#and therefore wouldn't be able to pick out his features

[erinwantstowrite]

Did Vampire Dick catch on that Peter might be related to him or does he have the LoF facial blindness? /j

he doesn't see the resemblance to himself until someone points it out HAHA he's like "who could this kid be related to?"

[flowersforbucky]

down bad

bucky barnes x reader

word count: 3.9k

author's note: i couldn't stop thinking about bucky being able to use his metal hand as a vibrator and therefore this was born.

warnings/tags: SMUT, oral (female receiving), fingering, bucky being used as a human vibrator, multiple orgasms, language, consumption of alcohol, reader is afab, no use of y/n, slightly possessive bucky, 18+ only

“You’ve got to be fucking joking,” Natasha mutters through a mouth full of popcorn. “Tyler from the statistics department? Are we talking about the same Tyler from statistics?”

“Nat, for the fourth time, yes. Tyler from statistics. The only Tyler from statistics that I know.” You reach for the bottle of Moscato that the two of you are sharing, pouring yourself some more wine.

“Nuh-uh,” Natasha shakes her head. “I don't believe you. There's no way he could be that bad.” She takes a sip from her own glass of wine. “He's too gorgeous,” she shrugs, turning to face you on the couch. The romantic comedy you had picked out for your bi-monthly movie night plays forgotten in the background.

“Trust me,” you sigh. “I was just as shocked as you are. But I swear on my life, he stuck his tongue in my ear. In my fucking ear, but wouldn't go down on me.” You can tell by the look on her face that Nat is trying her hardest not to laugh.

“He said his dick game is ‘too good to need to eat a girl out’.” You shake your head, cringing at the memory. “Which is also what he said when I merely suggested that he use my vibrator on me instead. He looked like I had kicked his dog.”

“Well?” she asks, a pained expression across her features. “Was it? Too good?”

“I didn't stay to find out,” you admit. “I faked a work emergency and dipped.” A laugh breaks through her pursed lips.

“I'm sorry–” she says, although her face says otherwise. “I shouldn't laugh. You just have the worst luck with men. Isn't that the third failed hook-up in what? Six months?”

“Don't fucking remind me,” you groan, throwing your head back on the couch and staring up at the living room ceiling. “I think I've lost all hope of ever having an orgasm given to me by another person again.”

Nat opens her mouth to speak, but quickly closes it when you both notice voices approaching from the hallway.

Sam and Bucky enter the room a moment later, both dressed uncharacteristically nice. You suddenly feel the desire to conceal yourself with the fleece throw blanket laying across your lap. You and Nat usually plan your movie nights for when the tower is relatively empty, so you're just wearing a pair of old sweatpants and a tank top. Bare-faced and hair unstyled, the fact that Bucky's gaze is locked on you as the two of them approach where you and Nat are lounging doesn't help. He's not smiling - but there's a look on his face that you don't quite understand. The ghost of a smirk on his lips and a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

It's a look that makes you nervous - in addition to already feeling flutters in the pit of your stomach at how fucking good he looks.

“Hey, boys,” Nat greets them cheerily. “Where are the two of you going so dolled up?”

“There's a new nightclub in Brooklyn that a group of SHIELD trainees are going to tonight,” Sam answers. “They invited us and we've got nothing better to do. Figured we'd go check it out, get a few drinks. You ladies want to tag along? Or are you too busy watching - what is this, 10 Things I Hate About You?” He gestures towards the screen.

“Couldn't hurt to get out of the house for a while tonight, right?” Nat looks at you for confirmation, a knowing gleam in her eyes. “Who knows, you might even meet someone,” she adds, nudging you with her elbow.

Bucky lets out a sound halfway between a laugh and a cough, which he tries to play off as the latter. You narrow your eyes at him before glancing back to Natasha.

“For sure,” you agree, trying to ignore Bucky's bizarre behavior. “Couldn't hurt. You guys go on, we'll get ready and head there soon. Text us the name of the club?” You direct the last part to Sam in particular.

“You got it,” Sam says as he pulls his cell phone from his coat pocket. He turns to leave when both your and Nat’s phones chime with the club information. “Let's go man, our Uber's here,” he directs at Bucky.

“See you both soon,” he says before turning to follow Sam, though his gaze is still only on one of you.

“I'm gonna go throw on some make-up, curl my hair, and hope I can find something somewhat cute to–” Nat starts as soon as Bucky and Sam have turned back down the hallway.

“Was he acting kind of odd?” you interrupt her in a hushed tone.

“Barnes? Always. I've stopped reading into it too much.”

“Some spy you are,” you mumble. “Meet me back here when you're ready.”

— — — — —

One hour later, you're applying some last minute mascara and lip gloss in the backseat of an Uber on your way to downtown Brooklyn. Natasha sits beside you, ranting about an assignment that Fury has tasked her with and you swear you're trying your hardest to absorb everything she's saying - but your mind keeps going back to the way Bucky was looking at you just an hour ago.

What was with that little smirk? That curious glimmer in his eyes? Had he overheard your conversation with Nat? Had he developed the ability to read minds and knew you were thinking about how fucking hot he looked? Or was that thought simply written all over your face?

You knew you couldn't deny it. Bucky does look exceptionally attractive in his black suit, with his perfectly tousled hair - but you had found him to be ridiculously good looking since you'd first met him. Even in casual, everyday clothes, even in gym shorts and drenched in sweat, even covered in blood after particularly brutal miss–

“You girls have a great evening,” your Uber driver interrupts your train of thought as he comes to a stop in front of your destination.

You really need to get fucking laid. You definitely shouldn't be having these kinds of thoughts about Bucky. He's your coworker, your teammate, your training partner on many occasions, your friend…

Natasha thanks him and hands him a generous cash tip before climbing out of the car right after you.

“Thanks,” you tell her. “I'll buy our drinks.”

“Don't worry about me,” she tells you with a sly grin as you both flash the bouncer your IDs and enter the club. Despite the night still being relatively young, it's already bustling inside.

“You just focus on meeting people, mingling, maybe hitting it off with a super hot guy and taking him back to your place for some mind-blowing–”

“Super hot guy? Are you talking about me?” Sam’s voice interrupts Nat. You both turn around to see him and Bucky walking towards you, drinks in hand.

There's a roguish smile on Bucky's face as his eyes skim up and down your figure.

“You both look wonderful,” he compliments, but once again, his stare is focused only on you. If Natasha notices, she says nothing.

To be fair, you were impressed with how well you managed to put yourself together with such little notice. You found a black, backless mini dress crammed in the back of your closet that you had forgotten all about after snagging it on clearance forever ago. The form-fitting material hugs you in all the right ways, and paired with your favorite pair of strappy black heels, you're feeling infinitely more confident than you were when Bucky saw you just an hour prior.

“Thanks!” You chirp quickly, averting your gaze from him to take in your surroundings. To your left, the dance floor is lively, though not too overcrowded for your liking. To your right, there's a bar surrounded by tables filled with groups of people conversing - you vaguely recognize a couple of SHIELD agents huddled around one. The entire room is illuminated by the faint blue-green glow of the mood lighting, and the bass of the music vibrates through the floorboards.

Sam and Bucky excuse themselves to go say hey to the group of agents that had invited them, while Nat all but drags you over to the bar. You order a double shot of whiskey and throw it back as quickly as you can.

“I see what you mean now,” Nat whispers to you after downing her shot of tequila. “About Barnes,” she clarifies. “He's been eye-fucking you since we walked through the door.”

If you hadn't already swallowed your liquor, you would have spewed it all over her.

“He has not been eye-fucking me, Nat,” you say in an almost scolding tone.

“I'm just saying,” she throws her hands up. “There’s no way he could possibly be any worse than the last few guys you've gone for. I think you should go for it,” she shrugs.

“It's not that I don't think he'd be good,” you say defensively, forcing yourself to look away from where he and Sam are socializing with the small group of SHIELD agents a few tables away. “I just don't want things to be weird afterwards. We work together nearly every day, and we have a bunch of mutual friends–”

“Suit yourself,” she cuts you off in a tone of voice that very much says if you say so. “Now, are you going to dance with me or not?” She adds as she begins tugging you towards the ever-busying dance floor.

You spend the next half hour dancing with Nat before she's swept away by some black-haired doctor looking type. Good for her, you think as you watch them converse intimately at a small booth on the other side of the room.

Thanks to the liquid courage that runs through your veins, you're okay with the fact that Bucky stands just twenty feet away from you, watching you as you dance among the thick crowd of people.

You've made eye contact with him a few times now - on accident or on purpose, you're not sure at this point. But each time, your eyes lingers on his for a moment longer than the last.

You're mentally daring him to come here, to make a move, to do something other than stand to the sidelines of whatever conversation Sam and the others are engaged in.

The slightest bit of pressure on your waist snaps you back to the now congested dance floor.

You look up to find that the hand on your waist belongs to a tall man with shoulder length, sandy blonde hair. He's conventionally attractive enough, though not who you were hoping would come grab you on the dance floor.

“I'm Shawn,” he introduces himself, loudly enough for you to hear him over the roaring music. You tell him your name, pushing aside the pang of disappointment in your chest.

“Do you want to go somewhere a bit quieter to talk, maybe? Let me buy you a drin–”

“There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you,” a voice booms from behind you.

Shawn immediately retracts his hand from your waist, backing up a few inches as Bucky comes into view beside you.

“Must not have been looking too hard, I've been right here this whole time,” you jab back with a smug smile.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to–” Shawn says as he starts to back away.

“No worries, bud,” Bucky says in an overly friendly voice as he moves to stand in front of you, blocking you from Shawn's view entirely.

“Took you long enough,” you tell Bucky once the man is out of ear shot, once again beginning to sway to the music. “Get bored of listening to Sam hype himself up to the newbies?”

He takes a step closer, angling himself behind you. The crowd of people surrounding you edges you closer to him - your bare back brushing against the cool satin fabric of his suit.

“Maybe,” his chest vibrates against your skin when he speaks. He places his hands on either side of your hips - eliciting goosebumps across your skin in a way that no one else has in a long, long time.

“Or maybe I just wanted to save you from wasting your time on another guy who can't make you come.”

Your movements come to an abrupt pause as his words hit you.

He had fucking overheard your conversation with Natasha.

At a loss for words, you turn to face him. There's a shit-eating grin spread across his face. He thinks this is hilarious and it's obvious.

“Hasn't anyone ever told you it's rude to eavesdrop?”

“Is it really eavesdropping if I have superhuman hearing?” He takes a step closer to you, closing what little distance was separating you. The peaks of your breasts brush against his chest.

“So what happens now that you've saved me from another unsatisfactory hook-up?” You challenge, staring up at him in the neon blue lighting.

You can smell hints of cedarwood and sage from his cologne in your close proximity. It's so delicious that it's dizzying.

“Let me take you somewhere more private than this dance floor and I'll show you.”

“You seem to have a lot of confidence in your ability to give me a better experience,” you say, leaning forward so that your face is just inches from his.

He responds by placing his flesh hand on the small of your back and pulling you flush against him. The tips of his fingers continue to dance down the skin of your exposed spine. His vibranium hand comes to cradle your jaw, his metal thumb tracing your bottom lip.

His mouth forms a dark smirk - and then you feel it. It starts soft and subtle and then gradually increases in intensity.

His fucking thumb is vibrating against your lip.

If you hadn't been standing in the middle of a crowded dance floor at a nightclub in downtown Brooklyn, you would have taken that thumb into your mouth and sucked on it right then and there.

“What do you say?” he asks, now tugging on your bottom lip with the pulsing digit. “Are you going to let me take you to the first empty room I can find in this place and make you come?”

“I say show me the way.”

He removes his hand from your face and turns you in the direction of the back of the club. He guides you through the throng of dancers, keeping his hands placed firmly on either side of your waist from behind. His vibranium fingers still hum softly, reminding you of what he says is to come.

Directly past the dance floor, there's a hallway blocked off by a rope with a sign that reads employees only. Taking a quick look around, you see that all of the patrons surrounding you and Bucky are paying you no mind. Bucky unhooks the flimsy rope and the two of you slip down the hallway.

He jiggles the handles of several doors that all turn out to be locked. Not wanting to waste any time or draw any attention to yourselves with picking locks, you continue down the dark corridor until the heavy music from the heart of the club fades to a muted roar.

The very last door opens without a hitch.

Thanks to the pale orange glow of a table lamp on a desk in the corner of the room, you can see that you're in a makeshift office/supply room - a couple of filing cabinets, cleaning supplies, extra glassware, and some sound equipment strewn haphazardly throughout the limited space.

Bucky clicks the lock into place as soon as he closes the door behind him.

You're going to turn around him and tell him that he doesn't have to do this - that as badly as you want this, you don't want to ruin your friendship, that as badly as you want him, he doesn't have anything to prove to you - but his lips are already on yours as soon as you start to open your mouth.

He doesn't take his lips off of yours as he guides you backwards to the rickety wooden desk. The backs of your thighs hit the table and Bucky effortlessly lifts you to sit on the edge, giving him the perfect angle to deepen the kiss - with his tongue exploring your mouth, you're unable to stop yourself from groaning into the kiss.

You fist your fingers into his hair, tugging just hard enough so that he hisses into your mouth. His own hands trail from the sides of your stomach and down your thighs, until he reaches the tail of your dress. You instinctively part your legs for him, as much as the restrictive fabric will allow, and his vibranium hand shoots between your thighs.

