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#I'm still learning the other league member's personality types but I tried
honnojis · 1 year
Note
hello Zumi have you ever tried competitive Pokémon on smogon?
Nop, never really was my thing. I used to play on showdown, sure, but it'd usually be random battles or hackmons. Actual competitive play stressed me out a bit too much, and I had a really terrible experience when i tried getting into it a bit more by applying for a spot as a leader for an online league, so I've just never bothered since.
Shoutout to Bibs for being a homie w/ hackmons/random battles tho. that shit was fun and i miss it sometimes
For the drama bit, I'll just put it under the cut bc no one really needs to see a wall of text ab me getting salty about it again but wow i sure still think about it sometimes. this was all skype era shit btw, but it's arguably one of the very few things that literally had me seething, which is why I've never bothered with anything comp related since
Funnily enough, the drama wasn't even related to the actual competitive aspect of the whole league that I was supposed to be a part of -- it was bc someone on the league's board committee was awfully petty and two-faced LOL… All bc they didn't like I was potentially going to overshadow their work.
I actually knew them well before this. They were pretty friendly towards me at first, and they initially approached me because wanted to learn how to do pixel art better, so I taught them! They acted really grateful when I gave them advice, and hell, they even did some sprites for Rejuvenation at the time as it was at a time that I was extremely busy with school.
Now fast forward a bit, and a group of ppl from the same community set up an online Showdown league, with leaders for each type. That person was on the board committee, but some other members of the board committee were going behind their back in order to actually recruit me for the league as a leader. I passed the tryouts, and got into the group.
Kicker is, the reason why they went behind the person's back, is bc apparently That Person(TM) was absolutely adamant about not wanting me on the team!
The reason for that?
They didn't want me there so I couldn't get a chance to do any art for the league, because they were afraid they'd get overshadowed by me.
This sounds like bragging, and god i fucking WISH I was kidding in that regard, but I'm completely serious 💀 Apparently ANOTHER league wanted my assistance for sprites, but because That Person(TM) was already on the team, they started throwing a shitfit about how they absolutely could NOT work together with me without wanting to give a real reason, they just kept insisting that they absolutely couldn't. The chatlogs of these moments were sent to me after a group of ppl who were getting aggression aimed at them from the person.
I kinda pieced things together because they were sucking up to me for art advice until they learned what they needed, then I lost contact with them until I got drafted for the league, after which they just... Wanted to chew me out instead, lol. despite never having done anything to prompt such hatred. all i did was help and be nice. and after seeing the logs it kinda clicked in my head that that's what was going on.
funnily enough this all happened around the time they were sucking up to jan bc they were asked to do some work for rejuv, but that shit fell through real quick once jan got the logs of all the shit they've been saying lmao
A whole bunch of shit happened after that, but basically I left the league, some ppl left bc I left, other members got fed up w/ That Person(TM)'s shit and the whole league crumbled before it ever got the chance to take off LOL.
It's genuinely one of the worst feelings I've ever experienced that someone abused my trust in a person like that, only using me for my skills, and it actually gave me some trust issues for a few years whenever people asked me for art advice!
i had a whole document of bullshit that this person pulled. i still actually have it somewhere, and frankly i probably should just delete it at some point bc it has no use and i haven't seen this person around in a long time bc they basically got chased out of the community for being a shithead. in my defense for that document though, the fact that a person drove me to get so mad that i started collecting receipts on them kinda tells how hurt i got about this whole situation. to say they were an awful person not only just to me but to a lot of my friends as well is an understatement
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morgana-ren · 5 years
Note
Yoooo! If you’re still taking requests, can I get a Short where maybe a “mom friend” member of the league takes care of them, and it’s super fluffy and cute? Shiggy or Dabi would be great!
Oh man, while I’m super happy to get a request for some fluff, I’m SUPER bad at it, so I apologize in advance for that. Also, the timeline here is SUPER fucked up. I’m not caught up on the manga, but for my idea to work, Kurogiri is gone and they’re living in an abandoned building together. Magne is there, because I love her. I don’t know if all 3 of those go together, but they do here. I tried my best! I hope it’s okay! I went with the shigman cause I’m still learning Dabi.
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“Oh, I’m so hungry! How much longeruntil it’s done?” Magne whined, clutching her stomach. A deep frownsettled on her face, eyebrows hiked up high on her face as she eyeddown the stew pot that was currently settled over a large fire. “Iswear I could eat a horse!”
“It smells so good too!” Togamused, twirling a small blade between her deft fingers. She satcasually on a dusty sofa with a pleasant expression, but it wasevident with the way she kept running her tongue over her fangs andstaring longingly at the pot just how starved she really was.
You gave them both a small smile,lightly tapping a small vial of spice into the mixture as you stirredit. “It’s almost done. The meat is nearly cooked, and I promiseit’ll be worth the wait when you taste the vegetables. They were alittle stale, so it’s better to let them absorb all the flavor.” 
“You two should be more gracious. Their cooking is farbetter than anything we’ve scavenged or stolen in weeks.” Mr.Compress chided them, gesturing at the pile of discarded wrappers inthe garbage can. “There is nothing quite like a home cooked meal,and I, for one, am eternally thankful.” He bowed deeply at you,ever theatrical. A small flush washed over your cheeks, andyou raised a hand and scratched the back of your head in slightembarrassment. “It’s nothing really. I wish I could make somethingbetter for everyone, but I was only able to acquire a few packs ofmeat, and I had to throw out a lot of the vegetables we stole. A lotof them had already gone bad, but I was able to salvage enough thatthis should feed everyone, at least for today. I’ll figure somethingout for the rest of the week, though. Don’t worry.”
“I miss Kurogiri.” Spinner sighed,head cradled in his hands as he sat in the corner. “There wasalways food at the bar.”
Your spirit fell a little at hiscomment. You’d tried to take up the role of caretaker to the Leaguein Kurogiri’s absence. You knew you weren’t him, and you didn’t havethe connections or the experience he had, but you were trying. Thingshad been a nightmare for them lately, and it was taking a toll.They’d been reduced to raiding garbage cans or stealing to feedthemselves, and the makeshift hideout definitely didn’t have the samecomfort level that the bar had.
You had done your best to make itsomewhat homey, putting together a team effort to scavenge for bedsand basic comfort items. With a little help, you had even managed torig up some plumbing and electricity so that everyone could stayclean and have light. It wasn’t great, but it was the best you coulddo under the circumstances.
“You all sure complain a lot forvillains.” Dabi had stretched out on a ratty sofa with multicoloredcushions, arms crossed behind his head. “You act like you’ve neverbeen homeless before.”
He seemed the most indifferent to thesituation. Going with the flow, sleeping on beds, sofas, or mustyfloors with little to no complaint. He ate when there was food, andslept when there wasn’t. You assumed that living like this wasnothing new to him. Sometimes he disappeared for hours on end,returning at absurd hours of the night with his clothing singed andashy and smelling of death. You never asked what he did.
“It’s pathetic.” He continued. “Ifyou fall apart every time things get a little rough, you’ll nevermake it, and you might as well leave.”
The room fell quiet, contemplating hiswords. Was the pain of hunger, discomfort, and dirt enough to breakthe spirit of the League?
“Dabi is right!” Toga broke thesilence. “Things aren’t so bad! Let’s quit being such downers!”She jumped up from her spot, smiling as she began spinning excitedlyaround the room. Twice winced, pushing himself further into the wallto avoid her blade which was slicing the air as she made her wayaround the immediate area. After a few seconds, she slowed to a stop,staring at you with a loving yet deranged expression as she tappedthe hilt of her weapon with her finger. “I still wish you wouldhave let me cut up the meat though!”
“Himiko, that blade killed a manyesterday, and I’m fairly certain you haven’t cleaned it.” Youshook your head, stirring the pot some more, prodding at the meat.
Pouting, her shoulders shrugged downand her arms dropped to her sides. “It would have given it moreflavor.” A few people around the room gave a disgusted sound, andshe scowled at them in turn.
You chuckled, tapping the spoon on therim a final time. “It’s ready, grab a bowl and come and get some!”
The League lined up excitedly,snatching whatever dishware they could find and hungrily grabbing atthe pot. Everyone with the exception of Dabi, who sauntered overslowly, maintaining his facade of nonchalance. He slowly grabbed thelast bowl and lazily filled it with the stew, taking a few moments tolet it simmer before dipping his fork in.
For a few moments, the room was filledwith the sound of people eating, devouring the meat and vegetablesand slurping down the juices left over. It brought a smile to yourface to see your companions so content, and the atmosphere wasnoticeably lighter as they ate. The cacophony of growling stomachsslowly died down, and everyone settled into a temporary state ofcontentment.
“Oh! It’s so good!” Toga yelled,gulping down the remainder of her bowl. “I’’m so happy you’re mybest friend!” She chucked her bowl into the sink and skipped overto you, giving you an overwhelming bear hug. You hugged her backtentatively, careful to avoid the extremely sharp blades that adornedher outfit. “You’re so cute!” Her face started to turn red,grinning wildly as she clung to you. “We could be as close assisters!”
“Careful Toga, you’re getting workedup. Why don’t you come relax?” Twice noted. “Yeah, relax,girl! Calm down or you might explode!”
Reluctantly, Himiko let you go, huffingwhile she returned to her spot on the sofa and began to sharpen oneof her various knives while everyone else finished up the remainderof their meal. Magne was humming happily as she chewed a bit of meat,toying with a vegetable on her fork. Mr. Compress dabbed politely athis mouth with a napkin. Everyone seemed relaxed, even happy, and itfilled you with a sense of warmth.
Spinner his bowl down beside him,swallowing the last bits. “It was really good, thank you. I feel alot better with a full stomach.”
Everyone nodded in agreement withSpinner, giving small words of praise about your cooking. Dabi saidnothing, but turned his head in your direction and nodded, which inDabi language was as good as a hug. An involuntary smile lifted yourlips and you nodded back.
Some time passed, and everyone settledinto their nightly shenanigans. Toga practiced with her knives,yelling incoherently about her various obsessions every now andagain. Mr. Compress performed various magic tricks for Spinner andTwice, who occasionally tried to guess how he did it, to no avail.Dabi slept on the sofa, snoring quietly with his head buried in hisarms. It was like almost every night they had free when they weren’ttraining or plotting, but something felt wrong.
Your head turned upward, toward thestaircase and the room at the top. It was an average door, but thesense of foreboding was palpable. Everyone knew to keep away. Herarely ever left his room, and it was even rarer that you actuallysaw him these days. He had taken the recent events rather hard, andit made him even more volatile and reclusive than ever. He onlyinteracted when absolutely necessary, and it was almost alwayscombative.
“Hey, has anyone seen Shigarakilately?” You asked apprehensively. It took a few seconds for anyoneto answer, no one wanting to voluntarily participate.
“Hasn’t left his room in days. He’sstill sulking.” Dabi muttered, his words muffled slightly by hissleeve.
“Do you know if he’s eaten orshowered or is even alive?” Chewing your lip, you glanced at thedoor again, and then down at the stew pot. There was still food left,and it technically belonged to him.
“There hasn’t been any dishes in thesink, or any new food in our storage, so I would have to assume not.”Mr. Compress crossed his arms, leaning against the wall. A hush hadfallen over the room at the mention of their temperamental leader.Things had always been tense between the League and Shigarki, withhis fits and horrible temper, but he had gathered their respectenough that they followed him. Things had been getting better, andeveryone had almost been getting along, at least until Kurogiri wastaken. Then his mood had plummeted.
You sighed, pressing your fingersacross your nose. You weighed your options, pretending you didn’talready know what you were going to do. Anxiety welled in your gut,and you took a deep breath. There was a million ways this could go,and frankly, none of them looked particularly positive for you.Still, the League was your family, and if you had to take care of itsdysfunctional leader every now and again, so be it.
You quietly picked up a bowl, fillingit with the stew, grabbing some silverware and a napkin while youwere at it. Slowly, you walked towards the stairs, taking a deepbreath before ascending. A few of the League members looked at eachother with worried expressions, questioning your sanity.
“I don’t know if I would do that,dear.” Magne reached out slightly towards you, lip twisted in ananxious grimace “It’s probably best we leave him alone and let himdeal with this on his own time.”
“He needs to eat.” You persisted.“If he won’t take care of himself on his own, then I’ll make him.”It had been meant to come out much more confidently than you had saidit.
Magne exhaled, looking up at younervously, but retracted her hand. You heard Dabi scoff from hisplace on the sofa, no doubt thinking it would be the last time heever saw you due to your own foolishness. Everyone else just glancedaround uneasily. They didn’t think this was a good idea, not at all,but they knew better than to try and stop you.
You crept up the stairs, carefullybalancing the bowl and dishware in your hands. Trying to make aslittle noise as possible, you gently padded toward the door,gathering all your courage to prepare yourself to knock. If youlistened carefully, you could hear him typing away furiously on acomputer and clicking a little harder than you thought was necessary.There was also the muffled sound of a television, but you doubted hewas paying attention to it. Whatever he was doing, he was incrediblyfocused.
