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blackbutler-readerinsertsandjunk · 1 year ago

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Requesting non-romantic headcanons of the four Weston dorms (separate) having a student in their house that's the go-to inventor and fixer, who always has their head in the clouds about the next thing to make

They fix and make things just fine, it's just the process of making and testing that cause messes in the dorm

Like Violet having to deal with the fact this is the second time they've broken an important pipe, or Greenhill with broken windows after some automatic ball-throwing thingy-majig meant to help them with cricket practice (to be fair, Midford did ask for it) wouldn't turn off

bahahaha this is so good! poor boys XD

Well, it’s sort of like a problem for the dorms, of course. Does he care as much? Hmm… no, not really. Until it starts to directly affect him (here meaning affecting his frequent naps), he doesn’t pay (Name) too much thought. Most of the issues, Edgar tends to sleep through and leave for others.

Most of the time, he leaves all the problems that this person causes to Maurice to sort out. Either him or Joanne, depending on who happens to be available. … It usually falls to Maurice given that he has more of a backbone than Joanne. Edgar essentially shrugs and says, “Cole, take care of it, won’t you?” rather than deal with it himself. It’s half legitimate depression making it difficult for him to actually do things, and half him just being lazy and not feeling like doing things.

About the time that (Name) ‘fixes’ Edgar’s favorite sofa by replacing it with one they made which is too soft and completely swallows him when he sinks into it, that’s when he starts getting involved. They can’t mess with his sleep schedule like this and just think it’s going to be fine! He tries to convince them to stop, threatening Y’s if they don’t at least stop… fixing… things that he frequently uses.

As bothersome as the whole thing is, Gregory is at least more proactive than Edgar in the same situation. While he tries not to be harsh, he doesn’t pull punches in reminding (Name) that, well, they’ve broken the pipe, so they need to fix it now. (Both times, in fact.) He keeps reminding them until it gets done.

If nothing else, he has the honor to not send Cheslock to do his dirty work. Cheslock just gets sent on errands to fetch things. Gregory wants so badly to simply ban (Name) from doing any testing in their dorm. He’s not very diplomatic, either, struggling to find the right way to say, “Listen, I appreciate your fixing things round here, but you have to be more careful not to break other things while you’re fixing the first thing, alright?”

The broken pipes are, quite honestly, the biggest headache that he has to deal with. Being that Violet Wolf is full of artists of all kinds, the dorms are filled with instruments and projects. Any of them getting ruined is more complicated than having to replace books which are already in circulation or sports equipment that wears out quickly. It’s a blow to one’s creativity. And water damage is spectacularly effective in destroying art, writing, and musical instruments. (Name) has to learn how to be more careful in general, but especially he needs them to not break any more pipes lest they want to also break artists’ hearts.

Is potentially the most frustrated by it than his friends would be. Though anyone who had to deal with it would be irritated, Herman has to try extra hard not to let his temper get the best of him. He knows that (Name) is just trying to be of service, which is admirable… so why does it get under his skin so much?? Because they’ve been told multiple times to be more careful and it feels like they just aren’t listening? Dammit. He knows they don’t mean to be so spacey…

At first he’s quite happy to have someone inventing things which will help him and the rest of the house improve their game. He even encourages it. Sports and cricket in particular are something he’s passionate about, so he’s excited to see what they come up with. Until they come up with a machine — at Edward’s request — that pitches balls and happens to also break windows. Clearly things have gone sideways, so he’s fast in getting (Name) to not make any more sports inventions.

He’s so disheartened by the broken windows. They’re a gigantic pain in the rear to fix, and it often means a day or two wasted in replacing the glass depending on how many were broken. In the meantime, the dorm is exposed to cold, rain/snow, or blistering heat, as well as insects. There’s not much help from anyone else because of the house rivalries. So he absolutely recruits (Name) in helping fix it; it’s at least half their fault and half Edward’s for the initial suggestion, so neither of those two are getting out of helping with repairs. And Herman will gladly crack the metaphorical whip if he needs to.

Good Lord, can he have no rest at all? No? Fine, then. He’s endlessly aggravated by the whole situation, but he tries very hard to keep his composure. Lawrence can at least appreciate the intelligence of a scientific mind such as (Name)’s, so he attempts to nurture that. Of course, that’s incredibly hard to do when they keep causing trouble in the dorm despite not meaning to.

He’s another one who might send his fag to deal with this if he’s a bit too busy to do it himself. (Though as opposed to Edgar, Lawrence does so not because of depression or laziness, rather because he genuinely is quite busy with studies and extracurriculars.) Clayton has a sadistic streak which Lawrence finds useful in firmly reminding (Name) that they have something to clean up or that Lawrence needs them to not tinker around with something in a certain area today.

More exhausting than anything is if he has to keep replacing books thanks to (Name)’s inventions. It’s not uncommon that their experiments and projects will end up accidentally tearing apart books entirely or shredding pages or destroying them in some other fashion. Lawrence’s respect for the written word and pride in his dorm’s personal book collection can’t take much more of this! Not to mention that the books are often required for coursework, so it legitimately hurts everyone’s marks. Isn’t (Name) at all bothered by this???

#Black Butler #Kuroshitsuji #Edgar #Gregory #Herman #Lawrence #headcanons #platonic #friendship #humor #drama #PLSSSSS ur stressing them out they are Delicate Men xDD #one hell of a queue

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hopepetal · 2 years ago

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Hello, just spreading some love on the dash

Your writing is?? so so cool?? I initially found your blog through the boatem knights and that series still holds a dear place in my heart, but along with that the rest of your work is just really creative and a joy to read. I’ve loved your writing for the minecraft end plus your ocs, and it’s really given me some brainrot for building minecraft theories of my own to just sit and think about as I play the game. I could pick out so many little details about what I like about your work, but to keep it a bit shorter; I love your characterization, especially in interactions between characters. Your dialogue is also great, and while both your angst and fluff are brilliant I’m so soft for how you depict the quieter, comforting moments between characters. All your aus and ideas are always so creative and fun to think about even if you don’t turn them into full stories, and it’s always a joy to see you on the dash. Overall, hoping this wasn’t too incoherent and wishing you a wonderful day :)

HELLO??? WHAT THE HECK WHO ARE YOU COME OFF ANON SO I CAN APPRECIATE YOU

This is the sweetest thing I- oh my goodness are you sure you sent this to the right person I... Oh my goodness gracious I'm so bad with compliments, thank you so much!!

Characterization has always been such a huge focus of mine and. I just AUGH I know it wasn't the best for the boatem knights fic (because I've never watched boatem before. No HC s8 episodes have been finished oop-) but I try!!

And OMG yeah I have so many aus and headcanons constantly in my head, it makes me so happy to know that people are liking them. And the stuff with my ocs too, even if that is less viewed, people saying that they like it is just so validating fkdjfjjd

Thank you so much and I'm gonna go cry and happy stim over this now

#you be quiet no one is allowed to appreciate me #/lhj #answered ask #anon ask #im crying /pos

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monkeymindscream · 3 years ago

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Beloctober Day 8: Wittebane

My every attempt to make ANYTHING for this prompt has been met with whispers of “but you should add a little more to explain things better...” and I don’t have that kind of time. So fuckit - Wittebane headcanons/the outline of a fic I’d like to write if I did have the time and/or creative energy:

(Incoming angst-fest; canon’s gonna come decimate it all anyway, I might as well go all-in).

~Let’s get the basics outta the way first - I’m pretty damn sure Belos is Philip (but then who isn’t at this point?).

~Given the proposed location and time period for when the Wittebanes were in the human realm, they’d have almost definitely been puritans. With this in mind I have a strong feeling that Philip would have likely been alienated from his community well before he got to the Boiling Isles. Look at these:

He was working with wormhole theory in the fucking 1600s. People still thought salt could keep demons away at this point and this guy is thinking in terms of crossing dimensions. He would have been labeled as “odd” at best (which could very well have been enough to get him shunned) or labeled a witch himself at worst.

(Which from a story-telling perspective could set him up as a foil to Luz. Both feeling alone and unhappy in their lives and the Boiling Isles acting as their escape, anyone?)

~I’m very Team “bro’s name is ‘William’ after Hunter’s pilot name.” I’ve seen that concept around here and I like it.

In terms of personality, Will’s exactly the type of guy you’d picture when hearing the word “puritan.” Very stern, no-nonsense, devoutly religious man. Also, I headcanon that Will actually had a wife and daughter before coming to the Isles, who my dear buddy @thewiglesswonder has helpfully dubbed “Abigail and Patience.” See her for details on that.

~Okay, now on to the meatier stuff: Y’know that old cliché of fundamentalist parents who’ll try to “beat the evil” out of their kids if they think they’re sinning? …yyyyyyyyep. I mean, that was fairly commonplace amongst puritans, but it was especially notable amongst the Wittebanes’.

Will was able to dodge this unsavory aspect of his parents (so were the bros' younger sisters for the most part) because he believed in/followed their beliefs to the letter. Philip wasn’t so lucky, though not through lack of trying. And the fucked up part was that it was his older brother (honestly the only person in the entire family Philip felt would miss him even marginally if he died) was the one who’d be sent to beat him.

It wasn’t malicious on Will’s part, for what it’s worth (although he did routinely express frustration that Philip was seemingly incapable of getting his act together), but their parents would insist it be done. Will did go way easier on Phil than their father would have, at least (Will left bruises; Papa Wittebane could break bones) - doesn’t change the fact that even into adulthood Philip would flinch if his brother moved too quickly when he wasn’t expecting it (didn’t help that with puberty Will started to sound like their father, either).

(Additionally. You notice how Bel’s nose has that weird bump in it, which is absent from depictions of Philip? That kind of thing can develop after someone gets their nose broken. Do something enough and it becomes a habit, Will, y’oughta keep a watch on that.)

OH and all this was on top of public whippings + other punishments Philip very likely would have received. Because those were a thing at the time. Branch-off headcanon that the green… rot? Wood? Whatever- thing that B’s got going on has filled in any and all scars he had/obtains, no matter how old they are. His back is not a pretty sight at present.

~There was a girl back in Gravesfield who Philip’d had growing feelings for. She’d been a little spitfire (at least as much as she could be without getting, like, hanged, considering the society she’d been growing up in), and was in trouble about as often as he was. Plus she was always nice enough to him. Polite, at least, which was more than he usually got from people (also ummm fiery girls might be his type?? idk don’t ask him he gets weird about it). Eventually, after pining from a distance for basically their entire childhoods, he decided to go for broke and attempt courting her. (Which speaking of Puritan courting, what the fuck - ever heard of “bundling”??)

There’s a whole thing about needing the parents permission before said courting could officially start, but even before that both lovebirds were generally expected to actually want to court each other (Puritans were actually very big on marrying for love, it turns out - who knew), so he made himself as smart as he could and went to, essentially, ask her out.

Note: this girl was considered a “problem” because she was exceedingly willful. Philip was considered a problem because he was willful, strange, had borderline-blasphemous ideas, and - as a result of being very aware of how unpopular he was - could be painfully socially awkward at times. So he was floundering through this right out of the gate.

