#especially considering how the world is like
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
runesinthenight · 3 days ago
Text
There are so many ways that this is a different piece. Not only did they change how it is arranged and remove the context inportant to understanding the piece, but they changed "please take one" to an allergy warning.
The fact that they removed the "please take one" portion of it from a museum standpoint changes so much too. In a museum, you are not supposed to touch any of the pieces unless there is a sign which expressly says you can. The original sign expressly said that. That is the sort of sign that will get visitors to interact with the piece. I would take a piece of candy from that pile.
However, the new sign only has a warning on it. The first sentence is an allergy warning. That in it of itself isn't bad. Having an allergy warning is good if you're inviting people to take a piece of candy. The second line is a choking hazard. While this may be true, it feels more like a way for the museum to cover their ass.
Actually, that whole warning comes across as a legal message. It gives the feeling that the museum is putting all of the blame on you if you decide to eat the candy and something bad happens. It is not inviting. It puts off the visitor. I would not take a piece of candy from that piece.
Now, if in an ideal world where politics and political messaging were not involved and the change was purely for liability reasons, I still would have done it differently. I would have placed it under the "please take one" or on a smaller sign under the original sign.
Doing a little research, the signage for this piece has changed a few times over the years, some having the warning, some not, some mentioning AIDS, some not. But the main outcry has been when this sign does not mention AIDS because it is such an integral part of understanding the piece. This piece is meant to be interacted with and that interaction is meant to spark an emotional connection in the visitor. Taking and eating a piece of candy from it should make you think about Ross and his struggle. It should not just be "oh! Free candy!" That removes so much meaning with the piece. Especially to people who have never interacted with this piece or this artist before.
I am in the museum industry. This is my career. And signage is a critically important part of how a museum presents itself and interacts with the public. I really wish there was a way I could see all of the itterations of this sign and see how they've changed over the years and across institutions. Because this piece is on loan to the Smithsonian from the Art Institute of Chicago and I am curious about what aspects were or were not included as part of the loan agreement. But I also want to see when exactly the first sign was from. As doing a quick search shows that the Art Institute of Chicago aslo got into some hot water in 2022 for not including AIDS in the interpretive portion of their text (which is excluded altogether in the Smithsonian sign).
Signage can be difficult. It's a balance between too much text and not enough. You have to make signage that appeals to a wide range of visitors, especially visitors not knowledgeable about the subject. Art museums tend to lean on the shorter side of signage text with the curator often largely in charge of what does or does not go on. The second sign is an example of what I, in my professional opinion, would consider too little text as important context to understand and connecting with the piece is left out.
the david zwirner gallery and the felix gonzalez torres foundation in the smithsonian removed the descriptive plaque for portrait of ross in la by felix gonzalez-torres. the old plaque explained portrait for ross' origins as the artist's partner's aids related death, and replaced it with a plaque with absolutely no information about the piece itself, who ross was, or who gonzalez-torres was either. portrait of ross was also reeranged to lay on the floor long ways instead of in a pile as it typically is situated, and the plaque outside the exhibition FOR GONZALEZ-TORRES omits his sexuality, as well as his aids related death. i'm in utter disbelief
Tumblr media Tumblr media
58K notes · View notes
revelboo · 2 days ago
Note
This is all your fault. 🤣 They have been so much fun to put together!
I am loving all your stories, especially Everything is Alright. The boys are such asshats! I'm looking forward to Reader putting them in their place.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
The Blokees are adorable, especially the minis. I kind of want to just accrue them and let them ride on my dash. And reader is definitely not happy with any of them right now, but is beginning to realize they have leverage
Tumblr media
Everything Is Alright Pt 124
IDW Starscream x Reader, Megatron x Reader, Soundwave x Reader
• Starscream expects you to yell some more. To get angrier. Instead you just offer them a flat, empty smile and make a show of looking over the edge of the berth. And a whisper of fear twists through his spark. Wings drawing tight to his frame, Starscream isn’t sure what that expression of yours is, but he doesn’t like it. Hadn’t meant to just say all that in front of you, but it’s out there now. Had meant to hurt Megatron, not you. And Soundwave is slowly approaching you, frame tense. What is he picking up from you?
• “It occurs to me that you two need me a lot more than I need you. And I’m just one little, helpless human, right? You can bully me into whatever you want and there’s nothing I can do.” Heart racing, you keep an eye on Soundwave. Because he’s clued in to your mindset and he’s edging closer in slow movements like you’re a stray he’s trying not to spook into running. Star’s wings flare out slightly with your words, but Megatron is just frowning at you. “But lots of things can happen to me. I could fall off of here. It’s a long way down, isn’t it?” Ignoring Star and Soundwave, you focus on Megatron. Watch those optics narrow. “I don’t think I’d cope very well if something happened to my world and my people, you know? But nothing’s going to happen, because you’re going to leave my world alone. As a wedding gift.”
• Wedding? A human thing? “You think you can make demands of me?” Megatron ask, fighting to keep from smiling as you stare him down. Why is your anger so appealing? Makes him want to provoke you just to see how far you’ll go, because he doesn’t believe for a moment that you’ll actually try anything. There’s your equally helpless sparkling you saddled him with to worry about. It’s an empty threat and maybe it bothers him that you’re scared enough to make it. Because you are right about one thing. Anything could happen to you and his life depends on you staying safe. And despite himself, he’d prefer you to be happy, so tired of fighting all the time and don’t want to fight you.
• “Not a demand. A present for your bonded mate,” you say, glancing at Soundwave as he stops short of you and holds out a hand. Asking you to come away from the edge, because he’s afraid you might accidentally fall. That Megatron might push you into something rash. “For our sparkling,” you add, look up at him, not Megatron. And it’s a relief when you place that little hand in his and let him pull you to him. Wishes you wouldn’t try to push Megatron, but understands why you’re doing it. “Because this is their home, too.” Understands the game you’re playing and doesn’t like it. And he’s the outsider here now, not bonded to you anymore because of Starscream. The first bond had been all need and desire. He hasn’t considered the consequences of his actions if you’d accepted him, but he still wants it. Still wants you. Even if it’s just this, trapped on the outside acting as mediator to keep you safe.
• Crossing the berth to you and Soundwave, his wings drop, flicking guiltily when you look at him. Knows you’re mad at him, too, but can’t stop reaching for you. And his spark aches when you take a slow breath and catch his hand, tugging him to you. “It’s a reasonable request,” he says, knowing it’s not his call to make, but he’d give you this if it would make you happy. Hadn’t really cared about this mudball beyond that you’re on it. Wants to ask what a wedding is, if it’s some kind of bonding ceremony, but he just looks at Megatron in challenge instead. Watches the warlord vent in exasperation at the three of you, optics fixed on you.
• Heart still racing as you lace your fingers with Starscream’s servos and glare defiantly up at Megatron. Still angry at all three of them, but Star and Soundwave are at least taking your side. Or they just don’t want you angry with them and are trying to get back in your good graces. It’s hard to tell with them sometimes. “You really are more trouble than you’re worth,” Megatron growls, shoving off the berth and striding to the door. “Mining and refining energon will continue as planned.” And your breath catches, fingers gripping Star’s servos as Megatron hesitates, back to all of you. “But I suppose this world could be declared a protected nature reserve. Since our species are compatible and I’d hate to wipe out any potential resources.” That’s sort of a victory, right? Why doesn’t it make you feel better, though? Because you might have saved your world but accidentally turned the Decepticons loose on your people to save their own declining race. Well, shit.
Previous
Next
181 notes · View notes
crepezinhos · 16 hours ago
Text
The Lion and The Fox
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
POV: Sunday has always had high expectations of you, his dear secretary, and his lovesick obsession for you has only made his trust on you increase uncontrollably. But now, he felt like his world was crumbling right in front of him when he learned that you were pregnant, and the father was the man he most despised, that he wish he could deport from Penacony, Aventurine.
Tumblr media
⚠️ WARNINGS:
— This is a Yandere and Suggestive SFW Oneshot
— Reader is FEMALE and uses SHE/HER pronouns
— Contains: A lot of dirty-talking and racially-motivated talking, accidental pregnancy, bloody fighting, attempted murder, violent language and obsessive/possessive behavior.
— Yandere!Boss!Sunday x Pregnant!Reader x Yandere!Aventurine
— AU is: In-Game
Tumblr media
“Ah, Y/N. You’re here.” Sunday turned his gaze away from the windowed wall of his office with a little grin growing in the edges of his lips to look at you, who was entering the room with embarrassment already taking you over.
“Hi… Mr. Oak.” You didn’t even dare ignoring his greet as you pushed the door back to its place from behind, especially considering how much he personally respected you.
But you immediately sighed in defeat as you realized how obviously awkward your tone accidentally came out of your throat, which you knew would alarm his attentive ears in a blink.
“Is everything okay?” And his speed to figure someone’s head out, or at least yours in particular, made you even less confident to keeping making eye contact at those mesmerizing amber eyes of his. “You seem very disturbed, dear.”
“Mr. Oak, I—” At the same you desperately wanted to vomit those words out of your chest, your logical thinking warned you that the conversation you were about to have with him right now would not be easy work, perhaps even heartbreaking.
Sunday begun silently walking away from his spot and going towards you, as if he was trying to avoid any explosive reaction out of you or comfort you. But unfortunately, his elegant apparent d and tall figure completely triggered the opposite out of you.
“I need to take a break.” You threw your head to the left as you confessed your intentions to him without any further context, paralyzing the Halovian. “Like… a few days or a whole week…”
“A whole week?” Sunday’s tone did not change, though, and after a few seconds waiting for a response, he finally figured you were too uncomfortable to speak any more without his leadership. “May I ask why?” He continued walking, a little more faster this time, cornering you against the wall even if his hands remained behind his back as usual.
“I’m not feeling quite well, Mr. Oak—”
“Please, address me as Sunday, dear.” You suddenly felt something wooly reach your left cheek and begin to caress it gently, figuring it was Sunday’s fingers after successfully cornering you against the door. “My apologies… I won’t interrupt you again.”
“I’m just feeling sick. That’s all…” You awkwardly finished yourself while trying to ignore his intimate demonstration of care.
“And you need a whole week to recover from it?” His tone shifted to a more serious one while that hand of his spread itself around your whole jaw and slightly pulled it upwards, forcing you to look at him again, and your silence made it obvious to him that you were either lying or hiding something from him. “Let’s sit down, dear.” His hypnotizing grin almost made you vomit the truth right there out of guilt.
Sunday released you and begun stepping towards where his office desk and fancy chair were, without acknowledging how quickly he had convinced you to speak the truth to him. That distressing nod in your throat was already unbearable on its own, but that you were being forced to tell such disappointing news to such a sweet and caring boss like Sunday, that truly admires you and trusts you deeply, just couldn’t be postponed anymore.
“I’m pregnant!” As soon as the distance between you and him was comfortable to you, when Sunday’s hand was about to reach his chair’s arm support, you let the beast out of its cage. “I am feeling sick indeed, but it’s because I’m pregnant and I have no idea what to do about it yet!” Your voice cracked a few times as you bowed your head down, tears barely glistening your eyes, but you did your best to hold them back and not stress Sunday, who had fully paralyzed in his spot.
“I beg your pardon?” Sunday slowly turned his head to you, the rest of his body immobile in its place.
“You heard me, Mr. O—… Sunday… I’m pregnant.” You crossed your arms and legs, leaning against the wall vulnerably.
And once again, Sunday didn’t say anything again some awkward seconds, causing your heart to beat even faster than it already was.
“P-Pregnant..?” This was one of the first times you’ve ever heard Sunday’s voice crack and stutter.
“Yes, sir.” You quickly nodded.
“Like… pregnant pregnant?” Sunday repeated himself again, a little more desperate.
“Yes, sir.” And you nodded to him again, a little more desperate too.
“When did you…” He didn’t know what to ask you due to the unprocessed shock. “For how long have you known this?” Sunday sounded a little madder as you expected, but at the same time you could feel some worry and anxiety coming from him as you saw him move a hand to his collar and start fidgeting his own tie.
“I took the test a few days ago, Mr. Oak.” Although you noticed how you referred to him in the wrong manner, Sunday didn’t seem to notice it, or at least preferred to not scold you again.
“How many people know about it yet?” Sunday finally turned his full body to you. After all, that question mattered a lot.
“None of my friends know about it yet, only the father and you, sir.” At this moment, it felt like all of your friendship with Sunday never existed in the first place, considering how incredibly negative his reaction was.
“Ah, yes… the father.” Sunday spat the word like a curse, scoffing at it right afterwards before pausing for a moment. “Who is the lucky man, Y/N?” Sunday decided to speak in a warmer tone, hoping it would help appeasing the suspense between you two, but it wasn’t quite useful to you.
“Sunday, I… I don’t think I should—”
“I have to know who the father is, Y/N.” He immediately shut you off with a shaky, anxious voice before you could fully reject him. “I don’t think it would be beneficial for us if the people of Penacony were to learn that the secretary of the Head of the Family… my secretary… is pregnant of someone of bad influence, especially if I was not aware of it or consenting to it. Don’t you agree?” Sunday’s voice cracked a few more times with his growing anger as his fingers became more aggressive with his tie.
You weakly nodded, feeling more tears rise up to your eyes. You were expecting Sunday to have a negative reaction indeed, but you did not expect him to be this bold. It even made you question your non-professional friendship with him. Was he not as attached to you like you thought? Was his kindness to you just a souvenir for your hard work? Have you two ever developed a friendship in the first place? If not, were you really just a secretary to him? If yes, how intimate are you two?
“This seriously endangers your job, Y/N, so if you don’t wish me to take extreme measures with you, tell me, dear, who is the father..?!” Despite his self-control, you noticed a pattern of how he was simply unable to hold all his anger when he mentioned the ‘father’.
You breathed in and out, preparing yourself for the bomb you were about to drop on him. After all, losing your job to this did not seem to be the smartest choice to be done, although the answer itself could still make you lose your job anyway.
“I believe the father is Aventurine, sir.” You closed your eyes as you told your version of the story, trying to make it more broad by stating as a theory rather than a fact, but you were certain that the baby was Aventurine’s.
Sunday scoffed.
“Aventurine?” Sunday’s tone deepened, almost falling into pure madness. “The Sigonian from the IPC?”
“…Yes, sir.” You weakly nodded again, finally finding some courage to open your eyes and look up to him.
“You’ve been going out with him?” Sunday’s tie wasn’t tucked under his white tuxedo anymore, and he was barely blinking his widened eyes.
“I believe you’re crossing a line of privacy, sir. I won’t be answering that.” You felt blood rush to your cheeks as you remembered your last date with the gambler, specifically when the baby was being made, speaking a little bit more annoyed.
“Why? He didn’t assault you or anything of the sort, did he, dear?” Sunday’s hands crossed around each other.
“No, sir.” Your tone went back to its previous shy one.
Sunday’s eyes finally dropped and stopped violently staring at you, looking around in confusion as he breathed in and out harshly. It did help you and your body to calm down, though.
“You know you can always trust me if there’s any danger going on in your life, right?” Sunday looked at you again with curiosity, which made your body stiffen again.
“Absolutely, sir.” You nodded more confidently. That statement reassured you about your previous thoughts about Sunday.
He really isn’t that bold. He never was. Today was just a minimal and reasonable exception.
“Good.” Sunday’s eyes got distracted again as he thought about all the facts that have been told, and you decided to contribute with your own silence.
“You know what? I must apologize to you, dear. What kind of man treats a pregnant lady like this? Only some uneducated punk… It was very childish of me, Y/N, I’m truly sorry.” Sunday suddenly relaxed in a blink, his hands going behind his back as usual while a cute grin took over his lips again as if he hadn’t almost gone mad in front of you.
