#anyway again. obviously this is a thing that can be not true abt your own wol

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

ymmv obviously this is just a take and half hc but i have to think abt how the wol fights or more specifically, who they fight with.

it always seems to transpire that for one reason or another, the wol fights a lot of their battles alone (in terms of npcs, obviously. you have other players but they're nebulously extant ingame). arr is a whole "throw the wol at the problem"-fest, it kind of doesn't even start to occur to people that "hey maybe sending them to fight this big bad alone isn't always a great idea" until like, stormblood. but even then, the scions and any other allies that are around are very often outright prevented from helping you for one reason or another.

frequently you're fighting a battle on multiple fronts, and there's no real option for them except to focus on their own fight and put their faith in the wol elsewhere. or they get taken away or left behind while you press on. then there's the fact that you're frequently fighting primals, which the majority of characters literally can't help you with for most of the game without jeopardizing their sanity. like, you have other people in the room with you when you fight a primal once, and it's actually a huge problem bc you and arenvald can't really focus on fighting when you're running back and forth trying to shield people from tempering. combined with the limited pool of people who are even on level with a primal in combat to start with, people who can actually assist you with those fights are few and far between.

but even beyond the material reasons! if there's a "canon" wol they're obviously someone who's almost comically obedient, but they do silently exercise agency on occasion... and it is almost exclusively to pick fights, usually alone. like, fucking zodiark. you get sent up to the moon, expecting to maybe fight, like, zenos, fandaniel, nope! the big guy himself. and the wol makes the active decision to not even phone home and say "hey, just so you know, i'm fighting the father of all primals, idk if there's time for you to get up here but. just so you're aware. just in case i cannot kill zodiark by my fucking self. that's what's going on on the moon right now." nah you just jump in there, no need to bother your friends, they're busy, you can take care of this one.

and then this obviously comes to a blatant head in ultima thule, where your friends all but say "we're prepared to sacrifice ourselves along with you if it means the world is safe" and the wol literally denies them that right. they pull the scions back from death and then send them away, and remain behind alone, fully aware they were facing a probably-unwinnable fight. (and i have a whole other fucking essay about the narrative ramifications of zenos' arrival in this context and others but. another time. this post is too long anyway) my point being that's one of the most blatant moments of pc agency and it's to remove others from a battle and stay behind alone.

idk i think a canon wol trait is a fixation on their own sacrifice, a desire to put themself in harm's way because otherwise someone else might do it and that's intolerable. and the narrative often conspires to validate them on this. and it's. interesting? i'm rotating it.

[rollercoasterwords]

Hey so I just finished reading James’ interlude (it was amazing by the way!) and the u portrayed his aromanticism was so fascinating, def one of my portrayals. I saw u answering an anon and u mentioned (correct me if I’m wrong) that his aromanticism kinda comes from him being the chosen one, and how stuff like gender and sexuality are socially constructed. This is such an interesting concept to me coz I hear that language getting thrown around a lot but I never really understood what it meant.

It kinda reminded me of a convo I had with my transmasc friend. He said that if he had been born a boy he probably would have been transfem. At first I was pretty surprised, but then I thought abt it and realised that despite being a lesbian, if I had been born a boy I probably would have been gay. This revelation really stumped me coz, for context, Income from a conservative religious background, so I’ve always latched onto the idea that being gay is smth innate, or how God made me. But after that revelation,, I was like,,, maybe I can be straight if I try hard enough?? Liking girls is not smth innate within me?? Idk.

Sorry for the rambling lol but reading ur works always gets me thinking deeper abt these kind of topics. Probs has smth to do with u studying gender studies lol.

Anyways love ur work and have a good day <33

yeah i mean. i def think it's a good idea 4 everyone 2 spend time pondering & developing their own understanding of gender; ik mine has changed significantly over the course of my life & likely will continue 2 change as i grow older & learn more, etc.

i think one thing people tend 2 get stuck on is this idea that either ur born w ur identity (whether that's gender, sexuality, etc) baked in & have 2 discover it throughout ur life (bound up in the post-Enlightenment idea of a disembodied 'soul' or 'mind') OR it's all socially constructed, so it's completely made up/shaped by outside forces and we're all just playing pretend, etc. but that's really not what i mean when i say that i think of gender (& sexuality, etc) as socially constructed.

the best metaphor i have rn 4 explaining my own worldview is the idea of an accent. obviously, there is a material component to someone's accent: the shape of their mouth, their teeth--their ears, their hearing, etc. all of these physical & material factors influence how someone's accent might develop. but none of those factors really matter until placed within a social context--depending on where & how ur raised, ur accent will vary wildly, and it won't necessarily remain static throughout the course of your life. you & your family might have different accents; you might use a different accent to speak another language; your physical body might change in some way that affects your accent and the way u speak (stroke, hearing loss, etc). but there's no single, "true" accent inside of you waiting 2 be discovered and spoken. it's a socially constructed part of ur identity that develops throughout ur life, and can only be understood & have meaning attributed to it in a social context. and once u develop an accent, it feels as natural & as much a part of u as something like hair color, etc--it's not something u can just snap ur fingers & change, despite the fact that u weren't "born that way."

obviously, this is a metaphor, and there r many ways gender identity differs from accents--but i find it useful 4 helping illustrate in a tangible way what i'm talking abt when i say something is a "social construction." w james in wfrau specifically, what i was trying 2 say in that ask was not, again, that being "the chosen one" made him aromantic; rather, what i'm hoping 2 convey is that his experience growing up as "the chosen one" has fundamentally shaped his own understanding of his inability to experience/confusion surrounding romantic love (this is also why i avoid concretely labeling him as aromantic in the tags on the fic; it's not necessarily how he understands himself). he attributes this part of his identity to his understanding of himself as a "hero," i.e. someone who is not meant 2 prioritize any one person above The Cause/The Quest, bc his inability to grasp this concept of romantic love & reciprocate it does not align w normative understandings of love & so makes him feel ashamed & isolated & as though there's something "wrong" with him, & attributing this "broken" aspect of himself 2 the fact that he's meant 2 be a "hero" helps him reconcile w this piece of his identity that he otherwise doesn't understand how 2 qualify. again, i'm less concerned w whether there's some inherent "aromanticism" baked into him or whether he'd feel the same/identify the same way in different circumstances; what i'm interested in is looking at how this specific character has been shaped by these specific circumstances. hope that makes sense lol also ty glad ur enjoying the fic!

[chokkito]

🌺- Do they have any love interest(s)?

Any OC of your choosing!

You FOOL you gave me the perfect opportunity to talk nonstop about my oc ships!

I'm not gonna put oc x oc ships here cause i dont wanna make any of my friends unconfy but 💪 just know there are a lot

Anyways most of my ocs do not have a love interest, the only one that i can think that has one is Juliette, who has her wife, but!!! I have a lot of shipps!!!! And im gonna talk abt them down below!!!

Angeline x Orpheus

"Oh hey this guy seems neat-...Oh hes a bit fucked up!"

- I'm not gonna explain this one. I just think they are very neat and would make an amazing couple in my head

- Angeline would love to read anything that Orpheus writes and also give him small tips on stuff, like how some plotpoints were confusing in her vision as a reader, but at the same time do so as a way to motivate him instead of trying to make him feel bad about it

- Angeline composing a song for Orpheus even if she is not the best at it but still doing so to make him happy ueeuee

- They would have a lot of angst with all that thing of Orpheus being >a bit< crazy and related to the manor games and she would feel very betrayed and and ueeeueeee

- Also side difference because Angeline is very tall (2.50m/8'2) and i imagine Orpheus being around 1.70m/5'7ft

Angeline x Frederick

"Gosh i hate this dude why doesn't he get out of my head"

- One-sided rivalry that slowly turns into love (real?!)

- I imagine Angeline finding Frederick a little too pompous and rude at first, mostly because she mostly goes by body language to understand people and Frederick doesn't show a lot

- But i imagine Frederick not having a lot agaisnt her so they just start talking and? Have a lot in common?

- Obviously composer x musician ships are very good so!!! Angeline playing Frederick's songs on the piano!!!!

- Again size difference because hell yeah (you'll see it a lot in here just a warning)

Dianna x Keigan

"Gosh i hate this ripper guy" "Girl me too!!!" "OMG LETS DESTROY HIM"

- I think the quote says it all.

- They both have a very similar sense of justice, thinking that sacrifices are sometimes necessary for true justice to actually happen, and are not afraid of making said sacrifices

- Both saw the justice system failling in their own ways (Keigan by seeing her brother being bribbed to free some criminals and Dianna by seeing the police not caring about her mother's death because of their social class) and decided to take the matter into their own hands

- Dianna would see Keigan as what true justice stands for, thinking she is like an angel brought to earth even with all the corruption in the justice system, and Keigan would see Dianna as a woman that, even though has her questionable methods, is also seeking justice just like her

- Jack would NOT survive a game where both of them were together i'm telling you that

- Idk i have not talked a lot about Dianna's lore but if you guys knew it YOU WOULD AGREE WITH ME!!!

Olivia x Hastur

"Be not afraid" "Sir this is the sexiest moment of my life."

- Workshipper x God i don't care about anything anymore

- Olivia 100% simps for Hastur, canonically sleeping for days straight sometimes just so she can hear him talking to her in her head

- She abandoned her life and everything she had just so she could workship him, idk seems pretty simp to me

- Their relationship would not be 100% healthy and i know that, but i just think their dynamic would be very cool and interesting

- Hastur taking a liking to Olivia because shes different from the other workshippers and is actually in love with him (real)

Yelena x Capitano

"Boss i don't think we can mansplain manipulate manwhore our way out of this" "Manslaughter then."

- Again it's not 100% healthy but at that point if the dynamic is interesting i like to do it sorry not sorry

- Capitano literally saves Yelena's life, so they would spend all their life by his side, even sacrificing themselves for him

- Yelena having a crush on Capitano but knowing they cannot pursue him because he's a harbinger and she's just a random fatuus.......

- They're like that one "he asked for no pickles" image yknow

- Capitano having a soft spot for Yelena and actually caring about them 🤲

- Yelena being very thin and weak and Capitano being strong as hell is just very fun to imagine

- Also size difference once more appears in here! Cool!