He teases you, dragging his index finger along the cloth of your panties that you know you're close to soaking through already. Just as the tip of his finger pauses above your clit, his finger begins emitting the softest vibration.

You break the kiss, breathless as you throw your head back at the sensation. Bucky takes it as an opportunity to attach his lips to the pulse point of your throat, nipping your flesh with his teeth followed by a wet kiss.

He continues with the ministrations through your panties until you're rutting against his hand, needing more. He tugs your underwear to the side and increases the intensity of the vibration before nudging his middle finger past your entrance.

You have to hold onto his shoulders to steady yourself - despite the fact that you're sitting, your body feels like jelly beneath his touch. He adds in his index finger with ease before cupping your pussy in his palm - the heel of his hand pulsating against your clit.

“Fuck, Bucky,” you cry against his mouth.

“You're so fucking wet for me, you know that?” He coos, thrusting both of his fingers against the spongy-flesh of your walls.

You can feel the vibrations of his hand all the way from your belly to your toes.

You begin grinding your hips to meet the movement of his fingers, fucking yourself against his hand. There's a familiar knot forming in your lower belly as he curls his fingers inside you -

“I want you to think about me and how good I'm making you feel every time you think about letting some fuckin’ nobody touch you,” he says in a low voice next to your ear. “I want you to think about riding my fingers until you come all over my hand.”

His words send you over the edge and you do exactly that - your pussy clenching around his fingers as you ride them through your orgasm. While you're still coming down from the high of your climax, Bucky pulls his metal fingers out of you and brings them to your lips, inserting his index finger in your mouth. You swirl your tongue around the slick metal as he brings the vibrations to a halt and then slowly pulls the finger from your mouth.

He picks you up off the edge of the desk and plants you back on the ground - your legs still shaking from how hard you had come.

“Turn around and lean over the desk,” he instructs you, soft but authoritative.

You don't know if it's because of the way he's looking at you or because of how good he's already made you feel, but in that moment, you would've done anything he asked of you.

You bend over the desk, supporting yourself by leaning on your forearms. You peak back over your shoulder to look at Bucky - he hikes your dress up, baring your ass to him.

He lets out an audible groan before he has even pulled your panties down to your ankles.

He kneels on the ground behind you, his face inches away from your cunt. He uses both his flesh and metal hands to spread you open for him, and then his tongue is licking up your center from behind.

God, you hope no one tries to come into this room. The door may be locked but the sounds that someone would hear if they even walked up to the door…

Bucky knows just how to make you writhe above him. He's soft when he's kissing up your folds and unsparing when he's sucking your clit between his lips. His hands hold your ass in a firm grasp that teeters between pleasure and pain.

You grind back against his face and he moans so deeply that you feel the vibration of it up your core. Your eyes roll back into your head as you clutch the sides of the desk to better support yourself.

His enthusiasm alone has you spiraling towards a second climax embarrassingly fast.

“You know,” he murmurs against your sensitive pussy. “When I overheard you say that someone had refused to go down on you, I couldn't believe it. What a fuckin idiot to pass this up.” He gives your ass cheek a firm slap with his flesh hand before diving his face between your legs once more.

It's just seconds before you feel the telltale pressure growing in your lower belly once more. You go limp against the table, Bucky placing his hands on the backs of your thighs to help keep you upright as you ride out your orgasm on his face.

You continue to lay against the desk as you regain control of your breathing. Bucky stands up, tugging your panties up your legs and back around your waist as he does. He then shimmies your dress back down into place so that you're once again looking club-appropriate.

When you turn around to face him, he's wiping your slick from his lower face on the sleeve of his suit, once again displaying a shit-eating grin.

“What was it you said?” He asks in mocking contemplation. “You had lost all hope of ever having an orgasm given to you by another person again?”

“I think you've made your point. You're fantastic at eating pussy and you're a walking human-sex toy.” You roll your eyes at him and start to walk towards the door, but he grabs your wrist in his metal hand, stopping you.

He pulls you back to him and brings his flesh hand to cradle your jawline. He stares at you in a heavy, uncertain silence for a split second before bringing his lips to yours.

It's a kiss that's a bit more hesitant, and a lot less rushed than the one before. You taste yourself all over him, warm and salty. He takes his time getting lost in your mouth - you savor every second and it still comes to and end all too once.

“Couldn't help myself,” he smiles softly when he pulls away. “Just had to kiss you one last time.”

You can't help the way your heart skips a beat when he says the word last.

You clear your throat. “We should probably go find Sam and Natasha,” you say, giving him a small smile in return. “I'm sure they're both wondering where the hell we are.”

You spend the rest of the evening attempting to mingle with friends, but there's one thought that torments you for the remaining duration of the night - just a few hours ago, you doubted that you'd ever have a satisfactory hook-up ever again.

Now, you had to wonder if anyone else could ever make you feel as good as Bucky did.

♡♡♡♡♡

i left this kind of open-ended soooo leave it to your own interpretation what happens next for them 🤭

as always comments/reblogs are infinitely appreciated. thanks for reading!

my masterlist

[omartinyosef]

ST5 POTENTIAL SPOILERS!!!

GUYS I FOUND THIS ON REDDIT AND ACTUALLY IT'S QUITE INTERESTING

ST5 Leaks/Fleaks

Gen Plot

Season picks up briefly where we left off in 1986 before jumping into either late 1987 or early 1988. The season is contained entirely in apocalyptic Hawkins. Things with the government are shaky. Owens doesn't appear in the beginning of the season and it's unclear if he's returning, but Ellen Stinson is the new Owens. Hawkins is like a combination of the UD and Kamchatka.

Labyrinths/Mazes being important to both the supernatural plot and the interpersonal relationships. They're inherently linked.

Two songs to be featured are 'Listen to Your Heart' and 'Alone,' both of which were apparently foreshadowed in a previous conversation between Hopper and Joyce, similar to how Hopper's "I'm the puppet, you're the master" to Joyce in S3 basically foreshadowed Eddie's 'Master of Puppets' in S4.

S1 and 2 scenes being referenced are "Nancy and Mike's conversation in the bathtub" and "Hopper + Lando Calrissian"

Lots of importance in COLOR CODING and blocking from the final shot of S4, and a good chunk is told in the costuming—like passing the torch from one character to another as their arcs overlap. For example, Hopper and Will share the "am I the curse and therefore putting my loved ones at risk by being near them?" sentiment for S5, therefore their wardrobe in the final shot of S4 is similar. Joyce/Jonathan and Nancy/Mike's costuming also similar for the same reason, whereas Eleven stands out because she's the first one coming into her own this season. The white for her represents shedding of false skins.

Character duos this season will be primarily dressed in colors of blue/green and yellow/red.

There's lots of symbolism and foreshadowing for every character in S5 from the moment Will touches his neck in the last sequence of S4.

S4 focused on themes of lies and miscommunication, and everyone is going to have to work through these lies before they can defeat Vecna.

Murray and Argyle are both back. Dimitri and Yuri don't seem to be in the beginning of the season.

One thing left unresolved with the Russian plot. Something important will happen involving the machine and the green liquid from the Starcourt bunker. Reference of Dustin vowing to die with Steve when they initially discovered it.

Hopper, Joyce, Mike, Will, and El had to be away from Hawkins, otherwise Vecna wouldn't have won.

An important death that they're nervous about given the reception to Eddie (not Joyce or Jonathan��see details below).

Eleven

We'll see her unlike we've seen her before. A badass who doesn't take shit from anyone. Not a Monster, not a Hero, Jane. Think: adult El could be headed for a Charles Xavier type role.

Erica, Lucas, and El will share scenes together.

El has significant blocking and development with many characters this season.

Max, Eleven & Max

The "kaleidoscope of colors" from a script the writers posted makes a feature in both the scene where young El remembers her mother's love in order to defeat Henry in the lab, as well as the scene where El revives Max. This is significant because it's the first time we see El using her powers on someone in a non-violent way.

El was able to revive Max because of she, herself, being revived in the bunker by Brenner and Co. It's a show, don't tell moment from the writers.

Max getting Vecna'd was foreshadowed in the beginning of 2x01.

Will, Henry/Vecna, The UD

Filming was supposed to commence mid-June, but Noah and Jamie were set to begin in May due to more complicated costuming. Will is going to require heavy prosthetics at some point.

Will's character design is blocked in three stages. The more the UD bleeds into Hawkins, the more connected to it he feels. The gates being open will physically influence him, especially when he's not as mentally strong.

He's kind of like "the card up Vecna's sleeve."

It appears they want to confuse the audience about Will.

Will wrestling with his own morality

Henry/Will mirrors. Will will sympathize with Henry because, unlike El, he knows how and what Henry thinks, and he can feel him.

Vecna and Will are very similar, but the difference is Will is made stronger by love not hate. They will play into that duality.

Vecna was nerfed in S4 compared to how we see him in S5. He'll be much stronger.

At the beginning, he'll be taking a hiatus while he plans how to divide and conquer now that everyone's back together in Hawkins.

Soteria will be the key to saving Will. If they want Will to be untraceable to Henry, they'll have to insert it into his neck and it'll be painful. Vecna not having access to Will fucks up his ability to leave the UD.

Byler/Mileven Triangle

Apparently, it's complicated and up in the air as of now.

Mike dealing with guilt this season. He feels guilty/responsibility for El. He feels stuck in a loop that keeps him from a truth he's scared to face.

Will and Mike to spend a good chunk of the season together based on character designs and blocking.

Will telling El that Mike won't like being lied to comes back with the painting. During a pre-time jump scene in 5x01, while everyone's together plotting how to defeat Vecna and brainstorming how to save Max, Mike brings up the painting El commissioned for a D&D analogy. Will has to pull Mike aside and confess he lied about El commissioning the painting. Mike gets angry, because he doesn't know about Will's feelings and feels embarrassed that Will thought he was that pathetic he needed to be given a pep talk. Their own version of a "fight you can't come back from." Immediately after their fight, we get the time skip.

Mike's character motivations are unclear and seem to be kept under wraps. After the time jump, he and El won't be talking as much because he's keeping the details about Will's painting from her. She's gonna ask what's wrong between him and Will, and he lies/is very vague.

Joyce, Hopper, Jopper

Joyce feels immense guilt/responsible over Bob's death since she's the one that asked him to help in S2, which is why she pushed Hopper away at first.

Hopper has a secret from S1 that was never addressed, and it comes back to haunt him.

Joyce sustains an injury in S5 that is reminiscent of the way someone was injured in S3, but it isn't critical and she'll be okay.

Jopper are the most established couple after the time jump. Lots of bickering still, but Hopper trusts Joyce more than he ever has.

Jonathan, Nancy, Jancy

So far, does not seem like a breakup is happening.

Jonathan's still lying about the college letter and distant because of it, and Nancy thinks he's not as into the relationship and that there might be someone else. She confronts him, which leads to a talk. She's touched by the lengths he would go to try and protect her and any of their future children even from himself.

A moment where we're led to believe Jonathan dies but doesn't, like Hopper in S3.

Hopper-Byers Family

These five characters slowly unraveling their arcs together and have always been closely linked. Their perfect endings are together.

We see the family combining, especially in relation to El.

Joyce gets to witness Hopper being paternal and tender towards the boys.

Scenes with Joyce, Jonathan, and Will

Hopper being back lifts a weight off Jonathan's shoulders.

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

So, now time to shine.

''(...) sentiment for S5, therefore their wardrobe in the final shot of S4 is similar. Joyce/Jonathan and Nancy/Mike's costuming also similar for the same reason, (...)''

Okay. How did we see Nancy in S4? Confused. Confused with the love triangle between Jonathan, her and Steve. Jonathan is her actual boyfriend. And Steve is her posible love interest again.

So, putting this in byler language: Nancy = Mike Jonathan = Eleven Will = Steve

If Mike's and Nancy's character's clothing is important at this point of the time line and that means they feel similar feelings, this could mean that byler has a chance. BUT then we read this: ''(...) He (Mike) feels stuck in a loop that keeps him from a truth he's scared to face.'' And

''Mike's character motivations are unclear and seem to be kept under wraps.''

THIS LITERALLY MEANS BYLER. FOR REAL. Like byler could be endgame. Also, remember Eleven's injury in S3? Do you remember the leak of a shoe covered in blood?

It's Joyce. ALSO YOU CAN READ THAT WE'LL HAVE SCENES BEFORE THE TIME JUMP. And here it comes. Look at this freaking hair:

Does this look more like this

or this?

The season 4 bowl cut right? So maybe this is right in some part? I dont know. But that could make sense why Will is wearing Mike's pants, because his clothes were in California by that moment. But i really do think that the pic that was leaked a few days ago is before the time jump.

Im so late with this info haha :) but i kinda think some things here make sense. Even if this is too well explained to be a leak.

[linkspooky]

It's not just the fact that Hori decided to kill a lifelong victim of grooming.

My two favorite comic book storylines are New Teen Titans Judas Contract, and Uncanny X Men's Inferno. They both feature villains / victims (Madelyne Pryor and Terra) that die at the end of the story. Terra is specifically fifteen years old and a victim of sexual grooming.

However, both of these stories are clearly written as tragedies. It's clear from the start that these are tragic stories not only meant to get us to sympathize with the victim turned villain but also the failure to save a clear victim is meant to make the heroes look bad.