You sucked in a breath, swallowing yourfear and bringing your hand down on his door several times. You heardthe knock echo though his room, but his typing never faltered. Afterseveral moments, you tried again, rapping gently on his door. Still,he ignored you, typing manically. You groaned under your breath,re-situating the bowl in your arms. You understood he was technicallyyour boss, but you didn’t appreciate being ignored.
You knocked again, louder and longerthis time. Panic wormed its way down your limbs, taking a hold ofyour gut as you heard the typing stop. You heard an exasperated sighas he angrily pushed away from his makeshift computer station,footsteps approaching. Each one was loud and deliberate, aforewarning that you had irritated him.
His door opened, only just enough thatyou could see a beady crimson eye zero in on you, narrowed inannoyance. He looked even more tired than usual, deep purple bagslining underneath his eyes with a droopy expression and cheekssunken. He made it clear he wasn’t open to conversation, lip curleddownward in a deep scowl, placing his full body in front of the doorso you couldn’t even see inside.
“What?” His tone was agitated anddrawn out, purposely said in such a way that you felt small andinsignificant. You gulped, despite the fact that you were just tryingto help. You were in uncharted waters here, and it was a very realpossibility that this encounter could end with your death.
“I made food.” You managed to say,although it came out meeker than you would have liked. You lifted upthe bowl to show him, and hopefully tempt him into calming. “Ithought you might like some,”
He eyed it suspiciously for a fewmoments before bringing his eye back up to yours. “Did I say I washungry?”
A feral strike of anger burned throughyou. You knew that Shigaraki could be a spiteful little man-child,but you were just trying to help.
“You haven’t eaten in days, boss.”Keeping your tone even was a bit of a chore. “You need to keep yourstrength up.”
He glowered down at you, chapped lipspursing. “Are you implying I’m weak?”
His three fingered grip on his door waswavering, pinky trembling slightly. Whether it was in anger or lowblood sugar, you weren’t entirely sure. “No. That wasn’t what I wassaying at all. I just think you need to eat is all. I promise it’snot horrible.” You held the dish up for him to grab again, hopinghe’d settle down and just take it.
Staring at it for a moment, you noticedhe was swallowing hard. You were hopeful, until in an instant, hiseyes were burning into yours, face sneering. “Leave. You’re pissingme off.”
He slammed the door in your face,almost causing you to fall backward and spill the contents of thebowl. White hot anger simmered in your stomach, crawling up in yourthroat, and your free hand clenched. He might be the leader of theLeague of Villains, but that gave him no right to treat people likethis. For a moment, your common sense was replaced entirely by yourstubbornness.
You could hear him typing again, andthat only made you more angry. Raising your fist to the door, youknocked even harder, practically pounding on the already decrepitwood. He had obviously resounded to ignore you again, because heshowed no signs of answering. After a few more tries, you decided totry a new approach.
“I’ll sit outside this goddamn doorall night if I have to!” You yelled through the cheap wood, knowingfully that if you could hear him, he could likely hear you. “AndI’ll let you know now that I’m a loud sleeper!”
The typing stopped again, and yourbravado fell with it. You heard him push away from his desk, quietlythis time, and approach the door. He opened it more fully this time,leaning on the frame as he stared at you with a look you couldn’tquite place. He was wearing his typical black on black jeans and top,but his shoes were missing. His hair was messy and tousled, as wellas slightly greasy, like he hadn’t brushed it in several days.
“Why do you insist on annoying me?”Surprisingly, there was no trace of anger in his voice, only seemingcuriosity.
“Because…” You tripped on yourown words. Why were you soset on doing this? “You need to take care of yourself. We all do.And if I can make that a little easier, than I will. Even if it meansannoying you.” A blush blossomed on your face. “I’d rather seeyou healthy and annoyed than unhealthy. And if that means you hateme, then fine.”
For amoment so brief that you could hardly justify believing it at all,you swore you saw his face soften. He eyed you, and then the soup inyour hands, letting his gaze fall on it for too long to not betempted. “If I take the damn food, will you leave?”
You nodded, holding it toward him withthe dishware carefully balanced between you pinky and index finger.You kept your vision on your hands as he took it from you gingerly,four fingers wrapped around the rim with his pinky hoveringcautiously. When you brought your face up, you realized he wasstaring at you, red eyes studying you with a practiced detachment.Your cheeks flushed so hard it was almost painful, and you quicklylooked down at your feet, praying he hadn’t seen. What was thatabout?
“I’llbe back in about an hour for the bowl.” You stammered, trying tocompose yourself. “I hope it’s empty.”
Hedidn’t acknowledge you, just shut the door as you turned and walkedback downstairs. Your comrades were surprised to see you unharmed,let alone alive after impeding on Shigaraki’s private time. Dabi hadlaughed, ruffling his hair with his hand as he said “I guess helikes you better than the rest of us.” You weren’t sure if he wasright, but a small part of you had beamed when he said it.
Youbusied yourself the rest of the night taking care of the dishes,making sure everyone had clean towels and leftover clothing that theycould wear if they chose to shower, and cleaning up the debris anddust that littered the hideout. Little by little, it was coming tolook more like an actual homeand less like an abandoned building. Slowly, the group in the frontroom began to dwindle as they went off to bed, the hour growing laterand later. By the time you realized just how sleepy you were, themoon was high in the sky, darkness encompassing the entire horizon.
Youlooked up toward Shigaraki’s room. He had taken the food, there’s noreason he wouldn’t have eaten it. But still, he still had the dish inhis room, and Shigaraki could be very unpredictable. He’d beexpecting you, right? You told him you’d be back. Might as well gograb the dish so that you could wash it and retire for the night.
Youtiptoed up the stairs, trying to move as quietly as you could, butyou weren’t entirely sure why. Stopping in front of his door, youpaused for a moment. Did you just ask for the bowl and leave? Did youtry and make passing conversation? Apologize for trying to strong armhim? How exactly did you handle this? A part of you hoped he wouldjust do what he did earlier and would ignore you knocking.
Younoticed the typing had stopped, so may be he was asleep? Would it berude to knock? It was quite a bit later than you told him you wouldbe by. The sound of the TV was still going, but it was quiet as ithad been earlier. Somehow, absurdly, you felt a lot more anxious thanyou had the first time you knocked.
Youresolved to knock lightly, and if he didn’t answer on the firstround, you’d leave. You could ask him for the dish another time. Yousucked in a breath, and tenderly tapped your fingers on the door. Itwas so soft that even you barely heard it. Chewing on your nail, youwaited for a few seconds before you “decided” that he had likelyfinally settled in and was sleeping. Either that, or he was ignoringyou. You just had hoped that he had eaten first. Either way, youshould probably leave.
As youturned to do just that, you heard a raspy voice from the other sideof the door.
“Comein.”
Okay,now this was unprecedented. What did you do? What was acceptable? Didyou poke your head in? Did you just talk from the doorway? What wasthe appropriate etiquette here?
Clutchingthe knob, you turned it sluggishly, pushing open the weak door andcreeping inside the room as silently as you could. You stoodawkwardly for a few moments, unable to see with only the light fromhis computer shining dimly from the monitor.
“Isaid come in.” Hesounded agitated now. You could hear his voice from a corner of theroom, but you couldn’t see him quite yet. You stumbled over your feetwalking further into his domain, standing with one hand on thealternate elbow, doing your best not to look nervous.
“Shutmy door. I don’t need the idiots looking in.”
Hisrequest took you by surprise, but your body wasted no time complying,pushing it shut with your palm. You stood in the dark, looking aroundrestlessly. Your eyes slowly adjusted to the dreary nature of hisroom, but it wasn’t much help. You could see his room was messy,smelling of must and dusty construction. The windows had been tapedover, and there were piles of black clothes and garbage sitting inpiles across the floor.
“Shigaraki?I came for the bowl, so I can finish the dishes.” You hated lookingso clueless in front of your boss, but a part of you knew he did iton purpose. There was no winning with someone like that. It wasbetter to just play his stupid game. “Could you turn a light on, soI can see?”
He sighed, muttering something underhis breath. He let you stumble around in the darkness for a few moreminutes before you heard a heavy click, and a small light clicked onfrom the corner of the room.
His room was a disaster. Discardedwrappers and energy drink cans were all over his small desk and nightstand, with debris and small pieces of plaster littered across thefloor. Piles of ash were everywhere, things he had disintegrated infits of anger and rage while everyone else had pretended not to hear.He had a large cot he had pushed into the corner that had a smallbundle of dark blankets he was sitting on, head down with his handsin his lap. If he hadn’t been the leader of a villain organization,he would look exceptionally like a young man in the middle of a deepdepression or perhaps a grieving session.
You surveyed the room and tried todecide the best course of action. You couldn’t let him continueliving like this. He was going to get sick. There were entire piecesof wood with rusted nails sticking out just hanging around, and itwas apparent he was living on granola bars and energy drinks.
“The bowl is on the table.” Athin, spindly finger pointed at his desk, just beside his computer.You glanced at him, wanting an official okay before venturing furtherinto his room. He only looked up at you through his thick hair,vermilion eyes emotionless. You nodded at him, making your way towardhis desk and brushing aside the empty wrappers to find the bowl.
When you found it, you picked it up,tipping it from side to side curiously. The contents of the bowl wereentirely gone. Peering around as inconspicuously as you could, youmonitored your surroundings. No wet spots on the floor, no garbagebag he could hide it in. His window was taped shut, so he couldn’tdump it out. You supposed he could have ashed the vegetables and meatbut you weren’t entirely sure how his quirk worked on waterysubstances. From the looks of it, he had actually eaten it. It wasthe only real meal of yours that you had seen Shigaraki eaten sinceyou’d known him.  
It surprised you that he hadactually eaten it, though you weren’t sure what you had expected,honestly. Maybe for him to leave it full out of pure spite or to justdump it on the floor. He didn’t seem to have a problem with a mess.You peered back at him, curiosity overwhelming your better senses.You found that his gaze was focused on you still, eyes droopingsleepily, but still alert somehow. He kept his vision steady as youturned to face him. His attention felt so invasive somehow.
“You actually ate it.” Younoted, holding the bowl in your hands and lightly gesturing to it.
Scowling, he huffed a harsh breathof air and crossed his hands over his chest. “You thought I’d wastemy time making some scheme to rid of soup?”
“I just wasn’t sure you wouldactually eat it. I know it’s not Kurogiri’s, but-” You cut yourselfwhen you noticed his eyes yank from yours, flashing dangerously atthe mention of Kurogiri. “I hope it was at least wasn’t awful.”
He stared down the wall, arms pulledtightly to across his midsection as if he was chilly. You knew hewanted you to leave, to be left alone, but something in youpersisted.
“Hey, I just got a fresh load oflaundry back from the laundromat and everyone is asleep.” Yousqueaked out, unsure how he would react. You saw him cock an eyebrowunderneath his bangs. He probably wondered what the fuck you werebabbling about. You knew you should leave, it was safer that way, butyou kept going. “If you wanted to, you could shower in peace. Iknow you probably don’t want to be bothered.”
Every self preservation instinct inyour body was screaming at you to go.You were really digging now, inviting yourself into a territory whereyou had no business. Still, your feet stayed planted to their spot,facing him, unable to leave until you knew you had done everythingyou could.
He moved his head back to face you,bringing his palm to his eye and rubbing harshly as the other honedin on you. He seemed like he had no idea what the hell you weretrying to do, and truth be told, you didn’t either. He seemeddistrustful, like he thought you had an ulterior motive or maybe youwere trying to trick him somehow. The skin around his eyes tightened,the small cracks of flesh doubling over themselves as he glared youdown.
“It’s just an offer, I thought-”You paused, trying to compose your words in your head. Nothing wasforming in your head, not as his bloodshot eyes bore into you and youfelt a deep swell in your stomach, the feeling of which you couldn’tquite name. Something in your chest ached as you looked despondentlyback at him. “I thought you might want to bathe in privacy. If youwant, you could-” You stammered again. “I know you’re busy andit’s hard and-”
You took a deep breath. You weren’tsure how you wanted this to go, but you knew this wasn’t it.Embarrassment made your cheeks tingle, and you wanted to run. He wasstill staring at you passively, equally as confused as you. You hadto say something.
“If you wanted to shower orsomething, you could. When you’re gone, I could pick up some of thestuff in here. I know you probably don’t have time, being the leaderand all. Anything I can do to help. I just want to make things easieron you. If you’d let me do that for you, I’d feel a lot better.”
You gulped down, preparing for whatwas about to come. He was going to start yelling, asking you if youthought he was incompetent or unable to take care of it himself.Stomp towards you and demand why you thought you knew better than hedid at how he should live. Maybe even kick you out of the League, andat worst, turn you to ash. You closed your eyes, preparing.
It never came.
You felt his shoulder brush past youas he left the room, stalking down the hall. He had left you alone inhere. Was he that angry? Did you drive him out of his own sanctum?Had he gone for a walk and when he got back he would turn you to dustand keep you in a plastic bag to warn everyone else of the dangers oftrying to boss him around?