Eir x Wriothesley

"...Yeah so that was the history of how my nation got destroyed and i got traumatized for life anyways wanna hear about that time a ghost touched my ass" "I think you need to see a psychiatrist"

- Size difference makes a comeback!!!

- Eir is a very extroverted person and i see Wriothesley as a more quiet one, so they would just make a great couple overall because of that

- Eir would give nicknames for Wriothesley related to wolves because he reminds her of them and she finds it very cute

- Wriothesley getting flustered easily but trying to hide it x Eir noticing and provoking him on it

- Eir commiting small crimes and all just so she can go to prison and see Wriothesley teehee 😋

- After her nation got destroyed, Eir had a hard time trusting people again, so when she is with Wriothesley she finally feels safe because she knows he won't harm her in any way 🤲

- Eir would 100% try to change Wriothesley's entire wardrobe because she finds it too boring

Eir x Dainsleif

"Same trauma?" "Same trauma."

- Bounded by trauma yippie!!!!/j

- Size difference once more but well ignore it

- Anyways they are both from Khaenri'ah and have a similar fashion sense so they are very neat

- Once more a quieter guy x eir who literally is not afraid of screaming and showing her frustration for everyone to see

- Idk the idea of them both losing everything they loved and finding confort in being with each other even after everything and healing together is very neat

- Eir being a little goblin who eats insects daily and Dainsleif having to tell her "hey maybe dont eat insects that are poisonous just because youre immortal!!!!" UEEEYEEYEEUEEEE

[horizon-verizon]

Do you think Blood and Cheese was primarily intended to kill Aegon II?

See, it's interesting because coming from a Doylist perspective either Aegon or one of his son's would be work with Daemon's ideas of "poetic justice" that GRRM was going for.

Aegon is the head of the greens (if we mean the person the greens are behind) in the same way that Rhaenyra was head of the blacks (in that she is the one being supported). If Rhaenyra's son is dead by Aemond, and Aemond is son by Alicent (who is Daemon and Rhaenyra's enemy), then it works that Aegon II is the "son" targeted. However, if we look at it through how Aegon is the "head" to Rhaenyra's head, then one of his sons would work for the principle of "eye for and eye, sons for a son".

Watsonianly, I just have so much trouble with the Blood and Cheese incident in other ways other than its horror and violence against children.

I have trouble with the idea that Daemon targeted Aegon or that he only wanted Aegon because this incident read as one of the most emotion-driven (much more than straight political) acts in the whole account of the Dance. And it was so obviously abt Aegon's sons when Cheese says "boy" [below].

If he was just trying to get to the person who caused Lucerys' death through personal meane, why not Aemond? It would have also gotten rid of the Greens' biggest weapon, the rider of Vhagar.

Helaena's political value (to Alicent and Otto, not Larys) versus her son's political value can't be ignored either. She may have been Queen Consort and daughter to Alicent and granddaughter to Otto) the Hand, but her gender precludes her from political importance other than being a comparatively lower symbol of Aegon's rule and legitimacy, as opposed to a son. And yet, her grief as a mother would be similar to Rhaenyra's and would match Rhaenyra's -- in Daemon's perspective.

Of course her and Aegon's sons are also heirs to Aegon as much as Lucerys was an heir of Rhaenyra. (Not heir to the throne like Jacaerys was, but a son is their parent's heir more than a daughter customarily/historically is). For the greens,big on male privilege and custom, either Jaehaerys or Maekor's death would hurt emotionally more than Aemond's. Aegon may have built Aemond a statue, but sons trump brothers and that statue was more of a symbol of his own strength and green unity through than affection. The greens, again, are more about ego, duty and custom than true love.

Also, Daemon would or should have known that Aegon was protected and that it would be very difficult to get to him:

Using a forgotten passageway, Cheese led Blood into the heart of the castle, unseen by any guard. Some say their quarry was the king himself, but Aegon was accompanied by the Kingsguard wherever he went, and even Cheese knew of no way in and out of Maegor’s Holdfast save over the drawbridge that spanned the dry moat and its formidable iron spikes.

We could argue that Daemon trusted Mysaria and her worker Cheese to get to him anyway, but this is Maegor's Holdfast. The metal-spiked moat can only be crossed by a drawbridge. Yet Varys has also said that there is a secret passageway into this structure that Major himself asked for...

To be sure, we'd have to get Cheese and interrogate him to know how deep his knowledge of the entire keep and this Holdfast is to see why he couldn't just slip into Aegon's rooms and kill him then. Unless the the Kingsguard were wont to stand inside Aegon's room ashe slept, why didn't Cheese lead Blood just go into Aegon's rooms if Aegon was the real target? Did he not know about this passageway?

Queen Helaena kept her calm, it is said. “Who are you?” she demanded of the two. “Debt collectors,” said Cheese. “An eye for an eye, a son for a son. We only want the one, t’ square things. Won’t hurt the rest o’ you fine folks, not one lil’ hair. Which one you want t’ lose, Your Grace?”

[...]

“A wife’s not a son,” said Blood. “It has to be a boy.”

AND

Two days later, Blood was seized at the Gate of the Gods trying to leave King’s Landing with the head of Prince Jaehaerys hidden in one of his saddle sacks. Under torture, he confessed that he had been taking it to Harrenhal, to collect his reward from Prince Daemon.

(Fire and Blood; A Son for a Son)

Very clear instructions, it has to be one of Aegon's sons.

Why does it have to be a "boy" -- juvenile, male child? Aegon would have not count as that sort of boy, but if B and C heard Mysarias instructions, knew she meant "boy" as in "young man", saw that they couldn't get to Aegon then go after Aegon's "boy".... Is it because Daemon told them to get Aegon but they couldn't and to collect a reward and to diminish Daemon's anger they thought to get at least another type of "son" and switch gears? Maleness of the child or victim also mattered more than anything else because that hits the greens more where it emotionally hurts than if they had just killed Aemond or Helaena.

Or did they always have clear instructions to kill Aegon's son?

I think that Daemon wanted Aegon most of all and however he could get him regardless of any principle -- because Aegon is the person directly sitting in the seat Rhaenyra should be sitting in and is the head of the greens-- but would have settled for one of his sons even if Blood and Cheese decided on the spot to just murder one of Aegon's sons when they couldn't get to Aegon himself.

(I don't know if Daemon, still, would allow Blood to have gotten away with backing out of the order [or taking things into his own hands] to kill Aegon if Daemon actually set out to kill Aegon. You know, because having such a bad assassin who can't take orders or twists them so they could get a reward is dangerous.)

[sweet-little-dude]

hey hello taku dear <3 gahh once again we haven’t spoken in too long :( anyways it mostly was bc there was zero tokrev brainrot in me buut there is now!! so i’m back here hehe.

also funfact i just fiNALLY started rereading tokrev and i’m doing it in french bc. idk i just felt like it?? i hate french but i’m actually practicing it now lol. and ngl i understand more than i thought i would-

anyways on saturday i watched la gardiennes de la planète (a movie abt whales) in the cinema and idk how but. like halfway through a merfolk concept just popped into my head n bc i obviously couldn’t just forget abt it i decided to write a tokrev merfolk au. so guess who’s writing their fourth moshion fic? me. idek why but they have a chokehold on me and i keep writing abt them. tho it’s fun so no complaints <3

well i insaned abt the fic a little... okay that’s a lie i wrote 3.5k of fic in the span of 22 hrs, beating my preccious record of 2.7k in 24 hrs. so okay i’m more than a little insane abt it- so so so plot and lore bc i cannot contain myself. firstly shion’s a merman n mochi is human. then it’s also a college au but mochi isn’t studying rn bc for plot conveniences his last semester of highschool n his 1st semester of college don’t line up so he’s got a few months of free time. i still hc that his parents are rich af but imo he lives alone in a rather small flat he pays with his own money as best he can bc he wants to. idk. well okay so basically what i’ve written so far: mochi finds shion injured n tangled in a fishers’ net at the beach while on a late night walk, and takes him to his flat to help. there he fills the bathtub with water for him, and gets the rope off his body. lastly, he treats his injuries. then he goes to sleep bc it’s the middle of the night- and when he wakes up again the next day, the bathtub is empty and shion’s lying on the floor in his corridor. and he suddenly has legs. bc in this au merfolk just transform into a human form into drying out (n then transform back when they’re wet enough. which is very wet) and shion my fav idiot tried to go back to the ocean on his own but got stuck in the hallway and got too dry. also bc i think that’s the most realistic version of transformation it hurts like a bitch bc i mean your tail literally splits to form two legs- well mochi patches shion up agAIN and they finally talk n exchange names bc my merfolk have diff vocal chords in ther mer form bc they commumicate like whales underwater. tho they can just. speak human language too in their human form for some reason. i mean they understand it bc they watch n listen to humans talk but i haven’t figured out why they can SPEAK it if they lile never do. anyways that’s small enough of a plot hole :) so yeah that’s basically where i’m at in my writing.

i still need to make them fall in love and do more things together and god what else but. i hope i’ll manage somehow bc this is gonna be longer than my usual works aj dgk gkfjsj i mean i’m already at 3.5k and they barely know each other. guess they’ll have to fall for each other quickly idk

but yeah. that ramble is a lot longer than planned n i already shortened it- well. i hope you enjoy merfolk aus as much as i do bc you’ll probs get more rambles abt them while i continue writing lol

and hello to you elys my love !!! so true best friend, I MISS WHEN WE USE TO TALK ALL THE TIME </3333 ig both of our tokyrev hyperfixation have kinda died down for a second- but glad urs is back!!! i might try and get back into it but my bandom hyperfixation just keeps eating me up more and more like help 😭😭

OH FRENCH!! THATZ SO FUCKIN RAD DUDE but yeah go you!!! thatz fuckin sick!

whales :3 oooh! im not too much into fantasy aus tbf but that sounds cool!! YEAHHH GIVE IT UP FOR MOSHION (their shipname is so cutie patootie.....) but yes as you should ngl they are so blorbo scrimbli i need to write for them so fucking bad my god

oh my god you literal beast WHAT damn bro already sounds like he wants to be part of your world /j im sorry i had to. but true i could mochi as being loaded ngl

eeeeeee im so excited for this !!! it sounds good i cant wait for u to finish it. but istg if u randomly turn this into an angst i will fIGHT you

[first-apostle]

you are so so right and wise always thank you for this post and your perspective on this matter

Ramble about why i dont really like interpretations of kdj as like somehow weaker than or needing to be onesidedly taken care of by kcom or yjh. Obvi this is just me having an interp and not really having a taste for certain other interps and then rambling about it on my tumblr dot com blog

i feel like one of the big appeals of the relationship between kdj and his crew is that theyre all strong people who are dedicated to each other, and that sense is taken away from by narratives that focus on kdj being like physically weak or innocent or something like that.

i think for me theres also that association that comes to mind when like that kind of kdj interp is put up against a still buff and stoic yjh of like fu**shis having to put like that kind of power dichotomy between men theyre trying to fe**shize because it exists in most of the BL media targetted at them and parallels toxic messages from het media theyve already internalized.

