maomao can't stop thinking about it though. She knows it was a murder attempt and she has figured out the clever way it was committed, but there are so many people involved. She questions who knew what and to what degree they played a part. Then she shuts down those thoughts.

Maomao's father scolds her for conjecturing out loud and later she scolds herself. Speaking her thoughts on a case was always something she was encouraged by Jinshi to do in the Rear Palace and it bothers me to see her feel like she has to silence her thoughts now.

While she is in the Rear Palace, Maomao's detective abilities are appreciated by Jinshi and she blossoms with his encouragement. Now, back in the Pleasure District, she is overlooked, literally paid to hush up, and scolded.

Maomao compares the Pleasure district to the Rear Palace. Something she did in episode one when she first arrived. Both are beautiful gardens and cages. She uses a poison metaphor, stating that the environment poisons the people that are trapped in it and they go on to poison others in turn.

She is probably thinking about the courtesan who attempted to murder her troublesome client, but it's worth asking, has Maomao herself been poisoned by her environment?

Does she think that the changes in herself are poisonous? Is that why she scolded herself for her conjectures? Does she think her time at the Rear Palace has poisoned her so that she feels at liberty to speak about conjectures when those thoughts are best kept silent?

Perhaps the truth is that Maomao's poisoning happened before she ever arrived at the Rear Palace. Her father's strict parenting style and theories about what should or should not be said have poisoned Maomao into silence. She literally lets a would be murderer walk free here because she won't speak her thoughts. This is drastically different from the Rear Palace. In the Rear Palace, Jinshi supports her both by encouraging her to speak her thoughts, and by handling whatever problem is revealed. She's supported and encouraged in the palace, here she is silenced and alone.

Maomao finally gets her bath and Meimei joins her. It is nice to know that the people here worried about her and missed her. Then Meimei asks hesitantly, if Maomao has been out to the annex. To which Maomao responds "not yet." My, how cryptic. Based on the emotions they are both skirting around it has to be something meaningful.

I haven't explored a wild theory in awhile. Let's go down a rabbit hole for a moment. Based on the level of emotion revealed by Meimei's question, maybe the annex has something to do with Maomao's mother? I'm remembering what Luomen said about how strange a twist of fate it is that Maomao is in the palace. And I wonder if "the annex" is part of the palace. Is Maomao's mother in the palace? Or maybe she was. If Maomao came out of the palace, is it possible that she actually does come from a higher social status? One high enough that she becomes a more appropriate match for Jinshi? I'm remembering when she asked him not to touch her because her status is so much lower than his, and I think my theory adds a delicious irony to her words. I've long wondered if she was hiding something but I was so focused on Jinshi being a royal/noble in hiding that I didn't spend time thinking that Maomao may be as well. Furthermore, Maomao ended up being raised by a doctor. Is Luomen even Maomao's real father? He is quite old to be her biological father. Was Luomen called upon to treat a dying child, or possibly deliver a baby at the palace? Was he asked to claim the child had died then smuggled her out of the palace? He does seem to be too good of a doctor to be working in the Pleasure District. Wait does this have something to do with her arm? Did she sustain an injury during the time she was in palace? Or have a distinguishing birth mark? Does she cover her arm to hide it? Would her identity be revealed if her arm healed? Have I gone way too far from the known facts and entered the realm of headcanon? Actually, I can answer that one: yes!

Okay, time to go back to the story.

It's time for Maomao to say goodbye. Lihaku had the time of his life and wishes they didn't have to leave. Maomao is indebted to Verdigris House and has a year left at the Rear Palace to come up with the amount owed, or she'll be paying in a different way. The Madame already has plans for her.

Everyone comes to greet Maomao when she returns, happy to see her and eager to hear about her visit to home. Except Jinshi. Oh he's there, but he's pissed. Gaoshun doesn't approve.

Maomao meets with Jinshi privately and he's simmering with agitation, not bothering to hide his feelings or try to act formally. And oh, he actually is trying to stay cool, and utterly failing. He's worried about Lihaku! Bwahaha! Good work ladies of the Jade palace!

And no one has yet explained the significance of the hairpins to Maomao. She describes receiving a hairpin from Lihaku as receiving a consolation prize.

Jinshi: In other words, I lost to a consolation prize, then?

He's hurt. If she thinks of receiving a hair pin from Lihaku as merely a consolation prize, and she turned to Lihaku for help, how much lower must she think of Jinshi?

