#also starting with the neutral route and its so funny cause like | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

marauderundercover · 3 years ago

Text

Taking Chances Ch. 26: Illusions (Dance)

AO3

Marinette quickly decides she hates the punishment. The grounding. It sucks not being allowed to go on patrol with her family. Luckily, Adrien came back to Paris the day after she was grounded, so she didn’t have to take any of her family to Paris. Which she was thankful for, because as much as she loved them, she also doubted they’d be able to control their emotions long enough.

“Hey kiddo, we’re about to head out to patrol. Do you need anything?” Dick asks, sticking his head into her room. He’d been extremely nice since she got benched, not that he was ever anything but nice. But he’d also been acting like another dad, checking in on her, making dad jokes, the works. It helped since her own dad was currently still mad at her for blocking him from Paris.

“To patrol with you guys.” She says with a hopeful smile. Dick sighs, shaking his head.

“You know I can’t do that Mari. B’s the one who has to say you’re allowed back. I’m sorry kid.” Dick says. Marinette frowns.

“It’s fine. I’ll just stay here and draw or something.” She says, flopping back down on her bed. She can tell Dick hesitates, as if he wants to say something else, but then he’s gone. And she’s alone. Again.

“Marinette, are you okay?” Tikki asks, flying over and landing next to her head.

“It’s been four days, Tikki. Four days. How much longer is he gonna have me benched? If the akuma was bad, I would’ve brought in Kagami or Luka.” She rambles, covering her face with her hands. She was restless, which was making her anxious. She wanted to do something. She didn’t want to be stuck at home. And sure, she could train in the gym here, but her mind wouldn’t be in it. She’d be worried about her family the whole time.

“Well...maybe it’s time for you to be ungrounded.” Tikki says slowly. Marinette pulls her hands from her face and blinks at her friend.

“Are you...are you ungrounding me?” She asks. Because yes, her dad had grounded her. But Tikki had agreed with the punishment. And while sneaking around the world’s greatest detective would be hard, she was willing to do it. Going against the goddess of creation? Not so much.

“If you bring Trixx, you’ll be able to be invisible when you’re around your family.” Tikki suggests and Marinette grins.

“Plagg’s rubbing off on you, isn’t he?” She teases. Tikki huffs.

“Not at all. I just don’t like seeing you upset, Marinette.” She says and Marinette smiles.

“Thank you, Tikki.” She says, going over to the Miracle Box and pulling out Trixx’ necklace. She puts it on and grins at the small fox.

“Hiya Guardian! What’s goin’ on?” Trixx asks with a wide smile.

“Tikki suggested I bring you on patrol so I can be invisible. Whaddya say Trixx, ready to cause some mischief?” Marinette asks. Trixx smirks.

“Obviously!” He cheers. Marinette grins. Let the fun begin.

---

Marinette sticks close to her family, using Mirage to make herself invisible. It was weird, following her family and not being able to hear them (she hadn’t wanted to take a comm in case she messed up and talked, she’d be in real trouble then). But it was also funny, watching her dad tense if she got too close. He could definitely tell that something funny was going on, but she was determined to not let him figure her out. The beeping from Trixx’ necklace makes her huff. She’d have to go hide and recharge, but it was fine. Trixx had already told her that he was having fun messing with her family, so she knew he’d be willing to keep going for a little while longer. Dashing behind one of the air conditioning units on the roof, she lets Trixx’ Mirage drop, passing him a handful of berries.

“Take your time Trixx, they won’t get far.” Marinette reassures him, smiling at him as he grabs the berries from her. She leans up against the unit, taking a minute to just relax.

“Well, well, well. Looks like the little bug strayed from her birds.” A familiar voice drawls out. Marinette stiffens, not turning.

“Trixx, go. Find the others.” She commands, ripping the necklace off and passing it to Trixx. He immediately zips away and she whirls around, just in time to jump back and avoid the sword coming at her.

“You have more than one Miraculous? How interesting. You know, Damian stopped us from talking last time. I’d love to...chat.” Slade says, pulling his sword back. She can’t see his face, but she can hear the smirk in his voice. Marinette grits her teeth, remembering the last time she’d seen the man. The scar she had on her shoulder.

“I’d rather not. No offense, but you don’t seem like a great conversationalist.” She snarks, her entire body tense as she stays poised to fight. She glances around, trying to find an escape route that would get her as far away from him as possible. And quick.

“You’re not actually thinking of running, are you? You have no backup. I’ve been watching the Bats tonight. No one knows you’re even here.” He says, stepping closer so that he’s almost blocked her in. She feels her breathing quicken as she starts to panic slightly. She’d only escaped last time because of her family. They’d fought him off after he got ahold of her. He’s far stronger than her, she has to stay out of his reach. She takes a deep breath, staring the man down and schooling her features into a neutral mask. She refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her distressed.

“I never run from a fight.” She lies, throwing her yoyo out to wrap around the handle of the man’s sword, tugging as she throws her weight to his left. The clanking of the sword as it bounces off the roof makes her grin, and she quickly tugs the yoyo, grabbing the sword by its handle and twirling it around slightly, planting her feet in her new position. She’d managed to move so that she was no longer blocked between Slade and the air conditioning unit.

“Oh sweetheart, you can’t possibly beat me.” He says, shaking his head as he walks towards her, pulling his second sword off his back.

“Don’t underestimate me.” She snaps, holding up the sword and preparing herself to fight back. He sighs, as if he’s disappointed in her, before lunging forward, bringing his sword up for an attack. She holds up her own sword, blocking his strike. It was much different than the fencing foil she’d used a few times back in Paris, much heavier. She grits her teeth as he pushes down with the sword, obviously trying to overpower her. She holds for another moment before jumping back, jerking her sword away. The sudden change in force makes him stumble forwards and let out a growl. He continues to lunge towards her as she dances back and forth, trying to avoid fighting him too much. He’d definitely overpower her if she let him get too close.

“I’d rather do this the easy way, darling, but if you’re really going to make me do this the hard way we can.” He threatens, twirling the sword around before charging her again. She let out a gasp, jumping back again, her foot slipping as she was much closer to the edge of the roof than she expected. She falls, managing to grab the roof with her open hand, the sword now dangling at her side. She had two options. She could let go of the sword and use her yoyo to swing away, or she could try and let go of the roof and shoot out her yoyo quick enough to avoid splatting on the ground. She quickly makes her decision, dropping the sword into the dumpster below her and yanking out her yoyo to attempt to swing away.

“No!” She yells, as Slade grabs her hand from the roof, tugging her towards him before she can swing away. She struggles against him, kicking at him, throwing her elbows around wildly. She had to get out of his hold.

“Did you really think that would work?” He asks, as he pins her to chest. She continues struggling in his grasp, not willing to give up yet.

“Thought I’d try it.” She huffs.

“Sure you did sweetheart. Now, I’ll be taking these.” Slade says, reaching for her earrings. He touches them and hisses in pain, Marinette also hissing in shock. They’d heated up when he grabbed them, almost like they were trying to burn him. Unfortunately for Marinette, they were still on her ears. Which meant she also got burned.

“What the hell was that?” He hisses, whirling her around to face her, continuing to hold her arms down. She continues to struggle while glaring at the man.

��Apparently the earrings don’t want you either.” She snaps.

“Guess I’ll just have to take you with me.” He says and her eyes widen in panic. No. Nope. Not a secondary location, she’d watched enough true crime shows and listened to Tim rant about cold cases enough to know what a secondary location meant. It meant death. And she was not about to die again, especially not somewhere she couldn’t use the Cure. A hard blow to the back of her head makes her vision go black as she quickly slips into unconsciousness.

---

Dick Grayson was not expecting to see a tiny floating fox on patrol. He was definitely not expecting said tiny fox to be carrying a necklace and rambling worriedly.

“Whoa, whoa, calm down buddy. What’s wrong?” Dick asks, smiling at them. They were similar to Plagg, the tiny floating black cat that had hung around the day Marinette was a toddler.

“It’s the Guardian! She needs help. A man with a mask and swords found her and she doesn’t have any backup.” They ramble, a terrified look on their face. Dick frowns.

“Who?” He asks, not quite sure why the fox has chosen him.

“Marinette!” They cry, and Dick freezes. “Tikki told her she could be ungrounded and so we were following you guys, but then she had to stop and the man found her. Please, help her!”

“Lead the way.” He says, whirling on his heel and following the little creature as it zips through the city. He follows them all the way to a roof, frowning when the fox pauses and looks around, clear panic on their face.

“They were here. She was here.” They mumble, twisting in circles and looking around. They start zipping forward again, and Dick has to rush to follow. Hopefully they’d spotted Marinette. And whoever the guy was. As he follows the fox, he frowns when he spots a figure carrying something over their shoulder. Something limp- He pushes forward, going faster than the fox as he attempts to catch up. The second the figure lands on a roof, he whips out his escrima sticks, whacking the man across the back of his legs. The man stumbles, spinning around and glaring at Dick.

“Nightwing, wasn’t expecting to see you.” Slade growls. Dick narrows his eyes.

“Drop the girl, Slade.” He demands. Slade lets out a humorless laugh.

“I’ve been trying to get to her for weeks, do you really think I’m going to let go of her that easily?” He asks.

“I think if you know what’s good for you, you’ll set her down and get the hell out of Gotham.” Dick says.

“Nightwing, who is it?” Damian’s voice rings through the comm. Dick’s relieved that he was on the duo’s channel rather than the group channel. If he could get Marinette home before B noticed, maybe his baby sister wouldn’t get in more trouble.

“I don’t think you understand the importance of her earrings.” Slade counters, obviously preparing to fight his way out.

“I don’t care how important you think they are, Slade. Put her down and get out of the city.” He says, watching the older man’s body language to try and anticipate the attack. He hears Damian curse in his ear, and he resists the urge to reprimand him.

“How about no.” Slade quips, tossing Marinette to the side of the roof and charging at him in one fluid motion. Dick sees red as he watches Marinette get tossed aside so carelessly, her head bouncing off the roof. He uses one of his escrima sticks to counter the blows from the other man’s sword, using his other to whack the man’s shoulder. The two circle each other, each taking turns to start the attack. Slade may be motivated by his want for the earrings, but Dick was fighting for his sister. Losing wasn’t an option for Dick, not when one of his siblings was in danger.

“I believe Nightwing told you to leave.” Damian calls, bursting into the fight. Slade turns back towards Marinette, and just as Dick’s about to lunge for him- she disappears. Completely. Gone from sight. He begins to panic slightly. Where did she go? What happened to her? The cry from Slade breaks his concentration from where his sister just disappeared into thin air. He glances back at the man, unsurprised to see Damian’s sword through the older man’s side. As much as he wants to see Slade suffer, he knows Damian would be in trouble later if he actually killed the older man. “Robin.” Dick calls, hoping to ground his little brother before he did something he would regret. Damian scowls, stepping away from Slade. Dick turns his attention to the man, who was now disarmed and bleeding profusely. Not much of a threat. “Get the hell out of this city. Don’t let us see you here again Slade.” He snaps, unsurprised as the man turns and rushes away. The man was a coward. His biggest enemy was a twelve year old boy who had done nothing but be born. Gritting his teeth, Dick takes a deep breath. No need to let his anger get the best of him. He immediately starts to panic when he remembers Marinette disappearing. Just as he’s about to call it in, her limp form shimmers back into view. He rushes over to her, glancing momentarily at the floating fox next to her.

“I can do mirages. Hopefully I controlled it enough not to make chaos anywhere, but-” They stop, glancing at Marinette. “But I had to do something.”

“Thank you.” Dick says softly, picking up Marinette and holding her close to his chest.

“Should I alert Father?” Damian asks. Dick turns to look at him, noticing how tense the younger boy looks. He weighs his options. He could take her back to the manor and let her get into even more trouble with Bruce. Or, he could take her to his apartment and try to convince Bruce that she’d been there all night.

“Let’s not. She’ll just be benched for even longer, and obviously trying to keep her from patrols isn’t going to end well for us.” Dick says, frowning at her limp form. Damian tenses, but nods. “I will continue patrol while you take her to a safe location. I expect an update once she is awake. You should stay with her, Slade has obviously become obsessed with her.” Damian says, and Dick nods.

“Thank you, Robin. I know you don’t like going against him, but…..” Dick trails off, looking at Marinette and how tiny she looked right now. Damian nods.

“She’s family as well. I did not agree with her punishment, I will not aid in it being lengthened.” He says before swinging away. Dick just smiles softly, shaking his head at his youngest brother. That was probably as close as he’d get to admitting he loved Marinette. But it was clear, in his actions, that he did care about her. Just as he cared about their other brothers, no matter how much he denied it. Sighing, Dick adjusts Marinette in his arms before grappling towards his apartment. This was going to be a long night.

---

Marinette wakes up and immediately groans at the light in the room. Almost immediately, the light disappears, as if someone flipped a switch.

“Hey kiddo.” A soft voice says. She sits up and winces, holding a hand against her head. She blinks, her eyes adjusting as she glances around the unfamiliar space.

“Dick?” She says, confused. Where were they? What happened?

“You’re okay kid, we’re at my apartment. It’s where I live when Kori and Mari are in town. Slade got you, almost got away with you too. But your little fox friend found me and I was able to get there in time. Try and drink a little water, I need to call Damian and let him know you’re awake.” He says and she starts to panic. Did their dad also know? Was she in more trouble? Was- “Marinette, you gotta breathe. Damian and I are the only ones who know you snuck out. Neither of us wanna tell B, cause then you’d just be sneaking on patrol even longer and that’s dangerous. But I’m not gonna lecture you right now. So just take a breath. That’s it kid, you’re okay.” He soothes, breathing with her for several counts. She nods once she’s calmed down, and he grins at her before walking away to make the call. She picks up the water, sipping on it and trying to ignore the pounding in her head. Instead, she glances around the apartment, smiling softly at the pictures. She’d found out about her sister in law and niece not that long ago. They were apparently off planet right now, but she had hope that they would be back before the summer was over so she could meet them. A sudden wave of nausea hits her and she groans, laying back against the couch. She huffs in frustration when she realizes she likely has a concussion.

“When I said you were ungrounded, I didn’t mean for you to fight the man that stabbed you on your first trip to Gotham.” Tikki complains, flying up and staring straight into her eyes. Marinette groans, squeezing her eyes shut and pouting.

“I didn’t mean to.” She reminds the Kwami, opening an eye to peek at her.

“Didn’t mean to.” She mumbles before letting out an uncharacteristic huff. “Next time tell one of your brothers, please Marinette. Even if you’re sneaking out. I’m sure they could figure out a way to be in communication with you without letting your dad know. It would make me feel better knowing that you have backup from the start.” Tikki says, her worry clear on her small face.

“I will, don’t worry Tikki.” Marinette says with a sigh. She could hold her own against a normal criminal, or an akumatized villain. But it wasn’t easy fighting against a man more than twice her size who was obviously highly trained.

“B thinks you came over here before patrol, so your cover is safe.” Dick says, walking back into the living room. Marinette smiles weakly at him, fully expecting a lecture now that he’s off the phone. Dick sits on the arm of the chair next to the couch, looking at her worriedly. “Think you have a concussion?” He asks. She blinks, but nods slowly. He walks away and comes back a moment later with some painkillers, passing them to her. She takes them, hoping that they’ll start working sooner than later as the dull pounding in her head has escalated since waking up.

“Are you gonna yell at me?” She asks quietly, not looking at him.

“No, Marinette, I’m not gonna yell at you.” He says, and she looks at him, frowning.

“Why? I knew I was benched. And I still went out, and I didn’t tell anyone.” She says, confused as to why he wasn’t yelling. Her dad hadn’t yelled at her after she got stabbed, just flat out refused to let her patrol. But he’d yelled at her after the Watchtower thing. And the stealing the Batmobile thing. And the whole keeping him from getting to Paris thing. And the fighting an akuma alone thing.

“You know that you messed up, why would I yell at you? You know, and now next time, you’ll do it differently. You’ll be better and learn from this mistake. I’m not gonna yell at you for secretly going on patrol ‘cause I’d be a hypocrite. Was I scared to death when I realized the limp thing on Slade’s shoulder was you? Yes. God, yes, I was terrified. But you’re here and you’re fine. So instead of yelling, you’re gonna stay here tonight and I’m gonna make sure I don’t need to take you to Alfred for the concussion.” Dick says with a small smile. Marinette smiles at her brother, relieved.

“Are you gonna tell dad?” She asks. Even though he doesn’t know yet, she knows that there’s still a chance of Dick telling him.

“No, but can you do something for me?” He asks. She nods. “Next time you wanna sneak out without B knowing, could you tell me or Jay? Please? Just so we know to check in on you. We’re not gonna follow you or anything, but it’d be nice to know that one of us needs to check in and make sure you’re okay.” He says. She quirks an eyebrow in surprise. He wasn’t going to follow her?

“Really?” She asks, he nods.

“I know that sometimes you just need a break. Trust me, I get it. I understand that B can be….overbearing.” Dick says with a sigh. Marinette nods in agreement, sitting back slightly and letting out a yawn. Just as her eyes are about to close, there’s a snap in front of her face.

“What?” She groans, frowning at her brother.

“Can’t go to sleep yet kiddo. You clearly have a concussion, so I’m gonna need you to stay awake for a couple hours just to make sure your symptoms stay on the mild side.” He says. She frowns and is about to argue when the front door opens. Dick immediately jumps up and stands in front of her, but relaxes almost as quickly.

“Daddy!” The little girl, who Marinette realizes must be Mar’i, squeals, flying straight at Dick. Marinette blinks. Her niece could fly. That’s awesome! But would definitely throw a new challenge in when she babysits the girl.

“Who is this?” The woman, who was taller than Dick and drop dead gorgeous, asks, a small smile on her face. Marinette grins, waving from the couch.

“Hey, I’m Marinette. Dick’s newest sister.” She says. The woman, Kori, sighs, a smile on her face as she shakes her head.

“He adopted another?” She asks Dick. He snorts, shaking his head as he holds his daughter close.