Your thoughts halted when you heardthe pipes creak and the shower turn on from the other room. Had heactually taken your offer? You two were the only ones awake at themoment, so it must have been him. Panic struck you, and you realizedyou were alone and completely unsupervised in Shigaraki’s room. Hisroom. His room that you’dpromised you’d clean.
You quickly put down the bowl andwent and snatched a garbage bag from downstairs, picking up all thewrappers and cans placed around the room. Breaking down the decrepitplanks and placing them in as well, alongside the random debris andplaster that littered the floor. You didn’t feel comfortable enoughtouching his computer, but you lightly organized all of the randomknickknacks around it that he’d taken from various places, as well asthe piles of video games and movies he’d stolen that were tossed onthe floor. All of his laundry was scooped up in your arms and placedinto bags which you would take to the laundromat tomorrow, and youmade a mental note to steal some hangers for all the sweatshirts andlong sleeved shirts he had. You opted to not touch Father or any ofhis ‘family’. That was too daring, even for you.
You weren’t entirely sure when itcame to his bed. It was such an intimate place, somewhere you knew hefound sacred. Even standing close to it, you could smell his naturalscent, and that unsure feeling came back again. You resolved to makeit as best as you could without disrupting his nest, just in casethat’s how he slept. However, the season was turning cold, and thethin, ratty blankets he had probably wouldn’t be enough to keep himwarm.
You’d managed to keep a stash ofblankets you’d 'acquired’ for the League for colder days hidden away,and you grabbed a small, dark, fuzzy one for Shigaraki. He wasprobably cold but too damn proud to ask for a something. Bringing itinto the room, you placed it among his heap, in hopes he wouldn’tnotice. You ruffled it in an attempt to make it look natural. Withany luck, by the time he noticed it, he wouldn’t care to mention it.
You were just placing the finishingtouches on his room when you heard the pipes silence and the watershut off. He’d be back soon. You scurried around, picking up anyspare garbage and organizing in a flurry, looking for anything youforgot. Your heart was racing, pumping blood into your ears andspiking your adrenaline, but you weren’t sure why. Were you really soafraid of him? Or was it something else? You tried to shake thethought.
You heard his door squeak, and youturned to greet him. However, the wind was knocked from your lungsand almost dropped you clean to the floor. Shigaraki was standing inthe doorway in nothing but a towel, held up by four of his fingersaround his bony hips. His shaggy periwinkle hair fell down around hisface, small droplets of water falling off onto his chest. His palebody was covered in scattered scars, ranging from long and jagged tosmall and round, placed variously around his lean torso and arms. Youimmediately turned from him, feeling as if you violated himsomehow.“Sir-Boss-I-” You stammered, unable to get asentence out. “I-just-finished-I’m-sorry-I-didn’t-mean-to-” wasall you could really manage.
“I didn’t have any clean clothes.”He whispered, almost sheepishly. He pulled the towel up a littlefurther along his torso, likely feeling exposed.
“Oh!” You slapped your handagainst your forehead, feeling foolish. “I think I have some fromthe last load. Let me check really fast!”
You scurried past him and down thestairs, quickly tearing through the laundry and searching foranything he could wear. You pulled aside a shirt and pair ofsweatpants of his, carefully gathering the rest of his clothing inyour alternating arm and sweeping it together as you tried to stand.You maneuvered it up the stairs, thankful you hadn’t dropped anythingbut unsure exactly what to do when you reached his door. It was stillpartially open, but just barging in felt wrong.
“Um. Boss? I have-”
“Get in here.” His annoyed voicewas back. He didn’t sound happy. You braced yourself.
You entered, kicking the door shutbehind you without prompting. You noticed he was sitting on the bedand the light had been turned off. Unsure of exactly what to do, youheld out the arm with his pants and shirt to him, turning your headaway out of respect. “Here, boss.” Without thinking, you startedwaving the clothing around like a toy for a pet. “I hope thesework. I have all your other clothes here too. I promise I’ll get therest done tomorrow.”
He yanked them from your grip, andshortly after, you heard his towel drop. Another involuntary blushbloomed on your cheeks. The sound of the fabric rustling as hedressed himself filled the room, but all you could hear was theheartbeat in your ears. It seemed like an eternity until he wasdressed.
After enough time had passed, youfinally brought yourself to speak. “Where would you like the restof your clothes?”
“Just throw them in the corner.”
You slowly turned around, notingthat he was fully dressed now and sitting on his bed, controller inhis hand and booting up a game. You shuffled over to a corner of theroom, dropping his clothes unceremoniously on the floor. He saidnothing as you did so, ignoring you in favor of his game. You smiledsoftly, watching his still wet hair cling to his face. He stillneeded to sleep, but you felt much better about his state now.
Before you turned to leave, youtried to memorize the scene. He was clean, well fed, and at least alittle more content, you hoped. His room wasn’t awful, and maybe he’dsleep a little better if it felt a little more like home. Yeah, youweren’t Kurogiri, but you could look after them as best you coulduntil he returned. You opened your mouth to say goodnight.
“Stay.”
Your brows furrowed. Were youhearing things?
“What?”
“Can’t you hear? I said stay.”He wasn’t looking at you, but you were absolutely sure you’d heardthat. You stayed, feeling petrified and looking at him as if he hadgone crazy. His eyes met yours again, then turned down briefly to thespot beside his on the bed before returning his attentions toward theTV.
You were frozen. Had he really askedyou to stay? Did you imagine that? You stayed in your position infront of the door. You didn’t dare move.
“Boss, did you want meto-”
“Don’t make me ask again.” His gaze didn’t turnfrom the TV this time. He was asking you to stay. You hadn’t imaginedthat.
You slowly walked toward his bed,pausing for a moment. Did he want you to sit next to him? Did he wantyou to sit on the floor? What was he asking? Why were youoverthinking this?
He turned and gave you an irateglare, large hand removing itself from the controller to point to thespot next to him. You immediately sat beside him this time, adjustingyourself accordingly as the bed groaned and creased your weight andbrought the two of you closer than you originally intended. Your skinfelt hot as it rubbed against him. You’d never been this close to himbefore. The wetness from his hair dripped onto your shoulder, and youcould smell him now, his natural scent mixed with the soaps from theshower.
His eyes were on you again, sendinga shiver down your spine as his cold hand passed you the controller,fingertips purposely brushing against yours.
“Do you play any video games?”                                                                                                                
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Text
Pokemon Teams for Fictional Characters pt. 2
Damian Wayne
(Also, I'm not including move sets because in my headcannon Pokemon do remember all their old moves. But humans choose to only use four)
For this AU I'm having the Wayne's own the Gotham City Gym, which specializes in Dark types. Most of the cannon events still happened. Just with a few tweaks here and there. (Dick's 20, Jason's 16, Cass is 15 Tim's 15 but younger than Cass and Damian's 13 because I love AUs where there closer in age).
Anyway here we go!
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First things first in the Pokemon Universe his alias wouldn't be Robin since they don't exist. Instead I think it would be Rookidee, since thats the closest Pokemon to a Robin.
His Partner Pokemon and ace would be a Gligar
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Name: Goliath
Gender: Male
Why: Gligar screams Goliath (his Batdragon) plus the coloring of his evolutions matches with Dami's Robin and Batman outfits
Story: He found Goliath while climbing a mountain for his training. At the time he was four and Goliath was a hatching. Damian ended up giving him some food, seeing that the hatching was hungry.
Grateful, the Gligar followed him hoping to return the favor.
When Damian's hand got broken on that same trip, Goliath was the one to help him finish his mission and get home safely.
Talia was impressed that Damian could tame a wild Pokemon without catching it, so she allowed him to keep him as his first Pokemon.
-----
Next he would have a Meowth
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Name: Alfred
Gender: Female
Why: This one has to do with its evolution. Persian are said to only be loyal to trainers it likes and that it takes a lot to get them to like you. Their also said to be prissy and uptight. This reminded me of Damian. How it took forever for him to trust his brothers and his own snobby attitude. Thus I think it fits.
Story: After coming to live with his father Damian didn't know how to act. He saw his "brothers" and father treating their Pokemon so different than how the League did. They all trained hard. But, there was something eles: warm praise for a job well done, asking for insight on a case (they had taught their bipedal pokemon sighn language) and comfort on a bad day. His father and brothers treated their Pokemon like... people
In the League Pokemon where the lowest soldier, lower than the slaves or concubines. They trained, ate then they had to and got in their ball.
He had been a little more lenient in his training with Goliath. When asked he said that he was still a baby and he had to take things slow in this stage or he might develop too much muscle mass and be unable to fly.
He had kept him out of his ball with the excuse of developing muscle mass at a proper pace.
He liked Goliath's company. The Gligar was a good companion. But on the same level as another person?
He had expressed these thoughts to Pennyworth, the only person in the house to give him a straight answer when he needed it.
Pennyworth had explained to him that some people love to hold power over others and that Pokemon where an easy target, since they couldn't communicate their emotions as clearly as people could.
"Think of Mistress Cain. She sometimes cannot communicate with words, but we know that she's intelligent. But some people see her as less than intelligent and treat her as such because of the power it gives them."
Two weeks later Damian would come across a group of teenagers attempting to shave a Meowth. The Pokemon was little more than skin and bone and crying out on pain. So, Damian broke their fingers and shaved part of their heads for good measure.
He kept the Meowth and named her after the man who taught him about the abuse of power.
---
Next, a Poochyena
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Name: Titus
Gender: Male
Why: These Pokemon and their evolution are ruthless with their pray, and only obey trainers with external skill.
Story: Raven gave Damian Titus as a gift. She said that she rescued him from an underground fighting ring (where the battles are to the death). He was still to young to battle so he didn't need much rehabilitation. The other Pokemon there though...
---
Now we have a Type Null
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Name: Heretic
Gender: ???
Why: This Pokemon was created in lab, and artificial designed for the purpose of fighting, just like Damian. True I could have given him Mewtwo, but that cat seems to fit Kon more.
Story: Damian's mother had spent years creating Type: Null with the purpose of being able to kill any target. As a last test she wanted to see which of her creations was suppirrior. So she sent the Type Null out to (try and) kill her son.
Damian, with the rest of his team, beat the Pokemon but couldn't kill it. He had long since vowed to wash the blood from his hands. Instead he offered his hand to it and asked it to join him.
---
Here we have the hardest to explain... Mimikyu
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Name: Habibi (I hope I spelled that right)
Gender: Female
Why: Damian is complex, he wants to be accepted and loved just like Mimikyu but dosent know how. Both try to mimic others in order to get that love, Damian his father and Mimikyu Pikachu. So I see this as Damian's spirit Pokemon in a way.
Story: He didn't know why it was so hard to fit in. Gods know he tried. But... little things confused him. Like how eveyone could understand each other without words or singhing. He had no problems with that on a battlefield, but in day to day life; it felt like he was on a separate server.
Like how Todd knew at breakfast with just a look that Drake was in a bad mood and how to help. Or how Grayson could audomadicly tell what kind of day at school the rest of them had withen a few minutes. Hell even Drake could tell what grunts ment what from father! Which ment good job, Which ment I'm glade your okay, or frustration either at them or at a case (Cass didn't surprise him, she had to learn how to communicate without words and watch body language and micro expressions).
School was no better; sometimes it was to load or bright othertimes, when everyone was doing a test, it felt to quiet. But, to much or to little, Damian was always aware of every movement, every sound. It was like the very instincts that saved his life every night where turned against him.
He turned to his nearly forgotten childhood habits to distract himself from everything around him. That only led to more whisper shouting and what even he could tell where displeased glares with a grunt of "fucking tapping" or a snap of "stop!" He knew it was disrupting but it was all be could do to drown out the noise or silence.
On one particularly bad day at school; apparently during one of their tests one of his classmates had had enough of Damian's tapping and decided to make a scene.
There was some yelling from the kid. A few cries in agreement. Before the teacher had gotten hem to settle down. He had demanded that Damian look him in the eye and when he finally did told him to stop with the tapping or else he would be sent to the office, Gym Leaders son or not.
He was the last to finish that test where he normally finished first. The silence had been to load!!
After that clusterfuck Damian finally headed home. He had texted Grayson saying that he was meeting a friend somewhere to work on a project and to not pick him up. In truth he didn't want his brother reading what kind of day he had had. He needed some time to himself.
That was how he found himself in a nearby park. It was filled with plenty of sounds that didn't suffocate him and the fall leaves where soothing to his eyes. Damian had Titus out of his ball as company, knowing that the pup loved park walks.
They had been walking for an hour when they came across a box set off just on the edge of the trail. "Free to Good Homes" was written on the side in black sharpie.
No sound was coming from inside, so he assumed that the had all been taken. Until Titus went closer sniffing at the seemingly empty box.
"Pooch Pooch"
"Hmmm... what is is it boy?" He asked as he walked closer to his Pokemon and the Box. Damian hoped he was wrong. It was cruel to leave a baby Pokemon all alone, especially since the weather was getting colder by the day.
