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#I have to imagine he was secretly conflicted the entire time
lightandfellowship · 3 months
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Thinking about how Vidar is a character primarily motivated by guilt and a desire to make up for his mistakes.
Feels guilty for letting his friends die, and the only way he knows how to make up for it is to seek revenge on their behalf and destroy darkness for good so that their efforts won't be in vain. An arduous and ambitious task he's willing to take on for their sake.
Says that he couldn't face his friend (Hoder, presumably) if he let anything bad happen to Baldr. Meaning he would feel guilt/shame if he actually went through with killing him. And this fear of letting Hoder down compels him to pursue Kingdom Hearts as an alternate option, despite the unknowns of what a "purge" entails. Like, isn't that just wild to think about? Choosing to purge the world on the off-chance that it destroys darkness in a way that leaves Baldr unharmed, and the guilt of resorting to something that dangerous and extreme somehow being less bad than the guilt of killing Baldr himself...it's so tragically human to prioritize your personal relationships like that.
This is admittedly more of a headcanon than established canon, but it wouldn't surprise me if Vidar's eventual decision to abandon his plan to summon Kingdom Hearts was similarly motivated by guilt over the questionable morality of his actions.
Just in general is constantly apologizing and taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong in the game. Says that he and the other upper classmen survivors lost sight of what was truly important (their friends) because they were so focused on following the rules which was what led to everyone else dying. Acknowledges that his decision to keep Baldr's possession a secret resulted in even more death and then agrees to fight Eraqus (so basically agrees to let Eraqus beat him up to vent his anger) almost as if he's resigned himself to punishment because he thinks he deserves it (though notably not to the point that he wouldn't put up a fight at all). Tells Xehanort and Eraqus to "leave Vor to us" when going to save her from Baldr and says that Xehanort and Eraqus have done enough; once again trying to assume responsibility for the situation since he knows that Urd, Hermod, and Bragi's deaths were partially his fault.
And finally, his dying words literally start with "I'm sorry." (By the way, ever noticed how both Vor and Vidar's death scenes involve them apologizing to Xehanort and Eraqus and feeling guilty over letting their friends down? Yeah.)
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cutielando · 4 months
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conflict of interest | l.n.
synopsis: requested by anon: i recently saw a lando fanfic where the reader was a famous football player’s daughter and she was besties with maguis ex bf (joao another football player) but the story line was that she’d gone to a gp lando grew an interest in her but she rejected/dissed him because of the rumors of him and magui and i was wondering is you could do something like that!
warnings!!: a little hate towards magui (i have nothing against her and her relationship with lando in any way !!!! but it was necessary for the story to be spicier), jerk!joao (for like a split second)
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You didn’t know what you were expecting when you got invited to attend a Formula 1 race weekend.
You knew nothing about the sport or how it worked, the only thing discussed in your household being football and your father’s career. Day in and day out, the only thing that surrounded you was football.
Even though your father had always said that he didn’t want to pressure you into liking or practicing football, he secretly wanted you to follow in his footsteps.
Imagine his internal disappointment he felt when you told him you wanted to become a model. He, of course, supported you and helped you in every way that he could have ever thought of, instead shifting his entire focus regarding football on your best friend, João. 
You and João have known each other ever since you were little children, growing up in the same neighborhood and given that he had always looked up to your father and his career. Growing up, whenever you would hang out with João at your house, him and your father never missed out on the opportunity for some early-on training and strategy talks.
That didn’t stop even when João actually became a football player. Your father and him sometimes talked more than you guys did, if you were being honest.
But you understood the shared passion that made their connection so deep.
Even with your modeling, you were keen on following your best friend’s games, always finding time and watching it wherever you were around the world. But that was not the only sport that you followed.
Formula 1 had become your guilty pleasure ever since you did a photoshoot with Charles Leclerc for a jewelry brand in Monaco. You became very good friends with him and his girlfriend, Alexandra, whom you talked to regularly.
To nobody’s surprise, a couple of weeks after the photoshoot was published, you received a formal invitation from Ferrari to the race weekend at Silverstone. The most exciting thing in your life, by far, was getting the opportunity to experience the true feeling of the race weekend from the garages.
Figuring you shouldn’t go alone, you took João with you. 
“Why do you want me to come, again?” he asked while on the place, not particularly excited to attend an event in which he didn’t really have interest in or knowledge of.
“Because you love me and I didn’t want to go to the UK by myself” you had replied, which was enough for the footballer.
After you had checked into the hotel and made your way to the track for the qualifying session of the weekend, you were amazed by the multitude of people screaming all around the paddock and reporters taking dozens of pictures of you and João.
An interviewer motioned you over for a quick interview, prompting you to halt your walk towards the garage.
“Y/N, such a nice surprise seeing you here. Not really the kind of sport we’re used to seeing you attend, is it?” the woman asked, making you smile and laugh
“I suppose not, haha. I’ve been a huge F1 fan for a while now but my schedule has made it impossible for me to attend an actual race up until now” you explained, making the woman nod.
“And who are you the guest of today?” she continued.
“Ferrari. I did a photoshoot with Charles in Monaco a couple of weeks back and we because friends, so I’m guessing he talked the Ferrari team into inviting little old me to Silverstone”
“We saw you came with João Felix, is he your partner? What can you tell us?” 
You laughed, hearing João snort from behind you.
“No, far from it. We’re best friends, we’ve known each other since we were little kids, but there is nothing else going on between us”
You answered a couple more questions before deciding it was getting late and you would miss qualifying if you spent anymore time with the woman.
João and you made small talk as you walked towards the garage, seeing Charles talking to a guy in papaya.
“Hi Charles” you greeted him once you were within earshot, the Monégasque immediately hugging you and João.
“Y/N, João, I’m so glad you could make it. This is Lando, he drives for McLaren. Lando, this is Y/N, a model and very good friend and João Felix” Charles introduced you, making you smile at the curly haired man.
Making eye contact with Lando had been one of the most intense feeling you had experienced in a long time. The intensity of his gaze and the way his eyes moved over your body had your senses tingling.
“It’s very nice to meet you” he said, taking your hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it.
You almost blushed, but a scoff from your right made you snap out of your happy bubble. João was glaring daggers into Lando’s head, which made you furrow your eyebrows as you looked at him.
He shook his head and mouthed later, making you nod.
“Well, we have to get in the cars, but I hope you have a great time” Charles said, saluting you two before departing with Lando, who smiled and winked at you as he walked back to his garage.
“No” João demanded once he saw the way your eyes were following Lando as he disappeared into his garage, giving you one last look before he was out of sight.
“I didn’t do anything” you defended yourself, scoffing once you saw the distaste with which João was looking at you. “What the hell is your problem? You don’t even know the guy and you’re acting like he killed someone”
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“I don’t have to know what he’s like to know that he’s an idiot. Do you not read the news?” he asked, at which you shook your head. 
You didn’t really have the time nor the desire to read tabloids, knowing what kind of articles they tend to write.
“You know I don’t believe in anything the media writes” you explained, rolling your eyes.
“Well, I believe what videos say. And he’s been seen with Magui” your eyes widened at the mention of his ex-girlfriend.
The mere thought of Magui being in a relationship with anyone made you sick to your stomach, especially after what happened with João.
“Oh” was all you could say, and the conversation ended there.
You couldn’t lie and say that the new information didn’t disappoint you. Wanting to see it with your own eyes, you decided to look it up on the internet and, fair enough, there were videos and pictures of Lando and Magui driving around Monaco.
While driving around didn’t really mean anything, you felt it like a punch to your gut. Every single time you would become slightly interested in someone, something had to come in between.
Shaking the thoughts from your head and deciding you would not speak to Lando for the remainder of the weekend, you enjoyed qualifying to the most, the feeling of watching firsthand what was happening was unlike any football game you had ever attended.
It was something special.
After you had arrived back at the hotel and were left alone once João decided to hit the city, you decided on having a quiet night in with some room service and a movie. Settling into the comfy bed, you had barely put on the movie when you heard your phone go off.
Looking at the notification, your heart starts racing when you see it was a text from Lando.
lando
hi there
is this y/n?
y/n
yes?
how did you get my number?
lando
charles gave it to me😅
y/n
hahhaa lol
did you need something?
lando
yes, actually
i think we both felt something earlier today
when we were introduced
and i was wondering if you wanted to go out?
y/n
ummm
hahaha
i don't think that's a good idea
lando
why not?
did i misread the situation completely?
i tend to do that sometimes
y/n
you didn't misread anything
i felt something as well
but i don't think your girlfriend would agree to you asking me out
or even talking to me right now
lando
girlfriend?
i don't know who you're talking about, i'm not dating anyone
y/n
lando
let's not pretend people don't follow the news
you've found magui, and i wish you both happiness if you're together, but given what happened with her and joao, who's my best friend, i don't even think we should be speaking right now
lando
woah, woah, woah
slow your horses
i don't know what news you've been reading
but i'm not dating magui
she's simply a friend, we have the same friend group but that's it
i know about the situation with joao and i would never associate myself with someone like that
does joao think i'm with her?
y/n
yeah
he's the one who told me to be careful
cause he saw the photos and video and shit
lando
i can assure you
i'm not dating her and i don't have the intention to date her
y/n
i don't know
lando
please, just think about it for some time
you don't have to give me an answer right now
y/n
okay
i'll think about it and let you know
lando
thank you, thank you, thank you
Throwing your phone on the bed as far away as possible, you let your mind wonder. Was Lando telling the truth? Was he really not dating Magui?
João had seemed so sure that they were together, so sure that she had just moved on to the next celeb and sure that Lando had just fallen for it. That’s why he had been so hostile towards him and so against you even talking to him.
But you couldn’t deny the butterflies that you felt when you talked to him just now, how excited the mere thought of being with made you. You couldn’t ignore it, and frankly, you didn’t want to ignore the feeling.
You hadn’t realized how long you had been stuck in your own thoughts, not until you heard the hotel room door open and João stepped into the room.
“What were you thinking about? You were lost in thought” he said, shrugging off his jacket and falling backwards on the bed beside you.
“You’re gonna hate me if I tell you” you said, playing with your fingers.
He raised his head at that, furrowing his eyebrows.