She decides to soothe his ruffled feathers and declares that she couldn't have chosen Jinshi because she would have had no way to repay him. Jinshi can't believe this shit.

Jinshi: This Lihaku person... Did you give him something in return?

Maomao: Yes. I bestowed a night of blissful dreams on him.

Friends. The gasp, I gasped at this! For such a smart person Maomao is dumb as hell!

And the psychic damage she inflicted on Jinshi! 💋🤌 She left that man catatonic.

It's exactly what Lady Gyokuyou and I have been waiting for. Lady Gyokuyou is laughing so hard she looks like she might pee herself. She loves to see Jinshi suffer and so do I.

Hongniang, smacks Maomao. And Gaoshun looks deeply unhappy. Probably because he is going to have to deal with a moping Jinshi.

I do feel bad for Jinshi. He really cares about Maomao and wants to get closer to her, but nothing he does seems to work. He's rebuffed at every turn.

It seems she would prefer anyone over him. And now she is bestowing her favor on someone else (Also, is Lihaku going to be okay? Jinshi's, like, mad mad that the guy asked for some kind of repayment). As a prince palace manager, Jinshi's probably rarely if ever lost out to someone else. And now the lady that he's interested in seems to prefer a low ranked officer, who barely put any effort into getting to know Maomao, and she just gives herself to him?

It was just a couple of episodes ago when Jinshi tried laying his hand on Maomao's shoulder and was told that his status makes anything between them impossible. It has to rankle. I feel for him.

On the other hand. Jinshi began his relationship with Maomao by manipulating her and trying to seduce her so that he could control her. That his plan has backfired on him, feels like justice.

Jinshi has started to get to know Maomao better, and I think he's starting to really see her, but he has to learn how to respect her too. He's getting there bit by bit, but in the meantime he will suffer.

Because Maomao doesn't trust him. She's not ready to let him in. She's too afraid of being vulnerable in the way that love demands. She's not ready to face her demons, much less share them. Certainly not with Jinshi. Not the man who can and has manipulated her in the past. The man who doesn't share what he knows. The man who has the power to destroy her with a word if she missteps. The man whose status is so far above her own. There are just so many unknowns when it comes to Jinshi.

Not to mention the secret of his identity.

If Jinshi wants to be loved, he will have to let himself be seen, and that will involve some radical honesty from him. He's not there yet. He doesn't want it bad enough yet. So he will suffer in his desire until then.

If you want to start at the beginning:

Episode 1

Next Episode

Episode 9

#apothecary diaries #the apothecary diaries #maomao #jinshi #jinmao

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storiesofsvu · 1 year

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A Dangerous Game Ch 5

Emily Prentiss x reader warnings: language, smut, oh so much smut. minor brief talk of CM type cases.

The irony was not lost on you nor Emily when the next case took the team to Vegas.

“We… can’t keep doing this.” You panted between breathless kisses, whimpers and quiet moans swallowed up by Emily’s lips as she pinned you to the wall, her cock dragging across your sensitive walls, both of your naked bodies coated in a glistening layer of sweat.

“Dunno..” she panted back, wrapping one of your legs tighter around her waist and you gasped at the change in angle, “you seemed pretty enthusiastic about it earlier.”

“Fuck…” your head dropped onto her shoulder, “oh god… you’re right. Please don’t stop…”

“Yeah?” She murmured, a wicked grin on her lips, “you like that?” She swiveled her hips again and you groaned, biting down on her shoulder.

“So good.” You moaned back, your head dropping to the wall behind you, “oh fuck! Harder! Please daddy!” Emily’s free hand whipped up, clamping over your mouth, a dangerous glare in her eyes,

“Quiet princess.” She practically growled, “we can’t risk anyone hearing you. Those pretty little noises are just for daddy, understand?”

“Mmmhmm.” You nodded, your eyes begging for her to not stop and she grinned.

“That’s my good girl.” She continued thrusting into you, letting your whimpers and whines vibrate against her hand until she was sure you were going to do as told. Then it sunk south between your bodies, easily finding your clit and she started to rub it in time with the thrusts of her hips, her nose nudged at your chin, tilting your head up and she kissed down your neck until she found your pulse point, making a home there.

“Fuck…” you whispered, your pussy fluttering around the toy, your hands clawing at her skin, trying to get her even closer to you than she was already. You bit your lip as pleasure coursed through you, a stifled moan breaking into the room as you shuddered in her arms and she finally let up on your clit, kissing back up the column of your neck.

