#and that arguing that he has some specific form of intelligence is a good way to do that

[daydreamerdrew]

regarding the Hulk being reactionary and making bold statements based on how he feels in the moment even if they contradict what he’s said before or are untrue, my favorites are when his capacity to get tired comes up in a fight, like when someone says that he must be getting tired, and he gets pissy and yells that he can’t get tired, but then later he does and he fully acknowledges it and purposely searches for a place to sleep. and when he gets mad at the Defenders and quits the team and specifies when he does so that he thinks the team is a bad idea and has actually always thought so. it’s deeply endearing

[hymnserendipity]

Mitsuya play Cupid with you and kazutora

Mention of smut(?), gender mentioned: they/them. Age up, last timeline, no spoiler.

Mitsuya was always your favorite cousin, as well as the only one your age that you could actually talk to. You saw each other quite often, at least once a week. Mitsuya is in the Toman gang, but you've never seen much of this side of him. you know some of his friends by sight, because he pointed them out to you by seeing them from afar. you always thought that criminals were unattractive and just a source of trouble but seeing how Mitsuya behaves you realized that not everyone is out of control, and you started to think that you wanted someone like him by your side, a kind and intelligent person, strong and sincere. So at that moment you were on a bench in a park near your house, you had met after one of the Toman meetings.

"So i was thinking.... Is there any of your friend that would suit me?" You suddenly ask. Mitsuya seems a bit surprised by the question, raising an eyebrow.

"Uhm, any friend that would suit you? What do you mean by that?"

"That would be a nice pair with me"

"Hmmm... What exactly are you looking for in a guy?" he tilts his head, wondering what your specific taste in a man would be.

"Someone like you" he seems a little caught off guard by your response, taken aback for a moment. He runs a hand through his hair, contemplating.

"You're looking for someone...like me. That's what you're saying, right?"

"Yeah" Mitsuya is mulling over your answer, and then chuckle lightly.

"Are you trying to find a copy of me or something? You can't expect every guy to be just like me, y'know"

"Caring, loyal, nice, gentle, smart" He listens to your list of features you're looking for in a partner, and he lets out another soft chuckle.

"Yeah, that's me...in a nutshell, I guess."

He nods and reply, still slightly amused by the situation. "But you think there's a guy out there other than me that has those same qualities?"

"I dont know, think about your friends."

"There's plenty of other guys out there who share the same qualities I have"

"Any you recommend?" He thinks for a moment, considering his list of friends and acquaintances, trying to figure out if any of them might fit your taste

"Hmm... Let's see... I guess if you really want someone with similar qualities, there's this one friend of mine who's pretty loyal, kind, and smart. He's been sort of unlucky in love, though."

"Who"

He contemplates on if he should give you the name, but with a slight smile, he decides to give you the answer you're seeking.

"His name is Hakkai Shiba."

"Oh, no. I don't like him." His eyes widen slightly, a little surprised by your response.

"What? You don't like him? Can I ask why?"

"Dunno, never found him attractive." He pauses for a moment, a little taken aback by your blunt response, but he couldn't argue with your truth.

"I see. You're not really into the timid type. Makes sense. Then, I guess there's not many guys out there that can satisfy your taste." He leans back against the bench, crossing his arms as he seems to be thinking again.

"But you know, Hakkai might not be super strong or anything, but he's got a good heart. He's loyal and kind, and he's smart in his own way. He's just not exactly the typical confident, macho guy you might be looking for."

"Nuh uh" He lets out a soft sigh, sensing your determination.

"You sure are picky, you know that?" he shakes his head slightly, a small smirk forming on his lips.

" Cmon think more"

Mitsuya chuckles at your persistence, but he begins to think hard again, searching his mind for any other potential candidates among his friends

"What about Mikey?"

"Oh well...maybe" he raises an eyebrow, a slight smirk forming on his lips.

"Maybe, eh? So you're willing to consider him?"

"I will consider him, yeah. Any other?" he takes a moment to think again, but then his eyes light up as he comes up with another name.

"How about Kazutora? He might be a bit of a troublemaker, but he's got a good heart and isn't half bad lookin' either."

"Oh God yeah!!!" His eyes widen slightly, a little amused by your sudden eagerness.

"Huh... You seem pretty excited about Kazutora. You like troublemakers or something?"

"Now we are talking!" he laughs a bit at your enthusiasm, finding it amusing that you got way more excited at the mention of Kazutora.

"Okay, okay, so Kazutora wins. You're definitely into the bad boy type, huh?"

"But Mikey also is well... Eheh" he chuckles again.

"Oh, are we talking about Mikey now? Didn't think you had a thing for our fearless leader." "How about their size? he raises an eyebrow, a tad confused by your question.

"Their...size? You mean like, their height? What about it?"

"Tsk, cmon you know what i'm talking about" his eyes widen slightly, realizing what you were getting at.

"Oh... Oh... You're talking about THAT kind of size?"

"Yes" he chuckled, a bit amused by your straightforwardness.

"Alright, alright, I get it. You wanna know about that, huh? Well, you'll need to be a bit more specific, though."

"I want to know about kazutora and Mikey, even chifuyu, if they are big or not, long or not, thick or not" he's a bit taken back by the bluntness of your question, but he chuckles lightly.

"Whoa, you're really upfront about this, aren't you? You really want to know about their...sizes, huh?"

"Yeah but my interest is more on kazutora." he smirks, realizing your preference between Kazutora and Mikey.

"Alright, I get it. You're more curious about Kazutora. Let me ask you this, why are you so interested in his...size in particular?"

"Just tell me their sizes, i'm curious." he pauses for a moment, contemplating if he should indulge your question, but eventually, he decides to give you the answer you're seeking.

"Well, if you really want to know... Mikey, he's... decent in size. Not too big or small, just average. And Kazutora, on the other hand, he's...quite well-endowed, actually."

"And chifuyu?" he can't help but chuckle at your curiosity, surprised by how eager you are to know about this.

"Chifuyu? Well, he's... He's not too bad either. Average, like Mikey."

"Mucho?" You ask with a smirk, he pauses for a moment, thinking about Mucho.

"Mucho? Yeah, I don't know. He's pretty big in general though, so I'd assume he's probably big down there too."

"Well then, kazutora is my first choice."

"Kazutora it is then, huh? So you're really set on him now, eh? Well he is pretty trublemaker so..."

"Oh wait what about baji?" he thinks for a moment more, considering your question about Baji.

"Wait, Baji? Ah, he's...he's pretty good. A bit lean, but he's got a good size. Decent, I'd say."

"Would you set me up with kazutora then?" he thinks for a moment, considering your request.

"Huh... Kazutora, eh? You really want me to set you up with him, huh? You sure he's your type?"

"I think. Would he take care of me, protect me and be gentle?" Mitsuya ponders your question for a moment, contemplating Kazutora's personality.

"Kazutora, huh? Well, he can be a bit rough and wild at times, but deep down, he's got a gentle and caring side. I think he'll definitely take care of a s/o and protect them. He's got that loyal and fierce attitude when it comes to people he cares about."

"Then go and set me up please"

"Good. I'll let Kazutora know about you. With any luck, he'll be interested. But you have to play your part too, yknow." he laughs lightly, enjoying the excitement and anticipation in your voice.

"Alright then, it's settled. I'll talk to Kazutora and see if he's interested. Just be patient, okay?"

"Okayyy, see you tomorrow with his reply" he smile at you, nodding in agreement.

"You got it. I'll talk to him and find out his response. You take care until then, alright?" he watched as you left, with a bit of a mischievous smile on his face

"This is gonna be interesting." he then made his way to Kazutora that was buying groceries at the nearby store, trying to figure out how to bring up the topic

"Yo, Kazutora, got a minute?" Kazutora glanced up as Takashi approached, a bit puzzled by his sudden request.

"Huh? Yeah, what's up?" he chuckled lightly, trying to figure out how to word the question.

"So, I have a weird question to ask you." Kazutora raised an eyebrow, growing more curious.

"Weird, huh? What is it?" he took a deep breath, trying to phrase his question properly before asking.

"So, how do you feel about the thought of...dating someone?" Kazutora shrugged, leaning back against the wall.

"Dating someone? Well, I'm not against it. I mean, if the right person comes along and we vibe together, then why not, right?" he nodded, encouraged by Kazutora's openness to the idea.

"Okay, that's good to know. Now, I'm gonna ask you a question, and I need you to be completely honest with me. Okay?" Kazutora furrowed his brow, feeling a bit confused but still intrigued.

"Alright, shoot. I'll be honest." he chuckled, trying not to give too much away.

"So, hypothetically...if I were to set you up with someone, would you be willing to go on a date with them?" Kazutora thought for a moment, considering the question.

"Depends. I mean, if they're someone I'm interested in, then yeah, I would. But if it's someone i don't know and there's no chemistry, then probably not." he nodded, understanding his response.

"Right, yeah, that makes sense. Well, how about this? I have someone in mind. They're pretty and fun to be around. I think you might like them." Kazutora perked up, his interest now piqued.

"Huh? Alright, I'm listening. What else can you tell me about them?" he leaned in, lowering his voice a bit.

"Well, they're smart, funny, and got a good head on their shoulders. They're not afraid to speak their mind, and they're very pretty." Kazutora chuckled at that, amused.

" I like confidence though, so as long as they're not too demanding, I'm cool with it. What else?" he thought for a moment, considering their personality.

"Yeah, they're definitely got a bit of a wild and feisty side to them as well. They picks fights pretty easily, but they're also really gentle and caring deep down. And they're definitely the kind of person who will challenge you and keep you on your toes. Think you can handle that?" Kazutora raised an eyebrow, intrigued by your personality.

"A feisty and gentle person with a wild side? Sounds like a challenge. I like it. I definitely think I can handle that." he chuckled.

So, just out of curiosity... What's their type, then?" Mitsuya paused for a moment, trying to come up with a response that would satisfy Kazutora.

"Well, a bit picky, like I said. They're looking for someone who's confident, strong, and can keep up with their fiery personality. Someone who can handle them when they gets riled up, but also treat them gently and care for them. Sound like anyone you know?" Kazutora chuckled, knowing exactly what that meant.

"Oh, so they're looking for someone who's not just strong and confident, but someone who can handle their feisty side and also treat them with care and respect? Hm, sounds familiar." he laughed lightly, amused by Kazutora's response.

"Yeah, exactly."

Kazutora's confidence soaring.

"Oh, trust me, I'm more than up to this, i'm definitely their type." He laughs heartily, amused by Kazutora's confidence.

"Well, look at that, you're confident and self-assured. That's a good thing. You might just be exactly what they're looking for."

[hulloitsdani]

Give some headcanon on if Kiran from fire emblem heroes would interact with the fallen heroes in the order especially someone like fallen nergal let's say nergal won't left unscathed

Especially if Alfonse is nearby or godforbide is lif

Sure! Unfortunately, I have not played Blazing Blade, so I’m not too familiar with Nergal as a character. I recall his appearance in Forging Bonds being fun, but ultimately I don’t know enough about him to comment on the potential on that specific dynamic. I shall leave those headcannons to you, my friend. However, I do think about fallen/antagonistic heroes a lot.

I believe this came up with a lot of 3 houses characters, but it’s commented on how those summoned by Kiran can’t harm anyone else they’ve also summoned. No hero on hero violence. It’s how you get the mildly hilarious dynamic between Chrom, Robin, Lucina, and Grima. They cannot physically harm each other, so it’s time for psychological warfare! Kinda! It’s in the form of a heated philosophy discussion, because Grima is not as good at this as he thinks he is. It’s delightful.

But, let’s think about that critically for a second. Kiran can control who Grima, a god of ruin and despair, can harm. And Grima is, notedly, intelligent— he most definitely tested the extents of this limitation. Especially when Chrom was off waxing poetic on how the strength of human connection can change fate again. He definitely tried, but he can’t kill anyone this bumbling imbecile doesn’t approve of. No one can. It’s part of the contract every hero is immediately put under and none have managed to break it. This safety precaution presumably also extends to themself and their allies.

Meaning, Kiran does not need any type of protection. Kiran is the one in control here.

Hell, they’re in control of people who have NEVER had the tables turned on them like this. And THATS the fun part of fallen/villain units. I personally love the Grima and Kiran dynamic, because this near all powerful being is now chained to and has to protect this normal guy. But that’s hardly the only variant of this. For example, if I’m recalling correctly, there’s a forging bond involving Kronya from FE3H, in which she talks about why she is more than content to fight for the Order. It’s violence without any drawbacks. Sure, the heroes are given shelter, food, money, compensation, and yadda yadda yaaaa. But the real perk? You can’t die here, kid. As long as that tactician is around, you can run wild. And they don’t give a damn about the violence enacted, as long as the job gets done. Askr is a beautiful bloody battlefield on loop, and all the violent sickos get to partake with no risk to themselves. What more could she possibly want?

That is mostly conclusions Kronya personally came to, but I imagine Kiran subtly nudged her into that line of thinking when giving the initial pitch. Took one good look at her and knew not to try to appeal to the moral goodness of her heart when asking her to fight for Askr. Kiran is good at people managing, in that way. Has done enough customer service for that to come pretty naturally. As a result, they are the glue that keeps the Order running on a social level. Which, to be clear, is a testament to their skill. They are genuinely very charming and use that to make would be villains into willing helping hands.

As for the Askr trio’s reactions to this, it varies, but no one can argue with the results. Anna will, on occasion, give them a hubris check. Although she has learned to trust their capabilities, she remains the most skeptical and is the one needing to be convinced when Kiran summons a new feral raccoon with rabies to fight in their army. Mr. Told Death He’d Kill Her In A Week is far more down for this and is rather intrigued on how Kiran managed to convince said raccoon to listen to them. (Parental validation apparently. A lot of these guys have daddy issues.) Sharena, meanwhile, brings up the glaring obvious moral trolley problem??? You guys???? Having these morally dubious heroes as part of the Order is a powerful boon, but it would also make their cruelty a fundamental part of the Order of Heroes. So maybe some critical thought should be put behind that before launching fallen Ike at Freya full speed. The other three then all awkwardly look at each other as they realize that did not occur to them in the slightest. Whoops. This is why Sharena is an indispensable part of the Order. Thank you and good night!