“Hate you? I could never hate you, no matter what you would do” 
You sighed, knowing he was right. There was no way he would ever hate you, he physically couldn’t think badly of you.
But this would test that idea pretty well.
“I talked to Lando tonight” you said, not even looking at him but knowing how he was glaring at you.
“I told you to stay away from him and her” the venom dripping from his tone at the thought of Lando and Magui didn’t go unnoticed.
“Look, I know what she did to you was unforgivable, and I hate her for how much she hurt you. You know that. But I talked to Lando, and they’re not dating. She’s just a friend he has in common with the people close to him, he would never date her because of what she did to you” you explained, trying to diffuse the situation.
João sighed, shaking his head. He turned to look at you, seeing the look on your face; a look he knew all too well.
He knew he had no right telling you who you should or shouldn’t talk to. He didn’t like it when you did it to him, he had no right doing it to you. But he had just been so angry at Magui for what he had done to him, time and time again after he had forgiven her, and he lost it when he saw the man in front of him.
However, looking at you in that moment, he knew you needed this. And he didn’t want to be the one depriving you of that.
“Okay” was the only thing he said, making your head shoot up and your eyes widen.
“Okay? What does that mean, okay?” you asked cautiously.
“If you want to go out with him, you can go out with him. I have nothing against it” he said, which prompted you to squeal and jump on him to hug him, chanting thank yous in his ear. “But, if he does anything to hurt you, I’m not afraid to fight him” it made you laugh.
Without wasting a single moment, you picked up your phone again and sent Lando a message, smiling giddily.
so, about that date?
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winterarmyy · 1 year
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Behind The Facades | Part II
An unrequited pining over a certain super solider.
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Navigation: Part I || Part II || Part III (end)
Words: 3.3k++
Pairings: avenger!bucky x female!reader
Warnings: angst. pent up anger. unspoken jealousy. conflicted feelings.
P/S: i heard you. i got you. since lots of you enjoyed the supposedly oneshot, so i decided to do a continuation for this couple. Hope you enjoy~
Read my other works here: Masterlist
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Weeks gone by, months flown through and the team was already accustomed Bucky's girlfriend wandering around the tower. Though they thought she would move-in eventually, knowing that Tony allowed them to do so, but she hadn't done it yet.
While Y/N, on the other hand, felt like she was constantly walking on thin ice. Being tug in between holding herself together and breaking down.
What's worst about this was, deep down, Y/N wanted to hate her.
Gail Richards.
Bucky's girl.
A gorgeous red-head, sultry champagne-colored eyes, a deep dimple on her right cheek, sculptured body of goddess and heart of gold.
Y/N got to admit that she hated how perfect Gail was for Bucky. She had such a kind soul; it's impossible not to fall for her. In hindsight, she was exactly what Bucky needed in his life.
What he deserve.
And in the end, Gail managed to steal not just Bucky's heart, but also the entire team's.
Including Y/N herself.
The friendship between Gail and Y/N was true and genuine; even if it hurts her everytime when she was forced to see Gail canoodling with the man she had fallen madly in love with.
"So where's the date? Did he tell you or is it a surprise kind of thing?" Gail's questions snapped Y/N from her deep internal thoughts.
Her gaze fell into her own reflection in the mirror; she was fitted with a simple black satin dress, with a quite scandalous slit on one side on her thigh. Standing behind her, was Gail, helping her out with the pearl necklace she was graciously lending it to Y/N.
"I don't remember the name but it's that new michelin star restaurant." Y/N replied as she straighten her dress, suddenly feeling conscious of how tight the dress was hugging her body.
"Oh! I know that fancy new restaurant. It opened last week, right? Bucky and I haven't had the chance to go yet. I heard it's pretty hard to get reservation. I must say, I'm impressed."
While Gail seemed to approve of Y/N's date, she didn't notice the way Y/N's body froze as she mentioned Bucky's name.
Her fingers were itching to dug it's nails somewhere, anywhere; as she try to keep her composure as neutral as possible, "Yeah, I'll definitely give you my review before you guys go on a date there. Who knows if its not up to the standards, right?"
Oh, how desperate she was on wanting to hide her pain away.
"That's great, y/n! But, I'd rather you actually enjoy the date rather than secretly being an undercover food critique. Forget about everything and have fun for once! Who knows this one is a keeper, huh?" Gail rubbed her hands to side of Y/N's arms; her eyes brighten as she encouraged her.
Ignorance is truly a bliss; though it's not that she knows that Y/N had been in love with Bucky this whole time.
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On the other hand, Bucky was starting to feel the effects of what Gail had warned him before. He doesn't want to feel like she doesn't love him because she does.
At least she tries to.
Persuing Gail was not necessarily easy; not because he was lacking or she played hard to get. But because of how honest she was; how self aware she was.
"Being with me is a hell of a challenge, Bucky. My emotions are unpredictable. Today, I will love you ever so truly; I will drown you with all the kisses and cuddles you could ever imagine but the next day you might not being able to talk to me or even see me."
"I'll go M.I.A and isolate myself from the world at any time, with no warning. I shut down without any reason."
"I might not be there for you when you needed me the most. I might abandon you when all you wanted for me to stay."
"Worst part about it is I won't feel sorry for what I did because I can barely feel anything during those time."
But he insisted to try.
Maybe it was the sudden surge of passion when he met her but he was determined that they could make it work.
So, try they did.
As his relationship with Gail progresses, his and y/n's started to astray. He noticed y/n has been keeping her distance with him since he got together with Gail.
She had been cooped up in her room more often. There was a gradual changes in their schedule. Lesser trips to the corndog stall that y/n was obsessed with, canceled trips on visiting Alpine, the cute little kitten they have been eyeing at the adoption center, and almost none of the late night coffee trips.
He missed her.
From her annoying laugh to her odd habit of scratching things in her sleep.
Her smile, her voice, her presence.
He missed all of it.
He missed her.
Which was why Bucky thought it was better to talk it out with her. Maybe there was some sort of misunderstanding that needed to be clear out.
It took just single knock before Bucky intrude himself into Y/N's room, "Hey, y/n I don't want to disturb you but can we..." Bucky's sentence did not managed to end with a period, thus his words was instead left hanging just like his mouth.
"Oh, wow."
For a moment there, Bucky literally forgot how to breath. It was as if the reality around him was deteriorating, leaving just the perfect view of Y/N. For a split second, his gaze seemed to dilated into a trance, slowly getting bewitched by the beauty before him.
Bucky was so captivated by how, almost sinfully, beautiful Y/N looked in that dress, he didn't notice his own girlfriend was standing right next to her.
Gail carefully slide her way towards Bucky as she prompted, "So... what do you think, Buck? Gorgeous isn't she?" A dreamy sigh escaped from Gail's lips as she admire the woman in front of her.
"Yes. Yes, she is."
Those were the words Bucky wanted to say but his mouth wasn't listening to his heart, rather it followed his head, "I didn't know you were coming over, honey." Bucky arms reached towards Gail as he scooped her close to him, placing a soft kiss on her cheek.
It was subtle but if they paid enough attention, they could see how Y/N's gaze quickly shifted downwards to her feet. Her teeth sunk between the insides of her left cheek as an effort to distract herself from the thunderstorm within her chest. A little bit more force on her teeth would've tore her up and left her bleeding from the inside.
How much longer she must be in this torment? How much suffering her heart needs to endure until it adapt to the pain? She's tired of the ache in her chest but at the same time she can't help it when her heart yearn for a love that's never going to be hers.
"Well? Is she not goddamn beautiful?" Gail playfully slapped Bucky's arm, demanding her question to be answered.
"I mean..." Bucky stuttered to find words. Especially when those round doe eyes of Y/N's spark with anticipation.
All those milliseconds of time Bucky had to think of an appropriate, truthful answer but somehow he only come up with, "...i guess, you could do better."
Idiot.
Straight up dumb.
Bucky immediately regret his words when the gleam in Y/N's eyes suddenly faded; turning into something cold and stoic.
Gail huffed in denial, before taking Y/N's side, "Then you sir, need to check your eyes because she's absolutely stunning". Y/N gave a small smile as Gail pulled her for a side hug.
"Why are you dressed up anyway?" Bucky wanted change the topic before he said something stupid again.
There was a noticeable pause on Y/N's side as he asked, as if she was unwilling to tell him. However, the reluctantcy only arouses his curiosity.
Y/N turned around and faced the mirror. As she fixed the necklace near her collarbone, she made an eye contact with Bucky through his reflection and answered, "I have a date."
Something shifted in the air; as if it was getting heavier, sturdier.
"Who's the guy?" Bucky was clearly not amused with the idea. It barely filtered through his stern tone.
"Daniel. One of the SHIELD agent I worked with before." Y/N noticed how his expression morphed into a frown.
"Why is he making that face? "
Bucky seethed, "That douchebag? Really y/n?" There's a hint of disappointment in his voice; like how a father would scold his daughter of doing something stupid.
And that ticked her off.
She's a grown-ass woman; she can do whatever she wants, date whoever she wants. None of it was Bucky's concern.
"What do you mean?" Annoyance flowed through her tone.
Bucky rolled his eyes as he recognized that name.
Daniel.
That scumbag whose always staring at her. And not in a cute, crush-like way. There's nothing innocent about the way he stare at Y/N's ass and boobs, or always finding excuses to touch her.
However, Y/N has been oblivious to it since Bucky had always been with her.
Since when did that douche got close to Y/N? How did he managed to get Y/N agree to go to a fucking date with him? More importantly, how did Bucky not know all of this?
There was this uncontrollable, unexplainable rage within Bucky that he was unable to contain; like a venomous poison it seeped through his head, "Are you that needy to even consider going out with such scum? Come on, y/n. You're being naive, it's ridiculous." Bucky scoffed as his tone laced with scorn and mockery.
Gail gasped in complete shock, "What is wrong with you, Bucky? That's not--"
"That's not fair. How can you have the luxury to fall in love and lived happily ever after while I have to continue to break and break, again and again?"
"Ridiculous? Am I a fucking joke to you, Bucky?!" Y/N could hold back her own anger as she turned towards him. His face remained the way that it is; red and furious and he was not willing to put his ego down either.
"You know what?" Y/N swerved towards the bed, "I am going to go this date with Daniel, whether you like or not..." She took her purse on the edge of the mattress, "...and I am going to enjoy every second of it!"