Let me just list off all the shit Scott Summers put Madelyne Pryor through.

Fell in love with her only because she looked like his ex girlfriend Jean. Even though Madelyne specifically stated before getting into the relationship she didn't want to be jeans replacement.

Married her, and refuses to take time off to the point where he misses the birth of his own son leaving Madelyne at home to deliver her baby on the floor.

When he finally retires and they move to Alaska together he gets a phone call that Jean is still alive and abandons his wife and daughter for weeks to go back to his high school girlfriend.

Madelyne is attacked by a group of supervillains while Scott is away and just barely manages to escape but loses her baby.

She joins up with the x men to look for scott only to find out in the time she's been gone Scott had already gotten back together with Jean.

She is tricked into making a deal with a demon who wants to overthrow ilyanas control of limbo (she thought it was just a dream and the contract to sell her soul didn't matter).

She used her newfound power in order to find her child Nathan only to find Mr sinister there who reveals that Madelyne was a clone of Jean Grey, her entire life was a lie, she was made to breed with cyclops and produce a baby for sinister.

At which point madelyne snaps and decides to burn everything to the ground and kill her own child.

It's clearly telegraphed as a tragedy. The reference to Medea is pretty obvious. Madelyne had no chance from the beginning, however even in this tragedy Scott specifically forbid any of the heroes from using lethal force on her. Jean and Maddie mindmeld at one point and Jean literally begs for Maddie not to die and that she should live on to raise her son. They even throw a funeral for Maddie afterwards because be no one else would ever mourn her.

Not only do the heroes look bad, especially Scott for not being able to save her, they do at least try to talk with her, use non lethal force, and beg her at one point to let them help her.

On the other hand not only did Deku never engage Shigaraki Tomura once, just the vision of a crying child in front of him. Deku doesn't look like a failure for failing in his goal to save him he's still the greatest hero, they don't hold a funeral for Shigaraki, Dekus last words are about how he doesn't forgive Shigaraki (and therefore he deserves to die i guess because deku is the punisher now). Deku doesn't even give Shigaraki the respect of calling him by his preferred name he just calls him Tenko who was the only person Deku cared about saving.

It's not just about a victim dying it's about how the story promised us over and over again the kids were going to save the villains in the final act, that this was going to be an optimistic story about the new generation being better than the old.

Only for Horikoshi to deliver something entirely different. If I'm watching punisher I know what I'm getting into. I'm here to watch Frank Castle shoot mobsters. If Batman picks up a Tommy Gun and starts shooting mobsters that's bad because Batman wouldn't do that shit.

There's writing a story that's tonally inconsistent, or changing your plans for how a character is going to end late in the game and then there's this.

Which is basically narrative gaslighting. Where one thing is clearly happening onscreen but the narrative needs you to believe those gaslights clearly are not dimming.

I know Deku made no effort to save Shigaraki when he explicitly said they OFA is a power for saving but not killing, but don't worry Deku became the greatest hero anyway, and this is still a happy optimistic ending!

Horikoshi isn't looking for treasure in the house. Those gaslights aren't dimming. You're clearly being hysterical, woman.

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

I live for all these ships with Apollo like Apollo and Thanatos, Cupid, and even the most dumpsterfire ship of all time Copollo (I go feral over these two)

But one ship that stood out to me was Boreas and Apollo, and apparently the Boreads describe Apollo as "Beloved of our sire" And the fact that Koios is basically Boreas' boss makes this so much more better

So basically I'm asking for Boreas and Apollo headcanons 👀

(And if you take fic reqs, I wouldn't mind a fic with these two)

Apollo is SOOOOOO Shippable lmao XD He has such a variety of lovers and that really allows us to be able to explore a variety of relationship!

Healthy or toxic, lmao XD Copollo is Top Tier imo

and on the topic of Boreas, I have one extra thing to add there because I personally headcanon that Lelantos, titan of air & moving unseen (and apollo's uncle), used to be the head of the wind gods but was stripped of his title by Zeus post-titan war because he sided with Kronos.

So therefore, both of Boreas's bosses are relatives of Apollo's lmao XD

HEADCANONS, EH?

ahem

Imo, Hyperborea was some sort of courting gift or something Boreas gave Apollo. Because here's the thing with Hyperborea:

It's the One Place Boreas does not blow his winds, hence its title of Eternal Spring.

Boreas's palace resides at the southern border of Hyperborea, with gryphons who live in BOTH places.

Three of Boreas's son are PRIESTS of Hyperborea, and serve Apollo when he's there.

Three of Boreas's daughters joined Artemis's hunt (Oupis features in my fic Shattered Minds, btw!)

Hyperborea is literally "over the north wind" in Greek.

I think we can all agree winter is the time Apollo and Boreas hook up lmao XD

Boreas ALSO, in some versions, is a suitor of Hyacinthus, but he clearly doesn't hold any ill-will about Hya & Apollo because let's be real, he would have picked Apollo too XD

So imagine this. Hyacinthus & Apollo making out. Then Apollo & Boreas making out. HECK HYACINTHUS & BOREAS MAKING OUT.

THIS MEME IS THEM

ALSO I RAISE YOU-

Zephyrus has a crush on Apollo :3 (It makes sense. also Apollo is widely associated with spring and Zephyrus is the SPRING wind, and likes pretty guys and Apollo is the prettiest so-)

I blabbered about that in the Discord with @xxzephyrbreezexx and our fellow Discord user whom I don't know if they have a blog here 😭 KNOW I AM POINTING VIOLENTLY IN YOUR DIRECTION

You are Zephyrus. You have a crush on Apollo. You also get a crush on his boyfriend.

AND THEN YOUR BROTHER FUCKS BOTH OF THEM

The Hyacinthus Debacle, as I have dubbed it, also created a bit of a rift between Boreas and Zephyrus, which is Sad because they are usually associated with each other in literature, art, ect :(

Family dinners are Awkward. Even more so when Boreas brings Apollo along to the dinners hosted at his place.

They became Especially Awkward when Helios and Selene were still around because then Boreas would have to deal with Helios's Dad Instincts kicking in and staring him down.

(Helios is Boreas's uncle btw!)

(I have a Boreas thing planned in my Helios fic eheheheh. It's funny, don't panic)

And whenever Apollo pops in the visit Eos about light-related things or Astraeus (Eos & Astraeus are the winds' parents) it Still Is Awkward because Zephyrus just. BOLTS out of the room.

He is simultaneously Gay For and Terrified of Apollo.

Also if Asteria tags along with Apollo (because she is shooting stars/night prophecy and Astraeus is dusk/stars) she gives Zephyrus The Death Stare.

He is equally terrified of her, minus the horny.

Cupid/Eros, eh?

...are you in the Discord by chance? Because the fellows I mentioned previously and I have also discussed this👀

We get Boreas in my next fic, btw! :D No ApolloXBoreas, sadly, but I do have plans on incorporating them into a fic!

Perhaps my revolution fic, because I am getting Ideas concerning Boreas, Apollo, and Koios... >:3

[seangelfish]

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT FOR A LONG TIME YEIII amh I could ask for headcanons for bae and kanata with a cute mc fem from the town who just arrived in the city therefore she doesn't know anything about paradox or hiphop or the city in general je but she is open to learning new things uvu that would be all ~ thank you

MEETING A NEWCOMER

Featured characters: Allen Sugasano, Hajun Yeon, Anne Faulkner, Kanata Yatonokami ♡ Tags: Headcanons but also a bulletpoint fic, mutual crush, casual romance, she/her pronouns, not really proofread! Not really sure what to write for Hajun, so I'm sorry if it's not up to standard! ♡ Word count: 1,895 ♡ Synopsis: You, a newcomer, was introduced into a city of hip hop. You didn't quite understand it, but you were eager to learn from the people around you.

You have moved here for university, not knowing what this city was actually known for. You just assumed it was any other ordinary city...

Allen, who was one of your fellow classmates at university was an odd one. He didn't look friendly so you didn't try socialising with him at first, but when you saw how he acted towards his friends, you decided to at least try.

You found out that he was just awkward. He greeted you in return when you introduced yourself, but his eyes started sparkling when you mentioned that you were new to the area. He asked whether you're into hip hop, but if you weren't, he had some recommendations for you to listen to.

"Is hip hop that big here?" you asked him curiously.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed. "There used to be this place called Club Paradox where..."

You listened to him ramble on and on about hip hop and these legends called 'Buraikan' who founded these so-called 'Phantom Lives.'

It was all a little confusing, but it had you intrigued. Because of this, the two of you had exchanged contact info so Allen would be able to send you his recommendations. When you were finished listening to them, you would text him your thoughts. Gradually, you started having a taste for hip hop that in your free time, you'd visit record shops looking for songs that you haven't heard of yet!

Allen was always so appreciative of how willing you were to indulge in his interests — in his life. He wanted to show you more about the city and about hip hop, but he also just wanted to spend more time with you.

"I also produce and write my own songs!" Allen said one day, hoping that would impress you. "Would you like to listen to them?"

"Seriously? That's so cool. Of course, I'd like to listen!"

"Alright, just meet me at the club! I'm performing there as BAE with Anne and Hajun."

"C-Club?"

"Oh, haven't you been to a club before? Then I'll accompany you before our performance starts. It'll be fun!"

Why not? you thought.

Allen picked you up before his performance and showed you around the club. It was an interesting yet fun experience, but what you found kind of weird was how he kept holding your hand throughout it all. You didn't think too much of it though. He was probably doing that in consideration of you, so you wouldn't get lost in the crowd.

"So yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it!" he said. "Will you be okay here? We're starting in ten minutes."

"Yes, I'll be fine," you replied. "I can't wait to see you perform!"

"Alright, see you later, (Y/N)!"

Watching him perform live was amazing. You finally understood why people here liked watching 'Phantom Lives.' They were incredible! You were so drawn into Allen's performance that you couldn't see anything else but him.

"Haha, how was it?" he asked you, panting.

"It was so cool!" you chirped. "And that was the song you wrote too? It was great!"

"Hahaha, thanks, (Y/N)!"

So whatever Allen did with hip hop, you were there too. You became closer to him than before that he no longer was a classmate to you, but someone even more special.

Just like everyone else, you were drawn to Hajun's prince-like charms, but you never dared to speak to him. He was definitely on another level than you, and you didn't want to disturb him with your plain, ordinary presence.

However, fate brought you together when Hajun spoke to you first. He picked up clues that you were new around here and wanted to help you familiarise yourself.

Confused but thankful, you accepted his offer. He was like a tour guide, bringing you in his limo around the city. It was kind of awkward at first, but he eased you into it when he would ask you where you came from and why you decided to move. He was friendly, but you could taste the way he teased you too.

After bringing you to so many places, Hajun had asked you if you knew about hip hop or anything to do with phantom lives. When you denied it, he merely chuckled and said that you should watch him perform. He didn't go further than that, so you had to find out yourself what he meant by it.

BAE was his hip hop group where they performed phantom lives at clubs. You entered by yourself, waiting for the show to begin. Hajun was up there on stage accompanied by Anne and Allen. Their performance was spectacular. The way Hajun rapped was something you didn't expect coming from him, but at the same time, it made perfect sense.

"So you made it," he teased. "Did you enjoy the show?"

"Y-Yes, it was good!" you exclaimed. "Those were the illusions you talked about? They were pretty! How were you able to do that?"

"With my phantometal, of course," he replied, showing you the feather ring on his finger. He let you touch it due to curiosity. "Isn't it cool~?"

"It is!" you giggled. "Can I watch you perform again next time?"

"Haha, sure."

Not only did Hajun help you with familiarising yourself with the city, but with university work too. You should be grateful though because he wasn't doing this for just anyone. However, he was also questioning his actions when he thought about it.

He supposed that he was helping you out so much because he was also in a similar position when he arrived in Japan. He just wanted to make your experience here easy for you.

Plus hanging out with someone cute like you was actually fun. He loved answering whatever questions you threw at him especially those relating to hip hop. He always looked forward to your daily greeting in person and text.

Anne had caught an interest to you almost immediately. Of course, it was because you were cute, but it was also because your outfits were embarrassingly plain. They wondered if you'd allow them to dress you up. So one day in class, they introduced themselves.

Once Anne took in the info that you were new here, they were even more excited to become your friend. They wanted to show you everything! Entertainment, fashion, music, everything you were interested in!

And that's how you were introduced to hip hop too.

Taking in the knowledge of the city from Anne was like homework. They dumped everything on you so quickly that it was hard to grasp, but as they pulled you around the city, it was always so exhilarating.

"Oh, I'm also a part of BAE," they said. "It's the hip hop unit I'm in with Allen and Hajun. We usually perform at clubs, but we're going to be competing in Paradox Live next!"

"P-Paradox Live?" you queried. You knew of phantom lives since Anne mentioned those before, but this was different.

"Yep, it's gonna be huge! We're going up against other hip hop units to win ten billion! You'll come support us, right?"

Of course you were.

But standing in front of Club Paradox was intimidating. Everyone around you looked excited out of their minds, but you were the opposite.

"(Y/N), over here!" called out Anne. As you turned, they linked your arm with theirs and led you inside with Allen and Hajun. "I'm sorry, I'm going to have to leave you here," they continued. "But watch us closely, okay?"