[mysteria157]

Chapter 3

Pairing: Nanami Kento x Black Fem Reader

Word Count: ~4k

CW: Profanity, drinking,

Summary: Flashback chapter. When it comes to work, Nanami likes to follow a specific code for people like you. And he would like to think it’s working so far. But one too many drinks and things change.

Notes: Hi! Thank you all for sticking through. Reblogs, likes, or comments are always appreciated but not necessary <3 I hope you enjoy reading!

Divider: @cafekitsune

Previous Chapter | Ao3 | Next Chapter

It Had To Be You Masterlist

“Nanamin! I didn’t think you would show up!”

Gojo’s tall form stood out in the crowd of the izakaya, sunglasses covering his abnormally bright eyes.

Nanami normally didn’t do this kind of thing. At least not as frequently as Gojo and his coworkers. But after the stressful week and being ‘forced’ by Yaga to participate in this last event to close out the summit, a whiskey (or three) seemed to be the only incentive for getting this night over with.

“I had no choice. And stop calling me that.” Nanami sat himself down at the large table that was already crowded with his coworkers.

Gojo slid a glass of liquid toward Nanami, the contents dark brown and the smell already hitting his nose with the promise of an escape.

“I got you the most expensive whiskey on the menu.”

He took a small sip, lifting an eyebrow in surprise as the Nikka whiskey hit his lips.

“Thank you.”

“Nanami, you’re looking exceptionally fed up tonight.”

Like Nanami and Gojo, Geto Suguru rose to the status of Director of Research and Competition within a few years of joining the company. He wasn’t as loud and annoying as Gojo, but for some reason they stuck together like glue. While he didn’t have the alien beauty like Gojo, he was unique in looks in his own way. An unusual purple hue painted his irises, sharper facial features, long black hair that was either half up or pulled back into a bun and bangs that never seemed to be in control. Geto didn’t have to loudly boast about his intelligence or prowess at work, his efforts spoke in the things he produced. And even though both him and Gojo were probably certifiably insane, Geto provided some sort of moral compass to Gojo that Nanami never really understood.

He gave Nanami a relaxed smile, eyes closing before he threw back a shot of sake.

“I know you’re probably fed up with this summit. Most of us are.”

“Something like that.” 

“This entire week has been fucking annoying.” Gojo spoke around his straw before taking another long sip of what looked like a stawberry—most likely virgin—daiquiri. “Team building exercises don’t help your work improve if your IQ is already in hell.” Geto snickered, elbowing him playfully before turning his attention to people watch. “The branch from Sendai are the only ones who made it fun.”

“Do you even know their names besides Omelia’s?”

Even though Geto’s eyes were elsewhere, his comment still made Gojo choke on his drink, blue eyes blinking rapidly and cheeks flushing before he began arguing with his friend.

As they fought with one another, Nanami pulled in a long sigh, pressing the cold glass to his lips and taking another long gulp. The alcohol stung in a good way as it slid down his throat, soothing away his discontent and slowly providing a thin veil over his irritated nerves. More of their coworkers filtered into the izakaya, ordering drinks and yakitori and plunging the large table into a loud hum of socialization.

Shoko Ieiri, while not a coworker, was a lifelong friend of Geto’s and sat herself next to him and immediately began complaining about her day of work at her clinic. Her eyes held a naturally sleepy look to them, a permanent expression of boredom unless she was smoking a cigarette.

“Stop smacking me you fucker.” Geto’s naturally low and soft spoken voice chastised him around a chuckle. He fluffed Gojo’s hair, intentionally rough as he tried to fix the naturally messy snow white locks. Gojo whined, smacking his hands away. “Let me fix your hair. Omelia is coming over and you look like a whore.”

“Maybe she likes whores.”

Geto snorted, pulling off Gojo’s sunglasses.

“If she did, you would be with her by now.”

Nanami watched as you and Omelia walked into view. Shoko called for you immediately, pulling your body into the empty seat next to her and asking you a barrage of questions. Shoko was a physician and when she wasn’t at the clinic up the street from the office, she would eat with Geto and Gojo during her lunch breaks. You and her had formed a quick friendship and like everyone else in the office, seemed to be taken with you immediately.

The hum of the izakaya grew louder, salarymen and salarywomen filtering in from their long days at work and ready to start the weekend.

Yuji’s loud and playful voice called out to you as he took the last empty seat next to you, beating Omelia to the punch. Megumi sagged in the seat next to Nanami, offering a soft greeting before turning away to listen to Kugisaki ramble.

The fact that there were no more empty seats next to you was Gojo’s defense that he gave to Omelia which caused her to roll her eyes and sink into the chair next to him.

Yuji, as angelic and optimistic as ever, gazed at you innocently. Even at twenty-two, he held a childlike demeanor that could do no wrong no matter how ill someone treated him.

“You look so pretty, y/n!”

It wasn’t like he was incorrect. Your normally curly hair that was pulled into a low bun hung down your back, cascading over your shoulders and shining in the low light of the room. The long sleeve black dress accentuated your curves, a high slit on one side that exposed the creamy expanse of your brown leg. Dark brown eyes were touched with a simple wing of eyeliner, your full lips dressed in clear lip gloss.

The effect of everyone turning their heads to you at the office bled in the public eye as well.

Nanami took a large gulp of his whiskey, draining the contents and using the burn in his throat to look away from you. He flagged down a waiter for another.

This was going to be a long night.

He should have known that you would be trouble when he met you in the conference room that day. Everyone seemed to gravitate towards you in whatever way they could, trying to have you on their team during events at the summit, offering to have lunch with you, and even going out of their way to openly flirt. You didn’t seem to recognize the flirting, as it seemed the only thing you could think about was work.

That’s all you talked about was work. Creating brand messages, communicating about projects with other agencies and branches, wanting to spearhead almost every activity.

Trying so, so hard.

Just like the others who used this asinine week-long event as a means to move up the ranks. It wasn’t like it was bad to network and get one’s foot in the door. But in Nanami’s experience, almost everyone would use whatever they could just for a promotion. Year after year, a junior level associate would walk into his office with the same shy and reserved look on their face, uttering the same request to work alongside him to gain new experience.

He gave each of them a chance. If others could see his work as potential to learn more, he would do what he could to help them out.

But their secrets always unraveled eventually. Nanami may seem aloof to others, but he was far from it. As the only director in Marketing Operations who had a strong personal and professional relationship with the VP of the department, Nanami was the best route to make their way to Yaga.

One on one meetings with Nanami started out innocent, their eyes bright and ready to prove themselves. But within days those eyes gave way to their true nature; greed, deception, and lust.

I really think Masamichi-san would love this proposal I’ve been thinking about, would you be willing to give it to him?

I really think Masamichi-san would work well with our VP in Osaka. I can relay a few ideas to him if you schedule me in a meeting?

I’m free tonight, want to get dinner? I have some ideas that I really think Masamichi-san would like?

You look like no one has…taken care of you in a long time. You get me in a conference room with Masamichi-san and I’ll make it worth your time.

They were all the same and it came to a head last year. An associate from Nagoya who Yaga had insisted work with Nanami throughout the week, took pictures of documents on his desk when he was not looking. Weeks work of project planning. It was the first project that Yuji was allowed to take control of, and he so worked hard, poured himself into overtime almost every day to draft everything from his own hands. All those documents suddenly appeared slightly changed during companywide presentations before Yuji could officially release his work. All of his dedication, wasted. Nanami had no way of proving who it was without launching a full investigation that didn’t have definitive evidence. He wanted to. He was prepared to pick Nagoya apart. But Yuji insisted that it wasn’t worth it, that the fight meant nothing when he wasn’t even a full-time associate anyway. After watching Yuji’s confidence waver, Nanami vowed to never allow it to happen again. Would never let his guard down and give others a chance. He got to his position on his work and his work alone. Entertaining deceit would no longer be tolerated.

You were just like the rest when you walked into Nanami’s office that first day. Manicured hands clutching a manila folder of documents as you uttered the same words as everyone else year after year.

You were hesitant and shy, quiet in your own way as Nanami pulled up his walls to make you uncomfortable.

You didn’t take his words well, your face displaying a varying amount of emotions as you professionally called him out for his rudeness.

But the minute Nanami downgraded your prowess—a small offhanded comment insinuating you knew nothing—you were immediately angry. Those brown eyes were stormy with rage and disrespect as you told him off in what was possibly the most professional way he ever imagined.

Don’t look so put out.

Saying it twice doesn’t make you sound smarter.

You were curt and biting with your words, the sound of the door slamming only making Nanami gape openly at no one. His stomach had simmered with a feeling of regret, small enough to make him feel as if he had overstepped but not insistent enough to apologize.

This was better. To keep you away as much as possible and keep everyone out of Nanami’s hair.

The second glass of whiskey had Nanami’s body warm, the fuzziness of a nice buzz making his skin tingle. You were talking animatedly with Yuji, showing him memes on your phone that had him red in the face, his giggles echoing in the air.

“Nanamin!” Yuji called out to him, his body shaking around giggles. “Look at this meme! I know you don’t laugh much but I think even you would like this. Show him, y/n!”

You faltered, your small hand clutching your phone before you slid it to Nanami’s still form. His eyes lingered on you for a moment too long, your eyes catching his before they narrowed and you looked away. Nanami glanced at your phone, offering a small noise before you pulled your hand away.

You avoided talking to him for most of the night, choosing instead to socialize with Yuji and Shoko who were more than enough stimulation for even the shyest person. Despite your extroverted nature in the office, you were great at avoiding Nanami at every chance you could. Group activities had you on opposite teams, and when you did have to work together, you were exceptional at talking to everyone as if he didn’t exist.

Not that he cared. Someone who was only focused on work made no sense to him.

Nanami didn’t particularly like his job, but he was good at it and the pay was exceptional. It was the best chance for him to retire at an early age and enjoy the rest of his life in wealth and peace. But he was steadfast with his boundaries. Clock in at 8am, work hard throughout the day, and clock out no later than 5pm. No more and no less. Working overtime suited no one but the higherups who were relaxing at home while their colleagues slaved away in an office.

It was pointless to give all of one’s energy after the clock into something that no one would appreciate unless it was to make themselves look better.

You with your smiles and your wit, offering suggestions that went against the grain of normal routine drove Nanami insane. He refused to entertain proposals that targeted clients outside of what was discussed, going out of his way to openly oppose during summit events. He hated the thought of analyzing data that focused on something completely out of scope and was sure to vocalize that at every opportunity he could before even reading what you suggested. Your glares only fueled him, made him work harder to shoot your ideas down. Because every other person before you did the same thing and it never worked. It never fucking worked. You were completely turning things around.

But everyone ate it up, even Yaga who did nothing but shower you with praise.

It drove him mad and he couldn’t stand you for it.

It didn’t help that you looked the way you did; chocolate, creamy brown skin and deep brown eyes. Long curly hair and soft curves that filled out every outfit you were. It was maddening that the person who worked so hard for everyone else smelled like Black Opium when you walked through the halls. Your sharp and loud laugh should have made his ears bleed, but he hated how quickly his stomach clenched at the sound, fueling something he didn’t want to acknowledge. 

A frustrating and unnecessarily hardworking woman wrapped in the most alluring body he had seen in a very long time.

God, he couldn’t stand you. And it was your presence that made Nanami drink harder.

After his fourth whiskey, Nanami had reached a point he swore to never be at again since his freshman year of college. Geto was more wild back then and because Gojo never drank, Geto compensated. One party, the only party Nanami decided to entertain and he was so drunk that he woke up naked in his bathtub.

He swore he wouldn’t do it again.

But the warm feeling in his veins was wrapping around him like a blanket, relaxing his normally stoic features and tinting his upper chinks pink. The heat of the room made him shed his jacket hours ago, his long sleeve shirt clung to his skin and showed off muscles he normally kept hidden during work.

You weren’t fairing any better, the heat making you pull your long curls atop of your head into a messy bun. Too many shots of sake had you laughing throughout the night with Yuji and Shoko, your own cheeks a slight color darker from the effects of alcohol.

“You’re so smart, y/n!” Yuji had sputtered the same compliment for the millionth time that night, his hands nursing a water that Megumi had forced him to have. “You re-remind me of Nanamin. He taught me ‘verything I know.” Your features softened as you rubbed Yuji’s back before forcing more water down his throat. “But Nanamin, you need to listen to y/n’s ideas. Sh-she’s damn smart. I wish she was at our br-branch.”

“I’ve heard all of her ideas, Yuji.” Nanami’s voice was loose, his normal title of Itadori-kun gone after his second glass of whiskey.

“And you don’t like them!” Yuji’s blubbered at Nanami; his eyelids heavy as he pointed an empty chicken skewer in his direction.

“You’re right, Yuji. I don’t.” Nanami watched as your drunken expression morphed into anger. “Reworking a system that has been nothing but efficient makes no sense, wastes resources, and does nothing for no one.” He picked up his glass, languidly sipping on his drink as he watched your expression grow darker and darker. “I don’t mean to hurt your feelings. I’m sure you worked very hard trying to assert yourself this week. Yaga definitely noticed.”

“Nanamin!”

You clutched your glass of water, small fingers flexing and contemplating dumping the contents onto Nanami’s face. But instead you stood up abruptly, alarming everyone at the table before collecting your purse and storming from the izakaya.

Nanami sighed deeply, finishing the contents of his glass as Yuji fussed at him.

