#another situation involving the head cannon

[only-one-brain-cell]

I know I talk a lot about my headcannon of Maeve hitting on Spencer 24/7 (for those of you who are just seeing this now I have a headcannon that if Maeve lived she would be the most chaotic girlfriend but in the best way possible she would be hitting on Spencer 24/7. Its probably one of my favourite headcannons I ever thought of.) but I rarely talk about Spencer side about how when this happens he would go blue screen every time, I call it the dumbifcation of Spencer Reid.

If everyone is sitting down talking Maeve will walk in and sit on Spencer’s lap regardless if there’s space for her or not and that’s the second that Spencer stops talking and completely forgets what he was saying. The only thing he’s focused on right now is his wonderful beautiful girlfriend in his lap, the other team members can visually see his IQ growing down.

Maeve is very affectionate and once Spencer got comfortable with her he slowly started to become more affectionate so now she’s always holding his hand, wrapping her arms around his, hugging him from behind, anything so when this happens again absolutely nothing there’s not a single thought in that man’s brain. Similar to when their kissing, the minute Maeve’s lips are on his hes a goner. She finds the whole thing hilarious and Spencer adorable of course.

[woaza]

LOVE LOVE LOVE UR SCAR STUFF!!! I am so glad he's starting to get stuff written for him he's so awesome!!!! Please keep going feed us scar fiends

Scar (Arcane) x reader || Pt.2

Link to Pt.1

Contains : Continuation of my head cannons and thoughts on scar in a relationship and as a person.

Word count : 3.4k

Warnings : Scars baby mama being a little crazy(?), grief, mentions of death, some of this is kind of a stretch?

A/n : I HEAVILY AGREE with you! He needs more written about him. I can never find any it’s so strange. I’m so glad you liked my last scar fic. I will definitely continue to do them! I have a lot of requests for other characters, but I need some of him.

— Scar is a Vastaya or more specially a Chirean. Well at least some form of a Chirean? (At least from what little there is about him.) Chirean’s were first discovered by a Zaunite miner. They can’t speak human languages but are bat like. Which scar is. So I don’t know if he is a Chirean or at least some sort of subspecies or a descendent. Since he is classified as one and there is very little known about them.

— One thing we know about Chireans are that they are Omnivorous. So they don’t really have any diet restrictions, but most real bats are fruit bats. So Scar will eat meat and vegetables, but fruits are definitely a favorite of his. Just think about it. In the slums food is hard enough to keep on the table. Sweet things (not to mention difficult to grow) like fruits are a rare treat. Scar feels like they are a special treat, but something about fruit just makes him happy. (So bonus points if you have a fruity perfume or cologne?)

— With those bright green eyes of his can definitely see great in the dark. With that being said also more sensitive to lights. When the two of you wake up in the morning he groans in annoyance so loudly when you turn on your nightstand light. Which yes, nobody likes seeing the bright light first thing in the morning. But for him it’s ten times worse. He will burry his face against your body, looking for an escape from the light.

Though with his eyes comes many benefits. Like Late night walks with him are a must. When his daughter (Who in my head I’ve been calling Petra but I read a cute fic where she was called Riri. So I’m in debate of what her name is but I digress) is being watched by Ekko or someone else he trusts, he’ll take you out on late night walks. He loves to hold you close, helping guide you when you can’t see because it’s too dark.

— When you two first start to see each other more romantically. He literally pretends to be so nonchalant. Acting like he’s above slightly cheesy romantic activities. At the start is the type to watch you dance instead of joining in. Despite desperately wanting to. He just wants to make sure your really in it for the long run and not a quick fling. Scar takes his relationships very seriously, especially because of his daughter.

—Since we are in the topic of his daughter, Baby mama? I could see this going a couple different ways— and I don’t know which is worse.

The first way is that he never had a good relationship with her. Maybe it was a hookup or a messy situation in general. He grew up in the slums and probably wasn’t the greatest of a person himself. “True love” wasn’t really the top of his concerns. Until him and this woman had a daughter together. He (immediately) was ready to become more serious because a child was involved (probably because he felt uncared for in his childhood, not wanting to do that to a child?). Though she didn’t want that and hesitated. Eventually leaving him to raise her by himself.

The second way I could see, is him truly falling in love with someone. Finally having a family and starting to build a life. Having a daughter and a small place to call home, that is until the city’s were flooded with shimmer. Losing his wife/partner to it and will never forget her.

In either case I think the mother of his child is another reason he’s kind of concerned with romance and getting closer to you in general. Scared that everything that happened will just repeat itself.

A/n: maybe more of this? I like making these. BUT I love this photo of him sm. I think it’s cute he’s just genuinely smiling at his daughter.

[ddaz3d-and-cc0nfused]

Hiiiiii, this is my first time requesting!

I was wondering if you could do nsfw head cannons for poly Reid and Hotcher, maybe like what their like in bed or their kinks. Kinda like a NSFW alphabet, anyways thxxx, Love, Cookie🍪💕

nsfw.

a/n: i also want to preface this by saying i do not ship aaron and spencer, it's just for this dynamic, okay? okay.

this turned out WAYY more smutty than you probably thought it was gonna be, and i'm kind of ashamed of myself, so i'm gonna go hide under a rock now, bye!

you are literally never without an orgasm like... ever.

there's always someone ready to touch you, it's like a 7/11 but for sex.

contrary to popular belief, i think the threesomes are kind of rare, because at the end of the day, they both have jobs and aaron is a dad.

but that's not to say that they don't happen, because when they do, they. are. glorious.

it's a whole lotta man let me just say that; big old meat sandwich.

aaron usually is the one that takes control during group situations. gives me heavy soft dom vibes than anything.

he definitely guides spencer on what to do, i.e how to please you, edge you, etc.

that isn't to say spencer gets a bit feisty and then you have two dominant men in your hands.

the dynamic is so incredibly balanced, and the fact that they're both so mature, there's rarely ever any conflict when it comes to sexual situations.

and that credit is being given to the incredible communication that's between the three of you.

i feel like neither of the men would be willing to enter a situation like this without a two way street of communication.

because at the end of the day they are colleagues.

rounding back to that, i feel like spencer takes up the sub role alongside you.

sometimes you two are just so whiny and needy that it's kind of adorable like...

there'll be moments where your touches are so clumsy, and uncoordinated, and aaron can't help himself but watch.

there's no rules on one-on-one contact with one another. you guys can have sex with each other without a third party present.

sometimes when one stays behind while the other goes out on a case, phone sex is a popular activity.

it helps to give the other person away some stress relief when they can.

alright, so i have this scenario in my mind where both you and spencer worship aaron's cock together.

like both of you are on your knees sharing slobbery kisses all the whole you're stroking him.

STRAPPING.

you cannot tell me that there wouldn't be any strapping going on around here.

i already know there are moments where aaron and you gang up on spencer, either to play with him or to just get him out of his head using aaron's cock or yours.

a crazy amount of anal.

like y'all are lowkey a big fan of double penetration, it's one of the ultimate ways to get closer together.

also aaron and spencer do have sex with each other please ungrip your pearls.

i believe that if they're gonna be in a throuple, they're gonna go all the way. there's none of that no homo shit around here.

there will be boys kissing, and honestly one of aaron's favorite things to do is send you videos of him toying with spencer.

i'm talking in his office or on the jet, anywhere where there's even a lick of privacy, expect some nasty messages.

just thinking about the positions you guys get into is kind of ridiculous.

where spencer is more hesitant to try things, i think aaron is more open.

that's why i think there is some heavy bdsm involved in certain scenes, but not a lot because at the end of the day one of 'em is an old man and he can't get down like that.

he damn sure does try though.

it's entertaining to see him with two younger partners, but there's just something about you three being together that just makes sense

you keep him on his toes - yes, the dirty picture and video sending go both ways.

it's to a point where inside of work hours, if aaron sees a text from either you or spencer when he isn't in office with him, he makes sure to turn that brightness down.

lord knows how he'd explain his girlfriend sending him a video of her jerking off his subordinate while he's moaning his name.

even though it is a nice sight to see.

the three of you are very private with your arrangement.

not because you're ashamed or that you think anyone on their team would judge you guys, it's just that they are relentless.

old man grouchy aaron hotchner and loser boy genius spencer reid being in a throuple?! yeah, go ahead and sound the alarms, because tonight's drama is good.

so, you three just like to keep your little paradise to yourselves, though the others aren't stupid.

though you don't work with them, spencer and aaron are almost always together, so there's bound to be some boyfriend actions that take place on accident.

especially if the two of them come out of the same room together and one looks a little disheveled.

besides that, i think they are very kinky when it comes to your sex lives, and i think there's something new every time it happens.

[theghoulgirl]

Twilight/Reader Head-cannons and Thought Ideas (Part I)

This is a quick thought idea and head-cannons that I whipped up. This has a main focus on the Linked Universe Twilight, but can also be read as Twilight Princess Link.

Absolutely did not edit it since I don’t have time, so I apologize for any errors.

If you enjoy, please leave a comment and let me know if you’d like to see something else!

Twilight loooves to take care of you. His love language is most definitely acts of service. 

Having a generally bad day? He will wrap you up in the coziest blanket, make you a warm beverage, and offer to read the cheesiest romance book out loud to you. 

Working or studying long hours? No worries. He will cook dinner and make sure there are leftovers for you tomorrow. 

If he sees you cooking, he would come up behind you and wrap his arms around your waist and give you a little peck on the cheek. 

The others would tease him whenever he watches you interact with children. He looks so starstruck and in awe at the sight of you laughing and playing. 

Would absolutely be daydreaming about a life with you.

If you don’t want children? He would be heartbroken, but ultimately respects your decision. After all, if you don’t want to be a parent then why would he force you. 

He could have also had a change of heart after his adventure with Midna, and potentially could have more duties in the castle due to being the Hero. 

Twilight absolutely engages in tickle fights with you, just because he loves to hear you laugh. It’s his favorite sound in the world. 

He also would love to chase you through the woods in a game of one sided tag. 

This has nothing to do with him transforming into a wolf. He just loves to hear you giggle out of nervousness and it gives him a chance to show off his pursuit skills. 

