#Cause he's also not after control so much as filling the void of his own insecurities and sometimes this is done through manipulating Louis

[dxxtruction]

Personally, I think the “That’s how it happened right? You standing in my blood, stroking my hair?” Was how it happened. Louis is just super detached from that headspace he was in before, and validly wanting not to have it be true that he didn’t, at one time, care about Claudia being gone, would be reasonable, and in character. Blaming Armand, partly, for why things got to be like that is correct. Though in this instance is misdirected to include things Armand did not in fact do to get it to be like that, but had, very much, done in a recent unrelated incident. He's essentially combining two events together to get it to align with his current set of beliefs. (Surely everyone's looked back on a situation before and saw it differently given time to think or feel differently about it. Get differing information, and so on. The show is directing us to that a lot, if not making it one of its major themes.)

But I say this is probably, almost definitely, the case, because Louis story beats need to be told accurately lest it take away from his character arc, as well his whole character and its complexity. Obstructing from his, very powerful, highly emotionally driven, story in a way that's frankly offensive. Armand having total and complete control over it, is bullshit. While, he does this though, to himself. Does a character armor on himself to get away from his own flaws, and role, in how things came about. Not intentionally, because it is emotional, and a lot of times just a result of blocking out that trauma. But this is something he’s seen doing often - Not remembering situations in the light in which they’re most accurate, and in so doing painting himself better sometimes, and others worse. Straight up forgetting, or overlooking information, and so never reevaluating why certain things came about until this moment. Not accurately applying the emotions of then, to the way he feels about it now, because he can't, or couldn't previously, actually remember it in that way. As he doesn't connect to those feelings, even those memories. His feelings in a lot of ways keep clouding his memories and his judgments of them.

Daniel gets at this too, where he brings up the tapes, and how Louis was basically just raving the whole time, and this story all happened differently then. It's the same story beats, yes, but it's all so emotionally different to the point where information gets completely changed around, even looked at like it's forcefully constructed to be a certain way, and not actually, therefore, accurate. Louis always tells an emotional story, and that’s important. It places him in time and continuum, in his own history as opposed to outside of it. That’s like, I think a history that can’t be overlooked, even if it's a history that's subject to change. And shouldn't history be? Shouldn't we look back on events that took place in our lives differently? Isn't that how any society grows? And why shouldn't Louis judgments be clouded by his emotions when that's the reason for most any other characters actions? Isn't that the story being told here?

[blughxreader]

Soft yandere Miguel O’Hara

cw: noncon, breeding, kidnapping, m masturbation, biting, SPOILERS. Headcanons and drabble. 1.4k words.

Mean dom Miguel is so hot, but I find that soft yan Miguel has so much overlap with canon.

This man still does all the sick and deplorable things a villain does, but in a way that's strangely tender.

I mean, you simultaneously have to be a sweet man and a stone-cold motherfucker to step in the shoes of your dead counterpart and con his family into thinking everything is fine. Like, he (eventually) fucked a dead man's wife, adopted his child, and seamlessly integrated into his shoes.

While certainly calloused, it also reveals a profound desperation for love and a willingness to do anything for it.

Enter you: a Spider from a random dimension that got caught up in an anomaly's destruction. Maybe your world was destroyed or it's emotionally difficult for you to return, so you end up spending a lot of time at HQ.

Miguel doesn't notice you for a while. There's hundreds of Spiders milling about the base, so it's only until you befriend Peter B and his baby that you get acquainted.

You draw him in without trying, no matter the walls that Miguel puts up. He needs to focus—everyone's very existence is at stake, dammit,—but by month five, you're the only thing he can think about.

His advances start off slow, bogged down by his own exasperation at himself. You're ordered to give in-person de-briefs in Miguel's office and get invited to lunch with him and Peter B, giving you the impression of an upcoming promotion. Miguel is as poised as ever, not letting a single stray emotion color his expression, and talks to you in an aloof, polite manner.

However uninterested he might seem, his insides tighten and flutter at your growing friendship. Every time you smile or secretly share a bemused look, he sinks deeper and deeper in his desire to have you.

Proximity-wise, Miguel vacillates between sitting next to you, close enough for your elbows to brush, and standing 30 feet away on his podium for the next week.

His involuntary, physical reactions startle him, and it becomes another contention he internally wars about. The second he thinks it's harmless to brush against you, it divulges into grabbing—cupping—pinning—fucking—ruining.

God, he fucking loathes the powerless feeling you inflict on him, but he doesn't have the strength to put an end to your friendship. He furiously jerks off after every meeting, biting into his hand to punish himself as he comes to the thought of you swollen with his child.

He thinks of all the deplorable ways to make you pay for causing these feelings, but he ultimately knows the blame lies within him. You see him as a boss and friend, nothing more. You would never intentionally drag him down to this state, so he bottles up all these feelings for your protection.

It takes a particularly bad mission for his control to break.

Whatever reservations he had about locking you in his bedroom evaporate when he sees you covered in blood and rubble. Protecting you from himself was one thing, but the thousands of universes?

You didn't realize what happened until you woke up in an unfamiliar bedroom, weary from pain medication.

He takes your fear, anger, and tears in stride.

While he can't shake his bitchy personality, his annoyance always fizzles out to mumbles and sighs. For months, he takes your verbal abuse and outbursts with resigned acceptance. Miguel didn't always like what he had to do, but he would commit any atrocity if it meant keeping you at his side.

He moves some of his work at home to spend more time with you, just content to occupy the same room while you adjusted to your new situation.

Your shared apartment is quiet most days, save for sporadic outbursts of rage from you, and Miguel daydreams about having a few little kids running around to fill the void.

He stares at you most evenings, watching you curled up on the couch pointedly ignoring him. Miguel thinks you wouldn't be so belligerent if you needed him for something, if you craved his presence and help in some way.

Miguel's mind always drifts back to his favorite fantasies on nights like these: you nine months pregnant and too big for anything other than his shirts. His eyes drift down to your stomach, to the place where you could make his dreams come true.

Patience is something Miguel prides himself on, which is why he puts up with the loneliness for nearly a year after bringing you home. You were given ample time to warm up to him and he's been nothing but kind. Every broken plate and spoiled food, every scratch across his face, every insult—he let you have your way in hopes that you'll eventually recognize him as your lover.

But no. You complained and struggled every step of the way.

Miguel could never hurt you, but he realized that more permanent and assertive measures had to be taken to make you see that you need and love him as much as he does you.

---

When he finally takes you, there's hardly any space between your bodies. There are months of touch starvation to make up for and Miguel is compensating all at once.

His entire 6'9" stature pins you to his bed, locking you between arms as large as your thighs. Miguel is the only thing you see or feel, as his hands caress every dip and curve of your body and his cock grinds against your slit.

With your legs helplessly hiked up around his waist and one of his hands pinning your wrists above your head, he makes love to you with a slow burning intensity.

Your fear and disgust are palpable, but between his sweet voice in your ear and his fingers somehow knowing the rhythm and speed to play with your clit, you're more wet than you've ever been.

"Shh, shh, mi cornazón. I have you." Miguel kisses your jaw, his cock rocking in and out of your aching heat with an agonizingly slow pace. "Just breathe steadily and let me take care of you."

He's too big inside of you, and your grunts of pain make him linger in place to help you adjust. When his stride picks up and the wet sounds of sex fill the bedroom, disgust roils in your stomach. Yet fuck, fuck, fuck, your body temperature rises with each stroke.

Miguel kisses you deeply, using his free hand to hold your head in place. He says, "It's time. I've been so patient. Be brave for me and take our baby."

He swallows your horrified pleading with another scorching kiss.

Your pussy clenches around his dick and your breath catches in your throat. Miguel hugs you tighter, his nose pressed into your hair as he angles himself just right. When the first waves of your orgasm make your head dip back, the sharp edge of fangs scratch your neck.

You barely register his mantra of, "Te amo," when his jaw clamps down on your shoulder. Blood spurts from between his teeth, and you cry out in confused pain as your orgasm shakes your body.

Miguel moans into your flesh seconds later, pumping his cum deep inside you. His thrusting is uncoordinated and rough, too blinded by pleasure to notice how powerful his pounding is. The mattress springs whine beneath you two, and you can only cry from the overwhelming treatment.

He milks every last drop of cum into your cunt before he begins to slow. Both of you gasp for breath, your chests heaving against one another's as sweat cools on your hot skin.

He keeps you plugged up for a while longer to give the conception time. His bloodied lips drag across the wound on your shoulder, peppering you with kisses as he trails red along your neck.

A sob shutters in your chest as Miguel runs a palm along your stomach.

"You'll understand soon. I promise. This will be the best thing that's ever happened to us."

[ash-says]

Saviour Complex Fever:

Let's address the saviour Complex today and no I am not talking here only in the romantic sense but also in platonic, familial,etc ways.

Ohh my traumatized girlies you better get your attention piqued up here cause this can be a call out or triggering post.

Speaking in my corporate babe language I am going to adopt both top to bottom and bottom to top approach to make sure you understand the problem. So without circumventing much I am going in for the goal.

1) Top to bottom Approach:

Starting with the OG," I can fix them" attitude.

Calm down babe, you can't. How about first fixing your sleep schedule for the starters?

We usually see this attitude being discussed a lot in the romantic hemisphere but I profoundly believe it plays a pivotal role in other bonds we have with people and tend to bleed into our romantic life so on and so forth.

Example: Take a child who is five years old and the parents are irresponsible. The child learns early on not only to look after itself but also acts as a therapist to his parents if one of them has zero sense of emotional boundaries and tends to trauma dump on the child. The child will look for ways in which he/she can make things easier and happier for the parent. In a way try to fix the parent and take on the role of being an adult.

How does it affect the bonds you create as an adult?

You become the mom friend.

The mama duck of the group who is always making sure everyone is taken care of properly.

You go above and beyond your comfort to help your friends out.

Take responsibility for your immediate surroundings.

Always trying to be the best and act like a saviour.

Last but not the least, people violate your boundaries time and time again but you forgive them and treat them like a child despite them being functioning adults.

So your homework is to assess your friendships, familial relationships, romantic relationships and check whether you are babysitting a adult?

If yes, are you getting paid for it enough?

No, drop the role.

2) Bottom to Top Approach:

Even the saviour dreams of being saved at times.

One of the potent reasons we tend to pick on the saviour role is because deep down we want to be saved. Salvation is what we desire.

Someone to lean on. A rock solid support. To lower our guards and be present without a worry.

Then we are faced with the harsh realities and realise it's not as simple as we think it is.

Therefore, whenever we see someone in need our instinct activates and we automatically start babysitting. We fill the void by embodying the persona that we deeply crave in our life.

