#i mean the seeing vash for who he really is certainly plays into it

[yuhi-san]

you know, its kinda funny how much of a polarizing person vash is in universe. like people he meets can almost always be put in one of two categories

wants to murder him (subcaregories of 'actual violent intent' and 'i'm gonna wring that stupid idiots neck')

or

absolutely adores him

[mediocreanomaly]

May we have Vashwood x reader part 3 please?

Authors Note: my poor anon you've been sitting in the box but I shall release you.

Sorry guys! I was super busy and then I put a bunch of work into a DnD Campaign so my creative brain was fried a bit then I got sick and then my hands got messed up from saving my cat from a dog attack and- I'm rambling! Sorry for the long wait is what I mean! Enjoy!

Other Parts Here: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 3 (Alt. End)

Vashwood x Reader Soulmate Au Pt.3

No. No absolutely not is your first thought, your second thought being I'm going to kick these idiots ass.

"Are you listening doll face?" The man, who's name is presumably "Nick" says.

It's quiet besides the blood rushing in your ears. Everyone in town is probably asleep or close to it by now and these two just keep watching you like you're supposed to know how to react to this, like this is remotely a normal situation to be in.

"Did we break them? I told you it was too much! You never listen to me" the spikey one pouts. They seem comfortable with each other, you wonder how long they've been together. You suppose it makes sense that if they had found each other first they wouldn't have thought to look for you, having multiple soulmates was rare and considering you did everything in your power to stay out of trouble it tracked that a third soulmate would be nearly undetectable, maybe you should have gotten hurt more often...no that was stupid these two had certainly caused enough pain for the three of you.

"We didn't break them just give them a second they're thinking, Jesus spikey are you the reason they say blondes are dumb?"

"Hey!"

The two men bicker and you notice that they're different in a lot of ways right off the bat. Blonde and black hair, blue and brown eyes, light and tan skin, it almost makes you wonder how you're supposed to play in here. How in the grand scheme of things the universe chose you to stand next to these, frankly, very bizarre (and handsome) men. You need to say something, you need to voice your concerns your hopes your worries-

"I hate you" It's all you can really think to say. In a way it's true and in more ways it's not. Be that as it may with all the emotions flooding through you right now on top of the fact that they've revealed themselves in the most unorthodox way possible it's making it hard to express what you actually feel clearly. Something along the lines of "you two made my life a living hell for such a long time I wanted to kill you but I've matured since then but that doesn't take away the childhood that got stripped from me but I also understand it's most likely not your fault and the fact that there's two of you makes more sense but also gives me 100 more questions-" would probably be more accurate. but "I hate you" is what ends up coming out your mouth.

"You...what?" you flinch. You weren't exactly ready for that to be asked in the most heart shattering tone in the world and when you glance up to see the blonde wears an expression akin to that of a kicked puppy you feel regret creep through your veins.

"Vash they don't mean that, I said mean shit too when we found out" Nick huffs. Ah so the kicked puppy's name is Vash good to know- ah...hang on a moment..

"Vash?" you repeat, "Vash like....like Vash the Stampede?" you say dumbly, but there was no way the man you had nearly made cry from one sentence was the Vash the Stampede that was plastered on every god forsaken wanted poster across Gunsmoke

This catches his attention, the wounded look turning into something more wide eyed like a man who's forgotten to turn off the oven at home.

"We never even introduced ourselves!" he says in alarm, brushing himself off as if it'll cause a redo of the entire situation.

"Needle noggin-" "shh"

Vash scolds the other man whos already patting his breast pocket for another smoke clearly annoyed with how this whole thing is playing out.

"Vash the Stampede and-" Vash nudges Nick who reluctantly adds

"Nicholas D. Wolfwood"

"-at your service! We've been traveling far and wide-"

"Because Spikey always get's chased out-" this earns Nick an elbow in the side which you also wince at when you feel it dig into your own ribs. Vash quickly gives you an apologetic smile but continues.

"-in hopes of finding you! y/n, we're your soulmates!" He finishes with a half hearted wiggle of his fingers and and look that reads "tada?"

You blink dully at them. Yeah that added up. This would be your life wouldn't it? First you are tormented by pain your whole life and now you find out it was because your soulmates were the man with a 1,000,000,000 double dollar bounty on his head and...actually you have no idea who this Nicholas guy is. Considering the cross...Jesus reincarnate? Unlikely but at this point you'd believe anything.

"nuh-uh" it...comes out your mouth before you can stop it.

"nuh-uh? What the fuck do you mean nuh-uh?" Wolfwood gapes pulling his glasses up, yeah...not your best moment.

"I mean, no thank you. Look, I'm sure you're great people- or maybe you aren't I don't know I heard a rumor Vash the Stampede eats babies-" "What?!?! I don't-"

"Besides the point!" you interrupt "Look I didn't ever plan on meeting you, hell I'm not sure I even want to know you. So...I think it'd just be easier if the two of you just..." your sentence dies in your throat the longer they look at you hoping they catch your drift.

"Because we hurt you?" Nick steps a bit closer and you tell yourself it's the soulmate connection currently frying your brain and not the fact this well toned man has his whole chest out right now.

"N-No, well maybe? It's complicated" you had never planned on meeting your soulmate- or soulmates but in hindsight a bit of practice of what you were going to say might have been smart.

"We don't have to leave yet, we can stay- just so you get used to us! We aren't that bad...promise" Vash offers and damn those critically effective puppy dog eyes he uses as he moves to get a bit closer too.

"It's not that I think you're bad, it's just...I mean I hardly know you" you try, you already know it won't work. Despite not knowing them you can tell they seem the hard headed type.

"We're soulmates" Nick counters lazily as if you're the one being irrational.

"I- I don't know, I'm cleaning up here and-" "we can help!" the eager blond insist, with another step closer.

"you really don't have to-" "it's the least we can do, we owe ya don't we?" Nick muses, again another step.

"Well I wouldn't say that, I'm sure it wasn't your fault-" "Maybe, maybe not but we've been looking for you for a long time" You notice Vash has a beauty mark right under his eye there's a weird urge to reach out and trace it.

"Looking for me?" you ask

"Mhmm, since we caused you a lifetime of distress I'm sure, blessed are the merciful and all that, it's your turn to receive a little mercy" ignoring the awful half bible quote Nick's smell is invading your nose, like smoke, cedarwood and-

You aren't 100% sure how it happens, all you know is you're sandwiched between the two men. It was a trap for sure, moving in ever so carfully like they were herding a scared animal. This should alarm you, two men you've just meet keeping you in place, but for some reason a warmth spreads across you. It's like seeing an old friend or coming home for holidays, a certain sort of familiarity and safeness despite not knowing much about the two at all.

"You can feel it can't you?" Vash coos down at you, using his flesh hand to tilt your head up to meet his face, stark blue eyes deeper than the ocean gaze down at you and god when did he take those glasses off?

"It was weird the first time we met too, but it feels good though right?" Nicks voice makes you shiver as his mouth ghost over your ear, hands coming to settle at your hips.

"It feels.." your eyes flutter "Like home" the three of you say in sync, Vash and Nick chuckle as if this was a predictable response but something tells you they must've said the same cheesy line when they first met.

"We don't want to hurt you anymore" Vash's other hand rubs soft circles against your ribs and you feel the sudden urge to melt into the two of them.

"We've been thinking...that we should balance it out." Vash hums as Nick works on nipping at your ear

"Balance it out?" You almost don't recognize your own voice with how breathy it ends up coming out. They really shouldn't be having this effect on you, you should be yelling, or scolding them- no you'd definitely scold them later that was still on the table but...right now seemed like a bad time.

"yeah sweetheart, pleasure for pain right?" Nick chuckles in your ear, deep and gravely whether it's from lust or the cigarette he just put out you aren't sure.

"So?" he continues, "What do you say?" you feel Vash kiss at the corner of your mouth and Nicks hot breath against your neck

"Let us show you how good we can make you feel instead?"

[dozenssporks]

Out of (Gun) Control

Vash is never where he's supposed to be and he's especially always where he's not supposed to be, much to Meryl's perpetual dismay.

*Meryl interviewing a man on the street while Milly films*

Meryl: So what you're saying is . . . you don't believe Vash the Stampede exists, sir?"

Skeptic: That's right, ma'am.

Meryl: would you, uh, care to elaborate on that?

Skeptic: Yes, ma'am, you see this 'Vash the Stampede' *he makes finger quotes* is a stunt cooked up by the far left-wings to pursue their gun control agenda.

*behind Meryl and the Skeptic Vash putters into view, pausing at the sound of his name. He pauses and mouths 'me?' while pointing at his own face*

Meryl, who can see him in the camera's preview screen, her professional smile trembling: I would never have tagged the Humanoid Typhoon as pro-gun control.

*Vash starts rifling through his pockets*

Skeptic: That's the cunning of it, ma'am. He's not their poster boy, he's their own manufactured bogeyman made to terrorize people into believing tighter gun control is necessary to keep weapons out of hands of madmen like him and making us give up our God-given right to bear arms--ma'am?"

Meryl, coughing after making a strangled noise: Pardon me, sir, please go on . . .

*Behind her Vash has scribbled a sign reading 'I <3 Gun Control, love and kisses, VtS'. He clutches one hand in a fist and is making a fervent grimace of conviction*

Meryl: I mean, sir, there have been accounts of sightings and interactions with Vash the Stampede over a span of years, in various different countries, by people of all stripes--

Skeptic: it's a thorough masquerade, I'll grant you. But has anyone ever really met him?

Meryl, flatly: Yes.

Skeptic: For more than a conversation? enough to recognize him consistently as the same person each time? The Stampede isn't a person, it's a role that anyone can fill as necessary to the situation.

*Vash is framing his face with his hands and batting his eyes*

Meryl: Are you saying you think there's more than one of him?

Skeptic: I am.

Meryl: That's horrifying.

Skeptic: it certainly is, ma'am.

Meryl: one of him is plenty!

*Vash drops his hands, folds his arms and pouts*

Meryl: You mean to say, sir, that the man I have tracked and interviewed over the span of years was not one man, but a selection of government agents playing a role?

*Vash puts a finger to his lips in an urgent shushing motion*

*Meryl's microphone cracks in her hand and the corner of her smile is twitching*

Skeptic: you've met him?

Meryl: Of course, sir. Surely as an expert in matters of Vash the Stampede you're familiar with the reporter who has interviewed him the most frequently?

Skeptic: uh

Meryl: Who is, of course, too stupid to tell one blonde idiot with a beauty mark and broom hair apart from another. I had no idea he was twenty government agents in a red trench coat forcing gun control on the innocent masses of America while simultaneously being shot down by every woman he's ever flirted with.

Vash, tossing down his sign: There's no need to get personal!

Skeptic finally turns around and sees Vash: I knew they were following me! They don't want people to know the truth!

Vash, waving his arms: wooooh, I'm here to make sure thorough background checks are performed, fear me! *maniacal laughter*

*Meryl hits him dead in the face with her thrown microphone and he collapses onto the pavement, she pulls a fresh microphone from under her cape and turns back to the skeptic*

Meryl: thank you very much for providing your time and opinion, sir, the network appreciates hearing from it's viewers.

*******

Meryl: I didn't think you even know what gun control is

Vash: anything that promises the possibility of people shooting me less

Meryl: fair

Milly: you're bleeding, Mr. Vash

Vash: but not from a bullet! I win this round!

