#he has a different way with dealing with each of them

[tizeline]

TSAU Season 1 Finale - Part 1

It's about damn time I go over the TSAU's version of the remaining season 1 finale, as well as episode 1 of season 2, so HERE WE ARE! I am too lazy to adapt the entire thing into a proper comic, especially considering several plot points remain rather unchanged from canon, so we're doing whatever this format is instead.

(You should read Cell Talk and Gearing Up before this if you haven't already)

But a quick recap, the Gearing Up comic ended with Draxum in the Dark Armour going up to the surface with Mikey to start with the whole conquering humanity thing. Raph and Leo have offically joined Team Good Guys and they, alongside Donnie, Splinter, April, Shelldon and Mayhem went after Draxum to stop his evil plans.

When they make surface, Draxum and Mikey have already started their rampage and are just kinda wrecking the baseball stadium. The Foot are also at the stadium, clearly still expecting The Shredder to show up or something. Team Good Guys (yes that's their name now) figure it's probably good to try to get whatever info about the Dark Armour they can so April and Mayhem teleport to where The Foot are to try to gather some intel that might help them in the fight against Draxum.

Meanwhile, the others start fighting Draxum and Mikey. Draxum is low-key kinda baffled that Raph just straight up switched teams lmao. Leo is one thing, but Raph has always been so loyal and responsible so it's real suprising that he's completely disobeying orders. None of the Draxum family members are really enthusiastic about fighting each other (except maybe Mikey he's kinda pissed at this point) but they engage in battle anyway. Donnie, Shelldon and Splinter are less hesitant about kicking Draxum's ass and don't really hold their punches lmao. Despite that they're kinda struggling considering both Drax and Mikey are so strong, but that's when April and Mayhem teleport back with that useful intel!

What April learned from her intel-gathering is that The Foot think there is some kind of flaw with the armour, like in canon, you know the deal. What differs from canon is exactly how that flaw occured. Turns out that Donnie when he was younger got a little bit carried away with giving Shelldon cool powerful weapons and Shelldon enced up accidentally shooting up the teapot to smithereens, oopsie! Donnie managed to reassembe it before Splinter saw, but with one of the pieces having gone missing he had to sacrifice his Atomic Lass figurine to plug up the final hole (he's still upset about that to this day btw). BUT POINT IS, like in canon this means that the armour has a obvious weakpoint and if they hit that it might be enough to knock Draxum out of the armour!

You know what happens next, they resume the fighting with this new strategy in mind and eventually they manage to get a lucky hit in and as predicted knocking out the Atomic Lass toy causes Draxum to get knocked out as well. Except YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS and you know it's not quite that easy. Lo and behold, the Atomic Lass figurine was the last thing keeping The Shredder from being resurrected, so now that it's gone? Yeah, the Dark Armour is finally completed, it slurps Draxum's life-force or whatever and then spits him out.

The Shredder is back.

... Except not entirely of course, like in canon he's acting like a wild animal attacking anything that moves, but regardless it's still a new threat they have to deal with. With Draxum being so hurt, Leo makes the decision to portal him back home, and to also send Mikey with him. Both because Draxum probably needs someone to look after him and also Leo doesn't really wanna deal with Mikey's attitude at the moment with everything else going on lmao.

From here on out the battle against Shredder begins. This too goes mostly the same way as in canon, Shredder kinda kicks all of their asses before suddenly teleporting away, and then that song and dance repeats a couple of times before Team Good Guys figure they need a better strategy. Splinter brings up how Big Mama would probably have a way to subdue Shredder, only problem is that it's BIG MAMA and he does NOT wanna go anywhere close to her. In canon Leo brought Splinter with him to BM anyway, but in the AU he kinda respects Splinter, or rather Lou Jitsu, too much to force him to come along. Instead Leo decides he and Raph will go to BM for help, while the others keep Shredder from completely wrecking New York.

The rest of the finale will continue in Part 2! (which is coming soon)

[musclesandhammering]

Don’t be sorry, I live for meta like this, lol.

You know, I didn’t even make the connection but what you said was so true about Odin forgiving Thor and Loki because they ultimately came around to protecting the kingdom whereas Hela ended up taking her anger out on Asgard.

I could analyse this family’s issues for hours but I think it’s really interesting how you could make a 3-circle venn diagram explaining the various comparisons and contrasts that each child has to the others in regard to Odin’s parenting of them.

Like, all three of them had an unhealthy dynamic with their dad. Thor was clearly the golden child- the one Odin was closest to and most proud of- while hela and Loki were kept at a metaphorical distance due to their rebellious history and reluctance to concede. On the other hand, Hela was set apart from the boys in that, as you mentioned, she never recovered from her wayward spiral and because of that, was never embraced by her father again. Finally, Loki is different from Thor and hela because, where they’re both (biologically and metaphorically) beneficiaries of his imperialism, Loki is a victim of it, and should have a completely different perspective on Odin’s warmongering than the other two.

All of that is to say that it’s fascinating how, despite them having mutual experiences as well, they also all have very individual grievances re: Odin’s treatment of them- and that lets us see Odin himself from three completely distinct angles. I’ve mentioned in the past that it’s like they all represent different era’s of his personal journey. Hela is his full-on conquerer days and all that baggage that came with it. Thor is his attempt to be better and leave those things behind him (even though, as we see with Thor, all is not perfect there. Despite his attempts at benevolence, the empire is still going strong, even if he’s not actively invading new realms). And Loki is the skeletons in his closet- Loki’s very origin is a reminder that Odin is still very much a coloniser and just like Loki’s heritage, his solution is not to deal with it in an atonement-seeking way, but rather try to cover it up).

That being said, none of this means Odin is a bad person or doesn’t care about his kids. In fact, I think it’s a very good parallel to real life boomer parents (lol) who love their children but are so tangled in their olden mindsets that they’re never fully able to love them in a healthy way. They may try to learn and get marginally better overtime, but unfortunately they don’t usually ever become model parents. Odin realises he’s made mistakes with his kids and the guilt over that haunts him, but he also doesn’t know the correct way to handle things. Even when he’s trying to improve, he’s still basing his self corrections on that same old warmongering king-before-father thought pattern and because of that, he just makes the same mistakes in a slightly less obvious way.

Anyway, I’m done yapping I guess. I love finding people who see Odin as a complex character instead of either “he’s an evil pos” or “stfu he was a great dad!” because, to me, the whole story is way more tragic if Odin and Frigga (and Laufey and Farbauti and Hela’s mom I guess) weren’t trying to mess their kids up but ended up doing it anyway.

brb just thinking about how Odin banished Hela a thousand years ago and then he banished Thor in 2011 and then his anger turned to Loki and Loki decided to banish him to a retirement home before Odin could get him

[bellatrixscurls]

group activities ii

part one here

pairing : fem reader x slytherin gang x golden trio.

warnings : SMUT. slight choking, nipple play, reader is a virgin, oral (f receiving), dirty talk, teasing, pet names, reader almost has a panic attack, talk of virginity and sex. lmk if i missed any! :)

summary : the slytherin boys have their way with you, but what about those who get left out?

a/n : i hope this is what you expected, feedback is greatly appreciated and needed.

────── ☾ ──────

the next days were a blur. you were not ignoring your friends any longer, but you could tell that they were treating you rather differently.

first, ron started to hold the door for you, theo brought you extra sweets from honeydukes and draco would give you his homework without you even asking.

what was happening? you were almost positive you knew the reason behind it all. so, whilst in transfiguration, you slipped hermione a note.

“can i see you after class?”

she looked at you, a confused expression on her face, but she nodded nonetheless.

you smiled appreciatively and went back to listening to professor mcgonagall, not remotely aware of the pairs of eyes following your every move: tom, mattheo and blaise.

they were concerned. well, they did have a reason to be - you weren’t ignoring them any longer, but you were acting rather differently, not really giving them the time of the day either.

“what do you think she wrote?” blaise nodded his head in your direction, nervously playing with his feather.

mattheo looked up, his eyes focused on the back of your head as if he could read your mind. but seeing that it was no use, his head dropped on the desk. “if only we knew someone who’s learned the art of occlumency.”

“she’s wondering why you lot are acting so unusual since that day” tom hummed, rolling his eyes as he neatly put his notebook back in his school bag. “and it’s legilimency, idiot.”

blaise winced incredulously as he looked back at his friend. “us? i’m sorry you wanna be picked so bad that you’re willing to act nonchalant and humble about it.”

“it’s a skill” he smirked, finally standing up to leave as professor mcgonagall dismissed the class.

“you know, sometimes i feel like we’re so alike” mumbled mattheo happily, earning a dangerous glare from his brother.

watching them whisper to one another, you shook your head - mattheo shoved his brother, who, as unbothered as ever, brushed a hand over his robes while exiting the class.

and you could bet you knew the reason.

“ready to go?” hermione’s soft voice pulled you out of your thoughts, her smile bright as she looked at you.

“sure” you returned the smile, ushering her out of the room with a hand at the small of her back. and once you were positive you were out of earshot, the other students already heading towards the great hall, you spoke up. “listen, i know how this might seem, but you’re the only girl in the group… what’s gotten into them?”

she sighed, using her middle and pointer finger to rub at her temple; this was a discussion she thought she’d never have to have again, not with another girl anyway.

“they… they want you to pick them. each of them wants to be the one to claim your virginity. to claim you.”

“to claim me?” you were beyond confused, you really didn’t think your virginity was such a big deal. at least to you it wasn’t. “have they done the same to you? when you were- you know.”

she laughed softly at your nervousness, gently rubbing your back through your robe. “have you met them? of course they did. but- well, yes, they did.”

your ears perked up at her hesitation. “but?” you questioned rather alarmedly. “but what, mione?”

she took a deep breath before speaking, and you hated how that made your stomach churn. “they were not as possessive back then. they weren’t aware how much it meant. because whoever it is that you choose to do it with, it creates a special bond between you. it’s the first person you feel comfortable doing these things with, the first who gets to kiss every inch of your skin, explore your body” it looked like she was in a haze, daydreaming of the day she’d lost hers.