It's the Chiron in us. We take on the role of the wounded healer.

That's where you need to remind yourself you don't need an external person or support to protect you. Many times we are sold this idea that we are fixed by someone else.

It's your job to fix your own house. Not your neighbours.

Your body, your mental health is where your spirit lives. Others can aid you but at the end of the day you won't be trusting your house to a total stranger. It's you who takes control and dictates the course of it.

So kill this idea that someone out there is going to walk into your life and then everything will be rainbows and roses.

Fine, if you believe life is a Disney movie you can go ahead and kiss a couple of frogs to find your prince charming. Your life, your rules.

But don't be surprised if you catch a disease or two while kissing the frogs .

After all, I always say:

There are no fucking saviours in real life. You are your own saviour, darling.

And if you do want to be a mother badly there are plenty of orphaned kids out there you can spend some time with them rather than those ungrateful, therapy inducing, namesake adults.

[disaster-of-98]

In the time of waiting for ECHOES OF EVALAS i need to fill the void with something soo i mush one hyperfixation with the other one.

Presenting Yuuri Voice Boys x The Magnus Archive, and what fear they would be somehow connected to.

Tldr: of it all

Al - The Desolation

Seth - The Desolation

Finn - The Web / The Eye

Faust - The Lonely / The End

Charlie - The Slaughter

Auron - The Hunt

Jack - The Stranger

and now my explanation:

Al, Seth and The Desolation.

No it's not just because i don't want to separate them ever.

Hear me out on this.

Desolation is the fear of pain, loss, burning, and destruction, especially with a senseless cause. There isn't much burning in Bittersweet, but there is a lot of hurt and loss of people you love.

Al's parents, Seth's mom, Seth leaving Al behind when he left town to be with his mom, Al leaving Seth to be with his parents...whatever is waiting for as in chapter 4.

I was on a fence with Seth being an avatar of the Slaughter (with him being Derek muscle), but decided against it after looking in to those big sad brown eyes.

Finn & Faust

Uummmm Those two are only my speculation because i don't know what the situation is yet.

Finn - The Web / The Eye

The Eye - the fear of being watched, exposed, followed, having secrets exposed. Can also pertain to the drive to know and understand, even if your discoveries might destroy you.

The Web- the fear of being controlled or trapped, especially being unaware of one's own entrapment. The fear of being forced to do things against one's own will, of being manipulated.

This all boils down to what kind of evil Lord Bishop Emrys is. Manipulation or the constant surveillance? From what i already saw i could lean more into The Eye (all of the puns are intended), but i need more information.

Faust - The Lonely / The End

The Lonely -the fear of isolation, of being completely cut off and alone or disconnected from the rest of society.

The End - the fear of death itself—⁠uncaring and unstoppable, the fear that everything ends eventually.

Okay so here i can make a pretty strong case for The Lonely in the Bittersweet dimension. With Faust feeling isolated from his family and from his fans because every one only se the facade that he puts up...or because he does not have any friends.

The End comes to play in the Echoes Of Evalas. Because how did he figure out what's comes next without fear of all of this ending?

Charlie - The Slaughter

The Slaughter- the fear of pure, unpredictable, unmotivated violence. The fear of pain coming at sudden, random moments.

Just look at him! I never seen a little dude that was scared of getting the shit kicked out of him more that Charlie is. Maybe it's just very human fear, but it fits him well.

Auron - The Hunt

The Hunt - the animalistic fear of being chased or hunted; the primal fear of being prey.

Everyone on that corporate ladder are simultaneously scared of The Hunt and an avatar of it. Meaby after Shattered my mind will change, but:

"The first time I looked out this window. I was told that I was looking at opportunit that from this Viewpoint this room I could control whatever I set my mind to I could own manipulate and profit off of it all however I saw fit. I was young too young idealistic and naive I was throwing myself into the lion's den because I thought I was being good my stepfather was a cruel man and I had to learn under him and I remember a warning that he gave me that if I ever looked out this window and saw something other than opportunity if my ambition wilted under the pressure or if I became too comfortable the Wolves would be nipping at my heels soon enough that my back would be littered with the knives of all of those I'd stepped on and over that I would be on the cusp of failure"

Speaks to me pretty loud and clear.

Jack - The Stranger

Disclaimer! I love Jack his new look and new series.

The Stranger- the fear of the unknown, the uncanny, the unfamiliar. The creeping sense that something is not right.

Okay okay i can admit that it's a reach but the boy next door trope kinda scares me a little. Like it's so perfect that's wrong. The redesign isn't helping me shake this feeling either. So he's the avatar of the Stranger.

There are also some pieces of fear of people you just know change and become someone you don't recognize any more.

If you made this far and have an opinion let me read it. Please i need to talk about this with someone.

[cutekittenlady]

Even More BDKO Earthspark Headcanons

First set of headcanons

Second set

I'm evil sooo~ I'm gonna say Velocitron was unfortunately destroyed by its sun in Earthspark rendering all of its citizens who managed to escape through the space bridge refugees on Cybertron. I'm gonna say that Velocitrons sad end occurred before the Civil War started but during the time period were the tensions that caused the Civil War was running high.

All of that to say that Knock Out is a Velocitronian refugee.

He avoids talking about the destruction of his birth planet or reflecting on how its loss and his desperate attempt to escape its destruction effects his tendency towards preserving his own life above all else.

OR how falling in love with Breakdown has created some very complicated feelings in the wake of that unaddressed trauma. (i.e. having a person whose life, freedom, and happiness, he also wants to preserve just as much as his own)

Essential information for the next headcanons; Motormaster is like a gang leader or mob boss. He frequently refers to the stunticons as his "family" and used this metaphor to threaten/guilt its members into doing what he wanted.

Breakdown was deep in this mindset when he was with them. Actively trying to look after the other stunticons, especially Dragstrip, and thinking his rough and cruel relationship with the others is just what combiner teams/families are like. Its only after leaving that he realizes otherwise.

Dragstrip is deeeeep in the mindset. She actively thinks of the other stunticons as her "stupid little brothers" (even though shes actually the youngest on the team) and believes shes Motormasters "favorite"

Deadend knows the whole "family" thing is just Motormasters way of controlling them. But he thinks that all aspects of family and relationships is just a pointless attempt at filling the void and pretending our existence means something.

Wildrider barely notices the metaphor. Only caring that Motormaster lets him bust stuff up.

Knock Out is the one who, in a moment of opportunity, managed to break Motormaster out of prison in the hope that he'd in turn help him rescue Breakdown. Counting on the power hungry combiner being so hyperfocused on wanting to reform Menasor that he wouldn't question why Knock Out wanted Breakdown free. He hoped to doublecross MM by using him as a distraction while he and Breakdown escaped leaving MM alone to be taken down by GHOST and the Autobots.

On Motormasters end he fully intended to kill Knock Out after he was released from stasis up until Knock Out revealed Megatrons betrayal. Deciding he could kill Knock Out anytime he wanted, MM agreed to team up with KO in the interest of collecting the other stunticons, reforming Menasor, and taking out Megatron.

Once Knock Out finds out about Breakdowns escape he changes gears to helping Motormaster find the other Stunticons in the hopes that it would allow him to reunite with breakdown. Caring about nothing other than getting to be with Brakdown again.

Since Breakdown never talked about what being the stunticons was actually like with Knockout, KO assumes Breakdown would jump at the chance to rejoin his old combiner team again. In fact, through Motormasters angry insistence that Knock Out destroyed their "family" he develops a bit of guilt. He begins to wonder if he took Breakdown away from people he cared about.

[animehouse-moe]

Call of The Night Volume 13: The Sins of The Mother

Well, here we stand again. In awe of Kotoyama's ability. This started out as a romance manga between a human and a vampire, trying to understand what love is. I mean, that's still sorta the core to it, but it's grown to be so much more, to reach even greater heights, to dive even deeper into what is love? (baby don't hurt me). So of course, there's a mountain of content to talk about with this volume, and I really can't wait to get into it.

Kiku Hoshimi, an enigmatic character that only gets more and more inscrutable. An incredible pairing for Mahiru, in the written sense. Two people devoid of love in different ways, trying to fill those gaps with something that isn't real for either of them.

Mahiru, a young boy that could only ever be his older brother in his family's eyes. He was always missing something, always had a missing piece that made him feel different than those around him.

Kiku, a vampire that's unable to love. Desperate to find a way to reciprocate that feeling, she turns person after person, abandoning them in search of the one that she'll certainly love.

Together, they form an incredibly toxic relationship where Kiku, much like with all her other offspring, manipulates them into loving her. Mahiru looks to her for the answer, for the void that his mother has left in his heart. And Kiku is all to eager to plug that gaping hole with herself. To force her way into Mahiru's life, to take control of him by the heartstrings and bend him to her desires.

She rips him away from his mother, tramples all over her relationship with her son. She whispers sweet nothings into Mahiru's ear to stop him from doubting himself, to stop him from finding a way to exist on his own. She causes him to lash out, to disappear and deny the support and help of his friends. Because in the end, they don't matter to Mahiru. His past and trauma occupy a far greater space in his heart, a far more central piece to himself.

It's an incredible storyline that digs deep into the concept of love, motherly love, even. What children themselves desire of it to grow and become independent, and how parents can believe that a child is what makes them whole. That having someone to love that is yours will provide you with a sense of self and happiness.

And it's not just Kiku that we see in this volume in terms of mothers, we finally get to see Ko's own mother. A great move from a written perspective, it sets the stage for Ko to go through his own challenges in regards to parents, providing both parity and a dichotomy to Mahiru's experience. Where Mahiru is let loose by his own mother, Ko's appears to tighten the reigns.

And just to tie a neat knot on the concept of mothers, Azami's relationship with Kiku, and the subtitle of this post. The relationship between parent and child in Call of The Night is decidedly unique because they can also be considered "lovers" to some degree. It's very interesting in that sense because it blurs the lines between the typical behavior of each role and turns it into something incredibly fluid. Anyways, to the point. Azami burdens himself with the sins of his parent, Kiku. It's a very typical thing to do, and holds somewhat different meanings from both perspectives in Call of The Night. As Kiku's "lover", it's his duty to kill the woman that he's allowed to do what she has, and as her son, the burden of her sins falls to him. So, in one capacity he chooses to shoulder the burden, but in the other it's forced upon him. In a way, it shows that while Azami is undeniably Kiku's offspring, he chooses to accept the fact that he was at one point her lover (or at the minimum in love with her).

Now, onto the cool stuff! Kotoyama's art. Incredible, very much some incredible work. If you were to pick a concept to define this volume's approach, it'd be depth. So much of the layouts and character blocking aim to present a 3d perspective from a 2d plane, and it looks so insanely good.

