#Anyways I think about it SO SO much it is SUCH a good character study for him GOD QAQ

[ariadnehelx]

— OUR ENEMY, MY FRIEND.

pairings, sethos x reader, royal au.

summary, "do not cry. if your cheating fiancé won't even look at you anymore, why do you still stay with him?" 2.8k words.

content, character cheating (on reader), secret meetings, angst.

notes, sethos fic!! i got my motivation from a fic from my lovely friend @knnichs, and here we are!! no hate to nilou or cyno, just for the plot.

The feeling of constant unease and discomfort was weighing down on you, getting heavier as days passed. Something was… wrong. You could tell. Something that those two were keeping secret from you.

During one of your many visits to Lady Nilou’s estate three weeks ago, just as you had pushed the door open to her bedchamber, you froze momentarily, your interest caught by the sound of Nilou’s voice… and the things she was saying.

“...Oh, he is just so sweet! He gave me these lovely Padisarahs as a thanks, isn’t he just so thoughtful? They are my favourite flowers after all…” Nilou gushed, a pink blush rising on her face. The maid sitting next to her seemed to agree, nodding her head, but voiced some confusion. Your initial thought was that, perhaps, she may have fallen in love with someone. A soft smile tugged at your lips at this, before fading away only a second after that.

“You mean General Cyno, my lady? Isn’t he… isn’t he engaged to Lady [Name]? …What do you think of him, if it is not so rude to ask you, my lady?” The servant, bold enough to question the lady she served, seemed to doubt. You did too. But there was no way…

“I don’t… no. He is engaged after all, and he is just a lovely friend of mine. His fiance is, too.” Even though there was nothing but honesty and sincerity in her tone, the way her eyes looked down and the uneasy expression on her face was telling you otherwise. You couldn’t bring yourself to doubt Nilou when she said this, but you suddenly remembered that Cyno was always forgetting your favourite flower. 

She loves all flowers of all kinds, Tighnari. I know her. Cyno had once said this to the botanist Tighnari, someone who came to be a common friend of the both of you, and even he knew your favourite flower. Tighnari tutted at his friend’s mistake, looking at you with a look that said This is the person you’re engaged with?

But he could remember her favourite flower. Not yours, though. You decided you didn’t want to meet her that day.

The second time something had happened was when Cyno had called Nilou to meet him for a discussion. For some reason, he refused to elaborate on it. 

She’d spent a good while in his study. When it was evening he could still be heard with her, although to you it seemed like their important discussion had quickly transitioned into a hearty banter between two close friends. All of this had happened too quickly. And why?

Lately, Cyno had been cancelling time in the day that he usually set aside for you so that he could run errands for Nilou. Even the simplest things that she could have easily had her servant do for her. 

With everything in mind, you had reached a simple conclusion; that Cyno didn’t love you anymore, that he loved Nilou and that they were having a secret affair. And as much as the kind part of you wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, and as much as the spiteful part of you wanted to confront them… you couldn’t bring yourself to. 

The windows creaked, interrupting your thoughts. Ah, one of the most anticipated parts of your evenings as of late. After all, it wasn’t like you didn’t have your own secrets. In truth… 

In truth, one of the kingdom’s most notorious enemies, namely Sethos, had been coming to visit his new best friend; you, the honourable and lovely princess of the palace, engaged to the General. If anyone ever found out about your secret rendezvous with him, you could only imagine how people would talk, the scandal… but your relationship with him was only a reluctant understanding and friendship, in your eyes, anyway. Sethos, while someone who had caused much panic and launched many attacks on your kingdom, was, at heart, a gentle and truly honest soul. A polar opposite to the person he was rumoured to be, the person he had a reputation of.

And yet, you couldn’t help but want to stay close to him. In a time of doubt and loneliness, Sethos came into your room one night with the intent to attack you. Knowing nothing about you.

He’d appeared out of nowhere, dagger in hand. A threat had been uttered, but the man halted himself upon gazing at your tear-stained cheeks and distressed expression. Not one for comforting his enemies, or at least, anyone part of the kingdom he was so adamant on getting revenge on, he froze. Pondered if he should leave or if he should do something. Because he wasn’t, in reality, a monster like people said. 

He only wanted revenge on your kingdom; generations of monsters and tyrants in the monarchy that had waged war on his kingdom as a result of dangerous feuds and scathing abhorrence of their royals. He’d watched his kingdom suffer, all those innocent villagers and civilians, and he promised he would, one day, be the one in which his kingdom would find a voice in. Sethos. Of course, this truth was something he had revealed to you bit by bit over time, and he still had more to tell you.

At the time, Sethos had chosen to try his best to comfort you. Even though he hated it, the architecture of your room being of your distant kingdom’s, even the style of your clothing reminded him of your kingdom, there was something about you that was undeniably different to the ruthless cold-blooded murderers he was used to facing.