"Thanks, Gail. I really appreciate your help today." Y/N smiled as she briefly took Gail's hands into hers. Blinking in confusion, Gail replied, "Y-yeah.. sure--" though her speech was cut short when Y/N interrupted.
"And you!" Y/N shot a glare towards Bucky before marching towards him, "You can go fuck yourself." She clashed her shoulders into Bucky's before walking out her own room.
Bucky gritted his teeth; his jaw clenched in pure vexation as his frown grew deeper.
Looking at her very angry looking boyfriend, Gail let out a tired sigh, "Why would you say such thing to her, Bucky?
Why did he say those things?
He could explain it much better way, knowing that he had plausible reason to why he thinks she should not go to this date.
But, why did he not do that?
Why did he lash out and spat those hurtful things to her?
Even Bucky himself was not sure why.
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After that Bucky spent the rest of the night at the gym, and this was the third punching bag that he had completely destroyed. He could see his girlfriend coming in from the corner of his eyes, with an emergency kit in her hand.
She sat at a nearby bench before, "Bucky sweetheart, come here." Gail softly asked him sit with her.
Despite the grunts and gruffs that slipped from his lips, he still obeyed her; though partially was because she had been sternly staring at him.
Gail gently remove his boxing glove of his right hand, then lo and behold his knuckles was crushed and bloodied.
"The wrappings is there for a reason, you know?" She knew he would this; especially when he is guided by rage. Bucky remained silent, knowing that if he did not control his anger first; then he would probably do the same thing he did to Y/N again.
There was a comfortable silence as Gail was tending his wounds. Bucky looked down at her, focusing on cleaning the wounds. She was always careful and tender while handling Bucky; as if she was taking care of a child.
"You love her, don't you?" Gail calmly asked as she started to wrap Bucky's hand.
The question caught him by surprise, "What do you mean?"
She chuckled softly, "y/n. You love her. Am I right?" she reclarify.
It didn't need a genius to figure out how Bucky truly feels about Y/N. Even if he himself if not aware of his own feelings.
But she can see right through him.
She noticed how attentive was Bucky towards y/n. How he looked at her; like she's his whole world. How every single thing he does somehow relates back to Y/N; and he cannot go by a day without mentioning her name in their any conversation. How peaceful looked when y/n is anywhere near him.
She noticed every single one of those detail.
"Of couse, I do. It's y/n we're talking about here." Bucky replied as-matter-of-factly. Though there was some truth in his answer but it was not all.
Gail shook her head lightly as she holds Bucky's wounded hand in hers, "No, Bucky. You love her." Her brows crunched into a pleading curve as her gaze turned gentle.
Bucky frowned in confusion; he looked down at his hand where her thumb caressing his knuckles and he thought back all the moments he spent with y/n.
From the very first day he met her, on those nights she stayed with him, through thick and thin, her eyes on his, her smile on his cheek, her laugh in his arms, her voice in his ears, her skin on left arm, everything flashed through him so fast until a single moment when he realizes.
"I love her."
Gail recognized the glint his eyes, "And she loves you too, Buck." She coaxed.
The frown on his face turned into a shock as she spoke. Even if Y/N does love him, what does that mean?
"What are you saying?"
"Go." Her voice were somehow calmer than she was supposed to speak in such a dire situation.
Bucky knew what she meant; he knew what those eyes were telling him, "Gail, you--"
She cut him before he could say anything, "We did agree to see where will this take us..." her smiled was somehow bitter-sweet, "And I guess this is our end of the line."
A hit of pain struck Bucky's heart, "You don't have to do this." His left hand raised to tenderly cupped her cheeks; it was warm. Unlike his winter cold hand, she was warm. Like the soft heat from the morning sun.
She placed her hand on top of his as she craved a reassuring smile, "I want to."
And that broke Bucky's heart. And it broke for her.
He loved Gail.
All the feelings he felt for her was real. As real as the feelings he felt for Y/N. The only difference was he didn't realized he was in love with Y/N, but he did with Gail.
"And to be honest, I'm not sure I can keep up with the emotional commitments, I'm always M.I.A and lost in my own head..."
As Gail starts to ramble, Bucky wasn't hearing any of it. His eyes stings and his vision blurred.
There was only so much any man can handle.
There was joy in realizing his was in love with Y/N but there was also agony in knowing he had to break Gail's heart. Unable to hold back his emotions anymore, his tears finally broke out.
She was prepared not to cry today but seeing Bucky like this; who wouldn't tear up, right?
"Hey hey hey, I'll be okay. We'll be okay." She placed her palm on Bucky's cheeks, wiping away the tears with her thumb as she lead his gaze to her own.
"Bucky, listen to me. I don't want you feeling like you're alone." she cooed, her eyes had gotten glassy as tears filled within them. "You deserve so much more than what I can offer you, do you understand?" Bucky can simply nod as he feels like his voice will betray him.
"Good." Gail closed her eyes and leaned into a kiss. A soft innocent kiss on his forehead, as their tears fall on each other's bare skin, "Now, go get your girl."
<< Part I || Part III >>
Read my other works here: Masterlist
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A/N: Feel free to leave some feedback behind! And what do you think of Gail? I thought it'd be nice to have a different characteristics for her instead of the cliche 'bitchy and rude' girlfriend.
There's no actual taglist. So, I only include those who reblogged with comments and/or commented on the previous part. However, do tell if you want or do not want to be tagged.
Taglist: @ghostofwinter @angstysebfan @erinallene @mishkatelwarriorgoddess @paarthurnax59 @nomajdetective @kentokaze @dexter99 @nana1000night @prettyinpink350
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darkcircles4lyfe · 8 months
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This doesn't have anything to do with anything, but i had a talk with a friend a few days ago, about shonen biasis and the way this shapes our expectations, and mha came up so i remembered how so many people apply those biasis HEAVILY into the manga, to the point that they sound like they're looking for a different story.
And one of those things that it seemed to be MOST talked about is exactly bkdk's relationship.
I have seen many times people from the fandom (sometimes really angrily) point out how in most cases Katsuki seems to basically take up not one, but four roles in Izuku's life and this includes putting him in situations that people associate with the MC's love interest, and it is weird that, despite Izuku "having a girl" for people to make assumptions about, he seems to completely repulse any female character that could be the counter part to Izuku's.
And this made us wonder if Katsuki's placement in those roles and lack of interest was made specifically because the author precisely did not want the actions that both do for each other as romantic but a whole another thing entirely, as a subversion for the these classic tropes, as he did by making the conflict between Ochako and Himiko not a "rivals fighting for the affection of a boy" but something that is connected to the plot of these characters instead.
Oh you bet! I am always down to talk about this, because I think about it a lotttt.
This reminds me, recently I remembered a funny habit I used to have with books I read. Like, back in middle school. I used to start by flipping directly to the last page and reading the final sentence. Usually this did not spoil anything whatsoever, but sure enough, by the time I read through the whole book, that sentence would take on new meaning.
So I started musing about what it would be like if only I could do this with bnha, if everything was already out. It made me feel so nostalgic…
Will the last panel be something grand, or something small? Hopeful or sad? Distant? Intimate? A parting message to the reader? Will it look like almost nothing of consequence to the unknowing eye—yet burst with hard-hitting subtext?
Of course I wonder about all the twists and reveals that might be still ahead of us, but it’s kinda soothing to think about how the whole thing could be put to rest. Because then I realize I’m not worried.
For once, this is not because the story is following so many tropes so predictably that I know exactly, in so many words, how it will end. It’s more like the story is a close friend who I’ve gotten to know well enough that everything they do is so “them” it makes me smirk. I'm often marveling at how Horikoshi has managed to pull all this off. How is it that (at least here in the west) people who aren't really paying attention call it basic and cookie-cutter. Even a Japanese animator called it "classic," and this interview shows such obvious dissonance between Hori and the interviewer, just... wow. But it's so clear that bnha has broken just about every rule in the book at this point, so much so that I struggle to condense it into words. I'm like--*gestures broadly at everything*--why haven't more people picked up on it??
Yet we still get bombarded with people saying "it's a shonen, c'mon, we all know how this will end." Um. No you don't. I KNOW there has to be a bunch of people who are secretly frustrated by Kacchan taking up all the roles and getting all the moments. It's not even in a mysogynistic way, because Kacchan is the most anti-dudebro character imaginable. Bkdk's relationship isn't intended for them and they know it... and you know what, I'm starting to ramble. You've heard all this before. The thing I should really be focusing on in your ask is the part where you mentioned how you and your friend were speculating about bkdk ending up as "a whole other thing entirely" rather than simply romantic.
Well, fuck it, I've been biting my tongue, but now might as well be the time I talk about this. I got into a bit of a disagreement with someone over it once and then I shut up. Because it's very difficult to approach the subject without being lumped in with those people who see bkdk as "brotherly" (ew) or otherwise try to push some "crisis of male friendship" agenda, or at the very least without being accused of enabling people to make excuses against bkdk being canon ad infinitum. So let me be clear that I do NOT want bkdk to have an ambiguous or open ending. I want their complexity and importance to be acknowledged. I want them to use their words. I think we may have created a bit of a false dichotomy there.
I am aromantic, and to suggest romantic relationships are inherently the most important and intimate goes against every fiber of my being. I also reject the idea that cut-and-dry gay representation is more desirable just because it is more easily understood by the masses than aspec representation or representation of relationships "beyond" both romantic and platonic. We recognize how ridiculous it is for people to expect Izu*cha at this point, right? Well, the reason they're so confident anyway isn't just because of heteronormativity. It's also because of amatonormativity, the assumption that romantic attraction trumps all: no matter how much focus bkdk get, Izuku blushed at Ochako, so that automatically makes them more "important." THAT is the notion that I want to challenge most. More than anything, I want bkdk's relationship to be fully acknowledged because they have so much more going for them than just attraction.
You and your friend make an excellent point, that it would be very much in line with Horikoshi's taste and the patterns of his writing so far if he chose to subvert the shonen romance trope not just by giving it to two boys, but also by disregarding its premise entirely. It's unlikely he'd try to stuff them into such a copy-paste ending right at the end.
