#even if she does have to act like a “double agent” initially

[kaleidoscope1967eyes]

reinventing mara jade as a rebellious, burned out gifted kid (circa the 60s and 70s)

[randomthefox]

People don't understand Rouge the bat, they treat her like she's a villain turned hero. When Rouge was never a villain, at any point, literally ever. Let's look at the story of Sonic Adventure 2 from Rouge's POV.

Rouge is a secret service agent working for the president who moonlights as a jewel thief (or perhaps it's the other way around lol). At some point before the game began she got a mission from the President, which probably went something like this: "hey Rouge, Eggman just fucking busted ass through GUN's top secret military base and stole something called 'Project Shadow' and nobody is telling me what the hell that even is. Go do some sleuthing and figure out what this project Shadow shit is and what Eggman's doing with it." She either got this mission assignment while stealing the Master Emerald from Angel Island, or shortly before deciding to go steal the Master Emerald as a day trip or something.

Either way, she's confronted by Knuckles over the Master Emerald and that is when she sees Eggman for the first time.

After snagging some pieces of the master emerald along the way, she follows Eggman back to his secret pyramid base. It is notable that GUN themselves are already aware of the general location of this base and are trying to raid it, but are unable to actually get inside. Rouge manages to successfully infiltrate it.

This is the first time the audience is clued into Rouge's true motivations. It is her mission to find out what Eggman is up to. Thus she takes the transporter to the ARK to get to the bottom of his schemes.

This is when she meets Eggman and Shadow and ingratiates herself in with them. At this point Team Dark is formed, but Rouge is operating as a double agent. Everything she does under Eggman's orders and interests is to get in his good graces so she can fulfill her true mission. She is NOT acting as a villain, she's being an undercover cop. After the demonstration with the Eclipse Canon blowing up the moon and Eggmans threats falling on deaf ears due to Sonic's interruption, Rouge gives Eggman the info about Tails having the final Chaos Emerald. Then she gives a status report to the President.

This is why I said Rouge's initial mission assignment was "find out what the fuck Project Shadow is, because apparently that's what Eggman yoinked from GUN's military island and nobody will tell me what it is."

Rouge's mission during this game is to find out what Project Shadow is, if Shadow the Hedgehog being the ultimate life form is related to whatever Project Shadow is, and what Eggman's intentions involving Project Shadow are. And if Shadow is a threat. The evolving situation and her expanded understanding of Shadow means she's playing speed chess with how she handles things, since she IS operating as a double agent following Eggman's orders. She also can't quite sus out what Shadow's deal is. He certainly CLAIMS to be the ultimate life form. Is that what Project Shadow is? Is HE project Shadow?

Her efforts of playing the part as Eggman's lackey pay off and he gives her the password to access the ARK's database and find the information she's been looking for.

And the information she finds it about the prototype, the research project that Gerald documented in the ARK, and not the true scope of his final results with Shadow the Hedgehog's creation which were relegated entirely to his secret personal diary.

Rouge is shooketh, and confronts Shadow with her findings. Shadow claims to the be ultimate life form. But she just found out about what Project Shadow "truly" is, the Biolizard. If Project Shadow was meant to create the ultimate life form, and Project Shadow was this Biolizard, then who or what is Shadow? After all it is her mission to get to the bottom of this project Shadow business. And she wants to find out the truth about the nature of Shadow's character as well, since he did save her life and all. So she knows there's more to him than meets the eye. Her mission and motivation is to uncover the truth.

But Shadow takes her questions as existential, and just reaffirms his sense of identity. Rouge is left with nothing but the documents about the Biolizard she got from the ARK computer, and cannot make a definitive declaration about what Shadow the Hedgehog has to do with the Ultimate Lifeform.

In the end, the Colony Drop program is initiated. And Rouge receives a call from the President which probably went something like "ROUGE HOLY FUCK THE ARK IS ON A COLLISION COURSE FOR EARTH AND WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON UP THERE!?!?!?!?!?"

Due to the situation being pretty FUBAR, Eggman shares Gerald's diary with Rouge and the others. Revealing the truth about Shadow the Hedgehog as the true Ultimate Lifeform, the result of Project Shadow, all along. And the instrument of Gerald's final revenge.

Rouge's mission is a success. She has finally learned why Eggman blew his way through GUN's base and sprung Project Shadow, and learned definitively what Project Shadow is. She knows the truth about what Project Shadow is, and who Shadow the Hedgehog the ultimate life form is. Once this whole ARK collision business is resolved, she can make a full report to the President.

Although. Personally. I think Rouge's final scene talking to Sonic about Shadow changed her priorities.

"Do you really think that the professor created him, Shadow, to carry out the revenge on all those who live here on earth?"

"He was what he was. A brave and heroic hedgehog. Who gave his life to save this planet. Shadow the Hedgehog."

".... I guess you're right."

That's Sonic's "what you see is what you get" view of the world. And I believe it rang true for Rouge. I believe Rouge was inspired by Sonic in this short interaction. I like to think, perhaps, that when Rouge gave her report to the President, that is what she said. "Shadow was a brave and heroic hedgehog who gave his life to save this planet." But that's just me. The President DOES seem to hold a pretty favorable opinion of Shadow though, despite never meeting him. So that's what I like to think.

Anyway Rouge was a good guy the whole time play the games they are very good.

[b1adie]

thought on firefly drip marketing???

okay i ended up just rambling about firefly in general so this got REALLY long. my bad

well its pretty i like the colors. but i must be honest i really really want her in her armor like at least half of the time. ideally technique skill and ult will have her with the armor on… i am a fan of the dual swords she’s holding in the bg. i kind of wish her pose was different? come on girl you are a badass stellaron hunter. strike a pose. have some swag.

also i had been kind of hoping sam was her real name and firefly was just an alias cuz the kit 🥬 since like a year before the game was even released always had the character named sam. but honestly i do like her picking the name firefly for herself because she is so transgender if you think about it. all the stellaron hunters refer to her only as sam and with he/him and a decent amt of stuff uses they/them too but in the dream world where people can take any form she chooses to be a girl named firefly? despite being created/born for the sole purpose of being sam?

which also makes me wonder like, do the stellaron hunters not know thats armor.. or not know whos actually in it… can she not leave the armor irl or does she choose to hide herself? are they deliberately misleading people by referring to sam as male to hide firefly’s identity so she can more easily like be a double agent if necessary?? she says shes in an icy medical cabin irl, does the armor have some kind of self piloting mode or does she just have to stay in there when shes outside of it…

also i hope she actually has more sam-like personality aspects. like i hope shes actually someone who says shit about setting the seas ablaze and telling kafka not to play with her food and isnt just acting like that to play a role. please be a little fucked up?? please???? i need her to be kind of fucked up i dont want waifu bait i want cool armor warrior ok sorry. like she can still be niceys ofc but i hope her combat voicelines at least are kind of insane LOL

i like the crazy robot that sam was initially assumed to be and i like firefly, so i hope the fact that they’re one and the same doesnt have to come at the cost of diluting either of their personalities/traits/behavior etc.

also wtf do the acronyms in the skills for the sam boss fight stand for. wtf is dgdghr or whatever. is she just growling

[panharmonium]

the thing about kakashi’s S10 experience is that every five minutes he’s presented with a new crisis to manage and each one somehow manages to top the previous one in urgency and complexity

they’re just coming off the total destruction of the village, where kakashi DIED

three seconds after that, he gets the news that danzo has been appointed (though not yet confirmed) as hokage

AND danzo has put out a kill order for sasuke

which makes naruto and sakura fly off the handle

which means kakashi has to rein them both in immediately because he knows danzo is looking for an excuse to lock naruto up

this whole thing puts kakashi in the position of running the show from an underground/covert position, undermining danzo’s authority in a last-ditch attempt to save sasuke

he’s already juggling a subordinate who’s working as a double agent and operating in a precarious and potentially dangerous situation (”it seems like danzo is starting to not trust sai”)

but he encourages sai to lie to danzo and then smuggles naruto out of the village and initiates a totally unsanctioned negotiation with a foreign head of state

five seconds after this, “madara uchiha” is breaking into the inn where kakashi & co. are staying and telling them that actually itachi uchiha didn’t betray the leaf; the government used him to slaughter his own clan and then covered it up for years

which kakashi can’t just take at face value because there’s literally NO proof of this and madara has every reason to want to destabilize the leaf, so they can’t do anything about it until they get the facts

but before he’s had time to process this development, sakura shows up with sai and kiba and lee and confesses that she’s in love with naruto, which kakashi instantly knows isn’t true, but he doesn’t know exactly what she’s up to

three seconds after she leaves, sai’s clone appears with more info and kakashi realizes that sakura has decided to take down sasuke herself (which is absolutely going to result in her getting killed) and she’s on her way to confront him right now

before they’re even done with this discussion, the kazekage and his attendants show up and drop the enormous bomb that danzo has a stolen, implanted sharingan hidden under his bandages and tried to manipulate the entire kage summit in his favor before fleeing

oh, and the reason he fled was because sasuke crashed the summit and tore the entire building down after killing a contingent of samurai and attacking every kage in attendance

after which madara uchiha appeared and declared the start of the fourth great ninja war

and since danzo ran away and isn’t considered to be trustworthy anymore, the other four nations decided that KAKASHI will act as the hokage instead

and before kakashi can process THAT, naruto keels over and passes out in the snow

and at his point it’s like - what the hell does he do?  where does he start?  the leaf village has been obliterated.  its people are sleeping on the ground.  the fourth great ninja war has just been declared.  an unprecedented alliance is forming between the five great nations and kakashi is suddenly supposed to be in charge of one of them, but one of his kids is unconscious, one of them is currently going on a murder spree, and the other one is at this very moment on her way to kill the murder-spree one, who is most definitely going to end up killing her instead.  oh and also they may have just stumbled upon a massive conspiracy wherein the leaf’s government sanctioned the massacre of its own people and lied about it for years, but kakashi can’t responsibly act on this information until he gets proof, because the person who told him about it is also the person who just declared war on them all and who therefore has every reason to lie, but when and how is kakashi supposed to obtain this proof when seven other immediate crises are blowing up at the same exact time?

he never has a second to breathe before something new and even more out-of-control happens.  and as much as i hate to see him overburdened, there is something so compelling about watching him lead, watching everyone turn to him for direction, watching him deliberately undermine a false hokage who doesn’t deserve to wear the hat, watching danzo’s own current and former subordinates align themselves with kakashi in defiance of the man who kept them both captive, watching kage from other nations choose kakashi unanimously and without hesitation, particularly when their selection of him is simultaneously a rejection of danzo, which is SO symbolically powerful for so many reasons.

it’s also equally compelling to me that kakashi, confronted with all these competing and urgent demands, ultimately chooses to try and save his kids first.  

i expect nothing less from him, but it’s still so gratifying to see.

