#i feel strongly about this it's my cannon now fight me about it

[pandasaurio-espacial]

IT by Stephen King but

Stan survives and goes to Derry with the rest of the losers

Audra doesn't go

Henry died at some point so Tom still goes, but this time as a stand-in Henry

Tom starts attacking at the inn, so he doesn't hurt Mike and gets killed by Eddie

While dealing with his body, Bev opens up about their relationship and in turn Eddie admits to marrying his mom

Bonding time

All 7 go down in the sewers to kill IT

Eddie still loses one arm, but still survives

After everything is said and done, the losers remember each other

In the epilogue, instead of seeing Bill save Audra, we get the losers meeting up 6 months after

Bev and Ben announce that they're engaged

Stan and Patty announced that they're expecting

Eddie tells them that he's in the process of divorcing Myra

Mike recounts what's been happening in Derry and tells them that everything is almost sorted out in the library so he'll be able to leave soon

Eddie and Mike make plans for a road trip

The End

[doccywhomst]

Hey Miss Doccy! Speaking of autism monopoly- which monopoly pieces would the Doctors pick??

as someone on the autism spectrum who's extremely passionate about my chosen monopoly piece (if you guess it, you win an arbitrary doccywhomst point), I AM QUALIFIED TO ANSWER THIS!

HERE WE GO!!!

one: cowboy on horse, hands down. he'd be like "hee hee hoo hoo" and make it gallop across the board, and he'd refer to all of his houses and hotels as "stables" and "saloons"

two: he strikes me as a scottie dog fellow?? i feel like he'd be absolutely terrible at monopoly but a joy to play with. he'd lose and hold the little dog and mope around until jamie inevitably gave him a bail-out loan

three: you already know. this bitch is so obsessed with the car that he carries it around in a special little pocket, perpetually ready for someone to challenge him at monopoly. he's quite good at strategy games, but he keeps redistributing his funds to other players and "donating" enormous sums of money to the free parking pile, so he loses

four: this hoe is the boot. look at him.

that's the most raggedy-ass leather boot man ive ever seen in my life (affectionate)

five: he'd think for a really, really long time, trying to decide between the thimble, the iron, and the cannon, and i think he'd eventually go with the cannon, probably saying something like "the best defense is an excellent offense, turlough!" before immediately and decisively losing

six: special edition cat.

i rest my case.

seven: for some reason, i think he'd choose the iron. i'm probably getting a bit psychoanalytical, but he'd pick it because it seems like a fairly innocuous and innocent piece - it's traditionally domestic, feminine, and unassuming. but irons are so fucking dangerous that it's kind of insane, which fits his personality *nervous sweating*

eight: he's a thimble. not to say that he's symbolically harmless, because he's easily one of The Scariest and most eldritch doctors ever, but he'd pick the thimble every time and spend most of the game talking in circles about the history of thimbles, who made the first thimble, why thimbles have dimples, what thimblettes are, and he'd tell sixteen different terrible jokes about thimbles. what a specimen. best character

shalka: he's so wild, i feel like he'd casually whip out a monopoly piece from the future, or like, an alien monopoly piece with tentacles n shit, and alison would just be like

war: contrary to popular belief, he'd be the wheelbarrow, or the dog. trust me on this. he radiates extreme wheelbarrow vibes and i'm not sure why, but i feel strongly about it

nine: he doesn't play monopoly. it's a game about capitalism and market manipulation, and by proxy, worker exploitation. he'd rather play with all the pieces and make a story, which is so valid-

ten: he'd be the top hat because he likes holding it on the tip of his finger like it's a little dapper gentleman. donna does the same thing with the thimble. they talk back and forth in dapper gentleman voices and wiggle their fingers until they're in hysterics

eleven: he'd have a slap fight with One over the cowboy piece until amy puts them in their get along shirt. they come to a compromise by duplicating the piece, so now there are two little cowboy horse guys galloping across the board, and they keep pretending to shoot each other. "this game ain't big enough for the two of us!" amy quits.

twelve: he joins forces with nine and refuses to play monopoly, preferring to design an increasingly complicated fantasy world for the pieces to live in, complete with maps and diagrams and magic systems and physics, and nine just sort of nods while making the plane and the cannon kiss

thirteen: she's absolutely the battleship. she slays so fucking hard at monopoly, she takes no prisoners. a menace to civilized society. you've never seen this level of chilling, merciless dedication in someone's eyes. she's dead serious about it, a total fanatic, and then she wins and it's like

end note: i want to hear how your favorite piece chalks up to this, as well as what your headcanons are! but also im right, sorry, lol

[thora-jane]

Vanilla Ice Cream pt iv (Matt Murdock x Femme Reader)

(a/n) please bear with me as I weave this with cannon. I'm trying my best lol regardless, I'm happy to announce this series finally has a tag list. Thank you to everyone that's been keeping up with this so far!

Summary: When you and Matt go out for drinks, you begin to think that maybe things will turn out ok

Warnings: none

Word Count: 1935 words

Previous | Next

“Sorry if we got off on the wrong foot,” Karen slid in the seat next to you as you surveyed the bar, “I’m Karen.”

“(y/n),” you smiled, “So how do you know Matt?” you asked, “Are you two just colleagues or…?”

“I mean we’re colleagues but we’re also friends,” she smiled, looking over your shoulder to see if the guys had gotten there yet, “It’s a bit of a long story how we met. But what about you? As I hear it you and Matt go way back.”

You looked down at your hands, biting back a smile, “Yeah it’s…it’s been a while. But we were pretty close as kids. His dad used to send him over to our apartment when he had to be out late or when there was a match. It was like that ever since we were little. Our parents said we were inseparable,” you laughed, “I used to beg his dad to teach me how to box, but he was strongly against either of us growing up to be fighters.”

“And how did that turn out for you?” Karen asked, crossing her legs.

“Well Matt technically fights in the courtroom, and I…I’m not sure if I fight exactly? Sometimes I do, I guess,” You wondered aloud.

“Oh? And what do you do?” She looked behind your shoulder again, and you watched as her face lit up, “Hey!” She waved, and you looked over your shoulder to see Foggy and Matt walk through the doors.

She looked back to you and her smile faded, “Is everything alright?”

“What if he doesn’t like me?” You looked back to Karen and began to fidget, “What if he thinks I’m weird or I make him feel like he’s reliving painful memories or something? I should probably go. We’re probably so different now and-”

“(y/n)!” Matt smiled, reaching out and feeling around the sticky surface of the table before resting his hand on top of yours, “I’m so glad you decided to come out with us.”

“Yeah, this is rare, Matt hardly ever goes out with us anymore. It’s quite the occasion.” Foggy clapped your shoulder, “You must be quite the special lady.” He winked in a way that was not-at-all subtle and made Karen laugh, and you blush.

“Foggy, please,” Matt groaned as he slid his hand off of yours and ran it over his face, “I’m really sorry, about him,” He took a deep breath, gesturing to where Foggy sat unrepentant, “This is Foggy Nelson, he’s my partner-”

“Partner? You asked, eyebrows raised.

“Business partner,” Foggy corrected.

“Yes, he’s my business partner and closest friend. We were roommates at Columbia and interned at the same law firm before we branched off and started our own,” He chuckled at the sound of your heart rate returning to normal, “not a romantic partner, I’m afraid I’m still single.”

“Columbia?” You asked, unsure of how to respond to the mention of him being single, “So you’ve continued to be a genius?”

The lighting in the bar may have been dingy but you could swear he nearly blushed at your words, “Well I…I wouldn’t say that-”

“He’s never stopped!” Foggy cut him off, not letting him hide behind being humble, “He graduated at the top of his class and you should see the way he destroys people in court! Ever since I met him he was always reading-”

“Thurgood Marshall!” You and Foggy said at the same time, causing all of you to laugh, “You still read him?”

“Wait, he was reading Marshall when he was nine?” Foggy asked, turning to Matt slack-jawed.

“He had me reading Marshall to him if we couldn’t find a braille!” you explained, “And he’d make me spell all the words I couldn’t understand.”

“Calumnies,” You heard Matt whisper under his breath. Karen and Foggy kept laughing, But you reached under the table and squeezed his hand. Maybe you were imagining it, but you thought he squeezed back. Foggy leaned over Matt’s shoulder and whispered something in his ear. You felt his hand tense up before he slowly pulled it away, “Yeah I,” He laughed softly to himself, “I guess I excelled at my education.”

You couldn’t help but smile, “There was never a doubt in my mind, Matt.”

“Well what about you?” He asked, adjusting the cuffs on his sleeves, “certainly you’ve gone on to spread your greatness throughout the world?”

“Well,” You looked down at the table, ���I studied child psychology and uh,” you paused, debating how impressed he would even be, “I got my Master’s in Social Work and since then I’ve been all over the place, recreational therapy in children’s hospitals, child protection services, a lot of work in the foster care and adoption system,” You looked back up at him with a nervous smile, “It’s no Valedictorian of Columbia but…I like to think I’ve helped at least some people out there.”

“That sounds great!” Karen smiled and nodded, “Foggy? Are you up to go get drinks?”

You thought you felt her leg graze your ankle before stopping against Foggy as she nodded over to the bar, and the two of them got up and left rather quickly.

“I guess part of me kept on looking for you.” You mumbled after the two of them had left, “God that sounds so stupid I’m so sorry-”

But Matt only held his hand up, “Don’t. Really, don’t. I’m just happy that you’re here now.” He paused for a moment, before asking, “So do you have a place to stay?”

“Yeah,” you nodded, “Got a little apartment not too far from here. My furniture hasn’t gotten here yet so I’m having a fun time camping on the floor, but me and my plants are all moved in.”

“Your plants? You’re into gardening?” He smiled, leaning his cane against his chair.

“Cooking. But growing herbs is a nice way to make sure I have ingredients I need,” you shrugged. Your face lit up at a memory, “Remember Mrs Jones and her roses?”

Matt only groaned, but his smile was impossible to hide, “Oh god, don’t remind me. I can still see her face, she was so angry.”

“Yes but my mom still talks about it like it was the greatest birthday ever. You were such a sweetheart to her and she kept those roses long after they wilted,” you chuckled, remembering how Matt ran away from your neighbor like his life depended on it; a handful of her beloved roses in hand.

“She better have, I still have nightmares where she’s chasing me,” Matt lied, shaking his head with a sigh.

“You were so sweet though, I think you flirted with all the ladies in the building except Mrs. Jones!” You tried to keep your laughter down, and Matt did too, but it was only getting harder.

“Surely that’s why you stuck around, right?” Matt smirked and quirked an eyebrow.

“Actually, you said you only hung out with me because there were no other girls in our building which meant I wouldn’t have the same kind of cooties that they would have and I was safe to play with. I also think you took great joy in calling me ugly.” You nudged his foot with yours under the table, “So you didn’t have all the moves. Don’t flatter yourself, Matty Boy.”

“Agh,” he groaned, clutching a hand to his chest, “You’re too cruel!”

“We return with drinks aplenty!” Foggy exclaimed, slamming 4 bottles of beer on the table and sliding one to you and Matt. You caught yours as it came to you, but Matt carefully felt around the table with his hand for a moment, searching for the bottle.

“It’s at your seven, Matt,” you said softly. He smiled, moving his hand to the left and wrapping his fingers around the glass.

“Thanks.”

“No problem,” You nodded, taking a drink.

“So what was this about sleeping on your floor?” Matt asked between sips.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just lay down with some blankets and-”

“You know Matt has a really comfortable couch,” Karen interjected, looking over to Foggy, “Isn’t that right?”

“Oh yeah. It’s like, super comfortable. I’m pretty sure we’ve all crashed on it several times,” He shook his head furiously in agreement, “It’s the couch to end all couches, really.”

Matt sighed, turning his face back to yours, “I suppose per my uh…friends’ invitation, you’re welcome to stay at my place until you have a bed again.”

Your brow furrowed, “Matt I couldn’t-”

“No, it’s no trouble, really,” he waved you off, “Seriously, you shouldn’t be sleeping on the floor all the time. Just for a few days?”

You sighed, setting down your bottle after taking another drink, “Alright, just for a couple nights. But if I get to be too much of a bother you’re kicking me out, Ok?”

“Oh, of course,” Matt agreed, pretending to be painfully serious.

The four of you spent the next hour or so swapping stories about college, your jobs, and encounters with the new local celebrities, Daredevil and The Punisher (who was shown on the news to finally be behind bars). By midnight, the four of you had gotten pretty tired, and the rain had started to pour outside. You and Karen stayed behind a minute to finish the last of your beers as Matt and Foggy made their way out the door.

“It was really nice meeting you,” Karen said, nudging all the empty bottles together, “And it’s really nice to see Matt that happy again, it’s been a while.”

“Has it?” You asked, slinging your bag over your shoulder.

“I think it’s all because of you, (y/n), he seems to really care about you. I told you you had nothing to worry about,” she gently punched your shoulder, “I’ll see you around, ok?”

“See you around, Karen,” You smiled, heading out the door.

“-And for a Catholic boy, that could be pretty dangerous,” Foggy pointed at Matt. Matt just scratched the back of his head with a chuckle. Maybe it was the alcohol, but you found the boldness to swing your arms over their shoulders.

“It’s really coming down, huh?” You asked, peering out from the bar’s awning.

“‘Tis indeed. Best of luck to you two getting home. I’ll see you all tomorrow.” Foggy pulled a newspaper out of his bag and unfolded it slightly, holding it over his head before he ducked out into the rain.

“You don’t happen to have an umbrella, do you?” Mat asked.

“Nope!” You smiled, “But you don’t mind the rain, do you?”

“Not at all,” He answered, gently wrapping his arm around yours, “Shall we?”

The two of you began your short walk to his building, the rain making quick work of soaking you through your clothes, “Turn here,” Matt said, the two of you guiding each other through the dark street.

You jogged up the steps of his apartment, trying not to drip all over the floors. His apartment was dark, but he made his way through the apartment unbothered as you struggled to take your shoes off at the door.

You heard the sound of a fridge door opening as he pulled out another bottle of beer and took off the cap. It was followed by a moment of silence, you figured he was taking a drink.

But instead, the silence was followed by a gasp. You froze, trying to figure out what was happening but too scared to move and see.

All you could hear was a voice. Not his voice though.

A woman’s voice.

“Hello, Mathew.”

(a/n) aaaaaaaaa thank you for readng! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Remember to go drink some water and do something special to take care of yourself today. Remember to breathe, lovelies <3

TAGLIST!: @phantomkindalikejaiden

[fudes240]

A short story by Dylan Klebold.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Klebold wrote this story for school in late February or early March 1999, shortly before the attack at Columbine High School on 20 April 1999. For a facsimile of the original, along with his teacher’s comments and other related material, see the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Columbine Documents, pages 10,463 to 10,468 (available at schoolshooters.info). Note: the killer in the story is described as left-handed, wearing a black trench coat, and 6’4”. Klebold was lefthanded, wore a black trench coat, and was approximately 6’4”.