[rush-the-stars]

If you still accept asks please elaborate on sub wolfwood 🙏 and if you want on that soft free use post but with vash and wolfwood 👀 you have so many great ideas!

anon i have been saving this until after i finished my lil sewing project and answered emails....i would love to elaborate on sub wolfwood and free use with vash and woflwood made me feel CRAAZYYYYYY. reading that i did psychic damage. also thank you!!! i am just blabbing away on this lil blog

cw: subbing, pet play mentioned, caning mentioned, slapping mentioned

okay okay. sub woflwood.

i just see wolfwood as being pretty experienced sexually? he's tried a lot. had his fair share of lovers. i think he's been a dom and a sub at various points. and overall he likes being a service dom or sub. he likes to please or if not please...be used? i think depending on your own experience does he get a lil bratty/mouthy....if you're more experienced, he likes to rile you up. challenges you a little. but i can see if you're a lil less experienced in domming, he may go easier for a bit, until you really find your confidence. and then he gets sorta mouthy. kinda a rope bunny as a sub lol. he wants to be tied up. likes to be roughed up a bit when he is being bratty. pulling his hair...a slap here and there...scratching...maybe a light caning...i don't think he's a huge masochist but i do think he can take a fair amount of pain which can make punishments interesting.

i also do think....maybe unknown to him at first....he would sorta like a touch of pet play. you call him a mutt or talk to him like a dog and he's sorta shocked when he gets so hard so fast. you could maybe escalate to a collar....leashes.....perhaps a muzzle. for some reason i always see that one as something he discovers with a reader lol or its a newer one for him lol

if i had infinite time and energy i would write the long exploratory character study d/s fic of my dreams with him. but alas.

okay now free use with vash and wolfwood 😵‍💫

i am. unwell. thinking about like maybe being close friends with them. and maybe you and wolfwood sometimes sleep together to relieve some stress.....mutual using. sometimes you use him more, sometimes he uses you more.

but wolfwood sees how vash looks at you...you know? i mean, who wouldn't look at you like that?

it's just that wolfwood...trusts vash.

and well. he knows you adore vash, too...and...you'd wanna help him out a little, wouldn't you? vash is so....touch starved? maybe a lil lonely in this way. so he sorta offers you up to vash? and vash at first is unsure and reluctant but. he can't really help himself when it comes to you.

and suddenly vash is babbling about how you feel so good and you're so good for him as wolfwood watches him use you. vash is inhuman...he has a lot of stamina...and you thought wolfwood had a lot....but vash is keyed up. he's pent up.

(wolfwood makes sure vash isn't too rough with you. tells him to ease up if he is....and vash really is a sweetheart beneath all the pent up lust. he does really adore you. maybe a little too much?)

and then it sorta becomes this thing? whenever one of you needs to let off some steam. i think vash would really like being used too.....of course he wants to be helpful smh.

and sometimes wolfwood just tells you to sit pretty and take it while the two of them do as they please. they're never mean about it...in fact, they're quite loving. shower you in praise. they always take care of you—clean you up after. feed you. bathe you.

(you sorta gotta be careful with them though.....they wouldn't be opposed to keeping you, always naked, in bed and waiting for them. vash especially. he feels so bad about it but....well. you'd certainly be safe in his bed all day, wouldn't you? why can't you let them take care of everything?)

its free use but they adore you.....you know

[aimfor-theheart]

Ughh jealous nico...miss cielo can we also hear about nai and vash's jealousy🫣

hehehe anon i have been waiting all day to have the time to answer this

of course you can hear about nai and vash’s jealousy too 😌

i think vash’s jealousy is a hidden, dark thing that is closer to possessiveness. he feels horrendously guilty about it and definitely tries to hide it a great deal. however it comes out almost instinctually? maybe it’s the Plant biology in him…but maybe he likes to scent you? or i think he looooves to give you his jacket or have you wear an earring of his. not to mention the way he litters you in bite marks? he laughs it off a little sheepishly after but he certainly leaves them too noticeable and hard to cover up. he claims he’s not doing it purposefully but…

you definitely have to assure him, you know? he likes the praise. he likes hearing you’re his. it soothes something prickly in him. he won’t always tell you he’s feeling jealous, but you can tell with how he gets a lil overly affectionate? keeps nudging his head into your neck or hands like a needy puppy. little nips to get your attention back on him…huffs and puffs and gets downright mischievous to get your attention! slips his hand underneath your shirt, not too high but…you know…

and once and awhile, i think someone pushes him a little too far? someone won’t leave you alone or flirts with you too much—vash tries to be easy going about it! even if his eyes are starting to flash. but they just won’t let up on you…

and then he’s getting serious. and vash is sorta scary when serious….a little otherworldly? you kinda see why others might be scared of him, you know?

now nai….listen. i just think canon nai is like. very yandere. he doesn’t know a normal relationship and i don’t think he’s really capable of being normal about you lol.

i mean and he’s canonically possessive of those he cares about (vash).

unfortunately i think he’s sorta fickle and sensitive (cancer man moment) so if you even look at another person longer than he deems appropriate, he is likely growing agitated. and you will likely pay for it some strange way. or they will.

in nai’s ideal world i think he would keep you in a pretty glass terrarium, some tiny little paradise he has full control over. and no eyes who he didn’t approve of would gaze upon you. and you would only ever speak to him.

i think you have to be careful with nai—lest you cause someone their life. and then he’ll come to you and sorta…push you around? exerts his strength and size…makes you a lil fidgety and nervous….kinda plays mind games with you until you realize all he wants is some reassurance. you’re his. no one else’s. he wants obedience and submission tbh and he’s kind of the worst about getting it.

once he feels a little more secure, i think he softens a little. gets sorta clingy. needy like vash but he’s more demanding. simply arranges you how he wants you, like a doll, and does what he pleases with you.

i think the twins both are like…a lil animalistic…or non-human when it comes to their jealousy and possessiveness. you know??

[deludedfantasy]

Trimax Vol 9 Ch 1-3

On the one hand, I'm loving the Wolfwood centric chapters because I think he's such an interesting character. On the other hand, I know what's coming and the looming presence of vol 10 haunts me the further in I get. But here are some thoughts on Wolfwood and Livio from the first half of this volume.

Ch 1

Omg more baby Wolfwood!!! And a baby Livio!!!

Damn, Wolfwood is very determined to get across this bridge. I wonder why the guard looked like he recognized him though.

Wolfwood is such an annoying big brother, just tossing things at poor crying Livio’s head. Notice though that he’s just trying to feed him and keep him hydrated. He’s always been disguising his sweetness and care as rudeness. 

Oh Wolfwood, he’s just trying to give Livio’s life meaning when he doesn’t feel like he’s worth anything. I wonder how long he’s been at the orphanage to be so familiar with that feeling of being worthless that he treats it so casually. It’s certainly not as new or raw as it is for Livio.

Oh yay, Livio!! He saved that girl and now he feels accomplished! 

Livio’s eyes looking all blank and empty while he’s standing in a dark alley…it’s so ominous. I really gotta give Nightow here that we haven’t spent a lot of time with young Livio and he’s already making me feel a lot of emotions about him. 

Oh no. OH NO. This doesn’t get any easier to handle on second read. Livio looks so scared of himself when he sees the blood on his hands and especially the look on Jasmine’s face when she sees him afterwards.

And still, Wolfwood is defending him! Once you’re his friend, once he cares about you, that’s it. He’s in it for the long haul. In reality, he has such a big heart, and the Eye of Michael tried so hard to kill that part of him. 

So, Wolfwood comes home to find it besieged by the man he once thought of as a brother, who he barely recognizes anymore. It’s pretty grim, and Livio himself looks like he has mixed feelings about being back.

Oh? I thought Livio was part of the Eye of Michael. Why was he thrown out? Also, isn’t Chapel the head? Can’t he just…reinstate him if he wants, without this whole proving himself charade? This is Chapel though so I don’t know why I’m expecting anything different. 

Also more reasons I want to hunt Chapel for sport. His love for his family is what kept Wolfwood human and what motivated him for all these years. It’s the best thing about him. (Though there’s some foreshadowing to him saying these attachments are fatal…I’m gonna take a break to sob in the corner for a sec, brb)

Where did these children get a gun from??? Actually, on this planet, I don’t know why I’m even asking that question, guns are everywhere. But still. 

These mercenaries are the worst of the worst. Like, calling children worthless and being so willing to kill them for just some money, just to get a rise out of someone. Says a lot about the Eye of Michael that this is who they hire.

But hey, Livio comes to the rescue! Though whether it was actually to save the kid or just to see what was going on remains to be seen.

Ch 2

So the orphanage kids vaguely recognize Wolfwood as someone they think they know, though he’s older than he should be. Thus begins the question that has been plaguing me for months: how old is Wolfwood??? 

Wolfwood comes in and fucks shit up, as usual. But the big thing here, as many people have pointed out, he’s giving them a chance. He’s not shooting to kill. He’s living up to Vash’s, and now his own, philosophy. To the bitter end, he’s going to try and be a better person. 

But these guys are horrible. Like I said, the worst example of humanity to contrast Wolfwood (who at least in Vash’s eyes is something like the shining example of humanity in all its complexity). The mercenaries shoot their “friend” rather than save him to get a bigger share. As if we needed any more reminding what Wolfwood is up against. 

Wolfwood is really playing up the action hero bit this time. And you know what, it’s so cool. 

But he totally learned that fake-out shooting background trick from when Vash rescued. They’re learning from each other. (Aaaaand I’ve made myself sad again)

I love a good callback! Wolfwood once told Vash this and told him he’d have to make a choice. But now we know he was also talking about himself. He hasn’t had a lot of options over the years, especially once he joined the Eye. But now, it’s time for him to make a choice. He has to decide who he is, whose side he’s on, and what he’s willing to do to protect what he loves. 

I hate to say this, but for once Chapel has a teeny tiny point. Wolfwood doesn’t have room for doubt here, and he is a man who has had a lot of doubts over the course of the story, both about Vash’s actions and his own. There isn’t any more time to run away from his situation. He has to face it head on and with surety.

Exactly, Chapel! Wolfwood hasn’t changed, he’s stayed true to himself and the man he wants to be. He’s not using his true powers because that would mean killing and above all, Wolfwood is done being a murderer. Before he was killing to protect his family, but now he’s decided that’s enough. For them, he’ll stop and he’ll save them without giving up another piece of his soul. 

Okay, Chapel, I get that you want him to be an efficient killer, but Wolfwood is 100% maiming these guys to get through them. Like, they are not coming out of this unscathed, in the slightest. He’s very much putting them out of commission as well. 

LIVIO CAUGHT A ROCKET AND REDIRECTED IT WITH HIS BARE HANDS???? INSANE!!! 

On the one hand, yay Livio saved the orphanage! On the other hand, he did it because orders and also because Chapel isn’t done using the orphanage to torment Wolfwood.

Ch 3

Awww, the kids remember Wolfwood and think of him as a protector. Because that’s who he is at heart!!! 

“We have to rely on ourselves. We cannot rely on someone who isn’t here.” BUT HE IS!!!! AND HE CAME BECAUSE HE LOVES HIS HOME SO MUCH. 

Has Wolfwood been wondering for all these years what happened to Livio? Did he literally only in the last few months find out that he’s also a member of the Eye? Either way, it’s a gut punch for him to be confronted by him and realize how much he’s changed. That crybaby Livio has so wholeheartedly taken to being a killer, when Wolfwood once tried so hard to protect him from that. 

Poor Livio. No Man’s Land is such a cruel world that people just beat up helpless kids for being in the way. He left the orphanage, a place where he was safe and loved, because he felt like he was a danger, because he felt like he didn’t deserve their love and care. Livio himself isn’t much of a fighter, but he doesn’t even try to defend himself. This is just what he believes a monster like himself deserves. 

The Razlo notes are so ominous, but Livio just laughs at them. They’re violent but they’re also offering to protect him, and he just shrugs it off. He doesn’t want anything at all. 

My favorite, though, is “I’ll be your fangs.” Perhaps like Double Fang? 