While traveling with the chain, Twilight would offer to share his bedroll with you and cuddle with you to stay warm. 

He would also constantly be asking you if you are alright. Are you hurt? Uncomfortable? Feet in pain from walking? You can ride on Epona for a while. 

If you’ve never learned to ride a horse, he would jump at the opportunity to show you. 

You’re in close proximity with one another and his chest would be up against your back. What else do I need to say?

If you’re an avid reader, this man would build you an entire bookshelf to expand his collection of books so you could add yours as well. But he would only do this if he’s heavily considering asking you for your hand in marriage. 

Merging bookshelves is practically a marriage proposal anyways. 

If you are not from his Hyrule but rather from our dimension, he would try to learn English to the best of his ability considering his Hylian is relatively close in the alphabet. . 

Could see a strong bonding activity between the two of you being renting children books from local libraries so the two of you could learn each others language. 

Twilight, being the gentleman he is, would open doors for you and gently guide you through it by resting his hand on your lower back. He would also walk behind you on stairs and help you dismount from Epona. 

If he senses that you are uncomfortable in a situation, he would whisper in your ear and ask if you would want to escape from it. If you answer yes, he would create an excuse without involving you and lead you away from it.

If you have anxiety, he would ask more frequently to make sure your anxiety isn’t acting up too much. But he would also encourage you to engage in these situations since avoiding social situations/the stressor feeds the anxiety monster. But, if it becomes too much or you ask, he will lead you away. 

He is the type of person to, in private, get to a Sky level of affections. Loves nuzzling you, kissing you periodically and randomly, resting a hand on you. This man is stuck to you like glue in private. 

Contrastingly though, in public he is more reserved. He will still want to hold your hand or rest his hand on your back. But refrains from more intimate signs of affection, such as kissing you on the lips. 

But despite his control over his emotions, he does have the tendency to get jealous. And oh boy when he does get jealous, he will be all over you. Resting his face against your head while you talk, arms wrapped around your waist, and giving the darkest glare to whomever is gaining your attention. 

[the-fandom-crossroads]

Just finished rewatching Advent Children with bro and wow that explained a lot more than I thought it would. Bro had never seen it and I remembered the white void showing up there and that the 3 villains were sephiroth clones. I completely forgot the other hints towards Remake.

But Spoilers for Remake and Rebirth I guess?

I now understand why everyone insists Remake Sephiroth is Advent Children Sephiroth. Like the exact same monologue about going to space with cloud. And Advent Children was him revealing this new bigger plan to cloud. If Remake Sephiroth was the original VII sephiroth he should still just want to use meteor because it's "mother's" will.

But like all that is old news for folks who remembered Advent Children when playing through Remake 4 years ago.

I think the things Rebirth builds on about the lifestream is more interesting. The pond that forms in Aerith's church in AC is a natural mako spring like the countless ones we find in rebirth. Flowers are able to grow there long after Aerith's death because of this spring just below the surface.

When Cloud "dies" in Advent Children he meets Aerith and Zack in the white void before they decide to put him back. He's released from the lifestream in the natural mako spring now in Aerith's church just like how Tifa is tossed back out when she enters with the whale.

Again for anyone who's recently watched AC it's obvious the white void is meant to represent the lifestream. But that means Rebirth is confirming the Lifestream is a bridge between the different universes. Zack enters the Lifestream and runs into Remake cloud who's also been pulled in. AC is all about how Sephiroth is still in the lifestream and that's how Kadaj is able to be possessed by him once he has enough Jenova cells. Cloud kills Sephiroth putting him back in the Lifestream. The Lifestream that connects all vii worlds.

AC Sephiroth then uses the lifestream to start appearing before a Cloud that has only just reached Midgar. His Meddling summons the whispers which fight back to keep things to the "cannon" timeline. Sephiroth of course tricks team Avalanche into destroying the head Whisper allowing him to take control of them. Again old news for anyone that knew Sephiroth wanted them to break the bonds of Fate.

But if Sephiroth is using the lifestream to mess with other worlds. it shouldn't be a surprise one of the Aerith's also already in the lifestream got involved too. As other's have pointed out the Aerith that gives cloud the not empty White materia isn't remake Aerith. But another Aerith that pulled him into that universe to give him a functioning white materia. But somehow Remake Aerith knew the hand over happened? Because in the white forest she asks cloud for the materia and they swap so she has a functioning white materia. That part confuses me a little. How did our Aerith know the handoff happened?

Also Rufus and Kadaj have a conversation about how everything's a cycle. That Jenova "Mother" will always try to destroy the planet and the lifestream/humanity will always fight back. Made me realize AC Sephiroth wasn't going back on his timeline to make a new one but hopping into the next timeloop. OG VII and Advent Children's cannon is locked in. Remake is truely that a remaking of the timeline made possible by Cloud and Co defeating the whispers that enforce the timeloops. So now instead of one spiral after another and infinite number of spirals are forming while the remake loop is still happening.

That's why Sephiroth waited until the *spoilers* cannon event to appear in Rebirth. It's an all the stars a line situation. All timeloops have that moment, regardless of how it's different in different versions.

But Rebirth's cannon event was just a test run. Sephiroth wanted to see how much power he could gain just from multiple timelines merging at one point.

Sephiroth already told us what he really wants. The Black materia but not the one from the remake universe no the ultimate black materia forged from all the black materia. And what's the next big plot point that could be a cannon event? Cloud's breakdown at the northern crater after handing the Black Materia over to Sephiroth. If there's any point where the timelines would over lap it would be there. We already saw the power boost Sephiroth got. If that power boost happens to the black Materia yeah that's a multiverse destroying meteor right there.

Wow was that a long wall of text about stuff everyone else probably already knows. But I just had to put all the clarity Advent Children gave me about Remake and Rebirth somewhere. Expect a spiral timeline graphic in the future. Cause I feel like i'm forgetting to explain some of it right.

[gatitties]

Hi! I wanted to ask if you’d consider doing a continuation of “Not in my world” specifically with the kid pirates?

─Kid Pirates x isekaed!student!reader

─Summary: one of many battles where you didn't want to get involved but end up saving the day

─Warnings: none

Part one / Part two

Yeah maybe I have something more for them (it's not because they're my favorite crew… no 😶)

You sighed letting your body settle into the chair, letting the warm rays of the sun give your skin a satisfying tingle, if you ignored the constant threats to your life and a whole ship full of sweaty men of dubious hygiene, you could have this like a vacation in the Caribbean, you know, a post-graduation vacation.

Only you didn't finish your studies and the only thing that seemed like a vacation was that you didn't have homework, exams or schedules to keep an eye on. The rest was just stressful, but at least you had a lot of control with this type of situation, something useful you had learned in all your years as a student and that is to manage and cope with anxiety attacks, a bit sad though.

"We are under attack!"

You closed your eyes biting your inner cheek, the worst thing about being here is that Kid seemed to pick a fight with every pirate he saw, resulting in many attacks towards them, and inevitably towards you, you were a bit calmer since you started training in self defense but that wouldn't make you go on the attack.

"Are you going inside?"

"No, I just go to the bathroom and right away I'll smash someone's head, yeah, of course I'll go inside."

Killer shrugged, you were always hiding inside so he didn't really care about that, neither did the others as they seemed much more focused on the fight, however you would always get a disappointed look from the captain, did you care? No, your life was not made for fighting and if you could avoid it you would.

You spent most of it inside the doctor's room where you thought you would be safe because no one would think to hide any kind of loot here, unluckily one of the enemies was looking for some medical supplies to heal.

You just remained silent looking at each other, you took advantage of the moment of strange silence to grab a chair and throw it at his legs, unfortunately he kicked it to pieces, but you managed to move in time to dodge the sword that flew towards your shoulder.

You muttered a lot of curses while dodging every possible blow, you got a few cuts but nothing that could kill you, you decided to go outside as it would probably be easier to lose that guy in a crowd, even if it meant going headlong into the lion's den.

Luckily your lack of presence did the job on its own and the guy who started attacking you inside got lost in another battle on his way outside, you sighed in relief, standing on the sidelines as you watched everyone beat each other to near death. You shuddered at the sight of so much violence that you never seemed to adjust to.

A little problem about you in this world is that the whole thing about devil fruits and powers had you fascinated, you could see anyone using their power and your brain would just go off, just looking at how surreal it looks, which happened to you right now as you watched Kid play with metal in the air like it was nothing.

"Watch your surroundings! You can't get distracted in the middle of a battlefield."

Wire used his trident to parry a stray arrow heading straight for your head, you sweated nervously at this, giving the tall man a tight smile who sighed in relief that he had arrived on time. Even though the main four had an eye on you ever since you came dodging that guy, they eventually got used to your weird (for them) pacifist behavior and appreciated the help you sometimes gave them.

"At this pace of life I'm going to go bald…"

You muttered biting your nails, impatient for all this altercation to end once and for all, it was taking longer than usual to finish off those pirates, apparently the enemy's cannons were the biggest problem that no one seemed to be able to take care of.

"Damn… I always have to find the solutions myself."

You ran dodging most of them, reaching the ropes that joined both boats to go towards the opposite, Heat seemed to notice your actions and helped you by removing some men that you couldn't shoot down, the other boat was practically deserted, only the gunners firing, luckily too focused on their task that you were able to knock them unconscious with a blow to the neck.

You had never seen much less work with cannons in your old life but… if before most of the things you touched broke you just have to use your power of stupidity to break this, not even two minutes later you were just trying to understand how turning it on because it didn't have a fuse and you accidentally broke them, job done successfully, being a walking disaster was your greatest achievement in life, at least being clumsy helped you.

The problem was that when you wanted to go back all the enemies seemed defeated and of course going back to their ship to run away after the beating, the ropes were cut and they cornered you on the edge of the rail, your best option would be to jump, maybe with some luckily no sea monster would be found around here although with some corpses and blood in the sea… you weren't so sure.

"Do you trust me?!"