“Nope, she’s his actual daughter. Little D took it surprisingly well.” Dick says.

“So she’s my aunt?” Mar’i asks, peeking over Dick’s shoulder.

“Yup! I’m so glad to finally meet you Mar’i.” Marinette says with a small smile, dizziness hitting her again randomly. She shuts her eyes, trying to ground herself.

“Oh, nope, sorry honey. Aunt Marinette has a bit of a headache right now, you’ll have to be easy with her.” She hears Dick say, probably stopping Mar’i from launching herself at her.

“Can we play ballerina?” Mar’i asks, and Marinette forces herself to open her eyes and look at the girl. Her heart melts at the little pout on the girl’s face and Marinette already knows that this girl is going to have her wrapped around her finger, just like Manon.

“Sweetie-” Dick starts, but Marinette cuts him off.

“Why don’t you show me your ballerina moves tonight, and then tomorrow once I’m feeling better, we can play ballerina together?” She suggests, grinning at the look on her niece’s face.

“Yes, yes, yes!” She squeals, launching herself from Dick’s arms and flying to a different room.

“Marinette-” Dick starts with a sigh, an unimpressed look on his face.

“I’ll help her.” Tikki speaks up, flying to be eye level with Dick. “I can’t heal her completely, but I can heal her partially just as I did when Slade stabbed her. But I do have to warn you, if he tries to hurt my Bug again, I will let him see that there is a fate worse than death.” Marinette blinks in surprise at the complete and total rage radiating from her usual cheery friend. She watches as Dick nods in agreement.

“Better you than me. Bruce can’t yell at you.” He says in an even tone. Marinette’s jaw drops. That was...surprisingly violent for her usually cheery brother. Before she can question him, Mar’i flies back into the room in a pale pink tutu.

“Ready to see my dances?” She asks, grinning widely. Marinette nods, settling in to spend some time with her newest family members, plans of a new ballet outfit for Mar’i already dancing through her head.

Tag list: @maribat-bdbwm @vixen-uchiha @stainedglassm @liquid-luck-00 @laurcad123 @waiting247 @jayjayspixiepop @mizzy-pop @jjmjjktth @trippingovermyfeet @queenz-z @thepaceperson @iloontjeboontje @toodaloo-kangaroo @ritacrow-blog @deathssilentapproach-blog @kittenmywaythrulife @nerd-nowandforever @tazanna-blythe @jaybird-and-co @jumpingjoy82 @lady-bee-fechin @corporeal-terrestrial

109 notes · View notes

yanderecandystore · 4 years ago

Note

How about some yandere!giant headcannons please?

(Yes I took the lazy route when drawing this, and if you see people you don't recognize it's because I decided to put my friends in it-)

(( I also had drawn Mikudayo and Miko because I just thought it was funny to make them considering the time I had mistaken them for each other-))

TW/tags: gender neutral reader // I'm gonna make the giant male because you didn't really say giantess? So I'm assuming it's male/gender neutral pronouns // being treated like a doll/pet // kidnapping // language barrier cause I'm yearning- // very generic giant story // delusional thinking // slight stockholm syndrome

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

Don't even ask me, y'all read about eldritch creatures so a giant is literally no big deal- [Yandere!Giant x Reader - Headcanon]:

Oh dear, oh goodie, oh Lord-

Does anyone need a bit of context? Maybe a little storyline to start with? I could just go straight to the good stuff though??

Listen- I could pull out so many mother fucking posts under the category of Yandere Giants- Almost all Eldritch content in my blog involves the height difference of: vewy tol x vewy smol UwU

Anyway- Malos, the giant of our story. I'm going to go very generically since I didn't want to say something that could possibly not be of your taste boo-

Malos is your classic troublemaking giant, the type of which you would hear about in fairy tales created to scare the human folk all around your kingdom. All those stories talked about the world beyond the clouds, the giant's kingdom, living their lives in wealth, very far from the ground below where humans (their "favorite delicacy", allegedly) lived.

The one thing that all those stories shared in common was the violent behavior of the tyrants above, their arrogant and greedy nature mixed with the horrifying sightings of giants who would somehow find their way to get on land, specifically targeting a small town to torment. Many have said to have faced a big beast walking around in the woods, some would claim that they actually fought a giant or two, although there is no way to confirm such bold claims of being true.

Were you a common townsfolk who got themselves too far into the woods? An adventurer finding their way into a town surrounded by mystery? Or were you perhaps a noble who by terrible misfortune, had their carriage be stuck during a heavy storm in the dark of night?

It doesn't really matter which one you choose, considering that what happens next would be inevitable. You get lost at the dead of night, the townsfolk not even being able to comprehend how someone can simply disappear like this. You would wake up at a place you couldn't even begin to recognize, it was a very well decorated room yet none of it felt familiar to you.

Maybe it was because of how fancy and modern it was compared to what you were more accustomed with on land, or maybe it was the simple fact that everything in this room was awfully huge compared to you. It took you quite some time to realize that you were not only on top of a massive bed- But that you were trapped inside a bird cage.

Before you could question whether you were having a hallucination or not, your joyful captor made its way inside the bedroom. With such a blissful expression that makes a chill run down your spine- He was so big, it was obvious your captor would have been a giant considering your current location, yet it still shocked you for some reason.

Much to your dismay, your captor does not speak the same language as you, which made you scream at him to free you and put you back where he found you. You have noticed he wasn't understanding a single word coming out of your mouth the moment you started crying at the giant, begging for mercy in fear of what could be your destiny here.

Yet here you were, just- Being observed by such gentle eyes, concerned of your current state. He could talk and shush your cries all he wanted, but you couldn't understand a single thing he meant, the only certainty in this case being the fact you ain't getting out of here so soon.

Malos isn't evil, even if you can't understand what he says- You can tell he is very gentle with you, maybe because he sees how scared and panicky you are, or because he sees you as a pet- Who knows?

He did give you a lot of signs of seeing you as possibly just a "pocket companion", a pet and a doll, someone he could take care of and take wherever he wanted. You noticed how there was no one else who lived with him, maybe he was that lonely and desperate to find a friend that he took you- Without considering your actual feelings on the action.

You weren't too small compared to him, you were basically the height of his hand- A small doll to him, just for him. Whatever life you used to have could be kissed goodbye at this point, because even if you wish everything could go back to normal, that ain't happening, boo.

Malos loves dressing you up, giving you little trinkets to use, giving you small portions of his own food, hearing you make all those lovely sounds he doesn't understand one bit off yet it is still willing to try and comprehend it. He is a very skilled crafter, you know? He knows how to create small toys that will make wonderful gifts for you, at least in his own mind.

Whatever situation you were in that would have brought you to meet him, he would have thought the same thing regardless of what background you could choose for yourself- In Malos eyes, you were lost in the cold of the night, looking so lonely and in need of someone's attention, which he could relate to since he was also lonely and looking for company.

Malos is quite delusional, he has his moments where he has to face reality as a lonely toy maker who kidnapped a human to be his little companion. In these moments of lucidity, he will look at you as if he was lost, as if he was searching for an answer- A confirmation of his actions.

And looking at your cute small little self, confirms his beliefs. You were lost, he was also lost- Yet you found each other, and that's all that matters for him.

After being faced with so much love and attention, considering how weeks and months have passed since he got you here, it's not hard to imagine you feeling more comfortable in his presence.

His skin is so much warmer than yours, his rough hands hold you with such care- It's hard to not give yourself in to his gentle touches, to his incomprehensible whispers, he has such a smooth voice that is hard to not enjoy listening to it.

You didn't plan this to happen- But on each day that passes by, you start feeling like being taken care off is way better than having to fend for yourself down there with the other humans. His company has been so heartwarming, and it hurts you the times he has to go out and take long periods of time outside his house, probably selling his toys or even buying more food for you two.

It's so unfortunate to think that you, someone who was once a person, was now submitting to him and enjoying being treated like this- You would curse at yourself for being so weak, so desperate for his affection, to the point you enjoy being petted and loved as a doll.

With Malos, you could ignore the voices screaming at you to get yourself out of his house in the clouds, but whenever you were left alone locked inside a doll house he built, you would cry yourself to sleep until you could ignore your conscience telling you how much of a failure you are.

If Malos was somehow aware of this confusing thoughts inside you, he would try his best to calm you down, while also pulling you closer to the confirmation that he is here to help you, to take care of you and that there is no shame in you liking him as well. He already loves you so much, he just needs you to do the same for him.

However, Malos isn't always gentle with you- Not only is he easily excited, but he is also easily angered, very childishly. His outbursts are never on you, but rather on the things around you. You can feel the table under you shake whenever he has his temper tantrums, you can see him taking away some of your items as a form of punishment in case you have been acting up.

He would also give you an ice shoulder for some time if he felt as if you were in need of apologizing (even if he didn't understand your language, he could still see through your mannerisms if you were truly sorry or not). He wouldn't ignore you for long, considering how he is also very touch-starved, which leads into the next point:

Malos loves petting you, and touching you. You're soft and squishy and so charming to hold- How can he not love you to bits??!

He gets very confused sometimes, he isn't sure if he sees you as a small pet-like companion, or as a possible- Well, partner. His adoration towards you will start to twist into actual romantic interest, and I warn you to be careful darling-

The moment he sets his mind into something, it's nearly impossible to change it back.

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

#yandere #sheep stuff #sheep's stuff #yandere headcanon #yandere oc #yandere monster #yandere giant #yandere giant x reader #yandere monster x reader #yandere headcanons #yandere oc?#special delivery headcanons #special delivery request

297 notes · View notes

gaymershigh · 4 years ago

Note

hulloh! I've only been on tumblr for a few hours, and me and my friend already love your work! Is it ok if I request some TWST parent scenarios with Riddle,Lilia,Sebek,Vil and Floyd? If so, thanks! Also once again, me and my freind love ur works alot!

Of course! Since there's no s/o really mentioned in here but people might still want to be included, s/o will be mentioned just a tiny bit (the kids being biological or adopted is up to you since I want to make the s/o gender neutral.) Also, thanks a lot! I'm still and probably be forever an amateur writer so this means a lot to me 🥺💞💞

Triggers: None

Parents au: Riddle, Lilia, Sebek, Vil and Floyd edition!

From what we've seen, his parents are not the best role models like, at all. They were too strict, pressuring him and treating him like a trophy child. However, he will definitely not treat his child like that at all after Ace slapped him with reality.

He will be a bit strict, having some rules and will scold them if they did something wrong but not as scold them the way his mother does. He won't raise his voice at them, showing them the right path after he scolded them. He will give them freedom and try his best to not make his children suffer the same thing he did, especially when he's the source of the pain.

Though, he might accidentally adapt some things from his mother and project her ways to his children, being completely not self aware. If you're his s/o, please teach him the baby steps to avoid this from this occurring too often.

Unfortunately, having a good life and children won't make his short temper extend. This is the only reason why he doesn't spoil them too much, they might act entitled and may be too late to change them back to the innocent infant they were back then. He tries very hard to control his temper if his children unintentionally knock furniture over or damage something. He just needs a few minutes alone, everything will be back to normal later.

There was one time where his child's birthday was near and decided to bake a cake from scratch, without any assistance from Trey nor his s/o. Thinking he could do it and don't want anyone to underestimate him. He was planning to make a burnt strawberry cheesecake and did the mistake of leaving the oven on for an hour for 400 degrees fahrenheit. The cake went on fire but it tasted very good when he for some reason tasted it. Nobody knew about the incident and the cake was actually used for its purpose. Yay for him, I guess.

He was already pretty outdated in trends when he was in his teens so do expect him to be like a middle aged soccer mom on Facebook every time his children send him memes or something like that. If he does even use any sort of social media and stumbled upon a 'funny' minion meme or something, he will definitely send it to the family group chat. He will make those 5th grade types of edits with one of the family pictures with a "I love my family". It's funny but still wholesome so don't laugh at him.

There is no alternate universe where Lilia isn't a good dad. Silver and his other wards are already an amazing example of how amazing of a parent he is! He has gained a bunch of experience so he got this in the bag.

Though, his way of taking care of children might be different from how it is now. Times have changed, there are probably some new and uncomplicated objects or toys to entertain the baby or child. He would love to go on a shopping trip to buy some fascinating kids toys he found in the toy store. Please stop him from buying everything in there because it looks "intriguing".

If you're his s/o, you're very lucky since if you have a baby who always cries at three in the morning or a kid who really have trouble sleeping, Lilia will sing a lullaby and they'll doze off in any second. He can wake up easily or he'll just always stay up playing his games so you don't even need to break a sweat in this situation.

His kids or any kid in general loves him lots. He will always tell his tales anywhere, anytime. If the kids ask him for a story to tell, he will always have a new one ready to tell. They also make amazing bedtime stories! It can be funny little innocent stories like his funny experiences taking care of his three wards to actual battles he went through. Any story is a good story.

He really got along with his child when they're young and innocent but when they get into their teenage years, oh boy. He will unintentionally embarrasses them but their friends won't mind. If anything, they will love him being around as he's always keeping up with the games and trends, not being a fat, shirtless creepy dad. One of the positive parts about his child growing up is that he can play video games with him just like he did with Silver! Reliving the nice memories.

He would always try to cook something in any opportunity he gets and of course, he gets stopped by either s/o or his own children. Yes, they have to go through the hard way to realize their father is garbage at cooking. He would always try to cook some food everytime something good has happen in order to celebrate but most of the times, he just wants to cook something for them to show how much he loves them. They really made him happy, he finally have a biological/adopted offspring to watch growing up (again).

Sebek unfortunately doesn't have that much time to spend time with his children due to being Malleus' trusted escort. Of course, when he does have free time and is not exhausted he will use the opportunity to spend it with his adorable younglings.

Knowing him, he still loves and worships Malleus but he's no longer his only priority in life when he finally has a life of his own other than just being Malleus' bodyguard. He will ramble and tell so many stories about his young master to his kids. They will be infatuated but will later complain about how everything is just "Malleus this, Malleus that". He will get a bit upset about that comment, so he will only talk about Malleus stories for 3 days a week.

He only has focused his life on guarding Malleus and advancing himself on magic and education. Now that he's now an actual father, this is a new chapter in his life and he's not prepared at all. He will seek Lilia for guidance and of course, Lilia being Lilia will rope him to doing something absolutely ridiculous and he would of course, woefully fall for it. Pretty surprising that no matter how much he has fallen for his teacher's trap, he still seeks him for advice.

His kids will definitely learn how to read fast. He loves reading and he really wants his kids to appreciate it too. He was about to immediately give them the books that have old and poetic language without even knowing what the alphabet was. Lilia put a stop to this and you couldn't even bear seeing how sad he looked because he needs to wait for a few years for him to have little reading buddies. Oh well, it doesn't matter now. He will teach them how to read and appreciate the art of reading no matter how long it takes.

He has exposed his children to a bunch of Malleus propaganda so there's no surprise if the children become just like him. Loud screaming, Malleus worshipping, smart but naive and other things Sebek has. If you're his s/o, please keep the children in check as they might cause problems to the neighbors. As this might be troublesome, it's at least entertaining experience I suppose.

Just like Sebek, he has even less time to spend with his kids as he always has modeling, acting and other businesses to attend. He's probably going to be exhausted when he comes back as well. Though, of course he's going to try to use all his energy to talk to his children till he can no longer open his eyes anymore. He prefers an s/o that is a stay-in mom/dad so the children won't feel lonely while he's gone.

They're definitely gonna grow up just like him. A model, actor, media influencer, or the combination of the three and it's not a bad thing. If they're going on the same route as him, he will teach them in a strict but still in a somewhat caring manner as he has learned a lot from his experience of the VDC boot camp and the overblot incident. He will only show his threatening side if they start to misbehave like those ADeuce rats.

Just because they are his children, doesn't mean they get a free pass if they intentionally neglect or not doing their best at all times, especially when it comes to appearance. He's known to be a neat-freak and a very hard worker to the point it's concerning. He will scold them if more than two pimples pop up on their face but he knows when to cross the line. He learned this easier if their child is rather sensitive and just emotionally fragile in general but they still need to take care of themselves.

He expects his children to follow his footsteps when it comes to where they're schooling. He wants them to enter a prestigious school like he did for his reputation and for the sake of his children's future. This is optional (not really) but he also hopes his children to enter Pomefiore as well and take the dorm head title at least the second week they enroll in this school. If they were sorted to a different dorm, they still want them to have a role in their dorm or in the school at all.

He begs to the Great Seven that paparazzi or desperate losers obsessing over him don't intrude into his personal life, especially if it's about his family. The last thing he wants to witness is his family in pain or being uncomfortable for their whole life. He usually avoids or straight up tells the interviewer that he's not comfortable answering questions when they're going too personal when it's about questions of his family.

You cannot feel anymore blessed when you see his smiling face when he received news about having a vacation. He can finally spend more time with his wonderful kids he's raising with all his heart. He will tell them about some funny incidents in the studio while he was involved in some modeling gig or he will bring them to a private island with gorgeous scenery for both of them to enjoy. Of course, his children's happy faces are more beautiful than the island.

Floyd is seen to be very warm and sweet despite having a very intimidating height. Naturally, he's not going to be ruthless and act the same when it's with his children because it's his children of course, family is precious to him. He has a lot of energy even after a long shift at Mostro Lounge, so he will always spend a lot of time with his kids.

He's physically affectionate so expect him to be always close and wrapping his arms around his children at almost all times. He'll usually let them sit on his lap when they watch TV or sleep with them if they can't go back to sleep because of a nightmare. Headpats are needed, especially if the kids did something good or got good news. Not saying he won't give any headpats if something bad happens, maybe headpats of sympathy perhaps.

He's very patient when it's with his children because he doesn't want his children to fear him when they grow up. If anything, the s/o have to do the scolding to avoid him snapping or anything like the sort. They rarely do anything bad though, since they're aware of how their dad acts from how he treats a dirty burglar who once tried to break in.