After all, self-control is a really important aspect in this sort of job.
“No, it’s ok… I understand. I would be very worried too if I found out my secretary suddenly got pregnant.” Sunday hummed a giggle at your comment as you shrugged your shoulders.
“Go home, dear.” Sunday walked to you again, his hands landing on both your shoulders. “Go take a good rest. I’ve made you work enough this week.” His thumbs gently brushed your skin like wet porcelain, even raising them a few times to push some strands of your hair behind your ear.
“You’re… you’re not mad?” Deep down, you found his sudden change of behavior weird, and you weren’t exactly comfortable with it.
“Mad? Why would I be mad at you, dear? I trust you to make a smart choice about this.” And now that you were closely staring at his fine face, that smile, no matter how warm it was, it seemed to be betraying whatever was going through his mind. “Make sure to keep your commitment with the Family in mind, ok?” Sunday suddenly leaned his face to the right side of your face, his mouth hanging inches away from your ear as his voice suddenly turned serious.
“Of course, boss.” You nodded to Sunday, who patted your head in appreciation for a few seconds before finally letting you go.
.
SLAM!
All the human bodies in the casino were attracted by the loud bang of the double doors being against the walls as they were brutally pushed open, whispers beginning to accumulate onto each other as they realized it was Sunday Oak who walked in.
“Is that Sunday Oak?”
“I thought he condemned gambling…”
“What is he doing here?”
“Sunday Oak?”
“Should I ask for an autograph?”
“Isn’t he Robin’s older brother?”
Sunday couldn’t care less about any of those comments or the glances landing on him as he walked inside the flashy halls of the casino. He was entirely interested and focused on his hunt, and his hunt only.
After all, it didn’t take him more than 5 seconds to identify what he was searching for.
Aventurine.
The slim, blonde man sitting down lazily on a chair with spread legs and a pack of cards in his hands, accompanied by two other men playing with him, sitting in the opposite corners of the table, all of them shaping the form of a triangle where Aventurine was directly facing Sunday. The table was full of cards and chips thrown around it, even a few real credits too, showing that they weren’t just playing casually, and three cups of alcohol being the only objects standing still.
“Ah, the Head of the Family himself, Sunday Oak! What an honor it is to have you in my casino! What brings you here tonight?” The gambler put his cards facing down in the table to open his arms to Sunday in a warm greeting.
His purple eyes still managed to shine through the dark pair of sunglasses he was wearing and the whole dark ambient around them.
But Sunday’s murderous face didn’t appease a bit with his warm greeting.
“Leave.” He glanced down at the two other gamblers, who simply shared confused looks with each other and Aventurine when they heard his order. “NOW!” Both men immediately flinched upwards hearing his scream, fleeing from their seats as if they were fleeing for their lives.
After all, who would be insane enough to challenge the Head of the Family?
As soon as the steps of the coward men started to become faint murmurs in the ambient, Aventurine finally started taking advantage of their privacy to speak again.
“See… when I say that you’re always welcome in here, Mr. Oak, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have the right to interrupt any of the games—”
“You got Y/N pregnant..?!” Aventurine’s smirk grew as he realized what was Sunday’s objective in his casino and how angry he was due to it, even if he had been interrupted.
“Ah… so you’ve heard the news…” Aventurine proceeded to grab the glass of liquor sitting closest to him and took a sip of it. “It is also an honor to have being the first person to congratulate me…”
“Congratulate you..?” Sunday’s eyes widened in audacity at his words. “Congratulate you?! For what? For making such an absurdly irresponsible decision?!” Sunday finally dragged one of the empty chairs closer to him and sat himself down at on it, both his hands slamming the table while Aventurine simply mired down at the liquor in the glass. “You’re a gambler, and you’re completely addicted to it! What is wrong with you?! What kind of man sustains his family by gambling?!” Aventurine couldn’t help but scoff at his words as his eyes finally looked up to meet his again, starting a war of eye contact.
“Oh, please, we both know that you’re not mad at the fact that I’m a gambler about to become a father.” The gambler finally placed the glass back to the table, his arms crossing as he leaned against the chair.
Sunday refused to answer him although both men had a lot of privacy to discuss such an intimate topic.
“You’re mad that it’s not going to be a beautiful and cute Halovian baby growing inside her with cute little wings on his head and a shiny golden halo that will grow to be the Family’s next prodigy..! And instead, it’s going to be a little Sigonian trash with cursed fortune.” Aventurine used his hands to point at Sunday’s features and his owns, but it didn’t trigger Sunday to answer him, despite his boiling annoyance. “Not that? No? Then it might be that… you’re mad at the fact that it wasn’t you who made the path inside her womb first?” Aventurine uncrossed him arms and set them on table while leaning his body a little closer to his to challenge him, finally causing Sunday to slightly snap.
After all, an obsessed man like him could not handle the imagination of his perfect pure darling being bred by the man who directly competes with him for her, all twirled around his figure and showing him your nudity.
“You little shit…” Sunday fisted his own hands as his eyebrows to frown in the table’s cloth as he tried avoiding those sinful thoughts.
“Me?” Aventurine’s eyes widened with Sunday’s hypocrisy. “Imagine you’re constantly trying to hang out with this marvelous, jaw-dropping and inspiring woman, but she’s always rejecting you because she was either working in a Saturday night, or too exhausted from it on Sunday, hum? You feeling me now?” Aventurine tried waiting for an answer, but Sunday refused to let himself downgrade to the gambler’s level and backed down again. “I think I should actually thank you for making her exhausted and home-alone during her precious weekends. You’ve surely left that woman touch-starved, and I certainly took advantage of that whenever I insisted in visiting her in her home… She’s actually extra tight when she’s stressed.” Aventurine winked at him, intentionally ignoring Sunday’s unblinking, widening eyes. “Just to think about my cock suffocating inside that tiiight pussy of hers while she begs for me to keep ravishing it nonstop makes me so hard…” Aventurine was rubbing his legs together under the table to avoid his slight erection to grow any further under his pants while his cheeks slightly reddened.
“You hell-sent maniac…” That was all Sunday could mumble without exploding. “Do you even listen to yourself? Is this the poor vocabulary that poor kid would learn from their father? You have absolutely no conditions of being a father. I know it, you know it, Y/N knows it. Do you have any idea how worried she was when she was talking to me about this mess? Do you think she’d be that worried about it if I was the father of her child, hum? Do you think she’s happy to be pregnant of you?” Sunday finally decided to take some dominance in the conversation and leaned closer to Aventurine.
“Do you think she’d be any happier to pregnant of you, Mr. Oak? Her manipulative boss that takes advantage of her every free second to keep her revolving around you, yet, refuses to take a single step forward with your relationship with her and keeps edging her pleasure in you?” Aventurine sounded a little angrier as he described Y/N’s work ambient.
“You know nothing about me and Y/N…” Sunday hissed at him. Deep down he knew he had a fair point and that he had to change his relationship with her if he wanted to conquer her heart.
“Well, I certainly know all of this would’ve probably been avoided if you weren’t the coward that you are, and asked her out before I did. Now, even if you did manage to make her fall in love with you and make her your wife, you’d never be able to get rid of the shape of her insides, forever prepared to receive me inside her instead of you because she knows who introduced her the magic of paradisiacal pleasure.” Aventurine twirled his fingers together and set his chin on top of them, his face proudly hanging on it.
“You do realize Y/N is most likely going to abort that cursed baby, right?” Sunday finally found an opportunity to counter Aventurine, smirking in victory after all those sexual comments of you Aventurine has been doing to frustrate him.
“Good for her.” Aventurine shrugged his shoulders, dumbfounding Sunday, who allowed his smirk to die for a moment.
Sunday didn’t understand. Wasn’t he cheerful about her pregnancy? Wasn’t he happy about claiming her womb first and making her a mother before him? Wasn’t he initially arguing with Sunday about being a father?
“You’re just bluffing. I know you’re disappointed.” Sunday brought his grin back before Aventurine could take dominance again, trying to convince him to let that guilt out of his mind.
“I don’t think you’ve understood it yet, Mr. Oak… I don’t intend to be a father. Never intended to be.” Aventurine spoke with a straight face, very relaxed as he confessed his feelings, unlike Sunday.
“I beg your pardon?” Finally, Sunday felt challenged again, so his smirk died again and never rose again.
“Sure, it would be disappointing if she did decide to abort the baby. After all, the idea of repopulating my clan back to this world sounds good to me… but I got her pregnant simply because I want to get her away from you, and that pregnancy is going to force her to take a break from you, and maybe eternally. I already heard you did let her go home today, so it’s already working! Thank you, Mr. Oak!” Sunday was entirely speechless at Aventurine’s confession, not a single full phrase managing to form in his head as the gambler paused again to take another sip of his liquor.
And Sunday knew he had more to add onto that confession, seeing how he swallowed the liquor quickly.
“It surprised me how all it takes to impregnate a woman is a single little puncture in a condom… Make sure to double-check your condoms before sex, Sunday! Protection isn’t a joke!” Sunday couldn’t believe all he had to add to his confession was a joke.
“You..! You did it on purpose?!” Sunday hissed as if he wanted to squeeze the gambler’s head until it crushed into a gory mess.
“Congratulations, Mr. Oak! We can finally have a man-to-man conversation!” Aventurine threw his hands in the air cheerfully as if he was celebrating his birthday.
“Do you have shit in your head instead of a functional brain?! Do you realize you’re putting the life of a child on stake and even her trust on you?! You’re a monster! You had no right to fool Y/N like that!” Sunday was finally finding out how little power of you he had on his hands, his anger finally spilling from its chamber.
“Oh? But you have the right to keep overworking her with the stupidest tasks ever? Making her bring you breakfast and lunch from the cafe with the stupidest exigences ever?! Like ‘No veggies, only keep the onions’, ‘Diet raspberry juice’ and ‘Strawberry cupcakes for desert with no sprinkles or extra frosting’? To make her rearrange your whole calendar for the month because you suddenly have a doctor’s appointment in the middle of month? Knowing she’s not intelligent or bossy enough to tell you’re just taking advantage of her position and her trust on you? That you’re a very busy man and genuinely can’t deal with fucking calendars on your own?” Aventurine also dropped his smirk, speaking in a more angered one as well.
“It’s her job, and I’m her boss. And don’t you worry about it because Y/N gets some good money for all her hard work and she loves me for it.” Sunday defended himself a little proudly. It was a good reason to keep her busy with him.
“And I’m just a great fucking friend! See? We’re both playing dirty here…” Aventurine giggled at his own pun, which made Sunday’s wings to twitch.
“Don’t imagine it… Don’t picture it…” Sunday thought to himself, and Aventurine took advantage of his silence.
“And, think about it, what is the worth in all the money you apparently give her if she can’t find herself some time to spend it because her boss can’t let her enjoy her weekends, hum?” Aventurine crossed his arms, settling them on the table to keep himself still leaning close to Sunday’s face.
“As soon as I get you out of my way, I’ll make sure she’ll have a lot of time to enjoy her life with me as her company.” Sunday threatened him with a mean smirk in his face, finding joy in Aventurine’s struggle.
“I don’t think you’ve realized it yet, Sunday. Y/N is already mine. All, all mine. She’s been mine for a long time now and will always be mine. Your little tricks to imprison her with you are clever, but you know how gambling with me works. I’ll always find my way out of risk and become the winner. And if Y/N is clever enough to remember this little fact, you might face a serious danger of her deciding to keep the baby.” Aventurine’s irises were trembling with excitement and hatred for Sunday as he talked about his possession over you.
“We both know she won’t.” Sunday hissed, still keeping his smirk, although he was doing a great effort to not punch the gambler’s face.
“How do you know, hum? Y/N is the kindest soul in this planet! I don’t think she’d opt to interrupt that growing life inside her so easily like you think. Maybe she’ll start sympathizing with it and decide to accept the duty of raising it with me as the father and provider. And if that happens, what are you going to do, huh? Shove your hand inside her womb and abort the baby yourself? You can’t do anything!” Aventurine cackled at the thought of Sunday trying to get rid of the baby inside you or convincing you to do it and pathetically being defeated.
“Maybe I’ll fire her. I can’t afford to have a secretary who’s going to birth a disgusting Avgin nor can she afford her life without the salary I give her… It’s a fair trade!” Sunday threatened enthusiastically, although in his mind he knew he’d never do that to you.
“Oh, really? And make her hate you forever? What a stupid way to give me the opportunity to finally imprison her with me, Sunday! Maybe she’ll learn how great it is to have me as her sugar daddy…” Aventurine threw himself in the chair and I’m his arms in the arm as if he was receiving a gift from Sunday.
“Or maybe I’ll take the matter to my own hands and marry her with me before you. And trust me, gambler, I’ll make sure you have the lowest share of custody, or maybe even none. I’m the head of the Family Oak. I own this whole planet in the palm of my hand.” Sunday also rose his hands in the air and inflated his chest, trying to demonstrate the size of the power he owns.
“Yet, you can’t stop the woman you love from fucking with other men.” Aventurine hummed some giggles while Sunday had to stop himself again to impede his brain from picturing that scenario. “I would rather die than let a baby of my blood to be raised by you. To be raised like a mere annoyance in the house… forever incapable of making his daddy proud of him because he’s not his real son… destined to be overshadowed by his future siblings… Both Y/N and the baby would be happier to have me taking care of them instead of you.” Aventurine’s tone deepened again, his arms lowering sown to his knees and gripping them to control himself.
“I will not lose Y/N to you, gambler. I don’t care if that baby would not be the happiest one in the world. I refuse to let you have her for another single minute of your life with those dirty hands of yours.” Sunday spat his prejudice for the gambler with no remorse.
“Oh-ho? Are you afraid I’m a better womanizer than you, Mr. Head of the Family? That my ‘dirty hands’ are capable to make Y/N moan my name in a volume you’ll never be able to get out of her?” Aventurine stared at the deepest corners of Sunday’s eyes.
“Quiet.” Sunday hissed barely above a whisper.
“That my fingers will penetrate that wet pussy of hers while I devour her throbbing clit with my dirty Avgin mouth? Oh, yeah, I’ve already done that!” Aventurine brought a hand closer to Sunday, only to thrust the air with his ring-finger and middle-finger a few times, pretending it was your pussy.
“Shut. Your. Mouth.” Sunday made sure to pronounce every syllable of his order slowly, exciting Aventurine to keep teasing him even further.
Sunday’s cheeks were reddening with arousal as he couldn’t hold back the few pictures his brain illustrated for him of Y/N’s naked body being touched by Aventurine, meanwhile the gambler moved his hands to his body and started brushing his own body in a suggestive way.
“Ohh~… Aventurine..! You feel sooo good around me~… Oh, right there..! Fuck me right there, Aven..!” Sunday’s fingers gripped on the table’s cloth as if that was the only thing keeping him from having a boner on his own, trying to force himself to focus on the gambler’s threat rather than his pathetic teasing. “Ah, yes~! Touch me, Aventurine! Touch me!” Aventurine put his own palms on his own breasts and gently fondled them, which made Sunday feel so disgusted he slightly backed away from the pervert in front of him.
“Do you seriously think acting like this is going to annoy me?” Sunday bluffed, betraying his own mindset. “I must thank you for the spoilers, though.” He shrugged his shoulders, pretending there wasn’t a noticeable tent growing in his pants.
“See? Even you recognize you’ll never be her first in anything because I’ve been there first!” Aventurine dropped his act, jumping back to the table, leaning over to challenge Sunday with a creepy expression and a proud smile. “Every Saturday night, when you decided to send her a ‘Goodnight’ message and ask how she was doing, I was already pining her down on her own bed and taming her pussy.” Sunday’s mind was unfortunately too attracted to that scenario, forcing himself to think about it.