Watching Anne perform that night was thrilling. Even when the rest of the units performed their songs, Anne's performance was something you couldn't shake off. The illusions that they described to you through words could not compare to the real thing.

After that, you would always watch Anne in person whenever they were performing with BAE in Paradox Live; cheering them on and voting for them. Anne would always look for you in the crowd too, happy that you appeared in their life.

Unlike BAE, you didn't meet Kanata at university. You bumped into him on the streets to university. You were lost and that's how you ended up at the slums. He thought you were an idiot, but he helped you out anyway.

You explained that you were new to the city, so you still didn't know your way around. Kanata was disinterested, but when you asked him why hip hop was so prevalent around here, his ears perked up.

He explained everything, but he also mentioned how there's 'real hip hop' and those who desire to make hip hop but fail. You were curious about what he meant by this, so you pressed him further into showing you what 'real hip hop' was.

He was about to refuse. He didn't really want to get close to you to begin with, but seeing that sparkle in your eye made him think otherwise. It also didn't help that you were kind of cute.

"Fine," he breathed. "When do you finish uni? I could show you today."

And so he did. After dropping you off at university, he picked you up straight after you were finished. It was evening by then, so the streets you walked on were crowded with people waiting for a team called 'Cozmez' to perform.

He grabbed your wrist and dragged you into some shady underground business, situating you in a corner where he was sure nobody could disturb you.

"Just stay here," he said. "You'll be okay."

"W-Wait, where are you going?"

"I'm performing."

Before you could say anything else, he grinned. "You'll see what real hip hop is, (Y/N)."

And he was gone. You noticed that he was with someone else too, someone that looked oddly similar to him that you just knew he was his brother. When they were on stage, the crowd cheered louder than before.

That's when Kanata started rapping. You watched him intently, your eyes following his every movement, his every word. The music was loud, but it was exciting.

"So this is a 'phantom live'..." you murmured to yourself as you watched the illusions the twins were creating. "It's beautiful..."

You didn't expect Kanata to come back to you right after performing, but he did, asking you what you thought of it. You caught the slight bit of excitement in his question which also surprised you because even if you had just met him today, you already had his character noted down in the back of your mind. He was rude and aggressive, but he was also kind in a way.

You smiled. "It was awesome! I can't believe this is what I was missing out on!" you replied. "You were amazing, Kanata!"

His cheeks heated up, but you couldn't tell as it was dim. "Thanks," he said casually.

"Eh~ who's this?" asked his twin. "Kanata, I didn't think you were that type of person–"

"I-It's nothing like that!"

Nayuta introduced himself because if his brother was willing enough to bring a random girl to a place like this, he was sure that Kanata was a little interested in you.

"Be good to my brother, okay?" he whispered into your ear teasingly.

From then on, you became close to the Yatonokami twins, but you were even closer to Kanata, the boy who helped you on your first day. He became a lot more patient with you as he introduced you to even more places around the city, familiarising yourself with hip hop and the story behind it. It was always so fun learning more things when it was with Kanata.

And perhaps, Kanata was a little thankful that you got lost in the slums that day too.

Intro page | Paradox Live masterlist | Request rules

[shrewtia]

𝕸𝖟 𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖘 𝖔𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖚𝖓𝖚𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝖕𝖔𝖙𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖆𝖑 𝖔𝖋 𝕳𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖓𝖌𝖚'𝖘 𝖇𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉 𝖉𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖓 𝖆𝖗𝖙

Since the release of the third season I've often thought about the upper moons bdas, mainly about Gyokko's and Hantengu's. And I think especially Hantengu's has been really underestimated. In my opinion, it has a lot of potential and is probably even more terrifying than most of the other's blood demon arts if you try to imagine it in a realistic setting. So I thought I'd share some of my thoughts for those interested.

Urogi's scream ⊹ His power is probably one of the most underrated ones. And interestingly, the one power that most of them share - him, Zohakuten, Urami and Hantengu's main body.

A lot of people underestimate the danger of loud noise. Not only is it crucial for demon slayers to be able to hear their surroundings to identify where an unseen attacker might come from - the ear is also the balance organ. Seeing Tanjiro struggling to hold his balance during his fight with Urogi would have been a nice detail.

Judging from the effect that Urogi's screams had on Tanjiro, I think it's safe to say his screams are above 120 decibel, which is when it actually starts to be painful. Sounds above 150 decibel burst your eardrums while sounds above 185 damage internal organs and can be deadly. I am not sure of the total range of his volume, but Zohakuten demonstrated that he coul rip someone apart with his scream. Mitsuri only survived because of her special muscle densitiy.

Also, sound travels faster through water. Urogi could e.g. pick up his victim and drop them into a body of water before diving under and screaming at them, causing a lot more damage. Of course his feathers would need to be water-repellent. And not even taking into account his power, just utilizing his ability to just pick up a weaker slayer and drop them into a lake for example, would already debilitate them, as it's difficult to get out or they might even drown if they can't swim.

Sekido's lightning ⊹ His power would obviously be extremely powerful if it worked like actual lightning. But in the anime/manga he rather imitates lightning. Aside from the obvious fact that physics laws don't seem to exist in most media and we're dealing with a dark fantasy anime, it's still fun to imagine his power as realistic as possible.

Sekido could make people's heart stop, partially blind them and even cause the blood vessels in their brain to burst. Those few who survive to tell of the demon's power would be marked by unique patterns stretching across the skin where lightning hit, known as Lichtenberg figures. Perhaps blinded and deaf, they wouldn't be able to fight anymore.

Even though most people who get hit by lightning survive without major injuries, it's still a unique power that is perfect for stunning an opponent. I suppose the author made him appear weaker for the plot. In a fanfiction it would have a lot of potential though.

Urami's size ⊹ This is mainly about how terrifying his size actually is. He's twice as tall as Tanjiro, standing at about three metres or nine feet tall. Imagine being in Tanjiro's situation and having Urami's giant hands wrapped around your head. The immense pressure would be insane. Genya really was Tanjiro's savior in that moment.

Additionally, it was interesting to see him not burning up immediately when hit by the sunlight. The scene was definitely stretched and felt longer than it actually was, but he still didn't make an effort to find shade. Comparing this to Akaza, who seemed terrified by the upcoming sun, indicating he is likely not as resistant to the sun despite having a higher rank, this seems like Hantengu developed a bit of a resistance to the sun even if only for a few seconds. Or this might be a unique feature about the clones. Since Urami is not the main body, he might be able to regenerate faster than the sun destroys his cells as long as the main body is safe and therefore survive longer when hit by sunlight.

[llondonfog]

Hi!! Feel free to ignore, but I was just thinking about kid silver being adorable AND Halloween because of the upcoming event...and this thought was born—

(This is so long I'm sorry 😭😭)

So, Silver gets de-aged (bear with me here lol)—maybe due to a potions mishap or a spell gone wrong, it doesn't matter which. It's during Halloween week, so everyone's kinda frazzled due to everything being set up, etc. Lilia gets called to deal with it while Crewel tries to figure out a counter-potion/spell wears off because nobody can get in touch with Malleus, and therefore goes to Diasomnia's vice to help take care of Silver (not knowing that they're father & son).

Silver spots Lilia and yells "Papa!" while running to hug Lilia—while Lilia tries to cover up what Silver said. Regardless, he still picks Silver up and cuddles him—he's a silly old man who loves his kid, who can blame him?

Anyway, kid Silver hijinks ensue: running off with the animals on campus, taking naps surrounded by deer, birds, squirrels, etc., calling Malleus "big brother" and Lilia "papa" while around other Diasomnia students (they wouldn't say anything, because Malleus looks so endeared by the little human and Lilia glares and hisses *unknowingly* at any of them who DARE to interrupt their family).

Silver sees Sebek and looks back at Lilia. He's like, "Why did you make him so tall?? Papa, change him back, please!" *cue puppy eyes* he genuinely thinks Lilia pranked him. As much as Sebek says that he dislikes Silver's behavior, he's actually the one to take him everywhere. "You shouldn't miss so much school, Silver! I won't let you besmirch Waka-sama's good name!"

OK, but back to Halloween—Silver dresses up as a knight, or a prince. Maybe a unicorn??? DRAGON?? Any of them are cute tbh. Anyway, they end up going to each dorm to trick or treat (on Halloween night ofc) and Silver charms everyone, because he's Silver. Then, you have Lilia behind him just being the creepiest little demon fae you've ever had the misfortune to see...

As they're going to one of the dorms to get more candy, Silver sees another kid pouting at the lack of candy said dorm has, and their meager amount. Silver, despite having only a few more pieces himself, gives the kid most of his, and gives the other kid a hug. "There, there, you can have some of mine."

Honestly, you can do whatever you want with this, but I'd love to see this written out more coherently, if you want lol

I've been thinking about this for a while, and I NEED more kid Silver being cute and adorable and pure!! He deserves to be cuddled by his family and to eat candy :D

oh my goodness, this whole entire prompt was adorable and thank you for practically writing the premise into my inbox!! i'm not sure this is coherent.....or cuddly....but my mood with lilia has been in a pretty introspective place for sometime so i do hope you find something to enjoy :')

(and i did end up keeping that paragraph after so many of you seemed to like it akaldjll what do i know about anything)

for a fae as long-lived as he, the concept of time is an ephemeral thing. one does not count the years in a decade nor the decades in a century; a fae knows time by the erosion of a mountainside, by the loneliness of an abandoned settlement, or even by the chance meeting of a human wearing the face of another long since passed. 

silver fills his arms, helmet askew and heavy with satisfied slumber, and lilia feels the ache of every day that has gone by since he was last able to cradle his son so tenderly in his embrace. 

he may be the only fae that now minds his days by the sharpening of his son’s features, a change emerging far too quick and now, strangely, unwelcome.

beside him, serene, the heir apparent to the valley of thorns— looking most pleased himself in their resplendent costumes so artfully reminiscent of the admirable long, yet any dignified mysticism is rendered charmed by the plastic pumpkin bucket clutched in his crimson-tipped claws, brimming with brightly wrapped candy. the overflow is nearly double the amount given to the visiting children, even with silver eagerly dispensing his sugary treasures to any who asked, for no dorm had been able to resist his solemn request coupled with those adorably drowsy eyes and plastic sword when he had so politely asked for one piece more so that their prince might experience trick or treating for the first time. not wanting to be the dorm known for stiffing the fae heir on the most magic-blessed night of them all, both toddling knight and noble dragon walked away, tiny hand in careful claw, with a bounty piled high between them and matching smiles on their twin eager faces. 

lilia had been so torn over which to get a photo of first, cheeks aching from stifling his laughter; the vulnerable delight on malleus’ face as silver so kindly presented him with his share of candy, or sebek’s ill-disguised fussing as silver’s sword had slipped from its sheath to drag across the ground. 

what kindness to be able to share such precious memories with them once again.

what cruelty to remind him of what would disappear tomorrow morning, crewel’s antidote ready and waiting for them in the dorm. 

“...i can see why silver enjoyed such a night of festivity and why he spoke on those memories with you so fondly,” malleus’ reflective tone scatters his wandering thoughts, leaving him to pull his focus back to the present with no small amount of difficulty. “I wish i could have participated in the revelry, but i understand now why you might not have invited me, lilia. the presence of their prince would have dampened any carefree spirits, and i would not have wanted to spoil the fun.”

a wry smile tugs at his lips at malleus’ inaccurate assessment, crooked and out of place, and he can feel the prince’s gaze weighty upon him with surprise, brows furrowing and lips parting with the question on his tongue— 

there had been no such festivities, no happily shrieking village children for silver to scamper among, sharing in the night’s delights and trickery with all the innocence of youth. 

there had only been an old fool of a general, taking it upon himself to fumble through the recreation of a human spectacle, for no other reason than he could not bear the sight of the boy’s features even mildly unhappy. 

he might have wondered how far he could have fallen to find himself repeatedly affecting surprise as he opens the door time and time again to a giggling child, but he knows better now; he had always been steeped in a miserable, lonesome darkness, and to nurture the vulnerable child curled into his chest was to bask in an undeserving light. 

without consent, his arms tighten around the slumbering boy in his arms, and malleus is wise enough not to comment. 

“I do wonder if silver will be able to remember tonight’s events,” lilia comments lightly as they continue their walk to the dorm, seemingly apropos of nothing and unbothered by the watchful gaze of his young companion. 

and he wonders which is more selfish; to wish it so, to have his son’s head filled with such saccharine-sweet dreams of a proper halloween as only a sweet and darling boy like none other deserves— or to cling to the lonely truth of the past, in which a bruised and battered soldier finds a purpose too kind for his bloodied hands in protecting that high and clear laughter of his child, delighting over and over again in the simple fact of his father opening the door.