So maybe they won't get the blushy confession, the obligatory kiss, the wedding, the 2.5 kids and a white picket fence. That's fine, we shouldn't pretend those tired tropes are suddenly revolutionary just because they're gay. But don't be disappointed! Without them, we have more room for things that are actually personally meaningful to bkdk to stand out and receive the nuance they deserve: talking through their feelings openly, building each other up like no one else can, understanding each other like no one else can, smiling at each other, embracing, holding hands, rushing to the other in the hospital, being glued at the hip (or even closer), healing mutual trauma, putting each other first in all things. Maybe we'll also get confirmation on Ochako's side as she moves on from her crush on Izuku. You know what other shonen manga took this exact angle as a way of subverting tropes and presenting genuine complexity? Blue Flag! There are so many ways to do bkdk justice.
Even a kiss isn't out of the question, if the right opportunity comes along. A perfect example of what I'm talking about is Good Omens (major season 2 spoilers) because the kiss between Crowley and Aziraphale was not at all about canonizing them. It was an expression of pain and desperation that just made sense at that particular moment. Neil Gaiman was adamant that if it took that kiss to understand the context of their relationship, you really weren't paying attention. I respect the hell out of that.
Recently I was even daydreaming about bkdk getting something similar to the sort of uh, shall we say tasteful nudity, that togachako got, because of how Izuku appears in the vestige realm.
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Ya know like not in an nsfw way but in like a "this is so deeply intimate and soft that I feel like I'm intruding" kind of way... yeah. Because it represents vulnerability and openness and acceptance of someone as they are. And I don't care if people call that bait. It's not. It's beautiful. It’s honest.
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send-me-a-puffalope · 1 month
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Nat rambling about the entire plot of Pretty Perfect Lives for way too long because autism hyperfixation doesn’t stop for no one.
I came for Elizabeth Lail, left debating with my friend about what the fuck I just watched /pos. I was so deeply invested so here’s me just explaining the plot of the entire show:
It starts off with Tiffany and Tucker (imagine Tiffany and Tucker as Barbie and Ken cause that’s pretty much who they are, but as TikTok influencers instead of in Barbieland) recording videos for “the app” and then they’re like back alone in their home and they’re having relationship issues and Tiffany wants to talk about their relationship cause she feels like they’re growing distant BUT she’s recording them secretly so she can post it onto their account for content (which is supposed to be tiktok but they just call it The App probably because they’re not allowed to say TikTok LMFAOO)
And turns out the conversation they end up having is that Tucker thinks he might be into men too but doesn’t want to break up with Tiffany but then Tucker realized that she’s filming all of their emotional talk to show to their audience that they’re “authentic” and rightfully gets mad because Tiffany is using his internal conflicts as content online.
They then post a video about how they’re going to explore an open relationship but open only on Tucker’s side — she was still fully committed to just Tucker. And then they invite this guy Jesse over for a threesome and it was really awkward and Jesse is like oh the way I like to do things is watching the couple do it and i’ll join in when the time is right. and then Tiffany was just like. ohh yeah no i’m not here to participate. i’m just here to watch. and then it was like Jesse and Tucker undressing and Jesse choking him out with a belt while Tiffany was just like fujoing out from her cuck seat
and then Tiffany posted a video about how their “threesome” was and Tucker was like wtf babe you didn’t ask me about this before posting. this doesn’t feel like you respect my boundaries and Tiffany refuses to delete the video because it’s gotten them a lot of attention. and then they argue and then they break up and Tiffany has a panic attack while screaming for Tucker to not leave her alone (Elizabeth Lail’s performance is so so so so good here, her wailing was so heartbreaking) and then the scene changes.
Lights come up and it’s Tucker coming home and being like hey babeeeeeeee and ITS JESSE INSTEAD OF TIFFANY NOW. But it’s like the exact same situation — Jesse keeps wanting him to record videos with him for “the app” and wanting Tucker to quit his job so that they can do like sex work online instead. but Tucker is like woah um. maybe not. what if i want a job in the future. and then he’s like hey babe why don’t we spend some time together instead, off the internet and Jesse has like stopped paying attention and is just like scrolling through “the app”.
Tucker is like trying to sleep but can’t fall asleep and keeps checking his phone and watching videos that Tiffany posted and he’s like shit,,,, i regret breaking up with Tiffany. and he calls Tiffany like hey i wanna get some closure, why don’t you come over. and then Tiffany does in the next scene in the fuckinf hottest full black outfit. black tube or tank top, black jean jacket, black pants and sunglasses and she’s like yeah. i’ve been doing. fine.
and then they have like cuts in of like Tiffany making DAY 68 OF HAVING YOUR BOYFRIEND LEAVE YOU FOR THE GUY WE INVITED OVER FOR A THREESOME videos. the day 195 one was her crying and saying that she was apart of the “women whose boyfriends left them for a man” community but that thanks to neutragena, the redness isn’t as prominent on her face (link in the description /j)
and then Tucker was like i regret breaking up with you so bad i wish we can just go back to the way we were. and then Tiffany was like no, we can’t. we can’t just pretend none of this ever happened. and then storms off
AND THEN THE NEXT SCENE, Tiffany comes home like disheveled and Jesse (now they’re dating) is like babe are you okay?? you can’t just go missing for 2 whole days and say that you don’t wanna talk about it. and Tiffany has a bit of a breakdown and she’s like i miss when we were keeping our relationship hidden, but now everyone on the internet knows and everyone on the internet hates me and i cant take it anymore. We can’t talk this out, we have to break up because i can’t handle this relationship.
This ends with Tiffany screaming I JUST NEED TO BE ALONE and a glitch happens and the whole stage gets like covered in code and the lights start flashing and then the stage goes black.
THEN. Jesse appears on the side of the screen joining as an “interviewee” from the incident that happened in the IRS-P (internet reality simulation project) where a glitch happened in their simulation and that Jesse got out but Tiffany and Tucker was lost in the simulation. FUCKING PLOT TWIST, THIS IS ALL A SIMULATION.
And they were asking him questions and Jesse explained that he was honored at first that the company selected him, a small influencer, for their huge giant new project. He had just wanted to feel the rush of adrenaline of people finding him attractive and in the simulation he found Tiffany and Tucker. in every universe, he was always intertwined with Tiffany and Tucker and at first he enjoyed it but then it felt more and more like they were just using him.
and then he starts dissociating and he starts hearing the interviewer as Tucker and he starts screaming for Tucker and asking him where he is and the interviewer keeps trying to calm him down but he’s like screaming and having a breakdown because apparently he’s experienced this interview multiple times and he can’t escape (so this whole section might still be in the glitched simulation ??? or it’s a trauma reaction. unclear and likely up to audience interpretation) (Nic Ashe was incredible here, his acting was so gutwrenching)
And then eventually when he’s able to calm down, the interviewer is gone and he’s alone again and his light goes dark.
However, simultaneously to this, on the dark stage, Tiffany is in this nude suit and she’s just like. taking the stage apart and putting props all over the floor (I think the nude suits are a metaphor for them being stripped of theirselves or baring themselves to the audience/each other when Tucker comes on)
The lights come back on, Tiffany comes back on in her nude suit and she’s like confused about the home being a mess and then she collects like the 8 phones on the floor and she tries to use two to start a fire and fails. and then Tucker comes in in a nude suit too and he asks her what’s happening and she’s like idk i tried to start a fire but i don’t remember how to. and then tucker is like did you ever know how to start a fire ?? and then he tries — using two phones and successfully starts a fire.
and then Tiffany feels like super useless and then Tucker starts singing “their song” because the mood kinda stinks and then Tiffany is like ???? what the fuck dude. not the time. but then she ends up singing too (and good lord Elizabeth Lail can sing i’m gonna kill myself she’s so hot i’m gonna lose it i’m gonna lose it i’m gonna lose it i’m gonna lose jr she’s like really good at singing jrs reallt i’m actually gonna lose it holy shit.) and they have this whole moment in their nude suits where they like twirled around and sang their song.
and then they kinda go back to being emo and stuff and Tiffany is like i think the simulation glitched. do you think we’re gonna be stuck here forever? Tiffany is like the sky and the ocean have no horizon, that’s not normal. and Tucker is like huh. you’re right. and then Tiffany says she’s cold and and tucker tries to use the objects scattered across the floor to build them a fort (the tripods and a towel) and he asks tiffany if there’s anything else long to use to build the fort and she was like uhhhh there’s a ring light (i think them having the social media equipment instead of real items is a metaphor for them replacing everything truly authentic in their lives with their fake personalities online).
and then the conversation goes sour and Tucker is like i’m trying so hard because i’m worried that if i don’t try then none of us are going to be trying in this relationship. and this part was like really funny (not intentionally) because Tucker is just in this nude suit and he stands angrily away from Tiffany but because of the nude suit, he’s just double cheeked up in the corner. and here they actually genuinely have a true heart to heart talk now that it’s silent and not cluttered by their online lives. Tiffany reveals that she signed them up for the IRS-P because she wanted to see who else was out there that she might connect with better than Tucker because it’s always been him but she didn’t want to lose everything she had with him. She wasn’t content with their relationship but wasn’t ready to let go of them.
Tiffany’s character is so interesting because while she is very clearly in the wrong in the beginning of the show, she’s given more depth as a character— she’s putting on a front for most of the show but when she breaks down from everything going wrong, she admits that she doesn’t even like the sound of her own voice and that she’s made so much of her life about her online presence that she doesn’t even remember who she used to be and how to stop. She has a panic attack when her life starts kinda falling apart when Tucker leaves her but she’s also kinda selfish in that she stops seeing Tucker as his own person and just as an object to gain attention for their “perfect life”. She often shifts the blame onto Tucker when they’re arguing but when they’re in the glitched simulation (the nude suits)— she admits that she does that because she thinks she’s the problem but doesn’t know how to fix herself.