“That’s it angel… so good for daddy.” She purred, her hips slowing until she sunk deep into you one last time, her hips meeting yours and you were finally able to open your eyes again.

“Christ…” you muttered with a small laugh, your leg dropping from her waist and she chuckled, a sturdy arm wrapping around you as her cock slipped from you and she guided you to the bed.

Emily took a minute to take the strap off, washing and drying it before tucking it back into her bag. She grabbed two bottles of water from the mini bar, swiping a couple mini cups of ice cream from the freezer along with spoons and crossed back to the bed. She noticed you’d flicked the tv on, finding a mindless channel to not fully pay attention to, passing you a bottle and the snack.

“Thanks.” You murmured, cracking the bottle and taking a few sips as she slipped under the sheets with you.

“You watch this crap when you’re at home?” She asked and you laughed.

“At home I have access to every streaming service known to man, hotel tv hits different. Late night choices are pretty limited between cartoons made for adults, fox news, or police procedurals and like I need more of that after what we do for a living.”

“Oh and they’re so inaccurate.” She groaned and you hmphed over a sip of water.

“Don’t even get me started. I dated a lawyer who for some reason actually liked a couple of them and yet she’d spend the entire fucking time calling out every single reason why the case would get thrown out. It was exhausting and pointless, felt like she was trying to tell me how to do my job through episode analysis.” You pulled the lid off the ice cream, digging in with the spoon for a mouthful.

“That why you break up?” Emily asked, a hint of a tease in her voice.

“No.” You huffed a laugh as you turned to her, “big surprise… she was controlling and thought I should give up my job and move with her to California, where she would be accepting a big promotion and I was expected to take a demotion down to LAPD computer crimes unit because according to her, I suck at my job.”

You turned your attention to the ice cream in front of you, digging into it with the spoon and Emily frowned, wondering how much of this ex’s opinion still haunted you to this day, hoping that wasn’t why you had the habit of overworking yourself. She raised her hand, brushing back a piece of your mussed up hair, smoothing it behind your ear and you glanced up at her, a curious expression written across your face.

“You know that’s not true, right?” Her voice was soft, her fingers lingering on your skin and you felt your cheeks flush, “I mean, not everyone’s cut out for the FBI, much less the BAU and you’ve held your own for years, and you’re the perfect fit for this team.”

“You’re just saying that cause you watched me kick in a door earlier today and practically came on the spot.” You replied with a wicked grin and she let out an offended scoff followed by a bark of laughter.

“Oh, okay. While you may be correct…. you’re deflecting!”

“I know I am good at my job.” You chuckled, letting in to the impulse to lean in and steal a quick kiss, “which is exactly why I broke up with her. Besides, she committed a brady violation and lost her licence, so… karma…”

You let out a soft sigh, glancing down to the ice cream when you realized it was finished, dropping it to the bedside table and your eyes glazed over the clock, noticing how late it was. You slipped from underneath the sheets, moving through the room to clip your bra back on, pulling your panties up your legs.

“Where exactly do you think you’re going?” Emily asked with a chuckle and you huffed, tugging your pants on, doing a little hop to get them all the way up.

“Back to my room.” You searched around for a moment before scooping up your shirt, pulling it over your head. “Everyone’s got their own this trip, can’t risk Rossi doing an extra early wake up call to find me naked in your bed.”

“Well that’s a shame.” She smirked, “was kinda hoping for some morning sex.”

“Well…” you tugged your extra key card out of your pocket, tossing it down onto her bed, “if you’re up early enough you know where my room is.”

Emily picked up the card, flipping it through her fingers before glancing up at you, “such a wonderful place, Vegas….”

A week and a half later and the team found itself in Great Falls Montana.

There were plenty of reasons to look forward to hearing the phrase ‘wheels up’, to everyone on the team. It meant that you had a case that only the BAU could solve, that your specialty would be what closed it, that there was a reason you did what you chose to do. It meant that for the meantime, paperwork wasn’t the biggest priority of your work day. But every time Emily’s eyes would flick over to you lightning fast, watching the way your lips would curve up into a grin before vanishing and slipping back into work mode.

Because Vegas no longer had to be a physical place for the two of you, it was an unspoken way of mind.

If you were out of the DMV area, it meant you weren’t at home, you didn’t have to follow the rules. Sure, it didn’t make total sense, but it worked and neither of you were going to bring it up either way.