As Livio is being badly beaten, he thinks of saving Jasmine, but he’s also overcome by how much he just doesn’t care anymore. He’s sick of being a punching bag and of being helpless. What does it matter now if he’s violent if at least it gets the hurt to stop? 

I love that Razlo is literally represented as a dark shadow the first time Livio meets him because he’s literally Livio’s dark shadow, the part of himself he’s been afraid of for so long. 

Notice how we can only see one of Razlo’s eyes, his left one. The same side of Livio’s face that’s covered in blood and the same side of his face he wears his skull mask on. He’s literally split in two, between life and death, purity and blood. 

Okay, but how did Razlo know about the Eye? Was it because they’d come to the orphanage recruiting while Livio was there? But they obviously don’t present themselves as a cult of assassins when they come (at least, I assume they don’t, because I can’t imagine Ms. Melanie willing giving children to them otherwise), so how would Razlo know that they would fit in there?

I forgot Wolfwood goes for a kill shot here! Although, he knows he’s up against the Eye so it’s not gonna keep Livio down forever. But imagine reading this as it was coming out and thinking Wolfwood actually killed him! Because it certainly reads that way.

[takeshitakyuuto]

Trigun Book Club Update Trimax volume 2

Oh sweet Jesus just look at what I have to deal with here

These are THE SCANS. KMSSSSSS

Also, despite being intimately familiar with reading right to left, the fact that the next arrow is still the right one instead of the left one completely breaks my brain. Let’s see how this goes. Although I will say that this is a slight upgrade in that the last volume scanned two page spreads separately so I kinda had to imagine how they were supposed to look put together. I should’ve just bought the books

Ch 1. That’s also how I feel whenever I hear the saxophone my dad was a jazz saxophonist, I have a degree in classical oboe performance. How did this happen? idk

Jesus being crushed to death by the weight of other humans is a horrific way to die

Ch 2. Eat like a dog, Kaiba

Sorry I’m incapable of thinking about media outside of the contexts of other things I’ve read or seen, it’s in my nature. Remember that part in Hiraeth The End of the Journey where even though Hibino had a side cart for his motorcycle, he refused to let anyone ride in it because he was saving it for his soulmate? Yeah.

Totally obsessed with Raidei’s outfit

They say don’t bring a knife to a gun fight but they said nothing about a sword!

Ooooohhhhhhh it’s the last page of chapter two and I finally figured out that it’s supposed to be Raidei the Blade. I was like braid? Why braid what’s that supposed to mean?

Ch 3. Loving the title page art for this chapter

I will not make dirty jokes about Vash’s arm gun, I will not make dirty jokes about Vash’s arm gun, I w

Ngl, this fight reminded me of (oh god im doing it again) the coliseum chapter of Kino’s Journey. I’m leaving it at that but it seems like I’ve got a penchant for human-loving gunslinging protagonists

Ch 4. Chapter called Wolfwood? LETS GOOOOOO

Vash: I don’t kill people

Wolfwood: I do, get out of my way

The more interactions between Vash and Wolfwood I read, the more I understand why people ship them. Who doesn’t want someone to put your gun to their head and tell you to shoot them

Meryl and Millie! 🥹 It’s been so long!

They say lost technology a lot but this technology certainly doesn’t seem lost

Ch 5. Nico nii chan :3c (side note: totally forgot his first name was Nicholas for a second and thought it was a joke on him always smiling)

don’t click

I really do love how large of a role family plays in the story and the characters’ motivations and personalities. I still feel like we’re in the “early” part of the series, but to be already picking up on so many of these themes and motifs is really cool, and I’m definitely keen to see how they all come to a head in the series.

Love when there’s a kanji near the page fold and the scan makes it look like ▉

I’m still not sure what Y is... it seems like a group of bad guys? Maybe? Is it Kaiba’s group?

Ch 6. Gung Ho Guns just loves toying with Vash’s emotions huh

Ch 7. Sorry I’m laughing at Wolfwood’s sultry little pose in the chapter title art here

I’m on the verge of wringing the puppetmaster’s neck holy shit just speak Japanese for once please. All of you reading a translation- know you’re lucky

Final thoughts: This was definitely a lot more interesting than the last volume, and the pace seems to be picking up. I’m still kinda waiting for it to get out of “villain of the week” type plot, but at least we’re getting more depth out of it. Also, it seems like we’ve completely abandoned those twelve coin assassins at this point? There are some things I’m still unsure about, like Y, but I also know that I struggle to pick up on more indirect things in my second language, especially when it’s referencing something that we’re just supposed to figure out. So that’s my assumption on Y, but I still don’t have any ideas on why Wolfwood has such strong ties with it. Also, I feel like my thoughts were pretty short for this volume, but that’s also definitely because there was lots of action and fight scenes this time around, and my brain just kinda shuts off for those lolol

[shmothman]

i feel like maybe this is obvious in my fics but i can’t stop thinking about it and i wanna talk about it anyway so im just gonna spew some thoughts re: the way i characterize vash…

like ok… obviously when im writing him im usually writing in the context of an established relationship, which is sort of skipping over all the emotional stuff he’d have to go through in order to even Be in any sort of relationship. im writing him happy, which is… something we just plain don’t see much in canon. whether im setting it somewhere nebulously in canon or post canon (which, tbh, i leave it vague but im usually picturing post canon, because i honestly don’t see him as able to be in any sort of relationship amidst everything that happens in canon—having feelings for someone, yes, but acting on them, not so much) im attempting to show a side of him that is… capable of accepting love. i mean, take this all with the grain of salt that im primarily working off of 98 canon, and im not very far into the manga so everything i know is basically spoilers, but this is a character who is Defined by loss. in his eyes, the best thing he can do for someone he loves is to leave them—at least they’ll be in less danger without him around. because the few people he loves that he doesn’t leave (returning to the ship throughout his life) end up murdered in front of his eyes. so in my fics, im trying to look at what it would take for him to give in to having an emotional or physical relationship. the answer i keep coming to is a) he’s not going to be the one to say it first, ever; and b) he’s going to feel a tremendous guilt for it. so… my Established Relationship fics time-skip over a LOT of emotional shit, and even then, they’re usually set on a Good day. A day when the guilt is just a dull ache at the back of his head, rather than a clawing thing at his heart. Days when he’s happier. Days when he can be goofy and loving and not have it be an act—because i do see a lot of people who say that writing him genuinely goofy is misunderstanding his character, and while that’s as valid an interpretation of his character as any, it’s not my interpretation.

As an aside on Vash’s goofiness: again I reiterate that we don’t really see vash happy in canon. maybe at the very end, when it’s all over, and in moments where he sees the best in humanity, but it’s not often. So when we see him goofy and smiling, yes, it’s mostly an act. He’s hurting so much, all the time, but he’s smiling and playing with the kids (and teaching them about love and peace) because he still wants to see the best in humanity, wants these kids to grow up and fight for what’s right, wants to be like Rem. But, as that one post said: we are the mask and the wearer. The person he is trying to be, the goofy mask he puts on, is still him, as much as the serious, sometimes broody way he tends to see himself (in his dream, when Rem says he’s so serious, that’s the way he feels about himself) is. So in a context where he’s able to heal, even a little bit, where he’s allowed to be happy, I think he’s still goofy! Maybe not quite as often, and maybe not quite in the same way, and there would certainly be a lot more moments where his smile is gentler, his demeanor more restrained… but that part of him is still there. He sees it as an act, but like… the way people see you is still a way that you are, if that makes any sense (projection alert!). His identity is complicated.

Idk idk idk i just can’t stop thinking about Who He Is and the amount of his personality that’s just… his reactions to suffering that’s basically beyond human comprehension. Who he might be able to be when it’s all over. Its not like i think that he’d be able to just… move past all of it. for the rest of his life he’s going to be carrying this burden of pain, of losing basically everyone he’s ever loved. he’s always going to be bracing for the worst—i don’t think that sort of thing will ever leave him. somewhere in his mind, he’ll always assume something awful is going to happen. but there will be good days. days when he’s looking forward to the future—though he’ll always be treasuring every moment of the present, never taking the love and happiness he feels for granted, both because he’s felt the alternative and because a part of him assumes it’ll end before he’s ready for it to. But that’s also why I refuse to let him remain immortal. I’ve never touched on it in any of my fics but for me, his happy ending involves growing old. im taking the trimax idea of him having used up all his power and extending that to mean he’s no longer going to stay young forever. he gets to live the rest of his life knowing he’s not going to outlive everyone he loves, because i think that would give him some peace. he has to live with so much loss, im not giving him any more of it. (is this self indulgent? absolutely. but every single thing ive ever written is pure self indulgence lol.)

As for the nsfw stuff… i mean let’s be real it’s mostly a matter of taste 🤣 yes i take his flirtation in 98 as a sort of like… way for him to feel some semblance of connection without there being any risk—only hitting on people he is sure won’t reciprocate so he can feel like it’s out of his hands,, but i also see him as just being absolutely goddamn touchstarved. His self-imposed isolation means that finally accepting physical affection would overload him—but he’s wanted it for so long that he’s okay with that. Especially in the context of someone he loves, and has loved for a long time while feeling absolutely guilty about it and not letting himself act on it. And yeah I do see there being a psychological component to him being so willing to give up control to his partner: finally, someone who he can trust entirely and let go with, a time where he can finally be brought to a place where the worry fades—too overwhelmed by physical sensation to fear and grieve, even for just a moment. (Not to say he doesn’t have times where sex is something fueled by fear and grief: he doesn’t want to lose you, he needs to hold you close, to prove to himself that you’re here, but, again, I’ve mostly been writing the Good Days.) he’s so used to intense bad feelings. i just want to give him intense good feelings.

Idk. There’s not a point to me writing this. I’m just stream-of-consciousness-ing. I just love him so much. I need to write him happy.

[yourbuerokrat2]

@technicolor-dreamss

I finally got enough energy and time to give this compilation a bigger review.

I really hope that the 80s qcard AU plays in an AU where homophobia was not as rampant as it was historically. Because boy was there the whole problem with the AIDS crisis, homophobia and the Reagan era. Freddy Mercury was only 'found out' in the late 80s and even musicians such as Elton John only dared to come out in the 90s. So yeah, personally hope this is a bit of a more.. whimsical AU. Although Picard is still repressed.

To be fair, I think Picard would also turn red and be awkward if Q got him to dance with him somewhere on the Enterprise especially if it was somewhere semi-public.

The second picture really made me think that for the most time Q probably doesn't really have a 'body'. I mean he is actually from a species that would make the average human mad just by looking at them because they kind of go against the law of physics and common sense since Q did imply that the laws of physics are only a mild inconvenience to him at best. And for him to come to the Enterprise and present himself and his human body of choice with a 'tadaa' is so funny to me. Love the little heart with an exclamation mark and Picard once again not being impressed with godlike entity trying to get with him.

I have no idea who that character in the third picture is but I dig the expression.

Absolutely digging the entire concept (the postures, the way Q holds the bow, the outfit and Picards everything) in the fourth picture. Love the detail of Q slightly blushing. This is both the silliest and slightly romantic version of making someone fall in love with you. Q justifying this to himself by Picard actually liking a Midsummer Night's Dream (although Puck used no arrows but semantics, Q just likes cupid better anyway and with this the one Picard falls in love with is a lot more fail-proof). I can see Picard turning around and saying something along the lines of Q finally having gone completely mad. The thing with cupid arrows is that generally the 'love' these things cause are generally portrayed not to be real love but instant infatuation. Which I can see Q enjoying, with Picard being the one fawning over and being very obviously into Q but it's all very surafce level and shallow and while Q certainly does not mind suddenly having become Number One on PIcards priority list and getting various compliments Q does find something important missing in all of this. Sure, Picard being the one who brings up Qs offer of spendin eternity with him and actually wanting to go away with Q is nice and great but it does not feel right that Captain Picard actualyl seems to forget all of his duties in favour of Q. It's a victory for Q for sure but a hallow one.