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

I saw your post and on the topic of Capcom retconning, I remember reading somewhere of them saying the remakes exist own timeline like an alternate universe sort of so everything that happened in the OG is canon still.

RE as always been stories of “what ifs” even in the OG, the routes like Jill/Chris in RE1 and Claire A/Leon B have no perfect flow, and Capcom would say technically the combination of all the routes are canon.

Remake Leon wasn’t late to work, but OG Leon was definitely still was via getting drunk over his breakup. I did initially think that retconning was what Capcom was trying to do but then Infinite Darkness came out and that Leon mentioned that he was late to work. Now I really do view them as totally separate versions/entities. So whatever Capcom does end up doing/changing in the remakes, everything that happens in OG timeline absolutely still exists.

I know some may feel the opposite, but I’ve accepted that Capcom actually could decide in their new remake timeline that something like Damnation never happened 😭 even if it would hurt my Aeon shipper heart, not saying that they would, but I’ve prepared for the worst since they gave Ada saving Leon from Krauser to Luis.

I just hope Capcom knows what they are doing and have a clear outlook for their characters this time

&I saw you mentioned how they shot RE2make and scrapped everything to reshoot again. I’ve always imagined that maybe they did try attempting the Leon B ending. I know before the Remake came out that that was the ending a lot we’re expecting to see since it was canon, which is why I think you see some that resentment or straight up hate from some fans on RE2R Ada now in conversations still. Those people that wanted to see the version of her that saved him almost at the cost of her life even when she had no idea he found out that she was lying & actually a spy (I wish people could just accept both versions of her, Remake Ada isn’t pretending to be a civilian looking for her boyfriend, she’s now an “FBI agent” that ranks higher than Leon a as cop, she wouldn’t act the same as the OG) Of course, id still love to see how Capcom would’ve reimagined the B scene but I think logically there was no way they could do it convincingly, especially with this Remake version of Leon. We saw no matter how hard Ada insisted he escape he never left, I think Remake Leon definitely wouldn’t have just left her body there especially if he wasn’t absolutely certain she was dead, so maybe they felt it was just better for them to have her fall thousands of feet and survive that way lol

yes i've seen this too. especially with two different canon endings in the same games. they're both supposed to be canon which is odd and sometimes conflicts with each other. yeah remake leon wasn't late to work, but infinite darkness leon was late to work. it does seem like everything is kinda still canon as none of them have been confirmed to be a main timeline or anything.

the only thing is that the films will not be remade. the films have and always been canon. and im still mad that they didn't make the efforts to have damnation be an aeon centric film like they initially were going to.

yeah i think the changes were good to luis but they were absolutely at the expense of ada. and that makes me kinda dislike him, but especially the people who have double standards and forgave luis when he arguably did so much worse things than ada did. i agree, even with re4r leon leaving luis' body was a bit strange but understandable i guess? but leon leaving ada in re2 made less sense.

[self-ships-ahoy]

🌟 i wanna know what ur ovw s/is would think of my boys, hanzo, lucio, n cass respectively :>

Send a 🌟 + name and I’ll talk about my self insert’s bond to that character!

Oh absolutely!! We always gotta do each others' f/os for these things.

As for my 2nd s/i, I'm just using Kayla as a placeholder name till I can settle on something else. Cuz I gotta get this meme completed.

Synthia:

For simplicity's sake, I'm skipping to the end of her story where she gets her memories back and assumes she rejoins O.verwatch.

I don't think she ever met Hanzo, but she has heard of him from Genji during her initial affiliation with O.verwatch. She would feel sympathy to know his story; it's a real testament to humans being able to choose goodness. Him being put in that whole situation to begin with would also sit with her present-day, since she still has memories of human mistreatment after she was left alone - she still supports humanity but her impression of them has fallen. As far as Hanzo is concerned, she would still try to act warm and welcoming, at one point offering him a cup of tea. English tea, sorry Hanzo. 😔

Lucio would probably be instant friendship. He cares about everyone and makes really cool music to boot. He corrects injustices and fights for the innocent. At one point I think she'd ask him about fighting for omnics as well, and maybe have a discussion about that cuz yeah of course he is and O.verwatch is trying to do that. Of course, she'll be very happy that he and her other friend Estelle are together!

Ohh Cassidy's is a real bittersweet one, cuz they were friends back in the day. Back in the post-crisis days of ovw, she and Cass spent a lot of time with each other and Dr. Liao, and later including Synthia's "sister", Echo. I could see him trying to bring some of those memories back when she couldn't remember, and when she finally does and reunites with the team, he's really happy to see her back and then picks up their friendship like nothing happened.

Kayla:

Also has not met Hanzo.......probably not any of the Shimada family tbh. (At least Synthia had the advantage of knowing Genji.) I'm not too sure what their bond would be like, if they ever met, but I think she would compliment his bow! You don't see a lot of traditional weaponry nowadays, and in a world so easily hackable, archery is a useful skill to have. She may also inquire about the light "dragons", since the canonly aren't magic and therefore something she could study. 👀

She probably listens to Lucio's music, so that's something! It'd be really cool if they met somewhere along the way, maybe he knows about her being a double agent and helping her out? It would definitely be fun to see one of her favorite music artists turn out to be an agent of O.verwatch! And.. it'd be nice to have another ally too.

I think if anyone, she may have interacted with Cassidy before. Both of them sniffing around for clues on their own, other stuff that's spoilers for my lore, but I think it'd be cool if they had worked together before the whole double-agent thing started - maybe they even still work together now, who knows! Idk I'm still working things out but I just want her to have some canon connection.

[kolapon-art]

I agree with most of the points here but not really the one about Darius. Good all along doesnt mean "wont let his own bad traits affect him at one point and cause him to make bad judgements".

Even if he suspected foul play around his mentor, we also have to consider that he has been under tremenoudous stress to be a double agent and the only one suspecting Belos of murdering his own GG (or at least supecting sth was terribly wrong there). Thoughts he cannot voice or share, having his perception of the goverment crumble around him and then actively deciding to stay in this awful environmnet and work against Belos.

So just because he has a noble goal, that doesnt make him automatically a person who will make all the right decisions. After all, all this does not foster a healthy mindset and bitterness is sth very much present, espically when we consider his rebel mentor next to the very loyal Hunter. And especially when one slip up and Hunter could tattle to Belos, jeopardizing Darius' position which he worked to maintain. Makes sense why he only responded positively after Hunter showed him he wont go spill all this to Belos and end up killing them both. 

Was his behavior bad in Any Sport? Absolutely, but we are seeing the result of years of working in the worst possible environment, being the sole keeper of a nasty secret about his mentors death and having Belos relish in his suffering, as the man specifically put a portrait in his fake, purposefully created mindscape where Darius is saddened at Hunters initiation (showing Belos is very well aware of how this whole situation has been affecting Darius).

Plus Darius is not even the only one whose less than stellar life has caused him to make bad calls. Lilith is another glaring example, where years of cultic influences almost destroyed her relationship with Eda and had her commit pretty despicable acts in s1.

Also Eda herself, who after being cursed, succumbed to loneliness and depression, causing her to spiral and reject people in her life, and made her unable to communicate properly. Say what you will but calling your 8 year old child your roommate, is not normal by any means and then said child had to be the one to offer to be adopted, after years of being with Eda. Her crippling insecurities prevented her from acting as she should have acted with King, even though she managed to raise him properly.

So the point is, characters like Darius, Lilith and Eda while being good people in general or working to be ones, have had things in their life happen that have affected them in all sorts of ways. And this often manifested in bad behaviors, wrong calls and misjudgmenets of situations. It's all very realistic I think, given that those adults grew up in dictatorial cult, which affected them greatly, esp the ones who had to work in the belly of the beast aka the government. 

And what is important, is that all of them are working on said behaviors with Lilith totally revamping her life, Eda embracing her curse as well as opening up emotionally, and Darius making efforts to help Hunter and distance him away from Belos, once the boy ran away after HM. 

I’ve seen people state that Dana Terrace has a tendency to emasculate the characters she doesn’t like, especially villains . Like often making them be defeated incredibly easily or making them do things that go against their established characters. From what you’ve seen do you think this is true?

Honestly, I think you can make the case that she does this to characters she DOES like as well; not the emasculation part, but the out-of-character moments. The most recent offender is The Collector who was previously established as enjoying watching Belos abuse and murder grimwalkers and is looking forward to the Day of Unity, but in For the Future, none of these malicious traits are present, and he seemingly does a 180 in his characterization. They're just a Lonely Kid with superpowers instead of the chaotic god child who apparently delights in misery.

It's one thing to present a character one way and gradually reveal the layers underneath but such a drastic change with seemingly no explanation is not character development, it's a retcon.

The show also has a problem with setting up how some characters change: Darius was initially presented as being contemptuous of Hunter but warms up to him once he stands up to him. Considering his history with the previous Golden Guard, shouldn't Darius know what Hunter goes through instead of assuming Hunter is spoiled? Darius' rebellion against Belos is also muddled; he becomes a fully-fledged CATs member because he cares about people and is suspicious of the Day of Unity. Except, I don't believe we're ever shown why this is the case. Darius is a Coven Head and it's his job to get more recruits and was trained by the previous Golden Guard. Logically, he should be a firm believer, but instead he uses his status to climb the ranks to act as a mole. This is a great starting point but we're missing what triggered this in the first place. The only hint is that the death of his mentor is what started his rebellion against Belos. But this isn't really expanded upon and it raises more questions. How did he find out that it was Belos who killed his mentor? How much did the Golden Guard tell him? If the death of the previous GG is what made him turn on Belos, then why does he treat Hunter poorly? If you're going to have a character act as a mole, then at least explain what their motives are and how they were developed.

This shows how fundamentally flawed the world-building in The Owl House is; characters only follow Belos when it's convenient to the plot. So in the end, you have characters who oppose Belos because they're on Team Good Guy (Darius, Raine, Eberwolf), the ones who support him because they've always been Evil (Kiki and Terra) and the rest of the isles who either celebrate him at a parade or denounce Eda's potential execution because two teenagers said so.

Anyway, onto the villains...

Odalia is essentially a war profiteer who doesn't care that her entire species is about to be wiped out by the DOU, even though logically she should. She cares about her company and a company can't profit if the majority of your customers are dead. She is tyrannical, cruel, and greedy and it's fun to watch her be reduced to a mere servant. I don't mind this development for Odalia, however, it does point to the trend of taking powerful enemies and reducing them to a shadow of themselves for comedic purposes.