You didn't need to turn your head to know whose voice it was, Kid yelled from afar, without being able to see him you knew he was enjoying your internal struggle about what the hell to do when you seemed to be between a rock and a hard place, you swallowed, breathed deep, you took a step back climbing on the rail and before any of that crew could touch you a single hair your body plunged into the ocean in a dizzying way, if it were another less stressful situation, maybe you would have enjoyed the feeling, but not now that your heart was in your throat.

After your leap of faith (little though it was) you felt a tug at your waist, your body began to move towards Kid's outstretched hand, you quickly connected the dots and understood why they were so insistent that you wear the metal belt you wear now.

"Looks like we're going to have a big celebration today, don't you think?"

Kid released you once he was able to grab you in his arms, smiling cheekily to see how you were completely disheveled, with a completely exhausted look, you gave him the middle finger, getting out of there to your makeshift room, but not before answering him.

"Fuck off, I need a vacation from my vacation to get over this trauma."

"You're just being dramatic."

"Yeah… whatever, don't talk to me for a week, I need peace of mind and a lot of incense."

Killer chuckled quietly as he watched you slam the door shut, the others seemed just as amused by your attitude, deciding to leave you alone as they toasted to you for not chickening out and helping for once in one of their battles, you just hope they don't think that this will happen more often.

[aamon-char]

Two dialogues lines between Gortash and Durge that stood out to me. Spoilers.

Act 3 and when I first heard them I was intrigued.

"we promised to stay out of each other's business".

And

"The people will follow any religion without question".

Seemed to me like Gortash was quoting us back to ourselves! It's how the delivery and overall tone landed with me and then I found more about the Durge/Gortash back story that fed this head cannon of mine.

There is a letter where Durge writes the people will follow any religion and a part of me thinks durge in their own way looks down at their cult as toys and accomplishments with how easy they were to get. And the way the cult supposedly worshipped Durge strongly on their own separated from Bhaal could cause Durge to further to see how mailable people are by worship.

Possible headcanon events based on in game events: Durge was resurrecting the cult before Gortash. G discovered them and makes contact. Maybe at some point Durge could have encouraged Gort in aspects of growing a cult and then again when they began the absolute. Lots of other dynamics that could've been at play if Durge said that to Gortash.

Other line, "we promised to stay out of each other's business." Gortash went out of his way to get in contact with Durge and go on a heist to get back their torture racks. That's starting a relationship by knowing about and offering to help Durge with honoring Bhaal. Very much getting involved in our business.

Gortash and Durge connect over reviving a cult. Gortash and Durge talk about their dreams? (Low key cute) Obvi bc of bhaal and bane and their plans for us, but how that convo happens it fun to think about. Talking in depth about Orin, which is canon, and also Orin saying the Gortash could always get in our head with a few words?? Like hello?

There is so much they could've bonded over and another post I saw pointed out loneliness. Wiki even was like, they were as close to friends that G and D could get!

All that aside, yeah ofc it is a tactic to dispell responsibility for not saving Durge or stopping Orin. But the whole convo Gortash is asking for an alliance, oath, and demonstrating how much he knows about the situation previously with Orin. Again could be explained that as an orchestrator he would make it his business to ensure the plan.

But it really seems based on actual canon and now my head cannon that there was a time when a line had to be drawn. And I think Durge could have said that to Gortash to draw that line.

When where and why is an intriguing concept.

[art4hhart]

can we get some more jace headcannons/fics?!? maybe some spicy stuff 👀 i love ur writing so much!!

contains: little blurbs/head cannons of dating jace part 2 (part 1) 18+ content warning!! this one is a little longer than the first part enjoyyy ;)

1. this man drags you with him to everyyyy single thing, whether it be an event, to set or just a simple family dinner, he will take you to it because he wants you to be involved in his life as much as possible. and since he's so busy with his job as an actor, you both know you have to take the chance to see each other whenever he can. that's why he often takes you to set with him, because that's where he spends most of his days. sometimes he's in the studios for more than 12 hours, so if still he wanted to see you afterwards, it would be difficult since he's exhausted and you would already be asleep.

the first day you came with him to the studios, the whole cast and crew was so welcoming that you basically became friends with his co-workers in an instant. you hung out with the cast frequently, even if jace wasn't present. and if you both didn't have much energy to talk to anybody, you just chill in his room until he gets called to set and you are left alone with your own solitude afterwards.

you now found yourself in a similar situation in his room, jace just got told he had to be on set in a few minutes, and he still had to put on his suit for shooting a kid danger scene. knowing he had to hurry up, he was searching his room for the well known suit, while he was sure the crew was already waiting for him in the studio. you saw he was kinda panicking as he grabbed his suit and laid it out on the table, while you were on your phone seated on his couch. every other second you looked his way, watching him change his clothes in a hurry, when he suddenly spoke up. "..can you help me?" he glanced at you as well as looking down at the zipper of the blue long sleeve shirt, a bit of his abs still visible. you nodded as you put your phone aside and walked up to him.

standing in the middle of the room, you placed your hands on his shirt as your body went down a little, trying to get eye level with the zipper which you now found out was stuck. your fingertips accidentally brushed along his bare chest when you tried get the zipper back up again, but it was still stuck. "come on hurry up.." he said, letting out a sigh of frustration. "then stop moving i'm trying to get it on." you spoke up, still trying to loosen it so he could put the silver top on. the way your eyes looked up at him made his mind go crazy, but he couldn't think about that right now. he tried to contain himself by breaking the eye contact, but you were looking at him with such an intense gaze, it almost seemed like you wanted to take his entire shirt off right there and then. but, the only thing you were focused on is to get the zipper up so he could go shoot the scene. "i can't get the zipper up." you panicked as you still looked at him, when in one sudden movement he brought his hand down, pulling you back up again to be met by the feeling of his lips on yours. you closed your eyes as he deepened the kiss, his breathing getting heavier. "what are you—" you pulled away, trying to let him know this was not the right time to have a cute little make out session. "..jace they're waiting for yo—" he cut you off again as you formed another sentence, but this time he placed both his hands as your sides, pulling you closer to him. deepening the kiss once again, he suddenly placed you against the wall behind you, his fingers intertwining with yours. "we can't—" he stopped you every time you tried to say something, while his chest was raising up and down. "shut up." he breathed out.

it was when you were both lost in each others presence, you heard a knock just outside the door. his lips quickly left yours as he let out a sigh. "jace you done?" his expression was full of frustration as he heard the familiar voice in the hall. "uh yeah just give me a sec!"

he somehow managed to get the rest of his suit on and he hurried himself out the door after he asked if you wanted to come with. you told him no, and so he leaned in closer to quietly tell you to wait until he comes back while opening the door to the corridor.

2. whenever y'all decide to have a sleepover together, you both know it's gonna take a lot of convincing for your parents to agree you either go to his house or he comes to yours. you know EVERY single time what they're going to tell you, and you mostly end up sleeping at his place since your parents sometimes say they 'don't want to get waken up in the middle of the night' by the two of you.

one time jace overheard a conversation between you and your parents talking about exactly this, you desperately wanted to have a sleepover at your house with him but your parents disagreed once again. they just told you to sleep at his place because 'they had work in the morning', you thought that reason was stupid but it was impossible to change their minds about the decisions they made.

afterwards when you both were alone in his room, he told you he heard your parents talking to you, proceeding to letting out a chuckle thinking about the words they said to you. "they're just protective of you." he said, as you looked up at him, thinking through the words you were about to say. "i know, but you are too."

3. you love distracting him at all times, and he always says he hates it but secretly he doesn't want to admit it makes him go feral about you. sometimes he does it too just to get back on you and make you all worked up for nothing in the end. his favorite one is subtly sliding his hands around your waist or legs especially in public, because he knows you can't do anything about it.

"jace stop that." your voice was like a whisper, trying to keep it down so nobody would suspect anything weird during the dinner. "mmh?" his eyes lit up as he looked at you innocently, pretending to not know what he was doing. "stop it.." while those words left your mouth, your hand went down under the table to get his hand away from your thigh. you unsucceeded and looked around if anyone was paying attention to the both of you, as his hand just slowly got closer upwards. "don't—" your head tilted up a little when one of his fingers traced over the fabric right on the spot, it left your mouth hanging open. you quickly realized, letting out a small cough to cover the sounds you were about to make. you knew he did this because of yesterday, when you left him hanging and told him he should go back to set just as things were about to get heated in his backstage room. and afterwards when he was back home with you from a long day shooting, you went straight to sleep.

he was still rubbing circles with his fingers, he was making it impossible for you to stay calm during this family dinner. your eyes scanned the place once again, hoping no one just heard you. "s-stop." you whispered to him for the third time, but he didn’t stop. his fingers just went faster and better, and he wasn’t even looking down at his own movements, he was literally having a whole conversation with one of your uncles. you were surprised no one has suspected anything, since it was hard for you to stay still and quiet. it was not fair, he knew you went crazy about his veiny hands and you felt shivers every time his hands would softly brush along your skin, whether it be your face or somewhere else on your body.

you shifted in your seat, as you felt yourself getting closer when his fingers moved even faster. you avoided eye contact with everyone you thought was trying to start a conversation, you just focused on his hand moving over the fabric. both of you realised you were getting close, so he suddenly slipped his hand away to just resting his hand on your thigh, stopping his movements and pretending nothing happened. "what—" you spoke up as he continued the conversation with your uncle, while your body was left aching for more of him.

4. just because he often gets jealous doesn't mean you don't. but in your case, you get jealous about the fan girls that try to get too close to him or get their way into his life. you know thats never going to work on him, but it makes you extremely mad during events or meet 'n greets when they try to touch his hair, or even get his number. the worst part is that most times you can't even say anything about it.

you couldn't blame them in the beginning of your relationship when he still kept it a secret. and it's not that you didn't find it valid they think he's attractive, but going further than that was absolutely wrong. it's been out now to the public for a while, which left you wondering if some girls just didn't know or did know but still tried to get him to like them.

it was another day where the cast held a meet 'n greet at the set of hd, and you came with jace to see him meet the fans and be supportive. you were standing behind the turned off equipment with the crew, as you watched him and the rest of the cast smiling for the photos that were mostly taken by parents or friends. suddenly you saw a girl you assumed was around your age walking up to him from the line, and she was subtly sneaking her left arm around his torso, a little too low on his body. when you met his eyes, you saw his body language shifting, seeming uncomfortable during the picture. he still managed to put on a smile while getting the photo taken, but you saw how she tried to get closer to him. you were desperate to know what she said when you saw her whispering in his ear during their hug. when you realized you couldn't do anything about the situation, you tried to make eye contact with the girl and hoped she would see you. as she turned around after the hug you surprisingly met her eyes, and her face slowly turned red in embarrassment. right, so she did know. she immediately took her hand away from his side, and walked towards riele next without even saying another word to jace. but you didn't think he'd mind though, you saw how uncomfortable he was, especially during the hug. you found him rolling his eyes when you looked at each other again, while mouthing a quick 'bitch'.