Thinking about your insides being stretched by the gambler, your breasts fondled by the gambler, your pretty moans being listened by the gambler, your mouth kissing the gambler, your clothes being taken off by the gambler…
All by that stupid gambler, and not him.
“Focus, Sunday. Focus. Focus on the gambler.” Sunday thought to himself.
“Sometimes I even answered you for her, y’know? Sending you a ‘Goodnight’ with cute a heart sticker, pretending to be your dear woman while the real one was gagging on my cock.” Sunday’s eyes widened as he heard that disgusting confession.
Every time you talked to him at nighttime, Sunday would think about what were you possibly doing while texting him. Maybe you were changing yourself into your pijamas, specifically a beautiful nightgown of his favorite kind. Maybe you were kicking your feet and your cheeks were red because you were talking so intimately with your sweet and handsome boss.
How did you even save his contact as? Most likely ‘Mr. Oak’ or maybe ‘Mr. Sunday’ because of your professional relationship with him, but maybe it is something more friendly like ‘Sunday’ or ‘Sunday ❤️’.
But now all those fantasies that made fall in love with you even harder, were crushed by the gambler’s words, and he was really hoping the man was just bluffing to annoy him.
“You disgusting piece of crap..! You had no right to do that!” He hissed as his mind pictured more and more dirty illustrations.
“Seeing you smirk at me every time I passed her to you, thinking you were in charge of her and that I was losing precious time with her, made me want to laugh. Poor you..! You had absolutely no idea! You could’ve died without knowing!” Aventurine started cackling as he saw Sunday’s destroyed ego.
Sunday couldn’t believe it either. The gambler was right, and he did not plan on ever admitting it. To think that he has been interpreting you so wrongly all along and that that Aventurine was taking advantage of his foolishness was making him ache in need for revenge.
It was embarrassing to see a man of his level of money, power and intelligence to commit such a rookie mistake, of letting your weekends free of his obsessiveness and stalking, and find himself in the edge of losing to someone so weaker than him.
But Aventurine didn’t notice Sunday’s breathing becoming louder and louder.
“That’s why I had to show you the truth. To show you who is truly in the lead.” Aventurine unexpectedly leaned closer to Sunday until he was a few centimeters away from his right ear, invading his personal space. “That’s why I made a little hole in my condom before going to her home and ejaculated a lot of sperm inside that pussy when we were having sex. Thousands of my little spermatozoids… finding a way out of that rubber barrier and swimming their way inside her womb, claiming ‘your’ territory…” Sunday shit his eyes, trying to control his painfully quick heartbeats while Aventurine kept enjoying the mental torture. “And trust me, Sunday, despite her not knowing what I had planned for her, she was the one that kept begging for me to keep fucking her and to cum inside her again. Not a single cell of her body wants you—” Sunday unexpectedly unchained himself from the chair, violently grabbing Aventurine’s collar by his green uniform and fisting his knuckles across his cheek.
Sunday just couldn’t deal with his own imaginations anymore.
It hurt him to imagine you not desiring for him to touch you that way. The same way you’ve allowing the gambler to do. It couldn’t be true. He knew he could make you feel as good as the gambler did. All that he was missing was courage to ask you out. To think of Aventurine having the privilege to watch you during sex, giggling about Sunday’s obnoxiousness. To think of the gambler fucking you right in front of him, conquering your heart, and you enjoying it rather than asking him to stop and to saves by Sunday.
Even if it was just a dark fantasy. A horror one. One that would never come to be true, if it depended on you at least, he smacked Aventurine’s face as if he wanted to avoid that possibility as much as he could. He did not want that scum making someone like you fall in love with it anymore.
Although the punch itself wasn’t hard enough to make Aventurine drop his smirk, it was surely made him roll down from the table and vulnerably land on the floor along with a few cards, chips and one of the wine glasses, that broke as soon as it touched the ground, and Sunday throwing himself on top of him.
“YOU FOUL DISGRACE!” Sunday kept attempting to spank Aventurine, who allowed himself to receive every single punch like a masochist while laughing at how Sunday snapped. “YOU HAD NO RIGHTS TO DO THAT TO Y/N!” Everyone in the casino already had their bodies turned to both men, some had even stood up to have a better view of the scene going on, all the whispers accumulating onto each other again.
“What’s going on?!”
“Are they fighting?!”
“Why are they fighting?!”
“Did Sunday Oak lose a bet?!”
“Who is Y/N?”
“They know each other?!”
“Punching me… won’t undo what has been done, Sunday! She’s pregnant! 100% pregnant!” Finally, Aventurine got bored of Sunday’s amateur boxing and rose his hands from the floor, clutched them around Sunday’s cranial wings, squeezing them hard to almost break its bones, and launched his forehead against Sunday’s.
“Who is pregnant?”
“This Y/N person is pregnant?”
“For God’s sake, who’s Y/N?!”
Sunday moaned loud in pain, accidentally weakening his weight on top of Aventurine, who quickly pushed him away from the top and reverted the positions.
“She’s mine… all mine!” Despite the few blood drops running down his nostrils and red marks in his cheeks, Aventurine kept smirking as if he was having the biggest thrill of his life. “And I’ll make sure to keep impregnating her every time I need to remember you who is in the lead! Over and over again!” Aventurine made sure to whisper his words about you and guarantee that nobody would gossip about their conflict, or at least gossip it with all the context behind it.
Aventurine’s punches were way more painful compared to Sunday’s, which was causing him to become so pained and desperate that he couldn’t even react to it, nor hold the gambler back. He doesn’t really tell people that he’s quite stronger than he looks. Although his slim body and smaller height sell the contrary image, all the years he spent being a slave strengthened his muscles forever, unlike Sunday, who has never quite invested in giving himself a buffer body. And the many rings hanging in his fingers, made of multiple gems, were making it only worse.
Sunday started to panic. So many people were witnessing the worst side of him, the Head of the Family, the representative of their planet, being in a casino and initiating a fight on it, one that he was also pathetically losing. After he’s given so many speeches about the importance of peace and the abolishment of violence, he was the first one to opt for violence when the stakes of a fight got too high? Even if he found a way to avoid the situation to escape everyone’s mouth, it still wouldn’t hide the multiple bruises in his face, and that would immediately denounce that he got involved in a fight, whether being who started it or not. Injuries like hematomas and cuts can take weeks to fully heal depending on their depth. How would he hide that from his public? His dear little sister? Gopher? Or… you?
“Oh, fuck.” Sunday thought.
Had he just made a bad decision? Had he embraced his instincts rather than his critical thinking?
He couldn’t let himself lose his reputation or influence so easily. He’d be willing to beg for Aventurine’s mercy as long as his face remained intact. So, that’s why he did his best to turn his face to the side while his arms and cranial wings crossed on top of it to create a barrier between him and Aventurine.
“What is it, birdie? Are you scared?! Come on, punch me again, I dare you!” Aventurine teased as he started digging his hands under his protection and undo it.
But Sunday was way more focused on the miracle laying in the floor by his side. The cup that had previously fallen in the floor and was ignored by them had broken into many big shards of glass, all beautifully laying down by his side and going unnoticed by the gambler.
How fun would it be to stab the foul gambler?
One of Sunday’s arms slowly reached out to the glass, but it wasn’t long enough to grab it, his fingers slightly touching the pointy tip of the glass. And unfortunately, a single arm on its own wasn’t enough to impede Aventurine from breaking through his barrier and curl his both hands around his neck.
“Bye-bye, Mr. Oak…” Aventurine’s eyes only widened in pure joy the more he suffocated Sunday’s throat.
Sunday grunted and gasped, trying to salvage the remaining oxygen in his body while his single hand kept helplessly trying to fight him back and pull at least one of Aventurine’s arms away of his neck.
Aventurine was so invested in his own sadism, watching Sunday’s face contort and crumble, that he still didn’t realize what was his other arm doing, slowly pulling the glass closer to his palm bit by bit.
And when Sunday’s fingers were finally able to pull that piece of glass close enough to him, with a swift movement, Sunday was finally able to—
“ENOUGH!” Aventurine was suddenly pushed away from Sunday by a security guard, immediately making Sunday’s lungs fill themselves with the oxygen he had lost while the glass stabbed nothing but the air.
And with the assistance of incoming men, Aventurine was quickly struck on the floor with his belly turned down and his hand locked together behind his back.
“Smart move, birdie! But, don’t you see..? You don’t stand a chance against my luck!” Aventurine cackled while he was momentarily being cuffed while Sunday was still recovering from the murder attempt.
“I’M GONNA KILL YOU!” Sunday couldn’t stand seeing that smirky face of his anymore and quickly stood up again, getting up on his feet again just to launch himself on the gambler again, the shard of glass already prepared to stab him.
But Sunday was immediately held back by even more guards that arrived in the scene, every muscle of his arms being held back while his legs desperately kicked the air.
“N-No!” He grunted in agony while one of the guards that cuffed Aventurine begun moving to Sunday and undoing his grip on the shard, pulling it away from him after a few seconds.
Aventurine kept cackling at the scene he watching, loving to see Sunday losing all his power and dignity in front of so many people.
“I PROMISE YOU I’M GONNA KILL YOU WITH MY OWN HANDS ONE DAY, YOU MANIAC!” Sunday spat his violent threat while still trying to launch himself towards Aventurine.
“Lets settle the bet, then! Whoever kills each other first gets to keep Y/N forever! Fair trade, ain’t it?” The gambler rose his head to talk to Sunday more confidently.
“AND I’LL MAKE SURE YOUR DIRTY CLAN WILL BE ERASED FROM HISTORY!” Slowly, both men were dragged afar away from each other, Aventurine being set in a sofa while Sunday was kicked out of the casino, rolling down a few staircases before finally finding himself wormed on the floor.
“Oh, wanna raise the stakes?! If I’m the one who kills you, then… your little sister will be punished too~…” Sunday fumed in anger as he thought of the murder of his little sister.
“DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE PUT ROBIN INTO THIS, YOU LITTLE SHIT!” Aventurine rolled his eyes in boredom with Sunday denying to raise the stakes of their bet.
“Get him out of my sight.” Aventurine looked at the guards and spoke more seriously, a smirk still displayed in his lips.
Sunday gasped when he begun being pulled away from his prey.
“YOU’RE DEAD, GAMBLER! DEAD!” Sunday made sure to state his final words before he was thrown in the streets.
Sunday rolled a few stairs down, ruining the perfect white color of his suit, but unfortunately he couldn’t stop to relax, ease the pain and fix himself because of the people that could be around him. So, he quickly got up from the floor and fled to a narrow corner between two tall buildings, surrounded by dark and trash and isolated him from anyone’s sight.
Meanwhile he fixed his suit, hair and face, while calling a cab to pick him up, Sunday kept insulting the gambler and even himself.
Sunday knew he should’ve asked you out long before all this situation, but he didn’t believe he had to do it since he didn’t think Aventurine’s competition was that dangerous. So, he preferred to wait until he believed you and him had developed a better friendship, and possibly sparked you to like him more than as a friend, a colleague or a boss.
But now, the race for your hand in marriage has started and Sunday is ready to cheat to win.
It doesn’t matter if he suffocates you with work.
It doesn’t matter if he has to kill Aventurine or the baby.
It doesn’t matter if he’ll not raise the baby without a lot of love and care.
It doesn’t even mattter if you don’t want to marry him in the first place.
He’ll win this bet.
Tumblr media
Taglist: @komelliko @gaboplaydespacito
Don’t forget to like and comment if you liked it! <3
122 notes · View notes
envy-of-the-apple · 3 days ago
Note
I've been reading all your jjk works and notice most of them having older mc. You wrote gojo with an older woman a lot, how about doing geto with middle age jujutsu teacher
Mc is not strong and barely considered a jujutsu sorcerer with her ct that basically numbs her or others senses like a potent anesthetic, its not really useful in a fight but the best thing for geto. With her ct she can numb his taste buds completely and he never has to taste the disgusting curse ball ever again. And plus mc is actually a really nice and caring teacher. The kind of teacher that uses different study methods to suit different students. The kind of teacher that immediately pick up when students are feeling down. But when geto expresses how much he is fond of her not just as her student she takes it as puppy love that he will soon get over it when he gets older and she only saw him as her student. She said something like "maybe when you graduate we can have this talk again" and geto took it to heart only for his beloved teacher getting purpose from other people(non-sorcer that you happened to help one time). Oh... How sad he is... He thought you would wait for him. And you would finally become part of his family with nanako and mimiko after all you help him raise both of them why are you leaving for some Monkey
I like this idea! But what about making the Mc a nurse instead???
(TW: Blood, implied murder, yandere)
You aren’t even a trained jujutsu sorcerer. You were scouted pretty late, far past high school. Because of that, you don’t have much potential, not that you were upset or anything. You’re still a high school nurse, but instead of treating students with the occasional flu, you treat teenagers who fight demons.
It’s pretty haunting to see, especially as an outsider of jujutsu. But you can’t do anything. You might be semi-important to the school, but you’re still just another rung on the ladder. So you keep your head down, as you always do.
It’s only natural you develop favorites. It’s a second year. Shoko Ieiri. She’s set to be your predecessor, having a much more powerful CT than you do. You don’t mind being in her shadow. The short time you spent in the jujutsu world was hard enough. At least now you know you wont be leaving behind a hole.
Geto is close behind. He’s a quiet boy, well-mannered, well-spoken. Far better than his white haired brat of a companion. It isn’t often he comes for injuries, but when accidents do happen, you’re sure to lecture him while tending to his injuries.
Maybe one day you get curious enough to ask what curses taste like. Maybe that day, he finally decides to be honest.
On tinier areas, like the tongue, your CT can last for hours. You try it out just once when he’s called to dispatch a first grade. He comes back that day with eyes brighter than anything you’ve ever seen.
It continues like that. When he’s called for an exorcism, he finds you. It’s like a goodbye ritual. You and him sit on the exam table, his mouth open wide as you diligently apply your curse technique, careful not to miss a single corner. He often tells you that you saved his life. You didn’t know he meant that so sincerely.
He confesses to you a year after Riko’s death.
Hes like a kid. He is a kid, staring down at you with hopeful eyes, not even a day over 18. You know what you should do. Rip the band-aide off, nice and clean. He deserves that.
But...you just cant break his heart like that, so you lie.
You tell him when he's older. You tell him after graduation. You tell him to wait. He readily does. You hope in a couple years hed be too embarrassed to ask you again. His adult brain would kick in and nag at him. His friends might too. Maybe when he comes back as a fully-fledged sorcerer, you two could laugh about this.
Your last straw is Haibara.
You quit the school. you walk away from jujutsu sorcery. It's hard, because its been your life for years, but leaving hurts less than staying.
You don't tell geto. You just leave. Abandon him.
You go back to your old job. A normal high school, treating normal high school students. Years pass like that. You move on with your normal life.
And then you meet a normal man. Quiet, well-mannered, the ever slightest gray in his hair. He's perfect. When he gives you the ring, it was the happiest you'd ever been.
Geto finds you two years after your marriage.
It's almost surreal meeting him again, seeing him in your quiet apartment. There's so much blood. His fingers are dripping in it.
He smiles. "So, had time to think it over?"
You were half right. One day, Geto did come back as a full-fledged sorcerer.
But neither of you laughed about it.
111 notes · View notes
reagent-leon · 2 days ago
Text
Let's talk about pre-Sinyala Coyle!!
Okay so, I’m really into character design, and I’ve noticed that a lot of people who draw pre-Sinyala Coyle tend to miss out some cool details about his Blackwell uniform. So, I figured I’d break it all down, covering 1950s fashion conventions, how Coyle blatantly ignores them, why he gets away with it, and some extra points about his overall dodgy behaviour. Because this post spiralled out of control.