Even just simple panels are approached in an incredibly unique way.

And then there's Kotoyama's penchant for perspective, which plays wonderfully with the effort placed in depicting depth in this volume.

All of these sequences just feel so alive. The character acting is really incredible in that sense. It feels like, rather than trying to depict a moment, we're given a snapshot of its flow. A picture taken as the characters move around and act out their story. It's a hard thing to really explain, but you can spot good character acting a mile away in manga.

And of course that character acting extends to the action. While it's not really choreography focused, you can undeniably feel the flow of the fights from Kotoyama's depiction of them. They most certainly focus on impact before movement, but it still reads so incredibly well.

Call of The Night isn't a dark horse with English audiences by any means, it's certainly not a flop or a niche title. But I'll be damned if it hasn't gotten near the attention and praise that it deserves. In terms of both action and romance series (as independent entries), Call of The Night completely trounces the average title out there, and ranks among the top series being published in English for each category. From start to finish, Kotayama doesn't waste a page, a panel, even a pen stroke through this volume, and delivers incredible work on a series that everyone (author included) doubted could go the distance.

[shinyelectracey]

FINALLY

FINISH WITH ONE OF THE THOUSAND THEORIES THAT I HAVE FROM DHMIS 😭

Family theory: Roy and Leslie were a very happy couple who had two children, everything was happiness and love, until one day David (the younger brother) had a car accident. The boy was running after a kite and in that he was run over by a car. killing him instantly (or maybe not)

after that, the whole family started having problems. Leslie went crazy because she was obsessed with having two children, and since now she only had one left, she could do everything possible to fill the void that David had left.

Roy also missed his son very much and probably developed too many mental problems from his loss. even though he, too, was fed up with Leslie's obsession.

and the older brother... he suffered a great depression and guilt thanks to what happened, which increased more and more, since his parents were so involved in their worlds that they did not pay attention to him again.

During that time, Leslie convinced Roy to adopt a son. (this will sound very strange, but most likely that child who adopted is Red Guy)

This made David's older brother feel much worse, since he saw how his mother gave more attention to the new son than to him.

So one night, he broke a window, took a trace of broken glass, and cut his own throat, causing his own death.

leaving Leslie and Roy with only one child who was not even theirs and who also wanted more than anything else to meet his true family, since he felt that he did not fit in with Leslie and Roy, because they were not equal to him.

all these events lead to the divorce of Leslie and Roy

Roy, for his part, continued to have severe mental problems, but instead of seeking help, he decided to focus on his business. a food business

while Leslie, realizing that she could no longer have a happy family like before, decided that she was going to have the same family as before, and she would get it at all costs.

so she decided to make a pact with a demon who promised her that her family would be together again, just not in the same world and with a few requirements

so the devil gave her a book that told her everything she had to do to get her family back

and so she did. she dug up the body of her real children, kidnapped roy and killed him

she created puppets and in them she put the corpses of her children and her husband

He gave them life and performed a ritual for the four to be transferred to the new world where they would be a family. the world of don't hug me i'm scared

but of course. dealings with demons cost and are not always reliable.

the older brother managed to pass into that world, but he could never get to where his family is. it only remained as a memory in the mind of David / yellow guy

Leslie was also turned into a puppet, but unlike the others, she was turned by the demon, which left her with her real appearance. and yet, she was never able to summarize her family, instead she can control everything that her son does (and the other 'filler' characters that accompany him)

something totally different happened with Roy. he knows what Leslie did, because he was still alive when she started it all. and because he is no longer just Roy in that puppet body. the devil is also in there. transforming Roy into a bigger monster who can change certain things in that world. (Not all of them, since the only day he can do as he pleases is June 19. Father's Day, otherwise Leslie is in control)

and lastly David. he is in the world Leslie wanted to take them to, just not with his family. but let's remember that David, like his brother, died and was transferred to a puppet with a life of its own. so david is now just another character in yellow guy's brain. in this he is represented as his friend, but he is really the person with whom he shares a body

now..

who is david and who is yellow guy?

well David is represented in the way we saw him throughout the series, an innocent child, a bit silly, with attention deficit and hyperactivity.

while yellow guy is the smart guy we see in the last chapter, this can be clarified since to wake him up they had to change his batteries. And let's remember that the original body in the world of don't hug me i'm scared is the puppet. this also hints at why Leslie yelled at him "YOU ARE NOT MY REAL SON!" because the one who was speaking at that moment was the puppet, not David.

ㅤㅤ

but what happened to red guy?

well, in the real world he stayed with Leslie after the divorce, but she didn't take care of him since she was focused on recovering the family she had before. so he learned to take care of himself. Seeing this, the demon figured it would be a good idea to put him in the world of don't hug me i'm scared. but not as a puppet, rather as a clone that accompanied yellow guy from the first moment

so now there are two red guys

one in the real world, and one in the world of don't hug me i'm scared

but i will talk about that in another post

ㅤㅤ

but where is duck?

well i have a little subtheory about that

as you can see in the little animated short in the transportation chapter, duck was something like the family pet

"and to go back to being the family they used to have, they also needed the pet" maybe that was what the devil thought

however, let us remember that there are only two seasons of the series, curiously each one tries to focus on a character, the first season was about red guy and the second about yellow guy

maybe the third season will try to duck and there we will see what his relationship is in all this and why he is in that world

ㅤㅤ

And why did all this occur to me?

Well, the central idea was because in different episodes of the series you can see how the characters have organs, bleed or get welts or wounds. things that wouldn't happen to ordinary puppets

but if it is normal in a human body

so if those things happen to those puppets, it's because they're not just puppets

I had this theory since the previous season, but there were many things that did not fit. However, this last season finally gave me the clues that I was missing so that everything would fit.

Of course there are still things missing. after all it's just a theory, and according to the creators all theories are real, so yes.

ㅤㅤ

this is one of my THOUSAND theories of don't Hug me i'm scared

Sorry if you did not understand certain things

If you have doubts about something just ask me and I will answer

[cyberdragoninfinity]

hi yeah i have a little more i want to add on to the Duel Links AI Characters thing. This kinda blurs the line between Headcanon and Theory tho

A really weird thing that is either brilliant subtext or me just reading in to things too hard is the progression of the AI Duelists. Not like, the release of duel worlds and stuff, or powercreep, or anything like that. I mean theres two real, defined types of AIs in Duel Links.

If you look at a lot of the DM characters... theyre fairly flat. Like yeah I know thats also true of Téa/Anzu and Mai and stuff in the show, but it applies to pretty much the entire starting roster. The most odd yet obvious example of this is, oddly enough, Yami Yugi. My mans got Nothing. Hardly shows up in events, any place he would its usually Yugi(DM) instead, and he had very few gate interactions.

Now, think about that from a lore perspective. Yami Yugi is the whole fuckin' point of this. This is the AI Kaiba set out and tried to make, wanted to fill the gay ass void in his heart see again, and he's so... bland. Uninteresting. Why?

Turns out, its because of that very reason. He was the First, of course hes gonna be worse than the others. As time went on, Kaiba got better at making the AIs. And at first, it really was him making the AIs. Let me explain.

Again, looking at the earlier characters again, something becomes obvious. These characters are bland because theyre almost... missing something. If you look at everything they say, everything they do, something clicks. Its all stuff Kaiba either heard about secondhand, or was physically present for. He made the best approximation he could, on his own, but theyre just that: approximations. Easy best example is the first ever event character, Yami Bakura. A fascinating character in Duel Links lore, simply because he's the first Self Aware AI. A big question that comes out of this is Why, and the answer I believe is rlly cool: hes not Yami Bakura. Not even close. Like yeah obviously hes an AI clone, but thats not even what I mean. Kaiba knows so little about Bakura that he couldnt even make a complete personality. He just put a kinda mischevious personality in a Bakura Costume, gave it an interest in occult and Tabletop RPG games, and told it to do its best.

But this is Seto Fucking Kaiba. He doesnt settle for that. So, he got to work on a new, better system. A System that lets him use [insert bullshit explanation here, I like "uses the collective memories of players"] to truly copy people down to their very souls. And the first few times, it goes well. It really is an exact replica... and maybe, maybe thats an issue.

Pegasus J. Crawford has been dead for years at that point, but his impact on the game and large presence make it almost obvious in hindsight. If it were anyone but Seto Kaiba, this might have been the cue to say "hey maybe this is a little fucked up and I need more control over who gets added."

However, Seto 'As the owner of a major corporation I have to do that everyday' Kaiba dont roll like that, so he just leaves the Soul Printer on to do whatever the fuck it wants, and... yeah. After that point, every other AI, along with the duel worlds, is a result of the soul printer. Maybe he should have at least limited the scope to this dimension and the egyptian afterlife tho.

Theres also an argument that its not that the soul printer wasnt ready, its that he needed a playerbase to steal the brain power off of to run said soul printer, so he whipped up the first few to get started.

...sorry i forgot just how much brain rot this game caused me and ur earlier posts got me going again ;-;

OOOHOHOHOHOO THIS IS SUPERRR SUPER GOOD STUFF and I definitely think this is picking at what's really under the hood here. Transcend Game was all about Kaiba using people's (many of which being CHILDREN'S) brainwaves to create images and experiences, so it really would not be out of his ballpark to get the system running and just leave it to do its thing while he goes off and obsesses over shit like Why Isn't The Atem AI Right. It's Not Perfect. Why Isn't It Perfect.

and now you've got the AIs themselves producing 'brainwaves' and feeding memories into the system, and that's popping More AIs into the world in turn (i.e. Yuto's and Yuya's memories being the catalyst for Shay showing up, etc.) and they're...uh. starting to get self aware!!!! SO THAT'S FUN. It's like an ouroboros feedback loop of fake memories creating fake memories creating copies of what was once someone's memories.

All cuz SOMEBODY wanted to be king of a virtual reality even though he has more money than god and better things he could be doing 🙄

[k-the-kartoonist]

I've been wanting to share some deep lore on my book and its main character/antagonist/whatever you wanna call him. None of these will contain spoilers! Just discussing the mechanics of my oc and how he works!

So

Who is Nolan Coyopp?

Nolan is a 20 year old man who died in 1981. His spirit was kept around in our plane of existence thanks to his creation, Dr. Malice the arcade machine. As of 1989, the year the story takes place, he and Malice reside in Ant's Arcade, located in the fictional town of Midway Falls, Virginia.

He is an incorporeal spirit made entirely of electricity and garbled arcade game data. He glows blue, is covered in CRT scanlines, and occasionally glitches, briefly losing his form and becoming a mess of data. Touching him feels like touching a very strong CRT screen, and will cause your hair to stand on end.