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

The town, even at 1:00 AM, was still bustling with activity as the man dressed in black walked down the empty streets.... What was most recognized about the man was the sound of his footsteps.

Behind the conversations & noises of the town, not a sound was to be heard from him, except the dark, monotonous footsteps, combined with the jingling of his belt chains striking not only the two visible guns in their holsters, but the large bowie knife, slung in anticipation of use. The wide-brimmed hat cast a pitch-black shadow of his already dimly lit face. He wore black gloves, with a type of metal spiked-band across the knuckles. A black overcoat covered most of his body, small lines of metal & half-inch spikes layering upper portions of the shoulders, arms, and back. His boots were newly polished, and didn’t look like they had been used much. He carried a black duffel bag in his right hand. He apparently had parked a car nearby & looked ready for a small war with whoever came across his way.

I have never seen anyone take this mad-max approach in the city, especially since the piggies had been called to this part of town for a series of crimes lately. Yet, in the midst of the nightlife in the center of the average-sized town, this man walked, fueled by some untold purpose, what Christians would call evil. The guns slung on his belt & belly appeared to be automatic hand guns, which were draped above rows of magazines & clips. He smoked a thin cigar, and a sweet clovesque scent eminated from his aura. He stood about six feet and four inches and was strongly built. His face was entirely in shadow, yet even though I was unable to see his expressions, I could feel his anger, cutting thru the air like a razor. He seemed to know where he was walking, and he noticed my presence, but paid no attention as he kept walking toward a popular bar.

The Watering Hole. He stopped about 30 feet from the door, and waited. “For whom?” I wondered, as I saw them step out. He must have known their habits well, as they appeared less than a minute after he stopped walking. A group of college-preps, about nine of them, stopped in their tracks. A couple of them were mildly drunk, the rest sober. They stopped and stared. The streetlights illuminating the bar & the sidewalk showed me a clear view of their stare, full of paralysis & fear. They knew who he was & why he was there.

The second largest spoke up “What’re you doin man ... why are you here ... ?” The man in black said nothing, but even at my distance, I could feel his anger growing. “You still wanted a fight huh? I meant not with weapons, I just meant a fist fight ... cmon put the guns away, fuckin pussy!! said the largest prep, his voice quavering as he spoke these words of attempted courage. Other preps could be heard muttering in the background; “Nice trench coat dude, that’s pretty cool there . . .” . . . . “Dude we were jus messin around the other day chill out man . . .” . . . “I didn’t do anything, it was all them!!” . . . “cmon man you wouldn’t shoot us, were in the middle of a public place ...” Yet the comment I the remember most was uttered from the smallest of the group, obviously a cocky, power hungry prick. “Go ahead man! Shoot me!!! I want you to shoot me!! Heheh you won’t!! Goddam pussy ...” It was faint at first, but grew in intensity and power as I heard the man laugh. This laugh would have made Satan cringe in Hell. For almost half a minute this laugh, spawned from the most powerful place conceivable, filled the air, and thru the entire town, the entire world. The town activity came to a stop, and all attention was now drawn to this man.

One of the preps began to slowly move back. Before I could see a reaction from the preps, the man had dropped his duffel bag, and pulled out one of the pistols with his left hand. Three shots were fired. Three shots hit the largest prep in the head. The shining of the streetlights caused a visible reflection off of the droplets of blood as they flew away from the skull. The blood spatters showered the preps buddies, as they were too paralyzed to run. The next four preps were not executed so systematically, but with more rage from the man’s hand cannon than a controlled duty for a soldier. The man unloaded one of the pistols across the fronts of these four innocents, their instantly lifeless bodies dropping with remarkable speed. The shots from that gun were felt just as much as they were heard.

He pulled out his other pistol, and without changing a glance, without moving his deathstare from the four other victims to go, aimed the weapon out to the side, and shot about 8 rounds. These bullets mowed down what, after he was dead, I made out to be an undercover cop with his gun slung. He then emptied the clip into two more of the preps. Then, instead of reloading & finishing the task, he set down the guns, and pulled out the knife. The blade loomed huge, even in his large grip. I now noticed that one of the two still alive was the smallest of the band, who had now wet his pants, and was hyperventilating in fear. The other one tried to lunge at the man, hoping that his football tackling skills would save his life. The man sidestepped, and made two lunging slashes at him. I saw a small trickle of blood cascade out of his belly and splashing onto the concrete. His head wound was almost as bad, as the shadow formed by the bar’s lighting showed blood dripping off his face.

The last one, the smallest one, tried to run. The man quickly reloaded, and shot him thru the lower leg. He instant fell, and cried in pain. The man then pulled out of the duffel bag what looked to be some type of electronic device. I saw him tweak the dials, and press a button. I heard a faint, yet powerful explosion. I would have to guess about 6 miles away. Then another one occurred closer. After recalling the night many times, I finally understood that these were diversions, to attract the cops. The last prep was bawling & trying to crawl away. The man walked up behind him. I remember the sound of the impact well. The man came down with his left hand, right on the prep’s head. The metal piece did its work, as I saw his hand get buried about 2 inches into the guy’s skull. The man pulled his arm out, and stood, unmoving, for about a minute.

The town was utterly still, except for the faint wail of police sirens. The man picked up the bag and his clips, and proceeded to walk back the way he came. I was still, as he came my way again. He stopped, and gave me a look I will never forget. If I could face an emotion of god, it would have looked like the man. I not only saw in his face, but also felt eminating from him power, complacence, closure, and godliness. The man smiled, and in that instant, thru no endeavor of my own, I understood his actions.

[newartistgirl]

Linked Universe prediction/theory ig

  I don`t usually do this but given the fact that maybe in the next update we finally see the outcome of Twilight's fight with whatever it is that he is fighting against to survive, it may be the last time to say this before everything gets solved. (Even though the theory might be more connected to Time than to Twilight but... well I wanted to do it now)

  I´ve seen many thories around wether he was going to live or die but, to be honest, I may be worng, but not a single time have I feared for his life. (Ik it may sound bold but I strongly believe that he is going to be fine. Well, as fine as he can be)

  Having said this, lets start:

  This theory is kind of based on basically storytelling. If we just stop and think about it form a writers perspective. Is Twi´s death usefull in any way? Short answer: no. Like, again, I might be completely wrong and jojo shocks me with the next update, but I feel like Twilight dying would not add anything to the comic (I mean, yeah, the drama would be there but...)

  Now everyone might be remembering that time long ago when the fans deciphered the sheikah runes Time sees with the mask of Truth. Those claimed someone was going to die, however theres no evidence (I know he is dying right now but let me explain) that Twilight is going to be the one to fill that blank. Yes, I also know that it would be a nice coincidence the fact that it´s Twilight the one dying because it was Time the one who knew someone was going to die... But does he even know what the runes meant? I think it is just something for the fans to get them “excited”(I don´t actually know if this is an argument people use, or if my position on this is already debunked or confirmed. Just... clarifying i guess?). 

  Keeping this happy coincidence aside, let´s just think about it for a moment. Why would jojo kill one of the links this early? Not talking now about the rancher. Just in general. Why? Why get rid of one of the main characters like that? I am not claiming Twilight is going to get healthy and happy soon, but definitely don´t think he is going to die. Storytelling wise, this arc has to be “logical” in some way doesn´t it? The same way I use storytelling to save myself from fearing Twi´s death I can use it to argue that something has to happen. However not a death. Not now.

  If you read the introduction you know that this theory/feeling/prediction was also connected in some way to Time. Now is the time (no pun intended) for that part.

  First of all I am going to try and not use storytelling as an argument again (not yet), so lets start with something diferent: logic. Who is the Link that cannonically is dead in one of his appeareances? You guessed it: Time. So it might make sense him dying, right? Again, not now, but... If there´s a Link that is going to die I bet that Time is first on the list.

  (I have another post with that part because I don´t really know how long it is going to get)

  (I apologize in advance for any spelling mistake)

[rgr-pop]

I was literally JUST skimming that Rubin piece yesterday b/c my bf has been reading "Marxist feminist takes" on Instagram. They've been digging into anti-capitalist critiques of identity politics and what they referred to as queer theory (Is there a word for the instagram/tumblr theoretical cannon of like 2015-now?).

I have a women's studies degree (lmao) (one of the drabinski twins was my professor) and I feel strongly about Instagram theorists (we should talk about this, I'd love to hear your thoughts) so I was like let me pull out some PDFs for you to read some primary sources. Cause like Cohen was already critiquing queer theory in 97 with "Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens." I know there's stuff out there.

Turns out that "The Traffic in Women" is one of the only PDFs I have saved from school (very sad!!! Why did I do this). I was more into Butler and Ahmed in school and always leaned more phenomenological so I have not dabbled heavily in Marxist analysis.

Do you have any recommendations for Marxist feminist readings? Recent or classic? They're particularly interested in anti-capitalist critiques of sex work and porn, like alienation from the body type stuff, but also contemporary queer identity politics type stuff.

yes yes! I want to hear and talk more about instagram theory. is this instagraphics? what is it?

briefly: i'm a nancy fraser stan and it's one of those things where i feel fully and totally insane that we got to this place in culture without people really being the way about nancy fraser that they are about adolph reed (which is to say: fighting over and consuming rabidly) (i may feel similar about barbara fields actually, tbd). what your bf is looking for is nancy fraser's fortunes of feminism. i have an investment in her work that's particularly about her commitment to periodization and unravelling conventional periodization--she and i are hung up on the same time period and the same problems of history, even if we're going different places with it. there's something about the way that she at once critiques an economic regime and the intellectual disciplinary apparatuses that led us to have believed something about the economic regime--this is why people like her as a "critic of neoliberal identity politics" or whatever. but she stays committed in the end, always, in a very old school marxist woman way, to not only thinking about the exploitation of women, but the belief that they are exploited--itself sort of a heated position lol... anywho i digress. i have read and reread this article so many times, it's one of those things i always return to when i'm charting a thought. another article that really steered me back into this was this long one from tithi bhattacharya, which came out before her social reproduction anthology, which i would also recommend. both of those articles are in there actually. i have not read this newer one by susan ferguson. when that anthology came out i remember picking up lise vogel's marxism and the oppression of women and having some complaints that i'm curious if i'd retain. since my gayle rubin phase i've been thinking about that book and... kate millet, actually? actually i have more on this later (fights with my very young men comrades about whether "patriarchy" is useful that i keep losing somehow) more later!

[lost-on-kamino]

Records

Changing the Disk

A brief interlude before we continue our scheduled playlist

(It’s been a while! But i finally picked up speed again for this part of Rhythm’s story, though it’s now a look over the other side of things... Please don’t hate me, Eps is already hunting me-) Small Cameos by: Remedy ( @kkrazy256) Twitch ( @gaeasun) , Sponge and Olly (@mwolf0epsilon)

<Chapter 5   Chapter 7>

The wind was calmer today, Pitch found as he peered from the building. He scratched his beard as he looked back to the sleeping brothers and sisters and siblings, recovering from their time in the front.

Granted he had been requested to stay with Coric as Kix and Twitch went off following the ‘Chosen One’.

Sure, Pitch trusted the man; but he often found Slick’s words rotating. He hadn’t been deployed for Christophis… But he heard the stories.

It had left him a lot of time to think when he was on watch as Coric caught up on some much needed sleep. The older Medic had decided to keep watch over him which was its own blessing in disguise… as much as he did annoy his ori’vod from his habit of bringing food into the Medbay.

You named it; Berries, cookies, fruit, chips, lollies; Pitch had brought it in to help his family feel more at ease. It was a quirk he called it… from past experiences of- Actually he didn’t want to think about it… He just always had food around, just in case. Always on hand.

He rubbed his face, likely smudging it with dirt as he kept his focus and leaned back on his perch. Pitch kept a silent watch, a soft smile on his face.

He could hear the distant roar of blasters and cannons in the trees and hoped they’d have time to evacuate if it came to it. Though he wondered how his brother lost on Coruscant was… Pitch only heard the news from the newly formed ARF Trooper, Bumblebee who had transferred from the 212th… Pitch had gotten to be good friends with him before his incident on Coruscant; which he then transferred to to keep with the Medic who was monitoring him.

Pitch shared it with his older siblings. Beat had cursed and remained off line, likely blowing steam over not being able to keep her promise while Tacet remained levelled headed and kept mediating between their siblings.

He felt a hand brush his hair and a whisper.

“He’s home.”

Pitch turned to his right, spotting no one as he narrowed his eyes. But the tone and… that feeling… That felt like Chord. Rhythm’s twin would always brush his hair and even joked about the former pilot to change his hair style. Pitch relaxed into his seat, Coric walking over and offering a canteen as Sponge joined them.

He had a feeling… It was ok.

 ~~

Beat was keeping up with the other members of the Wolfpack. Though she could tell they were watching her, after her outburst in the training room. Fight after fight, keeping her head down. Any clone that offered to spar would be pummelled until Commander Wolffe got hold of her. It was not until after General Plo had offered to duel her and destroyed her that she admitted the words that prayed on her mind.

 My Vod is missing.

 Until then, nothing had really changed, but she could tell Boost and Sinker would join her in morning sprints as they made their way towards another relief mission. Comet sat with her during lunch and talked to her, Warthog would ask for her help looking over the ships and Wildfire kept her busy with inventory. They were all keeping her busy and away from a path of self destruction.

 What had meant to most was when Wolffe sat down with her and asked why she felt so strongly that it was her fault. That was when she told him about Chord.

That it was her push and plan that caused the explosives to rattle the citadel challenge, Chord was the medic and rushed to save Rhythm, his twin and was bludgeoned to death.

She was the eldest. She needed to watch her siblings and protect them, that was her promise to Chord. And Chord helped her work out who she was. Wolffe had simply listened and thanked her for letting him learn about Chord. That Chord would be proud of her growth and he wouldn’t blame her as they were all following orders… and sometimes, it doesn’t go all to plan.

You lose everything and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

You watch as everyone dies around you yet continue to live when the Captain should have gone down with the ship.

You can only watch as your remaining brothers fight with your general and you can only hope whatever force is out there. The one who could barely breathe as the Escape pod came close to releasing the precious air as you called for help, locating the one person who was close to your battalion as a sister.

 Then the wait as you and your remaining two brothers recover, hoping for the news of sweet revenge as the wolf’s fangs to kill off the one who had taken so much from you.

Beat could listen in quiet horror, realising she could relate to her commander more than she knew. That was the day she swore her loyalty to the pack. It was when Beat had returned to training; slow punches as Sinker cheered her on; she felt a tremor.

A distant humming on the breeze.

A song that she and Chord would hum, copied from their trainers, to ease their brothers.

He’s home.

His voice sung softly as Beat stumbled in her next punch and fell to the floor, catching herself as Sinker knelt by her. She sobs, tucking herself in as the Wolfpack surrounds her. Wolffe walks in and knows as Warthog dashes in like a hot landing, holding a chat message likely from his Batchmate, Hound.