It made him want to protect you. 

Who knew that a few small but warm words of assurance and a shoulder for you to cry on would begin a genuine friendship between two people who, in any case, would seem like an unlikely pair; like a beautiful rose and a sharp, blood-stained dagger. 

You sat up on your bed, tuning yourself out of your thoughts to see the figure of a man in dark clothing enter through your bedroom window. The figure slipped through the window sill of your room, looking left and right and closed the curtains to make sure that he was discreet in his arrival. When he was sure that he’d come without anybody noticing him, he took off the hood of his cloak, revealing his distinct emerald green eyes and shiny smile that had you drawn in closer to him every time you were given the chance to look at him. He was quite the looker.

He pulled out beautiful flowers from under his cloak, your favourite type of flower. You hadn’t even known him for so long, but he did remember. It was, if your memory served correct, one of the first things you told him in general conversation.

Only Sethos knew why he had engrained and etched such small, seemingly trivial and forgettable details about you that you shared with him. Because he was the one who truly cared.

“Sethos.” you grinned, feeling the familiar kind of excitement at the prospect of having your best friend to stay with you for a while. As it happened, you tried to see Nilou less, distancing her from yourself, and Nilou didn’t seem to notice. Sethos had come at the perfect time to fill that empty space, and you were so grateful for that.

“Hey, princess~! For you, my lady.” Sethos presented to you the flowers, an infectious grin spreading on his face. You smiled back, or rather, tried to. His smile lessened into something more sympathetic when he noticed your lack of reaction.

He went over and sat on the edge of your bed, watching you as you placed the flowers in a rather ornate vase on your bedside table in which, Sethos had noticed, you kept all the flowers that he gave you. Specifically from him.

“Something wrong? You seem more bothered than usual.” he asked cautiously. At your silence, he was utterly puzzled. Normally, even on really bad days, Sethos’ comforting presence was enough to lift your spirits, and you always greeted him with unabashed enthusiasm. “Hey, I’m talking to you. You never ignore me.” 

Turning to him, you sat down at his side. Let out a sigh. “I’ve been thinking about it more than usual.” He crossed his arms and tilted his head as a response to your vague sentence. “Thinking about what exactly?” he inquired, clearly confused, but after a moment or two of silence it hit him. “Oh… did your fiance and that pretty noble lady have something important to attend to again?” Sethos frowned. Ah, right, your current situation was something you often spent many hours venting to him.

You always seemed to think about them, about Cyno, even when Sethos tried his best to capture your attention and to have your thoughts divert from your pathetic love life for once. But his heart did ache for you. He knew what it was like to see someone you loved fall for another. He felt it, even now. But he couldn’t let what he felt get in the way of your friendship. “Talk to me, [name].” He looked down at the floor. You sighed heavily. “It’s… it’s not like I have concrete evidence, you know, Sethos? Like, it’s very odd and all, b-but it could be, just… two really great friends who love spending time together and have s-such a good relationship that to everyone else it feels like they’re in love and they don’t know th-that what they’re doing is hurting me and-and—” Sethos snapped you out of your daze when he grabbed your hand. He looked at you with worry, and you hadn't even realized that your eyes were glistening; tears were streaming down your cheeks. He reached over and wrapped an arm around your shoulder. You always made him want to protect you.

“Hey… hey, come on… shh…” He rubbed your arm in an effort to soothe you. Seeing how distressed you were, his heart sank a little more than it already was. You were avoiding eye contact with him, sobbing, although quietly, and he pulled your head closer to his chest, his shirt soaked with your tears.

He felt your pain, but even more so he felt angry. Cyno was actually a distant relative of Sethos’, and even though they weren’t on speaking terms anymore, he didn’t expect this from Cyno.

For a few minutes he remained quiet, wanting you to get everything out of your system, this was hard for you. He patiently waited for you to speak when finally, the tears had ceased. You looked up at him. “...Sethos… what should I do?” 

Sethos reminded himself that a) you weren’t very sure if Cyno was cheating on you or if this was just a big misunderstanding and b) even if it wasn’t a big misunderstanding, you didn’t think you could handle leaving the man you loved so much. Knowing you, you would happily go along with marrying him if it meant you could stay with him, even if his heart wasn’t yours anymore. “You don’t want to confront them, just in case you're wrong. You don’t want to expose them, just in case you're right. It wouldn’t be a good look on you, princess, and definitely not on those two. So…?” You looked at him helplessly, pulling away from his comforting embrace. “You need to figure out what you want to do. You don’t deserve him, you don’t deserve this… you’re an absolutely amazing woman.”

“I may be the enemy, but I’m also your friend. Remember that.” he placed a hand on your shoulder. “...How about this? I’ll… I'll find proof. Undisputed, concrete proof that he’s cheating on you. And then you’ll be satisfied, and we can decide how we should move forward, hm?” 