Great Falls meant sharing rooms in a smaller hotel and it just so happened that Emily landed with you as her bunk buddy again this trip. Obviously there was no need for the second bed, it was just for appearances at this point, Emily’s cock gliding into you from behind with ease as you did your best not to moan loudly, your fingers clutching at the bed spread.

“That’s my good girl…” She cooed, hands pulling your hips sharper to hers with each thrust until you were begging for more, wanting nothing but to see stars until the sun rose in the horizon.

The next case brought you to Maddock, North Dakota.

It wasn’t ideal, winter was in full force, every crime scene and investigation was outdoors, moving through streets and snowbanks as you attempted to discover who the unsub was. Everyone was huddled down in thick winter coats, hats and gloves, hating the fact that they could see their breath in the air with every word they spoke.

At the very least, you each had individual hotel rooms this time, meaning it was easier for you and Emily to sneak around, you’d already become masters of stealth in slipping the other your hotel room key card. So she wasn’t surprised when there was a tiny knock on her door followed by a beep and you slipped into her room, letting out a little shiver. She glanced up at you from the bed, a brow raised in your direction,

“Vegas?”

“Well..” you huffed, kicking off your shoes, “yes but also no. It’s fucking freezing in my room. I was kinda hoping yours would be better.” She frowned at the way you winced when you moved through the room, your hand shooting to your side.

“Ribs?” She asked softly, remembering the conversation you’d had back in Atlanta.

“Yeah.” You nodded, “couldn’t sleep last night cause I kept curling up to stay warm and that made it worse.”

“Well, c’mere.” She flipped open the duvet and you were quick to slip under it as she reached out to the toiletry bag on the bedside table, “extra strength?” She held the bottle out to you and you let out a happy sigh.

“You’re a godsend.” You downed a couple of pills, sipping at the water glass she’d given you before you nestled into her side.

“And your feet are fucking frozen!” She practically shrieked, attempting to shove you away from her.

“I told you it was cold!”

“Good thing I know a very good way to warm you up.” She murmured and the next thing you knew her lips were catching yours in a kiss and she was pinning you to the bed.

True to her word, the temperature was skyrocketing in her hotel room within minutes and she managed to make you come as many times as possible without getting you naked, working around your clothing, or only pulling off what was needed. When she was finally satisfied she wrapped herself around you, kicking up an extra blanket and letting you settle into the warmth of the shared body heat.

Glendale, Arizona.

There were just enough rooms that Emily was able to get her own private one this time. She was thankful, not only for whatever might happen, but that she would finally get a little bit of a break. The last couple of weeks she felt like she’d been constantly berated by questions from either the team or upper management. This way she could finish her expected work and retreat to being on her own.

Though that did not mean she was upset when she heard the beep of her hotel room lock, her eyes glancing toward it with a smirk and you basically toppled into her room, tearing off your shirt as the door fell shut behind you.

“Someone’s eager…” She teased.

“JJ’s facetiming Will, told her I was going for a run, I’ve got forty minutes max.”

You were naked by the time you’d reached her bed, your fingers tugging at her clothing until she was bare against you. There wasn’t even time for Emily to dig into her bag for the strap, hands and mouths were plenty tonight. You moved with expertise against each other, fingers sinking into warmth, curling and pumping with ease while mouths left sticky trails of kisses on the other’s skin. Moans and whimpers were the only sound in the room as you brought each other to their peak.

As much as you wanted to stay, wanted to go another infinite number of rounds, wanted to sleep curled in her embrace you knew you couldn’t. So you slipped from the covers, pulling on your clothes as you wished her goodnight and slipped from the room, hurrying back to your own, hoping you’d covered all your bases.

Miami.

Why did it have to be Florida?

Emily found herself groaning just from seeing the city’s name on the case file, but the moment the jet touched down she realized there definitely were some benefits to being in the sunshine state. Your usual business casual had been swapped out for more of a casual look, instantly pulling you hair up, keeping it off your neck and all she could focus on was wanting to trail her lips across that exposed skin. Instead of button ups you’d packed tank tops, a few with necklines daring to cross the line into inappropriate. She was on her way back from picking up dinner with JJ in time to catch you and Morgan returning from a run and just about had a conniption at the sight of you in just spandex shorts and a sports bra. You were somehow barely out of breath, your skin coated in a glimmer of sweat, the swell of your chest swaying as you laughed at something Derek said. You could feel her eyes on you, knowing that you were driving her wild and went the extra mile to stretch out a couple of muscles while the four of your chatted outside the hotel.