It comes to light that the girl was really only ever polite to him because she - like most of the rest of the village - was lowkey kind of scared of him, and she viewed it as a better alternative to getting on his bad side. The idea that now he’s pursuing her for marriage leaves her very distressed. (He learns this indirectly - after his initial fumbling attempts to confess his feelings she excuses herself, and because Philip is sometimes detrimentally curious he eavesdrops a little bit. He hears her semi-hysterically asking for advice on how to rebuff him without making him angry from her older sister or something.)

Philip, now heartbroken beyond words and suffering one of the worst attacks of self-loathing he’s had in a while, just sort of wanders away as he tries to compose himself. Will, hearing about this and feeling like Philip is “[his] responsibility” (kind of insultingly, honestly, no matter how well-meaning it’s meant, considering Philip is a grownass man by this point and capable of taking care of himself/making his own decisions), sets out to find him and bring him back before he hurts himself.

Unfortunately, Philip wanders so far away that he ends up running into someone either no one knows or who’s rumored to be a witch. Will’s attempts to dissuade him from interaction with the person (as he’d caught up to him by that point) are met with contrarian-esque rebellion, because sometimes when Philly’s in a mood (hurt/sad/angry/all of the above like now), he’ll lash out however he can.

You can predict the resulting consequences.

~His first few months on the Boiling Isles were literally the happiest of Philip’s life. People actually seemed to like him and didn’t find him strange or frightening, his ideas were considered brilliant instead of blasphemous, he was actually making friends, he was learning so much (and the noticeable lack of public punishment/humiliation was also glorious).

Also: Did you know that the puritans had laws against long hair? Notice how Philip is always depicted with a ponytail? Very intentional choice on his part there. He started growing it out pretty much as soon as it became clear he and Will would be staying on the Isles for a while.

His personality went through a consequent change that his brother found more than a little off-putting. Back in their village, Philip was essentially a more subdued (if not outright depressed) version of how Belos is, who tried to keep mostly to himself. Now, however, he seemed to grow more “manic and indulgent” (read: he was allowing himself to be openly excited/happy about things that interested him, and wasn’t trying to hold himself to Puritan standards anymore). Will blamed the change on his already “fragile” baby brother now being surrounded by unholy influences, and was growing increasingly concerned that he was slowly damning himself the longer they stayed on the Isles. It never occurred to the blockhead that Philip seemed so different because this was the first time he was truly happy.

...and then Philip got cursed.

~So, the Boiling Isles is a much more accepting place than Puritan society, yes? But they’re still in their equivalent of the 17th century, so they’ve still got their own superstitions and prejudices, even (especially?) during their Savage Age. One of the big ones is that you don’t associate with someone who’s been cursed. Thought process ranges anywhere from being downright dangerous (which, reluctant credit, it often is), to the curse somehow being transmissible and you’ll catch it through close proximity, to just being pure bad luck. Whatever the justification, the friends Philip made suddenly couldn’t or wouldn’t associate with him, and he became the local freak yet again.

As you can imagine, Philip was utterly gutted by this, and had more than one emotional breakdown over it (which in turn made his curse ramp up, which made him even more upset, which made his curse ramp up again- it’s a vicious cycle). The one microscopic silver lining was that Will was being exceedingly gentle and understanding about the whole thing. Philip had genuinely been expecting to get berated with an “I told you so!” lecture of some sort. Just prior to him getting cursed, they’d had a pretty substantial argument about going back home/bringing some of the Boiling Isles to their home (this is the fight that resulted in the nose-breaking), so he’d been waiting for the additional salt of “you brought this on yourself!” to the wound.

But no, actually - this ends up being probably the kindest Will’s ever been with him. He even put his vendetta against “witchcraft” on hold to try to find him a cure (carving Rascal in the process, btw). He all but completely stops mentioning going home. Philip’s never been more desperately grateful in his life.

~Everything comes to a horrific head one day when, during another episode, Phil instinctually devours his own palisman in a desperate bid for relief (that little spider we see in one of his journal entries). He’s completely distraught when he finally comes to, and nothing Will says can calm him down or make him feel any better.

He eventually expends all the emotional energy he can, and sequesters himself alone somewhere, trying not to think of anything at all, because presently everything he could think about hurts. Will comes up to him, still trying to offer whatever comfort he can, which Philip is only half-listening to/trying not to listen to because it’s actually making him feel worse, and then Will unthinkingly mentions something to the tune of “this’ll all seem like a bad dream once we get back home.”

Philip, even with everything that’s happened, doesn’t want to go back home, at least not “home” as it is presently. He’s expressed this to Will. He has emphatically expressed this to Will, to the clear point of contention. And yet here he is, bringing it up again like Philip’s opinion doesn’t matter.

Remember how I said Philip had a tendency of lashing out when particularly upset? That’s now in full play here.

Things end up escalating into another argument, but this time around Philip’s going for the throat. Want to know the real reason you’re so eager to get home, Will? It’s because you can’t stand the fact that for once, for once, Philip is the one people like. He’s the one people think of as the “good” brother, whereas you’re the outcast raving about being in hell. But it’s not enough that just you go back, no, absolutely not, you have to drag him back with you, because God forbid Philip ever exist in a state of being better than you-

Temper getting the better of him, William explodes, “If you’re so much better than me then why were you so easy to curse-??!”

Grinding halt. Beat of horror on both sides. Then Philip nearly keels over in pain.

When Eda’s cursed, she’s either forced to relive old memories, or else mentally put in a dark void with seemingly no beginning or end and chased by the owl beast, right? Philip’s dropped in the middle of a stormy ocean of muck, with no shoreline visible and the knowledge that there’s something lurking just beneath the surface that could drag him under or maul him to death anytime it wants. Think the scene in Star vs. the Forces of Evil where Star’s stuck in the wand with Toffee.

One second he’s arguing with his brother, the next he’s trying not to get dragged down by the waves of black ooze and hack up some of the gunk that had gotten into his mouth. There’s a few distressing minutes of this, and then something starts to rise out of the ooze directly in front of him. It’s roughly the same as the silhouette we saw in Hunting Palismen (not that Philip would know that) and it seems to be… grinning. It takes Philip’s wrists, and drags them up so he can see his own hands.

They’re red.

Philip opens his eyes, and his brother is dead.

~Philip wasn’t exactly wrong in his estimations of why Will wanted to get back to the human realm. Most pressingly was that he desperately missed his wife and daughter (not to mention he was still decently convinced that consorting with demons on the daily was steadily earning both he and Philip a more prominent seat in hell), but there was a small portion of him that was very uncomfortable at how much he didn’t fit in on the Isles. People gave him strange looks. They were reluctant to speak with him (probably because you spent a good chunk of your time insisting they were evil, Willy). Philip was constantly excusing him to people, and Philip was the one they would defer their questions to (sometimes about Will, when he was standing right there). He refused to acknowledge he cared what demons and witches thought of him but… yeah, most of his time in the Boiling Isles was spent feeling out of place, scared, and more than a little embarrassed. He just wanted to go home.

But then there was Philip, saying he didn’t want to leave this godawful place, or that, alternatively, he wanted to bring things from there back. He couldn’t very well leave his brother behind like that - all other issues aside, he loved his brother, and certainly wouldn’t allow him to risk his immortal soul over this. Which, considering the society that raised Will (which he was actually comfortable in, moreover) wasn’t a conclusion that was entirely his fault.

But if Philip wouldn’t listen to reason, he’d have to try something else… maybe he could scare him out of wanting to stay…?

Will, like Lilith (because I love parallels), didn’t think whatever curse he ended up getting would last longer than a day. Just long enough for him to hopefully make his point, and for Philip to realize there would be consequences to staying here/trying to infect the good, god-fearing people back home with its evil. Then they’d go back home (William would repent and pray his ass off for his brief stint in dabbling with witchcraft), they could put this whole messy incident behind them, and maybe with luck Philip would have matured a bit and would stop being such an inadvertent menace to society.

It Did Not work out like that, as we know. William realized the second Philip first transformed that this was way beyond the scope of what he’d been aiming for, and more to the point it was causing his brother far more suffering than he’d ever intended. Feeling horrible and desperately wanting to fix things, he threw himself into trying to find a cure.

But then Philip started saying things that hit a little too close to home and made his guilt even worse, and, well… Philly isn’t the only one with a temper.

~Final, much less angsty thought to end on: This girl?

Wittebane descendant. (Her name’s “Abby” because Irony.)

#beloctober #toh #the owl house #owl house #philip wittebane #wittebro #emperor belos #muttering about owls #anybody wishing the prompts had been labeled ‘‘ART prompts’’ so they wouldn’t have to put up with all my cheating nonsense yet?#I'm pretty sure this is actually LONGER than any of the fics I've posted so I guess at least you can say you're getting your money's worth??

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allmerlin · 3 years ago

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hi!!!! how would u make merlin better in general like if u were the writer; what would u have done differently?

I think it’s been over a year since you sent this lmao (sorry). But alas, here we are. I’m rising from the grave to make headcanons come alive.

I would’ve made at least 1 season about the aftermath of Merlin revealing his magic to Arthur. I think a big appeal of the show is the anticipation of that reveal (which is why they constantly make it Almost happen) but I also think they did viewers wrong in not giving us the whole satisfaction of that. We never got to see Arthur unwrapping the secrets, his reaction to hearing about certain events, how his values would change and how his friendship with Merlin could potentially evolve. Like Merlin - we never really got any closure.

I would’ve scrapped the whole “Merlin is immortal” thing because fuck that trope. It makes the character too strong and makes the shit he goes through have much less impact. Even though I know this fandom has had great fun with our modern!aus and reincarnation stuff, it’s still an ending choice I strongly disagree with as it not only takes away the mythical feeling of the show but also, again, provides no closure.

Elyan and Gwaine wouldn’t have died. :) Lancelot would have died but would not have been dishonored or brushed over- the impact on Merlin, including consequences of him once again having no one who Knows on his side, would be focused on more.

Late seasons Gwen and Gwaine would have been ‘truer’ to the past seasons of them. Gwen as a queen should still be allowed to be lively and partake in trouble and be Merlin’s best friend!! Gwaine should not have gone from “I hate royalty” to “I’ll kill this wizard for insulting my King” without ??? any reason???

Morgana- the shows’ greatest and most understandable villain deserved a FAR greater death than being fucking stabbed. Where’s the epic duel? Where’s emotion, the heartbreak? They also shouldn’t have made all the shows’ “bad guys” be oppressed parties revolting (especially in later seasons). It’s strange and makes it so much harder to sympathize with the main characters. Complexity of good and bad is not negative in itself, but it requires the show to actually fully embrace and explore that complexity first.

Uhh what else? I personally would’ve loved if magic and How All That works was explored more in the show. You know, in depth. Also like the dragons... more of them. Less Kilgharrah, but more stolen dragon eggs!! Gwen should get one!! Mithian should’ve been in more episodes and the iconic trio of Arthur, Merlin & Gwaine should’ve appeared together in the later part of the show. I would have made the show more queer because why the fuck not?

There’s more stuff, obviously. Also some things that is more difficult for me to explain in a tumblr post I’m writing on the spot; general tone of the show etc. I’ll add more to this if I ever find the energy and/or more comes to my mind.