You looked at him incredulously. “You’d do that?”

“I’m a pretty good spy, you know that. I can do this without getting caught,” a confident smile appeared on his face. “How do you think I’ve been getting in and out of your room every evening these past weeks if I couldn’t, eh?” He pointed out and chuckled, and he could see that you were already beginning to feel better. 

“Ugh, thank you, Sethos…! You’re actually the best.” Wiping the last of your tears away, you nodded, thankful of Sethos’ constant support. This was the person people hated so severely? You wrapped your arms around his neck, his smirk softening into a gentle smile and patted your head in silent affection. At least you were smiling a little now?

“I’ll get you that proof, okay? Promise. Trust me.” 

You huffed. “I trust you, Sethos.” Trust… Sethos couldn’t suppress a grin at your admission.

—

“Where do these flowers keep coming from, [name]?” It was a simple question. Nothing that Cyno really cared about, coming back from a mission after two weeks he only cared to see you. Not that Sethos mentioned that he’d seen him with Nilou in the forest just four days ago, likely for a quick meeting with his new love. How could you believe that Cyno wasn’t truly cheating? He’d wanted to tell you, and yet he couldn’t hurt you further with that.

Cyno was supposed to come back a little later, Sethos had planned another secret meeting with you just so he could find time to see you before your cheating fiance came back. Early was not something he was expecting.

“Where would they be coming from, dear?” The pet name slipped out, and a part of you felt guilty for speaking to Cyno so sweetly when you’d been telling Sethos you’d try to stop loving him. And Sethos was currently hiding out behind your wardrobe, listening to the conversation happening outside. No doubt he was listening, and Sethos had to stop himself from scoffing at them.

“Do you go picking flowers often?” Cyno asked you curiously. No, your worst enemy, the kingdom’s worst enemy comes into my room every evening to assure me that my sorry excuse life of a princess is actually fine and he shows me love that you don’t, by, as an example, giving me flowers that he actually knows I love—

“From time to time, yes.” You shifted your weight to either foot, eyeing him like he was eyeing those flowers; accusingly. But he dropped it. Flopped onto your bed and buried his face in your bedsheets. He was exhausted.

He opened his eyes when you didn’t say anything, expecting a warm welcome from his lover, but… “Are you feeling alright?” He lifted his head to look at you, and luckily he didn't notice your distraction. Or the way your gaze flicked worriedly towards the wardrobe, where Sethos was currently trying to remain silent.

“Er… when do you have to leave again?” 

Cyno rolled over to his side to face you again, raising an eyebrow. “You’re already waiting for me to leave?” Yes, but you couldn’t say that, could you? “...Tonight. Just a few hours, and I’ll be gone by then. It’s a shame I can't spend as much time with you like we used to.”

“Ah, I’ll miss you.” That wasn’t a lie, you would miss him. But you were also trying to deny that in your heart, you wouldn’t miss him as much as you usually did. He sat up.

“I’m sure you will.” Rather dismissive today, wasn’t he? You supposed he was just tired. He got up, and simply placed a kiss on your forehead. “I need to go prepare. Don't miss me too much, okay? I don't need you worrying about me when I'll be fine.” He didn’t even look at you after that.

When you were certain he left, you let out a breath you didn’t know you’d been holding, and Sethos remained hidden for a good moment or two after Cyno left. You closed the bedroom door, trying to push down the anxiety you always felt when people were just moments away from catching the enemy. In your room. When Sethos emerged from the wardrobe, he stretched his limbs.

“Close one. We nearly got caught.” he smirked. You grumbled; hadn’t it been Sethos who’d told you Cyno was coming home later? 

“You make it sound like we’re doing something we’re not supposed to.” 

“We are, though?” Sethos sat on the edge of your bed, looking at you intently, his smirk disappeared from his face. “...Remember how I told you I’d find evidence for Cyno cheating on you?” Your eyes were only focused on him at that moment, your heart beating at your ribcage painfully.

“Well, I found it.” 

[shadowtraveled]

this is a largely meaningless observation but, based on the fleki uniform demonstration comic, mithrun seems to wear the default style of the canary uniform, probably because he has no desire to personalize it or preference for how to do so, etc. when he does seem to pick his own clothes, though, they don’t look super in-line with what we’re shown of elven clothing styles in his region: high collars look like they’re fairly popular with elves in general, but out of uniform he tends to be a lot more covered up than everyone else—long sleeves, long pants, boots rather than sandals, and he dresses that way both prior to getting eaten and after the events of the series. anyway it’s kind of cute that after everything that happened to him, someone cared enough to remember what his clothing preferences used to be.