5. he LOVES giving you cuddles and kisses, even if you are too busy to react he still wants to be near you. you secretly love it though, your biggest love language was physical touch after all. but there were days, especially at night where he could not go one second without touching you somewhere.

you texted him this evening if he could come over to watch a movie together at your place since both your parents and siblings were out of town. you were in the kitchen when you heard him letting out a small sigh as he walked up to you from the couch, almost throwing his phone on it. while you were grabbing various snacks out of the drawer, he wrapped his arms around you just above your hip, sending shivers through you from head to toe. "jace.." you let out a giggle, trying to move out of his strong grip to close the drawer. "mmh?" you recognized his tone, you knew he was impatient and clingy. "let me—" you turned around still in his grip with the snacks in your hands, and tilted your head playfully, letting him know to move his hands away so you at least could walk. "nooo.." he practically whined when you took his arms away from your waist with your free hand, stopping him from touching you. "just— let's go to the couch."

6. jace basically knew everything about you, but there was one secret you determined to take to your grave. he could not know. you'd be too embarrassed if he found out you watched and saved edits of him made by others, but you didn't plan on stopping though. you realized fans would notice if you used your main account to look at them, so you had created a new account just to be able to watch and save the videos. it had you obsessed while being in your room at night, giggling at them like a fangirl would. oh how you loved dating a famous person.

but, unfortunately one day he did found out.

with your phone laying on the kitchen counter and tiktok opened on your favorite folder, you looked at edits made from different clips of henry, a character played by your boyfriend. you caught yourself smiling when all of a sudden jace was walking up to you with in his hand his phone; you didn't hear him come in trough the door. you immediately turned your phone around when you saw him, slamming it with the screen down on the counter. "hey you oka—?" "oh my gosh..." you interrupted his sentence, letting him know you were startled while putting your hand on your chest. "sorry i didn't mean to scare you..." he let out a chuckle while leaning in for a hug, but he still had a confused look planted on his face. afterwards, when you thought he wasn't paying attention, you picked up your phone again and turned it around to swipe the app away. but he was still focused on you, and his curious eyes flickered from your face to your phone while still standing at your side. he saw in a split second what you were doing, as he leaned towards you. "wait.. what was that?" he chuckled once again as a small smirk played on his face, looking into your eyes while running a hand trough his hair. "...what do you mean?" you tried to sound clueless when you had turned around, laughing nervously. once again he tilted his head, signing to you he literally saw the screen on your phone. "you know what i mean." he said playfully, folding his arms on his chest, his muscles showing and your eyes couldn't resist looking at them. "uhh..." you didn't even know what to say, your mind went blank as you avoided his eye contact. "hey it's okay.." he laughed, reassuring you as he still had the grin planted on his face, enjoying this more than he should. you dropped your head into your hands in embarrassment as you let out a chuckle, smiling nervously. "stooopp..." you let your body fall forward towards his chest, hiding your face as he wrapped his arms around you again. he laughed while pulling you closer to him and speaking up. "you don't have to hide you like me.."

thank you to whoever send this request! i love to hear y'all are enjoying my writing, it's been my dream since i was a kid 🥹 lmk if i wrote what you had in mind :)

this took me AGES y'all don't even know, i've also been contemplating if i should post my fics on ao3 just lmk if i should

chenry fic and more jace/henry fics are coming soon!!

back to intro

[harlequinoccult]

ok well w that answer to my last ramble i hope you won't mind me coming back and rambling MORE-

the thing with Ariel "Vulpine" Fox (remember i said he has a Thing w foxes? his surname might have smth to do w that) is that, at his core, he is not a character that really fits into the vibes of slsq. and i love putting my ocs into Situations where they Do Not Really Fit In, because it forces me to think outside the box and go "ok, but what if they find themselves in that Situation anyway? how do i work with that while still keeping their character mostly intact?". and the mix of slsq and Vulpine is just * chefs kiss * especially delicious to me, bc Ariel always had a few screws loose, but he's always been a bit too level-headed to really lean into his innate madness, and slsq gives me the opportunity to really fuck with him and i love that-

Ariel's whole Thing is really that he's the perfect vigilante character. he would never make the profile of a serial killer. a killer, yes, oh he has no problem with killing you see, but it's usually done with some greater objective in mind. even in slsq im sure he's going to be extremely picky with his victims. the thing that really sets him off and makes him believe Murder Is Ok is injustice. because unfortunately for him, Ari has an unparalleled amount of empathy, which causes him to make some... contradictory decisions during his life. really, it all depends on who has earned his wrath. he will never kill poor people or people in need, in fact he usually goes out of his way to help them every single time, but put a cop in front of him and they're going to have the most slow, painful, cruel death possible.

there might be exceptions to the "no killing poor ppl/ppl in need" rule tho, if the person in question is an abuser who does nothing but inflict suffering on others and poison the local community with their toxicity. funnily enough, Carter fits the profile of Ariel's victims fucking perfectly, im honestly still thinking of a reason why he didn't kill Carter sooner other than "he didn't have enough time to do it". other people he'll definitely go after is the rich and corrupt politicians, which, not the best decisions for his anonymity or his safety, but if he's gonna get killing you bet your ass he'll try to cause some form of change while at it.

another thing he hates, has always hated and always will, is abuse of authority (which is why in his mind a good cop is always a dead cop). he has a general problem w authority even without the abusing part, especially hates when he's stripped of his autonomy and forced to do smth against his will (he IMMEDIATELY hates The Host on principle, and its going to get worse from here). he's always been a brat over being ordered around, even if he HAS to do what he's being told to do he's going to do it HIS way and fuck you if you have a problem w that. what matters is that he got the job done, isnt it? (i genuinely dont know how Carter managed to put up w him, those two together is a TERRIBLE mix)

most of all this does have to do w how he grew up, really. Ari is cannonically british (by which i mean, in my head he has a rlly subtle posh british accent that gets stronger the angrier he gets, which is even funnier to me bc the angrier he gets the more he swears and it usually involves a lot of FOCK and FOCKIN' and BLOODY being thrown around. like i get why OD would enjoy riling him up i rlly do-) which doesn't rlly have that much impact into his slsq story bc im not british and ik nothing abt britain but he is an immigrant and that's a lil bit important. to me. anyway-

he grew up in a very poor, very religious community somewhere in monarchy land (england), and was an extremely difficult, some would even say demonic, child. he's always had anger issues but it was MUCH worse when he was little (growing up he learns to deal w them to the point that getting him actually, truly angry without touching on what triggers him is extremely hard. good luck OD, his reaction to your annoying ass is mostly gonna be a sigh and a twitch of his fingers). his religious trauma, unlike w OD, has nothing to do w surviving catholic school (he went to a public school, somehow managed to be a massive nerd AND a delinquent at the same time, always had the highest notes of his class and was still despised by the teachers for being "disrespectful") and more w growing up surrounded by extremely religious people and realizing quite soon that praying did nothing to help w the systematic oppression they all were being crushed by. it only got worse when he started questioning the teachings of the church, growing more frustrated as he tried to get his peers to "see reason", and finally lost all hope when he went through his second exorcism (first one happened whem he was still very small, which im sure didn't fuck him up in any way whatsoever). has never entered a church since then, still knows some prayers that were burned into his brain and he can't forget no matter how hard he tries, genuinely believes that god never existed and if he did then he's fucking dead, and has a fascination w satanic symbols to this day that will probably never go away.

he had a somewhat mixed reputation growing up. in his tween years, he used the fact that he was considered "demonic" when little to scare and fuck with people who otherwise might have caused him problems. he got into constant fights in his childhood and his teen years, both because bullies would wrongly assume he'd be an easy target and then get punched and bitten and scratched until they cried, or because he was trying to protect someone else from being bullied. soon figured out that just not engaging unless someone else threw the first punch was a good way to de-escalate situations and keep him from getting in too much trouble (since he wouldn't be the one who "started it"), which was what made him begin to develop his stoic attitude. he started learning to control his anger because the people he wanted to protect were scared of him bc of his tendency to lash out, and because he realized that being in control of his emotions meant that he would fuck up less in high stress situations and make it easier to calm the people around him as well.

he got in constant trouble w the local authorities, being continuously searched and brought into the police station for a p big list of petty crimes (vandalism, theft, underage drinking, drug use, trespassing, public indecency, etc), but noticed that he was treated much more leniently than his POC friends who did much less shit than he did. which was also when his hatred for cops solidified.

life wasn't easy on him. he did a lot of questionable shit to get by, and he knows a lot of people in the same situations as him, so his morals are extremely gray as a consequence of it. he's not going to judge you for doing a bad. everyone does what they can to survive and survival is not a noble thing. he's extremely lenient w things that most ppl find unacceptable, and has a very clear understanding in his mind that everything is situational. which is why murder can be ok, and cannibalism can be ok, and any number of horrible things humans do can be justifiable and acceptable no matter what society says.

so he's not going to judge anyone on the cast of slsq for doing the things they do if they can justify it. but i can also very clearly see him killing the ones that do it just for the sake of it. with one exception: he will never murder the one he loves.

which is why i am sooooo excited to pair him up w OD, the one that kills p much without discrimination, and watch all the loopholes he forms in his mind to try and justify to himself why he's turning a blind eye to someone killing innocent people. he might try to nudge OD into having a smidge more of a standard, but if OD threatens to leave bc of it or gets too annoyed he's dropping it in a second. who knows, maybe OD is the one who might be able to convince him to drop the good guy "act" instead. who needs morals when you have love amirite?