You’d been back in your room long enough to cool down and take a luxurious shower, throwing on a pair of loose shorts and a satin tank to sleep in and all you could think about was Emily. You knew everyone had their own rooms this trip but this case seemed to be eating at everyone a little heavier than normal and you figured that might cut into your playtime. Instead it was twenty minutes later that you heard the lock beep in the door and Emily slipped into your room.

“Vegas?” You asked cautiously and she nodded.

“After that fucking show you put on, what do you think?”

“I was thinking I was gonna have to start sending you naughty photos to get in the mood.” You teased with a laugh and Emily froze in her tracks.

“Maybe I should go back to my room.” She smirked.

“I don’t think so.” You grabbed at her hand, pulling her to you and your lips met, a sigh of relief coming from both of you as hands began to roam.

She broke the kiss to pull your shirt over your head right as your fingers snuck under the hem of her shirt, tickling up her sides until you’d pulled it off, tossing it to the floor. Her mouth immediately latched onto your chest, sucking and nipping at the tender skin, tongue flicking across your nipple and you gasped, one hand tangling into her hair while the other fumbled with her belt. When your hand managed to get into her pants you moaned at the feel of her already strapped up, fingers slipping under it to toy with her pussy. Her mouth popped off your chest and her hand closed around your wrist as she raised a brow in your direction.

“Ya know I almost feel like I should be punishing you tonight…”

“It’s not my fault the weather’s torturously hot here.”

“Kinda sounds like back talk princess.” She chuckled darkly and your eyes widened, your pussy fluttering around nothing, “are you giving me attitude?”

“No daddy.” You murmured back.

“Good.” Her fingers pinched gently at your chin, “now lie back so I can taste that pretty pussy of yours.”

You weren’t going to waste anymore time, collapsing back onto the bed while Emily tugged off your shorts, burying herself between your legs. Her mouth made home on your pussy, licking and sucking for as long as she could, pulling orgasm after orgasm from you until you were absolutely trembling, cunt seizing around her fingers, juices drenching your thighs and the bedspread. Finally she slipped her cock into you, deeply and slowly beginning to fuck you as your hands scrambled on her skin, aching to feel her against you, needing to feel her lips on yours while her cock pounded into you. She made you come another three times around her cock before she finally pulled out, tossing the toy to the side and cuddling around you under the sheets.

The team ended up in Miami for another week and a half and Emily swore she only saw the inside of her own hotel room when she had to change clothes. She was starting to wonder if there was even a point in booking her own anymore considering the two of you spent any spare personal moment tangled in each other’s limbs.

You’d done everything you could to identify the unsub, worked through past clues, delivered the profile, even gone as far as finding an actual name, a work and home address. You’d exhausted everything, everywhere you looked for this guy he was constantly a step ahead of you, but still contained in the state. Eventually, Emily got a call from the Section Chief saying they were pulling the team out, they were wasting their budget right now when there were more important cases elsewhere, the local pd would just have to keep tracking the guy until they could finally pinpoint a secure location and you could be in touch.

So you packed up your things and headed to the jet to take you back home. You had originally sat down with Spencer to keep going over things, the two of you had been deepest into the case and weren’t quite ready to give it up yet. It was only at take off when Rossi insisted the two of you put a rest to it that you finally agreed, the humming of the plane lulling you into a near dreamlike state and you realized just how exhausted you were. The work days had been very late nights and very early mornings, and the time in between was spent with Emily, you didn’t exactly get a lot of sleep while in Miami. You shivered, reaching up to turn off the air jet above you and Derek tossed you his hoodie, wrapped in that warmth, you were out like a light seconds later.

From the back of the jet Emily could practically see the bags under your eyes and felt a twinge of guilt over keeping you up even later than needed the past few days. Though it felt like that was the general consensus through the entire team, everyone was exhausted and left feeling a little defeated over not actually being able to solve the case, getting pulled out didn’t happen often.

JJ placed a cup of coffee down in front of Emily, taking the seat beside her.

“Thanks.” Emily cast her a warm smile, taking a sip and letting out a satisfied sigh.

“Figured you could use it.”

“Think everyone could.” She replied quietly, most of the rest of the team was already asleep or at least trying.

“You think Wilson took this one a little too hard?” JJ asked softly, looking in your direction and Emily glanced up, looking over at you, curled up around yourself in the seat, resting against the wall of the plane.