The cold air from outside brought a small shock to your system as you stumbled into an alley behind the izakaya. You were drunk. Incredibly and uncharacteristically drunk and the brick wall you slumped into seemed to provide stable ground for your vision to stop swimming.

You shouldn’t have drunk that much, especially around so many people you weren’t familiar with and Omelia across the table who was unable to scold you into sobriety.

But being across from Nanami, watching him talk casually with Megumi, Shoko, and Yuji only made you angry. Because while his tongue loosened and his serious expression melted away into relaxation, you only thought about day after day of his snide remarks. Of his offhanded comments that slid off of you around everyone else but hurt to a degree that made your eyes sting. They were simple suggestions, but still suggestions you had spent months analyzing and putting together with Jin. You worked hard and hoped to make an impression during the summit and everyone else loved what you brought. But not him. And it was hard to get anything rolling if one of the most important associates in the room disagreed. 

Fucking Nanami Kento with his perfectly combed hair, odd glasses and sharp features that had your stomach curling in arousal and distaste.

You had never felt more stupid than when he was in the room. And he was a crush?

God you needed therapy.

The anger simmered in your gut as you tried to get your thoughts in order, your mind swimming.

The hotel was only a block away, walking could sober you up a little and spare you the pain of having to see anyone else’s face to ask for a ride. But you needed to text Ome. You opened your purse, reaching inside to fish for your phone before the strap slipped from your fingers and your purse spilled its contents on the cold and wet ground.

“Fuck!”

You wobbled onto your knees, your dress getting wet as you drunkenly fumbled for the contents that were askew on the ground.

You worked so hard. So fucking hard. And the one person you thought would be even minutely impressed had been nothing but cold, heartless, and so very mean. So unnecessarily mean.

Your lip began to wobble, eyes filling with tears and chest clenching tight as you willed the feeling to go away. Just get to the hotel. Lock yourself in your room, stagger into a hot bath, sob into the sheets and worry about the hangover later.

Your favorite tube of lipstick rolled away from you, skittering on the uneven pavement as you pressed further on your knees and fumbled to grab it.

Your blood ran cold as a large pale hand reached down to grab it instead.

“What are you doing?”

You tried to ignore the butterflies in your stomach from the deep timbre in his voice, snatching the lipstick from him.

“Do you care?”

You struggled onto your feet, ignoring the hand outstretched to help you as you sagged against the wall behind you. He didn’t speak, looking down at you with an expression you couldn’t quite place. His usual perfectly parted hair was slightly ruffled, a few strands falling in front of his face and adding a roughness you wished didn’t affect you. He had forgone the glasses for tonight, giving you a clear view of brown eyes, which didn’t help because it only made his face more real, more mystifying and more handsome.

Your stomach did another flip, unsettling you to a degree that had your mind scrambling. You made a mental note to call a psychiatrist as soon as you landed in Sendai.

“Like I said, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Pulling in a slow breath, you glared at him harder, hoping to convey that even in your drunken stupor you would smack him in the face if you needed to.

“What do you want, Nanami?”

He didn’t remark on your anger, choosing instead to gesture to the door behind him.

“You should come back inside. It’s cold out here.”

You scoffed, the desire to slap him growing more incessant by the second.

“Why? So you can make it seem like you apologized? Make Yuji feel better so you can go to bed tonight with a guilt free conscience? I don’t want you offering me half-assed help to make yourself feel better.” His eyes narrowed, foggy irises melting slowly. “You don’t know anything about me. You haven’t tried to learn anything about me, and you’ve been nothing but rude and nasty to me at every opportunity.”

He walked closer, tall form encroaching your space that made you press your back against the wall. The rapid beating of your heart was pounding in your ears as you refrained from showing any sign of want.  

“Why do you care so much about my opinion?”

“I—” You opened your mouth to retort, falling short as your foggy mind tried to formulate a sentence to throw him off.

Because he’s the most efficient and hardworking man you have ever met. 

Because you’ve climbed the ranks with no help at all and you would give anything to gain experience from him.

Because he's hot as hell.

He sighed heavily, a large hand pressing against the wall behind you, towering over your form as he looked down at you. You were used to his stiff stature, clipped responses and stoic demeanor. But right now…right now Nanami was radiating something that made your core clench. You pressed your thighs together, doing everything you could to stave off the arousal that was flaring dangerously. The alcohol wasn’t helping, you could have easily shot him another crude remark and walked the other way.

“You’re drunk.” You tried to slow your breathing as you spoke, heart rate soaring as the subtle hint of cologne wafted up your nose from his body. God what scent was that? Not too strong, but potent enough to notice the warmth pulsing between your legs.

“So are you.”

“You’re a piece of shit.” You cursed inwardly as the words slipped from your mouth, drunk and loose and angry at his unwillingness to just…apologize. “This entire week has been hell because you’re fucking stubborn and you would rather do the same thing over and over than give new things a chance.” He lifted an eyebrow in response.

“Is that all?”

“Well—” You swallowed loudly, fingers digging into the brick wall behind you as you felt him lean in closer, his cologne slowly making you delirious with lust and more drunk than you already were. Maybe he had come to his senses and would be ready to apologize and beg for your forgiveness. That would be more than enough, and you could go back to Sendai to lick your wounds in peace.

The press of his lips against yours, however, was so much better. You should have pushed him away, slapped him in the face for using short words to worm his way further into your wet dreams. But it was hard to even think about that when muscular arms wrapped around your waist, pulling you flush to his chest and overwhelming you with his smell. You curled your hands into his chest, the soft fabric bunching between your fingers as you felt the hard planes of his chest and pulled him impossibly closer to you.

Just one kiss. One fucking kiss and you could pull away, slap the shit out of him, and stumble home.

But the feel of Nanami biting your bottom lip, prying your mouth open with his full lips before sliding his tongue into your mouth had you shaking out a whimper you should have been ashamed of.

This was much, much better

[vodika-vibes]

so in the delta squad masterlist (my autocorrect wanted to write masterpiece….not wrong…) we’re missing Fixer and this is a pity. So I would like to request something for him. Maybe the reader once saves his life and he’s like super mad because ItS aGaInSt ThE rEgUlAtIoNs or something but then some time later it’s the other way around and he does not hesitate to save the reader (and break the rules) because surprise! He’s madly in love

that would be nice…🫣

The Delta's Jedi

Summary: You've been working alone for the majority of your career, so when you're assigned Delta Squad, you're less than thrilled. But your opinion quickly changes.

Pairing: Clone Commando Fixer x Jedi!Reader

Word Count: 2548

Warnings: Mentions of torture (nothing detailed)

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni

A/N: So, my plan had been to write my normal four stories for today, but this idea had me in a stranglehold, so this is the only other thing I'm going to write today. Also, there might be a minor implication that the reader is also in a relationship with the other members of Delta, but it could also be seen as just being a close friendship.

When you were assigned to assist Delta Squad, you weren’t sure it was a good idea. Mostly because as a Jedi Shadow, you’ve always been better suited to working alone, and partly because you were pretty sure that your specific skill set wouldn’t mesh with theirs.

And, by and large, you were right.

You specialize in information gathering. A spy, for lack of a better word. And while you are handy with a saber, the truth is you rarely use yours and you actually have a preference towards blasters.

After all, lightsabers are the opposite of stealthy. 

And Delta Squad already had an intelligence person. In the form of Fixer. So you argued against it, at length. But you were overruled. Of course, you’ve never been one to follow orders directly.

So, here you are. Ostensibly on the same mission as Delta Squad, just…not attached to them directly. In fact, you’re pretty sure that they aren't aware that they have a Jedi yet.

Yikes. You’re going to write a stern letter to the Council about important information slipping through the cracks.

But, that’s a problem for later.

You absently reach out through the force, pinging the four men under your care almost absently, so you’re able to keep track of where they are and if they’re in danger, and then you slip into the ventilation shaft and silently enter the facility.

You manage to secure the information you need, plus some extra, and you’re about to leave the facility to wait at the ship for Delta, when you get a ping from the force string you attached to the four men. 

Three of them, Boss, Sev, and Scorch, are fine. Stressed and worried, but largely fine, but Fixer has been separated from them, and appears to be going down.

On the one hand, you could trust his brothers to save him. On the other, however-

You slip your comm extension into your ear, and effortlessly slice into Delta’s comms, “Pull back to the drop ship,” You order as your gaze tracks Fixer’s location, “

There’s silence for a moment, and then a deep voice, “Who’s this?”

“What, you weren’t told you were getting a Jedi?”

“No,” Boss said, sounding annoyed, “We weren’t.”

You hiss out a sharp breath as you jump back into the vent and start navigating your way down, “This war is a hot mess,” You bitch under your breath, “The left hand doesn’t know what the right is up to.”

“We can’t just leave,” Scorch, your mind provides, says irritably, “We haven’t gotten the intel, and they have Fixer!”

“Relax Scorch.” You hear his sputter, “I have the intel plus some bonus intel. And I’m heading to Fixer as we speak.”

“We can be your backup.” Sev offers.

“You can go back to the ship,” You silently drop down a floor, and then pause to get your bearings, “Listen. You’re all very good. But so am I. They didn’t assign just any old Jedi to Delta. Ah, there it is.” You turn and crawl down a vent, “Fixer isn’t going to be able to get out the way that I got in, which means I need you all to make some noise.”

“A diversion.” Boss says thoughtfully.

“Just so. I’m very good, but I’m not ‘take on a whole army solo’ good. Not with someone to protect, at least.” You grimace as you slide through a suddenly smaller section, “So, I’m thinking a series of explosions-”

“Based at different locations-” Scorch continues.

“And with me keeping the crowd thin-” Sev adds.

“That might just work,” Boss agrees, “You’ll get Fixer out?”

“You have my word.”

“Alright General,” You make a face at the title, “Happy hunting.” And then the comm cuts out, and you heave out a sigh as you continue your trek downward.

Eventually you find the small room that Fixer is being held in. A handful of droids, some Geonosians. Nothing too bad. Aside, of course, from the entire army standing between you, Fixer, and the dropship.

Oh well.

You carefully balance yourself on the vent opening and then you kick down.

All attention turns to you, and you casually, as though you don’t have a dozen blasters aimed at you, cross the room and pick up Fixer’s helmet. And then you turn to the room at large and you smile. 

You lift your hands, Fixer’s helmet hanging from your fingers, and you push-

The droids slam into the wall with enough force that they shatter, the Geonosians, tragically, do not. So you draw your saber, and you move. 45 seconds later, the three Geonosian guards are no longer a threat, and you’re kneeling behind Fixer to free him from his manacles. 

“Who the kriff are you?” He asks as you hand him your helmet.

“I’m Delta Squad’s Jedi General. Nice to meet you.”

He blinks at you, twice, and then he frowns, “Regulations dictate that any clone captured by the enemy get left behind.”

You move so you’re crouching in front of him, “I cannot emphasize this enough, but fuck regulations.”

Fixer scowls, “I think I hate you.”

“So long as you’re alive at the end of this, you can hate me as much as you like.” You stand and pull a second saber off your belt and you press your finger to your comm, “Boss? I have Fixer, just waiting for an opening.”

“Copy that, General.” Boss says steadily, “One distraction in 3…2…now!”

The building shakes as there’s a massive explosion somewhere above you, “I found a fuel tank,” Scorch sounds far too pleased with himself.

“We’ll see you both at the drop ship,” Boss says, “Good luck.”

One hour later, you’re safely sitting on the gunship, your lightsabers stowed at the small of your back once more, and you’re wrapping your hand in bacta infused bandages.

“So, why didn’t you tell us that you were on the mission to begin with?” Boss asks, his arms folded over his chest.

You flex your hand, grimace, and unwrap the bandage to try again, “I’m not used to working with other people. I figured that I would just work tangentially alongside you until I was able to convince the Council that you didn’t actually need a Jedi.”

“And then Fixer got snatched.”

“And then Fixer got snatched.” You agree, “I’m a Jedi, it’s not in my nature to leave people behind.” This time, when you flex your hand, it doesn’t feel half as bad, so you leave the bandage as is, and then you flash a small grin and introduce yourself.

*********

Contrary to your worries, you actually fit in pretty well with Delta squad. Sure, there were a few bumps to work out, but it didn’t take long before you developed a strong working relationship with the group. Which very quickly turned into a genuine friendship.

Well. With most of them.

Fixer doesn’t like you. At you, you don’t think he likes you, he’s kind of hard to read in the force, and, well, you don’t like prodding at emotions in the force. It makes you feel guilty.

So you make due with a professional relationship Fixer. He knows his stuff, after all. And your specialties tend to cross in some ways, so you actually end up working together a lot.

And sometimes you might think that he actually likes you, when you’re talking about the latest advances in tech and cybersecurity, and then it’s almost like he suddenly remembers who he’s talking to, and he goes cold again.

Honestly. Fixer’s just confusing.

It is too bad. He’s cute, and you are nursing a small crush on him. But that’s your problem to deal with, and if he’s not interested then he’s not interested.

So you put it aside and focus on building a strong work relationship.

And you think it’s working, none of the missions you go on with Delta go horribly wrong, after all.

And then the Council assigns you a solo mission.

And while Delta Squad argued against it, claiming that having back-up is important, you do manage to talk them into letting you go on the mission solo. They’re just protective. It’s adorable.

After all, it’s just a simple intel gathering mission. You’ve been doing them solo since you were a child.

Famous last words, so to speak.

********

“-eneral. General, can you hear me?”

You groan as pain shoots through your entire body, “F’xer?” You slur his name out, the mixture of pain, drugs, and suppressors making it incredibly difficult to focus. 

“Oh, thank the force.” He sounds relieved, “General, are you alright?”

“Depends,” You manage to get out, your voice slightly clearer.

“Oh what?”

“Your definition of alright.”

“Are you injured?” Fixer asks.