Kikimora was presented as a terrifying enforcer of the Emperor's laws but she got progressively more pathetic to the point where she had to impersonate a teenager and serve as the right hand to Boscha, a character we haven't seen properly since Season 1. She is presented as power-hungry, pathologically ambitious, and has an intense desire to earn Belos' favor, but when he turns against her, she helps King find the Collector, effectively helping defeat Belos. But recently, she is back to her Season 2 shenanigans by taking over Hexside and the question is why exactly? We saw her world crumble before her and she reverts back to her previous traits instead of actual characterization. A common interpretation is that she is just THAT obsessed with power that nothing can break it, which isn't...realistic. FtF doesn't show why Kiki does this, she just does. Perhaps because of the psychological damage of Belos betraying her she decides to continue with what she's always done, except that this isn't telegraphed clearly. Instead, she just comes off as a mini-boss before the final showdown.

That leaves Belos as the only real credible threat and while he is terrifying on a personal level, we never see him at his full power; for apparently being the most powerful "witch" in the isles, his magic doesn't really stand out from what was seen before. And in King's Tide, he was just playing with Luz. He is ultimately brought down by his own hubris and misplaced trust, and an over-powered god child. Belos' defeat is thematically appropriate so it's not as egregious as Kiki's but it does fall into the category of "Easily Defeated." Obviously, we'll have to wait for the finale to see if that trend continues.

Belos' defeat by the Collector seemed to set them up as the new threat in town, that Belos, for all of his power, was ultimately nothing and the mysterious Collector is a force to contend with. But no, the Collector is largely kept in check by King. So Belos' defeat doesn't do anything for either character; we don't get any reaction from Belos about his centuries-long plan blowing up in his face and the Collector isn't even bad, just misguided. As for the misunderstanding between King and the Collector and their "new game"? I don't think the Collector will actually do anything that will have lasting damage, not while Belos still breathes.

And that's a common problem the villains in this show have, any attempt at interiority or psychological depth is explicitly rejected by the show (remember Kiki and her family, how she was worried about being disowned? Psyche! She'll drop everything for even a smidge of more power!) and the lesson seems to be "these characters have always been Evil and nothing will change that."

It can be fun watching villains go from intimidating to pathetic, but if that's all you do with them then it becomes boring fast, at least for me. Ultimately, I think the biggest problem with the villains is that you're supposed to take them at face value: Belos, Kiki, Odalia, are Evil for petty reasons and will do anything for power. Not all villains need to be nuanced with complex characterization but if all of your villains are just Evil all the time and the text explicitly does not want you sympathizing with them or even showing a different side to them, then that's just a wasted opportunity to flesh out your world with interesting characters.

[offbranddrpepsi]

Hi!! I hope your doing well :)

This is a weird request but what if the reader (an agent) died in battle earlier, and then their s/o sees their mirror self from mirror earth?

Maybe yoru, sova, and jett? But anybody u want is fine with me !

Prepare for a whole lot of fucking Angst my fine folk

Yoru would react horribly. For a while he would seem entirely fine, mourning behind closed doors, but that would dramatically change upon him seeing your mirror. The rift walker would be filled with rage at the unfairness that they may live while you cannot. It would all be made worse if his mirror was with yours happily. He would act without thinking and would use the next chance he got to kill your double. It doesn't fix the wrongs but he feels justified knowing someone is suffering as much as he is.

Sova handles grief probably the best out of all the agents. He knows these things may happen, its the very risk you all signed up to take. It still stings when he sees your mirror, but it does much more than just that. The wave of grief, nostalgia, and want hits him hard enough that he hesitates to take a shot on them. No one notices but him, and he says nothing to the other agents. Sova starts avoiding going on missions where your skills would have been required to avoid ever having to hesitate again.

Jett never really lets go of her grief so her reaction is unsurprising. The others would say she was holding up well despite he clinging to any trace of you she had. Wearing your old shirts, carrying your guns with her, and even sleeping in your bed. When she sees your mirror on the battlefield she can't bring herself to shoot them. What she does instead would get her scolded harshly by Viper; she tells them to run. Your mirror was initially confused but would take the chance to leave, avoiding death like you had failed to. Jett would hang onto any non-violent interaction with your mirror as some sort of hope that maybe one day the earths wouldn't be a warzone and would perhaps be a place she could meet you again.

[docgold13]

365 DC Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

Suplemental - Villains Who Are Sometimes Heroes  

Often times, the best villains are those who do not necessarily seem themselves as such.  They are the heroes of their own stories and believe their villainous actions are in the service of some form of a greater good.  As such, there are numerous instances in which a villain will come to act in the role of hero or antihero, where the bad guy is actually the good guy, or a former nemesis becomes a sudden ally.  Following the jump are some of my favorite villains who frequently end up playing a heroic role…

There can be no doubt that both Deathstroke and Bane are bad to the bone. Yet each have acting in the role of antihero more times than can easily counted. 

Poison Ivy is less villainess than ecological warrior.  Her actions may be evil in the minds of many, but for her she is merely defending the wellbeing of plant life and attempting to stave off mankind’s thoughtless efforts to make the planet inhospitable to both flora and fauna alike.

The Flash’s Rogues, especially Captain Cold, HeatWave, The Pied Piper and The Trickster are most certainly cads… yet they all abide by their own particular code of honor and conduct.  As such, they have been many a time where these rogues have fought along side heroes as opposed to against them.

The Shade has been one of the Justice Society’s most formidable of adversaries.  And yet it was later revealed that he isn’t that bad a guy and it was the malignant possession of the devious Culp who was responsible for most of his villainous deeds.  

Both The Star Sapphire and Goldface each began as villains but ended up heroes.  

Knockout and Scandal are wonderful and I’ll hear no bad words about them.  

Brainwave Junior‘s turn as a villain was initially attributed to his difficulties with mental illness, but it was later revealed to be the machinations of the evil Mr. Mind.  Once the little creep was expelled, Brainwave Jr. became good again. whew!

The second Tattooed Man started off a villain but later became a hero, only to be killed in Heroes in Crisis (hopefully he’ll get better like most of the victims of Sanctuary).  As for Harlequin, she only acted as a villain to get the attention of her crush, Green Lantern (Alan Scott)… boy was she barking up the wrong tree.

Bizarro is not necessarily bad, rather he’s naive and easily manipulated and the majority of his evil acts have been the result of coercion by way of more purely evil villains.  And under the right direction, Bizarro can very much be a force for good, such as the time he served as a hero among The Red Hood’s band of Outlaws.  

Anarky is a political extremist and Thorne suffers from some sort of psychological malady.  Sometimes their on the right side of a conflict, sometimes on the wrong.  Are they bad guys… whose to say?

This guy… where do I even start?  Lex Luther certainly does not see himself as a villain; he’s out to save the world.  And there have been many a time where he has achieved exactly that.  He could have been hero on par with the greatest in the DC Universe… if only he hadn’t stolen all of those pies!

Plastique began as a terrorist and villain yet spent a brief time as a hero, a result of her romance with Captain Atom.  Alas the affair between the two proved to be short live, and so time did Plastique’s time as a hero.  As he Deadshot, he’s a stone-cold killer, yet his time with The Suicide Squad and Secret Six has hoisted him into the role of antihero… a role that proved a surprisingly good fit for the deadly marksman.

Cheshire is a deadly assassin who has proven formidable nemesis of The Teen Titans.  When he daughter’s wellbeing is on the line, however, the killer is quick to aide her one time rivals.  

Painkiller started off as a villain yet has recently turned to the role of antihero; mostly a result of the character’s involvement in the Black Lightning television series.  As for Manchester Black, I’m never going to be convince to trust this creepy peet… yet Superman has decided to do just that, recruiting the cad into his new team The Elite.

Both Fataly and Bleez have very good reasons to be as angry and vengeful as they are.  And though both have battled the Green Lanterns on multiple occasions, they have also assisted the corps in joining forces against common enemies.  

Thomas Blake made for a rather lousy super villain during his early years as Catman.  After a much-needed Gail Simone make-over, however, he became a truly terrific antihero.  Plus, anyone who likes cats as much as he does can’t be all that bad, right?

Although technically villains, I wouldn’t classify Jenette nor Black Alice as necessarily bad…  They both just have a different way of looking at the matter of morality.

Don’t mess with Lady Shiva… let’s just leave it at that.

Polymath’s tenure as a villain was merely a result of her desperation to save her father.  Once the Wonder Twins helped her do just that, she resigned from her villainous ways.  Shado‘s deal is a bit more complicated.  The devious archer has proven a formidable adversary to Green Arrow, but there has also been many a time where the two have fought side by side.  

So Dex-Starr is a rage-filled murder machine possessing awesome power.  Yet that is pretty much the case for all house cats, so I don’t see what the big deal is…

Both Killer Frost and Magenta fell into the antiquated trope of powerful women becoming evil due to some sort of hysteria.  Sure they’ve been bad guys plenty of times, but they have each also acted as heroes as well.  

Just like his father, Icicle Junior has taken the road of villainy, becoming a member of The injustice Society of America.  When The ultra Humanite took over the world, however, Icicle joined forces with The Justice Society and played a pivotal role in saving the day.  As for Junior’s baby-mama, Tigress, she remains a villainess… in the DC Animated Universe of Young Justice, however, Artemis is very much a hero.  Feels like only a matter of time before the comic book universe follows suit, turing The tigress from villain to hero.  

Both Clayface and Man-Bat are less villains than they are victims of circumstance.  And while each have battled Batman more times than can be counted, there has also been times where the pair have aided The Dark Knight. 

Once heralded as the greatest of The Green Lanterns, Sinestro’s path to villainy came as a facet of his quest to bring order to the galaxy.  His tyrannical notions aside, there has still been plenty a time where he has once more joined forces with his former allies among the corps.  

Both The Rubber Band Man and Major Disaster began as villains, but switched over to being heroes.  Major Disaster even served for a brief while as a member of The Justice League International.  

Lobo is a genocidal trashbox who has most likely had inappropriate relations with space dolphins.  Yet people seem to like reading about this jerk which has foisted him into the role of antihero.  I still think he’s garbage, but will admit that his daughter is super cool.  

These three don’t even require particular mention.  Catwoman, Black Adam and Harley Quinn’s roles as hero/antihero have been enough that they receive placement on both the 365 Villains list as well a the 365 Heroes list.  Quite the accomplishment! 

A rarity on this list… Terra started out a hero but it was later revealed that she was a double agent, a villain sent by Deathstroke to infiltrate and betray the Teen Titans.  She perished but later returned again, either cloned or resurrected or something like that.  In any case, she’s a hero again so yay…

So there you have it, a collection of scum and villainy who have, on occasion, acted in the role of hero.  Have I missed anyone important?  Let me know.    

[thanksjro]

More Than Meets the Eye #33: In Which I Write the Word ‘Quantum‘ 19 Times

Dang, I forgot what happened at the end of the last issue. It was pretty important, too, but I don’t have time to reread. Maybe the establishing shot can help me out?

Oh, that’s right, Rewind happened!