Before we jump in, a quick note: Because of the comic’s style, there are definitely some inconsistencies, but I’ll do my best to piece things together. If you're into history, fashion, and Leland Coyle, stick around 🖤
First, some historical context.
Whether we like it or not, personal grooming and aesthetics have always played a big role in how we’re perceived. But in the 1950s, fashion wasn’t as focused on self-expression as it is today. Rather than standing out, most people aimed for conformity, with conservative ideals and public perception heavily influencing fashion choices. How someone dressed and presented themselves to the world immediately signalled their social status, character, and values. Maintaining a facade of respectability and adhering to social norms was a priority for most.
After World War II, being clean-shaven became a key part of a man's appearance. This was partly inspired by young men who had served in the military. Veterans accustomed to shaving daily carried the habit into civilian life. Of course, not everyone was clean-shaven, but facial hair was generally more common among older generations, as well as musicians, and actors, people who could flout convention without damaging their reputations.
By the mid-1950s, however, facial hair started making a bit of a comeback, thanks to cultural icons like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. Alternative hairstyles, especially those associated with greasers, weren’t widely accepted in professional settings. Instead, they became symbols of rebellion, linked to actors, outcasts, and those who rejected the status quo rather than conventional, well-to-do citizens.
Tumblr media
With that out of the way, let's talk about Coyle!
Thanks to the comics and in-game documents, we know that Coyle meets Clyde Perry in a Blackwell diner on February 16th 1956. Based on what we can piece together from his past, Coyle would have been around 33 years old at the time. Perry’s account of the altercation directly tells us that Coyle was well-liked and respected within his community.
Blackwell was (and perhaps still is) an extremely conservative town, where conformity to social norms would have been enforced through intense social pressure. The fear of negative judgment would have kept most people compliant. This makes Coyle’s deviation from 1950s conventions all the more apparent, though when we consider his past, things begin to make a bit more sense.
From both the comics and Coyle’s in-game dialogue, we know he had a troubled childhood (details to follow in a separate post). His adolescent delinquency eventually landed him in a military academy. However, his honourable service in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II, combined with his undeniable charisma likely convinced most locals that he was a reformed man, paving the way for his position as a police sergeant.
His rough-around-the-edges persona may have only added to his charm, allowing him to get away with behaviour that might have otherwise raised eyebrows, such as openly flirting with a waitress or publicly beating a man senseless.
Tumblr media
Although Coyle is primarily depicted as a silhouette in most full-body images, we can still piece together details of his uniform. Interestingly, his attire aligns more with a 1940s police officer than one from the mid-1950s. This could be a deliberate design choice to emphasize how both Coyle and the town he rules over are stuck in the past.
His uniform has a few key features:
Sam Browne belt – A leather belt with a supporting strap that runs over the shoulder and connects to a waist belt.
Standing collar & shoulder boards – Formal elements more common in earlier decades.
Shoes instead of boots – Just a note for the artists in the room. 
Utility belt essentials – Includes a handgun, handcuffs, and a nightstick, which were standard for the time.
We get a clearer look at the general appearance of his uniform from some of the police cutouts in the Trials, though none of them feature a Sam Browne belt.
Tumblr media
Coyle’s hair defies the social conventions of the time. It isn’t styled into any particular fashion and appears free of product, an unusual choice for a police officer, who would typically be expected to maintain a polished image, if not for personal pride, then at least for professionalism's sake. His hairline is noticeably receding, and it’s possible he combed it forward to disguise the thinning. By the time the events of the game take place, he’s completely bald, whether from stress-induced hair loss or simply shaving it once the recession became too obvious to hide. Pure speculation on my part. 
His stubble, mussed hair, and unfastened top button suggest that when he meets Perry, he’s either finished work for the day or, at the very least, on his lunch break.
I found a few references of what I think Coyle's hair would look like because the comic is very bad at keeping it consistent. I went out of my way to find a guy with sideburns too. (Don't say I never do anything for you.) It's also worth noting that Julian Bailey, Coyle's VA had a receding hairline in years past. It's my personal belief that they used Julian's face as a reference for this younger version of Coyle.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
As a ‘respectable’ police sergeant, he should present himself as buttoned-up, clean, and tidy, proudly representing the Blackwell Police Department and setting a good example for his subordinates. Instead, everything about his presentation suggests a man who sees himself as above reproach, someone who enforces social conventions but doesn’t feel the need to follow them himself. In fact, one could argue he’s rewarded for breaking them, receiving positive attention from women despite (or perhaps because of) his disregard for propriety.
Coyle placing his hat on the waitress is a particularly bold move, especially given the strict dating conventions of the 1950s. Historically, a man placing his hat on a woman's head was a flirtatious gesture, a subtle but effective way of ‘claiming’ her, particularly in cowboy culture (Coyle’s parents were cattle ranchers, cowboy Coyle is canon).
In this context, it’s unlikely to be a genuine display of interest. More than anything, it’s a power play, a deliberate act of pushing the limits of propriety while asserting his dominance. The real impact comes when Perry walks in, seeing Coyle has already ‘marked his territory,’ immediately undermining Perry and ensuring he feels off-balance in the face of Coyle’s effortless machismo. 
At the comic's conclusion, while Perry is driving away, injured but alive, he looks back to see Coyle standing outside the diner, wearing his police cap. At some point, he must have retrieved it from the waitress, likely with a charming, offhand apology for making a scene. Coyle doesn’t need to kill Perry to send a message, because letting him live IS the message. And Perry hears it loud and clear.
Tumblr media
A quick side note, this isn’t so much about Coyle’s appearance, but rather his character.
When Oklahoma became a state in 1907, it adopted prohibition as part of its constitution, remaining a dry state up until 1959. Alcohol was largely banned, though moonshiners and speakeasies operated in secret, often with local law enforcement turning a blind eye. As a consequence, one of the only widely acceptable alcoholic beverages was “low-point beer” a drink containing just 3.2% alcohol, considered non-intoxicating under state law.
Perry states that Coyle ‘drank heavily’ before their encounter, but the fact that it was low-alcohol beer explains how he could be four pints down and still completely in control when it came to beating Perry.
It’s possible Coyle was pulling a deliberate ruse, letting Perry believe he was drunker than he actually was. If so, it wasn’t just about drinking, it was a test. Coyle may have wanted to see if Perry would try to take advantage of what seemed like a weakened opponent, only to prove that he was never at a disadvantage to begin with.
For a police officer to drink so openly in a conservative Christian town flies in the face of everything he’s supposed to uphold. Yet no one seems to care, or at least, no one dares to challenge him. Maybe it’s fear. Maybe it’s respect. Either way, Coyle knows exactly what he can get away with, and he enjoys every second of it.
Tumblr media
There are plenty of inconsistencies in the comic, and the art style doesn’t always make the details easy to see. Honestly, I could spend forever picking it apart and analyzing it, and one day, I probably will.
But in the meantime… I hope it's been informative. And I hope that some artists who draw pre-Sinyala Coyle will start depicting him in his Blackwell uniform. As much as I love a leather jacket, I’m a sucker for those military-style uniforms.
I hope you enjoyed this little dive into Coyle and his antics. Before I wrap up, I’m leaving you with a picture I annotated—it was meant to be the main image for this post, but... it’s awful. Apologies in advance if it hurts your eyes.
Tumblr media
If you enjoyed my descent into madness, please inflict it upon your friends. I welcome friendly and constructive conversation in the comments. And hey, if you think I’m talking out of my arse, that’s your prerogative! This wasn’t meant as a critique, just the ramblings of someone who spends far too much time pondering the hows and whys of this man.
Well done if you made it this far, and thank you for reading!
As usual big shoutout to the Coyle Crew @misa-bun @decayinghost @soggy-bean for enabling me
87 notes · View notes
fourthavecafe · 2 days ago
Note
I just found this blog, I read it and I love it! 💖 Especially with Sukuna in modern days, irritated and confused by new world ideas 😆 So as the requests are open, may I ask for Sukuna and reader in modern days, when reader is always curious about Sukuna, askin questions and once they asked him is he ticklish. Sukuna is confuse and as reader explain him what tickles are, he grow too curious for reader`s poor ticklish body sake. Pretty please! 👉👈
Sukuna discovering what tickling is
── .✦ ♡
Tumblr media
You were perched on his lap, your legs dangling over one side of his throne-like chair while his large hands rested casually on your waist. He was reading something—some old, dusty book he found interesting but his attention wasn’t entirely on it.
You’d noticed how his fingers occasionally squeezed your sides, almost like a reflex, as if he enjoyed reminding you who was really in charge.
Despite his usual cold demeanor, Sukuna had his moments of surprising softness when it came to you. The slight shift in his expression whenever you teased him, the way he sometimes allowed you to sit this close without a word of protest it all pointed to the fact that, for some reason, he had a soft spot for you.
You couldn’t help but giggle as you studied his sharp features and furrowed brow. “Sukuna” you said, a mischievous lilt in your voice.
He didn’t look up from his book but one of his four eyes turned to glance at you. “What?”
“Are you… ticklish?” you asked, grinning up at him.
That caught his attention. His crimson eyes narrowed slightly, his expression shifting into something between confusion and suspicion. “Ticklish?” he repeated, as if the word was foreign to him.
“Yeah, ticklish!” you chirped, unable to suppress your amusement at his puzzled expression. “You know, like… sensitive to touch in a way that makes you laugh? Like this—”
In a moment of boldness or foolishness, you reached out and lightly wiggled your fingers against his stomach. Of course, his abs were like steel and your “tickling” attempt had absolutely no effect.
Sukuna raised an eyebrow, his lips curving into a dangerous smirk. “What are you doing?”
You burst into giggles at your own ridiculousness, leaning back slightly to meet his gaze. “I was just testing it out! You don’t seem very ticklish, though. Too bad.”
His smirk widened, and there was a glint of something wicked in his eyes. “Oh? So that’s what you were trying to do?”
Before you could process the shift in the air, Sukuna’s hands moved lightning-fast. One large hand squeezed your stomach, his fingers digging in just enough to make you squeal and curl up instinctively.
“Ah! Sukuna!” you yelped, laughter spilling out of you as you squirmed in his grasp.
“Hmm” he mused, tilting his head as if studying you. “So this is what you meant by ticklish?”
“Y-you can’t just—!” you started but your words dissolved into more laughter as his other hand joined in, pinching your sides with an almost surgical precision.
“Interesting” he murmured, his voice low and teasing. “You’re awfully sensitive, aren’t you? and here I thought humans were supposed to be resilient.”
“Sukuna!” you gasped, squirming and trying to push his hands away but he was far too strong.
“Stop? Why would I do that?” he drawled, his smirk growing as his hands traveled lower, giving your thighs a firm squeeze. The sudden change in location made you jolt, and your laughter took on a higher pitch.
“Ah, so it’s not just your stomach” he noted, his tone smug. “Your thighs, too? How… fascinating.”
“S-stop analyzing me like I’m some kind of experiment!” you managed to sputter between laughs, your face burning with embarrassment.
“Why not? You brought this upon yourself” he said, his hands pausing for a moment as he considered his next move. Then, with a wicked glint in his eyes, he poked a finger directly into your bellybutton.
Your reaction was immediate and explosive. You let out a squeal, your body curling up even tighter as you tried in vain to shield your most vulnerable spot.
“Well, well” Sukuna drawled, clearly enjoying himself. “What do we have here? This little spot seems to be particularly sensitive.”
“Don’t you dare!” you warned, your voice shaky from laughter.
He grinned, his fangs glinting in the dim light. “Oh, I dare.”
With infuriating slowness, his fingers returned to your bellybutton, poking and prodding as if testing just how much you could handle. Your laughter was uncontrollable now, tears forming in the corners of your eyes as you writhed in his lap.
“Sukuna, stop! Please!” you begged, your voice barely audible through your fits of laughter.
“Begging already?” he teased, his tone mockingly sweet. “I thought you were tougher than this, little one.”
“I’m—serious!” you choked out, your attempts to grab his wrists utterly futile against his overwhelming strength.
He chuckled, his deep, rich laughter sending shivers down your spine. “Oh, I believe you. But you should’ve thought of that before you decided to test me. Now, I’m curious.”
and curious he was. Sukuna explored every ticklish spot he could find, his hands alternating between squeezing your sides, pinching your thighs and tormenting your bellybutton. His movements were slow and deliberate, almost as if he were savoring your reactions.
“Such a strange weakness” he mused, his voice filled with mock wonder. “To think that something so small could reduce you to this.”
“Sukuna, I swear—”
“What? You’ll fight back?” he interrupted, laughing as you tried and failed to push him away. “Don’t make me laugh. You’re completely at my mercy.”
As if to prove his point, he gave your bellybutton one last, particularly cruel poke, sending you into another fit of uncontrollable laughter.
Eventually, when you were breathless and trembling in his lap, he finally relented. His hands stilled, resting on your waist as he looked down at you with a mixture of amusement and satisfaction.
“You’re lucky I don’t decide to make this a daily activity” he said, his smirk firmly in place.
You glared up at him, still trying to catch your breath. “You’re a monster.”
He chuckled, leaning down until his face was inches from yours. “and yet, you seem to like sitting on this monster’s lap.”
Your cheeks flushed and you looked away, muttering something incoherent under your breath.
He tilted his head, his expression mockingly innocent. “What was that, little one? Speak up.”
“Nothing!” you snapped, your voice tinged with both embarrassment and lingering laughter.
“Hmm” he hummed, clearly unconvinced but unwilling to press the issue. Instead, he leaned back in his chair, his hands still resting on your waist as if to remind you who was in control.
“Consider this a lesson” he said, his tone smug. “Don’t challenge me unless you’re prepared to face the consequences.”
You huffed, crossing your arms over your chest as you glared at him. “Fine. But don’t think I’m going to forget this.”
“Oh, I’m counting on it” he replied, his grin widening.
As infuriating as he was, you couldn’t deny that there was something oddly endearing about the way he looked at you in that moment his crimson eyes filled with amusement and just the faintest hint of affection.
70 notes · View notes
utilitycaster · 1 day ago
Note
The identity erasure in fandom is so exhausting.
I feel like someone could write a thesis specifically about Zac Oyama’s characters being pushed into queer/ nd stories by fandom without any regard to the actual textual stories of racism, model minorities, and othering that often arise from Zac’s work.
Like I can find hundreds of Gorgug/ Zelda/ Ragh fics and fics about Gorgug being autistic and only a handful that engage with Gorgug’s race. And actually, you’re just as likely to see a fic about fantasy racism towards Riz, which. Is not the story being told.
Truly wild.
You know, this is really fascinating to me both because I tend to only see the most ridiculous discourse coming from D20 and I don't read fic, but also despite neurodivergence being not uncommon among peole in fandom, as I said, people acted like Travis Willingham was too stupid to play a druid as recently as late 2021 (even after he'd played a hexadin). It's gotten much better and more AP actors have openly talked about having ADHD (Travis McElroy, Aabria Iyengar, Siobhan Thompson, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson) which I think forced people to consider what ADHD looks like but now it's kind of become a new "oh this character is LIKE ME" thing where basically anything can be used as evidence, which is fine for headcanons but becomes a problem when you ignore the identities you don't personally have.
But yeah, Zac in particular gets treated terribly - I haven't seen people be as awful to Lou despite him also being a man of color (though I have seen people be weird about him not necessarily choosing to play fat characters and it's like idk man why do you feel he's obligated to play characters that represent you, especially since he does clearly choose to consistently play black characters?) but a lot of people ignore that yeah, Zac has consistently played Japanese characters whenever they've been in a real-world-inspired setting, and that Gorgug is a half-orc living with gnomish parents who is curious about his parentage and who ends up pursuing artificing like his adoptive parents and feels like a very meaningful exploration of being multiracial. I do, for what it's worth, think there is textual exploration of anti-goblin racism in the first season that isn't really followed up on...but it's kind of telling that also, Gorgug isn't canonically queer and Riz is, and Riz is played by a white actor.