I do have a compilation of various Picard hugs on this blog somewhere. Two people who generally do get a Picard hug are Beverly and Riker. I think something liek this could happen some time after TNG with either Q or Picard having an involuntary moment of vulnerability and Q being the one to hug first. And while just a few years ago, Picard would have pushed him away now that Q has saved him a few times and he knows Q as a person more, he is willing to accept and give this bit of comfort. If a bit awkwardly. And Q would honestly be so happy that they have come this far.

Ah yes, the kiss in the highschool AU, that I already saw on Instagramm. Also something I can see happening in TNG where PIcard demands of Picard to tell him what Q wants from him and what all of this is about and Q kisses him but does not get the answer he wants and instead only gets a Picard who does not even want to meet his eyes.

Sketches! Kisses are probably such a hard thing to draw.

'You need serious help, mon capitaine' I think this could be very interesting in an AU/headcanon where Picard is more into men than into women which would bring Qs surprise at Vash being his weakness and the 'I would have arrived as a woman' in another context because Q thought that Picard would be more into him as a man but Picard is denying this part of himself for some reason. I woudl say homophobic parents but I saw one hc about Picard having just a really bad taste in men and that his taste in people evolved into a taste of 'bad boys' in his highschool and Academy years which resulted in him having had even messier relationships with men than with women and therefore just having sworn men and this part of hmself off entirely. Which would be so interesting, frustrating and funny to Q because in a weird way he is exactly Picards type of man and he can tell that Picard is actually quite into him but Picard gets very, very defensive once Q brings that up.

I don't know what this is more fitting to pre-TNG!Q meeting DejaQ!Q and being like 'Am I actually going to become this pathetic` or postTNG!Q meeting DejaQ!Q and being like 'was I actually this pathetic?'

And of course some nice sketches from more TNG crew. I actually do hc that Q is kind of terrified, tries to ignore Deanna because he has been on board naked both literally and empathically so Deanna has felt a variety of Qs emotions, perhaps has figured out a few things about Q as a person tha the does not want others to have figured out.

Shit I never posted 😭 School has started so I’m locking in. Some of it is qcard aus. Guess what the aus are cuz I’m not fucking explaining

[severalspoons]

Liveblog: Rewatching Trigun, Episode 17 part 2

Ugh, I just want to talk about Episode 18 already.

We pick up with Rem and the Captain talking. 

-- Rem has a very breathy voice.

-- Rem: “Because they’re angels...maybe we should pay attention to them...they may even guide us through our dream.” If only it turned out that way. I wonder how literally she believes that?

-- This scene with Vash and Knives in the zero-gravity room is so touching. 

Knives sounds genuinely concerned about Vash.

“Are you crying again?” Apparently Vash cries a lot. Color me not surprised. Knives cares anyway.

Steve has been telling Vash he’s not human, and probably that he’s a monster who shouldn’t even be here. What if everyone else feels that way about him and Knives, too? he worries. Worst of all, what if Rem feels that way?

I don’t know if Steve deliberately mistreated them differently, but they certainly reacted differently. He hit Vash where it hurt by telling him he didn’t belong. He beat up on Knives, which Knives could tolerate better. I think putting up with Steve’s abuse is the sort of “small sacrifice” Knives is talking about. :(

-- It fascinates me that Vash is the one who’s afraid and suspicious of humans, even though he desperately wants to belong. Knives is the one encouraging him that it will be possible to get along with people. He even empathizes with their perspective: “to these people we’re just uninvited guests. We only need to be patient a while.”

-- Vash asks whether Rem feels the same way as Steve. Baby, nothing could be further from the truth. You’re Rem’s favorite. Can’t you feel how much she loves you? 

-- Knives starts a conversation about the tree they’re lying under, but not really. He’s speaking in metaphors. I do this myself when I want to get across a complicated set of ideas and emotions quickly. It’s a great way to compact your message and add sensory examples so the listener can feel what you’re saying. And it’s perfect for bridging the gap between his train of thought and Vash’s feelings. Knives does the same thing in the more famous conversation about spiders and butterflies. 

“Rem said it’s because they’re strong...they concentrate all their energy on growing.” 

This is dreamy, mythological, fairy tale thinking. Rem, instead of giving them information about the world, is describing it poetically and helping them see it with wonder. I think Vash will return to this perspective on days when he wonders why he’s bothering trying to save people. (The way I go to Pinterest and look at photos of nature and the sky and people doing kind things until I feel like it’s worth living again). 

-- “Rem said...according to Rem...” I bet this conversation is frustrating for Knives. Knives is asking Vash what he thinks, and all he gets is secondhand Rem.

-- “Plants are strong, but we eat their fruit.” “We need to in order to live.” Does Vash know what sort of plant Knives is really talking about?

-- “Do you think I’ll be eaten some day?” ::heart breaks: 

Will they be drained for power the way the bulb plants are? Or experimented on? It’s a reasonable question.

It’s interesting. Although Vash is the one being told he’s not human, Knives is the one aligning his identity with plants. Or at least, trying it out during this conversation.

-- “So then, why am I here?” 

Knives is having a huge (and perfectly understandable) existential crisis. And no one seems to have good answers for him. Even Vash doesn’t seem to get it.

I don’t think telling him he’s an angel sent to Earth to help the crew would help him much. Either it’ll sound like more fluffy poetic nonsense to him, or it will feel like a huge burden. I mean, just listen to former “Indigo children,” whose parents may have legitimately believed their kids were sent to save the world. Instead, they became a hot mess.

-- They had umbilical cords? Don’t plants reproduce by budding? Weren’t Vash and Knives found after they dropped off and fell to the ground? IDK, plant biology is confusing to begin with and the anime certainly doesn’t help.

-- Cut to a bunch of scary looking men with laser guns. Rem throws herself between them and the babies and you see the lasers all over her torso. They could have shot her. She could have died trying to save the plant babies. Holy ****. (And she wasn’t even feeling guilty about Tessla in the anime. She was just a good person). 

-- That fucking apple. I’m sorry, but I hate this kind of symbolism. It never says much, it feels like an exercise or a treasure hunt, and it reminds me of high school English class.

Smooth transition to the other side of the tree where Rem is giving Vash a haircut. Of course Vash goes first. Rem gives Vash his iconic sticking-up haircut for the first time. 

-- Um, it’s kind of weird to give your kid the same haircut as a man you loved. (What sort of relationship did they have in the anime, anyway?) 

Also, you never noticed he was handsome before because he’s a kid. He looks like the equivalent of an 8 or 9 year old here. 

-- “He was my emotional support. Thanks to him, I was able to face my mistakes without judgment. I learned to make them right again. Then I lost him and realized I would have to do it alone. But I wasn’t afraid to make mistakes any more. I believed I could point myself in the right direction without looking back.”

I just got run over by a truck of feels. Because Vash takes the same journey. 

And I’m pretty sure Wolfwood does for Vash what Alex did for Rem. 

It all begins next episode.

-- Knives’ haircut looks curved like butterfly wings. (And he’s way better at cutting hair than a kid with no experience should be).

-- Knives’ voice sounds villainous. “Just a little change of heart, that’s all.”

-- There already was individuality, even without the haircut. I guess Knives has just accepted it. “A philosopher and a mama’s boy.” That about sums it up, unfortunately.

-- Love how Knives tells Steve off, even though he makes a supervillain face immediately after.

-- Static. There’s that sound you hear every time Legato appears. The static of evil.

-- The famous spider & butterfly scene. Vash has both hands up, probably considering removing both of spider and butterfly from the web and moving them to separate places. Not sure what he’s waiting for.

They first have the argument they keep playing out for the next 150 years.

“Unless the spider caught the butterfly, it would die of starvation anyway.” Knives is right -- about butterflies and spiders. About the natural order. (That’s one reason I, personally, have an existential crisis every time I watch a nature documentary. For some reason, there’s always organisms eating other organisms alive on those channels. ::shudders::) The best argument I can give is that the metaphor doesn’t apply to people and plants, or doesn’t have to. The only reason a situation even resembling that happens on Gunsmoke is because Knives crashes all the ships onto a planet without resources.

Rem: “it’s not right to make that choice so easily.” Honestly? I think that’s a less convincing argument. Especially to someone who’s agnostic or atheist. Because who should choose? Or are you just leaving it up to random chance?

-- “What would you rather have us do, just stand there and think about it?”

Vash attacks Knives for the first time. 

Rem finally realizes there’s something wrong. She looks troubled.

-- WTF happened to Rowan’s mind? What’s broken? Is Knives controlling his mind or body somehow?

-- Rem models self-sacrifice. I still don’t understand why, but she seemed to truly believe that Rowan, who was willing to kill a crew member he actually loved, wouldn’t do the same to her. The Captain models the sensible choice given the information he had, and throws Rowan out the airlock. Well, maybe not so sensible, because Rem could have been flung out into space to die, too.

Wonder how Rem would feel if she knew that Vash spent his life doing the same thing, getting increasingly scarred in the process?

-- “Vash, take care of Knives.” 

This breaks my heart because so far ... he hasn’t.  First he follows Knives around. Then abandons him. Then attacks him.

 Doesn’t that bother him, given how faithfully he follows Rem in everything else?

I think Rem says nothing to Knives, because she has nothing good to say to him then.

-- It still bothers me that Knives got so flat out cruel down to the maniacal laugh so quickly and offscreen. It’s still a big jump from the last time we saw him talk. Seriously, look at this:

Everything he does in the anime would have made sense if they had just added a little bit more from the manga.

-- So Knives, is Rem’s self sacrifice still stupid if she corrected the course of all the ships and saved so many lives? After all, she took action quickly, and did the greatest good for the greatest number--the rational thing. You should have understood what she was doing.

-- No, Vash, Rem didn’t mean “take care of him” as in “Kill him.” You know that.

...You know I’m getting way too invested in a series when I start talking to the characters as if they can hear me. It’s about as sensible as yelling at the horror movie character not to go into that dark room alone.

[sehriin]

H E A D C A N O N S // sehrin.

01. Tell us about your character’s name. Was it given to them or chosen? Does it hold any special meaning? If your character has aliases or nicknames, how did they get them and what do they mean?

SEHRIN — his birth name, yes. sehrin quite likes his name. it was the name of a queen who at the announcement of war is claimed to have yawned, gotten up from the throne while the messenger was still speaking and said something insulting in regards to the lack of sex appeal and how that greatly offended her. the messenger returned home and reportedly did not deliver the message due to embarrassment and war was thus adverted. true or not, sehrin considers her to be one of his greatest heroes. 

HASI ; VASH ; Y’RI — various aliases that he uses most frequently. you’ve probably heard of them if you’ve been skulking around smuggling depots or reading wanted posters. hasi and vash are both zeltron names, borrowed from celebrities on zeltros, known for their ... more adult holographic content. that was more than intentional. y’ri was the name of a bounty hunter’s dick that serhin just got a kick out of. a lot of his aliases are jokes that he found funny. 

AND MORE! — sehrin goes by many names and often gives out random names that he’ll just immediately forget. he’ll sweep you up in a whole identity of this person only to re-introduce himself as someone else ten minutes later. it really depends on how spicey he’s feeling. 

content warnings for NSFW material, violence, and drug mention. 

02. What is your character’s relationship to their homeworld? Do they hold fond memories of it, or do they hate it? Are they still here, and if not, do they miss it?