Theres also just like the fact that fans of east asian media have a tendency to infantalize the asian characters in it (and even carrying over to real east asian people) and because its a real issue that makes me uncomfortable its hard for me to enjoy content thats like “uwu poor baby needs to be taken care of” about a grown ass korean man in his thirties.

obviously thats not to say that men have to be completely emotionally unimpeachable or anything? (I dont have that much internalized toxic masculinity) I just think that something that makes characters like kdj yjh (and hsy and jhw and.., i could list maybe the whole company) interesting and dynamic is that they often have that standard for themselves in their idea of being “strong,” and managing to live up to it most of the time is what makes like hurt/comfort an emotional event instead of lacking that standard making the opposite a change to the character’s personality.

also something that annoys me about like interps that make kdj like ... ugh gross word but the cishets have forced my hand - “subservient” in his relationship with yjh is that its just not like... accurate. Theyre dynamic is just like... so much more than that, especially if we’re talking about 3rd regression yjh specifically. Theyre constantly in this bizarre equilibrium where theyre each viewing the other as someone so much stronger than themself, someone who saved their life, someone who theyre able to live for now, and also they are both completely oblivious to the fact that thats how the other views them. This is very important.

also this is just me actually but i think even tho yjh is like technically older than kdj its funny that kdj was born the year before him so he’ll always be a year older. So write that down.

very important to also note that theyre like indeterminably both older and younger than one another because time so like dynamics where one of them is junior to the other just feel so ooc to me tbh.

ok. TLDR; inherently homophobic fu**shi favored tropes and racist infantilization play into my dislike of the idea of kdj being a junior to or weaker than yjh, but my main issue stems from considering it ooc due to my own interpretation of them relying on the fact that they each see each other as a goal to strive for, someone better than them, and in a way that makes them equals, also i am gay.

PS (post script) if you dont understand the last few paragraphs of this post watch an ace attorney letsplay. take some notes and get back to me after

[lunaastoir]

fluff/relationships w the mondstadt crew

characters included: diluc, kaeya, and jean

gn! reader as always <3

tw: fluff??? domesticity??? crack??? ideal relationships w people who will never be real??? also mentions of alcohol!

an: so i’m back w a sequel to my “fluff/relationships w the liyue crew” since you guys seemed to really like it <3 thank you my heart is literally melting 😩 this post was getting too long so i excluded some of the characters but expect a part. 2 (more like part 3 but part 2 to the mondstadt version)! 

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

diluc

man. this MAN.

that’s it, that’s the headcanon. 

he would literally be the most doting lover in the softest ways

SUCH a soft romantic like you thought you knew love??? nah this man will show you what love is

will constantly leave you things around the winery to convey his silent thank you’s and appreciation for you putting up with him being busy for most of the day

it’s always the most thoughtful things ever too like-

you mentioned how nice it would be to have some fresh lemonade with the hotter weather outside but it was too late in the day to actually go to the market in search of fresh lemons 

the next day you walked downstairs only to be greeted with a pitcher of cool lemonade with a side of lemon bars

there was a note attached to the handle of the pitcher <3 

“i recall you mentioning how lemonade would be perfect for the warmer weather so i decided to make some for you this morning. i hope it’s still cool by the time you drink it. love, d” 

pls sir your hand in marriage

he secretly loves it when you usher him to bed after waking up in the dead of night to see him working by candlelight on reports 

soft hands on his cheeks gently whispering about how, it’s been far too long and come to bed, darling and there will be time for this in the morning

his protests are light given the dark purple hues under his crimson eyes but he’ll still make a little fuss 

don’t let this man fool you tho he’s so so touched that you care enough to check up on him and drag him to bed!!

sometimes on the days he has a bit more free time, the two of you will quickly grab your dinners and race to the highest spot in the winery to watch the setting sun

these moments are always filled with laughter, something you’ve found you’re easily able to pull out of diluc, simply because it’s you 

uncontrollable sobbing

he would let you paint his nails black like the angsty man he is 

frankly he would let you do anything to him if it makes you happy <3 

ok but wait diluc w bLACK NAILS?? AND RINGS??? i would die on the spot ⚰️

on the topic of makeup, this man is surprisingly really good w it 

i like to think he learned after practicing on kaeya when they were younger bc kaeya was really into makeup

you found out after babysitting klee one day and trying failing to draw eyeliner on the sweet girl after her “big brother ‘bedo!”

you hastily grabbed some wipes, gently wiping off the messed up design before attempting to dive back in 

diluc however, had some down time so he decided to check up on his favorite chaotic duo 

only to be met with a pile of dirtied makeup wipes, your frustrated expression, and klee’s growing jitteriness 

swiftly moving to your side, he quietly asked if you needed help 

you glanced up quizzically before handing him the eyeliner, already looking around to find more makeup wipes when this inevitably goes wrong 

to your utter surprise tho the eyeliner is perfect??? two perfect winged lines??? in less than a minute??? WHAT

you just stood there like 😦 before diluc got back up and handed you the eyeliner 

you were short-circuiting, klee was ecstatic, diluc was worried about you 

ok last thing abt diluc 

crack! warning but the both of you like lowkey pranking kaeya 

for diluc it’s revenge on his annoying brother; for you it’s good - natured sibling rivalry fun 

every time the two of you see kaeya, one of you always swipes something of his 

small things really, it could be a pen or a handkerchief

one time, diluc swiped kaeya’s spare eyepatch and from the looks of it, kaeya’s only spare black eyepatch bc he was frantically looking for it yk he’s desperate when he even asked diluc if he saw it

the two of you spent an hour nearly laughing your asses off 

all in all, life w him is so sweet 

kaeya

pretty boy? pretty boy. 

while i can’t guarantee stability, life would never be boring w this man that’s for sure

piggy back rides 🗣 piggy back rides 🗣 piggy back rides 

he LOVES it, the feel of you on his back while he’s walking around mondstadt most likely carrying you to your commission 

he finds it comforting especially since he can hear the rumble of your voice against him while you recount stories, or just babble on about everything under the sun 

he is SO dramatic so obviously when y’all reach the site of the commission he has to kill all the monsters even tho the both of you agreed to split it up evenly 

he makes quick work of his set before stealing some of yours much to your chagrin 

you scold him but can you really be mad at him when he looks drop dead gorgeous freezing the hilichurls the answer is no, no you cannot be

oh my god ok wait-

he does this thing where he tries to spook you in public 

so say you’re getting groceries at the mondstadt general store

you round the corner just minding your own business, looking around, taking in the sunshine 

and suddenly you just hear someone drop in behind you but before you can register anything you hear a soft “boo” and hands circle your waist 

you jump SIKE let’s be honest you shrieked 

meanwhile kaeya’s just laughing his ass off 

you can hear his rich peals of laughter while you attempt to regain your bearings 

he does this so often you SHOULD be used to it but you really aren’t bc mans is SNEAKY-

he cards his fingers in your hair whenever you’re speaking 

he doesn’t know why, it’s just a cute habit and he finds the feel of his fingers in your hair soothing

oH on the topic of comfort, kaeya really likes resting two fingers on the back of your neck???

ik he seems like the type to throw his arm around your shoulder which yes he totally is but during more serious conversations his hand automatically seeks out the warmth of your neck 

your neck feels amazing especially during the warmer months due to his chilly fingers contrasting with your warm skin  

he likes that he’s able to access such a vulnerable part of you and you would willingly let him 

HE GETS YOU MATCHING OUTFITS

no i will NOT take criticism on this i just kNOW he’s that type of guy

it would be those stupid “i’m his” and “they’re mine” sweatshirts like BYE 

it’s so cringy but for some reason it’s oddly adorable and you truly despise it but you can’t seem to say no whenever he asks 

you pretend to ignore the look of pity diluc throws your way whenever he sees you like this

kaeya really loves accessories so i think he would be the type to give you a promise ring or something similar to show that he truly does care for you 

he would brush it off, flirting a little like usual before handing you the ring 

with the way his cheeks softly darken though, you know he’s being genuine 

TICKLE FIGHTS ik i mentioned this for childe but shhhh

he has tickle fingers??? his hands just loOK like they’re itching to tickle someone so you’ll most likely be the unfortunate victim 

he will not show you mercy. at all. he’ll tickle you until there are tears streaming from your eyes, your face is hot, and your voice is hoarse from laughing so damn hard 

it gives him such a rush of serotonin its SO CUTE 

i feel like this goes without saying but he’s super into pda,,, anything and everything is on the table 

hand holding? duh. ass grabs? ofc. carrying you bridal style around mondstadt? why not 

ik he’s typically very playful but once the relationship reaches a certain stage, he’ll slowly start to let down the walls that surround his facade 

very very slowly show you the more realistic parts of him 

the real, damaged pieces of his soul 

he’ll be carefully monitoring your reaction though, any sign of fear or disgust will have him recoiling within himself again and you most likely will never see his true nature ever again 