“She’s still new, it’s her first time getting pulled out, you remember how that feels.” She raised a brow and JJ nodded with a small laugh, “think she overworks a bit to make sure we know she’s good at her job, that she’s committed and won’t give up easily.”

“She is really good at her job; you know that right?”

“Of course!” Emily protested with another laugh, “she was the best fit for the position both on paper and in the field, miles above anyone else who applied.”

“Does she know you think that? Because I think deep down she really just needs your approval.”

“What’d’ you mean?” She raised an eyebrow in the direction of the blonde who let out a soft sigh.

“Not to overshare, but she’s an only child, dad really wanted a boy, they never really got along because of it, fought a lot until he booted her out on her own right as she graduated. He’s a sheriff down in Clearwater and wanted the typical manly man to follow in his footsteps. So she decided to go big and work her way up to the FBI, either show him up or attempt to make him proud.”

“I didn’t realize…” She glanced back up at you again.

“It’s not exactly like it’s a fun topic to bring up at parties.” JJ laughed, “and you guys have this like, weird complete opposite of teacher’s pet thing going on. You basically avoid each other completely in the office despite working flawlessly and wordlessly together in the field. It’s not like you have to be her best friend, or even like her, just give her a ‘good work’, buy her a coffee once in a while and she’ll be fine.”

“I—” Emily began to protest, scrambling to find the right words, “was just letting her get her feet under her, it’s a big transfer to the BAU.”

“And we’re supposed to give them a warm welcome.” JJ chuckled, squeezing at Emily’s knee, “don’t cold shoulder her out within her first year.”

“Even if I wanted to, she’s tougher than that.” She did her best not to stare, though you were asleep, and it made sense to be looking your way while talking about you. “besides, she’s getting along perfectly with the team, I can just be her boss for a little while longer until she’s fully settled in.”

“Hmm.” JJ replied over the rim of her coffee as she took a sip, glancing between the other members of the team. She knew you were fitting in, she just also knew Emily could definitely be a bit intimidating to people that either didn’t know her or were new, especially as a superior, even if she was the softest underneath all that. A few minutes of silence passed before Emily spoke again, her voice quiet under the noise of the jet.

“Her dad really kick her out?”

“Mmhmm.”

“You know why?”

“Nope.” JJ replied with a sigh, “she didn’t mention anything past that. Considering Clearwater I’m guessing teen pregnancy or a coming out gone wrong.”

“She doesn’t have any kids…”

“She is great with them though.” She replied, clapping the other woman on the arm, “thank you for hiring the best babysitter I’ve ever had.” JJ chuckled, standing from her seat, gesturing to Emily’s coffee cup, “you want a refill?” Em glanced at her watch,

“Yeah, may as well, it’s a short flight, not much time left to try and sleep.”

As the blonde disappeared Emily’s mind got to wandering, she hadn’t realized your game of keep away had worked a little too well. And it wasn’t like you weren’t allowed to be friends, you didn’t have to shy away from those kind of situations at work. JJ was right, you were still both relatively casual with each other when you weren’t in the DC area, but you’d put this boundary in that things couldn’t happen at home. It appeared neither of you had realized that it had extended outside your bedroom shenanigans.

So as JJ took her seat beside her and the plane started its decent, she made a mental note to be more open and friendly going forward, if you kept going with this whole hot and cold thing someone would likely pick up on things sooner rather than later and you both wanted to avoid that. She also made the mental note to make sure you weren’t taking any case files from Miami home with you, to remind you this was in local pd’s hands now, they’d call when they needed the assist. You already did splendid work, and more than enough of it, she’d make sure that you knew how appreciative and satisfied she was with the way you were doing your job.

In a completely and totally professional way of course.

Until another Vegas opportunity presented itself. Then all amounts of professionalism were off the table.

_____________

@ssa-sapphic @mickey-gomez @clarawatson @momlifebehard @alexusonfire @melindawarnersgf @itisdoctortoyousir @emilyprentiss4life @softgamerking @httpjupiterbby @somethingimaginative17 @temilyrights @alexxavicry @mysticfalls01 @anya-casablanca @daddy-heather-dunbar @evilregal2002 @aliensaurusrex @alcabots @7thavenger @ladysc @rustyzebra @ilovemycrayons @mandy-asimp @thegrantwater @leftoverenvy @kades95 @disneyfan624 @dextur @m00nkn1ghts @gamma-ray-bursts @augustvandyne @supercriminalbean @daffodil-heart @msvenablesbitch @its-soph-xx @going-gray @just-a-torn-up-masterpiece @hopelesslyfallenninlove @peanutbutterprincess @kdaghay @emilyprentisssluvr @lex13cm @bluetodie @awolfcsworld @zizzlekwum @emobabeyy @riveramorylunar