“honestly, darling, if you want a good time, go for it. good times are what we specialize in. they’ll treat you real good until you or your pockets run dry — whichever comes first.”  disgust. if zeltros went up in flames, sehrin would find a safe place to watch it burn. it stands for pretty much everything that sehrin hates, the flamboyant rich emptying their pockets just to glut themselves on things they don’t need. zeltros is a place where you’re used up, dried out, and thrown away. you’re sold this lie of pleasure, made to believe you should give it your everything and afterwards, you’re neatly packaged up and left to rot. sehrin was used, abandoned, abused, left for dead, beaten, and tossed away and he  — he has absolutely no love for zeltros.  he has no family that he would want to keep around. no one that he would ever want to see again, no one that matters to him. it’s filthy cesspit of pleasure and sehrin has no use for it. would he go back? only if he was paid an exorbitant amount and allowed to fuck shit up. 

03. Describe your character’s relationship with those who raised them. Was it positive? Negative? Neutral? What sorts of ideologies were they raised with, and do they still stand by them now?

sehrin was raised by petty thieves and pickpockets who lived on the lower, unsavory parts of zeltros. opposite the higher pleasure levels of zeltros, the lower parts are less concerned about the intoxication of emotions and more concerned with using those emotions.  his actual parents gave into the revelry and simply never came home one day. the thieves broke into the small quarters and found sehrin sitting on the floor. brakhin and sha’bi ( both aliases that sehrin uses ) more or less took him in as his official parents but those who raised him were the small criminals of the underground. sehrin learned how to pickpocket at a young age, petty thievery into scamming, into learning how to manipulate emotions or use pheromones to sway a crowd.  sehrin had a rough childhood, the criminal underworld is not kind to its children. he quickly learned how to turn it around so he was the ones calling the shots. he still uses a lot of what he learned, how to turn a bad situation into something that works for him but there is no love lost between those sehrin left behind when he left zeltros. 

04. What is your character’s relationship with the Force? Is your character Force-sensitive? Whether or not they are, do they believe in it? Do they lean more towards the dark or the light or are they somewhere in between?

eh, sehrin is not that sensitive to it. he doesn’t not believe in it but he also think it’s just a joke. you can’t sell it, you can’t steal it, it’s not something that has value to him. it’s superstition and while sehrin loves to mess with the superstitious because if they’re gullible enough to buy that — they’ll buy anything, he doesn’t see why one would wage a whole war in the name of it.  he would probably muddle up in the middle because he’s got a business to run and while he’s not a bad person, he’s not entirely decent. 

05. What three word would you use to describe your character? What three words would your character use to describe themself? What three words would someone close to them use?

pink idiot hoe

charismatic powerful leader, dashing heroic prince(ss), mouth-wateringly beautiful seductress. ( with sparkles probably as he winks, where the fuck did the glitter come from ) 

“what the fuck” 

06. Describe your character’s aesthetic. Do they tend towards fashion or function? Do they like to accessorize? How does this extend into their own personal spaces, such as their home or their workspace?

zeltron are noted for their revealing, provoking clothing. skin tight, short cuts, leaving hardly anything to the imagination while adorned in jewels, make up, and anything that galaxy would call beautiful or expensive. sehrin might have left zeltros behind but that doesn’t mean he stopped being zeltron.  however, he prefers the more traditional zeltron clothing — those worn in theatre, opera, or for traditional celebrations or ceremonies. loose, very sheer fabric that drapes and flows. flowing sleeves or sheer robes, he likes ruffles and lace. that said, he also loves he reveals a lot of skin with low cut outfits or simply not wearing anything at all. jewelry tends to be more of an afterthought, he wears it but they’re usually small pieces. a single necklace, a few bracelets, the occasional ring. sehrin feels like his biggest asset is his body and he shows it off in the ways he knows he looks good — he’s immediately pegged with that soft, pastel pink skin and all that comes with it. sehrin plays into that especially when he knows it’ll get him somewhere.  his hair is naturally magenta but he dyes it black and wears it long with beads, braids, feathers, little coins all woven into it. this is pretty much all the ornamentation he gets into. he loves make up, glitter, although left to his own devices, sehrin will dress up and float around in whatever he finds. he likes costuming, he loves dressing up and he absolutely will throw on a full face of make up and a dress just because he wants to but, in his own little world, he tends to keep it tame. ( well, as tame as sehrin is which can still be pretty wild. as in naked. )  i’m pretty sure what i’m saying is that his aesthetic is sexy space pirate who stars in an opera. he absolutely has a big hat somewhere.  his workspace, however, has very little room for error. everything is packed and logged and sealed away as efficiently and as orderly as possible. he refuses to have chaos when he’s dealing with work because that’s when people believe they can get in and start messing around. sehrin likes to have fun, he loves a good party, but business and business and he will not have someone coming in and fucking things up. however, his living space roughly resembles a dressing room with a cigarette still smoldering in the ashtray, costumes thrown about on the bed and mirror and floor, make up and glitter spilling out of containers and onto countertops. there’s jewelry spread about, the bed probably still has someone sleeping in it. it smells like vanilla, heavy perfume, and smoke. 

07. What are your character’s vices? Guilty pleasures? Bad habits? Weak spots?

sehrin wouldn’t call them vices. they’re more ... adventures simply waiting to be had. 

zeltrons come with a certain reputation and he absolutely uses that in order to get something. aside from that, one thing that is overlooked is zeltrons also have a limited telepathy control over both their emotions and the emotions around them. sehrin can both inflame, dampen, or simply bombard with emotions until things begin to happen his way. he can also read them which can be very useful in finding the right target. he doesn’t hesitate to use it. he also has very powerful pheromones that can be used to sway someone to his suggestions. 

he is very indulgent about life’s pleasures — “darling, just because i would rather see zeltros burn in a fiery cataclysm of doom doesn’t mean that i disagree with them. oh no! we have the better taste in pretty much everything.” he will spend more money on something simply because it is expensive. he spends money that isn’t his. he will absolutely run through your savings and then some. if you say something along the lines of “i’ll be the one to satisfy you” then he will very much test that. 

08. Tell us about your character’s relationship with food. What are their favorites? Do they enjoy cooking? Are they adventurous? Will they eat absolutely anything or are they hard to please?

sehrin might enjoy the expensive things in life but he’s never really been too picky with his food. when you’re running through space with no depot, planet, or station near buy and supplies start running low — you make do with what you’ve got. he certainly enjoys expensive foods and will never say no to them.  he loves to experiment in the kitchen and try out new things with mixed results. he knows to how to make ship stew ( which is basically a stew with all the leftover food you have no idea what to do with ) and it’s ... decent but he isn’t that great at anything more complex than that. he, however, disagrees! 

09. How does your character feel about engaging in relationships—romantic and / or sexual—with others? What is their history like? Do they fall in love easily? Are they constantly in and out of relationships?

oh boy. sehrin likes sex — like, he really does. it’s an information tool which he absolutely utilizes but also just a way to be with someone. zeltros thrived on sexuality, on pleasure seeking, on living your life to the fullest because we’re all just hurdling through space with no rhyme or reason — sehrin mostly agrees with that. he was taught that you can have absolutely anyone if you played your cards right.  he uses sex for information, he can manipulate emotions and give off heady pheromones that can sway thought and he has a reputation to keep up. people say the darnedest things while they’re in bed, thinking they’re safe from the world outside. sehrin listens, he learns, he adapts.  sex, however, is still something he sees as an intimate thing. a romantic at his core, sehrin almost wishes that someone would come and sweep him off his feet and carry him off into the sunset. almost. i wouldn’t say that he’s in and out of relationships, he starts them and then lets them continue on until the other is done.  

10. What is your character’s pain tolerance like? Can they hold their own in a fight, despite injury? If someone hurts them with the aim of gaining information, how much can they take before they cave?

“whoa! whoa, whoa — hold on. darling, you really don’t need all those. i’ll tell you what you want to know ... just take off the cuffs and we can have a lovely little chat. oh, unless this turns you on? is that what you like, darling?”   he actually has a pretty low pain tolerance. his confidence level, however, balances that out. and most of the time he can sleaze his way out of situations before he is actually hurt. he can hold his own in a fight generally but he’s not exactly going to win anything. physical strength isn’t his strong suit.  he absolutely will cave the second he is threatened. although, he’ll set a price for his information. 

11. What is your character’s weapon of choice? Are they more skilled as a melee fighter or do they have more skill with ranged weapons? What’s their fighting style like? What sort of training do they have behind them?

he carries two blasters on him pretty much all the time along with various knives tucked about on his person. he doesn’t like fighting and he prefers to stay out of it as much as he can. he’ll absolutely turn around and run if that’s going to keep him alive. he’s very survival driven and that can often be read as cowardly but he would simply say, “oh no, darling, not at all. i’m living another day while you’re rotting in the ground. from where i’m standing, that’s the better deal.”  he can fight, he’s just not that great at it. he fights dirty because that was what you did on the streets. he quickly learned that fighting isn’t going to get him want he wants. he would rather just slide into your lap and play with your hair and flirt a bit.

12. Does your character have any words or catchphrases that they say frequently? Tell us about how they picked them up.

“oh, darling!” sweet names are pretty common on zeltros and people usually respond nicely when it feels like you’re sweet on them. 

13. Tell us about a negative experience your character has had with either the Jedi or the Sith, and how this has affected their standing. Whether currently aligned or unaligned with either faction, if forced to choose, how would they side?

he really doesn’t have too much experience with either. he’s smuggled weapons to the sith before but there’s been very little interaction with the jedi. the sith he would describe as being harsh and stingy on their payment but he did get paid. that’s really all he knows about them and all he really cares to know. the jedi don’t interest him at all. “oh — forced? darling, i don’t like the sound of that. but, gun to my head, hm ... oh, i don’t know ... whoever pays better?” 

14. How would your character react to seeing a relative or friend on the opposing side of a battle or mission?

if it’s someone that he cares about, he would be upset. but he would quickly try to figure out how to turn it around and make it into an advantage. he would pretend that it didn’t hurt and simply just keep doing what he’s doing.  “... i see. well. i can’t say i’m surprised. never trust anyone who can’t properly get you off.” 

15. Describe a memory that your character finds embarrassing.

there isn’t much that embarrasses sehrin. he will probably do anything at least once and he’s learned that living a life filled with regret just isn’t really his jam. he prefers the adventure and if that means laughing at himself as he does ridiculous things — so be it.  now, others getting caught with sehrin in embarrassing situations for them? absolutely has happened. 

16. What goals does your character hold for themself and what steps have they taken towards achieving them? How far are they willing to go to reach them? What is their be-all and end-all?

sehrin really isn’t goal-oriented. he’s reward-oriented! the goal is and has always been success — be that rising above the petty criminal rings on zeltros or getting recognition from the exchange or simply getting what he wants.  somewhere deep, however, deep beneath all his glitter and glam and operatic behavior — sehrin really just wants something or someone to call home. he’s never truly experienced a home, not a loving one at least. he wants that but at the same time, he doesn’t know if that’s something he’ll ever find. 

17. What is the one thing your character would change about their life if they were given the chance? What other lives could they have lived as a result?

he would probably still be on zeltros, raised on the revelry. he wouldn’t change anything — he would probably still end up where he right now. 

18. Living in such a high-conflict time, how does your character feel about doing what they must to survive? Will they hurt or kill others—either directly or indirectly—to protect themself and / or those close to them? If so, do they regret it when all is said and done?

sehrin will do what sehrin does best, smuggle goods behind enemy lines and learn how to bend the war around him. he will find the winning side and when it’s convenient, he will help out. he will kill others to protect himself, he’s done it before and he’ll most likely do it again. once, however, he becomes attached to others and has adopted them into the fold — he will absolutely crush a man’s tracheae for them.  he doesn’t regret it, people die and people live and other people make profit off the both of them. he plans to be that third party. 

19. What is the biggest problem your character is currently dealing with?

getting paid on time. also finding and meeting trustworthy folk who won’t totally stab him in the back, he’s fine with minor backstabbing but there is a limit to how much backstabbery one can take. 