I also want to NOTE that all of this is reliant on me having the creative freedom of doing whatever the fuck I want with the show. I know the writers of Merlin obviously had a budget and guidelines / certain amounts of episodes and seasons. This is not an attempt to shit on the writers of the show, it’s just my personal opinions. Because despite of being utterly terrible in aspects - this show has made me laugh my ass off, provided me something safe to sink into during less than fun times, and given me indescribable amounts of joy.

#bbc’s merlin #merlin meta #asks #if you’re still out there somewhere anon....#u have my love and apologies #I appreciated the ask I’m just dumb!!#merlin

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dancingstarsbornfromchaos · 3 years ago

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Some random background story headcanons I have for Evil Rick, since there’s really not enough content about his character! (And since I was encouraged to share by a lovely person)

As a young kid, Rick showed all the signs what psychiatry would later label as a Conduct Disorder (which in teenagers is called Antisocial Personality Disorder): complete disregard for social norms, delinquent behaviour (mostly in the form of skipping school, stealing and destruction of property), lack of empathy, cruelty towards animals, intimidating behaviours, open aggression. So, he was damaged goods since the very start, capable of, and very willing to, destroying and twisting everything he touched.

Being as smart as he was just made it worse. He quickly learnt how not to get caught, how to act behind others’ back, how to make sure that he could get away with it, even when everyone was aware of the kind of little monster he was. But no proof, no crime, right?

He even sent several of his classmates to the hospital through his elementary and middle school years, leaving some of them deeply traumatised in the aftermath and a couple physically impaired.

His family never did anything about it. The Sanchez struggled with money and Rick’s mother was far too busy working her three job’s to care for her son...a son she hadn’t wanted to have to start with. As for his father, the man was half an alcoholic and half a criminal and, while absent in his son’s life, he was around more and the only figure Rick could learn something from. And what he learnt was that when you wanted something, the quickest way to go around the issue was to take it, rules and consent be damned.

While his parents never physically abused him, Rick grew up in a state of complete neglect (emotional, but also material), having to fend for himself since an age when he should have been too young to even just be alone in the house.

At every new school he was sent to, he attracted the attention of the local bullies, but it never lasted. Eventually, something really nasty happened to them and everyone learnt to keep their distances, kids and adults alike.

School still felt like a waste of time to him, so he chose to focus on teaching himself what he needed and wanted to learn. And that was were most of his efforts went. While he never felt the need for a connection with other people, unless it involved causing them pain or gaining something out of it, science was the one thing that made him feel more than just anger, frustration, boredom or the need to break everything around him. Where he usually lived following a primal urge for destruction, it gave him a chance to experience what it was like to create.

He left home at 16, and his family never even thought of looking for him. He made money through his inventions and crime, usually never getting fully involved and preferring to stand aside and watch the chaos his schemes and twisted games led to.

Soon, however, all that was no longer enough. Everything he did got dull faster and faster and Earth started to feel like a prison, which lead him to work obsessively on finding a way to leave that ball of dirt behind.

Diane was a convenient opportunity. She was good-looking in a way that society approved, she was easy to fall for his lone wolf act and her will too see good even where there was none made her easy to manipulate. And, more importantly, she had enough normalcy to hide away Rick’s abnormalities too. He never loved her, nor the daughter they had together. He just got her pregnant so he could marry her and use her as a walking hideout while he kept on pursuing his own interests in peace.

The very same day he finished to build his space ship, Rick packed his stuff and left in the middle of the day, while Diane was off to pick up a 5-years-old Beth out of school. He didn’t leave a note, never looked back. And forgot about them both pretty quickly too.

In that bloodied, lawless mess that space turned to be, Rick truly thrived for the first time in his life. He turned himself into a mercenary, working for whoever managed to pique his interest the most and for whoever offered him the best chance to get creative with his work. The Federation was hardly the only one to suffer from his games and whims. Some came to say that Rick Sanchez destroyed civilizations for breakfast, if he woke up in that kind of mood. Or if he had a bit too much to drink the night before.

He met the Squanchy and the Birdperson of his dimensions, but they never became friends. They were just people he had dealt with while he sold weapons to the Rebellion, two faces who stood up just a little more in a sea of a thousands more.

Of course, his lifestyle and disregard for the consequences earned him an endless list of enemy. He was hunted down and captured, tortured in all the conceivable ways. He was almost killed several times, violated in the body and the mind alike. He lost counts of all the substances that were put and that he willingly put into his body, which by now was synthetic and part machine than human. Yet, he always came out on top, covered in blood and with that insane, terrifying tingle in his eyes shining just a bit brighter each time.

Meeting other Ricks and learning about interdimensional traveling marked a new turn in his life. He moved through different realities, took a vague interest in studying the differences in the course or history (and eventually found most of them pathetic and unworthy of his time). He even spent a couple of years living on the Citadel, hidden away in its darkest corners, always under the radar.

One thing stuck with him of all his experiences among his other selves, the same thing that eventually pushed him travel back to his own Earth, something he had never even just considered doing after having left it behind for good. The boy.

Showing up at his estranged daughter’s door, Rick quickly learnt two things: one, he wasn’t welcome but they let him stay anyway because he was bringing resources they didn’t have and, especially, because Beth was smart enough to figure that there was no denying him; secondly, his daughter’s family was no different from the one he had grown up with. A house full of indifference and neglect, where the kids were left to their own devices, no matter the consequences.

His 10-years-old Morty turned out to be nothing like Rick had been as a child. He was weak, easily scared, too full of stupid hopes and dreams, craving to be nurtured and given the affection that none of the people around him was willing to offer. He was pathetic, even, a crying, shivering mess. And yet, Rick didn’t miss it, the spark of strong willpower and stubbornness that would have allowed the kid to thrive just as Rick himself had done, if properly cultivated.

Useless to say, Rick didn’t hesitate to completely take over Morty’s life. It wasn’t like there was anyone to stop him or to worry or give a damn anyway. He planned on breaking the kid into pieces, literally and figuratively, over and over and over, using his own horrifying experiences as a guide. He would have forced him to accept that there was nothing in his life, in his universe but Rick. Then he would have put him back together, shaped him and molded him into something as resilient as Rick’s own wrecked life had made him. A sharp tool, a deadly weapon, a helpful sidekick. And, perhaps, one day, a partner. Because, whether or not he was willing to admit it, Morty was the first and only person Rick was ever able and ever wished to truly connect with.

#rick and morty #rick sanchez #evil rick #rnm headcanons #ram headcanons #rick and morty headcanons #[ he and Evil Morty are my second fave duo ]#[ I wish there was more content about them ]

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sonocomics · 3 years ago

Text

A Hat in Time Discussion!

As promised a while back, I’ll be posting my A Hat in Time thoughts in a post instead of a video! I’ve also answered the questions you guys sent in a while back! So here we go!

(There is also a poll on my Patreon now to decide what game gets discussed next month!)

(Discussion under the cut - sorry mobile users!)

GAMEPLAY

I overall thought the gameplay was really fun! Hat Kid has enough moves to feel dynamic while not feeling too overwhelming either! It was really fun to just run around and explore the levels or even just the hub world, which is always a mark of success in my book!

That said, although I'm a bit foggy on it since it's been a while since I played (and for some reason I keep getting an error when I try to open my copy ^^;) but I doooo remember a few times where I think the camera screwed me over? It wasn't very often though, and is a common problem with platformers, so that's more of a nitpick than anything o:

STORY/CHARM/AESTHETICS

The game is SUPER charming. I really love how it feels like you're playing a Saturday morning cartoon, especially with the different title cards for the different time pieces. Each world had its own distinct feel to it too which was super great! The writing for the characters is ON POINT and I KNOW I laughed a LOT while playing xD

Also Hat Kid is definitely a huge highlight. I love how mischevious they are, and I definitely said "Look how CUTE I am!!!" on many occasions :D

QUESTIONS AND ANSWER

Embrace Cat@bones_joan: Any headcanons about Hat Kid's reason for traveling?

Hm! I've never really given it much thought. They seem pretty focused on getting home, and they use time pieces as "fuel". I can only think that maybe they're from the future and checking out things in the past?? Like maybe it's a vacation type thing where they're from. I can't think of the reason being too serious as Hat Kid's pretty casual about running around and exploring as opposed to "my people need me back home! D:"

ikebogard: Favorite level/ hat from a cosmetic standpoint?

Favorite level cosmeticly probably has to be Subcon Forest. I really like spooky things and shadowy figures and such. Dead Bird Studios is a close second though with how creative everything is with the sets and designs. As for hats, I'm a sucker for these two:

Anonymous asked: Were there any Time Pieces you had a big trouble getting?

I actually didn't 100% the game, so I don't have full knowledge of all of them. I do know that one in Alpine Skyline gave me enough issues that I had to turn on the easier difficulty for it? I think it was the one where there was a bunch of lava. There was just such a big gap between the checkpoints and SO MUCH that could hit you, and without bein' able to regen it just got annoyin after a bit ^^;

askbodiddly: Which Director won Battle of the Birds in your playthrough?

DJ Grooves won! I liked both directors, but I really liked that DJ was nicer. In a weird twist, I think I actually prefered the look/feel of the Conductor's levels, while the DJ ones were a bit more fun imo o:

lapisamethyst: What did you think about the sense of progression overall playing through the game? By which I mean the process of unlocking and going to new levels.

I think it progressed nicely! Fast enough that if you were tired of a level you could go to the next one, but slow enough that you could really stick around and enjoy a level that you liked. Though I will say that personally I kinda like when there's like...an Event that opens new levels in games rather than just collecting x number of things. I think Banjo Kazooie had a nice mix where you needed collectibles, but those collectibles opened the picture of the world o:

stjustin-stuff: Did you ever try the multiplayer? Have you ever hit a softlock point in all the time you've played the game? Did you think for the cat level there should have been more cat?

I actually have not tried the multiplayer! Nor have I hit a softlock point in my game time.

And surprisingly no - the cat level had a good, substantial amount of cat. (o3o)b

Anonymous asked: How do you feel about some glitches in AHiT?

I never encountered any noteworthy glitches in my playthrough, so I'm very neutral! If glitches don't show up frequently in regular gameplay, I usually just find them fun/amusing! ...Unless they're gamebreaking, then UH OH

Anonymous asked: Questions for the ahit discussion. (1). What did you think of the cut content? Would you have wanted to see hat adult?

1) Not gonna comment on everything since there's a lot, but it's super interesting! Especially seeing that there were some older and way different concepts for levels earlier on. ...Also creepy characters. Gimme all the creepy characters. |vo) As for Hat Adult, I actually think I prefer just having Hat Kid! Hat Kid is SO. CUTE. And while Hat Adult is also cute, I feel like staying a Kid worked a bit better. Hat Kid's moveset is already so robust, I don't know if I could have kept track of a new moveset for an Adult version @v@

(2). What do you feel like the worst Time Piece was? Objectively and subjectively

2) I kinda already answered this in an earlier question!

(3). Did you feel that mustache girl had enough screen time?