Since he's usually very active and hates just standing around, he expects his children to be just like him. It's never boring if your dad is Floyd as he always has something really entertaining to do at most times. If you're his s/o, you have the free entrance to see an eel man dancing around with his kids or playing some basketball either inside or preferably in the backyard. He tried showing the art of parkour but is stopped due to it being very risky. He sulked about this but oh well, once they're ten, they have no choice but to learn it!

Floyd is an amazing cook and he sometimes lets his children be involved like chopping some vegetables or stirring the macaroni. He sometimes teaches them the perfect way of doing it or let's them try doing their own meal with his assistance. There was one time they decided to make one of the weirdest food combinations and try to eat it, he won and ate it all as it was too gross for the kids to eat it. It's not gonna be a surprise if everyone in this household is an expert cook when Floyd is here.

If possible, he really wants to bring his kids at work no matter how troublesome they could get. If Azul has a "bring your kids to work" day (which I doubt of him doing), he's going to bring all his children no matter how many he has. If there's no day like that, who cares! He's bringing his kids anyway and nobody's stopping him. Sure, he will get scolded by Azul but if that's the only thing stopping him then he'll take his chances.

I don't if it's still Christmas or not since I don't celebrate it but if it's still is, Merry Christmas! 🎉 I'll just say this is a Christmas gift for you and your friend, Mouaietaru! Especially for that Jamil and Silver fanfic that you made. It's very good, keep up the fantastic work! ✨✨✨

-𝕸𝖎𝖗𝖎

326 notes · View notes

evolutionsvoid · 3 years ago

Photo

Serpent of Hate, Guardian of the Wrathful River, Styx is one of five aquatic beasts that dwell in the rivers of the Underworld. Her territory is within the most famed river of this realm, both their names found upon many tongues in the mortal world. The two share the same winding body, slithering through the depths of the Underworld. In this twisting home, she spends all of her time patrolling its waters and shores, keeping an eye out for any who may intrude. Of all the rivers in the Underworld, hers is the one that receives the most warnings. It is not just the trapped souls who are told to avoid these waters, it goes to the regular denizens, guards and higher-ups as well. Do not even dip a single toe into this river, as it is a death sentence to any who violate it. As the regulars down below often say, "there is a reason no one else guards these shores." If one takes a dip or tries to cross this river to escape the Underworld, the wrath of this horrific serpent will come crashing down like a tsunami. The waters will surge and churn, as the massive creature barrels through the depths. All victims usually see is a wave of blue and teeth, then darkness. While all the other rivers of this realm are incredibly dangerous, there is a reason this one is most avoided. Of all the other beasts, she is the strongest by far. Her incredible length and muscly bulk makes her entire body a weapon. Charging through the waters at lightening speeds, she can strike an opponent with the force of a typhoon, obliterating ships and mortals, while sending more durable foes flying. Her length allows her to coil around larger foes and crush them with her powerful muscles, while a single whip of her tail can turn humans into a fine mist. Her raw strength alone makes her a terrifying enemy, but that is not the only weapon at her disposal. In fact, she has many, all which are presented in the form of razor sharp teeth. Styx is bristling with hooked fangs and sharpened teeth, sprouting from the various maws that line her body. All of these pale in comparison to the massive jaws upon her face, as they are large enough to swallow a ship. Simply opening this toothy chasm is enough to create a powerful vortex that sucks in water, fish, vessels and victims. If that whirlpool is not enough to capture prey, her throat is lined with a multitude of clawed tendrils, each eager to seize flesh and draw blood. They reach out like blind arms and strike like hungering serpents, dragging prisoners down into her cavernous maw. Waiting for those who fall in is another boney set of jaws, one that is more suited for slicing and chewing. The glowing hooked teeth on her face are mainly used to trap prey in her mouth, while these skeletal fangs are meant to shred them. It is said that this inner jaw is capable of biting through any material, be it mortal metal or heavenly armor. Everything is devoured and sent into the abyss of her gut, regardless if they are friend or foe. Even if one is lucky to avoid this massive mouth, the rest of her body is covered with hungering teeth, each ready to clamp down on any poor soul. Once the teeth sink in, crushing muscles will pull the victim into her body, where they will be dumped into her horrible stomach. It is said that there is no death within this organ, as victims are left to suffer in this excruciating pit of acid. The wretched fumes of this foul liquid awakens buried grudges and contained anger, turning prisoners into savage, crazed beasts. They will turn on the others trapped in her stomach, turning her body in a cruel and endless bloodbath. How long one must suffer in this pit of blood and poison is unknown, but a way out is known. Eventually she will vomit out unwanted things, be it trash, pardoned sinners or beings she wasn't supposed to eat in the first place. These refuse piles are found deep in the Underworld, as she is very specific on where she dumps her gut. These are foul and miserable spots, but some denizens may be seen rooting around in the filth to find interesting objects or bizarre valuables that wound up inside her. The Styx is known as the River of Hatred, and there is no better beast to guard these waters than her. She is an incredibly angry and violent individual, constantly in a state of seething anger. She views this river as her territory and she refuses to let a single soul intrude upon it. Her insane aggression has her lash out at any beings who dare touch her water or try to cross it, regardless of their power or authority. Her senses appear to be fine tuned to this river, as she immediately knows when someone dipped their foot into it miles away. With her strength and speed, she practically teleports to the site of the offense and immediately goes on a rampage. Any who are in the water will be quickly devoured, while those on shore will be seized in her tendrils and fed to her grinding maw. Boats and dinghies are not safe from her wrath either, as she can also sense when an unwanted craft touches the surface. These vessels barely stand a chance against her, as she reduces them to splinters in moments. It is said that guards near this region of the Underworld turn a blind eye to souls that try to fashion ways of escape, as they get endless amusement from watching these fools be devoured. She doesn't seem to find it so fun, as she throws a tantrum when anyone treads her territory, even thrashing and screaming long after the last offender has been eaten. This hatred she embodies even seems to emanate from her, coming off in that strange blue glow. Those who gaze at any of her numerous lights will begin to grow irritated and frustrated. Their anger will rise with each passing moment, until they are blind with rage and throw themselves into the river to extinguish this infernal glow. Those who succumb to this spell rarely last a second in these waters, as her wrath is far greater than anything they could muster. This insane territorial nature goes with any body of water she inhabits, as she is just as furious with intruders when she winds up in the mortal realm. If she is somehow dumped into one of humanity's oceans, she will be on the warpath. Trading routes and fleets will be demolished, as she views every one of these vessels as a threat and an annoyance. Crowded waterways and popular beaches will turn into a feeding frenzy, as she swoops in to devour dozens with each gulp. While these appearances seem to be caused by random chance or cruel fate, some say Styx is actually tricked into entering the mortal realm by the rulers and denizens of the Underworld, who are desperate to be rid of her.

Though she is a valuable guardian, it is well known that Styx is not a popular member of the Underworld. Her endless rage and furious nature causes her to turn on practically anyone. It is not an exaggeration when it is said she will attack anyone who disturbs her river. Guards, officials, rulers and even gods are considered enemies in her eyes, and she will throw herself at them if they dare make a single ripple. There are many stories of her causing chaos and destruction at inopportune times, especially since the river is a sacred site for ceremonies and pledges. Many oath swearings have been ruined when an audience member accidentally disturbs the waters and summons Styx and all her fury. There was also the instance when a certain guard dog decided to take a drink from the rushing river. It took hours to pull the two screeching creatures apart, as it was a tangled chain of bloody teeth and locked jaws. There are even rumors that the god of this very realm is not safe from her fury, as she refuses to acknowledge his divinity. It has been noted that he only crosses the Styx upon the ferryman's boat, which officials claim is for ceremonial purposes. Others secretly believe it is because there is no other way he can cross without angering the vile serpent. Even though she flies into a blind rage whenever any breathing creature looks at her funny, there are a scarce few beings that Styx tolerates. It seems that the ferryman is the only sailor that can cross her waters undisturbed, as she will never bring harm to his boat. At first it was believed that his vessel had some kind of protection or spell that warded her away, but further observation has shown that she is passive around this fellow. When he is crossing the river, she will be swimming close by, keeping close to her friend and also waiting to see if any fool falls from the boat. At times he may sit upon the shores of the river, and she may rest her head upon the sand for both company and comfort. Of all the beings in the Underworld, he is the only one who can seemingly rein her in. When she starts attacking a sacred ceremony or is trying to eat some divine guest, folks are quick to find the ferryman and bring him in to stop her. Styx also seems to begrudgingly tolerate the other river keepers, always grumbling and growling but never fighting. She does admit that their respective rivers are their territory, so she does not invade them without permission. She does also observe the great marsh where the five meet as neutral ground, she is just always cranky about it. Regardless, it has been seen or heard that Styx has some hidden fondness for the other river beasts. She has been seen watching Acheron's sadistic hunting techniques and appears to enjoy the show, though if anyone asks, she will say that Acheron is an immature child who is incapable of taking her role seriously. Cocytus is often seen as an grating annoyance, with Styx having no time for her wailing. Her singing and crying is met with shouts and demands for her to shut up. Styx often chastises her for being so emotional and not getting over these stupid worries. However, Styx has been seen being quite miserable after these cruel outbursts, often hiding away somewhere to stew in self-loathing. She knows quite well that Cocytus is not the only one plagued by emotions she cannot control, and she hates herself for inflicting this pain on another victim. While she may grumble about Lethe and her absent mind, Styx is able to find peace and calmness when bathing in her forgetful waters. When hanging close to Lethe, Styx is momentarily freed from her endless anger, giving her a rare chance to relax. When she is free from this influence though, she is quick to return to her rage, suddenly thinking that this was some ruse or trick to get her to drop her guard. As for Phlegethon, Styx says that the fiery beast is a constant source of irritation with her stupid dances and vain attitude. As a vigilant guardian, she believes Phlegethon has gotten the wrong job, as there is no time for extravagant shows and grand performances. The burning slug's ego and self-praise really gets Styx wound up, and every self-compliment that arises is met by biting insults and angered muttering. Though Styx often yells and mocks Phlegethon, the two have been seen together quite often. Styx insists its because the egotistical dancer is obsessed with getting her approval, which she will never give. However, the serpent is quite bad at hiding her enjoyment of these performances or when Phlegethon gives some subtle flattery. Styx would never admit such a thing, as the burning hatred that flows through her body makes such confessions difficult. Thankfully, it seems Phlegethon is aware of this curse, and sticks close with the fuming serpent in hopes of finally breaking through. --------------------------------------------------------------------- And end it with a sea serpent! Excellent! That is the last of my Beasts of the Infernal River and boy was it a blast! I love these gals and Styx was a really fun one! This project was nice and easy for me, as there were only five this time! Now I must return to the hunt, to find the next big thing to chip away at. Hopefully I can find some other short ones, as it gets quite tough when I got to come up with ten or more unique designs for something! This is also the end of Kaijune for me! Hope you guys enjoyed what I made! Now that I am done making monsters, I can get back to making monsters!

#styx #monster #creature #sea monster #kaiju #kaijune #sea serpent #gulper eel #eel #art #drawing

44 notes · View notes

amisbro · 4 years ago

Text

If UtaPri had/gets a 5th season...

What would it look like? So this is a question I have thought about for a while because of the fact that I think a lot of people (Myself included) believe there is more of a story to tell in the world of UtaPri. I think with enough time we could get a very interesting idea for a season and honestly I think WHATEVER this project we got coming up actually IS could be an interesting testing ground for something. Let me explain

So if we think about how Season 4 ended it seemed rather definitive. Like the way that message was wrote made you believe ,to a degree, that the series had ended as far as an Anime project. Then we got the end card AFTER that and that kind of made things turn on its head cos no one knew what that was supposed to be until 6th stage happened right? One thing that always stands out to me is the fact that Season 4 was a bit of a mess and I say that in the most objective and neutral way possible because...when you have an Anime that is based on a Manga we typically get a story based around that in some fashion. It might not be panel for panel and word for word but we get one and that is always fun to see how certain scenes get animated for sure. When you do an Anime based on an Otome game you almost always do whomever is considered the “true route” or just leave it open ended so people will want to play the games (which is what I think DiaLovers did when it had its run). UtaPri has a very interesting situation because the series DOES have an idol component (and the Anime made sure to really focus on that mostly) but it is also an Otome game so the studio (A-1 Pictures) had that to work off of for the most part. The problem is that when they were done with the material they DID USE it created a problem because Season 4 was a mess if I am being as objective as possible about it. So here was the problem You had 3 groups in play here STARISH QUARTET NIGHT HEAVENS Forget whom your group was for a second...this was going to be a problem because 2 of the 3 groups had content that was used in the first 3 seasons but Season 4 was going to be a problem. How this would have been remedied I have no fucking idea! Like if Broccoli knew they were going to do this season they needed to get something out BEFORE IT so people would have had something to go off of for HEAVENS so we could have had 7 episodes that made sense instead of episodes where it felt like they didn’t know how to have the HEAVENS member that was being featured in it not look like a complete ass! If we are honest this is what happened and its frustrating to remember One of the biggest issues with the season was that you had a group that HAD been Antags during Season 2. I said HAD because I genuinely believe that the marching orders for A-1 was to write a season where STARISH was still THE focus but HEAVENS could be rehabbed into a group that was more “likable/marketable” so when the time came to sell CDs and merch that they would fly off the shelves and could be a contender to at least QN if not both them and STARISH. As we saw during the Oricon charts it was a puzzling time because the duet CDs sold like garbage in the sense that only TWO our the 7 actually charted in the top 10 Ren/Van - Lovely Eyes Syo/Yamato - Justice Impulse This was the most puzzling thing I ever dealt with because I tried to figure out WHY and to this day the best thing I could come up with is the fact that the CD releases were slated to come 10 days after the episode aired which seemed like the dumbest thing to do (IMHO) because when I looked at Season 3 all of the releases charted in the top 10 and a big reason for that was the gap between CD/Episode was only 4 days...well we got to QN and HEAVENS’ CDs they did VERY WELL in Season 4 and its because of how close they released them (I think) to the episodes...funny how that works! What was really weird also was during the “Duet Project” episodes the writers didn’t know WHO to make the focus of the episodes and that was weird BUT ,looking back on it, this whole season was gonna be weird because of how quickly the season was coming in the turnaround vs. its normal time for a season. Typically a UtaPri season gets a 2 year window and this time they were going under that...about a year and 4 months so this was going to cause a crunch and also a mess of a message as to what the writers wanted to do! I personally believe that the writers wanted to make HEAVENS all the more sympathetic and they were able to get SOME of the backstories in that they could for certain characters but a few others (Nagi and Eiichi for example) “kind of” tried to show you the “why they were acting the way they were” but it felt (at least Internationally) that the episodes didn’t register or if they did not as well as they hoped. I do wonder if a big reason that the content is as out of sorts in terms of balance for HEAVENS vs. the other two groups is because of how jacked up that season got. I genuinely wish I could sit down and discuss that season with someone that was in the room when they were given the orders on how that season was supposed to go vs. what actually happened after the fact! So this brings me back to the “What would a 5th Season look like if we got/get one in the future?” The weird thing is I think A-1 already knows but they have to get the reference materials FIRST before they start writing it. I genuinely think they saw/heard about what happened Internationally when it came to the “NEXT DOOR” saga and they didn’t want to see that happen again so NOW they want to work on these projects to get the idea other there right now that all the groups are separated as first we have STARISH and then no doubt QN but the big question of course is HEAVENS...can they do a concert with them at some point with hopefully more songs under their belt OR will Broccoli start to really consider them a lost cause and that the fandom just doesn’t want them. You can only go with the “Round peg/Square Hole” philosophy so much before people get mad and don’t want to deal with the series (or at the very least HEAVENS) anymore. The other big issue is HEAVENS’ role in Dolce Vita because, As of this writing, we still don’t know ANYTHING about that game...like we don’t know if its a straight up VN or is there going to be something similar to the original La Corda back in the day which ,fun fact time, had Kishou and Mamo in it. Like if anyone would know how a game like that worked it would be them (And they ARE in the new game “Starlight Orchestra” btw) so they HAVE to have had given some input about how the mechanics worked and all that...right?! (Oh and unrelated but Kishou’s original character in Len Tsukimori is a special character in that game. He was unlocked through a campaign we had in that fandom a bit ago) So again...what would Season 5 look like? Well my guess is that it would have to be a STARISH/HEAVENS season again but with new duets unlike last time. The other possibility (And I think they were teasing this at the end of Season 4) is that it would somehow be a HEAVENS/QN season which could be interesting especially if they did something like how Season 2 was probably supposed to go...and in a way didn’t because of how the story worked. The thing is its been almost 5 years since we had a proper season...FIVE! Let’s assume that the “Anime Project” as we know it is over alright? STARISH and QN’s brand is already established so what do you use to help HEAVENS’ get on the same level? That’s a big reason why I don’t think they could/should end the “Anime Proper” because to do that you literally would be cutting off a way to properly market a group that actually needs it vs. the groups that clearly don’t. I won’t go so far as to say that the STARISH/QN Animated concerts are going to be “Vanity Projects” because they aren’t. They are clearly something that Broccoli believed in as far as a project to do for the series BUT I will say that having 7th Stage so close to this project is a bit...weird?! Like okay to be fair this probably was planned well in advance and the Pandemic fucked everything up because it was supposed to be announced at 7th stage in 2020...okay cool fine but let’s say it was right? What stopped them from revealing it at 10th Anniversary when it would have been a bigger “Holy Shit” moment? What was really so important that they had to do EVERYTHING ELSE and not that? Just seemed weird to me. But anyways HOLY SHIT did we go around the block here...I need to stop If you were going to script out a proper 5th season when would you do it and how? The thing to remember is we have a 3 group scenario and now HEAVENS is trying to become an even better group to finally beat STARISH and QN so do you have QN and HEAVENS do a thing together or do you do a 3 cour season where each is dedicated to a particular group? Love to hear your answers on this and take care

#Amisbro #UtaPri #Anime #5th Season scenario #7th Stage #2022 Movies

8 notes · View notes

wolf-555-writer · 5 years ago

Text

Secrets To Keep

A little somethin’ I wrote. Enjoy :)

Natasha Romanoff x Female Reader

Summary: There are enough secrets within SHIELD. It’s built on secrecy. But some are more important to be kept than others. For the sake of keeping your job and your fellow redheaded Agent’s job. Can you keep a secret?