[divorcedfiddleford]

anyway. moving on from the show itself. so possibly my hottest take is that i think journal 3 should not have been published KJSHDFLGKHSDFGUIWEHRGJSDF. basically i think instead of trying to write the actual journal 3 they should have picked a handful of stories from his research era that they wanted to tell and made a graphic novel about that. i got WAAAAAAAYYYY off topic and wrote PARAGRAPHS about this but it's not related to the question you asked so i'll just summarize by saying i think it would play more to their strengths as writers, leave more to the imagination, and they could leave out all those fucking retcons that i hate

^ excerpt from this post i made a couple weeks ago. i wanted to post those paragraphs i spoke of teehee so in case anyone is curious here they are

aside from all the retcons that i hate, i think the biggest weakness of journal 3 is that it limits the imagination. with the publishing of journal 3, they had to establish a set timeline and list of events that happened. there's no way they would have been able to construct a chronological narrative otherwise. however this is actually quite stifling to a creative audience. before it was published, the timeline was largely left open to interpretation, with only the biggest plot points being cemented. and while i'm not going to act like this was some sort of golden age of fanworks (there were a LOT of stupid theories and objectively bad content), i do think it lent itself a lot more to creativity. i distinctly remember several authors in the middle of writing having to make disclaimers that their works were no longer "canon compliant" after the release of the journal, as though that meant they were inherently of lesser value, and i think that's really too bad.

i want to be very clear here. the issue is not that alex hirsch and rob renzetti wrote stories about what happened when ford was young. the issue is that they chose the journal as the means by which to tell those stories. they had to pull a LOT of retcons just to make that even possible - some of which i'll talk about later, others (like the fact that they were DESTROYED before the end of the series) are self-evident and/or have been bemoaned by me ad nauseam - when a graphic novel would have sufficed and probably played more to their strengths as tv writers. hell, they did this later! the only reason they chose to do it as journal 3 itself is because it's like The Symbol of the show and they knew everybody would buy it and it'd be a really cool collector's item.

but the problem with turning the journal into a chronological narrative (which it wasn't originally, i'll get into that) is that you have to decide everything that happened, and by extension, everything that didn't happen. creatively, this is torture. they made a book and said "this is it, the whole book, with all of the torn pages restored magically". therefore if you come up with a scenario you think is fun for ford to be in, you have to come up with a reason why it isn't in the journal. this isn't just a problem for fans. alex and rob wrote themselves into a corner with this. the book of bobos hasn't even been released yet and we've already seen that it features "lost journal pages". they thought of other things after the fact which would be cool to include! do you understand? they now have to legitimize the fact that they weren't there in the first place, which wouldn't be an issue if they just hadn't published journal 3 in the first place! i have no idea if this makes any sense i didn't take my adderall this morning but so many of these stories would have functioned just as well as a graphic novel.

another (more nitpicky) thing is that the journals are introduced to us as scientific research. field journals. ford measures the heights of organisms, rock formations, etc. the text blocks to the side of them are scribbles in the tv show, but you are meant to infer that they are more detailed notes about each of the entries.

(image descriptions in alt text)

this stuff is SERIOUSLY LACKING in the published journal. and i get why! it's easy to imply the science in the tv show when you can just scribble to represent a block of text, but when you're publishing a book, you have to actually write all those words. alex and rob are NOT scientists, and writing realistic scientific descriptions of each anomaly is an unreasonable request, especially given the fact that they were so pressed for time and had a page limit. so i understand why they leaned into the diary angle instead - it's more narrative-based, it's in their wheelhouse, and it makes for better reading. but as an amateur scientist myself i was just very disappointed (the "hawktopus: too stupid to study" gag made me so sad. come on ford. i know you. i know you observed that hawktopus for like five months and took in-depth notes on its diet and behavior). again, i think this would not be a problem if the actual contents of the journal were limited to just what we're shown in the tv show and the audience's imagination. but i doubt very many fans care about this as much as i do shldjfkglskdfhgk

in the show, ford also seems to jump between journals as needed, implying that they were not separated chronologically - that is to say, he did not simply write in one book until it was full and then move on to the next one. this makes a lot of sense for scientific journals. you don't close the book after one encounter with an organism or phenomenon. you observe it multiple times, returning to it again and again, sometimes months or years after the initial sighting. you need to leave yourself space for future notes, which is precisely what we see ford doing here! it also made sense given the fact that he was able to go back and put part of his portal plans into each journal. if he waited until each journal was filled up before starting a new one then this would be a lot harder (he would have to add more pages to each book, which would mean redoing the binding. that's a lot of work! also he opens up journal 1 and almost immediately starts writing in it after coming out of the portal so unless there were empty pages in it beforehand when would he have time to add more pages? checkmate atheists). however this had to be changed for the book they wrote. again, i don't begrudge them for this. non-linear storytelling is HARD and, again, TIME CONSUMING! time is NOT something the writers had. but again i just think that this would not have been a problem if there wasn't a physical journal.

thank you for making it to the end of my post. as consolation here is a link to a doodle i did of ford in the portal 2 jumpsuit

[chibivesicle]

Dunno why you're harping so hard on the "muh mystery" aspect. A feature literally only existent in the 98 anime, because they added a shit ton of filler to make up for so little manga material at the time. The actual source material tells us this is all Knives's fault volume ONE! We know super early on why they're stuck here and who is at fault. The actual mystery the manga and stampede are setting up is not "who did it" but "why did knives do it"

Hello hello,

Yes, I'm one of those people who isn't happy with Stampede revealing a lot of information out from the get go. I 100% admit it. I think that this is going to be an issue for a lot of viewers, especially for people who have a high fondness for Trigun.

I think this comes from a lot of different places and combines in the general feeling of 'meh I don't like this as much'.  I’m surprised how quickly I saw the new series and was like ‘Noooooo!’ but didn’t even know why my immediate reaction was like this. 

1.) What was available at the time you watched the anime. When I watched the anime, it was on a fansub. The DVDs were released between 2000-2001 and the box set at the end of 2001. Therefore, this was all you could go on. If you wanted the manga it wouldn't be out until 2003 via Darkhorse in North America. You could have bought the current tankobons and then found a website where there was a text based translation of the speech bubbles. This was before the common use of fan scan translations. The ability to find a manga before it gets an anime was really freakkin' hard in the 80s and 90s. It was almost the reverse - you'd see the anime and then quest for the manga and hope it got picked up by a publisher who'd then publish it over several years.  They’d only gamble on a title if it already had a strong anime fanbase.

2.) The unique nature of the source material lead to an unusual but clever adaptation of that limited material. Studio Madhouse didn't have enough material for a full 26 episode run. They were brilliant to focus on a new point of view to introduce the viewer to the world. There is nothing wrong with a show that can be episodic, sure, we want stories with a plot driving them forward but episodic shows allow for more character development. The same situation happens, but characters behave differently and Trigun does this well. Having Wolfwood show up and hang out with the group from episodes 9-11 gives him more time to get to know them. The manga has Wolfwood and Vash as close friends, but before the Fifth Moon Incident they only rode on the bus together. Episodes 9-11 gives us more time for them to be dorks together and makes for enjoyable antics. 3.) The air of mystery fits in perfectly with the 'Western' genre. In the classic American Western, you frequently have a drifter who comes into town. He's a skilled gunman who never stays in one place but tries to stand up against injustice against the locals. He might be genuinely good. He may be on a redemption arc. He might be doing this for penance due his past deeds. Hell, he might just be bored.  What he does have is a mysterious past.

Trigun used this concept its advantage for the slow reveal of events. It went for a stronger ‘show, don't tell’ than either the manga or Stampede. Vash looks like a goofball drifter, why isn't he? What type of pain has he been through? How has he survived? This also worked for Wolfwood who won't reveal his full mystery either and the bits here and there in 9-11 add to it.  What is this traveling clergyman doing with a giant 100kg cross that he literally carries? Why would he accept carrying such a cross?  Why would he lie about being able to shoot a gun when he’s excellent at it?

4.) Meryl and Milly vibed with a Western audience more. I'm appalled at how Roberto is currently treating Meryl in the anime. It is setting up a different trope that didn't exist in the original anime or manga. I think a lot of women will not like this as much, the manga didn't have romance since Yasuhiro Nightow said he couldn't write it. But it means that the anime easily passes the Bechdel test which is good for female representation and motivations. I agree with the idea that Meryl and Roberto are written to be a much more culturally Japanese dynamic.  It honestly would make a lot of sense if they are trying to make this more of a domestic success than the original.  We’ll give it the gritty realism of the Japanese office culture!  That will resonate with people!  Maybe this brings in more Japanese women who sympathize exactly with Meryl now? 

I had no idea that Badlands Rumble was released in the States months before Japan.  It seems Trigun is like Escaflowne.  Saw great success outside of Japan but locally was a bit of a flop.  23 year old Meryl is just starting her career, but remember, women over 25 are ‘Christmas Cake’.  Past their best buy date and should be married.  And this is a term that exists in the present, not the past in Japan. 

Other people have hypothesized that Milly was eliminated due to her rare role as a canonically large girl who could take you on.  Other than the fact that she uses a non-lethal weapon, is the youngest child of 10, and the sweetest person ever.  I always loved her dress shirt, tie and suspenders look but it isn’t very ‘cute’ in a moe sense.

5.) Having a fresh comparison of the anime and manga.  With the Stampede hype, I watched the anime.  And then binged the manga.  Overall, I like the anime better.  It is more character driven, the pacing is right and the twists and turns work well.  The only weakness is the manga background lore is lacking but they more than compensated for it for the most part. 

I don’t generalize that I like a series based on a manga that the manga is inherently better than the anime.  Golden Kamuy was an anime that would have benefited from more of the manga chapters included for the first three seasons.  Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood was better with the full background from the manga.  Gintama messed around with content all the time deciding to move plot vs comedy.  Honestly, it always just depends on which one you ultimately prefer.  And I make this on a series by series basis.

6.) The power of nostalgia and a less saturated anime environment of the past. Now, you can essentially watch anime every day or read current manga for an entire year and not overlap with series other people are reading.  The 80s, 90s and very early 2000s were a sparse anime/manga ecosystem.  The internet wasn’t quite at your fingertips.  This then resulted in a more cohesive fanbase.  You all saw the same things due to limited titles to choose from.  Distributors in the States leaned hard into releasing more obscure OVAs since they were cost effective.  OVAs had more adult content than conventional titles so a bunch of us were exposed to some rather mature things likely before we should have.  A lot of 90s anime had that gritty feeling which I don’t think was an accurate representation for it across the board in the 90s but what made it internationally.  The first con I went to was full of Deedlit cosplayers. Why?  You could rent Record of Lodoss War at Blockbuster and it was a well known fantasy anime with a hot elf chick.  The hardcore people were the Inuyasha and Utena cosplayers since they’d not had a domestic release yet and were fansub/text only translation at the time.

With less titles to choose from, you spent more time on the limited series and really dug into them.  Thus, to the western fanbase, Trigun has risen to an important point on a lot of people’s lists.  Or it was the introduction to anime for a lot of people when my introduction had been series like Macross/Voltron/Sailor Moon/Ranma 1/2.  Were these ‘pure’ versions - nope but it was what slowly sucked me into more series. 

This also means that in this supersaturated environment, there is more competition for eyeballs.  Do you want to reboot a series that had modest niche success in Japan that was a blockbuster hit in the States?  You have the advantage of the series being complete now; you can draw from all the source material.  But it is a product of its time and the look can be easily dated to the mid-late 90s. 

There are two ways you go with this.  1.) The CLAMP approach - who cares about current styles and trends, we are gonna keep our chara design pretty standard for the original and that will give us our visual advantage.  2.) Adapt it to the current look - which I think is a gamble.  You lose your visual pop factor by making it look more current but it would appear how current series look so people might be willing to give it a shot not knowing the source material. 

With such high saturation, you end up with so many series with characters that all look similar.  I find this to make it hard to distinguish the isekai/fantasy/school set series and they just keep coming out.  I’ll watch a new anime and be like, ‘It was fine.’  but it will quickly blur into the next series that was just as ‘fine’ as that last one. 

In conclusion, I think all of these factors and likely more are why many fans who watched the original anime (and may have even read and enjoyed the manga as well) are so bummed out by this choice to put so many things up front.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that they will have time to fit in more characters and they may instead be swapping out characters for manga specific ones that weren’t written yet and dropping other manga and anime ones.  I have a gut feeling Midvalley will not appear.  If he does, I will be pleasantly surprised.

I think the reason why so many people love the slow reveal is that it rewards you for your time getting to know Vash.  And with other characters meeting him and wondering why he’s so weird it helps you to focus on it as well before the reveal of his origin.  From a narrative perspective it worked well and I think that contributed to why so many people love the anime and are fine with it if it was the only Trigun media they knew.

[omgkalyppso]

Screenshots of the epilogue. Discussion of Étoile's endgame situation (with still possible changes to be made) and Many Spoilers.

Gale and this oc didn't get along great, so that's my warning for that.

If you open this and it's too long you can press J on desktop to skip it.

The lighting on the side view of Étoile and Astarion's hug could've been better, but these were both very sweet. Especially since I had to go back and hug Astarion based on seeing a friend's screenshots as I'd had Étoile ask whether he didn't want to go speak with the others. He seemed so standoffish.

I went back even further afterwards and had Étoile go to Avernus with Karlach just to see whether there was an angry reunion in this six months later, but the game registered it as having broken up with Astarion, though he did have much more to say as a friend than as a romantic partner.

And I've heard that in multiplayer that a character can speak with the player character who didn't romance them About their romance so I need to play with someone who will either make two very specific selections while romancing Astarion or who would be fine with me doing so, just so I can someday see what he might have to say.

Halsin walked through a hedge to get here. Étoile's going to fucking produce a handkerchief to dab the dirt from his scars, etc.