“oh, i understand” you nodded slowly. “so… who took yours?” you asked even though you could already guess.

“enzo” bingo. and how could you not guess? they were practically always together, always looking out after each other.

humming, you fell deep in thought. how could you ever choose between them? they were all your friends, and you’d never forgive yourself if your decision would hurt any of them or make them feel left out.

so you shook your head, toying with the ring on her finger as you leaned back against the wall. “i could never choose, mione. i don’t want to. i don’t want this to be such a big deal, i just want to get it over with so we can move on and fuck unlimitedly.”

your words made her burst out laughing, softly biting on her lip as a few students passed, and she took your hand in hers, guiding you to to the great hall too. “if you want to be a part of this, you will have to choose. but they won’t pressure you, if there’s one thing that they hate is feeling like they pressured each other into doing something, especially sexual… you have time.”

you nodded and finally, reaching the table, you sat down between draco and tom. “good morning” you greeted softly as you started filling your plate, your mind wandering.

“hey, y/n/n” theo reached over the table to squeeze your hand, a sincere smile on his lips, before draco kicked him under the table, the older boy hissing as he glared at him.

you didn’t really notice that though, you were too busy trying to figure out what you were gonna do.

but the boys seemed to notice that. the way you, so absentmindedly pushed at your meal with your fork, the boiled eggs smashing and the yolk leaking out of them. “woah, what have they done to you, sweetheart?” enzo’s voice was teasing, but in his own soft, characteristic way.

you looked at him, and he frowned at the confused, almost lost look on his face. then back at your eggs, your meal positively looking like a crime scene. “sorry” your voice was soft, barely audible. “m sorry, i’m not even hungry. i don’t know why i even took them.”

your nerves were growing and everyone could sense that, hence why they all shared concerned glances and only tom dared to speak. “can you focus on me? look at me, please” his voice was not like anything you’d heard before. it was soft and gentle, and he placed a hand on your arm, his slender, pale fingers squeezing loosely.

looking up at him, you tried your best to focus on his eyes. his eyes were so beautiful, a gorgeous shade of a deeper blue, and you could swear that you saw the ghost of a smile on his lips, but he quickly regained composure. “do you want to go back to the common room? lay down on your dorm maybe?” he asked and you nodded, arm curling around his own as he stood up, taking you with him.

🤍

you all but threw yourself on the bed, the boys sitting around you - tom and blaise were sitting on the rug by your bed, theo on your armchair, all while draco, enzo and mattheo shared the couch.

“i’m sorry” your voice made them perk up, their expressions almost unreadable, but one thing was for sure - they would do anything to make it better.

“what for, lovie?” asked blaise, his hand twitching as he almost grabbed your hand, but decided against it.

you sighed, mind wandering back to the day before. you had done the same thing : you moped around on the great hall and they had to take you back to the common room. “i’m being a baby. i just… i don’t want to choose.”

theo frowned. “choose what, dolcezza?”

“between you guys” avoiding their eyes, you started playing with tom’s family ring, his hand on the bed just by your head. “i talked to hermione today, and she explained the whole special bond thing, but i… i like all of you. i don’t want a special bond.”

enzo blushed, trying his best to hide his face by leaning his head forward, chin resting on his chest. mattheo nudged him playfully, messing up his perfect hair and causing the boy to whine.

“oh, baby” draco’s voice was soft as he approached the bed, but not before slapping enzo on his crotch. before you knew it, the bed dipped slightly and draco sat by your side, looking down at you lovingly. “we’ve been stupid, making you feel like you had to choose one of us to be your first. we’ve done stupid things and you’ve almost had a panic attack because of it.”

you didn’t say anything, just looked up at him, and the boys all seemed to had gotten closer too. “i don’t want any of you to feel less important. i’ll gladly let you all fuck me.”

you hadn’t realized what you said before it was too late, and even you were shocked. the boys all looked at you like you’d grown two more heads, and you flushed furiously, cheeks now a deep crimson.

“is that right, sweet thing? look at her, boys” mattheo’s voice was taunting, his signature smirk widening as he took a few steps closer to you. “i believe this poor thing only wants us all to feel good, to be able to feel her tight pussy for the first time ever. how sweet is that?”

“so sweet” theo’s voice had turned a lot deeper, need present in his tone. he had that look on his face. the one you’d seen before, directed at you.

“whenever you’re ready, angel, and whoever has you first…” blaise grinned, his hand coming down to caress your voice, your chest rising up and down rapidly. “this pussy’s not going unruined.”

your breath got caught in your throat and you almost choked at the intensity of it all. heat pooled in your tummy as they looked at you, hunger evident in their prying eyes.

“i want it” it was a soft whisper, a breathless, needy confirmation. and when tom’s eyes found yours, you knew you were in for it.

he was usually the most composed one, but in these past couple of days, he’d shocked you. he could be loving, caring and could even lose his composure around the right people. you’d seen glimpses of it before, but never like this, never so vulnerably.

his eyes seemed to twitch, so subtle that you almost missed it. he finally standed, making you feel small under his gaze. “how about we get her wet first, boys? oh, wait-” you didn’t expect it, but in the blink of an eye, tom had pulled your skirt up over your hips, curling two fingers around the hem of your panties.

you were drenched. you couldn’t even get out the gasp that was hanging in your throat, because his fingers just felt so good on your throbbing clit. everyone was silent as he worked on you, spreading your wetness over your slit and holes. “she’s so wet already. what’s gotten you so wet, baby?”

finally managing to gasp and whimper needily, you looked up at him, and he smirked at your helpless state. you looked limp and he fucking loved every second of it.

“answer tom, pretty. he might just stop making you feel good if you don’t” mattheo came to stand at his brother’s side, one arm resting against tom’s shoulder, and for the first time, he didn’t push him away or make a snarky remark. “you know how he gets.”

you whimpered out a soft ‘you’ and that instantly made tom’s eyes sparkle. in a moment of weakness, his thumb started rubbing your clit, and before you knew it, mattheo started massaging over your hole with two fingers. it was a feeling that you could not describe. nothing that you’d felt before.

their fingers felt so good on you, far better than all those time you had gotten off on your own. “t-tom- matty, please” you cried out, your legs begging to shake from the pleasure you were receiving. the way tom was pressing against you, and how mattheo was so close to making you scream on his fingers - it made you dizzy.

“ow, angel” draco was still sitting beside you, his eyes watching you and studying your reactions very carefully. he raised his hand and started stroking your jaw, his cold fingers making you shiver as the boys continued their assault on your cunt, causing you to jolt when tom would occasionally press too hard on your clit.

you looked up at the blond, growing more desperate to have all of their hands on you, your nipples getting harder and achy by the minute. he saw the way you shifted, and when your hard nipples pressed against your white top, the corner of his lips tilted upwards.

“you need my hands, y/n/n?” his hand slowly made its way down your neck, squeezing at the base of it for merely a second before it slid lower. you shivered in anticipation and he carefully pulled your top down, freeing your boobs - you were not wearing a bra. he groaned. “fuck, what are you doing to me?” and he looked into your eyes as if he was really waiting for an answer, but unfortunately you couldn’t give it to him if you wanted.

truth be told, you had not planned any of this. it all just worked out in your favour.

he brought both his hands to cup your breasts, squeezing gently as he watched them bounce back to their original shape, nipples looking eager to be - licked, bitten, tortured - by him.

draco wanted to tease you, he really did. but you looked way too delicious, so he didn’t hesitate and started sucking greedily on your nipple, one of his hands squeezing and pulling at the other one. you could hear him, even if your ears were ringing due to tom and mattheo’s attempts to make you lose your mind. draco was panting, not wanting to pull away from your boobs for one second. it really was a sight for sore eyes.

“feels g-good” you moaned loudly and tangled your fingers in his hair, your attention finally turning back to the boys between your thighs.

mattheo cleared his throat and when you looked at them, tom was wearing an annoyed expression. “didn’t forget about us, did you?” he asked pointedly, and retracted his hand, leaving you squirming for more.

but before you had the chance to blurt out an apology, mattheo spoke up. “i think you’re wet enough, sugar.”

but he didn’t continue, he didn’t make you feel like you had to do something more than that. he left it up to you.

“i want enzo to eat me out” your voice was small and said boy looked at you in shock, that it almost made you take your words back. but before you could do it, he was already on his feet - ready to do anything you pleased.

hermione had told you that enzo was good with his hands and mouth, and you were doing nothing but trying to test that theory.

he looked beyond excited as he looked at your cunt. it was glistening with wetness and a bit of sweat, and your clit looked mouth-watering; it was so swollen and hard.

“you are beautiful” was all enzo said before he buried himself between your legs, his hands holding you as if you were made of glass. “so so beautiful, you look divine” his voice was breathy as he nosed at your clit, pressing a soft kiss there.

draco, on the other hand, was grazing his teeth against your sensitive buds, making your toes curl and your pussy throb at the sensation. his mouth was perfection.

sponging a wet kiss on his temple, a broken cry was ripped from your throat as enzo slipped two fingers inside you, much too easily. his tongue sucked at the bundle of nerves that was your clit, sometimes exploring your sopping folds. “so sweet” he mumbled against you, his mouth not once leaving your heat as he curled his fingers inside of you, hitting a spot that made your eyes roll back into your skull.

“thank you, thank you, thank you-” tears were streaming down your face as you watched the other boys through blurry eyes.

mattheo and tom were jerking off, their cocks red and looking painfully hard, whilst blaise was watching the scene in front of him intently, and you did see his fingers twitching, probably needing to grab at you, but not daring to.