Word Count: 2,937

A firm knock on one of the neutral white doors inside a long, monotonous corridor. Natasha opens. “Hello Agent Romanoff”, a stern voice speaks. She nods curtly as a gesture of greeting. “I’m here for the- uh, mission prep”. Scanning the hallway first, the Agent walks inside as Natasha makes room by stepping back and opening the door further. She closes it immediately after. A black-greyish jacket with a SHIELD logo on its back is hanging on a chair and a pair of widow bites are neatly placed on a wooden desk next to a thigh holster holding a Glock 26. The blinds of the two large windows are half closed. Yet, a small amount of sun rays still manage to pass through which ensure just enough light to see the most beautiful woman in front of you with ease.

“Seriously, was that the best you could do? ‘Mission prep’?”. Visibly hurt by her mocking comment you scoff. “Sorry, okay. I’m not the master spy here”, shrugging your shoulders, “I’m just a simple agent. Besides, I had other things on my mind”. A perky grin appears and Natasha responds, “Hmm, I wonder what that might be…”. Without hesitation she moves closer and kisses you on the lips as her hands make their way to the back of your neck smoothly. Arms wrapped around her waist tightly, you press her body against yours as if you hadn’t felt her in ages. After your lips parted, you assure her, “Next time I'll think of something better, okay”. And the next time, and the next time after that… Thinking back to what Natasha had said, “SHIELD is basically all about keeping secrets. Everyone has them here, so what difference would one more make?”. She was obviously right. Not about the difference it would make, though. Because when it gets out, serious consequences will follow. Without a doubt. But those worries quickly fade due to the current sight in front of you. Natasha has taken off her shirt, showing her lean waist and well developed muscles. She rests her arms on your shoulders and raises her eyebrows. “Phone?”, is the only word that comes out. “Oof, that just hurts. Simple agent or not, I ain't no amateur Nat. I left it in my locker at the training facility. You?”. She grins, “It's turned off”, and moves her eyes to the desk where you see the piece of tech behind her arsenal of weapons. Can’t be too careful.

Her lips touch yours again, but this time with more passion and desire. She pulls on your shirt as it lifts up, exposing the skin on your lower back. Her hands feel warm and soft now that they make their way upwards, sending ripples of pure joy through your entire body. The heated kissing is interrupted by your shirt that needs to pass. The item of clothing is tossed away quickly, ending next to Natasha’s near identical one. She starts to undress further while you sit on the edge of the bed to loosen the laces of the combat boots. Cocking an eyebrow at the redhead. “See something you like, Romanoff?”, you tease, seeing Natasha glance at you while she bites her lip. “Oh, I see a lot that I like…”. Not getting enough time from the redhead to remove your pants as it’s still dangling around your knees when you hit the soft mattress. You try to wiggle your legs in a way that the thick slacks come off and it lands on the floor beside the bed. Sensing the warmth and weight of Natasha’s body on yours, you let out a long breath and close your eyes. Her lips touch the skin on your neck, your chest and you feel her red hair tickle while she hovers over. Opening your eyes, you stare at her. Both your hands on her hips while she sits upright on top of you. She runs her left hand through her hair to get it out of her field of vision. A cheeky grin forms at the corner of her mouth as her intense green eyes stare down at the person underneath her. Eyes still locked on the woman on top of you, wanting to never lose sight of her. She leaves you completely breathless. Everytime. Over and over again.

How in the world did I get so damn lucky?

Natasha’s lovely voice snaps you out of dreamy thought. “So, how was your day?”. “Come on Nat”, you look away and sigh, “You for real? You wanna talk about that right now?”. “Well, yes, I’m just interested in your daily activities, or stuff that bothers you. That’s no crime, is it?”. Meanwhile playfully drawing with the tip of her index finger over the muscles in your abdomen that have become sore from the killer workout earlier. She sure as hell knows how to get your blood pumping. And especially, how to make you wait. “Of course not. I would happily tell you all about that. But… I don’t know how much time we have now, so-”. At that imperative statement, intensified by your sad puppy eyes, she places both hands on the pillow, each one beside your head, giving you an exclusive view. “You got no patience at all, you know that don’t you”. Your hands slowly start to move up her waist, towards one of the only two pieces of clothing she’s still wearing. “Yeah, I’ve been told it’s one of my many charming qualities. But I mean…”, letting your eyes drift away along her fine features, “can you blame me?”. She laughs, “Just shut up”. Her lips centimeters away from yours, you can almost taste that addictive sweetness again, a wide smile present on your face. Then she stops and freezes. By now you've surely waited long enough, right? It’s not funny anymore. You shake your head confused and cease the unstrapping of underwear. “What’s wrong?”

“Romanoff? I know you're there”, followed by a fist banging on the door. “Shit”. “Is that-”. “Shhh”. Natasha grabs her pants and shirt and slips them on in seconds. Never seen anyone dress that fast before. While you stay quiet, pulling the sheets to cover your almost naked body and to hide your presence, Natasha opens the door just a crack. “Yes?”. “Did I interrupt someth-”. “What do you want Barton?”, Romanoff interjects.

“We’re expected for an emergency briefing. Coulson called us in. Didn’t you check your phone?”. Natasha ignores his last remark and replies, “Ok, I’ll be right there. Give me a couple seconds to get ready and get my gear. You go ahead, see you there Barton”. Almost back to complete privacy, closing the limited air gap, when Natasha’s movement is countered. Barton presses up against the door with force which is clearly noticeable in his voice. “And what about (Y/N)?”. “Yeah, what about (Y/N)?”. “Do you know where she is? She’s also needed and doesn’t answer her phone too. Quite a coincide-”. “Nope. Just check the training facility, she's probably there. See you in the briefing room”, and with a final, powerful push she shuts the door in his face.

A short lean against the doorframe and a muffled sigh that couldn’t possibly be described as relaxing turns into instant action. Natasha strides to the desk with two long paces. “Get up, we gotta move”. The rule seemed obvious at the time. She grabs her phone and can't help but think that it wasn’t the smartest move. That maybe the two of you have been too careful. You climb out of the bed and pick up the black pants of your SHIELD uniform to put it on. “Does he know?”, you ask, reaching for the shirt on the floor while pulling the pants up. “No he doesn’t, but hurry. He’s looking for you and we can’t be late (Y/N). Not again”. Noticing a pinch of distress in between the lines. But mostly annoyance caused by Barton showing up in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

“I knew it!”, a voice from the hallway shouts out. Natasha dashes to the door and swings it open, causing Barton to almost fall over from leaning against it. Apparently still in the wrong place. He looks at you with wide eyes as you’re busy with putting on the shirt in haste and switches to Natasha again. “I knew it”, he repeats with less volume and a grin reaching from ear to ear.

Natasha stays quiet, staring at Barton with a piercing gaze that screams nothing good. “What the hell man”, you call out as you’ve joined Natasha, swiftly tucking the shirt in to give a more professional appearance. Not that it matters anymore, because the damage is already done. At least you're fully dressed again - finally.

“We need to go”, Romanoff states blankly and marches off. Without saying another word about what just happened, you both follow the redhead. An awkward silence hanging around the three agents now that Barton managed to squeeze himself in between Natasha and you. She feels a pair of eyes trained on her and sighs as she eventually ends the absence of sound.

“Just-”, she raises her arms, agitated by the turn of recent events, but drops them just as fast as a sign of surrender. “Keep it quiet okay. I’d like to stay in SHIELD, keep my job”. “Yeah, and me too”, you add firmly. Worries rising to the surface once more.

“I would never screw you over like that, Nat. You know me. (Y/L/N) here on the other hand…”, motioning at you with his thumb, “I’m guessing gets enough screwing”, he snickers. “You think you’re very funny, don’t you Barton”, you say annoyed, glancing at him with narrowed eyes. “On occasion, yes”. “Jokes aside, I’m dead serious, Clint”, Natasha expresses. He better not make another joke, you recommend inside your head. For his own sake, judging by Natasha's, well, everything. “I know, Nat”. He gives her a small nod. “My lips are sealed. You can trust me”. A short, reassuring smile appears on Natasha’s features. Confirmed what she already knows. Of course she can trust him.

En route to the briefing room, in a more crowded hallway now with Barton leading the way when he gazes over his shoulder. “So… how long has ‘this’ been a thing?”, he asks, pointing his finger to connect the two of you. With an inquiring look in his eyes, unable for you to see, he rubs his chin as if buried in deep thought. After a few seconds of intense thinking Barton turns around. “I’d say somewhere after that covert mission in Berlin two weeks ago. Probably needed to share one room, with only one bed. No doubt. It always starts like that. Always”. You and Natasha exchange a look. She chuckles lightly. A suggestive smirk on your face when you respond, “This ‘thing’ has been going on a lot longer. But Berlin was much fun, I’ll give you that”. The disbelief in his eyes made Natasha add, with a quick wink, “Let’s just say we’re good at keeping a secret.”

Barely recovered from all the new information Barton received this afternoon he notes, “But now it’s like, our little secret, isn’t it”. At these words Natasha shoots you a glance. One you recognize all too well. “No, we ain’t gonna do that”. “Admit it, it would make it a lot easier”, she whispers with clenched teeth. “No no, way too messy. I gotta stop you there Nat, not a good idea. This is your assassin brain talking”. “Too messy?”, she scoffs. “Do you even know me? I've got my ways (Y/N), you don't even want to know...”. “True. I don't. Ever”. Even though she has dropped her reinforced steel walls around you, it still remains a mystery what goes on in that head of hers. Maybe for the best.

“What you guys talking about?”, Barton questions as he stops to open the two glass doors blocking the current path. “Uh, nothing. Hope we’re not too late”, you quickly cover and all enter. Standing at the other end of the circular conference table, Coulson looks up from the file he’s holding and flatly states, “Agents, you're late. Close the door. Quickly. We have an important mission to prepare for.”

“Mission prep, huh”, Natasha repeats while she eyes you. Shut up, you mouth to the agent in question. You'll have to do what you've been doing for a while now. With success, fortunately. Flip the switch and be an agent again. Same goes for Natasha. Be each other's colleagues, and just that. How long will we be able to keep this up? You shortly look at the Russian spy. How long will I be able to keep this up? To hide it, you rethink as Coulson's words fly past you. One thing's for sure, whatever happens, I won't ever regret the time spent with this amazing woman, with whom I've secretly fallen in love with…

BONUS: The concise, but clear briefing finished rapidly and you march towards one of the quinjets that’s ready for takeoff. The gear needed for the assignment already packed inside. Clearly a serious matter of urgency behind it, you reckon, suddenly starting to feel guilty about your lateness. You pinch your shirt awkwardly, pulling it down and square your shoulders. Something’s off. Coulson is leading the way and in the distance you spot some other agents waiting on the aircraft, all geared-up. Not like Barton, Romanoff and you. Natasha and Clint are walking in front of you, just chatting, completely relaxed. Not like you. “Hey, pssst”. You tap Natasha’s shoulder. She turns her head over the spot you’ve touched with an expression that reads, what? “Just- come over here”, you signal with your hand as unseen as possible. She slows her pace. “What is it?”. “I think I’m wearing the wrong shirt”. “What do you mean wrong shirt? We have to gear-up on route. Did you already forget what Coulson said to us minutes ago?”. She laughs, but you can’t seem to share it with her. “Well, this is not mine, that’s what I’m saying”. You grab a piece of fabric of the dark shirt to show. Now that Natasha understands what you really mean, she’s trying her best to keep herself from bursting into laughter. “That explains why mine is a little more ‘loose’”. “And mine too tight…”, you grunt. “Can't we like, switch or something?”. “When do you honestly think we can do that?”, she voices discreetly, both stepping on the tailgate of the plane. “I don’t know, maybe-”. “Just accept it for now”. “But-”. “We’ll swap shirts after the mission, okay”. A low growl escapes your mouth. She’s right, you have no other choice at the moment. There’s no time. You grab the gear reluctantly while dropping your shoulders and sigh. Perhaps a little too loud.

“Everything alright, Agent (Y/L/N)?”. Coulson’s sudden presence behind you surprised you and with one quick movement you turn around, a poker-faced expression. “Yes sir, all fine”, you lie. Probably for the best, all things considered. Or not? “Well- actually, it’s not fine”. You reconsider. Should I tell? I’m sick of the secrets. But I can’t, I really can’t. I know damn well what the consequences are... “Sir”, you begin, scraping your throat. The Agent in charge of the operation waiting patiently for the words that are about to be spoken. “I would like to apologize for being late to the briefing earlier”. “Oh, it's all cleared up. Just don't let it happen again Agent (Y/L/N)”. “How so?”. “Agent Barton explained the situation”. Did he now? Feeling a slight panic, but mostly anger boiling inside your stomach. “Sir, just out of interest, what did he tell? To make sure he isn’t covering for my very own mistake. The truth is more important”. Except in this case of course. “He told me that you were with Agent Romanoff”. Not making it better Barton… The idea formed by a certain redhead's assassin brain doesn’t sound so bad anymore. “Did he also say what we were doing?”. “I’m not sure why you want to know all this, but he said Agent Romanoff and you were training in close-quarters combat. Correct?”. We were surely close, very close, though not a lot of combat involved… “Almost sir, we were actually training our knife-fighting skills. Don’t want to be stabbed in the back by surprise”. Shooting a quick glance at Barton, who returns a way too excited smile your way. “Usually I take my phone with me on the mat, but this time I left it in the locker”. Technically not a lie, one of the few truths to your story. “Luckily Agent Barton was there to bring you and Agent Romanoff in”. “Yes he was”, you agree, trying to sound as neutral as possible. Coulson continues. “I haven’t had the time to tell, but Agent Romanoff and you did an excellent job in Berlin a couple weeks back”. “Thank you sir. I thought so too, if I may say”. Replaying some images of that mission in your mind, but definitely some other scenery than to what Coulson is referring to. You buckle up and hear him speak. “Agents, last mission briefing in 30, just before we’ll touch down. Be ready”. Wishing you could go back to Nat’s room, the moment just before Barton ruined all the fun, and without this cramped shirt on. Actually, without any clothing on. You sigh once again. This is going to be a long day…

#natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff imagine #natasha imagine #natasha romanoff fic #natasha x reader #marvel #mcu #wlw fiction #wlw imagine #wlw fic #clint barton #phil coulson #shield #fanfiction

157 notes · View notes

bigskydreaming · 4 years ago

Note

You said the other day that you don't really like Talon stories. Do you mind saying why?

LOL they’re just not really what I’m here for? Idk, I think people tend to make a bigger deal out of this than it actually is even in my head, maybe because Talon stories have so quickly become such a staple of fics that it just seems weird not to like them? And its not like I’ve never liked one or been intrigued by a premise, I have, though specific recs elude me at the moment, there’s one I was reading on ff.net I really enjoyed, it was YJ verse.....

But honestly its really just that a recurring theme of Dick’s stories in canon - and one of the things I turn to fanfic for in the first place, to get away from, to read something ELSE about him - is dehumanization. Reducing his sense of self, brainwashing or controlling him, making him other than he usually is, even just in temporary ways....it gets old. I come to fanfic hoping to read and write stuff beyond that, and Talon fics are so often even heavier on the dehumanizing him aspect of things, like making him even more mindless than most Talons in canon are ever portrayed, and don’t get me started on how often they just flat out refer to Talon Dick as ‘it’.....its just a no thanks from me. Just not what I’m looking for.

Add to that other incidentals, like, its completely understandable in context of these narratives that the Batfam feel they have to restrain Dick while he’s a Talon and in the Batcave, but again, its just not something I’m looking to read? Because for example, another big theme of mine is how uncomfortable and unwelcome I think Dick’s come to feel in Wayne Manor over the years, given the many times Bruce has essentially kicked him out and how little effort he’s made to make it into a home for him again (like I think there are more reasons than just grief that Dick lived in the penthouse rather than the Manor when Bruce was believed dead and Dick was in charge of his estate)....so when you look at things from that angle, which I’m just kinda predisposed towards doing, the imprisonment angle of Talon fics (and the attitudes of a lot of the Batcharacters as they go about it, like they’re just being pragmatic, Dick will understand - yeah he might understand but that doesn’t mean there won’t be mental and emotional undercurrents of resentment and hurt to that understanding)....like, its just one more way/reason for Dick’s childhood home to be turned against him and made a place where he feels or will remember feeling explicitly unwelcome. I’m not saying its WRONG to take that angle in fics, lol, I’m just saying....its not for me. Its just not what I’m looking for.

Also its a bit of a pet peeve to see Talon abilities viewed as an upgrade rather than something inflicted on him by his tormentors and at BEST somethting Dick would have very conflicting views on - and tbh this isn’t limited to just him, I have similar thoughts about how Cass might feel about her own abilities and how even now that she can communicate well with others, she still feels somewhat different or removed from most people because of this ‘superpower’ that had to be ABUSED into her and that she would have traded for her father’s actual love any day - but I mean, there’s a thing in a lot of Talon fics where alongside the dehumanization angle, which Dick isn’t even just expected to just ‘get over’ once he’s back to his regular mental awareness, because its usually never even delved into, how he feels about the fact that for awhile there, he was nothing more than an ‘it’ even in his family’s eyes, and IMO he’s like, funny, I’m pretty sure I’m still the only person in this body all along, so if it was just an it to you, where exactly did you think I was? But aside from the angst I feel he SHOULD have from thinking about how easily he was viewed as just a mindless tool and pawn and thing by people, there’s a tendency to hop, skip and jump to him being okay with his Talon ‘upgrades’ because they make him so much more effective....and there’s just a WAY this is usually gone about that like, for me, glosses over how effective he was without them, and the fact that none of his family members seem to need or think they need them themselves to be effective....and somewhere in all that, it seems to get lost that the whole reason the Court even WANTS Dick so badly is because of how effective he is even already.