Everyone’s pretty jazzed that Rewind is here, non-exploded, and supposedly alive. Megatron carries this ridiculously small man over to a table, while Skids is busy admonishing Nightbeat for trying to put the pieces of this mystery together.

That’s one of the two first canonically, openly gay Transformers, Megatron. You bet your ass he’s important.

Nightbeat’s dragged Nautica over to look at that poster for Crosscut’s play they saw last issue. Together, they discover something interesting, and it’s not that Nightbeat’s chin has elongated to the point of absurdity. On this future ship, the play was completed and produced a mere few weeks after the initial launch of the Lost Light.

While this is going on, Rewind wakes up and asks Skids what the hell is going on. Skids, likely not wanting to poke at farm-fresh trauma, glosses over the fact that everyone on this ship was violently murdered, and that they found Rewind blacked out inside the hollowed torso of his brother-in-law.

…This is a dark story line.

You see, the joke here is that “Dark Cybertron” sucked major chrome.

Megatron reminds everyone that they’re still in grave danger every moment they stay aboard this ship, but Skids is more concerned with Rewind’s mental health. Which is sweet, but maybe not the thing to prioritize in such a precarious situation.

Rewind takes the fact that Megatron is an Autobot now pretty friggin’ well, as well as the introduction of gender into his species. That is, until Nightbeat, the king of social graces, saunters up to the scene to ask Rewind what the hell happened to the ship. He does get his answers, despite Rewind being horrified to the point of speechlessness.

Over at the hole in the wall, Nautica and Riptide are taking a gander at the quantum drums, which house the quantum foam for the quantum engines so quantum jumps can happen.

As Nautica explains the process by which quantum travel works, she realizes that the answer to what happened to everyone who disappeared was right in front of them this whole time.

Quantum, quantum, quantum- doesn’t even sound like a word anymore, does it?

The data slug Rewind made corroborates this theory, showing a series of events that definitely didn’t happen to the Lost Light we’ve been following throughout this story so far. The data slug contains this Rewind’s version of dead Rewind’s “Little Victories”, the travelogue that was never completed, where the question “are you happy?” revealed just how emotionally unhealthy most of the crew is. I’d like to imagine this Rewind’s film is called “Small Achievements”, or perhaps “Dear Fucking Lord, We’ve Been on this Trip for Three Hours and the Captain Has Been Killed by a Goddamned Soul-Vampire”, or maybe even “Where the FUCK is Our Therapist”.

The DJD came into the equation by way of someone having led them to the Lost Light. We get a flashback panel of the gorefest, in which Tarn appears to have learned how to fly, given the angle he’s coming from.

Because Rewind’s big thing in this series is being the guy who records stuff, the DJD take the opportunity to make some movies of their visit to the space yacht.

James, why do you keep getting Rewind involved with snuff films? I’m starting to get concerned.

Now, the thing about Rewind is that he’s almost always accompanied by his other half. Where is Chromedome, anyway?

He’s dead, that’s where.

Turns out, when you tell the DJD that you won’t do the thing they want you to do, they have a habit of doing nasty things in retaliation. Chromedome got stabbed in the friggin’ visor with his own finger needles, because Vos enjoys ironic deaths, I suppose. There’s some other stuff that’s implied to have happened, but we’ll get to that once we learn a little more about the DJD themselves.

While Rewind recounts the grisly tale of his husband’s demise, Riptide notes that the quantum foam has begun to spread at a remarkable rate. This is a bad thing, because that shit can and will explode, given half the chance, and this wreck is floating right above a potentially-inhabited planet.

Though I could have sworn we established that this planet was a Smartplanet, and therefore very much populated by students and staff. I don’t know. Maybe we conveniently forgot that, so we could make this a learning moment for Megatron.

Jiminy Christmas, Megs, do you even listen to yourself?

Skids, who has had a very long day of finding corpses and learning about quantum theory, snaps at Megatron, telling him that in order to actually be an Autobot, you have to have a little frickin’ compassion for those outside of your peer group.

Which is sort of contradictory to the Aequitas trials, the Killswitch debacle, the POW situation back on Cybertron, and whatever the fuck Prowl’s whole deal is, but maybe Skids is speaking about his own, personal relationship with being an Autobot. Hopefully so, otherwise he needs a class on critical thinking, STAT.

Never mind all of that though, because the problem just got a lot worse- the quantum foam has expanded to a point where any holes in the stuff are too small for the Rod Pod to get through. We’re going to have to get creative if we want to save the day.

Luckily, we’ve got a quantum duplicate of just about the tiniest little dude in the franchise here to do the job. Now we just need another, equally tiny little man, so the quantum drums can be shut off at the same time. Nautica commits more microaggressions, and this gives Getaway inspiration for a witty quip, which in turn gives Skids a brilliant idea.

The gang heads down to Brainstorm’s lab, to look for the mass displacement gun that was used for treating Ultra Magnus’s nanocon infestation back in the 2012 Annual. While they search, Nautica explains just why the hell the Lost Light disappeared in the first place. You see, quantum duplication acts on the Cain Instinct— it’s fine, as long as the duplicates don’t perceive each other. However, the moment contact is made, it says “oh man, guess I’m gonna have to end you” to one of the duplicates. The contact in this case happened when the Coffin Rodimus was brought aboard the ship.

Anything that wasn’t aboard the Lost Light at the point of the takeoff/explosion was never duplicated, and thus wasn’t erased from reality once shit started going to hell. This is why the Rod Pod is still around, and why the remaining cast are— well, the remaining cast.

While this conversation is going on, Nautica and Nightbeat uncover yet another dead body; it’s Brainstorm, and he’s a little underdressed.

…Someone run a paternity test, I think Cyclonus might be the father.

Also, Brainstorm’s a double agent.

Fucked up.

Getaway is furious that a Decepticon has been living on the same ship as him for the last six months, right under his proverbial nose. Even Megatron’s surprised, stating that Brainstorm isn’t usually who the recruiters aim for.

So, no mass displacement gun, and now they’re aware of the fact that there’s a traitor on the ship who’s had access to a LOT of weapon tech. It’s at this point that Megatron decides to stop lying by omission and tells everyone that he can mass-displace, since he used to turn into a handgun.

Smashcut to Megatron and Rewind floating out in space, the former now not much taller than the latter, as they traverse the web of quantum foam to get to the drums. Nautica instructs them from the Rod Pod. If this works, anything produced or connected to the quantum engine will be neutralized, and maybe we’ll even get the other Lost Light back! YAAAAAY!!!

Y’all really let this man go out there to fuckin’ kill himself for the greater good, didn’t you?

Rewind is honestly pretty chill with ceasing to be, seeing as he watched 200/+ people die today, including his long-time spouse.

Jesus. I’d say get him a therapist, but in order to do that, we’re going to have to wipe him off the map anyway.

Rewind asks Megatron if the Chromedome that isn’t his and his duplicate are still together. And I mean…

Luckily, Megatron has the good sense to lie.

With that, they flip the switches, and deactivate the drums.

And that’s a series wrap on Rewind! Congrats to Mr. James Roberts for the esteemed honor of burying the same gay twice!

Later on, everyone is back inside the Rod Pod, as their disappeared shipmates return from being nonexistent. Chromedome pops back in, and Skids is on him like a shark, telling him to go on the roof. Skids doesn’t even try to explain why. Which, fair. How the hell do you explain to someone that their dead husband’s quantum duplicate survived both a terrorist splinter cell attack, and the laws of quantum sci-fi bullshit crashing down on his tiny, tiny body, and that he’s right there on the roof waiting for them?

Welp, there goes the Chromedome/Dominus endgame. Shame, that.

Looks like Chromedome finally hit the threshold for having earned Roberts’ pity, and won’t be directly targeted by the plot for a little while. This isn’t something you see very often, so let’s really soak this in.

…Someone had to have told Rewind what happened to the other Rewind, right? I wonder what that conversation was like.

Back inside the ship, Blaster gets word that the Lost Light has reappeared. As they navigate towards it, Megatron requests that an encrypted call be made to Rodimus, to discuss the Brainstorm problem.

In the interim, Ravage is offered the opportunity to be a part of the crew, so he doesn’t have to keep skulking around in the shadows. We don’t get an answer from him, as our focus shifts over to Nightbeat and Nautica.

Nightbeaaaaaaaaaat, stop stating the themes of the comic verbatim! People are going to start thinking you’re a shonen anime protagonist!

Nightbeat’s somehow managed to keep ahold of the briefcase that they found on the other Lost Light. Unless Brainstorm’s boyfriend is in there, I don’t think this one was the work of Huey Lewis and the News’ hit single from the Back to the Future soundtrack.

Over on the Lost Light, specifically in Swerve’s, Brainstorm’s making his way through the crowd, briefcase held gentle like hamburger as he goes. He makes it to the bar, where Atomizer tells him he can’t have his briefcase in here. Brainstorm has what most would accept to be a healthy response to being told “no.”

It’s what I would do.

[jennycalendar]

jenny and giles are genuinely SLEPT ON. there is so much insanely cool stuff going on wrt the way they mirror each other. the whole flexible identity thing is literally Right There; it’s what causes the initial rift between them -- but it’s also really interesting that jenny’s situation with her family is the inverse of giles’s deal with eyghon.

for giles, eyghon is a part of his past that he keeps secret because it represents his attempt to ESCAPE his responsibilities. he actively tried to remove himself from the destiny he was forced into, acting out and making incredibly self destructive choices, and this path led directly to the death of one of his friends. eyghon is kept under wraps in giles’s life because he doesn’t want anybody to know that he isn’t as dedicated to the job as people seem to think. he wants people to think that he is steadfast.

meanwhile, jenny is upset about the situation with her family because she CAN’T escape her responsibility to them; she keeps this a secret because it undercuts the free and easy image she presents to the rest of the world. she is tethered incredibly firmly to her destiny and has found a way to quietly and carefully integrate it into the life that she wants to lead, but this isn’t what she wants. she wants to be free.

so giles is a rebel trying his best to pretend that his destiny holds him prisoner, and jenny actually IS caught in a web of familial obligations that she refuses to acknowledge -- because she wants to pretend she’s a rebel. they see each other and there is this immediate recognition that they can’t own up to, especially since who they Really Are is supposed to be super secret: giles sees somebody who is unbothered by the way the world is Supposed To Be and determined to upend it (which is exactly the same as the guy he’s trying to hide) and jenny sees somebody who is tied down by a duty that is slowly destroying him (which is exactly her situation). they fall ridiculously hard for this person who they see as completely capable of understanding them, as they are, while also simultaneously having no intention of ever revealing themselves. it is so fucked up.

