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thygoddessouijathicc · 2 months

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It’s time for another random post about Ugly because hey cut me some slack I like writing essays.

This one is a continuation of an idea in my last essay and includes many spoilers for the events of the story and facts about the characters. So warning for that and also for some pretty nasty shit.

I’m gonna start this off by saying outright here and now I don’t think Scorpion is sane. I’m actually strongly of the belief that at the very least Ugly sees you watch his dissent into madness but more likely than not that’s already happened.

Here are the things we know:

1: Scorpion is definitely more than cognoscente at the very least when I say he’s crazy I don’t mean that he’s not responsible for his actions no I think he’s fully aware and capable of reason.

2: It’s a bit unclear how much of what happens in the game is real given we don’t seem to actually be working in a world with magic as the memories never imply that. We do know that the doors are getting unlocked, and in the latter portion of the game Scorpion is bringing things back with him but seems to pass out when he gets the objects. My belief is that he hallucinates. A lot. And has for quite some time. I’m not going to bring up any real world conditions because people with mental health problems are already marginalized for one but also for two I don’t actually think what’s happening to Scorpion is comparable, and three, I’m not a doctor. We are working with fantasy insanity here not an actual real world mental health condition. I also think Scorpion truly believes his hallucinations are real wholeheartedly, and not only that… but suffers from blackouts because clearly he’s getting back to the basement somehow after finding each item.

3: Even before the games events this guy is unstable and prone to violent outbursts albeit those do somewhat come from his alcoholism. He also obsesses over perceived flaws in himself or people he sees as part of his image and seems to have a particular pattern of trying to hide things that are ugly. He’s very self obsessed but his obsessiveness with flaws seems to go far beyond just wanting to look good because he wants to be perceived as better than others or something it feels more like he’s *afraid* of not looking good. Scorpion may be self obsessed and love himself maybe a little too much but I also think he’s INCREDIBLY insecure over flaws. I believe Scorpion is his own biggest fan and his own biggest hater I think he loves himself when he doesn’t see any flaws (what he considers flaws because he doesn’t seem to account for behaviour at all until later in the game) but as soon as he sees something that could make him ugly he is just as self critical as he is critical of Butterfly. My reason for believing this is how he seems to act after the accident with similar wording to how he speaks about Butterfly. I compare it to if you are in the know… late series Azula from Avatar The Last Airbender when her mental state starts to decline. A single hair out of place is enough to cause a breakdown.

4: Scorpion seems to see himself in universe how the player looks ingame. Which is not at all what he looks like nor even what his son looks like if he’s actually comparing himself to the boy. He sees himself much worse than he actually looks. I think this is a healthy mix of delusion, insecurity, and hallucination which seems to come from the first two ideas. He hallucinates himself this way because mentally that’s how he sees himself. To Scorpion the idea of him being ugly is as bad as him being ugly and ironically when he hides himself away he kinda lets himself go a bit. The scars really don’t affect much but to Scorpion they are everything and he may as well look like the player, in fact surely he does, to him at least. He only seems to register that it is actually just small scars in the ending.

5: Scorpion does not have any visible burns and we can say that conclusively because his son is burned and we know because of that what burns look like in universe. Yet the bandaged is wrapped almost completely. We know this guy hallucinates we know he’s insecure and we know he freaks out at the idea of being ugly. It’s kinda a wild theory but I think he saw wounds that weren’t there and was trying to cover them. I’m almost 100% sure he bandaged himself because it really doesn’t seem like anyone else has entered the building in awhile.

6: Scorpion has been alone for awhile. We don’t know how long but we know it was a while. The human mind doesn’t do great in isolation. I’d say it would also do a lot worse if it had various hallucinations to keep it company.

7: He drank a poison that altered his perception yeah but I doubt it’s lasted this long and I doubt it does this much. I think it was more of a catalyst that made everything much much worse.

8: Scorpion saw his reflection was ugly and it drove him to, intentionally or not, start a fire by trying to attack his reflection.

9: When scorpion sees memories he is visibly horrified seemingly because he’s somehow seeing from an outsider perspective I think it’s possible he’s even convinced *himself* he is Butterfly but more likely that free or any distractions from others or any reason behind his actions anymore since it all went wrong he’s actually seeing reality.

There is more but what all of this establishes is that Scorpion is violently unstable, seems to panic at the idea of being ugly, hallucinates, and has a warped perception of himself and others. We don’t know much about him before the events of the game but I feel like there’s a pretty good chance that it’s always been this way it’s just been getting exponentially worse due to his time in isolation and the poisoning and the fact that he believes that his worst nightmare has become reality. It all feels like a perfect cocktail to make a problem that already existed just so much worse.

His suicide seems to take place in a moment of clarity at the very least of hallucinations but we can’t be sure of that because there’s a chance the whole final scene is a hallucination before his death. He seems to have grasped that it’s what’s inside that makes him ugly and that can’t be fixed at this point and we know how he feels about ugly things. I do think he’s somewhat cognizant at this time and did fully consider leaving but choose that death was the only option.

Now as for speculation beyond his madness ingame… we don’t actually know the time period this takes place in but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it’s a weird alternate medieval to Victorian era world. So that means the classic horrifying asylums that hurt more than they help. Oh goodie.

Yeah so my belief is that if Scorpion somehow survives or is found by someone he would be immediately institutionalized and things would only get worse from there. I’m talking shock therapy, straightjacket, possible lobotomy, potentially medication if that’s available if not well there’s no saying they won’t just drug him, abuse by the staff, more isolation, sensory deprivation, dehumanization. Even if he tries to confess to his horrible disgusting actions I think it would just seem like more delusions and be ignored.

I’m actually of the belief that Scorpion would suffer more in a timeline he survives in though that may just be because I’m not religious and thus don’t believe in hell. On the topic of hell it would be really funny if hell did exist in universe but it was the Hazbin/helluva verse version of Hell. But I digress.

The point to all of this is however that as evil as this guy is he’s also more than just cartoonishly evil. He’s also incredibly violently unstable and insecure and I don’t know if that makes me feel bad for the guy or not because mother fucker abused his family killed his wife, a dog, and probably like 10 newborn babies and also burned a mask onto his son’s face to try to keep it there which I must add is not a very well thought through plan given logically I don’t think Butterfly can eat through the mask but I’m not sure if he cared. All that really comes of this is that Scorpion is an interesting character.

Damn you sat through all my rambling. Have a cookie.

#ugly essay #ugly spoilers #ugly game #ugly the game #ugly scorpion #cw sui mention

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smolstarthief · 2 years

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Another Maruki analysis: His literal Mask

I kinda wanted to do an analysis on his literal mask since this was a realization that hit me really. Now I agree that it looks absolutely silly and I wonder what Atlus was thinking with his overall outfit but... I can't help but think of something here...

Now "Masks," both literally and figuratively, play a primary role in P5 in regards to its characters. They hide who they really are because of either pressure to meet societal expectations, fear (Ex: rejection), dealing with various forms of abuse, and of course trauma. Especially as way of coping with said trauma. It is also a thing in Psychology known as, "masking" which is basically the description I just gave. Masking is basically, as an example, someone performing in a way that it is considered, "acceptable." But it can be at the expense of expressing who they really are, hiding their true selves. It's never fun at all as someone who deals with this on occasion and can even hurt the individual deep down. It can even worsen their mental state as well.

I always feel bad for those that had to go through it for one reason or another. But back on topic. When the MCs awaken their Personas, they literally tear their own masks off (with an exception or two). It's framed as painful but then liberating. They feel free and are done with all the bs they had to deal with. Each mask also has a unique design for every Thief and it's all unique to them and even symbolic of either their true selves or even just overall personality.

So, what about Maruki? While it does look ridiculous... As I've mentioned in a previous post, it almost resembles a shield. A large one at that. Now you could argue Makoto's does as well but it's short and is more like a knight. It also reflects her more tough personality. In Maruki's case though... It covers his whole head and top part of his face (minus his eyes 'cause he needs to see somehow). I also mentioned that it's ironic that "Throw Away Your Mask" is basically his thought process and mental state and yet he is hiding behind his own mask.

Now the "shield" thing can be a double meaning: He doesn't want to hurt the Thieves at all and can be considered a pacifist unless pushed and even while fighting he tries to reason with them and mostly uses Azathoth/Adam. But at the same time, it can also be his own mental defenses coming to the surface. He's hiding behind a metaphorical shield and running away from everything. The truth, his true feelings, his trauma, everything. He gives a calm and serene/gentle demeanor ("Gentle Madman") which is genuine but also puts up his defenses. Even when everything around him is falling apart, he refuses to believe that "his way" was ultimately wrong and harmful even when he knows or realizes it.

Then it gets damaged, and Adam is destroyed which is when he starts to fully break. His barrier is falling apart. He starts to show more of how he really feels. He has awareness and is regaining it at the same time and the cracks remain.

Then he fully removes it and later his godhood outfit changes to his white attire albeit torn up, damaged, and dirty. He's completely vulnerable. No barriers... No mask.

He's not hiding anymore, and we see who he really is: A sad, traumatized, and broken man who gave up everything for a dream that was ultimately not gonna help anyone... Not even himself. He wanted to do good so badly but went too far and about nearly lost himself in the process. It was unhealthy and self-destructive... Like the story of Icarus, hubris got the better of him and flew too close to the sun. All because of things that were out of his control and led to him making impulsive and downright harmful decisions. It's being human and understandable. But he still needed to be stopped, otherwise... Things will turn out for the worse for everyone, including him. Now I wonder what other character this can remind people of...?

So, joking and small fandom jab aside, a TL;DR version: Maruki's mask can represent a barrier he put up for himself to hide and run from it all and once it cracks and it's fully taken off, he shows his true feelings, coming to terms with himself and the truth. It's only then he starts to take steps towards healing and starting over on his own two feet. No hiding, no mask, no barrier. Just him and whatever reality will throw at him, and he'll try his damndest to get better and even redeem himself.

#persona 5 #p5 #persona 5 royal #p5r #starchild rambles #long post #meta #p5r maruki #p5r spoilers #dr maruki #takuto maruki #persona 5 maruki #crossposted from twitter #character analysis #analysis

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syresdcthings · 2 years

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DC Highschool AU Core Four edition.

This post includes: Core Four (Bart, Tim, Kon, Cassie) they are all in middle school and are 11-12. That's it they are just having fun I made this cause I was bored.

Cassie and Tim are sat under the tree outside their school the group always meet up at. Its around 11pm. Tim is laying out a blanket and food whilst Cassie is trying to set up Netflix on a laptop.

Tim: Okay, Bart said he was bringing the pillows right? There's alot of blankets but the ground is still pretty solid.

Cassie: Yep! Though I'm not sure this screen is big enough for the 4 of us.

Tim crawls over to her: Yeah you're right...

He thinks for a minute.

Tim stands: Uh, you wait here until i get my computer. Its bigger... and I left my bag down at the field anyway so I need to go grab it.

The boy scurrys away and Cassie falls back on the blankets, sighing. She turns her head to the other side and sees two familiar faces.

