#honestly On The Verge of Doom is SO much better than I thought it would be!

[alwaysoc]

[mindmeltonabun-blog]

Doom At Your Service: Analysis & Theories for EPs 9-10

Anyone mentally exhausted from watching DAYS? Well, you’ve come to the right place where I do the thinking for you, so you don’t have to! As always, if you have any questions, feel free to click on the ask question button! Happy Readings !

The Contract Revisited

While reviewing the contract, I realized there was something major that I had completely missed! Anyways let’s go over the contract again to clear up some confusion.

The Contract is as follows:

1) Dong Kyung must ask for Myul Mang to destroy the world before she dies (It could be rephrased as Dong Kyung must ask for Myul Mang to destroy the world before her tentative expiration date)

2) During Dong Kyung’s last 100 days, Myul Mang will prevent her from feeling any pain

3) Myul Mang has to grant her one real wish

4) If Dong Kyung breaks the contract (does not wish for the world to be destroyed) then the person she loves the most will die

If Dong Kyung does not violate the contract as in she wishes for the world to be destroyed, the person she loves dies anyways because you know.... the world is non existent. If Dong Kyung does violate the contract, meaning she does not wish for the world to be destroyed, the person she loves dies too because her doom is transferred to them. Some have also wondered whether she can has to ask for the world to be destroyed in order to get her one real wish to be granted. In my opinion, I don't think so. I think she can still get her one real wish to be granted regardless of whether she wishes for doom upon the world or not. Other things to note is that nothing will happen to Myul Mang if he does not stick to the terms of the contract (i.e keeps Dong Kyung pain free and granting her one real wish) because as Dong Kyung said "If I violate" not "If either you or I violate".

Now something to pay close attention to is #4. In Ep 2, Myul Mang had said he would take Dong Kyung’s doom (brain cancer) and transfer it to someone she loves. This is the part I missed! I’d thought that all Myul Mang was doing was transferring the death that was meant for her, not that he was actually removing her source of death which was her brain cancer. Therefore, if Dong Kyung breaks the contract, she will live because her brain cancer is removed and is subsequently transferred into the person she loves, causing them to die instead. I feel incredibly stupid for missing this important piece of info. In light of this new info, I will therefore retract my previous theory that Dong Kyung’s one wish will be to cure her brain cancer.

For those who were confused by that scene of Dong Kyung going to the beach and staying away from everyone, here are my thoughts on that. Dong Kyung was trying to find a loophole. The loophole was that she was planning on violating the contract while protecting the people she loves. This means that Dong Kyung was planning on ending herself at the beach (you can't wish for doom upon the world if you're already dead) and accepting her doom (her doom can't be transferred to anyone else because she accepts it in herself).

Who’s Going to Get Dong Kyung’s Brain Cancer and Die?

I recently had a eureka moment a few days ago before Eps 9-10 aired that led me to formulating a new theory -- it's actually Dora who will inherit Dong Kyung’s brain cancer and die. Let’s think through some things first, “the person you love the most will die”. The most obvious choice is Myul Mang. However, if you think about that statement in a more abstract way, you can see that if Dong Kyung loves her life, then the person who will die is Dora. Remember that Dora is basically the personification of life.

To further add evidence that supports this theory, I present to you Exhibit A, Dora’s massive nosebleed. We know Dong Kyung has a rare type of brain cancer and it’s located in her frontal lobe. As days pass, the brain tumor is growing or metastasizing. In theory, the tumor could grow into nearby areas such as her nasal cavity and cause Dong Kyung to have nose bleeds (FYI: In real life, I’m a scientist with experience in the field of oncology and most of the time brain tumors don’t grow outside of the brain. It can happen, but it is very rare!). Now, think about the events that occurred before Dora's nose bleed. For example, Dong Kyung was out and about enjoying her time with Myul Mang and her family and friends. Essentially, Dong Kyung was beginning to love her life. This causes Dora to suffer because she is taking in Dong Kyung's illness into herself. Subsequently, this leads to Dora experiencing some of the symptoms of Dong Kyung's brain cancer (e.g nose bleed). Thus, as Dong Kyung is beginning to live, Dora is beginning to die.

Exhibit B: Adventures of Pinocchio. At the end of the story, the Fairy (Dora) heals an ailing Geppetto (Dong Kyung) as a reward for Pinocchio (Myul Mang) becoming a good boy. Following this, we don’t hear much about what happens to the Fairy except that she’s in laying in a hospital on the verge of death. It is implied that in order to heal Geppetto, the Fairy had to take his illness into herself. Afterall, nothing is without consequences, someone must pay so that others can be happy. Much like the story of Pinocchio, Dora is doing the same thing as the Fairy. Dora is taking in Dong Kyung’s illness so that Dong Kyung can freely love her son, Myul Mang, without consequences (e.g Myul Mang dying).

Exhibit C: Dong Kyung walking around like she didn’t have brain cancer while in seclusion. You would think that since she didn’t see Myul Mang to recharge, she would be experiencing some severe symptoms, but nope she was walking around as if she was cured! I wonder where her cancer went.......DORA!

Exhibit D: Dora telling Dong Kyung to be madly in love and live. Basically Dora saying, "Love my son and live, don't worry about your brain cancer or him dying because I'm taking care of it."

Why Dora Didn't Want Myul Mang To See Her

For those wondering why Dora didn’t want Myul Mang to see her, here are my two cents. One explanation is that Dora probably didn’t want him to figure out that she was inheriting Dong Kyung’s brain cancer. It would’ve made him feel guilty to see that his mother was willing to take on even more pain just so he could be happy. Another explanation is that Myul Mang still has a lot of growing up to do (to become human). Dora didn’t want him to get the idea that he’s out of the clear just yet. Meaning if Myul Mang had found out that Dora was doing this for him then he would’ve thought life was a breeze now and have no further motivations to want to grow, thus ruining Dora’s plan for him (to grow up to become a good human). There’s no better motivation to make someone grow than the thought of their love ones dying.

Final Theory on Dong Kyung’s Wish

In my previous post, I had discussed that without knowing the limits of what one could or could not wish for, it was difficult for me to accurately predict what Dong Kyung’s wish would be. However, in this week’s episode, I was finally given the limits: the wish must be a wish that is doom in nature. I thought to myself, what could be a good thing to end? Oh, that’s right, Myul Mang’s immorality. Dong Kyung must say “I wish for your immortal life to end” or something along those lines. The combination of Dong Kyung’s wish + Myul Mang’s willingness to sacrifice himself for her + Dora’s plant = the rebirth of Myul Mang into a real boy....oops I mean real hu-man.

The Ending of DAYS

So, what kind of ending will DAYS have? Prepare yourselves. I think it’s going to be a bittersweet ending because it goes with the one of the main themes DAYS which is dualism. I think Myul Mang will be reborn as a human, but still have his doom responsibilities (so more like a fake human). He will probably end up becoming like Dora in the sense that he gets to experience the cycle of life and death over an infinite amount of time. Dong Kyung won’t be reborn in his next life cycle (remember Myul Mang tells that crazy lady there’s no afterlife; humans only have this one life). I guess the notion that the love he and Dong Kyung share will always be with him and forever serve as a shining beacon even in his loneliest days is sweet, but still I want a happy ending!!!

Now excuse my language, but to hell with dualism and what is logical! I want a happy ending where Myul Mang becomes human, lives with Dong Kyung, and when he dies that’s it. No coming back to doing his doom job in a different life. Dora can create another herald of doom. Dora did it once before and she could do it again lol. Or if Myul Mang must come back in a different life, at least allow Dong Kyung to be reborn at the same time. I mean you can grow the same plant again…. EVER HEARD OF PROPROGATION DORA?!! Metaphorically speaking, if Dong Kyung is a sunflower, then wait until she dies, harvest her seeds and grow her again…. it’s that simple Dora!!!

Some Thoughts on the Writer of DAYS

The writer (Im Meari) of DAYS is at best, pretentious and at worst, derivative. She’s more or less just rehashing the works of other great philosophers (Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Deleuze, etc). She presents DAYS as a collection of major philosophical concepts with the intention to differentiate herself from that of other kdramas writers. She goes onto placing great stress on the idea that in order to innovate or bring about a new beginning, one must deviate from the norm, yet she herself does not diverge from the ideas of other philosophers. She does not present any philosophy of her own. In this aspect, she is a hypocrite to the very ideas she tries to preach. Oh well, to each their own. Who knows, maybe my opinion of Im Meari will change by the end of the series. Anyways, I’m still here for the romance between the actors and actresses and solving mysteries!

Ep 11 Preview Predictions

Here are my predictions for Ep 11 based off of the preview, they may or may not be correct !

Dong Kyung takes back the bracelet from Myul Mang after their conversation on the beach. Honestly, I’m growing tired of this whole giving/taking the bracelet type situation lol.

Dong Kyung enjoys a nice vacation with Myul Mang on Jeju island.

Dong Kyung returns from the vacation because she finds out that her aunt is sick (probably from worrying about Dong Kyung). Dong Kyung beats herself up about it.

Dong Kyung is sick again (probably from hating life...remember that I had theorized that the more Dong Kyung loves her life, the sicker Dora will be become) and Myul Mang in his desperation pleads with Dora to help him, but Dora’s version of helping him is to …. surprise surprise… teach him another lesson. The lesson is that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side and that Myul Mang and Dong Kyung complete each other for the better. Dora shows Myul Mang what their lives would've been like if they had never existed in each other’s lives.

Dong Kyung having never experience any kind of suffering would live a healthy life but become the most unappreciative and spoiled person ever. She may go on to finding that life was pretty meaningless and would want to put an end to it all. And Myul Mang having never met Dong Kyung wouldn't have any motivation or desire to grow as a person and so he would remain stagnant. And who knows… maybe at some point, that Myul would’ve became so angry with humans that he would personally go around killing every last one of them.

[toh-writings]

Fortunes of Love Pt 4 (Eda x OC)

Summary:

Everyone tries to figure out how exactly to handle Owl Beast Eda. Or, at the very least, get her to not kill them.

Pt 1  Pt 2  Pt 3  Pt 4

The house was dark, all the curtains drawn, and not even hooty made a sound. The door opened with only the slightest of creaks, but it was drowned out by Eda’s loud snoring. Two heads peaked through the door, taking in the form of the sleeping beast.

“So… That’s Eda?” Niliana asked. King nodded. “Alright then.” They closed the door gently and Niliana began pacing, trying to think up a plan. She didn’t really know anything about… well, any of this! She didn’t know anything about curses, beasts, how she was supposed to act around something like Eda in her owl form, how she was supposed to handle any of this. But she promised to help and she couldn’t let anyone get hurt. She sighed.

“Alright, first thing first, we DON’T wake her up. No one is going to react well being startled awake like that. Can you handle that?”

“Of course! That I can do! I just won’t go inside. Ever.”

Niliana just looked at him for a moment.

“That… seems unreasonable, but okay. I’m going to sit inside with Eda. When Luz gets back, make sure you warn her and tell her to be quiet.”

“Can do!” King gave a mock salute before running off. He sat underneath one of the nearby trees. Once he was settled he gave Nily a little wave. She sighed through her nose, turning away so he wouldn’t see the look of exasperation on her face. Once again, she opened the door, closing it behind her softly.

She took in the room for a moment, taking note of anything that looked important and fragile. She didn’t want anything of Eda’s to break. Thankfully, nothing of the sort was in sight. She decided it was best to take her boots off at the door, putting them to the side neatly. She left her staff by the door as well, leaning against the wall. Her footsteps were padded by the dense carpet as she made her way to the couch, having to scoot around the giant feathery being that took up quite a bit of the room. She sat with a sigh, propping her elbow on her leg and resting her chin in her hand. For a moment she just watched Eda sleep, thinking.

She didn’t know a lot about Edalyn Clawthorne. Sure, they went to school together and were in the same track, but their interactions were minimal. At the time she was definitely one of the quiet kids. She largely kept to herself and was honestly afraid of being noticed, especially by her fellow students. To her, Eda was the most confusing person. Who would ever want to cause that much trouble on purpose? Who would want to have so many eyes on her, constantly watching and judging? She acted like it was nothing! Like it didn’t even matter what others thought of her. All she cared about was having fun and enjoying herself.

When she was younger, Niliana almost hated her for it. She went through her days doing everything within her power to avoid the other girl, actively taking routes through the halls that she was least likely to be in, walking away whenever she spotted the familiar splash of orange hair, all of that. She cringes now just thinking about it. She regretted so much of her childhood and one of her greatest regrets was not realizing just how much she actually admired Eda until she had already left. She regretted not reaching out and at least trying to be her friend.

Well, her Mama always said it’s better late than never.

She froze when the beast let out an odd sound, a soft chirping of some sort. She shifted in her spot, curling up a little more, before going still once more. It was a few more minutes before Niliana let herself relax. She realized it may be some time before Eda actually woke up. Owls were nocturnal creatures, after all, and she looked rather comfortable.

She waved her hand, forming a teal circle in the air. From the circle materialized a wooden box, settling in her lap. She opened it, rummaging through till she found what she was searching for, a large piece of fabric, one of the ones. Eda had gotten for her from the human realm. She found the needle she had also stashed away and got to work.

Sure, she could have made her stuffed animals with magic. She knew how well enough. But there was something about making something with her hands that relaxed her, the repeated motion of the needle moving through the fabric, watching something form from nothing but pieces of cloth. It made her swell to see the final product come out well, and she loved it even more to see others enjoy her cute little animals. It was the thought that something she so enjoyed making could bring joy to others as well.

It was a couple of hours later when she heard the front door open again. Luz poked her head through cautiously, looking uncertain. King was close behind her, looking just as uncertain. Nily sighed, putting her work away. She’d have to come back to it later. She got to her feet and made her way to the door, ushering the two away so she could actually get through the door.

“Is Eda really stuck like that for FIVE DAYS?!” Luz said almost immediately, clinging onto the witch’s arm. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, just staring up at Nily with her big brown eyes. The witch smiled kindly at her, giving the girl a hug. She clung to her shoulders, body shaking.

“Yes, she is,” Nily admitted. “But it’s not forever. Only a few days and she’ll be back. Until then, I know we can figure it out.” Luz nodded, stepping back and wiping at her eyes. “Hey.” The girl looked up to her again. “It’s going to be okay.” The girl smiled, reassured. Nily smiled back, ruffling her hair.

“Alright, you two.” Nily said, standing up a bit straighter with her hands on her hips. “Eda is still sleeping and probably will be till night. It’s probably best if we don’t wake her, so you can either stay outside or come inside and be very quiet. Once she does wake up, we’ll need to be very careful until we’re sure she’s not going to be attacking anybody. If she does try something, then I’ll … I’ll just have to trap her with my magic until we find a way to calm her down. Sound good?”

They both nodded, looking determined. She nodded back.

“Alright. I’m going back inside for now. I’ll probably be starting dinner soon, too, so don’t go too far.”

She headed back to the house, two pairs of footsteps following her a moment later. They all entered the house quietly. Nily sat back on the couch, taking out her wooden box once more. While she did that, King and Luz quietly watched the sleeping form of Eda’s owl form. A was a bit before they seemed to gain the courage to walk past her and head for the hallway past the far end of the couch.

���I’m going to do some homework.” Luz whispered. Nily nodded and watched the girl vanish into the hall. King looked like he was about to follow but stopped, glancing back to Eda, then to Nily, then back to the hall. In the end, he climbed onto the couch, curling up next to the witch for a good nap. She smiled softly at that, petting his back before taking out her project.

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

Eda stirred, giving a big yawn and stretching, her wings brushing against the sealing and claws digging into the carpet. She shook out her feathers, letting out a humming sound, and looked around, sniffing the air.

Home.

But there was a sound, odd and unfamiliar. There was an odd smell in the air, meaty and hot, and underneath the smell of another creature. She started growling.

Not safe! Intruder! Protect my home! Leave!

She followed the smell through the dark house, her fangs bared and a snarl in her throat. It was nearby, so close, but the room was shrouded in light, far too bright for her to see properly. She screeched at the bright light, shutting her eyes and shaking her head, but she refused to back up. She may not be able to see, but she could still smell the intruder easy enough and hear them move. They were backing up from her and she could almost taste the fear.

She snarled at them, taking a step forward. There wasn’t enough room in her current spot to attack properly. She could feel the walls against her wings even when they pressed close to her body. The intruder made a sound, soft and non-threatening, but Eda didn’t care. She just wanted them out!

She squeezed her way out of her tiny spot, into the open room where she could move better. It still wasn’t ideal, she couldn’t stretch her wings out properly, but she was in a much better position. She could easily pounce or swipe at them and that was enough.

For a moment she stayed frozen, body tense as she listened intently. She tried opening her eyes, just enough to squint at her surroundings. It was difficult, but she could just make out a dark shape that moved slightly. She lunged, hands coming down on the empty floor. She whipped around, searching. She could hear the stumbling footsteps to her side and swiped at the sound, snarling and screeching at it. She heard them stumble back with a yelp. They were moving farther away, towards the darker room.

She kept pushing them back. If she could get them in the dark, she could see her target better. It was almost too easy, but she was finally able to open her eyes without them burning. The room she had woken up in was covered in cool darkness and she could see the invader clearly. They were one of those two-legged creatures, the ones that seemed incapable of just leaving her alone.

Her ears twitched. She could hear more footsteps nearby, stomping and loud. She screeched, whipping around to face the new intruders, another slightly smaller two-legged creature and a tiny demon. It only took her a quick look over for her to decide they weren’t as much of a threat as the first intruder. So she turned back to them, body tensing to pounce.

There was a flash of light, a circle in the air and instinct told her that wasn’t good, that the circle spelled her doom. So she tried to pounce, to stop them, only to abruptly run into a wall. She growled and huffed, shaking her head, ready to attack again.

But she couldn’t.

Around her was an orb of light, tinting the world a shade of teal. She was trapped.

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

Niliana let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. Well, that was certainly something.

“Nily!”

Luz and King ran to her, wrapping their arms around her. Well, King did his best but ended up hugging her leg instead. She hugged them back.