“kiss me” it was a broken plea that earned you quite a few confused glances, even enzo looking at you curiously from between your legs, not once resuming his work. “blaise- baby, kiss me” you whimpered, and kissing you he did.

he pressed his lips against yours, his hand gripping your jaw and holding you in place as he dominated the kiss. he tugged at your bottom lip and you whined, chasing his mouth. “so fucking needy” he groaned and smashed his lips against yours again; the kiss was messy, all tongue and teeth, spit glistening on your chin. “you just need us all, don’t you? you need us to please this desperate, perfect body of yours.”

his teeth sank into the underside of your jaw and you yelped in pain, your fingers digging into the back of his neck. “yes, yes i do!- i’m- i need all of you, i need you to make me feel good.”

“atta girl” mattheo spoke up as he tugged at his cock, his eyes moving from your cunt to your bare chest. “are they making you feel good, angel?”

you hummed and felt the knot in your belly about to snap, enzo now sucking harshly and bullying his fingers into your cunt at a pace that had your legs trembling uncontrollably, but fortunately draco was there to catch you. he placed a firm hand on your thigh, grounding you as he kept sucking and biting at the tender flesh.

“m gonna cum” you choked out and started shaking again, this time not even draco’s force being able to help calm you down. “please, please- i need to cum” you asked for permission, but you didn’t even know who was it that you were asking.

enzo used his free hand to caress your belly, his sweet eyes looking up at you. lost in them, you didn’t even notice when theo stood and walked over to you, his fingers forcing you to look up at him as he spoke lowly, his voice firm and steady. “look up at me when you do” he demanded and you nodded fervently, biting at your bottom lip.

in a matter of seconds, you were cumming. your heart was racing - so much so that it felt like it was trying to get out of your chest - you were sweating and your hands were gripping at anything you could find - draco’s shoulders, enzo’s hair, the sheets.

your walls spasmed around enzo’s skilled fingers, your clit fluttering as he sucked on it, refusing to let go as he moaned against you, his eyes rolling back as he started humping the bed. your cum was heavenly - the taste, how it dripped down his fingers, everything was pure perfection.

and what was even better? theo’s eyes were analysing your every move. how your lips pursed, how your muscles tensed - the way your eyes watered as you struggled to keep them open.

“you’re just perfect, principessa. you did so good” he praised as he leaned in, placing a soft kiss on the tip of your nose.

you breathed out a laugh as you tried to recover from your orgasm and the overwhelming sensations you had gone through, but you had little to no time to do that, because the door flung open and revealed the golden trio.

harry was more pissed than ever judging by the look on his face and his clenched fists, ron was just red with fury, and hermione just looked disappointed, her brown eyes seeming more dull than ever before.

“and what the fuck do you think you lot are doing?”

────── ☾ ──────

[postcardsfromheapside]

I'm going to put a video here where a published author and content creator is talking about the way readers frequently interact with the book world, and specifically Sarah J Maas readers and their ilk. The video isn't hating on readers, or Maas or the types of books Maas & clones write. I am not posting it in relation to the topic of plagiarism. The reason I'm posting it is because of the way people have responded to Veilguard. It's not very long, and I'm sharing it because he summarizes and briefly discusses the following points:

anchoring bias

schema theory

cultural myopia/commenting on things when you have limited cultural exposure

other people dealing with the consequences of a critical poster getting 15 minutes of attention

I thought the video was a good poke into problems coinciding with people criticizing (not critiquing, there's a difference) Veilguard, where anything from themes, plot points, characterization or even costume elements in the game are being torn apart...and the people doing the tearing are approaching the topics with often *self-admitted* lack of experience on what they're criticizing, and zero curiosity.

A concrete example: there was a discussion swirling recently in which there was an attempt to criticize Veilguard for the funerary practices Rook and Bellara go through. This in spite of the fact that a Dalish Rook and Bellara can have an in-the-moment discussion about the differences between their clan practices, and in DA:I Solas can mention how clans are different from each other, and there have been many, many posts on this site discussing from a lore perspective how the elves are not a monolith. I don't have to tell you that the posters criticizing the scene were myopic on both a cultural and personal preference level in their criticisms of the scene.

Critical posters have also frequently spoken over users who attempt to explain the diverse cultural, political, or queer experiences and influences which align with Veilguard's portrayals.

I thought it was great that this creator brought up how authors are affected for a considerable amount of time by shitty online takes. Recently there were screenshots where Trick mentioned that making Veilguard was traumatic, and folks passed them around with bioware/EA/Veilguard critical tags, but didn't include that maybe the fans themselves continue to bear some of the blame for this experience.

I don't think Bioware/EA are blameless as companies, or that Veilguard is a perfect game, but there's been a distinct trend where 'fans' claim to be critiquing things and are really only whining (and sometimes harassing creators) that they didn't get what they personally wanted. And if pressed about what they wanted, the examples they give aren't coherent narratives meant for published or produced media - if they were, those fans would already be working in those fields making art. Social media has made it very easy to 1) get access to and attention from creators, and 2) get validation (and very little pushback) from other fans for pithy remarks. In other words, it's easy to feel undeservedly "right" for shitposting.

[bingbongsupremacy]

The Lakeside Cabin

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

Warning: Y/N Use, swearing

Summary: The hate you and Bucky have for each other has gradually increased throughout your time knowing each other. This time, things went too far. Thanks to your arguments, you get sent on a unique consequential mission: You will both live together in a secluded cabin until you're able to come together and settle your differences. You're screwed.

This doesn't really follow the movies or shows.

*Not Proof Read*

No mentions of body type, skin color, or details of reader's appearance.

Pt. 2

□□□□□□□

My mom always told me hate is a strong word.

It's not strong enough to describe the way I feel about Bucky Barnes.

Bucky Barnes.

10 percent muscle. 90 percent jackass.

I never wanted to hate Bucky. He just makes it very difficult to like him.

We have different personalities-I like being loud and outgoing. I love the spontaneity life has to offer and being around people. I can be rebellious and don't like it when people tell me what to do.

Bucky's the opposite. He lives in silence and routine. Everything has to go his way. He's grumpy and constantly has a gloomy grey cloud of isolation that surrounds him.

He does fine with everyone else. He's not exactly their best friend, but he's civil. He's willing to work together with them.

Just like he pisses me off, I piss him off. We trigger each other. We're always looking for an in -a way to catch the other when they slip up and help drag them down.

It doesn't help that some people on the team think the only reason we fight is due to some extreme sexual tension. The way they make stupid remarks or exchange looks when they see Bucky and me fighting makes my blood boil.

Don't get me wrong, Bucky Barnes is an attractive man. He's got beautiful eyes and an amazing physique. He's strong and mysterious -the kind of bad boy type guy that makes girls swoon.

But the attraction ends there. His personality totally kills the mood.

Things have definitely escalated since Bucky joined us at the compound last year. It started out with small, snarky comments and evolved to full-on verbal warfare: no filter, no tact, just venom and fire.

"Are you always this loud, or is it just when I’m around?" "Only when I’m trying to scare off emotionally stunted super soldiers."

"You know, I’d rather face Hydra again than spend another second dealing with your miserable ass." "I’d gladly leave you to rot with them if I didn’t know you’d screw up the escape plan."

"You know, for someone with a metal arm, your grip on reality is weak." "And for someone with a mouth like yours, it’s a miracle you’re still breathing."

Sometimes I don't even mean to fight back. I try to take the upper hand, face his words like a champ, and not let them bother me. It's just so difficult. When he starts the fire, I need to make sure it burns.

I know it bugs the team. We've been warned multiple times by Steve and Fury.

It's just so hard to stop.

I don't know why I do it. Maybe it's to get his reaction. Maybe it's because I like to get the last word. I don't know.

It's rare that the team pairs the two of us up on missions. They know the way things will play out.

We're only paired together in extreme situations in missions -situations where they need the best shooters in the group.

Situations like the one today.

Bucky and I haven't said a word to each other in half an hour.

The air is beginning to chill with the change in time. The sun is setting, casting a beautiful orange and pink glow over the chaos we're supposed to cover. If this were any other situation, I would be sitting down and admiring the beauty of nature. I love sunsets.

But this isn't any other situation.

Bucky and I are lying on the roof of an abandoned building a few feet away from each other. Our eyes are trained on the deteriorating warehouse across from us, fingers hovering above the triggers of our guns. The building, which looks like it's holding a bunch of secrets, is definitely holding a bunch of secrets -kidnapped human experiments and top secret information regarding planned attacks. The shady, untrustworthy exterior definitely matches the vibe of the horrors happening inside.

Outside of the warehouse are parked cars without license plates and scattered pieces of junk and broken machinery lying on rough gravel and yellowing grass.

Steve walks into my view from the left. He quietly guides, who are closely behind him. They stop behind one of the cars, using it as cover while Steve scans the area for any dangers. After the area is secured, the three begin making their way into the building through a side entrance.

Through my scope I briefly spot Tony as he enters through the other end of the building.

The comm in my ear gently crackles as Natasha's voice comes through. "I've got visuals on the northwest entry."

Steve's voice follows. "I'm placing charges."

"All right, folks," Sam chimes in. "Let’s make this fast and quiet. I’ve got eyes in the sky, but our rooftop lovebirds better stay sharp."

There he goes again, our number one shipper. He's so adamant about there being something between Bucky and me. It's annoying.

I choose not to let his words ruffle me, biting the inside of my cheek harshly instead.

Bucky ignores the jab as well.

The only sound between us is the soft click of his rifle adjusting. He ignores me, just as he always does.

The tension between us is strong. We're both annoyed. Neither of us wants to be here with the other one.

I try to focus on the task at hand. Observe. I need to observe.

It's difficult.

Every few minutes, I feel my attention shifting to the man in my peripheral vision. I watch him lie perfectly still, the only movement coming from his jaw, which he clenches and unclenches every so often like he's trying to hold back.

He probably is holding back. Something I did pissed him off. Something I do always pisses him off.

I shouldn't be distracted. I can't afford to be, not when the lives of innocent people are at stake. I need to stay focused.