GOD I LOVE,,, ELIZABETH LAIL CHARACTERS. who needs drugs when you’ve got autism hyperfixation
Okay, and then tiffany is like fuck it. and then they both take off their nude suits (Halle-fucking-lujah by the fucking way. I felt like I was committing a crime seeing Elizabeth Lail that undressed) and jump into the “ocean” and they’re like having fun and the world glitches again and goes black.
and then the scene changes again and Jesse comes back onto stage in a suit and sits down and Tucker comes in and tries to makes a conversation and Jesse is like no i think i’m gonna go (i think this is a metaphor for jesse rejecting the simulation and chooses to not staying intertwined with Tiffany and Tucker, by proxy escaping the simulation) and Tiffany comes on in this cute blue dress and she and Tucker start flirting again.
their hair is both wet and they say that neither of them remember how they got there. and then THEIR SONG STARTS PLAYING AND THEY START DANCING WITH EACH OTHER TO THE SONG. and then it fades to black and credits
I think this is implying that Tiffany and Tucker never escape the simulation???? cause they’re very much still in the simulation in the last scene while Jesse chooses to leave.
No one is gonna be reading this whole thing but holy shit I really enjoyed that. I enjoyed the plot way more than I thought I would. More importantly, Elizabeth Lail was drop dead gorgeous 🙏 and I almost died on the spot.
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^^ don’t ask me what the America TikTok was about, I can’t explain it to ya JFJWJDJ actually I think it was her acting as a conservative saying that gay men are trying to steal your man from you 💀💀💀 but it’s like meant to be satire dw
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egg-emperor · 3 months
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Does Eggman go after big burly men/monsters because he enjoys the thrill of making them submit or is it possible that in very rare instances he's fine with temporarily letting someone else be in control long as his own pleasure comes first?
I like to imagine it's both. For just big burly men in general, I imagine he was "fascinated" like all his life but didn't want to outright admit it to himself for a while besides his statues on the Egg Carrier but he could create various, still very gay, excuses for having them lol. But he'd finally get experience with big strong guys for real like Zavok (or Bowser but non canon) and he wouldn't be able to deny it any longer when he just has to jump on that 👀
As for the monsters, it started as just loving the thrill of making them submit for sure, since he primarily gets involved with them for his plans, feeling they'll be useful. Then through it he realizes he's really into the process of making them submit and serve and not just in his typical desire for control and domination way, he realizes it's a full on kink and it goes to very interesting places
The best example is Eggman with the Deadly Six in Lost World, ESPECIALLY Zavok. He had way too much fun bringing them to their knees in submission and was clearly really getting his kicks out of the sadistic aspect of the pain too. He's so playing up the master and slave dynamic here and Zavok doesn't understand that even if he only sarcastically calls him master, he's setting up the perfect opportunity for him to put him in his place and enjoy it
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Making him bow at his feet, wagging his finger at him. Yeahhh 🥴
And the way he finds even the smallest reasons to punish them (though it's due to his very high standards too of course) and takes every opportunity to force them to obey with the conch
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And the prequel comic made it even more blatantly kinky it was gold
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Like hello he literally steps on him and tilts his chin with the conch shajgsnjgksng god me next pls
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It's literally canon that he's into it in some form, I don't even have to exaggerate, I mean look at that sadistic smile on his face the two times he does it
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The second smirk being quick and sneaky because he wants to appear serious and threatening yet smiles for a split second like he just can't contain himself hehe I love it
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All I'm doing is speculating that he gets another kind of excitement from it too lol
And Zavok being a muscle monster dude and how he repeatedly goes after monsters and his hall of muscular guy statues in Hot Shelter, it all checks out. Zavok was the jackpot and best of both in one for him
While the rest doesn't have such confirmation lol, I like to think he discovered he also very secretly likes to be on the receiving end. Typically he'll stay dominant through it first, being the one to order and control them. I can see him always starting with a more dominant power bottom position, where he's still in control and likes to use it in a way to demean them some more, by treating them as not just a tool for his plans but also his personal pleasure
But there'll be temptation to be a little more submissive and when he finally is, he looks at it as being the one being serviced, it's for his own pleasure that comes first rather than what they get. It makes a lot of sense for him to want to just take, in fact it makes a lot of sense for him to not give at all. He has a great case for being a total pillow princess with his entire personality so viewing it through that lense, there is kinda official stuff to support it and it's just *gestures to his entire character* XD
When he is practically just giving himself to them, he constantly has this inner conflict of "why am I letting this happen, if this got out it'd ruin my image" but he likes it too much. It feels nice to just give up control for a little while, relax and have fun. And to feel like the one that's the full center of attention and priority as he lets them work on pleasing him, as it's still always in pursuit of his own pleasure and always his only priority, of course! He'll make sure they still know he's the real dominant one in control after and just enjoy it for now ;)
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devondespresso · 3 months
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Wiggly-Worm Wednesday!! 🧠🪱
speeding through this before Wednesday ends (the deadline is both extremely malleable and entirely self-enforced and also time isn't real)
tagged by the lovely @hbyrde36 thank you!!
Today the worms are Connected they're connecting dots and doing a great job at it!
my non-fic worm is kinda branching off the first 1k i wrote for stwg's fic exchange, which then hopped skipped and jumped over into its own idea and now I'm enjoying my down time imagining the shenanigans of Robin sneaking Steve over post s4, like living in her bedroom hiding in the closet shenanigans cause his parents aren't back and the hospital had to discharge him to help other patients and she can't just leave him home alone that's a recipe for disaster so really she basically had no choice but to sneak him in through her ground-floor window with a duffel bag under her bed and steal a couple of her dads button down shirts because Steve's a dingus and didn't bring any even though any pullover is a pain in the back-and-tricep-roadrash right now.
so of course robins parents find out because stashing away a whole ass adult man in a bedroom for more than a day or so is actually pretty difficult even when he's not gravely injured. in my head they're pretty understanding after they get to cool down a bit, its not like steve was never around before and he'd always been polite, plus even if they still did think stobin were secretly dating, they're clearly not doing anything and the only reason Robin didn't just ask was because she wasn't going to take no for an answer.
And then on the actual wips front i had the brilliant why-didnt-i-think-of-this-sooner idea to pick a wip to work on based on what i was brainworming just for fun, which led me to my actual stobin wip and within like 20 minutes i had a couple epiphanies about the connective themes im exploring like realizing what i was putting together without realizing. (cut because oh god this got long fast)
Its ended up being a lot about gender, the imaginary wall between girls and guys in a friendship sense that feels solid just because you haven't had the proof that its not really there yet, the heteronormativity and amatonormativity driving a wedge between possible friendships. in this fic, robins really apprehensive about forming any kind of connection with steve because she's had the experience of guys only being interested in dating that she has a lot of mistrust around and m/f friendships that start forming (and ofc it ends with post starcourt platonic with a capital P soulmateisms 💕). i also have this little struggle where like if i can name multiple important theme-y words i fear ive got too many going on, so i was afraid this whole loneliness thing I've got for robin was going to conflict with the gender thing but i think ive got it sorted, they're different levels and their connected ideas, robins escape from loneliness means she has to break through her internal gender wall and let it be broken, plus the loneliness is going to be more explicit in the text because robins like fully aware of it while the gender stuff is probably going to stay mostly subtext and be much broader, popping up in steves pov area too and really all around them.
also had no clue how relevant it would be but steve and robin are like perfectly balanced blurred gender lines like steve is a masculine dude comfortable in his masculinity that also has a healthy relationship with his feminine trait, the hair stuff the babysitter/mom friend thing, he's not ashamed of any of it (and actually i had a longer post on Steve's gender balance somewhere in my drafts but we don't have time rn) and then robins like practically the same in her expression of femininity, she's as far as we see comfortably a girl, wears makeup, loved that movie about doomed love, she's got her feminine traits but also likes dabbling in masculine traits, she dresses more masc (tho its still a solid middle ground, comfort is a big focus), she likes ufos and creepy stuff and jokes about spider babies in hair. idk it just felt like they're a matching set as far as gender goes, if they did combine into one being they'd be bigender 100%
anyway uhhh this got long thank you for sticking around fyjdtjdgjdyj
tagging (no pressure and no deadline, im sorry Wednesday is already basically over dyjxjydgj): @momotonescreaming @stellarspecter @dreamwatch @pearynice @withacapitalp
@queenie-ofthe-void @carolperkinsexgirlfriend @writing-kiki @eriquin @eyesofshinigami
(Vague Rules just in case this makes no sense xtjsdjtdyj: it's technically just Wiggly Wednesday and its where you just post your brainworms/fun ideas of the past week/day/whatever. its super loose, i like talking about brainworms for things ill never write and things im currently writing but you can do whatever. no set number of ppl to tag, just have fun!)
@puppy-steve @hairstevington @hotluncheddie @gleek4twd @klausinamarink
@soaringornithopter
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spacexseven · 2 years
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ok ok ok ok ok speedrunning some characters + soulmate au
dazai - secretly really taken with the idea of having a soulmate. hes a hopeless romantic at heart so he'd be lying if he said he'd never kept himself up all night fantasizing about it, especially during the mafia days when the loneliness would get too much to bear. I could see dazai faking a soulmate mark for sure if he didn't already have one and had someone mind. if he did have one, he'd be very very VERY interested in tracking them down. if his soulmate is (understandably) a little put off by being saddled to dazai for the rest of their life and tries to hide it, they can try but he WILL find out eventually. and he'll start doing his best to prove that theyre Meant To Be which is. not great. imagine dazai being like. subordinate darling level mean to his soulmate for a while before finding out. devastating.
chuuya - 10000% gonna be mean to them Knowing they're his soulmate, thinks the idea is beneath him. this goes double for a non-mafia darling or a very low ranking mafia darling. I just don't think chuuya would find the idea of the person you're supposed to be with being chosen preemptively as romantic as dazai would, and would have a lot of criticisms of this so called "soulmate" that he WILL express aloud. ends up fucking himself over cuz by the time he comes around they pretty much want nothing to do with him. oops. also could see him with the Dating Someone Who Finds Their Soulmate scenario. Wouldnt Take This Well.
this is all I got so far if I have more will come back
- 🩹
the thoughts i have right now huhuhu actually uhh this isn't very yandere. apart from the stalking mentions so i'm sorry about that
if dazai doesn't have a soulmate he'd be devastated. he tries telling himself that this way it'd mean if he does find someone they would love him for him and not because they have to—the problem with this idea, though, is that he considers himself pretty unloveable. i can totally see him faking a soulmate mark to make it look like there's someone out there, but inside he's crushed by truth. if he does have one? he'll do anything to find them. (if it's like a 'timer' soulmate mark, he can't do much except practice his future interactions with you. it's a possibility that you might not like dazai for who he is, so fearing the worst, he puts on a facade that's the furthest from his true personality. he tries so hard to be who you look for in a soulmate, but you can probably tell he's not being entirely honest. of course, if you encourage him to be honest with you, and assure him that you won't hate him, you better be ready to make good on your word. he won't be thrilled to know you're terrified of him after knowing that he used to be in the pm or you find his constant possessiveness unbearable.
i think because of chuuya's complicated origins, he might have conflicting thoughts about a soulmate mark. just to keep things simple i'll go on the "dating someone who finds their actual soulmate" route. chuuya's never actually discussed the topic of soulmates with you. since you were dating him, he was under the impression that you didn't have one, or didn't care for one. regardless, he would be far from thrilled when you come across your actual soulmate. he's reminded that he's, apparently, not what fate considers your perfect half. while chuuya himself doesn't care about decided fate, you might not feel the same, maybe wanting to entertain this new soulmate of yours, and it pisses him off. even if you just want to talk to them, out of curiosity, he wouldn't allow for it. chuuya's liked you for you, and this person is just interested in you because of some so-called destiny. wasn't it obvious, that he obviously loved you more?