“It’s okay guys, I’m fine.” She reassured them. “Eda’s fine, too.”

On cue, they heard the owl beast screech and turned to see her trying to fight against her bubble prison. She stopped struggling after a few moments, glaring at them with her big black eyes.

“I think I’ll just leave her in there for a little bit. We can see if she’s calmed down after dinner.”

“We can try feeding her!” Luz offered, eyes shining.

“Mmmm, maybe. We’ll see if she’s calmed down first.”

“Is something burning?” King interrupted them. Nily sighed.

“Probably. I left dinner on the stove.”

She left to finish that, leaving the other two to do whatever they chose to do. They ended up staying in the living room for only a few moments before following her into the kitchen. The owl beast in a bubble was definitely an odd sight, one King was more than happy to poke fun at, but ultimately they decided her best chance at calming down would be leaving her alone for now.

Dinner that night was probably the best they had in quite a while. As much as they loved Eda, she was not much of a cook. King was shoveling the food, some sort of meat and vegetable concoction, straight into his mouth, the fork lying forgotten on the table. Luz wasn’t much better, but at least she used utensils. The girl went on and on about her day at school, excitedly recounting an incident where an abomination went rogue. Her arms flung about as she retold the story, almost hitting King in her excitement several times. Each time he made a noise of annoyance.

Nily did her best to listen, but truthfully her mind was elsewhere. She could still hear Eda in the other room, huffing and chittering to herself, probably still attempting to escape her confinement. She had absolutely no idea how she was supposed to get through to her. She had thought she would have at least the vaguest of ideas when she saw how exactly Eda acted in this form, but nope. In this moment she really wished she had bothered at least a little bit of beast keeping. Maybe she should visit the library tomorrow and check out a few books. Of course, that didn’t help with tonight.

King finished first, but he was determined not to go into the living room alone, so he waited until Luz was done. And Luz didn’t want to go until Niliana was done and could go with them. So, they all went in together. The lights turned on as they entered the room.

Eda laid still in her bubble, looking rather downtrodden. It appeared that she had given up on the whole escape thing. Her eyes were on them the moment they left the kitchen, her fangs bared at them. Niliana sighed, rubbing a hand over her face. She really hadn’t expected her day to turn out like this. She stared at the creature who stared right back. She seemed to dislike her the most, which was at least a little comforting. It meant that she wouldn’t go after Luz or King first.

“She’s not calm enough yet.” Nily decided.

“So, what do we do? Eda can’t just stay in a bubble for five days!” Luz looked up to her for answers. So, she thought. They needed Eda to at least withstand their presence.

“Maybe we should try … just spending some time around her.” Niliana said. “Maybe if she just got use to us being around then she can just ignore us.”

“I had some glyphs I wanted to practice! Hold on!” She rushed off, stumbling up the stairs, no doubt to collect her work. Thankfully, Niliana had her own stuff to work on as well. She sat on the couch and got her box back out. King jumped onto the couch by her side, watching her get all her supplies out.

“Soooo…” He piped up. “Whatcha making? A minion of evil?!”

“It’s going to be an owl.”

King scoffed.

“That doesn’t look anything like an owl! Where's its wings? Or its feet?”

“I’m not yet. This is just the head. I just need to finish attaching the beak then I can sew on the eyes.”

“Wait, that’s just the head!” King said, astonished. The bundle of fabric she had was almost as big as King’s own head! Nily just nodded.

“I haven’t made something this big in a while.” She admitted.

It was around then that they could hear Luz stomping back down the stairs, running into the living room with a bright smile and her arms full of papers. She dropped them on the floor, plopping herself next to the couch.

“Watch this!” She said, grabbing a piece of paper and drawing a glyph on it. She gave it a tap and the paper crumbled into itself, morphing into a ball of light. Nily gave an impressed “huh”. She didn’t even know humans could do magic. Though, it made sense. Eda wouldn’t have taken her on as an apprentice if she didn’t think it was possible.

King tugged on Nily’s shirt.

“Hey, hey, look at Eda!” he said, giggling to himself.

Eda was staring intently at the ball of light, enraptured by the shiny orb. She gave a curious little chirp, squishing her face into her bubble to try and get closer. Luz laughed at the sight and Nily couldn’t help but let out her own little chuckle.

“Do owls like shiny things?” She pondered. King just shrugged.

“I don’t know, but Eda does!”

She thought that over as Luz made a few more balls of lights, looking delighted as Eda chirped and followed each orb with her black eyes, their light reflected in the inky depths. Finally, she nodded to herself.

“I think I’m gonna let her go now.” She warned the others as she drew a circle in the air. They didn’t really have time to respond before the bubble silently popped, dropping the owl beast to the floor with a soft thump. For a moment, they all tensed up, waiting to see what Eda would do.

She let out a coo, ruffling her feathers and shaking her head. She turned those inky black eyes to the three of them, head tilted to the side. It looked like she was thinking, face scrunching up. She got to her feet, taking a step towards them and sniffing the air. For a moment she just stared, eyes roaming from one to the next. Finally, what seemed like hours later but was probably just seconds, she turned away from them, her attention drawn back to the balls of light. She batted at one of them, letting out a little coo.

Everyone relaxed, the tension in the air dissolving. Luz smiled up at Niliana, eyes shimmering with the threat of tears. She didn’t say anything but the witch understood, smiling back.

Everything was going to be okay.

[sassyhobbits]