It will be okay.

-

Tacet found themselves watching as the transport ship took them back to the Negotiator. The ARF Trooper sinking slightly in which knowing he had done his darn hardest to look for his batchmate. As the second eldest… it was his duty.

They heard their name as Boil waved and they quickly clipped their helmet to sign back ‘Hello’, waving their hand.

 “Any luck?” Boil questioned as they walked towards their stations. Tacet shook their head.

They held their hands to their chest and shook them, mouthing the word.

‘Nothing’

Boil pulled Tacet close.

 “They’ll find something.” He reassured as Waxer soon joined them and the three slowly chatted quietly among themselves. They had worked out what Tacet had been doing when he quietly returned to the barracks late in the Coruscant night and they had also kept an eye out for Tacet’s vod’ika.

The ARF Trooper stretched from his position at the desk, looking over the channels for distress calls, Boil and Waxer within his group before the big jump to their next battlefield. The thing is with Tacet, would be that the thoughts would linger in his mind, circling.

Was there more they could have done? Did they search hard enough for Rhythm? And those thoughts would remain until he knew about his Vod’s whereabouts. He sunk slightly, a nudge from Waxer and an soft smile pressed him on. Boil looked over and muttered about getting Caf for the three, moving off as Tacet paused at a message that flicked on his comm channel.

Olly.

Waxer saw Tacet frozen and peered over. It had been sent about 10 minutes ago and Tacet was hovering over the channel. But it wasn’t the fear of checking. A soft murmur had rattled his mind.

You know its good news, Tacet.

“Easy, Vod.” Waxer smiled, taking the place of Chord as Tacet flinched and looked over, rapidly apologising. Waxer took the lead and pressed the channel.

 When Boil returned, the sight of Tacet leaning into Waxer’s arms, face hidden and arms trembling; he knew Rhythm would be alright.

 It was perfectly okay.

-

Rhythm curled up in his covers, head down as he prepared himself for another day.

Tomorrow he’d catch up with Lenta and the kids, something he looked forward to as he needed to return Vite’s Massif plush. Remedy had cleared him finally to start heading out again after his leg was fixed up despite the scarring around the knee and shin.

He smiled to himself.

Everything should be back to normal again, he can return calls and catch people out in their language… He would patrol with Bumblebee and Bulkhead to get used to stretching his leg in armor…

Everything was good.

  …

Blank eyes shot open late at night. The buzzing of the room and soft snores of the other guardsmen hummed in the air as CT-2895 prepared and suited himself up.

He paused when he saw the Riot Trooper shift in his bed, turning to walk off.

He froze again when he stepped on something. Looking down at what appeared to be a stuffed Massif, he stared blankly before pressing down more and walked off into the night, helmet on tight.

 After all, Good soldiers follow orders.

[tamhrayis]

I’ve seen a take that claims Mikasa is not important or needed in the story as she (apparently) doesn’t affect or push the story forward. What do you think?

That’s an interesting question, actually. I would like to read that take! Could you please send me it via inbox? :)

Okay, before starting I want to answer this question. Is AoT a plot based story or character driven?

Plot based stories often have an apparent antagonist or the character has to go from point A to point B, while character driven ones mainly function because of characters motivations, inner transformations and relationship between characters. Sounds familiar? Yes, AoT is a heavily character driven story that explores an abstract concept like freedom.

The main questions of the story are “How people can achieve freedom in a world with the repeating cycle of hatred? What is freedom itself? Is it a power? Is it love or full independency? What’s life itself? Are people born free or they become free? Is death meaningless? How does it feel like to be a soldier? Should we recklessly sacrifice ourselves and others?”.

All these questions are explored by individual characters and Mikasa has one the main roles in exploring the concept of freedom.

First of all, what is Mikasa’s characteristic that Isayama himself used in her character? Pride. Mikasa helps us to understand what is pride.

What’s pride itself?

Pride is, above all, the feeling of self-respect and self-worth. It’s about knowing that your life and you are important and valuable.

Mikasa knows that she is a soldier who worths 100 normal soldiers. She knows that loosing her will cost them a lot of looses. Mikasa knows her worth and she values her life.

Why does Mikasa always continue to fight? Because she has pride. If she dies, memory of her loved ones will be buried with her. Mikasa doesn’t only value her own life, but others’ as well. That’s why she always tries to save others. Yes, she won’t hesitate to kill or threaten someone who tries to take others’ freedom (life). But she will never let people she loves to die as her parents. She uses her pride and power to let others live.

Now, let’s look at the moment when she encouraged someone to live and fight.

She encouraged Eren to fight. If Mikasa wasn’t there in ch.50, Eren wouldn’t attempt to punch Dina and active the coordinate. The ch.50 itself was a turning point of the story and later the plot started to revolve a lot around Eren‘s Founder. Mikasa’s words became a big push in the development of the story and they strongly affected the whole narrative. Mikasa’s presence was important.

How does pride help us understand the concept of freedom?

Pride is being able to not be ashamed of your life and yourself. It’a about embracing your identity, doing what you want for yourself and accepting yourself as you are. When you actually accept and free yourself from the boundaries that keep you, you are finally free. You finally achieve freedom.

Another concept that Mikasa portrays is love. The love that goes beyond all boundaries, conditions and dimensions. The love that’s unconditional and free. The love that motivates you to live.

Love for Mikasa is a motivation. She fights for people she loves and it’s another part of her pride. She knows the worth of her people, because she simply loves them. She wants to remember them, because she loves them.

Mikasa’s fear is loosing people she loves, because in the past she couldn’t fight for her parents. But her fear pushes her to fight and win. Mikasa shows people that you can stay independent and free, while being in Iove with someone.

Mikasa saved many people out of her free will, she knows that they are precious to someone. Even if they can’t fight, Mikasa will do it for them. She doesn’t want others to lose their loved ones as she did.

She saved Historia from a titan that tried to attack her. If Historia died on that day, we wouldn’t find out about Reiss/Fritz family, more about monarchy on island and have Eren’s further development.

Moving to more recent instances where Mikasa’s love was important are ch.123 and ch.138.

Eren, who was conflicted about the rumbling plan, wanted to find a reason to not do it. He wanted someone who will change his mind and that someone was Mikasa.

Mikasa’s feelings for Eren could change the outcome. She could affect Eren’s actions and, again, the plot would be much much different.

Lastly, her choice to disagree with Eren’s idea of forgetting him and continue to fight, made Ymir smile. Her love and pride impacted Ymir Fritz herself, a person who was trapped in Paths for 2000 years and tried to find an answer for “What’s love?”.

How love can connected to freedom?

When you love someone and don’t tie your love to some conditions, limitations and boundaries, you give the person the right to choose and act as they desire to. Having the right to choose itself is freedom. Loving someone doesn’t make you less independent.

Besides being the symbol of pride and love, Mikasa helps us understand and enrich the world wilding within AoT universe.

As we remember, Mikasa’s mother was a descendant of Hizuru’s shogun, who moved his people to Paradis. However, as time passed by Asians were hunted down and Mikasa’s mother had to live in mountains, where she met an Ackerman and had Mikasa.

Hizuru had an important role in the last arc as Kiyomi proposed rumbling as a way to secure the island for 50 years. Yes, Mikasa was used as a reason to come to the island, but, nevertheless, her bloodline was important to make Eren come up with his current plan.

And, of course, we can’t forget about the Ackermans. The whole existence of Levi, Mikasa and Kenny explores the concept of Ymir and this whole titan things as Ackerman are a byproduct of titan science, who are immune to memory manipulation and possess a great amount of physical strength.

But besides their relation to titan science, Ackermans also contribute to freedom, because they are the freest people on the island and their bloodline is free from Ymir as they can’t be turned into titans or manipulated by Founder’s powers.

Without Ackermans we would never know about the struggles of previous Founders (Kenny and Uri), the concept of meaningful death and having no regrets (Levi and Erwin), and unconditionally loving someone and yet opposing that person (Mikasa and Eren).

How does Mikasa push the story forward?

My answer is...Mikasa’s relationship with Eren is the biggest force that pushes the story. Again, AoT is a character driven story, where the relationship between characters matters.

Every time, when these two have a heart-to-heart moment, it’s always the turning point of the story (ch.50, ch.123 and ch.138).

The reason why Eren tried to get stronger and learn to control his power is to give his friends and loved ones a peaceful and happy life with no hate or threat. As Kruger and Grisha said:

“If you want to save Mikasa, Armin and others, carry out this mission to the end and learn to control this power”.

Even when he publicly turned himself into a titan, it was to protect Mikasa and Armin from cannon fire.

All what Eren does is for his loved ones and Mikasa is definitely one of those people.

Saying that Mikasa is irrelevant, unnecessary or doesn’t push the story is debatable, because her characters carries a lot of thematic and symbolic meaning. Her relationship with other people and presence are important and helps to unleash more plot points.

Isayama didn’t make her the centerpiece of the story and his literal trademark just to be considered useless.

[cherrycocaineee]

7. Sasuke Uchiha - Protection

   Early morning dew clung to the sides of my black shoes, the blades of pine green grass brushing against my exposed toes tickled and the only relief I found in that moment was wiggling them. Trudging alongside me was Naruto, his arms were wrapped behind his head and he was frowning. I could tell he was tired and getting up early was never Naruto’s thing but the Prince that we were protecting was a complete morning person. Standing in front of us was Kakashi Sensei; Sakura and Sasuke were walking on the other side of the large carriage. Morning sunlight started peeking up above the trees creating a small amount of heat against my pale, cool skin. A loud yawn escaped from between Naruto’s lips as we started walking up a steep hill.  “How much further?” Naruto complained, eyes half shut.    “We just started walking, Naruto,” Sakura scolded from behind the Prince’s carriage. “I know!” Naruto yawned again, “but I’m tired.”  A small scoff sounded from Sasuke, and Naruto glared in his direction as if he could see through the carriage. I reached out and touched my blue eyed, knuckleheaded friend while shooting him a small grin. My smile seemed to help Naruto settle down as he continued walking with a smile now on his face. Four hours went by of continuous walking and my feet were starting to get tired, a small aching sensation pounded against the ball of my foot. I whined quietly, not wanting the others to hear, however, Kakashi Sensei’s superior hearing caught it as soon as it fluttered from my lungs.  “Prince Kichi,” he’s deep voice rumbled, “how about we rest and eat something?”  “Sounds like a lovely idea,” Prince Kichi hummed, “pull over.”  Everyone moved off of the path, pulling out their lunch to eat. I watched as Naruto made himself a quick bowl of instant ramen, smiling big as he waited for his noodles to steam up. I pulled out a bento box and started nibbling on some of the rice and other things I had packed, but really I was just enjoying not being on my feet. Lunch continued on for thirty minutes before we were up and stomping through the path once more. However, the happy trip didn’t last very long when my team and I noticed that there was a group of ninjas following us, hiding in the trees and leafy bushes. Naruto looked over at me with slanted eyes, my byakugan was activated and I held up five fingers indicating that there were five ninjas.   The five ninjas moved quickly amongst the green landscape, but I found myself laughing at the fact that they weren’t very good at sneaking around. That’s when my eyes widened as I noticed that another source of chakra flow was coming from beneath Kakashi Sensei. He didn’t seem to notice since he was more focused on the one moving beside him.  “Kakashi Sensei!” I yelled out, making him look at me, “move!”   Just as I warned him to get out of the way, the underground ninja slammed through the ground and latched onto Kakashi Sensei’s foot. He dragged Team 7’s leader into the ground up to his head before standing before all of us. Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and I stood between the rogue ninjas, who had joined the ninja who assaulted our Sensei, and Prince Kichi’s carriage. With my byakugan deactivated, I removed my kunai from my ninja pouch, the others following the same movement.  “Why don’t you four children step out of the way,” growled the leader, “we just want the prince.”  “If you want him, you’ll have to go through us,” Sasuke stated, a small smirk dancing across his lips, “now Kakashi, stop messing around.”  Kakashi Sensei bursted into a small amount of smoke and jumped down from a tree in front of us. Sakura squealed, “Kakashi Sensei!” Even though he wore a mask over his mouth, I could almost feel the smile on his face. Kakashi Sensei  looked at Sakura and I.  “Sakura, Akiko, guard the prince.”  “Right!” We said in unison. Naruto and Sasuke ran to join our sensei as the fight raged on. Sakura and I stayed behind guarding the prince as one of the rogues threw their kunai in our direction, his target obviously for the prince’s head as it slammed into the carriage, scraping his cheek. A small cry left Prince Kichi’s lips as he clasped his hand over the slightly bleeding cut. Sasuke turned around.  “Akiko! Behind you!” He yelled. I turned around and saw one of the ninjas charging at me. He started moving his hands to mimic symbols.  “Water Release: Water Cannon.”  His mouth pursed into a small circle as water came rushing out in quick, swift movements from his mouth. Steam hovered over the rocket of water. Sakura gasped, but I had to move quickly. My hands, with the speed of a jonin, created all the symbols needed for my move. The water was inching closer and closer.  “Ninja Arts: Barrier Seal Jutsu!”  Blue chakra from my body wrapped itself around the prince, Sakura, and I just as the gush of water slammed against it, bouncing off. The now hardened chakra protected the three of us from our enemies' attack. I pulled the kunai from the carriage and charged at the male ninja still trying to penetrate my barrier. Unfortunately for him, the chakra barrier was impenetrable. His eyes widened as I ran towards him, his kunai ready in my small hands. “Damn brat!” He hissed angrily. He went to punch me when I jumped up, avoiding his fist just a bit. His eyes widened as I slammed my foot into the back of his head causing him to fall to the ground. I landed on my feet inside the barrier as he climbed to his wobbling feet. I turned to Sakura and held out my hand.  “Give me a paper bomb,” I said, earning a nod from her as she set the paper bomb in my hand.  I attached the slim piece of paper onto the borrowed kunai and smiled.  “Let me give you back your kunai,” I said softly, my delicate hand tossing the cool metal towards our attacker.   Since he was still a bit taken aback from the hit to the head, he didn’t realize that the kunai now had a paper bomb latched to it and as it hit the ground, the bomb went off, causing a massive explosion and a loud scream to echo from his mouth. Sakura cheered. Kakashi Sensei was taking on the leader and another ninja while Naruto and Sasuke were teaming up against a third one. However, one of the rogues was missing and before I could activate my byakugan to see where he was hiding, a metal chain wrapped itself around Sasuke and yanked him around. Sasuke screamed out in pain as he was slammed through two trees and right into a large boulder.  “Sasuke!” Sakura cried out. The young Uchiha was lying against the cold stone and the ninja used that to his advantage. His large, muddy hands rapidly formed a group of symbols together, an evil smile appearing on his face. Sasuke couldn’t move from his restraints. He was also badly injured, making it impossible for him to stand up and move.  “Earth Release: Stone Spear.” Kakashi Sensei wasn’t able to get away from his opponents to rescue Sasuke and Naruto was being held against his opponent’s chest firmly. Sakura was frozen in place and trembling, tears slipping from her widened sea foam green eyes. Her small hand covering her mouth as the spear hurtled it’s way towards our bound teammate.   Making the ultimate decision, I ran from my spot behind the chakra barrier and moved in front of Sasuke. Everything felt slow. Naruto’s screaming for me to get out of the way, the dark chuckling coming from our opponents, Sakura’s screams, Kakashi’s movements as he used his chidori to free himself to come to our aid. But I didn’t waver. My skinny frame slid in front of Sasuke just as the spear slammed into me, piercing my skin through my white long sleeve shirt. It was now lodged into my abdomen and a high-pitched yelp struck the air. As I was crumbling to the ground, Kakashi Sensei used his chidori striking the two ninjas and the one that had used the stone spear. The last ninja released Naruto and scampered off into the woods. My body collapsed to the ground and everything started moving at a normal speed once more. All the air in my lungs was thin, tiny pants were leaving my chapped lips as I tried to catch my breath, metallic blood hugged my tastebuds. I could even feel the blood from my abdomen soaking my white shirt and lavender, overall skirt. Sasuke, who’d freed himself from his confinements, ran over with the rest of team 7. Prince Kichi stood in the distance, still protected by the faltering barrier. Soon it would be gone while I continued to black out.  “Akiko,” Naruto croaked, tears whelming up in his eyes.  Kakashi Sensei had removed the stone spear from my body and pressed his hand strongly against my wound.  “It’s okay, Akiko,” Kakashi said, worry laced in his voice, “you’re going to be okay.”  My eyes fluttered until they were staring at Sasuke, who was staring at me with wide eyes. I coughed, a wheezing sound leaving my lips, and I looked back at Kakashi Sensei.  “K-Ka-Kakashi S-Sensei,” I stuttered. “Shh, shh,” he whispered, “it’ll be okay. I promise.”  “Why?” Sasuke rasped, tears now forming in his eyes, “why would you throw yourself in front of me like that, knowing you’d be killed?”  “Don’t say that!” Yelled Naruto, eyes searing with pain and anger, “she’s not going to die! I won’t let her!” Sasuke didn’t react to Naruto’s outburst. I blinked once, and it was a slow blink.  “B-because if I d-didn’t, you w-would have d-d-died. T-then how would y-you revive your c-clan.”  Pain slashed through my body and I screamed, the pressure from Kakashi Sensei’s hand causing a small ache to erupt. I started seeing stars, my eyes started fluttering as everything became fuzzy, my friends’ voices fading more and more. I watched Kakashi Sensei’s face as he stared at me with desperation. Then everything went black.