Kon, carrying 4 pillows and a box full of cola cans with Bart hanging onto his leg: Cassie... help.

Cassie, blinking for a few seconds and then rolling over in laughter: WHAT-hkheue... ACHEM...what happened??

Kon drops the pillow and places the box down next to the tree, shaking Bart off his leg. Then he proceeds to flop down onto the pillows, Bart falling ontop of him immediately after.

Kon: HRG- ugghhh.... I don't know, either. Me and Clark picked him up and drove him here but as soon as I got out the car he attached onto my leg like a toddler.

Bart: Hehe ;)))

Cassie: Sounds like you've become Barts object of interest

Bart: Hehehehehe

Kon: Don't know what that means, don't WANT to know what that means...

He looks around

Kon: Where's Tim?

Cassie: OH! The laptop is too small of a screen so he's away getting his computer.

Kon: Will that really make any difference?

Cassie: Umm I don't know Kon I've never compared Tim's computer to my laptop. 😒

Kon: Damn, snarky... :(

Tim runs back to the group, seemingly exhausted. Kon sits upright, pushing Bart off in the process. Tim sets the computer up and low and behold, it's just the right size.

Bart immediately clinging onto Kon again: What are we watching? I forgot

Tim lays down panting: hhh .... hhhh ....

Cassie: ehehe.. Um, well we think we're gonna have an MCU bashing marathon. I know it's alot of movies but it's a weekend and (albeit, illegal) Tim brought a car we can sit in when it gets cold.

Kon: Dude, I hate marvel.

Cassie: That's why it's called a 'Bashing Marathon', idiot, we make fun of it the whole time.

Bart: Marvel has alot of stuff going on in their movies so it's always fun for me to watch :p

Tim: Okay okay let's get this party started!

Tim jumps up from the ground and places the pillows neatly on the blanket then grabs another 2 thicker blankets and, once everybody's comfortably laying, throws it over them. He tosses a can to Bart and then lays down with the rest of them.

Tim: You punks are gonna be asleep by the 5th hour, I bet.

Bart chugging his drink: NOWAYletsgoletsgoletsgo!!

Cassie: Heh nahh Timmy. I'm so ready for this.

Kon: Let's get ready for a little over 2 days of making fun!

6 hours 30 minutes in and Cassie, Kon, and Bart are all huddling into eachother. One of them is snoring, one is just kicking the blanket continously and the other is sleeptalking. Tim lays happily awake with a bowl full of popcorn when he looks down to his sleeping friends.

Tim: Knew it.

....

Tim sighs as he gets up and turns the computer off, looking back to his friends.

Tim: We probably should've chosen a smaller Franchise, huh guys? Well ... It's dark. And... I don't really wanna drive a car this late so. I'm gonna phone Bruce and see if dad can come pick us up.

He pats his friends.

Tim: And I know you all were tired during Iron Man 2. I saw it in your faces... But you pulled through to the 4th movie out of pure pettiness.

He laughs.

Tim: It's goes to show how resilient you all are... That you don't back down from a challenge. Even if you barely beat it in the first place. It's one of the things I like about you all, and I hope it's something I can one day find myself.

Tim falls back chuckling as he brings his phone out of his pocket and messages his brother.

Tim: Geez I cant believe I'm talking to a bunch of sleeping people.

He feels something brush his leg and sees cassies hand barely but noticeably touching him.

Tim chuckles again, holding his face: Yeah, hehe. You're the type of person to take the chance to tease me about that.

He shuts his eyes.

Tim: Love you guys too...

#dc #dc au #gotham highschool #au #highschool au #middle school #tim drake #cassandra sandsmark #cassie sandsmark #kon el #conner kent #bart allen #bartholomew allen #lol #i love them #they are a bit silly #core four

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rkn001 · 2 years

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hi random question but are there any flowers you associate with the rkns + quint? how about the stardroids or your ocs? if no, then what flowers do you think would be good?

gonna put this under a read-more since my explanation is going to be extremely long, but tl;dr:

rkns+quint: daffodil, gladiolus, forget-me-not

my fcs: sunflower to pilot man, dahlia to patch woman

i'm not going to elaborate so much about the stardroids because: (1) i haven't spent that many braincells thinking about them, (2) they're quite varied within a group so i'd choose a flower per stardroid individually, and (3) i've already exhausted a lot of hours researching into these flowers and their associated mythology / etymology and this post is getting too long… so i'd like to invite anyone to try to answer this ask for the stardroids!

daffodil

i associate this flower mainly just to enker, but also to quint and to ballade. here are my reasons:

depending on the variety, daffodils tend to bloom sometime from late winter to early spring, although they can survive the winter months as they're known to be particularly hardy; the daffodil variants in japan, for example, are known to bloom from december to january. the yellow daffodils thus symbolize resilience, because of this quality. how does this relate to enker? well if you squint at his profile overall, there’s a recurring motif one can pick up: his cold exterior and gloomy nature. being into new year’s eve (a winter holiday) and nabiyaki udon (a hot-pot dish often served during the winter season). his jpn catchphrase, “grit your teeth and bear it” (hardiness). do you see that all of these things are associated to winter and the cold season, and the commonalities shared with the daffodil?

in addition, here's some fun facts about daffodils: daffodils can accelerate the death of other flowers when placed into a vase with them. all parts of a daffodil are poisonous, but one kind of daffodil also has strong emetic effects and can cause headaches, just by being in a closed room with a bunch of them inside. it's quite a toxic flower that needs to be handled with care in order to cooperate with its flowery compatriots… which reminds me of a certain character…oh…wait…that couldn't be enker, could it...

i think it’s also worth mentioning that the scientific name for the daffodil genus, narcissus, is linked to (but not known to be originated from) the greek myth of narcissus, a hunter who rejected all romantic advances and was eventually punished for that by being led to his reflection in the water and falling in love with it so much that he drowned, where a daffodil sprang from where he died. the part which, i think, relates to enker; not so much about him being narcissist (in fact i hc to be very far from that), but rather, with him circling around in a never-ending state of reflection that distorts the image of his identity and his place in the world (which i suppose is ironic, considering the name of his weapon).

the violet daffodils represent selfishness in honor of narcissus, which isn’t what i would associate enker with (i don’t think he’s that selfish), but on a more positive note, they symbolize self-esteem, and can be used to give to someone who has self-doubts. which, i think, is perfect to give to him (and to quint) really.

the meanings of the daffodil are usually pretty positive, but i think the associations to these can be pretty…bittersweet. one of the meanings of the daffodil includes rebirth and new beginnings. interestingly enough, these meanings are also what pluto symbolizes in astrology—which is associated to the origin myth of the seasons: the greek analogue of pluto is hades, who was known to have kidnapped persephone, the daughter of the demeter (the goddess of harvest and agriculture), by luring her with daffodils, and when demeter found out about this, caused the vegetation and flora of the world to wither, before some negotiation happened where persephone can spend some time with demeter but only up to eight months (namely, spring and summer).

who was also kidnapped? quint. who also encountered a "rebirth" and "new beginnings"? ballade. who also stands on the threshold between two different worlds, one in the past, the other in the present, like persephone? well…i can argue both quint and ballade do, because i think quint still retains his memories of him being rock and is powerless to do anything about them now that he's quint, and ballade…well…i headcanon to be experiencing the brunt of grief and sorrow of being reborn from the other killers+quint, or rather, being born to a space his old self once occupied and now feels pressured to fill in.

anyway, i’m just ad libbing associations here, but this is my argument for why the daffodil is the flower for both enker, quint, and ballade.

gladiolus

the name of this flower, gladiolus, originates from the latin word gladius or "sword," referring to the sword that roman foot soldiers used in battle. it should also be noted that in ancient greece, this flower was called xiphium, which comes from the greek word xiphos for "sword." both of these refer to the sword-like leaves; this is the flower for fighters, and indeed, that's what the rkns are.

the meanings of the gladiolus are integrity, honor, faithfulness, and strength. i mostly associate these qualities to punk for some reason, since we know he prefers to have a fair-and-square fight and he believes in his own strength—but this also somewhat applies to all rkns, as each upholds their own version of some moral code when fighting, and their devotion to the cause is what defines them as a group.

furthermore, these meanings of the gladiolus seem to come from what roman gladiators stand for. going back to the naming etymology of these flowers, they refer to the swords that roman foot soldiers use. after the martial reforms for the roman military were enacted, these soldiers were given a shield, some javelins, a sword, and a dagger. in battle, they would wield the sword and shield for close combat after breaking their enemies' defenses and formations with the javelins—so in some sense, the sword is used a secondary means of offense and defense against enemies. which is the role of each of the rkns + quint as well! in the gameboy games, they're always the enemy you fight after fending off the robot masters from the main series or the stardroids. which, i think, is fitting.

as a last addition to this, it should be noted that these soldiers must follow the oath of allegiance, or sacramentum militare, that they have to swear once they enlist. this is a pledge to loyalty towards the consul of the roman republic in the republican era, or towards the emperor in the imperial era, of the roman republic. breaking this not only becomes an act of disloyalty against the state or the emperor, but also against the other members of the unit—which serves as a deterrent against revolts, despite the numerous records of civil conflicts arising from betraying the oath. i think these conflicts are also at the heart of the rkn—automatically programmed to swear their allegiance to an empire just to kill one small boy is what also defines the group, and what might also threaten the integrity of it; how each of them uses that devotion to the cause, or rather, how much they stick to it is what defines them individually, and it's an interesting thing to look into when considering each rkn as an individual and their place in the group. such themes, i believe are relevant, and this is what makes me choose the gladiolus as a flower for them.

forget-me-not

this would be the flower mainly associated to ballade, but also to quint.

the etymology of the scientific name for its genus comes from the ancient greek term for "mouse's ear," but its actual name supposedly comes from a german folktale, about a knight and a lady strolling along the riverbank. the knight fell into the water in an attempt to pick up flowers for the lady, and before he drowned, he cried out the name of the said flower and threw the flowers he picked up to his loved one, and since then, in grief, she would wear forget-me-nots in commemoration for him.

throughout the world, forget-me-nots would be used for remembrances of those who died in wars (especially the world wars), as well as from well-known disorders like dementia and alzheimer's disease.

and that's what the forget-me-nots symbolize: remembrance and memory.

just like the knight in the folktale, ballade saw something, something beautiful in the last moment he faced rockman, and it led to the end of that brief span of life that ballade has occupied up, which wouldn't be easily forgotten by the other rkns + quint. he might've been just one flower, one casualty, plucked out in a long series of unnecessary wars between two roboticists—and sure, he might've been rebuilt afterwards—but the rkns + quint don't see it that way as just one robot who died and was reborn. he was somebody—maybe a fucking idiot beforehand, but at least he was their idiot.

similarly to quint: he was rock(man) before, and the moment wily reprogrammed him is the moment those two identities have died. him meandering through life, through the halls of the wily fortress, trying to reconcile with the death of his past self... don't you think he deserves some of these flowers to commemorate what he was? i don't think he's ever completely processed that himself. i think these flowers are also for him.

sunflower

when it comes to the sunflower, their meanings include optimism and strength, warmth, and unwavering faith. all of which describes pilot man; his good quality is his ability to make the best of a situation no matter how bad it gets, and he's a pretty warm dude if any character gets to know him.

the binomial nomenclature of the sunflower, helianthus annuus, comes from the greek words helios ("sun") and anthos ("flower") and the latin word annuus ("annual"), referring to how the sunflower quite literally looks like sun and how it is a perennial flower that blooms in the mid-summer until fall. often, when i think about where pilot works, he's always under the rays of the sun, running around from hanger to hanger, ensuring that things in his little private airport are in operation...and also, his best work on building plane models comes out during the mid-summer months, when things aren't as busy for him as they are in the rest of the year.

it's also thought the reason this flower gets its named is how many believed that it is heliotropic (that is, the sunflower head tracks the sun). note that i said "believed." sunflowers aren't truly heliotropic; only the immature flower buds, leaves, and the stems do orient themselves in the direction of the sun. this reminds me of a very young pilot man, bouncing with vigor and always eager to work with the company that created him and have his abilities tested as much as possible, to the point where both the company and pilot believed he can do so much more, until they... flew close to the sun, y'know?