[brofightiscancelled]

So if choro hate real…. What’s the current actual ranking of the brothers.

my overall brother ranking is here.... i thought about this a little more deeply and i think if you break down the definition of "i like this character" between "i like rotating this character in my head" and "i get joy from seeing this character in fanart/amv/official illustrations/merch", the rankings are different

rotation ranking: oso > totty >>>> choro >> kara = jyushi = ichi

joy from seeing them ranking: jyushi >>>>>> ichi > oso = kara = totty >>>>>>>> choro

[talentforlying]

priest: i don't, ah, quite know what to say to you. if you are in such terrible danger, why are you taking it all so calmly? constantine: hmh! i dunno, father. i had a bloke beaten to a pulp earlier this evening. that sound calm to you? priest: you did what...? constantine: i must've been off me bleedin' rocker. i've never done anything like it before in me life, y'know?

constantine: but there's header gets his guts blown out, and george is stickin' his head in the noose, and helen gets ... jesus, then friggin' sarah bites me head off — ! everything's coming to bits in me hands and it's so easy to just see red and now, shit, they could've killed the tosser for all i know! and now i'm just like the bastards i've hated all me life! kill him! fire him! close them down! piss all over him! screw you, i can do whatever i want! i so much as blink and you're dead, pal! i'm in charge!! ...

constantine: 'scuse me, father. i'm always like this when i don't get me own way. — hellblazer #81, "rake at the gates of hell pt. 4"

babygirl you are just....so, sooooo offputting. (and grieving, and guilty, and terrified, but yeah: offputting.)

anyway, it's issues like this one that remind me why i kind of hesitate over some of the retcons in the recent spurrier runs, like the one with him now having opened dream's pouch of sand and stolen some before they even met. because like, it's easy enough to look at john constantine now — with 70 years of worst possible choices and unresolved trauma crystallizing underneath his skin to cover up all the soft, hopeful bits where he's used to getting hit — and assign him arbiter of ill intentions, magus of wasted potential, saint of shit choices, but man . . . he was new to this, once. he was still new to this 80 issues in.

80 issues in, and he's not used to losing friends yet; he even has time enough between catastrophes to grieve each individual one. still has enough left to live for at this stage to necessitate running and hiding, instead of bodily throwing himself at the problem like he learns to later, or sitting apathetically by to do nothing except smoke and watch the world fall apart when he finally gives up. fuck, he still apologizes.

and you're telling me this guy, this soppy wet cat motherfucker hiding from the devil in a church basement, so guilty over not knowing what happened to the guy that he paid people (paid chas, so chas could pay people) to attack that the bottle he's holding in this scene isn't even his second or third........this guy's past, more innocent self lied right to the face of DREAM OF THE ENDLESS and got away with it?

hm. i just don't know about all that.

[hundredowls]

silly oc doodle..... ballroom yuri

[orcelito]

Also remembering that I get to write wolfwood next chapter and I'm a widdle nervous bc this is a Big Moment and I only wrote him a little bit with Sentido and it's been 8 months since then

But im also REALLY excited bc I get to finally (FINALLY) start executing the vashwood concepts I'd thought up at the damned START of this fic

So much relationship development to get to. So much Wolfwood to get to. Very exciting things.

[fingertipsmp3]

Ughhhhhhh I hate writing and I hate not writing and I hate myself

[illdothehotvoice]

I hope you all know that the King Papyrus ending literally lives rent free in my head I think about it a lot-

[piglii]

not that I’m posting about it a lot but I do see why people like Succession so much. I just spent the last half hour hiding my face behind my hands because I didn’t know if I could  physically handle watching what was happening on screen.

[ultfan]

RANDOM KOMAEDA RAMBLE #1.

komaeda has pretty abnormal eating habits. he tends to only eat certain foods, most often things high in carbs. these, of course, being pretty common symptoms of bvFTD. it's definitely a behavior that started in his late teens. however, as a side effect of his lymphoma he has a decreased appetite, often feeling full after hardly eating. it's shown both in game and in his art book that it isn't rare for him to just have a single piece of plain toast for breakfast.

i do think that's something that got worse during his time as an ultimate despair. especially when he was working as a servant for the warriors of hope— i remember reading somewhere that they didn't feed him and he messed up their food on purpose because it was the only time he'd be able to eat something. even if it was gross.

in a post-dr2 world i do imagine komaeda would be lucky enough to beat cancer with the proper treatment— which i can't imagine wouldn't be provided to him given all the effort that's gone into the rehabilitation of the remnants. after that point i feel like komaeda would start developing a habit of binge-eating, doing a bit of a 180, and probably gaining a sweet tooth that he didn't have before. that would be something that happens over the last few years of his life as his symptoms get worse. given that he's lived way past his original life expectancy, i think komaeda would probably end up at the later end of the average life expectancy. which would get him to 25-29 at the latest. so he'd have 3-7 years left after the neo world program.

this was just supposed to be about eating habits and then i started talking about his life expectancy... oops.