SO BE CAREFUL 👹

once you’ve seen the parts of him he’s offered to you, the hushed whispers of his past, and the uncertain lines of his future, he will take off his eyepatch 

pretends like he’s not super nervous but he’s SWEATING- 

the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen though hands down 

you can understand why he covers it up but you would like it if he felt comfortable enough to take off the eyepatch occasionally when he’s with you 

also!!! sleeps with his eyepatch side facing you (in the event he wears it to bed) 

if this happens you KNOW he trusts you bc it’s his blindside <3 

anyways life w kaeya will never be boring but he is a very complicated man 

stay with him though, i promise it’ll be worth it 

jean

the key to jean’s heart is coffee and food 

GET HER COFFEE AND FOOD

i am begging you she deserves it 😭

the poor woman works so hard bc the knights are so mf understaffed, this is literally the best way you can ever show her your love and appreciation when she has work

she will MELT if you have a hot shower and dinner waiting for her when she inevitably returns later than she promised

will completely refuse at first with, “you did not have to do this, it’s too much” but shush her as you shOULD bc she deserves the entire world 

she’s the definition of “you do something for me, i’ll return the favor ten times grander”

you leave a flower on her desk bc it reminded you of her??? you’ll wake up to find a whole bouquet of the prettiest windwheel asters you’ve ever seen the next morning along with a thank you note

she’s so sweet BYE

she gets flustered extremely easily so you obviously use this as an opportunity to tease her 

when you’re in public rest your hand on her waist and inch it higher until your hand is underneath her shirt and in contact with her warm skin 

she’ll actually short-circuit its quite adorable 

sometimes y’all will be cuddling and you’ll hear whispers of her insecurities 

“am i a good grand master? will i ever be as valiant as vanessa?”

reassure her!!! tell her that she doesn’t need to be like vanessa, she’s already amazing as jean 

if you haven’t seen her in awhile, track her down and schedule a lunch date 

she never misses appointments and if it’s for you, she’ll gladly make time to see you even if she has to stay up even later than usual 

OH-

GIVE HER MASSAGES 

she has so much tension and the sorest muscles from hunching over papers and running around on errands 

if you sneak into her office and quietly stand behind her before gently pushing down on the sore tendons of her neck, she’ll genuinely fall over on her desk 

so make sure you steady her 😀

after you feel how tight her muscles are though, you drag her to barbara bc she needs a healer asap 😭

while most of your time is spent in her office - you helping out in the ways you can while jean is overseeing knight duties - you still have your fair share of life outside of the favonius headquarters

jean never likes to sit still so whenever you have free time, the both of you head off looking for monsters to clear

bouken da bouken???

adventuring w jean is seriously the funnest thing you could ever do 

it’s just non-stop you accidentally getting into trouble and her having to come help you 

even tho the both of you are dead tired after fighting, what? 20 hilichurl camps now??? the laughter and joy in your eyes shows how you both truly loved every minute of it

it’s both a stress reliever, good fun, and a work-out <3

you’re definitely prone to getting dragged to angel’s share w kaeya 

kaeya and jean sometimes hang out after work at the tavern so inevitably you’re dragged along too 

all three of you are drunk out of your minds which just makes everything a MILLION times funnier 

kaeya slurring over his words makes the two of you start cackling endlessly while diluc just shakes his head making sure to not give you more wine despite your pleas 

angel’s share ft. kaeya and bartender diluc are always the best times fr fr 

life with her literally feels like y’all are married 

so much domesticity it’s so NICE ALJDKSFH

your house is always so clean and the color scheme is impeccable bc jean has such a good eye 

you have a chore schedule 😎 but it almost never works out bc jean ends up doing everything without you knowing- 

you always confront her abt it and she’s like 😁 “i had some time so i did them! no worries tho” like i- time??? where bitc-

oH- she has amazing style so you can bet shopping w her is literally the best experience 

she takes you to all of the hidden gems some places lisa recommended and helps you pick out things 

will 100% get really blushy if you come out in something and ask her for her opinion tho she’s literally the cutest

basically jean is a sweet girl who deserves the entirety of teyvat that is all. 

thanks for reading! if you have any requests don’t hesitate to send them in <3 

[sashannarcy]

Your thoughts on “I wanna be someone better. Someone that deserves you” ? 🎤🎤🎤

AHA. here we fucking go.

I plan on making an entire standalone post for Turning Point, but like! obviously the "I wanna be someone better. someone that deserves you" line deserves it's own thing because HOLYYYY SHIT SASHANNE REAL <3

first: Sasha Gaybright.

SECONDLY! holy fuck! holy shit! I can't believe this is smth we got to see Sash say out loud! and by that I mean. well. I'm not surprised that Sasha wants to change themself so as to stop hurting Anne (I honestly saw it coming from a mile away LMAO), but I'm just fucking THRILLED that the writers made it so fucking blatant instead of continuing that like. heavy subtext route that we were given in the end of s2. and it's about goddamn time too bc Sasha Waybright is a yearning BITCH and I was like. DESPERATELY needing to hear her say some lines out loud that were just clear and absolute yearning for Anne Boonchuy AND GUESS WHAT? WE FUCKING GOT THOSE LINES.

but anyway. I will stop gloating over the sheer victory we got this weekend and instead say that Sasha wanting to be someone that Anne deserves, someone that's worthy of Anne's attention, is very symbolic of all their motivations in the past season or so coming together at once. we know that she’s been doing everything in what SHE thinks is in the trio’s best interests, but she also is like. aware that what she’s doing isn’t quite right morally. at the end of s2, though, they don’t stop themself from following through on their betrayal, bc they’re still in that mindset of expecting things to go smoothly. but OBVIOUSLY Anne yelling at them abt how they’re a horrible person affected them DEEPLY, or else the second Sashanne duel AND the events of Turning Point simply wouldn’t have happened.

I mean, take the difference of pre-True Colors and post-True Colors. in The Dinner Sasha definitely makes it clear that they’re resistant to changing their own behavior bc. they literally say “I know you want me to change who I am, but I don’t know if I can. I like who I am.” and then in Turning Point, they talk of wanting to be a better person for Anne specifically. that’s the brilliant thing abt Turning Point: it’s named that way to show that yes, Sash is finally turning their behavior around, but it’s also named that way bc one specific person acted as the catalyst for this character development, and that someone is one (1) Anne Boonchuy. what it took was for Sasha to realize that no, Anne isn’t on board w the way they’re acting, and to realize that Anne’s opinion of them (outwardly) is that they’re a bad person, which obviously makes them fucking upset! I mean. just look at the fucking difference between the two scenes bc the change in Sash’s emotional reactions is incredible:

I cannot stress how much Anne must matter to Sasha for them to be willing to change the entire way they act and to fucking accept Anne’s criticism of them without becoming totally defensive and self-destructive and closed off. bc that’s what we saw happen in Reunion, right? the moment Anne tried to criticize their actions, they tried. to die. but now, it’s like.. GOD. they LOVE Anne they hold her in such high regard they just want to have her respect again bc being without it is ripping them apart. and so they finally come to the conclusion that they’re going to change who they are FOR her, to protect HER emotions, to stop HER from hurting. it’s so important that they’re not doing it for themself bc it literally just showcases how fucking devoted they are to Anne and they always have been, Turning Point is just like an episode of proof for that. and THAT’S why, for a Sashanne enjoyer such as myself, it is SOOOO fucking validating.

so yeah. the “someone that deserves you” line is cathartic as FUCK and definitely a sort of climax for Sasha’s arc so far, and I cannot wait to see how her arc proceeds from here. I hope it’s healing I hope Sash can grow and I sure fucking hope it’s gay <3

[cosmojjong]

it's really amazing how you do such a great job translating when neither korean nor english are your first languages, i wouldn't have guessed that at all! your translations are always very thoughtful and nuanced. i need to watch the vid again because i wanted to ask you abt certain phrases for my own curiosity, i was too distracted by how cute he was the first time lol. do you have any translator notes or director's commentary that you want to share in lieu of a specific question for now?

hi! thanks, all of this is so nice to hear. i'm so glad that my subs come off as nuanced and well-put. ^^ indeed, they're not my first languages, which makes me a bit 'insecure' (sorry, lack of better term) when it comes to translating.

sometimes i'm afraid i may be repetitive or off-track. false friends, contextualized things, different interpretations, idiomatic expressions, etc etc... i always do an in-depth research if i am not sure about something. i have to say, i try my very best to make sure that what i'm translating actually makes sense and doesn't sound awkward. especially with korean, a lot of the time there are sentences that change meaning according to the context or sentences that can be translated in more ways. so i tend to think to myself whether i should put it in one way or the other, and i check many times before posting. unfortunately, sometimes i still notice inaccuracies after it's been posted… and i'm a perfectionist so this isn't a good combo :,)

anyways, ask away! i'm more than glad to answer your questions. when preparing the description for the youtube video i thought i could put interesting info but then again i was busy so i couldn't. i quickly rewatched it to see if there was anything i wanted to mention.

not sure how interesting this could be, but i really liked the opening phrase: "저기 좀 태평양… 저기 중간에 있는 깊은 바다 같아요. 네… 깊이를 알 수 없습니다. 계속해서 깊어지고 있는 뮤지션뿐만이 아니라, 여러가지 부분에서 계속해서 깊어지고 있어서 저기 바다 멀리 있는 깊은 곳에 있는 그런 분 같아요". i liked the comparison between the idea of the ocean being deep and jonghyun diving into a variety of things other than him growing as a musician. i had to tweak the translation a little because it's difficult to make it direct. but yeah, i liked the image of the far away, profound sea it created. it's like jonghyun himself is a wide and deep sea.

also, i have to say jonghyun's 말투 (his speaking/his way of talking) is so cute. it's hard to explain but i like the emphasis he puts on the ending of words. sometimes in interviews he says that his pronunciation isn't clear and that he slips up a lot, but it's cute! and tbh i understand what he says just fine. he tends to say '네네' (yes yes) or '그죠' (true, right) a lot too!

another cute thing is that he tends to say '-구요' at the end of verbs. it's not grammatically conventional, i think it's just a way of speaking in different settings and it sounds 'softer' to both say and hear. for instance, at 7:50 he says '진짜 많구요. 작가님들도 훨씬 많고.' = there really are (many people) and writers, too. also at 10:03 he says '오늘… 이제… 마음이 좀 상할까봐… 안찍어봤구요. 퇴근하면서 찍어볼려구요'. the sentence directly means 'i didn't stamp/scan it in case my heart got hurt', though it's obviously best to translate it as 'i didn't scan it in cause i'd get hurt/in case it'd be hurtful for me. i'll try when clocking out.'