Heat. That’s what I felt as my eyes opened. I was greeted by the sight of twinkling stars and the soft crackling of fire. Every inch of my body was aching with terrible shutters of pain. Slowly, and carefully, I started moving again, noticing that a sleeping Naruto was curled up beside me, his cheeks stained with dry tears. I looked around and saw Sakura also sleeping close to the fire, her hands stained with blood. Finally, I looked at myself and noticed that I wasn’t wearing my overall skirt anymore, just my black shorts and white shirt, which was still ruined with crimson, red blood.   Sighing, I pulled myself up from my spot, wincing as pain shot through my like pellets. I whimpered as I turned around, wanting to move and stop the growing ache in my body.  “Akiko.”  I snapped my head up and saw Kakashi Sensei sitting against the tree, wondering how I had missed him when looking at Sakura and Naruto. I also noticed that his uniform was coated in my blood as well.  “Kakashi -” As soon as I started speaking, I started coughing.  He was quick to come to my side, handing me a canteen of water. The nice, soothing water coated my burning throat.  “How are you feeling?” He asked, his revealed eye illuminating concern and worry as he watched me struggle.  “I’m so sore,” I whimpered.   “Maybe you should be laying back down.”  Shaking my head, I noticed that I didn’t see Sasuke sleeping amongst the others.  “Where’s Sasuke?”   Kakashi Sensei pointed to the top of the cliff in the distance where Sasuke was sitting, staring at the night sky. Kakashi Sensei, who had his hand firmly on my back supporting me, gently pushed me in his direction. I smiled a small appreciative smile before realizing that I still needed to thank him for coming to my aid as quickly as he did. I engulfed my sensei into a warm hug.  “Thank you, Kakashi Sensei.”  “Of course, Akiko.”  Sasuke sensed I was coming before I even finished walking towards him, immediately coming to my side as he saw me hobbling towards him. The two of us sat down comfortably underneath the blinking sky. It took me a long time to catch my breath since I was still hurting. I could feel my bandages tightening around my stomach as I sat. Once my breathing was caught up, I turned to Sasuke and smiled.  “You okay?” I asked, realizing how stupid the question it was when I slipped out.  “Me?” He questioned, raising a single eyebrow, “you’re the one who was impaled.” I giggled, shuttering in pain, “guess you’re right. But you did get injured too when you were slammed around.”   Sasuke didn’t reply and worry started seeping through my skull, the feeling of him being angry at me for showing him up made me want to puke. However, Sasuke didn’t seem to care about that when he started speaking again.  “You’re an idiot,” he whispered, “throwing yourself into danger like that. What would Naruto do without you. Or hell, Sakura. What would… what would I do without you?”  His sudden outburst of emotion surprised me. He was never one to become emotional, and I not only felt surprised but happy that he trusted me enough to be this way toward me.  “What do you mean?” I asked.  “Akiko, you’re the only girl who doesn’t run around throwing herself at me to win my affection, my love, my attention. You’re the only girl who looks at me and wants to improve on your ninja skill rather than gawk at me. The only girl I’m willing to talk to and get to know. I never want to see you hurt like that again, especially for me. I want you to stand by Naruto’s side, reach your own goals…”  I stopped his talking by wrapping my arms around him, hugging his sulking form, and resting my weak head against his strong shoulder. His tense body relaxed and he wrapped his arms around me. We sat there for a few minutes enjoying the warmth of one another before I released him. His scent lingered in my nose for a few minutes.  “Sasuke, I care about you. You’re my friend and I couldn’t bear to watch you get hurt. I also couldn’t bear to watch Sakura lose the person she loves the most, even if her girly crush can get a bit annoying. I would do it again, if it meant protecting those I loved and cared about. Even you.”   A small smirk appeared on his face and he pulled me back into his grasp. He eventually pulled me into his lap and rested my head against his chest. I felt a small pink tint rush to my cheeks as I listened to Sasuke’s beating heart. It was slow and steady, the pace slowly relaxing me back to sleep. “Don’t get use to this,” he whispered, “I’m only doing this because I was the reason you got hurt.”  A gentle giggle left my lips. It was a complete lie and I knew it. He even knew.  “And next time, I’ll save you.” He pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead, but I didn’t get enough time to react as another wave of sleep hit me. Soon I was snoozing right in Sasuke’s chest listening to the small pitter patter of his heart.

[neowinestainedress]

DYNASTY / NCT

CHARACTHERS 

TAEYONG LEE "I've been having a hard time adjusting. I had the shiniest wheels, now they're rusting"

The role of the leader passed at him naturally. When the fire changed their lives forever, none of the others hesitated for a moment to know that the future of the city had to be put in his hands. Yet, he didn't feel the same. He couldn't see how they had so much hope and trust in him to hold things together when he couldn't even hold himself, anymore. But he knew that they still saw in him the protective older brother that used to take care of everybody and tried to defend them from everything, unfortunately, he knew that child wasn't there anymore.

𝞦

THE PROTECTOR

In charge of protecting the city and looking after the citizens. He's helped by his team, divided between the protectors who stay at the door of the city to control who comes in and out, and a team inside of the city that mostly focuses on the citizens' needs and external relations.

JOHNNY SUH "Cause in the end the road is long, but only cause it makes strong. It's filled with twist and peaks and turn. Sometimes you have to learn to forget about it."

If there was something Johnny was good at, it was observing. He loved to see things from a different point of view and analyze them since he was a child, so it wasn't surprising when the role of the protector was given to him. He always believed that everything happens for a reason, and you can choose to make it kill you or make you stronger. He once went for the first one and lost a loved one, so he won't let that happen again.

𝞦

THE THINKERS

The unit in charge of the bureaucracy. They are the ones that take care of the plans for the city, helping Taeyong with their outstanding logical thoughts skills. They can always maintain calm, even in the worst situations, always trying to weigh the pros and cons of the situation.

TAEIL MOON "All the things that I've done and I've seen. Still I don't know, don't know what it means, to be human."

Taeil always felt a big weight on his chest for being the eldest of the group and not manacing to protect them all. He wasn't the one who started to see the red flags, he never stopped Taeyong and Anastasia and their reckless plan. Thoughts haunt him at night that he should've done better. As the oldest, he had seen the worst thing, but the more he tries to remember, the more he feels disconnected from reality.

DOYOUNG KIM "Tell me the truth, tell me, do you still remember feelin' young and strong enough to get it wrong in front of all these people?"

Doyoung has always been the most impassible one of all of them. Nothing could tarnish him. He strongly believed that behind everything there was a scientific and logical explanation. He had no time to let himself get caught in pointless things like emotions and hypotheses. But with that came a strong need of never failing, because he couldn't let people see him as weak, or wrong. He always had to get it right on the first try. Live, though, loved to prove him wrong. .

TEN LEE "'Cause I feel like I'm the worst, so I always act like I'm the best."

Ten intelligence has always been witty and sharp. With his way, he could manipulate anybody with a blink of an eye. He loved control and power, and the feeling they brought with them. He always had to be one step in front of the others and know exactly what to do, how and when. But behind all of this confidence, a fear of failing hid behind.

𝞦

THE FIGHTERS

The unit in charge of fighting. Their abilities are mostly physical and differentiated in different specialities. They have been training since they were children and all of them got better in a specific field but overall they developed ability in all the ??.

YUTA NAKAMOTO "My demons are begging me to open up my mouth. I need them mechanically make the words come out. They fight me, vigorous and angry, watch them pounce. Ignite me, licking up the flames they bring about."

Yuta had one thing in mind, revenge. He had to carry with him the name of the people that put them through the worst and he couldn't bear it anymore. He wanted to see them beg for forgiveness and then take everything from them just like they did.

JAEHYUN JEONG "My heart's gone bad, now it won't beat for you. You had your laugh, now I won't play the fool. I've lied for you, and I liked it too. But I'm black and blue, from bleedin' for you."

Jaehyun has always been quiet, always in a corner, respecting the rules and never talking back. At least in front of their parents and all the things he was afraid of. He was calm of nature, that's what they would say to him. But the more life marked him, the more he realized he had a fire inside, and they weren't ready to see the flames.

LIV HANSEN "I can feel the flames on my skin. Crimson red paint on my lips. If a man talks shit, then I owe him nothing. I don't regret it one bit, 'cause he had it coming."

Liv was just like her name, life. Her burning red hair was flames itself, just like her. Dangerously pretty, dangerously quiet. Nobody could shut her, always saying what she was thinking since she was a child. She never let anybody step on her or tell her no. She had always been a force of nature, protecting everyone around her like a summer breeze caressing skin at night, until she realised that in that world she had to be a hurricane to protect who she loved, and never fail again.

LUCAS WONG "I don't envy, I will survive. And I've been begging and begging myself, please don't close your eyes. I don't have tears, I cried it all."

Lucas has always been the positive one of the group, the one that managed to always bring happiness even in the worst situations. He wasn't a hopeless romantic, he simply had to try and find the good in everything to survive. He knew it couldn't rain forever.

𝞦

THE HEALERS

The unit of doctors. They mostly learned by themselves, studying hard as soon as they realized they needed to always have somebody who could heal their friends. And then have been trained professionally. They work downtown at the medicals studios but also operate in the palace.

KUN QIAN "Losing is easy, winning takes bravery. I am a tiger's fool Out in the open. No one to save me. The kindest of whispers are cruel."

Kun always liked taking care of the others, from the smallest things to the biggest. So it wasn't surprising for him to be a healer. But he also had another passion, magic. It had started when he was bored and had nothing to do, behind everybody's eyes. People were scared of the unknown, and he simply found it stupid, because, behind every magic trick, there was logic. Little did it know, what life had planned for them.

SICHENG DONG "I found what I'd been looking for in myself. Found a life worth living for someone else. Never thought that I could be happy. I believe in possibility. I believe someone's watching over me."

The bad things that happened in his life never made him lose hope. He believed in kindness. But most importantly, he believed in people and that everybody could have another chance in life. Helping others came naturally for him because nothing could come close to the feeling he got when he saw the person he helped have a smile on their faces.

𝞦

THE DREAM CHASER

The unit made of teenagers who are not children of The Rebels, except for Mark. Their team is wide and filled with other personalities that don't take place in the other units, except for a thinker, a healer and two fighters.

MARK LEE ⮚fighter

DEJUN XIAO ⮚pilot

HENDERY WONG ⮚ hacker

RENJUN HUANG ⮚thinker

JENO LEE ⮚ training fighter

DONGHYUCK LEE ⮚ hacker

JAEMIN NA ⮚ healer

YANGYANG LIU ⮚ racer

CHENLE ZHONG ⮚ chemist

JISUNG PARK ⮚ hacker

𝞦

JUNGWOO KIM "I live inside my own world of make-believe. Kids screaming in their cradles, profanities. I see the world through eyes covered in ink and bleach. Cross out the ones who heard my cries and watched me weep."

Being a functional human being felt impossible to him, by now. Anxiety trapped him in a cage and it felt worst than when that trap were burning flames. He couldn't let go of his past and the pain they inflected him, and he couldn't let any of his friends close to him again, terrified they would use him against them again.

ANASTASIA ARENAS "But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time. Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time."

Anastasia has always been inconvenient, she never liked their little games, and she always made it clear. That's why they had to get rid of her. If only they knew she would've found a way back home, and this time ready to break the chain once for all.

ANIKA SINGH "I didn't have it in myself to go with grace, and so the battleships will sink beneath the waves. You had to kill me but it killed you just the same."

Is it possible to have a family, a house, and feel like you don't have a place where you belong? For her, it was. Anika spent her whole life being somebody her father wanted her to be. She was trapped between her duties and her dreams, always selfless, focused on taking care of her sisters. But what if the perfect daughter chooses herself for once?

SOOMIN WAN "Now I breathe flames each time I talk. My cannons all firin' at your yacht. They say 'move on' but you know I won't."

Soomin learned how to survive all by herself. She has no idea what a family is, and she's not even looking to find out. She's only looking for revenge. Because she used to have a family, before they took it away from her, right in front of her eyes. Nobody likes a mad woman, but He wanted her to be like that.