[sparklecur]

heehee hoo i love anxiety i love being anxious over people not reblogging my stuff

[erb23]

I miss [some of the comic characters I read] having civilian friends. Or just a civilian life in general.

If you don't balance out the heroics with them having something to come home to and live through then why are they even putting on a mask to fight for?

[cheer-nympho]

Steve was always being brushed off when he asked people to read things aloud for him,

In middle school his assigned partner for their ‘Frankenstein’ project gave him a scornful glare and ignored him when he had asked them to read the passages aloud.

In his sophomore year, he’d turned to ask Robin Buckley to read a old newspaper article about the ‘Wild West’ to him, because he couldn’t make it out through the fonts and weird words. She had fixed him with a cold look but before she could respond, Tammy was tapping his shoulder offering her help.

Then, while studying with Nancy and Barb at lunch, Steve had asked for help reading study cards. His own study cards. The paper was too bright and the squiggles too squiggly. Both of them had looked at him, them each other, clearly trying to decide if it was a joke.

Barb had scoffed under Nancys pointed look and gone back to her own notes. And while Nancy hadn’t read them out for him, she had handed him her own notes on some nice blue and yellow cards. It took him a while, but he could read them. Maybe she thought he hadn’t wrote any.

After that, he went a long time without asking anyone to read him things. Turns out that once you graduate, reading isn’t much of an issue. He’d gotten by just fine by looking at his Archie comics and ignoring the swirling lines of articles surrounding them.

He didn’t need to ask again until Scoops Ahoy. For a cheap, overly themed ice cream parlour there sure was a whole lot of memorising and reading to be done. He couldn’t see the charts properly, couldn’t really make out the dates on the tubs in the freezer. But every time he asked Robin for help, her frown would deepen and deepen until she just snapped. It hadn’t been that mean, really. Just an annoyed yell followed by accusations of being lazy, her not understanding how he managed to graduate, one last comment of him being a ‘bumbling idiot’.

After the Russians, she never said anything like that to him again. And she always did the inventory and lists for him.

It takes until summer, 1987, for anyone to read aloud to Steve. They were laying across Eddie’s new bed in comfortable silence.

Steve had his legs dangling off the edges as Eddie leant back against him, legs pointing up against the wall in a way he swore was actually comfortable. He had been reading a new book called “Spellfire” and he couldn’t seem to put it down.

“Eddie?”

“Hm?”

“What’s your book about?”

“This? Well I…Not sure it’s really your thing, man.”

“Maybe.” He goes back to reading. “I could see if it’s my thing?”

Eddie twists his head sideways to look up at Steve with a slightly confused face. “You wanna borrow it?”

“Was thinking you could read it.” He fiddled with the pocket of his jeans in a hopefully casual and not freaking out way. He didn’t look at Eddie as he waited, but after a few moments he responded.

“Sure. That’s fine, yeah. Want me to start over or go from here?”

“From there is good.”

And it was good, it was really really good. Steve hadn’t been able to read a book since middle school, hadn’t really tried again after that. But as he lay back and let Eddie’s voice wash over him he couldn’t help feeling that he’d been missing out.

Sure, it actually wasn’t really his thing, but the way Eddie read aloud painted such a clear picture that Steve enjoyed it anyway. The other would change his voice slightly for different characters and added emotions into his speaking. If it was a tense moment, he’d go slow and add gaps in just the right places. If it was fast paced he’d speed up and get more and more manic until the action cut off. He felt like he was reading along. Felt like he could see the pages in the book, but also the characters and the dungeon they were combining through.

So, for the first time Steve hadn’t been brushed off. He had probably found the only person he knew who could turn reading a book into a performance. One he would happily be seated for every night.

From then on, new books turned up at the trailer every week, Steve not far behind.

[occudo]

An incomplete list of TMA fics I adore

-beacuse of this ask

(If you liked the fics I previously recommended/made fanart for, I think you'll gonna like these as well, but you know, read the tags, know what you are going into)

Yesterday is Here by CirrusGrey @cirrus-grey

Time Travel Fix-it! Slow burn! So good! So much sass from future!Jon- I doubt I have to introduce anyone this amazing author, but if you somehow missed them till now, this is your time! I highly recommend all of their other fics as well, for example one of a more recent one, The Stranger I Know Best is also a lovely read.

enthralling by Prim_the_Amazing @primtheamazing

Vampire!Martin!! I have no words of how much I love this concept, this story, everything about this. I think I'm going to repeat myself through this list, but I also recommend everything else they've written!

to fill... my heart with music? by godshaper @godshaper so their Martin and Jon design are different from mine, also they made a way better art for this- but still, I wanted to include this really good fic in this list.

Do It All Anew by inkfingers_mcgee or @crit20art

You know the feeling when you read a book that makes you cry, and after that you recommend it to your friend? Well- there is no reason I mentioned this, I'm just so normal about this fic. Or any other fic from inkfingers_mcgee... like Strange Manner of what I made another fanart way back. Also, check out their art!