Plus - there’s my personal annoyance with how characters with super-fast healing are treated in narratives across the board. In comics, books, movies, shows, fics, everywhere - I ranted about this a TON in Teen Wolf fandom, its a complaint I have with Wolverine and his family in Marvel comics, etc....I vastly dislike how often its just treated as assumed that just because a character heals rapidly, like....the actual trauma and pain of injuries inflicted might as well not even matter. Like, that’s not how it works IMO? When I think about a time I broke an arm, I’m not thinking about ‘oh it barely matters because it only took a couple months to heal and when I view that in the context of my whole lifespan that’s barely anything, it was so fast’....like no, I’m thinking about what it felt like when I actually BROKE it. There’s a tendency, I feel, when characters get an ability to make an injury disappear out of sight out of mind rapidly, to just view the emotional and mental consequences of injury being inflicted as negligible, and not really mattering anymore, and I heavily disagree with that logic. IMO, these characters throwing themselves headfirst in front of everyone else as a human shield, while practical in one sense of the word, is also like, begging to be examined as oh I see, so basically you’re saying that now that you no longer need to be treated with care because you’re invulnerable, you’re worthless and the pain that goes along with all those injuries you get 100x more of now, that’s like...meaningless and fake news.

I mean, even if you make an argument for Dick no longer having pain receptors (which I’d also be heavily against because uh, if you go that route you’re also inadvertently suggesting things about his sensory input and ability to feel varying degrees of touch across the board and again its more the lack of examination of that as much as anything else that’s things that make me go mmmm no thanks)....the injuries are still being inflicted and there’s still gonna be psychological damage inflicted from processing that no one seems significantly bothered by him being ‘family niche - human pincushion for the prevention of others saying oww’ without so much as commentary.

And lastly, did I mention, I just really really reeeeeeally dislike the dehumanization angle that tends to go hand in hand with these fics.

But for the record, like, I honestly do like the Court of Owls and what they bring to Dick’s stories because all of this, ironically is precisely why they DO play so well into his core themes of autonomy and independence and self-determinism. Its just, I’m here for fics where Dick triumphs over them and their attempts to hijack him and his life for their own agendas, and I feel like a lot of the time we see a Pyrrhic victory at best, when going the Talon route, and a lot of THAT time its not even regarded or treated as such, but rather a full victory with no real examination of how Dick’s life is different now, how he’s changed not just by what was done to him but by how he was treated by BOTH sides WHILE it was done to him?

And the other element here is like....the Court and their presence in his fics doesn’t HAVE to equal making him a full on Talon along the way, just like it never has in canon. I don’t view the fulfillment of what’s inherently a THREAT to his character as an improvement UPON his character. *shrugs* But also there’s just so many avenues for angst or emotional tangles when it comes to the Court even without making Dick a Talon himself.....just have him picturing or having nightmares of imagining his parents turned into Talons and how horrifying he’d find that, or worry in the wake of revelations about the Court that his family is now looking at him differently, imagining the threat HE could be when he hasn’t even done anything. Or there’s the angle of Bruce knowing but not telling him to try and protect him but that causing conflict OR you could go a route I’ve never seen done before, and like, have Dick and Bruce come into conflict with the Court before any of the others come along and like, save Dick from ever being made a full Talon but the point is years later the Court resurfaces and they and their plans for Dick are a complete revelation to his siblings and there’s perfectly understandable conflict because of that even if the reason is as simple and equally as understandable as Bruce didn’t feel it was his to share if Dick didn’t want to, as long as they honestly thought the Court had been neutralized, and he respected that its a painful topic to Dick that he wasn’t trying to hide, he just flat out didn’t want to talk about so it never came up.

There’s a lot that can be done with the Court, but usually they’re just utilized as a prelude to Talon Dick Grayson and bottom line is that’s just not somewhere I’m usually looking to go, personally.

BUT in the spirit of me being completely contradictory as always, again its like I said, there are some here and there that I really get into, there’s a YJ one that really delves deep into Dick’s emotions on all of this and has a prequel set during Jason’s Robin days, when they first encounter the Court, I forget the title but someone feel free to drop it in the notes if you know what I’m talking about, and @dustorange always does interesting things with the Court and Talons that’s different each time and I’m sure I’m forgetting more, so its not like.....a blanket across the board nope thing. Its just I have particular reservations about HOW a lot of Talon and Court fics play out that I’m just....not the right audience for simply because its not what I’m looking for in fics, personally.

10 notes · View notes

fellwhite · 4 years ago

Text

SwitchTale

(Im not sure if that name is taken and its just a temporal name, it will be changed later)

Tws: Genocide, death

Just a heads up, this will be a long post cause i have no idea how read more works in mobile, also i do not know if someone has had this idea before so bruh, anyway here we go:

Basically, the concept is that instead of Chara being the first fallen child, Frisk will be the first one to fall instead in an underground where Asriel hasn't been born yet, effectively swapping Chara and Frisk's roles

And also Asriel is still just a child on Chara's arrival and he will help them go through the underground

This idea was based mostly on Epictale! But in this case it's on the classic undertale. Epictale by @yugogeer012

Frisk being the first one to arrive made A LOT of changes in the underground, some of them being by example:Toriel and Asgore didn't get divorced or anything, but they have been separated for decades, some monsters being more passive, while others are more aggressive, a similar yet fairly different underground with new chara-cters and more.

I still haven't figured out a lot of stuff so yeah this will have plenty of plotholes or things that make no sans-e. But anyway

Characters:

Frisk:Attack 20 Defense 25

*The first fallen human

*A rather kind and passive human child who heavily dislikes humanity and loves their monster family,while most of the time they act very nice sometimes they can lash out revealing their not-so-friendly side,their metods to achieve what they want or to do what they think is right are a bit extreme sometimes,loves puns and dominates flirting, their favorite food is charamel and chocolate

Chara: Attack 30 Defense 20

*The last fallen child

*A sassy and almost creepy human child,they hate humans but they're a bit more nice to monsters, they love chocolate,hugs and golden flowers

*Asriel is their best friend

(Chara's personality will heavily change depending on the route)

*Toriel: Everyone's favorite goat mom, she stays mostly the same but she is more protective and better trained at fighting, her fight is significantly more difficult in all routes

Asgore: The king of the underground and a big fluffy dad, his fight is a lot more difficult since he feels even more guilty and he's more desperate to end this, he wields his good ol'trident and will sometimes use a knife, he fights in genocide too. Asriel is forced to stay on the entrance to the throne room by royal guards so you have to face the king alone

Asriel: Everyone's favorite fluffy boi, he becomes Chara's best friend in just a couple days and he will help them go trough the underground

He's against murder but he will protect Chara either way and might even take a life for them

In genocide he will disappear after Toriel's death

He's 12 years old

THE GREAT PAPYRUS: Paps is a former member of the royal guard and he is a lot more serious with his job, he still won't kill you and there's also a lot less puzzles on Snowdin because of his job and instead there's a lot more royal guards in the way (mostly dogs)

He still hates his brother's puns and still has great self esteem but he is more aware of many things,he has a bit of knowledge on timelines and resets thanks to Sans but he still does not know when a load happens

Sans: The funny bone man, brother of Papyrus and another member of the royal guard (against his will) Sans is one of the characters with the most changes, he joined because of Papyrus and now has 2 Defense and 2 Attack, still 1hp, still does a lot of puns but just like Papyrus he's more serious and he will fight you once before the fight with paps to prepare you (he can't be killed in that fight as he will dodge and he will use only some simple bone attacks). He fights you on all routes in the last corridor unless you're in neutral and you didn't kill Papyrus, he is not the last genocide boss anymore, still has gaster blasters and karma but both are used only in genocide

Mk:????

Undyne: More ruthless and negative, her fights are all harder but not too much, she is even more determined than before and bleeds during genocide route, her undying form is pretty much the same but the heart in her armor is constantly changing from green, yellow and to white

You'll depend on Asriel to survive

Alphys: Our number 1 lizard nerd

Alphys is another character that's pretty different, she's more confident but she still is very shy, she's also more less kind at the start so you'll have to make her trust you first, she'll be against you for a bit in hotland but she will start to help you once Mettaton tries to kill you with the chainsaw (which by the way it's an usable item here and you get it on all routes after the Mettaton fight, it's the second most powerful weapon only behind the true knife)

Mettaton: He's literally the same, in fact he's a bit easier but has a longer fight and a couple new weapons, in genocide his NEO form can take only 7 hits but the attacks are very long and devastating. Asriel stays out of this one as it's a 1v1

Napstablook: they're a little bit more confident but still incredibly shy, their fight is easier but takes a couple more turns and you will need Asriel to help you

Muffet and Grillby: They united their places in order to have a better chance for their businesses to survive, it worked out really well but they constantly fight. Muffet is the exact same but a bit more stressed and Grillby is more talkative, Muffet offers drinks now aswell as spiders, and the same goes for Grillby

Temmies: hOI

Red: yes baby Red is here too, she appears around the CORE with 2 dog guards (which she mentions on her original fight) and she's an main boss and character

W.D:????

There's some additional characters that i added, like Captain froggit, yes their name is literally captain so their position is quite convenient, and a few more here and there

Toby isn't here, instead there's a wolf with... An smiling face? (yep that's me)

A few additional changes:

Frisk is viewed as an mostly chaotic neutral and inclined to chaotic good, but in genocide this changes ti chaotic evil

Yes Frisk is the narrator and acts somewhat similar to Chara

Both Chara and Frisk use they/them, i personally view em both as female and nonbinary respectively but i'll leave it like this to avoid discourse or anything

Napsta is nonbinary and uses they/them and he/him, prefers they tho, i left them like that since i haven't seen much discourse about Napsta's gender so bruh

Sans and Paps are ??????'? sons

Since im no Toby Papyrus can use his special attack (which is a blaster here) but he will hold back by himself in his fight

Some notes:

There's some guard campaments and the royal guard headquarters, only the campaments are accessible but you can see the hq from far away

You can ask me any doubts or anything idm

There will possibly be a comic, plenty of art, a written version or even possibly a couple playable fights in the future, but it will be a while before that happens

Odds are it will be all written but im not sure yet, references will be on an individual post

The au name is subject to change

THIS IS MY FIRST TIME DOING ANYTHING LIKE THIS SO ITS A TOTAL MESS IM SORRYYYALCKAOFKAOC

9 notes · View notes

the-arcana-randomness · 5 years ago

Text

Arcana Short Stories - Winter Cuddles ~ Muriel (fluff) and Valerius (kind of smut)

Requested by: @waitforawonder who gave me some creative freedom, so I went both routes. Cute and sexy. Hope you enjoy.

P.S. OC is gender-neutral here and stories are written in first person.

Muriel

Since the sun set the cold outside has been getting more ruthless by the hour. I’ve been in the hut with Inanna just doing random things, like reading a book, making some food and warm chocolate… Muriel has been out for a while. He went to check on the magic charms he set up around the forest and to grab some fire wood as well. I hope he comes back soon, since the fire is almost out. To be honest, I’m getting a little bored and I can tell it’s the same for Inanna.

- Hey girl… - I say softly to her as I pet her.

- What do you think about us doing some decorating while Muriel is still out? It is the holiday season. – I smiled. Inanna wagged her tail and gave me a soft look. She really looked like she was smiling, so I took that as a yes and started gathering some things I could use for decoration, like candles, some old charms and trinkets as well as some evergreen plants that were lying around.

When I was done, the hut looked very warm and homey. I put the evergreen plants on top on the fireplace. Some of them were tied together with some rope I found lying around, other were put into some empty potion bottles. Since I found some containers that were safe to put candles in I did just that and hung a few of them with the same rope from the tree branches that were coming through the ceiling and down into the room. I also hung some old trinkets that shined very pretty in the candle light after being dusted off. They made the whole place light up with soft colors of green, red, blue, pink and purple. It seemed like the Northern Lights were shining right here in the hut. I also put the leftover plants and berries on the table and around the windows. Since the fire was going out, the hut was getting pretty cold, but I guess I didn’t feel it from all the work I got myself into. Regardless, I took some of the furs, blankets and pillows that were on and around the bed and arranged them in front of the fireplace. As I put down the last pillow the door flung open.

- Oh, you’re back. – I smiled at Muriel who stood for a moment at the door. I guess he didn’t expect the change of scenery.

- I was a little bored, so I decided to decorate. – I said already half snuggled in the furs and blankets.

- It is the… - I yawned - …holiday season.

I saw a small little smirk on his face, though hardly noticeable.

- I’ll rekindle the fire. – He said softly, bringing over the fire wood the gathered.

I moved over to allow him access to the fireplace and just sat there with my knees bunched up to my chest and my nose buried in them just watching him. The way the weak flame of the fire lit up his features and showed the ever so slight blush on his cheeks from the cold pinching them made my heart skip a beat. I felt heat in my face, first thinking it’s from the fire, but soon realizing it’s just the sight of him. It made me happy. It only took him a few moments to start the fire back up again and for me to feel its warmth. He quickly brushed the dust from the wood off of his hands and catches me looking at him. It was enough to make him go even redder in the face. I knew I had to act fast if I didn’t want him to run away.

- Can you get the hot chocolate I made? – I spoke quickly – It’s on the table.

He got up and brought the cups over to me.

- Why did you make two? – He growled softly with his low voice.

- One’s for you… silly. – I smiled.

- Oh… - He averted his gaze from me – Thanks…

- You’re welcome.

After a moment of silence, he sat across from me on the furs in front of the fireplace, just staring into his cup.

- You should try it while it’s still warm. – I said.

He took a cautious sip.

- It’s… sweet… - He muttered.

- Like you… - he added after a quiet moment.

That little comment made my heart jump and I could feel that heath in my face again, knowing it wasn’t from the fire.

- T-t-thank you. – Now I was the shy, lost one. Great.

As I was panicking in my head about the compliment I just received from this tall, dark and beautiful man who makes my heart absolutely go wild, he spoke again.

- Are you comfy? You’re sitting all weird.

I didn’t even notice the position in jumbled my limbs into from the panicked he caused in me.

- Oh… Um… - Those were the only words coming out of my mouth.

I started getting cozier in the furs and blankets and my shifting around distracted him. I took the chance and slyly snuggled up to him. He froze just a little.

- Yeah… Now I’m cozy and warm. – I whispered with my head pressed against his chest.

I could hear his heart beating fast and his breathing being heavy. Also, I could, slightly, feel the coldness on his skin still and the smell of snow and myrrh filled my nostrils. As moments passed I could feel his body relaxing and hear his heartbeat get steady. It didn’t take long for me to start dozing off, but before I completely drifted off into dreamland, I felt his hands around me, pulling me closer, hugging me tight and his head fall softly onto the crown of my head, allowing his breath to tangle up in my hair. Last thing I remember before falling asleep in his arms was hearing him whisper: “Happy holidays”.

Valerius

He’s mad at me… again. The situation is like this: I’m sitting on a chair in the Consul’s room wandering what I did wrong now and he’s standing, back turned to me, looking out the window at the falling snow, wine glass in hand. The silence is killing me. I have no idea why he summoned me to his room at this hour, so I’m just replaying all the things I got myself into that he might have found out about. He took a sip of his wine. Ugh, even that was done so graciously. Like everything he does. He’s always so elegant and beautiful and handsome and sexy and hot and- What the hell am I thinking about?! He knows I messed something up and he’s thinking of how he is disappointed in me and how he can’t take the shenanigans anymore and I’m just sitting here thinking about his gorgeous hair and mesmerizing eyes and absolute delicious looking lips and- OH MY GOD I NEED TO STOP! What’s wrong with me? Suddenly, his sharp cold voice broke me out of my thoughts.

- Why are you squirming so much?

Shit.

- Huh? Um… I-I’m not Consul…

- Don’t stutter. I hate when people stutter. – He said, it seemed, more sharply than before.

- Yes, Consul. I’m sorry.

- ‘I apologize’ – He corrected me.

- Yes, Consul. I apologize.

Huh? I could swear I heard him sigh.

- Is something wrong, Consul?

He turned swiftly to face me as if irritated, but not irritated like he usually is by people. This was different.

- Don’t – he started sharply and then cut himself off, as if trying to soften his voice – There is… no need for that.

I was so confused, so I just looked at him.

- No need to address me as Consul… right now. I’m off duty.

He seemed so uncomfortable saying that it was almost funny, but I didn’t dare to even smile, let alone let out a laugh.

- Okay… - I nodded trying to keep my composure.

- What do I address you as then?

He took another sip of his wine. Oh, God… The way he licks his lips after taking a sip... I shook my head hoping the thoughts would fall out of my head.

- What’s wrong? – He said and took a step towards me.

- With me?! Nothing. – I said in a panic.

- Why are you shaking your head?

- I’m not – I just took the ‘straight up denial road’. It was a bad idea, now he’s never gonna let it go, just like he never does and he’s gonna interrogate me until I give up all my secrets and… My mind started spiraling again.

- Ok. – To my surprise he just brushed it off and turned back towards the window.

The snow storm outside was getting worse. We could hear the wind howl through the small cracks in the windows. Shivers went up and down my spine. His room was quite cold, actually. This realization made me let out that little “huh” sound which happens when you’re cold. Valerius turned to me again with a puzzled face.

- Are you cold? – He asked.

- Oh, no, Consul. I’m fine. – I lied.

- I said there was no need to call me that. – He repeated himself, which he rarely does and hates doing.

- Sor- I mean, I apologize… but you didn’t tell me how to address you.

- Just… Valerius… is fine.

That sentence barely left his mouth.

- Alright… Valerius – I said softly and I swear I saw him blush. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

- Um… Why did you summon me here? – I said trying to make him less uncomfortable in hopes of not making him lash out.

He just looked at me for a second, took another sip of his wine with that vexing lick of the lips and turned to the window once again. He’s very shifty… I wonder why.

- I… - He started softly – was bored… and maybe a little… lonely.

That took me by surprise. I had no idea how to respond.

- I thought to myself maybe you could help, since you’re very loud and... Entertaining – He said with a smug smile on his face as he turned back around.

Fuck.

- How can I help? – I brushed it off.

He walked over to the fireplace in his room and threw some more firewood onto a dying fire.