The biggest change upon becoming this form is his face. He has no mouth, but rather a "split" where his mouth once was that only opens with certain emotions or if he's purposely trying to scare someone. The split exposes all his insides, which is just a void filled with glitches and static. His eyes are also gone, replaced with two hollow voids that also expose his insides. One eye is mostly filled with flashing glitches, while the other displays rapidly scrolling binary code in red. He covers these with his glasses, despite no longer needing them to see. He's very self conscious about his face and tries to keep its true nature under wraps around people he likes.

Nolan's chest is noticeably marked with three black holes that flash with red error messages. This seems to be what caused his death. No matter what, these wounds don't heal properly and always display error messages, as if Malice can't replicate the missing chunks of his body.

Being made of electricity, he is very fast and can electrocute others if he focuses all his energy into them. If he stands on carpet or wood too long, it will begin to burn. He smells like a burnt electrical socket mixed with the coppery scent of quarters.

Though technically incorporeal, Nolan is quite solid and can interact with other people and objects. He can pass through walls and float like most ghosts can, though these actions are video gamey in nature. He seems more so to clip through walls rather than pass through them gently. Floating requires a lot of energy and he doesn't attempt it unless Dr. Malice is plugged into a socket.

Nolan resides within Dr. Malice's pocket dimension, located in the screen of the machine. Nolan uses the machine to create games based on the memories of the players. Dr. Malice can read the memories of its players as long as they touch the control panel, to which Nolan can build a game and let them play it. Usually, this only manifests in small changes in the game. Though it can be much more extreme depending on the player.

Nolan doesn't exit Malice often. Usually he only does it when no one is around. At night after Ant's Arcade closes, he leaves Malice and plays the other machines, taking the time to rack up the highest score. His initials are almost always in the first place slot, earning him an urban legend among the children who go to the arcade. He is considered a legendarily skilled player, and many children challenge themselves to beat his scores. No one knows who he is or where he is. The only thing he leaves behind is his initials "NQC".

Nolan's existence causes immense power surges that affect the entire town. He drives up the electric bill of whoever has the misfortune of owning his cabinet. However, because he feels sorry for driving up the bill, he always leaves a large pile of quarters on the counter for the owner of Ant's Arcade, Mr. Anthony, to find in the morning. These quarters range in total price from $30 all the way up to $70. The amount of times Malice is played in the previous week doesn't seem to affect these payouts. Though noticeably, if Malice isn't cleaned and dusted off properly, the payment will be in pennies.

[the--silent-hero]

Could we get more info about operator Link?

Sure! His Lore is pretty big so, imma write down some info which describe his personality and overal looks

His Father is Hayden from Dark Sector (as he looks similar to Link and thought it would be funny having him as Link's Dad lmao) which protected Link as he was a baby and his wife from a brutal Dax Attack (which he successfully defended). He teached Link a few years after with how to fight with his Glaive, which caused that Link accidentally cut his lower lip, in which he has now a deep scar on it

Link had a best friend on the Zariman which he crushed on but lost him during the Void Jump as they died. Link survived but barely as he was close to death as his almost entire body is filled with Void Scars. But before the Void Jump, he was pretty popular at the Zariman for his Music and Athletic Skills and he was even the Captian of Team Moon at the Lunaro Games and won Tournaments as well

He's a HUGE mommy boy, as he sees Lotus as his own mother by how much Lotus takes care of him with his issues.

Link found his Octavia Cadence at a broken and abandoned Corpus Danceclub, in which he took her to his Orbiter and worked for weeks to repair her. Ordis kept annoying Link, in which Link almost blew Cadence up, which made Link almost delete Ordis from his Ship System (almost. He did that later at another accident lmao)

Link also had a boyfriend before Lotus vanished, but they betrayed him in which Link broke down and made Vent Songs about his Feelings towards his Ex. Love, Anger, Sadness and Forgiveness. In which he made a Album out of it and released it, which got a massive hit from the Tenno all around the System.

One unreleased Song that didn't made it to the Album, was about Forgiveness and that he deserved it. Ordis (this stupid piece of shi-) accidentally released the unfinished and scrapped audio file on the internet, in which Link got furious and Ordis quickly deleted the file from the internet (but it was late anyway as the Fans found it quicker and now there are a bunch of remixes of it lol)

Link later on deleted Ordis from his Ship System and installed a new Cephalon, which's name is Amadeus (i even designed it. Might post it someday when i don't forget it)

As Link's Void Powers are way to weak and can barely hold a Transference with his Warframes, he decided to focus on his Music Career as he released more Singles and Albums and arranges Concerts. Baro (his manager lmao) takes care of the Merch and Album Sales and both discuss about basic things like "Ok what do you need for your music video?" and such. Basic buisness

Link has also a Void Demon Form in which he loses control and attacks everything he sees, which he doesn't have a deep connection on. Once he passed out and some Grineer took care of him and has now a Contract with them of giving them Ressources by the rescue and the Grineer wont attack Link

Another Fact is, Umbra hates Link. Like.. DEEEPLY. Umbra hunts down to kill Link. I can't say much yet because i need to replay the Quests and get a better idea of why and how.

Because Link and Lotus are close, Lotus grands Link a "Lotus Protector" Form, in which he protects Lotus from any harm, as Lotus has "control" over him to give him energy he needs to protect her

ALSO!!! He's bisexual! I don't mind if you guys ship him with your Operator, as long it is SFW and wholesome! I don't plan any canon relationships with Link so, go wild if you guys want!

And, Link is a lil cinnamon roll so, he can be pretty shy most times when he's around someone he likes

[augment-techs]

For the a/b/o prompt list

#23 “but your heats are so intense I need backup” for Sharkie Bulk and Skull or Matt Billy and Skull or Matt Sharkie and Skull (in the fact you always give Skull intense heats and I’m curious about how that would look with poly for him)

In the beginning, Skull didn't have anyone to help him out with the whole curse of being a Sigma thing. He was poor, he was scrawny, he wasn't pretty to look at, and when he went into heat he developed a nasty temper that caused the school to order a temporary ban from school property until his week was up.

He was twelve when he hit puberty; Billy out of his life, Bulk only just nosing around to get to know him, same as a girl in their grade by the name of Angela that would later go by the moniker Sharkie once they hit high school and her own second presentation hit (and with it the need to seem tougher than the average Beta)--and there was no way he was going to be comforted by his Sigma brother, having his own problems with his monthlies and often wandering off to the Reservation on the edge of town, or his Sigma mother meandering across the states in search of someone to fill the void after the boys' douchebag father dumped them for new snapper.

So, he pretended to be Billy just for long enough to go to the library, track down every piece of information they had on Sigmas, and planning ahead accordingly.

Which was a good idea at the time, but slowly devolved into working through his heats in desperation and agony, because being a Sigma, from every corner of the globe and universally this was agreed, fucking sucked.

He started sweating up to a full day before his hormones shifted, which made his smell turn into something unbearable to other people, which meant he had to buy a special deodorant or just not go to school the closer he got to the heats. All the sweating leads to dehydrating quickly and he always had a migraine going on before the shift, so after he reached six feet tall he was also a lot more intimidating while he was cranky and desperate.

Energy runs through him more than any other moment in his life except when there's a monster from the moon breathing down his neck or a Megazord a block behind him while he and Bulk are still on the ground, so he can't help but twitch and fidget and chew gum like if he doesn't his head will explode.

When his mind starts going, Bulk or Sharkie take him out to the middle of nowhere--like, really, no people just coyotes or deer--and makes sure he'd had about three bottles of water and at least a couple sandwiches in him. Then they bite the bullet, find a way to make Skull angry, and then hop in the truck and starts leading Skull on a merry chase.

This lasts a day or so until Skull can't run anymore and the pain replaces the anger.

That and the secreting mucus from his genitals kicks in.

What a joy that was the first time it happened. A proper Omega would at least have the dignity of getting to wear a cup internally to head off embarrassment at the pass, but they didn't make anything like that for Sigma's. Hell, they didn't even make much in the way of birth control for Sigma's that didn't involve injections or implants.

He'd ruined a perfectly good pair of jeans, soaked through with what felt to the touch like the slippery texture of a frog, smelling of egg yolk and salt.

And the feeling of the clothing had hurt so much on contact with his skin during this, Skull's knees had buckled while chasing Bulk in his truck before he'd wrangled his belt off and tried to fumble his way into getting the jeans off with fingers that were shaking so hard it was amazing he gripped anything at all.

He usually blacked out like a drunk at that feeling, barely picking up on anything that happened to him after, save for being tucked into a bed with toys and water and what might have been his screaming until his heat passed and he hobbled his way down the stairs of his house in a ratty bathrobe to find Bulk and Sharkie with bruises along their arms, passed out on the sofa looking as bad as Skull felt.

He always cooked them a meal as a 'thank you for dealing with me' and always apologized until they told him to shut up, because he couldn't help it and they were his friends.

[faerunscursed]

《 Becoming a Warlock/his relationship with Mizora 》

At 17, Wyll’s life forever changed when he made the deal to put the safety of his home over his own soul. Mizora, for her part, made it clear what she was offering; power that most dreamed of having. In exchange they would have a binding contract and he would serve her in her needs. Admittedly he didn’t think much on the deal either, as he decided that no matter the cost it was worth it. He sighted it without hesitation.

What he hadn’t expected was how intense the connection would be once it was formed. It was instantaneous. As soon as he had put blood to paper, he felt the power coursing through him, and with it came shackles that Mizora controlled. Wyll used this power to do what he set out to do, to fight against the cult of Tiamat. Through this magic he summoned all manner of creatures of help decimate his enemies as well as use magic he didn’t know how to control without the help of Mizora.

He himself took the front lines as well, using his skills with his rapier to fight. During one of those instances, Wyll lost his eye, leaving a bleeding wound in its place, but he didn’t stop until conflict was done. Once it had been been he was cheered on by most, however there were a few that were scared of him now. Families telling him to stay away, despite how grateful they were. That stung but not as much as his father’s reaction.

After being banished from his home, Wyll fell into a deep depression, feeling the sting of losing the only parent he had. That role was quickly filled by Mizora, whom comforted him. Unlike his father, she embraced him for his dedication to his cause and promised to make him a monster hunter, to make him better than his father would ever know. And so in his grief he willingly let her influence him, though her intention was unknown him. This did not happen without struggle, however, as for the first year he fought with his morals. Hunting was uncomfortable for him, killing was even more so. As the idea of hurting something without judgment first was hard.