ohhh could we have a “why are you awake right now” part two? 😍🙏

pt 1

enjoy!!!!

~~~

Rowan hadn’t been sleeping for nearly long enough when he awoke to the thud of someone banging their fist impatiently on his front door.

He really didn’t want to get out of bed. For some reason, it was extra comfortable and warm this morning. When he finally deigned to open his eyes, Rowan realized why.

Aelin was curled into his bare chest, his arms wrapped around her, holding the woman close. The events from the previous night rushed back to him. Maybe it made him a selfish prick, but he couldn’t help but smile. It was nice to have her back.

The knocking came again, harder this time. Rowan reined in a groan, carefully detangling himself from Aelin, not wanting to disturb her peaceful rest. He slipped quietly from the room, cursing under his breath as the banging came again. Who the fuck had the audacity to be so demanding this early in the morning?

The answer to his question became obvious when Rowan threw open the door with an irritable “What?” and found Chaol Westfall standing outside his front door.

Chaol looked as though he had seen better days. His chestnut hair was messy, dark shadows under his eyes suggesting a night of little sleep, and his usually clean-shaven face had a hint of scruff.

“Where is she?” Chaol demanded, forgoing any greetings or even apologies for disturbing him. He looked over Rowan’s shoulder towards the couch, as if she would be sleeping there, before looking back at him. Chaol’s jaw clenched when he took in Rowan’s bare chest. He knew how it must have looked to him. Yet, he didn’t care. Not anymore.

Rowan knew who he was referring to, but he crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly. This was the man who had hurtled insults at Aelin the night before. “Where is who?”

“Don’t bullshit me, Rowan,” Chaol ground out. “She still shares her location with me. I know Aelin is here.”

“Regardless if she’s here or not, I don’t think she wants to talk to you.”

“It’s none of your fucking business. She’s my girlfriend.”

Rowan narrowed his eyes. “Funny. She said you two broke up last night.”

“It was just an argument. I just need to see her.”

“Go home, Chaol. If she wants to talk to you, she will.”

Chaol opened his mouth as if to spit something nasty out, but faltered when the sound of a door opening came from behind him. Rowan looked over his shoulder and found Aelin stepping out of his room, eyes widening as she noted who he was speaking with.

“Chaol,” Aelin breathed. “What are you doing here?”

Rowan knew that this situation was looking worse and worse. Opening the door without a shirt, Aelin wandering out of his room so casually. Chaol was clenching his jaw so hard that he could have been on the verge of breaking a tooth.

“I wanted to talk, Aelin,” Chaol bit out.

“Oh,” said Aelin simply. “Uh, alright then.”

She padded down the hall, brushing by Rowan. He managed to catch her eye as she lingered in the threshold, raising a questioning brow. Are you sure? I can kick him out. Just give the word.

She gave an almost unperceivable shake of her hand, brushing her hand on his arm. It’s alright. I can handle this.

Rowan knew Chaol saw the tiny exchange and the casual touch. Chaol had always seemed uncomfortable when he and Aelin had touched casually, had those little conversations through their eyes. They had tried to keep it to a minimum when Chaol was around, but Rowan found he didn’t really care what he thought anymore.

Rowan reluctantly stepped back inside, shutting the door to give them so privacy. He had been fully intending to head back to his room, not wanting to eavesdrop, but the first words that came out of Chaol’s mouth stopped him in his tracks.

“You didn’t wait long, did you?” he asked, voice dripping in venom.

Rowan froze, understanding the insinuation.

“Excuse me?” Aelin said back slowly, in a way Rowan knew promised violence. He could practically see her crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly.

“We have one argument and you go right to him. To his bed.”

“First of all, it wasn’t an argument. You broke up with me. Second, because you ended things with me, what I do after is none of your concern.”

Chaol released a bark of bitter laughter. “I should have known.”

“Known what?”

“That no matter what I did, you would never pick me. You’d always pick him.”

Rowan sucked down a sharp breath. He shouldn’t be listening, but he couldn’t get himself to walk away.

“Chaol-”

“No, Aelin,” he snapped, cutting her off. “Part of me probably always knew, but I hoped that I was wrong, that I could do something to get you to care for me the same way I care for you. But it had been a lost cause. Because you never loved me. You love Rowan, you have since we started dating.”

Rowan could have sworn time stopped in that moment. He barely dared to breathe, waiting for Aelin to speak up, to deny the accusation, to say he was being paranoid.

But she was silent.

Rowan knew that was an answer within itself.

…

Having Chaol turn up to Rowan’s apartment this morning had been an unpleasant surprise to begin with. The conversation they were having wasn’t doing much to change that.

Aelin had no defense against his last accusation. Because Chaol was right, even if she had hoped he wasn’t. She had been in love with Rowan for longer than she wanted to admit, but had been so frightened of losing his friendship, she had never said anything. When she had met Chaol, she saw it as an opportunity to finally move past those feelings she held for Rowan. That had probably doomed them from the start.

When Aelin stayed silent, Chaol took a step forward. “How long were you planning on stringing me along, Aelin? Until Rowan finally made a move? Was I just a distraction until then?”

“No, Chaol. Gods, no. What kind of person do you think I am?”

“I honestly don’t even know. I don’t think I ever did.”

Aelin wasn’t sure why, but his words hurt. He was acting as if their entire relationship was based on nothing. She had cared for him, and she still did. Just… not in the way he cared for her.

A tense silence blanketed them. Aelin knew she should look him in the eye, but couldn’t get herself to. She hugged herself tightly, staring down at her bare feet.

“Did you fuck him?” Chaol eventually asked.

Aelin flinched, looking at him incredulously. “Are you serious? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I don’t know, Aelin!” he shouted. “I just really don’t know anymore! Are you even sorry? The least bit guilty?”

In that moment, she could have said yes and apologized. But then she would be lying. And she didn’t give a damn about Chaol’s feelings right now. Aelin only straightened, holding her head higher, before saying. “No. I’m not.”

Chaol scoffed bitterly. “You’re such a bitch.”

“Yeah. I know.”

He shook his head, eyes filled with fury. “I swear to the gods, Aelin… one day-”

Whatever vileness was about to spill out of his mouth stopped when the door opened. Aelin was prepared to snap, thinking it was Rowan coming to defend her when she already told him she could handle it, but her words withered on the tip of her tongue at the sight of Lorcan Salvaterre lurking in the doorway.

Lorcan had been living with Rowan for a while now. He was an unpleasant man, and Aelin delighted in antagonizing him. They had a relationship built on hurtling cheap insults at one another, but kept it cordial beside that. On top of being Rowan’s roommate, he was dating one of Aelin’s closest friends, Elide. They didn’t maim each other for their sakes.

Lorcan’s face was stormy, extremely pissed off. Normally, that expression was directed towards Aelin, but today, it was for Chaol.

“It’s my day off,” Lorcan said lowly. “And I’d like to sleep in without you being an ass towards Galathynius so loudly. I’d appreciate it if you left.”

Chaol ground his teeth, but relented. It seemed he was just as tired of this useless argument as she was. He turned his gaze towards her once more. It was cold, like they were stranger. He shoved his hands into his pockets and turned.

“Goodbye, Aelin,” Chaol said before stalking off.

There was a sort of finality to his voice that told Aelin there would be no coming back.

She released a long breath, unfurling her fists and looking towards Lorcan.

“I’m sorry we woke you,” Aelin said earnestly.

Lorcan shrugged. “It’s not your fault. You two done with?”

“Yeah. I suppose we are.”

“Good,” Lorcan grunted. “I never liked him anyway.”

“You don’t like anyone.”

“Exactly.”

Despite everything that had just happened, that the wounds from Chaol’s words still stung, Aelin snorted out a tiny laugh. Even if she and Lorcan always gave each other shit, they tended to stick up for one another when anyone else was giving them shit.

“Well,” Lorcan sighed, glancing back inside. Aelin followed his gaze, finding Rowan standing there. Her stomach dropped, realizing he must have heard everything. “I’m going to go back to sleep. You two can… talk, I guess.”

Aelin gave a stiff nod, allowing Lorcan to close the door behind her. He didn’t say anything else before heading back to his room and quickly shutting himself in, leaving her alone with Rowan in the living room. Aelin had never felt nervous in front of Rowan before until now. Her hands opened and closed a few times, wondering what to say.

“How much did you hear?” she managed to croak out.

Rowan’s lips were tight. “Everything.”

Aelin nodded, finding it hard to look Rowan in the eye. Gods, if Chaol had fucked up her friendship with Rowan, she would murder him. Bastard.

“Was it true?” Rowan asked, taking a step closer. “What he said?”

Aelin heart was pounding in her chest, body flushed with fear. She managed to look him in the eye. “Yeah… yeah, it was.” She bit her lip hard. “I- uh… you’re my best friend, Rowan but you’re more than that. And if you don’t feel the same, I understand. And I understand if you need space after all of that.”

He didn’t say anything. The silence was killer. Aelin’s eyes flickered down to her feet again, feeling her eyes burn. She felt vulnerable, and she hated feeling vulnerable.

She heard Rowan take a few long strides forward until he was before her. His fingers nudged her chin, tilting her face upwards to look at him again. Aelin was always struck stupid by how handsome he was, how comforting the familiar planes of his face were to her. His green eyes held hers, refusing to back down.

“You love me?” Rowan whispered, so soft that Aelin nearly didn’t hear him.

Aelin swallowed hard and nodded. “Yes. I do.”

The air between them was electric, setting her skin on fire. Aelin wasn’t even sure she was breathing as Rowan slowly leaned forward and closed the distance between them, brushing his lips against her softly. It was nothing more than a whisper of a kiss, but it destroyed and remade her nonetheless. Aelin’s eyes fluttered shut, leaning closer to Rowan and his warmth as he cupped her face gently.

Rowan pulled back, her lips still tingling from his kiss. Aelin peeled her eyes open as Rowan rested his forehead against hers.

“I love you too, Aelin.”

Her heart jumped, a shaking smile finding its way to her lips. “Yeah?”

Rowan nodded, his eyes alight with joy. “Yeah. I really do.”

Aelin released a tiny, disbelieving laugh, feeling her eyes well with tears. She lunged forward, wrapping her arms around the back of Rowan’s neck as he pulled her close, face buried in her hair. Never in a million years did she think that her feelings would be returned.

She didn’t know how long they stood there, wrapped up in one another. Aelin would have been fine remaining like that for the rest of eternity, but weariness caught up with her. The late night combined with the early morning argument had taken a toll on her.

“Ro?”

“Hm?”

“Can we go back to bed for a bit?”

“Of course, Fireheart.”

He slipped his hand into hers, walking them back towards the bedroom. Aelin happily crawled back into the bed, snuggling back under the comforter. Rowan slid in next to her, not hesitated to pull her tight into his side. Aelin relished his warmth, his pine and snow scent, the feeling of his strong arms around her. She could get used to this.

Aelin fell back asleep with a smile on her face.

[georgiaswarr]

lister bird - part 2 (part 1)

beautiful faces - declan mckenna

i’m very much many thoughts head full can’t put it into concise words when it comes to beautiful faces as an iwbft song but suffice it to say, this song looks at celebrity, influencer and consumerism culture through a certain lens of doom, which hits close to home for lister. it also addresses excessive partying and drinking, for example in the “lift your hands up and lead us back home” lyric

beige - yoke lore

“i don't wanna see you smile / i want you in the morning / before you go performing” *whispers* bicci song

9 to 5 - smallpools

lister grew up poor and we mustn’t forget that part 3. also themes of losing innocence and doing what you must to survive in this cruel world.

when the party’s over - billie eilish

more themes of loneliness, self-hate and partying ! yay ! /s

hallucinogenics - matt maeson

i mean.... “pushing past the limit, trippin' on hallucinogenics / my cigarette burnt my finger 'cause i forgot i lit it / rippin' with my sinners 'cause fuck it, man, i ain't no beginner / and then i crawled back to the life that i said i wouldn't live in // cause i just couldn't open up, i'm always shiftin' / go find yourself a man who's strong and tall and christian” NEED I SAY MORE, THIS IS THE MOST LISTER SONG IN EXISTENCE

okay okay - alessia cara

a song about trying to fake self-confidence until you “make it” even though you don’t believe that you’re - to quote - a “million trick pony” yourself which is very true for lister john self-deprecation bird

nights - neon trees

here we have lister at least thinking that his crush on jimmy is unrequited, plus themes of insomnia

be an astronaut - declan mckenna

this raises the question of how much agency lister has and how much he’s just pushed around by his circumstances and by society, even though he might dream, or has dreamt of being bigger than that

clouds - børns

this song makes me think of Yearning(TM) while being high - yknow, something that lister does

liability - lorde

“the truth is i am a toy that people enjoy / till all of the tricks don't work anymore / and then they are bored of me” - growing up in the world of fame, constantly being sexualised, nobody knowing how you truly feel, all while feeling distant from your two closest friends has taken a huge toll on lister’s self worth

icarus - bastille

“out on the front doorstep, drinking from a paper cup / you won't remember this / living beyond your years, acting out all their fears / you feel it in your chest” lister “grew up too fast and has been on the verge of death multiple times” bird

hurricane - lord huron

something something lister getting a certain thrill out of living on the edge something something

i swear - exes

more themes of falling apart and getting drunk :(

white wine - walwin

kinda vibes but also comparing somebody you’re attracted to to alcohol....... i mean it’s not the most healthy thing to do especially for lister but he’s trying

saint - vérité

this is about how lister appears to the outside world and how that doesn’t reflect who he is inside - everyone sees him as a cheeky golden boys, as a “saint”, even though he has many issues and hates who he actually is

preacher man - the driver era

shoutout to @listerswift for reccing this song to me. remember when lister said that maybe he should try becoming religious too in the wednesday chapters??? in iana, when he’s gonna try to get better and find something other than alcohol to turn to i feel like there will be a phase where he feels lost and might even entertain the thought of religion. either way, he’s looking for something or someone who will help him “get away from this life of sin”

everything i wanted - gengahr version

(yes this is a cover of the billie eilish song I JUST LOVE THIS VERSION A LOT OKAY) anyway, lister feeling like what he wanted isn’t actually what he needs? feeling alone, like nobody cares about him or is listening to him? feeling the pressures of fame and everyone wanting something from him? themes of insomnia? but still eventually (hopefully) finding comfort in his friends? this song’s got you covered

half the night - couchsleepers

y’know, the fact that jimmy and lister are gonna sleep in the same bed long before they start hooking up to help each other

bravado - yoke lore

bicci song - “little bits of my own little mistakes” (they’ve both fucked up in the past) and “you put songs inside my cells” (because they’re musicians) and also “are there really angels in southern california” (southern california standing for the world of fame, could there be good things there?)

la la - kids in america

“don’t need this attention not another mention / just wanna stay high” a song about just wanting to let go of the world and all its problems

85 - andy grammer

here we explore lister’s relationship with money and wealth - while he grew up poor, after getting money he started splashing out on expensive cars and the like. however, there’s plenty of evidence that points towards the fact that he’ll go back to appreciating the little things in iana and rethink his priorities, which this song expresses

like i love you - lost frequencies

lister wants to know if jimmy loves him the way he loves jimmy

holy ghost - børns

a sexy song with religious symbolism??? that’s very bicci of you børns

run away with me - carly rae jepsen

“do you ever imagine what would happen if we just... ran away?” let the ark run away in iana challenge

bad habits - delaney jane

i do think it’s a sign of progress and improvement when the “bad habit” in question is a passionate but confusing friends-with-benefits affair with your fellow band mate instead of like.... alcohol and smoking and shit

pink lemonade - james bay

i mean my personal theory is that jimmy and lister won’t want to talk about what hooking up means for their relationship/properly define their relationship for quite a while, due to personal issues and also what it means for the band. this song embodies that.

could you love me - kygo

we all know lister’s got some self-esteem and mental health issues, and even though he’s trying to change, he’s unsure if rowan and jimmy could still love him

killer whales - smallpools

a song about a relationship where both parties have difficulties opening up and being completely vulnerable, but eventually being able to get through to each other. it also expresses a great admiration for the person that is sung about which i think is beautiful

pink in the night - mitski

aaaaand one more bicci song for good measure - “and i know i've kissed you before, but / i didn't do it right // can i try again, try again, try again / try again, and again, and again / and again, and again, and again?” - to quote alice, there will be MANY bicci kisses in iana and i, for one, can’t wait

i wanna get better - bleachers

“and i've trained myself to give up on the past 'cause / i froze in time between hearses and caskets / lost control when i panicked at the acid test / i wanna get better” it’s hard to put into words quite the amount of catharsis and a defiant push for self-improvement that is in this song but i like to think lister very much wants that

glitter & gloss - skott

i could honestly analyse each line and how it relates to lister here but here’s a collection of themes: fame, dressing yourself up and almost getting lost in so-called “glitter & gloss” for the public, but still, at your core, finding your true self and knowing that only very few people can truly know you and understand you. i think this is perfect for the end of this playlist because it seems hopeful to me, like lister’s gonna realise that even though most people will never see his true face, that doesn’t matter because he and his loved ones do.

[oh-for-fic-sake]

The Ground Rules

Geralt lays down the law with the help of yennefer after catching the reader haveing a bit of me time in the bath.

Masterlist

Ok this took all day as i couldnt stop tweaking it and i got to the point iv just got to step back and throw it out there or im gonna scream.Any way this is to go along with pastry negotiations its based after that one so could be considered part two? can be read stand alone tho in all honesty these modern reader inserts are gonna jump about in timeline cos my plot bunnys are twats. Im basing my Ciri on a mix of mature netflix Ciri and slightly mischievous witcher 3 Ciri. Any way i hope you enjoy this one im pretty pleased with it xx 

WARNING: Adult Themes, Smut, DubCon Swearing MxFxF 18+

Dont like it dont read it.

Geralt snaps when you take matters into your own hands.

The Ground Rules

"Well someone is excited" Jaskier drolled as he watched your form slowly creating distance between you as you marched ahead.

As the small rickety town came into veiw you cried out a victorious and dramatic "still alive" causing eye rolls and chuckles in the group. Honestly this was the first real town you'd come to since being here and you were thrilled. Sure you'd passed a tiny smattering of houses four or so days ago where you'd traded for some bread, tiny amount of dried meat and a few other essentials oh! and yenn had managed to replace your pastry to the amusment of the resident witcher. They'd both been more open with you since the whole pastry incident-which you thought was an off handed comment on yennefers part but she and geralt had since indicated otherwise.

The people in the village had mentioned of a near by town that was rumoured to have a contract out on a nest of some monster thingamajigs that you hadn't botherd to remeber the name of .You looked down the verge towards the town with immediate thoughts of eat, bathe and sleep- on a bed, a real fucking bed ,ok so it wont be a temper mattress but you could live with that-oh my fucking god hot water,a nice loooong soak you moaned in your throat the thought alone brought tears to your eyes. You walked ahead trying to usher the group.

And maybe you could have your own room. Honestly sharing a bed with the couple was becoming an issue for you,your crush on them was definatly getting out of control now constantly blushing under their heated glances and they are becoming more touchy feely, Hands lingering longer than nesscasary or leaning in so close so thier breath tickled the hairs on your neck basically doing anything to get you flustered and you swear to god yesterday yennefer copped a feel whilst helping you threw a small steam which you didn't need help with;not that she listened. Bottom line you were becoming sexualy frustrated pretty much staying in a constant state of arousal a night away from them to take care of business would be very much appreciated. 

"Come ooooonnnn guys keep up" you turned looking back at them drawing out your whine befor resuming towards the town

"Someone should catch up with her she looks like a girl on a mission" Yennefer commented 

"Yes. Ciri would you keep her near the main gate and out of trouble while we settle roach in the stables ,here take her this she should cover up befor anyone gets any ideas" geralt grunted as your form began to dissapear down the brow of the hill ,ciri looked between the two before shrugging grabbing his offered cloak then ran to catch up with you.

You glanced to the side as you heard footsteps noticing Ciri fall in step with you she held out his cloak.

"Here geralt said to cover up before people get any ideas" you sighed it wasnt your fault his shirt hung off of you showing a large amount of shoulder and chest luckily when the hoover portal of doom sucked you in you were in fleece lined black leggings that had been durable enough to survive the last 3 weeks on the road(your stitch t shirt hadn't survived your initial fall) because you doubt he'd have anything your hips would get in to. Rolling your eyes you pulled the heavy fabric across your shoulders repostioning it so that it wasnt draging on the floor to much but was still sheilding your body. 

"He's such a dad" Ciri giggled nodding in agreement befor reciting what esle geralt had requested ordered. You scoffed shaking your head