This isn't about me or Bucky. This is about freeing civilians.

Because HYDRA is HYDRA, all hope for a smooth, easy mission is thrown out the window about 5 minutes later when Tony's voice breaks the tense silence.

"Cameras are down," Tony’s voice is quiet. "Something triggered the internal defense system—doors locking. They’re trying to cage us in."

"Bucky, Y/N, keep the perimeter secure." Steve orders, his voice more urgent than before. "Watch for backup."

I force myself to focus on the building below, knowing this could turn into a life-or-death situation. "Copy." I reply calmly.

Bucky stays silent beside me. He shifts his scope lower.

"You could at least pretend we’re working together," I mutter, frustration laced in my tone.

"Didn’t realize babysitting you required small talk." He snaps back without looking at me.

I roll my eyes so hard I practically see stars. "Right. Because you’re just so pleasant when you’re brooding in silence."

"Silence is better than listening to your constant whining."

"Whining?" I let out an annoyed laugh. "God, you’re insufferable."

"And you’re loud. Even when you’re trying to whisper, you’re loud."

We both freeze at the same time.

Footsteps.

Close and fast.

Fuck, just what we need.

I turn my scope, just in time to see a group of Hydra agents breaching the stairwell two floors below us.

"Oh, shit," I breath.

Bucky moves first. He's up in seconds, his rifle in hand. "We’ve got company."

"Team, rooftop’s compromised," I say sharply into the comms. "We’ve got Hydra climbing the building."

"How many?" Asks Steve.

"At least six, maybe more. All armed and in tactical gear." I get up, clutching my rifle securely in my hands.

"Get out of there. Now."

Bucky moves towards the door we entered onto the roof from. His steps are light but purposeful. He stands to the side of the door, barely waiting for me to get to the other side before opening it quietly.

Of course, he didn't wait.

He doesn't give a shit if I'm shot down. One less problem for him to deal with.

"Sacrifice me, I guess," I mutter snarkily. "It's not like I mind getting shot. Thanks for asking."

"Have you ever considered shutting up? You're going to give our location away." He hisses, still not sparing me a glance.

I can't resist. "Have you ever considered thinking about anyone but yourself before? I know it's a new concept for you -possibly a little difficult for you to wrap your brain around, but I promise you'll be slightly more tolerable."

"Ha ha." Bucky's tone is unamused. "Thanks for the life advice. I'd try it but I really just don't give a shit about what you have to say or your opinion."

We continue making our way down the stairs, eyes constantly scanning in front of us.

"Fuck you." I huff, annoyed by his presence. I just want to go home and get as far away from this man as humanly possible. I've spent enough time with him for today -for a lifetime.

"Very mature. What, can't think of anything better to say-" Bucky is cut off by the sound of gunshots echoing through the room.

Immediately, he's quiet, his lips tightly pressed together. He's pissed we drew attention to ourselves. He's so going to give me shit for this.

The next ten minutes are a blur. Everything happens so quickly.

Gunfire cracks through stairwells. We move, dodging, weaving through offices. We take down the agents who come at us, neither of us needing to speak a word. It's about survival right now.

Then Bucky has the nerve the piss me off again.

"I said left, Barnes!"

"You want to lead? Be my guest," he snaps, ducking behind a filing cabinet as bullets tear through drywall. His lips are pursed into a tight frown, his eyes crinkling with anger.

"I am leading! You’re just too busy trying to look cool to listen! Newsflash, Bucky. We're not in a fucking action movie. No one gives a shit if you look cool and mysterious." I hiss back, pressing myself tightly under a desk as the bullets continue to come.

"Right, because this is such a great time for your little ego trip!" He quickly shoots down two agents with ease before retreating behind the filing cabinet again.

"My ego? Oh, please -like you don’t walk around with a six-ton chip on your shoulder and a martyr complex the size of Manhattan!" I manage to take out the last agent left shooting at us.

"You don’t know the first thing about me." Bucky brushes past me, his shoulder roughly knocking into mine.

I don't let it faze me. I quickly follow him, still keeping my eyes searching the room. "And you don’t know the first thing about working with someone who doesn’t worship the ground you stomp on!"

"You think I wanted to be paired with you? You think I asked for this?" For the first time all day, Bucky's head snaps towards me. His striking blue eyes are dark and narrowed at me. His face is tense and clearly angry. "You're the last fucking person I want to be paired with."

By now, we're screaming. Our boots thud down staircases as we duck another volley of shots. He's pissed. I'm pissed. We're on the verge of quite literally killing each other.

And through all of it—

The comms were still on.

-------

When we finally burst out onto the street, smoke in the air, Hydra agents down for the count, I am heaving. My hands are shaking from adrenaline and rage. I can't stand one more minute with this asshole.

Bucky is beside me, jaw clenched like it might crack. We storm across the lot to where the Quinjet is freshly landed and waiting for us, steam hissing from its wings. The team is standing and waiting.

Sam crosses his arms slowly. "Well, that was subtle."

"Shut up, Wilson." I roll my eyes, wiping a little bit of blood from my hand onto my shirt.

Steve looks like he aged five years in ten minutes.

Natasha just raises an eyebrow. "You two done with your little lovers’ quarrel?"

I blink. "What—?"

And then it hits me.

The comms. The fucking comms.

"Oh, god."

Sam smirks. "Not gonna lie, I was really rooting for one of you to throw a punch. Or kiss. Hard to tell with you two."

I scoff. "Keep your fantasies to yourself."

"You’re both exhausting," Steve mutters.

Bucky looks like he wants to dig a hole with his metal arm and crawl into it. His face is slightly flushed -most likely from a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

I lift a hand. "I didn’t mean ...he’s just -this whole thing-"

"Sexual tension like that could level a building," Natasha deadpans, eyeing the two of us. "And apparently did."

"I hate him," I state.

"Right back at you," Bucky growls.

We glare at each other for a moment.

And then we both walk in opposite directions while the rest of the team stares after us like exasperated parents watching their toddlers throw tantrums.

The mission was a success.

Our dignity? Dead on arrival.

------

The silence on the Quinjet is suffocating.

We are barely five minutes in, and already I feel the tension crawling across my skin like static. No one is speaking. No one is even pretending to make small talk. Even Tony is quiet (Something I thought was impossible), which meant we had officially fucked up.

I sit with my arms crossed and my jaw clenched, staring furiously at a very interesting spot on the floor. Across from me, Bucky sits in his own simmering silence, eyes fixed straight ahead, metal fingers twitching like he wants to strangle a ghost.

Every bump of turbulence feels like a passive-aggressive nudge from the universe.

I get it. What the fuck else do you want from me?

Steve is seated beside the cockpit, flipping through a report like it owes him an apology. Natasha leans against the wall by the hatch with her arms folded, wearing the expression of a woman who'd just listened to two coworkers have a very personal argument on speakerphone.

Because she has.

Because everyone has.

Sam lets out a long, theatrical sigh from the back bench.

"Just say it," I snap without looking at him. I tightly clench my fists, waiting for his remarks.

"What?" he asks, all innocent.

Fucker.

"Whatever comment you’ve been chewing on since we left the ground."

He grins. "Oh, I wasn’t gonna say anything. I’m just wondering who’s gonna crack first and scream ‘I love you, you emotionally constipated bastard!’ because honestly, I’ve got twenty bucks riding on Y/N."

I open my mouth. Close it. Turn to glare out the window instead. If I could kill Sam legally, I would. At this moment, he's on the same level as Bucky on my shit list. "I hate you."

"You've said that a lot today," Bucky mutters.

I snap my head toward him. "And you keep earning it. Care to earn another one?"

He finally looks at me, face hard. "I didn’t ask to be stuck on a roof with you."

"Believe me, if I could’ve picked anyone else on this planet to crouch beside for two hours of pure hell, I would’ve!" I tear my eyes away from him as I roll them.

"Oh my god," Natasha mutters, dragging a hand down her face.

Steve stands up abruptly, closing his folder. "We’re debriefing in an hour. Separately."

He's tired of our shit.

Tony, from the cockpit, calls back, "Debrief? Nah, just show me the footage of their comms again. That was way more entertaining than the mission feed."

"Delete it," I hiss. "Or I swear to-"

"I enhanced the audio," he replies brightly.

Of course he did. Why wouldn't he?

Sam wheezes. Natasha covers a snort with a cough.

Bucky is back to brooding in silence, but I can feel the heat rolling off him. Or maybe that's me. I can’t tell anymore.

We don’t speak for the rest of the ride. But I can feel his anger in my bones.

This has been the worst day of my year.

------

When we arrive back at the compound, we're all instructed to fill out our mission reports. Of course, I fill mine out as honestly as possible.

According to Bucky, he does, too. Sure.

Then we're called into a meeting by Nick Fury. Of course we are.

I sit with my arms crossed, refusing to look at Bucky, who’s already slouched in the chair across from me like he’s being forced to endure a root canal. His jaw flexes. Mine probably looks the same. The silence stretches like wire, taut and ready to snap.

Fury walks in, holding two tablets. He doesn’t sit. He just stops in front of the table, stares at us for a second, and looks like he’s calculating how hard he’d have to throw them for one to hit me and the other to clock Barnes. His glare is sharp enough to slice a block of metal.

“Alright,” Fury says, voice low and loaded with irritation. “Let’s recap.”

He lifts one tablet and reads.

"Agent Y/L/N: 'Mission compromised due to Barnes' refusal to follow sniper protocol. Irresponsibility put my safety in danger. Verbally hostile. Referred to me as, and I quote, "a trigger-happy liability with the patience of a caffeinated squirrel.'""

My arms fold tighter. I stand by my words. "Accurate."

Fury doesn’t react. Just switches tablets and reads again.

"Sergeant Barnes: 'Agent Y/L/N compromised positioning with unnecessary movement, broke radio silence to argue during enemy fire, and nearly shot me during an escape maneuver. Refers to me as having, quote, "the emotional range of wet drywall.'""