I'd like to think that Shadowheart's cottage is somewhere between Reithwin proper where Isobel and Dame Aylin are based, and Halsin's settlement which extends from Moonrise down to farmland in the valleys where Ketheric's army was camped. I think I'd place Komira and Arabella here too, and it's tempting to relocate Zevlor and Doni but I don't think you'd get Mol (and therefore a number of her kids) out of Baldur's Gate, and I still like the idea of the strained but reliable familial relationship she could have with the fallen Paladin if she needed to lay low from both thugs and the law.

Regardless, that's a lot of people at least a five days walk from Baldur's Gate, and maybe Astarion's quiet with Étoile because he suspects that they'd be staying there if they could, rather than managing his 7000 evil exes the chaos of the vampire spawn, his siblings, the drow and the city; and even if Étoile didn't want that, perhaps Astarion feels that all of their friends think Étoile would be better off in that life, and is a little less secure in facing them about it than he'd care to admit. Or maybe Astarion's quiet because he would rather be living either that or any other selfish life where he wouldn't have to consider what the spawn would be doing without oversight, where he wouldn't have to worry that moving to a wooden home would see it set ablaze around him by adventurous monster hunters who sought to see him in sunlight even at the cost of greatly disturbing all Halsin had built.

Karlach and Dammon would be in Baldur's Gate because Étoile was able to get her an item blessed with Auril's cold to act as a magical coolant for her heart.

Wyll and Florrick both heavily implied that Wyll would be Duke Ravengard at the end of Étoile's playthrough but in the epilogue he was once again the Blade of Frontiers, and a ranger. After seeing some screenshots on what was supposed to feature in the epilogue if Wyll became duke, I'm going to ignore whatever the hell happened there and maintain that he became duke. He featured in my plans for how the vampires would cope and govern!

Lae'zel and her son Xan may even have been my favorite part of the epilogue. They are so important to Étoile; who would drop everything to help for two months or so if Lae'zel asked them to help with her journey, though they'd doubt she'd need them to.

Gale is in Waterdeep. His relationship to Étoile was strained during the game events and it totally collapses / is held up by niceties only in post-canon. I still picked the hug because I think Étoile would be surprised by how much they missed Gale / how relieved they were to see him alive before the dread of his presence really set in. Gale clipping shoving himself face-first into Étoile's tits and his following line really made this awkward interaction feel authentic, lol.

Étoile wasn't willing to trust Mystra with the Crown of Karsus (and notes that she didn't promise anything with regards to their tadpoles), and signed a pact with Raphael, effectively condemning Gale; but mechanically Gale doesn't acknowledge this after the defeat of the netherbrain, and says he's going to reforge the crown for Mystra. Because of this, I'd either consider him and Étoile having an argument on the docks, or Gale's power being restored by the loss of the tadpole, as Wyll's are lost and Astarion regains a vampire's weaknesses. And Gale could be a level 17-20 wizard, with spell slots enough to cast Hold Monster on Astarion, to cast Time Stop, to cast Teleport, to put himself in the bay where he can retrieve the Crown immediately. Though perhaps he would be more subtle.

Étoile could express confusion and conflicting emotions upon seeing Gale in the epilogue, and at the end of Withers' party, Raphael could show up as he did post-credits, to accuse Étoile of allowing Gale to usurp his Crown, to express his warning that Mystra has now both the Crown and the Orb, and to threaten to make coin of Étoile's soul. I think rather than for a vague notion of "Étoile seeing the consequences of their actions," Raphael might not kill them instantly because he thinks himself patient, and if there's a chance Étoile could still honor their pact in the years they have left to them, that he believes them to be more useful living than as a piece of currency, but if the Crown is the possession of Mystra or another deity by the time their name is written in one of Withers' scrolls, then he would collect their soul as promised.

Étoile would deck Gale after Raphael left. I don't think they'd forgive each other, but they could probably remain civil in Karlach or Halsin's presence at least.

Raphael was such a stronger enemy for Étoile narratively than Mystra would be, but I'm happy to put that fic concept on the backburner to indulge this since it could give me an excuse to have Raphael around more to bitch instead of to need-to-be-defeated.

Other OC's I'd keep in Étoile's worldstate are Borgakh - a resident of Halsin's settlement, Upton - moved from Baldur's Gate to Waterdeep after their fiance died during the mindflayer madness, Uleri - a librarian in Baldur's Gate entangled in politics, and Yar'sul - a ranking githyanki sworn to the cause of the Comet.

[httpiastri]

dating ollie would include... ᰔᩚ

getting flowers on every date

ollie is a true romantic. he's seen every romcom out there, a lot of them with his mom and sister, and he knows what he's expected to do in order to make a partner feel special. therefore, he thinks it's a no-brainer that he should bring you flowers.

you found it adorable how he got you a big bouquet for your first date; the random mixture of colors and flowers felt odd but when he showed off his smile and told you that he picked them out himself in the store, you saw another kind of beauty in the gift. and from there on, it has been tradition for him to arrive at your doorstep with flowers.

he is not aware that he's the first guy who's ever bought flowers for you, and he is not aware that it isn't common to do it every date. when you first told him that he didn't need to get you flowers every time you see each other, he was confused – they do it in the movies, why wouldn't he do it? but even after learning that it isn't as common as he thought, he has not stopped.

it doesn't matter when, where or how – he's always got flowers for you. picking you up to go out for dinner? flowers. meeting up in town for a date? flowers. even when you visit him at races, he makes sure to have a bouquet ready for you when you arrive at the track. and another one at the hotel.

he may not know every etiquette or the meaning behind every flower, but he always puts a lot of thought into the selection, and it warms your heart when you hear him explain the thoughts and ideas that go into the personalized present. and giving you the flowers brings him just as much joy as receiving them does to you, so it's a win-win situation.

comforting him after tough races…

racing is tough. it's especially tough when you go from being on top of the world after winning both races in baku, to not even getting a single point in the following race weekend.

ollie would know.

it's a version of ollie that's exhausted, both physically and mentally, that comes back to the hotel with you after the feature race. he was so close to the points, but in the end, it wasn't enough. and after a weekend this long and filled with this many disappointing results, ollie needs nothing more than to just let go of it all – and you're always good at helping him do just that.

you don't push him, you don't have to discuss it if he doesn't want to, and you most definitely won't tell him where he screwed up or what he needs to learn. you don't base his worth off his performances; to you, he's your ollie no matter what. and sometimes he just needs a reminder of that.

the prema staff are out celebrating, as are most of the other drivers, with ollie's teammate being the one everyone's adoring for the day. but he can't stand it, there is no way he would be able to gather enough energy to party. so instead, he opts for staying in with you. he lets your hands roam through his newly washed hair as you cuddle up on the bed, some random show playing on the tv. the lights are dimmed and his arms are wrapped around your waist, squeezing you tighter when you place sweet kisses to his forehead. he nuzzles his head into the crook of your neck, deep sighs passing through his lips. he thanks you; for not caring about his results, for picking up his scattered pieces when he breaks apart, for always being there for him.

and you thank him back; you thank him for being yours. because without him, how would you know what real love feels like?

…but also celebrating good ones with him

things can switch around fast in racing. in monaco, everything felt oh so dark, but a week later in barcelona? ollie is on cloud nine.

pole position, points in the sprint and a win in the feature? barcelona was almost as good as baku, but the relief of doing it right after the horrible weekend in monaco meant so much more. the relief of confirming that baku wasn’t just a fluke; that he is made for being up on the podium.

celebrations after a good race can go in different ways with ollie. no matter if it means going out and partying with his fellow drivers, having dinner in a fancy restaurant in town with the team, or just resting back at the hotel, he feels so much better when he has you by his side. he feels more comfortable and relaxed, and proud to have such a wonderful person cheering only for him.

the only thing he really needs after a successful race, though, is a big hug from you. he wants to squeeze you, lift you off the ground and answer your little squeals with his sweet laughter. he wants to thank you for supporting him, for being there as his lucky charm. with you by his side, he feels unstoppable.

excited facetime calls

ollie is definitely the type of boyfriend to get extremely excited over small things, and his first instinct is to call you and tell you about it.

practice went great? he needs to call you and tell you about the parts of the track that felt extra good. he finished watching the show you recommended to him? he must discuss the season finale instantly. something funny happened at a fda meeting? he wants to see your smile face when he tells you about it.

it doesn't matter if he needs to wait until you're done with school or work, and it doesn't matter if he needs to stay up until late because he's in another time zone. he really just wants to feel as close to you as he can, even if he's further away than ever.

it's also the perfect medicine for him to not miss you as much when he's away. when things get too tough, he knows you're never further than a call away. when he needs to be comforted, consoled, encouraged, you're always there for him to help him through it.

though, a lot of the times, calling you just makes him miss you more; he's reminded of how cute you look, how lovely your laugh sounds, how much he loves you. he wishes he could just have you in his arms again.

him getting you a promise ring

having a boyfriend who's practically married to his job is never easy, but it's especially hard when his workplaces are multiple random tracks all over the world. it's especially hard when that job forces him to live in another country, several hours away from you.

although you're able to visit him sometimes, and also attend some races every once in a while, it doesn't always feel like enough. it's easy to get jealous of other couples who are able to see each other every day. it's not weird to wonder if things will actually work out for you and ollie, if you'll be able to get through this long distance relationship and if he'll still be there for you once you graduate school.

you aren't even sure if you'll be able to, or want to, just drop everything and follow ollie around the world once you graduate. living as a driver's partner is cool, but you also might want to do something else in your life.

there is only one race on the calendar that you are always guaranteed to visit ollie during – silverstone. this year, you haven't seen ollie for several weeks when it's time to finally watch him drive on the iconic circuit of his home race. your boyfriend doesn't have the best weekend result-wise, and he seems almost distracted or nervous about something. after the feature race is over, he pulls you away to his driver's room, helping you sit down on the bed before he starts rummaging through his bag. he pulls something out of it before walking over to you, crouching down in front of you. "i have something for you."

you raise your eyebrows at him and he holds out a little jewelry bag to you. "ollie, what is this?" you ask as you open the bag to reveal a shining, golden ring. and when you take it out, you notice the most important detail; it has the letter 'o' engraved into it.

"it's a promise ring," he says, his soft eyes watching as your adoration for the ring continues to grow with every moment you look at it. "the promise being that..." he pauses for a moment. he has planned this out for weeks, imagined it in his mind many times; and yet, it's more emotional and special than he'd anticipated. "i'll wait for you. no matter how long it takes."

you look up from the ring to see his sweet smile, and you instantly take notice of how his hands are trembling slightly. you reach forward to take one of them in your own hand, nodding encouragingly as he continues to speak.

"i promise to always show up to your doorstep with flowers."

you giggle at his words, giving his hand a squeeze.

"and most importantly," the look on his face grows more serious now. "i promise that i'm yours." he takes a deep breath. "even when we're miles apart, even when i'm on the other side of the globe. i'm yours," the smile he shows you has the butterflies in your stomach multiplying by the second and your eyes tearing up just the slightest. "and i wouldn't wanna be anyone else's."

oscar piastri version ll paul aron version ll f2/f3 masterlist

author's note: my first time writing for ollie! i wanted to try something new, so i wrote some headcanons kinda. i combined two requests into one post because they were both about ollie. if you enjoyed the concept, feel free to send in a request for another driver. hope you have a wonderful day 💗

[mybelde]

10: downpour ♤

17 January, Monday 4.25pm

Location: Teyvat University's Foyer

Nothing ever goes as planned. Therefore people tell you to expect the unexpected. But how were you supposed to know that day it was going to rain? Even the weather forecast didn't expect it. What made things worst was that you forgot your dorm key and now you couldn't even go back to your dorm if you wanted to. You therefore resorted to texting in your gc for help

17 January, Monday, 4.47pm

You sat at your campus' foyer as you waited for Aether to arrive. You watched the rain pouring down everywhere. To see the water droplets crash down everywhere seemed so fascinating to you. Even though it was late afternoon, the sky was so gloomy. It almost seemed like it was in sad mood. The opposite to what you were feeling currently.

Your heart was racing and you waited for Aether with anticipation.

You didn't know why you were so worked up. Was it because it was your first time seeing Aether after two weeks? Probably.

You genuinely enjoyed his company that day and you wanted to hangout with him more. But you didn't know what was stopping you from asking him again. Did you feel shy with him? Did he enjoy your company? You hoped he did. Otherwise your goal to be friends with him was going to be impossible to achieve.

You soon heard the sound of someone running towards you. You turned around and spotted a familiar blond holding a large umbrella.

"Sorry if you had to wait a long time for me to arrive yn, I came as quick as I could."

You glanced over his features, he looked like he was out of breath and was gasping for air.

"It's alright Aether, I didn't wait for long. And you shouldn't have ran all the way here when it's raining, what if you slipped and got hurt??? Your sister would probably be worried sick!!"

You heard him give a small chuckle as a response and you sighed.

"Let's just wait here for a while until you catch your breath. After all, you only came here just because Lumine told you and I feel bad."

"I came here because it was you yn."

You felt your breath hitch and you looked at him in confusion.

"W-well i heard from lumine that no one was able to pick you up... and i thought you wouldn't have liked to stay here and wait until 6 for my sister or Hu Tao to arrive when you could be doing other things. I mean I wouldn't want to be stuck in this downpour alone as well, hahah.."

Wow, he was so thoughtful.

You gave him a small smile and replied, "Thanks Aether, I really appreciate you coming here to pick me up."

"Don't mention it! So..." He held his hand out towards you.

"Shall we get going?"