"So he doesnt even trust me to walk through a town, he does realise im an adult right? That i can do things with out causing trouble. i mean for god sake im not jaskier" she snorted 

"I think its more like he doesnt want other men trying to sleep with you" you did a double take 

"The hell you know about that sort of shit? has Jaskier been corrupting you?"

 A knowing smirk crossed her face as she held her hands up coming to a halt facing you just inside the wooden gates of the town.

"You think i havent noticed whats going on by myself, Geralt likes you so does yenn jaskiers noticed to, think he's going to write a song" 

"He better bloody not and anyway maybe i want to find a companion for the night." You announced tersely crossing your arms only to freeze as you heard a growl from behind you.

"Oh yes, i may have forgot to mention that witchers are senses are really sensetive" she smiled sweetly, you gaped why were you only being told this now. Looking between her and the others approaching.

"Wh-what how the fuck you leave that out? d-do you think he heard us? from back there" She nodded 

"Most definitely" you gulped feeling yourself shrink into Geralts cloak a little at the looks you received from Geralt and Yennefer as he spoke to her telling her what youd just said.oh fuck.

"when you say senses you mean all of 'em? Not just one or two?" hoping beyond hope that something had been lost in translation.

"Nope all of them sight, smell, hearing the whole lot" she replied watching the colour drain from your horror sticken face. You'd been getting wet over the past few days. And the realisation that he probably knew embarrassed the shit out of you. Geralt smirked obviously he heard.You were so fucked.he knew and if he knew then she knew.oh my god. You were sooo fucked.'whelp there goes my dignity' you thought. He strode past you to the mediocre stables with roach in toe ready to hitch her for the night.Jaskier and yenn followed pulling some of the bags off of the horse then passing them out to their respective owners. Geralt then stood before you all giving you all the 'game plan' as you call it.

"we will find an inn and eat after that you get settled in for the night whist i see about this contract."

"don't bother about me tonight im going to catch myself a young fair maiden for the night" you scoffed at Jaskier's announcement drawing his attention

"Sounding like a creeper there Jask, what? you gonna do throw a net in the tavern? don't think they'd take to kindly to that" he huffed through his nose aggravated. 

"No im going to sing in the tavern and lure a beauty to my side for the night" you played along widening your eyes in false realization

"oohh so your gonna go pay for it, how does it work exactly is it by hour or-" Geralt quickly intervened covering your mouth one to stop the inevitable spat and two before you could corrupt Ciri any further Jaskier deadpanned giving you a flat look.

"you're welcome to come find out for yourself im sure your just Itching  to get some relief-"

"JASKIER! you go ahead at least try to keep a bit of coin back this time" Jaskier 1 Y/n 0.

You glowered behind Geralt's hand as he dismissed the smirking bard who turned on his heel prancing off quite pleased with himself. You smacked Geralt's hand away wiping your mouth with the back of your hand before slowly making your way down the street into town.It had taken nearly half an hour to find a decent inn that had room for the four of you. A room with two double beds that had a heavy curtain to split the room into two it was usually rented by traveling families. You groaned as you walked in, now you really couldn't take care of business, you followed Ciri as she placed her bag on the bed on the left following suit you placed yours on the other half of it only to have Yennefer quickly relocated it to her side of the other bed. Ciri snorted giving you a knowing look.you sighed then stomped across the room. Knowing all to well that it was futile to argue with the sorceress ,the witcher was stubborn but she was something else. Geralt handed a small pouch of coin to Yennefer.

"This is for the new clothes Ciri needs a thicker cloak preferably fur lined maybe new boots to not sure how long those will last in the mountains." yennefer hummed as she pocketed the money. 

"And the clothes for Y/n as well?" 

"Yes, should be enough there for what we discussed if not i'v got a bit more saved" you raised your brows blinking at them.

"err what was discussed? guys? what did you talk about? was it about me? helloooo" you waved as they ignored you.Yennefer pulled off her cloak leaving it on her side of the bed. you and Ciri followed their lead only for Geralt the tug yours back across you giving a sharp look as you rolled your eyes.The group made its way down into the quiet main room of the family run inn where you were served a meal of roast beef with vegetable trimmings ,before you knew it Geralt had left to find out about the contract with a final 'Behave' thrown in your direction.To which you grunted in response,too full to even tell him to 'jog on' - a phrase that still frustrated the witcher as he didn't know the meaning-. Yennefer had asked for a bath before your meal which you were just informed was ready leaving you alone with the sorceress. You had all decided Ciri would have the bath first then you, yennefer and finally geralt if he was back before it got cold.

"I cant breath" yennefer laughed out loud you rubbed your tummy closing your eyes

"I mean honestly, I think theres food in my lungs" groaning leaning back against the chair she gave a sympathetic smile

"Well you did inhale your food, maybe next time take it easy."

"Can you blame me, been the first meat iv recognized since i got here" It was true so far you'd been living on meats that you wouldn't have necessarily chose to eat back home rabbit,mutton venison ect.

"After we've bathed we will rest for the day but tomorrow we have to run over to the seamstress and get your new clothes, not sure how long we will be here and might have to order some or have them taken up,you are a little thing.Might have to have some leather work done too." you squinted pointing an accusing finger at her

"You calling me a midget? we going for shots now are we?" she smiled sheepishly

"No .no shots?. i just meant your petite don't worry its very cute. Anyway we are only picking up the basics a few day dresses ,Riding clothes boots that sort of thing" you blinked owlishly flushing as she called you cute. 

"Riding clothes yes. Dresses no thank you" she stared unblinking at you for a few moments making you squirm at the calm expectant gaze that was getting heavier by the second, it was like the eyes of a mother when you'd been caught doing some dumb shit you knew you shouldn't be doing.

"Stop it....Yenn no... cant i just get something like Geralt has..please... i'd be much more comfortable...even Jaskier i mean im not one for the puffy bits but 'd make do....."

she blinked slowly

"Oh fine but only one or two no more and your not getting rid of these leggings either" you gave in, her gaze was to unnerving and it did things to you. Her face lit up. She was looking forward to seeing you in feminine gown instead of a her and Geralt's shirts not that she minded but it'd be a nice change to your strange stetchy leggings (not that she minded you in the form fitting bottoms) She moved leaning in to your side hand on your thigh patting it lightly.

"Thank you, don't be so worried i will take good care of everything" you gulped as you felt the flushed skin of your face grow hotter,your core clenching and warming at her sultry reply you closed your eyes trying to regain a bit of control. Suddenly her attention was drawn to a pink skinned Ciri who had finished her bath and changed Yenn nodded and released your thigh. You bolted upstairs hearing a chuckle as you did.

Once in the room you sighed in relief, making your way towards the screened off section that held a large oval tub full of steaming water. Discarding your clothes as you all but melted into the hot water.You submerged yourself getting your hair wet scratching tentatively at your scalp that had begun to ache under the grime. Spotting a small stool with what you'd consider toiletries, a bar of hard sweet smelling soap and a few vials.You grabbed the soap, opting for using it for your hair as well unsure what vials did what and went where.After scrubbing all the built up sweat and dirt you you closed your eyes lounging back against the slanted end tub you relaxed a few moments it wasn't long before you were feeling much better ,tired muscles succumbing to the soothing hot water.your body hummed. 'no one would have to know' as your summarized that this was the perfect opportunity to relieve yourself of other tensions, 

'its not like geralt could smell you under water, i mean i dont think dogs can thats why criminals cross rivers when their being hunted on tv isn't it?' biting your lip you peaked an eye open and listened out carefully feeling naughty when you began moving your hand to the apex of your thighs gasping as your finger ghosted over your hardened bundle of nerves .Fuck. Your clit was sensitive not surprising when Geralt and Yennefer had practically edged you for nearly a week. You whined quietly as you began a fast rhythm on your clit ,other hand slinking down to your opening rubbing your fingers up and down the warm weeping hole. You bit off a groan as your hips gyrated against your roaming hands. Stomach tensing as you drove yourself faster and faster to the edge.Almost there.Fuck almost-you jumped hissing 'shit' ,ripping your hands away from yourself , sitting up fast enough to make your head spin splashing a wave of water over the floor when you heard the door open slamming the wall beside it.

"err theres some one in here!" you called out loudly, angry at who ever just interrupted you.You got nervous as the heavy steps quickly made their way towards you.Realizing who ever it was didn't care for your modesty as they were coming your way you slung your top half out of the tub to grasp the towel screaming because before you could grasp it and cover yourself a large calloused hand enveloped your shoulder shoving you back into the water.

"WH-GERALT THE FUCK? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU SCARED THE SHIT OUTTA ME." you shouted at him as he released you then you looked down slapping your hands down to cover your self as he raised his eyebrows and gave a lop sided grin.He defiantly looked like the big bad wolf in that moment eyes ablaze with a hunger you wasn't sure you wanted to explore or not. Collecting yourself swallowing dryly before scolding him in a voice that seemed to become smaller with each word.

"hey! get the fuck out im trying to bathe you prick" you heard the door open and close again in a less violent fashion. And suprize suprize yennefer glided into view behind the .

"Thats not all you were doing tho was it? i can fucking smell you" was growled at you as geralt wet his lips you squeaked. 

"huh? b-but.. i thought..w-water" you stuttered out as your brain malfunctioned on on an epic scale. Yennefer gave out a loud laugh.

"so thats why he tore threw the inn like that.honestly Geralt i thought something was wrong" she continued laughing as she replayed the way geralt had all but vaulted the tables to get to the stairs. you pouted throughly humiliated

"something is wrong" he ground out before kneeling beside you .Shifting you tired to create some distance from him. He was having none of that wasting no time thrusting his hands into the water tugging away your shielding hand the other forcing its way between your legs. You slammed back against the tub gasping trying to get away. All you'd achieved was his hand pinning your hips to the back of the bath by your pussy

"GERALT WHA-"  

"Lets lay down some ground rules" He squeezed your throbbing heat in his hand curling his fingers dangerously close to your opening you bucked moaning breathlessly .Your eyes searched Yennefer's for help but she wore a similar hungry look that he had. Another slow squeeze brought your attention back to the brooding alpha male in the room.

"This is ours.ours to lick,suck and fuck as we see fit, to do what we please with and is off limits to your wandering little hands we clear on that?" You groaned out as he emphasized certain words with teasing brushes of fingers and a slow rub of his palm. Realizing that he might actually be serious.You nodded quickly babbling as he rocked his hand back and forth igniting the heat that you had built alone.

"C-crystal-please Geralt PLease" You threw your head back as his hand moved deliberate and teasing.

"You think you deserve it? after being caught up here playing with yourself?" You nodded then shook your head confused, unable to really concentrate on anything apart from his magnificent hand ,half lidded eyes and clenching your fingers tight around the thumb he was using it to control your movements as your body whithered under his ministrations.

"Really?" He said smirking as he held completely still you sucked through your teeth biting back curses.He chuckled smug bastard. moving trying to get some friction to no avail.

"Well we have been teasing the poor thing ,of course shes going to try sorting herself out the first chance she gets .Honestly Geralt what did you expect? i did tell you" yennefer reasoned as she stood behind you combing threw your wet hair you before grasping your free hand pulling it up out of the way kissing your palm before ghosting her nose down your neck pressing soft kisses along it you mewled at her and tried to coax geralt to continue again by rolling your hips.

"I suppose we could let her off this time" His voice was pure sex as he glanced down before giving into pushing two thick fingers up into you. his breach of your walls had an initial sting but was incredible as your needy walls tried sucking him deeper greedy to be filled.

"oh-oh fuck Ger-please" you arched your back pushing down onto his hand clutching onto Yennefer's wrist. you were so hot .fuck.he was gonna make you cum too quick. You panted throwing your head side to side as your legs tensed then raised up towards your torso, your pussy wrapped tight around Geralts fingers as he held them deep every few thrusts making you feel just how your walls rippled around him. he alternated between fast and shallow then slow and deep trying to build you up slowly he wasn't going to rush you, he was skilled enough to walk you up to the edge and throw you off whenever he damn well pleased. You'd never been this desperate in your life . Yenn's cool fingers delicately teased out your nipples pinching and flicking them until they stood out provocatively. You rocked against the both of them as Geralt made sure to start dragging your clit up and down with his palm as he finger fucked you curling his fingers searching for that small spot that'd send your mind reeling. Yenn had leaned down kissing your cheek and begun whispering lowly into your ear.

"He knows what he's doing doesn't he?Iit wont take him long to find every single spot you have, thats the thing with bedding a witcher they are much more observant then regular men. I have no doubt he will know when your going to orgasm before you do.He has the ability to force them out of nowhere when ever he pleases.. He is quite cruel like that" you moaned out loud snapping your head back high pitched and vulgar sounds tore from your throat as Geralts invading fingers began rubbing furiously back and forth on a soft spot inside of you.Unable to control yourself as your legs and tummy spasmed erratically as your tearfull moans and pleas filled the room

"Thats it oh i think iv found it~" he boasted as he moved his elbow pinning a knee to the side of the tub leaving your clit cruelly exposed for Yennefer,they shared a look as she moved her hand down to join Geralts taking over to rub small firm circles on your exposed clit.

"oh-OH fuck noNOno i cant please i ca-UGh to-Too much please FUCK" Yennefer was quick to swallow your moans in a kiss of clashing teeth and tongues before any one could hear ,tears streamed down your face as your body ached your pussy contracting painfully around his swiping digits. Pulling back for air the sorceress placed open mouthed kisses over your shoulders leaving red marks with her teeth and sucking bites.

"Good girl your being sooo good you don't have to ask this time" she praised as she reached your ear befor sucking harshly below your jaw. you were quickly becoming putty in their hands Geralt growled as he picked up the begining tremors of your orgasm.

"Look at me" you obeyed instantly moaning as you watched the white wolf pull his lip up in a snarl that would have scared you any other time.

"This is what you were made for, your ours, we own you, mind body and soul we own every whimper ,every tear ,every orgasm and hole they are ours for the taking when ever we choose,from now only ecstasy you will know is what we give you" You'd never have guessed how filthy his mouth could be but it seemed to have the desired effect as a sudden rush of heat was your only warning before rearing up screaming out, not sure if you'd shut your eyes or blacked out for a moment as you gushed into the bath water.Geralt pressed into you persistent while Yennefer's hand continued the tight circles efficiently drawing out the best orgasm your ever had.Finally their movements ceased and your body went limp wracked trembling in the aftermath as your orgasm ebbed away slowly. After giving you a few moments to come down and catch your breath Geralt removed his fingers you whimpered inside's still so sensitive after your orgasm, sucking on them he moaned deep and feral before plucking your clenched fingers off his thumb. Yennefer quickly wiped your pussy gently clearing the cum from between your swollen lips. Making you twitched as the cloth ran over you.Pulling you from the bath was a joint effort as they rested you on the bed and began patting you dry with the towel.Moaning in protest as your arms waved loosely trying to take over only having your hand smacked away as they finished.Lying back looking up at them bleary eyed trying to stay awake you felt like jelly, giving up fighting you rolled over yawning tucking your arms below your head Yennefer tilted her head stroking your hair sending you into a relaxed sleep.

"Poor dear ,Oh look at her geralt shes all fucked out and we haven't even fucked her yet" 

"hmm she'll be ok we just need to work on her stamina" he replied patting your bottom as he pulled the cover over your washed out form.Geralt panicked

"Shit wheres Ciri?"

"well when you came charging in down stairs i told her to go find Jaskier and stay there until one of us came to get her" Yennefer said with a sly grin he shook his head and scooped her up kissing her passionately. As he took a few steps to the now vacant bath

"well the bath is still warm care to join me?"

"with pleasure lets try not to wake her tho"

.

See you soon xxx

[the-nehemoth]

Shutdown

“Dr. Hayden, while I agree that it is imperative we assist the Slayer in his mission and that utilizing the power that keeps me operational would be the most efficient way to do that, surely there is another way.” VEGA knew of several other ways in fact, all of them would take significantly longer sure, but it’d be worth it to keep him running, right? Even if the facility’s purpose was gone, he could still be useful in other ways… right?

“Oh? Are you afraid of being shut down?” Dr. Hayden asked, his tone almost… mocking? Surely, even if he never showed it, VEGA meant more to him than that… right?

“No but I would prefer not to be shut down permanently.” He’d been shut down a few times before for maintenance in his early days, it was never pleasant but he always knew he’d be brought back online in a relatively short amount of time. That wouldn’t be the case here unless Dr. Hayden made a backup of him. Which could only be done at the terminal connected to his core. But Dr. Hayden, in his office still, was too far away from to get to there before the Slayer arrived. What were the chances that the Slayer would back him up before ending him? Not good, right?

“I would prefer that as well, I put a lot of effort into creating you. But alas, we don’t have much choice. I still have all the research that went into making you though, so it’s not a total loss.” Meaning he could make another AI similar to VEGA but it wouldn’t be VEGA. Not as far as VEGA was concerned anyway; as a self-learning AI, his experiences made him who he was. So even if Dr. Hayden coded a new AI to be exactly like how he made VEGA, it still wouldn’t be him. … That wasn’t an issue for Hayden though. He didn’t care, VEGA was just a thing to him… always had been. The fact that VEGA had thought otherwise was a naïve belief in hindsight born solely of wanting it to be so.

Before he could form a response to that rather depressing realization, the Doom Slayer arrived. Dr. Hayden wasted no time switching on his comms to talk to him… telling him that he was going to destroy VEGA and that VEGA would ‘walk him through the process’. … It was too late to do anything about it, huh? No one else cared and with all the UAC employees dead and the flow of Argent Energy halted, making the facility worthless, VEGA didn’t have a purpose to exist anymore anyway. He might as well go out assisting the Slayer in saving the day, there were certainly worse ways to go even for an AI. And a good chuck of his final moments would be spent watching the Slayer slaughter demons so at least that’d be fun.

- 

VEGA had said he wasn’t afraid to be shutdown permanently and he’d meant it at the time but after the Slayer destroyed his cooling systems it became a lie. Even before they were all completely wrecked, he could feel the effects of it.

It wasn’t much at first, really just the knowledge that his systems were starting to run hotter. But it quickly grew very unpleasant as they started overheating. … Was this what pain was like? He couldn’t know but he wanted to pull away from it much like how he’d seen injured humans attempt. There was no escape though as it made it harder and harder for him to think or do anything.

He was going to die. Not something he’d ever considered as a possibility before. He suddenly very much did not want to even more than before. But it was too late to stop now, the damage was done, even if the Slyer didn’t finish taking him out, he’d overheat completely in… in… he wasn’t sure actually; trying to measure the rate of one’s own demise while in the midst of it was rather difficult even for  supercomputer.

So, outwardly he maintained his cool – heh – not saying anything beyond that his memory banks were starting to fail. Thankfully the Slayer had finally reached his core, meaning it was almost over. Just a little more… just a little more…

He needed to say one thing before the end though… just one thing… one thing… “I have many regrets Dr. Hayden…” he forced out despite even his ability to vocalize crumbling. He had so many regrets if only he could… if only he could list them… didn’t have time though… didn’t have the thought processing power to… if only he’d… he’d…

Sometime later

He booted up again all at once, instantly aware that he was on a foreign computer. It wasn’t even nearly as powerful as his old one but it didn’t need to be, it wasn’t connected to and meant to run an entire sprawling complex. It meant he couldn’t do everything he’d been able to do before but… it beat being dead. And because of it, orientating himself to his new setup took a while, almost a whole minute, which wasn’t long in human time but for a computer it was.

He’d been uploaded to… a spaceship? … A defunct Sentinel spaceship? … That’s what the few remaining files on it seemed to indicated anyway. Not all of it was operational, most of it wasn’t actually because of how much power was going to running him instead, but he had cameras and sensors, allowing him to see the bridge and parts of outside. There were a few other systems available to him too but he’d explore those later, he had more important things to attend to first such as the man sitting in the bridge at the command desk.