and then there’s the kind of people that they are, just in general! jenny uses her gritty too cool for school exterior to hide the fact that she is an idealist and a scholar: she believes wholeheartedly in a kinder world. in the potential of angel to be someone good. raised and steeped in blood and hatred, she is looking at the world and saying, “fuck you. no. buffy is going to get her boyfriend back.” she KNOWS it is impossible. she TRIES ANYWAY. she spends a MONTH researching and coding and working and learning until she finds a way to achieve the improbable. she is described within canon as a dedicated teacher, a thorough teacher, someone who leaves lesson plans hefty enough that a high school junior can teach her class without stressing. (yes that is a weird god damn plot point but so is everything relating to jenny. moving on.)

meanwhile, giles PLAYS at being a librarian, but like i always say: man chose that job so that he wouldn’t have to talk to people. jenny’s got drive; she loves her cover story and she throws herself into teaching her classes. she adores what she does. giles abhors the reality of library sciences and regularly closes the library so that he can pursue the weird demonic shit. where jenny’s i-don’t-care veneer hides a warm and passionate heart, giles’s warm-and-stuffy-librarian thing hides this exhaustedly cynical and often very unpleasant dude. he’s of course soft with the kids because he does love them, but there’s twenty years of resentment and repression going on there. he is not happy to be where he’s at. though he’s enchanted by jenny’s determined optimism, he doesn’t harbor it quite as passionately as she does.

so literally giles is what jenny pretends to be (and also kind of is), and jenny is what giles pretends to be (and also kind of is). because of course on so many levels jenny is fiercely rebellious: she breaks free of her destiny when it really counts. she’s strong enough to commit to that. and then giles really is trapped by his role as a watcher, no longer pretending: he is forced to choose between jenny and buffy, and chooses buffy without hesitation. they are what they say they are, and they’re also lying all the fucking time. it’s insane.

and more insane than that is the fact that the people they actually fall in love with are the people underneath all of that. jenny isn’t in love with a bumbling librarian or a sexy dangerous badass, she’s in love with this really sweet guy who works too hard and hates himself too much and is kind of a dick sometimes, but in a hot way. giles isn’t in love with the hot computer science teacher or the quietly dutiful but somewhat clumsy double agent (if she can even be called that) -- he is in love with this weird mean nerd who doesn’t totally know how to whisper sweet nothings and tries to communicate how much she loves him by endlessly making fun of him. they are drawn to each other and they see right fucking through each other to the point where everything else is genuinely just semantics. nothing matters but the fact that rupert and jenny are in love.

of course, they are both pedantic nerds who spend WAY too much time on semantics and not NEARLY as much time on their own feelings. they are also guarded as fuck. so it takes them an impossibly long time to figure shit out, and they really only get a half-second of knowing before it is cut brutally short.

like. they are That Couple. they are so devastatingly romantic and so genuinely messy and fucked up and this is packed into this weird less-than-a-season-long arc that’s really only intended to add some flavor to a story that isn’t theirs. nothing is gonna hit for me as hard as giles and jenny, who found space to fall desperately in soulmate-level love in the margins.

[wesimpforxiao]

Say My Name and I’ll Be There:  6.2

Il Dottore entered your cell early the next morning and was followed by Childe.  "Rise!  It is the beginning of your contribution to Snezhnayan society!"  His entire demeanor reeked with a vivid excitement despite the bland atmosphere that sat within the cell.

But you, on the other hand, just looked blankly at him.  After all the crying you did yesterday, your determination and perseverance had renewed somewhat.  The bags under your eyes were still puffy and blotched with red.  Your skin felt dry and chapped long after the tears dried.

Your lack of enthusiasm seemed to upset the man, and he frowned.  He pulled an abnormally large syringe out of his coat pocket.  "I had a feeling you'll resist, so we'll make do with mild paralysis, yes?"  Your gaze slid to the tool that had to be as long as his own forearm.

Childe reacted when you shifted your attention to him.  "I believe this is the last we'll see each other, ojou-chan," he spoke as Dottore approached you.  "It's a shame we'll have to part ways like this, but have comfort in knowing our banters and battles were entertaining while they lasted."

"Stop."  You flinched as Dotorre grabbed your chained arm.  "I-I won't resist." That needle was large. Did it have to be that big?  Was it really necessary?  And the amount of liquid inside it--simply terrifying to look at.  "I won't resist."  You even made a point to hold still, but to no avail.  He wasn't going to stop.

"Remember what I said, ojou-chan.  I gave you a way out of this rough treatment."  The needle jabbed into your forearm, making you wince in pain as your eyes pleaded for Childe's help.  

Panic had begun to set in.  "Get off of me!"  You pushed at Il Dottore.  The force in your hands did nothing, and you quickly realized in complete horror that you were already losing feeling in your limbs.  What quick reflexes you had were now achingly slow and uncoordinated.  The harbinger stood and proceeded to carelessly toss the empty syringe onto the other end of the cell.

"Go ahead and escort her," Dottore called out for two Fatui agents in the hall.  They lifted your heavy body and began to drag you out of the cell.

"Wait!  You can't do this!  Tartaglia, please!"  Your screams echoed once you were pulled into the hallway.  The useless kicks of protest were weak against gravity.  "Stop this!"

"This is goodbye, ojou-chan."  Something humane and hesitant flickered in his eyes, but he saw you off with an ominous grin.

..........................................................

Despite Diluc's apparent dislike towards Kaeya, Aether invited him on their mission anyway.  Things got heated pretty quickly, but Paimon managed to cool them down by insulting both of them whenever they got too heated.

It was day two of their caravan journey disguised as simple merchants.  Diluc manned the wagon while Kaeya walked along its left side, Xiao on the right, and Aether in the back.  Zhongli was scouting ahead, but stated he would not intervene once the group reached Snezhnaya.  They had barely managed to cross Fontaine's border without being detected by border patrol.  The weather here was more humid than that of Liyue or Mondstat.

"To think I would get such a humble request from the Hero of Mondstat,"  Kaeya spoke loud enough to get on Diluc's nerves.  "I never would have thought such a strong individual would need a Knight of Favonius.  Must be desperate times."  Diluc grumbled something under his breath, but kept his focus on the dirt path.  His hands were holding onto the reins a little too tight.

"We thought you'd be able to help us with diplomatic stuff since you're a Knight," Paimon admitted.  "You might be able to get us into the palace, right?"

"It's possible, but I wouldn't count on it," the knight shrugged carelessly.  

"We wouldn't dream of it," Diluc scoffed.

"Oh?  And is that because I'm associated with the Knights, or," Kaeya tested, "because you feel threatened by my presence?"

"You're as unreliable as them," Diluc retorted with a frown, finally facing his adopted brother.  "You fit right in with that group of--"

"NGH!"  Xiao doubled over from an unforeseen searing pain that tore through his chest.  He knelt to the ground and clutched at his sternum.  

"Xiao!"  Paimon and Aether ran toward him.  Zhongli, who was returning from his position to report back to the team, heard the shouts and came running.  Diluc stopped the caravan, and he and Kaeya joined the duo next to the yaksha.

"Haah...hah..."  Xiao heaved, sweat beading at the top of his forehead. "Tch."  The pain had just begun to subside when another one replaced it, this time in his shoulders.  Then his legs.  Then his back.  He was practically seeing spots by the time Zhongli reached him.  "Don't touch me!"  He swatted the air around him similar to that of a wounded animal.  "Urk..."

"What's hurting you?"  Zhongli observed the yaksha's behavior carefully.  He suffers from chronic pains, but I have yet to see him react so harshly.  "Do I need to get your medication?"

"I-I'm fine," he assured even though it was obvious the opposite was true.  His labored breathing brought concerned looks to everyone.

"You should rest in the wagon," Diluc spoke.  Then he turned to Aether.  "Is he well enough to accompany us?"

"Your eyes," Zhongli knelt before Xiao, "are glowing."  Like hers.

"So?"  I don't need useless observations of my pain. Ugh...  It doesn't compare to my past injuries, but it's enough to upset my stomach.  What is this?  His eyes frantically flit around the group's surroundings only to find nothing out of the ordinary.  Was I poisoned somewhere along the way?  I did not consume human food.  There was that merchant awhile back--

"Xiao," Zhongli snapped him out of his thoughts.  Once he regained the yaksha's attention, he repeated his words.  "When was the last time you took your pain killers?"

"This morning," he groaned.  "This doesn't happen."  The sun's cool rays suddenly acted like they were burning him alive.

"Have you heard anything from her?"

"Not in the past two days."  The pain is subsiding.  Xiao's shoulders slowly began to relax as he continued to try and steady his breathing.

"Do you hear anything now?  Perhaps recall random memories, or visions?"  This is the second newest side effect in the past three days...what could they possibly be doing to trigger this reaction in the two of them?  First, an emotional mirroring, and now with pain?  What are they tormenting her with?

"No.  It's just pain."

"I see."

"It's gone now,"  Xiao stood abruptly, ignoring the swaying earth beneath his feet.  Kaeya was about to grab his shoulder to steady him when Xiao's vision was obscured by red and yellow splotches.  His legs gave way from under him.

..........................................................

"A nerve agent seems to react well with your eyes," Dottore chuckled, and he set the remaining syringe on the top of a stand to his left.

You couldn't really talk anymore, but your illuminated irises and the tears that streamed down your cheeks said plenty about the situation.  Your arms and legs were tied down with leather restraints, and your convulsing body lay atop a metal operating bench.  From what you could make out, this place was some type of arena, but Dottore didn't make you fight monsters of the abyss like you initially thought he would.

You would've preferred it if that were the case.

"Now I'll ask again," Dottore grinned manically and moved his face close to yours.  "How much do you know about your condition?"  His hair swayed as if to portray his sick enthusiasm.

"Nothing," you sobbed quietly.  Finally, the immense pain jolting through your bones was subsiding.  Relief washed over your twitching limbs similar to that of the tide.

"Childe told me you knew about our plans.  What did you think those were?"

When he began to reach for another syringe, you stopped him.  "Just that you want whatever's in my blood."

"Do you know the powers you possess?"  You shook your head.  "Haah..." Dottore sighed.  "Another lie."  He picked a new syringe up and tapped the excess liquid that spewed out of it.  "We are not fully aware of each aspect to your predicament; if we had the two of you here, we wouldn't need to pull the information out of you.  This would be much easier if you told me the truth of what you know.  That way, we wouldn't have a reason to test every substance on you, yes?"

"I don't know anything."

"Round three it is, then."

................................................

"ALATUSSS!"  You screamed, now delirious from the never-ending onslaught of pain that you've been through for the past several hours.  Il Dottore paused his sadistic torture as if a light bulb had gone off in his head.

"Now that is a name you haven't yelled before," a slow smile crept upon his face as he watched your chest heave from exhaustion.  "Who is this 'Alatus?'"

"P-please," you whimpered.  You were drenched in sweat and tears now.

"How does round ten sound to you?"