(which…reminds me of the greek tale of icarus, who he and his father daedalus, a master craftsman, escaped from imprisonment by flying with the winds daedalus created using wax, feathers, and blankets. icarus was warned not to fly close to the sun, lest the wax melted, nor close to ocean they were flying over, lest the dampness of the sea weighed his wings down; icarus unfortunately fell into his own hubris by doing the former. which is pretty close to the disaster that happened with pilot within a year of his activation, due to his company's hubris, haha.)

but mature flowering buds actually only face east, which is still pretty interesting to note; the earth rotates in such a way so that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, but such buds continuously look in the east—it's like they always expect for the sun to rise no matter where the sun shines or goes, without so much following the sun's direction. to me, this says much about an over reliance of faith to take over things can overshadow the true gifts of life, instead of having just a little of it, which can go a long way...it's reflective of pilot's outlook on life prior to and after the disaster.

dahlia

this one is chosen purely out of symbolism, haha; the differing colors of the dahlia and their individual meanings actually do represent different facets of patch woman.

some meanings to the dahlia include inner strength, staying graceful under pressure, and elegance. patch woman's work is constantly her being under pressure, because her job is to tap into connections, find some interesting information about a company or a person whose life she's gonna destroy, and leak it into the world without leaving so much of a trace or negotiating with other parties about this information or wiping such information from everywhere if she feels it's necessary (often a big decision to handle). she handles this with a quiet sort of dignity and poise that can leave others baffled into how she's not...fizzling out from handling all of this info and intel.

dahlias with mixed blue/green colors represent fresh starts and big changes. part of patch's origin story is that she was originally [redacted] and prefers to keep that part even unknown to herself, lest bad parties might use this against her—and the fresh start wily gave her is what drives her to go on (and sometimes influences her decisions handling such intel).

the negative connotations of the dahlia also represent patch woman as well. in particular, the black dahlia symbolizes betrayal—which, yes, one should be careful when around patch because once a piece of information about oneself is thrown into the well that is patch's information network, one better watch their back because she may as well use it to step on them for her own purposes. in fact, betrayals, compromises, and deceit are what fuels her and gives her repute in the dark world of info.

there's an interesting little historical tidbit (or possibly myth or tale, unclear) about dahlias, related to empress joséphine, the empress of the french. she was well known to be into botany and was overly protective of her garden at the château de malmaison. having been offered some dahlia tubers from the french minister, she fell in love with their bloom so much that she wouldn't permit a single seed or root from the garden to exit the malmaison. except...a polish count visted the malmaison and bribed the gardener to dig up a hundred of those dahlias to propagate, making the empress extremely angry and having her destroy the remaining dahlia tubers. it's a funny little story exemplifying how value works: when one values something so much, it can be easily used against them. it's a key principle that patch keeps in mind when handling intel, and it's something which patch deals with on a daily basis.

okay, alright. this was way too damn long, but i appreciate the pretty cool and thoughtful question; it was certainly a fun writing exercise to be thinking about over this past weekend. thanks for indulging me!

#ask #mega man #megaman #rockman #mega man oc #rockman killers #enker #quint #punk #ballade #pilot man #patch woman #thanks for the ask!#so can you tell that the daffodil is one of my favorite flowers of all time or nah #also i'd like to offer some apologies if the writing is unclear at places; i kinda rushed this since tumblr's editor is garbage

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ginevrafangirl · 2 years

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Who Rules The World Commentary

Several episodes into watching Who Rules The World I created myself a discord channel that is one long thread of my reactions. I didn't keep it up for every reaction and included references to other shows I have seen, but this post shall be a compilation of my favorite comments. There will be SPOILERS!

feng lanxi: we should gather our strength, protect our people, and give people ways to raise profits

entire imperial court: how DARE you spout such utter nonsense

bai fengxi's little cloth is basically ruoye but a little less sentient (tgcf reference)

i do not envy hei fengxi being stuck between two badass fucking women thats like my dream throuple

the sixteenth kunlun disciple is such a dick in this show (eternal love reference)

i fucking love feng qiwu so much she is so cool and pretty and smart and capable and a ministerrrrr

my loml feng qiwu accepted that rejection with CLASS

prince chang i was just starting to like you and now you want darling bai fengxi dead / you're such a jiang cheng sometimes istg (mdzs reference)

huang chao has the best outfits of all the men in this show

i hope feng qiwu realizes she does not need a husband, or finds one she deserves. perhaps she should marry loml huang chao. that would be quite the forbidden romance, with jizhou and yongzhou being rival states

i can tell prince chang is about to fall in love with bai fengxi / oh nvm prince chang is about to find out his brother is a sneaky bitch and isnt weak at all

mULAN??

so the reason there are two questions is xerox copies

he named a restaurant after him and the princess, any other drama and they would be the main couple (👀)

the fate of the state rests on HORSES??

is this whole show just gonna be feng lanxi vs lady baili playing games in court?? / where is the jianghu fighting i thought this was gonna be

HUANG CHAO LOOKING GORGEOUS IN PURPLE AND ORANGE

mommy issues, am i right? / this is textbook gaslighting / i made the jiang cheng comparison impulsively but its coming more and more true (mdzs reference)

more than meng yao, i think feng ju is Er Ge from WOH (mdzs and tyk/woh reference)

i want to be half of a power couple with huang chao so bad / i would fully support him being ruler of the world / why shouldn't he be?? / he is strong, sexy, smart, and seems to be protective and caring to those under him / he DESERVES everything

metal chain riding

where did the candles come from??

i can't believe there's this long plotline centered around horses

the fact that she is not crushed by rocks is a fucking miracle rn

i have never seen a faker wound

so feng lanxi easily got past the murder leaves and moving iron chains?

this would be more hard hitting emotionally if we'd seen lanxi struggle with guilt over his mom's death before

this whole arc is just basically that maze in the goblet of fire (harry potter reference)

they mastered it cause they're in love??? lmao so true this sounds like svsss (svsss reference)

it would be hilarious if Yu wuyuan was the secret head of the soul taker sect (👀)

he gets a map and she gets a flower?? / sexism

wow this beautiful good man too good to be true is evil

i trusted ywy cause he acted a lot like xichen (mdzs reference)

rip Lanxi's boys and the amount of stress they're always under because of his double life and running around

any scene where something is fed in a court drama it's very likely to be poison

Lanxi talks a lot and in higher more mischievous tones that LWJ, that'd why I didn't notice until late it was the same voice (cql reference)

what is the deal with the female love interest being compared to the dead mom

baili is trembling with rage during this whole memorial ceremony / like chill, she's dead dude

another fake token! / who's behind all this is obviously wen kexing (tyk/woh reference)

omg he DREW FANART OF THEM

she's secretly smart as fuck and a talented tactician, isn't she? / oh hell yes she's smart and talented

what is it about tortured brothers relationships that attracts me so??

why can't sisters ever get this deliciously complex of a relationship??

good for him that he got her dead though, he won't have to marry her

does it matter that lanxi has a two syllable name due to him being the legitimate son, and the other princes have only a one syllable name?

where is loml jiang yanli?? i miss her / THERE SHE IS (cql reference)

NO / you attacked MY LOML / I HATE YOU NOW / I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ATTACKED JIANG YANLI / FUCK YOU WUYUAN (cql reference)

"we can't be separated" you ain't slick bitch

WE LOVE GAL PALS

OMG THE HEI-BAI IN BLACK???

so this pill captured the sacred Jade Moon?? that makes no sense

okay so ywy needs to take over the world to break his curse / why didn't his family just stop procreating smh

so true he is indeed the third wheel

you know what my new otp is / the polyamourous power throuple that is feng qiwu/bai fengxi/feng lanxi

are they really pretending like they didnt dance with each other knowingly

wowww thats a double identity inside a double identity

i just KNOW he was kicking screaming about all that pda

now this is just an obvious metaphor for his true feelings

NOT HIM ASKING FOR ROMANCE ADVICE FROM ZHONG LI

its similar to war YOU NERD

now what the fuck is this secret society thats the token keepers

how does this tree still have leaves in the winter when its snowin

this fanfic is going on for quite long

my fave feminist gal pals so true

cross dress and frolick

he keeps getting cockblocked by lesbianism

lmaoooo thats porn

feng qiwu is truly the GOAT for helping her crush and bestie get together

omg is feng lanxi going to be set up with snake spirit princess?? (eternal love reference)

how does everyone know everyones business?

heh that fucking clay statue that was definitely not carved by them on the spot

prom? in candles

chuanyu the cockblock

is there really nothing between ms huan and feng ju??

oooo loml huang chao wants to marry the snake spirit princess (eternal love reference)

love me some cgi rain

omg power couple boxing rocks together so true

she is gonna make him take the floor in his own tent

lanxi: giving you the bed last night was worth it / chuanyu: you WHAT

i hope he accepts her secret royal identity as easily as she accepted his

bai fengxi: if you wanna kill the evil guys... i will definitely help you

general REN fuck yeah chuanyu

court politics, military tactics, rogue cultivators (martial arts equivalent), revenge and redemption, enemies to friends to lovers romance

exhibitionist kink?

yeahhh that was pretty obviously drugged

ACTUAL MURDER PRINCESS

divine fairy?? thats such a cool title

omg i feel like she could be a villain in the future but like she is such a girlboss??

they are both such dorks when it comes to love, much unlike loml huang chao and chunran

omg dage wants to give him a shovel talk

bai fengxi is always hungry, she is just like me

chuanyu cockblocking AGAIN

love how they keep calling this chess even though its very clearly not chess

NO LOML HUANG CHAO YOU'RE BEING MANIPULATEDDD

this is a brother vs boyfriend situation for bai fengxi

i love how they havent even confessed to each other properly but her brother is already treating lanxi as her brother in law