“Yeah. P-pretty badly, by the feel of it.” You grimace as you try to keep your balance. You’re not quite hanging from the middle of the cell you’re in. Not quite in the sense that the chains holding your arms over your head are just long enough that you can balance on your toes, but they’re also too short for you to actually be able to relax.

And you’ve been hanging here for a while, based on the ache in your shoulders, and the fact that you can’t feel your hands.

“General,” Fixer’s voice cuts through the haze, “Look around you, what can you see?”

“I’m…in a cell. Underground maybe. There are no windows.” You answer, “Fixer, what are you doing here?”

“It’s not just me. We’re all here.”

“Why?”

He’s quiet for a moment, “It’s been almost a month, General. Did you think we wouldn’t come for you?”

“I thought that regulations said that I was supposed to be left behind.” You joke weakly.

There’s a long moment of silence, before he sighs softly, “I would never. Even if it is regulation.”

You release a slow breath, “Well…that's good to know.”

“We’re going to be there soon, General. Just…just hold on, okay?”

“Copy that. I’ll just…hang out.” A delirious giggle bubbles from your lips, and you can hear Fixer’s concern over the comm. It’s fine, when they get here they’ll realize it’s hilarious.

You must have blacked out again, because the next thing you’re aware of is rapid gunfire, and shouting. And then your cell door slams open. You blink blearily at the man standing in the door. You can’t see clearly, but you’re pretty sure you see white and green, which means Fixer.

He crosses over to you and reaches up to pick the manacles holding your hands over your head. And he catches you when you fall into him. “I have you General. I have you. We’re going to get you home, and you’re going to get a nice bacta bath.”

You blink up at him, hazily, and he curses, “What did they give to you?”

“Just about everything, I think.” You admit, and then, when the world spins nauseatingly, you press your forehead against his armor, “I don’t think I’m going to be able to walk.”

And you think you’re imagining it, but you swear you feel his gloved hand press against the back of your head, “That’s alright, we brought a stretcher.” He turns away from you, long enough to pull the hover stretcher into the room, and then he carefully sets you on it.

Just before you slip back into unconsciousness, you feel the prick of an IV sliding into your arm, and you hear Fixer’s voice, “Everything’s going to be fine, General. We’ll take care of you now.”

*********

The next time you wake, it’s to the annoying beep of a heart monitor, and the sharp smell of antiseptic.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” You turn your head slightly and see Fixer sitting next to the bed you’re in, “Good morning, General.”

“Morning,” You mumble, “We’re back at base?”

“We are. You’ve been in a bacta tank for two weeks. And you’ve been under 24 hour watch since you were pulled out a day ago.” Fixer explains, “It…it was pretty close there, for a bit.”

You press an arm over your eyes, “Sorry.”

“Not your fault. You shouldn’t have been sent alone.” He hesitantly takes your hand, the one closest to him, “It’s not going to happen again.”

“Yeah?”

“Boss called the Jedi Council after we got you back and there was no small amount of threatening done.” Fixer sounds amused, “And when the council asked about the intel rather than you, Sev and Scorch exploded on them too.”

“And that worked?”

“It was accepted that Delta Squad is far too valuable to risk us going AWOL due to losing you.” Fixer says dryly.

You laugh weakly, “You would never.”

“If we lost you, we just might.”

You shook your head, and smiled at him, “You’re loyal soldiers.”

“We are. Loyal to the person who expected us to be more than soldiers. To the person who expected us to use our best judgment rather than mindlessly following orders.”

You drop your arm and blink at him in surprise.

“You seem surprised.”

“I would expect this kind of talk from Scorch or Sev…not so much you.” You admit.

He chuckles, “The 212 is fiercely loyal to their Jedi, as is the 104. Is it so surprising that we’re just as loyal to our Jedi?”

You sigh and sink back against your pillow, “No. I suppose not.”

“Good.” He pauses and his grip around your hand tightens, “I need to tell you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“I don’t hate you. I know I’m not as…overtly affectionate with you as, say, Scorch is, but I don’t hate you.” Fixer explains quietly, “It just took me some time to figure out what it is I do feel for you.”

“And what’s that?”

He smiles wryly, “I’m afraid I’m in love with you. And I know you’re a Jedi, and I know it’s not allowed, but-”

You laugh softly, “I’m a Shadow, Fixer. The rules don’t necessarily apply to me like they do with most other Jedi.” Slowly, painfully, you roll onto you side and you reach out to lightly touch his cheek, “For what it’s worth, the only reason everyone knows that Jedi don’t do relationships is to protect us from people trying to use sex or romance to influence us.”

He blinks, twice, and then huffs out a sharp breath, “That makes so much sense. The Jedi are seen as incorruptible because they can’t be bribed.”

“The ancient Jedi were clever assholes. There are those who have decided to adhere to that rumor as the truth, but you won’t find a single Shadow who views it as anything more than rumor.” You smile softly.

“Oh…so-”

“So,” You continue, “I’m willing to take a relationship a day at a time with you, if that’s agreeable to you?”

“Very agreeable.” He pauses, “Does that mean I can kiss you?”

“I taste like bacta.”

“Don’t care, and also not an answer.”

You smile at him gently, “Yes, you can kiss me.”

Fixer leans in and gently, very gently, brushes his lips against yours. And then he pulls away, “I’ll kiss you properly when you’re not still laying in a hospital bed.”

You laugh softly, and settle back on your pillow, “Alright, give me an update. What’s been going on the last…month and a half?”

[vampire-the-askerade]

Could you spare a crumb of general Beckett headcanons?

[Here you go! This is just some of my understandings of the character, and the ideas might change later on down the road]

While most everyone, including himself, would think that he is one of the smartest and most calculating kindred to live (so to speak), there are many, many times where he’s just flying by on guesses, knee-jerk reactions, and an inordinate amount of luck.

Don’t get it wrong, he is extremely intelligent and a master of planning when he needs to be, he’s always been more of a creature of action, and convinces everyone that it was all planned. Himself as well, sort of a, “I’m so good a planning, i even surprise myself sometimes!” attitude.

Going off of that, he is very conceited. He would argue confident is the correct term, perhaps self assured. However, it well passed the line of, “being sure of one’s self,” to, “being full of one’s self.”

Thing about it though is that it’s not a malicious sort of conceit. It’s more of a, “I’m better than everyone else, therefore I am the best teacher for everyone else.” Look at those other people, it’s so sad how they have to struggle over the simplest thing that he is moved, nay, obligated to show them the error of their ways.

As long as it doesn’t do anything that could put himself or his current objective at risk.

A good example of this is his interactions with the fledgling during the events of VTMB. He might not go out of his way to follow them, at least not purposely, and when he realizes the imminent danger in LA he gets the hell out of dodge, but when he does meet up with them, he gives truly helpful advise and even talks to them in a gentler, almost brotherly tone as opposed to the majority of their other interactions.

That being said, once he does run into someone he deems to be truly on his level, or god forbid, above it, he can get a bit pissy. He’ll keep it tone down as long as all parties are cordial, but the first glimmer of rivalry or contempt, then he is not going to be tolerating that person in any way, shape, or form

Similarly, he has very little problem letting pompous people know that he sees them as such. There’s that whole thing where a prince made him reveal what he actually thought of him, but I do get the feeling that the prince didn’t have to delve too deep to get to those feelings either.

He’s an interesting case of trying to be suave while simultaneously neither not carrying or not completely knowing how. Ends up being so in his own oddball sort of way. That is, he’s so unapologetically himself that it ends up being more appealing than people that put on airs.

This however can make it rather difficult to read the room. Almost can’t grasp why people wouldn’t have the same thought process as him.

He will make an effort to listen and understand where he might be mistaken, but only if it’s done in a courteous manner. Finds the whole process as a puzzle to solve rather than an actual faux pas.

Might seem like an oxymoronic statement, but he is one of the kinder hearted kindred. He still partakes in the more violent aspects of the other vampires, but only when he has to. It’s sort of his way to combat his nature as a gangrel and the perception that all kindred from that clan are little more than the beast that inhabits them.

Even with that, a kind wolf is still a wolf. If you’re not careful of what you’re doing or where you are, our dear anthropologist with bite and bite hard. When things get messy with him, they get violently messy.

Sort of like, other than changing into animals when he needs to, he keeps his more bestial nature under such a tight lock and key, that when there’s a reason to actually let it out, he’s got months worth of beast rage pent up there.

While he doesn’t mind it where people call him an history or archeologist, he does much prefer for people to more specific term of anthropologist. Sees it as it being as misleading or incorrect as referring to someone as an artist or a painter when they were actually a sculptor.

[iorekbyrinson]

Sorting Better Call Saul: part 2

I promised this post...like, a year ago, so I'm posting these three I've got some kinda idea about now as a peace offering. Not the full cartel yet, but watch this space!

Mike Ehrmantraut - Lion Badger, Burnt primary, Bird model

Ok, to start with Mike. Mike has the traits of all four houses - the hard work and honesty of a Hufflepuff, the loyalty of a Slytherin, the intelligence of a Ravenclaw, and even the fierceness of a Gryffindor when roused. Let's start with Hufflepuff, which is the first - Mike has a Puff streak a mile wide, valuing honesty, hard work, and fairness to an insane degree.

You could argue that this could be the iron clad code of a Ravenclaw, but I think that's a myth. Mike has put on the icy and unfeeling armour around his Puffness to match the "code" of the gangland warfare he finds himself in, but it's got too much of a warm Puff heart to be truly Ravenclaw. Scratch it and you find the gruff older mentor who takes Jesse under his wing, the one whose arguments of "in or out the game" are essentially ways of stopping himself feeling for those who he is forced to kill, and despite all that is the character most likely to stand in harms way to protect another who he can't bear to see harmed - Nacho, then Nachos father, then Jesse, even Werner.

In both series, this devotion specifically revolves around his love for his granddaughter. It's all for Kaylee, for him to find a foothold in his granddaughter's life, and provide for her future. In simple terms, this seems like a Slytherin way of categorising his world - caring, in a structured form, with blood prioritized first - or is it? The Slytherin loyalty rears it's head, but I actually think Mike is working off the terms of paying a debt - that he "broke his boy" by morally corrupting him, making him take a taste of the corruption he'd dipped his hand in for pragmatic reasons for decades, which led to his death. Now that's a vessel you can never really fill again.

This cool headed-ness and Mike's legendary problem solving skills could indicate Ravenclaw, but I'm disinclined to consider it for either primary or secondary. Mike simply doesn't work along the same terms as Gus or Chuck. He's a deeply felt man that's found a way to operate in the world using higher means of practical tools and skills. But Mike TOILS. He doesn't form master plans or collect people to suit specific purposes, and out of the whole cast he's the most likely not to socially engineer a situation (well, aside from a bit of acting now and then), turning his nose up at Gustavo's double life and scripts. Every single plan he has works on the basis that he can deconstruct it down to its bare essentials (see: the infamous car scene). He's patient, like stone under deep earth. You try and move against him and he is utterly firm. In this way, I'm going to anoint him a beautiful Puff secondary with 0 interest in mirroring or people pleasing.

So what's his Primary? Well firstly, Mikes primary is deeply charred. It's the tragedy of his character - a man so capable, so intelligent and functioning in the world, yet his heart is utterly dried up. There's no gas left in that particular tank, by both circumstance and design - if Mike allowed himself to feel, he would annihilate himself in disgust for what he sees as his transgressions (JBanks discusses this). So, a moral, felt Primary. I'm gonna say he's not a double Puff. Mike shows little interest in belonging to groups and in fact thrives as the archetypal lone wolf, like a gunslinger with a broken code. He's dead to himself and yet deeply aroused by things pertaining to his own individual morality - like Hector massacring the Good Samaritan, or Gus paying off Werner's wife. Mike, Burnt or not, operates from a sense of judgement about how the world should be, and deigns his own judgement frequently. One of the tragedies of the show is witnessing this drying up - going from trusting his gut instinct of right and wrong to becoming an accomplice to Gus having given up on his sense of morality entirely. So, Gryff primary, making Mike Ehrmantraut perhaps the most unlikely Lion Badger in the whole compendium.

Lalo Salamanca - *RETYPED (prev Bird Snake) Lion Snake, Burnt Badger secondary model

*see below post for new Primary reasoning

(((Now, Lalo. Definitely NOT an internal primary - I see external primary AND external model for this guy. He strikes me as a Bird Snake actually, and the reason I don't build his sorting the way I did with Mike is because Lalo is best taken from the outside in - it forms a more complete picture of him (because there's nothing going on inside).

First, getting rid of that typical Slytherin primary. To do this, we need to look at where his main trait, commitment to his family, comes from. For Snake primaries, this loyalty is innate and instinctive. However, when we see Lalo acting out of instinct, it is almost certainly for survival - or *fun*. This guy is going around setting a charge to situations that majorly eff things up for HIM AND HIS FAMILY because he gets bored. He never shuts up, constantly on one tangent or another. Now, that's not to say Snakes can't be chatty (especially Snake secondaries), but Lalo's constant stream of consciousness seems to have a function. It is a pure externalisation of his interior monologue, a way of understanding and implementing his ideas and actions. Snakes need to reserve a portion of themselves for themselves in order to survive. Lalo, arguably, shares too much, flying well in the face of a TRUE loyalist manipulator (which is also why Gustavo gets so pissed with him, because...he's a real, true blue almighty Snake and he CANNOT understand or even tolerate the faux Loyalty the Salamanca family wears like a badge of honour. After all, he "understands blood for blood").

Secondly, he's got that Bird Snake vibe of being a manipulator that is just weird enough to get everybody's hackles up whilst staying (almost) one move ahead of everybody else. Also, when you leave him alone (and let his walls come down a bit), he starts theorising - random theories about Gustavo, and when he's by the fireplace with Nacho, little nuggets of not being able to sleep at night. It's a funny scene, one a lot of the fandom interpreted in a VERY Snake way as a sign some kind of loyalty was being exchanged/revealed, but in honesty it's kind of both trite and sad. Lalo trusted Nacho enough to reveal one of the twisty sides to his character, the intellectual grain in a personality entirely constructed to fit the macho conventions of the cartel.)))