Bucky shrugs. "Still stands."

I scoff. "Only because I didn’t include 'walking splinter with a martyr complex.'"

Bucky snaps, "Maybe if you'd shut up for two seconds—"

Sure, maybe it's a little immature, but we're both already in deep shit. I scowl as I mock him.

"Enough," Fury barks, slamming both tablets onto the table like they’ve personally offended him. His glare shifts between the two fo us.

The silence that follows is blistering. Bucky looks like he wants to say something else, but I throw him a glare that could slice through vibranium.

Fury pinches the bridge of his nose like this briefing is physically draining him. "You two do realize your comms were on the entire time, right? While you were sniping. Escaping. And—what did the tech guys call it—oh right: 'screaming like a divorcing couple on Judge Judy.'" He spits. His brows are furrowed in anger.

My face burns. Fucking tech guys.

Bucky mutters a sharp curse under his breath.

"And thanks to that little performance," Fury continues, "Tony enhanced the audio. Sam made a remix. Natasha uploaded it to the team drive under the file name 'The Sound of Sexual Tension.'" His eyes narrow. "Not to mention, you put yourselves and your teammates at risk."

"I’m going to kill him," I mutter. "Actually, all of them. I'm going to kill all of them."

"You’ll have to beat me to it," Bucky growls. His posture is stiff and straight. He looks ready to jump up and hunt them down the second Fury excuses us.

Fury claps his hands once. Loud. Final. "Great! You'll have plenty of time to coordinate the murder. Together."

My stomach drops. What does he mean? Together. I don't want to spend another minute with Bucky. "Wait, what?"

"You’re both being reassigned to Safehouse Bravo-Tango-Twelve,"Fury says, way too casually, "for a mandatory cooling-off period."

Bucky and I speak at the same time.

His tone is annoyed. "You've got to be kidding me." For a moment, he closes his eyes like he's wishing this was all a bad dream.

"You’re locking us in a cabin?" I demand, staring Fury straight in the eye. I'm ready to fight. No way am I staying in a cabin with Bucky, we'll kill each other in minutes. I'm not kidding.

"No. I’m locking you in a lakeside four-room, twenty-camera, panic-button-equipped safehouse with 2 weeks' worth of rations and no mission clearance until I get a report that doesn’t read like it was ghostwritten by a Real Housewives producer."

"You've got to be fucking with us!" I groan, leaning back further into my chair. This is a nightmare. "Tell me you're fucking with us."

Bucky leans back, arms crossed like he’s bracing for a fall. "I'd rather bunk with Hydra."

Fury leans down, voice low and lethal. "Don't tempt me."

He grabs the tablets, heads for the door, and pauses just long enough to twist the knife.

"Oh -and if either of you so much as touches the surveillance cameras, I’m putting you in a room with Loki for a week of trust-building exercises. You are not allowed to leave the premises. If this isn't sorted out by two weeks from now, someone will bring you more supplies until it is. You two decide how long you want to let your egos get the best of you."

The door slams.

I whip my head toward Bucky. He turns at the same time. We both have a similar glimmer of rage in our eyes.

"This is your fault," we snap in perfect sync.

This is a nightmare.

------

Taglist: @buckysdoll85

[dammit-tazmuir]

Oh VERY MUCH. All the Lyctors are so fascinating ofc but I feel like Augustine in particular often gets ignored, just lumped into the polycule / hateship with Mercy (without particularly exploring his role in all of it), and/or just kind of seen as an unlikable asshole with little beyond that. And like yes he is very much an asshole, but there's definitely more too.

To start, I think it's especially interesting to contrast him and Mercy.

On the surface, Mercymorn is a high-strung bitch who wears a lot of emotions on her sleeve and has basically been losing her mind for 10,000 years yet somehow still never run out. Augustine, on the other hand, "was the closest thing you had ever experienced to human plex", devoid of substance, wearing a friendly mask to hide that he's been more or less dead inside and too exhausted to give a fuck in millennia.

When we see them under stress or clashing, Mercy is more openly vulnerable, even if she might try not to be, and can get frazzled and scattered. Augustine tends to be more laser-focused and can be venomously aggressive. (Of course, when it's not each other that has them upset, they do also sometimes "take turns" with who's having a breakdown and have since pre-Resurrection, which is just fascinating in and of itself, but I digress.) ((Also ofc, in retrospect, knowing the main thing he was pissed at her about in that "you've made yourself unlovable" conversation was continuing Blood of Eden involvement, his knock it off before you get us both caught and killed attitude wasn't entirely unreasonable but ya know.))

But we have to look too at what's not said.

Mercymorn is constantly mean and critical, but rather than looking at what she's saying, looking at the subject matter reveals a very different pattern. The opposite of love isn't hate, it's apathy, and a massive portion of everything we ever hear her say is screaming how deeply she cares about people; she just chooses the worst ways to say it. She doesn't say "I miss my dead friends and I'm upset by the idea of you basically coming in to replace them," she says "You're not as pretty as [Cyrus/Anastasia]." She doesn't say "After all this time I'm still a medical professional and I'm appalled to see a patient in such abysmal condition," she says "Why are you people always such a curious mix of the competent and the completely deranged?! [...] Out of my way, you wretched, cack-handed children, and let me fix it." She does say "I watched Cassiopeia die" but also "I remember thinking, Lord, what will we do with your ceramics collection, there's so much of it..."

M—'s dying words in her first life weren't for herself, but begging them to please just take John alive. And of course, she says, "I wanted it to be me. I didn’t want it to be you. I didn’t want it to be you, Augustine, after all … the sin needed to be mine. [...] Millions of people … all those millions of our people … No, I had to do it. I am not very nice, Augustine, and I was never very good."

Augustine is constantly somewhere between flippant and cruel, but it's a similar deal. He brings Alfred up unprompted when Harrow asks him about himself, even going into detail. He's so tired and worn down by the monotony, but he clings to the past rather than look to anything truly new. He wants to give Harrow his favorite old recipes so she can get them interestingly wrong, but not to seek out new ones. His bedroom is warm, comforting, friendly, filled with books and tasteful paintings (how long do you think he's had the same ones?), with polished wood in a universe where wood has become a rarity. He goes for a tuxedo for the dinner party and Harrow notes that it's ancient, a historical artefact, and he waxes about the shindigs they used to throw, oh you should have seen them. Where Mercy's grief manifests as anger, Augustine's manifests as nostalgia.

And he's so genuinely profoundly tired of Mercy, but he knows her like he knows his own soul and the trust that comes with that in spite of everything cannot be replicated. Alfred's sword is sacred to him, and when he swears on it to keep Mercy's secret, she believes him.

In some ways, she's the more dedicated of the two. She was the one willing to take the plunge and kill the man they loved when she thought she had a chance, a plan that you have to remember began no less than 500 years ago. Their conclusion that John lied to them about lyctorhood wasn't why they turned on him, it just exacerbated everything. It wasn't about personal revenge. It was about ending the empire. She was the face and spokesperson with BoE. They always wanted to evacuate the (relatively) innocent citizens, but weighing probably less than 20 million people total against all shepherd planets, planets they killed, and all other people they would have gone on to conquer and colonize and destroy the livelihoods if not the lives of... It's hard to fault her for seeing that trolley and pulling the lever. She was the one willing to get blood on her hands to do it.

But then, as you say, Augustine is the one willing to say, no, we're not done. Even if it is too late to evacuate, we have to save who we can. Any survivors, anyone who was off-world, anyone left, because there will be people left and we have a duty to them. "Somewhere out there exists a home not paid for with blood; it won’t be for us, but it will be for those who have been spared. Babies always get born. Houses get built. And flowers will die on necromancy's grave." The unmarked grave line is one of my favorites in the series, but this one right before is also so good and deserves just as much recognition imo...

And then just in the interest of character analysis and because it is so very good...

Her throat was working. “Augustine—” The Lyctor took her silently in his arms: they held each other like children who’d had a nightmare and had woken in a fright. Just as silently, they detached. She said in a low voice, “He was right. There can be no forgiveness.” “Then let us not seek out forgiveness, but forgetfulness,” he said. “Bury me next to you in that unmarked grave, Joy. We knew that was the only hope we ever had—that we would live to see it through … and pray for our own cessation. Oh, we’ll still hate each other, my dear, we have hated each other too long and too passionately to stop … but my bones will rest easy next to your bones.” Augustine raised his head, for the first time, to look out at his frozen audience, of which probably the most animated member was Cytherea’s body, which my mum had completely abandoned.

The silent, mutually desperate and comforting hug. The way he was thinking about the people, the future, the next generations, yet for a few minutes within this room no one existed but Mercy. And the...

I hate you. I so deeply and genuinely hate you. The only person who ever might have irritated me than you was your Cavalier and you're a little bit her now too, just like I'm a little bit the person I loved most, thanks to her and to you. I will never stop resenting you, but there's a deeply familiar comfort in that resentment. You had the ability to piss me off on sight 10,000 years ago and you damn sure still have it now, and that's amazing. Almost nothing makes me feel much of anything anymore, but you do, and intensely, even after all this time. We've always hated each other and always worked well together despite it. There's a unique trust built by hating each other. I never have to worry about you lying to me. If you have a problem with me, you won't hesitate to say it. If you want to hurt me, you will, but you haven't killed me yet. You just proved you could turn me into mist with a touch but I'm holding you tight anyway because you won't. I know you too well. I look down on how easily you break under pressure, but when I need to, neither of us has to say a word. To swap places and back is reflex, second nature. I will gladly go decades avoiding you but I cannot imagine my life or death without you. I want to keep hating you for the rest of our lives, and I can think of no greater comfort in death than to lie forever next to you.

Sorry this is so long but aoiwjeoiagjaweg I LOVE AUGUSTINE. Just. God... Tamsyn Muir understands kismesitude better than anyone ever and that alone is enough to make me feral, but even beyond that. Even before the final chapters.