"No," you whimpered helplessly, what's left of your fighting spirit finally shattering to pieces.

"Now now, Dottore," a woman's voice rang through the arena.  "We don't want her dying on us.  She's our only shot at this."  Signora came into view, and she eyed you like a piece of meat.  "Oh dear, you look tired."  Another tear dripped in response to her mocking tone.  Tension rose in your body yet again when she came to your side and examined you with cold eyes.  

"She's not under your jurisdiction, Signora," Dottore shrugged.  "If she had just given me the answers I was looking for, we would skip this step entirely.  But if she insists, I have no problem with torture."

"Oh?"  Signora narrowed her eyes at you.  "So then, who is Alatus, little one?  All this suffering would be over if you answer our questions."  She gently swiped the hair out of your face, a gesture that heavily contradicted the predatory expression on her face.

More tears rolled down the sides of your face as you stared back at her.  It hurts...everything hurts so bad, Xiao.  I can't fight... You choked down a sob and looked away from the harbingers.  I'm so tired...

"Resume your interrogation tomorrow.  She's drained."

Dottore grumbled something under his breath as he set aside his next syringe.  "Guards! Hurry up and untie her already!"  His subordinates immediately did as they were told, fearful of not moving fast enough to the harbinger's liking.  They dragged your limp body back to your cell.  

You were too exhausted to resist.

.........................

Coming Up Next: An unexpected reunion.

[shima-draws]

At last, here she is...best girl Olivia!

As usual, all of her info is under the cut c:

Olivia

Age: 18

Hair color: White (with pink/purple streaks)

Eye color: Green

Element: Fire

After a lot of debating I decided that Olivia is actually Jasper and Mouna’s daughter--if you don’t know them they’re two older OCs that I’ve had for a while! (I figured I might as well give her parents already existing within the ATS-verse anyway, and I planned on Jasper and Mouna getting together and having a child somewhere down the line so it fits.)

When she was born, Olivia was very weak, and most healers feared that she would not make it—similar to how weak and frail Jasper was when he was born. Because of this, Jasper and Mouna are both fiercely overprotective of her (Jasper more intensely) so she was sort of suffocated by their attention. She grew up within the Spinelrose Guild and was treated more delicately by the rest of the guild members, especially because of how slow her development was and how often she was ill as a child. She originally had a difficult time making friends because Jasper was so afraid she’d get into trouble and get hurt, and the other kids didn’t want to accidentally put her in danger. Olivia was pretty isolated from her peers as a kid, and that frustrated her, because she didn’t want to be treated differently from everybody else just because of her fragility. Unfortunately she was never really strong enough to make her point, and just ended up being coddled by the guild as a result.

As she developed into a teenager, Olivia eventually outgrew her sickly physique and started to become stronger, both mentally and physically. She started to speak up about her parents’ treatment of her more—she knows that they just want to keep her safe, but she feels smothered by their hovering tendencies. Mouna eventually realizes how important this is to her and starts to back off, realizing how strong her daughter has become. Jasper, however...it’s harder for him to let go lol because she’s his only child and he knows how difficult it was to grow up as the weak link, the one who got ostracized because of their general health and well-being. It doesn’t help that Olivia is very clumsy and gets into little accidents all the time, which just makes his stress skyrocket.

Even worse, Olivia is a fire elemental, which is considered to be one of the most dangerous simply because of how destructive it is without proper control. When Olivia was a kid Jasper forbade her from practicing any of her magic, too worried that she’d end up hurting herself. Of course, Olivia has a bit of a rebellious streak, so she tried it once by herself and inevitably ended up burning the side of her face with her magic. (By now the scar is almost faded, but you can still see it.) Both of her parents flipped their lids, and Olivia was so terrified that she decided to never use her magic again, viewing it as a curse. Mouna tries to tell her that her magic is a blessing, something that encompasses life, and that she just wasn’t ready to use it so freely without any training. But Olivia is insistent—scarred both in the literal and metaphorical sense, she refuses to use her magic, scared that she’s going to hurt herself again, or worse, somebody else. 

As the years pass Olivia starts to feel more and more unsatisfied with her current life—she likes the guild, likes her friends and her family, but she feels as if there’s more she could be doing with her life. Since she’s refrained from using her magic all these years, and because of how much of a klutz she is normally, she’s not really a strong fighter, and is pretty useless on guild missions. Seeing the rest of her guildmates put their all into what they do, and being able to succeed in it, drives her to eventually seek escape and try to start off with a clean slate. When she turns 14, Olivia decides that she’s going to leave the guild and travel to someplace new in an attempt to be more independent and maybe find a purpose for herself.

Of course she realizes that if she tells her parents this they’ll probably refuse her, so she corners her uncle Terrence instead. Seeing her drive, Terrence decides he’s going to escort her to make sure she arrives safely. Olivia initially refuses because this is something she wants to do on her own, but Terrence warns her that the world is a dangerous place, and since she doesn’t know how to fight or use her magic the trip would be near suicidal if she went on her own. Terrence tells her the best option is going to stay with Spinelrose’s sister guild, Amethystus, and receive proper training in order to hone her magic and her fighting skills. That way she’d still have a direct line with Spinelrose in case something goes wrong, but she’d be far enough away to be independent.

Olivia prepares to sneak out in the middle of the night, but she gets caught by both Jasper and Mouna (because Terrence is a good uncle and he told them lmao). Fearing that they’re going to stop her, Olivia stands up for herself and makes it clear that this is something she needs to do. Much to her shock, Jasper and Mouna encourage her to follow her dreams and come home a new woman. It’s a very soft moment when they all hug each other goodbye, and there’s lots of tears :’) Olivia leaves home knowing that her parents are worried, but they’ll support her decisions because they love her.

After their crazy trip (where Olivia second guesses herself a million times and wonders if she can really survive out in a world this chaotic), they finally arrive at the Amethystus Guild! Olivia literally bumps into Ginni and from there, they form an instant close friendship. Ginni respects Olivia’s desire to be independent and is somewhat envious she made the decision to leave her guild in order to become stronger. Olivia admires Ginni’s confident personality and her fearlessness. Together they get into LOTS of trouble lol, mostly led by Ginni who is a notorious troublemaker within the guild, with Olivia just along for the ride.

During all this, Olivia meets the guild’s official blacksmith and, upon seeing the incredible things he can create by using fire magic, starts to rethink her opinions about her own “cursed” fire magic. The blacksmith, normally a very closed off, grumpy, and rude person, notices Olivia’s conflict about fire, and decides he’s going to train her in order to help her overcome her fear. Through a lot of practice and very intense sessions, Olivia is finally able to confront her trauma and move past it—leading to her discovery that she’s a talented natural at using elemental magic, finding that it comes very easy to her and is something she can control without thinking too much. This is a rare skill, for normally it takes an elemental years of practice and training to have perfect control over their magic. On top of that, her fire is very pretty and beautiful to look at, a reflection of her soul. Her master berates her from hiding something so beautiful and pure for so long lol

Olivia finds passion in blacksmithing, and trains under her master in order to create beautiful and powerful weapons. She does get burned a few more times during this, leading to some relapses, but her master tells her it’s part of the job and something that every elemental will come across: they aren’t always the perfect masters of their magic, and sometimes can hurt themselves without meaning to. But being able to understand what went wrong and how to fix it will make her stronger. Within a couple years Olivia flourishes and evolves into one of the guild’s most fiercest fighters, with an excellent handle on her abilities!

Olivia and Ginni grow up together in Amethystus, and are pretty much inseparable. When Ginni gets kidnapped by the Forces and is missing for several weeks, Olivia is beside herself with worry. After Ginni returns with Kaz in tow, Olivia is one of the first people to accept him and trust him fully, because she believes in Ginni more than anybody else. (Kaz develops a soft spot towards Olivia because of this, and is forever grateful for her support.) Over time Olivia starts to realize just how awful Kaz’s life at the Forces was, and grows very sympathetic towards his situation. She understands wanting to start over somewhere new with a clean slate, though Kaz’s circumstances are much worse than hers, because she still has a loving family and home to return to someday. Olivia becomes determined to make Amethystus a home like that for Kaz, as well as Hiro, who they discuss recruiting to their side from the Forces. As Kaz continues to reveal more of his past, as well as Hiro’s, Olivia and Ginni both get very gung ho about going to fetch Hiro LOL because they both want him to be safe (though Kaz assures them Hiro isn’t in any sort of danger, being the colonel, as well as too intelligent to put himself in trouble).

Kaz meets with Hiro, who was actually sent out on a mission to fetch him, and they negotiate Hiro acting as a double agent for Amethystus to spy on the Forces. Hiro had already been planning on leaving the Forces at some point, so he sees this as a perfect opportunity to get back at them for years of mistreatment. Over the course of the next several months, Hiro routinely reports back to Amethystus of the Forces’ plans, their current hideouts, and everything he knows about the higher ups. During all this he and Olivia meet, and at this point Olivia has started to refer to the colonel as ‘Hiro’ in her head, because it’s too confusing for her to call him the colonel, and she reasons that since Ginni gave Kaz his name she might as well give Hiro his. (Also because she believes that he’s a true ‘hero’ for enduring all of that suffering for so long, so it fits ;D) She calls him Hiro by sheer accident, but luckily he takes to the name well haha and they start to grow closer >:’) Hiro comments on how close Kaz and Ginni have become and the two start betting on when they’ll get together lol

Eventually Hiro’s position as a double agent is discovered by Mallary and so he finally breaks away from the Forces (and Mallary’s manipulation) and starts living permanently at the guild. Olivia’s pretty happy about this. She can’t explain why but she feels very safe and at ease around him, and she’s the person he’s the gentlest and softest around—unbeknownst to her, this is because he’s fallen in love with her, but she’s completely oblivious to his feelings. She’s pretty dense when it comes to romantic stuff like this whoops. Olivia finds Hiro’s intelligence incredible and likes that he’s such a skilled fighter despite not being that strong physically. Hiro likes watching her do her blacksmithing duties and always has expert things to say on her craftsmanship. They get along very well! Olivia’s never felt more at home than with Ginni, Kaz, and Hiro, and likes the tight knit little group they’ve formed. She becomes very fond and protective of them and, upon realizing how important they are to her and how much she’s changed because of them and because of her decision to join Amethystus, she decides to cut her hair as another sign of her growth as a person, and as a sign of change! She finally discovers what she wants to do: become a master blacksmith, and work alongside her friends to protect everything they can, including taking down the Forces to set free all of the people forced to work for them, and bring peace to the land.