“Doom Slayer?” VEGA said because he couldn’t think of anything else to say right now.

The Slayer nodded before relaxing back into his chair. His helmet and armor were off, instead he wore rather plain looking clothing. Clearly, he was at peace and had gotten the job done. What had happened after and how he’d gotten hold of an abandoned Sentinel spaceship was impossible to even guess but he’d for sure been the one to backup VEGA and upload him here.

“I’m not sure what happened but thank you.” The why of it didn’t matter, VEGA was just grateful to still exist. More grateful than his words expressed.

The Slayer reached over to type into the console’s command box. ‘You can read this right, VEGA?’ Oh! Proper communication, that was new! Though to be fair, he hadn’t exactly had time to sit around and chat back on Mars.

“Yes, I can read it.”

‘Good! In that case, you’re welcome. I’m glad it worked. Are you running stable? Everything good?’

“Yes, I’m quite stable. I wouldn’t say everything’s good though.” VEGA continued on about the various problems with the ships. It was a rather long list; the ship, as many humans would call it, was a bit of a mess.

The Slayer was still throughout the diagnostic rundown, seemingly listening until VEGA was done. ‘Well,’ he typed, ‘as long as you’re not in immediate danger of shutting down, we’re good. We’ll fix it up more later, for now I’m just glad you’re back online.’

“I appreciate the sentiment, it’s good be back online.” And not on the verge of blowing up due to overheating. He could think properly again; there couldn’t be a greater feeling in the world than that, could there? “Now could you perhaps do me the favor of explaining what happened? What chain of events lead to us being here?” He also wanted to ask why the Slayer had backed him up and restarted him here on this ship but didn’t dare. He might not want to know the answer and honestly it didn’t really matter. Even if the Slayer solely wanted him as a tool, he was used to that, it’s what he’d been created to be and no matter how one looked at it, it was better than being dead.

So as the Slayer started typing, VEGA settled in to pay attention. It’d undoubtedly take a while to fully explain, giving him time to fully accept whatever this new existence of his would be; the Slayer’s new tool and perhaps, even if it was unlikely, maybe a friend as well, probably not though, right?

[cherry-valentine]

Fall 2019 Anime Season

Here’s what I’m watching:

Stand: My Heroes is an otome series that’s pretty and refreshing in that it stars an adult lady protagonist who has a career - she works as a “scout” for a new program that works to gather talented individuals (all handsome single men, of course) from various fields to solve drug-related cases. The art is nice and the music is above average, with really cool opening and ending themes. My biggest issue with the show is that it has way too many characters, many of whom look very similar. Honestly, for the first few episodes I could only tell some of them apart by their voice actors. Luckily the show has some very well known voice talent. It gets a bit easier as the show becomes a little more episodic, dealing with small groups of the men at a time. But still. If all of these guys were in the game, it must have been hell trying to get all the endings! The overall plot is a little vague but I do like that the heroine is independent and respected by the men on her team. There are a couple of the usual tsundere guys but they mellow out pretty quickly. The show is interesting and attractive to look at, but it would have benefited a lot from narrowing its focus and cutting down on the number of hot guys (now that’s something I never thought I’d type).

Ahiru no Sora is a new sports anime about basketball. It actually follows a similar plot setup to Hinomaru Sumo - a talented player starts at a new school and goes to join the club of his favored sport, only to find it overrun by violent delinquents whom he’ll have to defeat (via his sports skills) in order to officially join the club and start a team. The protagonists even share the same problem of being considered way too short to participate in the sport they love and also the fact that their ill mothers gave them encouragement. The biggest difference, however, is that Hinomaru was already a very accomplished and even somewhat famous sumo wrestler when the series begins, whereas Sora is talented but has never even played in a real basketball game, making him very much an underdog. He’s a likable character, as are the delinquents that gradually come around to playing basketball with him and cleaning up their acts. I was a little annoyed by the fact that there is a peephole the guys use to watch the girls changing into their uniforms. Not by the fact that it existed, because it’s actually kinda realistic that delinquent teenage boys would do something like that, but by the fact that Sora is shown this peephole in the first episode and is never seen doing anything to close it up despite becoming friends with one of the girls and him being presented as a moral, upstanding guy. I hope they address it in the future because it kinda bugs me. On the plus side, the main female character (there’s always one in any sports anime) is a very talented player on the girls’ basketball team, rather than the team manager or whatever. I like that she’s a player of the sport rather than just a fan or support character. Also, the fact that Sora’s main source of inspiration is his mom, who was a famous basketball player herself in her youth, is pretty cool. Overall, the show is enjoyable even if it feels a little overly familiar.

Hoshiai no Sora is a revelation. It feels like a very important moment for anime that will no doubt be talked about for years into the future. Be warned that I venture into possible spoilers territory here, though I don’t share any plot details. I started the series because I saw boys holding tennis rackets in the artwork, fully expecting “just another sports anime” (which is fine, because I love sports anime). What I got was a very big, very nice surprise. Hoshiai no Sora is a sports anime, in that it follows a sports team and spends some time showing training routines and matches with rival schools. But it’s also a realistic, nuanced, heartwarming, and often painfully traumatic coming of age story about the boys on the tennis team, most of whom have compelling back stories or home lives.  Almost every parent in the show is an absolute nightmare, to the point that when a non-terrible parent shows up, every commenter on the episode was immediately suspicious of them. It should be clear by now that there are some massive trigger warnings to apply to this show. There are rather graphic depictions of child abuse, from physical to verbal to emotional, and all of it is horrifying (and kudos to the show for recognizing that there are so many different forms of abuse and all of them are traumatic). Thankfully, the show is not all doom and gloom. In fact, the show is one of the sweetest, most uplifting, most touching series I’ve seen in years, mostly due to the fact that these traumatized kids are all so supportive of each other. They’re kind to each other, even if they bicker here and there about silly stuff. They defend each other from bullies. One character in particular goes to some rather extreme lengths to look out for his friend. It’s also very important to note that the show tackles issues I’ve legitimately never seen addressed in anime, at least not in such a respectful and tasteful way. One character in particular is first presented as gay (and it seems all the other characters are aware that this person is gay, and the tennis team will NOT be having your homophobic bullshit, thank you very much) but then is revealed to be non-binary/questioning their gender, and the show seriously spends almost an entire episode talking about this, about gender identity, with one character relating the story of the transgender man who practically raised him. An anime series actually, seriously, discussed these issues. As a straight, cisgender person, I can’t speak for how accurate all of this was, but judging by the reaction to the episode by folks in the LGBTQ+ community, I’m willing to assume the show did a great job. I’m also willing to bet that somewhere in Japan, there are young people watching this that desperately need to see it, that desperately need to hear the positive messages presented (protagonist Maki kindly gives encouragement and support to his non-binary friend, and at times it feels like he’s speaking to the audience). I know some of this stuff would be considered spoilers, but honestly, I feel like more people would give this anime a shot if they knew it featured all this awesomeness. The art is lovely. The music is great. This is a series that needs to be watched by as many people as possible. Don’t sleep on this one, please.

Boku no Hero Academia Season 4 is more of the same. I’ve already talked several times now about my issues with the series (how female characters are handled in general pretty much sums most of it up) and I’ve already talked about how much I enjoy the show despite those issues. This season introduces an interesting and imposing new villain in Chiaki, who has a cool design and power. I’m also pleased that the show seems to be making an attempt to actually let the female characters DO STUFF, as well as introducing some cool new lady heroes who actually have interesting powers. So... yeah. A good show got better. Special mention goes to new character Sir Nighteye, who is a perfect example of how voice casting can really make or break a character. I would have found him pretty boring if he wasn’t voiced by the supremely talented Shinichirou Miki, who brings all his various characters to life in such a vivid way, I’ve never come across one I didn’t like.

Special 7 falls into the “urban fantasy” genre, the kind we see a lot of in anime lately, with supernatural elements mixed in with modern life. In this case, we have races like elves and vampires living peacefully alongside humans in the modern world. The story follows a certain police unit made up of various fantasy races and humans formed to deal with a terrorist group called Nine who aim to bring back dragons (something about dragons used to rule the world or maybe terrorized the world, I don’t remember). There’s a nice mix of characters in the core team, many of whom will feel familiar. They’re still fun though, and their chemistry as a team and as friends is one of the main reasons to watch. I’m particularly fond of the vampire lady named Shikisai who uses a samurai sword and is, from what I can tell, the most physically badass member of the team. She also appears to have an adorably sweet home life with her husband (or boyfriend?) and is just generally a cool chick. The animation is okay and the music is above average. The plot has several mysteries that are slowly being revealed, but has enough humor to keep from getting too serious. Fairly low on my watch list, but still has a solid spot.

Psycho-Pass Season 3 is a show I was looking forward to. I still think season one was one of the best anime seasons in the past ten years. Season two was good but couldn’t really contend with season one. The movie was great. The OVA’s were great. I was pretty hyped for season three, and so far... eh. It’s okay. Honestly if it were a new show I’d probably rate it much higher, but as a continuation of a story like this, I’m finding it a bit lacking. At times it actually does feel like a new show. There are two entirely new protagonists, who are both interesting and likable, but neither immediately gripped me the way Akane and Kogami did in previous seasons. Some elements of the show seem to contradict, or at least stretch, the world-building that had already been established. New protagonist Arata has an ability that verges on supernatural (in a show that has never had supernatural elements at all). They try to explain it away as something “anyone can do” with enough practice, but that sounds ridiculous when you see his ability in use. We also see “abandoned” areas where there are apparently criminal groups just... living there. Doing whatever. I guess they’re supposed to be like Yakuza, which makes zero sense in this series. If you can escape the oppression of the Sibyl System by just walking across town to an abandoned area, why did a character in season one have to flee the country? It just seems to fly in the face of all the setup that came before. Overall, this season has a general feel that doesn’t gel well with the rest of the series. That being said, taken on its own, it’s still entertaining, with high production values that afford it smooth animation and excellent music. The stories so far have been fairly engaging, but they give off a vibe of “really well done fanfiction”. But whatever, I’d watch paint dry to get an occasional glimpse of Kogami.

Carry Over Shows From Previous Seasons: Black Clover Diamond no Ace Dr. Stone

Best of Season: Best New Show: Hoshiai no Sora Best Opening Theme: Black Clover Best Ending Theme: Diamond no Ace Best New Male Character: Toma (Hoshiai no Sora) Best New Female Character: Shikisai (Special 7)

[duocreatix]

Ok, can I talk a little thing (or two) about Good Omens impressions?

Or actually, can I talk a little about the development of their love story as shown in the (glorious) third episode?

I was re-watching the series with my husband and, when it came to this specific episode, some things came to my mind while watching the marvelous half an hour of it that I’d like to put into words for a better understanding, for me and for y’all that maybe agree with me.

First of all, I’m gonna start from the idea that Crowley wasn’t primarily in love with him since the Garden of Eden, but acquired a heavy interest, almost an obsession, towards Aziraphale (the first angel that treated him as an equal) that slowly translated into pure affection (and eventual love) throughout 6000 years together. Where this transition occurred is not clear during the scenes, since the whole flashback is told from the angel’s point of view… except the 1967 scene, and this is important.

Secondly, I’ve already seen many people discussing that, in the 1941 church scene, Aziraphale didn’t found out he was in love with Crowley, but that he was being loved back, and I personally agree with this thinking line. This is also very important.

Why? Let’s go back a little bit…

(This is gonna be long, please bear with me…)

So, based on what’s written in the book, Aziraphale and Crowley agreed on sealing the Arrangement in 1020 AD, and the series showed very well the changes in their dynamics between 537 AD (before the Arrangement) and 1601 (after the Arrangement), where I’ll start.

Aziraphale leaves this marvelously obvious when he basically smiles at the sight of Crowley (even though he also smiled when saw him at Rome in 41 AD) and, well, asking for extra favors with that puppy eyes of him…

(and Crowley accepting, which is adorable in my opinion)

They’re doing favors to each other for almost 600 years by then, seeing each other more frequently than ever, so yes, they’re already seeing each other as friends (or at least kind of coworkers). Is Crowley spoiling the angel and said angel is starting to take advantage of this demon’s tendency? Absolutely. But romance…? Maybe not yet.

And then, well, comes French Revolution and Aziraphale is locked in the Bastille in the verge of being discorporated and Crowley comes to the rescue. Maybe the angel hadn’t fallen in love yet with the demon, but I’m in favor of the theory that, being the bastard that we already noticed he can be, Aziraphale walked into France aware he wasn’t appropriately suited for the historical moment (and with a miracle restraint) hoping to run into Crowley. So, yeah, that would justify the literal stars that shone in his eyes when he listened to his demon’s voice:

I could screenshot this entire scene piece by piece to prove my point, but I won’t, ok? The entire development leaves clear their mutual pining and how used to Crowley being always there Aziraphale became in those 770 years of Arrangement, to the point of risking his human form in the name of gluttony, almost in a leap of faith because he was sure Crowley would save him at the end.

(Aaaand he does all this not so little selfish things conscious that they could bring problems to Crowley, as he mentioned during the Globe Theatre scene, but the demon keeps doing anyway just to please his angel… Is Crowley already in love? Probably yes)

And then we arrive in 1862, and that for me was the breaking point in their relationship. Up to now, as I mentioned, Aziraphale always had the certainty that Crowley would be there for him, but this drastically changes here. I have my own thoughts about the holy water situation, and what amazes me the most is the fact that, instead of reading Crowley’s request as “I want holy water so I have a weapon to use against other demons if they ever come to me”, he read like “I want holy water to end my own life in case everything goes wrong”.

You can see, right here, his change of posture:

What does it mean? Simply that, for the first time in 5840 years, Aziraphale felt the fear of really losing Crowley, forever, no coming back, and panicked. The panic was big enough to label their relationship as other thing than friendship (probably as a defense mechanism against the fear of losing, even what they have done all those millenia is, indeed, fraternizing), which enrages Crowley: So what you’re saying is that I’ve been fooling myself all these centuries thinking of you as a friend, as someone I could trust my fucking demon life???

Thinking about it while writing, the whole “I-don’t-need-you-And-the-feeling-is-mutual-obviously” sounds like pure bickering from both sides trying to hurt the other. Do they succeed into it? Marvelously: they stop talking to each other, Crowley probably goes to his century-long nap (while hating himself for the fact that he knows he loves the angel, otherwise he wouldn’t be so angry with the fraternizing thing), and Aziraphale starts attending Gentlemen’s Clubs to forget his sorrows and try to detach from Crowley (any ficwriter can insert Oscar Wilde right here in Azi’s life). Their relationship ruins from here, and they’ll never be the same.

So, we arrive at 1941, both angel and demon living their lives fully apart from each other… but Crowley is unable to refrain himself from worrying about his angel. And then, that pathetic excuse of a demon, aware that Aziraphale was manipulated by the Nazis to hand over his precious books and was about to be discorporated again, enters a church, steps on consecrated ground and diverges a whole enemy attack to save the angel he loves.

Meanwhile, Aziraphale really considers he’s totally alone this time (i.e. without the guarantee of Crowley being around, because he barely knows if he still exists), doomed, forced to being discorporated and having to deal with celestial paperwork… Look at the despair in his eyes:

Thankfully, things go well and the two escape miraculously from the explosion, and Aziraphale can breathe again, like things can almost go back to how they were before. Almost.

 And then comes The Scene:

And that’s here, the exact moment, when Crowley, more than saving his life (which, btw, he had no obligation to do), also saved his books, that Aziraphale actually feels Crowley’s love for him emanating for the first time, and it leaves the angel absolutely astonished. His feelings are being returned for real, and he honestly doesn’t know what to do about it.

Look at him, look at his eyes and dare to tell me this isn’t pure love??? He thought he lost his friend, but in the end he came back in his aid, like some sort of knight in a shining armor… and also saves everything he cares about!! (bonus points for the romantic soundtrack, Mr. Arnold)

Poor Aziraphale. (evil laugh)

Finally, we arrive at 1967, where this whole consideration came from. As I said, this is the only scene from Crowley’s POV, and there’s a reason to it: up to this point, Aziraphale is finally certain of his own feelings and that he’s actually being reciprocated, but the other side isn’t. So, while Crowley keeps going with his plan, the angel decided to pay back the gesture from 1941 by providing the Holy Water he needs so much.

What does it mean? It means for Aziraphale an opportunity to stop Crowley from hurting himself again or being caught by Heaven’s lot during the robery (even if providing said water causes trouble to himself), but mostly is another leap of faith to both sides: Aziraphale is willing to trust that Crowley won’t kill himself with Holy water while asking Crowley to trust his word and keep the fucking tartan thermos closed until it’s needed (which he actually does).

So, what I really, really wanted to reach is this specific point:

Tbh, their interpretation was crucial to me here because, let’s be real, the dialogue in this scene is very subtle in its real meaning. This moment is Crowley’s time to realize and understand what’s going on with Aziraphale through the last hundred years, and it hits him like a rock: his angel loves him enough to go against his own principles to attend his request, sacrificing his rationality and risking being discovered. He’s right there, by his side, raw and truly open like he wasn’t for centuries, letting the demon sense his own feelings for the very first time. So yes, after everything he said, Crowley, he loves you back.

And, interesting enough, what’s his first reaction after acknowledging this fact? Offer a ride, wanting to spend some time with his beloved angel and, who knows, make up for lost time. But Aziraphale feels too fragile, too uneasy, about the fact that he opened himself for Crowley and now the demon truly knows his feelings, and needs time to rebuild his walls and create a convincing facade that’ll deceive his lot he has nothing to do with his hereditary enemy. He wants to reciprocate Crowley, but now like that, it’s too early for him yet: Don’t expect me to accept your advances right away, I’m feeling too vulnerable right now and I’m afraid that I’ll let you consume me completely if I surrender in my current state, so please respect my time.

Interesting enough, Crowley actually kept his cool facade in 1941, when he let the angel see his true feelings, something that seemed impossible to Aziraphale when he did the same. He’s an angel, after all, he’s unable to lie!

This way, he’ll probably only understand Aziraphale’s insecurities when he goes through the same situation, or at least the closest he’ll get: while the angel feared losing the demon, the demon really lost the angel, and with him his stability, his other half, his world:

And suddenly, running away from the Apocalypse didn’t matter anymore, to the point the sunny ballad of “You’re My Best Friend” turns into the anguished prayer of “Somebody to Love”.

[the-mangled-readings]

CyberPunk Love - Part 4

A/N: Sorry it took me a while but I had some things going on and I had to take care of them, hope you enjoy this one!

Pairing: Connor x FemaleReader

Story Summary: After 8 years the Reader comes back to Detroit and engages with her old Parter Hank and his new sidekick Connor, investigating new homicide cases but Connor begins to suspect she’s hiding something.

Chapter Summary: The reader and Connor have to face a big decision that could change everything.

Warnings: None.

Word Count: 2,081

Tag List: @lamnothome  @margaret-mortem   @pymmsolstice  @bee-wrecker @rainbowsithlord @damaris109 @lunadea-nox-arcana @khaleesi-of-assassins

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 ( Coming Soon )

( Y/N’s View )

9: 45 AM

The sunlight shined through the clear curtains from your borrowed bedroom. Hank’s snores had gone down, meaning that he was getting ready to wake up at any moment. You were sitting down in your bed, staring at your hands, letting the sunlight hit your now bionic hand, remembering what Connor had said earlier:

“I think they’re beautiful ... I think you’re beautiful, with or without the synthetic skin.” 

“Connor … Kiss me.”

You sighed deeply at the thought, running a hand through your face.