3) This is an interesting question. I think having the first level of the game basically focus on her was a good choice, so it makes sure players meet her. I guess it could be argued though that depending on who's playing/how they play, they may forget her a bit by the time they get to the end of the game. I don't know if adding more focus on her would have been better though, as I feel that could have taken away from other characters like the Bird directors or Snatcher. I think it did well overall!

(4). If they made a sequel what would you want more of, and what would you want less?

4) HMMMM. Honestly I can't think of very much for this question? I think the game is really well done and well rounded. There's a lot to love. I think they experimented just enough to always feel fresh, but not so much that it felt "gimmicky". I don't wanna say "more of the same!" but...I wouldn't want a sequel to overdo it either. Maybe a power with the umbrella where you can float would be cool?

(5). What was you're favorite badge and hat?

5) I've already gone over my favorite hats, but for badges I like the Hover and Item Magnet badges. :x As for ones that you actually use, the scooter is, of course, a blast xD

(6). What did you think of the ending?(Did you give the time piece?)

6) I thought it was really cute! A little cliche, maybe, but that's not a bad thing! A little hard on the eyes at one point, admittedly xD (the funky psychadelic effects got to me for a second). I beliiiieve I gave the time piece. Whatever was the "nice" option xD

Annnnnd that’s all! :D Overall, A Hat in Time was a GREAT experience. Super fun to play and super fun to explore - loved the characters and the levels! If you guys have any further comments, feel free to reply to this post! It is a discussion after all :>

#a hat in time #ahit #hat in time #long post #discussion

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local-ground-apple · 4 years ago

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Are you doing requests right now? If so, then can you do headcannons of the dorm heads with a female s/o who is strong, smart, and resourceful but doesn’t like seeing them crying. Thank you

Here we go~!!

It’s been a while since I did headcanons, the rest of my inbox are purely one-shots

🥀 loves, adores, cherishes those traits of yours. He simply finds them admirable and commendable,

🥀 you stopped one-braincell duo too many times to count. You always come in the right moment to stop Adeuce from destroying Riddle’s perfect and peaceful day,

🥀 Ace calls you a “big-brain”, while you remarks that if he actually read and did his homework, he would be as smart as you,

🥀 you are always able to find your way out of painting roses. Always. You even constructed a rather complicated and intricate machine that would paint them for you,

🥀 You managed to snatch his heart, as well as make Riddle focus his attention solely on you with your strong will, intellect and resourcefulness. He finds those traits rather attractive,

🥀 he knows that he can rely on you and you are often entrusted with important tasks. You are crucial help especially while organising VDC. Whenever an unexpected problem arises, you always come up with a solution within few seconds, sparing everyone hearing Riddle’s rants,

🥀 You, as well as Riddle view crying as being weak, so you two never catch each other weeping or sobbing. No, no. You both understand why you wouldn’t want to be seen vulnerable and you respect that,

🦁 Ruggie thinks you’re a blessing and a gift sent from heavens as an act of pity towards him. You surely help him a lot and he will make sure to remind you about this,

🦁 at first, Leona didn’t even notice how resourceful you are. Whenever there’s a problem in Savanaclaw, you’re always able to find a solution (a good one, may I add) and stop the eventual chaos,

🦁 he takes advantage of your brilliant ideas, a lot

,,Could you find me a place where I can finally nap in peace?” “nO”

🦁 Jack and Ruggie are placing bets who is more resourceful and smart - you or Leona. You haven’t noticed since you two began competing for that title. Leona by trying to come up with new ways how to nap without anyone disturbing his beauty sleep and you by trying to think of better solutions than Leona’s,

,,Are they truly having a contest on who can nap smarter?” “It appears so”

🦁 you both cheat absolutely everywhere and whenever you have the opportunity. As once Jack stated - you both use your intelligence for unmoral purposes,

🦁 Leona sercetly admires how strong you are and how he had never caught you crying. He certainly views you as a strong, yet he reminds that it’s okay to cry and seek comfort in his arms,

🐙 Azul simply finds you endearing and is absolutely intrigued. Which may be considered a good and a bad thing in the same time,

🐙you often feel his inquisitive eyes trailing on your figure and you can’t brush off the feeling of being watched by Leech twins. You attracted the attention of this greedy octopus and it’s only natural that he wants to taste your intellect and challenge your resourcefulness,

🐙 your intellect and emotional strenght attracted him. Azul will do his best to get you to sign one of his intricate contracts,

🐙 he simply views this as a game or challenge. The battle between two smart individuals. He enjoys trying various strategies, seeing how quickly you can adapt to current misfortunes caused by no one other than him,

,,My, my, what a pity~! I’m deeply sorry for your current state, perhaps would you need a hand?” “Azul, I swear if you don’t stop those games of yours!”

🐙 Azul wants to test you. Check whether you can outsmart him or manage to avoid being dragged into a contract, He may not admit it directly, yet he would want to see you break down in tears in front of him, after dooming your existence with a mere signature,

🐙 oh, how delightful that sight would be!

🦂 Jamil doesn’t think you’re useless, which is an achievement of some sort. Resourcefulness is appreciated in Scarabia and you blend in well with the other students and they sometimes mistake you for one of them,

🦂 you are the only braincell in your relationship with Kalim and always save him from consequences of his bad decisions. Always. It’s either you or Jamil,

🦂 Jamil may not say it publicly, but he actually appreciates you. With you around Kalim (and your braincell), he can catch a breathe for a moment. He sometimes jokingly calls you Kalim’s babysitter and well, you can’t really deny it,

🦂 generally you’re a rather cute and well-paired couple. You’re the brain and Kalim is the heart and it works quite well! You both compliment each other,

🦂 Kalim adores hearing your smart remarks and intricate, yet useful, new ideas. You always manage to come up with a fresh and good solution!

🦂 you’re often that person that drags Kalim out from whatever shitty situation he yeeted himself into.

💜 you dislike crying? Good, cause he doesn’t like seeing you crying either. It doesn’t serve you right and for aesthetic reasons he would prefer not seeing your sobbing face with mascara running down your cheeks. Vil just hates it when you’re sad, it makes his heart break in two,

💜 you both have never seen each other crying. Never. Vil views crying as ugly and vulnerable, while you want to present your strenght to others. So whenever one of you need to shed a tear, you excuse yourself and diseappear in your room,

💜 Vil adores hearing your smart remarks and brilliant solutions. After all, isn’t intelligence simply endearing and attractive?

💜 you’re resourceful, so you actually managed to successfully sneak Epel out of Pomefiore without anyone noticing for two hours, which was the longest period of time he was outside and Rook was inside,

💜 he appreciates every effort you put in conducting your creative and unique ideas and bringing them to life. He’s one of your biggest supporters who always have your back!

💀 please share some of your resourcefulness with him,

💀 Idia really respects you. He finds your intelligence, strenght and dilligence truly commendable. You always know what to do or how to avoid any sort of unpleasant or awkward situation, or at least make it work in your favour,

💀 sometimes Idia wishes he had your skills. You always remind him that he actually has braincells (even tho Idia denies it and you both end up trying to convince one another that you’re both smart and resourceful)

💀 Idia has never, ever, seen you crying. Whenever your eyes get watery or he catches a glimpse of tears welling up, you’re always quick to leave the room,

💀 he understands why you wouldn’t like him to side that side of you, but in his eyes you’re one of the strongest and brightess persons he had ever met,

💀 if you ever wanted a shoulder to cry on, Idia would be more to happy to offer his,

💀 your intelligence never fails to amaze him. You’re often seen with Idia trying to pass next level in intricate, puzzle-solving types of games, helping him score more points,

💀 ortho thinks that’s cute

🐲 Malleus finds your strength amusing and intriguing. You may not be strong physically compared to him or any fellow Diasomnia member, yet your mental strength never cease to amaze him. After all, aren’t humans simply endearing and fascinating?

🐲 you and Lilia get along just well, since you’re both master of resourcefulness. You both may or may not compete with each other, trying to find the best solution in given situation,

🐲 Malleus thinks you could easily pass as one of country’s advisors. Your ideas are innovative and unique,

🐲 sometimes Malleus wishes you would let yourself be vulnerbale for a brief moment. He adores your strenght and character, yet he would love to comfort you. After all, he’s here for you and only you,

🐲 however, Malleus deeply respects you and if you wish not to be seen crying, he will quickly excuse him and leave you alone in tears, even if it breaks his heart,

🐲 remember, this ancient dragon is more than willing to listen to your worries, whip your tears and help you find a solution,

#twisted wonderland #disney twst #riddle rosehearts #malleus draconia #leona kingscholar #azul ashengrotto #kalim al asim #vil schoenheit #idia shroud #vil schoenheit x reader #kalim al-asim x reader #leona kingscholar x reader #malleus draconia x reader #azul ashengrotto x reader #idia shroud x reader #riddle rosehearts x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #twisted wonderland writing

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luna-tiel · 3 years ago

Text

Horde Clone Headcanons

Figured it would be a good idea to organize my notes on this and share them.

Most of my headcanons for Horde Clones are fairly surface level. My stories operate under the assumption that the Hivemind left little room for clones to make more than the most basic decisions, or develop a strong sense of individuality. Their mental deviations are kept small, as when they build up, the unfortunate clone gets a trip to Purification. There is no rigid command structure, and the clones are all manufactured the same way with no specialization prior to decanting. They each receive the same general cognitive conditioning as their brains are maturing, and they are given their designations after they are born and assessed for flaws. These designations are based on any small deviations they may have -- reflexes, strength, cognitive speed, etc.

Clones that are measured as physically strong upon decanting tend to be given manual labor tasks (ship repair, weapons manufacturing, soldiers), and clones that show exceptional mental processing speeds are given more technical tasks (navigation, decanting, reconditioning). Most clones become general attendants with no fixed task, or soldiers sent to the battlefield. Prime selects his personal attendants at his whim. Any noticeable physical anomaly can land a clone on the front lines as canon fodder. Clones that are stubbornly noncompliant to conditioning, and those with noticeable birth defects that cannot be easily corrected, are often decommissioned immediately and dissected for study, to help prevent such mistakes in the future.

Clones that have a ‘specialized’ task generally must have no noticeable physical or mental deviations upon decanting. They are the most perfectly conditioned of Prime’s creations. It is among these that Prime most often selects his next vessel (which, upon selection, is taken to undergo the physical changes that result in Prime’s unique appearance). Clones with minor deviations of thought are allowed among the ranks of attendants. When they are in error, they are publicly Purified, or sent to be reconditioned. Prime allows these small deviations because they amuse him, and if he tires of any, they are disposable. The discovery of any injuries or sickness is enough for a clone to be sent to battle. Sometimes they are experimented on prior to this to strengthen them.

By this system, there are five loose categories, six if I count those Prime sets aside as vessel candidates;

Labor clones (S)

Technical clones (S)

Service clones (G)

Battle clones (G/D)

Defects

Other than the last category, which earns a one-way ticket to death, all of these designations are subject to change at any time. This is partially done so that clones do not develop a strong sense of identity surrounding their tasks. The bleed of memory through the Hivemind ensures that many clones have a basic understanding of jobs outside their own designation. This bleed of information is stronger for those clones in close proximity to one another. For example, attendants that work near the lower decks and have frequent contact with maintenance engineers will pick up a lot of mental chatter concerning the mechanical workings of the Velvet Glove. Techs that work in Birthing, Reconditioning, and Decommissioning all work in adjacent chambers very near one another, and the mental synchronicity between these groups is particularly strong.