PIGGY BACK RIDING IN THE RAIN CAUSE ONLY ONE UMBRELLAAAA

loml feng qiwu should be queen and empress of all

she is a doctor, a fighter, tactician, a cook, she can do anything

they give off major legolas and gimli energy with their fond competitiveness / or pat and pran (lotr and bad buddy reference)

let us gaze fondly at each other as we treat the many sick people of this town

ooooo this new black and gold robe for qiwu is SEXY

bai fengxi's dad: its not serious, my illness is fine / me: yeaaahhh he is deinitely going to die

the only healthy family so far is the bai father and daughter and the royal family of qingzhou

zhong li is so babie its easy to forget he is also very skilled / a wen ning if you will (mdzs reference)

i can recognize the hit sticks by now

Jesus Christ ep 34 was INTENSE / basically guanyin temple levels of end confrontation (mdzs reference)

And that is the end of a subset of my live reactions! I have some more end of show reactions but they don't fit the mood of this post. If you made it until here, congrats! (lemme know if you enjoyed it and would like more as i venture into other shows)

#who rules the world #wrtw #feng lanxi #hei fengxi #bai fengxi #feng qiwu #huang chao #wrtw commentary #gf originals #this is 50% me simping over huang chao and feng qiwu #loooooooooooong post

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multiples-fandomswontkillme · 3 years

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~Metal Family headcanons~

These are like my... general hcs)? which means I didn't include my main hc that Glam, Ches and Vicky are polyamorous, married and started dating after Glam met Vicky, and absolutely everything that implies for the kids and the relationships between each member of the fam. Maybe I'll make a separate post for that or maybe not! Who knows lkfwnlfqnf

Glam

Bisexual

Glam has constant nightmares and ocasional night terrors ever since he ran away home and is an active sleep walker. Ches helped him through the worse ones when they were younger, and learned how to deal with them, always preferring not to wake him up but being with him until the episode passed. Vicky has learned how to deal with them, though she normally asks Ches for advice with it cuz she comes out short sometimes.

He has PTSD. I bet it's diagnosed too, he takes medication and goes to therapy, it doesn't mean he still doesn't have his bad days anyway. He's trying to get better.

Glam has talked to Vicky about his past, his father and his family. This is a direct contradiction of Alina's confirmation that Glam doesn't talk about it with anyone but man FUCK THAT. We love good communication in this house, Vicky tries her best to help him, but there's only so much she can do to help.

Glam enjoys gardening, cooking and making models, he also likes doing his make up, painting his nails and dressing up in fancy, extravagant clothes even if he has nowhere important to go.

He likes taking care of everyone's hair, and constantly helps Vicky brush her hair cuz there's so much of it, Dee when he gets stressed over how tangled it can get, buys Ches hair products so he actually takes care of it, and chases Heavy so the kid actually washes, untangles and brushes his hair.

This one is kind of weird, but I refuse to think any adult in the family is unarmed at any time. Glam owns a taser and pepper spray. They're bright pink and sparkly.

This man cried his eyes out while watching Coco. He's hell to watch movies with cuz he talks and predicts what's gonna happen during the movie, judges them with scores at the end and all.

Vicky

Also bisexual!

Vicky's the one who does everyone's laundry most of the time. She prefers it that way since she's the only one that knows how to wash their black clothes so the colors stay vibrant. (This is based on my gf shaming everyone but Vicky cuz their black clothes always look so muted and almost gray, but Vicky's whole outfit is always the same vibrant black colors, so we decided that neither Glam or the kids know how to wash dark clothes)

She has anger issues, if it isn't obvious. I think she also has PTSD, mainly survivor's guilt due to her surviving the accident her brother died in. She blames herself and cannot bear to talk about it, in some sort of deep denial. If she can't remember, it can't hurt as much, right?

She has scars on the right side of her back and her hip, from the road rash she got on her brother's accident, she never treated it due to grief and it scarred badly. Apart from that, the scar of the caesarean section from Heavy's birth. She doesn't really mind both of them, they happened, nothing to do about them.

She likes watching boxing competitions, brawling matches and motorcycle repairing on TV. Loves doing BBQ's and going to the pool. Also an enjoyer of teasing her kids, kissing and loving her husband at random times, spending time drinking and bonding with Ches and bragging about her family and punching anyone who thinks they're not that cool.

Not particularly a fan of make up, skirts and dresses or any traditionally femenine-perceived stuff. But has been making exceptions due to Glam and Ches being unashamed of being seen as femenine, and actually rocking the looks. The internalized misogyny is kind of slowly dissapearing.

Apart from the guns she carries in each arm (I mean her biceps, have you looked at the size of those?? She strong) she has brass knuckles on her at all times. Glam gifts her new ones sometimes, she loves having multiple choices to punch people teeth in.

Loves horror, thrillers and action movies. Falls asleep during rom-coms and dramas. Ironically, loves gossip and talking shit about people. Enjoys hearing Ches talks about the gossip going on in the nursery home even if she doesn't know who the hell he's talking about.

Rest of the family under the cut!

Heavy

Heavy is a trans boy! He doesn't know his sexuality yet though, he's still figuring himself out. When he's older, i think he definitely dated some men but had better luck with girls.

Heavy has had innocent crushes on some girls on his class before, but they never turn into anything more cuz he's not the best at expressing himself. He follows the bother-the-girl-to-death-until-she-hates-you gimmick, and unsurprisingly, it doesn't work.

I'm sorry to break this to u but Heavy totally had an among us phase, and uses so much reddit and twitch slang... You know he does.

Likes bullying and teasing his brother to death. You know that when Dee had his first romance, Heavy was ALL up in his business being a tease and a bad attempt at a wingman. He means well tho.

He's not squeamish at all. Also has great pain resistance. This kid has picked cockroaches with his bare hands and loves cats, of course the cats have scratched him. He's tough!

Grows up to be the charming himbo he was always destined to be.

Dee

I hc him as demisexual. Kind of inherited his dad's tastes for the takes no crap, intimidating but pretty kind of people.

Can't cook. He tries but he can only do basics like rice, cereal, chicken nuggets or eggs. Complicated meals always burn or don't taste like anything at all. It drives him crazy.

Dee was a quiet and very well behaved toddler before Heavy was born. He never threw tantrums or got whims. After Heavy was born though, and despite the fact he understood his brother was small and needed special care, he started craving attention often and cried and got mad at little things. Typical jealousy of the oldest sibling.

The first time Dee fell in love with someone, he didn't recognize it was love at first. He just thought his interest on the person was born out of curiosity and aesthetic attraction, but as soon as he realized he seeked validation and companionship, that he liked seeing them smile, that he wanted to protect them, that he yearned for more time alone with them and that he wanted more than what just a simple friendship implied, it was an instant 'oh hell no'. He wanted those feelings to get the hell away, but unfortunately, they were there to stay.

Canonically likes MLP, psychological and horror anime like Death note and Hellsing, so I'm deciding he also watched Death Parade, had a FNAF phase, is very into The Walten Files. This guy enjoys any kind of specially dark ARG's and knows a ton of lore of real crime, unsolved cases, ghost appearances and other stuff. Doesn't believe in the supernatural, but sure is entertained by it.

He's a mess at romance. Flirting? His attempts at compliments are hardly flattering. Giving gifts? The best he can manage is jewelry and you can kind of tell he asked his dad for help. Dates? He's so nervous he's silent for most of it, but begins getting comfortable and having fun if his partner really knows how to get him down from his negativity cloud.

Ches

Pansexual.

He's very good with kids. He has the patience of a saint and he's laid-back, chill and fun but still is an authority figure who knows how to put limits. Sure, he's gonna let the kids light up a house on fire BUT hey, now they know everything about fire precautions, burns and how to treat them AND how to get away with arson. What an educational evening, am I right?

Due to certain info from the "Goodbye" official comic, I headcanon Ches as depressed. I don't want to elaborate a lot 'cuz of spoilers, but... God, everything related to his mom fucking hurts, man. How did he deal with all that?

Ches has been Dee and Heavy's babysitter so many times he cannot count them with all his fingers. He learned how to put those kids to sleep almost immediately (Sing Bon Jovi's "This ain't a love song" and any cheesy love song in a slow lullaby style and they're out), which movie were their favorite as kids (Heavy loved 'Monsters Inc.' and Dee never looked away during 'Meet the Robinsons'), how to console them after nightmares (Heavy needed reassurance, sweet words, and to be with someone until he fell asleep again. Dee just had to be tucked in, get his nightlight turned on and kissed in the forehead). He practically raised those kids along with Vicky and Glam.

More than once, Dee and Heavy have slipped and called Ches "Dad". Ches immediately gets his shit eating grin on and answers "Yes, son?" and does a couple of dad jokes just to mess and embarrass them. He's actually very flattered and surprised at how proud of himself he is for being a father figure to both kids.

Has a scar on the left side of his forehead due to a bottle his mom threw at him when he was younger, around the time he met Glam. He hates the scar with passion, it's a permanent reminder of the fact she never cared, that's why he always keeps it covered with his headband. Gets sad about it sometimes.

Ches likes to spend his time with a group of grannies of the nearby nursing home. He genuinely considers them his friends and gossips and hangs out with all of them on weekends. Bingo, billiards, walks in the park, soap opera marathons, you name it. I even designed them, gave them names and backstories... God, i just love the concept too much. I'll make some art about Ches and his granny gang FOR SURE, you're NOT ready for them.

Carries a pocket knife on him at all times. This man grew up on a bad neighborhood and absolutely knows how to defend himself, he can be intimidating when he wants to be and will pose a threat if needed. He's fucking terrifying when genuinely mad. Just cause he looks harmless doesn't mean he is, darling.

That would be all!

#metal family #glam metal family #ches metal family #victoria metal family #chess metal family #dee metal family #heavy metal family #metal family glam #metal family victoria #metal family dee #metalfamily #metal family heavy

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dienamights · 3 years

Text

Unfavorable Guidance | H.Shinso

✎ Mindjack has been doing these kind of jobs since he was recruited as a hero, he is unmistakingly the best at them, doesn’t need anyone butting their noses in his business, especially you, the sly fox in disguise, offering your tainted helping hand.

✎ Protagonists: Hitoshi Shinso x Fem!Reader.

✎ Word count: 6.4K

✎Category: noncon/dubcon, Smut MDNI, Prohero!au

✎Caution(!): noncon/dubcon, Smut 18+ MDNI please, , mentions of alcohol, mentions of murder, minor character death, sex under quirk use, spitting, degrading, swearing, manipulation, unprotected sex.

✎ Author’s notes: I KNOW I’M LATE EUFGKHDFVBDFXL, but here is my contribution to @daisy-bakugo 2k event Vice City! Please take the time to read everyone’s work if you haven’t! Thank you so much for letting me participate.

I listened to this throughout the entire process of writing it, if you’re familiar with Kingdom Hearts, some names will ring a bell to you lol. also I hate the header and the summary but you’re just gonna have to live w it for now cause its 8 am I NEED SLEEP

» Masterlist | Requests | Taglist

The annual auction of Vice City is one of the biggest social events of the year. The wealthiest families and richest people in the world come from everywhere in attempts to win what is secretly considered the greatest treasures of all time. Greatest and most expensive.