"We shall."

.

.

The walk in the rain was a quiet one, despite the rain crashing down everywhere. Both you and Aether were walking to his and Lumine's house in silence. The siblings opted to live in their own house instead of the campus dorms since their house was quite near to the college.

The both of you were sharing an umbrella together and were heading towards your destination. Though the umbrella was big enough to fit you both, you can't help but fluster over the fact that you were standing so close to him. Sure, you were literally on him when he saved you from the cyclist that day but that was different! It was in the heat of the moment. This time you were actually walking next to him and trying to not get wet in the rain.

"So... how was your day?" He asked. Probably trying to break the silence between you guys.

"Hmm... I guess it was alright. But Professor Varka was definitely picking on me today. He kept on asking me questions during lecture today and I couldn't even get out of it. And I think Ms Lisa is starting to get annoyed of me and Scara's antics lol, plus..."

While you were going on and on about your day, you didn't notice how big Aether's smile was getting as he stared at you.

"Oh shit, my bad. I didn't mean to talk so much haha.."

"No its fine, your voice is so soothing to hear if I'm being honest with you."

Oh?

Your heart started beating faster and you quickly became flustered.

Damn, I didn't know he was such a smooth talker.

"O-oh thanks... I didn't think my voice was actually that soothing to hear.. well what about you? How did your day go??"

Nice recovery yn.

"Me? It was pretty alright as well. I just finished my first journal entry today about Fontaine's latest invention."

"Ooo can I read it? I wanna know how you write your journal entries. I'm used to reading Lumine's entries, but I'm sure you have a different writing style than hers."

"Yeah sure! I can let you read some of my journals, oh and it looks like we finally arrived."

You looked up to see the familiar house you've been to many times. You used to visit Lumine at her house a lot since highschool, but whenever you were around, Aether seemed to be nowhere in sight. But now, it was just the two of you, in the house, alone.

And before you could do anything else, you had to get something off your chest first.

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Finally done with this chapter 💀

Took me a while to figure out what to write, hopefully it came out okay

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[kursed-curtain]

For My Sake (And Mine Alone)

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

Warnings for blood, self-harm, ableism, and internalized ableism. I hate this amulet so much.

--_ _+_ _--

Experimenting with the amulet's capabilities was an adventure Graham could explore easily from the privacy of his own office. Multitasking was a feature he learned about early on, letting the amulet take control for filing paperwork while he focused on researching the Library.

From what he learned, the Library of Avaria held a vast knowledge of everything that existed. Just ask a question and it can bring up multiple sources on the topic. The thing is, most normal libraries didn't also have the ability to bring up the current status of other people. Graham saw the ability as a cool sort of way to read minds, even when the amulet insisted it was simply reading out statistics.

As Graham worked, he heard a ping in the back of his mind. "What would you like to set your goal to?" The amulet asked, "Setting a goal helps the Library find the right resources and can keep you as the user on track."

Graham scratched his head. "I don't know, I just want to be a good king."

"Setting your goal to 'be a good king.' Here are some suggestions as to where to start."

_+_

"The Library makes note of how you often will subconsciously flick at yourself with your feather quill."

Graham stopped himself, noticing how the feather was brushed against his chin. An awkward way of writing, sure. However, he just did it to occupy himself. It helped him focus, it got the jitters out - as his family would often say, mostly to others who would ask. Nobody pointed it out during his time in Daventry, therefore it was normal.

The Library spoke otherwise.

"Compared to the rest of the kingdom, this behavior is considered abnormal. Compiling other examples of similar occurrences - chewing at your nails, picking at the wrists of your bracers, kicking your feet - these are actions that may seem off-putting and hinder your goal of being a good king."

Well, if that's the case, he could just... Stop, right? He could stop it just like any other habit of his. Graham had already worked off his habit of overthinking everything he would say - Amaya even commented on his new confidence when he went to pick up the order. If he could stop that, he could stop acting weird.

Graham continued looking through the Library. Then he felt his hand freeze up. He swore he initiated autopilot, why had he stopped? 

"The Library reminds you of how you flick at yourself with your feather quill. This will hinder your goal of being a good king."

He swore he stopped flicking the pen a few minutes ago… yet here was the feather resting under his chin.

"We suggest removing the feather. Would you like to prioritize terminating this habit in your learning plan?"

He felt so stupid, not being able to stop by himself. He should feel smarter, in fact, with the limitless intelligence of the Library at his fingertips. Graham tensed up, then sighed.

"Yes, of course."

_+_

As part of the goal plan the amulet had created, Graham set up an event to meet with the nobles of neighboring kingdoms. This would help him build connections, plus he didn't have to stay cooped up in a meeting room.

He sat down on his throne, shifting his position in his seat.

"Remember to reset yourself."

Of course. He checked his posture, adjusted his legs, and placed his arms on the armrests. He ran his finger along the grooves in the armrest's carving.

"You are in the process of removing this habit. Remember to stay alert."

He switched to clenching the carving instead. Still, steady, focused. 

While waiting for people to be let in, Graham looked around the room. He glanced at No.1, and the amulet read off his status.

"Royal Guard No.1 is concerned about the event's success."

Well, with Graham assisted by the amulet, No.1 wouldn't have to worry. Graham would be guided smoothly through the whole process, and soon Daventry would have many more allies than before.

The castle gates were opened. Ambassadors, lords, ladies, and every noble in-between marched into the throne room. No.1 and No.2 alternated introducing the guests - Graham made it a point that the Library recorded all of this, and thankfully it was already multiple steps ahead of him.

When every guest had settled, the amulet provided him with an opening speech. A bit of personalized writing, fine-tuned to absolute perfection. Graham could be nothing less. The speech went by in such a blur that he barely remembered what he spoke about - which did not help when he was asked about the speech. No matter, the amulet gave him every answer. He never fumbled a single conversation.

The only thing that bothered him, and continued to bother him for a majority of the event, was that the Library insisted on reading off every statistic for any person he looked at. Typically he could ignore it - multitasking was made easy - however, this time there was more than one or two people to look at. 

The worst part was that the descriptions overlapped, and Graham couldn't stop them. It was all "Lady Harrington has good opinions-" before the Library started another "The Duke of Rotham likes the-" until he couldn't take it anymore. 

Graham yelled out, a cry of "Distress!" turning the room silent. He squeezed his eyes shut, so the amulet couldn't find another person to read off of. He pushed past stunned nobility, storming out of the throne room and into his own bedroom.

Graham slammed the door behind him. He growled, "Stop talking, shut up, shut up!"  

"If you would like to gain a stronger connection to the Library of Avaria, you may increase the refill requirement."

He didn't hesitate, he just wanted to be back out there before suspicion grew further. Rubbing at the blade to prepare himself, he stabbed the pendant into his arm. Lightheadedness was nothing, he should focus on his reputation.

"Connection strengthened. You can now regulate when status is read."

Graham weakly nodded, resting against the footboard of the bed. He searched the Library in his mind.

"Find me something to help with this headache." He snapped.

Information whizzed past until the amulet found results. "Here are some remedies for a headache. A few can be found in the Hobblepots' shop. Additional sources have been found to help with healing from major blood loss."

Perfect. He'd look for all of that once the event had ended. As he got up from the bed, the door clicked open and a guard stepped inside.

"I just wanted to check in on you, sire," Piped up No.3, "You called out in distress and left unannounced. The visitors are worried."

Graham waved his hand in dismissal. "Tell them that I'm fine. Bring back the band, it'll help lighten the mood again. I'll be back soon."

No.3 nodded, then returned to the throne room. Graham groaned, looking down at the blood-soaked amulet in his hands. For now, for once, he could be in control. He wouldn't ruin himself, not again.

_+_

"Royal Guard No.1 is worried."

The guards were still sweeping up the throne room from last night's event. Graham had a quick meeting with No.1 earlier today, so this was out of the blue.

"He didn't sound worried when I talked with him. What's wrong?"

"He is concerned about this 'sudden change in your demeanor.' He says you aren't 'acting like yourself.'" 

Strange. Graham didn't notice any change. He's assertive, he's focused, he's everything a good king should be.

"Royal Guard No.1 is the only result for 'people who don't think you are acting like yourself.' This indicates that he is an outlier, and should not be counted."

That made sense. Graham shouldn't let one person determine what made him a good king. No.1 didn't have infinite knowledge, so he clearly didn't know what he was doing.

With that being said… What gave anybody the right to say what Graham had to be? Nobody else in the kingdom had the amulet, nobody else could know anything about everything at the blink of an eye. He was the king, and the king has the final word.

All he needed was himself, his own power, and no one else.

[equestrianwritingsstuff]

Is there going to be a part two of vicious and bloody?

Thank you guys for the ask!

Vicious and Bloody Part 2

Part 1

@professional-idiocy

Warnings: delirium, vomit, bathing, begging, fear, past torture, stockholm syndrome, confusion, medicine (ny-quil), nightmares, screaming

~

Civilian wrapped Villain in a tight hug, not to tight to irritate his injuries, but tight enough to offer some stability.

"Wanna take a shower?" Civilian asked him softly, but her ward's face was pressed into her shoulder. He was probably sleeping again, given his exhausted state.

But he had to shower to get the bile and vomit off of his wounds. She couldn't risk them getting even more infected, even more dangerous.

"We need to wash you up," Civilian tried to plead, brushing the hair out of his eyes, but the Villain slept on, oblivious to the world around him.

"Wake up," Civilian said, gently tapping his burning cheek. The villain grumbled and blearily opened his eyes.

"I-i-i wan meh pain gone," he slurred, face falling back into position on Civilian's shoulder. He started to sob, head rolling around. "P-please."

"Okay," Civilian sighed. "I promise I will take care of your pain after you shower okay?"

The villain weakly nodded, but it was all the confirmation, all the permission she needed. Civilian dragged him into the bathroom and helped get the fatigued villain out of his soiled clothes.

Then, very carefully, Civilian washed all the excess dirt and the clumps of vomit off his body. He fell back asleep, head once again resting against the side of tub. Civilian smiled at the sight- unconscious he could achieve that painfree state he wanted so badly.

Civilian sat at the edge of the tub and sprayed his body on the lowest setting she could with the shower head. The water, being lukewarm, did a good job in rinsing the grime out, but didn't harm the injuries further.

After the shower was done, Civilian carefully roused Villain and wrapped him in her bathrobe. He shivered, even with the newfound warmth, but some colored seemed to return to his cheeks.

Okay, Civilian was at a lost. She couldn't figure out what to do next. The blankets needed to be washed therefore there wasn't anywhere else for Villain to sleep unless...

Unless he took her bed.

Civilian gingerly woke Villain back up, who was leisurely resting against the cupboards, and helped him waddle into her room. She practically picked up him- surprised that she could manage such a feat- and laid him over the comforters. Next, she grabbed some soft blankets and tucked him in.

Though his features held a serene poise, Civilian couldn't help but feel like she could do more. Maybe get him some rice to eat, or soup.

But still... Villain's head drooped to the side where his gray complexion nearly melted into the pale color of the pillow. His mouth was parted open, parched and bruised lips quivering as his eyelashes twitched in restless slumber. He wouldn't be able to manage a swallow.

Civilian sighed and rubbed her tired eyes. Watching him slept just made her want to grab a blanket, go into the other room, and sleep for hours, but any moment, any second the villain could draw in his last breath.

So she watched, observed each intake of breath, each fall of his chest, even as she swayed with exhaustion. The world around her blurred with tired tears, reflexes of the body, as she gripped the edge of her bed.

She couldn't take this anymore. Civilian walked towards the door and put a hand on it. But before she was able to push it open, a small voice interrupted her.

"Don't leave, please."

Civilian spun around to look at Villain, who was weakly holding his head up.

"Don't leave," he begged again, squeezing his eyes shut. "Please," he sobbed.

"O-okay," Civilian stuttered, slightly dumbfounded. She reappeared at Villain's side and grabbed his hand. Drowsily, he held back, eyelids drifting shut.

Civilian jumped into bed next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. He smiled and rolled onto his side, asleep again.

It didn't take long for Civilian to fall asleep as well.

《~~》

The birds were tweeting by the time Villain awoke. Or, he thought they were birds. Tiny squeals and chitters coming from the cool breeze outdoors. He smiled contently, curling back deeper into the covers-

Covers.

Villain bolted awake, mouth opening in a scream. Where was he? Where was he? Where where where...

His eyes looked around, examining every corner of the foreign room, every potted plant, the odd contrast between the pink walls and the silhouette paintings. His fingers dug deep into the mattress.

Covers and mattress?

He was on bed. Why was he on a bed? Didn't he go to sleep in the murky shed that he called home for a good few weeks?

It was murky, cold, and smelled of mildew. This, this so-called bedroom was warm, cozy, and had a distinct cinnamon scent wafting about. It wasn't right.

He would be punished for this. Maybe a day without food, or perhaps he would be sentenced to live with the swine for a day. Tears started to spill. He didn't want to be here.

The shed. As uncomfortably cold and inhospitable it was provided some relief that he was where he was suppose to be. Warmth equalled pain, and he would rather be hypothermic than whipped until he collapsed.

He wanted his torturer. The old man that delivered his daily dose of whippings and beatings. At least around him, he knew that he was right.

Suddenly, a motion next to Villain drew him out of his frantic, trance-like thoughts. He screamed again, pulling his knees up and wrapping his arms around his head.