[wellbelesbian]

Live Again

day four of @carry-on-sapphic-week, today’s prompts are family and storm!

thank you @nonbaznary for the idea to write about Daphne, this fic is for you!

this is gonna be a few chapters long, i’ll try to post them all in good time.

read on ao3 or under the cut

From the moment she met Malcolm, Daphne knew her life was going to get complicated. He was a political figurehead in a world in the brink of war, with a martyred wife, and loose cannons for a son and sister-in-law. But she couldn’t help loving him.

Her family told her he was bad news. Sure, he was rich, and his magic was strong, but by marrying him, she would be embroiled in the power struggles and betrayals that had characterised the World of Mages since Natasha’s death.

Not to mention Natasha… She knew that she would always be subject to her peers’ stares and whispers, always be seen as second best, a replacement for the great Natasha Pitch.

But Malcolm never once treated her that way. He would always love Natasha, and always grieve her, but he loved Daphne just as strongly, and never compared them. If there’s one thing Daphne is good at, it’s reading people, and she knew that he loved them both equally. Even Baz, who she had been so worried would reject her, see her as a pale replacement or an intruder, called her mother, confided in her, and hugged her tightly every time he left for Watford in the autumn.

Still, sometimes, in those early days, Malcolm would retreat into himself, and grieve. Daphne had tried to explain to him once that he could love two people, but he had looked at her so confusedly that she had decided it was better to drop the matter.

It’s hard to drop the matter when it’s standing right in front of you.

She’s long past trying to get her head around it. Baz had just rattled off some long and complicated explanation about Visitings and rituals and sacrifice, which sounded alarming, and now Natasha Pitch is standing in their living room, looking around confusedly while everyone argues.

Baz and Malcolm are fighting furiously, but keeping their voices low. Simon and Fiona are both shouting. Baz keeps interrupting his own argument to mediate his aunt and his boyfriend’s, and nobody is paying any attention to the actual source of all their ire.

She’s not what Daphne had expected. Sure, she looks the part, almost perfectly resembling the portrait of her hanging in the hall. But she’s quiet, letting the argument play out without her. She actually looks sort of shell-shocked. Daphne supposes that being brought back from the dead might do that to you.

She skirts around the room to where Natasha is standing, and oh so gently takes her by the arm. Natasha allows her to lead her from the room, through to the kitchen, where Daphne sits her at the breakfast table and starts making tea.

After a few minutes, Natasha seems to find her words.

“Excuse me…” Daphne turns to face her. “What year is it?”

“2017.”

“Merlin.”

“Yeah… Are you…” Natasha meets her eyes, and it feels as though a bucket of cold water has been tipped over her head. “Are you okay?”

It’s probably a stupid question. Natasha Pitch, the woman who died in an inferno, is now living and breathing again, seemingly unharmed and not having aged a day. How could she possibly be okay? But what else can she say in this situation?

The kettle begins to whistle, and she goes to take it off the hob and brew the tea. She hopes Natasha likes tea.

“I don’t know how to answer that. I remember dying. And then it’s like… I just woke up again, a moment later. And my son was there, safe, but… All grown up.” Daphne turns to her with a mug, just as Natasha’s face suddenly crumples, and she covers it with her hands as she begins to shake with silent tears. “I missed so much.”

She places the mugs down on the table, then slips into the seat beside Natasha and hesitantly rubs her back, in what she hopes is a reassuring gesture. It works for Baz, and it slowly seems to work on Natasha too, as the shaking stops. Eventually, she uncovers her face, wiping at her cheeks with embarrassment. Daphne should offer her a handkerchief, but she doesn’t have one. If anything, Natasha looks more the type to carry one, in her long black dress, and- Circe, she’s still wearing what she was buried in.

“I’m sorry you had to see that.” Natasha sniffles.

“Oh, it’s okay. My children cry all the time about much less upsetting things.” Don’t talk about your kids, she nearly kicks herself.

“You have children?”

“Uh… yes. Four.”

“That’s nice…” Natasha smiles wanely, wrapping her hands around the steaming mug. “Sorry, I didn’t get your name? Are you a friend of Fiona’s?”

Oh boy.

“I’m Daphne. I’m… Uh… Okay, there’s no easy way to say this. So I’ll just say it, and then if you want to throw your tea in my face, I’ll understand. I’m Malcolm’s wife.”

Natasha just stares at her.

“His second wife.”

Continued staring. Daphne looks down.

“I’m sorry.”

That seems to snap her out of it.

“No, no, please, don’t be sorry! I… I understand. After all, I was dead.”

Daphne looks back up and meets Natasha’s eyes, and after a beat, they both burst out into hysterical laughter. Daphne is pretty sure they’re each having a nervous breakdown. It’s probably overdue.

“I’m sorry, Merlin, I’m so sorry.” She wheezes between laughs, trying and failing to get control of herself. “You just said it so bluntly…” She dissolves into giggles again. Natasha all but cackles.

“What on earth is going on in here?” Comes a voice from the doorway,and they both look up to see Malcolm looking at them with concern. Daphne’s laughter cuts off with a splutter, and Natssha takes a deep breath to calm herself.

“Oh, us?” Natasha asks. “Daphne and I were just getting to know each other. It’s so lovely to meet someone with whom I have so much in common.”

Malcolm’s face sends them both right back into laughing fits.

[felassan]

Thoughts on Dark Fortress #2

(This post is under a cut due to spoilers.)

So late with this one! some stuff irl was keeping me really busy and hyper-distracting me lately, but it’s finally over now so I’m back on my bioware bullshit. :D

Overall there were a lot of beautiful or awe-inspiring scenes in this issue, and a lot of great, meaningful / poignant character interactions and moments between characters. It’s pretty impressive actually how much was able to be packed in. I posted some of my favorite panels here. also omg! the action sequences! the big reveal! the ending!! woww

cool scene-setting, panned out shot of Neromenian and behind it, the Dark Fortress, to immediately pull you back into the world and ‘where we left off’. the combination of ruined dead trees, red lights, lightning and fire/smoke is very atmospheric and hints at what’s ahead

“From this... city, if we can call it that” is a sick burn and reminds you that the Qunari are technologically more advanced than most of the rest of Thedas, from their cannons to their aqueducts

more individually distinct Qunari soldiers, sth I again appreciate

! last issue there were big ‘You haven’t seen the last of Tractus!’ vibes, naturally, but I didn’t expect him to escape by stabbing and killing the Qunari using a chair-leg..!!

the last panel on the first page of Karasten is really good. the way it’s colored, the way it’s lit, the light and shadow, the fiery backdrop, cinders floating, the details of his expression.. 👌 it also makes me think to the possible future, to DA4 when mainland Thedas may be continuing to face the entirety of the Antaam

in Vaea’s acrobatics scene on the bridge, I know rationally that she’ll be fine but couldn’t help but worry for her. again I like how they don’t shy away from showcasing Vaea’s specific abilities. also the attention to detail - you’d think some rocks are just some rocks, but it highlights the risk she’s undertaking that if she falls it’s into rough seas which could dash her against the jagged rocks :’S. Vaea, gooooo!

Fenris’ “Enterprising girl” line has big “Clever girl” meme energy :D

my heart can’t take Fran and Autumn leaning over the edge after Vaea in worry ;; or Aaron looking back in concern over his shoulder ;; or Fran’s tender reassurance ;; or Autumn’s Worried expression ;; the care and bonds which have grown between this group of characters ;;

notice Aaron starts drinking when Vaea’s away from them and they’re beginning to grow worried about her safety. the poor man’s nerves and stress levels

Fran touching the vegetation while she’s considering if she could use her magic to open the entrance from the outside is a nice touch

did Marius leap in front of Fenris and Fran there when the entrance opened?? damn, he’s quick. and the three of them look all scary and formidable here ready for combat. notice how the curve of the door and the spikes that go into the ground, and the composition of this panel, make it look like they’re standing in front of an opened dragon’s maw? ‘teeth’, a rumbling ‘roar’.. some nice foreshadowing here.

the reunion panels are so cute. Autumn’s lil tum as she jumps and Fran and Fenris’ lil smiles of relief and at Autumn’s reaction to seeing Vaea, then a rare happy beam from Aaron.. feel.. the love ;__;

red lighting in the tunnel sets a dangerous, dramatic build-up mood

👀 more info on Fenris’ past, on the specifics of the process which gave him his markings. in the panel where he says that it took a long time, his shadow on the wall behind him reminds me of the shadow of his past that has dogged him for so long :(

Fenris and Marius height difference

discussion of the process shows the power difference between blue and red lyrium. blue lyrium took a long time, red lyrium is almost instant

Autumn is such an intrepid little explorer and alert scout, tail and ears up, head forward. good girl!

“I just... worry about you, my girl”  ‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚  I’ll be so sad if these are death flags for Aaron and he doesn’t make it out of here. also note Fran in this panel, who recently had to kill her own father and is still dealing with that, watching the strongly paternal moment between Aaron and Vaea :(

love Vaea’s faith in Aaron and her sense of humor. also I don’t know why, maybe it’s because Vaea met Sebastian, but her “Maker, no!”, although in a completely different and light-hearted context, reminds me of Sebastian’s “Maker nooo!” at the end of DA2 hh

the reference again to Hawke, who Fenris saw haunted by what they tried to do - save their mother - and couldn’t :’(. also with the shadow in this panel, here’s another person struggling with the shadow of his past qq. this is later emphasized again in Aaron when he continues to talk about his past and in the panel is a chain and manacle. smart visual metaphors, a must in the comic medium with limited space

mushroom skull 💀🍄

“It isn’t about what I’ve done. It isn’t about my failures. Or my choices. It’s about their impact” - he’s misty-eyed here as he thinks back to Ostagar.. does this line btw seem almost meta to anyone else btw? :D it feels like a meta reference to the experience of DA players and PCs, who are always having to deal with the impacts of their choices

I wanna point out that I was right on reading issue #1, when I said “I’m positive that in panel 2 here, it’s the exact moment when he sees Cailan die” ;;

So Aaron is also a veteran of the Battle of Denerim

reference to the Hero of Ferelden - “Those were someone else’s battles”. I’m being captain obvious here but I can’t help but [heart pitter-patter] at any and all references to the HoF

I like the.. parallel? is that the word? Aaron’s stories were him trying to inspire people to make a change, or him trying to convince himself of that. and now here’s Vaea, inspiring Aaron with her words in these panels. the little guys can make a difference! in the world of Thedas, you don’t need to be a big bombastic hero or a Player Character to have an impact 

lmao Fenris right on cue. the moments of humor/light-heartedness are nice because they break up the tension and are sprinkled throughout without derailing build-up or taking away from dramatic story impact. yknow?

yeah Aaron!! leave it behind. leave it to rot with mr mushroom skull (and hey the mushroom skull was there for a reason). again tho if this is a death flag i 

Fenris straight down to business with the tactics

its cute how close Autumn has been sticking to Fran

Tessa checking in on Fran again, as she did in issue 1

Could Vaea’s “Well, shit” be an homage to Varric? :D they have met

I also wanna point out that I was right on reading issue #1, when I said “My guess is that the thing Tractus shows Marquette and Nenealeus is probably a chained up dragon or similar”

the poor dragon :’( big dragon the Qunari had in Trespasser vibes

the sword has a really cool design, kind of reminds me of something a samurai might be depicted wielding

👀 lore-drop! so ancient elven arcane warriors used lyrium-infused swords. this seems to confirm the sarcophagus is an ancient elven artifact, no? makes sense, wasn’t it said that the sarcophagus’ design was based on the architecture/outfit-design type elements of a specific faction, and that this was done intentionally? it looks kinda ancient elfy in make, right? also about the lyrium-infused swords of the arcane warriors, well well well.. remember that the Evanuris and the ancient elves mined the bodies of Titans for lyrium, for power and to use as a resource. here’s an example of that use

as I read through this portion I became increasingly concerned for my boy Shirallas.. we really are in it now aren’t we 😭

the Qunari are launching STRAIGHT-UP ROCKETS ohhhh

pretty ‘lightshow’ over the wall in the “Let’s hope the fortress is as secure as Danarius boasted” panel hh

protective older brother Fenris, impish younger sister Vaea. love that dynamic, we love to see it. sheepish and exasperated Fenris is so cute

the Bone Pit dragon fight with Hawke and co reference!

I wonder how long the dragon has been captive here, and how Danarius/Tractus was able to capture it

lore-wise what are the implications here? when Fenris’ ritual was being undertaken, the sword and the sarcophagus were bombarded with magic, fire spells. in this one they aim to have the dragon bombard it with fire-breathing. is it just fire that makes it work/powers it, or is there magic in dragonfire, in dragons? it reminds me of “Your heart beats with the old blood, as well. Where do you think it comes from? It sings of a time when dragons ruled the skies. A time before the Veil, before the mysteries were forgotten. Can you hear it?”

purple color for the dragon’s growling sounds/typeset is a great idea

lets.. goooo!!!!

Marquette is such a nerd. later on when he activates the sarcophagus he has mad scientist vibes

the dramatic reunion face-offs begin!! as the prophecy foretold!!!!1

true to form, Marius DOES have nothing to say ahahaha, even at this, his personal climax. maybe Marius dies in the next issue, but Tessa lives and gets to go back to Charter

these Venatori look almost Star Wars

Shirallas my boyy.. nooo... don’t do it 😭

ah ah ah! try casting magic with no ARMS

Francesca a beacon of blue light and goodness

the splash combat page is masterful. everyone playing a part, so much going on, everything happening at once. a thing that sticks out to me about it is Aaron’s outstretched hand and alarm as he watches Fran fall 

Autumn with her lil hackles raised

“The Venatori have returned” dun dun dunn

goodbye Shirallas 😭😭😭

the composition of the second to last page with triangle/diamond-shaped panels and the framing of dragon wings is awesome

the Dread Wolf rises, “the Tevinter Imperium will rise again”.. on-point on-point cohesion

there he is, the red wraith

Super Saiyan Shirallas

what a note to end an issue on

wow wow wow!!

and separate to the above, some speculation based on the cover of Issue 3: the piece of metal looks like a broken collar coming off Shirallas, like the one there was on the cover of Issue 2 coming off the dragon. also he’s all bulky now with draconic talons/claws (reminds me of in-world legends of Reavers who dug too deep of their own power after drinking dragon blood and whose bodies consequently began to manifest subtle reptilian traits actually). I’ll be interested to see what results of this allusion between Shirallas and the dragon!!