#emily prentiss #emily prentiss x reader #criminal minds #a dangerous game #emily prentiss smut

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comradekatara · 8 months

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No but fr I wanna know all ur Yangchen thoughts 🥺🙏

Are we gonna get a review of Dawn of yangchen?? 💛💛 I really love ur analysis stuff, it’s fun to read

thank you and sorry for taking so long to reply! i kept meaning to write a review of the dawn of yangchen but then the sequel came out, which i just read, and i figured i'd just combine the little i had written with my overall impression of both novels. it might just be recency bias, but i really enjoyed the legacy of yangchen, it hit all the right spots for me. my review isn't formal in any way, but here are my scattered thoughts in the form of bullet points (in no particular order), and if there are any details you'd like me to expand on or analyze more formally, please don't hesitate to ask! i'd love to discuss these novels further.

obviously, spoilers for both the yangchen novels under the cut.

i like how i can tell that fc yee is a sokkagirl the same way i can tell that will arbery (one of my favorite playwrights, worked on s4 of succession) is a romangirl. and that’s all i’m gonna say on that!

in my draft of my review of the previous novel, which i had only outlined but never actually finished, i said this: “zongdu chaisee seven months pregnant and effortlessly running an entire city from the top down in a way that makes her completely untouchable despite her obviously criminal tactics vs zongdu henshe gripping the public bathroom sink sobbing into the basin and flailing around throwing tantrums whenever the avatar questions his competence. a girlboss running her empire vs a pathetic little boytoy imploding under the weight of his own ineptitude. i love them both.” which i stand by even more now that chaisee is given more prominence in the sequel. she was already my favorite character in the yangchenverse, but now she’s EXTREMELY my favorite character. and rip henshe lmfao you were fun but we won’t miss you.

that said, kalyaan swiftly moved up the ranks. his scenes in this novel were so excellent. the way he humiliates kavik as simply as breathing, but also the way he completely fell apart when he thought kavik was hurt. their relationship is so fascinating, im obsessed with their toxic undying brotherhood!!!! and im the number one hater of guys with smug auras usually, but he’s so beautifully written in this novel i just couldn’t help but relish every scene he’s in.

i also wrote last novel: “mama ayunerak was also a very cool character. at first she seems like just a sweet little old lady but it turns out she’s actually extremely shrewd and has eyes everywhere!! best spy in the whole damn spy novel, perhaps??” and my opinion has only somewhat changed. i still love her, don’t get me wrong, but i don’t think i was giving yangchen herself enough credit. she can evade the white lotus masterfully when she wants to.

i also, of course, LOVED seeing the white lotus in their banal, daily operations. how the sausage gets made, if you will. as a white lotus lover, and a kavik lover, and a lying liars who lie lover, this was all extremely satisfying for me. the fact that they were the ones to orchestrate the platinum affair is so beautiful to me. fc yee understands me. he gets it.

yangchen and kavik have such a beautiful relationship. i love that by the end, yangchen still doesn’t even realize that kavik isn’t remorseful because he betrayed the Avatar, but because he betrayed her. he doesn’t even really give a shit that she’s the avatar in like, the grand, spiritual sense. he just loves her for who she is. a smart, funny air nomad who wants to make the world a better place. and she has it so bad for him lmfao i don’t think she even realizes it tho 😭

i loved the references to gurus laghima and shoten, the koans yangchen quotes to herself throughout the novels, the portrayal of air nomad culture in general. it’s great to be able to spend time with air nomads in a real way, even if most of the action still takes place in the earth kingdom.

jetsun is such an incredible minor character, that final scene tells us so much with so little. and i love the stark contrast she provides to kalyaan, which yangchen even says. the difference between older sisters (queens & legends) and older brothers (toxic male manipulators) i suppose.

a minor detail i enjoy is the confirmation that airbenders can use airwaves to detect the movement of objects. it’s only fair that each element gets its own version of seismic sense, and if firebenders have heatbending and airbenders have wavebending, i think waterbenders could theoretically do the same via the moisture in the air. just a fun piece of lore i like to think about.

i love that despite how intelligent and studious she is, yangchen is, fundamentally, a jock. she thinks in koans and sports references. she prides herself on being airball team captain. she is competitive and fun loving, just like any other air nomad.