As there is no rigid command structure, no clone below Prime has any permanent authority over another. Rank is impermanent and based upon Prime’s whim. Clones that work in close proximity to Prime, or who host his mental presence, may come to think of themselves as above others, but it’s false, and pride is a dangerous thing to develop where Prime can see it.

For the mental programming, I think it’s a layered system that gets put in place while the clones are maturing prior to birth. Once the programming is complete, when they are presented with certain circumstances or a set of instructions, their neurons are conditioned to respond in a particular way. It’s not a guaranteed 1-2-3 sequence, more of a mental nudge like an instinct or ingrained habit. However, some clones are more affected by certain parts of the conditioning than others, so those sequences may become more ingrained. This mental conditioning is also reinforced during their sleep cycles.

The clones are not programmed for strategy or creative thinking. Prime has been fighting wars on the galactic level for centuries, and it doesn’t take him long to gain the details of a particular situation from the clones on the battlefront, or issue strategies for them to execute. In the absence of his personal input, the clones will implement battle patterns from their programming.

With all the chatter that goes on within the Hivemind -- even just idle thoughts concerning tasks -- the clones operate in a state of perpetual half-distraction. Their organic brains react to what they see and hear, and differences emerge, but very few develop strong distinct thoughts that deviate from their programming. Those that do tend not to know how to hide it, so knowledge easily spreads to Prime. Especially if they are reported by their fellow clones. This system encourages clones to confess any errors directly, in the hopes of receiving mercy from Prime. However, the fear of decommissioning is always present. Some will attempt to hide, to varying degrees of success.

This is just a bit of background for my clone fics. The stories all take place post-Disconnect, and these headcanons are important aspects of the clone’s shared past that informs how they try to adjust to life now that Prime is gone and the Hivemind is no more. However, I couldn’t figure a good way to explain these things in-story other than injecting information dumps, so for the most part they will remain subtext.

#horde clones #Horde Prime #galactic horde #spacebats #horde clone headcanons #spop headcanons #luna's spacebats #luna's fic and writings

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nct-oli · 4 years ago

Note

I also miss atots! I wanna read your ramblings so may I ask what are some of your head canon for phutian whether it’s during the series or post-series.

HI!! You’re so sweet. I am so sorry that I haven’t responded to this sooner! Life got really hectic, and it honestly kind of stole my creativity, to the point where I read this back when you sent it, but I could not think of a single headcanon at all.

But I’m here and I’m going to finally talk about some because I rewatched ATOTS with a friend and it sparked some headcanons in the process!!

1) This is probably my biggest headcanon. Phupha and Tian wrote emails to each other during their two years apart. I’ve seen some people say letters, and of course letters are super cute and classically romantic. Plus they are fitting given that’s how Tian was communicating with Phupha when he returned to Bangkok. But the reasons I like emails for them are:

Getting letters domestically to a rural village is one thing, but getting them internationally without some of them getting lost feels a bit less likely. And I think Tian and Phupha would know that. So emails are a more consistent and reliable form of communication.

Obviously Phupha can’t access the internet from the village, but you know who does have internet? Dr. Nam. I very much love the idea of Phupha strolling into the clinic every so often trying to be all cool and not at all giddy to check for a new email from Tian, and Dr. Nam never, ever letting him use the computer without a lot of proud best friend teasing. Remember when Phupha went to Dr. Nam to ask what a scar on the chest would mean? Yes, just like that, except regularly. (And when Phupha doesn’t go to Dr. Nam’s clinic, he could go to town to check his email too.)

This part doesn’t really fit the canon storyline at all given Phupha was still gazing at the only photo he had taken of Tian two whole years after taking it and also Phupha never told the children where Tian was. BUT think of the photos they could send each other. Tian sending photos of himself in various places in the US, his hand with Phupha’s ring always visible so Phupha can be there with him for every adventure. Phupha sending photos of the kids as they grow, the tea sachet business (or whatever the villagers end up doing with Mr. Sakda gone), the very rare selfie by a rather self-conscious chief... sending physical letters limits the number of printed photos they could send each other. Plus printing photos may be a bit easier for Tian, given he can just print them at a nearby Walgreens or something, or even have them ordered online. But that would be tougher for Phupha, needing to leave the village and find somewhere. So emailing photos back and forth would be easier.

Imagine Tian printing every email sent back and forth and collecting them. Imagine him in the library with the biggest smile on his face, printing out emails to and from his mountain boyfriend back in Thailand and his university friends watching him with the most confused but intrigued eyes. I love it. I love that idea.

I remember there being discussion post-finale about whether Tian and Phupha communicated in that time at all. The discussion revolves especially around how at ease they seemed in their Pha Pun Dao cliff reunion and they didn’t quite act as though they had been fully apart for two whole years. And I fullheartedly believe they had contact, even if very infrequent. I think they found a way. And while I do think letters are incredibly romantic and fitting, I just have this fondness to emails. Maybe it’s a result of watching We Best Love recently. I’m not sure.

2) Tian chose to go to the US ultimately on his own. Now, we all know his mother is the one who picked the university for him and “sent him away.” But I do like the idea that, after coming to terms with the fact that maybe running away to Pha Pun Dao immediately wasn’t the best plan, especially if Phupha wanted to forget him, he grew to like the idea of going abroad. It would be his chance to have probably as much freedom as he could get. He wanted to go to the US before he died (episode 3 conversation with Tul). He could take time to himself, without the influence of anyone else, and figure out just what he wanted for his life. And when Phupha showed up at the airport and they got their true feelings out in the open, Tian didn’t feel like his family was pushing him away from the man he loved and the life he wanted; he felt that he had agency in choosing the US and asking Phupha to wait for him, to give him the chance to figure out this new chapter first. I find comfort believing Tian didn’t board that plane feeling resentful but instead feeling hopeful. And when he returned, he wasn’t filled with regrets. He was filled with excitement that he was returning home to Pha Pun Dao and Phupha right on time. (Plus Phupha had more confidence when Tian returned to him that he truly wanted to be there in the village with him, because despite literally traveling the world and seeing so many options available to him for places to build his future, Tian still chose Pha Pun Dao.)

3) The teacher’s house remains Tian’s home too. Hear me out: I don’t mean full time. I’m obviously a massive softie for domestic PhuTian, so I want him to still stay with Phupha. And Phupha probably can’t leave the base permanently, as he’s the chief and needs to be there regularly for his rangers, so the two of them can’t move into the teacher’s house fully either. But Phupha’s room is quite small. I love the idea that Tian still escapes sometimes out to the teacher’s house where it’s quiet and he can still have his own space. A space to lesson plan, to take the students when they need a new environment, to feel connected to his three original months in the village when he fell in love with the people and his person (Phupha). That house was his home, and while Phupha’s place is now also his home, I like the idea that Tian still keeps that house for himself too. At least so long as it isn’t needed by anyone else. (Also, if Phupha and Tian need space, well, there’s no Yod out there to start knocking.)

4) This semi-connects to the last one. When Tian and Phupha finally get married, they have a ceremony in the village and Tian convinces Tul to stay a night in Pha Pun Dao. His parents come to the wedding too, but they stay in a hotel in the city, where Tul stays some nights except for the night Tian gets him to stay with him. Tian and Tul stay in the teacher’s house, and Tian tells him all about his many nights sleeping there. Tul is, well, not convinced of its appeal at first, but watching Tian share his stories with the brightest smile, he decides he can warm up to it a little bit. And after seeing Tian with Phupha, with the kids, and with the rest of the village, and finally understanding how perfectly Tian fits in Pha Pun Dao, it starts to make sense to him why some of the luxuries don’t matter to Tian anymore... will Tul himself ever move to a rural village like that? Absolutely not. He’s not convinced that much. But the joy that village life brings his best friend and the glow he exhibits is enough to leave Tul content for one night on a hard mattress inside a mosquito net in the middle of seemingly nowhere. (No but really, imagine the chaos of Tul trying to live in Pha Pun Dao for a night. I want to watch that so much.)

5) Okay, I hope the couple that got married have a child and that child goes to school under Tian’s teaching. Or someone else in the village has a child. Imagine Tian getting a new student and having to navigate a classroom with early teenagers and a tiny kid. (Headcanon within a headcanon: Tian did a LOT of research during his two years abroad specifically on multi-aged classrooms because he knew he wanted to return to Pha Pun Dao one day and would need the skills.)

6) Longtae and Tian most definitely go on that trip across the border that Longtae wanted (just a couple years late). And they have the best time. Longtae tells Tian about any new stories from university. Tian shares stories about his students and tries not to talk about Phupha too much but occasionally can’t help it, to which Longtae smiles brightly like the cute bestie he is. And the two of them get the CUTEST photos that Longtae prints for Tian immediately when he gets back to the city.

All of these headcanons are for those two years away or after he returns. I’m trying to think of some headcanons for the show prior to ep 10 part 4/4...

6) OH this doesn’t necessarily have to be before ep 10 part 4/4 in the timeline, but Phupha and the rangers apologize to Tian and the villagers for not telling them about Torfun’s death sooner and that burden being left for Tian to carry instead. I just want that settled.

7) HERE’S ONE FOR WITHIN THE SERIES TIMELINE. At the wedding in episode 4, Phupha didn’t deny it when Dr. Nam called Tian Phupha’s guy. So yes, of course Dr. Nam started calling Tian that all of the time, to which Phupha did eventually argue against but he secretly liked hearing it. His guy.

8) I’m back to going outside of the timeline again... all of my headcanons are for after the series it seems. Oops. But Tian most definitely brought the kite to Pha Pun Dao with him, and it hangs very proudly on the wall in their room. Tian tells Phupha about how he had it flying back at his family house in Bangkok, how seeing it blow in the wind brought him comfort when he felt homesick for the village and for Phupha. That knowledge had Phupha smiling for the rest of the week.

I’m running out of ideas. I kind of wanted to hit ten, but I just don’t have ten headcanons off the top of my head. BUT if I think of anymore, I’m sure I’ll post about them somewhere. Maybe I’ll even write a ficlet about some of these... I used to write those here and there, way back when... we’ll see.

Thank you again for your message, anon! You are a wonderful human. I’m sorry for taking so long to respond, but I didn’t forget about your message or ignore it. I just couldn’t get my brain to give me anything to respond with! I hope my rambling was sufficient for you. <3

(Also man, I miss writing about ATOTS so ridiculously much. This felt so familiar and also kind of sad. Phupha, Tian, villagers... come back to us. I miss you.)

#phutian #phupha x tian #a tale of thousand stars #atots #1000 stars #anon #I miss ATOTS so much every day #I just rewatch episodes and EarthMix interviews trying to pretend the show didn’t actually end

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shirlleycoyle · 3 years ago

Text

How 9/11 Became Fan Fiction Canon

Every fictional character you can think of has experienced 9/11 in fanfiction.