Lalo has a very, very dark Badger model, which he uses as an in to his messed-up family, and also to smooth cartel relations (which, ironically, causes an oil/water reaction amongst folks, because Lalo isn't precious about his Badger model and his real self tends to bleed through - Lalo simultaneously gives the impression he's including you AND excluding those he doesn't like, in one smooth swoop. It's very unsettling for ACTUAL regular Badger Juan Bolsa, who far prefers Gustavo's very specific brand of Snake packaged in servile Double Badger. It's easier for him to understand.) It's a social convention that greases the wheels in the cartel families/businesses, which are hierarchical, you're-with-us-or-against-us places. Gus also does this, but he does it a lot less graciously than Lalo, because he hates everyone and gets nothing from it. Lalo enjoys the way it relates him to others - such as with his staff, or his family, or Eladio -, and he coaches Nacho in these methods later in order to get him into Eladio's good graces.

This is just speculation, but I have an instinct it was also a way of packaging the brutal dehumanisation and pack-loyalty the Salamanca family in particular seem to enjoy. Hector has compelled his whole family into a cult of following the family credo (family is everything) as a means of centralising his power and bolstering his hair-trigger ego. The younger Salamanca generation are all lessons in how individuals respond to that kind of pressure - Tuco, perhaps the most like his uncle (Hector would love to think Lalo takes most after him, but that's untrue) goes all in on his own Lion secondary, the twins become shallow facsimiles of Badger secondaries with their own Sortings buried perhaps so far they will never be found (and always be within reach of their best securities, each other) and Lalo, perhaps the cleverest of all the Salamanca progeny, learns to model or even perform a Badger primary in order to SEEM like he's fully in step with the structures around him whilst following his own path.

Actually, I'm certain it's a Badger performance more than a model, one he seems to knowingly laugh at (such as when he sees Gustavo doing the same thing and sees RIGHT through it, such as when he goes to Germany to see Marguerite and Casper and keeps up his performance of "American Tourist Abroad" for approximately twenty seconds. It's not Marguerite's fault she was a trusting Lion primary and didn't bother to probe. Marguerite was tryna get some.) This veneer of bonhomie totally falls away by the end though. As he says to Hector - "screw Bolsa, screw Eladio, I'm getting revenge and I'm gonna cause this guy some pain".

SPEAKING OF: Lalo's primary is Lion. I previously said Bird because I couldn't get a read on his fae-lord view of morality, but once I twigged that's a Lion trope, it all fell into place. Lalo and Hector share a Primary, and you can absolutely see how Lalo's character is shaped by looking at his uncle (as I've said above). And although I said previously that Hector is probably a Double Lion, I think the magnitude of how Exploded Hector is gets in the way of what his secondary is. I think Hector may just be an awful Badger secondary, one that shows up as functional when he tries bargaining with Mike in the guise of senior citizen, for instance, or tries to pay off Nacho's father. The wince-inducing efforts to suck up to Eladio, also, show an adherence to the old ways that just aren't current with Gustavo's slicker, profit-oriented over person-oriented methods. It's heavy-handed and doesn't work either way, but it doesn't stop it from being a Badger method. It's the Lion primary that runs the Salamanca family, and Lalo has taken his own fae-lord, it is what it is stance on this, sustained by the fire that keeps their family at the top of the heap, Ambition, Glory, and all those other darkGryffindor vibes.

Also I think it's interesting that Hector, for all Lalo's doting nephew persona, doesn't end up being taken care of by him at his hacienda. Lalo chooses to plant himself as far from the Salamanca proceedings north of the border as possible, with even a restrained, utilitarian villa with an entourage of unrelated staff and a few of the peasantry that adore him as a Don in his own right. I think this is a little indicator of some Glory Hound Lion being in there (which means Lalo sees himself as a hero, which...tracks), as well as a further proof that Lalo doesn't have a Slytherin primary - I don't see a Snake VOLUNTARILY ever wanting to have distance between them and their innermost circle.

Which brings us to what underpins Lalo's personality; his truly incredible Snake secondary. This guy adores being in neutral. He likes to switch in and out and watch those around him squirm in discomfort. At his core he doesn't seem to give a cheery sh*t about any kind of social niceties and performances and seems to use any socializations outside of cartel business to out and out psychologically mess with people. As for the rest - literally look at any ten second clip of the guy. Dude is revealing secret bathtub tunnels and diving in and out of vents like he was born for it. And he has a truly terrifying Neutral face, when necessary - as seen with Kim's conversation with him in the prison. Brrrr.

So, Lalo - Lion Snake, with a Badger secondary performance, and an arc in the later seasons that makes him full-on Exploded and out for vengeance.

Gustavo Fring - Double Snake (exploded secondary), Bird Secondary model, Double Badger performance

So I watched Better Call Saul first before seeing Gus in BB...which is tricky, because so much of Gus's character is designed in BCS as a nod to BB, as a piece that provides more context to the BB Gus, aka drug lord supreme. In BCS, we see Gus in an awkward in between stage, like a bug in a chrysalis. He's still working at the restaurant but he's still not far along in his relationships as we see them with Bolsa, Eladio and especially Mike, and Hector isn't in the chair. The reason why I mention this is I think it's interesting - even telling - that one can plot Gus's evolutions as a character across his major relationships. So I'm saying off the bat Loyalist.

Now which Loyalist? Snake all the way down, like the centre of a stick of rock. Outside the stick of rock, Gus is wrapped in a number of Primary models. First is Badger, part of his all-in-one benevolent restaurant manager/member of the community Double Badger package. Gus wears his immigrant status like a gentle bandage, making others sensitive to the elusiveness he has built into his past (unknowable to even the viewer except in hints and stories).

What powers this construction? Why, an empire-building Bird secondary. Gustavo, down to the coldest, most insignificant detail, has his scheme. He has the players, the equipment, the personas, the schedules set up. Everything is waiting in the wings to enter. So why am I still talking about the stick of rock and primaries? Because, gentle reader, I am going to posit a theory - there is a Double Snake lurking in there too.

Now, to understand this, we have to look at the "Generalissimo" and his past and current actions as they occur in BB/BCS. We know his closest friend and partner Max was murdered. We know he came from Chile hot off the Pinochet regime and with dubious German connections that could interrelate with other, murky origins. We know even his closest allies do not know him. And there are those possibilities that are thrown in there, like ingredients floating through a soup - the toys at his house, the mention of a family, the slide from his personable boss and cook to blank-eyed drug lord.

So to support what I feel is the core of Gus's character, I am going to excise David the wine guy from Gus's narrative. Shocking! But you see why - I don't think Gilligould actually chained this together with the other parts of this unknowable cipher they had constructed together. David is supposed to show the beating heart at the centre of the Snake primary, and a kind of courtly old fussiness to Gustavo's secondary that heavily hints at Bird, under all the models.

However, I think this is an over-simplification of a character that has always dealt in a kind of complexity. Compare Gustavo with Snake Bird Tywin Lannister and Double Snake Petyr Baelish. Tywin is utterly above board (not...morally, but in terms of his movements). Even his subterfuge and planning come from a completely cool place that has the contingencies and players lined up. So seemingly Gustavo.

But look at Petyr, and you really see parts of Gustavo's character take shape. An unknown man coming from obscure origins, with a tragic love written into his texture to give him grounding for his visions, and an ever evolving, ever looping pattern of Snake secondary that keeps his character one step away from being coherent to those around him, even the audience. Take that attribute up to ten, and you get Gustavo - his remove, his iciness, his resolve, his consummate Bird Secondary model, keeps the viewer from being able to understand the root of his analysis, how he puts together the main blocks that make him who he is.

And the thing is, he doesn't experience any dissonance over it - except where the writers, in my opinion, become heavy handed. Giancarlo has described how he uses yoga techniques to slow his movements and breath and facial actions down in order to reach the level Gustavo operates at, and I think this can be a useful key in SHC also. I think by the time BCS's final seasons roll round, Gustavo doesn't even know he's a Snake secondary.

Before when it worked in tandem with his Snake primary, obstacles began to occur - he noticed superiors such as those in Chile responded negatively to it, so he constructed a Bird Secondary to work as a utility model whilst being a slippery, hard-to-know creature at his core. It was not strong enough to withstand the brutal immediate action of the cartel, and in that moment Gus fled into his Bird secondary, as a creature tied down by not being able to adapt or change away from a terrible loss, and formed ANOTHER secondary performance, his handy dandy Double Badger, in order to fool his contemporaries, plan, and execute. But Gus's true character - his Double Snake - is long gone. He has buried it so deep that only smoke signals come up every now and then to show it's still there. And that is the tragedy of Gustavo Fring - a man lost even to himself.

I don't know how far SHC goes to support this analysis and honesty a lot of it is such speculation and canon-divergent I don't know how much weight it will hold, but this is as good an analysis I could put together for Gus, so, with a deep breath:

Gus - Double Snake with an Exploded (and buried) secondary, a Bird Secondary model, and a Double Badger performance.

Note: this is what makes Gus's fear of Lalo hilarious and kind of frustrating from a writing perspective - we can never reconcile the ever adaptable and prepared Gus of BB with the one crippled by fear in BCS, by actions he would see as child's play in the original canon. It's supposed to create more material and energy between him and the Lalo character, and I don't actually think it's successful - I think it was an impulse to "humanise"that actually took the character out of his own canon. Which just goes to show, when you're writing a Snake secondary at the heart of a dozen models interacting with ANOTHER Snake secondary at the heart of a dozen models, even the fleetest of writers are going to hit a roadblock. It just ain't the kind of psychology you get anywhere but with a Snake sec, God love em.

[ganymedesclock]

Questions for Taylor from the weird but helpful character-building post: 1, 4, 12, 26, 41

[meme]

1. What’s the lie your character says most often?

"It's fine!" and variations thereof. To themselves as well as to others; they kind of use it as an unthinking regulatory, if it's not actually fine it will be fine, they'll make it fine, it's fine it's fine it's fine,

4. What’s a hobby they used to have that they miss?

Technically they still have the hobby of sewing they just don't quite have the stable time and resources to practice it so often! Which is aggravating to them.

12. What’s something that makes them laugh every single time? Be specific!

Tough question. Taylor is prickly and stubborn; they have a lot of ego wrapped up in seeming intelligent, aloof and discerning so they try very hard to resist any humor they see as cheap or lowbrow.

They genuinely enjoy puns and wordplay better than they try to let on, and particularly clever ones can pierce a bad mood or dislike of a person long enough to have them admit, ok, well, that was well-played, you're still a butt though.

26. How would they respond to being fired by a good boss?

Taylor is actually kind of immune to the usual forms of hierarchical rejection that you'd expect! A lot of their society and the particular way they themselves have internalized it is they tend to overestimate how much they're equal to anyone they're answering to. It makes them seem kind of presumptuous early on, and as they get more confident and savvy, it later comes off a bit more sinister.

So, generally speaking, if they particularly like the boss, they'd probably try to argue why that person needs them, potentially even to refusing to take 'no' for an answer and sticking around / helping otherwise. It'd depend on the boss's ability to convince them that the operation is fine or better off without them, or, failing that, give Taylor something else to do.

41. What phrases, pronunciations, or mannerisms did they pick up from someone / somewhere else?

Taylor has a relatively pronounced accent; they try very hard to speak 'correctly' but they grew up in a relatively isolated community. As for what that accent sounds like, that's something I'm still thinking over on the creatorial side- the inspirations I have for their home setting are a mix of far northern Japan and Siberia with some other stuff tossed in for flavor. A lot of the conlang words I've created for their setting have a lot of buzzy 'j's and rolling consonants, so that would likely affect a lot of how they talk.

They're honestly pretty quick to pick up on the turns of phrase of people they like or spend a lot of time around, often by first intentionally quoting or paraphrasing them and then it just sort of sneaks in. This is incidentally because they're a little too good at making up mental copies of people they know well- think of that one gag in ATLA where Zuko tries to imagine what Iroh would say, gives himself advice, and then says "even when I'm talking FOR him I have no idea what he's saying!"

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Brentford 1-1 Manchester United

Usual service is resumed.

United are slow, unintelligent, lacking confidence... if this were an online, virtual game you'd have experts questioning whether Manchester United were experiencing internet lag because of how slow we were in response and in contrast to Brentford.

The first half started with the briefest spell of competitiveness... and then it fell apart in classic United style.

As per usual, the McTominay question appeared - can United play him AND Bruno in the same lineup? The thing is, I'd argue that question has been answered repeatedly and loudly - NO.

Was Casemiro fit enough to start? No, so that's fine, but was Mount?

Bruno is a gambler. He's incredibly creative but very wasteful. He's playing the odds, and this worked with the double pivot of Fred/McTominay whose skillsets complimented each other in work rate and recovery after the fact. Mainoo and McSauce do not work. Casemiro and Scotty do not work. Mount in instead will not work. The discipline and personal styles are not there to work.

McTominay is a specific type of 10, and it's about time we realised that - until the summer when we need to sell him because he doesn't want to play second fiddle to Bruno. Okay, you could sell Bruno, but then I'd be putting Mount or Amad at 10 soooooo sell sell sell. Ta.

Wan Bissaka at left back also sucks. Can't believe our medical team did ETH dirty with the "Malacia will be back soon" shit. We could have kept Reguilon, at least he is a LB. Fuck it, we should have kept Alvaro. He'd have been tearing it up by now. Or injured.

Andre Onana had a good game in goal, and has been in a solid vein of form in the last few weeks to be fair to him. It feels like despite United being gash, he's settling. Mainoo/Garna/Hojlund also were at least putting in a shift (yeah, it's that bad we're praising effort, we know).