Alas, the after party held later on is what people are all secretly actually waiting for, where the most exquisite and rarest artifacts of the year get auctioned off to whoever is lucky enough to even be included in the guest list.

While not all are there for the auctions, it certainly is the perfect opportunity for anyone who's anyone in the world to show off their wealth. Filthy rich people sway all around, laughing and bragging. Venetian crystal chandeliers, velvet carpets, gambling, and alcohol. Men with their cigars, men with their wives, and men with their arm candies, their escorts or mistresses.

Yet, Shinso isn’t here for the luxury, he isn't here for the fame and the fortune, nor the reputation people thrive for when they buy those - meaningless, he calls them - relics. No, he is here on a mission, one he certainly wants to be done and over with because he wants to go home. He loosens his tie with an aggravated sigh before knocking back the last of his only gin and tonic, the bitter taste prickling his throat as he surveys the crowd of people all around him while he stands idly by the bar.

He knew it’d be a pain in the ass the second he got the mission assigned to him from the agency, the words “intel” and “Vice City'' of all places forced a frown upon his face, yet, being the most suitable for this job, he couldn't really decline.

Mindjack isn’t the type of hero you see on billboards and magazines, isn’t the type of hero to kiss babies’ heads that get thrusted at him in meet and greets, he certainly isn’t one to have those adoring fan clubs that follow his every move, posting about his greatest conquests. Oh no, he is a hero that works in dingy jobs with filthy manipulative men in black markets and the human trafficking industry, undercover -lie through your teeth throughout the whole ordeal- kind of hero, the kind of hero that goes home at the end of his missions with no gratitude towards his work, because nobody knows who he is or what he contributes to the society.

For the longest time, Shinso accepted the life he’s living, he didn’t look for validation from the citizens, knowing his work is always beyond the scope of their knowledge and their awareness, but sometimes, just sometimes, the sour droplets of envy would foul his mouth when his amethysts for eyes scan over the extravagant heroes, making a show out of saving their cities and getting praised and awarded and loved for doing what they’re supposed to be doing, their job.

“Squeeze that glass a bit more and you’d break it”

A voice just like silk, weaving around him and entrancing him, Shinso blinked twice before his eyes dragged over to you, oh so beautiful and oh so close. Your nimble fingers wrapped around his fingers, the lacey glove lightly scratches his hand before he lets go of the glass in surprise, dropping it into yours. You giggle sweetly, turning around to place it on the bar before ordering your own, but not without looking at him over your shoulder and sending him a smile.

“What will it be, sugar tits?” the bartender leans over the counter, towel thrown on his shoulder as he sends you what's supposed to be a sultry look. Your elbow is placed on the counter while you rest your chin on your hand, smiling temptingly at him. “Anything that’ll get you to stop staring at my boobs.” Shinso almost laughs at the contrast between your smile and your voice, sharp and venomous, and the man leans back so far from you like he’s been stung. Walking away to work on a drink for you.

Shinso’s eyes rake your body without his knowledge, he admires the dress adorning your body, hugging you in all the right places, cascading down to the floor, and that slit my god, your legs looking endless in those heels he wonders how you can strut so elegantly with them on. A snap of your fingers breaks his trance and he tries - keyword tries - to act nonchalant to his obvious ogling and you only laugh in return.

You hum lowly, “So,” you’re turning to face him as you lean back on the counter, pushing your chest out to grasp even more of his attention, “what's an esteemed hero like you doing in a place like this?” It takes Shinso a good minute before he narrows his eyes, left foot back and ready to either take you down or run away if you were to involve greater forces. No one is supposed to know about his true identity, no one is supposed to know that there is a hero within them.

But what shakes his demeanor is the way you dangle his wallet in front of him, like dangling a stupid feather for some silly cat, waiting for it to jump at you to entertain you. Shinso swallows with a struggle, deciding that using his quirk to retrieve his wallet back will lead to him leaving, and he didn’t want that. He’s been keeping an eye on the wanted man for hours now, and it’ll all go to waste because of your slimy little hands and your-

“Here,” you toss it back to him, and he stumbles a bit before catching it properly, eyeing you for any sudden movements, but you simply turn back around in time to hold the drink from the bartender’s hand with a smile dazzling your lips. “You’re getting intel on The Wise?” you mumble against your cup, sipping slowly, eyes never leaving Shinso’s glaring ones. How the fuck do you know?

“You’re not the first.” you smirk, finger wiping the smeared lipstick against the glass before circling the rim. “You all look the same, thinking you’re better than them because of your position in the society, only for that ego to come and bite you right in the ass.” It’s almost ironic how poisonous your voice could get while still maintaining that mesmerizing smile, and oddly enough, Shinso’s eyes keep drooping despite his desperate attempt to fight against them.

You hum again, the click of your heels sounding muffled to him, eyes blurring when you get so close to him your breath tickles his cheek. “But you’re different, hmm? You’re gonna make the bad guy go away?”

“Yes.” it's rushed, almost desperate, and the hero is astonished at how he sounds. “Then, lemme help you… Hitoshi.”

A blink, and you’re gone just like you vanished right from under his nose, slipped right between his fingers. A low curse escapes Shinso’s lips and he turns around swiftly to question the bartender, hell bent on getting any information on the girl that just revealed his entire identity and mission to him in a matter of seconds.

“How can I help you, sir?” the question boggles his mind, the big burly man with an attitude problem wasn’t there anymore, replaced by another sweet woman that held concern in her eyes at his sight. “You’ve been staring at the wall for a while there, need me to call your driver to get you back?”

“Wa- but I- She,” Shinso’s body started heating up in anger, worry, embarrassment, he doesn’t really know, but what he wants to know right this instant is how long he’s been out of it and for god’s sake, why?

Shinso doesn’t really consider himself to be the sharpest tool in the shed, but dammit did he feel like a complete idiot letting you run off like that, a quick trip to the restroom for a splash of water clears his head enough for him to pull back his wallet from his pocket, flipping through it and finding something he was absolutely sure wasn’t there prior to your visit. A silver card, with ‘Surveillance room’ scribbled on a note behind it.

Caving in and accepting whatever help you were offering him, Shinso slides the card through the reader, sighing in relief upon the satisfying ding sound, followed by the door opening to the surveillance room.

“Now that’s what’m talking about.” life got so much easier now that he could watch The Wise through multiple screens, making it hard to miss a single move of his. The hero allows himself to relax a bit, hand messing with his hair and tired eyes blinking in irritation against the glare of the screens. The Wise was the mastermind of Organization XIII, as their name intel, they’re consisting of the same thirteen members that founded it years ago, nobody really knows how they started, what shocked the whole world is how grand their first crime actually was, bloodbath of the century -they would call it, seventeen slaughtered heroes, followed by their families, including women and children, thousands of millions of ¥ in money laundering atop of it, all within a span of 4 months, that was years ago, back in their prime.

Now, with eight of them behind bars, the remaining five were able to stay under the radar, distributing whatever money they were able to keep between them and fleeing to different parts of the world. Just because they were apart, didn’t mean they were any less dangerous, The Wise is a prime example for that, brutally murdering three of the undercover heroes sent his way to bring him back to justice, but they weren’t Shinso, he’d try to remind himself.

May their soul rest in peace, they were those heroes he felt dissociated from, the type of heroes to flaunt their powers, monetize the peoples’ knowledge of their quirks, uncover the secrets of their job, they were easy targets for people like The Wise, he’d know their weaknesses and how to take them down before they even think about pursuing him. Now, Mindjack was a different story, he wasn’t held on a pedestal by the people he saves, simply because they don’t recognize him, while he would loath that reality sometimes, he thanks the god for it today, as he’s watching the man’s call out for a drink.

Amethyst eyes scan the remaining screens, widening upon the sight of you looking right back at them, you are a vixen to him, eyes half lidded with a smile so intoxicating it does nothing but entrance whoever was lucky enough to catch its sight. Lace clad fingers wrapping around a piece of paper, you are so beautiful, Shinso tries to stop his mind from wandering, imagining what you wore underneath that angel crafted dress, envisioning what those fingers could do to please him, the same fingers that held the unfolded paper, the word ‘RUN’ smeared across it in lipstick.

Wait a minute, run?

Even before the poor hero could react, the similar satisfying -now dreadful- ding rings in his ear, before the door opens behind him, illuminating the room even more. Shinso stands to face two men, both as surprised as he is to see another occupant in the room. Right before any of them move, the hero opens his mouth and prays to god that whatever way he’s winging it works. “You got a permit to be here?”

Jesus one of you answer, and they both do - the left having fingers curving into talons while the right pulled at strings from the tips of his fingers, both ready to attack - and by god Shinso couldn’t be happier upon hearing a sound, because the minute the word ‘yes’ slips through their lips, Mindjack is smiling like a madman, welcoming the look of glossy eyes and heavy heads like a beloved relative’s return back home.

“Great… Now,” the two manipulated men face him, unaware of the dreaded fate bestowed upon them, while Shinso just can’t seem to keep the glint in his eyes at bay. “Why don’t you put on a show for me,” he breathes, smiling down at the ground before looking at them. ”Choke the fucking life out of each other.” The men don’t even blink, quick to face each other and jump, hands wrapped around throats like a vice, Shinso only moves away from the men on the floor as they thrash and kick at each other, limbs flailing as they try to force the life out of each other.

Turning his back against them, Shinso eyes the screen he was monitoring before their entrance, ignoring the groans and gasps of air behind him. He curses under his breath when he sees The Wise getting up from his place, heading towards a room that is supposed to be monitored by screen #6, but is purposely out of service. If he isn’t able to question The Wise or even keep an eye on him, then he’s gonna head on over to the next best thing. Gargled screams echo through the corridor as the hero makes his exit, making sure the door clicks shut behind him, he wouldn’t want to cause disturbance to the esteemed guests of the society of lowlifes.

Mindjack works in dingy jobs with filthy manipulative men in black markets and the human trafficking industry, killing machines that didn’t spare the live of the innocents, so why should he spare theirs?

Shinso makes it back to the main event, immediately finding you between guests, sitting so pretty on the poker table, eyes drawing him closer, the grin adorning your lips now wobbly, easy for him to distinguish as fake, forced, a façade kept for the people surrounding the table. He is hasteful in settling himself in the chair near you, shoulders tense when different pairs of eyes fall upon him, the dealer shuffles the deck to draw cards for Shinso, but you hold your hand out with a smile. “He’ll sit this one out, by my lucky onlooker.” A round of laughter causes Shinso to flush in embarrassment, feeling degraded and looked down upon by all these lowlifes, petty thieves and criminals, thinking they’re better than him, oh he’ll show them.(1)

It takes a few rounds for the table to empty out, now occupied by Shinso and yourself, the dealer asks him to move over to the next chair before they start their game. “Place your bets.” you’re quick to slide over a few of your chips to his side - some black, others red and blue, he didn’t really pay that much attention to them- your eyes daring him to reject your invitation to take the money to play.