- I apologize, Consul! – I jumped off the chair and ran to him grabbing his hand.

We both froze and looked into each other’s eyes. Our faces were so close, we could almost kiss.

- If you just throw the new logs onto a dying fire it will go out. – I said hastily and took the fire iron from his hand to fix the fire.

In a moment’s notice I managed to fix the fire. It was burning nicely now and the warmth was a nice change in this cold room. Without realizing it I sighed, smiled and started rubbing my hands together enjoying the warmth. I was taken aback when I felt him take my hands into his, so I turned to him in surprise. The look on his face broke my heart. He looked… sad. His eyes were glistening in the fire light with such mysterious emotion I couldn’t help but wonder what he’s hiding behind them, his mouth in an ever so slight pout and those brows showing something resembling the feeling of worry.

- Your hands are really cold – He said calmly.

As he was looking down at my hands in his, a strand of hair fell out of place, travelling across his face, and I couldn’t hold myself back, so I slowly took one hand away and softly tucked the hair back in place. We caught each other’s gaze and my hand lingered on his face for a moment. I felt him lean in a little and just let go. Our lips met and all hell broke loose. The light taste of wine danced across my lips and my tongue. Sudden heath took over my whole body. Kissing him was like drinking wine, for real. I got drunk off of those kisses. The feeling was the same. That dizzy, dizzy feeling in my head and weakness in my knees. Before I knew it we were on the bed and he was kissing me all over. I felt my skin melt where he kissed me and tingles were finding their way down from my stomach… lower. I gave him all of me. No regrets. The feeling of him inside me drove me absolutely crazy. It was incredible and I lost sense of time completely. When we finished, we found ourselves tangled up together in the bed under a bunch of fancy blankets and royally decorated pillows. I saw the run rising out of the corner of my eye, but was too exhausted and ‘drunk’ to care. Every single pillow and blanked smelled so strongly of him and I couldn’t believe I was there right now… with him… like this… Absolute insanity. He was hugging me tightly and breathing into my neck softly. He kissed me one more time and drifted off to sleep in my arms.

61 notes · View notes

exaltatuss · 5 years ago

Photo

General Info:

Name; ████ Nickname; Ma-Chan Occupation; Scientist Age; ██ Race; Human Gender: Female Height; 172 cm Morality Alignment; Chaotic Neutral Eye Color; Hazel Hair color; Brown Misc; White Streaks on her hair

Personality;

For the most part, Ma-Chan is known as a textbook introvert. Prefers staying indoors, is mostly quiet outdoors, and is so much more expressive towards those she is comfortable with. She’s also the ‘brilliant, but lazy’ type, preferring to either sleep or play video games during her leisure time, to the point others actually question how she got into her profession, in the first place. At least, until they hear her input on things. Still, when she’s feeling it, or during the times where she’s focused, she actually can get things done, getting really into what she had set her sights on, to the point that she ruins her own sleep schedule just to focus on what she’s currently focusing on.

She’s also one who really enjoys memes, and silly things, sometimes laughing on the most stupid of things, too, and would most certainly get out of her way to spend a good majority of the time on looking for ‘spicy memes’, as she call them. Some can say that her sense of humor is somewhat dark, too, depending on the situation.

However, she does tend to bottle up her emotions, to the point that she doesn’t speak out whenever people did ostracize or berate her if said occasions do happen. This then would sometimes lead to emotionally explosive scenarios when she does reach her breaking point. Hence, she simply does her best to ignore most things that would stress her, and simply do the things that actually help with alleviating her stress.

Backstory;

Born to, or rather, adopted into an above-than-average middle-class lifestyle, Ma-Chan had it easier than others. What with her being well fed, well educated, and taught to be a good person, in general. However, the expectations for her were high, considering that it was found during her early age that she was more intelligent than her other peers, and thus, had to make sure said expectations were met, keeping a good reputation on her earlier school years as much as she could, all while trying to balance out leisure activity, as well.

However, she did experienced her fair share of misfortunes. To start things off on said misfortunes that really left an impact on her, the supposed ‘aunt’ that should supposedly take care of her during her younger years while her mother had to work abroad, didn’t really do good on that department, and did the opposite. In other words, she wasn’t treated well. At least, until such problem was finally found out by other relatives, and got said aunt away from her before things had gotten worse.

Additionally, her choice of peers were, to be fair, while they were fun, not really the absolute best. On one point, they’d be good with her, on another point, she’d be made fun of. Didn’t help that at times, a few of them pressured her on to do some things due to the fact that she found difficulty on turning them down or simply say no, either by shouldering some of their expenses, or outright giving some of her possessions to them, regardless of the fact that she knew that she won’t be able to get a new one to replace the one she had just given away again. Really, guilt tripping her that she’s “more well in life than them” anyway didn’t help.

All these were a good recipe on why she had inner problems to deal with up to this day. She didn’t opened up to anyone, she didn’t see any therapist, at all, hence why there would indeed be problems she had to deal with as it festered on within her, that can sometimes be seen even to this day.

Yet, despite all this, it was, as funny as it sounded, video games that had helped her cope with things, as well as reading stories and all, and listening to music. These are what kept her together.

Come her university life, and she did think that things would be okay now. A new chapter, so to speak. Everything did turned out initially well. New peers, good memories, and the like. But a few years onward, it only really took an a drinking session with said peers that the following few days, almost everyone of those peers were turning on against her, due to one of them accusing her of something she didn’t even do. The only friend that believed she didn’t do what they were accusing her can’t even help her, due to the fact that they’re outnumbered and all that. This then caused her to shut herself off from others completely, just minding her own business, not bothering on actually trying to socialize much, which also took a heavy toll on her academics.

Upon learning that her adoptive mother died eventually did also added to her distraught more, motivation leaving her and all. She did inherit a good amount of money, and land, and other properties to her name, but from where she’s from, even family relatives, if one were unlucky to be part of such a family, do tend to be enemies, or even go so much as to plot the death of another member, all for the inheritance, so that got her worried as well, considering that its only really her mother that’s holding the others back when she was alive.

She did her best to have her academics on a stable route again, with very much of a struggle due to her being so down in the dumps, but she did found her motivation again, however, and eventually slowly built that up, until she had finally gotten things sorted out a bit, as well as finish her studies.

She had to keep forward, after all. If there’s one thing she had learned from her family that she was adopted to, then it was tenacity. She built herself up, slowly, surely, and was able to finally, at the very least, get herself together enough that she wouldn’t be as self-destructive as she was back then.

Additionally, as well, after meeting Ojou-Sama, it actually helped her piece herself back together more and more, until she’s finally able to get back up to her feet properly this time, without slipping and tripping back down, unlike before.

Life may be cruel at times, or would have a very nasty sense of humor, but she had to continue on, after all. Enjoy what she’s doing in her life, ignore most of the things that can potentially drag her down, make sure she stays alive and not resort to the self-destructive tendencies she had been doing. Sure, she still have to deal with her inner problems, but she’s making sure to make a steady progress.

Be All Smiles.

Facts;

-Whenever she introduces herself by name, there would always be interruptions, or loud noises that would mute that out. Really, a funny coincidence that happens all the damn time, hence she resorted to just give out her nickname. ‘Ma-Chan’. It was, of course, taken from one of the games she had been playing on her smartphone, which in turn, is also a nickname given by one of the characters in-game, considering the main character there is only referred to as ‘Master’ and all.

-The white streaks on Ma-Chan’s hair is natural. Or rather, it was brought upon by constant stress. At times, she also jokes that she’s getting old really early, too.

-As shown on the image above, she was given a really wondrous body that people would kill for. She does get teased or get called out on, due to her eye-catching features, but pays no heed to them, really.

-Since she did also inherit a renting business, she does make sure to keep the rent per month on an affordable level, knowing how hard things can be on the country she came from. At times, when she does make sure that the renter can’t pay up for the month, due to any serious reason, she’d give that month free of charge. Sure, its bad business practice, but its better that way, too. Its either lose a portion of income, or see that person have troubles on thinking where they can find a place to stay in again.

-She did also eventually set up her own research facility, too, that helps with the further development of the world for the foreseeable future. While she did reach some scientific milestones, she really doesn’t brag about it, as there’s no real reason to. She’d already proven herself. That’s enough, and no real need to rub it on other people’s faces.

-See, outside of the science stuff, she applies her intelligence over to playing video games, too, what with doing near perfect runs, or outright perfect runs, at her very first attempt of the game, single player-wise. Multiplayer-wise, she does tend to outsmart and outplay others. This wasn’t really a closed secret, anymore, too. Rather, Ma-Chan didn’t care anymore, when people ask her of such, she simply replies with “Maturity doesn’t mean you have to give up what you enjoy. That’s something we all fail to understand, at times.”

-She only has very few peers at this point, seeing that this is outright better than to make peers with as much people as she could, which she did back during her younger years. And out of the very few peers she can count by hand, its Ojou-Sama that she trusts the most.

-And as stated, the reason why she also had very few peers now is that she has this strong inability to say “no”, hence why she keeps her number of peers very limited, as said inability to say “no” would just lead to a wide array of abuse.

-She’s a fan of several shows, anime, and games, that at times, she’d start making references out of them, from out of the blue. Its funny and silly when she does it. But she doesn’t really mind, anymore.

-She’s an avid fan of the works of HP Lovecraft, or cosmic horror, in general, that she can rattle and talk about things related such for hours on end. Well, such knowledge of such did helped, especially when she and Ojou-Sama, are one of the very select few that get to know of the existence of Vacosians, or simply put, Outer Gods, which then made her realize that these weren’t just the works of a man. This was a very concise, depiction and recollection of very real beings, which were projected into his works. Not only that, but she also found out that other worlds with sentient life, as well as straight up universes, exist too, which also proves the Multiverse Theory, as well. Thus, this all happened due to the Noodle Incident involving her, Ojou-Sama, and █████. Hence, they never really talk about it, or refrain from talking about it. Thus, Ma-Chan keeps a tight lip of their existence. Her only dismay is that horror games wouldn’t be as scary anymore, though.

#I've Got The Winning Formula! (Ma-Chan)#ic #long post #bio #about #cyverse

3 notes · View notes

written-constellation · 6 years ago

Note

okay cool! how about a drabble with changkyun from monsta x, Fwb or mafia au with fluff prompt 8 that you posted? she/her or gender neutral, whichever is easier for you :) only if you want to and please take your time if you choose to do so! ♡

i am so very sorry for just now posting this, but i’ve been going through a lot emotionally and with school, so please bear with me…

But other than that, I really had fun with this. I’m sure it’s not what you imagined, I lost my way writing it at first then just said, SCREW IT!

request guidelines

requests/asks

Be Quiet

Pairing- I. M × Reader

Relationship- Mafia FWB

Genre- it’s whatever you make it

Prompt- 8. If we stay quiet, do you think they’ll forget we’re here?

Word Count: 2.3k

“(Y/N), is the boss home?” The voice rushed and laced with anticipation, “If not… I’m wondering if you’re up for a little fun? ”

You turned to your side, looking at the clock. Seeing that it was 11:40 p.m., you knew that your father was home. I swear this boy has a death wish. The guard men and guard dogs were out patrols by now. The only way to get in the house was through them or your father, but he knew that already.

“Chankyun, you like playing with death, don’t you? You know he’s home. And you know what happened the last time he found out you were here. You’re lucky my dad loves me.”

He began laughing on the other end. You both knew the answer to your question. It was the reason he was in your father’s gang at the prime age of 22. So, he asked you again, and you asked him yours. But instead of getting the response you wanted, Changkyun told you he’s coming over. And there’s no changing his final decision.

“Fine, but you better have a good excuse for coming over. Or you’d better be good at hiding. Don’t abuse my father’s trust.” And with that, you hung up your phone.

The history of you and Changkyun went back decades, from before the either of you were a thought. Your fathers were best friends back in high school. That friendship trailed all the way down to you two. Your older brother and his are best friends, so it was only natural that Changkyun would become yours. He followed you all throughout your school years, and so did the feelings you felt for each other. Then he was initiated into your father’s gang. That completely changed the dynamic of your friendship. He said it was the only real way he could make sure you were always safe. You both cared for each other, but maybe a little too much. Leaving the two of you uncertain of what your fathers’ would say of the two of you.

Rolling on your side, you gazed upon the moon. Wondering if you got far enough from your father that you and Changkyun could live together forever. Even if it lasted but a second. You’d take him any way you could get him. But what you had right now wasn’t enough, nor was it fair. You wanted Changkyun all to yourself, you wanted the world to know he was yours and that you were his. You hated the fact that when you’re together, holding hands isn’t an option. It wasn’t fair that you saw other couples your age, they looked so happy together. All the romance movies and love songs that made you think of him. The thought of Changkyun melts your heart to a liquid only to be instantly frozen and shattered when you remember who he works for. You knew that you were made to love Changkyun and that he was too made to love you. But why does it have to be so hard?

The only way to get his attention the way he was okay with was by playing hooky. Not that you were complaining, but you wanted a real relationship with Changkyun. It had been going on for years, and you were beginning to become worried that he was starting to see you as only a stress reliever. You knew that he’d open himself up for you, but that he also has a reputation for closing himself up from everyone. The thought that he would begin to hide scared you to the bone. You remembered the last time he did. It was a few months before he was initiated, he stopped calling and texting, wouldn’t answer any calls either.

“What’s up baby?” the voice drawing you out of your late night confusion. You could hear the smirk in their voice. For a split second, you were concerned as to how he got into your room, but then remembered you always left the window unlocked.

“My stress level, Changkyun. That’s what’s up. Wait, were you already on your way here when you called?”

You turned to your side making eye contact with him. Looking into his eyes, you saw the playful darkness laced in his gaze. Changkyun didn’t have to open his mouth to tell you. His arm snaked its way across your waist, attempting to sway you into the crazed plan he wanted you to be a part of.

“Changkyun… what are you trying to do?” you suspiciously eyeballed him, moving his hand.

His silence kept you anxious, anticipating his next move. You tried getting a read on him, but he learned to maintain his distant expression. It wasn’t fair, and he knew that. Keeping his distance and planing mischievousness; two things you always had to clean up or cover for. You watched him as Changkyun laid flat on his back, closing his eyes and smirking. As if saying ‘you’ll never figure me out’. You watched him, attempting to at least figure out what he might be trying to do. Once two minutes had passed, it dawned on you.

No…

You shot up from your bed, hands beginning to shake. Your mind told you it was the only thing that would make sense. But your heart told you it had to be something else and that he wasn’t that stupid.

“Changkyun, please tell me what you’re planning?” you pounced into his lap shaking him awake.

“Egar, now are we, (y/n)?-” his hands traveled up your sides, you could tell he heard nothing you said.

“Changkyun! Tell me!”

“Depends on what you think I’m planning-”

“I think you’re planning on having an early grave. I’m serious, Kyun.” You rolled off his lap and sat criss-cross near him.

A mischievous gaze danced across your figure, causing you to squirm. He finally responded after shifting onto his side. Changkyun’s words rolled off his tongue as if they were rehearsed. He said he wanted to sneak you out and catch a ride on a bus and travel the city.

You scooted off your bed as you scoffed. Sneak out, where did he think you lived; in a normal household? You began walking to your closet, looking for pajamas.

“You ready to come out the closet, (y/n)?” Changkyun whispered.

“Very funny, I busted a lung, can you tell?” You sashayed towards your bathroom.

He continued bugging you about it, saying that he was serious. He’d found a perfect little restaurant at the end town and the buses route ended right before there. You continued ignoring him, knowing that anything Lim Changkyun thought of always led to you bailing someone out. You couldn’t understand why he insisted on you agreeing. Normally, he would have given up minutes ago.

You looked in your mirror, noticing him staring at you. You could tell he didn’t know you were but it was nice. It was a change. Most of the time you saw him with the other members or your father, he always looked so serious. Like he could kill you without a second thought. But now, here with you, he looked just as he did back in high school. Changkyun’s eyes were so soft as they followed your every movement. You saw the smile he tried repressing lowly emerge. You quickly looked back at your self as you finished washing your face. Suddenly, your ears perked up at the sound of clucky boots hitting your floor. You quickly turned around, a frustrated pout plastered across your face. His hand slowly held your chin as he leaned in just as slow.

“You know how I hate seeing my baby pout~” He mimicked your dad, provoking you to scrunch your face.

“I can’t believe you’ve done this…” You turned back around and tried putting moisturizer on.

Changkyun’s arms enveloped around your waist, resting his chin on your shoulder. He winked at you in the mirror as he edged his lips closer to your neck, only to quickly shift his head onto your other shoulder. Causing you to exhale quietly. He remained watching you, leaving you restless. You gave in and turned around. He picked you up and sat you on the sink.

“Say 'yes’, please. (Y/N), I promise you’ll love it, and if you don’t you can tell your dad that I snuck you out against your will.” His eyes traced circles around your face and lips.

“You’re not kissing me…”

You slid off the counter and walked back to your room. You could still feel his eyes burning holes into your back. You grabbed a hoodie, sneakers and your wallet. You could feel he hyping himself in his mind.

“You’re not going to regret this, I promise!” He stole a kiss as he ran to your window.You looked at your door and locked it. Your hand lingering on it, quietly praying that this goes right.

~twenty minutes later~

Your leg had begun its notorious shake. He knew you didn’t like sneaking out. It wasn’t because you’re afraid that a rival will see you, you were afraid that your father’s men would come into your room and find that you weren’t there. Meaning your father would more than likely never allow you to hang out with Changkyun. Even if he believed knew that you were friends. You couldn’t imagine being alive without him with you. And almost like he read your mind, his hand held yours, even though he made no eye contact.

The drive was quiet. No one but the two of you and an older gentleman occupied the seats. It was nice, easier for your nerves. The outside world was sleeping, but there you were. Sneaking out to go to a restaurant. You were living what you always read about, watched on T.V., what your mom would tell you about. It was terrifying and yet a breath of fresh air. The neon lights that ran past you reminded you of nights you never had. Changkyun’s hand reminded you of the heartbreaks yet to happen. The hum of the engine spoke of secrets yet to be told. The bumps in the road told you to hold on to him.