20. Give us 3+ headcanons of any length or subject matter.

loves opera. he learned about opera from a young age and would just get caught up in the story, the music, completely swept away by dashing heroes and tragic heroines and their epic stories. zeltros does not have a very big opera scene — opera often incorporates tragedies and zeltrons hate anything that deals with negative emotions — and he had to get his fix elsewhere. he has a really large collection of them and he will stop at planets that have reputed opera houses just to watch them. he actually has a really nice voice! and he will reenact scenes and parts whenever he’s just really feeling it. he gets into it and he has a lovely singing voice! 

he has a few tattoos he’s gathered from across the galaxy. around both his wrists are lace cuffs. several electro-tattoos as well, poorly done and the information has been hijacked after many years. scanned, they tell a very long story about a man and his adventures with his large penis. the true information was for the smuggling rings back on zeltros but he has no use for anymore. he also has a few unconnected constellations which he can brush off as freckles. they’re special to him and he doesn’t want just anyone knowing what they are. 

his agility stat is 69 so do with that what you will. 

bonus. Give us a list of any length telling us why our “fave is problematic.”

britney spears circus.mp3

chel voice: well that’s what makes it interesting

is basically chel from el dorado 

advanced student of the bend and snap technique 

he really is basically this video. 

“oh darling i do hope that isn’t another blaster in your pocket — because you look as happy to see me as i am happy to see you.” 

wink wonk

personal space???? not on this ship

“oh yes darling i heard you” he did not hear you 

“i prefer the term ... adventure capitalist” 

walks around naked just to see ur reaction 

sits in your lap like nbd but cld also pick you up and carry u away

reckless driver

lowkey has a thing for bounty hunters ... “oh i don’t know darling they’e dashing! what can i say, i’m a girl with unexplained and specific tastes.” 

wonder woman voice: a bAbY !!!!!! 

[wolveswithhats]

writing wip game

Rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you or interests you and I’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it! 

The titles weren’t interesting so I vainly just posted some excerpts from a grab bag of more recent stuff. If I did everything it’d honestly probably go on for pages. I have a lot of unfinished stuff (pretty much...exclusively unfinished stuff dfjkdjfkg). Like a decade’s worth.

Tagged by @ackbang​. TY TY, MY DUDE. If you see this and you’re a writer, consider yourself tagged. Like for real. Only not tagging because I can’t remember who writes fanfic and who doesn’t.

Looooooong post below.

ling ling the goblin king (ling + lan fan, fma)

"lan fan did it," the prince says, and for a moment she feels a flare of anger and betrayal over his deception. 'it wasn't me, i didn't do this. i didn't kill anyone.' but the prince is bending at the waist, low enough that that his tail of hair brushes the dirt, and she realizes his lie is for her benefit. "thank you, m'lady. i owe you my life."

her mouth feels dry, face hot from exertion and the burning gaze of her older peers. "d-don't do that," she stutters, and she's not sure if she's referring to the lie or the bow.

"you dare give me orders?" but there's no heat in his voice, eyes crinkling with humor as he rises to his full height. she has no idea how he can look so amused with a hole in his shoulder, covered in the blood of a man he just killed. he grins lopsided, teeth crooked and painted red. the sight is altogether ghoulish.

limb choppy choppy (lan fan + greed + ling, fma, part of the revival au)

And Greed is stilling his struggles, catching his wandering hand in his own, running comforting circles with his thumb over Ling's blood-smeared cheek. “Hey, you little pissant, this is nothing, piddly kids table shit. Remember that time that one Central soldier tried to gut us? Right down the middle, like splitting a sausage. Goddamn crimson tide. I thought we'd never get the blood out of that coat. Now that was an injury.”

“T-they took my arm.”

“Yeah, and who needs one of those anyway? Gonna get you all sorted, get you one of those shiny metal ones, like your girl Lan Fan here. Guess the adjustment period takes a bit, a year or three, but bet we could expedite the process with proper motivation. I'm thinking sandwiches.”

He laughs, or something approaching as much, a soggy intake of air. She's struck with an unexpected wave of jealousy, that it's Greed that's offering reassurance and intimate personal jokes. A former homunculus, a former demon, a watery imitation of a man. Creature comforts from the creature. It should be me, she thinks, though she has nothing to offer beyond promises of protection, and even those feel like falsehoods after all that has happened here. Comforting platitudes are beyond her. What could I ever say to make this better?

lets get lit fam (greedling + ed, fma)

wobbly-legged, too uncoordinated to walk. almost stumbles into a line of trash cans at the mouth of the alley, but ed hooks his elbow and steers him away. "what the hell were you thinking? we're supposed to be keeping a low profile."

it's not an accusation he's fully equipped to grapple, not when he's still so bleary from sleep—and some other pleasant, dizzying sensation he thinks might be inebriation. he's never woken up drunk before. he's never been drunk before period. "what'd i do?"

"not you, ling. you would have gone straight for the food menu, not the liquor list. i'm talking to the dipshit you share a mental occupancy with. greed, what the hell?"

"was just a few drinks," ling slurs, but it's not his words, or his voice, and wow he's never been so aware of his own tongue before.

solid citizen (ling + greed, fma)

"geez, kid, you're certainly in a mood." so he was reading his thoughts, just fantastic. he look he gives him is withering, but greed pats his shoulder, almost condescendingly, pitying for sure.

"you're plenty fine, kid. i'll give you the ears, but you're top shelf in the looks department otherwise. if you were ugly, i'd tell you straight up. i don't lie. this here," he points to his own face. "is ugly. nothing like my old human face."

it's a bated response, he knows, and he doesn't really feel like playing, but greed did make a passing effort to make him feel better. "human face?"

he beams, dreamily, which is an impressively soft expression to pull off a mouthful of razors, and ling is suddenly reminded of the mythology of the man fawning over his own reflection. surely greed can't be that vain? "yeah i was a real stunner. fucking gorgeous." or maybe he could, apparently, what did ling know anyway.

wreckage (vincent, re-l, ergo proxy)

When she makes it back to the Rabbit, chest burning and damp with exertion, Vincent has already stripped Pino of her overalls and laid her across the table. Cooling fluids draining, frayed wiring spooling out of her gashed torso, sprawled like a tiny metal Tityos. Her left arm is snapped off and dangling at the elbow, her eyes glassy – glass, literal glass – staring at the ceiling. Broken doll parts. Just another disassembled AutoReiv, but this isn't like that at all, because Pino isn't just another AutoReiv. She's like Iggy--

It's almost too much for Re-l to take. Hand over her mouth, breathing sharp through her fingers in short repetitions. Tries to steel herself, to be calm and assertive, because one of them has to be, and Vincent-- Vincent was awkward and mousy and sensitive, Vincent who spilled his cereal and tripped over his own feet and housed an ancient being of unspeakable power in his lanky boy-frame. But his god-strength was of no use here, drowned under the weak, simpering, overpowering grief for something that was no more human than he was.

do NOT worry about meryl (vash + wolfwood + milly, trigun)

milly caught the hurt. naive, for sure, but shrewd. "oh, we'd never think that of you, mr. vash. it's just our job as representatives of the bernadelli insurance society to mitigate any and all damages from the humanoid typhoon, even the rumored ones."

wolfwood: "bernadelli employing a little insurance of their own, eh?"

milly nods. "if we had to pay out claims on every false report of mr. vash's wrongdoings, we'd go belly up in no time!"

caught up on the word 'wrongdoing', growls, "you make it sound like i'm doing any of this on purpose."

"it's just sensible. your name has a lot of weight, vash."

grumbles: "yeah, i'm aware."

"and that's why meryl was so insistent on following up on this one, even knowing it wasn't really you. so many people drag your name through the mud, and it just doesn't seem fair at all."

his name had long since been dragged, strangled and shot, left to rot under a flock of buzzards circling its carcass in the heat. There was no saving it. still, the intent was kind, if not bewildering. "you...were trying to protect my reputation?"

milly looks at him like he's insane for thinking otherwise. "well, yeah. we've come to think of you as a friend, mr. vash, and that's what friends do.”

baby scrub (locke + rachel, ff6)

offers his hand and a single word: "lock."

her faces scrunches distastefully at his uncouth greeting, but she's not sure what else she was expecting from a dirty street boy. "lock?"

"with an e," he adds, as if that clarifies anything.

"that can't be real. you just made that up."

"all names are made up," huffs locke-with-an-e, looking impatient with her slow uptake on this odd world of his. "and i never said it was real, but it's all you're going to get."

spike bday (spike + dawn, btvs)

“if I show you something, you need to promise not to say anything. not to the watcher, or your sister. not to anyone, right?”

even through her tears, she nods, curious. spike's always good for skirting just outside the limits of good taste.

“I'm serious. spool your intestines out your nose, string 'em up like christmas garland. I mean it.”

“colorful threats of bodily dismemberment, I get it.”

hands her a faded yellow tintype. a young man, twenty-five or thirty maybe, a riot of disheveled curls, glasses, frumpy suit. not an unattractive man, but a timid one, uncertainty written into the slanted bow of his shoulders. he had the weedy air of someone who spent a lot of time duct taped to flag poles, or whatever the victorian equivalent would be. did it count as a twirly if you were dunked into a chamber pot?

a rebellious counterpoint in wrinkled tweed to the hard, starched lines of victorian decorum – interesting, but not very relevant. and a little disappointing, if she was being totally honest. spike's anecdotes usually had more flash and gore. “I don't get it.”

he's exasperated, fingers twitching like he's ready to snatch it away, and he tucks his hands under his arms in an awkward self hug. she takes in the hard set of his jaw and the...flush of his cheeks? god, she didn't even know vampires could blush. it had to take some serious breaking of undead physiology to ping that level of embarrassment, and something beyond that even to flap the unflappable spike. he hisses impatiently. “would you just—look at the face.”

and she does, tilting the little photo to and fro in the dim of the crypt. unassuming man-hermione with hair that cannot be tamed. sharp cheekbones and dark heavy brows under the rims of his glasses and suddenly she sees it—him—the angular planes of his face coming into sharp relief, like a camera finding its focus. “oh. oh my god! this is you. holy crap, spike. you look....”

“normal,” he finishes for her, and something in her stomach swoops and clenches, stones in a pond. “mundane.”

“i was going to say like a megawatt dorklord, but we can use your word instead.” she wipes her nose on the back of her hand. he snorts, amused and embarrassed.  

“i was a poet.”

she tried to envision anything beyond smutty limericks carved onto the wall of a bathroom stall.

“were you ever published?”

“i was a shitty poet,” he amends, grimacing.

boston au (spike + dawn, btvs)

bodily kicking a dumpster, sending it careening into the street with a rusty scream of metal. a hydrant follows suit, ripped from the sidewalk. caps off his tantrum with a boot to the side of Angel's GTX, but even the size-10 crater marring the passenger door of the angelmobile did little to ease his frustration.

“better?” dawn asks, when he drops bodily into the driver's seat with an aching sigh, anger dissipating. she looks so tiny and forlorn, knees drawn to her chest, picking at a cigarette burn in the upholstery. two years ago she'd have been a ripe treat, poor little lost lamb. now the idea twists his gut, her sorrow palpable, proprietary, under his skin and in his veins.

“no,” he grunts, staring out impassively at the aftermath of his outburst. water spurting from the sidewalk, skip spilling out into the road. half a dozen cars along the block chirping in a chorus of wailing alarms. and angel in the foyer, something vaguely resembling pity etched across his massive cavebrow. fucking wanker.

...

“we go back to sunnydale then. try again. badger the scoobies until they agree to help. we'll figure this out.”

“i don't want to.” quietly. barely a whisper.

“to figure it out?”

“to go back.”

“dawn...”

“there's nothing there. they're not going to help because i'm nothing. it's an ongoing memorial to my own non-existence. can we not go back? can we just keep driving?”

“where?”