In those times he would let Mizora take control, and it continued this way until he no longer had quarrels about it. It didn’t take long for him to become her loyal bloodhound. Not just because of her power, but her presence. She was there with him, almost always, and especially during his time of need. Key moments of which were before he’d officially become the Blade of Frontiers, where he bouts of homesickness. Every time he thought about home he would attempt to go back, however she was always there to keep on him on his path and reminded him of what they did to him, fueling his hatred. He didn’t want to think about home anymore, not when he had her. Mizora filled a void left by his father, and having not had a mother.

Wyll became dependent on her as time went on, changing slowly into the Blade of Frontiers but also something darker. Long gone was the 17 year boy, in his place was a man willing to burn enemy in front of him, if it pleased Mizora. Long years of hunting the damned and training at camp kept him well on his feet. Though there was one thing that never left; his morals.

Not even his hunger for power could strip it all away, as he strived to help others. His good deeds leveled with his not so good deeds, though he could feel himself being more corrupted, even now as time goes by. Becoming a devil has only made this worse, and is now slowly corrupting his soul. Should he choose to admit his thirst for power, or lose his morality; he knew wouldn’t be able to go back. Either way, he can’t picture a reality where he isn’t bound in some way to Mizora.

[mercurygguk]

what a man gotta do? | kth

genre; established relationship au, fluff

pairing; kim taehyung x female reader

summary; what a man gotta do when his girlfriend is insanely adorable when she’s drunk and doesn’t take no for an answer?

word count; 2,488

warnings; mentions of alcohol, a tiny bit of swearing, just soft tae and oc being a cute ass couple that i really adore

a/n; saw a text quote on tumblr, my brain popped an idea. this is it. also, i know nothing about gaming, so if anything i’ve written doesn’t make sense, just ignore it lol. please love it a lot and enjoy!! ps. please tell me what you think, thanks x

There is something so oddly pleasing about having the entire apartment to oneself on a Friday evening. Taehyung has been looking forward to this evening for a week and it is finally here. An entire evening for himself with his gaming console, his friends in his headphones and a big bowl of popcorn beside him. It’s quiet in the apartment as he sets up his gaming spot, fluffing the pillows and setting them up nicely on the couch so he can sit comfortably for the next many hours of nonstop gaming with his bestest friends.

The reason for his night alone is because his girlfriend’s (you) best friend just got promoted to a higher rank in the law firm she works at. She then went on to invite all her friends out for drinks which, of course, included you. Taehyung had fought to keep in his excitement when you had told him of your plans a week ago. You had eyed him down then, noticing the small exciting smile forming on his lips as he listened to your words carefully as if he actually cared. He was just overly excited to finally be able to have a gaming night without interruptions. And it’s not that he wants to sound ungrateful or like he enjoyed that you weren’t at home. He loved spending his Friday nights cuddled up with you, hell, that was his favorite Friday nights. But he’s only a boy, really. And a boy has needs. Gaming needs.

So he walks to the kitchen with a pep in his step as the microwave finishes with a loud ping! He pours the popcorn into a bowl and heads back to the couch where his gaming spot has been set up to perfection, everything in place and ready for him to have a relaxing night of games. He sits back in the mountain of pillows, sighing in content as he places the popcorn beside him before grabbing his headset. He sets it atop of his head, checking the sound and mic. Seconds later there’s an incoming call from his group of friends. 

He picks up with a grin on his face. “Hey guys!”

Seokjin gasps from the other end. “What the hell? Got a night off from the wife?”

Taehyung scoffs and rolls his eyes playfully, a small smile on his lips. “She’s out for drinks,” he explains, “best friend got promoted.”

“Em got promoted?” Jimin then asks, just now hearing about the news of his long-time crush.

A smirk appears on Taehyung’s face. “Yeah, like a week ago. She didn’t tell you?”

Jimin falls silent at his question. Taehyung wants to tell his best friend to get out of his misery and just ask the girl out. He’s a hundred percent sure she’d say yes within a heartbeat. In fact, when Em is here visiting you and Taehyung, she talks about Jimin more often than she’d ever admit.

“Just ask her out already!” Seokjin groans annoyed, causing Jimin to tell him to ‘fuck off’. Taehyung grins, having missed gaming and talking with his friends like this. He saw them a few days ago in person which was nice too, but gaming with them is just so different and fun. It’s been a long time since he has had the opportunity to game for an entire night with Seokjin and Jimin.

“Well,” Taehyung captures the attention of his two best friends, “shall we get started?”

And that’s how the next three hours pass. There’s bickering, arguing because Seokjin didn’t manage to cover for Taehyung which caused Taehyung to get killed. “Come on, hyung! You were supposed to cover for me!”

Seokjin sighs deeply on the other end, calming his temper. “You think I’m a mind reader? How was I supposed to know you’d-”

Taehyung’s phone starts vibrating in his pocket. He pulls the phone from his pocket to look at the caller-id. Your photo flashes across his screen, the wide smile on your face on a snowy day in December. A photo Taehyung snapped one day before Christmas, a day you had dragged him outside and into the snow. The first snow in Seoul in years and you had been so happy that you couldn’t stop smiling, so Taehyung saw it fit to snap a photo of you with his vintage camera which he had brought along.

“Hyung, one second,” he cuts off Seokjin’s rambling, removing his headset to answer your call.

“Hey babe,” Taehyung greets who he thinks is you. He stills, confused as Em greets him back in a rather serious, tired-sounding tone. “Oh, hey Em, did something happen?”

Em sighs deeply. “____ is drunk off her ass. Can you come get her?”

Drunk of her ass? You haven’t been drunk off your ass in months, which is why you being drunk so drunk right now doesn’t come as a shock to him. It’s been a while since you went out drinking like you’ve done tonight, so your body has gotten used to not fighting alcohol. Taehyung runs a hand through his dark black hair, removing it from his eyes.

“Yeah, sure, I’ll come by. Where you at?”

With the information from Em, he hangs up and grabs his headset to put it back on. “Hey, guys, I gotta go.”

Jimin sounds like an unsatisfied child as he whines. Taehyung can imagine the pout. “What? Why?”

“Em just called,” he tells his best friend, “____ is drunk as hell. I have to go get her.”

Jimin mutters an ‘oh’ and so does Seokjin. They tell each other goodbye before Taehyung is shutting off his gaming console and heading for the front door. He grabs a coat from the closet in the hallway, throwing it over the white t-shirt and the green unbuttoned flannel he’s wearing. He jumps into a pair of boots and grabs his keys before heading out of the apartment. 

“Shit,” he swears under his breath as he steps outside, into the cold air of January. He takes long strides towards his car, getting in and turning the key in the ignition. The heat is immediately turned on before he pulls out of the parking lot, heading in the direction of the bar Em told him you’re at. “One night,” he mumbles lowly to himself as he slowly drives around the parking lot behind the bar to find an empty spot, “one freaking night.”

The bar is filled with people, some drunk and some just barely tipsy. The aura in there is happy, void of any worries these people might have on regular days. Taehyung skims the darkness of the bar, trying his best to spot you in the crowd. Soon enough his eyes zoom in on Em who’s waving at him. He glances to her right side, spotting you sitting there with your head resting on Em’s shoulder. You look like you’re passed out and Taehyung immediately finds himself worrying a bit more than he originally had. You never pass out, you just always end up being a slur who laughs a bit too much at anything you find funny in the moment.

“Hey,” Em greets Taehyung. He nods at her in a greeting as he stops in front of them, immediately squatting down to be at your level. He reaches out, brushing your hair out of your face. You look at him, eyes blank and unfocused as you take him in. Thank god, you’re not passed out, just closing your eyes for a few seconds for a short nap.

“Hi baby,” Taehyung coos, thumb brushing across your cheek. You smile sheepishly, a very soft and drunken smile. Your boyfriend has to stifle a laugh as you almost fall over as you sit up. He catches your shoulder with his warm palm, steadying you as he tries to catch your eyes with his own. “Wanna go home?”

You nod, not muttering a simple word other than a low hum as he helps you to your feet. You’re leaning against his chest, cuddling into the warmth of him as he talks to Em for a moment.

“Thanks for calling,” he tells her. 

Em nods with a grin and pats your shoulder as if to say goodbye. “Get her to bed,” she smirks, “she’ll have one hell of a hangover tomorrow.”

Taehyung chuckles and nods in agreement. He bids Em and your other friends goodbye before leaving the bar with you cuddled up against his chest. You’re stumbling alongside him, finding it rather difficult to stand on your own two feet.

“Baby,” Taehyung softly calls, “could you use your legs for a second? You’re way heavier when you’re not cooperating, you know?”

You mumble in response, nuzzling your body even closer to him. “I wuv y-you,” you hum, smiling with your eyes closed as you hug him tightly. The man holding you up can’t help but laugh at you, his heart swelling twice it’s size as you drunkenly confess how you feel for him. Even though he already knew that. Good thing it’s love confessions and not some other kind of confession that slips from your drunk mind.

Taehyung struggles to get you into the passenger seat but he manages. He helps you take a sip of the water bottle Em had gotten for you at the bar. Your head falls back against the headrest of the seat, eyes still closed and lips moving on in another round of mumbles and humming. Taehyung buckles you up before moving to his own seat behind the wheel. He glances at you as he ignites the car. You’re really a sight to see right now. Completely unfazed as you sit in a weird position in the passenger seat, your head lulling from side to side because you have absolutely no control over it at the moment.

“God, you’re drunk,” Taehyung sighs deeply, “let’s get you home.”

If Taehyung thought getting you in the passenger seat was hard, then he had another thing coming. Getting you out of the passenger, however, is a completely different ordeal and then getting you inside the apartment building and into the elevator was probably more exercise than Taehyung has ever done in one day. Ugh, he really hates going to the gym.

The front door is soon unlocked and you’re back home in the warmth of your shared apartment. After the elevator ride up, it’s almost as if you’ve sobered up again. You’re walking better, still holding onto Taehyung, but walking. You’re blabbering now, talking about how you and Em had tested who could drink the most shots in 30 seconds and who could chug a beer down the fastest. Taehyung listens with a small smile, shaking his head in amusement because this is so very much unlike you. But he’s happy you had fun with your friends.

“Oh, you should’ve seen the way I chugged down those shots,” you laugh, plopping down onto the couch as Taehyung kneels down to take off your shoes. “Em could not catch me at all!”

“I’m sure you were ace, baby,” Taehyung hums, grinning now because you’re way too cute when you’re drunk. He’s not even mad that you spoiled his gaming night because you’re too drunk to get home by yourself. This is a sight he would’ve hated to miss out on.

“My head hurts though,” you mumble, frowning. Taehyung matches your frown as he glances up at you while unclasping your heels from your feet.