i wouldn't say Vulpine is a yandere (there's too much effort to make sure that he and his loved one(s) are equals in every possible way for that i think), but with the borderline unhealthy, undying, nearly desperate devotion he develops for the ppl he falls for i think it's a pretty close thing tbh. he would do anything for his lover. anything. and he expects nothing in return. he just wants them to be happy, no matter what.

anyway uuuuhh there's so much more i can say abt Vulpine, i didnt even touch on his relationship w substance abuse or when he got arrested or his family, but this is already enormous, so have some specific slsq stuff instead (all of this is p much slsq specific tbh, Ari's backstory changes a lot depending on what story i decide to put him next, but some plot beats and traumas always stay the same): his mask of choice is similar to Cold's, a blank black mask, and his weapon of choice is a hunting knife. his specialty is informant (i was very tempted to make him a jack of all trades, bc one of his main characteristics is his adaptability, but i could NEVER envision him accepting doing that much for Carter. he would rather die), as mentioned previously his personality type is going to be apathetic w a side of caustic (still dont know if that's the right name but oh well), his clothing style is punk and practical and he wore ripped jeans for this bc he didn't know what he was getting himself into and he's soooo mad he didn't wear his cargo pants instead. he's actually kinda similar to Cold when it comes to superficial personality traits (stays quiet and observant most of the time, stealth killer, has a whole thing going on w shadows and anonymity and the mask, also exudes a intimidating aura that often scares people and gives him negative charisma. another reason he's not a jack of all trades is bc he'd make for an AWFUL bait)

and when in deep romance, if OD keeps trying to annoy him, he'll just kiss them to shut them up. it might just end up encouraging that kind of behavior long therm, but it works as a short therm solution so he doesn't rlly care-

(pt 1.)

Oh there is so much I could say that would veer into major spoilers for Overdose's route and beyond.

The Caustic personality is cynical, bitter, and sarcastic. Aggressive options will be separate and compatible with every personality type (aggressive doormats have been...interesting to write. imagine the most neurotic chihuahua-)

And concerning mc and Carter....there aren't a lot of job opportunities in Newcreed that aren't y'know, soul crushing drudgery, no matter what your relationship with Carter was, it was enough to pay rent if mc lived alone, or enough to afford necessities if they lived with the bastard.

And getting into Newcreed itself, The city is rotten. Crime rate is so high and the mayor doesn't do shit, the police don't do shit and the roads are fucked, but hey, expansive public transit and rent is low as hell. A lot of people immigrate to Newcreed (Cold and Sweetheart and his family are examples of this) because its a cheap place to live and the barriers for employment are little to none.

[the-snake-and-the-statue]

[100%].

[Lazy writing incoming]

Hexe continues floating through the hall as normal, as if she was not just frozen for god knows how long. She doesn't even realize it, as if time for her has simply resumed.

Nothing seems out of place. The twins see her and quickly duck out of view, Achilles watches her leave with hatred in his eye.... nothing out of the ordinary, she's acting... well, normal.

Slyn is sitting at his desk when she teleports in, sitting on his bed.

"Hello, Slyn."

Slyn jumps and turns around, brandishing a small dagger at her. She tilts her head.

".... oh-" he drops out of his chair and kneels at Hexe's feet. "Greetings, my queen.... apologies, you scared me...."

"I am aware."

He tries to act as if he doesn't want to run up and kiss her but also run away at the same time. Hexe's blank expression curls into a frown.

"Something has just occurred. And I want to know what it is."

".... m-my queen, I do not know what you are speaking of-"

"Don't fucking play dumb like this, Slyn. Someone forgot to clean the gold glitter by the stables."

Of course they fucking forgot, he thinks as his heart drops.

The dagger slips from Slyn's hands and flies into Hexe's, as if magnetized. She inspects the blade, a trickle of blood dripping down the metal and onto her finger.

"For once, I do not know what has happened. Something in the kingdom feels... different. More hopeful."

"That can not be. That is not allowed. So I implore you to tell me...... what. Happened."

Slyn adjusts his sleeve a bit, looking down.

"I've been in my room for the whole day, don't ask me."

"You are the king, Slyn. A king does not isolate in his room, cutting his arms for menial situations involving those whom do matter."

Slyn winces. Of course she knew.

He feels sharp nails trace the back of his neck before they grab his hair with an iron grip, holding him down as Hexe leers over him. Slyn feels a shiver flood down his spine, a mix of fear and excitement.

"You are more attentive than this, Slyn. You know something. So I will give you another chance to be a good king and tell me...."

"What. Happened."

"............."

Slyn stares up into her eyes. His are dead and dull, with just the smallest hint of affection as she glares at him.

He continues to bite his tongue.

"...... Ah. I see how it is."

She throws him against the wall harshly. Slyn grunts in pain before prying his eyes open.... everything is cold. He can't see anything easily, from how dark and cold the room is.

.... this isn't my room....? He thinks, falling to the ground. The snakes of his hands land on something wet and rough.... carpet? No.... moss.

Hexe teleports in front of Slyn. She takes off her hat, and the only illusion of disguise disappears to unveil the shadowed monster beneath.

Her voice is hollow, warped, and full of so much anger as she speaks.

"I'm finished trying to restore you to your former glory. You have fallen too far.... and now you shall pay the price for your negligence."

Vaga quickly tells Samuel once he comes across the glitter, and they burn it with Celio's help. It's only 10 minutes after Hexe unfroze.

"Do you think she noticed?" Vaga whispers to his brother and friend.

"I dunno.... maybe."

"But then wouldn't we all be getting punished r'now? She's a loose cannon, she'd totally be punishing us all if she thought something was up."

Vaga and Sammy look at each other apprehensively.

"....... guess not. Maybe she didn't notice."

"I hope not..."

Eventually they go their separate ways... no punishments. No screaming. No torture. Everything seems calm.......

No one can hear anything from the dungeon though.

[lyledebeast]

Bleeding Villains and Bloody Heroes

@malicious-compliance-esq's comments on my last meta regarding General Cornwallis's "clean broadcloth, perhaps, but bloody hands all the same" owing to Tavington doing the dirty work for him got me thinking about the role actual blood plays in this movie.

For all the violent situations they both end up in, prior to the final scene, the only blood we see on Benjamin Martin is other men's, and the only blood we ever see on William Tavington is his own. This stands in striking contrast to the rest of the movie, in which the only gore the camera shows us is on Patriot bodies: the cannon balls ripping off heads and legs, the torn and bleeding men in the Continental field hospital. Contrast them with the British soldiers, whose causes of instantaneous death include gunshot, tomahawking, bumping, and, apparently, surprise? (Brandon F's video analyzing the ambush scene is a resource I highly recommend). Regardless of the method, once a British solider is hit, the movie is done with him in almost every case. These deaths are presented as flippant in comparison to the noble sacrifice and suffering of the Patriot soldiers.

Tavington is the exception to this rule. Not only does he take a lot more killing, like a lot more, than his brothers in arms, but he takes a good bit of damage prior to that. There is blood on his face in a deleted scene in the officers' tent that initially looks like it could be someone else's, but a closer shot reveals a cut on his cheek to be the most likely source. There is blood on his shirt in another deleted scene from Gabriel's bullet grazing his side. Finally, there is blood oozing between his lower teeth as he says his final line, mostly likely from a cut in his mouth after being violently thrown from his horse. I don't think anyone involved in the making of this movie would argue that Tavington's blood represents his commitment to the cause of British dominance in the American colonies or even to his own aspirations. If that is not the case, though, then blood is clearly a signifier of very different things depending on where it is and whose it is.

Still, seeing Tavington bleed reminds me of an exchange between my other favorite villain of all time and the hero in that text. In Shakespeare's Othello, when Iago's machinations are revealed, Othello tells him, "If that thou be'st a devil, I cannot kill thee," and stabs him (Act. V, scene ii). Iago replies, "I bleed, Sir, but not killed." Iago is not a devil; none of Shakespeare's numerous memorable villains are. They are deeply flawed people with human desires taken to destructive extremes. The difference between the two villains is that Iago is one character in a play full of deeply flawed people with human desires whose flaws he utilizes in his destructive extremes: Othello's gullibility, Cassio's vanity, and Roderigo's stupidity. All of these characters, though, are so much less malevolent than Iago that he appears monstrous in comparison even as he remains very much human. In contrast to the cannon--and musket, bayonet, tomahawk, and shock--fodder the other British soldiers constitute, Tavington's injuries render him more human. He is fleshed out in the most literal possible sense.

At the same time, Martin becoming increasingly drenched in British blood over the course of an afternoon while not sustaining a single scratch himself makes him somewhat monstrous. Even without showing the audience where all that blood is coming from, that most of it is from a man who is unable to fight back compromises Martin's heroism in a way it arguably never recovers from. When Tavington does fight back, and then some, the injuries Martin takes are in service of vengeance, not the Patriot war effort. As far as the cause of American independence goes, well, he has no skin in that game. Literally.

[elleinmotion]

Out of curiosity is Lucerys at all aware of the "rumors" around Daemon's involvement in Lady Rhea's death. Did Jace or someone else tell him about it when he started his correspondence with Alyssa or is it kinda like the whole 'Strong' situation and just Not Spoken Of in that household.

hello darling!!! thank you for the ask!

if Lucerys is in any remote sense of the word "aware" of what's swirling around his step-dad slash great uncle's alleged uxoricide of Rhea Royce, it's likely not believed as gospel and chalked up to a malicious rumor and total poppycock, another one of the tall tales built up around the infamous Rogue Prince.

even then, the rumor likely isn't circulated at all in the household on Dragonstone (I myself wouldn't traffic in rumors about spousal murder and suspected criminal acts if my head of household or boss had a fire-breathing lizard the size of an A380 and was known for his loose cannon demeanor).

we gave that "it's a known rumor but not spoken about" a nod with Rhaena and Alyssa's interaction in an earlier chapter. they know the topic is somewhat sensitive considering the rumors, but I'm sure most of the Team Black kids don't believe that their father/step-father/great-uncle could do such a thing as harm or kill a woman in cold blood

(yet)

also, it's far removed in time that many have forgotten the circumstances surrounding Rhea's death overall. Luke wasn't alive then, neither was Jace or any of Rhaenyra's boys since Rhea died prior to Rhaenyra and Laenor's wedding.