“I don't care. away.”

thinks about leaving sunnydale. thinks about what he's leaving behind. shitty memories, regrets, lost love. he has a small collection of personal effects; records, first edition books, family heirlooms that cannot be replaced, a hundred years of mementos of his whirlwind romance with dru. wonders if he can ring up clem, ask him to send a care package once they get to wherever they're going. looks at dawn in her clearance-rack pajamas, realizes she has lost everything. she has no belongings, no family, no remnants left as evidence she even had a family. nothing but him and her, here, in this moment.

it's just stuff. it's surprisingly easy to let go.

he drives.

taco hell  (spike + dawn, btvs, part of the boston / unravel au)

Right where her window was supposed to be, a swirling doorway of light ringed in licking green flame, spilling out into....a fast food restaurant?

"I think it's Taco Bell," Dawn said, pinching a tissue to her--aw hell--bleeding finger. He took inventory of the spell books around her, the scrying bowl, and the ashy pentagram burnt into 70s shag weave of her bedroom carpet. So much for their security deposit.

"You opened a hell dimension to Taco Bell?"

She craned her head to squint at the pimply teenager manning the register, oblivious to his cross-dimension spectators. "I think it's just a regular Taco Bell. I don't see any dragons or shrimp people or anything."

"Not all alternate universes have shrimp people."

"I know that. You know, it actually looks like the one downtown, across from the KFC? On Kellner? Unless the Kellner Street Taco Bell is a Taco Hell. I've been reading up about liminal spaces, where the fabric between realities is weakened. Maybe it's a hot spot, and all the employees are actually like, octopus centaurs. How would we know? Not like I'm going to crawl over the counter to check, you know?"

"Well, now's your chance to ask Squiddly Diddly here what he's got going on downstairs." Slack-jawed employee finally cottoned on to the door to another universe in the restaurant lobby. Dawn awkwardly waves. Poc Ock waves back, bewildered, before the portal collapses in on itself in a burst of white light.

"It stopped bleeding." she holds up her finger.

-- 

(I don’t think anyone would, but as a precaution: please don’t reblog these to the Herald. They’re sloppy and incomplete and mixed in with a bunch of other fandoms so it’d just be really weird. THANK)

[goldendivinewrath]

@eventheodds

There's the smallest amount of surprise in his laugh, low and quiet and back to being easy. Easier, given the subject matter. "Nah. Not really our style, is it?" He's teasing a little and being honest at the same time; keeping tally doesn't seem particularly fair, but he does remember who's helped him. He remembers who can be trusted and hopes the streak continues, and he remembers those who've proven to be untrustworthy. Sometimes he's surprised. Sometimes it's even good.

Meryl's a mix of good surprises and steadiness, and as soon as the thought occurs to him, Vash tries to sweep it away. Dangerous, dangerous and too late anyway.

He's eager to hear a way that he can help directly, letting go of another laugh. "Fair! I'll see what I can do about being primary fuel provider." He means that even though he's not quite sure how he'll go about it yet. Deliveries, probably, he can do some odd jobs and hire a service to--

It's not full-on thought derailment, when Meryl gets closer. When the hand holding deliberately gets a little more familiar, still comfortable and welcomed. Vash makes a softly inquisitive sound, head tilting as he barely hears the question.

The way his already flush-dusted cheeks go red as Meryl's lips make contact with the back of his hand is almost alarming, color spreading from ears to chest and he feels like his entire body might be reliving the past few midday afternoons all at once. It's-- Sweet. It swings from familiar to intimate in a way that has Vash's mind stuttering on whatever line of thought it really should be able to concentrate on instead, and the words that emerge certainly aren't given approval first. "You're worth believing in." Doesn't help the heat on his face. Not at all, because whether he means humanity as a whole or Meryl specifically...

Yes. In different ways.

He's pretty sure time stops there, if only for an instant. If only for him; or maybe he's temporarily blushing so hard that his hearing drops out for the smallest sliver of time, he can't possibly prove or disprove the idea. He definitely does hear her, he catches up and keeps up with the conversation, along with another soft hand squeeze, grateful for cool breezes at night. Decidedly ungrateful for how hard it's become to play off his own fluster. "Y-yeah, of course! I'll... find a way. We'll figure something out. Every third Tuesday or. Something."

She’ll never forget it, seeing him suspended in that tank and floating there and appearing like everything beyond that point was not even there. Conrad behind her, keeping tabs on the machines as they increased in levels, giving updates per Knives’s demands. 

“Are we really keeping tallies here about how many times who’s saved who?”

Some might, as she has come to understand. They’ll hold these things above one another, make them recall about that one time they did them a favour or saved their lives or stuck their necks out for them when they could have left well enough alone.

Meryl can’t.

Jeneora Rock remains a fixed point in her memories of how she reminds herself that she could have done more. With everything that has happened, there was never any time for her to return and see if the town managed to rebuild itself. The loss of a Plant would make that very difficult if not impossible.

Perhaps when she’s confined behind a desk once she returns to Headquarters, she’ll ask some of the new field agents if they’re willing to pass by and take a look to see if any progress or changes have been made. She’s not particularly looking forward to passing by more wanted posters on her way back, but knows that they’ll be there regardless.

“Hmm…but what you can do is get me some of your favourite doughnuts once I start working on clearing your name. Maybe some coffee too.”

It’s a joke, but it also isn’t. With their hands still entwined, though his can easily engulf hers, Meryl steps forward and laces their fingers together. 

“You’ve always believed in us, haven’t you?” She brings their joined hands together up and, turning her head ever so slightly, purses her lips into the gesture of a kiss, and places it against the back of his hand.

“Hidden agendas for making the world a better place requires lots of coffee and doughnuts,” she says after a moment, still close and still holding his hand. “Gonna be pulling all-nighters to make sure this goes through. And you’ll come visit, right? I can find ways to sneak you into my apartment without anyone noticing.”

[calliecat93]

ST: TNG S4 Watchthrough Episodes 18-21

Identity Crisis: Alright episode, you have redeemed Geordi for me after Galaxy’s Child! This was an interesting one. Two officers that Geordi once worked with are missing, so the Enterprise is sent to the planet that they were an Away Team on along with an officer named Suzanna who was also on the team. So what happened? Long story short, the Away Team members were infected with something that is causing them to lose their humanity. it starts to happen to Suzanna… and it will soon happen to Geordi as well. I like Geordi and Suzanna’s relationship. It isn’t romantic, it comes off very much like a sibling relationship with Geordi trying to comfort her and it’s her who reaches out to Geordi at the end. It’s really sweet. I honestly wonder which one is scarier, not knowing exactly what is happening to you? Or knowing and only being able to wait and hopefully figure out a solution before it’s too late? The aliens also looked pretty cool. But yeah, this one was good. It allowed Geordi to show off his investigation skills and again,t he sibling-like dynamic with Suzanna was really sweet. Also major props to Dr. Crushr for again being a badass doctor who essentially saved the day by figuring out the cause. And Data being anxious about Geordi, oh honey. So yeah, solid episode~! 4/5.

The Nth Degree: Oh hey, Barclay’s back. Didn’t expect that. So what happens to our anxious-ridden officer this time. An Away Mission grants him super intelligence! Yep, really! The newfound intelligence not only increases Barclay’s competency level, but also his confidence and productivity. Compared to last time, the crew is far nicer with Troi especially being glad that he’s been more willing to put himself forward and even tells in in the cold opening to take some credit f himself. Which is always so difficult to remember when one has anxiety. It always tells you over and over that you’ll never be good enough, that no one cares about you, and it will destroy any sense of accomplishment that you have by making you feel like you’ll never be good enough. It is a horrible feeling and Barclay displays those feelings perfectly. So the intellectual/confidence boost does a lot for him and when Geordi pointed out that something’s wrong because he’s not acting like himself, he gets upset because… well, why wouldn’t he? It’s understandable why Geordi’s concerned, but Barclay doens’t want to go back to the nervous wreck that he was before this. But when he decides to essentially fuse his brain with the main computer… yyyyeah. This feels like it was based on Spock’s Brain to an extent considering the sudden intellect plot point and one’s brain gets uploaded into a computer, except far less stupid and doens’t involve literally stealing a brain. But yeah, it’s solid. IDK if I like it better than Barclay’s last episode, but it was still enjoyable and Barclay is even more relatable as Hell now. 3.5/5.

Qpid: We got a twofer for returning characters folks! Not only is Q back as the title indicates, but so is Picard’s love interest Vash from Captain’s Holiday! Q, of course, takes interest in Picard’s love life and decides on the only sensible option to see how far it goes… make Picard and the crew Robin Hood and his Merry Men, have Vash play Maid Marian, and force our heroes to rescue the fair maiden so that Picard may win her heart! OF COURSE! Boy Q should really consider a career in matchmaking, he’s essentially God so why not pick up a new hobby? XD The second I realized what having both Q and one of Picard’s love interests in the same episode would mean, I was prepared for complete and utter chaotic fun… and I am not disappointed! Admittedly going from ‘archeology conference’ to ‘Robin Hood’ was a bit of a sudden shift, but it was just fun! Word was a laugh riot, haha! Gosh, I love Vash, and heck she’d have probably rescued herself in Picard hadn’t tried to rescue her. Then you have Q being Q and gosh it was just great! The theme of Picard not wanting to appear vulnerable and essentially acting in a way that made it seem like Vash was an embarrassment… yeah I’d be annoyed if I were here too. Honestly, this whole thing felt like Q got jealous of Vash… then realized how interesting she was, and decided to become buddies cause of their endless fascination/pining over Picard. Ah, solidarity! I liked Q Who and Deja Q better and I have some nitpicks like the crew feeling mostly irrelevant and… why did the boys all get cool sword-fights but Crusher and Troi just get to smash pots? Oh right, girls. Silly me! Nevermind that Crusher’s very handy with a phaser and that they’re trained officers, girls getting in ont he action in a 90’s show when standards were improving? That’s ridiculous! Regardless, it was still the utter chaos that I expect from a Q episode and I loved it~! 4/5.

The Drumhead: Well… this one certainly stood the test of time/relevancy. So in this one we are dealing with a potential Klingon/Romulan conspiracy that stretches even within Starfleet. An admiral named Satie is brought on board to help with the investigation/interrogations… and it ends up turning into a full-blown witch hunt. It seems that they based this on the Red Scareor the Salem Witch Trials, movements that began due to fear and hatred that ruined/ended multiple lives out of pure paranoia and prejudice. Which as recent times have shown… yeah, clearly movements are doomed to repeat. When it turns out that a medical officer named Tarses has Romulan ancestry, he is put onto blast and practically prosecuted as a spy by Satie. Despite there being no evidence and his only crime lying that he had Vulcan ancestry because of the anti-Romulan sentiments. It’s somewhat understandable, the Romulans have been… well, not nice. But not only does that not mean that every Romulan is evil or without morals as episodes like The Enemy and The Defector demonstrated to some degree, but it’s no good reason to suspect or persecute Tarses all due to his background, nothing on the man or his current actions itself. He told a lie, that’s not a crime and pretty understandable under the circumstances. Picard of course is against this… but Worf isn’t. Makes sense, the Romulans are part of why he’s under the circumstances that he and his family are under now so him being Hellbent on exposing a Romulan conspiracy and any potential prejudice/paranoia that comes with it makes sense. it’s not good but makes sense. At least he snaps out of it by the end while Satie exposes herself as the horrid person that he is. She may have seemed perfectly professional and rational, but alas. Like her saying that Picard couldn’t be trusted because of the Borg assimilation? What the ever-loving Hell lady?! So yeah… yeah this is very much one of those episodes that people should really rewatch from time to time. Not only is it a well-done episode and has one of Picard’s best speeches, but the message and theme remain as relevant as ever: the spread of paranoia vs upholding personal freedom. The only way to stop things from repeating is to remember and learn from them, and if any show can remind us of those things, it’s Star Trek. 5/5.