A Clone Wars veteran with two lightsabers is on United Airlines Flight 93 and prevents it from crashing. Ron and Hermione get caught up in the chaos as the towers fall. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and her friends watch the attacks unfold on TV from Sunnydale. We have spent 20 years trying to process what happened on 9/11 and its fallout, and that messy process can be tracked through the countless, sad, disturbing, and sometimes very funny fanfiction left across the internet.

Many of the fanfics written in the weeks and months following the 9/11 attacks seemed to directly respond to the news as it happened, processing the tragedy in real-time through the eyes of characters they loved. In the absence of a canon episode where Daria Morgendorffer paid respects to those lost, writing fanfic about these characters also experiencing trauma helped fans cope.

One YuGiOh fanfic published on fanfiction.net in May 2002 could have been ripped exactly from what this writer experienced that Tuesday morning. “It started as a normal day,” user Gijinka Renamon wrote. Yugi and his friends were in school, where their teacher informed them of the attacks and sent everyone home from school.

“After reading people’s 9/11 fics, I decided to write my own, and put a certain character in it. And Yugi and his pals were my first choice,” the author's note reads, explaining the connection they felt to United flight 93 and the World Trade Center attacks. Given that they lived in Pennsylvania, and “it’s close to New York, I felt really sad about it.”

Stitch, a fandom journalist for Teen Vogue, told Motherboard that this reaction to 9/11 is not at all uncommon in fandom.

"Fandom has always been a place that positions nothing as 'off limits,'" she said. "Historical tragedies like the Titanic sinking and atrocities like… all of World War 2 show up regularly across the past 30 years of people creating stories and art about the characters they love. So, on some level, it makes sense that 9/11 and the following 20-year military installation in the Middle East has joined the ranks of things people in different fandoms turn into settings for their fan fiction."

Reactions depicted in a handful of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanfics published in the weeks after the attacks ring a little truer to the characters. “Tuesday, 11th September 2001,” written by Anna K, almost echoes the lyrics from “I’ve Got a Theory,” one of the songs in the musical episode that aired in November 2001. “We have seen the apocalypse. We have prevented it. Actually, we’ve prevented quite a few. So we know what they look like,” they write, before taking a darker turn. “They look a lot like…New York today.”

Killing demons and vampires doesn’t phase the Scooby Gang, but when preventable human death is brought into the picture, it’s gut wrenching.

“What am I supposed to do…When I can’t do anything to save the world?” Buffy cries into Spike’s chest, watching the attacks unfold on TV in a fanfic the author described as being “about feeling numb and helpless.”

In “Blood Drive,” Kirayoshi writes about Buffy and her friends saving a van full of donated blood meant for victims of the attacks from a group of thirsty vampires. One Buffy the Vampire Slayer fic even takes a blindly patriotic turn, where noted lesbian witch Tara McClay helps Xander hang an American flag from the window of the magic shop to make Anya feel better.

Experiencing 9/11 as a young teenager was overwhelming not just because of the loss of life. Almost immediately after the event itself, it was as if the entirety of American culture re-oriented itself towards an overtly jingoistic stance. As we get distance from the attacks, seeing the tone of television and movies from the early 2000s is jarring, and some have gone viral on Twitter. In the world of pop music, mainstream musicians like the Chicks, formerly known as the Dixie Chicks, were blacklisted from the radio while Toby Keith sang about putting a boot up the ass of terrorists. On the Disney Channel, a young Shia Labeouf reading a poem he supposedly wrote about the events. The poem concludes with the line, "it's awesome to be an American citizen."

In a world so completely saturated with this messaging, it is not surprising that fanfic authors started including 9/11 in their work so soon after the event. Even The West Wing had a strange, out of continuity, fanfic-esque episode where the characters reacted to 9/11. In some cases, it made sense that the characters in the stories would be close to or a part of the events themselves.

"For characters like John Watson or Captain America, the idea works to an extent," Stitch told Motherboard. "In the original Sherlock Holmes works and the 2011 BBC series, Watson had just returned from Afghanistan. For Captain America and other Marvel heroes, 9/11 was something that was addressed in-universe in The Amazing Spider-Man volume 2 #36. Technically, 9/11 is 'canon' to the Marvel universe."

In “Early Warning: Terrorism,” a fanfiction for the TV show Early Edition in which a man who mysteriously receives tomorrow's newspaper, predicting the future, avoids jingoism, but tries to precent 9/11 from happening. This fanfic remains unfinished; it’s unclear if the characters successfully prevent 9/11 in this retelling.

Largely in fanfic from the era just after 9/11, when many young authors were trying to emotionally grapple with it, the characters don't re-write or undo the events themselves. It's this emphasis on the reaction to tragedy that colors the fanfiction that features 9/11 going forward.

Although fanfiction authors have been writing about 9/11 consistently since soon after the event, whenever that fanfiction reaches outside of its intended audience, it looks bizarre.

A screenshot of a Naruto 9/11 fanfic on the Tumblr subreddit comes without any context, or even more than two lines and an author's note. It’s impossible to suss out if this falls into the category of sincere fanfic without the rest of the piece or a publication date, but modern-day commenters on the Reddit thread see it as classic Tumblr trash.

Screenshot from r/Tumblr

“Bin Laden/Dick Cheney, enemies to lovers, 10k words, slow burn,” one user joked in the replies, underscoring the weirdness of Naruto being in the Twin Towers by comparing it to a What If story about Cheney and Bin Laden slowly falling deeply in love.

It’s hard to tell how much of the 9/11 fanfic and fanart starting a few years after the attacks is sincere, and how much of it is ironic, and trying to make fun of the very concept of writing fanfiction about 9/11.

A 2007 anime music video (in which various clips, usually from anime, are cut together to music) that combines scenes from The Lion King with Linkin Park’s “Crawling” and clips from George Bush’s speeches immediately after the attacks feels like the perfect example of this. Even the commenters can’t seem to suss out if this person is a troll or not.

There’s no way that My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic 9/11 fanart could be serious, right? Especially if the description pays tribute to “some of the nation's most memorable buildings,” and features five of the main characters as child versions of themselves. The comments again are split between users thanking the artist for a thoughtful remembrance post, and people making their own headcanon for why Twilight Sparkle is surreptitiously absent from the scene.

Screengrab via DeviantArt

There’s Phineas and Ferb fanfic that combines a 9/11 tribute concert with flashbacks to Ferb being rescued from the towers as a baby, written on the 10th anniversary of the attacks. It jumps from introspection to lines like, “‘Quiet Perry the Platypus. I’m trying to listen to these kids singing a 9/11 tribute.’”

The author's notes make it more likely that they meant for this to be a tribute piece, but it doesn’t quite make sense until watching a YouTube dramatic reading of it from 2020, fully embracing the absurdity of it all.

“For me, 9/11 is synonymous with war. It completely changed the course of my life," Dreadnought, the author of a Captain America fanfic Baghdad Waltz that sees Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes fall in love over the course of the war on terror, told Motherboard. "It’s the reason I joined the military, and I developed deep connections with people who would go on to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq. These very much felt like my generation’s wars, perhaps because people I graduated high school with were the youngest folks eligible to serve at the time.”

Dreadnought told Motherboard that although they didn't deploy, their career has kept 9/11 and the trauma from it in their mind. After seeing that people who fantasize about Steve and Bucky getting together seemed particularly interested in reading fanfiction that related to 9/11, they decided to try their hand at it.

"I had to do something with all of that emotionally, and I’m admittedly a bit emotionally avoidant. So I learned through fic that it’s easier for me to process those feelings and the knowledge of all the awful stuff that can happen in war if I can turn it into something creative," Dreadnought said. "Give the feelings to fake people and then have those fake people give the feelings to readers!"

To Dreadnought, who is a queer man, the experience of researching and writing this was more cathartic than they first expected, especially as a way to navigate feelings about masculinity, military culture, and queer identity. But they said the research they did, which included watching footage of first responders at ground zero, was what helped them finally process the event itself.

"It was like a delayed horror, and it was more powerful than I expected it would be." Dreadnought said. "When I was eighteen, I was pretty emotionally divorced from 9/11; I just knew I wanted to do something about it. So coming back to it in my 30s while writing this fic, it was a very different experience. Even the research for this story ended up being an extraordinarily valuable exercise in cognitively and emotionally processing 9/11 and all of its second and third order effects."

Fanfiction that features 9/11 provides an outlet for people who still grapple with the trauma from that day. But Stitch warns that the dynamics of fandom and how it relates to politics can also create fiction that's less respectful and more grotesque.

"With years of distance between the stories written and the original events of 9/11, there seems to be some sort of cushion for fans who choose to use those events as a catalyst for relationships—and Iraq and Afghanistan for settings," Stitch said. "The cushion allows them room to fictionalize real world events that changed the shape of the world as we know it, but it also insulates them from having to think about what they may be putting into the world."

The tendency of turning these events into settings or backgrounds for mostly white, male characters to fall in love has the unintended effect of displacing the effects that the war on terror has had on the world over. Steve and Bucky might fall in love during the war on terror, but they would also be acting as a part of the American military in a war that has been criticized since it started. Fanfic writers in other fandoms have come under fire for using real world tragedy as settings for fic before. In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake Supernatural fanfiction about the actors Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki going to the island to do aid became controversial within the fandom. There have also been fics where characters grapple with the death of George Floyd that is written in a way that displaces the event from the broader cultural context of race in America.

"A Captain America story where Steve Rogers is a 'regular' man who joins the US Army and 'fights for our freedom' post-9/11 is unlikely to deal with the war’s effect on locals who are subject to US military intervention," Stitch said. "It’s unlikely to sit with what Captain America has always meant and what a writer is doing by dropping Steve Rogers into a then-ongoing conflict in any capacity."

After enough time, “never forget” can even morph into “but what if it never happened?” A 19k+ word Star Wars alternate universe fanfic asks this question, wondering what would have unfolded if someone with two lightsabers was on United Flight 93. This fic, part of a larger fanfic series with its own Wikia, considers what would have happened if Earth was a military front in the Clone Wars.

In this version of events, a decorated general who served in the Clone Wars is able to take back control of Flight 93 before it crashes, landing safely and preventing even more tragedy from happening that day. In the end, all of the passengers who made harrowing last calls to their loved ones before perishing in a Pennsylvania field survive thanks to the power of the Force, and are awarded medals of honor by President Bush.

Twenty years after the attacks, it’s painful to think about what would have happened if people got to work 15 minutes later, or missed their trains that morning. There weren’t Jedi masters deployed to save people in real life, but for some of the fanfic writers working today, the world of Star Wars might feel just as removed as the world before September 11, 2001.

Fiction serves as a powerful playground for processing cultural events, especially generational trauma. The act isn't neutral though; a decade's worth of fanfiction that takes place on or around 9/11 shows how our own understanding of a traumatic event can shift with time.