Anyway, here is Aamal- she is not going to cause emotional damage.

And they were sidekicks (oh my god, they were sidekicks) by arthureameslove @arthureameslove

A lighthearted series where Jon and Martin are sidekicks of supervillains- it's just a really fun fic, also recommend everyting from this author - I previously draw fanart here for an other fic of theirs Like a Lighthouse, Call Me Home

neither sad, nor sick, nor merry, nor well by saintbleeding @saintbleeding

To quote the aurthour: "Post-divorce Jon and Martin in a wedding-based romcom" It's such a comfort read, also has a Tim/Sasha wedding, and lots of cameos! I realised most of these authors I made fanarts for before- like this one for some kind of miraculous bind, this one is oneshot and a bit more serious in tone.

Give Me the Words by rakel @rakel-on-ao3

"Jon and Martin try to make the most of a bad situation in the Scottish Highlands. The situation is worse than they realised." You know that one post about wanting to write PWP, but it keeps turning into character study? Well, this one comes to my mind each time I see that.

i wanna find a home (i wanna share it with you) by heartshapedguy @transgenderboobs

So what would have happened if instead of the cot (tm), Jon offered Martin his own flat to stay? There is no way it's going to change their relationship, right? Such a good read, if you want some fluff, I highly recommend it!

Lucky Stars by magnetarmadda @magnetarmadda

Martin has a lovely family (except his mother) but still, he needs a fake boyfriend, and Jon comes to the rescue. It's one of the first fics I remember reading after I finished the series. It is such a comfort read of mine~

(+enjoy a rare tall Jon from me)

There are so many more fics that also deserve the spotlight, these are just the ones I read multiple times and/or didn't made fanarts for before. If you find something here you like, give them some love! Kudos and comments! They deserve it. (Also, just an extra disclamier some of these are PWP or rated T- just mind the tags)

I tried to link and tag everything, I hope it works.

[tori-artemis]

Oh this is a great question to think about! Tbh I had a lot of hopes back when the series was premiering (and before when it was just announced), so to go off of those... well first off, I really really wanted an exploration of Loki's trauma, his past and even his psyche. Like I know a psychological thriller/horror probably wouldn't have been in the cards for a Disney+ show, but tbf I feel like the creators of Wandavision touched on aspects found in those types of genres (if in a PG 13 kind of way) so I don't think I was too off base for hoping to see something like that for Loki. (Not to mention the ridiculous comparisons to films like Se7en and The Silence of the Lambs that Mike Waldron kept making... but I'm not gonna get into that rant again.)

I think I would've put a lot of focus on what the hell actually happened to Loki when he fell into the Void and disappeared for an entire year or so, and how he ended up encountering Thanos and the Black Order, how that all went down, etc. Either through flashbacks, or (possibly altered) memories, or Loki recounting those events interview/interrogation-style (and being an extremely unreliable narrator in doing so, like for instance saying something like "I made a deal with Thanos and worked with him willingly" and then at some point you see into his head through flashbacks/night terrors and realize that clearly wasn't the case, just stuff like that). The possibilities were endless tbh, like there's just so many creative opportunities to explore that one aspect of Loki's backstory. And since that's such a burning question to me (and many other fans tbh) still to this day, I feel like that'd be the first thing I'd want to tackle.

Another important thing I'd want to include would be Loki's gender fluidity and his bi identity. Like I don't think it necessarily has to go with Loki referring to himself as bi, like I don't think he has to say the actual word "bi" in order to give any meaningful kind of rep?? Especially now that Agatha All Along has come out, I feel like I'd want to approach Loki's identity in a similar type of way, just unapologetic, and as authentic as possible to his comic book counter part. Like hell, he can have hang ups with those parts of his identity (which would actually make sense, being from Asgard and since he already has a lot of self-loathing issues in general due to being Jotun).

I wouldn't mind that, especially if it was done in a non-typical way, like maybe it's not being sexually intimate with men/males that's looked down upon on Asgard, but - similar to the Norse apparently - it's on what role they play, or basically who's the "bottom" - that gets shamed, or maybe same sex relationships aren't looked down upon at all on Asgard, but giving birth/getting pregnant while being/presenting as male is, bc it's seen as unnatural, and then let Loki go through an experience where he develops deep rooted insecurities about those aspects of his identity due to Asgard's cultural prejudices. And like this doesn't even have to be explicit (tho after the birth scenes in both Wandavision and especially Agatha All Along I can't help but roll my eyes at ppl having a hang up with Loki going thru something like this, especially if they were totally okay with Wanda and Agatha having birthing scenes, but anyways). It can be something as simple and as subtle as Loki finding out he's pregnant (maybe he can magically feel the fetus growing inside him, or he can hear the heartbeat/etc, or maybe it's as simple as having morning sickness and/or a change of diet). And it just ends up with him drinking tea/potion (due to pressure from Odin/Frigga/society, or maybe he's not ready and seeks it out himself) which gets rid of the baby, but again it's done in a very non graphic way. Of course the whole mpreg thing is just an example, and doesn't have to be in a series about Loki (that's what fanfic is for!) but basically: let Loki be queer, he can have hang ups about being queer, and tbh I'd want the hang ups to be kind of different from the usual discussions/portrayals of queerness in media mainly bc Asgard's an alien/fantasy society so I'd want their cultural norms to be pretty different from ours (human society in general), but overall just let Loki be queer, goddamnit!