also yangchen being called “a terror” (by jetsun) and “a horrible little girl” (by yingsu) is so real and adorable she’s literally a little sister & a menace!!!! <3

combustion bending lore getting expanded upon was great for me. i love that chaisee’s history as an exploited pearl diver gave her both the idea and the will to use people as weapons. it’s not that she thinks it’s okay to do, but she thinks it’s fine because it’s how the world works. though she’ll use the cruelest methods, she’s not innately cruel, she’s just been jaded enough to become amoral, and thinks doing whatever it takes to secure her position is always justified. excellent character i fucking love her truly.

we never actually find out what happened to jujinta or the history behind the yuyan archers, but that’s okay. the toll it has on him is what’s important, and that’s communicated effectively enough without exposition.

i thought that surely yangchen would find a way to end the platinum affair, but i actually loved that there was no getting through to feishan, and ultimately, he had the power. i think her strategy of becoming the zongdu for the entire earth kingdom and personally distributing funds is fascinating, because it’s exactly the kind of un-air-nomad behavior that separates her from aang. yangchen is wise and spiritual, but she is also shrewd and pragmatic. her air nomad status strengthens her integrity where it matters, but it doesn’t hinder her ability to make the necessary calls that burden the avatar. as much as she doubts herself and resents her responsibilities, she handles her role beautifully.

her bison dying to save her is just. sheer pain. first jetsun and now nujian, not to mention her banishment from the northern air temple, avatarhood demanding sacrifice is the one constant across all their lifetimes. except roku. roku’s just a spoiled brat.

something i love about kavik is that he is an excellent liar. i think that if he continues his career in espionage instead of becoming a healer, he could really flourish. also the fact that he’s really good at mental math is very funny to me. when you long to be a doctor but your skills are in accounting and spycraft…

the chaisee yangchen foilage is so rich & juicy i love how chaisee genuinely loves air nomad philosophy despite her own modus operandi being so antithetical to air nomad values. how it’s clear that despite commiserating with the burden of the avatar, she so desperately wishes she had that power and built-in clout and eternally preserved legacy. how she calls yangchen her “little sister” in a parallel with kalyaan & kavik, but jetsun is her actual big sister so the thought of chaisee calling her that disgusts her. i actually think that if chaisee had joined the white lotus instead of becoming a zongdu she could have enjoyed all the benefits of power and protection without actually putting herself at risk. but she is also far vainer than she would like to admit. alas.

i would have really loved to see the dynamic between chaisee and kalyaan. i know they would be such a fascinating couple, these inverted foils of yangchen and kavik, who are so smart, and shrewd, and talented, and fragile. i could read an entire novel just about their domestic disputes.

i love the way the novel dealt with questions of avatarhood—its unfair burden, its unfair power, the ghosts of past lives possessing you, the way it can be so isolating even when you have community and personal support and the adoration of the masses, the arrogance that unique power can lead to. it’s a very difficult question if you actually try to consider the in-universe political implications of it. i hardly find it surprising that an anarchist (such as comrade xai bau) would come to the conclusion that avatars should not exist.

fc yee does such a great job of incorporating lore from atla & lok, both small details and major plotpoints, in a way that feels natural and seamless. despite the fact that the tone of this novel is very different, it still feels like it takes place in the exact same universe. and for what it’s worth, i prefer the tone here. not that i don’t love the grand sweeping quest narrative of atla, but the daily minutia of exploitation, the manipulations and machinations of power players on a more balanced world stage is far more intriguing to me as an adult. the same way that as an adventure-loving child i was obsessed with katara, but i grew into loving sokka as i matured. i will always enjoy atla’s righteous battle between good and evil, but the nuanced, grounded politics of the yangchen novels really hit the spot for me now. i said in the past that the kyoshi novels do what lok tried to do, but this novel is actually the most perfectly illustrative of that idea for me. maybe because it explores the exact kind of archetypes and themes im already predisposed to enjoy in this franchise. maybe it’s just recency bias. but i loved this book.

#sorry this took a year and a whole other novel to write this lmao #notsosecrettunnel #asks #the dawn of yangchen #the legacy of yangchen #chronicles of the avatar #yangchen #chaisee #kavik #kalyaan #ayunerak #jetsun #tagging the characters i have already drawn and/or know i will draw eventually #also heavily considering changing my url to smth yangchen related and maybe just straight up becoming a yangchen blog period.... 😬

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