I would like to see someone, actually, do an academic exploration of everything talked about here because it's like:
Is this character, in-world, textually an oppressed identity (Fjord, Molly)
Is this character portrayed, in-world, as being of an identity that is oppressed in our world but is not in their world (eg, Beau being a nonwhite human lesbian in a world that doesn't really have color-based racism, usually favors humans, and doesn't have homophobia)
Is the character portrayed by an actor with an oppressed identity (Zac is nonwhite, Ally is trans, etc)
Is this actor a person with an identity shared by their character (ie, Lou and Aabria usually play black characters but those characters do not necessarily experience racism in their world - Fabian doesn't but Kingston would as does Eursolon; Deanna and Suvi don't - if I'm wrong bc I'm behind on WBN sorry)
If a character has multiple identities, which one are people connecting to and which are they ignoring?
If a character is, for example, played by an (afaik) straight cis nonwhite man and played as a straight cis nonwhite man (Ricky Matsui as played by Zac) do people headcanon them as being more like themselves to make them more relatable? Does this happen more with nonwhite characters given the heavily white AP audience?
If a character's race in a fantasy world is metaphorical, do they care about it? when and how?
anyway. much to think about.
62 notes · View notes
malk1ns · 2 days ago
Text
Tumblr media
february 1 vs predators, 3-0 win
a shutout? for us? is that allowed?
there is an unspecified age gap in this fic—i don't know exactly how old geno is in it, but he's younger than mario (b. 1965) is. mario purchased the penguins in fall 1999, about a month before he turned 34, and geno can't have been too young to be financially involved in that, so...maybe he's around jagr's (b. 1972) age? that would make him somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 years older than sid. let's go with that.
also in this world he got his hair transplant done when he was way younger and it's thrived ever since. i like picturing him as a silver fox 😋
When Zhenya went in with Mario on putting up money to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh, he never imagined a day where he’d be spending more time around the team than Lem did.
It was an easy decision at the time. The team was so badly mismanaged, and Zhenya had no desire to see the Penguins forcibly moved because their owners didn’t know how to manage a TV deal or sign sponsors. He didn’t want to move, and more importantly the fanbase didn’t deserve it. He figured he’d put up the money and let the lawyers figure out whatever they needed to to so he could keep playing, and when he retired he’d have a nice little stream of income no matter what he wanted to do.
He had no interest in the care and feeding of a professional hockey organization, not like Mario did. Mario stayed out of the GM’s day-to-day business for the most part, but whenever Zhenya met him for dinner, it was clear that the Penguins still ruled his life, the same way they had when the two of them were playing.
Zhenya stayed in Pittsburgh for Mario while he was playing. Even back when he was purchasing the team, he always assumed he’d move back to Russia, showing up for big events and (hopefully) Cup wins, but living his own life and enjoying himself.
Well, things don’t always work out the way we imagine. One knee surgery, and then another, ended his career earlier than he’d planned, and Mario talked Zhenya into sticking around and helping with player development before he could tuck tail and run back to Russia.
Almost twenty-five years later, and he’s still here. Oh, he travels plenty—there’s no point in retiring if you’re still beholden to coming into work every day, after all. Especially early on Zhenya spent probably more than his fair share of time flitting between tropical islands and enjoying the fruits of being young, athletic, and rich. But Pittsburgh had worked its way into his blood and bones, and he always comes home.
He’s been home a lot more frequently since about 2008.
Attending games as team owner is fun. He has his own box that he gets to invite whoever he wants into, and fans are still so eager to take pictures with him, starry-eyed over both the Cups he brought the town when he and Lem were still playing and his ‘team savior’ status. For years, he and Mario would sit and watch games together, waving when the cameras panned up to them and chatting.
Now, Mario barely comes anymore. Zhenya was more than happy to sell when Ron and Mario approached him about it—he’d still own some shares, he’d been assured, enough to have his opinion considered, but the brunt of decision-making would be removed from their shoulders. Zhenya was fine with that. They made a tidy profit, Zhenya still gets treated like royalty at PPG and anywhere in the league, and the responsibility of running a team that’s reaching the end of its golden age is no longer his.
He’s not clear what, exactly, went wrong between Mario and the guys with FSG. Mario won’t talk about it, and Zhenya doesn’t care to hear anyone else’s side of the story.
The result is, Zhenya’s the most consistent link to the old days that the fanbase has. In Mario’s absence, he’s found himself at more games over the last couple of seasons than probably the previous decade combined. He still watched, obviously, kept up with the team and was there for the players when necessary, but he was a more frequent presence at practice, helping out the coaching staff or chatting with the Euro scouts when they were in town than putting on a suit to sit in his box.
It’s exhausting. Zhenya’s face hurts from smiling politely some nights, and he’s sick of shaking hands with rich businessmen who want to take a picture with him but don’t actually give a shit about what he has to say.
There are perks, though.
His team is back from a long road trip, and Zhenya’s looking forward to seeing them play in person. He’s spent a lot of time with Kyle Dubas this season learning about his plan for the future, and losing is part of it, but as hard as the bad losses are there are always bright spots.
Halfway through the second period, Zhenya gets to watch one of his favorite bright spots in person for the first time in almost two weeks.
He’s always liked watching Sid score from one knee. It’s a statement goal, a fuck-you to a league that spent the first few years of Sid’s career beating the shit out of him and expecting him to say thank you and shut up. He never did.
“Damn,” Hörnqvist says with feeling as Zhenya leans back in his seat and whistles. “I forgot how that looks. How is he still so good?”
Zhenya shrugs, tracing Sid’s path across the ice to go down the fistbump line. He can make out Sid’s sharp smile from all the way up here, and his stomach flips over.
He’s missed watching the Penguins in person, yes. He’s missed Sid more. 
“Robot, maybe,” he says in answer to Horny, who laughs loud and bright.
Zhenya spent a lot of time around the team during the back-to-back years. They had so many injuries, and when Mario gave Jim the go-ahead to fire Johnston in 2015 the team had been fragile. He’d gotten to know those guys really well, and he’s always liked Horny. When he confirmed he’d be in town for his bobblehead night, Zhenya had been quick to invite him to sit up in the owner’s suite.
They’ve been having a good time. Horny’s just as exuberant as he ever was, and Zhenya’s been able to relax instead of putting on a show for whatever bigwigs FSG saddled him with that night. He’s even let himself have a few drinks, wrinkling his nose at the wine on offer but downing it anyway.
Mario’s horrendously expensive taste in wine crept up on Zhenya after all these years, even though he tried to resist it.
He’s distracted the rest of the game, chatting with Horny and leaning around the wall to take a selfie with some kid in the next box over with half his mind down on the ice, on Sid’s fantastic goal and how he looks after a good win.
The Penguins secure the shutout, and when the jumbotron flashes Zhenya and Horny on the screen, the crowd goes wild. Horny waves and flashes his megawatt smile, and Zhenya gestures to him with a flourish, applauding long and loud right in Horny’s ear until Horny’s shoving at him playfully.
It’s perhaps not dignified for an owner to get into a fake wrestling match in his suite while on camera, but the crowd loves it, and Zhenya’s done much more embarrassing things to please the people of Pittsburgh.
He wants to make his way down to the locker room, but that’s not his place anymore, no matter how much he wants to congratulate the guys. Zhenya’s far removed enough from the current roster that his presence makes a lot of the guys nervous, and that’s the last thing he wants.
It’s easy enough to wait by Sid’s car with his hat pulled low over his face instead.
“Forgot where you parked?” comes Sid’s teasing voice, and Zhenya pockets his phone and straightens, opening his arms.
Sid doesn’t even look around the parking lot before he steps into Zhenya’s embrace.
“Missed you, лапочка,” Zhenya murmurs into Sid’s hair, running his hands over Sid’s back. “Long trip.”
Sid sighs against Zhenya’s chest. “Tell the league to not do that to us next year,” he requests with a little whine, sagging into Zhenya’s hold.
Zhenya laughs. The league doesn’t listen to him. They don’t like foreign owners.
“Good goal,” he says instead, stepping back and cupping Sid’s face in his hands. Sid looks tired, which is to be expected, but his eyes are bright. “Everyone in arena likes, Horny says to me how’s he still so good, like, maybe he’s not human.”
Sid grins at that, an echo of the same sharp smile Zhenya saw on the ice. He’s as humble as they come, but Zhenya’s praise has always gotten him to puff out his chest a little. “And what did you say?” he asks, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head.
He flirts like he did when he was 18 and desperately trying to catch Zhenya’s eye when they would stay late to practice face-offs. Almost 20 years later and with a head full of graying hair, and Zhenya’s as much of a sucker for it now as he was then.
“Mmm,” Zhenya says, grabbing at Sid and reeling him back in, taking a big exaggerated squeeze of Sid’s ass. “I tell him I know you’re real boy, I check very carefully almost every day.”
Sid makes a sweet little sound in Zhenya’s ear. “Take me home,” he requests, and Zhenya drags him over to Zhenya’s own car, installing Sid in the passenger seat and tearing out of the player’s garage.
Sid has a lot of responsibilities. He’s carried an unfair burden ever since he stepped into the league, eighteen years old and the weight of an entire league on his shoulders. He’s risen to the challenge time and again with maturity and grace, wise beyond his years and an example for kids all across North America who dream of making the show.
With Zhenya, he has a space to let them go.
It took a few years before Zhenya did more than just look. He felt like a dirty old man at first, although thankfully that feeling has waned over the years, and he refused to touch Sid until after they lost to the Red Wings in a game six heartbreaker on home ice and Sid showed up at Zhenya’s house, red-eyed and shaking and needing to get out of his head.
It’s real, Zhenya knows that. It’s not some latent perversion, although Sid’s youth and relative inexperience had been appealing. Nearly twenty years later, though, Zhenya would dare anyone to call what they have anything besides true love.
That doesn’t mean he and Sid don’t like things a certain way sometimes.
Zhenya drives with his palm high on Sid’s thigh, digging his fingers in and listening as Sid’s breath speeds up the closer Zhenya’s fingers get to his dick. He doesn’t dare look over, but he can picture Sid’s face well enough.
Sid’s hard by the time they pull into Zhenya’s driveway. He lives further back in the woods than Sid and Mario do, tucked into a large copse of trees that makes his house practically invisible from his neighbors, and Sid likes the privacy, the way he can kiss Zhenya in the front yard and nobody will see them.
When Zhenya cuts the engine, Sid practically crawls over the center console to get at him. They didn’t fit in Zhenya’s little sports cars like this even when Sid was younger and not as bulky as he is now, but it doesn’t stop Sid from trying his best.
“Baby, inside,” Zhenya urges, fumbling for his seatbelt and kicking his door open. Sid’s hot on his heels, and when they’re inside the house he pulls Zhenya down into a kiss before they can even get their shoes off.
“I missed you watching me,” he breathes against Zhenya’s mouth, and Zhenya groans, wrestling them out of their jackets and dragging Sid to his office. He knows what Sid wants when he gets like this.
There’s a leather armchair in the corner that Zhenya’s had for longer than Sid’s been a legal adult. It’s huge and broken-in and comfortable, and Zhenya has it positioned so that it has a great view of his trophy case. It’s a nice reminder of everything he’s accomplished, when he wants to relax and read a book in here.
Sid likes it for different reasons.
Zhenya sinks into the chair, loosening his tie and sprawling his legs wide, tipping his head back and groaning as he palms himself through his trousers. Sid makes a desperate little sound from where he’s standing by the desk, and Zhenya cracks an eye open and pats his thigh.
Sid crawls into his lap, straddling Zhenya’s legs and scrambling to undo Zhenya’s fly.
“Shh, shh, calm down,” Zhenya soothes, bringing his hands to Sid’s waist and drawing him down. Sid’s frantic against him, but Zhenya nips at his plush mouth and holds him in place until he calms down, letting Zhenya kiss him until their lips are tacky with spit.
“Please,” Sid gasps when Zhenya pulls back, and Zhenya untucks Sid’s shirt from his pants, undoing each button and kissing at the bare skin underneath. Sid’s skin is covered in goosebumps by the time Zhenya tosses his shirt to the side, and he bats Zhenya’s hands away in favor of getting his pants and underwear off on his own.
Zhenya stays dressed. Sid likes it that way, always has.
A lapful of naked Sidney Crosby is as much of a temptation as it was back when they first started hooking up, but Sid knows what he’s doing now, knows how best to grind against Zhenya to make him arch his back moan. He knows that Zhenya likes the press of Sid’s teeth against his neck, that if Sid scrapes along Zhenya’s sides he’ll shiver and practically beg for more.
Zhenya knows a few things too now, though.
Once upon a time, he liked to have Sid facing the other way. He’d make Sid look at Zhenya’s wall of trophies, everything he did for the city while he was on the team, and whisper dirty promises in Sid’s ear of what he’d do if Sid accomplished the same. Sid used to come like a rocket when he did that, young and squirming in his owner’s lap, desperate to prove himself on the ice and in the bedroom.
Sid’s done everything Zhenya’s ever asked of him. Now, he likes to look Sid in the eyes instead.
There’s a little table with a drawer on one side of the chair, and Sid fishes the lube out and pours some into his hand without breaking away from where he’s sucking on Zhenya’s neck. Zhenya unzips himself, pulling his pants aside enough to draw his dick out from his briefs.
It takes Zhenya longer to get hard now than it used to. He has a bottle of little blue pills in the bathroom upstairs just in case; Sid tried to tell him not to worry about it, but Zhenya wants Sid all the time, and he’ll be damned if he lets his body deny him something that he wants. It’s not a problem tonight, though—he’s hard and wet at the tip already.
Zhenya thinks Sid doesn’t realize that he licks his lips every time he looks at Zhenya’s erection. Zhenya’s certainly never going to tell him.
The first stroke of Sid’s hand makes Zhenya moan, and he has to close his eyes and breathe deep to focus. He only has one per night in him these days, and he wants to make sure he can give Sid what he needs.
Zhenya knows that a lot of what Sid likes in bed is because Zhenya taught him to. It’s a little heady, knowing he’s shaped Sid’s sexual preferences that permanently. It means that when Sid lifts up and lowers himself onto Zhenya’s dick without so much as a finger for prep, Zhenya knows he can take it.
Sid’s always liked a challenge. His nostrils flare and his face screws up as he sinks down until Zhenya’s fully in him the same way they do when he’s shooting the puck from a difficult angle. Zhenya likes watching him like this, working for something, pushing himself to his limits to get what he wants.
When he starts to move, Sid’s thighs shake. He was on the ice for over 20 minutes tonight, after all. Normally Zhenya likes to make Sid do all the work, enjoying the view of Sid riding him in the middle of his office, but tonight he takes pity on him, fucking his hips up to meet Sid halfway, making him gasp when Zhenya gets him just right.
Sid never lasts long after games like tonight’s. He gets so worked up from hockey still, especially when he’s had a dominant game. Zhenya would tease him, but he’s the same.
“Look so good out there,” he praises, sliding a hand up Sid’s thigh and closing it around his dick. “So strong, nobody stops you when you’re play like this. You get to your knee, everyone knows it’s a goal.”
“You like me on my knees,” Sid says through gritted teeth, moving faster. He’s so tight around Zhenya’s dick, and hot, and he’s staring greedily over Zhenya’s body, at the hint of bare throat where Zhenya loosened his tie, his forearms where he’d rolled up his sleeves. “You’d put me there all the time if you could.”