Furthermore, I'd want to explore Loki's self loathing in particular, and see his view of himself change as he develops and grows throughout the series. If he encounters other versions of himself then I'd want to see what that would look like... and preferably done differently from how the show approached it (regarding Sylvie). Like I don't want him to just, I don't know, praise his other self up the way he ends up doing in the series (I know he also fought with Sylvie at the beginning but tbh I couldn't really take their rivalry seriously, it felt very sibling-like - which I actually enjoyed at the time, mind you, but a reflection of one's internal self-hatred it certainly is NOT, and like overall the whole dynamic just didn't work for me bc I find those two characters so undeniably different from each other and therefore it doesn't really work as a metaphor for self hatred/self love, but that's neither here nor there).

Like - let it be messy! Let it actually be vitriolic and hateful if that's what the series is trying to convey. Let Loki be angry, let him rage, let him lash out - at versions of himself and at other characters, like c'mon! This is a character that has a lot of inner darkness and has suffered through a lot of trauma and has difficulty trusting others due to said trauma (especially if we're going with Avengers era Loki) so how about we Show That.

Tbh I wouldn't have minded for Loki's main villain (both in the series overall and wrt the lead character) to be a version of himself. (As long as it was portrayed in a thoughtful way, like don't just make him evil please, in fact he doesn't even have to be evil at all - he doesn't have to destroy or conquer other worlds, he could literally just be out there destroying all versions of Loki, which would force our protagonist to fight/confront this person hunting him down). Like I think there would be so many possibilities for all of the ways a protagonist could deal with a "villain" - or rather, an antagonist like that. Some far more darker than others, depending on how you want your story to go. Like it could end similarly to the Agent of Asgard comics (where I believe Loki ends up forgiving and embracing his "evil" self... tho I've not read the comics so please feel free to correct me if I've gotten something wrong). Or if I were writing this series, I would've just had Loki forced into a position where, after being worn down to reaching his emotional breaking point, and in a fit of sheer rage, he'd end up brutally murdering the antagonistic version of himself, in the ultimate form of self destruction, and then I'd have him reeling from the internal consequences of such an extreme form of violence done against himself - but that's just my ridiculously morbid psychological-horror-loving ass for you. I'd just want to completely unravel him ngl, before having him overcome the impossible by rebuilding himself once more (w/ a little help from his newfound friends)...

If the TVA had to be involved in some way, I'd want to approach them as an ominous totalitarian organization, and if Loki were to be tortured by said organization, it most certainly would NOT be portrayed as some throw-away-attempt-at-comedy-type-of-scene (AHEM). I'd go for a darker tone overall, and Loki's torture at the TVA would be portrayed with all of the horror demanded by those types of scenes dealing with that kind of subject matter.

Tbh I have so many ideas for a Loki-centric show, some that involve the TVA and some that don't, but there's just so many threads and I don't want to make this any more convoluted than it already is, so to put it simply: I'd want the focus to be on Loki first and foremost. If it's called Loki, then it should be about the main lead, similar to how Agatha All Along was about Agatha, and Wandavision was about Wanda. (Which means, if the TVA has to be involved, then they would be secondary to the series' main focus - which would be on Loki and his relationship with himself.) Secondly, I'd want to see his trauma not only brought up, but fully explored. Which includes his traumatic upbringing (Odin's A++ Parenting, Frigga's enabling, family dysfunction, Asgard's toxic social/cultural norms) as well as the horror he experienced in the Void and on Sanctuary, maybe even some events in the first Avengers film, but seen through Loki's eyes this time. And I'd just want Loki to be queer, so if he's bi then let him have previous (or current!) relationships (or flirtations) with men (or attraction towards men) as well as women, if he's gender fluid then Show. That. Whether he physically transforms into a woman at times, or through his inner monologue where he refers to himself with different pronouns even if his gender presentation hasn't changed, or even his ambivalence towards being trapped/labeled in a one-gender-ticked-box, but Show. It. That part of his identity deserves to be shown, especially in a series where Loki's the central character.

If you yourself could’ve directed/wrote the Loki series, what would you have done differently? What would you have wanted to see in a series about Loki? What would you have focused on? Would the series take place somewhere other than the TVA? Which characters would you include? What would be the end goal? What aspects of his character would be explored?