[the-fandom-fuckup]

Kirikacchako? Please

I'm not sure if this is referencing a specific prompt from like.. An older post or not, but I've been on a bit of an au kick lately so I'm gonna use this as a plug for some of the aus/ideas I've had, so I hope that's alright ^-^

(I'd offer a doodle for your troubles but... I don't have any to offer rn gjskfksjfkak)

One of the most recent ideas I've had is Kirichako sirens x hoh/ace pirate Baku, in which Kirichako are a mated pair of sirens that travel the seas together to prey on unsuspecting sailors and Baku is a pirate that spends a bit too much time around the cannons n explosives, resulting in hearing loss over time

Upon meeting Baku for the first time Kiri n Ochako are both fascninated and peeved. Fascinated bc no one's ever looked them in the eyes during their song and resisted them like he has, and peeved bc immediately after staring at them Baku tried killing them with explosives

Like sure, they've met people on the seas that have been resistent to either their song or bodies before, but never someone who was unaffected by both. They didn't know whether to be more interested or insulted honestly

((They go with interested, but tell themselves they're insulted bc it's easier to admit))

N honestly I don't have much here, but they end up following Baku's ship around bc it has some good benefits (provides them with protection from bigger sea creatures, food from all the ships they destroy/people they fuck up), and also they just like bothering Baku until they get a reaction from him

They don't sing to him anymore, but they chitter at him n throw pretty sea trinkets up against the ship/into open cannon flaps for him to find later

The last thing I have for this idea is the courting process probably starts bc Baku tripped on the sea trinkets one too many times while carrying out his duties n gets pissed, so he goes up to the main deck to get their attention before chucking some sparkly, garbage thing back at them hoping to distract them enough to get them to fuck off. But the sirens look at their new gift and go wait... Returned gift?? A courting gift?? Which goes to kickstarts a whole new wave of bullshit lmao, rip Baku's sanity

Another idea I wanna shoehorn these guys into is my EnjiRei/TodoDeku mafia bodyguard au, but I'm not too sure on how to go about it tbh like

One one hand, I could have Kiri in with the Todorokis n Ochako in with All Might's group, and have Baku be the unsuspecting civilian just trying to live his life but has attracted the attention of both gang members, who then treat it as a rivalry of who gets Baku first but end up seeing each other as more than just rival groups when the gangs actually start working together n they get paired to run jobs, and has everyone spiralling into a mess of feelings and highjinks before leveling out to smth manageable

On another hand I could have a similar idea with Kacchako as the rivaling gang members and Kiri as the unsuspecting civilian, or maybe even some other underground member like an underground ring fighter or a runner or whatever, who gets scouted by the groups bc his reputation in the ring gets him a gig as some extra muscle or smth for an outside job

And then on the last hand I could have pre-established Kiribaku as the gang members (in the same gang this time) and Ochako as the civilian making bad deals with shady people for extra cash to try and help her family out of their shitty finacial situation, taking jobs she has no business taking (probably from the rising group that's fucking up everything for everyone else tbh) n catching the boys' attention bc "what's a pretty little thing like you doing in the sleazy part of town? Don'tcha know shit gets dangerous around here?" And they're endeared by her spunk n unwillingness to crumble under pressure so they take her under their wing to show her the ropes but also gives them their kicks bc they get off on corrupting her innocent n naive moral compass, all while being hunted by the other group bc she ditched their jobs n now has to face the consequences or smth, Idk idk

It would help if I had any understanding of how mobs/organised crime shit worked or even watched those kinds of shows/movies lmaofnakfmdjs

I'll finish it off with the modern fantasy au I've been thinking about bc I love it dearly, staring alpha werewolf Baku, alpha dragon Kiri, and bamf witch Ochako

At some point or other Baku gets the entire Bakusquad + Deku, Tetsu, Camie, and Ochako living in his packhouse bc he takes a great deal of pride in caring for his pack members and it's actually really easy for his alpha to categorise people as pack, but you'd have to pull out all his teeth before he admits it

Some of them just decided they lived there now n didn't leave, but both Kiri (+Tetsu) and Ochako were brought in by Baku bc his alpha's love language is acts of service/providing and clearly they both benefitted from the move so "why tf are you making such a big deal about it?? Just pack your shit n get it moved in, you've got a week"

Kirikacchako dance around each other hardcore in this au, to the exasperation of everyone else. The alphas try to play off their urges to provide n scentmark as subtly as possible, and since Ochako isn't aware of the meaning it goes pretty well. But literally everyone else is rolling their eyes n making bets on how long it takes them to get their shit together lmaojdidudj

A scene I have pictured for them (and the first one I came up with for this au) is Ochako going out somewhere and Kiri n Baku both casually scent her before she heads out, thinking they're all slick n shit. But as soon as she leaves Deku levels them with the most deadpan expression he can make n says "that was the least subtle thing I've ever seen in my life", and as Baku snaps n goes "I dunno what you're talking about" Kiri replies with a smug "I wasn't trying to be😏"

And like. Realistically the alphas know Ochako isn't really an omega, but she does share some traditional omega qualities that have their alphas going wild (period cycle=heat cycle, round n squishy but will fight you=strength n size for providing healthy pups + the ability to protect them, etc.) so it's understandable that their alphas would slip up n refer to her as their omega, right? Right??

It also doesn't help that after taking Ochako with them on full moon runs, she's been chatting with some of the betas n omegas there and asking how to better communicate with the boys (to avoid miscommunication, she says). But they've both marked her so much that the betas n omegas think she's their courted omega, so they teach her vocal cues n what they mean coming from an alpha, and teach her how to purr and chirp in response.

They don't think to mention the significance behind some of the cues they teach her bc why would they? Smelling as strongly as she does, there's no way those alphas aren't going to give her their bite n bond with her. Why would they need to explain some of the more provocative noises they teach her? They're just helping her for when her alphas decide it's the right time to mate her, is all

I haven't gotten around to how their tension n dancing breaks, but it does eventually n they do get together n bond and all that good stuff, and eventually they have werewolf/dragon/magic hybrid babies bc I have quirkbabes design in another au n I'm obviously dropping them into every au I possibly can bc I love them n put a lot of work into them (and they're super pretty, so I'm showing them off where ever I can assuming I actually draw smth for this au eventually rip)

And wow, this is getting kinda long n rambly so I'm gonna end it here, but I hope that this was kinda what you were looking for landkwidjdkwbf

If you wanna know more about any of the aus just let me know, I could ramble forever

Or if you have any other kirikacchako ideas you wanna hear about feel free to drop them off, I don't mind!! ^-^

[damn-stark]

One Last Time

Oliver Wood x Hufflepuff!reader

Requested by anon “hi!!!! can you please do oliver wood x reader and the the reader is a triwizard champion instead of cedric and since oliver has graduated he comes back to watch her and is really really sad when she dies? thank u!”

A/N-why? Why? I love it though, hope you all do too!

Warning- Violence, talks of death, angst, fluff and sadness….

———-

In the disarray of the clouded and final eventful game that was going to take place, you paced around in the tent. Feeling attacked by your own nervous thoughts, tuning out every sound around and blocking every pacing competitor that was as nervous, or even more so than you. In that mayhem albeit literally bumping into the man that had been also occupying your thoughts and the only one that could break you from your stupor.

“Oliver!” You exclaimed happily as you threw your arms around his neck and felt his wrap around your waist to return the sudden welcoming hug. “You’re here! I thought you weren’t going to come.”

Oliver pulled away to show his sly grin, “Of course I’d be here to support my favorite girl.”

You giggle and step on the tip of your toes to give him a small peck on his lips. “For good luck.”

“Well in that case.” He smiles, moving to share another, but stopping once Dumbledore instructs everyone to walk out. In that instant once more feeling the gut wrenching feeling reappear, but finding more comfort as your boyfriend Oliver took your hand in his to accompany you out.

Hearing the upbeat music playing outside and the excited cheers and chants sang by the students the further you walked out. Getting blinded by the light of the bright scenery once you finally all step out and see the buzzing crowd, finally feeling giddy as you heard your name from your fellow Hufflepuff classmates; feeling thrilled and inspired as you noticed posters with your name written on it’s yellow material, friends that you would see for the last time with your name painted on their foreheads. You waved and grinned wider at all of them, holding onto Oliver’s hand tighter as Dumbledore's voice boomed around the crowd and silenced them with his announcement.

“Earlier today, Professor Moody placed the Triwizard Cup deep within the maze. Only he knows it’s exact position. Now as Miss, L/N…” Oliver at the sound of your name rose your hand and the crowd roared in excitement, just as they did when Harry Potter's name was announced. “...and Mr. Potter tied for first position, they will be the first to enter the maze, followed by Mr.Krum and Miss Delcour. First person that touches the cup will be the winner! I’ve instructed the staff to patrol the perimeter should at any point a contestant wish to withdraw from the task. He or she only need to send up red sparks with their wands.” Dumbledore turns around to address all of you playing. “Contestants gather around, quickly!”

Doing so with no hesitation you walk up and hear his words of caution. “In the maze, you’ll find no dragons, or creatures of the deep. Instead you’ll face something even more challenging. You see people change in the maze. Oh, find the cup if you can, but be very wary, you could lose yourselves along the way.” With that said he lets you turn back and finally go back to Oliver’s side to share an unknowingly last interaction.

“Good luck out there.” He says, cupping one cheek. “And know that whatever happens I’ll still be proud of you.”

You smile warmly and feel tears prickle at the corner of your eyes, “okay. I love you, Oli.”

“I love you too.” He responds back before pulling you into one last final goodbye before you turned around, offering Harry a small and nice smile. Beginning to feel your nerves pick up but suddenly disappear as the cannon sounded signifying that it was time.

Which this time you did hesitate just a little to walk into the dark ominous maze, hearing no sounds of what was before inside, almost as if you had been transported somewhere else completely. Wanting almost just to be pulled back out by the sudden isolating and terrified feeling the overcame your entire body; and only grew the deeper you needed to continue regardless, avoiding the rustling of the leaves and howling of the wind; startled by the sudden collapse of the maze walls that seemed to want to swallow you inside its depths, cutting you with its sharp branches and tugging your arms. Making you let out a pained and loud groan that lasted until you stopped fighting and ripped out of its hold.

“Blimey.” You breathed out as you caught your breath and studied the fogged covered area. Finding no solace in the silence however as you heard within the walls, or above, or everywhere around the voice of the only person you had in your life.

“Y/N! Help me!”

You gasp and your eyes widen horror, “Oliver! Oliver where are you?!”

It sounded again in a much more traumatic, pained wail. “Y/N! Help me! I’m over here! Help me.”

Without thinking your mind clouded with the only priority now, hearing your thumping heart be the only sound to echo around as you began to race towards the cries for help, feeling tears race down your cheeks.

All of it suddenly blowing away as you crashed into Victor Krum. “Sorry, I—” you cut your words off as you took note of his cloudy eyes and contorted expression, walking back and turning to run away as his wand raised in front of you.

Whilst also concluding as realization hit with the sudden more fearful act that what you heard was nothing but a trick. The maze wanting you to lose your goal in finding the cup, just like Krum—but unlike the maze’s trick you were smarter to outbeat the player chasing you, losing him in a sharp turn that only led you moments later to Harry Potter and Krum. His goals undying and your warning and attack quicker. “Get down! Expelliarmus!”

In a hasty move you ran forward kicked away Krum's wand and tempted to attack him once more until Harry Potter stopped you, hearing in the distance a soft hum that made Harry and you suddenly break into a run. Tugging one another back as you both raced each other towards the sound of the cup; captivated in a sudden awe as the cup came to view that seconds later made Harry and you start racing again in a much more violent way. Feeling your heart jolt in excitement and then sudden surprise as you’re pulled down by growing sharp vines, unable to fight its hold as it grows stronger and more painful as it intents to drag you into the depths of the maze grew.

You clawed the dirt and called to Harry while your life flashed before your eyes. Only wanting to be saved now instead of wanting to win. “Harry! Harry! Harry!”

“Reducto!”

A bright flash flew past you, hitting and loosening one of the vines until Harry came and set you loose. Letting you catch your breath after he helped you off the ground.

“Thank you Harry.”

Said boy quickly answered with the same kindness. “No problem.”

“For a moment there,” you breathed, “I thought you were going to let it get me.”

“So did I.” He admitted.

“Some game, huh?”

“Some game.” Harry repeated. Both of your attentions ripped away as high winds began to blow and the walls began to cave in. Forcing the both of you to finish the maze and get to the cup in a faster pace until you came to a sudden halt before the cup; your eyes glancing from the glowing object, the maze and Harry one last time to insist him to take it for what he did to help you moments before. Something he didn’t take and fought against you until he came with a solution to grab it together. A choice that caused you to be swept away in a blink of an eye and get dropped in some place dark.

You stayed on the ground for a moment to catch your breath one last time, noticing the cup was out of your grasp and Harry remained close—“Are you okay?”

Harry nodded, “yeah. You?”

Standing up you notice all the stone statues, daring you to ask and avoid the previous question, “where are we?”

Was this some last task?

“I’ve been here before.” Harry muttered a couple feet away.

Wondering to the cup you realize with a grin. “It’s a port key. Harry the cup is a port key—”

“I’ve been here before in a dream.” Harry repeated in a more panicked tone. “Y/N we have to head back to the cup, now!”

Your amusement falls and you turn to offer him a narrowed gaze. “What are you talking about?”

A creek sounds from one of the small stone houses and Harry suddenly begins to scream in agony. Causing you to instinctively check up on him, “Harry what is it?”

“Get back to the cup!” He yelled again as a small round dirty man walked out with something in its arms, sending you on high alert and a quick defensive stance with your wand in hand.

“Who are you? What do you want?!” You bellowed, hearing a raspy command shortly after.

“Kill the spare!”

Before you could do anything, before you could fight back or block anything, words you never thought you would hear screamed out, “Avada Kedavra!” The spell shooting out and hitting your chest so strongly that it sent you flying back and taking the life out of you in a flash of a second.

Such a spell not even letting you experience none of what you heard happens during someone’s death; no flashes of your sad lonely beginning, nor memories of your happy school years that brought you to meet friends you thought would get to see forever, or Oliver, the man you would grow to love. Nothing happened but a sudden cold end.

A death that led you to experience one last real memory that let you feel light-weight, ready to ask one last verbal question to the boy that had been by you when the darkness of death came. “Harry. Take my body back will you. Take my body back to Oliver.”

Harry’s eyes went to you and he nodded, making you smile and later help him one last time before nothing.

(Oliver’s p.o.v)

It had been so long, felt like years since he last saw you disappear into the maze to be left with nothing but anxious wait. Only feeling relieved and excited hours later as something flashed and two bodies dropped to the ground.

Harry and you.

Oliver grinned and cheered with excitement at your success, embracing his friends in a happy hug with a happy grin spreading on his lips. A gesture that turned grim as the music and cheering soon thereafter stopped and people began to crowd the two bodies he saw come back. Hearing gasps, murmurs and screams echoing around the crowd that made him realize something that made his heart feel as if it had stopped.

Quickly he pushed through the crowd and ran down the stairs to run towards the huddled crowd. “Let me through! Let me through!”

A chilling gasp escaped as he finally saw your lifeless body splayed on the ground with Harry’s body weeping on top and Dumbledore trying to comfort him until he saw Oliver and heard his mutters that turned into cries.