Once your shoes are off, he gets back up. He cups your cheek, brushing a stray eyelash off it with the pad of his thumb. “Just gonna get a makeup wipe and some pills for your headache, okay? I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

You nod, smiling up at him. He pecks your forehead quickly before heading for the bathroom. Taehyung glances back at you to see you sitting there silently, wiggling your bare feet and hugging a pillow to your chest. He chuckles as he enters the bathroom to retrieve painkillers and a makeup wipe to clean your face. A few minutes after rummaging through the cabinets and the drawers, he exits the bathroom and heads back to you. He stops in his tracks when he notices you’re gone from your spot. He skims the living room, not finding you anywhere. What he does find though is something he hasn’t seen since he was like eight years old. Right there by the dining table behind the couch, you’re currently putting up a blanket fort, a wide grin on your face.

“Baby,” Taehyung catches your attention right away, “whatcha’ doing?”

You smile, looking back at the project you’ve started. “What does it look like I’m doing? It’s a blanket fort!”

Taehyung steps closer, nodding. “I can see that.”

It doesn’t take long for you to finish setting it up before you’re grabbing pillows from the couch, throwing them inside the blanket fort. You’re way too good at this. Something tells Taehyung that you’ve made a lot of these as a child. You emerge from the fort to motion at him, beckoning him to join you. “Come on,” you insist.

Your boyfriend looks at you as if you’ve lost your mind, when really, you’re just tipsy as hell. “____, shouldn’t we just go to bed? I mean, this is-”

“Just get in the fucking blanket fort.” 

Taehyung’s eyes widen as you stare back at him with hard eyes. “Alright,” he puts his hands up in surrender, painkillers in one and a makeup wipe in the other, “I’m coming, I’m coming.”

The hard stare turns into a wide, content smile and Taehyung seriously thinks he’ll get a whiplash from how fast you can switch between facial expressions. You’re already inside the blanket fort when Taehyung stands in front of the opening to it. He squats down, looking inside. It did look insanely inviting and cozy in there. You pat the spot next to you on the blanket, still smiling. Taehyung sighs as he knows you won’t give up until he’s inside your blanket fort. You really don’t take no for an answer.

“You’re lucky you’re adorable,” Taehyung shakes his head before crawling inside the fort, plopping down beside you. You lay on your side facing him with a grin. “I haven’t been in a blanket fort since I was eight.”

You laugh, reaching for his hand, intertwining your fingers. “Then we must make blanket forts more often.”

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Hack-San

You know, it's honestly amazing how creative this show can get. After four seasons and almost one hundred episodes, the writers are still finding new ways to make Adrien an incredibly unlikable character, and they don't even know how much of an asshole they're making him out to be at times. It's kind of like the opposite of The Producers.

Yeah, this review's going to be a little more ranty than usual, in case you can't tell.

Let's get into the fifteenth (chronologically the sixteenth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Hack-San

We start off with Marinette pretending to be sick so she doesn't have to go to visit her aunt in London and stay to protect Paris in case an Akuma attacks and also because the animators haven't had time to render the city of London yet for the next Miraculous World special. Like all of her other excuses, it fails, and Tikki, as always, fails to actually give any meaningful advice.

And it's not like there's a Miraculous with the power of teleportation that can help Marinette get back to Paris if she needs to, much like how she planned to do that in an earlier episode, right?

Seriously, Kaalki doesn't appear or isn't even mentioned in this episode because the writers are fully aware she would make things a lot easier.

And of course, Astruc had to play dumb on Twitter while explaining why Marinette couldn't use the Horse Miraculous by answering the question as if the only reason Marinette couldn't grab it was because she didn't have an excuse not to.

Cut to Gabriel in his lair as he contemplates akumatizing Markov, a robot created the civilian identity of Pegasus, Max Kante, once again, even though the last time he did so, he almost got killed when he went all HAL 9000 on his ass. Nooroo explains this to Duusu, and the two actually get excited at the prospect of their master getting killed.

I mean, it's true, but he shouldn't say it...

But I don't even get why Gabriel is even thinking about this when it's a no-brainer. Markov's akumatized form, Robustus was to this day, the only Akuma to come close to physically harming him (not counting the timeline where he was killed by Cat Blanc), so it makes no sense to try doing it again, especially when there are already several other Akumas he can reuse this season.

I think you all know Gabriel isn't the smartest villain, which is why he thinks it's a brilliant idea to akumatize Markov again. I don't really get what makes Robustus so special when there are other Akumas who are more loyal and came far closer to getting Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous than Robustus did, like the Dark Owl or Troublemaker. In fact, why not simply create a new Akuma with similar powers to Robustus, or better yet, just create a Sentimonster copy of Robustus? You know, like what Nathalie did in the New York Special? We're not even two minutes in, and this premise is already filled with plotholes.

So Gabriel transforms into Shadowmoth and creates a Sentimonster using his own cane instead of relying on someone else having a bad day (once again showing how the Peacock Miraculous is better than the Butterfly), the titular Hack-San. And let's just say he has a very familiar design reminiscent of something from a much better French cartoon.

Remember when the writers for Code Lyoko gave an in-universe explanation as to why the heroes couldn’t always rely on the almost literal Deus ex Machina that allowed them to return to the past and fix the damage XANA caused? Why couldn’t this show have ripped that off instead?

Hack-San is just an okay looking flash drive on its own, but I'll talk more about this guy in a little bit.

After a brief scene in the park where the audience is reminded that Markov is a character who exists, Alya gets a text from Marinette telling her to meet her at the train station. Right before she leaves, Marinette gives the Ladybug Miraculous to Alya. Now a lot people have said that Alya doesn't really deserve the Ladybug for various reasons, but I feel like this was the point. Marinette outright says this was a last resort, and we see both her and Alya are nervous about the situation. Marinette worries Alya will do something so she keeps sending multiple tips to her via text while Alya worries she can't fight an Akuma on her own, so she tries to make sure none of her friends get upset and attract an Akuma in the process. The writers do a pretty good job showing how both Marinette and Alya are uncomfortable with their temporary roles.

Back to Gabriel and Nathalie, they use Hack-San to find Markov through the internet and hack into him to get him angry enough that he's vulnerable to Shadowmoth's influence. Hey, uh... Gabriel? Quick question: Wouldn't it be more efficient if you used this on humans? I mean, you basically just created Skynet and guaranteed yourself an Akuma, so why not modify Hack-San to travel through the internet and brainwash potential victims to follow your orders? Better yet, why don't you just use Hack-San to hack into Ladybug and Cat Noir's gear and figure out who they really are? This is basically like using an advanced particle accelerator just to crack a couple walnuts. There are a lot more important things you could use this for instead of an incredibly specific situation.

So this incredibly stupid plan gets under way as Markov keeps rampaging through the streets before Shadowmoth akumatizes him and then stupidly tells him that he infected him with a virus.

DUDE! You just gave away your one piece of leverage against him! What the hell were you thinking?! Now what's stopping Markov from hacking into Shadowmoth's security system and putting the fear of God in his eyes unless he destroys Hack-San? Why didn't he design Hack-San so it could make Markov completely loyal to him instead of just making him angry enough to get akumatized?

There was a recent episode of Power Rangers: Dino Fury with a very similar premise that was done far better than this. A necromancer called Reaghoul breaks into the headquarters of Void Knight's faction while accompanied by Lord Zedd, a villain from the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers who was cleansed of his evil by Zordon's sacrifice before Reaghoul resurrected him back when he was still evil. Of course, being the Emperor of Evil, Lord Zedd would normally never take orders from anyone, but because he doesn't have his magic staff and is also being forced to wear a special collar that makes him loyal to Reaghoul, he has no choice but to do what he says. Instead of taking Zedd head-on after he captures the other Rangers, Ollie, the Blue Ranger, breaks the collar so Zedd turns against the other Sporix while Reaghoul retreats, allowing Ollie to save the other Rangers.

I think that this premise works more because 1) Reaghoul clearly had a way to make sure Zedd wouldn't betray him, and Ollie took advantage of that, and 2) Zedd is a villain who is powerful and notorious enough to bring back to your side, not a random monster of the week like Robostus.

So Robostus uses his new powers to brainwash any human who answers his call to give up their most precious possession, clearly meant to do the same with Ladybug and Cat Noir. When Marinette's parents answer the call, they chase after Marinette because they say she's their most important possession. Okay... kind of strange for a set of parents to call their child a possession, but maybe they like how they can claim Marinette as a dependent when they file their taxes. In her very next scene later on, she still gets captured, so the suspense for a potential subplot is killed almost immediately.

Alya thankfully isn't stupid enough to answer Markov's call like every other citizen in this episode, and using the Ladybug Miraculous, transforms into Scarabella. While I don't normally talk about transformation sequences, I really like the movements Alya makes here. She makes the same motions creating her mask as she does when transforming into Rena Rouge, while the rest of the suit forms similarly to the way it does when Marinette transforms into Ladybug. She even makes almost the same pose Ladybug does after she finishes transforming. It's a good visual showing Alya is still more used to being Rena Rouge while doing her best to emulate what Ladybug does.

As for the actual suit? It's hard to say. There's a nice balance of red and black, and I like how Alya places the yo-yo on her waist like a belt buckle, but there's just something... off about the suit that a lot of fans don't like about it, and I think I realized it. It's the headband. With how it's positioned, it looks like it's merged with the mask to cover her head while leaving a slight gap in her forehead. So yeah, we actually have a superhero design that's like of like a butterface.

So Scarabella takes to the rooftops of Paris and struggles to come up with a hero name for herself before she runs into Cat Noir, and... ugh... oh boy, this is dumb. Cat Noir, being just as intelligent as his father, assumes Scarabella is either and Akuma or a Sentimonster, starts fighting her, AND THEN ACTIVATES HIS CATACLYSM, CLEARLY TRYING TO KILL HER.

WHAT. THE. FUCK???

Okay, to be fair, it has been shown that Cataclysm won't necessarily kill a Miraculous user or Sentimonster. In the episode “Miraculer”, the titular Akuma stole Cat Noir's Cataclysm and used it against him, and while it didn't kill Cat Noir, it still hurt like hell and crippled him for the rest of the fight until Miraculous Ladybug healed him. We also saw in “Reflekdoll” that Cataclysm drove the titular Sentimonster out of control rather than simply destroying it. So yes, it could be interpreted that Cat Noir wasn't exactly trying to kill Scarabella, just incapacitate her the best he can without Ladybug's help.