[illubean]

Could I get headcanons for Feitan, Illumi, Leorio, and Chrollo falling for gn!reader who by all means seems like a strong, nuturing, emotionally stable individual but every once in awhile casually says or does smthin that makes people go "Oh you're a little fuckin nuts, actually"

(e.x.: Most of their D.I.Y. furniture is made of different kinds of bone, morbidly interested in the more gorey parts of their jobs, probably works in a field that allows them to be around the dead often like a taxidermist or a mortitian, highkey just unabashashedly a morbid little freak™️ whenever it comes up naturally in conversation but otherwise comes across as just an attentive lil guy you could bring home the average parents would love.)

HXH Men with a Morbid!S/o

Characters: Leorio Paladaknight, Illumi Zoldyck, Chrollo Lucilfer, Feitan Portor Type: Headcanons, Gn!reader

this is so me

Warnings: dead things and body parts and stuff

Leorio Paladaknight

being an aspiring doctor, Leorio thought that your knowledge on both human and animal anatomy was pretty useful

at first he didn't think much about your job and just assumed you were some type of doctor or biologist or something

he often asks you questions as he studies and you're a pretty good tutor

the first time Leorio realized you were kinda weird is when one day you were walking down the street and saw some roadkill

and you were like "aww too bad, the skin and bones are too damaged to harvest"

and you kept walking like it was normal while he was like ?!!??!?

or you guys were having a normal conversation and you say something like

"if you died i'd taxidermy you and re-articulate your skeleton so you'd be with me forever <3"

1 taxidermizing humans is illegal and 2 WHAT

he is cold sweating wtf did he get himself into

when he comes to your house for the first time and sees a bunch of bones, animal skins and wet specimens he damn near passes the fuck out

how do you just casually have dead things and remains around your house!?

AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU MADE YOUR COFFEE TABLE OUT OF CAMEL BONES?

he is freaking the fuck out and you're just like "dw everything is ethically sourced :D"

yeah he thinks you're a freak and he is too fearful to break up with you ever (not like he was planning to anyways)

Illumi Zoldyck

whatever drew Illumi to you had to have been some type of power

aside from that power, to Illumi you were relatively normal and had a good grip on your emotions which made you a perfect candidate

that being said he could care less what your job was, you'd just end up working for or with him eventually

when he started bringing you around the estate, you often sought out their guard dog Mike and Illumi couldn't think of why

that is until you came back one day with a human femur and bright smile on your face

"... where did you even get that?" "From one of Mike's victims. If I collect enough I could make a whole set of bar stools!"

he blinked at you and chose to ignore your statement

i mean, to each their own am i right?

so you have ah hobby, big deal

Illumi just thinks you're pretty normal personality wise until you randomly but casually drop information about what you do in your free time or have in your home

so now whenever he has a job Illumi calls you in for cleanup

you get to do.... whatever it is you do and there's no evidence of a dead body left behind, it's a win win

Chrollo Lucilfer

he couldn't care less what your job is because it's probably not worse than his 😭

he didn't really notice anything "morbid" about you until he asked about your jewlery

you wore things like resin caster bug pendants or bird skull earrings and stuff

he just assumed they were fake and you bought them because they looked badass

but then you told him you make it all YOURSELF

he is intrigued

he doesn't really question you past that because you were probably buying the bones and stuff somewhere (spoiler alert you're not)

what really caused him to think was when you casually just picked up a dead rat off the floor in some abandoned building you were exploring and suck it in your pocket

bro was so confused

"What do you need that for?" "To make a new necklace :3"

yeah now he knows that your odd taste in jewelry goes deeper than just that

he won't judge you though, if anything you're a better person than he is considering you don't kill things yourself

he is literally a murderer and a thief and has committed like 3467633788 crimes so he couldn't judge even if he wanted to

so now when he sees dead animals and what not he bags them up and brings them to you

he likes to sit in on your cleaning and making process

you seem like a perfectly normal and sweet person to everyone else but Chrollo knows about your freaky little hobby and it just makes him like you even more

Feitan Portor

I feel like for you and Feitan to even be acquainted you have to be part of the troupe

whatever you do outside of it is your business

buttttttt since you are his s/o and Feitan is probably homeless he crashes wherever you are

thus him finding out about your hobby and other job

out of everyone on this list he is the most interested

he too is a morbid little freak

he goes with you to find things and will help you with the cleaning/taxidermy or whatever process if you let him

what he doesn't understand though is why you don't just kill the things you want instead of hunting for already dead things

sometimes he will go catch like a squirrel or something and bring it back to you like a cat and tell you he found it like that

Fei baby. No the fuck you didn't

after doing what you're doing for so long you can tell what caused an animal to die but you wouldn't tell him that

he's just so cute and wants to be supportive of your hobby <3