It's also worth mentioning his dynamic with Ianthe. Like yeah he got really impatient with her training after a while (and, you know, similar to Mercy's BoE stuff, that was a matter of "if you can't do this it might literally be the death of us" so there's that), and yeah in the end she saved John at the cost of betraying him (possibly for a lot of reasons but likely first on the list being she wasn't willing to risk John's death meaning Corona's death). But as much as she talks about how fawning is part of her plan, she also praises him to Harrow in private. As much as he's grateful for excuses to tell his nostalgic old man stories to anyone, Ianthe consistently eats them up and that's extra nice. As critical as he can be he also offers a lot of praise, and even if it's flippant it's still nice to hear, and frankly more recognition than most people give her. Mercy accuses him of coddling Ianthe with the concern he shows for her. Even after at best "letting" him get sucked into hell, Ianthe quotes him unprompted in NtN and speaks of him with reverence in The Unwanted Guest.

Lastly it's very worth looking at the House he founded. The Fifth's entire vibe. At Magnus and Abigail. At where that culture came from.

He's such a good and interesting character. ;w; And I really do hope so badly that it turns out people (or at least lyctors) can survive getting cronched on and dragged to hell, because G1deon and Pyrrha are the dual embodiment of discipline, heedless of trial. Mercymorn the founder of the Forgiving House, the House for salvation, no matter the cost, paid the ultimate cost for her attempt with "I forgive you everything, Lord..." And it really would be so nice to see the ultimate pinnacle of Five for tradition, and debts to the dead.

There's really something in how despite his hollow flippancy, Augustine was the only one of his generation who hadn't given up.

Cytherea would have personally killed everyone in the solar system and then God, trying to die. Mercymorn tried to do it the other way around, but she had the same end in mind. Augustine is the one who said no. No, there are people out there. Real people, to whom we have a responsibility, and to whom we owe a future. Until. You know.

[dazedantics]

INVINCIBLE STORIES

**Some of the shorts might shift into longer stories, or inspiration for them. But for now, this is how I'll organize things to get ready to start writing multuple parts**

[Take One]

Use Your Senses (Mark Grayson)

Did Mark just find the secret to keeping your attention?

Sweater (Mark Grayson)

There's some annoying thing about Mark that just won't let him leave your mind

Secrets (Mark Grayson)

You weren't supposed to find out this way

Savior (Variant Mark Grayson)

From monster to Messiah

Partners (Mark Grayson)

School projects are the worst

Differences (Mark Grayson)

You and Mark want completely different things from each other

He Remembers (Mark Grayson)

You moved away long ago, but you and Mark used to be inseparable

Meet the Graysons (Nolan, Debbie, & Mark Grayson)

Work gives you many chances to meet many interesting people

[In Production]

- One Sided Rivalry (Mark Grayson)

You've known the guy for forever, you should be close with him. But how can you be nice, when all that you wish is for Mark to finally stay away from you? Less and less it's starting to look like that'll happen, so ... do you just ... keep pushing him away? Or is it time for something new?

Pt 1

Pt 2 ... Coming Soon

- Little Rich Boy (Mark Grayson)

Your friend lives the picture perfect life, not that he thinks so. You two are completely different! You truly hope he appreciates all he has. Mark doesn't get why this is such a big deal to you. But you won't start seeing him differently now, right?

Pt 1

Pt2 ... Coming Soon

[abusivelittlebunny]

did Charles fight off Max for no 1 harem wife position or because Max is married to someone else he doesn't have to?

Well it depends on the au BC in the Tight Leash Loose Collar universe Max will be married to other alphas but the bond they share will forever remain eternal but it's true that Carlos' unhealthy mutual obsession with Charles will take center stage in his mind (but whether that can be considered true love is questionable on so many levels).

But in the emperor au Charles becomes empress over Max in a whole different way.

You see before Carlos takes the throne he is given three brides as is tradition: Teto and Marc are from his country, they both come from families with sworn loyalty to the throne, high ranking fathers and uncles in the military etc so Carlos has grown up together with them and knew them to be good friends as well as great wives to him, no drama whatsoever, and his father also knew they'd make his young heir comfortable when introducing him to his husband duties. But Carlos' third wife becomes his main wife instantly as his first political responsibility. And that is Max.

Max, despite still being very young, holds a great deal of power as the crown princess of the Dutch-Belgian empire and their marriage would create an unbreakable bond between their countries hence why his father makes sure Carlos knows exactly how important it is that Carlos remains decent with the omega he only meets days before their scheduled wedding. Max is a sweet pouty kitten of an omega, extremely feisty and very clearly not happy with the arranged marriage but Carlos still finds him utterly adorable and works hard to make Max trust him. Which he does very well, showing Max the sort of gentle appreciation he's been missing his entire life, and when they wed it feels like something out of genuine love.

It's actually funny how Marc and Teto tease them for being so smitten with each other as if they were just regular kids not the future ruling family lol sweet times of Max being a bratty but secretly painfully sweet omega and Carlos being the kindest funniest alpha who runs around the gardens with his omegas like they were all just childhood friends playing.

That is until the war hits.

A war in which Carlos' father successfully occupies Monaco and causes international controversy. Carlos fights on the frontline too and he spares the crown prince's life when his sword is pressed up against his throat, wanting to end the war in the most peaceful manner but his father has other plans. The declaration that the king of Monaco fell in battle spread far and wide upon Carlos' instructions who wanted to avoid the worse truth to spread which was an all out execution of the man, and he barely managed to save Lorenzo from the same fate. Carlos Sr's reputation worldwide becomes that of a dangerous and power hungry cruel tyrant and to save further war upon his head he decides to step down from the throne and bestow the crown to Carlos who may not be ready for the immense responsibility but he wants to help his father with damage control as much as he can.

Hence why he takes Princess Charles as his wife, to assure their nations he does not wish to destroy Monaco but to unify it with their empire and upon Charles' silver tongue guilt tripping the absolute soul out of him, when Carlos' coronation ceremony arrives, he has Charles by his side declared empress, the highest title in his harem.

Max's family is outraged of course, Jos has a full on tantrum in the strategy room after the ceremony. The empress title was meant to be held by Max, that was their deal upon marriage. Max understands the difficult situation Carlos is in however much it hurts to only be holding the second highest harem rank, he's seen the pain Carlos has gone through after he returned from the front caked in dried blood, all the sunshine from his eyes gone as if he was an entirely different person from the young man he used to laugh together with on the tulip fields that Carlos has gifted him to make him feel more at home. He knows Carlos has a heart of gold and he's not making this decision out of his own greed or lust but because he genuinely believes that's the only way peace is guaranteed.

But not within the harem, Max also can tell as much seeing the devious emerald glint in the beautiful bride's calculated gaze.

Max gets given the special privilege of a new deal in which he can be the ruling empress of the Dutch-Belgian empire on his own, essentially elevating him to the same level Carlos is holding making him a separate sovereign with his own government and power and that satisfies Jos well enough rather than if Max was just simply married out to be second to his husband, but Max worries because this way he will lose the duties Carlos' first rank wife holds, mainly over the harem. So in a way Max is both part of and not when it comes to Carlos' harem. Charles has responsibility over the harems management which is bound to cause nothing but trouble as soon as he takes his position and the first wave of concubines start coming in...

[alexanderlightweight]

I know I sent another ask in earlier but if you would like to write more I would love some soft Malec. Just something where they’re in love and soft to each other (from their perspective at least lol) nsfw/sfw either works! Whatever strikes your fancy! ❤️

here is something with them very soft teasing and falling in love and realizing that the weight of the world is easier to bear around each other even just in small ways

i hope you enjoy

<3 lumine

the precipice of duty

Alec stretches and feels not the weight of exhaustion but the weight of another body. Of Magnus, stretched out and solid and warm and Alec burrows closer. Lets sleep cling to him rather than shaking it off to go and train and work, instead letting himself relax and enjoy.

If Magnus isn't awake yet, then there's still time and so Alec luxuriates in an embrace he never thought he’d be allowed. By the will of others or the fact that he didn’t feel safe being this selfish. 

Because laying here in Magnus' arms rather than dealing with the Institute is the most selfish thing Alec’s done.

It also feels like the best thing he’s ever done.

For once, Alec’s made a choice that isn’t tearing him up from the inside out and he settles closer and breathes Magnus in.

Time drifts and Alec dreams — not of anything special beyond more moments just like this one — and slowly he falls back asleep.

—-

Magnus wakes with drool on his neck and legs tangled so closely with his own that trying to stretch drags Alexander closer against him. It’s a beautiful way to wake up after the constant rejections Magnus was getting.

Though considering how strongly his boy is clinging to him, Magnus doubts they’ll have too many repeats of Alexander canceling on him. Not with how content he’s been since they portalled away from his Institute.

Alexander grumbles against his skin and when Magnus starts to move — because his closet is calling him — bites him.  It’s not hard, but it is clearly a punishment for trying to leave.

“Really sweetheart, you couldn’t just use your words?” 

Magnus is teasing and it’s clear that Alexander knows it — from the way he’s sleepily glaring at Magnus. 

And then he bites again.

Harder, nearly enough to leave a mark and Magnus wishes he’d be a bit more daring.

Alas, Alexander’s teeth leave his skin and his boy looks so pleased that Magnus doesn’t have the heart to tell him ‘try harder’ just yet.

Next time he’ll ensure Alexander bites hard enough to leave a mark, but for now he has a sleep-dazed shadowhunter in his bed.

Which would normally be temptation incarnate but Magnus has a limited amount of time before Alexander will need to head back, ward around the Institute or not.

“I’m going to give you two potions to take and two choices for a destination, how does that sound?”

Alexander looks anything but pleased, but it’s not the potions that bother him as he’s already sitting up and reaching out for the vials Magnus has summoned.