“Fuck,” Zhenya swears, squeezing the head of Sid’s dick and making him gasp. “Yes, I would. You want? Sit under my desk while I do work, suck my dick until I say you make me come.”
“Oh my god,” Sid moans, curling forward and bracing himself on Zhenya’s shoulders as he comes into Zhenya’s palm.
Zhenya’s so close that it almost hurts, but he works Sid’s dick through his orgasm, smearing the come back onto his skin until Sid pushes his hand away and starts moving again.
When they were both younger, Sid used to ride Zhenya until he was hard again, agonizingly slow until Zhenya was sweating and begging underneath him. Now, though, they’re both tired, and too old for extended edging sessions, so Sid grits his teeth and doubles down until Zhenya pulls him down and grinds up into him, coming with a grunt.
Neither of them move for a few minutes, breathing hard as they come down. Zhenya rubs his hands between Sid’s shoulder blades and lets his mind drift.
Sid has two years after this season, probably. The team will want him to stick around; he’ll want that too, to have a hand in mentoring the next crop of players hoping to bring the Cup back to Pittsburgh, to stabilize the franchise through the transition. 
Times are different now. When Zhenya was a player, what he’s thinking about right now was so impossible it would be laughable to even think about.
Now, though, he lets himself imagine Sid sitting in the owner’s suite with him, tucked in the chair next to his with Zhenya’s hand on his knee. He thinks of them waving to the crowd, and the way a tasteful gold ring might glint in the arena lights from Sid’s left hand.
They haven’t talked about it, not really. But Zhenya thinks Sid’s probably a sure thing.
54 notes · View notes
hollowed-theory-hall · 21 hours ago
Note
Hello! I wanted to ask about your analysis of Cedricd Diggory and his family, especially because people are unsure of whether his blood status is pure-blood or half-blood since there's not much about his mother, his nationality; only prominent figure of their bloodline was Eldritch Diggory— unknown blood status and a British wizard who served as the fourth Minister for Magic of the British Ministry of Magic. Wouldn't that tidbit add to possible wealth for the Diggory family as they're descendants of him?
Like, we don't have canon answers, so I have speculations, headcanons, and theories — but that's something I do here often.
Not much is known about Eldrich Diggory, but all the three ministers that came before him (Gamp, Rowle, and Parkinson) were all purebloods and likely Wizengamot members (Gamp canonically was and I assume the others were too). So, I think it's reasonable to assume that the Diggories, at least back then, were purebloods and members of the Wizengamot.
Amos Diggory (Cedric's dad) works in the ministry and seems quite prideful in his son and family — suggesting they might still be involved in the Wizengamot. We also know they lived near the Weasleys and Lovegoods around Ottery St Catchpole which is a wizard-only village, which indicates, again, that they at least used to be pureblood and might still be. (The Weasleys and Lovegoods are both purebloods who live in Ottery St Catchpole, so, it suggests the Diggorys' blood status is similar).
They also seem to have enough disposable income for the Quidditch World Cup which they seem to have paid for:
“Had to get up at two, didn’t we, Ced? I tell you, I’ll be glad when he’s got his Apparition test. Still . . . not complaining . . . Quidditch World Cup, wouldn’t miss it for a sackful of Galleons — and the tickets cost about that. Mind you, looks like I got off easy. . . .” Amos Diggory peered good-naturedly around at the three Weasley boys, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny. “All these yours, Arthur?”
(GoF)
Mrs. Diggory also declines when Harry tries to give them Cedric's Triwizard winnings (yes, it was a choice fueled by morality, but it still implies they aren't short on money since a 1000 Galleons is a lot). Cedric also says this:
“Hi,” said Cedric, picking up a copy of A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration that was now splattered with ink. “My bag just split ... brand-new and all ...”
(GoF)
So, again, the Diggories live comfortably and can buy a brand-new bag for every school year.
So, they seem to be well off, not Malfoy-rich, but doing well. I'd call them solidly a middle-class or even upper-middle-class family. They are likely still Wizengamot members, with Amos having a nice position in the ministry (though, nothing is known about it beyond the department). They were pureblood-ish around the 1700s. That being said, the Diggories are not listed in the Sacred 28, which could be either for Cantankerus Nott's resentment towards a Diggory of his time or that by the 1930s the Diggories were known as not pureblood anymore. There isn't really anything to say either way, but I find it more likely they married half-bloods and muggleborns throughout the years rather than muggles due to where they live (they live in a wizard-only village and go to school only with wizards, they have little to no opportunities to even meet muggles, so I think it's unlikely they married muggles. Again, not because of prejudice, but due to the fact they likely never really met any).
Mrs. Diggory, specifically, is implied to be a witch since she visits Hogwarts:
“Professor,” Harry mumbled, “where are Mr. and Mrs. Diggory?” “They are with Professor Sprout,” said Dumbledore. His voice, which had been so calm throughout the interrogation of Barty Crouch, shook very slightly for the first time. “She was Head of Cedric’s house, and knew him best.”
(GoF)
While the Fantastic Beasts movies showed a muggle at Hogwarts, this is a retcon considering muggles won't even be able to see the school due to how muggle-repelling charms work in the books:
The tricky part was getting onto platform nine and three-quarters, which wasn’t visible to the Muggle eye.
(CoS)
“This is it,” said Hagrid, coming to a halt, “the Leaky Cauldron. It’s a famous place.” It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn’t pointed it out, Harry wouldn’t have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn’t glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn’t see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it. 
(PS)
So, Cedric is essentially pureblood (I mean, his mom could be a muggleborn or half-blood but she's clearly a witch) as both his parents are wizards, he grew up around the Wizarding World his entire life and probably never met a muggle.
So, to summarise:
I think they have money, though I don't expect them to be super rich. I place them as an upper-ish middle-class. Like, they have disposable income and a very comfortable lifestyle, but they aren't the Malfoys or even the Blacks or Longbottoms (yes, I think the Longbottoms are pretty rich).
They might've been richer in the past, but by the 1990s they just don't give me the vibes that they are super rich, but they're doing well, yk?
They probably used to be a pureblood family around the 1700s
They may have started marrying in muggleborns/half-bloods between then and the 1930s or a Diggory angered Cantankerus Nott at some point.
They likely had a Wizengamot seat in the 1700 and it's very possible they still do.
Cedric is either pureblood or half-blood (his mom is a witch, but her blood status is unknown). Either way, he was raised very much like a pureblood with little to no muggle influences. I usually think of him as pureblood as it seems more likely to me.
32 notes · View notes
sonic-au-collision · 2 days ago
Note
Do you by any chance have any tips n tricks on making aus + stories fleshed out and more coherent? This can also be answered in Reblogs idrm 🙏🙏
AU & STORYWRITING TIPS AND TRICKS
You have released me from my cage and I have unleashed a word dump below the cut. This isn't really organized at all and I did jump back and forth between sections but I hope at least some of it helps.
Since I don't really know the specifics about your AU, I'll use some shows, books, or even sometimes my own AUs as examples but you should be able to take what I said and apply it to your stories.
(Note from future mod after writing this guide. I also ended up spontaneously making new AUs because of this. That was not meant to happen.)
This will also be tagged under #collision questions! If you want to reblog with some notes of your own go right ahead!
It's important to figure out how canon divergent your AU is and how that impacts your characters.
Think about your overall AU concept!
Like, let's say you have an AU that diverges off one point of canon. Everything up until this event is the same. Then something changes, something happens differently. For these kinds of AUs, I'd definitely recommend reviewing and analyzing the original source a lot!! Especially the events taking place after your changed plot point!!
Understand the importance of that event in canon and how it may have impacted events afterwards. Take the episode The Sign from Bluey for example. Also SPOILERS FOR THE SIGN!! Let's say, Winton's dad and the Terrier's mom had never gotten together. This would mean that since Winton's dad would not be moving in to live with the Terrier's, he would have no need to sell his house. And since he isn't selling his house, the sheepdogs wouldn't have changed their minds about buying Bluey's house. Bluey and Bingo would have ended up moving to a new city, as a opposed to canon where they ended up staying. If you've seen The Sign, you'll know there's way more examples of this cause and effect than what I just listed.
Or another example, let's say in Sonic Prime, Shadow didn't use the emerald when Sonic shattered the paradox prism. This leaves Sonic on his own without Shadow's help. Now think about scenes where in canon, Shadow was there to help Sonic. Now take Shadow away. What might have happened in that scene? How will Sonic handle the situation without Shadow? Take creative liberties! Because Shadow isn't there, the story may take a completely different turn. The story SHOULD take a completely different turn. Things that happened in the show, may not have even happened at all here as a result. Things that happened in the show, may be impossible to occur in this world as well! I don't have specific examples because I haven't watched the show in a while but man do I want to turn this into a real AU now. What have you done to me this was supposed to be a random example I came up with just a few minutes ago. Anywho, moving on! Sonic's character in this world would also be different as a result of his experiences and how he had to adapt to the situation differently.
Alternatively, your AU isn't canon divergent. Let's say it takes place in a world completely different from canon. A world with different rules and norms can affect and change how the characters experiences as they grow up. For some reason I have been thinking about Shadow a lot so let's say we have a world where Sonic and Shadow grew up together on ARK. They knew each other from day one and don't have a reason to distrust each other. Consider how something like that would affect their dynamic, personality, etc. Because they grew up together, consider how for example, SA2 would be changed.
This can apply to AUs where its Sonic characters but in the world of a different fandom. Like a Lilo and Stitch sonic AU or Percy Jackson AU. Consider how the Sonic characters interact with this world. Try not to rely on too much on how the actual characters of that world interacted within that world because here's the thing. Sonic is not Percy. Sonic would not act the exact way Percy would in a situation because they are different characters. The AU covers the main beats of the original story but it will not follow the exacts events word for word. If you're planning on writing a fic for an AU like this, please please please don't just like yoink the script and exchange character names for Sonic ones because there's really nothing new being added and that's what makes these stories interesting. Same thing for role swaps!! They may have changed roles but do not give them the exact same dialogue as the original. Characters have different personalities and speaking patterns after all. Take the overall message of the dialogue and reword it to better fit the character who's saying it.
So about characterization
Maybe you have an idea of x character doing something, and that something may seem out of character for them, but maybe that action is really important to the story or you just really want it to happen. Here's what you do: have the steps you take to get to the out-of-character event, be in-character. Have the reasoning for the actions be in-character.
An example with an AU of my own but I'm not giving specifics due to spoiler reasons. There is a character who canonically, is loyal to a fault. Their loyalty to their friends and family is both their greatest strength and weakness. But my AU features this same character, betraying their friends and family. They're fighting on the wrong side, sabotaging their friends. So as you can see, very out of character.
That AU started around just the concept of that character betraying everyone. Now since loyalty is a vital part of their character, I need to take that into consideration when figuring out how to get the canon character to become the AU character.
This character is loyal to their loved ones. So, I put their loved ones at risk. This character's parents and baby sibling are held captive by the enemy. They must help the enemy otherwise their parents are at risk. This is why they betray their friends and share information with the enemy.
So pretty much, an out of character action will have in character reasoning. What will this character do to get to this point? How do their actions get them to his point? And maybe, all that happens before the main events of your AU and that's why your AU character is different.
Writing stories
Speaking of characters doing one thing to get from point a to point b, that's pretty much how writing a stories go. At this point I've been writing for over an hour so I might not dive too deep into this.
First think of. What is the status quo? What's usually normal in this world? Then. What happens that causes a change in that normality. And there's your beginning of the story.
Again, think about how the characters will react to this change? What do they do next because of it? What is something they want? What is something they need? What do they do next to get it? And what do they do if an obstacle appears in their way.
If you know the climax or any events in the middle, just think of what you can do to guide this character so they can get where they need to be for these events. Then what does the character do to get out of the situation?
As for the ending. You can establish a new status quo. What's going on now in the world after all the adventures they've gone on? What's your stories message? What do you want readers to take out of it as they reach the end?
Miscellaneous bullet points
Sketch!! Do a lot of little doodles of character designs or scenes to help get the ideas flowing!! Don't feel obligated to post these online, draw what you want for you
What if? A lot of AU ideas can come from asking what if x happened? Maybe there's a point in a game where something you were hoping to happen, didn't. Well, what if it did?
Use a notebook!! Sometimes, it's better to take a break from the screen and get all your thoughts down traditionally and break them down in a way you just can't in Google docs. Try making a mind map. Start with one idea and branch out from there.
Review the source material!! Get an understanding of the characters and their world and why they act that way
You can write scenes out of order! Then when incorporating it all together into a main storyline, just think of what the character did to get from this point to the next.
Save deleted scenes!! Keep them in a separate document. There's always a chance you can use them for something else later
Keep readers engaged by raising questions within the story and not answering them until later. Say Sonic gets hit by a spell but don't say the exact effects just yet. Have Sonic slowly notice them himself. But he doesn't realize what's wrong. The readers will be curious to what exactly happened to Sonic and if it can be fixed. When a question is answered, raise another one. Sonic and friends learn about the spell and luckily! There's a cure! Unluckily, they have a time limit. Will they make it in time?
Create an outline, but don't stick strictly to it. This what I usually do. I let my thoughts run wild as I piece together what happens in the story. It's messy and chaotic. I'll show you an example of my outlines if you go over to my main blog. Then I use the outline to guide me as I write, looking at it every so often but not 100% following it. There will be times as I write that I deviate completely from the outline, adding or changing different scenes because it just makes more sense for the story. The outline is a guide of suggestions, not an instructive manual.
Hope at least some of that made sense and provided some help!! If you've got more AU specific questions feel free to ask here!
If you want more on story writing or you want a look at my story outlines, I'd like to direct you on over to my main blog @starzdeath
39 notes · View notes
call-me-insane-but-wth · 3 days ago
Text
Something that I've come to realize from interacting with the mzds Fandom and the #canon jiang cheng tag is that a lot of avid jc defenders and apologists don't even like Mdzs. Even, no, especially BECAUSE the story is straightforward and told plainly with not much room for interpretation.
The mmc was brought back to life and faced evidence of slander and appropriation of his work and name. Shrugs it off as 'history being told by the victors'. Discovers the real reason behind his death. Falls in love with an old colleague.
That's it. That's the bare bones of mdzs.
Wherefore do all of these think pieces come from? That sides with the *antagonists* of the story? The very same ppl who slandered and appropriated the mmc's name and work?
There's a lot of condenscion and pretentiousness being tossed about, couched in variations of "*I* know how to be objective and separate fiction from reality!1!!" But do you, though?
Because the reality is that the fiction you've consumed is not only telling, but SHOWING you who/which characters were in the wrong and how. Although you may not like the main character, mdzs IS 3rd person omniscient. The bias that jc stans are so bitter and venomous about is simply... Canonical unbiased 3rd person omniscient exposition.
In the final analysis, doesn't this/that mean that to you, the *author's* morality and her narrative no longer hold any value? After all, the author herself was the one to say that her mmc was morally good and righteous. So if you're calling the authors cognition of right and wrong into question, what on earth did you like about this work in the first place?
Don't like, don't read is an age old tenet of Fandom for a reason.
I had the pleasure of conversing with someone who considers that the consensual dubcon play between two consenting adults (lwj and wwx, incense chapter) to justify coercing the mmc into bowing his knees in reconciliation with his former shidi and wanna be patron (😅). Bc that was a moral failing worth punishment, I suppose.
Another post I saw that had me going ??? Was a post in which the op admitted to their own bias, but in summary, considered Wwx to be faulty simply because his 'idealism' was unrealistic and un-pragmatic, and hadn't amounted to a quantifiable sum.
Hey, forget the dissonance of admitting that the obvious plot of classism, scapegoating, disenfranchisment, and exploitation being lost on you, but to scorn a failed attempt at living up to ones principles... Isn't that also another way of allying oneself with the antagonists?