Alright, just a few more of Season. left to go~! While there’s been a couple of misses, there have been far more hits. This may be my favorite seaosn of TNG thus far~! Still three more to go, but still! Will the last few episodes manage to maintain that quality? We’ll see soon enough~!

[pixiedane]

book anon again - neat, yeah, I totally get it getting too complicated. I still haven't made it past the Destiny trilogy for the same reason. I'd say Resistance is worth reading too; it's between Death in Winter and Q&A. But oh my god Beverly/Picard was my first OTP and I will never not have Emotions about them - I've thought a bit about what we could have had if they actually got together at some point during the show, any ideas/headcanons for that? ^^

Hello book anon :) YES, I can certainly share that. 

PART ONE, Canon Compatible

Season 1:Their interactions in “Encounter At Farpoint” and “The Naked Now” make them feel awkward so they avoid falling into any intimacy until “Justice”. But after he puts everything on the line for her son, she shows up at his doorstep to express her deep gratitude. They get very close to sex but he feels like it’s a reward and that’s all wrong and puts on the breaks. But their very next adventure, “The Battle”, has Picard reliving his experiences on the Stargazer and it’s incredibly traumatic. He ends up on her doorstep, but this time she aborts anything too physical because he’s in the wrong headspace. They go back to awkward which becomes doubly awkward at “Haven” because a marriage is a reminder of Jack Crusher and that episode makes ’soulmates’ a thing and that idea makes them both morose. But! Here comes “The Big Goodbye” where it is pretty overtly suggested that these two were going to sneak off to get it on in the privacy of Dixon Hill’s office if only Data and the historian hadn’t gotten in the way. 

This is where I’d choose to have their full on affair begin. It carries on until “Coming of Age”. While it turns out the investigation was just to prove Picard is trustworthy, he’s concerned his judgment IS impaired by the relationship and asks for space to think. This lasts until “Arsenal of Freedom”, where he’s faced with the possibility of Beverly dying. But she doesn’t like the see saw they are on, which brings us to. 

Season 2:Obviously she left the ship to give him all the space he could ever need. But she misses her son, she misses being on the front lines, and as much as she may not want to, she misses Jean-Luc.

Season 3:She comes back on one condition, no tap-dancing around a relationship — we’re friends. They push through the awkward and get to a really good place. “The High Ground” tests them, but they avoid talking about it. “Allegiance” tests them, but they avoid talking about it. “Sarek” tests them, but they avoid talking about it.

Season 4-6:They are the best of friends — the kind that flirt and tease and support and challenge and are always, always there for each other.

Season 7:“Attached” brings everything — literally everything, all the way back to the beginning — to the forefront. Jean-Luc is relieved, he’s been carrying this around for decades. Beverly is scared. She loves him, she’s loved him all along, but she relies on their relationship and these revelations make her start to second guess her own understanding of it. It takes time to get past that. I don’t think it should take all the way to Nemesis, but I also think Beverly should have about 80% more screen time and presence in the TNG films and really would prefer to just imagine them getting together post “All Good Things”.

PART TWO, Canon Divergent

I think I would do it one of two ways. A) Seasons 1-3 as above, but they get together after “Remember Me”.  B) Seasons 1-6 as above, but they get together after “Attached”.

Honestly not much would change! The various one off love interest episodes would need to be reworked, and we’d get more overt physical intimacy. But their working relationship and their friendship can already be read as lovers.

Qpid: is exactly the same except Picard is even more embarrassed, and there’s a scene where he tries to tell Beverly that just because he’s playing along doesn’t mean he wants to be with Vash. Beverly shakes her head because of course they are going to rescue Vash! Also she gets to fence instead of break pots. In fact Beverly is the one who actually rescues Vash. Vash tells Jean-Luc she’s a keeper.

The Host: Deanna gets Beverly’s part, Picard gets Riker’s and Beverly has to tell Deanna it’s okay to hook up with her boyfriend. Or Riker retains his part and things are somehow both less awkward and way more awkward.

Lessons: is about Beverly, but they don’t break up

Sub Rosa: is now a Geordi episode

Episodes that are improved by their relationship being explicitly romantic:

“Violations”“Cause and Effect” (repetition of a bedroom scene!)“The First Duty”“Chain of Command”“Suspicions”“Journey’s End”

Send me a ship and I’ll give you my (brutally) honest opinion on it and/or write a scenario 

[qrhymes]

My Hero Academia Season 2 Ep. 8 – Hatsume Mei and my love for selfish characters.

I love My Hero Academia, there a lot of reason for it (and I’ll post some of them as the series goes on) but right now, the biggest one, is just the pure joy of watch and wait for the chapters of a shonen action series. It’s a simple reason (Although not the only one and, again, I want to talk about them in the future) but a goddamn powerful one, the actual experience of watch a shonen series, the sense of discovery, the excitement of wait for new episodes, is a rare feeling (Because I don’t read manga…and the ones that I read don’t give that experience because HxH is to darker (And it’s in hiatus) and Gintama is…well Gintama it play by its own set of rules) that I got to experience very little, in fact the only ones that come to my mind right now were Jojo’s (Because Jojo’s) and Kekkai Sensen…But regardless of everything, the main point here is that I love Hero Aca…and it’s new comer, the greedy, manipulative, totally selfish, charming, adorable, passionate, indisputable best girl of the season, the pink-haired tech genius Hatsume Mei.

So Mei it’s fantastic, but the question remains, why is she so fucking great? And why this type of character appeal so much to me? (We’ll go deep into my psyche so…)

All of you have been warned.

I’ve always loved stories, in any of its forms, narrative in general.

I was big into movies during my teenage years (And I’m still into them just not as much) but once I entered college, six or seven years ago, (And yes, I’m still in college because I drop my first career for mmmm, how put it?…Crippling depression? Yeah that works) I also start to watch anime far more diligently that ever before…this is also the time that I started to write my thoughts and opinions about what I watched (Which are mostly in Spanish for the record)…and I began to take some perspective about what look for, not just in anime, but in narrative in general.

I don’t wanna say that you need to write in order to have clear mind about your likes and dislikes, but it really shows a new perspective that just the mere thought or even the discussion process can’t reach, the actual materialization of what you think and the process needed to reach that point.

Introspection, interpretation, analysis, etc. etc.

In a short time, write even the littlest thought became a part of my watching anime experience with the added of concrete feedback of all my opinions. A lot of my thoughts, likes and dislikes, were define trough that process …and the moment when all the piece falls down, the genesis of the realization of my love of the pure selfish of a characters was, ironically, with the creator herself Haruhi.

I knew the series before sitting down and watched it, in all its famous and infamous glory, so I’ve not real idea of what except, I mean I knew that I would get some fun of it (Cause Ace Attorney parody) but how much? And it would be worth it?…So I saw it, the two season and Disappearance, and I liked it, a lot actually. I mean it wasn’t a masterpiece but still, it was great.

I love the first season, as a setup for The Disappearance the second season is fucking brilliant (watch it not so much, although that was the whole point) and I thought that Disappearance was a really heartfelt close for the all series (despite the ongoing light novels)…my original review was mostly about the pure madness of the first season, how good Disappearance was as a closure and “Holy shit, Kyon is voiced by Sugita”

The original post was made in a Spanish community on google+ (It’s an even longer story and you certainly don’t want to hear it) and sooner than later the question finally pop out in the comments.

Translate it from the Spanish…it goes something like this.

“Who do you even enjoy the series? Haruhi is so bitchy, selfish, narcissistic…etc, etc. ”

“Yeah, I know…and it was awesome.”

I want to have a good time, I don’t care about what you think about me, I would use all of you to satisfice my selfish desires of live and excited an abnormal life…I have this big, deep passion to make this awesome looking and incredible gadgets, I have the desire to improve in my work for the pure joy of self-improvement, I want to be acknowledge by the world, to scream to all of you out there “I’m here, this is my work, I’m the best”…and I want to live do this thing that I love.

I believe that we’re capable of selfless acts (I’m not that cynic…yet) however I’ve, may be not a problem but definitely an issue, with characters motivated by pure altruistic goals (Which doesn’t mean that they can’t be great characters with this description, Vash, Kotetsu and Saber are some of my favorite characters and all of them are huge selfless dorks…but in that case a lot the “Greats” of their characters comes from how their respective shows plays with those aspects. Vash is the nicest guy that you can come around and self-proclaimed hunter of Love and Peace which lives by the philosophy of never taking a live, however he has his amount of carnal desire, flaws and all the shit that happens post the introduction of Legato who pushes him and his ideology to their extremes. Kotetsu, in the other hand, it’s kind of similar to Deku and Almight, from the setting to their themes and, of course, a selfless hero who genuinely want to make his world a better place, however he has a lot more going on that just his superhero persona, he’s a widower, a single father with all the issue that it entails, he’s disappointed because he’s not as popular with the their audience as he would want (he’s also the greatest DILF in the anime world and yes that is a crucial part of his characters) etc, And even Saber, the character that embraces this very ideal, a King that dies for those which for her ideals and the ones that are under her command, is characterized as this stubborn girl that loves to eat, that is heavily competitive, that enjoys a good and honorable duel and the general mundane marvels of the modern world, which arc concludes (at least in my own interpretation of her arc) with her coming in to peace with both sides of her and finally able to moving forward. All three are nice, good and selfless, nevertheless they still have these edges that gives them so much more, flaws, desires, wishes, contradictions, they are still great heroes but these elements help to humanize them and gave to their arcs a lot more weight and meaning that they would have if those traits were removed…and fortunately HeroAca has something of this too, Todoroki has an interesting conflict going on with his father (His father alone and his brief interaction with Almight was interesting point that I want to explore in a future arc) I’m hyped to see the resolution for that, Ochako, Bakugo…and even Deku (As it showed in his fight against Bakugo and his genuine passion about heroes) again I love HeroAca), a certain disconnection, again, I think that we’re capable of selfless acts, nevertheless make a paragon that exist you to be that “Perfect Jesus-kun 2.0” really turns me off because it lacks one of the most important trait to any character, the human element.

All of this can be traced back to the subject of see the “Flaws” as an element of humanization, and I agree with that statement, for me the best characters are the ones that contradicts themselves, the ones that make mistakes and the ones that are riddled with faults, however make flawed hero that is still human is different of make a selfish character that is likable and relatable because his or her own selfish motives…Enter Hatsume Mei.

Her deep passion for her work is something that most of people can relate to, specially here, with people writing or drawing (Or whatever you do here in Tumblr) just for the fun of do it, nevertheless a lot of us are also here to improve in our fields (Fuck the reason that I’m here is because I want to improve my English) same as Mei, always self-critical, always searching for improves and in the end, she want to be acknowledge for the work as the best, and of course, I think that all of us are melted on joy every time that someone likes or reblog one of our post.

Passion, the wish of self-improvement, the quest for recognition.

They’re just very human emotions, feelings that almost everyone can relate on some level and that is the charm of Mei and what makes her so endearing as character (And of course, having an awesome design, a funny and eccentric personality and a nice sense of humor obviously helps, after all, are all those trait that make great character)

So Mei is best girl, she is amazing; I want to see her more in the future…but is she in my god-tier of characters?

No, sadly. She is great and I really enjoy her character but we are still talking about a minor figure that has a limited time of screen-time and hasn’t been allowed to explore her character far of her original characterization. I think that she has potential and I’ll love to see her in a more important role in the future or having an arc centered of her because, again, I really believe that she could become an amazing character of your own…

However even if that’s not the case, she is still a funny, charismatic and relatable character that just do what she loves to do, and something that’s the only thing that you need…

Hatsume…

PD. For a God-Tier example of this kind of character I always come back to Izaya Orihara from Durarara!!

He is also pretty good.