He only blinks at you, his eyes seemingly never wanting to lose sight of you as he fights with himself to sit straight to face the dealer again, the man proceeds to deal both of you the cards for you to review before placing your bets. “You tricked me.” Shinso is almost appalled at the hurt laced in his voice, as if the two of you had a bond that was never meant to be broken. “don’t believe so, told you to run didn’ I?” The mockery in your voice is a hoax, the single twitch in your brow catches his attention and he can only deem it as you being stressed, whether it be because of the ordeal regarding the surveillance room or not is beyond him. No, he was stupid and foolish and he will not fall for your silly games again. “Exactly, you knew they were coming.” you hum in response to his accusation.

“Call.” Dropping a few of your chips on the table, your eyes shift momentarily to him, “I did, I said I’d help you and here I am.” He slams his bet on the table, ‘Raise’ gritted right through his teeth at your words. “I don’t want your help!” He reveals his cards on the table, a way to show his disinterest in your assistance as the dealer announces ‘Flush’ at his hand. Your eyes meet again from above your cards, now narrowing down instead of the half lidded look you seem to always have “You don’t want it, but you need it.” The façade you held before is slowly but surely breaking, now a deep frown tugging at your lip as you reveal your own hand, brows furrowing even further in challenge as you hum in displeasure when the dealer announces your ‘Full House’ hand to be the winner of this round.(2)

Shinso moves swiftly to stand when he sees you do the same, right before his entire world starts to spin, lights and colors mingling together and causing his head to spin, he sits down again, head between his hands as he tries to calm himself down, it's probably the strain of the mission, maybe it’s the weight bestowed upon his shoulders to finish it up. The hero lifts his head up to ask you, about something he himself isn’t even sure of, he just wants to hear your voice, like a drug to him that he can’t help but ask for more. Except when he does, you aren’t there, the table is occupied by different people, the dealer is another man with longer hair and slimmer figure, and by god did Shinso want to rip his hair out.

The minute he feels like he could get back on his own to feet without falling down on his ass, Hitoshi is quick to check his pockets, adamant to find a clue your sneaky hands slid into one of his pockets while he was out, despite the tantrum he almost threw at not wanting your help nor guidance, and he does find something, a simple metal key, attached to it was a tag with the number XIII on it.

In his shock, he almost drops the key on the ground but barely holds himself together to avoid any further embarrassment, Shinso takes deep breaths, knowing that the key in his possession is his entry to the heart of the organization, and especially to The Wise.

Every year, specifically at the Vice City annual auction afterparty, The Wise holds a meeting with the most dangerous men within the continent, the most loathsome masterminds of the criminal world, all in the hopes of recruiting one of them into the organization, to uphold its name and spread its message. Every year, with no recruitment yet.

With trembling hands, Shinso stuffs the key back into his pocket, eyes on the lookout for anyone who might’ve caught the key in his hand, but sighs in relief when he sees some engrossed in their meaningless poker and absurd talks, while the majority have made their way to the next hall over for the auction that is being held. He takes the stairs three at a time up the floors, facing a red oak double door, the same forsaken number engraved into it. After multiple failed attempts at inserting the key in the lock, he finally does with a huff, hearing the lock echoing in his ears before pushing the door open.

To be honest, Shinso didn’t know what he was expecting to see on the other side of the door, he thought maybe he’d watch weaponry trade off, perhaps people brawling and fighting amongst each other for the title of being the new members. But he certainly didn’t expect to be engulfed in jazz music, men with their cigars laughing and chatting, without a single care in the world, as if their hands weren’t tainted with the blood of the innocents, oh how he loathed them. In an attempt to fit in, he grabs a glass of whiskey from the butler standing by the door, nodding to him in thanks before moseying his way over to the corner in the room, he’d be damned if he got caught in the crossfire of those lunatics.

A stage is set up in the front of the room, and it takes a second for him to acknowledge the pole placed right at its center, it takes him another few seconds to see the beauty dancing on that pole, Shinso’s eyes rake her body without his knowledge, he admires the lingerie adorning her body, hugging her in all the right places, garter snug against her thighs as she twirls, her legs looking endless in those heels he wonders how she can dance so elegantly with them on… wait a minute.

As if predicting the minute he realized it was you, you twirl to face him, lips pulled into a smile yet again, a giggle interrupting your humming as your body twists and turns on the pole. Shinso isn’t really sure how long he sits there captivated by your body, the only thing breaking his trance is the clap on his back and the heavy weight that sits next to him. “Beauty, isn’t she?”

Bile rises to Shinso’s throat at the mere sound of the person next to him, fear stills him in his place, restricting any movement he’s even thinking of doing, all he could do is sit, widened eyes and sweaty brows at the sight of The Wise right beside him.

“Don’cha love it when women like her,” The Wise points at you with his cigar, “work to please men like us?” His arm now completely wrapped around Shinso’s shoulder as the hero feels his soul levitating from his body. “Look aroun’ya,” and he does, and only then does he really pay attention, he should’ve seen it all along, the glossy eyes, the droopy heads, it's a sight he was so well accustomed to that his brain normalized it to him. With whatever courage he musters up, he shifts his eyes to look at the man beside him, noticing the ear plugs he wore, and right then the gears start to turn in his head. “My most prized possession I tell’ya.”

Of course you would be, how else would you have access to all these things, the card, the key, the vanishing from thin air, it all makes sense now.

“Enjoying yourselves, gentlemen?” your words are flowing like honey to his ears, a low buzz ringing in his brain as you spoke to the men in front of you. His ability to frown is nonexistent, a relaxed look adorning his face as he looks up at you, so elegant and beautiful in whatever hugged that miracle of a body.

“Sure are,” The Wise jerks Shinso by the shoulder, and he realizes that was done to break whatever trance he was in, he could only glare back at you when you smile at them, that conniving smile that hosted all the lies you spouted to him.

“y/n,” He calls you and by God if this isn’t the most beautiful name Shinso ever hears, what a shame it's being tainted by the voice of this criminal. “Wadda ya say to takin’ this fine boy to the red room, hm?” The man urges him to stand and take your hand, which he did at the blink of an eye, his body moving on it’s own to graze his lips against your knuckles in a breathless kiss. “Treat’m real nice for me.” The hero’s feet take him to follow you, his steps light, like walking on clouds, the sway of your hips pulling him closer to you until his chest is flush against your back, pushing you to move faster into the room you are pointed towards.

Walking aimlessly through hallways, taking lefts and rights he would never be able to recollect in his current state, you both enter a room, red just like The Wise called it, crimson silk sheets fitted on a king sized bed, maroon loveseats and plush carpets, everything in that red hue that it's almost nauseating.

Bringing your hands in a loud clap, the fogginess in Shinso’s vision dissolves, your creased brows and frown now more prominent to him than ever, his eyes catch the scar trailing from the back of your neck to your cleavage, confused as to why his usual perceptive self would miss it, but then again, he doesn’t feel like he was ever himself throughout this whole ordeal.

To say he was furious is an understatement, he never felt more played in his life, he is Mindjack, the most conniving hero of all of Japan, he was manipulative and sly , known by his people to get jobs done, no matter who his opponent is, he always comes back victorious. And when his ears pick up your sigh of relief, he could only see red, he is hurt, he is scared, but now its his act, his turn to fuck shit up, he wants to hurt, he wants to scare.

“Fuckin’ lying bitch,” It takes him all but two steps for his body to graze yours, tantalizing eyes boring down into yours as you gasp at the close proximity, “you were workin’ with’em this entire fuckin’ time?”

“N-no that’s not it,” you stutter, flustered at his overwhelming presence, trying to put some distance between you and the fuming man by pushing his chest, “Please, I need you to listen to me.”

“Oh, now you’re beggin’ hmm?” his firm warm hands circle your wrists, tugging them away from his body and using them to pull you even closer to him, his breath now grazing the tops of your cheeks, “Didn’t your boss tell you to treat me right?” he breathes, “well, get to it, slut.”

“That’s not what this is Hitoshi, just listen-” for the love of all that’s pure in this world, why does the sound of his name exceed his perception of how happiness is supposed to reverberate in his ear? “Keep my name outta your mouth, or I swear,” He hisses at you, the grip on your wrists tightening as you whimper out in pain.

“You think you can just toy with me? Have me running around and following your orders like a lil bitch!?” He sees you trembling, lips wobbly and in tears, how ironic, he doesn’t know a few words would get you to start tearing up, the change in demeanor from when he first met you confuses him for a second, but only a second, because he’ll be damned if he falls for any of your tricks anymore. “N-no, I swear it isn’t like that, just p-please, please c-calm down! Let me explain myself-” the ugly cackle he lets out shuts you up, teary eyes widening as they fall on his, the aura he’s radiating is terrifying to say the least, your knees shaking in dread at what’s about to fold.

“You think you can play my game and win?”

It takes you a minute to answer, the word no echoing in your head, throbbing in your brain so painfully you forget the words that follow it, but what you can’t forget, what you will never forget, no matter how delirious you feel, is the look of pure sin across Shinso’s face, grin rivaling that of the Cheshire cat, because you were now simply a measly little pawn in his game.

Mindjack works in dingy jobs with filthy manipulative men in black markets and the human trafficking industry, criminals that broke every law in their way to get what they desire, so why couldn’t he indulge even a little himself?

He lets go of your wrists, watching as your arms sway next to your body like dead weight before he turns around to flop down on the loveseat, legs spread wide as he waves his hand over to you.

“Waddaya waitin’ for,” he knows you can’t answer him, but it feels so fucking good to hold such power over you after all you’ve put him through. “Now, strip.” the surge of power he feels jolts his dick up in excitement as he watches you take off your lingerie, moves robotic and forced, eyes glazed over both with tears and his control over your dumb little brain. Hitoshi is no villain, he is a respectable hero, but he’s been called that all his childhood, he might as well live up to that expectation, one way or another.

Shinso stands when you’re fully naked in front of him, long legs circling you and taking you all in, the back of his hand grazes your nipple and he all but groans as it pebbles at his touch. But god, he was nowhere near being done with you.

“Spread your legs for me on that bed,” he grins at the way you follow his orders even before he asks, “will ya?” you settle yourself on the bed before slowly dropping your weight on your back, hazy eyes staring up into the ceiling as your arms bring themselves down to circle the back of your knees, pulling them up close to your chest to expose yourself to him.

Shinso’s cock twitches in his pants again at the opportunity to just seath it into you without any warning, but he barely holds himself back, approaching your body and feeling himself salivating at the sight, what a sight it is, your pussy looking so fucking beautiful clenching over nothing, the sight tempting him to just dive his face right in to get a taste of your juices.

Taking off his suit jacket and rolling the sleeves of his shirt, Shinso presses his thumb to your clit, frowning when he notices how dry you are, of course you would be, he chuckles to no one, puckering his lip to spit right at the nub, watching it trail down to your clenching hole, the sight igniting a flame within him, he does it again, simply to watch your spit hide in your cunt, impatient to follow suit and bury himself in there.