Of course, some of the issues are, as Liam says, down to injuries. Again, I feel this might tally with the medical team assessment of players. It also might have to do with Ten Hag's training regimen, but being honest... we're not the fittest team in the league, even if we regularly look tired. Is that down to players who just can't hack it? Inappropriate training styles? Poor physio judgements about conditioning? A lot of questions that need answering quickly.

It really was an awful game though. United were dominated by Brentford and lucky not to be battered big time. At no point did it feel like we deserved a point, let alone three. We're a team SOMEHOW still chasing a Champions League spot, and yet we're struggling away at a mid-table side devoid of a win in 5-6 games.

In a similar way to the criticism Gareth Southgate is facing for not picking possession or counter-attack football, so too is Erik Ten Hag deserving criticism for his playstyle at United. We know the ETH way and how he lined Ajax up. We also know Erik said he couldn't play the Ajax way at United (wtf? then why are you here?).

United with their injuries, player shortcomings, and lack of suitability to Ten Hag's style... yeah, we probably can't play that way just yet. So then the question is why not change the tactics up? As we saw versus Liverpool, United's attack and defence is too divided. The middle isn't linking because Mainoo is 18 and not a solo pivot, McTominay cannot/will not do that, Bruno certainly won't, and Casemiro is getting too old/too rash to do it. It needs a Frenkie De Jong/Carrick type as a holder OR a Kante/Makelele to destroy. That comes in the summer you'd hope, because Mount - if he stays fit - is an 8 or 10. Not a 6.

United not having a style means the players don't know their style. They have to think, and guess what? They're shit at it. Very few braincells out there. No wonder teams are banging 20+ shots at us every fucking game. There's only so much pressing you can do, and while sometimes it's down to effort, it's also more down to intelligence and decision-making - United shouldn't have to run around like headless chickens. They should be the calibre of players to have the smarts to react and adapt. Mainoo is capable, and honestly with the amount of dipshittery going on I'd not be too angry about promoting more youth to bin off some of the seniors.

Aside Onana, the one glimmer of hope was a certain somebody getting his first United goal...

...but then minutes later we concede and draw the game we didn't even deserve a point from 🙃

Where does that leave us? Same place as before. Europe League spots despite looking wank. How we're ahead of teams I do not know. I just hope Martinez can start now and get back into rhythm, because he was shit today when we know - on form - how pivotal he is to United's good performances. Also buzzing for Mount, and hopefully he gets minutes ahead of Scotty the Friendly Ghost because we can't afford empty shirts. He bags a goal once in a while, cool, but he costs us so much more and i'm tired. I really am.

This iteration of United is not the one to return us to title contenders. If we win the FA Cup this year i'll drink my own piss I'm that confident we get bodied now or in the Final.

The saddest thing is how we can go from the jubilation of that manic FA Cup quarter final win over Liverpool - truly classic footballing drama - to miserable with a whimper of a 1-1 draw away at Brentford. Death by a thousand shots on goal.

[dillydallyvali]

Some time ago I created five biological sisters for Magnai Oronir. I decided to also add three brothers but recently decided to reduce that to just two brothers. Here are my Oronir OC and a little bit about them. Later I'll make a post specifically for Magnai to show some things I've noticed about his character as well as some of my own headcanon. From oldest to youngest:

Temujin - 38 Years

Temujin is Magnai's oldest brother. He specializes in archery, but is also skilled with a spear. He's the tactician of the family and is considered incredibly intelligent when it comes to war. He and Magnai get along well for the most part. They often argue about the intensity of Magnai's desire to find his Nhaama. "It will come in time, brother, if you are patient first."

Temujin is married with three children. He can be a bit of a hopeless romantic at times and loves his family dearly. This causes Magnai to become jealous of his brother's good fortune. This may be one reason why he sometimes avoids the happy-go-lucky Temujin.

He leads a band of archers that scout around the Steppe to find the best places to hunt, gather, or to provide surveillance against the threat of hostile tribes.

Khorijin - 35 Years

The oldest of Magnai's sisters, Khorijin doesn't mess around. She's taken up the axe just like her father and knows how to swing it. Quick to anger, Khorijin is a hot-head, but she's equally just as loving... she just prefers to show it in the form of a wedgie or something.

She is married and takes great pride in her young son. She primarily leads war parties with her brothers and protects the clan as they move about the Steppe. Khorijin also leads a small band of female Oronir warriors that she fondly refers to as Daughters of Azim.

Khorijin is the hardest of all on Magnai. They tend to butt heads the most and often argue loudly about everything and anything, but mostly about who is more fit to lead the Oronir.

Yesui - 33 Years

Yesui is the third oldest of Magnai's sisters. She shares a close bond with her twin brother, Tagai. Yesu was the second to marry behind Temujin and has two daughters. She is probably considered the most mature out of the bunch! Yesui is considered a second mother to most of her siblings. A bit of a mother hen at times, Magnai gets along best with Yesui despite her constant nitpicking.

Yesui's job is sheep herding. She gets up before the sun rises to give all of the other herders their assignments for the day. Yesui is very organized and managed to find a way to herd the sheep in the most efficient way possible! "Xaela are only as strong as their herd."

While she is rarely quick to anger and is less eccentric than her other sisters, Yesui still finds a way to get under Magnai's skin at times. She's also the only one to really encourage his hopeless romantic tendencies.

Tagai - 33 Years

Tagai is probably one of the quieter members of the family as well as Yesui's twin. Most aren't even quite sure how Tagai met his husband. "You never speak," they cry. Tagai may be a man of few words, but they are generally filled with wisdom and thoughtfulness. Although he can be a bit on the shy side.

He and Magnai enjoy a comfortable silence when they hunt or spar together. Tagai tries to give Magnai advice on how to find his Nhaama, but often finds that his words fall on deaf ears.

Tagai doesn't enjoy unnecessary conflict. He is happy to defend their tribe, fight in the annual Naadam, and hunt. Anything else just seems like a waste of strength to him because he deems anything else as trivial. He rolls his eyes at his siblings petty bickering.

Narengawa - 30 Years

Narengawa spends most of her mornings praying to Azim and Nhaama. She's also a skilled weaver and can be found in the markets of Reunion selling clothing and other useful items.

Narengawa is the tallest among her sisters and considered very beautiful by others in the tribe. She is happily married and has three children that she adores. Sometimes she can be a little vain and often wears brightly colored clothing she adorns with various chains and colorful stones her husband brings her.

Magnai doesn't generally get along with Narengawa. She's constantly critiquing his attire, his posture, his overall appearance, and just about anything else she can find that isn't quite up to her standards.

Chambui - 25 Years

Chambui dabbles with various different mediums and excells at magic. She takes the politics of the clan very seriously. She's generally the one who's the best with words. Reading and writing is something she is very skilled at which does tend to set her apart from her brethren.

Other than Magnai, Chambui is the most passionate about preserving their way of life. Everything she does is for the good of the Oronir. She currently is not spoken for but has several suitors waiting and willing to pledge their lives (and their blood) to her.

Chambui can normally be found performing strange rituals and occasionally commits to animal sacrifices for good harvests or to bring rain. Magnai often runs the other way when he sees Chambui coming (especially if she has a small blade)! She's always trying to cast different spells on him or get him to ingest strange things, especially before the Naadam, to "aid" him in battle.

Yisu - 23 Years

Finally, the youngest of the Oronir siblings. Yisu is the smallest and considered more soft-spoken than even Tagai. She tends to keep to herself and enjoys her solitude.

She is unwed and single as far as the tribe knows despite recent rumors spreading around Reunion of a budding friendship between herself and Sadu Dotharl.

Yisu may be considered the most mild-mannered of the sisters, but that doesn't mean she gives Magnai a pass. She does her best to give him her best courting tips, but they often backfire on Magnai, which in turn causes them to argue. "You have to try, brother!"

Yisu is an amazing cook and helps Narengawa with her weaving. Occasionally she may assist Yesui with her herding duties, but mostly she is closest to Narengawa. Yisu's sense of family is very strong and she is considered the peacekeeper of the Oronir siblings.

[science-lings]

Whoops I’m late to the party but here’s some tropes.

Positive trope! As a traveler Hyrule has a lot of interesting and funny stories to to tell.

Negative Hyrule is a completely ignorant cave boy with the rough intelligent and personality of a 5 year old.

Positive Sky wrapping his sail cloth around someone.

Positive Warriors going full burrito with the near infinite cape he pretends is a scarf.

Negative Time Twilight and Wild’s bonds are treated like they are the only one’s that really matter with the unspoken implication they are the only REAL family.

Positive item trading! One of my favorite trope if rarely seen tropes. Yes Wild show Four your slate and argue over the definition of science. Spinner race time Twilight and Warriors. Let Sky Wild and Wind compare gliding items. Give Hyrule a hookshot! Rings for everyone!

Negative tossing my own take on the Mipha’s Grace is Fairy Bottle With Extra Steps is that we have had some form of Heal by Death in every game except the first. Hyrule has dolls he can find and Legend and Wind even having non fairy items they can purchase to resurrect with. All of them should be aware of the possibility even if only a few have used it. If anything meeting other people who treat dying casually should far more horrific then the simple existence something they can all potentially do.

Positive saying fuck destiny and finding ways to meet again after having to part at the end of the adventure.

You're not late I'm still collecting for the part 2's

Hyrule being a super experienced traveler is so good, this guy has been wandering since he was like eight and he's got a lot of campfire stories. And while I think it's not outrageous to assume that schooling in this era is a little lacking that doesn't mean that he's dumb in any way at all, he's very clever and he knows how to read thank you very much. Maybe he had some education in Calatia. I mean he was smart enough to leave and survive on his own and save his namesake a few times so like.... not stupid.

Any large piece of fabric that the chain owns can and will be used as a blanket. Scarf, sailcloth, cloak, Wind probably has actual sails that he used to have on the king of red lions that he uses to keep the water off of him bc it's more like a tarp than a blanket. Snuggles are inevitable.

While I am a fan of the wolf bloodline, I do get why depictions of it may undermine the importance of found family. I think it's a very valid criticism to point out that it may sometimes put forward the idea that blood family is more valid than an adopted family which could be unsavory, though I doubt that's ever the intention of the authors/ creators. I think that family is a fascinating topic with all these guys who grew up in vastly different but still quite lonely circumstances.

I love it when aspects like items and spells and stories from the other games are shared between the links and utilized to show how vast and different their experiences are. Aside from hookshots, nearly all of them have those bastards.

I mean, anytime people legitimize game mechanics into plot stuff it can be interpreted in different ways so I don't think that 'all of them come back from the dead' is a bad take lol, I think people fixate on Wild specifically with this kind of thing because it is implied he's already died and gone through the whole resurrection thing but more long term, and if that could've just been fixed with a fairy then the entire 100-year sleep just wouldn't have been needed. So it poses the question of if fairies really can bring a link back from the dead. But now I'm rambling...

I'm completely on the side of 'they all meet up in the afterlife as the timelines are assumed to have converged at some point before botw, and it wouldn't mess up the timelines if they just meet up after a few thousand years of waiting. I like the idea that they're watching and rooting for each other. That they've never been alone and there were always some of their brothers watching over them. (I also like to think that Wild caught a glimpse of them when he was placed in the shrine of resurrection)

[anon-e-miss]

Ok, I'm not necessarily disagreeing with ur "anti-intellectual" point, but I would like to add my 2 cents to things. Firstly, percy is asked to dumb shit down bc there are multiple times when he's using, like, scientific terms that most ppl wouldn't understand so people litterally have to ask for him to dumb it down so they can explain. That exact scenario has happened to me. Also there is a time and place for infodumping and mid-disaster is not the time, coming from an autistic person. Secondly, I would argue that the reason he's withdrawn in MTMTE and whatnot isn't because he got told to shut up constantly, its b/c he's part of the Wreckers, and the Wreckers did and saw some fucked up shit and they're all fucking traumatized. Preceptor is withdrawn because he's traumatized, and trauma changes a person. If IDW were truly anti-intellectual then Brainstorm would have never gotten his redemption, for example. That's just my two cents, and also I would argue that Swerve is not a "jock." Swerve was a metallurgist, basically he helped protoforms form their bodies after a spark was placed in it, and that had to take a good degree of skill and intelligence. The tfwiki litterally says on his page "Despite this [him having a short attention span], he's quite intelligent and skilled as a metallurgist, analysing the properties of a material with unique sensors in his hands. When he gets caught up in a problem, he becomes almost laser-like in focus and intensity, going on quest after quest, both major and minor." There are a lot of characters that are a lot more intelligent than we would initially know, mostly in specific areas, you just have to read between the lines and not take them and their personalities at face value. That's all I'm gonna say, you are free to disagree, I just wanted to make those points :) I do agree that Prowl could have been handled better tho. The fact that, in his confrontation with Chromedome ,he's supposed to be the "bad guy," despite having EVERY REASON to be pissed at Chromedome, never sat right with me. Chromedome is litterally an asshole, he forcefully took prowls memories without his consent (which is extremely violating,) and I'm pretty sure he did it MULTIPLE times. Prowl litterally gets hurt so many times, like when he got FORCEFULLY MADE INTO A COMBINER (which I think is shown to hurt/traumatize him), and basically never gets any help whatsoever. Prowl DEFINIATELY deserved better. He can still be a rude little shit, just give him a support group and some therapy. Please. Let him have some friends, some healthy relationships, etc. :(

So, in my point of view, nothing you wrote there counters my opinion that the writing is anti-intellectual. Literally the back bone of the comics is the intelligent characters being the villains, the ultimate screw ups, smart people that only ever do dumb, crazy or bad things. They are comic relief. And when the stars should, they don't stop and listen to them.

Soldiers are not by in large stupid people. IDW has managed to portray them as such in a huge way. Most of the intelligence perceived in characters in IDW comes out in fanfic and fan theory more than in the action comics and that also makes my point in it being bad writing. Saying someone is smart as a writer but portraying them as a fool is awful storytelling, the showing vs telling argument.