Inside the box was in fact a lone Pokemon. At first glance it looked like a Pikachu. But something was off. It looked more like a doll than a living creature. If it wasn't for the small chirps it let out and slight way that it was shivering from the cold Damian would have written it off as a toy. No wonder it got left behind...
Damian reached down and picked up the mystery Pokemon as gently as he could.
"Come on beloved, lets go home."
He tucked the Pokemon in his jacket to warm it up before reaching for his phone to call Grayson for a ride home.
That night Damian locked himself away, even skipped patrol, and spent a sleepless night learning everything he could about his newest Pokemon.
---
That was inspired by this comic
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Finaly, for his last spot Eevee!!
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Name: Omni
Gender: Female
Why: I'm going to have all the Batfam members have an Eeveelution. This branch and the Batfam are both growing consistently. We all have our favorites but we love them all the same. So I think it fits.
Story: Everyone in the family had an Eevee or one of its evolutions. Damian's Father said that Eevee was the Wayne family symbol, it was potential, the ability to become whatever you wanted.
Though it surprised Damian that the Wayne symbol wasn't a Noibat or Noivern (Batman's ace) at first he eventually understood the logic in choosing such a Pokemon to represent the family name. That only made things harder for him being the only one not having one. Did they not truly see him as family?
On the one year anniversary of Damian arriving at The Mannor, his family through a small party. Pennyworth made his favorite foods, The Mannor was decorated in tacky streamers (Graysons' idea) and they watched some of Damian's favorite fims, their Pokemon curled up with them. His father had offered to take the day off from the gym. Until Todd suggested that Damian take on the challengers.
The Gotham gym was part of his heritage. Damian had been training for the day that he could finally help weed out the weak challengers just like his siblings sometimes did (think the battles you do before challenging a gym leader in the games).
On that day, if the challengers agreed to it, their final battle wasn't with Bruce Wayne the Dark Knight but instead his son. Most accepted thinking that it would be an easy win, that they had lucked out in not having to battle one of the stongest Gym Leaders in the League and could still get the Shadow Badge.
Those poor fools.
Damian was only allowed to use Alfred, Titus and Habibi since he used Goliath and Heretic primarily as Rookidee.
Damian fought seven trainers that day in 3v3 fights. Only two of them got the badge.
With the day overwith and the night rising, so did Gothams' protecters.
The night ended with exhausted body's and adrenaline crashes. Damian was ready to slip into a mini coma from the day he had but before he could head upstairs to The Mannor...
"Not so fast baby bat." Graysons' voice called out to him. "We got one more surprise for you."
Damian raised his eyebrow at that. What else could they do? His father came back from the locker rooms where he had been desuiting, it always took him the longest because of his "old man bones" as Todd said.
"Son," his father said "its Wayne tradition to get your first Pokemon when you turn ten years old. I missed that with you." He paused, eyes briefly shifting to the floor before they snapped back on Damian's face. "Luckily there's one tradition we didn't miss. When you've lived at The Mannor for a year or the adoption papers get finalized, I give my children this..."
He pulled a Poke'ball out of his poket and handed to Damian. "Go on son, let them out."
He did
Staring at him was his own Eevee.
---
AN: All of Damian's Pokemon (sans maybe Omni, I'm thinking of leaving her as an Eevee) will eventually evolve. Eventually.
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artxyra · 4 years
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So I had this idea and I was wondering if you would write it. So damian has lived with his dad for a couple of years, he is 15/16 and his brothers have been nagging him about going on a date like a normal teenager for months now, and then one day he just snaps and screams at them " don't you get it I'm already betrothed!" His brothers are confused but try to help " I'm sure we can find a loophole and get you out of it!" "No. If the betrothal is broken the league will kill her."enter marinette.
Note: Well this story sounded better in my head, but it took forever to type up. I hope you enjoy it. 
Damian couldn’t remember a time when his brothers didn’t make an attempt at his love life. Every other month (sometimes weeks) it was attempt after attempt.  He hated it. At first, he humored his brothers, but that humor quickly turned to the opposite emotion. Though Damian’s biggest secret thought that it was hilarious, and it was.
Damian remembers their first attempt, he was only fourteen, been in the Waynes’ custody for almost four years. He remembers being tugged into a bathroom and then forces to wear silly fancy clothes. His brothers should have been lucky that he didn’t have his weapons on him. To them, it was to gain the high school boy experience since Damian refused to do any of the sorts. Shouldn’t they just happy that he has one friend at the very least? Nope, they really wanted Damian to have a sense of normality.
“Baby bird, every teen goes on a date. Please just do this for us.” It was Dick that had started the persuasion. Damian had only tsk and fold his arms against his chest. He was already fed up with all the bullshit spewing from the older adopted Wayne’s mouth.
“Why should I even do this? I barely know the har—girl and—” Damian begins to scowl as Dick interrupts him by tossing a vest for him to wear. He mentally gags at the texture of the vest. Damian had scene better quality, not that he’ll tell where.
“We promise it will be worth it.”  It was Tim that adds to the conversation as Jason was to busy cleaning up his knife in broad daylight.
It wasn’t long after that was the date with a Gotham native. She wasn’t up to his standards; it was clear that she didn’t want to be with him for him. To this day he suspects that she only agreed because of the money. Damian tried everything to make the date super uncomfortable for the girl even going so far as to make up an explicitly detailed gory story. She left cursing his brothers, mainly Dick, out at the end of their date.
Damian had thought that would be the one and only time that would happen…he had forgotten the stubbornness that runs in the family. Failing was not an option as this continues for another four years.
“I’m sure it was a fun date.” A female’s voice says from the screen of his laptop, that was place on his dresser as he does shadow movements with his katana.
“It was tiresome, Angel, and quite frankly I’m getting sick of it.” Damian lowers the blade to his side and turns to face the screen. On the screen is a lovely female, around his age with long dark hair that drapes over her shoulders. She lets out a giggle.
“I’m sure they have the best intentions, besides it’s not like they know I exist, anyway.” She says rolling her eyes.
“Angel, I love you, but not even you can last an evening with the dates they have set up over and over again.” Damian sighs putting up the katana. He then picks up the laptop and goes to lie on his bed.
“Well, I’m sure it will all be fine. Besides, I have a surprise for you that is coming soon. Just hold out until then. Okay?” She says with a bright as a loud sound goes off in the background. Damian sighs and nods before ending the video call. He hates keeping her a secret, but it was the right thing to do.
It was a week later when his brothers came to him with another blind date proposal signally the tenth time that has happened in a span of a month. Everyone could see the growing frustration in the young Wayne heir. With the mention of dates, couples, restaurant, manhood, romance, it would set Damian off, although he was quick to calm down with a message from an Angel.
“Look Demon spawn, she is literally perfect for you.” It was an excuse, something for him to look forward to. No one is perfect.  
“C’mon baby bird, she could be the one.” Another excuse. There was only one girl that was the one and she’s several hundred thousand miles away.
“Go, it all fancy and shit, also the NDA.” Ugh, this was becoming numbing. Damian could only wish to slide his fine blade across all their necks. Also, why the hell would Jason even mention an NDA to him in the first place?
“What is this? Another blind date for the young master?” Thank god for Alfred.
“Alfred, we promise this will be the last time.” That’s a lie and he knows it.
Damian could feel the growing headache forming at the back of his mind. Dick’s moving too fast, Tim’s giving him all the details about his so-called date, and well Jason is just being Jason.
“Enough!” Damian finally breaks. “The reason why I don’t like going on these so-called blind dates is because I’m betrothed to someone.” The word betrothed rings through the heads of his family members.
“Wha~!” Simultaneously, the older Waynes’ minds break.
“Is there any way you can break it off? A loophole even? How are you betrothed?” Shouldn’t that had been asked backward? They could all see the steam oozing out of Damian’s ears.
Crossing his arms and turning his back to his brothers, Damian looks down. “No, not unless you want a death on your hands. The only way to end a betrothal is to kill the other, that has always been the League’s away of things.” The second the last word left his lips, Damian walks away; he needs to talk with his Angel.
Still in shock, everyone turns to one another.
“How could we have missed that?” Tim screeches before taking a sip from his mug despite the shaking in his hand.
Dick was unsure what to say, think, or do. It’s not every day you learn the brother you’ve been setting up is engaged. An engagement that they could not break.
“I’m more worried who the brat is engaged too?” Jason murmurs then proceed to clean out his gun. His brothers stare at him with wide eyes unsure what to say to the second oldest.
For the next week after that bomb drop, his brothers continue to pester him about his betrothal, they even managed to include Bruce in the conversation a couple of times. If it wasn’t for Alfred, Damian knows that the pestering would have left someone in the hospital.
On a rare sunny day in Gotham, Damian had taken Titus out for a walk. It was clear his mind and to get away for the time being. Finding a nice park bench to sit on, he pulls out a small sketchpad and begins to sketch. Titus runs around enjoying the outdoors.
“Is this spot taken?” The voice sounded so familiar. He grunts ever once looking up the person afraid that he had misheard the voice. “Oh, c’mon Dams, I thought you would be happy to see me.” It was then that he looks up. In shock, he pushes the sketchpad to the side and pulls the person in front of him into his arms.
“I miss you.” He murmurs into her dark hair. “But how?”
“I managed to win the Martha Wayne scholarship, and then your butler Alfred got into contact with me about visiting.” She says looking up to Damian, though she was mainly seeing his chin due to their height difference. “You’ve grown.” She then pouts.
Damian lets out a soft chuckle, hoping that no one outside of his Angel heard him. His Angel places her head against his chest and together they stayed like that until Titus decided that he was some attention.
“Awe, he’s so cute.” She says petting the Great Dane.
Damian was internally happy to have her by his side for the first time in years. She’s the one that is perfect for him and it’s not because she was molded to be, but because she knows him inside and out.
When Damian, Titus, and his Angel returned to the manor, it is Alfred that they see first.
“Welcome home, young master, and Miss Dupain-Cheng.” Alfred greets the teen.
“Alfred, please call me Marinette, my last name can be a mouth full,” Marinette says giving the butler a smile. Alfred nods and proceeds to guide them to the living room. “So, this is the Wayne manor, those photos you send me Dams does this no justice.”
Damian once again chuckles knowing she’ll be in a heavily inspired by the architecture which will then cause her to go dark until she finishes whatever project came out of the inspiration.
“Angel, how about I give you a proper tour of the manor?” He offers to which she gladly takes.
Marinette had been staying at the Wayne manor for a couple of days before Damian brothers make their grand entrance. Without catching sight of the girl, they make their way to the youngest Wayne hoping to get some answers about his betrothal.
“Um, you can ask me if you want,” Marinette says from behind the boys causing an outcry of emotions.
“What you’re real?” It was Tim rubbing his eyes that speaks first.
Marinette awkwardly nods, “And you need sleep. I have a special brew that can knock anyone out within seconds.” She says to Tim before turning to the others. “I’m Marinette, nice to meet you.”
Dick and Jason stare at the girl lost for words. Dick was internally gushing about her size and how cute she is compared to Damian while Jason struggles to comprehend the person in front of him.
Marinette closes the gap between her and Jason. She looks over the second oldest and smiles sadly. “You have so much darkness around you. The same that used to be around Dams. I could help you if you want.” She says taking the male’s hand.
Jason was lost for words. This person was willing to help him. He wasn’t sure how to feel but the light flowing off of this tiny person was overpowering.
“That’s it you’re my new favorite sibling. I will protect you with my life.” Dick cries out starting the competition of who’s Marinette’s favorite brother-in-law.
Not surprisingly enough, Marinette warmed her way into the Wayne family. She even bonded with Steph, Cass, and Barbara whenever the girls came over for a girls-only day. Damian quickly was reminded why he didn’t want his family to know about her, seeing that he barely has time with her as his siblings take all the time away. Though it has it’s benefits. He can now visit Marinette in France without needing to sneak away and she could come to visit the manor whenever she wants.
Damian knew the moment he said “I do”, she’ll be his forever in life and in death just like he’ll be hers forever.
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hearthhhh · 4 years
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Could I get a matchup? I'm older than your usual audience at 33 lol. Non-binary pansexual. I love Mystic Messenger, BNHA, and Seven Deadly Sins. I'm told I'm very sweet and understanding, but I can go full protect mode when needed. I like BJDs, sculpting, reading and video games. I'm a major goth babe even if I'm fluffy. I have green curly hair and green ish grey eyes. I've been through literal hell but keep smiling for my friends because they need me to be their light.
Okay ball jointed dolls look hella cool and I never really knew they existed until this ask. Also I originally paired you with Jirou, but I think you wanted a matchup more your age so I took that into consideration!  
I pair you with…
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🥢 This took me a bit... I looked through heroes and couldn’t find anyone, and the second I started considering villains, I thought Shigaraki was perfect.
🥢 I feel like Shigaraki wouldn’t pay attention to anyone that isn’t a villain. Heroes to him are scum, and he has no problem murdering the innocent. So you’d have to be a villain, and eventually would join the league.