When the time comes to finally take down the Forces, Olivia starts to develop feelings for Hiro as well, though it takes her a while to figure out because she’s never really been in love before, and mistakes a lot of her attraction for simple admiration. As Hiro continues to put his life on the line for their group and do anything he can to protect them, Olivia starts to discover that maybe she wouldn’t mind spending the rest of her life with him. There’s a point where Hiro gets injured so badly in battle he’s certainly going to bleed out, so he pleads for her to use her fire magic to cauterize his wound. Olivia’s trauma comes crashing back in and her worst fears are confirmed: her magic will end up hurting the people most important to her. Hiro tells her that by doing this, she’s going to save him, that her magic is life itself. Encouraged by his words, Olivia burns Hiro to save him, though it’s an extremely painful thing for her to do :’( But it’s at this moment she realizes that she definitely is in love with him, and would sacrifice anything for him.

Not long after that, Mallary attacks, enraged, and accuses Olivia of stealing everything important away from her. It’s a really emotional battle;; Mallary basically vents out about being the one left behind, the only one who couldn’t find a happy ending, and who had the only people she cared about taken. She says some really nasty things to Olivia about Hiro lol and this really makes Olivia mad, so they basically duke it out over Mallary’s twisted feelings for Kaz and her perceived ownership of Hiro. And Olivia’s just like. Bitch you don’t own him!! He’s not an object or a toy for you to play with!! Yeah. It’s nuts

After the grand battle with the Forces comes to an end and everything is resolved, Olivia decides to confess her feelings to Hiro, but it doesn’t...really go as planned. Hiro gently rejects her, but Olivia takes it the wrong way, still not realizing how head over heels for her he is. Shortly after this, Hiro and Kaz part ways with the guild, deciding to go on their own personal journeys of self discovery. During the year they’re gone, Olivia laments over her feelings for Hiro, miserable that she didn’t realize how she felt until it was too late, and miserable because she might never see him again. Eventually she tries to move on from that, but Ginni repeatedly tells her that Hiro is literally holding a torch for her lmao and that she shouldn’t let it go so quickly. Olivia protests constantly and strives to work harder to become a better blacksmith and stronger guild member, trying to put her feelings aside and ignore them. 

Of course, when she and Ginni eventually reunite with Kaz and Hiro, Olivia realizes that shit I’m still in love with him and my feelings haven’t gone away, they’ve just grown stronger during the year we were apart;; luckily for her Hiro’s gone through a lot of self reflection and feels ready to be in a relationship with her, so, after a rocky road of awkward confessions and pouring out their feelings, they FINALLY get together. 

The four of them go on a journey together! There’s some problems when Hiro runs into his childhood friend and first love, Lorelai, but in the end he shows he’s pretty damn dedicated to Olivia and it’s super soft. I just. I just love them so m u c h //shakes fists

AND THAT IS ALL FOLKS!! Most of it anyway lol

Extra personality traits:

-Very compassionate and caring about others—she’s a very motherly type. She’s able to get people to open up to her easily because of how friendly she is. She also settles disputes within the guild often, being the mediator between arguments

-A social butterfly. Probably the most social one out of the group, and the one most used to conversing with other people

-She’s got a lot of self-esteem issues because of her upbringing (and really, I promise Jasper is not a bad parent!! He’s just concerned), but she’s learned how to handle it better. She’s definitely way more confident than she was before!

-Tends to be very indecisive when it comes to big decisions, and is hesitant about fighting—though she will put her all into it if the stakes are high. She CAN whoop your ass 

-Super passionate about blacksmithing! It’s her true calling, and something she throws herself into fully. She’s very artful with her work and makes gorgeous pieces, and tends to ramble on about the specifics even when nobody understands lol

-A bit oblivious and airheaded sometimes. She’s completely unaware of several of the guild members’ feelings for her, including Hiro’s.

-VERY affectionate. Because she was isolated from other kids as a child, she’s very touchy feely and loves expressing her affection through casual touches. And lots of hugs!

-Since she’s the sweetest and nicest person in the group, she is terrifying when she’s angry. She’s super protective of her friends and won’t hesitate to leap into action to keep them safe, often getting very fierce when she does so

-She hates being alone. Being raised in an atmosphere with so many people around, she isn’t used to being by herself, and her instant source of comfort is being near others

-Isn’t afraid to tease her friends or state her opinion when it really counts

[mrvltwimagines]

Physical Comfort

EMILY PRENTISS X READER

SUMMARY: Even though your relationship had always been kept on the down low, the current case was too much for the both of you to stay apart from each other afterwards.

WARNINGS: Slight crime scene talk in the beginning, but other than that nothing!

WORD COUNT: 1.7k

PROMPT: could you do one where the BAU team comes from a case that was hard for Emily and she needs to be close to her girlfriend who is also on the team, so she sits on her lap and the team is not used to seeing this soft side of Emily? 

Both you and Emily had grown accustomed to not showing your true affection towards each other while on the job. Everyone knew you were together, but even if they didn’t they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Hotch made it known that you two weren’t to display any acts of public display of affection during cases, or even much while in the bullpen just to keep things clean and civilized. You both didn’t have an issue with that, and you understood where Hotch was coming from. It wouldn’t look too professional if two of his top agents were groping each other or kissing while in uniform.

But then came days like today, or more like weeks like this one where you worked all week long trying to save several children that had gone missing, each of their nanny’s missing with them. In the beginning the team didn’t even know where to start, and at that time there was only one missing kid and their nanny. By the third day you realized that the Unsub wasn’t slowing down, and while you hadn’t come across any actual bodies, one kid and their nanny would go missing each day.

It took you guys longer than you’d like to admit to figure out who the Unsub was and what their endgame was, but by time you did two nanny’s had already been found dead, and after finding the rest of them it was made aware that each of the kids were beaten like crazy.

Every time you closed your eyes you could hear the crying from outside the remote cabin you had located to be the unsubs. As you walked through the front door all you saw were children chained up to whatever could keep them in place, and bruises littered their skin. Then came the room where there was a bed for each nanny, and they were chained to the headboards, unable to move or help the children who sat just outside their door, crying out.

You couldn’t imagine how you would feel or react if you were in their situation. You knew everyone in that situation was going to need a large amount of therapy, but you guys were expected to go on like normal like you do after every case.

Children cases did tend to hit the team harder than other ones. With half the team being parents, and the other half just having a large amount of empathy, there was no escaping the sadness that would seep in when seeing children hurt. Walking into a cabin and finding multiple children with dried blood on them and bruises all over was something no one would forget any time soon. 

The drive back to the current towns police station after we caught the unsub and got medics out for all the victims was a quiet one. No one had anything to say that would help the situation that you all just walked into, so staying quiet was the best option. 

You couldn’t help the constant glances you were sending Emily’s way. You knew she was in deep thought by the way she was looking out the window without even blinking. She wasn’t paying attention to the moving scenery around us, she’s simply just staring and only seeing whatever scene is in her head. Hotch was driving, and Spencer was in the passenger seat while you and Emily were in the backseat. You wanted to reach out and grab her hand, at least letting her know you were there for her, as much as you knew she was there for you, but right as you gained the confidence to you made eye contact with Hotch in the rearview mirror and decided against it. While you’re sure that since you’re in the safe space of one of the vehicles with just him and Spencer to witness your gentle touches, you didn’t want to go against rules and potentially make any of your team members uncomfortable. 

Hotch could tell you were struggling with not moving closer to Emily. He tried to send you a gentle look, but he knows he’s bad at getting that across and instead was just able to make eye contact with you before you quickly looked away and out your window. He sighed, almost feeling guilty that you couldn’t find comfort in your own girlfriend because you were in the presence of the team. When he originally came up with the rules for the two of you, he should’ve made it more clear that behind closed doors, you two could act like the couple you were, just not a large amount of PDA.

As you walked into the police station, the chief of police thanked you guys for your work, and the entire team was quick to clean up the conference room you had all been working in before grabbing your own bags and heading off to the airport, ready to get back home. All you could think about was getting into bed and cuddling Emily, knowing you both needed the physical comfort of each other.

“Y/n, Emily, can i speak to you real quick?” Hotch asked out from the back of the plane, away from where the rest of the team was already seated. You looked at each other, both not knowing what he could want but nodded nonetheless and joined him back by the coffeemaker. 

“I’ve noticed that the rules i set might have not been the correct rulings,” he started off, “I know cases like the one we just dealt with are extremely tough, and it’s normal to want the support of loved ones. My initial rules for your relationship were that if you two were to be a couple you shouldn’t outwardly be showing affection while on a case, but i do want to state that when we are in the comfort of a safe space such as the jet or one of our vehicles, it is okay to act how you want to act.”

You were a little thrown off by his words, not expecting him to basically tell us that we could be affectionate towards each other.

“We just don’t want to make the team uncomfortable, sir,” Emily spoke up before you could. You looked at her and she made split eye contact with you for before turning her attention back to him.

“You can’t make us uncomfortable. We all support you, and when there’s cases like this it’s natural to need physical comfort. Whether you want to show in front of the team or not, that’s up to you two. I just wanted to make you aware that i won’t stop appropriate displays of affection while in the presence of just the team, and i guarantee no one else will argue me on that,” with that, he just simply nodded at us and walked back to his seat next to Rossi. The two of you looked at each other before you quickly approached her and threw your arms around her waist, tucking your head into her neck. Being at the back of the plane, and with the other team members either sleeping, reading or simply not paying attention, you knew no one was looking at you, but it still felt weird to be able to hug her so openly.

“This case was very overwhelming, huh?” you quietly asked as she rested her face on the top of your head, squeezing her arms around your shoulders. You could feel her nod before pulling away a bit and looking up at her.

“Let’s sit,” she moved her head indicating to the double seater right next to the two of you. You sat down first, grabbing Emily’s hand to pull her down directly next to you. Now you may be the softie within the entire team, but when Em was in a lethargic mood and around you, she softened up more than the team knew. She never showed much emotion except for the few times someone within the team has gotten hurt, but you could tell that this case was upsetting her.

“You wanna tell me whats going on in your head?” you whispered out, setting your forehead against hers as she leaned even more into you, wrapping her arm around your own. She was naturally clingy with you, and unknowingly to you, J.J, Spencer and Derek had all taken notice to your guys’ closeness. 

“I just...” she paused, clearly at a loss for words. You looked at her, your heart aching a bit for the sadness that was so evident on her face. You nodded, leaning up to give her a kiss on the forehead before she moved even closer to you which seemed impossible, but there she was practically sitting on you lap. You wrapped your arms around her, closing your eyes as you leaned back in your seat and let her rest her head in your neck this time. You knew with time she’d find the words to describe to you how she was feeling, but right now on your few hour long flight home, you were both just needing some physical comfort. 

Derek couldn’t hide the small smile at the sight of the two of you, gaining both Rossi and Hotch’s attention as they turned around to see what he was looking at. 

“I’d never thought i’d see the day where Emily looks even softer than y/n does,” Rossi quietly joked as both him and Hotch turned back around in their seats. Everyone shared a small smile, looking at the two of you one more time before going back to what they were doing. 