How 9/11 Became Fan Fiction Canon syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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moonsubinpr · 3 years ago

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[Lee Soo Hyuk — 35 — he/him] Introducing MOON SUBIN. Word on the street is they are a PRESS SECRETARY FOR THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY affiliated with the DEMOCRATIC PARTY. Though they are RESERVED and INTIMIDATING, they can also be DEPENDABLE and HARDWORKING. In the chaos of New York City, they’re sure to fit right in.

Biography. Ask. Wanted Connections.

I. WRITER’S INTRODUCTION

First of all, I want to introduce myself. You all can call me Jackie, and I am a twenty-one year old graduate student residing within the Eastern Standard Timezone (EST). I have been roleplaying for about 10 years now, however, I took a hiatus from writing on Tumblr due to migrating to other platforms that are more mobile friendly in terms of writing. Now that I have a greater availability, as well as not fond of the newfound style of roleplay on platforms such as Twitter or MeWe, I have returned in hopes to better develop characters and build better connections with other writers. Aside from writing, I enjoy spending quality time with my cat, going out to explore newfound areas, thrifting, reading, and watching random reality television shows. I look forward to getting to know everyone! Feel free to message me for plotting, headcanoning, or for a casual conversation.

II. BASICS

NAME: MOON SUBIN

AGE: THIRTY-FIVE

DATE OF BIRTH: 1986 MAY 31

GENDER: CISMALE

PRONOUNS: HE / HIM

SEXUALITY: PANSEXUAL

HOMETOWN: IOWA CITY, IOWA

AFFILIATION: THE GOVERNMENT

JOB POSITION: DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S PRESS SECRETARY

EDUCATION: BA IN JOURNALISM FROM NYU

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: SINGLE

CHILDREN: NONE

POSITIVE TRAITS: ELOQUENT, INDEPENDENT, INTELLIGENT, RESPONSIBLE, MATURE, REASONABLE

NEGATIVE TRAITS: RESERVED, BLUNT, INTIMIDATING, DEMANDING, SARCASTIC

FACECLAIM: LEE SOO HYUK

III. POINTS ABOUT THE MUSE

Moon Subin was born into a rather average household in Heukseok-dong, Seoul, South Korea. His mother, a down-to-earth woman with a contagious smile, worked alongside her mother as a food vendor in one of the city’s largest market. The two were acutely known for their blood sausages as well as jangeo-gui (grilled eel). In fact, this is how the young woman met the young businessman. Running from a class with only a few cash in hand, he stopped at mother’s spot, asking for anything he could get with the amount of money available. She laughed at his lack of time management, and he only stated that he’ll make time to see her better next time. The following day, he returned and sat to chat with the woman.

Subin was unplanned. The two were not yet wedded when discovering that the woman fell pregnant. However, never did the young couple refer to the baby as a mistake. Rather, they saw Subin’s life as a blessing to better plan for their fast approaching future. During the time in which the woman was pregnant, the man was offered an opportunity to continue his university studies abroad. Sent to Iowa City, Iowa, the young couple packed their belongings and settled within the United States. It’s in this city where Subin would be born, granting him American citizenship despite his parents yet to become naturalized citizens.

Falling in love with the environment, the mother and father went through various means in order to further extend their stay within the country. From a student visa to a work visa, the father was granted more time to better prepare for the examination of becoming U.S. citizens. While his father began to work in a local company specializing in medical prosthetics, his mother worked at a local Chinese restaurant where she befriended Chinese immigrants who helped her with assimilating into the culture.

Subin grew up in an environment where he witnessed the benefits of hard work. His parents worked many hours in order to provide for him as well as to their community. He found this to be admirable, and this encouraged the young boy to succeed in his academics so that he could provide for his parents in the future.

He became interested in the field of communications due to constantly acting as the translator for his parents when making doctor appointments or trying to pitch the best deal at a cars dealership. Words were fascinating, and he especially thought this was the case after reading a number of novels written by authors such as H.G. Wells and Amy Tan. His interest in communications got him involved with the morning news at his middle school and high school. During his four years at high school, he also participated in Model UN and the Debate team. These involvements were the result of his great achievements in social studies courses, and his teachers encouraged him to get involved with these extracurricular activities.

Due to awards achieved in high school, he was granted a scholarship to attend New York University in New York City. Although his parents did not want him to leave their home, they eventually came to terms that this would be good for his future successes. Thus, he went to attend NYU for a Bachelors in Journalism with a minor in Politics. Thanks to amazing professors and establishing connections through networking events, the young man was able to maintain a number of internships---such as volunteering for the current Governor’s former campaign in the creative team for marketing. He later volunteered alongside CNN professionals, and he gained an internship experience with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office as Press Office Intern. By the time he graduated from university, he’s already met a number of influential, powerful people of the big city.

Upon graduation, he was able to get a job at the Manhattan District Attorney Office as Press Officer due to his wonderful performance during his internship with the office. He held this position for two years before being promoted as Deputy Press Secretary for the office. However, in less than 2 years, he was able to maintain the Press Secretary position due to the former Press Secretary’s leave to another office. In another year, he was granted the position of Deputy Director of Communications for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Subin held this position up until he was given the opportunity to work as the city’s District Attorney’s main Press Secretary.

During his years working for the city and learning about the mishaps behind the scenes, Subin has been able to learn a lot about the dirty truth. He is aware that some of the crimes dealt with in the office are a result to the existing gangs within the city. Although his DA remains slightly oblivious to the people surrounding them, Subin maintains awareness due to the connections he’s established during interviews as well as conferences. They threaten Subin to keep quiet. They ask Subin to twist the truth. He does what keeps him safe, but he holds the knowledge close to his heart. The quiet man knows a lot----perhaps more than what the gangs wish for him to know, and this can be dangerous. One never knows what he can do with all of this knowledge. He could expose them to the public whenever he dares to do so. If he really wanted to, of course.

But, for now, he keeps quiet. He does his job and remains cordial with those he establishes some sorts of connection with. If someone he cares about, though, ever gets hurt, he’s not sure what he’ll do. No one knows.

IV. WANTED CONNECTIONS

Any and all possible connections within the Government. I would love to further develop and establish connections within the affiliation in order to better understand Subin’s position in the government as well as with Law Enforcement, for he works within the District Attorney Office; therefore, he has connections with lawyers as well as officers. This can be good or bad, I am open to all possibilities.

For those in Media, Subin is responsible for addressing those in Media in order to report information given by the DA. Those in media could have interviewed Subin, have gone to a number of his press hearings, as well as questioned his intentions or morales within this position. Anyone who does not trust him is very much wanted. A person who trusts him a lot is also wanted.

To those in any gang, people who has paid him or threatened him to withhold information from the public is very much wanted. Give me some angst in regard to perhaps threatening his family. Perhaps people question how Subin can offerd such a luxurious home or car, and this could be due to payments accepted from those within these organizations. I am open to anything.

I am also interested in a secret relationship that should not be a relationship, however, the two continue to pursue one another in sexual and romantic rendezvous. Subin is not entirely the most relationship-orientated person, however, due to a lot of stress within his career, some fun would be favorable.

#pinned.#wb.intro

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muertawrites · 4 years ago

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Two Halves - Chapter Fourteen (Zuko x Reader)

Chapter 13

Word Count: 2,400

Author’s Note: I’m not gonna say much about this one other than a few fun little tidbits from my creative process. I have a headcanon that the Firelady would’ve ended up with Kuei if she hadn’t married Zuko, and I wanted to make Druk’s collection forks, but since there are no forks in the Avatar universe (which is a strange little statement), I had to change it. Enjoy (and also I’m sorry [not sorry]).

~ Muerta

You awake in Zuko’s arms, his head nestled heavily within the crook of your neck. For a moment, your mind wanders, groping about the unfamiliar space around you as it tries to make sense of its surroundings. The bed cradling you isn’t yours, the sheets twined around your legs feeling entirely new; the large windows to your right and crimson canopy fluttering in the breeze they admit don’t belong to your bedroom. This is Zuko’s room, where you fell asleep the previous night after returning to the palace.

You sigh sleepily as you extend your arms and legs, stretching your muscles while your memory aligns through your grogginess. Nightmares rocked your sleep not long after you hit your mattress, and you crawled into Zuko’s bed seeking his comfort. He hushed and held you and eased you out of your terror, forming a fortress around you with his tall, strong body. He made you feel safe. He made you feel loved.

“Firelord Zuko!”

Rina’s shrill, panicked chirping from the other room breaks you from your haze. Zuko, light sleeper that he is, wakes with a start, blinking in a fluster before sitting up, immediately alert.

“I can’t find her!” Rina cries, her voice drawing nearer. “The Firelady’s missing! She’s not in her room, and the servants-”

She halts as she thrusts open the doors to Zuko’s bedroom, her fearful expression dropping into one of wide-eyed surprise and embarrassment. She falters only for a moment, however, composing herself as quickly as she fumbled and bowing apologetically.

“Forgive me,” she says, keeping her gaze cast downward; you manage to glimpse the tail of a smirk as it curls around her cheek. “I wasn’t aware she was with you.”

“It’s alright, Rina,” Zuko yawns, relaxed once again now that the threat of possible danger is gone. “Good morning.”

Rina straightens her back, making a point of looking only at you. You hadn’t noticed it last night when you joined him, but Zuko is naked from the waist up; the realization makes you blush, the skin all over your body raising to a fever.

“Will you require me to help you prepare for the day?” Rina asks you. Amusement still twitches in her lips, a taunting gleam in her eye; you fight the urge to grab the pillow nearest to you and fling it at her.

“I’ll meet you in my room in ten minutes,” you tell her, and she nods, bowing once more as she slips from the room. You know she’ll want the details of your night with your husband, and you prepare yourself for her disappointment when you break to her that the circumstances were entirely innocent.

Zuko falls back into the sheets, burying his face in his pillow in an attempt to make the most of the last dregs of his slumber; he reaches for you, his arm wrapping around your middle and pulling you in, compelling you to do the same. You let out a quiet breath of laughter as you comply, noting the way his expression eases when your body meets his.

“Do we have to do this?” you whisper as the day’s impending events form in your mind.

He hums, pressing his nose back into the space it occupied before his sleep was interrupted; his lips graze your neck, your skin rising in millions of minute peaks at the sensation.

“Yeah,” he grumbles. “Unfortunately.”

You run your fingers pensively through his hair, loose from its typical knot and falling in cascades of black ink around his bare shoulders and back. He shivers, his hand finding the exposed skin of your thigh under your night dress and stroking his thumb tenderly over the flesh.

“Don’t let them force me,” you plead. “I won’t do it. I don’t think I even can.”

“You’ve never given into them before,” Zuko reminds you. “This won’t be any different.”

Beside your setting at breakfast, you find a letter addressed from Kuei. You grin as you read it, instantly missing his gentle sarcasm and subdued demeanor, but finding comfort in your thoughts of him.

My dearest Firelady,

I've just heard of Aang and Katara’s wonderful announcement and had to write my congratulations. How exciting it will be to have a little niece or nephew! I've already sent forth gifts on behalf of my kingdom and myself.

However, I do also write my concern. Having met your council, I can say quite honestly that I do not trust them - I fear that in the wake of such pivotal news, your advisors may attempt to steer you into decisions that aren't theirs to make.