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andreal831 · 11 months
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If Hayley and Elijah were to get married do you think Hayley would take the Mikaelson last name or would she keep her last name; would they hyphenate also just any thoughts you have on a Haylijah wedding?
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I've written a haylijah wedding as an epilogue to one of my stories so I've given it some thought already.
Hayley would take the Mikaelson last name, but would not hyphenate it. The only reason she hyphenated it with Jackson was because it wasn't a marriage of love to start, it was a political arrangement.
Hayley isn't emotionally attached to the last name Marshall. There is some confusion in the fandom of Hayley's past -- it seems she was adopted initially and then either living on the streets or in something of a foster care situation after her family kicked her out. She doesn't ever talk about wanting to reconnect with her adoptive parents, so she wouldn't care to sever that connection. Specifically with the Mikaelson name.
Hayley went in search of her family in New Orleans and found it in the Mikaelsons. That was the first time she truly understood what it meant to be family. Very early in her relationship with all of them, she considers herself a Mikaelson. Not through her relationship with Elijah or even her daughter, but in the connection she has with most of the family. While she has conflicting feelings at times, she always backs the Mikaelsons. She is a Mikaelson. Marrying Elijah and taking on the last name would just solidify it.
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Hayley would want a quiet, outdoor wedding. The complete opposite of what Klaus threw her.
We always see Hayley very in touch with nature and her wolf side, she would want that reflected. Elijah doesn't care where it is as long as he gets to marry Hayley. Although, he would want there to be a dance floor because he wants to be able to dance with his wife all night.
They wouldn't want a big wedding, just the important people in their lives. Depending on Hope's age, she would either be a flower girl or a bridesmaid. They wouldn't write their own vows because they both hate being the center of attention and sharing their emotions in front of others, even if it is just family. Instead, they would share them in private later that night.
Elijah would insist Hayley wear a white dress since he's never been married and secretly always imagined having that moment with her. It would be a simple dress, one she can easily move and dance in. Elijah would of course wear a tux.
They wouldn't care about the decorations, letting Rebekah and Hope plan what they wanted with the instruction of "keeping it simple." Rebekah would try her hardest but definitely go overboard.
It would be a beautiful and happy day for the entire family.
Thanks for the ask! I love talking about haylijah <3
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bluedalahorse · 3 months
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Nils (for your character ask)
NILSSSS MY GUY. Ok!
How I feel about this character: I enjoy Nils! I’ve said this to a few people, and maybe I’ve said this publicly on my blog, but Nils is fascinating to me because he’s not terribly earnest or romantic or effusive in a show where many characters are earnest. He has his earnest moments—especially in season three—but there’s also a practicality to a lot of what he does. Nils comes across as a little 18 going on 45 but still secretly 18. And I find that refreshing and interesting, in a show where all the characters are very teenagery teenagers. In addition, I think the intersections of Nils’s identity open up a lot of avenues for exploration in fic. Nils could potentially be richer than August and Vincent combined, but he’s also brown and gay and closeted. I’m sort of fascinated by characters who play up their privilege while downplaying the ways in which they are marginalized (to be fair that is almost the entire cast of YR) and this is definitely something I see coming up in how Nils goes about the world. How much internal conflict does that bring up for him? To what extent is he aware of it even, or to what extent is he becoming aware of it as a young adult who’s coming to understand his identity? I also just want to know more about Nils’s sense of South Asian identity, as someone who grew up in an area with a lot of South Asian diaspora. Like, I’m curious about how recently his family immigrated to Sweden, what specific part of the subcontinent they come from, what the family history related to Partition might be, whether it’s just Swedish spoken at home or whether Nils is more bilingual like Simon and Sara, etc. (Also, as someone who watched Sholay with a friend for the first time yesterday, I am wondering how many times small Nils has watched Sholay with aunties and uncles.)
All the people I ship romantically with this character: Okay first and foremost, August. It is extremely confusing to me that fandom seems to be so largely against shipping them after them having more than one vulnerable moment in season three, especially after that conversation they had about the initiations in August’s room. I swear, y’all decided they were illegal to ship on a secret group chat you didn’t invite me to. It just feels extremely obvious to imagine a first year scenario where they’re in a state of pining and repression that could put EM Forster’s Maurice or John Knowles’s A Separate Peace (shout out to @whambamglambam) to shame. And then if you really want to let the characters grow and end up on a journey, they could get back together as adults in like a second chance kinda way. Or they could be disasters as adults, dealer’s choice. Outside of August, I think Wille and Nils could be a great disaster ship and I would like to see more of that. For a time I kind of shipped Nils and Marcus, but now that I have the full shape of the series in my head, it’s not as interesting to me. I think long-term I ship Nils with whichever OC or OCs (not gonna rule out polyamorous Nils) allow him to feel a sense of growth and safety. I created an OC boyfriend for him in Swell the Numbers, and I think I’m going to have them stay together.
My non-romantic OTP for this character: Vincent and Nils does zero things for me as a romantic pairing, but I really enjoy thinking about them as friends. I think there’s probably some things that bond them pretty strongly, like rolling their eyes at August being extra (but also maybe worrying about him a little bit.) But there’s also going to be points of tension, like the old money-new money thing, the differences they have around identifiers like race and neurotype, etc. I also think a lot about how Nils is frustrated that Vincent becomes prefect and rowing captain in season 2, and how Nils seems to take rowing pretty seriously and would have liked to be captain himself. There’s a lot underneath that line and I think we should dig out a little more behind it. Outside of Vincent, I like to think that Maddie and Nils have some kind of secret oddball friendship that began when they agreed to lie about hooking up at the opening party. It’s weird and consists a lot of the two of them texting memes to one another and neither of them knows why it works but it works. Maybe someday I’ll include this in a fic.
My unpopular opinion about this character: I’m pretty sure adamantly shipping Nils romantically with August but not with Vincent is an unpopular opinion. Outside of that… okay well, I don’t know if this is unpopular opinion, but I kind of enjoy having a headcanon where Nils’s parents aren’t homophobic and super traditionalist about gender roles or whatever, and are okay with him dating a boy. They just don’t want him dating an actor or an artist or something.
One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: YR didn’t really start explicitly addressing race as much until season 3, but now that we’ve seen how Felice thinking about race, it’d be interesting to see a similar storyline with Nils.
Thank you for sending in the ask! It was good to get a chance to ramble.
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bereft-of-frogs · 2 months
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Ok so I've definitely entered my 'blending headcanon and critique to make The Acolyte make sense to me' era because I loved enough of it to really want to be able to rewatch it, but I'm struggling with a few things, mostly about the ending. The first to tackle: what was up with Sol's sudden pivot into obsession with the vergence in the finale?
That's an easy fix: make Sol obsessed with the vergence from the start.
Ok, maybe not such an easy fix because this requires us living in the alternate universe where there is a secretly good 12 episode cut of the show that understands how to work in flashbacks as a B plot properly and not just dump them in two clumps without any framing device. (I can't believe my framing device theory wasn't real lol that seemed like such an easy setup.) We'd really need more of the flashback way earlier to avoid the mistake of introducing these big concepts in episode 7 of 8. (Bonus, imagine how much more devastating a betrayal Aniseya's death at Sol's hands would have been if we'd gotten more time with all of them on Brendok.)
Anyway yeah, in the secretly good 12 episode season, we're introduced pretty quickly to past!Sol and his main two character motivations: 1) his desire for a student (also sets up a good dark mirror with Qimir) and 2) his conviction that a vergence is what cause the resurgence of life post-hyperspace disaster, and these two motivations interplay with each other throughout the narrative. This would make Sol's relationship with Indara more interesting, if it brings them into conflict. Because Indara doesn't seem to be convinced the phenomenon is caused by a vergence (she says as much in the scene around the fire) and Sol disagrees with how she's handling Torbin's restlessness. (I've defended her in the past, I won't reiterate here, but see this post for my defense of Indara lol.) It makes sense too, given that he's the one that brings up the vergence in the first place, in that scene at the fire. And in the early parts of the present narrative, maybe we get an early throwaway line, in place of one of the 'we were stationed on Brendok', could be something like 'we were searching for something important...but that doesn't matter now' to signify it was something on Sol's mind but not give away the whole truth right away.
While the murder investigation, etc happens in the present, we're cutting back occasionally to the flashbacks, where Sol comes across the girls playing. I think Sol genuinely did feel both a connection to Osha and concern for their safety, so that's where motivation #1 (a padawan) starts to take precedence over motivation #2 (the vergence). But #2 is still there, coming up again in the first confrontation, after Indara asks about the girls' father and Sol starts to suspect they were created by the vergence. This could explain why he insisted on both girls being tested (at least in the episode 3 dialogue, that's cut from 7 for some reason). The interplay between these motivations would also explain why he rushes into the fortress when he senses Osha's distress, but the first words out of his mouth to Aniseya are to ask how the girls were created.