🥢 I think you being apart of the Liberation would make this a whole lot more interesting, but I don’t want to risk spoiling anything for you. So I’ll stick with plain and simple, you’re apart of the League of Villains.
🥢 I can imagine your aesthetic mending really well with the League. They mostly dress in cold dark colours, and I feel like your goth babe vibes would fit nicely.
🥢 You’re so sweet I cant imagine you being a villain without a huge reason. You’re doing this to protect someone, maybe a best friend. The League is eventually made aware of this. Dabi’s the one to reveal it, moodily and a bit rudely.
🥢 You’re such a mom to the League. You dress their wounds, try and keep their sleeping schedules in check. I’d imagine you fawning the most over Toga and Twice. You’d try with Dabi, he’s a hot mess, but he pushes you away.
🥢 What’s really important to Shigaraki is loyalty. You create strong platonic bonds and protect your friends really well, so I feel like that’s why Shigaraki noticed first about you.
🥢 Shigaraki would begin to warm up to you after a fight. He sees you mercilessly defending a wounded league member, and Shigaraki’s able to properly see how seriously you take this whole villain thing.
🥢 After this, Shigaraki reluctantly lets you sore on him. He’ll glare, scoff, and sigh in irritation, but sometimes he’ll lean into your touch. Shigaraki would never voice it, but he loves getting his wounds treated by you. He also likes the caring attention you give him, especially due to the significant lack of attention he gets on a daily basis. Shigaraki’s so touch starved.
🥢 So you guys get closer that way, with your protectiveness looming over the league like a protective cloak. You love them and they look up to you. Shigaraki’s admiration for you grows steadily.
🥢 You two play lots of video games together! He hates losing and gets pretty sucky about it, so sometimes you’ll let him win. But you both have fun and exchange playful banter!
🥢 Considering your parental nature , I feel like Shigaraki’s sense of humor would bring you just a bit of concern, but be an entertaining dynamic. He has a dark and offesnive sense of humour, and I feel like you’re softer and a bit fluffy.
🥢 You know that one meme where person a says “someone will die” and person b happily adds on “from fun!”? Yeah that’d definitely be you two, to an extent. While you definitely fight when it comes down to it, especially in self defense, you’re softer in comparison to Shigaraki.
🥢 Getting into a relationship with Shigaraki would be a little difficult. You’d have to know him well to understand exactly what he’s getting at. But then again, also knowing Shigaraki, he’d have to have known you for a long time and understand you like the back of his hand (unintentional pun oop).
🥢 You two don’t ever really confirm your relationship at first. Shigaraki would ask you casually and kinda gruffly to go out, maybe to eat, and that’s all the confirmation you need that this is a bit more than platonic. He’s acting reserved and you can tell the question brought him significant embarassment. Shigaraki even asked you out in front of the rest of the League, who are watching through warry eyes because why the fuck is he acting so wierd? But you get the underlying message, somehow.
🥢 After you two start going out there isn’t really a change in your relationship. Shigaraki looks after you with concern and tries his best to match the parental concern you emit like second nature. He admires that aspect of you and tries to show his appreciation by doting over you to the best of his ability. Others say it comes off as nosey and a bit heavy, but the poor boy tries his best.
🥢 He’s really protective of you. Shigaraki wouldn’t so much as let people look at you too threateningly, let alone raise their voice, and stays glued to your side during missions.
🥢 Shigaraki likes chilling in your room. He’s afraid to touch any of your BJDs or sculptures in case he accidentally turns them to dust, but he likes admiring them from afar. It gives your room a cool vibe and he likes being in there, sometimes wordlessly walking in and finding a place to sit randomly.
I pair you with…
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🥢 I’d imagine you catch Merlin’s attention. You’re pretty well known in your village for your sculptures, and she catches wind of your talent. She comes asking for a sculpture for a spell.
🥢 You two get along pretty well. You’re really open with what you do, and Merlin admires your sculptures and praises you. I think she’s also have an interest in BJDs, maybe even have a small collection herself.
🥢 Merlin grows intrigued with you from your first meeting and visits you several times afterwards.
🥢 I feel like Merlin is the type to have a ton of contacts, so she keeps in touch originally just to have you as an acquaintance she can go to for favours. She’s alright with popping by a couple times to help you out with some stuff, and you’d have a magic tool that you use to keep in touch with her.
🥢 It takes a while for Merlin to start to get to know you well. During some of her random visits to your village, she catches you with your friends a couple times. Imagine her literally just appearing behind you, calling out from the weirdest places. Peeking out from a rooftop, sitting at a table that you could’ve sworn was empty when you looked at it a second ago, walking out of a dead end alley. Merlin’s full of surprises.
🥢 But on that note, Merlin likes seeing you with your friends! She thinks you look full of life, and you’re always smiling and just overall so giddy. She admires you from afar from a lot, or pops in and joins you all because she likes seeing you that happy and carefree.
🥢 Eventually you ought to notice Merlin’s interests. So you invite her over for tea, hot chocolate, coffee, whatever you prefer. Merlin isn’t picky I see her liking just about everything.
🥢 But you guys chill pretty regularly after you reach out to her. You’ve opened the door to friendship rather than acquaintanceship. Merlin usually shows up unannounced, but at least comes at reasonable hours, like in the afternoon.
🥢 I bet Merlin would bring small nicknacks from her adventures, and learns after bringing a book that you like reading! She takes that into an account, and now whenever she visits brings one book from whereever she traveled. Invest in bookshelves, buddy, cause Merlin’s going all out!
🥢 Merlin’s definitely a big reader too. I can totally imagine you two choosing one book from the collection Merlin steadily brings you, you two get together to talk about one book you’ve read after the month is over. It’s really cute and casual and overall great bonding time.
🥢 Merlin is definitely the type to sit down and talk thuroughly about a relationship. I’d imagine she literally sets a date for when she’d like to talk, even calling you before hand.
🥢 Merlin tries to be as friendly as possible, and the conversation isn’t as intimidating as you’d think! You two sit down and talk maturely about what you’d want in a relationship, what your boundaries would be, and what pace you’d like the relationship to go at.
🥢 Afterwards there is a noteiceable change in how you and Merlin act. She’s much more romantic and definitely surprises you with flowers a lot. She doesn’t leave a note with them or anything, she’d love leaving them in random parts of your home for you two find.
🥢 Merlin would totally be the Queen of romance. Dates with her are the absolute best and so romantic. She likes taking you to faraway places and spoiling you rotten.
🥢 Merlin loves that parental side of you, and as much as Merlin tries to spoil you, you ultimately win her over a lot.
🥢 Merlin loves when you make her hot drinks and force her to rest and eat. She’s the type to overwork herself to the point of fainting, although she rarely shows anyone. But you can see how tired she is, and how she stubbornly pushes through it.
🥢 Merlin is a sucker for cuddling! It gets her to stay still and rest, too. So really it’s a win win; Merlin’s able to settle down, and you two get to be mushy and romantic.
🥢 You guys aren’t the most mundane, but you guys are spontaneous! There’s always a surprise around the corner when you’re with Merlin! She’s a really exciting and romantic partner.
I pair you with…
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🥢 I bet you and Yoosung would get along almost immediately!
🥢 You two would obviously bond over video games at first. Yoosung’s very vocal about the interests you two share and is excited that you click so well! You guys would end up totally flooding the messenger, and the rest of RFA would have to usher you two into private text messages.
🥢 If you’ll let him, Yoosung can talk to you for hours. He likes people who are nice and just overall loves your vibe.
🥢 While Yoosung tries to brush of your parently doting, he sorta needs someone to remind him to eat and sleep and basically take care of himself. Yoosung would show his appreciation later, telling you how great he feels and thanking you immensely.
🥢 You guys start to build this really cute friendship. You two bond over the smallest things, and make up the RFA’s cheerleading duo. You guys are both so supportive of everyone else and everyone looks forwards to your commentary whenever they share anything with the group chat. Even if the comments are late, you and Yoosung never fail to share your words.
🥢 No one’s really surprised when you two start hanging out regularly. You guys just get along so well you basically drift to each other’s sides.
🥢 You two become a powerduo that everyone sort of loops in together. Your names are usually in the same sentence. You’re basically the same person.
🥢 Yoosung frequently talks about his lack of success in his love life throughout your friendship. Gradually, you begin to think of him in a different light, and I’d imagine you gain a crush on him slowly. Yoosung on the other hand falls for you hard, near the beginning of your friendship. Except he doesn’t voice anything because he likes being around you so much, he’s afraid to jeapordise your friendship.
🥢 You guys spend a lot of time being friends, and the rest of the RFA tease you two occassionally. To them, it’s pretty obvious you both caught feelings. Jumin even makes it a point to state how pointless he thinks the secrecy is. Why not just confess?
🥢 Yoosung eventually bites the bullet and tries to mention it as casually as he can. But knowing him, this comes out the opposite. He’s pretty awkward about it and stuttering over the phone. Yoosung basically confesses that he has feelings for you, but respects how you feel. He practically prepares for a rejection, he sounds so sad.
🥢 When you tell him you feel the same he’s ecstatic!
🥢 Prepare for daily rants on the groupchats from Yoosung about how much he likes you. Everyone’s relieved you two finally got together, and they praise the both of you.
🥢 Being in a relationship with Yoosung is the absolute sweetest. He’s so supportive of you and whatever you do, and he’s forever showering you with praise. He’s awestruck at the simplest things and loves you so much.
🥢 You’d definitely have to be aware of how he’s handling himself. While Yoosung is pretty vocal about how he’s feeling, that makes taking care of him easier.
🥢 Yoosung is really vocal about just about everything. This really builds the foundation for trust, and you guys don’t really have any barriers when it comes to sharing things. Overall, you guys have a really healthy relationship and you’re just two really sweet babes.
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lokirupaul · 3 years
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Lokiru Paul : Jason Sudeikis Is Having One Hell of a Year
Jason Sudeikis Is Having One Hell of a Year
He got famous playing a certain kind of funny guy on SNL, but when Jason Sudeikis invented Ted Lasso, the sensitive soccer coach with the earnest mustache, the actor found a different gear—and a surprise hit. Now, ahead of the show’s second season, Sudeikis discusses his wild ride of a year and how he’s learning to pay closer attention to what the universe is telling him.
BY ZACH BARON, GQ
PHOTOGRAPHY BY HILL & AUBREY
July 13, 2021
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On the day that he wrapped shooting on the second season of Ted Lasso, Jason Sudeikis sat in his trailer in West London and drank a beer and exhaled a little, and then he went to the pitch they film on for the show—Nelson Road Stadium, the characters call it—for one last game of football with his cast and crew. There's this thing called the crossbar challenge, which figures briefly in a midseason Ted Lasso episode: You kick a ball and try to hit not the goal but the crossbar above the goal, which is only four or five inches from top to bottom. And so Sudeikis arrived and, because he can't help himself, started trying to hit the crossbar.
Jason Sudeikis covers the August 2021 issue of GQ. To get a copy, subscribe to GQ.
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Confidence is a funny thing. Sudeikis has been riffing on it, in one way or another, for his whole professional life—particularly the comedy of unearned confidence, which he is well suited, physically, to convey. Sudeikis is acutely aware of “the vessel that my soul is currently, you know, occupying”—six feet one, good hair, strong jaw. He's a former college point guard. On Saturday Night Live, where most of us saw him for the first time, he had a specialty in playing jocular blowhards and loud, self-impressed white men, a specialty he took to Hollywood, in films like Horrible Bosses and Sleeping With Other People. He became so adept at playing those types of characters, Sudeikis said, that at some point he realized he'd have to make an effort to do something different. “It's up to me to not just play an a-hole in every movie,” he said. In conversation he is digressive, occasionally melancholy, prone to long anecdotes and sometimes even actual parables—closer, in other words, to Ted Lasso, the gentle, philosophical football coach he co-created, than any of the preening jerks he used to be known for. But he can definitely kick a soccer ball pretty good.
So he's up there trying to hit the crossbar, and he's got a crowd of actors and crew members gathering around him now, betting on whether he can hit it. And he's getting the ball in the air, mostly, but not quite on the four-to-five-inch strip of metal he needs to hit, and the stakes are escalating (“I bet he can get it in three.” “I bet he can get it in five”), and after he misses the first five tries, Toheeb Jimoh, the actor who plays Sam Obisanya on the show, says, “I think he can get it in 10.” Then Sudeikis proceeds to miss the next four attempts. But, he told me later, “there was no part of me that was like, ‘I'm not gonna hit one of these. I'm not not gonna hit one of these.’ ”
Like I said, confidence is a funny thing. You have to somehow believe that the worst outcome simply won't happen. Sometimes you have to do that while knowing for a fact that the worst outcome is happening, all the time. “It's a very interesting space to live in, where you're living in the questions and the universe is slipping you answers,” Sudeikis said. “And are you—are any of us—open enough, able enough, curious enough to hear them when they arrive?” This sounds oblique, I guess, but I can attest, after spending some time talking to Sudeikis, that everything is a little oblique for him right now. He had the same pandemic year we all had, and in the middle of that, he had Ted Lasso turn into a massive, unexpected hit, and in the middle of that, his split from his partner and the mother of his two children, Olivia Wilde, became public in a way that from a great distance seemed not entirely dissimilar to something that happens to the character he plays on the show that everyone was suddenly watching. “Personal stuff, professional stuff, I mean, it's all…that Venn diagram for me is very”—here he held up two hands to form one circle—“you know?”