His thumb is quick to draw circles with your clit, needing for your orgasm to wash over you quickly, eager for the things he’d do to you after he preps you enough to take him. The usual comforting silence is thick between you, no moans escaping your ajar mouth as your arousal seeps out of your pussy, he prods your hole with his finger to collect your nectar, smearing it across your clit again to rub even faster against it.

The only indication of you coming undone is when your thighs start to shake, your body curling in on itself as your back arches, your cunt gushing on his fingers, and Shinso is almost disappointed to not hear you moan out his name in pleasure. But he isn’t that disheartened, he’s bound to hear you scream.

You on the other hand, are petrified at the way your body is being handled, feeling yourself looking down at the horror being folded in front of you, this isn’t you, this is a shell of who you are, wrapped around his finger, at his mercy, and you want out, no matter the cost. But, you are to regret these words, because you see him unbuckling his belt, you hear the zipper drilling in your ear, and you watch him lay atop you, feeling your lungs constrict at the weight settling upon it, and to your utmost terror, the only thing that breaks his bind on you is when you feel his warm head prodding at your entrance, right before seething completely in, your throat prickling when you wail hoarsely in pain at feeling like being split into two.

“No, nonononon, st-stop please, please!” You’re crying, legs thrashing and arms flailing trying to push this monster off of you, but you can’t, you think as your walls pulsate in pain at the intrusion, you’ll never be able to with him placing his entire weight on you like that, and the way he pulls out before impaling you again has you seeing stars in the worst way possible. Desperate for an escape, you grab a chuck of his hair, your nails digging into his scalp before you yank, your jaw throbbing at how tight you clench your teeth in pain and disgust and pure panic. The strength you muster to pull his head up is in vain, because it only jerks his face deeper into your neck, right where your scar trails, and he bites, so hard you’re certain it draws blood.

Only then does he lift his head up, his upper lip smeared with a smidge of blood, your blood, before he spits right into your mouth. Sick to your stomach at the metallic taste invading your taste buds, you spit right up at him, mindless to the debris falling right back at your face, your mascara running down your cheeks as you sneer up at him. Even as he laughs teasingly at you.

“Don’t worry slut,” He rasps, his nose brushing against yours as his thrusts find a pace, pulling out to the tip before pushing himself fully inside, “It’ll feel good in a minute.” and it does, he feels more of your arousal coating his cock as he snaps his hips against yours, your wails and whimpers slowly yet surely are coated more with lust as you moan out his name. “See tha’, almost too easy…” almost too good to be true.

And it is, because when his eyes struggle to find yours, he is reminded by the feeling that overtook him this entire evening, and when he sees the corner of your lips pull lightly does he want to rip your head right out, but the minute he moves his hand, he is overwhelmed by how wobbly he feels, how your face distorts and misshapes before he is met with the sight of the ceiling, the sight you grew accustomed to when he was taking advantage of your unconsciousness.

He groans when he feels you impaling yourself on his cock, pussy clenching so tight as you bop yourself up and down his shaft, your tits bouncing with you as he looks up at you, so mesmerized and entranced by your beauty all he does is hold your hips, helping you lift yourself up before dropping you on him, the squelching sound that follows it music to his ears.

You plant your hands against his chest, hips rolling as you pant at his lips, both of you so drunk on the feeling of each other and chasing your highs, “You gonna listen to me, when I ask you to?” His hand claps against your ass at your question, “Yes, yes oh God, anythin’ just don’t stop.” He can’t help but want more of you, want to feel his cock push against you even further, so he plants his feet firm against the bed, hand grabbing handfuls of your ass as he starts thrusting up at you, moaning against your neck when he shoots ropes of his cum inside of your sopping cunt, squeezing him so tight and milking him, and all of what Shinso remembers is the way you arch your back, pressing your chest against his as your whimper out his name, as he feels your juices dripping against his balls and down on the sheets beneath you. After that, all he could see was black.

Shinso awakes startled, eyes darting in alarm before he relaxes when he confirms he’s alone, the red silky sheets now draped over his lower body, pooling at his lap when he sits up to look around once more, desperate for any sign of you. Yet he only sees a brown folder on top of the love seat, impressively thick with the amount of papers stacked inside it, and when Shinso reaches for it, he catches the note that slipped off and draped down on the floor, reading it and scowling at it. ‘You promised you’d listen’

And boy is he more than lucky to listen to you when you asked him to. Because that folder has every tiny little detail he needs to know about The Wise, from the quirks of his circulating bodyguards to the keys to his multiple homes within the world. Pictures upon pictures of the man, decoded letters and basically intel on his entire criminal record.

Fucking finally, Shinso gets to just go home no that everything’s over and done with.

Limited Edition Sneak Peek:

It is way too early for Shinso, the sun glaring at him as he makes his way into the agency, the honking cars and chattering people feeding into his migraine so early in the morning, and he groans as he pushes his door open, ready to get back to his regular routine after the incident at Vice City.

It hasn’t been even a week, but it sure was eventful, using the folder you left him, Mindjack was able to capture The Wise the very next day, via the map of the routes he takes that was attached in the folder. They were able to ambush him, easily being able to bring the right heroes for the job to overcome the quirks of both his workers and himself. Now the mastermind of Organization XIII was behind bars, making the job of catching the remaining members now much easier.

It almost felt like child’s play, at least, that’s what the heroes made it out to be, flexing their powers and their potential, when they were well aware that all their efforts would’ve been in vain if you and your folder weren't there to aid them in every step.

To say that guilt ate him up is an understatement, he feels himself decaying from the inside out from resentment, he figures he spent too much time in the dark, that it started to mess with him, manipulate him, carve him into someone he isn’t, someone that isn’t fit to be a hero. He feels like was walking into a tunnel with no way out, engulfed and trapped in pure merciless darkness, that ate away at his soul every step he took further in.

Shinso trudges up the stairs with a heavy heart, the dread at what he did to you, especially that your intent to help him didn’t waver despite his actions loomed over him, and he couldn’t remember the last time he felt like he didn’t deserve the life that he’s living in right now.

Yet, the saying ‘there's a light at the end of the tunnel’ rings in his ear, the minute he opens up the door to his office, eyes widening at the sight before him, smile so dazzlingly sweet, a voice just like silk, weaving around him and entrancing him as the words captivated him despite their simplicity.

“Missed me, Hitoshi?”

(1) its common in poker for women to be onlookers, like the wives of the players for example, the jab at him being an onlooker is basically just a sexist joke to make the people around the table laugh to ease their mind.

(2) to help gain more perspective about the poker scene you can read the elaboration here

Aaaand more about the reader’s quirk here!

Hope you enjoyed! Also, PLEASE if you could theorize with me after reading the fic I’d love you forever, ask me about the reader’s quirk, ask me about some hidden meanings between the scenes JUST ANYTHING. MWAH

Borrowers (taglist):

@hanji-is-life @anarchicmartyr @sleepykyan @yourprincess-maybe @wolfygirl1900 @tteokdoroki

@theehoneybunii @nanamisbento (not sure if you wanted to be tagged for bakuhoe only of all my fics, so sorry if its the former!)

if you want to be tagged with for any of my fics let me know ♡

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transneonneko · 3 years

Text

Things from Archie Sonic that I would love to see return in the Mainline Games and/or IDW Sonic!!

Recently, I decided to read some of the Archie Sonic Comic, from like issue 186ish up until the first MegaMan crossover and the reboot, mainly because there were some gaps in my knowledge of those stories. Mainly Issues 198 till 235, which I never got to read as a kid and, I have to say, there were a lot of really interesting concepts during Ian's run of comics before the reboot that I really loved. There was a lot of really interesting concepts I love after the reboot too. I wanna celebrate that. A lot of these concepts and story idea I feel really deserve another chance.

So I wanna make this list of stuff I wanna see return in either for stories in the Mainline Games or the IDW Sonic comics. Before we start, I do wanna add somethings. This post isn't meant to be shitting on IDW and being like "IDW would be better if they did this". I really love the IDW comics and universe. I also know that some of these concepts likely can't be done due SEGA Mandates and I'm not gonna include stuff like "Bring back the Freedom Fighters" because I feel asking to bring back characters isn't gonna be very productive, as much as I would like to see their return. Anyways, let's begin.

The Fate of the ARK

One thing that really inspired this list was this scene right her. We'll talk more about Silver's Future later but for now, let's focus on the ARK. I'm gonna assume anyone reading this knows the story of the ARK from SA2 and Shadow. Sadly, the ARK hasn't really been revisited in the main canon since Shadow, despite how iconic of a set piece it is. In the Archie Comics, we get a look at Silver's future and one of things that may have been the cause of how bad things are is the ARK crashed. Sadly, Archie got rebooted before the writers could go more into it but, from SA2, we know that the ARK was set to crash into the planet if all 7 Chaos Emeralds are placed into it, wiping out all life on the planet. This could be an excellent premise of another Silver adventure, whether it be in the comics or games, where Sonic, Silver and some friends have to stop someone from making the ARK crash into the planet.

Expanding the Eggman Empire/Egg Bosses

Something I've always found a bit lacking in the game canon is how the Eggman Empire itself has been presented. In the games, the Eggman Empire is usually just made up of Eggman, Metal Sonic, Orbot, Cubot, a bunch of robots and (recently) Infinite. It's not really an Empire if it's just one guy and a bunch of robots. The main goal is the conquer the world but we hardly see Eggman actually see what happens when Eggman conquers a place, like what happens to the people who used to live there, besides like Colours and Forces, where the Wisps and Mobians are usually just seen being imprisoned. The Egg Bosses are the perfect solution to this and adds so much to Sonic's World.

The Egg Bosses are Mobians who, either willingly or unwillingly, aligned themselves up with Eggman for whatever reason, becoming commanders of the Eggman Empire. This usually comes about when Eggman has taken over a part of the region and the people living in that region have no choice but to join the Eggman Empire, for their own safety. Not only does this make the Eggman Empire feel more than just one person but it also makes Eggman more a villain himself. It able to portray Eggman as someone to be feared and, I mean, this is a dictator and genocider who is pretty much declaring war against the world.

It also brings up some interesting thoughts about the world. Characters like Maw, Thunderbolt and even Nephthys to a degree joined up with Eggman because they felt it was the right thing to do for the sake of the world, or in Nephthys case, to stop things getting worst later on, meanwhile characters like Grand Battle Kukku are plotting to usurp Eggman, with Clove and Beauregard only working for Eggman to protect family or close ones.

As I said before, having these Egg Bosses also makes Eggman look more threaten, both because he's able to look like a "bigger bad" next to these villains he has command of and, because almost all the Egg Bosses hate Eggman's guts, they are cyberized, a terrifying process in which those who work for Eggman are focus to have parts of their body replaced with cybernetics, with either bombs which will blow if they decide to leave or a locking mechanism that will paralyze their entire body, ready to be locked up.

If either in the game or the IDW comic, I would like to see the Egg Boss concept return. It doesn't even need to be the same characters or use the name "Egg Boss." It would help expand the army of the Eggman Empire, as well as provide some fun bosses for the games I think.