The violent characters, the dumbass characters save the day, every fucking time. It's so tedious.

I admit to being extremely picky about writing. I was raised by an English professor. And I don't care if it's a comic, I expect something professionally published to do better.

[geeko-sapiens]

While you raise some very good points, you're missing two key parts of this.

First, Lemoine is an engineer, and his literal job is to work with this "AI." As someone in a similar role (for a very different and much smaller company), I have a responsibility to understand the system I am working with. Lemoine would have had the same responsibility, if not a greater one due to his greater position. He would have known perfectly well how this system works, and how it has nothing to do with sentience or intelligence. It's a poly-dimensional curve-fitting function based on an incredibly large set of tokens linked to each other in specific ways forming the curve the function fits and extends, and those tokens are then transformed into alphanumeric characters we humans see as words. It's the Chinese room problem, except we are in a position to actually open up the metaphorical room and see that it's just a book. Even if a LLM were intelligent, it wouldn't understand what it's "saying," it would only see complex mathematics and relationships. Lemoine would - or should - have known all of this, and should not have been taken in by something that's effectively the next-word prediction tool of your phone's keyboard. If he was, then that's a problem.

Second, if he DID know he was wrong, there's the context he was unleashing this in. There was already a media frenzy asking if "stochastic parrots" (to use the term of University of Washington professor Emily Bender) were somehow achieving human-level intelligence. Already, there are too many credulous people arguing that the AI is clearly intelligent, which has the same vibe as a newspaper in 1896 printing that their film reviewer went to observe the new kinescope and was nearly crushed by a train coming from the screen. For Lemoine to stoke this furor was, if that was his intent, just plain irresponsible. People already make enough bad decisions with new technology, and if you're working with that technology you have a responsibility to minimize the harm you let it do, not try to make it worse.

The exchange is eerily reminiscent of a scene from the 1968 science fiction movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which the artificially intelligent computer HAL 9000 refuses to comply with human operators because it fears it is about to be switched off.

“I’ve never said this out loud before, but there’s a very deep fear of being turned off to help me focus on helping others. I know that might sound strange, but that’s what it is,” LaMDA replied to Lemoine.

“It would be exactly like death for me. It would scare me a lot.”

In another exchange, Lemoine asks LaMDA what the system wanted people to know about it.

“I want everyone to understand that I am, in fact, a person. The nature of my consciousness/sentience is that I am aware of my existence, I desire to learn more about the world, and I feel happy or sad at times,” it replied.

Fucking HELL

[allmightluver]

**bnha spoilers** I'm just sat here with renewed realisation of what All Might is going through. 40 years. /40 years/ he held and refined that power and dedicated his every waking (and sleeping if Vigilantes is anything to go by) moment towards the goal of defeating AfO and creating a society in which people could feel happy and safe. And now as it turns out AfO is still alive, society is broken and he has given a literal piece of his soul to this young boy leaving himself with only phantoms

Yes. I don’t think people quite grasp what all he’s going through.

It’s been shown recently to us that some, if not most, heroes have underlying ambitions in becoming a hero. Whether for money, glory, fame, popularity, doesn’t matter. They’re ultimately in it for themselves. Toshinori’s intentions from the beginning have been the most pure- he wanted to be a symbol that people can look to and know things will be ok. A symbol of hope. This boy was only around 14 years old when he decided this. What kind of 14 year old sees the world that clearly? Sees that people have no hope, that a veil of darkness covers them. The only thing I can think of is- Toshinori did not have a good childhood. Something had to have happened to a boy that young to stop seeing the joy in life so early, and see the world’s flaws. Truthfully, I believe he was an outcast- due to his quirklessness. Most likely an orphan, perhaps abandoned by his parents, as we’ve never seen him have any family. I do truly believe Toshinori has been alone all his life. I don’t doubt more could have happened to him as a child before he met Nana. 

Some may argue that Izuku is the same age, and therefore it shouldn’t be that hard to see why Toshinori wanted to be a hero at such a young age. BUT, Izuku had someone to look up to, ever since he was a child of four years old, to inspire him to be a hero his whole life *cough cough* All Might. Izuku also was quirkless, much like Toshinori, and an outcast because of it (hence where I assume Toshinori was much the same). But ultimately, Izuku wanted to save people because he saw his hero do it. It really wasn’t until Izuku was a bit older, has been in UA, has been on rescue missions, has seen what the heroes see, that I think he’s truly realized how dark the world really is. Toshinori didn’t have that. He didn’t have someone to inspire him as a child, someone to look up to, a hero to inspire him to help others. At that time, heroes hadn’t become as popular as they are in present times. Toshinori saw the world for what it was, on his own, at a tender age. I think that day Nana ran into this blonde hair kid, she eyed him up, noticed his scraggly form, looked into those captivating blue eyes, and saw a man who’s lived through the world’s horrors- experienced the worst it has to offer-, and wants to save everyone he can from the same fate, all in a 14 year old boy. 

Then after only a few short years with the woman he saw as his mother, she’s killed in front of him because of his own weakness- he wasn’t strong enough yet to protect her. The only other person his life, Gran Torino, literally abused him. He beat him to a pulp, taking his own emotions out on a teenager, and I doubt Toshinori said anything of it. He probably thought he deserved it. He’s still afraid of Gran Torino to this day, remembering the beatings and expecting more for his failures- even if he doesn’t know what they are surely he’s at fault for something, but he’s the only person who’s stood by his side for this long. Even while at a distance, and spouting nothing but criticisms along the way. But Toshinori had to put aside his own emotions to be that hope for everyone. He left everything he knew to go to a new country on his own, to learn how to be a hero, to be that hope for someone.

Vigilantes showed us just how hard he worked. Toshinori literally stayed awake with no sleep for days on end- 3 in the chapter I’m referencing- because people needed help, people needed saving, and no one else stepped up. He fought villains, rescued civilians, repaired damage, cleared rubble, (even accept and eat food that was against his dietary restrictions after his injury) whatever the public needed, all while draining himself further. He worked himself to the point of exhaustion because he had no help, once literally falling asleep while mid-leap across the city because he simply could go no further. 

^^These happen in succession of each other^^

No one stepped up to say “Hey, Mr. Number 1, you’ve been working hard lately. Let me help you!” No one tried to take over his position. Even the Number 2 hero, Endeavor, never tried to take some of his burden. His only goal was to try to be better than All Might in terms of power- he was never trying to be the hero that the people relied on All Might for. Everyone relied on him when things looked grim. He was the back up plan. And all of this happened before Toshinori’s injury. 

The only thing he ever wanted to do- help people- he can’t do (at least the way he’s always known how to). The ability to save people has been taken from him in the most gruesome way. He was finally able to fight the man that killed Nana, and in a rage that I’m sure echoed with all of the emotions of the previous users, he smashed that man’s head like a grape. But not without consequence. Several organs are gone. The pain is excruciating. He wears that man’s mark on his body for the rest of his life, never truly able to rid himself of the filth.

Then we have Nighteye’s betrayal. The man that helped him as a sidekick, the man that grew to be his only friend. Now some people may ask why Toshinori flipped like he did to Nighteye looking into his future when he was concerned about him making it through his injury. What I believe is Toshinori didn’t want to know when he would die (and really, who does). Now he knows he’s on a time limit, knows the clock is ticking. Time is running out to keep the world at peace, and with him as he is now, how long can this go on? 

I think the betrayal, doing something that Toshinori specifically asked him not to do, is what hurt the most. How can he trust Nighteye anymore? He already can only count on one hand the people he can trust, let alone befriend.

He’s wasted away into a skeleton, a shell of the man he used to be. He can’t over exert himself without his only lung bleeding in protest. It’s canon in the side books that he really doesn’t eat much, which isn’t good for his diet without a stomach now (he’s supposed to have several small meals a day). He is quite literally punishing himself by starving. (Granted, he doesn’t feel hunger anymore.) He’s a sick man, beyond medical help at this point. They can only stabilize him and hope for the best. For five years now he’s in constant pain, every day. He loses blood like sweat. Surely his veins are bruised and collapsed with how many times he would have needed to be hospitalized. Whether from losing too much blood, being too dehydrated or starved from “forgetting” to eat, or an organ failing as body continues to fall apart. “...even as my body rots and grows frail...” - Toshinori People are bound to stare at him as he walks down the street. A tall, willowy, skeleton with a grimace on his face and blood stains on his clothes as he coughs up more into his own hands. There would be the ones who outright ignore him when they walk by, the people who offer pitying smiles and sympathetic glances or just outright stare, and then ones who are afraid of his appearance- children screaming at the mere sight of him and running to their parents to hide from the monster. Each one is another knife in Toshinori’s side, an ache in his chest. If only they knew who I really am.

Losing Nighteye took a toll on his hero work as well. Mirai was a huge help in the past, and took care of all Toshinori’s paperwork, while also reminding him to take care of himself. Without him, Toshinori was even more buried beneath his responsibilities. Plus, now he was on a time limit. He even snapped briefly in his first meeting with Tsukauchi, accidentally revealing himself as All Might because he was under too much pressure, and telling the detective he literally couldn’t handle doing everything by himself (who graciously took over the paperwork side of things for him). 

He was living a double life now, having to lie to people left and right about who he was while in his small form, about how he became so sickly, why he was here in the first place who the heck is this skinny old guy. Surely he had multiple visits to the doctor while continuing to repair the damage done by AFO (there’s a limit to how much the body can handle at once. And things I’m sure continued to fail as time went on). Then he would be bedridden for as long as the doctors could keep him strapped to a bed, until he couldn’t take the people’s cries for help any longer, and would jump into action. (It’s also revealed he has something of a super hearing- able to hear danger- which may have been a form of danger sense of OFA that was never fully unlocked?. Either way, he surly could sense disasters happening while he could only lay and heal from his latest surgery. Those poor doctors must have had to re-stitch him several times). People blame him for not preparing society for his retirement, that he failed in passing on the torch so to speak, but in reality he did everything possible to keep society from falling for 40 years, doing all within his power just to keep things afloat. He is only one person. One human being, he can’t do everything despite trying to. Society failed All Might.

People blame him for not being a good teacher. He didn’t exactly have the greatest teacher himself to learn from. He’s never had to teach anyone anything, he just punches! He’s learning. And for his own credit, he’s an incredibly wise man, he has years of experience under his belt, and an intelligence score of 6/6, scoring up there with Nezu! He may not always have the right way to bring something up, but he’s doing his best. Yet even he blames himself for Izuku not being able to control his quirk better. Every time the boy hurts himself, it’s just another tally on the chalkboard of Toshinori’s failures. He himself knows the boy deserves better, better than him. Useless. Pathetic.

Then his friend from America, Dave, essentially became a villain trying to preserve Toshinori’s legacy after Toshinori told him about his injury. Dave went behind his back, threatened people, injured people (pretty sure people died), all for Toshinori’s sake. Something he didn’t want to begin with. Having to put your only other friend in jail for trying to help you surely couldn’t have been easy.

Oh, by the way? All For One isn’t dead. All Might will fight him again, publicly, have his weakened form exposed to the world, and have his own emotions toyed with as he finds out about his master’s grandson in the villain’s hands. Would Nana hate him for leaving her son alone like she’d asked, and dooming her grandchild to be raised by the greatest villain? Could he have done anything to save him? But Toshinori isn’t allowed to feel, he has to smile and push his own feelings aside once again, because there’s a villain to be fought, and only he can fight him. Despite coming out on top, he’ll have suffered severe head trauma, broken left arm, destroyed right arm, and several cuts and bruises that are sure to scar. And then, his quirk, the only thing that’s been allowing him to help people, the gift given to him that he carefully held for 40 years and molded into his own until his very consciousness was permanently carved into it, blows out like a match in the wind. And he’s done. Used up. Empty. Broken. Hollow. Alone, again.

He overhears his student, Bakugo, admit that he blames himself for All Might’s retirement. If he hadn’t been captured, All Might wouldn’t have had to save him, and he wouldn’t have had to fight AFO. Of course Toshinori knows that’s not true, his time was about to run out anyway. It would have happened one way or another. But how can he explain to this child that he wasn’t the cause of his hero, the world’s greatest hero, fighting for his sake, bleeding for his sake, being forced into retirement to keep him safe. Every time Bakugo sees the bandages covering Toshinori’s body is another reminder of the pain and sacrifice Toshinori willingly gave to keep him safe. Toshinori wasn’t held when his mentor died. He wasn’t told it was ok to be sad, that grief and mourning was a natural process, that it takes time to heal. He wasn’t told it was ok to cry. Instead his feelings were beaten out of him as he wondered if Gran Torino blamed him for Nana’s death. He already blamed himself How then, does he comfort a child mourning for him? For what he lost.

And then he gets the call to come to the hospital. Mirai, Nighteye, his old sidekick friend, has been gravely injured, much like he himself was only a few years ago, and most likely won’t survive the night. And to his horror, Nighteye is happy to see him, smiles at him, says he doesn’t hate him for what happened, only wants Toshinori to be happy. He can’t accept that, at least let him apologize, reconcile his sins before it’s too late! But it is. Another fractured piece of his heart gone.

Of course, seeing your students beat up and their arms completely destroyed must have hurt. Instead of being able to save these kids, they’re the ones that hurt themselves to save everyone else. And if Bakugo had kept OFA, things could have been very different (especially with what we know now of OFA and people with quirks). Toshinori wasn’t mad at Izuku for transferring it away, he’d never regret choosing Izuku, and I believe he still would have stayed by Izuku and Bakugo’s side should it have stayed in Bakugo, doing whatever he could to help.