But with the Royce words being We Remember, it's unlikely folk that held Rhea in high regard are going to let it fall out of living memory; Graves builds Rhea up as highly regarded both locally to Runestone denizens and at a macro level in the Vale to include having Jeyne Arryn's regard.

the timing of Rhea's death and the manner of it was enough to have some doubt the circumstances. we see that in the show when Gerold, bold old Gerold, comes to the wedding feast and accuses Daemon outright (with the absolute balls and conviction to do it in front of the king himself) before withdrawing when Daemon starts suggesting he's due to press his spousal inheritance rights for Runestone with Jeyne at the Eyrie.

just imagining an off screen aside way back in the beginning of Graves where Rhaenyra told Daemon that Lucerys was corresponding with "the Royce girl" and Daemon thinking internally with so much exasperation '...oh that sodding, sheep infested mess of the Bronze Bitch comes back to haunt me'

get nae nae'd, Daemon

[wavy-splash-factor-topics]

My Top 5 Sonic Characters: #5, Vector the Crocodile

Introduction

While Vector first appeared in Knuckles' Chaotix (with a strange origin involving God; I'm not making this up), Heroes was the game I started to appreciate his character. The development team re-imagined the Chaotix trio, and their personalities are clearer than in their first game appearance. Charmy's hyperactive, Espio's tranquil and proper, and Vector's sometimes loud; he's easygoing and the natural team leader. Sonic Heroes showcases this well with Chaotix's motto, "We don't turn down any job that pays!" He's focused and won't let anything distract them from the work, whether it's that Slot Machines at Casino Park or the Eggman's cannons at Bullet Station that Charmy wants to play with. He might have the temptation, like when he wants to ride one of Eggman's battleships in Egg Fleet, but puts the job first, showcasing his responsibility.

Character Dynamics with the Sonic Cast

Another trait I like about his character is his dynamic with other Sonic characters. I'll dive into his dynamic with the other members of the Chaotix members later because I believe that's one of his more notable characteristics. For now, I'll be talking about some other characters first, beginning with Miles "Tails" Prower.

I'm all for the small details in storytelling, and Team Sonic Racing's story presents this well to me. While Vector looks like he's here for the prize money, that's part of the reason for joining the race. Tails asks him to complete a request: find and discover Dodon Pa's motivations. Why Tails doesn't let his team know? Here's why. Sonic's having too much fun in the competition and might not believe there's a reason to be worried. Knuckles can be hot-headed sometimes. So having Vector investigate while keeping a low profile isn't a bad idea on Tails' end.

"What is it? Do you mean Dodon Pa and Eggman? But what's the use of worrying in that?" (Sonic says this in the game's Japanese version when discussing with Silver in Haunted Castle.)

Another detail I like about this interaction is it reminds me of the classic era. At the end of Knuckles' Chaotix, Sonic and Tails do end up appearing at the end of the game in the Tornado to see what the commotion was all about in Newtrogic High Zone, and this is where they have their first encounter with Mighty and Team Chaotix. While I wish we could see more of the classic interactions between the characters (It's more of a possibility as SEGA wants to bring back the classic era), I still appreciate this detail that elevates this moment. Even in the IDW comics, Tails and Vector have a common interest in detective work and solving mysteries. Tails even refer to Vector as "old chum," showcasing their history and how they have known each other since the classic days.

Speaking of history, he and Knuckles the Echidna go back since Knuckles' Chaotix. When the Babylon Rouges steal some relics from Marble Garden in IDW's misadventures arc, Knuckles goes to the Chaotix first. Why not Sonic and Amy? He can work with those two, but they tease him occasionally. The interactions here are subtle but showcase their dynamic well. Vector sticks to the Chaotix's motto, "We don't turn down a job that pays," and he has known Knuckles since the classic days. While Knuckles knows Vector can be a bit goofy sometimes, he trusts Vector and the rest of the Chaotix when handling certain situations. The three also respect his pride more than Sonic and Amy do.

Let's move on to Team Chaotix. One of Vector's defining moments as a character is with his team. I'll start with Charmy, then Espio. Charmy's energetic, and while he sometimes gets into trouble with Vector, he means well. It makes sense from Charmy's perspective because of the locations they visit. Imagine you're a little kid seeing pinball machines as big as buildings, grinding rails at a canyon, and smashing up evil robots; Charmy's excitement is understandable. Vector gets annoyed at Charmy's liveliness, and leads to funny moments involving the two.

In Ocean Palace:

Espio: The foe is asleep... Let's proceed slowly... Everyone, keep your voices low...

Charmy: OKAY!

Vector: WHAT'RE YA DOIN? KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN!

It's played for laughs because Charmy's just teasing Vector, but the two genuinely do care for each other. Vector values Charmy's abilities when searching for clues for their clients in games like Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog. He's also fully aware of Charmy's excitement during adventures and appreciates his enthusiasm. Vector cares a lot for him and sees Charmy as a true friend, and anything bad happens to him, well... I talk about that specific moment with Espio.

With Espio, Vector knows he's a dependable friend and believes in his skills as a ninja. Espio acts as the voice of reason, and while he gets annoyed at Vector's childish side sometimes, he trusts his instincts as a leader when handling clients or during a dangerous situation. However, during the Metal Virus, when Charmy got infected trying to save a citizen of Seaside City, Vector couldn't think straight, and Espio was there to be by his side. When they eventually find Charmy because the Chaotix don't leave one of their own behind, things turn for the worse. Due to a monkey civilian not understanding the full context of the Metal Virus, his infection sends others into a panic, causing Charmy's containment pod to break. While trying to escape the commotion, Charmy is about to infect more people until Vector sacrifices himself to ensure Espio and the others have a chance to defeat the Metal Virus once and for all. Vector sends Espio off with a smile, and all Espio can do is look on in silence, tearing up over his friend. Whoa. Of all the Metal Virus infections, in my opinion, Vector's the one that almost made me tear up. Even as I write this, tears are filling up in my eyes over this moment.

Conclusion

I could go about his diverse abilities (Sonic Roar, Hammer Down, how he has a pack of gum strong enough to carry the Chaotix) and the fun moments with the Sonic cast. However, I wanted to highlight the rare and unique moments of why I love his character. With a strong sense of duty and the teamwork presented with the rest of the Sonic cast, Vector is one of my favorites because he's a true team player. He's sometimes goofy and can act irrationally sometimes. However, he stays loyal to the Chaotix's cause of helping their clients while assisting others in need.

[etherealninfa]

THE FIRST DATE. Inspector Gadget X Oc fanfic. (CannonXOc) Chapter 1: "The assistant".

preliminary notes: The next fanfic is based on the Inspector Gadget series from 1983. This is a cannon X Oc fanfic. This has been translated from Spanish (my native language) to English. So I apologize if, at times, my vocabulary is very basic. I translated this with the help of my own knowledge of English and with the help of online translators. The original Spanish version of this fanfic is published on Wattpad, I leave the link here in case anyone wants to read it in that language. https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/351610192-la-primera-cita-inspector-gadgetxoc-%2B18

Summary: Ninfa has been the assistant of the most important inspector of the Metro City for some few years ago and that time working together has made her fall deeply in love with him. She has never confessed her feelings for fear of ruining her friendship and professional relationship with Gadget.

One day the evil Dr. Claw decides to set a trap for Inspector Gadget, which will cause them both to get involved in a peculiar situation were Ninfa will hear an unexpected confession from his boss.

Chapter 1: The assistant.

Ninfa's POV:

Like every day, the alarm went off an hour before I started getting ready. The sky was still dark but it was almost time for the sun to decide to peek out and dry the dew from the leaves. I turned on my light and almost automatically took my diary from among the objects on my nightstand and began to write:

"I cannot swear with certainty whether there was any other revelation in my dreams more than his constant image in my head; but, what I am sure of, is the vast time that has passed since I last wrote about him in these pages. The problem It's the continuous state of immobility between us: without any change in the way he sees me or the way he talks to me. Still... every day I feel a pang of nervousness and happiness before arriving at work... before to see him.

Gadget is my boss so it is normal that everything remains as it has been until now, although deep down, I have the hope that one day I could write something very different and beautiful concerning the both of us: something that could be a beautiful memory, to read after several years together and happy. Or, the other option instead, would simply be to see this diary become a testimony prior to my trip to teraphy if my lovebstory turns out to culminate in an end worthy of being represented in some dramatic tragedy."

How ashamed I feel to say it and, at the same time, how liberated I am. I feel like a little girl experiencing her first love affair, and even more so because the only person aware of my secret is that: a little girl. It's Penny, Gadget's niece. At her young age she is very intelligent and knew how to read my feelings about her uncle. Maybe I was too obvious about that. I remember the first time she and I talked about it:

-Ninfa, you like Uncle Gadget, right?- she asked me, almost knowing the answer.

-Of course not, Penny! That would be crazy. I don't understand what makes you think that.- I answered, obviously nervous.

-Mmmm... Maybe because of the way you stare at him, how much you care about him and the jealousy that you clearly express when you see him interested in some other woman... I don't know, that and many other things I seen.- she smiled at me.

-Well, with the last thing you said, what does it matter if I feel that?-silence- If that were the case... your uncle would never see me that way. He has already made it very clear every time another woman is involved in one of our missions. Even...even though they work for MAD and our goal is to arrest them, there he is always flirting with them and doesn't listen to reason. He says: "Oh, no she is so beautiful to be bad."-sigh.

-Don't worry... I think that, more than that, Uncle Gadget tends to get totally absorbed with his work. It's something very important to him. Also, you are his assistant and perhaps that is what keeps him distant. Just because he doesn't say it doesn't mean he doesn't feel the same as you.

-Will you keep the secret, Penny? Please.

-Don't worry, I won't tell him anything.