After all, scorning the 'short sightedness of rebellious peasants/immature youth' is straight out of a sneering gentry's playbook/lexicon.
So the onus isn't being put on the arbitrary and unjust laws of the setting of the world, but on the characters who dared to hope, to resist, but fail?
The narrative committed the horrible crime of being idealistic, so let's put on a sash with printed blocky letters of 'I'm being objective and realistic!' And critique a mc for daring to resist, fail, and not have the temerity to stay dead in a setting that has ghosts, supernatural animals, reincarnation, flying swords, and spells?
I feel like wwx would've been better received by this Western audience if he wasn't so... complex. I hate to say it, but I'd bet my last dollar that much of the disdain and dislike towards Wwx as a protagonist is that he (mdzs) challenges ppl's latent sexism. Ironically, from the canon jc tags, jc stans are the ones to attribute feminizing factors to Jc in an effort to leverage their defense.
33 notes · View notes
sky-scribbles · 11 hours ago
Text
Next up on Things I Liked About Veilguard: the faction leaders. We all know some of the factions and their NPCs did not get anything like the amount of content and character that others did (Strife and Irelin I'm so sorry, I still love you), but sometimes I take a step back and realise how wonderful the stuff we did get was.
I mean - Evka and Antoine. Everything about them is so heartfelt. I hadn't read the supplemental material, but they barely needed to interact before I understood why this sweet, smart guy and this tough, smart woman loved each other. They affirm each other constantly. They respect each other so deeply. They have written letters for the other to take to their Callings: a cipher only Antoine could read. Je t'aime. Je t'aimerai toujours.
I love how Myrna and Vorgoth are introduced, suddenly and unsettlingly there in the Lighthouse. I love Vorgoth speaking in all caps. I love the fact that nobody knows what they are. I love that they raised baby Ingellvar. I love how Myrna is calm and polished while every so often coming out with the absolute wildest shit. They're fun.
The Viper and Tarquin? Top tier. They might be my favourites, just because of how much they have going on. Each of them has a backstory, and you can see exactly how those backstories produced their personalities. Ashur has a secret identity you can piece together from notes and codexes (and it's the funniest identity possible). I love their argument over Ashur's paranoid investigation into Tarquin, because it shows that the world goes on when Rook is not in the room, and the NPCs have relationships that go through ups and downs.
I'm mildly insane over the level of devotion, with Tarquin's desperate letters to the Wardens if Ashur is blighted, begging for a cure Ashur won't take. Him standing over Ashur to defend him in the final mission, or else his devastating reaction if Ashur dies: 'It should have been me!' God, these NPCs are alive. (fun fact: I wrote most of this post, and then Sheryl Chee confirmed these two were written as being in love with each other and stupid about it. I'm so happy.)
Speaking of NPCs who love each other: Teia and Viago, my beloveds. Again, I was coming in without the supplemental material, and I was sold on them so fast. The way Viago tenderly cradles Teia from behind as they mourn Caterina. The way they're so involved in Lucanis's personal quests - they're his family, they're there for him, they love him. I love Teia's fierceness and her heart. I love their banter - so much mutual understanding, exasperation and affection mixed together. 'We know each other too well to be strangers.'
Isabela is as wonderful as she always is - I especially appreciate how her depiction in Veilguard makes it clear just how loving she is. But can we also talk about Rowan? (I don't know if she's technically considered a faction leader, but meh.) I love her poetic speech patterns; I love that she's a scholar who wrote a bunch of codex entires; I love her calm, soothing voice. I love getting to see a Rivani Seer at last. And I love how she'll suddenly turn around and say, still calm and soothing, 'Spirit of Determination: may your enemies die bitter and in pain.' Perfect, no notes.
Strife and Irelin, sadly, drew the shortest straw when it came to being fleshed out in-game. But what I do love about them is their relationships with your companions. I love the tiny detail of Irelin, Bellara's ex, helping her pack for the Lighthouse; I love how she writes to Bellara to beg her to take care of herself, because she still matters to her.
And while I am a profound Emmrook lover, I appreciate Emmrich/Strife so much too. I love their shared curiosity and sense of adventure; I love thinking that Emmrich might give Strife tenderness that his life has lacked, while Strife could help nudge Emmrich toward boldness. I love the idea of two older men who likely think love has passed them by suddenly going, oh. If the Veil Jumpers didn't get a deeper relationship with Rook, at least they got relationships with Rook's friends.
Dragon Age games always give us a fun roster of companions, but honestly? Veilguard got me invested in the non-companion NPCs more than any other game in the series. Yes, there should have been more - but what we got was so much fun.
tl;dr: Faction leaders, my beloveds.
36 notes · View notes
maleoventlover · 2 days ago
Text
♱A Token of Blood and Gold♱
✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠✠
English Professor!Vampire x Human fem!reader
Tumblr media
It was another day of class. Rain hit the aged auditorium glass with soft thuds as you sit within your lecture. You were an English Masters student, studying Rhetoric in Religious Literature from the 18th century. You specified in work from the Middle East and the Mediterranean, with occasional interest in main land Europe.
Your professor, a man seemingly in his late 30’s, early 40’s, spoke about the history of Manama and its importance in conversation such as religion, philosophy, and self expression. Professor Farsi was his name, and god was he beautiful. His hair was black and slicked back, a streak of silver etched into the many strands. His eyes were strong, beautifully brown like the perfect cup of coffee in the chilled morning air, glistening with wisdom from his years. His strong jaw covered in a sharp bearded goatee, gray strands running through the black hairs. His skin was a beautiful shade of honey.
The lecture would typically interest you, especially considering professor Farsi was teaching it. He had been your professor since your undergrad years. You figured as you moved to your masters his classes would decrease. Oh how your were wrong. People from around the world came to hear his lectures. Something about this made you feel a slight tinge of jealousy. You knew he was a well reknoened academic. Anytime he looked your way it felt like you two were the only people in the world. He made you feel something no other person had. The way his eyes gazed over you, you could’ve sworn he felt it too.
“That’s all for today class. I’ll see you on Monday.”
Everyone stood up, chattering about their first lesson with the captivating professor. You gathered your things and head towards the exits of the building, only to remember it was still raining. A sigh escapes your lips as you realize you forgot your umbrella. As your body becomes soaked with heavy pellets of water you hear the sound of an umbrella opening. The feeling of rain drops disappear, replaced with the feeling of a hand on your lower back.
“Miss Y/N, did you forget your umbrella again?”
“Professor. You know me too well.”
You hum. The smell of leather, musk, and amber. His scent was as intoxicating as his voice. Confident yet soothing, he always had a way with words.
Of course my dear. You’re soaked, let me drive you home
You could deny his sultry voice, his hand pressing in on your back, guiding you to his car. His other hand, gripping the umbrella shielding you from the rain.
Instances like this confused you. He was always so kind and giving towards you yet never confessed any feelings nor engaging in physical gestures. Yet, since your junior year if undergraduate there was always something.
Approaching the staff parking lot, your jaw jobs at the sight of an expensive black car, one a professor salary could definitely not afford.
Cadillac SOLLEI, black exterior and interior, a gift from a friend.
He mutters and opens the passenger seat for you.
Looking up at his face he looked a bit tired, something about the way his eyes lingered on you a second longer than they should. You smile awkwardly. It almost felt like he was sizing you up. Maybe it was just your imagination.
The next moment he is in the car beside you. You jump noticing his presence, you hadn’t even heard him get into the car. He laughs at your lack of attention, his laugh making you knees weak. Good thing you were in the car.
Soon the car jumped to life and he began leaving campus.
What is your address Miss Y/N?
You’re about to respond but stop. Your brain starting to feel good, relaxed. The rain gets louder, a little too loud. With every drop it pulls you deeper into this feeling of bliss.
khanam Y/N sadaye man ra mi shnevid? nah? khob
You don’t even know what he’s saying. You just smile as him, a giggle escaping your lips.
Your sight begins to fade. Black slowly creeps in from all sides, an all-consuming void. The last thing you see is Professor Farsi flashing a grin at you, but something is off. He had long fangs poking out from his mouth. Then you fade to black.
Tumblr media
Your eyes shot open in a panic. Sweat slicked your brow as you sat up in almost complete darkness. A flash of light from the window shocked you, and loud thunder soon followed. A storm was raging outside.
“Outside…”
You murmur as you suddenly realize you have no idea where you are. Anxiety begins to creep through you as you look around. None of this looked familiar. As your eyes adjust to the darkness, you feel your stomach drop. No. This was familiar, but not in the way it should be.
The room was decorated in a combination of 18th gothic Eurocentric interior and 18th-century ottoman interior. It was a spitting image of your dream room, a beautiful culmination of your studies and desires. You take in your surroundings more clearly. The bed you say on tested within a European bed frame carved from dark wood, intricate designs carved into its flesh. Beautiful, thin silk curtains rested on the sides of your bed, shielding you from air drafts and bugs. The room was adorned with religious and philosophical tapestries displaying stories from many religious texts you familiarized yourself with.
You slowly step onto the hardwood floor of the room, your legs and feet cold from the night air. Looking down at yourself, you gasp. You are not wearing the clothes you had on in class. In fact, you wore a night gown, your head adorned in a silk wrap to protect your hair from your restless slumber.
‘This is weird. Am I dreaming?’
You think to yourself as you walk around the dark room.
A candle and box, if matched, catch your eye as they rest upon the wardrobe in the corner. Quickly, you strike a match, the flame catching alight instantly. You lit the candle and promptly blew out the match.
Despite the weather outside and your better judgment, you decide to find a way out of where ever you were.
You jogged down the hallway to what you'd concluded to be a manor. The night sky adorned in thunderclouds slammed its assault of rain against the large glass panes that lined the walls of the hallway you traveled.
The need for escape coursed through your veins as you checked every door for an exit. Some were locked, and others led to dust-filled rooms, drawing rooms, and storage; it was all pointless.
As your legs carry you faster, your bare feet pattering against the cold marble, you see one room ahead. A soft, warm glow sealed from the edges. Something about it enticed you, drew you closer. Your jog became a walk, then a stillness. Reaching for the knob, you turn it slowly, carefully pushing the door open.
It was like something out of a book. A secluded personal library with a fireplace crackling as wood burnt to embers. Professor Farsi stood in front of the fireplace, holding a cup of amber liquid.
Y/N. I've been waiting for you sholeh ebdi man(1).
Tumblr media
“Where am I?” You demanded, staying close to the door. Something was definitely off about the professor. You needed to stay close enough to the nearest exit in case things heated.
The door slammed shit behind you, a hush yet noticble locking noice could be heard.
You blood runs cold. How did he do that? What that even him.
Y/N, sholeh ebdi man, you need not fear me. I am merely making sure you do not run without hearing me out.
His back still faced you, the drink on his hand brought up to his lips.
“What do you want from me professor?”
The sound of him sucking his teeth and the shake of his head.
I do not want anything from you Y/N
He begins to turn. You blink, and suddenly, he's gone. You try to process where he went in less than a second. You feel a breath on your neck, causing you to jump and turn. He's standing right behind you, his stature tall and frame completely shadowing your own.
You are what I want. My deepest desire. My sun to my moon. My light in the darkest of hours.
His hand reaches upwards and caressed your cheek. You freeze in response. What is he talking about?
You are sholeh ebdi man, my eternal flame. At first I did not notice.
He began to pace around you, like he was stalking his prey. And honestly, you felt like a rabbit stuck in a foxes den.
It wasn't until I saw you today in class that I realized. You are the answer to my problems.
You could feel your heart racing as he steadily got closer.
My loneliness, my hunger, my desire. A mortal woman such as yourself woukd normally never peak my interest but…
His hands grabbed your hips and pulled you against him. Your back flushed to his chest. His rough and uneven breath hovered over your neck.
Your blood just smells so….divine!
The sound of his maw opening, something sharp snapping down onto skin, ripping through fkesh and muscle. Horror is etched into your face as a sharp pain erupts from the crook of your neck and shoulder. Large fangs dug into your flesh. His rough tongue lapped up your blood from the gushing wound. A scream rips from your throat as the man you admired feasts on your life source.
~fin-
sholeh ebdi man(1): my eternal flame
khanam Y/N sadaye man ra mi shnevid? nah? khob.(2): Miss Y/N Can you hear me? No? Good.
(A/N: Should I do a part 2)
27 notes · View notes
athenagc94 · 2 days ago
Text
Dear Daddy Long Legs - Chapter 5
Jason Todd x Fem!Reader
Also posting on AO3 which you can find here.
Might have to take a few days off so I can catch up on some writing. I am very happy with the direction this story is taking. (If you couldn't tell, this is more of a slow burn piece because I can't imagine Jason as anything but someone who yearns.)
TW: Minor depictions of violence
Tumblr media
First | Prev | Next
Chapter 5
You dropped your letter off the following morning before heading to your first class of the day. The first two weeks at Gotham University passed in a blur as you tried to orient yourself. You liked school when you were a kid. It distracted you from the harsh realities of the world. College was a different beast entirely, especially one as prestigious as this.
It was hard not to feel othered here. Other students came from old families, ones with money and prestige. You recognized some of their faces from interviews or social media. It was their seats that went vacant in class. They had nothing to prove. There were no consequences when you had money to throw at a problem.
You settled in your seat of your history class. From Goddesses to Witches: An Overview of Women’s History. With a title like that, how could you not sign up for it? There were a lot of cool classes here, and you wanted to take them all, but there were only so many hours in the day.
The blonde who usually sat on your right had already arrived. Her purple hoodie was branded with the University logo, though you don’t recall the school store selling purple apparel. She offered a friendly smile as you sat. You failed to return it as you sifted through your bag.
Sure, you wanted to make friends. It would be nice to find like-minded people who liked to discuss classic literature and the relevance of the oxford comma, but you weren’t entirely sure where to start.
Returning a smile might have been a smart move, but the moment had passed. Your table mate shifted her attention to her phone, so you decided to do the same.
A text awaited you from your manager: Rosa quit last night. I need you to come in tomorrow night to cover a party.
You suppressed a groan. Seriously? Rosa had wanted to quit for a while, but now it fell to you to pick up the slack. You shot back a quick text though you knew it wouldn’t make a difference: I have a night class.
Bubbles appeared instantly.
Shit.
His response was exactly what you expected: I wouldn’t be asking if we had options. I hired two new waiters that need a veteran to show them the ropes. You’re the best I have.
Flattery would get him nowhere, but you’d be stupid to turn down an extra shift—especially as an event lead. That role usually went to Rosa who had a kid to consider. Now, the title would shift to you, and the boost to your salary would reflect it.
With a defeated sigh, you replied: I’ll be there.
I’ll send you the details tonight. You’re a lifesaver, he shot back.
Hardly, but you weren’t about to argue. This decision was entirely selfish on your part. If you did this, you’d have a valid argument to ask for Christmas off in a few months.
Your professor arrived and class began. As she talked about your assigned reading, which you’d already finished and annotated the night prior, your mind wandered as you considered your options. Skipping one class wasn’t the end of the world. It was a philosophy class that didn’t count toward your major, but allowing this set a dangerous precedent. Your boss got what he wanted this time. What would stop him from trying again?
Some students might get away with skipping class, but you weren’t one of them.
Glancing back at the blonde, you noticed meticulous notes she’d started in glittery purple ink. She was also in your philosophy class, though you didn’t sit next to each other.
In hindsight, maybe you should have returned that smile.
Your fingers drummed the table. It’s not like you were asking for a lot if she was already taking notes. She might be cool to talk to, to hang out with. Friendships had blossomed for less.
Or maybe you were asking for too much?