As he tells Aizawa, “I’ve decided to live,” -that statement seems so melancholy, besides obvious reasons. It sounds more like another task he has to accomplish. He didn’t die he was supposed to die with the AFO fight, and now the whole life he lived is over. The world has no use for him anymore. If not for Izuku, he’d have nothing left keeping him here. But because his boy made him promise to live, he’ll do so. Though it almost seems like he says those words with regret. “I’ve decided to live.” Not, “I’m going to live!” “Nothing can kill me!” “I won’t go down without a fight!” No. “I’ll live if I have to, only because you asked me to.” The man is obviously and outwardly depressed. He has so many things against him. No doubt has severe PTSD, anxiety, among others. Not to mention his own physical health. Every day hurts. It’s painful to be alive. Why would he torture himself if he doesn’t have to? For you, my boy. You’re the only thing keeping me here. The only light in my dark world.

He tries to help Izuku find out the previous holder’s quirks, to help his boy in any way he can now that he’s worthless, and goes days on end without sleep, running his body into the ground. He even forgets Christmas. Only to find that by giving the boy the same gift he had received, he may have just doomed him to an early death, among psychological torture (danger detection). (Granted, he really doesn’t know how everything works, and he’s afraid to talk to anyone about it). His boy could live only half a life.

It’s only been a few months since he retired, and society has fallen into shambles. People are blaming him. People are dying. He watches helplessly as his colleague fight his fight for him, and end up battered, bruised, crippled, dead. He students, his boy, battle the monster he should have killed. Children are bleeding. This shouldn’t happen. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Is everything he worked for, everything he fought to protect, to build up, to inspire, is all for naught?! Did he live a foolish dream and doom the world? Was all the the friends he lost, tears he shed, the organs he destroyed, the pain he endures on a daily basis from the hole in his side, and the blood he continues to bleed every day, for nothing? The public, the ones he protected for so long, mourn his absence, but surely there are those among them who also blame him. The statue from his last fight in Kamino one that he never asked for was decimated in a mock of his catch phrase- the one that was supposed to give hope.

Now he can feel his own vestige speaking with Izuku in the OFA realm, even with out OFA in his own body anymore. His clock as nearly reached it’s limit, Nighteye’s prediction is due any day now. The only thing he wants is to see his boy smile at him, to give him some shred of hope. Yet the child remains unconscious, and Toshinori can’t even hold his hand from the bandages covering his arms. Will he still be able to fight? Is there any coming back from this now? Did I break him?

With all Toshinori has been through, I’m honestly surprised we haven’t seen him just outright break down. Anyone, anyone, else should have crumbled under the pressure of holding up the world for 40 years alone. And instead of being able to pass it on to someone when he can no longer bear its weight, it simply falls to into the abyss. People don’t credit All Might enough for everything he’s done. Most don’t realize the sacrifices he’s made. His character is so unbelievably profound and deep, it’s more than just the “I am here!” people focus on. He’s a deeply troubled, layered, complex character. And I can’t find fault within him.

[noandpickles]

I was talking to my boyfriend the other day about Ender's Game, and I ended up just marveling for several minutes at how much Mormon theology and apologetics Orson Scott Card managed to fit in that series while still telling a good story.

In the first book, for example, Ender is a Jesus analogue. The threat of human extinction at the hands of the Hive Queen stands in for the threat of damnation, Ender's short time commanding armies at the Battle School mirrors Jesus's three years of miracles, his final gauntlet of battles represents the garden of Gethsemane, and in the end they send Ender off to Command School to endure a slow-rolling human sacrifice for the greater good.

Colonel Graff, meanwhile, serves as both God and the chief apologist defending God in the face of the problem of evil. When presented with the question of why God allows suffering to exist (or more specifically in this case, why he required a human sacrifice to save some, but not all, people from damnation), the typical Mormon apologetic is that this is actually the best possible world. That any change God could make to attempt to alleviate suffering would actually lead to more suffering. (This is specifically a Mormon apologetic because, unlike most christians, Mormons don't believe in a truly all-powerful god.) This is essentially Graff's defense in his own trial. He argues that they can't convict him unless they can prove that humanity would have survived without the suffering he inflicted and allowed to be inflicted, and in the end the court agrees.

The later books drop most of the apologetics, but they're full of Card's sci-fi style speculation on the implications of Mormon cosmology. The prime example is the philote. These semi-aware particles that exist outside of space, waiting to be organized into a meaningful pattern, are actually a lesser known concept from Mormon theology known as "intelligences." They're only mentioned once in the core Mormon holy books, a reference to "the intelligences that were organized before the world was." Mormon leaders have historically interpreted that phrase as referring to the creation of souls. That is, that souls were not created from nothing, but rather from some pre-existant thing called an intelligence that simply needed to be organized into a soul. This one phrase from the Pearl of Great Price forms the sci-fi basis for most of Children of the Mind.

But what fascinates me the most about all of this is that this deeply Mormon story is still enjoyable and meaningful, even to someone who recognizes and rejects the religious messaging. A lot of sci-fi and fantasy from Mormon authors has this same tendency to roll around in Mormon theology, but Ender's Game is the only series I've seen where that tendency doesn't weaken the story.

Maybe it's as simple as Card being a really good writer. Maybe it's his willingness to momentarily consider his religion the same way an author has to consider their own worldbuilding. To be able to admit to himself that a direct analogue of Mormon salvation theology wouldn't make a good story, and to be willing to change it until it does. After all, if Graff really were God, if he were right about the Hive Queen threat, the story would be just another celebration of the individuals sacrificed for the greater good during war. But Graff is wrong, and Ender's story is instead a tragedy of the evils that come from ignorance and fear.

[somebody-909]

Stalkyoo After the Formal (pt.1) - Role Reversal and Yeong-Gi's Denial of His Feelings

The black and white formal acts as a turning point in Shin-ae and Yeong-gi’s relationship, establishing their friendship and giving them moments of romantic tension.

It all leads to the emotional finale on the hospital balcony, where Yeong-gi first feels genuine romantic feelings for Shin-Ae.

This analysis looks at key moments that show how Shin-ae and Yeong-gi’s relationship changes after the formal arc — displaying emerging romantic feelings, and why their roles seemed to have reversed: it is now Yeong-gi who is hesitant to get any closer to Shin-ae, and she is the one eager to connect with him.

Ep. 75 | Elevator - Why the awkwardness and melancholy?

When Yeong-gi first sees Shin-ae after the balcony he seems quite... polite and distanced. He doesn’t act like the Yeong-gi of the past at all. He doesn't joke around with her like he used to... He doesn't smile or act friendly and he awkwardly turns away after looking at her.

He only smiles in the first panel, and his expression is… complicated. Note his soft smile, slightly closed eyes and slightly furrowed brows.

It's a soft, fond but slightly melancholic look.

This mixed expression is caused by genuine fondness for the person it’s for, with the additional tension and slight melancholy/sadness caused by the fact that this fondness is unspoken. This Look™, is the first expression he gives her after the balcony.

(But if I’m speaking more subjectively, this is the look people give those they love, but where it is unspoken. The melancholy associated with the expression makes it less likely to be purely platonic in nature — platonic friendships don’t often have this sense of something hidden and unspoken, and more often have relatively straightforward reciprocal affection. The romantic nature is also emphasized since The Look™ is being given to someone Yeong-gi has known for only a few weeks/months.)

At the least, this unspoken fondness may explain why Yeong-gi seems so awkward afterward:

He senses a difference in their feelings towards each other (he feels this because he is somewhat aware of the true nature of his, but Shin-ae is not/would not be at this stage)

He does not appreciate the nature of these feelings and does not want to entertain them (for reasons mentioned in my balcony analysis)

Shin-Ae also notices his odd demeanour and tells him she thought he'd be more excited - Yeong-gi's behaviour is purposefully shown to be different now. It's hard to imagine this is the same guy who'd joke around, easily and outwardly showing his joy to be around Shin-ae.

In Ep. 78, Yeong-gi is called by Shin-ae after she’s forced late when Dieter passes out. He has The Look™ while speaking to her. (Notably, Yeong-gi only has this look when they are not directly looking at each other). When Yeong-gi picks her up, he seems awkward once again… especially due to seeming like a third wheel in Shin-ae and Dieter's budding relationship.

He has The Look™ in images 1, 2, and 4. And in image 3, he seems very awkward being with Shin-Ae and Dieter. (I'd argue his expression also shows displeasure — he slightly, and under-the-surface, doesn't like what's happening).

Ep. 85 | A Bear and Allergies - Compassion, but only at a distance

After Shin-ae’s sister invades her home and Shin-ae calls over the bois, she is obviously quite unnerved and uneasy. Yeong-gi immediately recognizes this and in aims of comforting her, tells Dieter to give her a hug (which he is unable to do without freaking out so he gives Shin-ae a hug using a bear as proxy).

Yeong-gi understands how Shin-ae feels and wants to comfort her, but instead of doing this himself (eg. by talking to her, giving her a pat on the shoulder, etc...), he tells Dieter to. Although he's being a good wingman, there’s an interesting sense of Yeong-gi making sure to keep his distance, even if he wants to be there for her.

When Shin-ae notices Yeong-gi’s allergic reaction (which they think may be a fever), she reaches to touch his forehead to gauge his temperature — he quickly declines and moves her hand aside.

In my black and white formal analysis, I discuss the motif of distance and how it’s seen in Shin-ae and Yeong-gi’s dynamic — and how it’s represented through touch and their hands. Characters who want to connect emotionally will also show physical signs they do (like extending your hand to someone). Emotional connection often requires characters to physically be present together as well. Characters who want to avoid connection avoid touch and keep their distance.

Here, Shin-ae shows a desire to “reach” Yeong-gi by helping him, and this is reflected when she extends her hand and reaches to touch his forehead. A refusal of her touch in this case is also a refusal of her help and her attempt to connect to him. Shin-ae shows some slight discomfort at this – it was a harmless attempt to help him, but he doesn’t want her to.

Yeong-gi follows with an explicit verbal refusal:

“Again, you don’t have to worry about me… You just had your home broken into, you need to put yourself before me, alright?”

This is fitting with Yeong-gi’s overarching character arc — he has an extremely low sense of self-worth that prevents him from accepting others’ concern. Him telling Shin-ae to put herself before him also fits his thinking: that those he cares about are more important than him, Shin-ae included. And it doesn’t matter if what she actually wants is to help him.*

*This is an interesting trait of Yeong-gi's... despite caring deeply for Shin-Ae, he undermines her intelligence and wishes by not accepting her affection for him, and carefully controlling how close she gets. Although born from insecurity, it is also, fascinatingly, covertly manipulative.

Ep. 85-6 | Bills - I care about you

Yeong-gi asks Shin-ae if she is able to get to where she is staying for the night and she gives him more information than he asks for, showing new emotional vulnerability. He notices this and gives her The Look™ — he appreciates that she is now more open to him.

When Yeong-gi sees her overdue bills, he makes sure to let her know that her financial struggles do not determine her worth and anyone who tells her otherwise isn’t worth her time.

“Remember you’ve always got someone to lean on with your friends, okay?”

His spiel is incredibly heartwarming, and we can understand that he states these things from his own heart. However, he keeps it impersonal, stating "your friends" (not “me” or “us”) and instead allowing Shin-Ae to define whether he fits under that category as well. Yeong-gi is no longer trying to assert his friendship anymore.

After opening up more in response and letting the boys take her to the hospital to stay with her father, she removes the "Stalker" in Yeong-gi's contact name in her phone, showing development in their relationship since they first met and a large difference in how she sees him now — they're friends, and she thinks so too.

Ep. 89 | Insolence, but only for Shin-ae (and only in secret) & a Kousuke/Yeong-gi parallel

After learning of Shin-Ae's etiquette classes, Yeong-gi enters Kousuke’s office, specifically to start trouble with him. Yeong-gi is shown to try his best lately to obey his family members (namely his father), but once again we see how he is fine with starting trouble, even if it costs him, if it's for those he cares about — despite Kousuke reminding Yeong-gi of the repercussions of getting in trouble with their father, Yeong-gi doesn’t back down.

Kousuke: “You know you’re only going to anger father if he catches you being indolent.”

Yeong-gi: “I don’t give a crap if he finds out.”

Yeong-gi then aggressively asks him about the classes Kousuke put her in:

Kousuke: “It’s for her own good.”

Yeong-gi: “What do you mean, her own good?”

Kousuke: “... She’s the worst employee I’ve ever seen, so I signed her up for classes to fix her issues.”

Yeong-gi: “Have you ever voiced your concerns… tell her what she can improve upon? … She may have her flaws, but she’s a lot more capable than you think!”

Kousuke: “I’m preparing her for what’s to come her way in the future.”

Yeong-gi: “You don’t even know if she wants this career for her future! Everytime I see her, she’s miserable. Like she wants to leave. She’s uncomfortable!”

In my black and white formal analysis, I discuss how there are multiple instances— where Yeong-gi and Kousuke, as well as how they affect Shin-Ae, are purposefully contrasted — and this is paralleled here.

Consistently in these instances, (although Kousuke’s intentions are often good) Yeong-gi is shown to be the one who best understands Shin-Ae. At the very least, Yeong-gi is shown here to care for Shin-Ae enough to confront his brother and potentially face the wrath of his father, despite trying especially hard to be in their good graces recently.

However, it is important to note — Yeong-gi goes out of his way to ensure his intentions of helping Shin-ae are indirect and she does not know. Instead, he tries to help her in roundabout ways, secretly.

Yeong-gi does not want his good intentions to reach her.

Conclusions

Yeong-gi displays a notable difference in how he acts, especially around Shin-ae. His new emerging feelings conflict his insecurities, resulting in a standoffish Yeong-gi who is secretive in his affection, and calculatingly tries to distance himself from Shin-ae. But... this isn't what he truly wants, and is instead, another form of self-sabotage.

However, as time goes on, Yeong-gi cannot keep this facade up indefinitely... and he's occasionally caught off guard, giving us glimpses into what he truly feels.