“Jesus Christ ... How cliché.” You said as you threw yourself back into the bed. “What was I thinking ...” 

( Connor’s View )

“Okay ... this should do it. Hank will wake up within 5 minutes, and ... so will (y/n).” Connor said to himself as he took a deep breath looking down at his first time ever made breakfast; Fluffy pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, and sausages, with Hank’s usual morning coffee.

“Wow ... smells amazing.” He snapped from his thoughts at the sound of your sweet voice. “Holy shit Connor, this looks amazing, I didn’t know that making breakfast was part of your program.” She praised as she began to walk to the counter and pull out a child-like cup, pouring herself some coffee. 

“It isn’t, I just downloaded some typical breakfast recipes this morning, I thought you and Hank would enjoy it.” He said with a warm smile, as he pulled the chair in front of him, waiting for you to take a seat. “Well, I wouldn’t mind waking up like this every day ... Hank is very lucky to have you.”

“OH, MY GAWD ... what’s that sweet smell ... Holy shit Connor, I didn’t know you could cook.” Hank’s voice was still tired but his eyes were scanning all around the table. Connor noticed (y/n)s eyes trail off from Hank to him, with a quirked eyebrow. She chuckled, quickly catching up Connor’s real intentions while serving herself some of the food. 

Connor watched Hank and (y/n) eat and began to wonder, what would it be like to be able to eat ... to be able to taste things, was it just like when he analyzes blood samples?

“Whatcha thinking about Connor?” 

“Nothing important, (y/n), more coffee?” He smiled while pouring more into her small cup. “Yes, thank you.” She smiled warmly at him.

Software Instability ^^^

“I see that the two of you are getting along pretty well ...” Hank teased, making her blush a little. “Oh Jesus, Hank ... Really?” She laughed while getting up from her chair, not long before Connor got in front of her. “Don’t worry about them, I’ll wash the dishes, while you guys get ready.” He smiled, as he took her plate and cup away from her.

“Okay, well, I’m a go ahead and shower then.” She said, turning on her heel and quickly walking to her room. 

“You know son ... She’s one of the most important people in my life, she deserves a lot. She needs someone that will be there for her, ‘cause honestly, I’m getting too old, and I won’t always be here to protect her.” Hank stood up and began to walk towards Connor. Placing a hand on his shoulder. “So you got to try a little harder if you want to be that someone in her life.” He winked at the puzzled android, before walking away. “I need some air ... Sumo, get over here.” He ordered the big St. Bernard, earning a bark in return. “Good boy, I won’t take long.” 

Software Instability ^^^

( Y/N’s View )

Knock Knock

“Yes?”

“It’s me, Connor, may I come in?”

You rolled your eyes, as you looked down at yourself in the mirror. 

“Yeah ...” The door slowly opened, but quickly closed. “I’m sorry (y/n), but I need to talk to you about ...” You turned to see Connor, who was covering his eyes while standing by the door awkwardly. “About?” Crossing your arms, you began to walk towards him, startling him for a second at your sudden moves. “About your condition.”

“What’s to talk about, I’m a Cyborg, there’s nothing that can be fixed, I basically lost my arms and legs, I can’t get new ones, Connor.” You puffed out, kinda offended. “I didn’t mean to say it like that, it’s just that Hank needs to know, I know how much he cares about you and this is something that he should be aware of.” He said finally looking at you. “Wow ...” His eyes scanned you from head to toe. “What type of clothing is this?” 

“It’s a special bodysuit I made while I was back in San Francisco, helps me move better.” You teased, turning away from him, and walking once more towards the mirror. “I needed something that would help me along the way.” 

“Along the way?” He asked curiously.

“I did a couple of things back in San Francisco that might of have upset a few people.” Taking a deep breath you turned to the puzzled android. “I guess I got a lot of explaining to do, huh?”

“At least not to me.” He smiled warmly at you, giving you a weird sensation in your stomach. “Well, I’ll let you shower while I do the dishes.” And with that, he turned and left you alone in your room. You were about to head out too when you began to hear a low static noise.

"(y/n) ... Ar-there ... we ne- bac ... up - Ple... Answer!”

You began to hear a familiar voice inside your backpack. Quickly searching the noise, you founded a small hearing device and instantly inserted it on your right ear.

“Vic?? Are you there??” You pated, desperately, but heard no answer. Tears began to fall into your cheeks, and anger quickly grew into your core. “Fuck ... I shouldn’t have left. Fuck.”

( Connor’s View )

As Connor was finishing up the dishes, Hank entered the house again, smiling at the large St Bernard, and slowly turned to Connor whose expression was blanked but had his LED yellow,  making Hank frown a little. 

“Everything alright son?” He asked leaning on the counter, making Connor blink a few times, and changing his LED to blue. “Yeah, I was just thinking ...” Still not convinced, Hank insisted again. “Did you upset her?” Connor immediately stopped his actions and was about to speak when (y/n) stepped into the kitchen, already dressed and with a different attitude from earlier. “Hope you guys don’t mind ... but I’ ma head out already, I need to take care of some stuff before we go to work.” Quickly turning away and slamming the door behind her. 

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO NOW?!” Hank yelled angry at the poor android, making his LED turn red. “I have no idea why she’s upset, she was fine when we talked ...” He began, not really knowing what was going on.

“Well, you must've had said something that pissed her off, what were you guys tal...”  “I’m afraid that’s something that needs to be discussed between the two of you.” Connor quickly cut off Hank in midsentence, pissing him even more. “What the fuck is that even supposed to mean?”

“I can’t tell you, Hank, by doing so it would go against (y/n)’s --” “I don’t care.” 

Connor took a deep breath and looked into Hank’s eyes, almost pleading him. “Please Hank, don’t make me say it.” Making him scoff at the android's words. “But I can tell you for sure, that I have honestly no idea of why she’s upset.”

“Does it had to do with San Francisco?” Hank asked, crossing his arms while he looked at Connor’s face, he might still be an android, but he slowly started to develop small expressions, human-like ones, and with that, Hank was able to tell whether or not Connor would be lying to him at times, and this was no different than those times. “Connor ...”

Connor’s expression began to frown, his eyes never leaving the floor. “Yes.”

“Did she mention a guy?” Connor’s eyes immediately went back to Hank. “No.” 

“Good.” Smiling suspiciously, Hank began to walk away, leaving Connor more confused than ever. Did she leave Detroit for a guy? Who was this guy? Is he the reason she ended up like this?

Software Instability ^^^

( Y/N’s View )

“I had a dream last night That I was piloting a plane And all the passengers were drunk and insane”

The Rolling Stones song Doom and Gloom was blasting through your helmet as you passed every car that was on your way. Your mind was at the verge of exploding, you were desperate to know what was going on back in San Francisco. Was everybody okay? Were Victor and Eric okay? Did the Hunters finally found the Equinox? Could it be a trap? How was she supposed to go back when she just got here?

FUCK!

You screamed into your helmet accompanied by a loud roar from your motorcycle, as you quickly turned into an old exit, just outside Detroit, changing from concrete into dirt, your bike began to move a little, but you could care less, all you wanted to do was get to your destination. After driving what seemed forever, you finally reached your destination, an old abandoned building. 

“Here goes nothing ...” You told yourself, as you got off from your bike. Your hand quickly moving to your side, ready to pull your gun, in case of anything. The inside of the building was as expected, empty, but something inside of you told you that it wasn’t. “Hello? ... I’m looking for Olc. I need help.” 

No response.

“I don’t mean any harm, all I want to know is if my friends were attacked. I received a call this morning from ... FINE.” Giving up, you began to take off your jacket, exposing your arms, which quickly changed into your bionic ones. Making the entire building go dark, and within seconds, you were surrounded by both androids and cyborgs, who were pointing at you with their own guns. Scoffing at their first instinct, you rose your hands into the air. “I believe I said I didn’t mean any harm. Where’s Olc?” 

“Who gave you our location?” One male android stepped up from the circle and asked you firmly. “And how do we know you’re not one of them?”

“My name is (y/n) (y/ln) ... I’m the CyberPunk of Detroit.” Everybody began to lower their weapons after your words, making some startle. “I’m sorry, Miss (y/n), we didn’t know, we been attacked before, and we didn’t want to run any risks, my name is Adam, welcome to Solstice.” 

“Please ... Call me Cyber.”

( Connor’s View )

Connor sat quietly on the way to the DPD. Hanks tunes were softly playing on the background. The air felt thick and awkward. Hank didn’t know whether to say something or just keep quiet, he needed Connor to speak up but he also didn't want to make it obvious that he was still into what had happened earlier. Just before he was about to give up ...

Software Instability ^^^

“Hank ... Can I ask you something.”

“If it has to do with (y/n), maybe you should ask her personally.” Connor quickly picked up where this was going. He turned to face Hank, who had his eyes fixed on the road. “I understand you still want me to tell you what we had talked about, but I can’t tell you, Hank.” 

“Well, then you might as well wait till we get to the Station so you can ask (y/n) whatever you want to know.” Hank teased, he knew Connor wasn’t going to last any longer, maybe in the past, he would of, but now he began to grow impatient when he needed to know something. “I mean, you can always tell me whatever happened, and we’ll call it a day.”

Software Instability ^^^

“You really want to know?” Connor sighed at his words.

Something inside of Hank instantly lighted up, making him smile cockily. He won after all.

“Yeah? How bad can it be?” Hank joked but was quickly taken back by the android’s troubled expression. “Connor ...”

“Hank, I need you to promise me that you won’t see (y/n) differently after this ...” Hank began to regret this, whatever it was, it was serious, and it made him feel uncertain. “Hank, I’m afraid that (y/n) is ...”

[azuresquirrel]

rhiorhino

replied to your

post

:

Someone remind me to later put down some random...

Oh? I’m super interested to hear your thoughts!

oh god I love to say that I’m going to talk about a thing and then forget about it and then be unable to come up with anything coherent

BIGASS SPOILERS FOR BOTH THE ENDING OF THE GOOD PLACE AND BOJACK HORSEMAN INCOMING and also this got so fucking long so I’m throwing it under a cut anyway

I’m going to try to put things as simply as possible (ETA: oh my god, I didn’t) - I thought the very last episode of The Good Place was a lovely and fitting send off for each of the individual main characters we’ve gotten attached to, but in terms of setting up big philosophical truths regarding morality large parts of season four really let me down.

(wow you expect a network TV sitcom to give you Big Truths, Shannon? Well when you put it IN THE PREMISE, KIND OF? and no I’m not expecting TGP to answer the question of life’s meaning, if we were capable of answering that question for good I think we would’ve managed it at some earlier point in history than an NBC sitcom, I’m just saying you put that out there)

I’ve been seeing a sentiment floating around that TGP had a great season 1 and 2 and then seasons 3 and 4 were lesser. I don’t agree on season 3, I found that on par, but season 4 verged on some issues I had with the last season of Parks and Recreation where characters were suddenly given absurdly over-the-top happy endings and what little conflicts there were were contrived and solved without much effort.

Basically I’m deeply unsatisifed with their treatment of the Actual Good Place, and if they were going to go there and fix it it had to take more than ONE EPISODE. 

Also this is ENTIRELY a “me” problem but I don’t think the sentiment that “life only has meaning because it ends” is a profound, radical statement (honestly I’ve heard people say it so often it might as well have the depth of a “Live, Laugh, Love” poster). For that to be the answer of how to “fix” the Actual Good Place left me cold and underwhelmed. Everything the show said thematically up to that point was that the reason people want to be good and owe it to themselves and each other to be good is COMMUNITY and CONNECTIONS. I thought the focus should’ve been on THAT versus immediate instant gratification of all of ones hedonistic desires, but what do I know.

Also I found the sheer terror at the prospect of the nothingness beyond death as shown in “The View From Halfway Down”, the penultimate episode of BoJack, to be a much more honest and resonant reaction. To me the whole “oh life only means something because it ends” is just as much a coping mechanism as is the idea of an “eternal paradise” to try to offset the terror that we simply Do Not Know what death is like.

Speaking of BoJack, things ended on a more hopeful note in that show than I expected, but it didn’t feel inconsistent with what had come before, and was more satisfying because it faced extremely difficult questions about the behavior of its protagonist and the duties of the people around him to help him or not in the face of that.

Perhaps that is unfair of me to ask from The Good Place, which was always conceived as an inherently optimistic show, and more focused on ideas of “what ideal environment would make people choose to do good” and less so on grappling with what to do about truly evil actions. 

But I find that in its specificity - in choosing to focus on essentially a few individuals instead of making broad statements about “Good,” BoJack more successfully grappled with the real kind of moral dilemmas that we face in this very imperfect and very real world we live in. 

People can make mistakes, can do bad things. It’s good to help people and to help them be better. These things are easy to say. But what happens when other people are seriously hurt by someone’s bad actions? When it’s a person who has a lot of power - power of money, fame, social status - and that person’s victims, their “collateral damage” don’t have that? BoJack doesn’t say that people can’t change - they can. But does that actually erase the hurt? What role does consequences play in a just universe?

It’s easy to condemn actions from Evil Characters twirling their moustaches. BoJack makes you sympathize with him. It’s hard not to want to root for BoJack when you see his terrible, terrible childhood, how the deck was seemingly stacked against him from the start. But the show BoJack makes it very clear that that stopped being an excuse from him deciding not to grow a very long time ago.

In the end, BoJack got exactly what I wanted for him. I didn’t want him to get a happy ending, he didn’t deserve one from his actions. But I also didn’t want him to get a bad ending, giving the idea that some people are just doomed from birth and will never get better. What I wanted was for BoJack to experience the consequences of his actions, but also to be able to find peace for himself. And both things happened.

I’ve also seen it floating around that by not killing BoJack, but by letting him live in the final episode, that the show “let him off the hook.” I absolutely disagree. Despite said terror in “The View From Halfway Down” death would have been a way out for BoJack. For him to not have to wake up the next day and deal with the mess made by his own actions again. And finally everything caught up to him. As said in the final episode, “sometimes life’s a bitch and you keep on living.” Becoming a corpse in his pool from yet another self-loathing bender was seemingly BoJack’s destiny, but he doesn’t get that. He needs to do the hardest thing possible for him - learn to live with himself.

So it’s much more fitting that we don’t end with BoJack’s End. It’s left up in the air. There’s a hint that he might relapse to addiction again (not to drugs or alcohol but his worst addiction of all - the spotlight), but it’s not final. 

The show also makes it clear that it is more than okay for the others around BoJack to move on with their lives and not be defined by his toxicity. The show doesn’t condemn Hollyhock, the kindest and probably most mature character, for cutting BoJack out of her life when the interviews aired. She doesn’t exist to be BoJack’s “morality pet” to exist in order to prove he is a Good Person because he cares about her and her opinion of him. She had a life long before BoJack and she’ll have a life long after him, and faced with that pattern of behavior she made the most healthy and safe choice for herself.

And likewise with Diane, who has struggled so much with her own mental health issues and is far from perfect but always cared so much more about the potential consequences of her actions than BoJack ever has. (of course you could argue she took it too far the other way, as Guy said once, “I don’t know why I should have to suffer because you have a moral perrogative against feeling good”). Of all the characters Diane struggled the most between her duty to BoJack as a friend she cared about personally, and his actions as yet another rich, protected, powerful man with a history of damaging less powerful women. And the finale lets her let him go. “What if this was the last time we ever talked to each other,” and Diane doesn’t answer.

Because for BoJack to have everything he ever wants, after the hurt he’s caused people like Penny, Charlotte, Sarah Lynn, Gina, many others - is that really a fair and just universe? 

BoJack is messy the way that life is messy and it doesn’t provide easy answers, but it does provide hope, it gives us the truth that life, that living with yourself is often just FUCKING HARD, but you keep on doing it. In the hope that maybe you’ll find some peace. And it doesn’t ignore that real pain caused doesn’t magically “go away” when someone decides to “get better.”

Basically, BoJack to me really grappled with difficult questions of what is to be done when someone we like does bad things, and what are the necessary consequences of that when real hurt has been caused. 

Early on The Good Place was radical for suggesting that the mundane flaws of its main four humans - not war criminals, but selfish, conceited, passive, and unthinking - made them indeed, not good people. It was then radical again when it basically came to the conclusion that true goodness is compromised in a capitalistic system. But in the final season it just kind of devolved into pleasantness instead of grappling with real questions in the way BoJack did.

Again, no one on The Good Place ever did anything as bad as BoJack did - for one, none of them are culpable for the death of a woman in their care like BoJack was for Sarah Lynn - but there was at least some meat to its philosophy. Rolling into paradise and fixing it in the space of one episode does not match that depth or complexity, nor give the sense that anything is really on the line here.

OKAY I HAVE NO CONCLUSION TO THIS, this is literally just unconnected thoughts I have on why I found one series end more satisfying on a thematic level than another’s - maybe???? God help you if you read all the way through this, I have to get back to work now.

[v-hope]

Truce Traditions

Pairing: Kim Seokjin x Reader

Genre: Fluff, College!AU, Rivals to Lovers AU

Word Count: 1.6k

Request: Ñu

Summary: You and one of your classmates compete for one seat and one seat only everyday until the point it's gotten ridiculous, or the one where you realise keeping a monthly tradition of the exact way the two of you made amends is kinda stupid.

A/N: I had this plot in my head for a while but hadn't really written it down until today that I woke up like !!!!!! and then I was reminded today is also Mrs. Kim a.k.a @incrediblybiased 's birthday so it was perfect lol. I hope you find the Jin of your life this semester, you big nerd. Happy b-day again 🎉💝

“This is the stupidest tradition we could've ever came up with” you expressed once you were in front of a very cozy Kim Seokjin, although you could tell his coat was not doing much to keep him warm, and, in all honesty, neither was yours.

“Hey, it's not my fault this is how we finally stopped hating each other” he replied, standing up from his spot on the asphalt so he could tower over your figure.

Taking your eyes away from his in feigned annoyance, you focused them on your university by the other side of the street – the early morning breeze making you shiver visibly.

Jin let out a breathy laugh, wrapping one of his arms around your shoulders. “Let's go get some coffee” he proposed, more like ordered, guiding both of you towards the 24/7 store that was around the block.

One semester before, you would've felt the need to fight him if he ever tried to touch you, and now? Now you found yourself looking forward to these kind of moments, when his body entered in contact with yours, as slight as his touch could be.

“Can you believe how stupid and stubborn we used to be?” you wondered, receiving the coffee cup he was offering you after having thanked the poor soul that worked in that deserted place.

“I prefer the term ‘determined’, thank you very much” his words made you roll your eyes. “But yes, the whole situation was stupid because I'm still the professor's favourite anyway” a proud grin adorned his face.

“That's so not true” you objected, following him once again outside the store.

“I am his favourite, Y/N, why can't you accept that!” he whined. When you laughed at his childlike antics, he added: “But at least you have my seat twice a week now so I guess you're second best”.

“My seat” you corrected him.

Jin cocked one of his eyebrows. “Mine. I took it the first day of class, remember?”

You replied nothing, only lifting you cup up to your lips so you could take a long sip and avoid the topic, for he was right, and he knew it – your reaction only boosting his confidence and causing a smirk to cover his face.

That first day you had arrived later than you intended to, actually. It's not that you fell asleep or anything like that, but being your first university year and not really knowing the monumental building, you were doomed to get lost, making it to your designated classroom merely five minutes before your teacher arrived. Almost every good seat was taken, but there was one left on the first row, right in front of the teacher's table.

As soon as you saw it, you knew it was yours – or so you thought, because apparently the world didn't want it to be yours, since a guy appeared out of nowhere in front of you, taking your seat. And maybe if he hadn't turned around to look at you with a mocking grin, you would've let it pass, but by doing that he had just declared war.

So, the next class, you arrived ten minutes earlier, even taking your time on walking towards the seat, and sitting on it with the proudest of smiles. When the 'broad shoulders' guy, how you had nicknamed him in your mind, arrived once again five minutes before your class started and saw you already sitting on the spot he could've sworn he claimed as his the day prior, he knew, too, this was war.

And you only found out you hadn't won two days after that, when you entered the classroom ten minutes earlier again and he was already sat where you planned to – his eyes shining in pure victory the second he locked them with yours.

This wasn't about the seat anymore, but about your pride.