In the aftermath of the ensuing tragedy though, when faced with the guilt of killing Aniseya and choosing to save Osha over Mae, after his confrontation with Indara...he realizes he fucked up big time. He has to let go of his fixation on the vergence in order to make things right with Osha and focus entirely on motivation #1: raising and training her. And besides, there's no proof of the vergence remaining because the main evidence was the blood test proving they were the same consciousness, but without Mae it just looks like they mistakenly ran the sample twice or something. So he lets it go. He just focuses on Osha and buries all that stuff about Mae and the vergence down deep, as the darkness he never faces, and hopes it never comes up again.
And then Sol chills out even more! Ten years pass and he realizes he also made a mistake getting so emotionally attached to Osha and acting out of that possessive attachment. So when she decides to leave the Order, he lets her go with love! He matures and moves into a more stable position as a master, he becomes a teacher, he gets a padawan in the traditional way, everything seems good. I bet he felt a certain amount of relief. Guilt, yes, but after so long I bet it felt like it was all in the past and he's a different person now, what happened was sad and horrible but there's nothing to be done so he just focuses on being the best Jedi he can in the present.
Until of course, everything gets completely upended again by the revelation that Mae is not dead after all. She's alive and coming for revenge. There's definitely some of the 'oh shit I fucked up even more than I originally thought' panic, and freaking out that the Order is about to find out the truth of what Sol did, but also all the vergence stuff gets dragged up again. Because now he might be able to prove it. I think for a while Sol suppresses that thought, and really believes his actions during the investigation are motivated by good. He wants to capture Mae alive, he doesn't want another Jedi who might be willing to eliminate her to stop her because he genuinely wants to save her and find a way to make what happened right -- but he also needs her alive to prove she and Osha are one consciousness. He wants to warn Torbin and Kelnacca that Mae is coming for them -- but he also needs them to testify to the vergence on Brendok 16 years ago. Why else is Sol so insistent on talking to Torbin? If it was just a case of apprehending Mae, they don't need to talk, they just need to stake out the temple and wait to catch her in the act. What other subject would he be so certain Torbin would break the vow of silence for?
But then Khofar happens and goes so horribly wrong and so now Sol's in a full downward spiral, with even more blood on his hands. I don't think he really wants to hurt Mae in that final episode, but he's just cracking under the weight of all the deaths he's directly or indirectly responsible for, and he's left with nothing but the vergence. Everyone is dead and he feels he had a hand in all of it. He’s the last one alive, other than the twins, the last thing he can cling to is going back to the start, proving this vergence exists, because maybe then it will all mean something. And his unhinged behavior in the finale is the culmination of all that guilt and grief and being left with nothing but the obsession with the vergence beyond any rationality. (Until the real final culmination, when he comes back to himself for a moment at the end and tells Osha it's okay while she's killing him.)
I've still got some stuff to wildly invent explanation, like why the vergence was so important in the first place, what it actually was, why Koril was so scared of the Jedi finding out about it, but I think this helps me wrap my head around some stuff so I can rewatch the finale without being like 'huh?' I think this also fits with the duality themes, that Sol's motivations were never in balance, in the end he wasn't able to reconcile his obsession with the vergence and his genuine love for Osha and regret for what happened to Mae. I do suspect it would have (imo) worked better if they'd given some of Torbin's last minute 'we have to prove the vergence' motivation to Sol. Because the series as it stands, doesn't have much setup for that obsession with either of them, but for Torbin it has neither setup nor payoff, at least with Sol then it would connect to why he's scrambling to get them to Brendok in the finale. It also makes sense to me to sort of just re-order than scene in the forest to have Sol be the driving factor to getting them to go back to the fortress, especially because he ALSO thinks something is wrong. It's that double whammy motivation that leads them into the catastrophe. There are definitely still holes and this isn't so much a 'this is what I think the show was trying to do' and more a 'let me rearrange this into a shape that will allow me to watch lightsaber duels without thinking so much.'
ANYWAY tldr: introducing the vergence and making it a more significant part of Sol’s character arc much earlier would have solved a bunch of issues AND be a really compelling narrative where it combined and conflicted with his other main motivation, a genuine love and connection with Osha and deep regret for what he did to Mae and their mother. They just biffed it a bit by only bringing up the vergence in episode 7 of 8.
really tldr: I know I'm doing the 'every day Star Wars fans come on here and say some version of Star Wars would be so good if it was good' but I mean I've been doing that for like 25 years at this point and I find it fun so. Continuing. XD
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catchyhuh · 6 months
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Hi! could I request a headcanon or something where lupin and the gang fall in love with a cop/detective reader or something? (I just think its a cool/fun concept that I haven't seen any one do yet, also if you can't or don't want to its okay sorry for bothering 😣)
you’re totally fine, don’t worry about it! i wouldn’t put that x readers were fair grounds for asks if i didn’t mean it. so. career incompatible love let’s get into it! oh the homoeroticism of the chase
disclaimer this got more. mental analysis-y for these guys than i um.. really intended I SAID THAT I WOULD TAKE X READER REQS I DID NOT SAY THEY WOULD BE WHAT MOST PEOPLE WOULD EXPECT
lupin:
easily the one who takes to the idea the most. lupin LOVES extra flavor added into his romances, so the conflict of being on opposing sides of the law is like. i mean christ he’s actively seeking out people who want to kill him every day, just being locked up is a nice alternative! so romantic
straight up never considers the potential ramifications of a setup like this because. uh. well it’s never really hurt him in the past! he’s not being selfish about this intentionally or anything, he just can’t imagine why it would be rough on someone else when it’s so easy on him!
to someone like lupin the third, the chase IS love. the idea of constantly being on each other’s tails, knowing the way the other moves and thinks to the smallest step, THAT is romance. that’s caring about someone enough to know them. he loves it
also, it tends to only come in brief, intense bouts. hiding behind a door, secretly coming to see the other to have a quick little dinner in private, thinly veiled flirting (mostly on his end) absence makes the heart grow fonder, and repetition leads to addiction. if anything, outside of, again, trying to murder him, this is the STRONGEST way to his heart
jigen:
took the longest to realize he was developing feelings to begin with/that feelings were being developed towards HIM. it just doesn’t make sense to him. how would he-- how would-- WHY would any of this happen? but there’s only so many times you can do that “touch that lingers a bit too long” thing during a shaky truce without something happening in your brain yknow 
it’s equal parts allure and contention, because unlike lupin, jigen knows all too well what happens when your morals just don’t quite align with your partner’s. he knows WAY WAY WAY too well about how things like this end, and he doesn’t want to spend a meager four months with you just to shatter your heart when the inevitable happens; you won’t change, and he DEFINITELY won’t. and if you would reassess your choices this guy may be fine as hell but he IS a murderer if ANYBODY should compromise it’s HIM
but. again. there’s that draw to it. so jigen does continue seeing you, under the grounds that he’s made it clear from the beginning what he expects to happen. you’ve seen him do this before with dozens of people who just aren’t thieves, so IMAGINE the mental tension when your entire job is STOPPING thieves. this can be a cute, simple, mutually beneficial behind closed doors thing, but he doesn’t expect long term attachment
that… doesn’t mean he doesn’t think about it a lot though. not enough to mention it to YOU of course but there are subtle signs that he’s been mentally working out how this COULD work out. maybe the next time you move you could get a place with a back door hidden a little better out of sight?
fujiko:
at first, it’s kind of just a challenge for her. nothing personal, it just… started impersonal, as a lot of things with her do. it’s not often that fujiko actively enjoys being pursued, and she told herself initially that she was just drawn to you because of talent. the skill! nobody had come for her and her alone and actually come so close!
but as you imagine, as is always the case, she does fall in love. not until she realizes that YOU are in love, first, however. she hadn’t even considered it a real possibility until that moment, and then she considered it WAYYYY WAYYY TOO MUCH and guess what! now you’re finding special notes with lipstick prints hiding around your desk. how is she even. doing that what?
fujiko is also a bizarre master of hiding in plain sight. she can use her name, her face, everything, almost anywhere without raising eyebrows. so, if you were willing to make a little trip juuuust out of your jurisdiction, nobody would REALLY know you were spending a romantic weekend getaway with your esteemed rival, right?
not that it’s a competition but if it WEEEERE A COMPETITION things go the smoothest with fujiko. isn’t that baffling ISN’T THAT BIZARRE. fujiko’s so used to navigating bizarre unconventional shit that she really isn’t thinking twice about any of this, prepared for any outcome
goemon:
unintentionally gets a bit dramatic about it in his head. he never means for anybody to fall in love with him, but ESPECIALLY not when it could put their LIFE on the line! or at least their career life. their… current way of life. HE FEELS ODDLY GUILTY EITHER WAY
however, as has been proven before, if goemon is truly smitten-- yeah he will throw ALL this shit away ALL OF IT! now, i don’t think he’s AS extreme about it as he used to be, he’s not RENOUNCING his entire way of life like he used to when some pretty stranger made eye contact with him, but if you really, really and truly had him hooked, it… would not be hard to get him to slow down on the whole wanted criminal front. NOT THAT YOU’D WANT THAT FOR HIM EITHER, NECESSARILY, JUST THAT-- LET’S BE HONEST, NOT THAT HARD TO SELL THE GUY
there’s a real pattern here with all these guys, and that is-- they are insane and are completely and utterly drawn in by the simple fact that this is something that should reasonably not be happening. but against all odds, love is stronger, love is unafraid, and above iit all, you two have come together despite conflicting ideals-- or that’s how goemon sees it. i think the other three just really enjoy the “we gotta make out in a broom closet” type deal.
but make no mistake he’s not mad about that either lmao
the funniest/not funniest thing about it is that goemon is going to have what he calls “moments of clarity” where he goes No… I can’t do this to you. we have to split for your sake for your safety. and then a month later he shows up on your doorstep at 3 in the morning like “i simply missed your cooking.” it takes 20 minutes max before he caves and says he loves you again sorry about the moment of clarity ordeal my b
(honestly if you want more normal and not insane hcs just hit me up again because i think i accidentally went toooo much into the nitty gritty of it. sawry)
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rise-my-angel · 28 days
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jon’s willpower vs the free folks’ tales of their sexual escapades is so funny I just imagine he’s been keeping a bullet pointin his head so he doesn’t forget and can daydream about each fantasy because he’s certain you’d never agree.
well…
he knows you’d agree- you’d do anything he asked, but he just knows you’ll be red in the face and perhaps ashamed or entirely speechless with some of the depraved thoughts he has had and is worried youd only agree to please him (i feel like you’d secretly be into some of them just as much but thats your own secret. youd never admit it)
Jon is privy to such utterly perverted ideas from being around the free folk, and it is a source of eternal conflict for him. Like, he knows you have no comprehension the filthy things he could suggest you both do, and that turns him on so much. How he knows how much he could do to you, and how little you know it.