(i noticed jonghyun tends to switch from polite formal to high formal korean too! not a big thing, it's very common) at 19:25 he says '저는 개인적으로 태연씨의 가사 저기 더 제 성격이 맞아요' and this can be translated in different yet similar ways. what he means is that the lines taeyeon sings in lonely and his personality are alike. they're closer to what his personality is like. at 21:52 he says '좀 더.. 커리어 쌓~가고싶어요', meaning he wants to 'build', deepen his career as a writer. i really like that the word 공감 was used and said a lot. it's like, empathy. agreeing with something, finding something relatable and easy to apply to yourself.

i would love to share more but i will stop for now. sorry, this got longer than i thought omg feel free to ask any questions, it's no bother! thanks so much again for reaching out to me with your good words and feedback <3 ^^

[dballzposting]

Trunks at the end of Z is actually sooo chill. He has already grown into that easy spirit that all Trunks are entitled to and he is fully embodying his own skin you can see it . . . The Confidence and Calmness . Hes so completely fine and okay and all that .

What's more the way he interacts with Goten is like they're on the same page and are equals . If theres a joke then they're both in on it. They're completely comfortable with each other

And watching it the first time I must've seen that and I must have loved that bc I love it when characters are best friends and it makes so much sense that they would not see each other for a while, bc they dont need to, and then when they do see other they get along swimmingly, bc no matter how long it's been they know eachother thoroughly and appreciate each other's company.

Obviously I latched onto the "Trunks has had it up to HERE with goten" narrative bc it was funny and bc if theres no conflict then I will run out of things to say much quicker ... but it's time we get back to The Truth ... if Trunks was ever an irritable cunt it was in the past ... Hes good now .

Even what little I've seen of GT he seems so chill. In the first episode when he was in his office and was confronted with all of this paperwork, rather than enduring it diligently, he just flew out the window... No remorse.

That's why he and Goten get along. It's bc they're both just looking for a good time. Damn the consequences, nothing can be more important than taking a day off on this lovely planet that everyone's worked so hard to preserve.

The way that I portray Trunks always snapping at Goten implies that they are not on the same page .. It implies that he values propriety and values having things a certain way and that he is not strong enough to tolerate Goten's slop and filth . WHICH IS NOT TRUE. Trunks is very strong .. ! He never backs away from a challenge. And nothing would ever frighten him. If Goten spilled milk on his bed AGAIN he would obviously be pissed off but it's not like another straw on the camel's back or anything. He doesnt hold a grudge and hes not keeping track.

If Goten tried to kiss him so sweetly while he was playing first person shooters I dont think he would snap at him. First of all Trunks's reflexes are obviously perfect so he can multitask and not get distracted by Goten. Second of all this is dragom ball so the response would probably be more like comedic shock followed by disgust. Like "AHHH SICK...!" and then Goten would be chuckling abt it bc he was just trying to ruin his day anyway. THIRD of all if this wasnt dragon ball and if they didnt give gestures the power to delineate a relationship, E.G. if they didnt view a kiss on the cheek as something romantic or feminine or juvenile or something that your overbearing parent or grandparent would give you, then again Trunks would not care what Goten does. Like whatever man. Hes busy.

Trunks is so chill and calm and contented and confident at the end of Z. If they were showering together and Goten slammed his hands on the wall and braced his arms with the conviction of somebody about to push a car up a hill and said "Alright man. I'm ready. Let's do this." Then Trunks would turn around and stick a finger up his ass no problem no hesitation . BECASUE HES IN ON THE BIT. Hes strong enough for this and hes not afraid of goten's ass. Hes stronger than that. And they're bros 4 lyfe so it's not weird . UNDERSTAND .. ? Why tf would he let Goten win on this and back down .. makes no sense .

Whereas the way I pedal it Trunks would have covered his face and been like "ohhh my GOD Goten this is the SIXTH TIME you've tried to get me to do this..!!" As if he doesnt get it as if hes disturbed by it as if it's not to be totally expected of Goten.

You know what I'm trying to say ... Trunks and Goten are actually very much on the same page. And no matter what, Trunks will always be player 1. Hes not afraid of Goten and his antics and hes not going to have his day ruined by him . He is very comfortable standing on his own two feet and his life is well-lived . If Goten kept shitting in the Capsule Corp urinals and Trunks didnt like it then he would just pick him up by the back of his shirt collar and throw him out the door. Does that make sense

[gojology]

Job Benefits (Part Three)

broken routines - chapter three.

you can find part two here : 

part two : undesirable pairing : ceo! gojo x female reader warnings : cursing wordcount : 1442 a/n : im highly disappointed with this but im very hyped abt writing part 4 and uh i need to change my writing style sooner or later wtf is this mess LOL

     If there’s one thing Gojo knows more then his own body, it’s routines.       It’s what he grew up around, coming from such a bustling family. Since he learned how to walk, he had attended many interviews, gone to parties, all in one day. Of course, it was commonplace in his already hectic life. He saw routine in everything.      Imagine his shock when you came into the office in an outfit that differed so greatly from your regular one that his jaw might unhinge and fall off.      He can’t wrap his head around why, but he’s utterly confused as to why you changed this up. Was it permanent, and why the change? He had many questions going through his head. This is one of the many negative traits Gojo Satoru has; he thinks his input is important, even though the majority of time it is... Maybe it was somewhat justified. But he doesn’t realize how unnecessary it comes out to be when no one asked.      No one had ever told him no, of course they hadn’t, he was ranked nationally as an important kid due to his wit and charismatic personality, essential for entering the business industry.     When he opened his mouth to speak, even at 8 years old at his parent’s conferences, the old professionals would all look at him, keenly waiting for his orders, or perhaps his opinion. This was what he grew up having; so naturally he didn’t know any boundaries, nor did he know when to close his mouth.      But that’s besides the point, he thoroughly enjoyed the look on you.     He takes his normal trip down the hallway into your office, humming a tune, a messy stack of papers in one hand, a custom ceramic mug in the other; made personally just for him. He expects to see you in your regular outfit, a pencil skirt, white t-shirt, the short clicky heels, and the black blazer. It certainly made for an excellent example of casual, formal attire.      Unexpectedly, you’re not. You’re calling someone, phone perched delicately on your shoulder almost as if it’s supposed to slip out, your hair framing your face. Lips parting as you start responding to whatever is on the opposite side, and he notices an evident gloss, your lips are a different color too.      You glance up at him and gesture to your phone, and his hands are shoved deep into his pockets, taking this extra time to examine you up and down. White turtleneck, layered alongside a slightly unbuttoned dress shirt with a crisp warm toned brown trench coat. Not too long, not too short.       Simple gold jewelry adorned your neck, and his eyes caught onto the gold bracelet that jingled on your arm as you swayed it around; he kinda found it cute how even when the person you were talking to wasn’t in front of you, you were still so animated.      Gojo can’t see your pants nor your shoes, but he’s about to enter cardiac arrest because truthfully he didn’t expect that you knew how to dress.     “What?” you say, words dripping with venom and menace, putting the phone back down. He’s taken aback, what’s with the tone?      “What do you mean, what, (Y/N)?” giving you a shit eating grin, he takes a step closer to your table.     “Answer my question, I asked first.” you shot back, now crossing your legs, you hope you look bored just to add more insult to injury. The guy deserved it for thinking the world revolved around him.      He doesn’t answer, instead staring at you, setting his cup of coffee onto the already crowded tabletop, slightly hunched over. You feel your heart drop. Fuck, maybe seeking some sort of symbolic revenge against your boss wasn’t the best of ideas.    Actually, none of your ideas were the best last night. Naturally you’d only think up disasters when you were under distress.     “What’s with the new outfit? Buy a new fashion sense on Amazon?” he finally inquires, a tinge of sarcasm in his voice, brushing your... Rude words aside.      You shrug, pulling out your planner from the drawer and mumbling, biting your pen before writing inside, they’re mindless words. You hope your acting is good, because you want to cry again even at the slight sound of those words. “I don’t know, I felt like I would try something different.” Fuck, were was the sass? Why did you answer nervously? Why did you feel so scared?      There was obviously something that you wanted to do rather then chit chat with him, and Gojo’s now unoccupied hand rubs his neck, this was suddenly so awkward, even for someone as lively as him.     “Hm. Right. Anyways, these were in the printer.” he slaps the freshly printed lukewarm pages onto your desk. “Figured these were yours, still had your name on them.”      “Ah. Thanks.” you say before yawning, covering your mouth before sliding the papers back into the drawer behind you- as if you had no care for them. Actually, you didn’t. This was apart of your master plan that you had crafted at 1 AM last night, too exhilarated to rest. You would print papers out in Gojo’s printer, which you had used once in a while prior so it wouldn’t be too suspicious, and since Gojo never left the dang office he’d hear the sounds and return them to you.       Both of you were silent again, and he’s debating between hitting you up with a topic of conversation, perhaps a joke, but you seem so uninterested he’s not sure if it’s the right moment.      “Just to let you know- your lunch break is in 10 minutes.” he adds, whistling to try to appear careless, but he could feel his heart sinking. You were acting unusually cold, no dramatic tantrums from you that he usually loved. In fact, that was the whole reason why he liked coming to your office. That, and the cute stationary.     “Ah! Really?” you make sure to act like you just got a ticket to heaven, just as a petty way of saying, “Hey. You’re boring. I want to get out.” and Gojo’s pretty sure that all the contents of his heart was shattered now.       Hmph. Whatever, if you continued this behavior he’d swear he’d fire you, but even he knows that’s not true. He had grown fond about you over the small amount of time that you had worked as his secretary, besides, what was a good work life if you didn’t have a good relationship with your very own secretary? He’s sure his banter doesn’t affect you.     “Yeah.” he says, now quiet. He turns his back on you, pausing for a quick moment before walking out, not before he bangs the top of his forehead against the door frame, which earned a slight groan out of him, and just like that he left. You still hear the faint clicking against the tile floor from his shoes.       You exhaled a sigh you didn’t know you were holding, twirling your office chair to look at the large window pane behind your desk. This was something you admired about the architecture of the building you worked out. Every single office had a large window facing Tokyo, so late working hours would always involve beautiful city lights and the bustling of night life.       The sun and sky was bright and cheery, and it comforted your frazzled body. Today wasn’t as bad as yesterday, but it still felt strange from not having your daily ridiculous conversation with Gojo- and strangely you missed it.       Instilled with energy and motivation, you stand up, pulling your bento out of your bag, determined to go through with the rest of your plan. You knew Gojo had a good friend that worked here, Keto Sugareu or something like that. You’d have lunch with him, work your feminine charms, and that was that.       It wasn’t like you wanted to, but a part of you so desperately wanted to prove to Gojo that you could be smart, witty, yet sexy at the same time. You weren’t a prude- just someone not as exposed to these lifestyles.     But you didn’t really eat your lunch in the break room, rather, you were almost always in your very own office. If you weren’t found in there, it’d either be the bathroom or conspiring to steal Gojo’s luxury coffee machine at your house. Infact, you’re not even quite sure if you remember how it looks like.    “Whatever.” you mumble to yourself, before scooping up your utensils and napkins and heading out for the break room.      You shouldn’t have ever stepped foot into that cursed hellish room that day.

nice to see u down here, u want chapt 4? too bad. just kidding! here, have at it.  chapter four : conspiring     

[glimmerglanger]

ok wild prompt ignore if u feel loke it but i just read "is that a knife in your thigh or you just happy to see me?" and immediately thought of Obi-Wan (bc i am always thinking abt him lets be real)

DJFKSLDFJ Did I have a jolt of inspiration for this in the middle of a work project? Yes. Did I take a break to jot it all down before I forgot? Also yes!