“Tell me the destinations and if it doesn’t make a difference to me, then you’re picking.”

That’s more than reasonable and Magnus summons a mug of coffee that he offers after Alexander has downed both a nutrient and an energy potion. 

“Get the taste out of your mouth with that and tell me if you want something busy or something quiet.”

The look that earns him is accompanied by a snort that makes it clear Alexander isn’t going to deign giving Magnus an answer. 

Which means a wicked thought teases Magnus' brain and he smirks at Alexander before letting his voice go earnest and delighted, “something busy and crowded and incredibly popular it is.”

“Magnus—” Alexander is looking at him with betrayal, eyes wide and reproachful over his coffee, “somewhere quiet instead, please.”

“Forgive me, Alexander. You’re too delightful when you sulk.” 

The distrusting look his comment earns only makes him laugh harder, because even as he pouts, Alexander is leaning his weight onto Magnus and standing closer and closer. 

As if personal space no longer exists between them but is shared.

[microwavesaferat]

I've seen multiple hcs of English Teacher Jason Todd, I've also seen multiple teacher aus in general. I would like to propose a 3rd Option:

Secret Day Jobs

All the Robins and Batfam extended universe (aka, until I get bored) have started doing day jobs as they get older, but they are all worried Bruce will bench them if they find out they're burning the candle at both ends, so they keep it secret.

We all know Dick is a cop in some comics, but I would like to propose they all go into teaching in some way. They don't tell the others, and gradually all end up transferring to the same school. We're also assuming they are all adults here.

We have:

Jason Todd - English Lit Professor. Doesn't like dealing with college kids, so moves to high school literature. Sometimes covers drama lessons if it's Shakespeare plays.

Dick Grayson - Health and Wellbeing (don't know if this is just a UK thing, sometimes called PSE). Basically teaches kids the dangers of smoking and how to stay healthy mentally and physically. He also runs the schools gymnastics club and helps at some other sports clubs.

Tim Drake - Computing. One of those teachers that doesn't care if you swear or call him the proper title. Does not care if you are misusing the school computers. He figured out the others are all teachers and hacked himself onto the payroll cause he thought it would be funny. Hacking emails to change names to see how long he can keep the others from figuring out they all work in the same place.

Damian Wayne - Biology. He kind of wishes he went into chemistry, because he despises the giggles and childish behaviour whenever something mentioned in the course is even mildly sexual. Refuses to do the frog dissection and nearly gets into a physical fight with the head of department. This event is what clues Dick into his presence, "Did you hear the new biology teacher threatened to kill Mr Smith over something? Apparently had a Katana or something in his desk".

Cassandra Cain - Guidance Councilor. Very good at interpreting the body language of the kids. Also does some work with ASL interpretation when needed. Thought everyone was aware of each other and isn't really trying to hide. Tim still has no idea she's here. Dick gets jumpscared when Cass shows up to one of the after school clubs he helps at.

Stephanie Brown - Somehow in a different position everyday. She appears as a janitor one day, then she's doing the school bus run the next. On Fridays she works in the Canteen cause the food is good on Fridays. There explicitly to annoy Tim who knows she's there, but can't find her in the payroll.

Duke Thomas - Politics/Modern Studies. The sort of teacher to say he's putting on a documentary, then pauses every 30 secs to go on a tangent about something. Disagrees with half the shit in the curriculum, so does his own thing. The projector in his classroom hasn't worked for months, but no one needs to know that.

Also, the moment they all figured out they are all there.

Dick hears about the frog incident and very quickly catches on.

Duke goes to the office to pick up jotters and Stephanie is working there.

Jason used the guidance councilor's room to take a minute and chill. Cass was on top of a cupboard for 10 mins before revealing herself.

Dick goes to grab the first aid kit after a kid falls at gymnastics and Stephanie is the Custodian in today.

Damian needs some supplies and the lab tech is Stephanie.

An Arkham breakout happens during a parents night and all of them run to change into costume. Issue is they all hid their costumes in the janitors closet.

WE runs a scholarship fund for students and Bruce has to show up to the awards ceremony for successful students. He gets a tour of the school only to slowly run into all of his kids. To start with, the tour is run by Stephanie who is refusing to break character.

Stephanie: Thank you for coming Mr Wayne

Bruce: Stephanie wha-

Stephanie: Please, Miss Brown, Stephanie was my father.

Steph: Anyway, here is our lovely new labs that WE do graciously funded.

Damian: *Yelling at a child to follow safety procedures*

Bruce: What? Dames?

Stephanie: and down to the left is our English department.

Jason Todd: *Animatedly discussing the influences of Romeo and Juliet in modern culture*

Steph: This is our lit teacher Mr Todd Peters

Bruce: *makes a note to remind his kids on good undercover names*

Well I'm tired but will probably add to this at some point.

[z0mbbiegvrl]

kenny x fem/gen reader

dating headcanons

✮⋆˙ KENNY MCCORMICK DATING HEADCANNONS

↳ pairings: kenny mccormick x reader (can be read for fem/gen)

↳ an: hope you enjoy this! kenny is my fav so it's cool i have a lot of requests for him!!

↳ cw: some suggestive ideas, but this is fluff

↳ mlist

It didn’t take long for Kenny to admit he liked you a lot. He noticed how different it was, realizing he didn’t like you in the way he just wanted to have sex with you, then move on, but he wanted to see you more, hug you, kiss you, see you smile, and take you on dates. (definitely still wants to sleep with you, but this time there’s no time frame)

Kenny is the type to act like the playboy of the school and has the reputation of one. Kenny usually goes for the girls who he knows have the same mindset as him, or he’s heard things about them, COUGH the ring episode COUGH. But when it comes to you, he doesn’t try to hook up; he instead goes back to his flirty ways.

When his flirting attempts work, he’s taken aback for sure, which flips a switch in his brain, and that whole playboy attitude is GONE. That’s when you’ll see him stutter, go red in the face, or go completely silent until he finally gathers up the courage to ask you out.

A BIG supporter of whatever you do, will spend his free time following you to practices if it’s that type of deal, go to your shows, games, whatever you’re doing he’s there without a fight. sometimes will just show up even if you forgot to tell him!

He works a lot, so expect a lot of late-night visits, but he never turns up empty-handed. If he’s working at a restaurant, expect him to bring you leftovers from the kitchen to share while watching movies. 

PDA CRAZED, but he will be blushing the moment you do anything back to him. Hand in your back pocket, hand holding his, arm around your shoulder, literally anything he can do to display you to the world, he’s doing it. But the moment you kiss his cheek before going your separate ways to class, he will blush and walk into the wall as he leaves. Practically, the factory resets him for a second.

To Kenny, there is no such thing as moving too fast in life; by your second date, he’s already planning for the long run. Breaking up isn’t even a thought in his mind (not in the Yandere way) when he plans out the future. His friends bully him for it, he just knows you’re it for him, even if something did happen, he’d always want you in his life because he cares about you a lot. 

LOVES LOVES loves, adventurous dates. The more fear-inducing of being kicked out, the better.

He’s super protective of you, no matter how late you two are out, expect him to walk you home each time. No ifs, ands, or buts.

weirdly super good at doing hair; learned from having a little sister. If you have a different type of hair texture, style, trust he will spend the time to learn how to do hairstyles to try on you! I just like quality time.

He’s very attentive; he can figure out something is wrong with you with a glance and immediately pulls you into a hug, rubbing your back. Or if that’s not what you like, he will find a way to calm down how you feel, and give you that silence you need, but he will insist on holding your hand. 

Obsessed with kissing you- I mean, it’s Kenny. He’ll lean in for a quick peck on the lips, see you smile, and go right back in for a much longer kiss. He’d be a sloppy kisser, though, not in the gross way, but he just tends to lazily kiss you if you two are lying together.

He’s very crafty with gifts. We know Kenny doesn’t have a lot of money, but he doesn’t use that as an excuse not to give you things. Most of his gifts are flowers he picked or stole from places- all have little love letters attached. Kenny isn’t at all afraid to sound cringe in those letters. 

Right away, he introduces you to Karen, and without any struggles, she loves you right away. If you go to Kenny’s house, she drags you away from Kenny to show you her new doll that Kenny had gotten her. Kenny doesn’t mind this; in fact, he is so content with it. His two favorite people are getting along. Though sometimes, he’ll pretend to feel lonely and pout until you give him attention, too. 

He’s a good cuddler. Yeah, he might smell like smoke all the time, but if you don’t mind, then cuddling is very peaceful for both of you. He unzips his parka for you to lie against his shirt before zipping it up again, making you stuck against his chest. 

Overall, Kenny is an amazing boyfriend!!

[abiding-by-the-laws-of-color]

Archie and Maxie related headcanons I’ve had for a while

I have more than these that are closer to game info but unfortunately they are spoilers for my emerald comic. I want to ramble about them regardless so have like loose thoughts and stuff that’ll never get explored properly in said story lol. Some are hardenshipping and (very little tbh) team related stuff as well :)

Archie grew up somewhere near slateport, and spent a lot of time at sea with his adoptive father, Mr. Briney

Archie, Shelly, and Matt are basically siblings, they met as children and lived alongside/near each other up until they did their respective studies.

Maxie grew up and lived in Fallarbor town, his mother is a businesswoman that visits every month, while his father is a local street chef. He learnt how to cook some really good recipes but his cooking skills are limited to those dishes.

He was at one point Courtney's brother figure, he kind of still is but both are a little too caught up on work to properly hang out like they did.

Tabitha is the most emotionally intelligent of the magmas, he’s the HR guy with a psychology degree.

as much as he doesnt want to show or admit to it, Maxie has a mischievous streak. He's capable of making logically and morally questionable decisions (as seen in games). Most of the time he's prepared with an elaborate excuse, though.

Archie's cheerfulness is genuine, but he's got a lot of spite and real cold bitterness in that heart and if he feels like its necessary, he will let you know.