He has no idea how to bring most of it up, but it drives him mad that he could get you to agree to any of this. Half the time he leaves bruises on your hips from how tight he grabs you, he's trying desperately not to just take complete control and demolish you with total depravity.
He cannot bring up any of this to Tormund either, because he'd never hear the end of it about more suggestions of what he also should try, and endless mocking why he won't just ask you for it.
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morgulscribe · 9 months
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I was wondering if you had any more thoughts on the mouth of Sauron? The version where he did defect is interesting, what would make him do that? I know Tolkien started a story which involved Melkor/Sauron cults in Gondor after the war, but that idea makes more sense to me as something that would happen in Ecthelion’s and Denethor’s rule, a response to Sauron returning among those who expect him to win quickly and want to save themselves. Maybe he was involved in that before fleeing when they were banned and cracked down on? If he was from a prominent noble family I can imagine it being a major scandal, either if he was kidnapped or defected.  
Thank you for asking this intriguing question!
I find all of Tolkien's possible backstories for the Mouth of Sauron to be quite fascinating. To answer your question, I have done a little research on Gondor during the reigns of Steward Ecthelion and Denethor. In 2951, two years before Ecthelion took the throne, Sauron declared himself openly, so dark forces were stirring in Middle-earth. I could not find any reference to internal conflict within Gondor at this time, but the possibility of Melkor/Sauron cults operating in secret is an intriguing one. If Tolkien entertained the idea of these cults arising in the days of peace after Sauron's defeat, it could be entirely possible that there were disloyal Gondorians who secretly served Sauron in the days of the Dark Lord's power.
This concept of Gondorian traitors in league with Sauron would fit in nicely with the second discarded backstory which Tolkien created for the Mouth of Sauron: "But it is said that he was a renegade, son of a house of wise and noble men in Gondor, who becoming enamoured of evil knowledge entered the service of the Dark Tower, and because of his cunning [and the fertile cruelty of his mind] [and servility] he grew ever higher in the Lord’s favour…" (“The Black Gate Opens,” The War of the Ring, p. 431)
In the published version of LOTR, Faramir says, "It is not said that evil arts were ever practiced in Gondor, or that the Nameless One was ever named in honour there […]" ("The Window on the West," The Two Towers, p. 286). However, he does go on to say that many among the Gondorian nobility yearned for immortality, as had the Numenoreans. "Kings made tombs more splendid than houses of the living […]," and "[…] in secret chambers withered men compounded strong elixirs, or in high cold towers asked questions of the stars." To me, this implies that some of the Gondorian kings and nobles were dabbling in alchemy, sorcery, and other forms of magic in an attempt to evade old age and death.
One of the major themes in Tolkien's writing is that it is VERY BAD to attempt to halt change, and a desire to do so leaves one vulnerable to the schemes of Sauron. While Faramir implies that Gondor's flirtation with elaborate tombs and preservation magic diminished with the rule of the kings, perhaps that was not truly the case.
If there was an element of internal corruption within Gondor, the return of Sauron to Mordor in 2951 would definitely have stirred the murky waters. When Faramir says that evil arts were never practiced in Gondor, he was comparing Gondor to Numenor. While Numenor descended into evil and wicked deeds, Gondor remained upon the path of light. However, individuals do not always represent their country, and there may have been a dark malignancy buried deep under the surface.
If one entertains the possibility that the Mouth of Sauron was a renegade Gondorian nobleman in league with the Dark Lord, perhaps his true loyalties were discovered and he was forced to flee Gondor. Logically, this would indeed cause quite a scandal! However, it's possible that his defection was covered up so as to avoid bringing shame to his family, or to discourage others from switching allegiances. It's also possible that the Gondorians practice damnatio memoriae - the removal of the name of a disgraced person from all official records. The ancient Egyptians practiced this custom, and Tolkien compares Numenor and Gondor to ancient Egypt on several occasions. Over the years, fans have theorized that this is why there is no record of the names of the three Numenorean lords who became Nazgul.
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un-local · 6 months
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7, 12, 26?
7. unpopular ship/s you like
Ah….. I have no sense whatsoever for popularity. Off the top of my head:
Fia/Rogier (Divorced) [Elden Ring]
Come on. The opposing motives, the falling out, the repression and release, the realization he’s being used. Not that he wasn’t trying to use her to some extent, probably.
Facade vs Facade. 10/10
Shinya Voss/ (informant) Spacefarer [Starfield]
HEAR ME OUT! Let me paint a picture here:
Shinya Voss: The Evil Space Pirate’s ultimate money man. A man who committed a gruesome act of loyalty, who submitted to having a bomb implanted in his chest to keep him in line. He’s integral to the faction’s success—therefore, he can never slip up. Never show doubt. Never give anyone the impression that he’s got second thoughts. It would be a death sentence if someone questioned his loyalty. 
So when you meet him, he has this demeanor of fierce, steely devotion. 
(How much of it is real? How much of it is a survival mechanism?)(How much of his initial agreement was coercion? Or was it true loyalty, secretly lost over the years?) (The game never tells us.)
And then there’s the player character: caught and arrested while stealing for what is ultimately supposed to be a just cause. But while in custody, the player is forced into the informant role. 
Mission: take these pirates down from the inside. 
A suicide mission, as far as everyone around you is concerned. And yet, the player quickly becomes the rising star of the faction. And then, its ultimate downfall. 
The HQ is surrounded by authorities, and it’s all gone to shit. You can talk to Shinya in this final mission. He starts all calm and cool, his villainous monologue ready to go, but then he drops the act. He begs you to get him out. Find the remote controls of the bomb in his chest, and disable it, before he’s used to send them all to hell. 
It’s somewhat implied that this is the first time he’s been honest in a long, long time. 
Both he and the player are made violent tools of greater, conflicting interests. I find that dynamic compelling. I like to imagine after getting the bomb disabled, as the rest of the base is being secured, the Spacefarer and he just. Slip through everyone’s fingers. They fuck off and drop off everyone’s radar entirely :)
BUT ANYWAY. 
What were we talking about again?
12. quotes you like?
Answered here! 
26. moment where you think the fandom did a character dirty
Nothing specific is coming to mind at the moment, so I’ll go broad. And….. Hah, you’re not going to like me for this, anon. No one’s gonna like me for this. Regardless: 
As your (un) local joyless fuck, for me, it’s gotta be anytime a character gets “smoll bean”-ified. You know, where:
“Character X…… he just. He cares so much????? He’s sweet???? He’s just a cinnamon roll actually???? Guys his nuance and unique situational experience has been flattened and generalized so I can relate to him and/or find him morally acceptable to like?????????🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰”
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Like, sometimes…… a motherfucker just isn’t friend-shaped. You shouldn’t have to feel like you gotta reframe him as someone who is. Sometimes he’s jagged and angry and spiteful. Why sand those edges down? Sad!
Sorry. I know posts like that are probably from teenagers, so it really isn’t some great crime. I’m sure they fill everyone with warm, happy, wholesome emotions, or whatever. I don’t think there should be less of them, or that liking them makes you bad, etc etc etc, disclaimer disclaimer disclaimer. They’re just a part of the ecosystem. 
…They do drive me up the wall, though XD
Thanks for the ask anon! Sorry to keep you waiting! 💚
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blackmagecat · 7 months
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Made it to episode 3. Sliiiiightly better than episode 2 but the issues from the previous episodes are starting to repeat themselves
Spoilers below
Azula’s intro (and Ozai’s to a lesser extent) now suffers from the same thing Zuko’s does. I am not convinced she is a threat, merely a salty brat that is jealous of her brother.
It is a shame we didn’t get the recruitment scene of Mai and Tai-Lee because those encapsulated perfectly why Azula is a terrifying force to be reckoned with. Even her own best friends fear her
Honestly, she probably shouldn’t have been introduced this early in the show to begin with
They also blew the load too early on Ozai. He works best as a distant tyrant, a nightmarish concept formed in the viewer’s mind over time. We begin to sympathize with Zuko precisely because most audience members can probably imagine having someone like that as a father, to say nothing for desperately wanting to please him.
And of course, Ozai monologues his entire motivation within six seconds of his first appearance like everyone else. Daniel Dae Kim does what he can with this.
Props to our Azula for pulling off the character’s original cadence. Mai and Tai Lee try this to a degree of lesser success
Tai Lee’s wig. Ouch.
It was an interesting choice to combine the Jet, Omashu and Northern Air Temple storylines. Still feels like a bit of speed running but in this case it kinda works
Speaking of pacing, they really need to let the humor hang more. There’s a scene of Sokka’s that the editor just cuts away from too quickly and for seemingly no reason. Like… just let these actors show off their expressions and emotions for once
It’s really disappointing how Katara and Sokka get into a serious inter-sibling conflict and then it gets resolved like a scene or two later. I cannot keep stressing how this show really needs to let these characters breathe.
Admiral Zhao doesn’t feel particularly threatening to Zuko’s mission either? I know this is building up to the Northern Water Tribe but I also wonder if we’re ever getting their Agni Kai. His was always a great parallel to Ozai’s.
I’m not too convinced that Jet’s terrorism plot works well in Omashu, though I still respect the choice. Unfortunately the place becomes conveniently deserted of earth benders (and people in general) whenever it suits the plot.
Also Jet’s motivation, even for all his own monologuing, is kind of unclear? Fire benders bad but let’s kill Bumi because corruption or something?
Jet was never one for having sound logic but at least his plot in the original aimed to tangibly weaken the fire nation. Targeting one of, if not THE most powerful earth bender in the world just makes Jet seem like he might be secretly pro fire nation? Especially with all the intrigue surrounding the mechanist and his affiliations thrown in the mix. I dunno maybe I missed something there
There is also a distressing lack of Momo in this episode. In this house we stan His Royal Momoness
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