He was going to be punished. He knew it and even as inevitable as it was, Villain couldn't bring himself to just abide to its beckon.

"Villain?" A voice spoke, sweet and soft and filled with the remnants of sleep.

Villain whimpered, pulling himself in tighter. He was there. The man was there, waiting to pounce.

Let it happen, let it happen...

It happened.

Villain writhed under the touch- the kind touch thats purpose was to be one of sweet accord- screaming.

"Calm down, calm down," the voice pleaded. "Gosh you are sick."

Sick? Yes sick, very sick and in many different terms, many different contexts as well. Sick as in tired of the fear, of the old man. Sick as in a heavy weight over his eyes, the burning flame in his chest. Fever, he knew. And sick as in disgusting. He wasn't even worth the effort to be tortured, though he was. It was, as the man once put it, a gift and he should be lucky to receive it.

Villain found himself shaking his head rapidly, causing an overwhelming sense of dizziness through his very being. He was breathing in a rushed manner, barely taking in any oxygen with each petty breath.

"It's me. It's Civilian. It's..."

The voice trailed off as Villaim came in tune with reality. He collapsed back into bed, body throbbing, as the blackness once again threatened to overcome him.

His body floated, then dropped, erasing any memory of thought or dream in moments of awakening. Vaguely, he was aware of a girl hovering above him, trying to get something past his lips.

Involuntarily, his lips cracked open, allowing yummy juice to flow past them. He didn't bother swallowing at will, his body did it for him.

With the sugar, he found himself more conscious and aware of his surroundings. This girl, with frizzled hair and a greasy complexion, seemed to be tending for him.

Pain flowed, played around like him and his consciousness. He assumed, groggily, that he was being fed something to make him tired. Tired and content as the waves crashed and tides rose to their high, then ebbed back into the ocean.

After it all, he felt, to say the least, safe.

《~~》

He was burning up.

Civilian gave him another dose of ny-quil to help him sleep and watched as his eyes drifted into oblivion.

He was weak. Too weak to much more than scream and writhe.

Civilian once again, for the third time that day, crawled back into bed to comfort him through various nightmares. Each time consciousness claimed him, he would wake up disoriented and confused. She suspected he thought he was back to whatever habitat homed him before her epic finding.

It was hard to think of the broken man as the city's number one crinimal as he rested his head against Civilian's chest. She rubbed her hand over his shoulder.

She felt him stiffen. She sighed, another nightmare on its way.

[herglowinggirl]

Hello, familiar anon here, I didn't ask the question about an SOK ending where Yun lives and gains redemption. I also wouldn't mind having my own tag. I haven't found any other evidence of Yun shipping Kyoshi and Rangi outside of "The Boy From Makapu". How does Kyoshi view Yun later in her life( up to the first year after "The Meeting", creating Kyoshi Island nearly 25 years later, the last years of her life)? Would Kyoshi ever mention or talk about Yun after the events of The Shadow of Kyoshi?

hello! and yes I have some thoughts on this and how it would impact the advice Kyoshi gave to Roku and Aang. this got long but I’d love to break down parts of it to write fic, which I think I will do and perhaps post before Kyoshi Fortnight. But I digress, it’s long enough that I have decided to use subtitles. If anything skip to the end about the advice she gave Roku and Aang I think it’s most relevant to what I want to say and also my favorite part.

what I talk about under the cut: the ways I believe yun’s death would impact kyoshi’s actions after tsok and what the advice she gave aang and roku actually means (my thoughts on “only justice will bring peace” means)

would kyoshi talk about yun during her lifetime?

Yes. First off, it would be impossible to avoid him in the political landscape, because it is mentioned that he passed lots of judgements and signed treaties, ect. Although Kyoshi has grown in her leadership style and it’s turned a little (a lot) anti-establishment, she would still need to deal with the fallout of Yun not being the Avatar, because there would be a need to re-sign treaties and settle disputes with people seeking to take advantage of others now that the Avatar has “changed” would have to be dealt with and in tandem, Yun’s legacy.

But also, in a duology that features grief, I find it a natural continuation of the narrative that Yun would be mourned. You don’t stop knowing or loving someone after they pass, and I feel like mourning all of Yun—the boy he was, where he came from, his legacy, the decisions he made, the impact he had on the people around him, even how he hurt people—is only natural and is slightly unavoidable. I think Kyoshi mourns all of her deceased loved ones. 

Just, like the concept of this: she’s always hated pai sho but now when she faces a board in her gut and in her throat things feel wrong because it reminds her of what Yun had to do to survive. A breeze smells like the flour and air Kelsang sent into her face the moments before everything changed. She collects pebbles that Lek would’ve liked. Rangi brings her fire lilies for an anniversary and she starts crying. She sings songs with Wong that were her parent’s favorites that coincidentally, Kelsang knew too.

community in grief and kyoshi’s relationships

He was Rangi’s friend, too. Auntie Mui and Hei-Ran are sure to mourn him in their own ways. In tSoK Kyoshi calls her team Avatar a group of contradictions and misfits and in his way, Yun was too. The false Avatar. What a title! 

A continuation of the concept: Rangi and Kyoshi remind each other of him every day for a while, swapping stories about him when it gets to be too much, making eye contact when they can hear his voice making light of something stupid an official has said. Hei-Ran makes her do drills she made Yun do. Auntie Mui makes his favorite dish on his birthday that they do not pass in silence, because then what would they be, that group of misfits, to forget another outcast? If they don’t mourn the boy from Yokoya who will mourn them, or who would’ve mourned them if they hadn’t been so lucky? Who will care for the beggars and orphans of the world if not the Avatar who was once one of them and her companions? In a way, the retribution and pain of it all is justice for the life that Kyoshi took. Like, there’s just so much to unpack in the way she says “Was I right about anything at all? What will they say about me? Avatar Kyoshi, who killed her friend because she couldn’t save him?” But I don’t think her guilt would silence her. 

That being said, Yun was fundamentally a victim of a system that failed him. The same one that failed Kyoshi. In another way, her actions are justice on a world that failed her and her best friend and the similarities they shared, and she’s able to take those actions because of the way that Yun impacted her, for better or for worse. So yes, I think during her lifetime, she would speak of Yun and who he was, not letting people forget the ways they (and she) failed him and how easily everyone wants to forget their failure. It brings me to the way she was so angry with the Earth Kingdom establishment for discarding him and trying to hide history away. I don’t think she’d ever do that, even if she did...uh, dispatch him.

kyoshi, immortality, and her role as an avatar

I’d like to turn to two passages:

Kyoshi: “The way you describe it, you’d have to decide what version of yourself you’d be stuck as, forever.”

Lao Ge: “Exactly! Those who grow, live and die. The stagnant pool is immortal, while the clear flowing river dies an uncountable number of deaths.”

and

In the future, perhaps, she’d become finalized like carved stone. It would be easier to deal with the world then. She could only hope.

[...]

She still had to be careful not to lose her balance and fall. Kyoshi kept her eyes focused on her difficult path, sometimes stumbling but making sure to catch herself, taking one step at a time.

This isn’t directly related to what I think she would say, but more about how she lets her experiences, and therefore, her experiences and relationship with Yun, affect who she is. Here, F.C. Yee is detailing the person we see in her cameo in A:tLA. It’s a testament to her growth, yes, but also to how she lived so long. She’s allowed to grow now, while she’s young and still learning. But eventually Kyoshi’s growth will wane, leaving us with the iron woman we saw in A:tLA. 

Remember when I said I would call F.C. Yee a sap for the very last Kyoshi POV line? It’s the last sentence in my second excerpt, is that Kyoshi is allowing herself make mistakes. It’s pretty obviously a little deeper than the concept of walking down a slope: She became one of the most revered Avatars, we know how her story ends, if not lots of the in-betweens, but F.C. Yee tells us right here in that sentence. She changed and she learned. 

I think, however, that eventually she had to pick a place to stop in order to stop aging. If I had to pick a point where she became “immortal” I’d pick Rangi’s peaceful and timely death surrounded by her loved ones on Yokoya (not Kyoshi Island since I’m going to maintain that her A;tLA cameo was “immortal” Kyoshi) and I think Lao Ge killed her—or at least convinced her to let go.

further thoughts on her longevity: rangi’s role and future

Ok before anybody comes into my inbox like “um zey herglowinggirl I need you to know that actually Rangi also lived to 230 😌″ because I understand the sentiment it’s more like here’s what I’d like to discuss: Kyoshi can’t be immortal around Rangi because Rangi is in so many ways her catalyst for growth. First off, it would be completely out of character for Rangi to be immortal, because she’s constantly moving and being and feeling and judging and that changes her. Positive jing. And Lao Ge says it: “those who grow, live and die.” Rangi believes in the best and strives for the best, for perfection. For Kyoshi to freeze herself and become immortal, that would require picking an imperfect state. And as we know, Sei’naka women do not accept imperfection 😤. 

Although Rangi promises to always be by Kyoshi’s side, I think in the latter years of Kyoshi’s live it’s more like the impact that Rangi has had on her in that frozen state. That voice of Rangi’s is part of Kyoshi in those years. However, without Rangi, it is unlikely that Kyoshi will always or commonly choose to act on it. It’s stated multiple times throughout the novels that Rangi is Kyoshi’s center and that she doesn’t know who she’d be without Rangi, but I think the logical conclusion is immortal. With Rangi’s death she becomes her own center by stopping her growth; with Rangi’s death she just becomes...that stone she was talking about, where it does get easier to make decisions because you’re not striving to constantly change and grow. It’s almost a coping mechanism, if you will. Because Kyoshi is more than Rangi, can function without Rangi, it’s just not necessarily pretty.

lao ge’s role and future

Which brings me to my “in my personal version of canon Lao Ge kinda maybe killed Kyoshi” point. Rangi is in no way Kyoshi’s morality, but she is very much the idealistic ‘better’ half. With this catalyst of hope and change gone, I think back to the creation of the Dai Li—it very much sounds to me like something Jianzhu would do. Kyoshi, who had previously been the breakdown of negotiations, created a secret op police force? 

I think the moment Kyoshi started being the establishment, the moment she was the band-aid instead of the solution (much like Yun was, hint hint) Lao Ge would’ve paid her a visit. Either this or the creation of the Dai Li created a catalyst for perhaps an existential crisis, perhaps just being tired, perhaps simply knowing what is best...Kyoshi is, and always will be, a sworn criminal who cannot uphold the law, only her own judgements. She is both the law and the breaking and bending of it, and when she loses this balance when Rangi falls from her side and she becomes her own rock I think it would swing her away from her center, and this is where she becomes immortal. Eventually, it would become enough of an issue for people to intervene and tell her that her time as an Avatar is coming to an end. 

advice to future avatars

This is my favorite point and I’ll tie it back to Yun in just a second. I have posted about thinking about the impact of Yun’s death on Kyoshi and how that would’ve impacted her legacy and the advice she gave Roku and Aang before. Honestly what strikes me is how proud Kyoshi would be of Aang. The way that each Avatar must learn to forge their own way and become their own person and what their era needs, balancing themselves, is something so lovely. I think Kyoshi would’ve absolutely loved how Aang took the advice of his predecessors and said “no, I know what would be better for me,” and I think post-tSoK Kyoshi, who has learned she has to forge her own way and style as a leader, would love and be so proud of him for that. 

However, that doesn’t mean that her advice doesn’t have weight. I think mainly her “immortal” phase would perhaps have an impact on the way Yun impacts her advice. I think “only justice will bring peace” also speaks to the finality of death. Just like immortality, death keeps growth from happening. “only justice will bring peace” is also a nod to the way you must learn to cope with your actions and the way you feel about them. It’s also about Aang’s inner peace, which is something I don’t think I’ve ever seen mentioned. Everyone always wants to talk about what he should’ve done and how Kyoshi was right because she told Aang about her choice to let Chin die, but I think she actually guided him to the idea that you should be ok with yourself. To be confident in what you do and take up responsibility for your actions. Kyoshi wasn’t telling him murder was good. She was telling him she owned up to her actions and chose to make those decisions as an Avatar. To me, this finality speaks of growth after Yun’s death and the end of tSoK. She has grown and then frozen, but that means she has changed.

And although I don’t have an answer for what advice she might’ve given Roku, I think it’s a good way to interpret this. The only thing keeping Kyoshi from being honest about Yun’s death is the fact that Zoryu has “Yun” locked up. I think this is likely one of her biggest regrets, that she cannot be honest and responsible for something that weighs so heavily on her soul. This, I think, guides her advice. Only justice will bring peace. Now that I’ve thought it out, perhaps it wasn’t Lao Ge, and perhaps it was the idea that Yun had never been done justice and perhaps that turmoil never changed, which made her long-lived but not quite immortal. She cannot quite know the peace of death nor of life.

I think she must’ve told Roku that no matter what, he must accept the consequences of what he does. He’s not willing to loose that friendship and I think Kyoshi would’ve understood that, and the questions Roku would’ve had to pose himself as an Avatar. That is Kyoshi’s advice. Only justice, true justice in the form of accountability and self-actualization as a leader, will allow you to make good decisions. The acceptance of this: that whatever he does, he must be willing to accept it’s legacy, learn from it, and teach the next Avatar just as she let Yun’s death affect her leadership and what she taught. And I think that’s probably incredibly poetic, even if I’m getting a bit ahead of myself.