Anyway! This is a little pre-obikin fic. Set during the Clone Wars. Mentions of injuries (someone got stabbed in the leg, after all) and a rescue attempt that went very wrong. Sillier than it sounds, I think.

~~~~~

“Is that a knife in your thigh,” Obi-Wan slurred, as Anakin bent over him, swearing under his breath, “or are you just happy to see me?”

Anakin stopped for a moment, gaping down at Obi-Wan, who flashed him a wide grin, apparently unrepentant. Anakin decided to blame the comment on whatever the kriff the Separatists had dosed Obi-Wan with before Anakin managed to find him.

“It’s a knife,” Anakin told him, biting the words out and putting both hands on Obi-Wan’s head, because it was the only way to make him stay still. Anakin checked his eyes. His pupils were blown, no sign of blue around the edges of his eyes. He frowned, ignoring the pain radiating out of his leg. “You put it there, remember?”

“Oh, yes,” Obi-Wan said, expression abruptly going serious. He was still tugging on Anakin’s arms, uncoordinated. Anakin had a feeling Obi-Wan had been aiming for his gut, not his thigh. “Sorry about that.”

“I know you didn’t mean it,” Anakin told him, though that wasn’t….quite true. Obi-Wan had obviously meant to stab someone. Probably whoever had done this to him. Anakin wasn’t entirely sure what this was, only that Obi-Wan was...obviously not himself. And that he was hurt. “Can you stand?”

“Do I have to?” Obi-Wan asked. He was tugging Anakin’s collar to one side. Anakin resisted the urge to roll his eyes, using the Force to push aside the throbbing pain in his leg. He’d seen Obi-Wan get like this a few times, usually after he was given pain killers.

They affected him...oddly.

“Yes,” Anakin said, trying to lift Obi-Wan’s hands away from his clothes. “I can’t carry you. You stabbed me in the leg.”

“We could take the knife out,” Obi-Wan suggested, and Anakin just barely managed to catch his wrist as he reached down.

“We’re not going to do that,” Anakin told him, though there was an immediate temptation to the idea. It was instinct to want to pull out the thing that caused so much pain. But it would be a terrible idea in their situation.

Currently, the knife was the only thing keeping his blood inside his body. It wasn’t doing a great job, but removing it would make things much worse. He was pretty sure Obi-Wan had nicked something important. 

Obi-Wan pouted up at him. Anakin ignored the expression, looking him over and trying to get a better idea of how he was hurt. It was, at least, easy to assess his condition. The Separatists must have had him in bacta, based on how sticky he felt and the fact that he was barely wearing anything.

Anakin had no idea why they’d thrown Obi-Wan in this little cell. Or how he’d gotten a knife. He had a lot of questions that could be answered later. “Alright,” he said, shaking his head. The agony from his leg was making it hard to think. “You’re getting up, come on.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” Obi-Wan rasped, husky, and Anakin rolled his eyes. He focused on getting himself up, first, hissing as he tried to put any weight on his leg. Not only was he not going to be able to carry Obi-Wan out of here, it was feeling more and more likely that Obi-Wan was going to need to carry him. 

As far as rescues went, this wasn’t one he wanted recorded.

“Oh,” Obi-Wan said, as Anakin braced one hand on the wall, trying to stop his head from spinning. Kriffing blood loss. Kriffing Obi-Wan, stabbing him in the leg while Anakin was trying to rescue him, it was-- “You’re bleeding.”

“I am,” Anakin said, reaching a hand down. “Take my hand, you need to get up.”

Obi-Wan stared at him for another long moment and then stretched out his arm, wobbly. It took him two tries to grab Anakin’s hand, but then he managed to pull himself up. He swayed forward, into Anakin, who groaned in misery, biting his tongue and trying to avoid blacking out.

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan said, face mashed up against his shoulder. “Is a that a knife in your leg, or--”

“It’s a knife,” Anakin told him, ragged, “just like it was the first time you asked.” The room was spinning around. He thought he might be ill.

Obi-Wan patted at his sides and then asked, voice cracking, “You’re not happy to see me?”

Anakin was going to single-handedly tear apart every Separatist involved in whatever had been going on here. He swore breathlessly. “Of course I’m happy to see you,” he said, ignoring the way his leg was starting to feel very, very cold.

“Doesn’t seem like it,” Obi-Wan said, voice still quivering.

Anakin was also going to strangle whoever had developed whatever drug it was they’d given to Obi-Wan. Later. He swallowed, struggling for focus. “I’m so happy,” he said, through gritted teeth. “But I need your help to get out of here, right now.” 

Obi-Wan lifted his head at that, which was a mistake, because then he swayed to the side and almost went down. Anakin cursed, gripping him to keep him upright. “Kriff,” he said, hoping no one was around to see, “alright, you’re going to have to walk. And - and help me.”

“Ah,” Obi-Wan said, nodding jerkily. “Because of the knife.”

“Because of the knife,” Anakin agreed, and swallowed a shout when Obi-Wan immediately straightened, taking most of his own weight. He only swayed alarmingly for a moment before he reached out and grabbed Anakin, dragging an arm over his shoulder.

“Obi-Wan,” Anakin managed to pant out, as Obi-Wan took a swaying step towards the door, dragging him along. Obi-Wan made an agreeable, humming sound. “Next time I come to rescue you, maybe don’t stab me.”

“I’ll kiss it better,” Obi-Wan said, starting a jagged path down the hall, utterly unable to walk in a straight line. 

Anakin stared forward, his leg a dull throb and his vision starting to get a little blurry. He wasn’t sure he’d heard properly. His pulse was pounding very loudly in his ears. He asked, hearing a slur in his voice, “What?”

“Your thigh,” Obi-Wan said, readjusting his grip, taking a little more of Anakin’s weight. “Where the knife is. I’ll kiss it. It’ll be fine.”

Anakin considered that. It took a while to work all the way through the statements. He said, finally, “I don’t think that’ll help.”

Obi-Wan was quiet for a little while. They’d almost reached the end of the hall. There was a door there. And, with any luck, the ship Anakin had taken to come and rescue Obi-Wan was still out there. “Oh,” Obi-Wan said, finally, “I could kiss something else.”

“That sounds better,” Anakin told him, distantly aware that neither one of them should have been talking. But he didn’t have the energy to control his tongue. He felt...tired. And heavy. His body weighed as much as a small moon. He had no idea how Obi-Wan was dragging him along. “Why not my mouth?” he suggested, as the world wobbled around him. 

“Mm,” Obi-Wan hummed, nodding. “Alright, I’d like that,” he said, and Anakin laughed, just a little.

“Wait until I’m awake,” he advised, because if Obi-Wan really was going to kiss him, after all of this time, he’d like to be conscious for it. The world spun around again, as Obi-Wan shouldered his way through the door, over all the droid bodies Anakin had left behind on his way into the compound.

The sun beat down on his face. The ship was still waiting, ramp down. Anakin exhaled, relief carving away the last of his energy, and heard Obi-Wan make a concerned sound from somewhere far away.

[takahero]

in honour of finishing inkspell, here are some basta observations I picked up along the way. also, inkspell spoilers warning! i also have MANY MANY thoughts so i’d love to hear what you guys think to some of the questions raised

“He hadn’t changed: the same thin face, the same way of narrowing his eyes, and there was an amulet dangling around his neck to ward off the bad luck that Basta thought lurked under every ladder, behind every bush.” — pg.138

“Basta’s left hand was bandaged, Elinor noticed when he took his fingers away from her mouth.” — pg.139

“‘I’d have been here much sooner, believe you me, but they put me in jail for a while on account of something that happened years ago. No sooner was Capricorn gone than all the people who’d been too scared to open their mouths suddenly felt very brave.’” — pg.140 (see they never tell us WHY he was in prison, do they? the possibilities are endless. we know he committed atrocious things, like arson, but imagine if he got put in jail for something completely different…LOL)

“‘You wouldn’t believe how often I’ve told him there’s nothing to be ashamed of in going to jail, particularly when your prisons here are so much more comfortable than our dungeons at home.’” — pg.140 (OHHHTMGOD MEME IDEA)

“Basta flung his arm so roughly round Orpheus’ neck that his glasses slipped down his nose.” — pg.141

“‘Hold your tongue, Basta!’ Mortola interrupted him abruptly. ‘You’ve always liked the sound of your own voice.’” — pg.141

“‘Well, Silvertongue, I’m sorry it’s taken some time,’ he said in his soft, cat-like voice.” — pg.180

“‘My son always said revenge was a dish best eaten cold,’ observed Mortola.” — pg.181 (question. did basta find out about mortola’s true identity between inkheart & inkspell? do u think he realised it when mortola cried when capricorn died?)

“Basta passed a finger over his throat and winked at him.” — pg.186 (wink 2 LMAO)

“Basta bent down and picked up a rusty helmet lying at his feet. ‘What do you expect me to say?’ he growled, throwing the helmet back into the grass with a gloomy expression, and giving it a kick that sent it clattering against the wall. ‘Of course it’s our castle. Didn’t you see the figure of the goat on the wall there? Even the carved devils are still standing, though they wear ivy crowns now — and look, there’s one of the eyes that Slasher liked to paint on the stones.’” — pg.190

“‘So Basta was right after all. He’s dead, here and in the other world too.’” — pg.191 (interesting….so Basta knew Mortola’s plan wouldn’t work? he just wanted a ride home?)

“‘I’d really like to know what happened!’ he muttered. ‘I always said Capricorn wasn’t here, but what about the others?…What are we going to do if they’re all gone?’ Basta sounded like a boy afraid of the dark. ‘Do you want us to live in a cave like brownies until the wolves find us? Have you forgotten the wolves? And the Night-Mares, the fire-elves, all the other creatures crawling around the place…I for one haven’t forgotten them, but you would come back to this accursed spot where there are ghosts lurking behind every tree!’ He reached for the amulet dangling around his neck, but Mortola did not deign to look at him.

“‘Oh, be quiet!’ she said, so sharply that Basta flinched.” — pg.192

“‘You’re going to leave them here?’ That was Basta’s voice.” — pg.193 (at first I was like oh so he has a heart….but then he was mean to resa straight after this 🙄)

“‘Sorry, but he must have overlooked me, shut up in that cage as I was,’ purred Basta in his catlike voice.” — pg.377