Since then, I have never touched on that topic with anyone else. Penny had become my confidant; Someone who wouldn't miss the slightest opportunity to joke with me about it. She laughed every time when she saw my face completely reddened by the simple fact of mentioning something about Gadget or raising some romantic situation between him and me. Part of it made me uncomfortable but I couldn't help but feel happy and smile like a fool just imagining the possibility of having something with him.

******

After writing I'm going to take a shower, I still had plenty of time. My name is Ninfa, I am 27 years old, I work as Inspector Gadget's assistant and I has been in love with him for a long time. I think it's already pretty clear. Shortly before I graduated from the police academy, he had already set his sights on me. From time to time he would go along with other officers to witness the students' exams and, most of the time, he would act as an evaluator and since he has been very important always, everyone was trying to impress him. I would be lying to you if I told you that I wasn't trying to do the same. I just didn't like to express it or being so obvious. I preferred keep that desire like I now do the same protecting my feelings under lock and key, in the depths of my heart.

The atmosphere itself became heavy and competitive between everyone when Gadget was around. As soon as they saw the opportunity to talk to him, they all let themselves go in swarms. Several times I wanted to be part of all that hubbub but it overwhelmed me so much and it was better for me to go away from there. so from afar, I always observed him so willing to pay attention to each one who approached him. He looked so confident and proud as he told about his life and his work as part of the police. Perhaps that admiration was already the first shoots of my future infatuation that only took a few pinches of closeness to begin to germinate. And I, distant but so aware of his movements, did not suspect that I would soon have my long-awaited meeting with him.

It happened after a physical test on a circuit; followed by a simulation of confrontation with criminals. In the latter, who was playing the role of a criminal during my turn had managed to take my gun and immediately went behind me to attack me. However, since I was younger than now I have had considerable training and knowledge in martial arts, which gave me resources to successfully confront my aggressor until I managed to subdue him. Despite having solved the problem, letting me steal the gun was something that might not have helped my grade at all; Still, without my knowledge, Gadget asked my superiors for their opinion of me and took a look at my entire academic history  and other files. They called me and it was there that I was able to meet him for the first time. As I was in my last months as a student, he did not hesitate to offer me the position as his assistant. And I am here now.

I finished getting ready and ran as quickly as possible to the office. Generally we always meet there waiting for some order from Chief Quimby but there are times when we are both off duty and we still have to be prepared in case an emergency happens. I always try to arrive earlier than him to have everything ready and inform him of the tasks or news of the day.

On that occasion everything seemed, strangely, very calm but at the time I couldn't notice it. Since there wasn't much to prepare, I simply started to boil water in case, upon arriving, my boss wanted a coffee. While I turned on the coffee maker and grab the spoons, sugar, and some cups, I couldn't help but feel anxious thinking about the moment when he would appear through the door; I could already imagine his kind and innocent smile as he greets me.

******

After several minutes, Gadget finally arrived. Everything was just as I had described it before: he said good morning to me, he went to his chair and asked me to update him on everything that was important for the next few hours. I offered him a cup of coffee and he accepted it. I turned to prepare it while my chest was beating very quickly and strongly. I felt the heat of red that was giving color my cheeks. There were so many emotions that I was beginning to feel overwhelmed but at the same time I enjoyed it.

-Here's his coffee, inspector- I told him, placing the cup in front of him on the desk.

-Thank you, Ninfa- he replied.

I could also notice a certain blush barely appearing on his face the moment he sipped the coffee; but I did not want to take that possible natural reaction as a sign of something that, perhaps, were simple illusions fueled by my dreams. The thought of seeing Gadget nervous with me seemed so far away; so I wasn't going to allow my mind to play tricks on me. That had always been my position until that last moment, but what happened next took me by surprise and clouded my vision so much that I couldn't see everything that was about to happen between the two of us the next hours: something that, without spoil the surprise, I not even would have imagined among all the possible scenarios described in the confessions in my diary.

-And... How has your morning been? -he asked me after taking a first sip of coffee.

-Everything is calm and uneventful.-I smiled at him-and...how is your morning?

-Well, everything is quite normal, I guess.-He answered. -Well...- he remained silent for a few moments, as if he hesitated to say what he had in mind.

-Something happens?

-Nothing, don't worry Ninfa-soft laugh-Just a few things that have turned over in my head but it's nothing to worry about.

He looked a little tense and restless but without exaggerating. It was strange to see him insecure. I have to admit that Gadget was a bit clumsy but he couldn't be accused of being a coward. He never hesitate when taking actions and decisions. The same thing happened when it came to talking about something necessary. So it was strange to see him that way. With that in mind, I didn't press the issue any further. And, just when I thought that the rest of the day was going to continue with the same tranquility, the ringing of the inspector's secret phone gave a twist to that morning:

-Hello? -He answered his phone-Chief Quimby? I'm here at the police station... okay, I'm going there.-he ended the call and turned to see me-Chief Quimby wants to see me in his office. I'll be back in a few moments, okay? -Without further ado, he left for where Chief Quimby was waiting for him.

Gadget's POV:

I had no idea what specifically Chief Quimby had planned, but I was pretty sure it was about Ninfa, my assistant. Otherwise, he wouldn't have called me to talk privately. For a few weeks now, the chief and I had been discussing her and her future as a member of the Metro City police force for some time. Since she arrived here, she has never gone unnoticed and certain events that have occurred in recent months have caused her to be in the crosshairs of certain high-ranking members of the institution.

-It's me, boss, can I come in?- I said after knocking on the door of Chief Quimby's office.

-Come in, Gadget. Take a sit.

-Have you made a decision, Boss?- I asked as I sat down.

-Yeah. It is obvious that your assistant has worked very well during the years that he has been part of the team. Despite her young age, it is surprising what she has achieved in such a short time. The truth is it would be unfair not to give her this opportunity, she easily qualifies for the position we have in mind.

-Do you mean...

-Yes, that same one. I know it's impressive, but you more than anyone know about the requirements and you can't deny that she achieve them to the letter. Of course, she will have to take the exam but it is only a necessary procedure, it is obvious that she will pass it without problems.

-You're right, boss.

-Well, I think we can break the news now. I'll let you start with that, you're her immediate boss so I think it would be good if you were to announce it first. -He argued while lighting his pipe. -That was all, Gadget, you can leave and don't forget to send me the latest report of the arrest you carried out. .

-I understood.

******

On the way back to where Ninfa was, I thought about everything my head was trying to process at that moment. It wasn't the first time that such valuable information was at my disposal but this time it felt so different from the rest. It was like if, deep inside, I didn't feel ready to talk to Ninfa about this. I simply couldn't...but it was my obligation and it would be a breach of it and something very selfish on my part if I didn't do it as soon as possible, as Chief Quimby ordered me to do.

The morning heat was nice and I was a total mess inside. From here, and without needing to be in front of her, I could see Ninfa waiting in the office. I stood in front of the door and breathed to force my face to change to a friendlier one. I turned the knob and found myself in front of her again: she was drinking some coffee with vanilla, the way she liked it. Our eyes met once I was walking into the office.

-Everything in order, boss?- She asked me, getting up from her seat.

-Yes, Chief Quimby is very happy after our last victory. So much so that...I have a feeling he's been recommending you for a promotion.

-A... a promotion?- She said, very surprised.

-Yes, you know: you can have a higher rank. It's really not something common for someone your age but, based on your skills the last few months...I'm sure that the Boss will consider without hesitation my recommendations regarding you and the higher ups will not doubt his word.-smile-Maybe ...you may be the agency's most important inspector in the future, who knows. I think... - I said with all the sincerity in the world - you would be a very good inspector, if you ask me. You are brave, intelligent and have the ability to think quickly when needed.

She looked at me for a few moments in silence. I could see how her expression changed, but I couldn't define it as a happy face, rather as a face full of melancholy.

-Oh...so...that means I won't be working with you anymore? -She asked me somewhat distressed.

I couldn't help but feel some compassion when I saw that unconventional response. I expected that she would be excited about this possibility that several here aspired to without stopping to think about her old and soon-to-be ex-boss. But I could feel that, in our case, that might be expected because of how close Ninfa and I became by working as a great team; not only on missions but also outside of work.

-Come here- I said, placing my hand on her shoulder.-You've done a very good job since you arrived a few years ago, and you deserve to be rewarded for that.  I'm not suggesting we won't meet again, I just think you could be the future inspector and who knows, I even know you could be the station leader. You don't have to feel pressure...I think.

-But... you... you wouldn't have any problems if I stopped being your assistant? -she said, getting closer to me.

She was very close at this point, as if she, with that action, was seeking some comfort; and, I admit, that did not bother me. On the contrary, I liked that attention.

******

Due to our work, it is obvious that Ninfa and I spend most of the time together. The closeness and trust that we have placed in each other has created the bond that we have today: one that has managed to transcend, to a certain extent, beyond the professional. I have felt the need to involve Ninfa in my life, which means that she has been part of moments that I would only share with those who are closest to me, such as my little niece Penny and my dog Brian. Ninfa has been present on several travels, parties and many other moments dedicated to my family. She and Penny got along so well, to the point that Ninfa has become something of a role model for my niece. So seeing her react that way to the news was something that affected me and warmed my heart.

-Of course I wouldn't like someone else to take your position as my assistant either. You are the only person I consider my right hand. We make a good team as inspector and assistant...but I also know that it is something that you deserve and that deep down you want, that's why there is nothing more important to me than doing what is best for you.

She just looked at me with those same eyes of disbelief. With a glow that implored me to hold her and prevent the inevitable from happening; and with all my years of experience in life and my skills in reading people, I already suspected, in part, what maybe was really going on but, honestly, I didn't dare to accept it. Not because I didn't like it but maybe... our positions at work didn't allow me to take another step; but maybe...just maybe the fact that Ninfa wpuld not be longer my subordinate and takes a rank equivalent to mine...maybe it will be an opportunity to have a free path, I thought. She probably didn't see it that way now. If she accepts that promotion, we would no longer be see each other every day like we have until now, I know; but that would open the possibility of seeing each other in another way. I only needed to confirm what I had sensed for a long time; so I approached her until our faces were a little closer together:

-Did I forget to mention that you are a charming person in every way?-I said in a softer tone of voice. -I haven't said anything about how friendly you are and the great relationship you have with everyone at the institution. You deserve every bit of the praise you receive, Ninfa. And maybe... maybe also something extra, if you know what I mean. -I smiled slightly at her and watched to see if she noticed the closeness of her body to mine.