“No! No! Y/N?!” Oliver fell on his knees and cupped your cheeks, feeling his uncontrollable, hot tears fall on your face as he rested his forehead on yours. “Please, please come back. Y/N?! Baby.” Letting out a pained cry that seemed to echo for miles he followed by cradling your body and kissing your lips one last time, speaking to your cold body just as sweetly as before. One last time.

“Please, please. I love you….please…”

[tyrantisterror]

I did a four part series of trivia posts when ATOM Volume 1: Tyrantis Walks Among Us! came out, and that was pretty fun!  You can see that set of trivia posts here if you’d like.  I thought it’d be fun to do another now that ATOM Volume 2: Tyrantis Roams the Earth! is out - just one this time, because a lot of the trivia I talked about with Volume 1 still applies.

I’m gonna divide this into two sections: non-spoiler trivia, for things that really don’t give a lot of plot points away, and spoiler trivia, for things that DO give away major plot points.  I recommend not reading the spoiler trivia until after you’ve read Tyrantis Roams the Earth!, for obvious reasons, and will put the spoiler trivia under a cut.

Ok, let’s go!

- So if you read ATOM Volume 1, you probably noticed that the book is split not only into chapters, but “episodes,” which consist of four chapters a piece.  It’s kind of a nod to how the series owes a great deal of its DNA to various monster of the week shows, with Godzilla: the Series and The Godzilla Power Hour being obvious influences.  It also allowed me to pepper in some illustrations and cheesy b-movie style titles into each volume.

- The first “episode” of Volume 2, Tyrantis in Tokyo, pays explicit homage to the giant monster movies of Japan, perhaps even moreso than the chapters that came before it.  Given how much Japanese media influenced ATOM - from tokusatsu like the Godzilla, Gamera, and Ultraman franchises to anime like Digimon and Evangelion (hell, the title of this episode itself is a tip of the hat to Tenchi Muyo by way of one of its spinoffs) - it kind of felt obligatory that Tyrantis visit Japan and pay his respects.

- Tyrantis in Tokyo also fits in a tribute to another staple of Atomic Age pop culture: Rock and Roll.

- Kutulusca, the giant cephalopod that appears in Tyrantis in Tokyo, is one of the oldest kaiju in this series, dating back to the first iteration of Tyrantis’s story that I put to paper back in 2001 or so.  It’s changed a lot since then, but its fight with Tyrantis goes more or less the way it originally did.

- Old Meg, the giant placoderm/shark, and Nastadyne, the bipedal beetle, both owe their existence directly to Deviantart’s Godzilla fandom.  Old Meg originated as a dunkleosteus monster I submitted to a “create a Godzilla kaiju” contest held by Matt Frank, while Nastadyne is based on a Megalon redesign I made during the “redesign all the Godzilla kaiju” phase of DA’s kaiju fandom.

- The second episode, Tyrantis vs. the Red Menace, gets dark as we visit the USSR, which had enough REAL horror with atomic power in its history to make creature features seem a bit defanged by comparison.  It’s probably the episode with the strongest horror elements - ATOM’s always been influenced by Resident Evil, and this is probably where that influence shows the most strongly.

- It also features the first fully robotic mecha in the series, the mighty Herakoschei!  Its name is a combination of “Heracles” and “Koschei the Deathless,” with the former part being added by its Russian creators to make it seem a bit more international as they offer it to the U.N. in hopes of gaining aid for a very extreme kaiju problem they’ve developed.

- Most of Tyrantis vs. the Red Menace takes place in the Siberian Monster Zone.  Its name is a reference to the Lawless Monster Zone in Ultraman, which is such a cool fucking name I wish that I wish I could go back in time and steal it.

- The next episode, Tyrantis’s Revenge, is... full of spoilers, so we’ll move on for now.

- The penultimate episode, Tyrantis vs. the Martian Monsters, is a love letter to MANY different sci-fi stories that involve life on Mars, though the most prominent of them is of course The War of The Worlds (one of my top 3 favorite books) and its various adaptations.  From its tentacles sapient martians, the tripodal leader of the titular monsters whose name includes the word “ulla” which is uttered by said sapient martians, the plant monster made of red vines, the cylinder-shaped spacecraft the Martian monsters are sent to earth on, the copper-skinned stingray-esque flying martian who shoots lasers from its tail, and the fact that every chapter title in this episode is a quote from the book, the H.G. Wells influence is STRONG.

- The final episode, Invasion from Beyond!, is shamelessly inspired by Destroy All Monsters, although there’s a dash of “To Serve Men,” Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, and The Day the Earth Stood Still mixed in as well.  It’s also sort of a tribute to my first “published” bit of a kaiju fiction - a rewrite of Destroy All Monsters that included EVERY Godzilla monster that had appeared at the time, which my middle school self wrote back in 2002 or so for Kaiju Headquarters, a kaiju fansite I’m not sure exists anymore.  Invasion from Beyond! is just as ambitious (but hopefully better executed) as my DAM Remake, with dozens upon dozens of different kaiju duking it out, earthlings vs. aliens.

- There were three different documents I made to outline the final battle of Invasion from Beyond!  It’s the largest episode of the series so far and more than half of it is that fucking fight.  My inner child is pleased, though, so hopefully you will be too.

Ok, that’s all I can share without spoilers.  READER BEWARE WHAT FOLLOWS BELOW THE CUT!

JUST MAKING SURE you know that SPOILERS will follow from here on out.  Read at your own peril!  YOU WERE WARNED!

(I’m gonna start with lighter ones just in case you scrolled too far and want to turn back)

- There’s a number of explicit Spielberg homages in ATOM Volume 2, from a “we need a bigger boat” joke during a chase with a giant shark to the fact that Invasion from Beyond! opens with a group of people flying to an island of monsters to review whether or not it should get more funding.

- When Tyrantis appears in the first chapter, I snuck in modified lyrics of The Godzilla Power Hour’s theme song.  “Up from the depths”... “several stories high”... “breathing fire”... “its head in the sky”... Tyrantis!  Tyrantis!  Tyrantis!

- The two rock bands in Tyrantis in Tokyo have real life inspirations ala Gwen Valentine, albeit a bit more muddled than hers.  The Cashews are inspired by The Peanuts (see what I did there), while The Thunder Lizards are a mix of The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper.  I wanted The Thunder Lizards to be more akin to the myth of a famous rock and roll band than the reality - less the real Beatles and more the Yellow Submarine cartoon version of them.

- The song The Thunder Lizards write for Tyrantis was written to fit the tune of “The Godzilla March” from Godzilla vs. Gigan, though ideally if someone made an actual song of it it would be its own song.  I got the idea from Over the Garden Wall, which used the Christmas song “O Holy Night” as a a starting point for “Come Wayward Souls.”

- Perry Martin, UNNO reporter and peer of Henry Robertson, is a nod to Raymond Burr, with his name being a combination of two of Burr’s most famous roles: Perry Mason, and Steve Martin from Godzilla King of the Monsters (1956).

- Dr. Rinko Tsuburaya is a few homages in one.  Her name comes from Rinko Kikuchi (who played Mako Mori in Pacific Rim), while her last name is obviously in homage of Eiji Tsuburaya.  Her being the daughter of an esteemed scientist is inspired by Emiko Yamane from the original Gojira.

- Nastadyne’s Burning Justice mode is named after a similar super mode from various Transformers cartoons, though it’s more directly inspired by the Shining/Burning Finger super move from G Gundam.

- Martians sending kaiju to different planets via shooting them out of cannons (with or without cylinder spaceships around them) is another War of the Worlds shoutout.  So is martians living on Venus after their homeworld was made uninhabitable, actually.

- Kurokame’s vocalizations are described as wails in explicit homage to Gamera.  His name can be translated as either “black tortoise” (a reference to the mythical guardian beast Genbu, which can also be construed as a Gamera reference thanks to Gamera: Advent of Irys implying Gamera and Genbu are one and the same) or a portmanteau of the Japanese words for crocodile and turtle - “crocturtle.”

- Burodon’s name is just a mangling of “burrow down.”  It also sounds vaguely like Baragon, who Burodon is loosely inspired by.  AND, since Burodon is sort of a knockoff/modified Baragon, that kinda makes him a reference to various monsters in Ultraman!

- The final battle of Tyrantis in Tokyo is sort of a hybrid of the finales of Ghidorah the 3 Headed Monster and Destroy All Monsters.  

- The Japanese kaiju teaching Tyrantis the art of throwing rocks at your enemies is both a joke on the prominence of rock throwing in Japanese kaiju fights AND the tired trope of an American hero learning secret martial arts from a Japanese mentor ala Batman, Iron Fist, etc.  In this case, the secret martial art is throwing rocks at people.

- When introduced to Herakoschei and its pilot, we are told that the strain of piloting this early mecha is so intense that many pilots have died in the process, with the current one passing out on more than few occasions.  This is of course a Pacific Rim homage - sadly, no one invents drifting.

- Herakoschei’s design is a loose homage to Robby the Robot and Cherno Alpha, because big boxy robots are cool.

- The Writhing Flesh and ESPECIALLY Pathogen are both hugely influenced by Resident Evil and The Thing.  Giant body horror piles of raw flesh, tendrils, mismatched mouths and limbs may be a bit outside the main era of monster design ATOM homages, but they fit the themes and bring a nice contrast.

- I came up with Pathogen long before Corona but MAN it definitely feels different in 2021 to have a giant monster whose name is a synonym for disease driving other creatures crazy in a quarantine zone than it did when I plotted out the story in 2016.

- The chapter title “Hello, Old Foes” is a riff on “Goodbye, Old Friend”

- Minerva, the kaiju-fied clone of Dr. Lerna, is meant to be an homage to Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, which is a genuinely good giant monster flick.  I am sure many of you will also believe I included her because I’m a pervert whose into tall women, but you’d be wrong!  I included the seven foot tall Russian mecha pilot Ludmilla Portnova because I’m a pervert whose into tall women.  Minerva’s inclusion was just coincidental, I swear!

- Since Promythigor is a play on the archetypal ape kaiju to contrast Tyrantis as a play on the archetypal fire-breathing reptile kaiju, their fight has a lot of nods to King Kong movies.  Promythigor attempts the famous jaw-snap maneuver of Kong (with less success), J.C. Clark paraphrases the “brute force vs. a thinking animal” line from the King Kong vs. Godzilla American cut, and Tyrantis slides down a mountain to knock Promythigor off his feet in a reversal of Kong doing the same in King Kong vs. Godzilla.

- Tyrantis sliding down a mountain on his tail doubles as a Godzilla vs. Megalon homage.

- Though Promythigor is the archetypal Ape and Tyrantis the archetypal Fire-Breathing Reptile, I think it’s fun to note that in some ways, Promythigor is the Godzilla equivalent in their matchup, and Tyrantis the Kong.  Promythigor has a slight size advantage, was scarred by humans performing unethical weapons technology, and is associated with violent explosions.  Tyrantis is a good-at-heart prehistoric beast who humanized in part by his unlikely friendship with a human woman.

- Of course, in the context of the famous quote from the American cut of King Kong vs. Godzilla, they remain in their archetypal lanes.  Promythigor is the more intelligent of the two (though not necessarily wiser), and Tyrantis is in many ways a brute reptile.  Their battle is a rebuttal of sorts to the assertion that Kong is the “better” animal because he is closer to human.  Promythigor’s near human creativity and emotions don’t make him the kinder/more benevolent monster, but instead fuel a very self-centered and destructive attitude that makes him the far more dangerous threat.  On the other hand, Tyrantis, who is less intelligent, limited in communication with others by his reptilian mindset and instincts, and simple in his thoughts and desires, is nonetheless a sweet creature that is easily dealt with when others consider his animal needs and mindset.  There’s a quote from Hellboy I love that probably sums up all of my writing thus far: “To be other than human does not mean the same as being less,” and that’s what the matchup between these two in particular tries to illustrate: the “less” human Tyrantis is nonetheless more benign than the “more” human Promythigor.

- Kraydi the psychic lizard began life as a soft sculpture I made of the Canyon Krayt Dragon from The Wildlife of Star Wars.  The sculpture didn’t look much like the illustration, but I liked how it came out, and so I made it an original monster named Kraydi (see what I did there).  Figuring out an explanation for that name in ATOM’s world was possibly the most difficult kaiju naming task in the series, but it worked out in the end.

- Kraydi and Promythigor having psychic powers is a result of my time on Godzilla fan forums in my middle school years.  Most of the forums had OC kaiju battle tournaments, and SO many of those kaiju had a wide array of beam weapons and psychic powers just to win the tournaments by beam-spamming and mind controlling their foes into oblivion.  There’s a special kind of rage you get when your original creation is beaten by “Fire Godzilla” because he has a genius level intellect and the power of unstoppable telekinesis.  Kraydi began as (and still is I suppose) my attempt to do a psychic kaiju well, while Promythigor’s villainy being tied to psychic powers being forced on him is sort of my passive aggressive commentary on people foisting powers on a monster without any real thematic reason for them.

- Henry Robertson and Dr. Praetorius chewing out the laziness of people giving kaiju completely unaltered names of mythic beasts will probably be seen as a jab at the Monsterverse and/or the numerous writers in the kaiju OC scene who do the same, but it’s ACTUALLY a jab at my past self, who had DOZENS of kaiju whose names were just Greek mythological figures verbatim.  There are dozens of kaiju named Hydra, Scylla, Charybdis, Chimera, etc., past me, try to make the names stand out!  Oh wait you did.  I mean, don’t pat yourself on the back too much, you still went with “Mothmanud” as a canon name and never came up with something better, but, like, good on ya for trying I guess.

- Dr. Praetorius takes his name from the evil mad scientis in Bride of Frankenstein, who basically has all the wicked traits that Universal’s Frankenstein downplayed in their take on Dr. Frankenstein.  Ironically, ATOM’s Dr. Praetorius is a bit less evil than his fellow mad scientists in ATOM.  I really like how his character turned out, he surprised me.

- Isaac Rossum, the pilot of the USA mecha Atomoton, is named for Isaac Aasimov, whose robot stories are to robot fiction what Lord of the Rings is to high fantasy.  His last name is a reference to Rossum’s Universal Robots, which is where the word “robot” came from.

- The unfortunate pilots of MechaTyrantis in ATOM Volumes 1 and 2 are all nods to Jurassic Park.  John Ludlow = John Hammond and Peter Ludlow, Ian Grant = Ian Malcolm and Alan Grant, Dennis Dodgson = Dennis Nedry and Lewis Dodgson.

- A good way to pitch Invasion from Beyond! would be “what if the staff and monsters were able to fight back when the Kilaaks tried to take over Monsterland?”