“‘Wasn’t it Mortola who had you put in the cage to be fed to the Shadow?’ Basta just shrugged his shoulders and flung back his silver-grey cloak. Of course, he had his knife. A brand new one, it seemed, finer than any he’d ever had in the other world, and undoubtedly just as sharp.

“‘Yes, not very nice of her,’ he said as his fingers caressed the handle of the knife. ‘But she’s really sorry.’” — pg.377 (okay so it SOUNDS like he threatened/made some kind of bargain with his knife, but I strongly doubt that considering how afraid he seems of her?? i know he’s technically working for the adderhead but even by the end of the book, it seems he is far closer to mortola than adderhead. what is their relationship? or does he sincerely think she’s sorry/has deluded himself into believing such? UGH SO MANY QUESTIONS)

“Basta had always liked describing his own and other people’s abominable deeds in detail.” — pg.378

“‘But we’re not going to shoot you.’ Basta came a little closer to Fenoglio, his face as intent as that of a stalking cat.” — pg.378 …. living for all the cat references tbh

“‘He wants you to crawl on your belly to him, that’s what our noble lord and master likes. But never mind, he pays well!’” — pg.378 (yes basta all abt getting that bread LMAOOOO)

“He slowly drew the knife from his belt. Its blade was long and slightly curved.” — pg.379

“‘Hey Basta, I know you like the sound of your own voice.’” — pg.379 (AHAHAHAHA HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE CALLED OUT BASTA ON THIS NOW? IVE LOST TRACK)

“With a regretful sigh, Basta put the knife back in his belt. ‘Yes, very well, you’re right,’ he said in surly tones. ‘I need to take my time with this sort of thing. Questioning people is an art, a real art.’” — pg.380 (LMAOOOOOOO HE IS SUCH A DRAMA QUEEN)

“Basta. The same thin face, the same twisted smile. Only the clothes were different. Basta was no longer wearing his white shirt and black suit with the flower in his buttonhole. No, Basta now wore the Adderhead’s silvery grey, and he had a sword at his side. With a knife in his belt too, of course. But he was holding a dead chicken in his left hand.” — pg. 455

“‘Yes, they are!’ purred Basta. ‘The little witch, and the fire-eater into the bargain. It was well worth the wait. Even though I’ll probably never get that damned flour out of my lungs again.’” — pg.455 (ok….so who’s gonna draw basta sitting amongst the flour AAHHAHA)

“‘Servant? Who’s a servant here? Just listen to him. As bold as if he’d never felt my knife! Have you forgotten how you screamed when it cut your face?’” — pg.457 … don’t call basta a servant…..noted

“‘Oh, don’t look so disbelieving, little witch, I still can’t read and I don’t intend to learn, but there are enough fools around the place who can, even in this world.’” —pg. 457 (i wonder how much capricorn influenced basta’s views on reading. because capricorn said that he learnt how to read from a maid, right? so basta certainly wouldn’t have trash-talked reading in front of him. and even after living in OUR world for nine years, I’m still surprised that he never attempted to learn, given how dependent we are on it. anyway my headcanon is that he secretly wants to, but doesn’t want to give others the satisfaction of knowing they have something he doesn’t. also nobody he knows would be willing to teach him (unless he threatened them) bc of his obviously violent and short-tempered nature…and learning requires so much patience. still, though, would love a fic of basta being taught how to read in secret and having some kind of positive interaction)

“‘You’re even more talkative than you used to be, Basta.’ Dustfinger’s voice sounded as if he found this tedious.” — pg.458 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH IM DYING. honestly the animosity between them was just. A+++

“Basta was in an even worse state. He was sitting close to Mortola, his face so red and swollen that Meggie almost failed to recognise him. But he had escaped death once again. Perhaps the good-luck charms he always wore worked after all.” — pg.526

“The sunlight falling into the room made Basta’s face look like a boiled lobster.” — pg.575 

“Basta put his hand to the amulet hanging around his neck. It was not a rabbit’s paw, as he had worn in Capricorn’s service, but something that looked suspiciously like a human finger-bone.” — pg.581 (THIS STILL IRKS ME SO MUCH)

“The Piper straightened his back, as ready to attack as the viper on his master’s coat of arms…He was a good head taller than Basta.” — pg.582 WHY DO I KEEP FORGETTING HES NOT TALL LMFAO

“The two men were standing so close that the blade of Basta’s knife wouldn’t have fitted between them.” — pg.582 HAHAHAJAHAAJAHAHHAAHAHAHAH PKESJENE I LOVE THIS SO MUCH … IMAGINE BASTA SQUARING UP W HIS NOSE JUST SMACK BANG IN THE MIDDLE OF PIPER’S CHEST OR SOMETHING

“The Piper struck Basta in the face so hard that his head hit the door frame. Blood ran down his burned cheek in a trail of red. He wiped it away with the back of his hand. ‘Take care to avoid dark corridors, Piper!’ he whispered. ‘You don’t have a nose any more, but one can always find something else to cut off.’” — pg.582-583 THIS SCENE WAS SIMPLY……CHEF’S KISS

are you serious is he dead??? WHAT. okay I knew dustfinger’s love for farid would be the end of him and basta being the instrument to rip that away from him was totally heartrending. i WISH it had been more climactic? like dustfinger unleashing his fury and fighting basta, blind with anger and grief. THE DIALOGUE POTENTIAL BETWEEN THEM AS THEY FINALLY TALK ONE-ON-ONE, and then some revisiting of the scene where dustfinger has the opportunity to kill basta but AGAIN withholds because killing is not in his nature….THEN MO IN SHINING ARMOUR SWOOPS IN TO DO THE JOB

now, off to inkdeath!

[shrimpmandan]

sorry to hear abt ur stepdad! obviously i'm not able to speak to ur personal experience but that sounds awful

i think two things can be true at once. yes we need more visibility for male abuse victims and if there's one thing i'm glad for when it comes to this case it's that there's more awareness about it. on the other hand u sound extremely dismissive of female abuse victims lol, the gabby petito case was literally a year ago and the cops had no trouble believing the man in that situation. obviously we still have work to do on both fronts. and again, this has literally popularized DARVO tactics for abusers, why are u feigning ignorance to the larger consequences of this case?

to the other anon who responded abt the msm point — cherrypicking inaccuracies from three articles doesn't negate my overall point. i guess my question is — how do u know this is promotion of a larger agenda and not simply a reporting of things as journalists see it? what separates ur rhetoric from anti vaxxers who say the same??? i'm not saying msm is perfect, far from it, but i'd love to see some concrete evidence that this is abt some sort of agenda instead of just conspiracies.

idk, this is what i don't like about the pro-depp camp. i say a judge approved her TRO, another ruled JD a wifebeater, and two other judges denied his appeal, and JD supporters will tell me the word of an unsequestered jury is more credible. i tell u that overwhelmingly DV experts have sided with AH, and u say that they're prone to bias and not equipped to evaluate the situation. then who is?? you? (and you may say you haven't passed judgments but you've posted pro-depp stuff in the past.) we're all prone to bias, that doesn't mean we shouldn't listen to experts, especially when they're all singing the same tune. if u think body language 'experts' (not something u can be an expert in anyway) or grifters or ur own judgment of the vibes is more reliable, you do you i guess !

And you are extremely condescending.

How exactly am I being dismissive of female abuse victims by saying that there's no tangible evidence that this one trial has changed how domestic violence cases are handled? Men are still significantly biased against, and sometimes both men AND women are shafted due to charges being pressed on the "victim's" behalf like in my parents' case. It's not feigning ignorance when I literally have not noticed what you claim to be a pressing issue for victims of abuse and future abuse trials.

As other anons have said, experts can be wrong. Experts are not at all immune to bias, including gender bias, and are still fallible human beings. I don't know why people elevate experts onto this heightened plane of existence when experts themselves often disagree amongst each-other. If your only basis for believing something is "oh an expert said so" then you're frankly an idiot with no ability to form your own conclusions.

Also, I readily admitted that mainstream media was generally biased towards Depp, while some outlets were biased towards Heard. I personally wasn't claiming a larger agenda, just pointing out that different individual people have their own agendas and biases and that most mainstream media outlets heavily curate and censor what can and cannot be posted onto their site.

I posted pro-Depp stuff, yes, because I side with Depp in this situation, because that's where the evidence pointed from my understanding. I never said I didn't pass judgment literally anywhere. I just said that I didn't care about Depp or Heard as people, because how could I when I literally do not know them?

And for that matter, my judgment isn't "the vibes", it's the literal proof present in the trial which I mostly observed from afar. And if you don't mind I'm done with your condescending shit. I'm an abuse victim AND have experienced misogyny as a trans man. I don't know why you don't think I don't care about female victims of abuse when I fucking technically am one, and so is my mother, and so is my mother's mother. And for that matter, the majority of my abuse was at the hands of women LIKE Amber Heard who were extremely manipulative and emotionally abusive. Dragging on a frankly upsetting conversation just to come off as morally superior is just sad.

Please go bother someone else.

[redrose-arrow]

Duncan x Halt anon back here again to elaborate on some other points!!! Firstly I’d like to say: TY FOR LISTENING TO MY RANTING MWAH MUCH LOVE <3 AND TO THE QPR CROWLEY/HALT/DUNCAN ANON: GALAXY BRAIN TAKE IM SO INVESTED IN HEARING MORE (particularly about Halt working for morgarath before meeting Crowley and Duncan......I GASPED WHEN I READ THAT. ITS SUCH AN AMAZING IDEA)

ANYWAY TO THE ELABORATION: The thing about Halt & Duncan, AKA the Thing that gave me the ship idea, is that Duncan seems to find Halt’s disregard for authority more amusing than anything. In one of the Brotherband books there’s this exchange between Duncan, a few of the Brotherband members, & Gilan:

“And if you think these two are bad, you should see Halt. He’s a senior Ranger and he shows no respect for me at all.”

“That’s not quite true, sir,” Gilan interjected. “He has enormous respect for you, so long as you agree with him.”