Ask for notes and leave things there. After years of doing things for yourself, it felt like cheating to rely on the kindness of a stranger like this. Not to mention, you were a little rusty at making new friends. The ones you had came from work and the shared trauma of working in catering.
Do you even know how to make friends?
You warred with your pride until the professor dismissed you. The blonde hopped out of her chair, swung her bag over her shoulder in one fluid motion, and hurried out before you mustered the courage to speak. You were moving before you realized it, abandoning your bag to hurry after her.
“Hey! You in the purple. Wait up.”
It wasn’t the best identifier, but she stopped anyway, peering over her shoulder. Her surprise gave way to something friendlier as she grinned. “That’s me.”
You approached, your heart pounding. “So, I hate to ask this, but I got called into work tomorrow night. Since you’re in my philosophy class, I was wondering if you could take notes for me?”
“Yeah, no problem,” she said as she pulled out her phone, “What’s your number? I can text you a picture of them once class let’s out tomorrow night.”
“Oh, that’s not necessary. I can just grab them when I see—”
“Don’t sweat it. Professor Edwin is an ass. He failed me last year because I slept through our final exam and refused to let me retake it for partial credit. Like, come on man, it’s not my fault I overslept. I’m not going to let anyone fall victim to his shit if I can help it.”
How did that make him an ass? You almost asked, but she shoved her phone in your face and continued, “I’m Steph, by the way. Pre-med.”
You introduced yourself as you punched your number into her phone. “Writing and Classics,” you offered as you handed her phone back.
“Radical.” She gave you a quick once over. “I’m thinking red.”
“Huh?”
“That’s what color I’ll write the notes in. Something about your aura just screams it, ya know?”
You did not. “Black ink is fine too.”
Steph looked at you like you had just suggested slaughtering a small child instead. “Absolutely not. Why would I do that when the world is such a colorful place? I know we live in Gotham, but that doesn’t mean we have to abstain from happiness.” Her phone beeped in her hand, and she gasped. “Crap, I gotta get to class, but I’ll send you a text later.” She hurried off, leaving you to stare after her in disbelief.
Huh.
Maybe making friends was easier than you thought.
***
Your manager failed to mention the party was at Wayne Manor.
Deep down, you knew it didn’t matter. You had catered dozens of his parties over the years, but that was before you accepted his money like a sellout. How working for him was any different, well, you weren’t exactly sure—it just was.
Anxiety bubbled in your belly as you lit the food warmers on the banquet table along the far wall of the sitting room. Every so often, you’d glance over your shoulder like you expected Bruce Wayne to step out of the shadows and yell at you for skipping class.
This was stupid. Bruce Wayne had no idea who you were beyond a name on an application. He didn’t care that you skipped class. Students skipped all the time. Hell, your first letter probably hadn’t even reached his desk.
Still, a small part of you disliked the power he had over you.
“Excuse me.”
You nearly jumped out of your skin as you whipped around to face the elderly butler who’d let you in that evening to set up. He quirked a wispy eyebrow, almost amused.
“I apologize. I didn’t mean to frighten you. Master Wayne asked me to check in with your team to ensure you have everything you require.”
Heat bloomed in your cheeks as you tucked your lighter away. “I’m good on the food end, but I should check with our bartender to make sure. How many guests are we expecting again?”
“Fifty, ma’am.”
“Perfect. I’ll be right back.”
This was a more intimate affair than what you were used to, but intimate usually meant easy.
You tasked the new hires with preparing platters of hors d’oeuvres in the kitchen. They arrived in ill-fitting uniforms and messily knotted hair. They also seemed more interested in their phones than listening to you. If they made it through tonight, you’d be impressed.
Catering was lucrative, especially when the owner never turned a job down. Not a single one, even if the client was far from reputable. Staff turnover was unreal because of it, but you didn’t mind if you got paid at the end of the night (and the mob paid very well for discretion). You had a rule. Keep your head down and do your job. People largely ignored you as long as you did.
It was the same here, among the Gotham elite. No one looked at your face or bothered to learn your name.
You ducked inside the kitchen where Mark, the bartender, sorted through a crate of liquor. Several platters of half-finished hors d’oeuvres sat on the counter, but the new hires had disappeared.
Your eye twitched. “Where are they?”
Mark looked up from his crate. A few strands of strawberry blonde hair fell into his eyes. He ran his fingers through his hair and held the pose to show off the carve of his bicep. It was a well-practiced motion that made the ladies swoon. You have been one of those ladies before you learned he used that move on everyone.
“They mentioned a smoke break and left out the back.”
You scoffed. “Great.”
“Starting to feel a little sympathy for Rose, aren’t ya?”
“Shut up.” You crossed the room to lay out the platters yourself. “Do you need anything? The butler asked.”
Mark whistled softly. “I wish I was rich enough to have a butler.”
“Who knows? You might finally get a sugar momma if you play your cards right.”
“That’s the goal. You could find yourself a sugar daddy if you tried.”
“Hard pass.” You’d accepted enough charity in your life. No one but the Red Hood knew about the scholarship, and you wanted to keep it that way. Accepting handouts went against your morals, and you didn’t want people calling you a hypocrite—even that was exactly what you were.
“I should go track those assholes down,” you grumbled as you finished one of the platters, “I don’t think they’ll last an hour.”
Mark snorted. “Have a little more faith. I bet they can make it to the end of the night.”
You wiped your palms off on the front of your apron. “I don’t bet on anything.”
“Lame.”
You left out the back door to search for your servers. What were their names again? Brian and Jon? That sounded right, but if it was wrong, you weren’t going to feel bad about it. They had spoken less than a dozen words to you since arriving at the manor. You rounded the corner to find one of them with a burning cigarette hanging from his lips.
“Where the other one?”
Jon/Brian (you couldn’t be pressed to tell them apart) glanced up from his phone, his blatant disregard for the job palpable. “Brendan took a lap to stretch his legs.”
Brendan. Fine. Brendan and Jon.
“He’ll have a chance to stretch his legs once the party begins. Find him and get your asses back inside.”
“Bitch,” he grunted as he flicked his cigarette at her feet. He stalked off to find Brendan.
Men, you seethed to yourself as you stomped out his cigarette.
At least Rosa was fun to talk to. That and she made sopaipillas for your birthday. Shame she had to go and quit on you.
You returned to the kitchen as the butler stepped inside. He noted the half-finished platters with an unimpressed sniff. “Would you like some help? Our guests are due to arrive any minute.”
Your shoulders sagged. “Yeah, that would be great.”
An hour later, the party was in full swing, and you were counting down the hours before you could go home and work on your readings for class. You wove through the guests with a full platter of bacon-wrapped water chestnuts balanced in one hand. Some people grabbed them before you had a chance to offer, while others waited for you to present them with a vacant smile and a pleasant, “Would you like one?”
It was automatic at this point. You didn’t think. Jon and Brendan on the other hand…
You searched for them in the crowd, but it was difficult with all the bodies crammed in one room. Fifty people were just shy of too many people for the spacious sitting room, but no one else seemed to mind. You shared a look with Mark, who mixed drinks at the bar in the corner.
You motioned to the crowd, and he shrugged, already guessing your question. He hadn’t seen them either.
Perfect.
Your boss would have hell to pay in the morning because this was ridiculous.
A man knocked into your shoulder as he passed, nearly spilling your platter in the process. You swore as dove to save it. As you did, your attention snagged on familiar tattoo that painted the guest’s knuckles a deep crimson. You’d seen it before, but only ever on the east side and when you did, you knew it was time to run the other way.
A member of the Blood Knuckles—here at Wayne Manor.
Your mind raced as you made a beeline for the bar. Mark passed a glass of red wine to a woman with flushed cheeks. She giggled at nothing as she dropped a crisp twenty in his tip jar.
When she stumbled off to join her partner, you set your platter down and said, “Head back to the kitchen.”
His brow furrowed. “What?”
“Just do it. I can explain everything later. I need to find the—”
A shot went off behind you. Screams rippled through the crowd as you hit the ground. The Blood Knuckle stood with his back to you. He raised his gun to the ceiling, shards of crystal raining down from the chandelier. Three more men removed guns from their waistbands, each donning the brand of their gang.
 Bruce Wayne stood near the fireplace, a trembling hand raised as if he were soothing a wild beast. He wore his usual black on black, his jaw set with a severe expression as he stared the gun down its barrel. “Woah there,” he said as he tucked a younger boy behind his back, “We don’t want any trouble.”
“Neither do we. Well, not with most of you anyway.” He turned his attention to but an aging man in the corner with thinning hair. “Oscar Franz, our boss has business with you.”
Oscar staggered back, the color leeching from his face. “W-Who sent you?”
“Oh, I don’t kill and tell.” He leveled the gun at him. “But we have a few questions first.”
Your ears rang as you scanned the room, weighing your options. If only you’d noticed sooner, you might have gotten Mark and you out of the room before the Blood Knuckles revealed themselves. They usually kept to their territory, so seeing them this far outside of East Gotham unsettled you. They weren’t usually hitmen, and you weren’t too keen to watch a man die before your eyes tonight.
Slowly, you got to your feet and used one hand to flip your platter. It clattered noisily to the ground, drawing the attention away from the target. The hitman locked eyes with you, and you recognized him instantly.
Brendan—now dressed in a tuxedo to blend in with the guests. How had you missed the tattoo before? Did you even get a good look at his hands?
Your manager would hire gang members by accident. To think, you could have been having a deep philosophical discussion about morality and the error of humanity instead. Now, you had to face the reality of your morality as he trained the gun on you.
A laugh bubbled in your throat as you lifted your hands, feigning innocence. And here you thought he was just a shitty server. This made a lot more s—
You sensed someone behind, but it was too late. Jon cracked the butt of his gun on the back of your head and the world went dark.
29 notes · View notes
salparadiselost · 2 days ago
Note
For the ask game, magic girl bruce intro 👀
Magical Girl AU
This was developed with @jube514 a bit, though this writing is mine.
TW for mentions of spinal injury
--
It had a price. 
Bruce had so easily paid that price when he was younger. It had felt light. A dangerous life for dangerous power. The possibility that he could be killed at any moment in exchange for the possibility of being so much more than himself. 
His parents had died. 
What had he had to live for anyways? 
So he paid. 
He didn’t feel that price until years later when he was crawling through rubble and ash and calling his name over and over and over again. Broken glass cut into his palms, and he hadn’t even felt it over the shattering pain from within his heart. 
He had screamed his name until his pleas became sobs, and the truth of it sank in. 
It was a heavy price, after all and here he was considering on whether he should make the small body in the hospital bed pay it too. 
“What’s his prognosis?” he asked the nurse who was not-to-subtly gaping at him from a few feet away. 
He was used to the stares at this point.
He had become a Magic-Given almost two decades ago and wore all the trappings that came with it when he donned his magical Ensemble. “Magic-Given” was a more modern term, especially as it became clear that magic could be given to both males and females. The phenomenon was originally discovered in Japan and passed between young girls until eventually it was spread out into the rest of the world. “Magical girls” they had called them, a cute name that didn’t fully capture the amount of danger they were plunging into. Their Magical Ensembles, so iconically clad with bows, ribbons, and corsets, were just pretty frosting on lots and lots of pain. 
Bruce’s Magical Ensemble was a revealing number that showed a large amount of skin to signify both his maturity and power level. Ensembles tended to do that, starting as very modest little outfits for the younger Givens and eventually becoming tighter and scarcer as their bearer grew more mature. Bruce’s Ensemble was a collection of luxurious blacks and golds that twined around his body. Ribbons and lace cut across his body like lingeries, curling along his curves and hinting at the pale skin underneath. His pants were tight, and cut-outs were strategically stretched across his hips, exposing the v of his bones and the expanse of his muscled thigh. His stomach was basically completely bare, only covered by sheer fabric that really left nothing on his top half to the imagination. His shoulders were covered in armour (because, of course, that’s what deserved armor) and dripped gold jewelry down his chest. A long cape flowed out from his shoulders and rippled around his ankles, even when there was no wind. It started as a pitch black near his upper shoulders and then gradually lightened into a gold that dispersed into glimmering stardust that trailed behind him wherever he went. 
It was a powerful Emsemble and the skin exposure spoke to how much time Bruce had had to grow into his abilities. Many of the Given would have killed to don such an Emsemble.
It was also lewd and Bruce hated it. Especially when he was supposed to be taken seriously like in this moment.
He crossed his arms over his chest, covering his nipples with his arms. 
“His spine was broken in seven different places,” the doctor said softly at Bruce’s elbow. She was a tiny Black woman who was probably about two feet shorter than Bruce. Her hands, though, had so much power. They had tried so hard to knit the boy’s spine back together. “He should be dead,” she added after a few breaths. “It’s a miracle he’s even alive but…” She trailed off, worrying her lip with the coming bad news.
“But what?” Bruce prompted. He felt so out of place in the sterile theatre of the hospital. Everyone was bustling around with coats, gloves and masks while his belly button and hipbones were on display. Not for the first time, he wished his Emsemble came with a hoodie. Or even just a shirt.
"He will need attendant care for the rest of his life. The fall affected all of his lower half, so he will be bedbound and need help with the toilet. He will be incontinent so the care will need to be constant to keep him clean. He won't be able to walk again."
Would an orphanage even pay for that amount of intense care? Certainly not the ones in Gotham. Not the one the boy was scheduled to be transferred to in a couple weeks time.
Being a Magic Given was no life for a child and yet... and yet...
32 notes · View notes
grimrevolution · 17 hours ago
Text
i disagree with the idea that solas was once wisdom but was twisted into pride. not only because solas has always been called solas (pride) but also the fact that pride has many different facets and he has represented all of them.
using spite as an example. spite is called a spirit of determination by those who can sense or know his nature. he has chosen the name spite because spite is, in the end, still an act of determination it is just determination fueled by anger. spirits themselves when 'twisted' beyond their nature, aren't twisted beyond what they can already do or past their state of being. they simply become a different aspect of that being.
wisdom, in inquisition, does not like being in the waking world and has no desire to walk the waking as people do. when she is summoned and bound to obey those mages, she is still 'wisdom' but her nature doesn't change from wisdom to pride. she knows how to hurt others, even when she doesn't want to, and causing that harm, having that power over others, fuels that twisted aspect of pride. essentially, she is wise, she knows how to harm but chooses not to, when forced to do so she becomes prideful of the wisdom she has that she can do these acts of violence.
so, in regard to solas. he has always been pride, but pride is not necessarily a bad thing nor is it all the same. there's pride for others, pride for oneself, pride for accomplishments and pride for one's culture. so what is solas?
he is personal pride. not self-importance (not yet) but self-respect. every time the inquisitor gets approval from him--hell, even when rook gets approval from him--it's from having self-respect and trusting themselves. to know themselves and push forward to lead. it's why he hates slavery. what goes against the pride of self-respect? when the self is ripped away.
this is why him bowing his head to mythal is incredibly important because he is humbling himself. he respects and loves her enough to bow his head.
but anyone he sees as not having that self-respect? the first example is the qunari, whose culture is made primarily of followers. the tamassarans choose their jobs, their livelihoods, who they marry (if at all), where their children go, etc. he does see them as little more than beasts because, in his eyes, the people who follow the qun have no self-respect to think for themselves.
this is especially true of the dwarves. he has NEVER seen the dwarves as actual free thinking people. this is shown in his conversations with varric, when solas tells him that the dwarves are nothing more than a twitching, amputated arm. the titans were the people to him. the dwarves were cogs in the machine. nothing more than little workers who had no sense of self and who obeyed the titans.
does solas want to be wise? yes. i very much think that he does. i even think that he considers himself to be wise. but it is always colored by his nature of being prideful enough to never bow his head.
and in order to be wise, you must humble yourself.
26 notes · View notes