From then on, your small touches and gentle words to each other grew on the team, and they were no longer surprised at how soft they found Emily to be. If anything they were impressed that she was so good at being a leader but at the end of the day it was like she was a sloth, just needing to hang on you and gain comfort from your touch. You both were good at hiding your relationship from the general public for the sake of being professional, but you were thankful you had the team you did who supported you two for all that you were.

[cafedanslanuit]

for @qlassicc​​ ― a dive into your relationship, your love language, your astrology compatibility, romantic headcanons, your playlist, a small story and more [+ info on self-ships scrapbooks, here]

Saeyoung and Kiki's love was put to the test from day one. Ever since she learnt he was a secret agent, her life was turned upside down― but she wouldn’t have it any other way. Long after the storm has passed and Saeyoung reunited with his long lost brother, they can finally enjoy their lives with their soulmates in a house in the country. Finally, she has all the time in the world to focus on the one she loves most, who is also more than excited about starting the best chapter of his life.

ACTS OF SERVICE. In the beginning, it was hard for Saeyoung to get used to the love you shower him with. Even if it felt nice and he knew he should relax and enjoy it, he couldn’t help but find it a little bit strange. However, little by little, he started to realise it was your way to show love― and how could he possibly stop you from doing so? He started trying his best: he would close his eyes when you played with his hair, he would hold your hand against his chest when he was the little spoon and he would kiss your cheek and thank you if he found you preparing food in the kitchen. Letting himself be loved by you turned out to be easier than he initially thought, and once he was finally comfortable, he’s not willing to ever let you go.

♡  Even if Saeyoung is a night owl, there’s nothing he loves more than watching the sunrise. He sits on the field outside your new cottage home, making sure he’s away from Saeran’s flowers (he’s sat on them more than once before). He stares at the hills in silence, admiring how the sky gets brighter and brighter. For him, there’s only one thing that can make it even better: when you come out of the house, groggy eyes and slow steps as you walk up to him. You sink into your knees and press a kiss on his cheek before finding a comfortable position by his side. Saeyoung knows it’s only time before you lay your head on his shoulder and fall asleep again, but he wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s during those silent mornings only accompanied by birds chirping and your steady breathing that he asks himself if this is Heaven after all.

♡  Whenever you get jealous, he can’t help but find it adorable. You’re both standing in the kitchen and all he wants is to grab your cheeks and pinch them― so he does, even if you pout even harder. Before you know it, he’s pulling you into a hug and blowing raspberries all over your face. You squirm under him, feeling his fingers tickle your sides until you can’t do anything else but laugh. You always end up melting into a hug, the two of you holding each other until every trace of annoyance has disappeared.

♡  Even if you live with Saeran and his girlfriend, Saeyoung loves double dates. Once every two weeks, he’ll drag all three of you to the top of a nearby hill for a nice outdoor picnic. However, if he’s feeling especially motivated, he’ll build a make-shift drive-in movie theatre at the back of the house. He projects the movie on a big projection screen he bought just for the occasion and he sets up blankets and cushions on the back of the truck he bought once he moved to the country, making enough space for everyone to sit comfortably. He always picks the movie, but after watching The Room one too many times, he begrudgingly started letting someone else have a pick for once.

♡  Talking about his truck (a nice, red Ford F-150), there’s one more thing he likes doing, and that’s building a pillow fort in the back. He’ll put on some fairy lights and make sure to have your favourite snacks and drinks. Even if watching a movie is an option, he’d rather just talk with you the entire night. He loves to lay on the pillows and look at the stars, telling you all sorts of stories that, even if they may or may not be true, always manage to make you laugh. And for Saeyoung, that is more than enough.

You are an emotional person, while Saeyoung tends to live in the moment, and sometimes he lets his rationality leave no room for emotions. However, even if you may seem different at first, the intensity of your emotions is high. You both get easily jealous and build resentment, but you also love each other passionately. There’s not a trace of shame in how deeply you truly care for each other and how willing you are to put anything in the line to make each other happy.

Saeyoung has his Venus in Gemini and you have yours in Virgo, which means he values intelligence and a quick wit inside a relationship. While you can offer him that, he may step over the line quite a few times and not realise how sensitive you can be. However, both of you are flexible people, so if you put your best into trying to make the relationship work, you shouldn’t have any more problems.

♡ Gravity - Anthony Lazaro

Let's take our ship out in the sky / Fly to the moon and take out a slice / Space Bonnie & Clide riding into the night

Even though Saeyoung never thought he would get to live the life he has now, deep down he always wished for it. So, waking up every morning next to you is a dream come true. Would he dare to think that maybe getting married at the space station could become true as well?

♡ Golden Hour - Kacey Musgraves

I used to get sad and lonely when the sun went down / But it's different now 'cause I love the light that I found in you

When Saeyoung talks about falling in love with you, he always mentions it was like seeing colours for the first time. And he means it. Before you, everything seemed dull and lifeless, and now he finds himself smiling softly when he hears the sound of birds chirping. You truly changed his life for the best.

♡ Like You Do - Joji

And everyone else / They don't matter now / You're the one I can't lose / No one loves me like you do

Neither of you knew love could feel this safe. Like every step you had made in the past was no longer meaningless, because all of them drove you to each other― to a place where you both can finally rest. And that’s exactly what Saeyoung wants to do for the rest of his life.

“There’s no way that’s true.”

“It is! I swear it is!

“It wasn’t just a metaphor? You know, “loving too much, wanting too much”―”

“Nope,” he grins, shaking his head. “Venus was just like the Earth, two billion years ago. Suddenly, there was too much carbon dioxide in the air and that caused the temperatures to get really high. So high it killed all traces of life permanently.”

“So you’re trying to tell me…”

“Yeah. I’m exactly telling you that.” There's a mischievous smile on his face and you’re one step away from thinking he’s just messing with you. Maybe being the new Yoosung was your new role after all.

“Mitski was right? Venus was truly destroyed by global warming?”

“Maybe people did want too much,” he sighed, dramatically “But yeah, it’s true. I’d know, it’s my favourite song, after all.”

You turn to your side and take a look at your boyfriend. His honey eyes are set on the stars above you and his lips are twitched in a calm smile. It’s probably one of your favourite versions of him: relaxed, comfortable, yours. There’s nothing you’d want more than spending the rest of your life just like that― the two of you lying on the back of his truck, forgetting all about the rest of the world.

However, you can’t stop yourself from thinking too much about what he just said.

“It’s such a sad song, though.”

He purses his lips. “Hmm? I guess so.”

“As far as I remember, it’s about feeling lonely,” you say, carefully, as if he was a bird that could take off any minute. “Isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Saeyoung admits, the stars reflecting on his eyes. You take a slow breath, shuffling closer to him. 

There is a pause before you insist.

“Do you feel lonely, Saeyoung?”

It’s only then that he turns his head to you. While you’re expecting him to confess or to get emotional, a bright smile appears on his face as he shakes his head enthusiastically. He puts his hands on his cheeks and presses his lips against yours, before pulling away with an even bigger grin.

“Not anymore. Not since I met you.”

[larathia]

tbhk - thinking in text. CORRECT ME.

Wait. So.

There’s the dark god, the Red House/pit god who ...feeds on sacrifices. Grants wishes, apparently to get more sacrifices.

And there’s a second god, the god of the Seven Wonders, who empowers the seven wonders to keep the other god contained and protect the mortal realm from other spirits. 

That second god is...probably who appointed Amane to the Number 7 post in exchange for forgiveness. (I mean. Not a total given, but it’s at least what the other wonders assume.) The first god is the one that’s got Tsukasa, and is trying to corrupt and/or otherwise take over the seven wonders.

HOKAY. SO.

First question is who Amane’s working for. I mean REALLY working for. He does not want to act against his twin, although on the face of it that’s exactly what he’s been set up/empowered to do. The other six wonders wind up as pawns between them.

Amane’s acted to relieve the other wonders of their powers, so that they can’t be corrupted the way Yako was. HOWEVER, we saw with the Hell of Mirrors that Tsukasa can basically rip out an existing wonder and replace it with one of his own making. 

So ...is it harder to appoint a Wonder if the seat is pre-vacated? This would appear to make sense of Amane’s choices, because part of how Mitsuba became a replacement Wonder was by eating the heart of an existing, empowered Wonder. Possibly, possibly, the Guardian God has to empower a Wonder for them to attain that status. They can choose to relinquish that role, but can’t simply appoint someone to replace it to fill an empty seat.

If this is the case, then Amane really is doing the right thing by pre-emptively getting the others to step down even if this meant protecting the area during the Obon was down to the Sixth Wonder. Because if that’s how it works, he not only saved the existences of the other Wonders, but made sure Tsukasa can’t just corrupt them willy-nilly. It’s a temporary vulnerability to prevent a very dangerous defeat. This would fit with his statement that ‘the god would forgive him’ for the disturbance. Risk losing a battle, to win the war.

And...he may have assumed, at least initially, that Nene would be Six’s sacrifice when the time came, and that was why her life was short, and why she could see ghosts, and it must’ve seemed very convenient? Six would initiate the severance, which DOES in fact protect the whole area from supernaturals, his job is done for good, boom. Done.

And then he started to fall for Nene, and she made that wish for a longer life, but - the plan’s still in place. Just substitute another girl, and the job’s still done, right? And wish granted, to boot.

That’s the ‘if Amane is definitely one of the good guys’ theory, anyway. But he isn’t necessarily one of the good guys.

He does not want to act against his brother. And when he says ‘if I do my duty my guilt will be erased’, he might well not be talking about forgiveness. He mentions elsewhere that he doesn’t think taking a life CAN be forgiven. He says my guilt will be erased. Another way to interpret that is not having a sense of guilt - in other words, being like his twin.

(I have some ideas about Amane’s early time as a spirit that tie into Tsukasa being his yorishiro, and why the local exorcist clan think SO badly of him and sealed his powers, that tie in here but it’s all kind of pure theory with no evidence so I’ll just leave it as ‘i Have some Thoughts here’.)

If his true wish was just to not feel guilty, then he may really be working for the dark entity as a double agent. If Tsukasa and the dark entity can either appoint corrupted/controlled agents to the empty seats, or don’t need to because those wonders are now straight up nullified, this starts looking likely. At present it’s an “insufficient data” type of problem.

If he’s on the dark side, then weakening the defenses during the most dangerous month was all part of the plan, and Six actually sacrificing someone was a disruption of that plan. If he’s on the dark side, he probably hasn’t decided what to do about Nene yet. After all, everybody dies SOMETIME. His main concern would likely be keeping her off Tsukasa’s radar.

It’s all theory. It’s all QUESTIONS. But I do think the next few chapters will probably provide insight as to which side Amane is really on. (Or at least, which side he was on prior to Nene starting to Matter to him.)