Archie has little spice tolerance, Maxie found out about this when he cooked for him at some point in the past

Archie and Maxie share an interest and taste in jazz, especially instrumental ones. Archie learned to piano at some point in his school life, and Maxie is decent at the violin

They met pre-college. That three-four month break before attending college was absolutely bonkers for them and you can say they had a pokemon adventure of their own

that point is when they grew their teams, became pretty damn good trainers, and became good friends.

They got together a few years into college

due to some unprecedented events a good 4-5 years into work (like age range wise about 27-28ish) and differing opinions on how to move forward from said events, they broke up. For the better, allegedly.

Maxie's love for ground types, similarly to Archie stems from loving his hometown and the place he grew up in. Yeah its dry and hot and somewhat unfriendly but it's familiar. Also Numels are just cute.

Archie can drive a boat, he's got a good intuition and can basically predict weather, mostly based on observations of how the wild pokemon are acting. He also has a pretty good grasp on memorizing places and usually can tell where they are in the ocean.

Archie has little to no memory of his biological family, but he eventually understands tgat he's most likely from pacifidlog, and that it doesn't really matter because he's got a perfectly good dad right there.

Archie and Maxie had to deal with long distance at some point, back when they didn't have advanced Pokenavs with good signal tech. Because they think it's kinda fun and sweet, Archie and Maxie communicated through letters. Peeko delivered them.

Maxie dresses masc in a way that he kind of only has two modes: Asian father and Business work man. He can have a sense of fashion but he barely explored that front and at present time prefers to be more practical.

Archie on the other hand is more creative and explores several styles. He sticks to blue most of the time, though.

[xompeii]

WIP Wednesday - The Wolf and the Sea

Despite the beaches being closed, there are still dozens of onlookers, people who want to volunteer but don’t have training, and they don’t have the time to train. Some volunteers are manning the tents, cataloging, and overseeing resources. Running the numbers so he doesn’t have to keep a mental tally. He has another 6 hours this shift. Then he can go home. Then he has to deal with his parents. He’s stumbling towards the remains of the pier when he sees them. Two bodies, wrapped up in each other. A man and a child. The man’s hand curled up over his face, an arm clinging to the boy. The boy who’s got a striped yellow shirt on, with curly hair and— The boy moves. “Hey!” Eddie shouts towards the closest paramedics, “Hey— I need— Someone’s alive over here!” He sprints towards the two now. Tripping over his own feet as the shape of them becomes more and more familiar with every step. “Chris! Buck!” He falls to his knees in the sand. They’re surrounded by debris— wood, and seaweed, and kelp, and muck. The hand falls away from Buck's face as he shifts his body, groaning. Eddie freezes, his breath catching as he looks at the man, his best friend, and the soul bond he’s only ever heard about snaps into place. His heart tethering him to someone he’d never thought was a possibility. “Oh—” Hen says behind him, and Lena is there too, the both of them carrying a backboard. They were the closest ambulance to them, and they’d heard the shout, “Oh my god, Buck.” He can sense the moment Lena realizes what’s happened, the way she suddenly goes on edge, and all Eddie wants to do is pull Buck and Christopher into his arms and shield them from the other werewolf. She’s not family, his brain is irrationally telling him, she’s not pack. Christopher is the first to wake, shoving into Buck as he wobbles slightly, trying to sit up. A different paramedic, one who doesn’t know better, tries to tell Chris to stop, that he’s hurt, “He has cerebral palsy,” Eddie says, “This is — it’s normal.” He guides Chris up to sitting gently, the boy blinking away sleep. “Dad?” He mumbles. “I’m here.” Eddie says, “I’m here, I’ve got you.” The wind from the sea whips up the shore and hits him, strong and salty. Buck shifts, awake now, eyes open and impossibly blue as he takes in the people around him, “Christopher—” “He’s right here, Buck,” Eddie says softly, “You brought him back to me.”

I was tagged in WIP wednesday by @minalover , so I thought I'd share from one of my vaulted fics that's going up after my current long series fic.

This fic is is a fantasy AU about Chris and Buck getting turned into merfolk during the tsunami, where most of the 118 is comprised of people who are some form of mythical creature.

[whowrotethenote]

The first time he finished inside Lana, was it like a big deal? 👀 like a "oh we're doing this now" kind of thing, or are they so in love stupid neither of them thought about the implications of it 😭😂

oh dear lol

I can’t think. My head is fuzzy and I’m disassociating. The liquor already impairing me. But him—he is an entirely different type of alcohol. A drug. That fits him more. A substance sanctioning something in my brain telling me I can’t go on without it—without him. Like food, water, a blanket in the cold, heat in inclement outdoors. 

A spread hand still on the roof of the jeep. The other still firm on the back of his neck like it's the only thing keeping me from falling. He finally opens his lids. Red neon light from the signs outside The Barnyard, reflecting off his brown pupils. 

Our chests rising and falling in the same desperate rhythm. Windows neglecting their purpose, for the humidity and heat inside the car has shown itself in the form of fog. The rain would’ve blocked us from any view of the outside world anyway, if the way we just got lost in each other didn't. 

Air is limited. Whenever he breathes out I breathe in. So close we might as well be one. And technically we are. Still joined down below even after he just gave me all the pent up life inside of him. Still deep. Still pulsing. 

The muscles still clamping and spasming around his thickness. A hearty groan leaves his throat as he plops his head back on the seat. My everything is weak, but I still make an effort to ease up and off of him. Head hitting the ceiling of the car and knees almost giving out, I release him and the sound is sloppy and horrendous. 

When he asked if I was on the pill the other day—this is not what I had in mind. The pill is for precautions or mistakes, not deliberate carelessness. The heat of the moment and being suspended at the apex of pleasure had us both just sitting here. The consequences of our actions high and wide like a projector movie.

My anxiety trying to find room amidst all the other feelings. Ecstasy, bliss, ignorance, lust and everything in between. I didn’t get my prescription. What the fuck.

Did that really just happen?

A question I find myself asking too much since the night I met him. My life since then has been a montage of unbelievable, high stake, dreamlike moments.

“Pepsi Cola, huh?” His tongue glides over his top lip as he peaks at me through one open eye topped with a raised brow.

Laughter escapes me and just like that—all is forgotten. 

All except the intensity and need that just possessed us. 

this is an excerpt from one of the shorts Cola. It takes place after One of Your Girls when they're still on their little trip in the Hamptons. Well in this excerpt they're technically not there anymore...it'll make sense soon i swear lol

but to answer your question, i guess a little bit of both lol. they weren't thinking. she was about to lose her shit thinking about the half lie she told days before. then the inside joke and "all is forgotten." to be fair he is the one with a wife and kids so he should've been way more worried than she was about to be.

[mirror-and-mind]

Rewatching Ayakashi "Bakeneko" after seeing the movie, I realized something. It's not just the movie's Medicine Seller or mononoke or even character design that feels "softer" than in the series. It's the everything. It's the whole tone. It's the sense of humor, more light and playful than the grim humor of the series. It's the degree to which the characters are relatable, understandable, or even forgiveable. It's the gentleness of the emotions they express and the degree of sincerity with which they express them. It's in how even the most awful characters show that they were better people once and that those better people are still in there somewhere.

The movie looks on humanity with a much kinder eye. In the series, the focus was on acts of brutality, largely committed by men against women, and about the rage and violence they awakened and perpetuated. Even though the patriarchal structure of the shogunate is behind the situations of the women in the Ooku, the Karakasa is not driven by violence or vengeance. It kills horribly, but when its Regret is revealed, it's far more about grief than rage. Its Truth, Kitagawa, doesn't bear a grudge against anyone--she simply can't move on from what she lost. The Karakasa's Regret is a true Regret: a longing for what was thrown away, trapping those who created it in a never-ending search for their own hearts.

So Karakasa is kinder. It's a very different kind of story.

[slayerdurge]

A Deal with God (Post-Ending Durgetash Fanfic)

CHAPTER TWO - THE REUNION

Enver re-entered his body screaming.

As The Dark Urge listened in transfixed stillness, his screams gradually changed into a strange and discordant mixture of laughter and sobs, and all she could think was that she’d heard that sound before.

But she couldn’t place it until a series of sensuous fragmented memories crashed into her mind—the damp stone walls of an underground dungeon, the thrust of steel as it penetrated flesh, the tantalizing ferrous scent of fresh blood, an influx of saliva pooling in the bottom of her mouth, and the howling keen emanating from the pile of meat in front of her. Then came the feeling of satisfaction. The knife clattered to the floor, and as she wiped her mouth, she heard the sound change.

It was the sound of a torture victim who’d been offered a moment of reprieve, and the only coherent thought she could form in the mangled, macerated caverns of her brain was that that sound should not be coming out of him.

She couldn’t say exactly how long the sound continued, but eventually she became aware that it had stopped, and that his eyes, which had been alternately twitching and rolling backwards into his head, had refocused. He was looking at her.

She became aware of what she must look like, standing stock-still and staring at him in paralyzed silence, but she could rouse herself to neither speech nor movement. 

Slowly, he sat up, supporting his unsteady balance by spreading his hands flat on the rock’s surface. He looked around, taking in the sizeless expanse of the Astral Prism. His gaze seemed to sharpen. “How long?” he asked.

“How long…” She didn’t immediately understand the question. 

“How long was I dead?” he repeated, over-enunciating each word impatiently. 

The twinge of annoyance that caused within her brought her fully back to herself. “Less than a day,” she said. “Maybe slightly more. I lost track of time during the battle.” She glared at him pointedly. “You’re welcome, by the way. For your life.”

He stood, wobbling slightly but catching himself and righting his posture quickly. He walked towards her, stopping when there was only a few feet of distance between them, and met her gaze evenly. “Thank you,” he said, without a trace of sarcasm. “For my life.”

The Dark Urge found it suddenly difficult to maintain eye contact. 

[read more on ao3]