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Anyway, Sudeikis hit the crossbar on the 10th try. “It's a tremendous sound,” he said of that moment when the ball connects with the frame of the goal. He'd done what he knew he would do. Everyone on the pitch was cheering like they'd won something. It was, for lack of a better way of describing it, a very Ted Lasso moment—a small victory, a crooked poster in a locker room that says Believe. “There's a great Michael J. Fox quote,” Sudeikis told me later, trying to explain the particular brand of wary optimism that he carries around with him, and that he ended up making a show about: “ ‘Don't assume the worst thing's going to happen, because on the off chance it does, you'll have lived through it twice.’ So…why not do the inverse?”
Watch Now:
10 Things Jason Sudeikis Can’t Live Without
Ted Lasso. Man—what an unlikely story. The character was initially dreamed up to serve a very different purpose. Sudeikis first played him in 2013, in a promo for NBC, which had recently acquired the television rights to the Premier League and was trying to inspire American interest in English football. The promo was the length and shape of an SNL sketch and featured a straightforward conceit: A hayseed football (our football) coach is hired as the football (their football) coach of a beloved English club, to teach a game he neither knows nor understands in a place he neither knows nor understands. The joke was simple and boiled down to the central fact that Ted Lasso was an amiable buffoon in short shorts.
But Sudeikis tries to listen to the universe, even in unlikely circumstances, and for whatever reason the character stuck around in his head. So, in time, Sudeikis developed and pitched a series with the same setup—Ted, in England, far from his family, a stranger in a strange land learning a strange game—that Apple eventually bought. But when we next saw Ted Lasso, he had changed. He wasn't loud or obnoxious anymore; he was simply…human. He was a man in the midst of a divorce who missed his son in America. The new version of Ted Lasso was still funny, but now in an earned kind of way, where the jokes he told and the jokes made at his expense spoke to the quality of the man. He had become an encourager, someone who thrills to the talents and dreams of others. He was still ignorant at times, but now he was curious too.
In fact, this is close to something Ted says, by way of Walt Whitman, in one of the first season's most memorable episodes: Be curious, not judgmental. I will confess I get a little emotional every time I watch the scene in which he says this, which uses a game of darts in a pub as an excuse to both stage a philosophical discussion about how to treat other people and to re-create the climactic moment of every sports movie you've ever seen. It's a somewhat strange experience, being moved to tears by a guy with a bushy cartoon mustache and an arsenal of capital-J jokes (“You beating yourself up is like Woody Allen playing the clarinet: I don't want to hear it”), talking about humanity and how we all might get better at it. But that's kind of what the experience of watching the show is. It's about something that almost nothing is about, which is: decency.
In the pilot episode, someone asks Ted if he believes in ghosts, and he says he does, “But more importantly, I think they need to believe in themselves.” That folksy, relentless positivity defines the character and is perhaps one of the reasons Ted Lasso resonated with so many people over the past year. It was late summer, it was fall, it was in the teeth of widespread quarantine and stay-at-home orders. People were inside watching stuff. Here was a guy who confronted hardship, who suffered heartbreak, who couldn't go home. And who, somehow, found his way through all that. Someone not unlike Sudeikis himself.
“If you have the opportunity to hit a rock bottom, however you define that, you can become 412 bones or you can land like an Avenger. I personally have chosen to land like an Avenger.”
Sudeikis likes to say, in homage to his background in competitive sports, that there's no defense in the arts. “The only things you're competing against, I believe, are apathy, cynicism, and ego,” he said. This is a philosophy of Sudeikis's that predates Ted Lasso by many years, though you wouldn't necessarily have known it until recently. He grew up outside Kansas City, in Overland Park, Kansas, a “full jock with thespian tendencies,” as he once described himself. His uncle is George Wendt, who played Norm on Cheers. “He made finding a career in the arts, in acting or whatever, seem plausible,” Sudeikis said. But mostly he was drawn to the camaraderie of athletics. When Sudeikis first tried his hand at professional improv, in the mid-'90s, it was through something called ComedySportz, a national chain with a fake competition angle, teams in sports uniforms, and a referee. Brendan Hunt, who co-created and costars on Ted Lasso, initially met Sudeikis in Chicago, he told me. Sudeikis had traveled the eight hours up from Kansas City to do a show: “Suddenly there's a beat-up Volvo station wagon, like an '83, and this is '97, I think, and these two guys get out, all bleary-eyed, and wearily change into their baseball pants. And one of them was Jason.”
Sudeikis had gone to community college on a basketball scholarship but failed to keep up his grades, and he eventually left school to pursue comedy. For a while, he said, his sincere aspiration was to become a member of the Blue Man Group. He got close. “They flew me out to New York,” he said. “That was August of 2001, right before 9/11. And I got to see myself bald and blue.” (In the end, he wasn't a good enough drummer.) By that time, he was living in Las Vegas with his then partner, Kay Cannon, doing sketch comedy at the newly formed Second City chapter there. “Ego,” Sudeikis told me about this time, “that gets beaten out of you, doing eight shows a week.”
Eventually he was invited to audition for Saturday Night Live. “I didn't want to work on SNL,” Sudeikis said—he'd convinced himself that there were purer and less corporate paths to take. “At a certain point in your comedy journey, you have to look at it as like McDonald's,” he said. “You have to be like: ‘No. Never.’ ” Then he got the call. “It was like having a crush on the prettiest girl at school and being like, ‘She seems like a jerk.’ And it's like, ‘Oh, really? 'Cause she said she liked you.’ ‘She what?!’ ”
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Sudeikis auditioned, of course, and was hired, in 2003—but as a writer: “It was like winning a gold medal in the thing you've never even trained for. You just happen to be good at the triple jump, and you really love the long jump.” He wrote for a couple of seasons, but he was unhappy—Cannon was still in Las Vegas, and Sudeikis missed performing. Finally he went to Lorne Michaels, to ask for a job as a member of the cast. “He had the best line. I go, ‘I had to give up two things I love the most to take this writing job: performing and living with my wife.’ And on a dime, he just goes, ‘Well, if you had to choose one…’ ”
At Saturday Night Live, Sudeikis often channeled the same level of cheerful optimism and forthright morality that he'd later bring to Ted Lasso, but audiences didn't necessarily notice it at the time. One of Sudeikis's most famous and beloved early sketches on SNL as a performer is 2005's “Two A-holes Buying a Christmas Tree”—Kristen Wiig and Sudeikis, chewing gum, oblivious to their surroundings, terrorizing Jack Black at a Christmas tree stand. It's a joke about a very familiar form of contemporary rudeness; it's also a riff on a certain kind of man who speaks for the woman next to him, whether she wants him to or not. And people laughed and moved on to the next bit, but to this day Sudeikis can tell you about all the ideas that were running through his head when he created the sketch with Wiig. “That scene was all about my belief that we were losing touch with manners,” he told me. “And yet it's also about love, because he loves her, and that's why he interprets everything for her—she never talks directly to the person.” But, he said, sighing, “once you start explaining a joke or something like that, it ceases to be funny.”
Sudeikis brought this type of attention and care to the movies he began acting in too, like the workplace comedy Horrible Bosses, even if it was lost on most of those who watched them. “That movie, Horrible Bosses, is riddled with optimism,” he said. “The rhythms of that movie, of what Jason Bateman and Charlie Day and I are doing, are deeply rooted in Ted Lasso too. But people don't want those answers. They want to hear the three of us cut up and joke around.”
So that's what Sudeikis did. He got used to a certain gap between his intention and how it was understood. During his time at SNL, his marriage fell apart. “You're going through something emotionally and personally, or even professionally if that's affecting you personally, and then you're dressed up like George Bush and you're live on television for eight minutes. You feel like a crazy person. You feel absolutely crazy. You're looking at yourself in the mirror and you're just like, ‘Who am I? What is this? Holy hell.’ ”
For a time he became a tabloid fixture. He remembers “navigating my first sort of public relationship, with January Jones, which was like learning by fire. What is the term? Trial by fire.” In a 2010 GQ article, when confronted with a question about rumors that he was dating Jennifer Aniston, he sarcastically responded that she should be so lucky. “And obviously I'm fucking joking, you know?” Sudeikis said. But back then, he treated interviews like improv—Yes, and—and that could create misunderstandings. Asked once on a podcast about what people tended to get wrong about him, Sudeikis responded, “That I was in a fraternity—or maybe that I would be.”
To that point, Hunt told me, “He's much less the assumed fraternity guy than you'd think.” But Hunt said he also understood where the impression came from: “I don't know where he learned it necessarily, whether it was from his parents, or his basketball coaches, but he exudes an easygoing confidence. And it's easy to hang with a guy like that. But some people are also like, ‘Fuck that guy,’ intrinsically.”
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When he won the Golden Globe, Sudeikis gave a dazed speech while wearing a hoodie, sparking glee and speculation about his mental and physical states. “I was neither high nor heartbroken,” he said.
Shortly after Sudeikis and Wilde got together, near the end of his SNL run (he left the show in 2013), Wilde made a joke during a monologue that she read at a cabaret club about the two of them having sex “like Kenyan marathon runners,” and Sudeikis spent years answering questions about the joke. “The frustrating thing about that is that Olivia said that in a performance setting,” Sudeikis said. “It wasn't like she just was saying it glibly in an interview.” He described the experience of growing into celebrity, and confronting other people's misperceptions of him, as a disorienting one. “You're just being tossed into the situation and then trying to figure it out,” he said. The picture of him that was circulating wasn't exactly the one that he had of himself. But he didn't fight it, either. “You come to be thoughtful about it,” he said. “But also try to stay open to it. I don't ever want to be cynical.”
So he tried to stay open. But it wasn't until Ted Lasso that people really saw the side of him that comported with the way he saw himself. Last year, as it became clear that the show was a hit, he found himself answering, over and over, some version of the same question. The question would vary in its specifics, but the gist of it was always: How much do you and this character actually have in common? Sudeikis told me that over time, in response to people wondering about his exact relationship to Ted, he developed a few different evasive explanations. Ted, Sudeikis would say, was a little like Jason Sudeikis, but after two pints on an empty stomach. He was Sudeikis hanging on the side of a buddy's boat. He was Sudeikis, but on mushrooms. Sometimes, in more honest moments, he would say that Ted is the best version of himself. This, after all, is how art works: If it was just you, then it wouldn't really need to be art in the first place. And so Sudeikis learned to separate himself from Ted, to fudge the distance between art and artist.
Except, he said, after a while, every time he tried to wave off Ted, fellow castmates or old friends of his would correct him to say: “No.” They'd say: “No, that is you. That is you. That's not the best version of you.” It's not you on mushrooms, it's not you hanging off a boat, it's just…you. One of Sudeikis's friends, Marcus Mumford, who composed the music for the show, told me, “He is quite like Ted in lots of ways. He has a sort of burning optimism, but also a vulnerability, about him that I really admire.”
Hearing people say this, over and over again, Sudeikis said, “brought me to a very emotional space where, you know, a healthy dose of self-love was allowed to expand through my being and made me…” He trailed off for a moment. “When they're like, ‘No, that is you. That is you. That's not the best version of you.’ That's a very lovely thing to hear. I wish it on everybody who gets the opportunity to be or do anything in life and have someone have the chance to say, ‘Hey, that's you. That's you.’ ”
And if he's being honest, that's the way he feels about it too. “It's the closest thing I have to a tattoo,” Sudeikis said about Ted Lasso. “It's the most personal thing I've ever made.”
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On the first Saturday in June, Sudeikis flew with his children, Otis and Daisy, from London to New York, where he owns a house in Brooklyn. “Brooklyn is home,” he told me simply. While filming the first season of Ted Lasso, he'd had the house renovated—there was black mold to get rid of and other changes to make. “So Olivia and the kids had to rent a lovely apartment in Brooklyn Heights. But it's not home. It's someone else's home.” Saturday was the first time Sudeikis and his children had set foot in their own place in two years. “The kids darted in,” he said. “Last time Daisy was in that house, she slept in a crib. So now she has a new big bed. It was hilarious. I walked up there after like 15 minutes and both rooms were a mess.”
He and Wilde, he said, no longer share the house. They split up, according to Sudeikis, “in November 2020.” The end of their relationship was chronicled in a painful, public way in the tabloids after photos of Wilde holding hands with Harry Styles surfaced in January, setting off a flurry of conflicting timelines and explanations. Sudeikis said that even he didn't have total clarity about the end of the relationship just yet. “I'll have a better understanding of why in a year,” he said, “and an even better one in two, and an even greater one in five, and it'll go from being, you know, a book of my life to becoming a chapter to a paragraph to a line to a word to a doodle.” Right now he was just trying to figure out what he was supposed to take away, about himself, from what had happened. “That's an experience that you either learn from or make excuses about,” he said. “You take some responsibility for it, hold yourself accountable for what you do, but then also endeavor to learn something beyond the obvious from it.”