- Ok, here’s a fun joke that no one will get but me because it requires a very specific chain of logic based on some obscure and loosely connected nerd bullshit.  There’s a rocker in ATOM’s universe named Sebastian Haff, right?  One of his songs, “Darling Let’s Shimmy,” is referenced right before a mothmanud larva emerges from the ground in both ATOM Vol. 1 and 2.  Ok, so, in the Bubba Hotep, an aging Elvis impersonator named Sebastian Haff claims he is actually the real Elvis Presley, having changed places with the real Sebastian Haff as a sort of Prince and the Pauper deal that went wrong.  Got that?  Ok, so, in UFO folklore, a common joke is the theory that Elvis didn’t die, but was rather abducted by aliens (or he actually WAS an alien the whole time - the whole “Elvis didn’t die, he just went home” joke in Men in Black is a good example of this).  Ok?  Ok.  So, in ATOM’s universe, we can surmise that their equivalent of Elvis, whose name is Sebastian Haff, WAS abducted by aliens, and that his song “Darling Let’s Shimmy” is subconsciously influenced by his repressed memories from his time aboard the Beyonder spaceships, which is why it accidentally awoke a Mothmanud larva in Volume 1.  There’s a lot of bullshit jokes I put into ATOM, but this is perhaps the bullshittiest of them all.

- One of the most common bits of feedback on ATOM Volume 1 I got was “I kept waiting for something to eat Brick Rockwell, he’s such an asshole.”  And I had to smile and go, “Oh, yeah, guess he never got his, huh?” the whole time without letting on that he was going to die here all along!

- Dr. Lerna and Brick Rockwell’s nature as foils to each other is probably most apparent in Invasion from Beyond!, where both are given fairly similar situations - a nonhuman approaches them with a solution to a global crisis - and react to it very differently.  I worry that some people may think they both made the same choice and got different results, and that that’s hypocrisy on my part, but I hope I wrote it so you can see how their choices and situations actually differ in key ways, and why their decisions, while similar on the surface, are ultimately very different, and thus result in almost opposite outcomes.

- So, when I planned out this book in 2016, I swear I didn’t know about the Orca from 2019′s Godzilla King of the Monsters.  Having the plot hang around Dr. Lerna deciding whether or not to use a sonic device to rouse all the kaiju to save the earth was not INTENDED to be a Monsterverse reference - it came about from me looking at Pathfinder’s take on kaiju, who are all explicitly influenceable by music, and thinking, “Oh, wow, music and songs DO have a major connection with kaiju in a lot of media, I should do something with that.”  Whem KOTM came out a few days after Volume 1 came out I realized I was kinda fucked here, because the comparison was definitely going to be made, but I’d also set this all up already and you can’t just change suddenly to avoid looking like a copy cat and make a good story, so... I dunno, I leaned into it a bit, but it is what it is.

- While most people will probably think they’re a reference to the Reptoids of UFO folklore, the Reptodites are more inspired by the Dinosapien of speculative evolution fame and, even morso, by the Reptites from Chrono Trigger.  Me wanting to avoid the “lizard people control the government” conspiracy theory trope is one of the main reasons why Reptodites have this non-interference clause with humanity.

- Lieutenant Gray is a bunch of different humanoid aliens rolled into one - a little Hopskinville goblin, a little classic gray, a little this one weird alien with five-fingered zygodactyl hands, etc.

- There’s some Beyonder Mecha in this volume that are basically kaiju-fied versions of the Flatwoods Monster.  The species that built them ALSO engineered the Mothmanuds, because connecting Mothman and the Flatwoods Monster is fun!

- Pleprah is, obviously, a one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater.

- Tyrantis’s brush with death, in addition to being so very anime, was inspired by my dad outlining how mythic heroes often have to travel to the underworld/land of the dead before they can finish their journey.  It’s one of the plot points that I’ve had planned for this series since middle school.

- I’m sure some will view it as hackneyed and corny, but as a person who’s battled with depression for decades, having Tyrantis’s choice to live be the big heroic turn of the finale was very important to me.  Tyrantis incorporates elements of a lot of imaginary friends I made as a kid, and in many ways he’s kind of the face of my more positive side in my head.  He’s been telling me to choose to live for a while, and while maybe to an outsider it may seem hackneyed, it’s just... very Tyrantis.  He chooses life and kindness in the face of pain and struggle.  That’s Tyrantis.

- Tyrantis’s powered up form is called “Hyper Mode,” which is another Gundam reference.  Originally it was a lot gaudier and involved him turning gold like a fuckin’ Super Saiyan.  I opted for something a little more toned down here.  

- Also, speaking of KOTM references, I decided to make Hyper Mode Tyrantis’s final duel with Pathogen be a sort of foil to Burning Godzilla’s final bout with Ghidorah in KOTM.  Instead of ravaging the city, Hyper Tyrantis’s pulse of energy rejuvenates his fallen allies, and as a result he is “crowned” not out of fear for his supremacy in the wake of killing a powerful enemy, but in gratitude for his kindness.  See?  Leaning into it!

- And now I can finally reveal that Yamaneon is ATOM’s equivalent of The Monolith Monsters - that is, a kaiju that is also a mineral.  I took the “strange continuously growing rock” thing in a very different direction, though, as unlike The Monolith Monsters, Yamaneon is actually alive.

- At various points in the pre-writing process, either Promythigor, MechaTyrantis, or both were going to die fighting Pathogen.  I ultimately decided to let them both live, with MechaTyrantis even getting his flesh and blood body back, because I think it’s more interesting and thematically consistent that way.  They get a chance to heal their wounds by changing their ways.

- The Great Beyonder and Dorazor both almost didn’t make the cut, as I felt they didn’t have the same pull as villains that Pathogen, Promythigor, and MechaTyrantis did.  But then I thought that could actually be the gag - build them up as the final boss, only to have Pathogen take their crown.  I want to explore post-face turn Dorazor a bit more, though.  We’ll have to see about that in a later volume.

- Volumes 1 and 2 make up what I call “The Ballad of Tyrantis Arc” for ATOM.  I call it that because Tyrantis’s storyline in these two volumes was patterend after Chivalric ballads like Yvain the Knight of the Lion.  Tyrantis, a heroic warrior who is kind but dumb of ass, learns of strange goings on outside his home and investigates.  During his journey into the unknown he falls in love with a powerful woman, whose favor he tries to win.  Through happenstance he is separated from his love and, distraught, wanders around fighting various foes to prove his worth, before finally returning to his love a better hero.  Invasion from Beyond! could even be seen as a sort of Morte d’Artur, with Tyrantis and a bunch of other kaiju heroes (including Nastadyne and Kemlasulla, who are built up as Hero Kaiju of Another Story) take part in a huge battle that threatens their idealic kingdom (of monsters).

- Volume 2 isn’t the end of ATOM, but it’s designed to work as an ending if you want to tap out here.  As a reader I feel a definitive ending is important, but as a writer I’m always tempted to revisit my beloved characters, so I feel giving closure while leaving a few doors open for possible future adventures is a good compromise between these positions.  There will be more ATOM stories, some (but not all!) following Tyrantis and Dr. Lerna, but if you want to know that Tyrantis and Dr. Lerna get an ending and the resolution to their arcs such a thing promises, here you go.  An ending, if not THE END.

[yoichichi]

Power Couple Playlist

for my love @ikigaitooru , please enjoy Shawty :)

warning: slight timeskip!oikawa spoilers

Relationship Head cannons 

I am not joking when I tell you you guys would be the definition of a power couple, like the kind where when people see you together they definitely get a little nervous assjjjdjsakaka

The team adoressss you too, like you are constantly clowning Oikawa and he’ll just be there like 🧍‍♂️ while the rest of the team loses their minds

Don’t let him fool you though! Oikawa clowns you just as much as you clown him definition of a petty queen

But also let literally anybody else say something to either of you, y’all just go innn on them (unless it’s Iwaizumi of course)

But as much as you two bully each other, you guys are infatuated with each other like you guys got each other on the brain constantly

IMO you guys definitely started off as flirty bullies, to flirty jackass friends to lovers 😶 (I’ll go more into detail with the playlist ;))

Your relationship definitely gives off summer fling type vibes but it just ,,, never ends lmaoo

You guys are LITERALLY the king and queen of the zodiacs and I feel like Oikawa would bring it up constantly “who cares babe we rule the world, let’s do what we want 😩” headass you cannot tell me he wouldn’t say this shit slightly unironically

Stares at you any chance he can get, he loves it when you’re hanging out with someone and you’re doing most of the talking so he can just watch you (will get embarrassed and sheepish if you notice though)

His favorite is when you’re smiling or laughing really hard and then look at him to talk or wait for his response shit gives him butterflies every time

Totally the type to wipe your face with a napkin if you guys are out and you got something on it and then just smile at you like 😊 got it

OKok i dont know much about smoking but he’d DEFINITELY be the giggly type probably horny too but you didn’t hear that from me

Boasts about you literally all the time whenever he gets the chance pls, whenever he gets interviewed at his games in Argentina he relentlessly finds ways to bring you up

Definitely let’s you do his makeup, no questions asked

Sometimes you’re aggressive and chaotic and it scares but also excites him in the best way

OKOK Playlist time!!

(the title is a joke pls don’t come for me asjfkdllsjs)

I kind of made this playlist as a soundtrack to your guys’ relationship and did my best to have it align with your music taste even though I feel like I did horrible job of that 

I really hope you enjoy it and if you need me to change anything please tell me!!

1. Song for Me - Greer: Ok here we go, friends to lovers gang!! Y’all definitely trying to deny it, but you’re catching stupid feeligs stupid fast. He can really talk to you about these big dreams and you just listen and talk with him so intently that it makes him feel something he can’t explain at first it’s called romantic feelings dumby. And hearing him talk about his dreams with you and just really want to talk with you really makes you so happy; and you can’t help but imagine getting to be by his side with him while he does this and- hold on, did you really just think that? Yeah cue 2:37 of the song 

2. This Side of Paradise - Coyote Theory: Yeah, so you guys mutally realize that you like each other and do NOT know what to do. You guys kind of start to dance around it and aren’t sure what signs are real or made up lmaooo. You’re both so playfully flirty it’s like 😏 ahahahah.. 👀👀 bimboz anywayyy cue the side glances from Oikawa and his relentless staring as he slowly falls more and more for you

3. Heavenly - Cigarettes After Sex: UGH DID SOMEONE SAY MUTUAL PINING, pls I feel like this would go on for a fair bit with Oikawa, he’s so dramatic. This song is just the definition of you two just wanting each other. And the fact he’s so nervous to screw it up with you just makes him more nervous cause he’s like oh shit, I really like her. Iwaizumi talks it through with him though knocks some sense into him “If she’s so great why wait until someone else recognizes that and want’s her all to themselves? As a matter of fact I’m sure-” “IWA PLEASE I GET IT” literally runs to your house out of breath after practice to confess to you assjfjdkkd

4. Violet - Hippo Campus: Ok so you guys are definitely together now, and this song just reminds Oikawa of you so hard. It played on his way home from your first date and now he just completely associates with you. Sometimes if he’s feeling extra nervous before a game he’ll listen to it and immediately feel better, it’s like your theme song for you in his mind right now, not that he would tell you that. Whenever he see’s you in the stands at his games this song is like a backtrack in his mind and it just gets him so extra pumped them serves are definitely extra terrifying

5. Michelle - Sir Chloe: Ok we’re gonna get a teensy bit angsty in here 😶 this song is definitely about Oikawa. He’s just so perfect and you hate it, you can’t help but start to love him and it’s so frustrating? He’s just gonna ruin you and you know it. You wanna try to fight falling in love with him so bad but you know there’s just no way that’s gonna happen. It’s like, who are you to be falling for him? It’s intimidating to fall in love with someone you can’t help but see as literally so perfect, knowing practically everyone wants him. He would obliterate you if he heard you think this way but who has to know

6. Sweet - Cigarettes After Sex: This is it, this is the song Oikawa realizes he’s in love with you to. Not just loves you but like in love with you. It starts playing in his headphones while he’s on a run and it makes his heart stop. He just can’t stop thinking of you alongside every lyric (1:45-1:53? Oh yeah) and it makes him so soft; while also scaring the absolute shit out of him. He’s just so in love with you.

7. I Love You - The Post Nobles: OK IM SORRY A LITTLE WITTLE BIT OF ANGST! I do see falling in love scary period, and I do feel like it would kind of scare Oikawa for a second, like he’d really have to sit with his thoughts for a second and be like?? I love this girl? Oh god what if I mess it up? What if I lose her? What would I do? What if she doesn’t love me back? It would just be so much easier if I didn’t love her. So this song is more to himself like, fr my guy?? You love this chick? Wanna take it back? Nope. He can’t believe it but he’s in love with you and has no choice about it, it’s scary but he would let you ruin his life and he ultimately wouldn’t want it any other way. 

8. Pretty Boy - The Neighbourhood: I mean c’mon, this SCREAMS falling for Oikawa vibes. But it’s kind of like your song to each other like fuck it, we’re in love and we can’t do a damn thing about it. ~acceptance

9. Hot Faced - Margaux: I don’t know how to explain it but this is definitely you and Oikawa?? (”King” C’mon now 🙄) I have a feeling people are easily intimidated by you (you look like someone I’d be scared to talk to you) and Oikawa is so charming and inviting, like everyone loves him. So I’m sure there’s people who are like 🧍‍♀️ she’s intense, how’d he just get her like that? And she got him? Power Couple

10. Driving - Donna Missal: Honestly, this is totally just a ~vibe time song for the two of you :)

11. Burning Pile - Mother Mother: Ok TELL me you two wouldn’t blast this song, singing your lungs out together when someone’s had a bad day or is particularly stressed out? Definitely becomes somewhat of a ritual between you two 🖤 you guys are so cute I love you

12. Sunrise - Kevitch: This song is just the definition of your guy’s infatuation and love for each other. People are definitely jealous of you two cause it’s just so obvious on your faces you love each other. 

13. The Girl - City and Colour: Don’t hate me - slight Oikawa angst 🧍‍♀️ It’s Oikawa, he’s angsty. I strongly HC he’ll just never feel quite good enough for his s/o. He just feels like he’s dragging you around so he can chase his dreams and he hates how selfish he feels for doing that to you, but he just couldn’t imagine loving anyone but you. He has these big dreams of becoming a professional volleyball player, and even when he makes it to Argentina with you he feels like he constantly needs to do better for you and just loves you so much it hurts, and he just hopes that that’s enough for you :( 

14.  Cover Me in Roses - Holden Laurence: Intimate much?? Oikawa would most definitely make you slow dance to this song with him. It plays in his head if he wakes up before you, or if you fall asleep before him, all while he just can’t help but look at you and feel so so soft while he caresses your face and just thinks: this is it, this is all I need to make it through anything.

15. I Wanna go to the Beach - Algernon Cadwallader: Did someone say laughing and dancing in the hot night air or Argentina in nothing but your underwear inside your house with all the windows open? Cause that’s what I heard.

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OKOK THAT’S IT BABES, I really hope you liked it, pls tell me if you’d like any changes.

And if anyone else see’s this I’d be more than happy to do this for you, too! Just send an ask with your music taste, tell me about yourself (a fair amount pls lmaooo) and whether or not you want someone or want me to pair you up! (haikyuu only please!)