“We are here.” His hand grabbed yours as he rose in his seat. You thanked the bus driver as you exited, resulting in a kind smile.

Little did you know, that’s what Changkyun loved most about you. Even though you were brought up in a cutthroat family, with an even more dangerous family business, you still managed to bring light into anyone life. Even if it was for a second.

“Oh, Kyunnie~, it an open-air restaurant!” You ran out to it, dragging him.

“I remembered when we were kids, you used to beg our moms to take us any time we walked past one.”

You smiled brightly at Chankyun and then at the man in charge of the place. He eyed you both, noticing the several piercings and the small tattoos Changkyun possessed.

“What are a couple kids like yourselves doing out still?”

“Looking for some trouble… and food.” Changkyun’s mafia persona was breaking through.

“No, we’re here for food. Please, and thank you.” You nudged him as you moved in a way that caused you to be in front of Changkyun. Causing him to chuckle.

“So, what would you like?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Could you make us two of your favorite dish, sir?”

“Okay. I just hope you like it…”

“Oh trust me, (Y/N) is not picky. As long as it’s edible, it’s okay.”

~thirty minutes later~

Changkyun had forgotten that the buses stopped at 4 a.m., meaning that you had to walk home. But thankfully, you had a friend that was still up who lived down the street from the restaurant. He drove you both back to your place, causing Changkyun to become jealous -that another boy knew where you lived, and that you knew where he lived. But you ignored his antics telling him that you needed him to stay quiet as you both got past the front door, and the guards sleeping on the sofa.

“You know, if your father saw this, he’d forget that we’re coming back in and focus on the point that the guys are sleeping on the job.” He pointed out as you closed the front door.

You had begun tiptoeing across the hardwood floor, careful not to step in the places that creek.

“Did you know, (y/n), Benji is an extremely heavy sleeper?”

And just like that. Changkyun stepped, and the floor yelped. Your heart sank to the floor as the color drained from your body. You rolled behind the couch, careful to make no noise, unlike somebody. Changkyun dipped behind the other one when he saw Benji wake up.

“CHANGKYUN! YOU IDIOT, YOU ALMOST GOT US CAUGHT! YOU JUST HAD TO TEST THAT THEORY, DIDN’T YOU?” You screamed at him through a whisper.

Before you could finish your sentence, you heard Benji cock his gun. You turned to Changkyun, and if looks could kill, there would never have been a trace of him left on the planet. You both stayed quiet as he moved around the living room. The scariest part was when you had to move around the couch as Benji looked behind them. After about two minutes of sheer terror, he went back to sleep.

Before you realized it, your body began making a quiet run for the stairs. Once you made it to your room, you unlocked the door with a hairpin you always kept in your pocket. You crashed on your bed when the door opened. You needed a nap.

“See baby, it wasn’t that bad.” Changkyun teased as he closed the door.

You looked at him and jumped, grabbing his arms and throwing him onto your bed.

“Don’t ever do something that stupid again.” You gripped his chin with urgency, “If I ever agree to sneak out with you again, and we come back home, follow me.”

“But you loved the food, am I right?” Changkyun smirked.

“…Shut up.”

“Then kiss me.”

#changkyun #monsta x changkyun #changkyun imagines #changkyun scenario #mafia!changkyun #mafia!i.m #changkyun au #i.m au #i.m imagines #i.m scenario

69 notes · View notes

scarlettlawyer · 6 years ago

Text

Part 6 of my commentary/reaction of the fanfiction series Phantoms & Mirages by @renegadewangs And uh – there’s actually a small (but relevant) commentary on Turnabout to the Past in this post too… :P

Also looks like I’d better start organising the links to the previous posts more properly, so:

(Chasing Phantoms): Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

(Haunted Specters): Part 4 | Part 5 |

So picking up with the same chapter, swiftly and subtly over the course of the fic, the phantom has been dramatically repositioned by the narrative. And now, all of a sudden, as the connections get made… Just after being shown Actual Child Phantom and having that sympathetic image fresh in our minds, the narrative suddenly goes “Haha! So anyway! Bobby and Simon parallel the phantom’s parents! :D” and throughout this chapter, because of the severity of the phantom’s injury and their weakened state, Bobby and Simon have been forced to make sure that he, well, doesn’t die. So now all of the sudden the phantom is kinda like… their child that they need to look after…

It’s almost as if… the narrative is equating the phantom with being a child… their child… And that alone is… really, really amusing. It was very funny to me. It was just about hilarious. It was the best thing. I couldn’t get enough of it. You actually managed to construct these parallels wherein the narrative positions the reader to see a direct parallel between, on some level, this fully grown man guilty of countless murders and a child. To see him as a kind of child that needs vital assistance from Bobby and Simon, rendered momentarily weak and helpless by circumstance.

Time and time again, the phantom has been built up by the series as extremely intimidating, scary, DANGEROUS, what have you, but in this moment, in one fell swoop, at least in terms of how I saw it, the narrative appears to dish out a kind of retribution. The phantom’s character is, to an extent, made fun of in the best possible way, amidst his transformation into protagonist and beginning to grab at the sympathies and concerns of the reader, Bobby and even Simon. Because however much our perspectives might have shifted somewhat at this point, no one is under any true illusion here: we all know that the phantom is a colossal jerk who has done terrible, terrible things. For the narrative to point at him, an adult, a criminal and a murderer, and say to the reader, “oh, just look at this poor little child” is on some level to outright mock him, and to strip away much of the character’s ability to intimidate in any real sense at this point. It is also a repositioning that mainly only the reader is privy to; he is not being made fun of directly in the story or being subjected to any true retribution directly over this outside of the karmic frustrations and indignities of being temporarily unable to properly fight back against Bobby and Simon’s assistance. But Bobby and Simon are not provided with the insight into the direct parental parallels. No, the “lol the phantom is a child” perspective namely resides with the reader, now, and its as if we are given every permission through it to dunk on him, as he should be dunked on, ‘cause he sucks and ruined lives lol.

The flashback to the phantom when he was a small child was nothing but angsty, make no mistake, but that does not make any narrative plays on his current adult self being a child any less amusing, and vice versa – it doesn’t in any way take away from the horror and awfulness of the child abuse flashback.

The phantom’s trauma is not funny, nor is his suffering – rather, the narrative positioning him as Bobby and Simon’s child is.

I also want to expand a little on how Simon assaulting the phantom was to an extent mirroring him as a small child being assaulted by his abusive father, although I touched on it briefly in my previous post.

In one situation, the phantom is an innocent, helpless, actual child, just doing his own thing… In the other, he is, well, the opposite of “innocent”, as well as actively baiting and anticipating the attack. And Simon striking out, naturally, is seen by the reader as being so much more justified. It is the same person – the phantom – being attacked in both situations, but different in the ways I’ve iterated. And the attacker could not be more different either, with such a very, very different connection and history with the phantom. And the reader sees the two situations as they occur in such different lights.

And yet still, there manages to be a handful of similarities between the two occurrences, such as the phantom not fighting back in either.

It’s so interesting to think about.

Not to mention that this series has been saying over and over again, he’s a monster, look at this monster, what a MONSTER… and then flips the script, everything over and puts that word into this new light.

Continuing on…

“Lex Luster… He was killed.”

Me reading this for the first time: “LOL nice try author, but I know he isn’t really dead. This is just one of your bait-and-switches, your red herrings isn’t it? Let’s see… wasn’t the phantom only just saying that this Lex Luster would take advantage of the break-in to garner sympathy and spread lies? Well, he probably had his sights set on an even greater plan. He must have faked his own death in some kind of clever elaborate ploy that will only serve to benefit him!”

The narrative as it continued to chug along, with no hints of a sudden He’s Alive reveal emerging: Uh, no he’s… he’s really dead, dude.

Me: “…What? But that makes literally no sense. I… I know that Lex Luster is supposed to be an important character. Isn’t he supposed to like, be a protagonist in future or something? I guess not, unless it’s through flashbacks, or maybe this really IS all we get of the character… So like, wait, that’s all we get of the “Lex Luster” character? Were… Were we supposed to care about that guy?! Because I’m sorry but… I really don’t see it. That guy who just got killed off, Lex Luster? I didn’t care about him. I’m sorry. (Maybe even though he wasn’t featured much, maybe he’s a bit of an Ensemble Darkhorse and/or the author had his character fleshed out behind the scenes in ways they didn’t get to showcase?? Hmm… Well either way… At least based on what I know about the guy… Don’t see why he was important tbqh).”

…WELL.

Also, I love the three of them just sitting down and playing a little blame-shifting game over a murder. Gosh I love this trio.

Haunted Specters, Chapter fourteen

“… I don’t… I…” The Phantom pressed his palm against the side of his head, leaning forward in his seat. “How is this possible? Who would dare impersonate me? Who would dare use that face?”

1. The phantom being at a loss for words – I love it

2. HE SOUNDS SO FULL OF HIMSELF… THIS MAN WHO CLAIMS TO HAVE NO SENSE OF SELF… So imperious… “WHO would DARE impersonate me?!” Get a load of this guy! :D

3. I honestly didn’t think you could do another kind of “Bobby impersonates the phantom” in terms of ironic phantom impersonation reversals on the same kind of level. I was wrong. “Someone impersonates the phantom using the phantom’s real face” is a scenario that had never, ever crossed my mind before. BUT IT’S SO GOOD. IT’S SO GOOD. Delicious. The phantom gets a nice big taste of his own medicine.

4. Also, this curveball felt Ghost Trick levels of mindscrewy when first revealed. XD

[…] the ones who’d been in the courtroom the moment the Phantom was attacked by a sniper […]

Oh you mean Bobby’s thera- okay I’ll shut up now. He just gets so many early references okay.

“I’ve lost track. However, there are two names that I’m sure you hope to hear. Calisto Yew and Shih-na.”

YES. YES. YES. CHEERING SOUND EFFECT Y’ALL, SHE MADE IT! SHE MADE IT TO THE NARRATIVE

It had almost felt like the narrative was really dancing around her… It felt like a “dropping-references-but-no-role-in-the-story” type deal but like, really pushing it, with maybe one too many references... And I’ve read more than one phantom fic where the phantom had links to her… But I just told myself “well, not everyone’s gonna go that route. Duh. And it makes sense in a realistic way. I mean, it’s highly unlikely that Calisto/Shih-Na and the phantom would know each other or have ever interacted with each other. So I certainly respect the author’s decision to not include her at all in the story and have it so the two don’t have any ties, after all it can be seen as a little cliché and the author may want to avoid that, as a decision it’s bold and respectab- WAIT NEVER MIND SHE’S HERE SHE’S ARRIVED SHE’S AWESOME THANK YOU”

And then I’m like… WAIT… SHE’S KNOWN AS MIRAGE IN THIS SERIES?!

SHE WAS THERE… THE WHOLE TIME… RIGHT IN THE TITLE.

Me, a FOOL, reading the series Phantoms and Mirages: It kind of sucks that she isn’t in this because she’s such a great and fun character, but I certainly respect the author’s decision

GOOOSH…

I swear I’m confident I would have been more inclined to check out this series prior to this year if I had actually known this little fact.

AND ALSO????

Okay, okay… and like… Teenage phantom flashback??? Was NOT expecting it. It was an even greater shift. The interaction with Mirage… the banter, the neutrality of it… & the fact that this fic actually gives him someone who had affection for him like this way back in his past, despite his emotionlessness? It’s ah, humanising? Fleshing him out? I was finding it hard to believe that the story was really treating the phantom’s character in this way… Because it felt way too good to be true. Because I probably just had my phantom bias goggles on. Because of the way the last fic had treated the phantom’s character, I also found it hard to believe. But more and more, I could not deny it… I was really starting to nod along and go, hey. It’s not just me. The author is pulling these strings on purpose, constructing the character and the narrative in this way, in this light…

“Agent Fulbright. Why does it strike me as if you’ve got a dead animal on your face?”

Aww man, this is harsher in hindsight given the later reveal that Bobby’s so self-conscious of it… But this exchange following this line/the line itself was super funny

“Of course. It’s a method that was perfected over fifteen years ago. I believe the Hotti Clinic is one of many locations around the world that specializes in facial reconstruction.”

NICE ONE.

Me: that sounds a little farfe- Oh wait nvm that has a very solid basis in actual ace attorney canon.

Haunted Specters, Chapter 15

Perhaps, in a way, the spy even meant to protect a gentle person like Sam from a gunshot wound.

Hmm, food for thought! Oh, protect from a gunshot wound like Simon's inclined to protect Sam from risk of electric shock later?

“A need to craft?” “It keeps the headaches at bay. Aside from that, this has always been my preferred pastime. If I were to have something of a hobby, this would be it.” A hobby… How peculiar. The Phantom had shown a tendency to adopt the hobbies of his personas, from fixing clocks to pursuing justice, yet here he was with a pastime of his own. A rather disturbing pastime, yet a pastime nonetheless.

And you gave?? The phantom a kind of hobby??? The stuff only starts pilin’ on after this, let me tell you.

And this whole scene too is just… Simon talking to the phantom neutrally. It’s…!

And it’s so cool that we basically get to see child phantom pull off the equivalent of his Dual Destinies jump in this chapter.

Haunted Specters, Chapter 16

“What a ridiculous question. It’s because I am male.” “Identifying yourself as male implies identity, Phantom.”

I HADN’T BEEN EXPECTING THE NARRATIVE TO ADDRESS THIS I HADN’T BEEN EXPECTING THE NARRATIVE TO ADDRESS THIS. This was SO great and refreshing to see, especially since it had been a tiny little thing bothering me somewhat from the very start. I’ve already brought it up more than once in these commentaries. You might have noticed, but although I use he/him for your version of the phantom, I tend to use they/them when talking about the phantom in general.

It wasn’t always like that with me, though! When I first finished Dual Destinies I was constantly using he/him. I mean, it’s what the phantom is referred to with consistently in-game, after all. And I never reconsidered it at all until I saw it brought up/discussed among other ace attorney fans as an issue. But even then, my perspective was pretty much the same as Pengychan’s – there’s, if I recall correctly, an author’s note in Turnabout to the Past addressing the pronouns issue, where it’s stated something like “well, the phantom lacks a sense of self to the extent that they don’t have the self-reflection required to challenge the notion + they don’t care/aren’t bothered by it. They just stick with he/him because it’s the default that gets applied and don’t have enough sense of self to even question it.” And I couldn’t have agreed more. And I still agree? It’s a completely reasonable and justified perspective/interpretation.

But over the years, I’ve just slipped more and more into the they/them habit to the extent that it started feeling more “correct” to me. I’ve read really really great fic where the phantom is afab and they/them is consistently used by the narrative the entire way through. All of a sudden, he/him phantom started feeling kind of jarring to read, even when it had felt like the most natural version to me in the past. It was almost like I started becoming more fond of they/them phantom hahaha. But both sets of pronouns have equal claim. (And I tend to use they/them for general, all-encompassing phantom because it includes everyone’s interpretations and still doesn’t exclude he/him interpretations. So it captures ‘em all!).

“Effort? In what way?” “Women need to watch their posture. Their nails. Their hair. Their appearance is always judged.[…]”

Okay honestly, looking back, I think this was another statement I looked way too much into at the time and misconstrued. The brevity, and therefore lack of specification, leaves something to be desired to me here…

For example: Nails…? That feels like it reaches straight into the realm of stereotypical for me. Obviously – I mean, obviously he’s making a comically HUGE generalisation here, that’s just a given. Maybe the “nails” comment is more about… “some women” idek but when I first read this, it kinda felt like he was sitting there going “being a woman is so difficult, always needing to maintain perfect, painted nails blah blah blah…” Like dude. It’s nails. Nobody cares. If a woman isn’t preoccupied/obsessed with manicures or whatever, there tends to be 0 difference between men and women when it comes to nails and how they are maintained. And hair, too, it’s like… myself and plenty of women I’m sure hardly give our hair much thought at ALL in day to day life, even if on average the focus may be a little bit more than it is for men.

I realise that I probably read this the wrong way though, and what he’s actually saying may be more akin to “regardless of how a woman personally feels about her appearance, and how little she personally cares about maintaining her appearance, that appearance is still going to be more heavily judged”??? But that still seems kinda… Like that doesn’t really impact much how difficult it is to portray a woman. That’s only a comment on how other people would treat them… Like there’s a greater risk involved if the disguise itself is more closely examined cause he doesn’t want to be discovered, but…

Another thing though is he’s probably making general comments that aren’t supposed to be particularly accurate and/or specific. I just look into things and make assumptions way too much. :P

Like the one thing I’ll give him is the whole posture aspect… to an extent. Societal influences/expectations DO go both ways and men have their own expectations to comply with, even in the realm of posture. But I guess the takeaway here is that for the most part, the scrutiny for men is less + the posture of “men” is often stuff that would come more naturally to anyone, men or women. It’s women who, when it comes to femininity, tend to be required to actually modify in ways that don’t come as naturally. And also a lot of “men’s posture” is seen as default and/or they have more claim to default posture.

Even if he has some kind of a point… What he’s saying sounded, to me, ridiculously exaggerated. At the time on the first readthrough I interpreted him as kind of saying “as a woman, like ALL women, you have to be constantly aware of yourself, carefully adhering to femininity in everything you do in unnatural, practised ways.” And like… HAHAHA… nah? Women tend to just live their lives and most of the time they are acting in ways that come naturally. But there are times when this kind of pressure comes into play but not to that extent. Not constantly. It obviously depends on a given woman’s circumstances though… Because I’m sure for some, life circumstances do require putting on a constant show of hyper-femininity. Which would tend to be… exhausting.

And yes, women’s appearance and behaviour is subject to scrutiny by society, and such scrutiny, and being aware you are under such scrutiny, can modify one’s behaviour to the extent that it is less natural. But at THE SAME TIME this also struck me as being kinda bogus. “Women need to watch their posture” uh… I guess? To an extent, in that society reckons there are certain “ladylike” ways to sit and conduct oneself, but those instances are still quite specific and are not necessarily a CONSTANT, FELT presence… pretty sure most women going about their day are just living their life. Well, you could also say that being “trained” by society into conducting yourself in a certain way and having a certain posture and what have you so that it becomes what comes naturally and is no longer noticeable is also a factor.