Firelord Zuko loves you dearly, that much is clear to me. I trust in my heart of hearts that he's caring for you in his uniquely attentive way. I also love you dearly, and it is with this love that I inquire about your health. Are you taking precautions? Are you standing your ground in regards to your actions? (I know you are.) Are you caring for yourself as much as we who love you care for you? Please answer in detail - I cannot stand the worry.

On a more serious note (or perhaps no less serious, but an entirely different vein of seriousness altogether) we have heard of your meeting and its subsequent revelations from the warden of Azula’s compound, and have begun tracking and arresting as many Dai Li as we can in order to question them. Those in custody have given us very little, and our informants within have revealed possible collaborators with the former princess, though we have no strong leads. We've even launched an investigation into Ozai’s prison, but have come up with nothing as of this moment in which I write to you which connects him to any of the matters at hand.

My sweetest little friend, I fret for you so. I think of you always, and have taken to consulting daily with the Spirits after the well-being of yourself and your husband (a practice you know I have never engaged in, but as of late, it feels like the only thing I can do).

Promise me you will keep safe and sound, but in the fearless way I so admire you for.

Sincerely and forever yours,

Kuei

Zuko huffs as he reads over your shoulder, biting into his meal with a bit too much force.

“He talks to you like he's your lover,” he mutters.

You smirk, folding the letter into the breast of your robes.

“I thought you liked Kuei?” you needle, taking a slow sip of your tea.

“I do,” Zuko replies. “I just like him better when you're not around.”

As you enter the meeting room, you make a point of keeping your chin held upright, your gaze steady. Advisor Qiang watches you in his typical, scrutinizing way, while Advisors Sung and Yong greet you kindly. Zuko takes your hand as he lowers himself into his place beside you.

“Firstly,” Yong opens, “I want to give my congratulations to the both of you on your new addition to the family.”

“Thank you,” Zuko replies with a nod. “We’re all very excited.”

“Of course,” Sung interjects, “the announcement also raises questions about your own heirs, and when you plan for them to arrive.”

“Yes,” Yong agrees. “In typical royal marriages, children would already be on their way; but we all understand that yours is not a typical royal marriage.”

She gives a pointed look towards the international affairs advisors and their aids, which is met with a sharp twitch of Qiang’s brow.

“The question remains one of public reception,” he quips. “I, for one, believe it would enrage those among the Fire Nation population who remain purists.”

“But, of course, domestic concerns are my responsibility,” Yong counters, “and I believe a child would bring more cohesion to the image of our Lord and Lady’s marriage - especially to those who are doubtful.”

“You all seem to forget,” Zuko chimes in, his voice smooth and calm, “that none of you will be carrying or raising this baby.”

Each of the council members turns their heads towards you, as if suddenly remembering you're there.

“Whether or not we have children is our decision,” you state, “and our decision alone. We won’t allow the people we bring into this world to be used as political pawns.”

“Political involvement is unavoidable,” Qiang scoffs, glowering at you. “You're foolish to think you can dictate whether the inheritants of the nation remain neutral.”

“We can,” you contest, meeting his belittling tone with one of soft determination. “Firelord Zuko and I wish that royal children no longer inherit their station - successors to the throne will no longer be elected by blood, but by vetting from the council.”

The room falls deathly silent. For an excruciating moment, your advisors stare at you in shock, their bodies frozen as if carved in stone.

“That has never been done before,” Yong finally says.

“Neither has a Firelord’s marriage to a member of another nation,” Zuko replies. “The war is over. We can't continue to live as if it isn't.”

“Why would you want to change the operation of the government so drastically?” Sung wonders.

“Because our rule is not a dictatorship,” you answer. “In the Water Tribe, the chief is always appointed by members of the community - we choose who will govern us for the benefit of everyone. Since the Firelord’s council is chosen by the people, we believe it will best decide who should take over the throne upon our retirement.”

“We don't want to continue the system my father and grandfathers created,” Zuko adds. “Putting a vetting process in place will ensure that nothing like the Hundred Year War ever happens again. And even besides that, we all know that trying to live up to a title was what destroyed my family. I don’t want to repeat that cycle.”

“The Fire Nation has always been a monarchy,” Qiang resists. “The global repercussions of such a drastic change could be catastrophic - you’ll look weak.”

“They’ll look compassionate,” Yong tosses back. “Our people already benefit from having a Firelord who wants to lead for the sake of leadership; distributing the power further will help to erase Ozai’s mark on history. I think it's excellent.”

You return your attention to Qiang, fixing him with the same searching, calculating gaze he's so accustomed to using. Though his expression remains stoic, the glare of his pupils reveal rage, their wild, acute fizzling back and forth conveying a panic that you're certain isn't for the sake of his government or his people. After a moment he nods; you know his surrender is only temporary.

“It will take time,” is all he says.

He shares a glance with Sung. Beneath the table, you grip Zuko’s hand in a vice.

The evening is cool; cool enough that Zuko bends a sizable fire in the hearth of your sitting room to fight the chill. You curl up with him on a gathering of blankets and cushions at the mouth of the flames, leaned back against his chest as you share your nightly pot of tea. Druk nuzzles his way between you into Zuko’s lap, dropping a flat, round stone onto his leg. He chuckles as the dragon disappears under a table in the corner, emerging with another, similar stone which he presents to you.

“He's starting a collection,” Zuko explains. “Uncle sent me some of his old books on dragons. They keep collections of different things. Apparently Druk likes rocks.”

You smile as Druk shimmies once again into the space between you, purring contentedly as he burrows into the fabric where your robes meet. Zuko absently scratches at the space behind his ears.

“We should take a honeymoon,” you suggest.

“A what?”

You turn to face him, furrowing your brows in confusion.

“A honeymoon,” you repeat. “It's something that newlyweds do - after the wedding, the bride and groom go on a trip together so they can spend time alone as husband and wife.”

“Is that a Water Tribe thing?” Zuko asks.

You smirk, shaking your head.

“They do it in the Earth Kingdom, too,” you tell him. “Sorry, I forgot that the Fire Nation spent a century without anything nice or fun.”

Zuko pinches you in the side, causing you to erupt with giggles. He grins at the reaction, reaching to brush a few stray locks of hair away from your face.

“We should do that,” he agrees. “We can go to Ember Island. My family has a house there where we used to go in the summer. It's where we stayed before the comet.”

His expression becomes wistful, and you lay a hand on the side of his neck, tenderly stroking his skin; you can tell the memories are as painful as they are warm.

“I would love that,” you murmur, chastely kissing his lips. “Maybe we can pretend we’re normal for a few days.”

Zuko chuckles, then with a sigh rests his forehead against yours; he gazes at you for a long moment, his hands resting on your hips and gripping just a little bit tighter, pulling you just a little bit closer.

“Kiss me again,” he whispers. “... For real.”

You search his eyes, looking for anything that will spark your doubt; all you find is exaltation, so quiet and yielding you can hardly bring yourself to fight him. You don't think twice about the command, your lips finding his in the scant space between you.

As you kiss him, your body lights with fireworks. Every one of your senses seems heightened, your body rippling with embers of a flame that grows stronger the nearer he gets. His lips are soft against yours, the taste of his skin sweet on the edge of your tongue; his chest presses firmly to yours, his hands on your back attempting to pull you nearer despite the impossibility of such an act. You can feel his breath quickening to match his heartbeat, each movement aligned with your own.

You're broken apart by the rapping of knuckles on the sitting room door, followed immediately by Rina’s entrance. She bows hurriedly simply out of respect - her lack of reaction to your intimate position piques a deep, hollow dread in your gut.

“Firelord Zuko,” she addresses him. “I’m sorry to come to you so late, but the head of the royal guard just received word from the warden - Azula is dead.”

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bloody-vino · 4 years ago

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Ichiban x Depressed S/O

“sorry if this is a weird ask, but could we get some ichiban headcanons for an s/o that has depression?” I had this ask and tumblr managed to fuck up my asks and my post didnt show on my feed so here is a repost.

First of all, No its not weird to ask at all, there are so many people who stan the Yakuza characters and i want to write personalised headcanons and fanfics for everyone so that they can imagine themselves to be a part of that universe. I am a POC (brown girl) and i too would like to read hcs/fanfics where I am represented next to my stans even though they are worlds apart.

So i guess to everyone who wants to send in asks please go ahead send me your wildest reqeusts because i am probably going to enjoy writing them a tad bit more. Even tho i will write everything that is sent in regardless :)

Please forgive me if i dont represent this mental illness well, do private message me to correct any inaccuracies or to take it down as a whole. I am here to learn and i will accept any feedback given to me.

So for this I am going to assume that the reader has had a traumatising childhood which has led to them being diagnosed with depression in current years.

1) S/O always managed to put up a smile and laugh when Ichiban and they initially started dating, thats why Ichi never really knew about S/O's illness.

2) But a year later the depression worsened. This started reflecting in many ways, S/O had no interest in many things that once got them excited, there was a constant cloud of self doubt, comparison to other people, sleeping in late and extreme lack of self care because they didnt think they deserved it.

3) Ichiban started noticing these worsening traits, he wasnt well versed with the attributes of this illness and was far from knowing how to manage someone suffering from it.

4) He would always ask his S/O to go out and do fun stuff with him, like watch a movie or go to the arcade. There used to be a time they were super excited to go but now they would just say "Not in the mood today" or "im very tired maybe some other time". Ichiban would really be heartbroken not understanding why. Maybe his S/O lost interest in him?

5) Ichiban would notice his S/O lose interest in talking about things they could ramble on for hours, initially he would feel it is because they dont want to talk to HIM, not because of any other reason. Soon he will begin realising that its an over all change and that he needs to do something about it.

6) There would also be moments when his S/O would randomly say they should not be together because Ichiban deserved someone better or randomly compare to someone walking by the street which would always get Ichi riled up and send him into an energetic frenzy trying explain his S/O amazingness back to them.

7) To tackle this problem first he will discuss it with Nanba or Adachi, trying to figure out things. Nanba being an ex nurse will probably have an idea of what is happening. He will let Ichiban know that S/O is dealing with some sort of internal battle and its not just ordinary relationship problems.

8) Ichiban will take it upon himself. He will read every article, website or material he can get his hands on to figure out how depression works. He will understand it properly and then calmly talk to S/O about it. To find out what exactly is going on. He will lift S/O spirits simply by putting in so much effort.

9) Ichi will get all his friends to spend alot more time with S/O at home especially when they say they are feeling tired to go out, and plan alot more things inside their comfort zone instead of forcing S/O to go out. Ichiban will try re introducing their interests through creative ways he thinks would work. Like giving them a card which says "Dear S/O, please take my dragon on a quest again. Yours, Ichi"

10) After speaking to some people he will realise that therapy is an option and that it is not just for people suffering with mental illness but it is just as important for people who arent. So if S/O is reluctant to get any therapy, he will get the help of Nanba and everyone to convince S/O to go for it and even offer to join for sessions himself.

Overall, Ichiban would emotionally be upset that his lover suffers from depression, because internally he doesnt want anyone to feel like they are at an all time low since he has personally been there several times. This is why he will always make sure he is positive about it and always there to support

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