In the first season of Ted Lasso, the comic premise of the show is revealed to be a tragic one: Ted is in England, far from home, doing something he doesn't know how to do and probably shouldn't be doing at all, in order to give his failing marriage space to survive. When the character's wife and son visit, in the show's fifth episode, his wife tells him, “Every day I wake up hoping that I'll feel the way I felt in the beginning. But maybe that's just what marriage is, right?” It's a wrenching moment that also gives new meaning to the show: Ted Lasso's heart is big, but it can also be broken as violently and as easily as anyone else's. By the end of the season, Lasso is divorced and renegotiating his relationships with his now ex-wife and son.
The first season of Ted Lasso had already been written—had already aired—by the time Sudeikis found himself living some aspects of it in real life. “And yet one has nothing to do with the other,” Sudeikis told me. “That's the crazy thing. Everything that happened in season one was based on everything that happened prior to season one. Like, a lot of it three years prior. You know what I mean? The story's bigger than that, I hope. And anything I've gone through, other people have gone through. That's one of the nice things, right? So it's humbling in that way.”
And in fact, the seeds of Ted's heartbreak, Sudeikis said, went all the way back to a dinner he had with Wilde around 2015, during which she first encouraged him to explore whether Ted Lasso could be more than just a bit on NBC. “It was there, the night at dinner, when Olivia was like, ‘You should do it as a show,’ ” he said. They got to talking about it. Sudeikis asked why Ted Lasso would move in the first place, to coach a team he had no real reason to coach: “ ‘Okay, but why would he take this job? Why would a guy at this age take this job to leave? Maybe he's having marital strife. Maybe things aren't good back home, so he needs space.’ And I just riffed it at dinner in 2015 or whenever, late 2014. But it had to be that way. That's what the show is about.”
I said to Sudeikis that I thought that while it was common for artists to put a lot of their lives into their art, it was less common that they end up living aspects of the art in their lives, after the fact.
“I wonder if that's true,” he replied. “I mean, isn't that just a little bit of what Oprah was telling us for years and years? You know, manifestation? Power of thought? That's The Secret in reverse, you know?”
But…if we're being honest, is that a thing you wanted to manifest?
“No. No. But, again, it isn't that. It wasn't that. And again, that's just me knowing the details of it. Like, that's just me knowing where it comes from, where any of it comes from.”
But he acknowledged it had been a hard year. Not necessarily a bad one, but a hard one. “I think it was really neat,” he said. “I think if you have the opportunity to hit a rock bottom, however you define that, you can become 412 bones or you can land like an Avenger. I personally have chosen to land like an Avenger.”
Is that easier said than done? To land like an Avenger?
“I don't know. It's just how I landed. It doesn't mean when you blast back up you're not going to run into a bunch of shit and have to, you know, fight things to get back to the heights that you were at, but I'd take that over 412 bones anytime.”
He paused, then continued: “But there is power in creating 412 bones! Because we all know that a bone, up to a certain age, when it heals, it heals stronger. So, I mean, it's not to knock anybody that doesn't land like an Avenger. Because there's strength in that too.”
Shirt, $228, by Todd Snyder. Shorts, $480, by Bode. Watch, $6,300, by Cartier.
In February, Sudeikis attended the Golden Globes, which were being held remotely on Zoom. He had his misgivings about the event—the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which votes on the awards, had been in the news for a series of unflattering revelations about its organization, and also the show was taking place in the middle of the night in London. Tom Ford had sent over a suit for Sudeikis to wear, and he tried it on, in his flat in Notting Hill, but he felt ridiculous, there in the middle of the night, and so changed out of it and into a tie-dyed hoodie made by his sister's clothing company. “I wore that hoodie because I didn't wanna fucking wear the fucking top half of a Tom Ford suit,” he said. “I love Tom Ford suits. But it felt weird as shit.”
“With kids, knowing is half the battle. But adulthood is doing something about it. ‘I'm bad with names.’ ‘I'm always late.’… All right, so win the fucking battle by doing something about it!”
The rest of this story you know: Sudeikis ended up winning best actor for Ted Lasso and gave a dazed acceptance speech while wearing the hoodie, and this in turn sparked glee and speculation about his mental and physical states. For the record, “I was neither high nor heartbroken,” Sudeikis said. It was just late at night and he didn't want to wear a suit. “So yeah, off it came and it was like, ‘This is how I feel. I believe in moving forward.’ ”
Lately, Sudeikis told me, he had been trying to pay more attention to how he actually felt about any given thing, to all the various signs and omens that present themselves to a person during the course of living their life. Even in his past, he said, there were moments that were obvious in retrospect, in terms of what the universe was trying to tell him, messages he missed entirely at the time. In Vegas, where he was living with Cannon before Saturday Night Live, he developed alopecia and his hair stopped growing, and he didn't know why. And then, at the end of his 30s, “during the nine months before Otis was born and the nine months after he was born,” Sudeikis developed extremely painful sciatica. “I went and got an MRI and was like, ‘Oh, yeah, the jelly doughnut in my L4, L5, is squirting out and touching a nerve.’ ” But why? When he had his second child, this didn't happen at all. So: why?
“I mean, since last November,” Sudeikis said, “the joke that feels more like a parable to me is a guy is sitting at home watching TV and the news breaks in to say flash flood warning. About an hour later he goes outside on his porch and he sees that the whole street is flooded.” You've probably heard the rest of this joke before: While the guy is praying to God for some kind of help, a truck, a boat, and a chopper come by, offering aid, which the guy turns down. God'll provide, he says. Sudeikis finished the joke: “Two hours after that, he's in heaven. He's dead. He says, ‘God, what's up, man? You didn't help me.’ God goes, ‘What do you mean, man? I sent you a pickup truck, I sent you a speedboat, I sent you a helicopter.’ ” So, Sudeikis said, “you can't tell me that hair falling out of my head wasn't—I don't know if it was the speedboat or the pickup truck or the helicopter, but yeah, man, it all comes home to roost. What you resist persists.”
He went on. “That's why I had sciatica,” he said. “That's the speedboat. That was like: ‘Hey, you gotta take a look at your stuff.’ ”
And this is another way that Sudeikis and Ted Lasso are alike, because both are always learning and relearning this lesson, which is: Be curious. Both are philosophical men whose philosophies basically boil down to trying to live as decent a life as is possible. Not just for the sake of it but because to be curious—to find out something new about yourself or someone else—is to be empowered. “I don't know if you remember G.I. Joe growing up,” Sudeikis said, “but they would always end it with a little saying: ‘Oh, now I know.’ ‘Don't put a fork in the outlet.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because you could get hurt.’ ‘Oh, now I know.’ And then somebody would say, ‘And knowing is half the battle.’ And I agree with that—with kids, knowing is half the battle. But adulthood is doing something about it. That's the other half. ‘I'm bad with names.’ ‘I'm always late.’ Oh! Well, knowing is half the battle. All right, so win the fucking battle by doing something about it! Get better at names. Show up five minutes early, make it a point to do it. So, I'm still learning these things. But hopefully I've got plenty of time to do something about it.”
Sudeikis smiled a little wearily: “I mean, at the end of that joke, the guy still got to go to heaven, you know?”
Zach Baron is GQ's senior staff writer.
A version of this story originally appeared in the August 2021 issue with the title "Jason Sudeikis Paints His Masterpiece."
PRODUCTION CREDITS:
Photographs by Hill & Aubrey
Styled by Michael Darlington
Grooming by Nicky Austin
Tailoring by Nafisa Tosh
Set design by Hella Keck
Produced by Ragi Dholakia Productions
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coe-lilium · 7 years
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Would you be willing to rank the major Apocrypha characters (Masters and Servants) from best to worst? I'm curious as to how you would rank them
Gladly :D
Be warned that this will be 90% tastes and maybe 10% narrative/objective analysis. And sorry for taking so long to answer. Also, it got long ^^’
A concise, condensed ver before the cut
- 10+/10, tie between Mordred, Jeanne e Shirou
-  9.5/10: Semirams and Shishigou Kairi
- 8-7.5/10: Vlad, Achilles, Shakespeare, Caules 
- 7: Chiron, Fran, Atalanta, Karna, Fiore, Darnic
- 6, I start not caring: Gordes
- “wasted” and “still bitter after 5 years”, no numbers: Avicebron and Siegfried
- 5-4, it’s complicated: Astolfo
- 4: Sieg (and it might go down to 0, I’m serious)
- 3 to 0: Jack, Reika, Celenike 
Btw, I kept them vague, but spoilers/hints up to vol4 and 5
Rank “will fight the world for them, forever in Higashide’s debt, I wish one day for Nasu to write them himself because I trust the mushroom man to make me love them even more than I already do, 10+/10″: 
Mordred: SHE. Higashide’s best accomplishment in winning me over no matter other flaws. Tie with Gilgamesh as my favorite Nasuverse character ever.
There isn’t a single thing I don’t love about her (bar that atrocious “dress” under the armor, delete that). The armored and casual character design. The backstory as abused and exploited child who tries to break free of her mother influence and plots but ends up following them anyway because of her other parent rejection and, ultimately, how Morgan life lasting damage could not be undone without support. Her snarky, bratty, selfish and ferocious personality she show to the outside world and the hidden insecurities, the good heart and the ability to reflect on her flaws. Her loyalty and her desperate need for parental love and recognition as her own person. Her fighting style that is a delight to read or watch, truly a beast. Her chemistry and relationship with Shishigou, all of it. How it start in that cemetery, how develops over the course of the story, how she manage to open, connect and trust him and ultimately find a real father in him.
If I have to find a “wish this was expanded on” is her written in but not recognised by canon issues with gender/presentation which wasn’t a real issue for me until I read metas here and I’m now quite confused especially on how to write her (him?) in the future, when I’ll hopefully get at it.
The only reason I don’t completely wish for her and her Master to have been made MCs is the love I have for the following two guys and this couple steal too much of a spotlight from other characters.
Still, while theirs is a story more focused on personal growth and healing then deciding the fate of a great number of people or the world, in the end Mordred and Kairi saved each other so it could’ve still meshed neatly with the overall salvation theme. Sadly it was not meant to be but I’m more than content for what we got.
Jeanne: She. Who gets only second place and no caps lock because, a surprisingly good portrayal none withstanding, she could’ve been even better had Higashide done a bit more research (in his favour, I don’t know what kind of books on her are translated in Japanese and if the processes transcripts are among them).
For example I’ll forever maintain that, while the whole “romance” thing has a historical base (funny that, uh?), it required a way better realisation and as it’s written in Apocrypha does her character a disservice. Laeticia too, who was a potentially interesting “device” and could’ve been our outsider perspective, got derailed into more nonsense romance and aww poor Sieg and oh man, who-gives-a-damn: not me.
Also, not enough of a sarcastic spitfire or military prowess (“just waved the flag”, now that’s a funny way to write “half of Charles’ court was impressed by how good she was with every damn weapon”) for my tastes but I guess historical Jeanne is just that irreplaceable or TM chose to emphasise her piety and “sainthood” over other traits in order to avoid an Arturia 2.0.
Not a single mention to her mentors either, in 5 volumes (which is bad, extremely bad, Higashide why) and too much of Gilles de Rais nonsense but unfortunately Type Moon is committed to roll with it. Dunois, La Hire and d’Alencon never, poor me. 
That said, Fate!Jeanne is really a good interpretation, firmly rooted in history and I love, love her. 
Her faith and lack of hate are spot-on and are treated with respect instead of mocked. 
She’s allowed to have a no-nonsense and even ruthless soldier like attitude, a protective streak (which always remind me of that promise she made to a young noblewoman to keep her husband safe and bring him back to her, or how she took care of her young squire. Both survived her) and loth of empathy at the same time. 
She’s down to earth but can also be immature and have flaws and be tempted. 
This post is already long as it is, so here’s some more reasons I love Apo Jeanne: 
Novel Jeanne musing 1       
Jeanne meta from the manga 1
Jeanne meta from the manga 2
My eternal greatest disappointment will forever be the lack of a satisfying confrontation with Shirou. You write someone able to shake Jeanne d’Arc convictions, make her doubt her conduct and moral standing when the threat of torture and the Rouen process weren’t able do so... and you don’t follow on it? Unforgivable.   
Shirou: This guy. This absolute mess of a human being. I need more and no, GO, “evil alternative self” isn’t what I mean (but yeah, gimme him too). After discovering him in Apocrypha I started digging my university library to hunt down his IRL self story and there is no higher accomplishment for a Fateverse character for me.                                                                                    Fascinating person and fascinating take by TM, double so since I discovered dude’s still being vilified in contemporary Jp stories/entertainment and man do that enrage me.
It’s like someone mixed up a character I love (Kirei), one I loathe (Kiritsugu), shaked it and the result it’s the best possible one I could ask for. 