There are valid points in most of what he’s saying, exaggerated or no. For a variety of reasons, portraying a woman comes with difficulties.

But also…

In a way, that justification struck Simon as a rather weak excuse to cover any traces of true identity.

The whole thing is that there is something buried away. And this is one form of that something bleeding through. The text lampshades the flimsy nature of the excuses, hints at this.

So at the end of the day… There is actual narrative reason in this series for the phantom being he/him from the beginning. It also arguably allows for a smoother transition between “the phantom” and Lex later on. So yeah… I’m fully on board.

Also like… Just like how women are people with a huge variety and spectrum of personalities… Men are equally varied and, depending on the personality, can potentially be very difficult & demanding to portray (like you know… BOBBY – original Bobby). Hands down there are men way more difficult to portray than an “average” woman, no question. PLUS… the whole self-awareness demands don’t apply when the phantom kinda needs to always be self-aware of his every action when in a persona regardless. Especially the more difficult and demanding ones. SO THE TAKEAWAY HERE at least for me definitely is… The phantom is a big dummy in denial about having some kind of self and the fact that this self has a sense of “maleness” attached to it.

Or perhaps the Phantom truly was looking at the matter so objectively that he couldn’t grasp the difference between biological and psychological. The difference between sex and gender.

Simon, pulling up a helpful and informative tumblr post: “You see, there’s actually a difference between the two!”

“…Simon Blackquill. You’ve no need to lecture me on such things, as I have done far more research than you on matters such as these. I know what applies and does not apply to me, such as the simple fact that I am aroace.”

“Don’t. Odd as it is, it’s grown on me.” A moment’s pause, then Bobby snorted. “It’s grown on me too. Literally.”

xDDD

Haunted Specters, Chapter 18

The only thing he could take comfort in was the fact that Sam Specter looked far more exhausted than he felt. It had to do with the recent migraine attack, no doubt.

Using “Sam Specter” but meaning the phantom… Sam Specter is supposed to be an act. Sam Specter has been said to always look tired. Yet Simon is looking at him here, seeing the phantom underneath, but still using “Sam Specter”…!

Not that either of them could approach him to ask whether he was holding up alright

APPROACH WHO? ASK WHO? Simon is referring to “Sam” but he knows that Sam is an act, a facade and there is no point… This is just a hypothetical sentence though; it doesn’t say that he wants to check on him… And even if he does it could be rationalised away with “well he needs to remain intact for the plan to go off without a hitch” but…!

Bobby seemed genuinely concerned for Sam. Seemed to be genuinely interested in the words of someone who wasn’t even real. Perhaps, after two weeks, the line between the Phantom and Sam Specter was beginning to blur for him as well. Perhaps he was foolish enough to believe that due to the Phantom’s utter devotion to his personas, Sam was just as real as any other human.

YOOOOOO

Same though. SAME. Because for so long I thought the author didn’t care too much about the phantom, I put way too much stock in Sam. “The narrative wants us to care about Sam, not the phantom. Because the other way around is too good to be true… right?” I also thought maybe Simon was still slightly underestimating the phantom’s level of self-deception at the time as well.

But guess what? Sam is a trap. You find yourself growing attached or caring about Sam in ANY way, you are in a roundabout way caring about the phantom. The person just behind the façade. And once you’re in too deep, all that’s left is for the façade to be yanked away. A sleight of hand wherein you realise oh, oh no…

Over the past few chapters, there’s been a sudden rush of information and situations that just, it all happens so fast, it seems.

“That’s why you need to remind Agent Fulbright not to get too attached to his new friend. You and I both know there’s only one acceptable ending to this sorry tale.” Only one acceptable ending… Execution. […] Either way, the Phantom’s fate was unavoidable. Unavoidable and of his own choosing. Death.

And when I read this, I grew very serious. I nodded to myself in complete agreement and internally said, in all seriousness… “yes.”

They were to head for Fulbright’s apartment, a location that was already known to the Phantom either way. He’d made it perfectly clear he didn’t want the spy knowing about his own apartment- Aura’s apartment- in order to have at least one safe location should things go awry.

Huh… I guess what it comes down to here is the phantom’s lack of memories… Because he should know about Simon’s apartment. But he wouldn’t now, due to the fall…

Haunted Specters, Chapter 19

“Nice beard!” she remarked, grinning so widely Simon wondered whether it might hurt her face. “Are you going for the middle-aged Obi Wan Kenobi look?”

THIS IS ATHENA’S SECOND STAR WARS REFERENCE IN THIS SERIES… what a tiny yet consistent running thread.

“Sam,” Bobby called, hoping to get his attention. In retrospect, that’d been a bad move. Sam started so badly that he accidentally shook the pocket watch, sending tiny gears and screws all over the floor. A few words of Cohdopian escaped him- perhaps curses that Simon couldn’t understand.

SDKBDSJBK HOW MUCH OF THIS REACTION IS GENUINE… PLEASE TELL ME AT LEAST SOME OF IT

He drew a steadying breath and turned to face them, eyes narrowing when his gaze fell on Athena. For a moment, there was nothing. Then his expression brightened to the point where Simon found it almost suspicious. Sam pushed himself to his feet with a flourish and approached her. He prattled something in Cohdopian and leaned forward in a bit of a bow. Then he took Athena’s hand with his own, pressing his lips against the back of it, causing her to giggle.

ASKJBADLBJADKLNADKNL?

OKAY THIS IS! HAHAHA, LET’S UNPACK THIS

I JUST… I

1- The phantom knows DAMN well who Athena is

2- The phantom ACTIVELY DECIDES to do this. Not only that, but he ACTIVELY DECIDES, on Sam’s behalf – a real person who used to be alive that he stole the identity of - that this is how Sam Specter would react to meeting Athena. That Sam would treat her like this and have this opinion of her. (Or, who knows… Maybe Sam just tends to be this way towards women in general and Athena isn’t getting singled out…?)

3- I JUST CAN’T BELIEVE HE DOES THIS OMG

4- HE KNOWS FULL WELL HOW MUCH THIS WOULD IRK SIMON AND BOBBY.

5- HE OBVIOUSLY HAS NO WAY OF KNOWING FOR CERTAIN THAT THIS IS HOW SAM WOULD REACT TO ATHENA, SO

6- THE PHANTOM IS A GODDAMN TROLL, ‘NUFF SAID

“What did he say?” “He uh… He said that she’s the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen,” Bobby rolled his eyes, mouth drawn in bitter distaste. Words failed Simon completely. His mouth opened, then closed itself. He gave Sam’s shoulder one last squeeze in warning before releasing him. This time, not even Fulbright seemed entirely willing to overlook Sam’s behavior, as he was watching the man closely as well.

Haaahahah. You did it. You actually put in brief joke phantom/Athena.

You know what makes this better? Much later, way after this scene, prior to the end of Vanquishing Mirages, I messaged another one of my friends basically saying “Hey… So I haven’t finished it yet so I can’t say for absolute certain… But so far, this may just be one of the best fanfiction series I have ever read.”

He replied something akin to, “LOL, yeah, imagine if you kept reading on only for it to suddenly turn into romantic Athena/phantom? Bet you’d kinda regret saying that then.”

To which I was able to gleefully and jokingly reply, “…Oh, it’s been done.”

Haunted Specters, Chapter 20

He considered following anyway, allowing the Phantom to suffer for the sake of stopping Fulbright from doing something foolish, but then… It wouldn’t be the Phantom who would suffer. Most likely, it’d be Sam Specter, who had nothing to do with any of this.

BUT THE F

SAM ISN’T- THE PHANTOM IS-

Nevermind.

“If he can feel emotions now, maybe we can straighten them out! Maybe he can be rehabilitated to-”

Me: Bobby, no. Don’t.

Okay, so when I read this… the prospect of the emotions getting “straightened out” was something that piqued my interest. It was something I knew I would like to see. But to whatever extent they could be “straightened out”, although I figured it would be fascinating to see, I figured it would be very limited. Even something limited would be quite significant, but…

…I still agreed with Simon. It would ultimately change nothing in the grand scheme of things. That man – the phantom – would still have to die in the end. He needed to die. That’s the only way this could end.

I wouldn’t have denied wanting to see his emotions get straightened out before he meets his end though, however limited the results may be. I felt the same tug Bobby did – I wanted him to be helped. But helped prior to an inevitable death.

Let us return to this earlier segment that I commented on:

”[…] You and I both know there’s only one acceptable ending to this sorry tale.” Only one acceptable ending… Execution. […] Either way, the Phantom’s fate was unavoidable. Unavoidable and of his own choosing. Death.

And I’m going to expand a little more on what I essentially thought when I first read it beyond my simple “yes” that I supplied before:

“Absolutely. No way out of it. So narrative, make it so. He has to die. I’ll be waiting. I will hold you to your word. Everyone from Bobby to the narrative and the reader have been getting awfully familiar with and caring for the phantom with the new sympathetic slant the story’s been taking. Almost suspiciously so. But it changes nothing. He must die. It is the only acceptable ending to this story. Tragic? Sure. But there’s no real alternative. None.”

You might be a little like “whoa, whoa – hold up. Isn’t he your favourite character?! The whole reason you started this series?”

To which I’d reply: “Absolutely. And he needs to be executed and/or die, if this is the route the narrative ultimately seems to be heading in.”

“…By all means, allow Bobby and Simon to become unwittingly invested. Make the phantom sympathetic. Pile on the angst. But in the end…? Execution. Death”

Why? ...I’d been hurt before.

And to understand this oddly firm stance… Apologies, but I need to briefly talk a little bit about Turnabout to the Past. XD

Turnabout to the Past is a narrative that is constantly building up to the phantom’s inevitable execution – or rather, Robert LaRoche’s execution, by the end of it. We – the readers - grow to care. Simon grows to care. Athena grows to care. About him. This care, and LaRoche’s changes and regaining of identity, do not grant him full redemption. He is still required to pay for his crimes. This never changes.

From the way the story is set up and construed, Robert LaRoche’s redemption actually hinges upon his execution. In an odd kind of way, although he can make progress towards redemption, full redemption cannot be granted until he is dead – regaining his identity, changing his behaviour, and having other characters become invested in him on its own is not enough, even though they are all contributing factors towards redemption. Full redemption is still withheld from him until his execution can be carried out.

Like many people who read Turnabout to the Past, I bawled my eyes out. The “execution” scene left me a complete and utter mess. The whole ending – all of it – just ruined me.

In the end, he cheats death. In doing so, he cheats himself out of a full, complete and proper redemption. It is a huge act of betrayal. He betrays Simon, he betrays Athena, he fundamentally betrays himself. He is forced to leave the Robert LaRoche he struggled so hard to regain behind once more.

Simon wanted him to face death. That’s what he wanted him to do from the beginning. That’s the promise between them. But he doesn’t. The promise is broken.

I felt betrayed by LaRoche, too. I cried so hard and so much at his “execution”. And for what?

As much as the execution scene wrecked me, as much as it hurt, as painful as it was, however much I was crying, it felt right. He had to die. This was what the entire fic had been building towards. It was “the only acceptable ending to this story”.

But he cheats death. And I felt betrayed, and I felt angry towards the character for doing something like this to me, to Athena, to Blackquill, to himself.

Athena and Blackquill are grieving. They are grieving over him. And for what? For what?! How could he do this? How could I forgive him? How could he not only betray Athena and Blackquill but also cause them so much pain and suffering – grief – in the process?! Grief based on a false premise. Grief for… For nothing.

…Inevitably, I got the hell over myself, and came back to read the super cool sequel. :P We wouldn’t have gotten such a cool sequel if it wasn’t for that betrayal…!

Obviously, this fic is not that fic. This series is very different, so the exact same rules do not, cannot apply. But I still had some baggage lying around, and I was essentially (unfairly) taking it out on this fic’s version of the phantom. “Well, someone has to die. LaRoche didn’t die. He cheated death. So this phantom isn’t allowed to. So don’t let him get away.”

Well obviously, you already know that I’m happy with how things turn out, so… It’s a foregone conclusion that this perspective changes at some point as this series continues!

Simon hadn’t bothered to bid him farewell. He hadn’t truly gotten along with Sam either way.

!!!!

Bobby looked torn for a moment, as if he wasn’t sure what to say or how to even say it. “… But don’t hurt her, okay? There’s no real reason to injure her, so… Don’t. And try not to get hurt yourself.” “Yes, mother,” the Phantom droned. Bobby didn’t reply.

YOU JUST COULD NOT RESIST MAKING THIS JOKE COULD YOU, and I absolutely can’t blame you. I LOVE it.

ALSO I’M JUST SDJDSJLNLNDS? This is supposed to be a sarcastic quip right? But I’m NOT SURE HOW MUCH SELF-AWARENESS THE PHANTOM HAS WHEN MAKING THIS JOKE…

Haunted Specters, Chapter 21

The… The confrontation between Mirage & the phantom… The phantom was always the one in control during the flashbacks with Mirage. He was always the one who had power over her, both in the sense that he is the one teaching her new skills and is therefore “in charge” and kinda of a higher rank, and he also wields power over her – unintentionally so – in the fact that she holds affection for him.

And now that’s turned on its head. The phantom is on his knees, powerless, grasping, begging. Mirage has all the power. Mirage is the one in control. Probably for, well, the first time ever, she’s actually seeing the phantom losing control, powerless, weak, she is wielding power over him.

So on the one hand, part of me is kinda like “yeah, show him who’s boss, show him what’s what, it’s your turn to be in control now!” But on the other hand I was like. “NOO MIRAGE I THOUGHT YOU WERE COOL… WHY… I TRUSTED YOU… LOOK WHAT YOU’RE DOING TO MY FAVE… I THOUGHT YOU CARED?? HOW COULD YOU…” And ultimately, the second perspective won out.

Also, the casual way she talks about killing people coupled with how she treats the phantom towards the end of the scene is a reminder that, however much of a fun and exciting character she is, she is still a dangerous criminal involved in the facilitation of things like uh, HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

The Phantom had had another breakdown.

It started feeling like a running, constant occurrence at this point. Really felt like the characters could really start using one of these:

They’re definitely gonna have to reset it a few more times, too. :’D

SAM’S NOTE. SAM’S NOTE. OH NOOO. SAM’S NOTE. I AM FEELING KINDA SENTIMENTAL OVER A FICTIONAL FAKE PERSONA’S DEPARTURE FROM THE NARRATIVE GOD DAMMIT. How?!

Sam was a literary trap, aiding in dooming us all.

Towards the end, treating Sam Specter as a real person was no longer a knowing act of self-deception on Simon’s part, but had rather become a habit that he’d fallen into. A habit that comes awfully naturally now. One that he sometimes may not even be aware of, and sometimes may need to consciously wake himself up from.

The explanation that I’ve finally settled on… is that it was never about how “human” Sam is. Because Sam will always be artificial. He can never become 100% real or human. The real Sam is already dead and cannot be resurrected. It was never even about Sam. It had always been about the phantom. The phantom that was always hiding just underneath.

There’s something else, too, towards the end of this fic. Before, when the parents-and-their-child dynamic was set up, and the trio were all forced to live together in a temporary truce, I referred to it as a special liminal space wherein they were sectioned off from the rest of the characters and the rest of the world. In this strange little space, they and the reader had to ignore the extreme oddity of the circumstances to some degree in order to function properly and make sense of it. Simon and Bobby can tell themselves that this is only temporary, and that soon enough, everything can just go back to normal again once they abandon their little liminal space over in Cohdopia and everything wraps up. That is a false promise.

After an extended interval, their liminal space gets broken, intruded upon. First by Lang, who enters their odd little circle that is still being propped up. Then by Athena. And they return to America, too. They’re not in Cohdopia anymore in a secretive little apartment no one else knows about. The location changes. They’re not completely sectioned off from the other characters anymore. But things have changed. Things are changing. Bobby does not “snap out of it”. He only becomes more steadfast and entrenched in his support of the phantom. Simon is clearly, well…! He’s being influenced. And the phantom is still able to interact neutrally with the other members of the cast. The new light and perspective shed on him by the fic does not suddenly vanish, he doesn’t suddenly “change back” to whatever he seemed to be before. Of course not. There’s a line of continuity here, and the dynamic changes between the cast cannot be boxed away, sectioned off, erased.

The phantom’s child abuse flashback is a sudden, powerful jab that disarms the reader, however momentarily. Then there is parent-child dynamic in the current cast revealed. With the reader distracted like this, a sudden onslaught is unleashed in the chapters following. An onslaught of flashbacks, a whole host of neutral interactions the phantom is shown having, both in past and present. Neutral interactions, which on its own is quite a feat. Considering how, well, despicable he can be, HAS been. How he has always been “the enemy” before. And yet we are given so many neutral interactions. Not positive per se. Just… neutral. But that alone is enough. And in Mirage in the teen flashbacks, we actually get to see someone from the phantom’s past who cares about him. As a person. There’s other little things too, like the aforementioned sort-of hobby revealed. The flow, the outpouring of all these little things just starts and it does not stop. It will not stop. At the end of this fic, heading into the next one, we are already teetering on the edge of… Something. And it’s only going to increase in volume, become more palpable, grow stronger from here on out.

There’s also little scattered things here as well, like the phantom looking out for Bobby in his own way. And the mask… the mask that is not like the others. I feel that there have been many, many narrative sleights of hand that have come into play, subtle enough that it makes them difficult to document. And I can’t document them all, because there’s just so many.

And then in the epilogue, the bone sliver gets revealed, and it’s like HMM… HMMMM… Food for thought, folks. Food for thought!

…Oh and I forgot to comment on this under the appropriate chapter’s banner, but uh, I absolutely loved Bobby’s whole “call him back in fifteen minutes” exchange with Simon xDDD.

So that looks like Haunted Specters pretty much wrapped up, I think. Vanquishing Mirages up next!

#long post

11 notes · View notes