-Something extra?-She asked, with her brown eyes wide open.

I looked into those big eyes and gently took her closer. I figured I could open up a little more about it. Soon there would be nothing stopping me from taking things to another level.

-You know...I can't describe it, but there's something there.-I was very nervous, I admit it-You and I connected, don't you feel the same way?

- Inspector... I...- is the only thing she could say, nervous and with her cheeks red.

I made our faces even closer.

-Ninfa, you don't have to be scared. We both know what I mean and if you don't...-I said as my heart beat faster. Our lips almost touched each time I moved closer to her. -I just want...- my mouth was so close to hers-I just want...

Just then, someone knocked on the door...

-to be continued...-

Well, this is the first chapter, I hope you like it. Sorry for my english. Hope to have the second chapter soon. heart and comment if you liked it <3 tell me if you want a tag in the next chapter and also if you have some doubts feel free to send all to my asks.

[brave-symphonia]

Been thinking about MAG 163 today, because of @a-mag-a-day reaching this episode. I normally don’t find the time to make a post for the episode, but this episode is really good. And maybe I’ll find more time with the S5 episodes, since I love them all.

It’s the first glimpse we get of the changed world after everything happens, and even though I tend to not like Slaughter statements, the more I listen to this one, the more I love it.

Like, an endless battlefield against a cruel unknown enemy, a battle where you can never die, because that would be a mercy, and the pain of the war never ends, where you might be fed into a tank where the only thing to relieve the heat and pain is to fire the cannon, leading to the pain of others on the battlefield.

And then there’s the fact that they mention the people who will see bodies piled high in their name and how they finally have a battlefield for their desires.

It really is just pure random violence against everyone involved in the domain, forever. And that’s what the Slaughter is. And it’s such a good first example of these domains being a pure distilled form of fear.

And it just feels so descriptive. The line about waters that are turned red and black from the oil and blood that fills them is such a good line. And the line about how Charlie’s friend turned to him, gave a thumbs up, and had their head explode from a bullet.

It all just gives such a clear image of what this domain is.

And then that line about how Ishaan was offered a choice to join the army, but it was a choice between poverty or this, so there really isn’t a choice in that. And what that could be trying to say about people that join the army because they don’t really have another choice with their situation.

Then that line about how the people receiving medical attention and the ones not being seen are the same, neither side is more injured, there’s just no room, and the others just have to wait outside, never receiving help.

The entire episode just feels so good, and I love how they toy with the world to better illustrate what a domain of the Slaughter would look like.

[threewaysdivided]

I just wanted to say: I love your art and especially your banner rn by talos! also your fic as well thank you for creating everything that you do for people, it’s awesome!

Second: what’s something that you’ve been chewing on lately, story wise? What character conflict, or plot point can you tell me about (that doesn’t spoil too much of course)? I wanna hear your thoughts about the characters you write and your head-cannons on them too! Just spit some word vomit at me!

Thank you! 

My current banner art is actually a crop of the first paired piece I ever did to go with my Deathly Weapons fic.  (Specifically Chapter 11, which I still have a soft spot for since it’s one of earliest chapters that really let me lean into scratching the thing-I-haven’t-seen-too-often-in-fanfic itch.) 

I recently got my hands on a discounted Wacom (my digital art process got tanked a few years ago when my poor art-compatible hybrid tablet-laptop was tragically taken from us by a cracked motherboard) so I’m looking forward to getting into a faster art workflow again and maybe putting some new pieces out more easily.  I’d like to do more comic art pieces for the Chapter 18 mission, and there’s a silly little concept drawing for the planned Mission 5 that might be new-blog-banner material if it turns out nicely.  We’ll have to see how that goes.

As for what I’ve been chewing on story-wise lately… I’ve sort of been all over the place.  I’m still on burnout recovery so I’ve been letting myself move non-sequentially, working on the bits my brain feels like focussing on rather than trying to force creativity where the juice isn’t flowing.   (One of the things about being my type of writing-nerd is that “self-indulgent” for me means a story with plenty of material to analyse, which is very fun as a reader but has created a lot of work for myself as the writer.  As mentioned in another post, I have a full-blown TV-show-style story-bible for this one.)

Recently, my authorial ping-pong-ing has been going into a fair bit of spoiler territory.  There are some chunks of the Act III endgame plan which are underdeveloped in the specifics of what the big-boss bad-guys’ plan is, whether I want to involve the Anti-Ecto Acts more, and the logistics of both the counter-strategy our heroes are planning to use and how to make its more action-heavy parts look cool in writing.  When I’m not doing that I’ve been focussing a lot on the upcoming Wally-centric chapters, which are a set I’ve been wanting to keep schtum about since there’s a small potential spoiler mixed in and I don’t want to risk giving the game up or pre-setting people’s expectations before they have a chance to blind read (even if a few people have already made some close guesses in the comments).  It puts me in a bit of an odd-spot right now because the chapters I’m drafting are an immediate spoiler, the later sections I’m working on are a major spoiler and there’s a good chance that a lot of the character stuff going on in the middle won’t make a whole lot of coherent sense without prior context because of how I like to layer foreshadowing/development.

That said, Wally-centric chapters mean Wally thoughts, and of those I have plenty to share:

First of all, I want to establish that I really do like Wally as a character.  The DW chapter set comprising Flashpoints through to Equilibrium is going to explore and develop some of his flaws and insecurities, which means he isn’t going to be looking his best, but it’s not meant to be a Ron The Death Eater situation.  He’s just a complex person, and taking him warts and all means sometimes you have to get up close and personal on the warts.

Something that I’m maybe a bit over-conscious of when reviewing my DW story notes is worrying about letting Wally slide into just being punching-bag joke-fodder.  Wally is quippy, irreverent, a little tactless and prone to being a bit of an impulsive goober who sometimes gets possessed by teenage boner-brain, which makes him easy to fall back on as a default source of incidental levity (whether cracking the joke or being the punchline).  Because I’m now writing an 8-character ensemble where most non-focal characters only get a few lines per conversation, it’s easy for characters to slide into being defined by their strongest surface level trait(s)… and something I worry about with Wally is that his availability as a source of jokes runs the risk of Flanderisation into a disposable Scrappy/ Flirty Comic Relief, which isn’t his character.  Wally is actually really important – not just for his scientific book-smarts but for his perceptiveness, earnestness and ability to function as one of the emotional barometers for the squad – so I always have it in the back of my mind to make sure I include enough moments that actually demonstrate those qualities and the other characters’ appreciation of them/ their friendship, so that it counterbalances the more light-hearted goofery.

I think he’s walking the same tightrope as Sokka from Avatar: the Last Airbender – yes, he tends to take the L more often than the others for comedy purposes and sometimes he gets stuck with supremely dumb side-plots for the sake of tonal balance, but to claim that it’s the entirety of his characterisation really misses the point by a wide mile.

On that note, I actually really like the decision YJ!Animated decided to go with in its first and only season (ahem) in giving Wally a normal and functional family background.  I know that’s not the typical background for his comics counterparts (and no shade on other fan-writers who want to write AUs exploring the abuse dynamic, those are really interesting stories) but I think it was a smart deviation for the purposes of a large ensemble, and offered a fair bit of potential for cast-balance.  It lets him serve an important role as the normal one – not only as an easy window into what the current lives of ordinary middle-class civilians look like (which is good because ordinary people are who our heroes are donning the masks to protect) but also as a touch-stone for the others, most of whom either come from different cultures or from very atypical backgrounds.  Even if we discount the Impure Atlantean with military training, the ostracised White Martian and the Half-Alien clone-weapon, the other members of this line-up are an orphaned circus acrobat adopted by a billionaire, a girl from a dangerously dysfunctional criminal household where she was forced to fight her sibling, and a fledgling sorceress raised by an overprotective single Dad.  The others might intellectually understand what a “normal” childhood and family look like but they don’t necessarily know it as intuitively and intimately as Wally does.  That normality gives Wally the potential to be a more stable foundation for the others, a source of emotional contrast and of a necessary wholesome mundanity.  That is a good thing for the Team to have.  I think it also speaks volumes to the heart of his character.  For this Wally, the Flash and heroism weren’t an escape from a bad personal situation.  His life was actually pretty comfy and privileged - he didn’t experience a brutal wakeup to the injustices of the world or some other personal call to action.  This is a Wally who opted into the game because he loves the players and sincerely believes in their values and mission.  And while that might mean he has a more romanticised idea of what heroism entails – and will probably face some rough shocks down the line as that rosy vision runs into those more brutal realities – it also means he brings a sincere hopefulness to the job that is less hardened than a lot of his roughed-up, pre-jaded peers.  Underneath the teen sarcasm and surface-level lancer/smart-guy traits, this Wally has as much power to be a stealth-Heart as any of his Flash!counterparts.

Something else I find interesting when using Wally is how a lot of his strengths and flaws feed into each other – and I think this alternate backstory is part of it.  For all of his good heart Wally can come off as insensitive, and I think some of that could be read as a product of living a more charmed life.  I think he’s susceptible to a thing that a lot of real people do – universalising their own personal experience as the default – and that while he is canonically a geek and somewhat genre-savvy about hero cliches, he’s a geek about in-universe media so he probably doesn’t think to apply those tropes to “real people” like himself or his colleagues.  While this Wally is a skeptic, he’s not a cynic, and I think he might forget how much of an outlier he is in a world where things like living parents and loving parents are often mutually exclusive.  He’s smart enough to connect dots but there’s a little blind-spot where he simply might not think to until one of the others jabs an elbow into his ribs, because his default view on humanity is in some ways a little kinder than typical due to that small but still significant amount of privilege.

At the same time, Wally is also someone who has probably run into (or watched his mentor run into) a lamp-post at high-speed at least once in his career.  He contains multitudes and among those multitudes is an endless capacity for some absolute Looney-Tunes nonsense, which the world is 100% better off for having.

I love him, your honour.