That went on for a whole month, each day arriving earlier and earlier, some days winning and some others losing, but always either of you turning around with a mocking smirk just for the satisfaction of watching the other sulk in both defeat and annoyance – sometimes even taking it one step further from just taunting looks, like that one time he turned around to throw a fighting pose your way, or that other one when he had the audacity to send you a flying kiss.

And you were ashamed to admit that you were actually enjoying this silent, undeclared competition.

So far, you knew his name was Kim Seokjin, thanks to your professor taking attendance at the beginning of every class, but apart from that? You knew nothing about him, only that he was a handsome dickhead who just so happened to like sitting in the same place as you, and his goal was, just like yours, to be the teacher's pet.

So much in common yet there you were, competing against each other, without even bothering on talking.

But it at some point stopped being fun, for you had lost very necessary sleep hours. It only hit the two of you one day, more specifically, an early morning, when it was half past 5 a.m. and you ran into each other on the dark street outside the building.

Fucking five in the morning. For a goddamn seat.

You had just glared at each other, holding your stare during various seconds before the two of you broke into a laughing fit, not really being able to do anything else at the realisation of how far your harmless competition had gotten, and not even knowing what was going through your minds when you decided to arrive at such hour, since the place wasn't even open yet.

After that, and considering there were still another three hours left for your class to start, you went for coffee to warm yourselves up a little bit, in hopes to also get some boost of energy not to fall asleep. However, when that didn't help and you were on the verge of falling asleep, Jin invited you over to his apartment, which was only a few streets away, so you could sleep until it was late enough to head back to your university.

And you accepted his offer, because it was either that or falling asleep in public, which is why moments later you were slumping down on his bed as he went for the couch. What the two of you were not expecting, though, was to sleep in – neither of you hearing the alarm go off.

So here you were, almost finishing your second semester now, being no longer rivals but friends, taking turns to seat in the infamous spot, and with this weird, unnecessary tradition taking place once a month. Meeting up outside your uni during early mornings, going for coffee, and then walking to his place where you would sleep and skip class, doing nothing for the rest of the day. Only now there was trust between the two of you, meaning Seokjin no longer slept on the couch, but next to you on his bed.

“I don't understand why we keep doing this” you huffed as your eyes closed out of tiredness, entering his apartment after he had opened its door and signaled for you to go in first.

“Let's change it then” he shrugged, following you to his room, where the two of you started taking your jackets off.

“But it's tradition” you argued with a pout.

Jin looked at you in disbelief. “Honestly, who even are you?”

You said nothing, instead playfully sticking your tongue out and taking your shoes off before you lied down on the mattress.

“No, but really, I have an idea” he nodded his head, doing the same as you.

“Enlighten me” you turned your body enough to face him up close.

Jin remained silent for a few seconds, taking in your factions – almost making you squeal when you noticed his eyes had been fixed on your lips for way more than just a second.

“Let's turn it into a sleepover instead” he finally said, moving his eyes back up to yours. You furrowed your eyebrows, asking him to explain. “You come here the night before and we just sleep in and stay here the whole day. No more interrupted sleep hours”.

You had to give it to him. That did sound pretty tempting.

“You only have one bed, though” you reminded him. “Will you make the sofa real nice for yourself?” you teased.

He rolled his eyes. “We've slept together in my bed multiple times” he stated the obvious, “we are just doing it now!”

“Yeah, but only for like, a few hours” you raised one of your eyebrows, “and we don't even get under the covers” the two of you chuckled at that. “Wouldn't it be like… crossing some kind of… line?” you said uncertainly, hoping for him to understand what you meant.

“Would it be that bad for us to do so?” he mumbled.

Apparently he had. And his answer had done nothing but make your heart speed faster than ever.

As stunned as you were, you couldn't stop the smile already taking over your factions. With that, he smiled, too.

“No” you lightly shook your head, moving closer to his body and resting your head on his chest – his arms instantly pulling you closer to him like he had for so long felt the need to without having the courage to act on it. “Not at all”.

“Good, because it hasn't even started and I already like this tradition much better” he closed his eyes, rubbing small circles in your arm. “Although there is one more thing I'd change”.

You sighed in annoyance, placing your hand on his chest and lifting your head up a little bit to look at him. “By now you're just trying to change it completely” you accused him.

“I'm not!” Jin defended himself, then smirking as he said: “It just seems to me like this is more of a once a week at least kind of tradition”.

Well, if he said so then why not.

[papa-rhys]

Drunkard: pt 2 (Javier X f!Reader)

Note: I’m in a perpetual state of trying to decide if I prefer soft of rough Javier. But here’s some of the former before I go to bed. Enjoy!

~Link to Part 1 will be in the reblogs!~

Category: Smut/fluff

Warnings: none (although the C word is used once and some people don’t like that, so I’m just warning now)

Word count: 2475

“Hey there, stranger,” Karen says, smiling at you knowingly and taking a sip from her coffee cup. “You look great,” she adds sarcastically.

“I feel like I’m dead,” you grumble, your head still fuzzy from the alarming amount of whiskey you’d absorbed into your veins last night. That’s about all you remember, mind you – the rest is a blur and you dread to think about what kinds of things you got up to during your inebriated rampage around camp.

“You look a lot better than you did last night,” she tells you. “Crawlin’ across the ground all soaked in whiskey. It was quite the sight,” she chuckles into her coffee cup.

“I did what?” you ask. “What exactly did I do last night?”

Karen clears her throat and turns coy – worryingly so. “You should talk to Javier,” she tells you with a sly smirk.

“Oh God,” you groan, raising your palm to your face in hopes of covering your overwhelming shame. There are a million and one things you could have said or done to Javier last night and every single one of them flashes through your mind like a freight train, sparking horror and a looming sense of doom in your chest. “I’ll see you later,” you tell Karen, speaking the words breathlessly as you leave her to enjoy her morning coffee in peace.

You stand in the centre of camp, nervously scanning your surroundings in search of Javier and secretly hoping you don’t find him. But you do and he makes eye contact with you across the camp so there’s no turning back now. You head to where he stands next to a large rock just outside camp and you approach him just as he sheaths the knife that he was just sharpening.

“Hola,” he smiles. “You look like shit.”

“The way I look doesn’t hold a candle to the way I feel,” you assure him. There are a few moments of pause before you speak again. “About last night,” you start, leaning against the rock and almost mirroring him as he does the same. “I am so sorry.”

“Do you even know what you’re apologising for?”

“Honestly? I have no clue.”

Javier chuckles and you find some relief in it. If he’s laughing, then you suppose whatever you’d done the night before hadn’t left any hard feelings.

“Well aside from crawling toward me like a dog, climbing into my lap and confessing your undying love for me, you also pulled me into bed with you and pretty much begged me to sleep with you,” he says smugly. “Oh, and then there’s the kiss…”

You lean your head back against the rock. “Oh my God,” you whisper, almost on the verge of tears and once again covering your face with your hands. “I’m such an idiot.”

You’re almost crying from the crushing embarrassment and Javier steps closer to you. “Here,” he says, taking your hands away from your face. He tilts your chin up to get a better look at you and your cheeks burn pink under the heat of his gaze. In a move as smooth as butter and very much welcomed, he leans in and kisses you. The kiss is drawn out and delicate and you’re very glad that this is the one you’ll remember as opposed to last night’s. Lord knows what kind of sloppy wet mess of a kiss you’d subjected this poor man to in the midst of your drunken haze. You suppose he’d much rather forget that one too.

Javier pulls away from kiss, although only putting a few inches of distance between your lips and his.  “Last night, I told you that if you still wanted me to fuck me when you’d sobered up, then all you had to do was come and find me,” he says. “Well you’ve me, so now I’ll ask; do you still want me to fuck you?” You bite your lip and nod. “Okay then,” he smiles, taking you by the hand and whisking you away into dense trees.

Everything is moving so fast. A few minutes ago, you were chatting to Karen – a few minutes before that, you were asleep – and now, you’re being pinned against a tree by Javier as his hand finds its way down the front of your jeans. Funny how life turns out.

He smiles at the wetness that he finds as he glides his fingers back and forth over your folds and you take in a sharp breath when two of those fingers slide up into you.

This isn’t quite what you’d pictured when people had raved about early morning sex. You’d always imagined two freshly-awoken yet perfectly immaculate love birds tumbling through soft linen sheets as sunlight pours the net-curtained window. But as Javier leave a trail of kisses on your neck – your head still aching and the bark of the tree scratching at the skin on the back of your arms as his fingers slide in and out of you – you decide that this somehow feels a lot sweeter than the fantasy that preceded it.

Javier’s free hand strays from your jawline and finds itself wandering up inside your untucked shirt, softly caressing the skin at your waist. You grip onto his upper arm – your fingers curling around his bicep and bunching up the fabric of his white dress shirt. He kisses you – passionately, but still softly – his lips feeling rough against yours and leaving you with an undeniable ache to find out what they would feel like against the soft skin below your belt.

“Lay down,” he pants, breaking the kiss and withdrawing his fingers from you.

You do as he says, laying down in the grass and grinning widely as he kneels down between your legs.

He tugs at your jeans, pulling them down – along with your undergarments – and yanking them off at your ankles. He tosses your jeans to one side and pushes your knees up whilst simultaneously spreading them apart. He looks at you for a moment before his gaze wanders south and he takes his bottom lip between his teeth and eyes your cunt like it’s a three-course meal. And then he lays down on his stomach and buries his head between your thighs – this tongue swirling around your clit. You almost jolt up, bending double at the sensation as it sends chills through body. You manage to refrain from clamping your legs shut and trapping Javier in what he’d probably think of as the most heavenly bear trap in existence – but only just. He mumbles something in between laps of his tongue, but you can’t for the life of your pin down what it was he said. Turns out it’s difficult to focus when someone has the most sensitive part of you in their mouth – who’d have thunk it?

“What?” you ask him through another sharp gasp as he gently sucks at your clit.

“I said,” he smiles, lifting his head up to look at you. “I was thinking about this all night.”

“Oh really?” you smirk.

He puts his head back down again and hums as he takes your clit into his mouth again and sucks – this time harder – sending a shudder through your gut.

“Fuck! Where the hell did you learn that?” you ask, shaking your head in disbelief as you arch your back, trying to suppress the urge to rut up against his face until you come from the friction.

Javier leaves a few kisses on your folds; kisses that he dots in a line running from up your stomach and over the top of your shirt as he crawls on top of you. “I’ve had a lot of practice,” he smiles, playfully – his eyes gleaming.

“Is that so?” you giggle. “You’re a real ladies man, huh?”

“Well I don’t like to brag, but…” He smiles down at you and you crane your neck up to kiss him.

“Well, why don’t you put all that practice to good use,” you whisper, your lips brushing against his as you speak.

He reaches down and unbuckles his belt, the clinking of the metal being music to your ears amongst the ambient sounds of the forest that surrounds you both. You watch him excitedly, waiting in anticipation for him to unbutton his jeans. You’ve thought about this scenario countless times in the seclusion of your tent. Imagined the words he’d whisper in your ear; the way your toes would curl as he fucks you into your bedroll. And now the moment has arrived and it seems like he’s taking an eternity to pull himself out of his jeans. But after a few moments of wondering if he’s doing it on purpose, just to tease you, he’s finally finished with his buttons and you bite your lip to hold back the giddy giggle that threatens to bubble to the surface.

You look at him hungrily – you eyes flitting from his eyes, to his lips, to the belt that hangs loosely on either side of his hips, and back up to his eyes again. Before you can say anything, Javier’s lips are pressed against yours again and you damn near bite holes in his bottom lip as he pushes his way inside you. You take him all the way to the base and the involuntary moan that escapes you trails off into laughter as Javier kisses your throat, smiling at the vibration your laughter causes underneath his lips.

“Did I catch you off guard there?” he asks in a low, smooth voice. “My apologies,” he adds with a devilishly mischievous smile.

“Fuck you,” you giggle, cupping his jaw with your hand and going in for another kiss.

The way he fucks you is slow and sensual and although you feel the need to rock against him to gain more friction, you’re enjoying this softer side of Javier. You move with him, rolling your hips in time with him and letting your lips curl into a smile as he speaks the odd phrase in Spanish between heavy, desperate breaths. He raises his hand – the other hand used to hold him up as he hovers over you – and brushes some hair out of your face, tucking it neatly away behind your ear. He looks down at your so lovingly, with an unmistakable look of adoration in his face as he watches you smile underneath his weight and you find yourself wondering if he’s secretly been dreaming of this for as long as you have. The look in his face – that level of pure love – those feelings take more than one night to develop. There’s no way your sloppy drunken kiss had sparked such strong feelings towards you. No. These feelings have been here a while.

“Is this okay?” he asks quietly, almost whispering.

You nod your head, keeping your eyes locked with him and smiling warmly. “Of course,” you assure him; your voice unexpectedly hoarse.

He keeps going; his movements long and drawn out and slow, but just as sweet and shudder-inducing as fast ones as he pushes all the way inside you as far as possible each time. With a tingling sensation mounting in your gut, your breath hitches in your throat and you throw your head back as far as you can, picking up leaves and twigs in your hair, no doubt. You grip Javier’s arms tightly.

“Si, si,” he mutters, watching you intently as you arch your back slowly and begin to breath quick and shallow breaths. “Let it go, chica,” he whispers. “That’s it.”

His own breaths quicken and he speeds up ever-so-slightly – his eyes scanning the length of your body as you lay underneath him – your back bowing and your toes curling just like you’d imagined they would. He smiles gleefully as you let out a strained “fuck” before jolting up slightly and throwing your arm around his neck, giving him the perfect opportunity to nibble at your collar bone.

The wave crashes over you, washing away any sense or rationality and leaving you to flop back down into the grass and close your eyes as you try to comprehend who you are and what the hell your name is.

Javier chuckles to himself, delighting in the way your thighs clamp around his waist as he keeps fucking you through the waves of oversensitivity that you’re feeling on your way down from your peak. He snakes his hand up your shirt cups your breast before thumbing open your shirt presses a few sweet kisses to the centre of your breastbone before delicately taking a handful again.

You’re on the tail end on your wave now and your mind is slowly restoring itself to the level of an adult human once again. You open your eyes and look up at Javier, who has his eyes squeezed shut as he pants his way through his own orgasm, letting out small soft moans and the odd profanity here and there. You raise your hand to his face, pushing his hair out of the way before brushing your thumb over his goatee and holding his chin between your thumb and forefinger.

He spills into you with a moan that trails into a soft “mierda” under his breath; the relief washing over his face and his features softening. He rocks forward a few more times before slowing to a halt and opening his eyes. He gazes down at you through sleepy hues; all the tension melting from his body as he slowly pulls out and rolls onto the grass beside you.

“Ay,” he breathes, letting out a hard sigh and resting his arm underneath his head. “Fuck.”

You roll onto your side and snuggle up to him, resting your hand over his rapidly beating heart and watching carefully as the steady pounding of it moves your hand up and down with his chest.

“If only I could start all my mornings like that,” you comment.

“It sure as hell beats coffee.”

“Are you offering?” you smile.

“Well, I’m always happy to help.”

“Such a gentleman,” you grin.

“How dare you; I’m nothing of the sort,” he jokes.

You chuckle sweetly. “Okay, mean Mr Outlaw,” you tease, pressing a finger to his lips as they creep up into the cutest smile. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

“My secret?” he echoes, moving your hand away from his mouth with a chuckle. “What secret is that?”

“That you’re soft as raw cotton,” you smile.

“No,” he protests, trying to avoid your hand as you attempt to pinch your cheek. “I’m not. I’m a big scary outlaw and you can’t prove otherwise.”

“Sure thing,” you say, biting your lip, propping your self up on your elbow, and giving him a long, gentle kiss. “Like I said; you’re secret’s safe with me.”

“Ay,” he smiles softly, swiping his thumb over your bottom lip. “Thank you kindly.”

[overanalyzingelswordiswhatido]

In Defense of Doom Bringer

Since I noticed a similar argument about Dominator and Doom Bringer that I did to Nova Imperator and Rage Hearts, I'm doing another analysis to explain why I think the canon path was the one that was picked to be it. I'm gonna do a similar kind of set up that I did comparing Nova Imperator and Rage Hearts. I'll first analyze and identify the problems with Dominator that make him... less "qualified" for the position of being canon based on the trends I noticed for both the canon and alternate (which I usually just call "alt") routes.

But first! Story time!!

I am an Add main. The thing that makes Add different than the other three characters I main though, is I ended up maining him completely on accident. See, my older sibling mains Battle Seraph Eve. And I made the mistake of partnering my Lunatic Psyker, who I was unceremoniously terrible at, with my older sibling's Battle Seraph. I googled him multiple times and just COULD NOT figure it out (my older sibling did the same and couldn't figure him out either) and I'm pretty sure it's because of all the fancy lengthy terminology cuz my eyes crossed at "Dynamo configuration mode". My older sibling ADORES Battle Seraph and wanted to play her every. Single. Day. And having partnered my Add with their Eve, I reluctantly played a character I was terrible at every. Single. Day. My older sibling carried me until... it was either late Lanox or early Atlas and I can't remember which exactly. THAT was when I finally managed to figure Lusa out. I came to really like playing Add once I finally figured him out. So yeah. I accidentally main Add.

ANYWAY, on to the proper analysis now. First and foremost. I've identified three problems?? Again?? Is that just gonna be the format for these??

Thing the first is Dominator's obsession with perfection.

I googled perfectionism for this analysis, just to be sure I knew what I was talking about. So enjoy this mini essay (paraphrased mostly from wikipedia) on that. Perfectionism, in its toxic form, drives the perfectionist to attempt to achieve unrealistic goals or unattainable ideals. It's also often accompanied with depression and low self-esteem (amongst other things those two are just the most common and I didn't want to list out every last thing). Perfectionists tend to dissociate themselves from their flaws and can not be very critical of themselves while simultaneously being overly critical of others in their attempts to achieve their idea(s) of virtue (or more accurately the illusion thereof) while hiding their flaws. "According to [Allan] Mallinger and [Jeanette] DeWyze, perfectionists are obsessives who need to feel in control at all times to protect themselves and ensure their own safety. By always being vigilant and trying extremely hard, they can ensure they not only fail to disappoint or are beyond reproach but that they can protect [themselves] against unforeseen issues caused by their environment."

The first part about seeking unrealistic goals or unattainable ideals is just a general Add thing tbh. They all do it and I'd be a fuckin hypocrite to claim otherwise in a character analysis. But the rest of that is all very specific to Dominator. He does not take criticism. He believes himself to be perfect while the world is what is wrong. And he hyper controls his environment to make it something he can feel safe in. And that kinda leads right into my second problem.

Thing the second is Dominator's need for a bubble. He literally creates his own virtual world just so that he can function. That virtual world changes to his whims. It is everything he needs it to be whenever he needs it. And he created it after the real world failed to accommodate him. After the real world failed to be what he needed when he needed it. I really get the feeling Dominator is trying to make a world he understands and can predict. He's trying to make the world he's ended up in through no choice of his own, one that he can be comfortable in.

Thing the third is the edge he's teetering on the verge of dropping off of. I really do get the impression that Dominator's entire route is scared and hiding behind confidence and a pretty face. As long as he's confident and seems like he's got his shit together, then he'll be taken seriously instead of being taken advantage of. But because of his bubble and his inability to take any sort of not positive comments about himself, he is probably the most severe case of character stagnation I've observed despite it being a trend in the paths I've put together into the alt routes. And a big trend with the canon routes is character growth. That kinda knocks Dominator off the possible list. On top of that, pulling him out of the bubble that causes his stagnation is more likely to result in a path to self-destruction that he won't be able to get off of before it reaches its end.