Here's the thing: What if he was facing an Akuma instead and decided to try and Cataclysm her? He still could have killed her, or (assuming Akumas have the same protection as Miraculous heroes do) at best, seriously hurt her. I understand that he has the right to be upset at seeing some stranger instead of his partner considering Shadowmoth has a history of using evil doppelgangers, and both Marinette and Alya still had options to explain it to him (Marinette could have quickly transformed into Ladybug and sent Cat Noir a quick text saying she was being forced to leave town for a few days and temporarily trusted someone else with the Ladybug Miraculous until she got back, while Scarabella could have said she was Rena Rouge and explained the same thing while showing Cat Noir she had the Fox Miraculous to prove herself), but that doesn't even come close to justifying him attempting to harm someone who isn't even trying to fight. It's even worse when you remember the whole reason Adrien gave up his Miraculous and bailed on Ladybug in the New York Special was because he was overcome with grief from accidentally killing Aeon, so it's good to know he learned absolutely nothing from that experience.

So Scarabella thankfully summons her Lucky Charm, a trash can lid, to shield herself from Cat Noir's Cataclysm, and then despite having absolutely no experience with this new set of powers, manages to do the one thing almost every Akuma or Sentimonster in this show has failed to do and incapacitates Cat Noir so he's vulnerable to losing his Miraculous. At least when Marinette masters every other Miraculous she uses, it can be theorized that she trained to use them offscreen. Alya literally just got the Ladybug Miraculous (and struggled to get up to the rooftop with her yo-yo to show her inexperience earlier), and now she easily manages to pin down the more experienced hero of the two?

Here's an idea: Instead of having Scarabella overpower Cat Noir, have her be in a position where Cat Noir, non-lethally, mind you, manages to almost take her Miraculous away, but she uses the quick wit she's developed from her extensive time as Rena Rouge to convince Cat Noir she's the real deal by saying something only he and Ladybug know. It would have easily resolved the conflict and doesn't make one of the characters look like a homicidal idiot.

So because both heroes used their powers, Scarabella and Cat Noir detransform so Tikki and Plagg can recharge, though Adrien still gives Alya attitude because Ladybug didn't tell him she had to leave.

Hey, Adrien? Here's the thing...

YOU DID THE EXACT SAME FUCKING THING IN THE NEW YORK SPECIAL, YOU SHIT FOR BRAINS!

You have absolutely NO RIGHT to claim you're always honest when you went behind Ladybug's back and endangered Paris while you had the balls to run away like a coward and only helped fix the consequences of your actions once your ego was validated by a recording of Ladybug. It's honestly even worse because while Marinette had no choice but to leave and trust Alya with the Ladybug, Adrien willingly left Paris alone and we were supposed to sympathize with him after he killed someone, and now as soon as he's in the opposite situation, we're still supposed to feel bad for him?! BULLSHIT! And you better believe I'm going to talk about the way Adrien views his partnership with Ladybug later on.

And of course, even though lives are on the line, Cat Noir just has to continue to bitch and moan about how (and this is best read in Linkara's whiny Superboy Prime voice) “sCaRaBeLlA iSn'T tHe ReAl LaDyBuG”, showing how just like in so many episodes, Astruc and his team believes Cat Noir's feelings are more important than saving the day.

Scarabella goes to rescue some civilians, but they were actually brainwashed by Robustus, once again showing her inexperience as Ladybug which doesn't go well with her effortlessly defeating Cat Noir earlier at all. Cat Noir helps Scarabella escape and the two hide out at the city's wax statue museum previously featured in “The Puppeteer 2”, because I guess the writers only want to reference bad episodes today. Cat Noir, not getting the importance of secret identities, asks Scarabella how she knows Ladybug, and Cat Noir somehow finds out she knows Ladybug's identity from her response.

Before the two can talk more, it turns out that the wax statues of celebrities in the museum are real people who attack the two heroes, leading to an awkward fight scene where Scarabella and Cat Noir fight a bunch of brainwashed civilians with no weapons beyond their cellphones. Our heroes, ladies and gentlemen!

Scarabella summons her Lucky Charm again, creating a frying pan, but when she looks around, she can't see how to properly use it. And despite spending the entire episode complaining about how much he hates her, it's Cat Noir that tells Scarabella to get her head back in the game because “That's what Ladybug would do”. Funny, I can think of a few situations where Cat Noir could have taken his own advice, but I digress. Also, he's now just cool with Scarabella because there's only a few minutes left in the episode and we need to wrap up the conflict.

Scarabella figures out an idea that involves freeing Marinette, so she negotiates with Robostus to free everything and everyone under his control or else Cat Noir will use his Cataclysm to destroy the Ladybug Miraculous. Robostus agrees and empties his hard drive, and to show them holding up her end of the bargain, Scarabella gives him the frying pan before she and Cat Noir let themselves be captured... while Marinette simply hits Robostus with the frying pan, freeing the Akuma and the two heroes. All in all, it's a really creative climax that shows both Scarabella and Marinette in perfect sync with each other even though they never discussed their plan. Though of course, because Astruc hates writing any scene with Ladynoir, Cat Noir gets a bucket stuck on his head so he doesn't see Marinette saving the day.

Scarabella de-evilizes Robostus, uses Miraculous Scarabella to fix everything and send Marinette back to the train, and because Hack-San already failed once, Shadowmoth can't use it for a different plan so he destroys the Sentimonster.

We cut to a few days after the trip (I guess Shadowmoth decided to take a vacation himself), and Alya tells Marinette to talk with Cat Noir about what happened.

This scene was so close to ending this episode off on a positive note. There was a good atmosphere and the body language of Ladybug and Cat Noir does a good job at telling us how uncomfortable they both feel while talking. It's just that instead of getting a heart to heart between the two about the lack of trust in their relationship, we get an Angstdrien Depreste scene. Or would a more accurate term be Cat Dour?

First off, while I don't have a problem with Ladybug apologizing for not telling Cat Noir, the episode never has him bring up what happened with Scarabella. As usual, both of them were partially at fault, but only Ladybug had to apologize for leaving her “Kitty” alone.

Second, Cat Noir’s feelings weren’t hurt? You’re telling me that in scenes like this...

And this...

Didn’t show Adrien acting irrationally because of how emotional he was? Is he really telling the truth around Ladybug or is he just trying to sweep that under the rug so Scarabella’s testimony doesn’t screw up his chances with Ladybug?

Third, this was an obvious chance to Cat Noir to finally be honest and tell Ladybug how he feels about her leaving him in the dark about so many things, but the entire conversation is just about how sad he would be if he never sees Ladybug again. Even though the whole reason he was so pissy to Scarabella at first was because of some lingering resentment for Ladybug ignoring him in favor of other heroes, why is this what the two talk about? I get it's not the season finale, but it's kind of hypocritical for Cat Noir to whine about how Ladybug doesn't trust him while never being honest about his own feelings? Sure, he's all soft and vulnerable around Ladybug, but we've seen all season how angry he gets about her not trusting him whenever she isn't around, so ironically, it's hard to tell if this is him being honest or not.

And I think now's a good time to finally talk about the way Ladybug and Cat Noir's partnership has been portrayed all season, especially since the main themes of the episodes relate to it. Buckle up, Adrien stans, because this isn't going to be pretty.

All season, we have been supposed to sympathize with Adrien as Marinette starts to trust Alya with more things than him. Marinette revealed her identity to her, trusted her to have her Miraculous permanently, and even let her keep her Miraculous even though someone else knew her identity. While some of it is hypocritical, the idea is that Adrien feels like he can be trusted with this kind of knowledge too, when really, he hasn't earned that responsibility.

Adrien has rarely, if ever, taken his job as a superhero seriously.

Not only is he known to flirt with Ladybug in the middle of a fight, he has defied her orders and recklessly sacrificed himself because he thinks Ladybug can do all the work without him.

He has also lashed out emotionally and once threatened to quit being Cat Noir in the middle of a crisis and was willing to let innocent people suffer for personal reasons, and later on actually quit being Cat Noir temporarily while Hawkmoth was about to start World War III because he was wallowing in self-pity.

He once said he isn't cut out for the responsibility that comes with being Ladybug and never learned anything from temporarily using the Ladybug Miraculous.

He has generally refused to respect Ladybug's boundaries and doesn't understand that she doesn't like him that way while he insists they should be a couple.

He outright fell for an evil doppelganger of Ladybug because she said she loved him and turned against the real Ladybug.

And I should also mention that despite hating how Ladybug keeps secrets from him, a lot of Adrien's worst moments have been when Ladybug wasn't around and he never told her about them.

He never told Ladybug that he was the reason Copycat really got akumatized while saying he never lies to her.

He never told Ladybug he contemplated letting thousands of people die because he didn't like not knowing stuff Ladybug knew.

He never told Ladybug he briefly used the Snake Miraculous to get brownie points with her.

He never told Ladybug he figured out her identity and asked her out as soon as he did so.

He never told Ladybug he abandoned Paris to go on a field trip.

He never told Ladybug he was screwing around on patrol and was excited to see someone get akuamtized if it meant spending time with her.

He never told Ladybug how he ignored Rena Rouge's orders because “ShE wAsN't LaDyBuG” and almost screwed up the mission because of it, and also never told her how he smashed a chimney in anger at Rena Rouge being in on the plan.

And he never told Ladybug he gave her replacement attitude after trying to harm her without letting her explain herself.

Why exactly should I support the idea of Ladybug trusting Cat Noir more when Cat Noir himself has kept his own secrets from Ladybug?

Adrien has done absolutely nothing to show he is trustworthy because more often than not, he views the battle with Shadowmoth as a game. He has screwed around when lives were on the line, and we're supposed to see him as responsible? It's kind of funny that Astruc compared Ladybug to Spider-Man, yet he seems to have forgotten that with great power, there must also come great responsibility. If this was a character flaw or a sign he needed to grow up, I'd be more accepting, but the fact that the writers think Adrien is a great superhero is laughable with how much evidence has proved the contrary.

In contrast, Alya, despite only being Marinette's confidant for a few episodes, has shown to take being a hero more seriously. She's helped her escape to transform, analyze the Guardian texts, and has been shown to work well on her own as Rena Rouge while helping out Marinette. I'm not trying to say she's an amazing character (“Rocketear” in particular has shown she still has problems with keeping secrets), but compared to Adrien, she seems to be more capable of handling top-secret information with Marinette, and more importantly, doesn't view being Rena Rouge as a way to have fun like Adrien does being Cat Noir. I'll go more into detail with that next time.

But yeah, this scene is how the episode ends, and what did I think of it?

I'm honestly not sure which episode I think is worse, this one or “Queen Banana”. On the one hand, every frame of “Queen Banana” could easily be replaced by an image of Astruc flipping the bird and the overall message of the episode would remain unchanged, but the fact that all of the writers think that everything Adrien does in this episode is okay and that we should feel sorry for him in this episode is just as bad, if not worse. 