“Yes. That’s true. [...] Alright,” [Duncan] said at length, “let me think about what we’ve discussed here.” He looked at Gilan. “I’m still inclined to the idea of sending you with some reasonable force.”

Gilan shrugged. “That’s all right, sir. You’ll soon see the light of reason.”

Duncan sighed. “I suppose so.”

So the whole “we know better than you” thing the Rangers have going on doesn’t bother Duncan enough for him to get upset about it—I think it’s like a joke between all the Rangers and Duncan, that they (Halt especially) serve the King in an official capacity, but beyond that they’ll basically just do whatever the hell they want because 1) they’re skilled enough & smart enough to do it, and 2) Duncan knows that whatever they’re doing it’s for a good reason, and ultimately it’ll turn out better for everyone. And I think Rangers are quite high-ranking, actually, if they answer ONLY to the king (are they above barons? It’s not clear but it feels like they’re definitely up there), so all of that combined means that Rangers in general would get a lot more leeway from the king than a knight or even a baron might get. And Halt isn’t just any Ranger, he’s one of the twelve who helped Duncan regain control of his kingdom & win a war against Morgarath (TWICE), AND if I’m pairing this with my AU where Duncan knows Halt is ex-royalty then Duncan beyond a doubt sees the man as an equal—though I‘d say he sees him as an equal regardless of whether or not he knows about his royal background specifically because of all the crap he’s let Halt get away with lmao. We also saw in the infamous banishment scene, Duncan was more than willing to let Halt off the hook, but his chamberlain insisted that the rules be upheld for the sake of preserving his authority; which is obviously what Halt was banking on. So essentially it seems to me like Halt and Duncan are very good friends but they can’t make it LOOK like they’re friends (or make it look like Duncan doesn’t mind Halt doing questionable stuff) for the sake of appearances or whatever, so in public they’ll act their part of royal-leader-and-loyal-follower but behind closed doors it’s no harm, no foul. (Duncan gives off the vibe of like, someone who has to ACT formal to uphold tradition but really doesn’t care either way? Like someone who maybe didn’t want to be king in the first place but stepped up because it was expected of him & there was no one better to take the throne, but because he was never 100% invested in being king he doesn’t care about the etiquette or whatever—which is what I’d imagine Halt would’ve been like as a king BUT THAT’S A WHOLE OTHER STORY, MOVING ON) Halt will do a bunch of illegal sh*t and Duncan will look the other way because by now, he knows the man well enough to know that he’s doing it for a good cause and his methods may be questionable but he gets 👏 it 👏 DONE. And really, who is he to get in the way of good results? (I mean, he’s the king, but whatever. Halt can get good results without TOO much chaos so it’s all fair game, as far as Duncan’s concerned)

That’s not to say Halt doesn’t respect Duncan at all—Duncan’s put his foot down on a few occasions, most notably when it comes to his family. Whenever it’s a matter of keeping Cassandra or even the late Queen Rosalind safe, he was very firm in his instructions about keeping them safe and the Rangers never defied his orders when his back was turned. They may have negotiated or tried to reason with him, but he had the final say and they all (Halt included) respected it. So there’s just a lot of mutual respect & understanding abt where they stand with one another and I just LOVE IT SO MUCH THEYRE GREAT

ANYWAY WANNA HEAR ABOUT MY HC OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HALT’S SISTER DIES AND DUNCAN FINDS OUT BEFORE HIM BC WHENEVER SOMEONE ROYAL DIES THE NEIGHBOURING KINGDOMS ARE ALERTED????

(I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's Duncan-dealing-with-his-Rangers-appreciation time).

I wanted to post this right away because it plays into @vilewile 's reblog of your earlier ask but to be quite honest I am rather speechless and overwhelmed and processing but it's only because it's all so good???? You made me go from 1 to 10 on the shipping scale with two asks and now I cannot let go. Imma need to come up with my own headcanons soon........

about that last thing in all caps - ANON I LITERALLY SCREAMED WHEN I READ THAT OF COURSE I WANT TO HEAR THAT

and of course you're more than welcome!!! I genuinely love reading these all and I'm honoured that my inbox is your outlet ahaha :)

[celestial-ringleader]

pssst here’s a free pass to talk more about your phoenix!gambit au 👀 his design is super cool and i am curious abt what you have figured out so far,,, 🤲

First of all thank you so much ;u;

Okay so to start off with, the basic idea was formed because I was reading over some stuff about the Phoenix Five event that happened a bit ago (and also talks about the Phoenix came up a few times in discord) and I was sort of chilling out and suddenly I got hit with the idea: what if Remy absorbed the Phoenix Force? And then it was all downhill from there.

(Big thanks to @esteicy-blog and @imperiuswrecked for hearing me out on this ajkbkvj)

This is gonna be a long post so I'm putting it under a read more

Design:

So to start with, I'm gonna first go through the outfit design because honestly that's always the fun part for me. I wanted to obviously reference the first Dark Phoenix arc but I also didn't want it to be copy-paste, so in terms of design/over all aesthetic I was taking a lot of inspiration from the OG Dark Phoenix outfit and a bit of Namor's Phoenix look, mostly for the gold detail and the red/black/gold color scheme. And for the outfit I went with for Remy it's sort of a mix of his classic look but also his look in Excalibur. (See below)

I looked at the other Phoenix outfit variants (and apparently there are some Phoenix Gambit designs out there???), but those didn't really inspire me that much?? I wanted him to look more regal while also fucking intimidating, so Phoenix Remy would have armor on while also looking Extra Slutty for good measure (plus some rubies to make him look Expensive).

So then we end up with this: (anatomy is weird here but this was just to get a full-body drawing down, also the coat sadly didn't make it to the drawing since I wanted to show off the gold but he does wear one usually.)

But anyways that's just design stuff and I barely got into the meat of the actual AU.

Overall Story Premise:

So as I was doing research into the Phoenix, I found out that apparently at one point it put itself in some kind of egg in the White Hot room (that's according to the wiki) and that sort of made me start thinking about Remy could've gotten it.

The gist of what I came up with after the last couple of days is that one day the X-Men/Avengers (which I'm not sure who all would be there, but it would definitely have Remy, Pietro, and Jean) are called to do some retrieval mission by investigating a crashed spaceship where they need to find an artifact for the Shi'ar. They aren't told exactly what it is nor what it looks like, only that it's important they get it and they will "know it when they see it".

To not make this post too long and spoil what I might write, basically they go to find it and split off. Remy finds himself in the hull of the ship (which has all the treasure in it so of course he starts looting) when he comes across what looks like a fancy egg-shaped jewel, and aside from feeling warm there's nothing really menacing about it. Remy reports in that he found a weird thing, but he doesn't think it's what they're looking for. Jean tells him to leave it since they shouldn't steal from the Shi'ar...which only makes Remy want it more.

(Here's a visual of what happens basically:)

Remy in fact doesn't leave it and just shoves it in his bag while he finds his way back to the team, but on the way there the wreckage caves in more around him and leaves him trapped. And since there's no other way to escape, he uses the egg (which makes him sad because he really did wanna keep it) but the second he charges it up, he unknowingly releases the Phoenix, which was laying dormant/trapped within the egg until Remy charged up the "potential energy" within it (which was really just the dormant Phoenix energy).

At first the Phoenix tries to go for Jean since she used to be a host, but when it recognizes Remy as being a mutant with incredible power (he's Omega-Level in this au, but his true power is largely dormant), it basically goes like "nah I like this one" and possesses him instead. Soon after that Remy passes out and is taken back to Earth (with a very worried Pietro carrying him as much as he can bc they're dating in this au bc I said so)

Assorted Ideas:

So after the whole thing on the ship weeks go by and no one really knows where the Phoenix is, only that it's out there and will probably try to find a host. Remy says he doesn't know what happened after the egg "hatched" and genuinely has no idea that he's become a host until the Phoenix reveals itself to him in the form of an apparition.

After that he just sort of keeps it quiet while he tries to learn to control it (after all he's learned to control his powers on his own, this can't be too hard right? yes. yes it can be that hard.) Pietro is the first to find out about it because he literally sees Remy sort of transform in front of him during Intimate Times, and that makes Remy freak out and makes him promise not to tell anyone else.

Later on, Remy accidentally hurts Pietro after lashing out (idk why they were probably arguing and Remy's already on edge so he gets angered easily) and since he burns him with cosmic fire, it takes much longer for Pietro to heal. However Pietro doesn't want anyone to find out or get the wrong idea about Remy so he keeps it hidden. Which doesn't last long when Wanda finds out and she immediately goes to beat Remy's ass only to discover the Phoenix Force within him (bc she can sense it and apparently Chaos Magic is one of the Phoenix's weaknesses). She lets him live when he explains that it was an accident, but she also goes like "I fought the Phoenix before, I'll do it again".

After that I'm not sure what happens, but I know it eventually leads to Remy being completely overtaken by the Phoenix and goes on a warpath to ""cleanse"" the universe while also being driven by his rage at the world and some of his (supposed) friends, but he's snapped out of it when Pietro gets close to him and gets him to calm down enough to gain control again. Eventually the Phoenix Force is literally pulled out of him with help from Wanda and Jean, but that whole process is painful and it nearly kills him but it ends up okay. (I'm not strong enough to kill main characters)

Anyways I hope this all makes sense since I was trying to take some notes plus discord convos and making it less incoherent and with less key smashes everywhere.

Thanks again for the ask! Glad you actually wanna hear about my ramblings and such. 🔥🔥🔥