I like the character design (both), the historical and post 3HGW backstory and how it shaped him into a Jeanne opposite (for excellent reasons), the most “Kotomine” traits like the snark and trollish attitude and how they cover all the suffering, despair and hate boiling under the constant smirk. How Higashide avoided the “turned evil” interpretation that’s prevalent in jp entertainment and made him a good person and a hero, if a misguided one and also the trapping of a “void/hollow inside” personality and instead gave him those fragments where you see he’s still a 17yo kid. 
He’s not just interesting, he’s funny to read, even with all the angst going on.  
The interactions with Shakespeare are great and... his relationship with Semiramis. Man, that’s excellent, excellent stuff. Can’t gush enough about how much I love them together
My only great complaint -for now, until I see a certain late discovery with my own eyes- is that all the narrative build up and comparisons between him and Jeanne (done in-universe and acknowledged within the text mind you, I’m not headcanoning here) went wasted. 
How can you write two characters who mirror each other so perfectly, put them as “head” of their factions, in the same role both... and not deliver with a confrontation? The only thing that tried to do so was -ironically- the anime in ep #13, as their confrontation in the novels wasn’t as personal and as good as the anime.      
Rank “good, excellent civilisation, never get tired of them”, 9.5/10
Shishigou: best father ever, 100% should legally adopt Mordred. He was/is extremely enjoyable to read about, snarky, smart, his fucked-up magus backstory had long lasting effects but managed not to destroy him, on the outside your tough, broody mercenary making hard decision but actually a good, moral person with a caring nature and, again, a great father. 
As already said, his and Mordred narrative is less tied to the different views of salvation theme and more to the “people making their wishes come true” and they’re bit of outliers for the whole duration of the story but I wouldn’t change a thing (except one T_T). 
His relationship with Mordred is one of the absolute highlights of Apocrypha for me, in every medium.
Semiramis: shallow reason first: charming, scheming, hot asshole-ish royalty in league with a Kotomine troll, what more could’ve I asked for?                        That she was an interesting char in her own right, which is what I got.          
More in-depth, she’s another character I never have enough of. Begrudging sole responsible adult of red team, I couldn’t help but grin every time she had to deal with AKA team or single members, not to speak of her scenes with Shakespeare, which are both amusing and very good for characterisation. 
She may not have that much of screen time compared to other faves but earned her place by making what she had memorable. 
Her backstory is simple: abandoned child learns to exploit her society view on women to rise to the top and get everything she wants and fuck everything else. Which not only neatly establish how and why she became what she is but also why this broken kid, which is a sort of her exact opposite, fascinate her so much. 
Speaking about our broken resident Kotomine, her chemistry with Shirou is simply great, all of their scenes are a joy to read. They have fun plotting together, they (she, dude’s either too young to notice or just let it go) casually flirts, have a functioning, mostly open relationship from the get-go that works no matter how messed up they really are and get each other’s back until the very end. Most of the more lighthearted stuff is in vol 1-2, then things gets more interesting. 
See, as much as she seems to be (and like to present herself as such to enemies) the perfectly devoted Servant and is aiding Shirou… she’s also truly villainous, cold and ruthless as hell and is also very conflicted and switch back and forth on what she wants, not much as out of the War as instead from her Master in particular (don’t think bad… okay, do) for the whole series. Vol3 and 4 are a godsend for her character and you dunno how I wish we had more than a bare bone summary for vol 5 because god damn some things in that summary. 
With the many, many stay night or Zero parallels and homages in Apocrypha, she come off as a sort of reverse Zero Gilgamesh and Gilles in being, respectively, the devilish member of the  Kotomine - Servant pair and the “personal involvement/interest in the saint figure, sometimes verging on the creep-ish, predatory behaviour" one (Gilles was 100% full on creepy mode, Semiramis keeps her thoughts for herself and is just tempted. I strongly appreciate), “reverse” for being conflicted, but in the end being a better person than both dudes above and respecting and knowing her partner enough to let go of her worst desires/frustrations. There’s some really good stuff in these two’s relationship, let me tell you. 
If Mordred-Shishigou take the cake for best platonic relationship in Apo, Semiramis and Shirou single handy destroy every competition for the romantic one. 
Rank “You. I like you”, 8-7.5/10
Vlad: here’s someone I’m pretty content with how he’s written (I wouldn’t change a thing), but really wish had had more space just because I enjoyed him a lot. Higashide nailed him and I wanted more of a historical Vlad III who is a hero, a good ruler caring for his country and a ruthless warrior and executioner and none of this aspects negate the others. Plus, it was refreshing to see a Vlad III being so clearly separated from the “vampire” twist that his wish for the Grail was to erase book and legacy from existence.
Achilles: a simil Alexander, I dislike the IRL/myth dude but can’t stay mad with their Fate incarnations. I like his personality, his quirks, his relationships with Chiron and Atalanta. Loved the mocking duel (and the anime committee will hear me scream from the other side of the world if I get robbed of it  yeah, I wrote this part before ep17. Fuck you A1). 
I don’t even think he needed more screen time, he’s really fine with what’s shown. Not every character need to be a main one and Achilles manage to be a good secondary one, with enough development and characterisation.
Shakespeare: here’s an enjoyable dude I like to hate. Amusing character, his interactions with Semiramis and Shirou are a joy to read or watch, but, fuck this guy. May Moriarty and Saber Gilles have their way with you in Chaldea.
Caules: one of those rare beasts known as “perfectly functioning siblings” of the Nasuverese. Respect his Servant and tries to do her right till the end. A good dude.
Rank “could’ve shined more in a longer and more focused series, but okay” aka those who served their purpose, 7/10 
Chiron                                                                                                            Atalanta                                                                                                          Karna                                                                                                                Fran                                                                                                                  Fiore                                                                                                                Darnic
Not really anything to say about each one here. They’re fine as they are.            
Could’ve used more Darnic, the 3HGW is a fascinating subject no matter who the Einzbern decide to summon and his actions shaped the whole world of Apo. Personally I’d have cut the Jack business and expanded him as a character/treat, maybe to shed light into CT politics and magus society fuckery (because if there’s something the Yggdmillennia as a whole and each one of them in particular show is how the magi society is an aberration that twist and corrupt everything it touch). But in the end I know it was either Ygg vs CT as promised or Rulers against each other and I’ll gladly take the latter.  A longer series could’ve had space for both, who knows.
Rank “nice arc. There are more interesting people but I’ve come to appreciate you” 
Gordes: Probably the human character who experience more growth in the series.
Rank “wasted” and “decent what little is there, perhaps, but still bitter after five years”
Avicebron: also know as the poor thing similar to the antagonist in background and wish that could’ve worked with the themes while also being a personal foil to the protagonist in being a golem/artificial life creator and user but the writer couldn’t/wouldn’t bother with him for some reason and he only got to be the “Gilles de Rais summon Chtlulu and heroes have to team up to bring him down” of Apocrypha, with no other purpose than being a Zero “homage”. 
To add insult to injury, the Adam threat does literally jack shit on a narrative point because “Servant goes stray and threaten the world, Servants form both factions have to team up to defeat him” already happened, 2 episodes before for the anime, end of vol2 vs beginning of vol3 for the novel version. And Mordred and Shishigou making an alliance with the surviving Black members was already going to be a thing after the Gardens mess. Shame, shame and shame.
Siegfried:  tainbocuailnge here has written some good meta about him lately and, yeah, perhaps all of that was intended, and I can kinda appreciate it. The point is that I couldn’t give a single crap over the OC when for him to come into being means sacrificing freaking Siegfried. I may not have read as much or being already attached to the literature/epic character like other cases but… no, just no. Siegfried deserved way better than what he got in Type Moon. 
Add more personal bitterness because with such numbers I thought it was finally time for the Heroes to shine and for the Masters to be sidelined and instead we got super special super powered MC. To hell with it.  
If anything, Siegfried may be the only character the anime did more good than damage. He’s still there and sometimes get to act as a mentor instead of being a useful power up and then fucking off for the remaining 4 volumes.
Rank “I tried to like you, I wish I could like you, but I cannot stand you no matter what”, 5-4
Astolfo: I’ve tried to like him but to no avail (rest assured, though, that I’ll deck anyone who’ll try use that t*ap or “girl” bullshit). 
It has to be that unholy combination of extremely airhead personality and mannerism, all the screen time he gets that could’ve gone to my favourites, that idiotic attempt at a “love triangle” (for the love of God, Higashide) and a voice acting that, I swear, even if I already didn’t like him from the novel the anime would’ve been the nail in the coffin. All these combined make him grates on my nerves like few other Fate characters. Perhaps part of my distaste comes from being unable to shake the feeling that the author himself don’t respect him.
I realise it’s quite… unfair, because on the page he has everything I usually like: he’s brave, he’s kind, he has morals and will maintain them in front of everything, he stand up to assholes, he save and inspire people, you can overpower him as much as you like and he still won’t care and will still fight you. 
Astolfo is a good, decently written character and I really wish the franchise would just stop using him as a joke and stop being so gross to him in order to cater to even more gross “fans”. 
If I were to put tastes/guts feelings aside, I could praise him for pages. I simply can’t bring myself closing the gaps from appreciating the undeniable qualities to actually like the character. 
Rank: fluctuating between “your concept should’ve been handled by a more experienced narrator” and “goddamn, does your very existence piss me off”, pending more on the second as we go on, less than 4
Sieg: on the page kid’s got a good arc. An homunculus, a magus’s tool, trash to be used and disposed off, gains consciousness and, shaped by what he witness and the actions and sacrifices of heroic figures, rise to free his kin from their slavers and then find himself fighting to “save the world”. How he attained freedom and have come to interpret it and his experiences put him in the path of the antagonist and the two and their “ideologies” makes for an interesting double face of the coin, forced salvation vs free offer and answer to actual prayers. Sounds pretty great. 
Unfortunately, Higashide aimed too high for his skills or didn’t learn well from Nasu and Shirou Emiya, or both. 
Otakus mad because he “got the waifu” aside, Sieg do come across as too damn lucky and overpowered and there is a limit on how much the in-universe reason “damn, the Counter Force had to work hard to give him a chance to stop a Heroic Spirit with hundreds time his experience” can go before the readers start getting annoyed at Heroes dropping dead or getting sidelined just to push him forward. 
I’m not a fan of these buzzwords, but the impression he’s a fan fiction OC that force the original and more interesting cast to revolve around/sacrifice for him or hijack their plots is damn strong. Scrap it, it’s not an impression, it’s exactly what happen. In at least 4 or 5 cases. 
There were also too many times he bore me to death so not really what you want from your protagonist. 
Another thing, more grave than personal preferences: his wish/fight firstly go nowhere, then get resolved too quickly without a fuss and then, once his goal has been effortlessly achieved, he proceeds to tag along and stole duels and confrontations from other characters, on which he had no stakes nor reason to be. What kind of writing is this?! He get the contract with Astolfo, walks in the castle and the Yggd agree on releasing the homunculi. And that’s it. Wow?
Also here’s my 100% personal reason for not having an ounce of interest in Sieg, godly writing skills or not: for once, just once, we could’ve got our first Fate solo female protagonist. An all-around badass but, at the same time, not an Arturia nor Shiki nor Arc nor Aoko clone. Who just happened to be my favourite historical figure ever.
Could’ve kept the same theme of opposing concepts of salvation, brought the Ruler vs Ruler/Saint vs Saint thing in the spotlight, with all their nice baggage of similar lives resulting in  opposite views by different regrets and traumas, faith or lack (that instead got all swept under the rug, and man if the self awareness of vol4 isn’t something to behold) and after five years I still feel personally robbed of all of this, especially when it became clear Apocrypha was yet another “male protagonist with the world revolving around him while the female heroine gets to be his support/sidekick. Oh, and as already said, he get the confrontation with whom the narrative builds as her rival”. Because of course he does. 
You don’t sideline Jeanne frigging d’Arc and expect me to forgive you for it.
Rank “why are you even here, why are we wasting anything on you”
Jack and Reika: ye god, why. The concept behind this Jack the Ripper? I find Fake ver superior but I’m on board. Then, first, that fucking character design. Sorry BL, reddit, MAL and whatever: putting a child in a thong is a revolting choice of character design and no, there’s no “well, she learned from prostitutes” that count.    I appreciate at least the connection made with Atalanta. But the execution. Their “plot” drag and drag on and goes nowhere (hilariously so in the anime. What was the point of Jack killing some random homunculi and disappearing for the whole arc, again?). Their only narrative purpose is doing ???? for roughly three volumes, *do that* to Atalanta and shaking Sieg’s worldview. At least they grant Jeanne some badass solo scenes and to us more insight on her character. Still the equivalent of a anime-only filler, and a bad one. 
Pity, really, because a child Jack who 1. is a child and act as one and 2. get heavily influenced by her/their Master and thus could either become a better person or be exploited wasn’t that bad of a twist for a famous figure but the pair was never allowed to be more than “Apo pair of rogue murderers”. 
Celenike: just… begone. I cheered when she died in the novel, cheered loudly when she died in the anime and will cheer even more loudly when she will die in the manga. 
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