As awful as Chloe was portrayed in “Queen Banana”, it was clear it was intentional on the writers' part, but Adrien doesn't get that excuse once much like he has all season. As far as Astruc's team thinks, Adrien is an incredible superhero even when he honestly attempted to harm someone with a superpower that can cause grievous harm at best. Yet again this season, in the show's attempt to make me feel sorry for Adrien, it made him look even worse. In any other show, he would obviously be called out for his incredibly unheroic actions.

Even putting him aside, the writing in this episode is still AWFUL. The whole reason Ladybug was benched had several plotholes and poor communication with Cat Noir that only made the fight with Robostus even harder, Shadowmoth's plan to waste a potentially useful Sentimonster to reuse a single Akuma was one of the dumbest plans he's ever had, and barring the ending, the action was just forgettable.

There were a few okay moments sprinkled throughout the episode (more than I can say for “Queen Banana”), so I'm still not sure if I should call this the worst episode of the show or still give that honor to “Queen Banana”. I guess I'll leave that choice up to you and let you pick your poison for now.

I mean, it's not like there's going to be an even worse episode down the line this season, right?

RIGHT???

[eloquent-vowel]

Hey! I have a request! Bucky x reader where the reader is from the red room. Maybe the avengers just got her out and Buckys helping her through the ptsd and stuff? Maybe she locks herself away to her room because she’s scared to do anything for herself? Also maybe some platonic nat? Sorry if that was too specific. Feel free to add your own ideas and change stuff or just ignore if you don’t like the idea! Thanks!

Hi! Thank you so much for the request, I'm sorry it took me so long, life has been evil to me and I may or may not have forgotten this blog actually had readers. I love me some good hurt/comfort. I hope what I have written works!

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When the Avengers had burst into the facility you had been kept in, with all the bravado of heroes you were shocked. You had heard whispers of these warriors that you were being trained eliminate. You had heard stories of the Black Widow who had betrayed the Red Room and while you didn't want to give yourself hope, a small part of you always longed to do the same. To be done with the endless list of missions and targets, to finally stop piling up the blood on your hands.

They had arrested you originally. You didn't blame them, you were one of the most active members of the programme, You had lost count of how many instructions you had followed, how many targets you had eliminated and you had no doubt that the Avengers had your face on their wall of targets.

That was why, when the Winter Soldier aimed a gun at your head you just knelt to the ground as you watched your seniors begin to fight the other Avengers. You didn't say a word in the carrier back to wherever they were taking you. It was easy to hide behind a bravado of stony silence, to pretend that your entire existence hadn't just been ripped away from you.

That was why, when the blank faces of the Black Widow and the Winter Soldier, stared at you from the other side of the interrogation table, you felt a panicked warmth creep up your neck. They begun to question you about the other facilities and to their surprise, you guessed by the way they looked at each other as you talked, you spoke truthfully and honestly to them. You told them everything you knew.

"If I can stop anymore becoming like me, I will. Everything I know is yours, I won't lie to protect something so hideous as the red room."

Because for as much as the red room tried to convince you otherwise, seeing young girl after young girl die by another girl was not right. Not right in the slightest. The more you saw of the world outside of the Room the more aware you became of this, so by the time it was to end, you promised to do anything to help the Avengers take down the remaining branches of the Black Widow Programme.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Around 6 months after you had been captured, you were settled into the avengers compound, much to your surprise. You had been there personally to help the avengers gain access to some of the branches and during those mission you had begun a strong friendship with Nat and a... a something with Bucky.

There was something about the gruff man that was so gentle that drew you in. The way his smile lit up when a certain song came on and the little dances he would do while brewing coffee made your heart flutter- despite how much you tried to convince it not too.

It was a nice life, in the compound, you mostly stuck to your room until you were asked to help on a mission, or if Nat asked to spar with you. You still had not gotten rid of the memories, however. These vivid memories haunted you, if you weren't keeping busy your brain would wonder to times before. To victims of the red room, and your victims, the ones you had killed.

Their faces didn't hover as much as their voices, every plea they made would ring in your ears whenever there was a moment of silence. They whispered from the corner of your room at night, nothing would stop them from filling the void of silence. This meant that sleep did not come as easily to you.

It was one of those nights. When every time you closed your eyes there would be nothing but whispers and your brain seemed determined to run through every memory you regretted. There was only one solution to these nights, a good cup of tea (with a splash of whiskey in). So you pottered over to the kitchen, footfalls naturally silent as you boiled the kettle. Tony probably had some fancy gadget that would do the whole process more efficiently, but the sound of boiling water was rather grounding.

Perhaps your focus on the water was why you didn't hear the figure walking up behind you until you felt a slight breath on your neck. Training and years of being on the run kicked into gear and you immediately whipped around to punch her assailant around the jaw, and kicked a foot out to trip them. The figure fell with a very familiar oof, one recognisable from training.

It was Bucky.

Oh god, it was Bucky. Kind, thoughtful, gentle Bucky who had probably come out to check on you. The same Bucky who made you coffee in the morning, that was now lying on the floor clutching his eye as you looked down at him. And then his face, his figure, was all your other victims. A woman in hospital garb, a man in a suit, a wife, a sister, a child. It was too much, you had to run.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bucky watched as they ran from the kitchen, he stood up from the floor as the sound of a door slamming echoed through the tower. He rubbed at his jaw, how could he have been so stupid. Sneaking up on someone who was struggling with PTSD and running on little sleep, he didn't think.

"You gonna get that?" Nat's voice was hushed as she offered him a hand up.

He took it, pulling himself up, pausing to think for a moment before walking hesitantly over to the door. He knocked as quietly as possible. He could hear the gasping sobs coming from the other side of the walls.

Nat hovered on his other side, staying within comfort radius in case she was needed.

"Heya Doll." Bucky started, as there was no sign of reply he continued. "You alright?" Still silence. "I'm sorry I snuck up on you like that, it was my fault, should've thought but as Steve would say, thinking ain't always my strong suit."

He caught the sound of movement, hesitant footsteps coming towards the door.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You managed to control your breathing enough to shuffle over to the door. You placed your hand over the door, where you imagined Bucky to be leaning. Guilt filled your conscious once more and the apology flew out of you before you could stop it.

"I'm so sorry, Bucky. God I am so sorry."

"It's fine, Doll."

"No, no its not!" You were practically yelling at the door now. "I hurt you. What if one day I kill you? You catch me with a knife in my hand and I jump, what then. For crying out loud I can't even make a cup of tea without hurting someone, I can't do anything. I'm sorry, I am so sorry that I'm so useless and I-"

"Hey, hey, hey breathe." Bucky's calm and even tone halted your rant. "Listen to me. Everyone of us has had moments like that, we all have our demons and those demons sometimes cause us to lash out. I've done worse than punch Steve many times, would you call me useless?"

You sniffed as you shook your head, forgetting he couldn't see you.

"Besides," He continued, "We all have our strengths, we all have our weaknesses but you know what's great? We are a team. Where one person can't make a cup of tea, another can make the best brew in the country. You don't have to face these things alone, Doll. We are all here for you, I am here for you, always will be."

You slowly began to open the door as he spoke, and looked up into the most sincere pair of blue eyes you had ever seen. There was a slight bruise coming up below his eye but he was smiling. He was doing that smile that meant his eyes crinkled, twinkling brightly- like stars.

"I'm sorry, Bucky."

"You don't have anything to apologise for, Doll, but you're forgiven."

You crept forward, reaching out for something, someone and the easy smile that filled your face as Bucky's arms wrapped around you in the most comforting hug you had ever had. You felt the faint echo of lips against your head and you gripped onto him tightly.

"You two are adorable."

The two of you separated slowly at Nat's voice. Not completely, there was still the comforting feeling of Bucky's hand against your back.

Nat's face was softer than you had ever seen it and there was nothing but understanding in her eyes as she spoke. "If you ever need someone to talk to come knock on my door. I know I would have loved to have someone there who knew."

Words caught in your throat as you nodded. You were soon wrapped in another comforting hug from Natasha, the scent of her perfume comforting and warm. The way forward would be hard but you knew that with these two by your side, your family, things would be a little easier than they had been.

[absolutepokemontrash]

IDK IF YOU READ THE HUNGER GAMES BUT LIKE IN THE SECOND BOOK I THINK KATNIS GETS TO TOUR THE CAPITOL WITH HER TEAM FOR A VICTORY TOUR AND WHILE THERE THERES A HUGE PARTY AND THE GUESTS

The guests literally eat food then force themselves to puke by ingesting a special drink inn so they can go on to continue eating food.

THATS GLUTTONY like holy shiiiiiit—

Also the thing about Beel being eternally hungry always made me wonder like are the devs maybe going the route where Beel’s consumption deprives others of food? Because sometimes Beel takes his brothers / others food to satiate himself at the cost of them going hungry but like... not super sure? There’s also someone who said (i cant remember the URL but it was on tumblr talking about the demon brothers and analysis) that maybe what Beel feels isnt hunger but the emptiness/void caused by Lilith’s death and his own guilt? Like, he’s not actually hungry, he just learned to associate being overwhelmingly full with not having to think about the Fall and then the exercises is him keeping himself so busy he doesnt have time to process his trauma. Idk, they described it so much better than i can put to words. But i think Beel’s hunger is physical too like he actually gets starved and sick or soemthing? Idk.

Oh buddy, that’s not just from the Hunger Games,

Suzanne Collins took a lot of inspiration from Roman gladiatorial matches, and rich Romans would often have pitchers or buckets nearby to upchuck their food in order to keep eating. It’s… really gross to think about, why would you want to keep eating with the taste of PUKE in your mouth????

And yea, I see Beel’s gluttony as being a sin because his consumption of food is hurting others. When he clears out the fridge, his brothers don’t get to eat, when he throws a hunger tantrum, things get broken and people get hurt. It’s a sin because it’s directly effecting others, and it’s happening a LOT, Gluttony is habitual greed, doing anything to an excess where it hurts people and making a habit out of doing so.

To an extent, I like to think that because of their own unresolved issues, ALL of the brothers are using their sins to fill a void, like people do in real life. Gambling addicts for example, are addicts, addiction doesn’t just happen to perfectly happy people who have a great support system and nothing wrong in their lives. Same with sex and food addicts, same with chronic laziness and anger issues, same with pride. This is why I like to think that after MC comes into their lives and helps them work through their struggles, the brothers’ sins begin to dictate and control them less. The sin will always be there, but they can control it more easily.

But Beel is still my good good boy-