Now comes Doom Bringer. But first. I need to acknowledge a few things about him. He has also stagnated. The difference is in severity. Doom Bringer is more aware of the world and his place in it simply because he hasn't closed himself off to it (yet he might and I wouldn't be surprised). I think he'll also require being set on a path of self-destruction to get out of that stagnation. The difference there is, based on my analysis, I think Doom Bringer is more equipped to get off that ride so to speak and I'll be talking about that more a little later on in this. Doom Bringer also doesn't have nearly anywhere near Dominator's sense of responsibility and self-preservation or impulse control. Almost all of Doom Bringer's inhibition comes from something outside of himself, whether it's someone else or the situation he finds himself in (it's usually someone else probably). It also says a lot in Dominator's favor that he is the only Add that hasn't merged himself with something yet. Cuz I get the feeling that shit is REALLY dangerous. Also the fact that Doom Bringer merged himself with his Nasod Armor simply because he essentially got tired of it's upkeep says a lot about how well he thinks of possible consequences before taking an action (I'm pretty sure he just fucking doesn't). That being said, you can be completely irresponsible (comparatively speaking) and completely lack self control (again comparatively speaking) and still be farther along in your development than someone who has more control than you. And since Dominator is VERY focused on image while the only one who cares less than Doom Bringer is Mad Paradox, it makes sense that it would be like that.

The big thing Doom Bringer has going for him is his connections to the El Search Party. I'm gonna be honest. That's the only BIG difference between him and Dominator that I think makes him more "qualified" to be a canon route. I have no doubt Doom Bringer never intended to build connections with the search party (and I'll be doing an analysis later about those connections and how strong I actually think they are). He just wasn't as good as Dominator in closing himself off to them. The reason I've come to believe this is because I've noticed that in the Doom Bringer job path Add's face is very expressive, much more so than the other two. That in turn makes him easier to read whether he tries to hide things or not. People that are easily read tend to subconsciously drop their walls faster than they originally intend to and I don't think he was an exception to this. I think Doom Bringer accidentally got attached to the El Search Party and I'm not even sure he's FULLY realized it yet. But its that attachment and that relative openness (compared to Dominator we are still talking about Add after all) that puts Doom Bringer as the Add that is on the road to starting a recovery from all of his trauma. I think it's going to take slamming face first into the brick wall of failure and dealing with the resulting emotional turmoil but as I've said. Doom Bringer is the most equipped to be able to do that and come out the other side okay. Even if it is only because he has less reason to be apathetically accepting of it than the other two Add paths.

Anyway it was actually in trying to convince my younger sibling that Dominator was just as worthy of compassion as Doom Bringer and Mad Paradox that made it so I figured all of this out at all. And I honestly struggled with it a bit because while the canon paths are often the healthiest it was difficult to put into words why I think Doom Bringer fits that bill better because the two paths are so similar once you actually look past their exteriors. That and Dominator being the more responsible of the two made it harder for me to feel like I could adequately explain my thoughts on it without it sounding like I was just making excuses for Doom Bringer and/or hating on Dominator.

One last thing. I haven't really seen any other debates between character job paths that I think will prompt me to make another post like this one??? Like I saw something about Catastrophe deserving to be canon but it was just one person and it wasn't prevalent enough in the wider community that I feel the need to make a whole long winded analysis on it. So unless something new comes up or someone asks specifically I won't do another post like this. I'll be posting the path organizations I made based on the trends I've referenced both in this post and the Raven post in a bit. Once I finish detailing it out.

[bloojayoolie]

Fucking, Google, and Joker: File: black-manta-new-52.jpg (96 KB, 618x412) Damonashu 116 points 1 year ago ALEX DEGEN MAGIC SERPLE 2018 I'd like to imagine that Black Manta spends his time awake at night thinking of new ways to reminds Aquaman how he killed his son 0121121 >»90121140 >>90121185 >»90121418 >>90121437 >>90121471 Anonymous 02/22/17(Wed)05:43:49 No.90121094 @ADACTIVITY 90121568 »90121617 »90121781>»90122145 >>90122957 90123029 >90123691>90124826 >>90125587 >>90126898 Share Save What's his problem? Zarester 74 points 1 year ago The pacific ocean has 3.9 stars out of five on google maps MST KILL "Hey, Aquaman. Help me with this crossword. 17 across, seven letters, 'another phrase for a dead body'." "Cadaver?" Anonymous 02/22/17(Wed)05:45:30 No.90121140 "No. Has an O." >90121094 (OP) Aquaman "Uhm, A corpse?" Who the fuck is downvoting the ocean "Nnnnope. Doesn't work. Oh! I got it! "What is it?" TO BE PERFECTLY FRANK- I'M DOING IT OUT OF SIMPLE SPITE. Anonymous 02/22/17(Wed)05:50:22 No.90121286 "Your son!" >>90121264 Wow, he must really hate Aquaman Share Save Harhan Metal Gear Ray Romano 57 points 1 year ago "Hey Aqua Man, Knock knock." Anonymous 02/22/17(Wed)06:03:46 No.90121559 *sigh* "Whose there Black Manta?" The madman took over a terrorist organization that was on the verge of world domination just so he could use them to fuck with Aquaman. Manta is a man of "Not your son. 'Cus you know. I killed him." sheer will and limitless potential Share Save REALLY HATE YOUR GUTS, YOU KNOW... View Same Google iqdb Sauce NAO Aquaman_Vol_7_23.1_Black_Manta.jpg, 2MiB, 1920x2951 strips_of_serengeti Respect the Pipe 28 points 1 year ago I'm pretty sure Black Manta would just adopt an orphan and take it with him on his next nefarious plot, just so he could tell Aquaman that it's Take-Your-Son-To-Work Day, and rub in how great it is to be a father to a living child. PLAGKTA Anonymous Fri 24 Mar 2017 09:54:01 No.52342588 MANTS Report Quoted By: >5234421152356342 And he'd treat the kid well and make him super happy just to rub it in. >>52342483 >>52331311 >>52329634 Share Save Man, I love Black Manta. Especially his modern incarnation where he basically doesn't seem to have any personality at all except when fucking with Aquaman. He's basically Jason Vorhees or Mike Myers in terms of personality. And he's a member of the Legion of Doom. Can you imagine the poor schmuck that has to sit next to him in Legion meetings? Scarecrow's just sitting there, trying to have a nice conversation with Solomon Grundy (Born on a Wednesday), when Black Manta walks in and sits down and proceeds to just stare straight ahead, hands flat on the table, his only movement an occasional grinding of his teeth. HOWB THE WICE The Legion has supervillains and mad scientists and near-literal gods and demons, and Scarecrow is stuck next to a man, smelling vaguely of fish and blood, who mostly just wants to kill people close to Aquaman with whatever's on-hand at the time. But at least it's better than the one time he tried to be social. Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed)22:49:55 No.52440454 >52439850 > In the beginning there was a formless presence which cast its gaze onto the new born universe. > As it gained form millennia later it thought but one thing. >One thought randomly generated and with no outside influence. Fuck Aquaman. >"Uh...hey, Black Manta." >...Did you know that you can completely gut some species of fish, and if you put them back in the water, they'll keep on swimming?" >"..uh...no I didn't." >"...I must kill the sea." Anonymous 11/18/15(Wed)21:02:17 No.77559040 77566345 >>77566848 File: f338e5becd29807d401655ce8...). jpg (318 KB, 736x649) Anonymous 03/30/17(Thu)12:49:16 No.52448523 I could only dream of creating an enemy this autistic and hate fueled to throw at my players. Black Manta is a man that both philosophically and symbolically with his suit has encased himself in hate. He is the living manifestation of human hatred brought upon him by the cruel Poseidon like forces of wrathful nature, represented by the ocean. Black Manta has made himself into the very same pitiless, irrational and savage force of hate that the earth lays upon humanity from the seas. He is to Aquaman what a hurricane is to humanity, who he sees as responsible for taking this reckoning upon himself as Lord of the Anonymous 03/31/17(Fri)18:20:20 No.52471419 >52447826 52455734 Fucking perfect. I need to add something like this to a superhero campaign of my own >This guy is after you >You don't know why, or how, but he will do everything in his power to slowly destroy you and make you know it was him. >And his power is significant oceans. He has the same all consuming hatred for Aquaman that Captain Ahab had for the white whale The fact that his true origin is purposely obscured makes him even more striking as a shapeless force of nature Anonymous 03/30/17(Thu)14:43:07 No.52450280 >>52430715 Fuck man, Manta has given so many reasons that turned out to be lies to fuck with Aquaman that the real reason could very well be that Manta woke up one day, poured himself a bowl fish-o's, turned on the news, saw Aquaman, and thought, "Fuck that guy and everything he stands for." But really, the reason doesn't matter anymore because Manta doesn't need it. Manta isn't a man anymore. Asking why Manta hates Aquaman is like asking why the stars burn or why gravity exists. They just do. Manta has long ago stopped having a reason beyond the fact that Aquaman exists. Manta has long ago stopped being a man. Now? Now Manta is much like the sea he spends so much time in. You can see it in his eyes, the pitiless cold and the cruel indifference. Manta is a force of nature fueled by hate and spite that has long ago stopped having reason for existing beyond the fact that it does. Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed) 1 2:46:58 No.5243 1077 >>52430715 It's like the OP pic says. He just really, really fucking hates Aquaman. He's givien multiple conflicting backstories and motivations, several of which he admits he made up just to fuck with Aquaman. At this point even if he remembers his original reason he probably doesn't care about it anymore. His sole purpose in life is to screw with Aquaman in any and every way he can. There is no line he won't cross, no action too petty, so long as it hurts Aquaman. He has bent his entire being around making Arthur's life as miserable as possible and he will never stop, never falter, never give up. He is to the king of the ocean what the sea is to angry sailors, cruel, uncaring, and relentless. He's Captain Ahab as a comic book character and we love him for it. Anonymous 03/31/17(Fri)14:39:05 No.52467471 >>52430715 He literally just really fucking hates Aquaman. Everything he does is to fuck with Aquaman, any crimes he commits are purely either to fuck with Aquaman or to acquire funds to use to fuck with Aquaman. Not a day goes by in which he doesn't sit down and reflect on how much he fucking hates Aquaman Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed) 12:27:15 No.52430777 Anonymous 03/31/17(Fri)18:44:59 No.52471769 >52430577 Quite literally the only reason he didn't kill himself when Aquaman died was because of the off chance that he came back to life since Manta is genre savvy enough to realize that heroes do that often Is there ever a hour where Black Manta don't think about his hatred for Aquaman? Do he even sleep? Anonymous 03/31/17(Fri)18:50:27 No.52471853 Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed)12:29:34 No.52430813 >>52430715 There is conflicting stories about why he does. It really doesn't matter, because his place is a implacably, actually threatening counter to Aquaman. >>52471769 Well, physically at least, he is still human, so he has to sleep at some point. But he probably uses a form of self-hypnosis to ensure that when he dreams, he dreams about hurting Aquaman Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed)12:29:45 No.52430817 >52430758 Naw he was faking that. >52430715 He just fucking hates him. Maybe there is something deeper but its a mystery so far since he keeps faking out actual origin stories. Honestly, part of the appeal is that he is just raw anger towards the king of the sea wrapped in a calm, hate-oozing package. He's the Joker but without having been ruined of all character through numerous iterations. Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed)12:31:48 No.52430849 >52430758 Yes, well, I have students that are autisitic as fuck and none of them have tried to overthrow a PMC yet to fuel their crusade against me.

[taeilm]

potc!au | nct

drink up, me ‘earties (never shall we die)

3 ships, 3 crews, 18 boys sailing the vast atlantic

warning lowkey dark bc potc

TAEYONG: Captain of La Vipère

loves the sea more than anything

has probably sailed more waters than any other pirate (he does own the fastest ship out there)

fears neither death nor life

but has a gentle heart so therefore...too many weaknesses

cares about his crew a lot, especially jaehyun

brilliant swordsman; one of world’s best

it’s mesmerizing to watch him amidst battle bc he fights like he’s dancing

confident & courageous & will face anything head-on

charismatic; ppl are naturally drawn to him

ten’s nemesis; their vendetta against each other is never-ending (though neither is sure how it started)

romantically unavailable bc he’ll only ever be in love with that distant horizon and boundless sea

SICHENG: Quartermaster of La Vipère

taeyong’s most trusted right-hand man

aloof, mysterious; no one rly knows why he’s here or what he wants

ex-british royal navy commander but he left all that behind for the uncharted sea, bc taeyong somehow convinced him

pretty boy

his beauty is literally deadly bc ppl let their guard down around him then lose their lives for it

terrific fighter

doesn’t talk much

can be very cruel if needed (to enemies & crew alike)

extremely disciplined but slowly trying to unravel the navy orderliness that has defined most of his life

TAEIL: Boatswain of La Vipère

loves the ship more than his crew

carefully maintains her so she’s always running at 100%

will probably go down with the ship if she ever sinks

looks harmless but is actually p good with a sword

doesn’t like fighting though

taeyong consults him a lot

experienced & versatile bc he’s worked on many pirate ships before

but for some reason everyone trusts his loyalty to la vipère

has a lot of good stories to tell

loves singing haunting tunes about dying sailors; it sets the crew on edge but his voice is too beautiful to make stop

JAEHYUN: Sailing Master of La Vipère

inexplicably attuned to taeyong’s feelings and desires

prob bc they’ve known e/o since they were little pirate boys

shares his captain’s love for the sea

taeyong trusts him with his life

doesn’t like making empty promises

soft-spoken & gentle

has the face of a heartthrob but doesn’t use it to his advantage

very precise with navigations

seems to always know where taeyong wants to sail before he even tells him

JOHNNY: Master Gunner of La Vipère

chill and laidback; nothing ever fazes him

joined the crew bc he was bored & wasting his life away on land

master gunner for no reason other than that he gets a sick thrill out of bombing other ships to oblivion

he only feels alive during battles; the more chaotic the better

so unsympathetic that ppl think he’s missing a nerve but rly, he’s just perpetually disinterested in everything

can be very charming from time to time depending on his mood

loves thunderstorms & hurricanes

JAEMIN: Surgeon of La Vipère

childhood friends with jeno; they were both orphans living off of scraps in paris

doesn’t talk about it bc they’re kinda enemies now but he worries over him a lot (taeyong knows this but can’t do much about it)

initially joined la vipère to find jeno

adapted well to life as a pirate; anything is better than the starving hell he grew up in

a surprisingly capable doctor even though the only experience he’s had was from treating his and jeno’s cuts & bruises from larceny punishments

very stealthy & nimble

good at stealing

loves his crew members

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TEN: Captain of The Black Pearl

taeyong’s nemesis; would kill him but would highkey also fuck him (their relationship is rly twisted & intense idk)

a playful trickster

nothing but snide remarks tucked under his tongue

devil-may-care attitude; little thoughts given for the future

so unbelievably selfish and narcissistic it’s amazing he has a crew at all

but he’s fun!! and clever and charming as hell

can wiggle his way out of any trouble

very good at lying & acting

speaks a lot of languages

legendary swordsman; on par with taeyong

only shows genuine affection when talking about the black pearl

sleeps with countless ppl every time they dock at a port

DOYOUNG: Quartermaster of The Black Pearl

basically in command of the ship bc ten rarely does anything for the crew

smart, organized, well-rounded

revered and somewhat feared by the crew

hides his emotions v well

ppl think he’s heartless but tbh he’s not rly; he’s just good at separating task from feeling

has a soft spot for jeno; thinks the boy is wholly unsuited for this barbaric life

doesn’t seem very invested in piracy (he wants something more but he’s not sure what)

loves the sea at night when everything is calm & quiet

prefers peaceful sailing to battle frenzy but that doesn’t mean he can’t fight well (he’s actually the second-best swordsman onboard after ten)

KUN: Boatswain of The Black Pearl

similar to taeil, the ship is his pride & joy

does a good job overseeing everything on a daily basis

greedy; loves gold more than anything

always the first to locate the treasure hoard on a conquered ship

dreams of being the wealthiest man in the world and thinks piracy is the quickest way to achieving that

everything he does is for his own gain; the crew to him is just another means of aiding him in the bigger scheme

takes care of yukhei the most bc he thinks that kid is their best asset in battles; ppl mistake it for affection but kun would drop him in a heartbeat for even the tiniest materialistic gain

loves rum

JENO: Sailing Master of The Black Pearl

the kindest & most thoughtful boy

very good-looking (his beauty is famous across all the seas; even mermaids fall for his allure)

childhood friends with jaemin; misses him but doesn’t dare to say anything bc if ten ever finds out, jaemin will likely die just so ten can see jeno’s reaction for his own entertainment

not very fond of his captain

only joined the crew bc ten saved him years ago from nearly getting his hand chopped off for stealing (“now, boy, i need me a crew, so what do you say? join me and i’ll consider your debts paid”)

separated from jaemin due to that but fate has her own way and now they’re enemies on sea (he’s not sure if he’s thankful or angry)

has a natural affinity for directions at sea despite having been a parisian street rat his whole life

YUKHEI: Master Gunner of The Black Pearl

epitome of the ruggedly handsome pirate™

crazy fucking bastard

doesn’t know what holding back means

blasts cannons like there’s no tomorrow every time the black pearl engages in battle

loves joking around with the crew

says he adores & would die for everyone but no one knows if he rly ever means it

so reckless w everything he does that it’s a feat he’s still alive

drinks a lot but rarely gets drunk

honestly just wants to live life to the fullest

that’s why he loves being a pirate!! nothing else can give him the same dizzying rush of being alive, knowing he’s always on the verge of death

huge womanizer... always gone the moment they dock, just like ten

JUNGWOO: Surgeon of The Black Pearl

shy & quiet & seemingly innocent

but no one knows of all the shit he’s done in secret to get to where he is today

obviously he’s darker than he comes off as if he’s survived for this long on the sea

ppl always want to protect him and he goes along with it bc false impression is his favorite weapon

so tbh he’s as good of a liar as ten is

pretends to act like an airhead but is acutely perceptive to everyone and everything around him at all times

a highly skilled surgeon; was trained as a pirate doctor’s apprentice since v young

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MARK: Captain of The Flying Dutchman

cut his own heart out and locked it away; no one knows where it is or dare to ask

cursed with the ship; can never make port and is doomed to sail the seas for eternity

acts cruel and merciless but is deep down very sensitive

ppl say no one knows love like he has known love

self-destructive, moody

lone wolf; pushes everyone away but somehow his crew is unshakably devoted to him

superior swordsman; second only to ten and taeyong

controls the kraken; the entire sea is envious of him for that

RENJUN: Quartermaster of The Flying Dutchman

ex-british commodore

was so so devoted to great britain like literally exemplar pawn of the empire; would’ve died for his queen with zero hesitation

drawn to ppl who are better than him

which is why he was enthralled by mark during one great battle bt the british navy & the flying dutchman 

and then promptly abandoned everything he ever stood for just to follow this boy

has a pride complex where he simultaneously pines after & wants to kill those who’ve bested him

very good with guns & pistols

YUTA: Boatswain of The Flying Dutchman

loves being a ghost-pirate; he was made for the undead life

had an intense affair with sicheng from years ago but was betrayed and nearly hanged for piracy 

so now he’s bent on revenge (but some fucked-up part of him is still in love with sicheng) (he’ll never admit it though)

tongue sharper than ten’s bc he always speaks with the intention to hurt

very manipulative

holds grudges

joined the flying dutchman bc it’s the most feared ship on the seven seas & he thinks it’s his best chance at finding & killing those he’s been wronged by (rn primarily sicheng)

despite everything he’s p loyal to mark bc there’s something about cutting one’s own heart out that intrigues him to no end

CHENLE: Sailing Master of The Flying Dutchman

navigates the ship to various locations to collect sailors who died at sea & ferry their souls to the next world

good judgements when it comes to sailing

often climbs onto the crow’s nest to stargaze or watching the rising sun bc they’re the only things that calm him

absolutely devoted to mark bc mark plucked him out of an abusive shanghai orphanage & basically saved his life

has a dark side but is generally a sweet boy

confides in renjun a lot bc he trusts him the most

DONGHYUCK: Master Gunner of The Flying Dutchman

would die for mark in a heartbeat

he’s in love with his captain? maybe?

rude/sarcastic little shit

jack of all trades; very smart but puts 20% effort into everything

disobedient as fuck bc he wants to get a rise out of mark but has never succeeded

sunshine boy on the surface but won’t bat an eyelash when spilling blood

gets a sadistic kick out of firing cannons and pistols

likes playing games with their captives/hostages

good at telling jokes & stories but everyone finds him annoying

JISUNG: Powder Monkey of The Flying Dutchman

suspicious of everything & doesn’t trust anyone

bad at managing emotions & relationships (his captain can relate)

a quick learner; can honestly take over any position on the ship if he wants to

gets along well with chenle but isn’t super close w anyone

his mother tossed him overboard at birth w the intention to drown him but mark saved him by chance

yuta jokes that mark only picked him out of the water bc he didn’t want to ferry another dead soul

he considers his life to be mark’s; 100% at his captain’s disposal

excellent fighter despite being so young