Mobians and Humans living together

This was always a weird hangup I felt the series had. In the case of games between Sonic Adventure & Unleashed, Sonic and friends were the only Mobians, humans made up the NPCs while Mobians were reserved for main characters. Then in Forces and IDW, Mobians made up the background characters, so then Eggman is the only human. I really prefer it when they have the two living together, it makes it seems more normal and, honestly, a better solution than the whole "Two Worlds" explanation.

Eggman Seemingly Defeated

Can I just that I love Issues 198-200? In these 3 issues, Sonic and friends Eggman's main base, the Egg Dome. This including fighting on the outside of the base, involving fighting hoards of the Dark Egg Legion soldiers and Eggman in the Egg Phoenix. After dealing with the outside, Sonic and friends raid the Egg Dome itself, taking different directions, with the Dark Egg Legion seemingly retreating, until they reach the center of the base, where they are blocked off by a barricade, which only Sonic can pass through, giving a "Point of No Return" vibe, Dark Egg Legion soldiers lining up and saluting Sonic. Then Sonic reaches the center and finds Eggman in the Egg Tarantula, starting their final battle which Sonic wins. This defeat is enough for Eggman to lose his sanity, seemingly ending the war Sonic and the Freedom Fighters have been fighting their entire life.

Of course Eggman returns but, god, it's just such a memorable couple of issues. There's a real sense of finality to it. I would a sequence like this in the games, something that feels like truly ending the Eggman Empire and defeating them once and for all. Of course, it wouldn't be the end, Sonic games are always needing to be made which would lead to...

The New Rulers of the Eggman Empire

In the comics after the defeat of Eggman, the Eggman Empire is taken over by some of it's Commanders, the Iron Queen and Iron King, who rules the Empire as their own until they are defeated and Eggman's return.

I love the idea that even if the Eggman, there will always be someone there to take his place. The games could do this by having Neo Metal or Infinite take his place. Hell, IDW did have Neo Metal take over but I think what made that less interesting was that Neo Metal wasn't doing it for himself, he was doing it for Eggman. I think this would work well if a concept like the Egg Boss was introduced in the games, maybe have one of the characters part of that group take over OR have a lot of the more ambitious Egg Bosses war against each other to take command, until eventually Eggman returns and puts them in line.

Silver's Future

Silver is one of the most recurring characters, who always joins the gang when his future is in trouble. The problem is that we never see his future besides 06. We have no idea what Silver's future is currently until it's in danger and, even then, we never see it.

We see Silver's Future in both continuities of the Archie Comic, with two different takes. Pre-SGW has a destroyed city vibe, like 06 but less lava. Post-SGW brought a whole new take where people are ruled by a corrupt council where people are put into class groups, and security robots will arrest if you are not at your job at the right time. They even re-contextualize Silver's bracelets as cuffs that the robots can activate. With Silver being my favourite character as a kid, I remember being obsessed with this new world and story, wanting to know more.

I'm not saying they would need to copy this world exactly but it would be nice if they gave us a concrete and consistence look for Silver's Future.

The Heroic Metal Sonic

Right before the SGW, we were introduce to Shard the Metal Sonic. His story is that he was the original Metal Sonic, the one that raced Sonic in Stardust Speedway. He appeared later in the comic, where Sonic made him realized there was more to life than just being Eggman's killing machine. He seemingly died, but was rebuilt to serve as a member the Secret Freedom Fighters.

This one would be tricky to be included. It worked in the Archie comic as they had been many Metal Sonics throughout the series, each one getting destroyed. Meanwhile, there's only officially been one Metal Sonic in the games made by Eggman (two if we count Classic and Modern). Admittedly, Gemerl fits Shard's personality and does need to be used more in the games but having it be Metal Sonic is just a cooler concept.

I think a solution to this is that we have Metal Sonic 1.0 made by Eggman and, in Rivals 2, we have Metal Sonic 3.0 by Eggman Nega from the future. But what about Metal Sonic 2.0? I think we could have a game where after Metal Sonic fails, Eggman builds a replacement, being 2.0, which would give reason to Metal Sonic wanting to revolt, which could lead to a redemption? While I am loving the IDW comics, I do really miss a lot of what both Archie continuities offered. I haven't mention the some other concepts and stories I liked that really focused on certain characters such as Naugus, Geoffrey St. John, Dimitri etc. Maybe I'll talk about that another day...

#Sonic #sonic the hedgehog #archie sonic #idw sonic #pre-sgw #post-sgw #sega #eggman #eggman empire #egg bosses #shard the metal sonic #silver the hedgehog

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dreamkidddream · 4 years

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Can I request a teen mc who is like YUJI from jujutsu kaisen as in they are the vessel of SUKUNA PLSS? Like maybe they can manifest SUKUNA in his curse form as another being as well like megumis dogs? (If you don’t know JJK can you just do a chaotic teen mc? ❤️)

WHEW THIS ALMOST DID NOT GET POSTED SINCE TUMBLR DELETED PARTS OF IT.

So let me tell you: I started reading the manga but have yet to watch the anime 😭 it’s really good though and I’m probably gonna start it this week, but I’m not sure if I’m 100% confident in writing Sukuna. BUT this request was too good to pass up, so if you don’t like it I will write the other scenario instead just let me know!

So for these headcanons, I made it to where MC is Sukuna’s vessel like Yuji, and that they can manifest him if needed. But, I still kept it to where he’s not exactly a good guy with MC’s best interest at heart. Reader is gender neutral and younger than the Bros, so the dynamic is more family instead of romance just a heads up! Hope you enjoy!

TW: Minor cursing, spoilers for Lesson 16 in Mammon’s, Beel’s, and Belphie’s part

The Brothers with Teen MC who’s Sukuna’s Vessel

Lucifer

Was very irritated with this revelation, but still curious

Still annoyed either way though

He already had to make sure that you stayed alive during your stay and not disappoint Diavolo, but now he had to make sure that you kept this curse at bay too!

#GiveLuciferABreak2021

He’s very skeptical of you: not only because of you being a young human but also being a human with essentially a demon inside of you

A very troublesome demon if not kept under control at all times

Honestly Sukuna was like an buzzing gnat who wouldn’t just go away, so Lucifer didn’t see him as a threat personally. More of a nuisance that could grow into a threat if remained unchecked

After you explained the whole situation, he still assigned Mammon to you, but he made sure to personally keep an eye on you too

Your presence was seen as a threat at first, but as time passed, he, along with his brothers knew you meant no harm, but the same couldn’t be said for this Sukuna

He wanted to have faith in you, but he couldn’t bring himself to fully believe it. After an incident at RAD with another demon attempting to attack you, your powers (or rather Sukuna’s) came out to play

He saw the markings, the extra eyes, the malice spread on your face, and he then realized just how serious this has become. You were able to gain control back, but the damage was already done. You were so distraught, sobbing before you, trying to apologize and swearing that you didn’t mean for this to happen, all the while Sukuna was laughing, morphing a mouth on your cheek

It was so bizarre to see, and he couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity for you. You were such a kind person, always going out of the way to spend time and help wherever you could. You essentially became a part of the family, but he knew that you didn’t feel accepted because of him

After that, your “punishment” was to practice holding control over Sukuna with Lucifer, every day after school (which can just be seen as him checking in on you on a daily basis, and trying out different techniques to make sure repeats of this incident doesn’t happen again). Meaning that you trained on manifesting him at will, instead of him completely taking over

Not gonna lie he’s acting like a proud dad when he sees you making progress and Sukuna just sitting in your head tired of all this positivity lol

Lucifer cares for you, he’s accepted you fully even if you hadn’t for yourself. He wants to protect all of his family (including you), and he doesn’t want to think about what could happen if Sukuna becomes a danger to the Devildom or Diavolo...

Mammon

Is impressed but also low key nervous

Humans are not suppose to be like this, ya know!

He’s not the smartest demon in Hell, but he definitely knows that you can’t summon demons without a pact, and he knows your baby face doesn’t have one with the King of Curses

You had to break down the whole deal, and it made him even more confused and distressed

Was still acting annoyed being your designated babysitter, I mean seriously, just how annoying can you be?!

Just kidding! You guys are totally partners in crime in no time and you both make Lucifer get 2x the wrinkles now

“MC, let the Great Mammon show you how’s it done!”

“Mammon, you’re going to be the reason why we’ll be strung up again for the third time this week.”

“It’s going to be both of your idiots’ faults. Such a pathetic display.”

SHIT HE FORGOT YOU GOT A WHOLE CURSE INSIDE YOU

He HATES whenever Sukuna makes an appearance, whether you call on him or he makes his own special appearance. He’s like a gritty and more sadistic version of Lucifer, minus the style and uptight personality (and honestly the finesse too), which made him 10x the more aggravating

He honestly hates Sukuna in general. Here you are, his MC, one of the only people to stand up and defend him always, struggling to live a normal life because of him. It was bad enough that you got sent down here with no warning, but now you got sent with him, and from what Mammon could hear with the conversations between you two, he wasn’t exactly your BFF

Denies being excited about seeing you perform your cursed techniques, but only because it brings him out (and he guesses it’s a little cool that you know how to do it). But human, you don’t need that lame curse, you got the great demon himself to protect you!

On a darker note, you made Mammon swear to you that if Sukuna took over and you for some reason couldn’t gain back control, that he would protect himself and his brothers first before worrying about you. He hated this even coming up, you should be worrying about what’s the next scheme you guys could pull off, not some weird sharpie colored entity causing problems. But you were dead serious, and you made him promise that if the worst case scenario ever happened, he would make sure it’s taken care of

Mammon realized you were the missing piece to their family. It felt nice to have someone depend on him, to actually treat him with respect and care for him truly. He refused to accept Sukuna as a part of you (really he just acted like he didn’t exist, which he didn’t in his mind), and he refused to let him or anyone else harm you

You’re family now, and he wasn’t going to lose anyone else ever again

Leviathan

Oh look, another normie

Wow, you’re such a normie that you’re even talking to yourself through a manifested mouth on your palm-wait WHAT

You broke it down to him, and you just...stared at you, with a blank expression on his face. Until-

“OMG THIS IS JUST LIKE THE ANIME-“

How ironic lol

He practically had a fanboy overload moment whenever you showed off your cursed techniques to him after he begged asked you countless times

You guys remember that vine with the kid saying, “I have the power of God and anime on my side”? Recreate that while doing your moves and he’ll be in awe and dying laughing at the same time

Will post it to his Devilgram and DevilTube

His envy will start to show at first. How is it that someone boring like you get to have all these cool powers and have an actual king reside in you?? You’re living the Shonen dream and not even grateful for it!

But this reality for him would soon shatter after he saw Sukuna for himself, and the way that he behaved towards you. The way that the curse would just look at with disdain in his eyes just made Levi’s skin crawl. He was made well aware that you were in fact not living the anime dream he thought you were. The look in your eyes reminded him of how he would feel whenever he felt like a scummy otaku, and from that point forward he would find ways to cheer you up

You can plan on having anime marathons, game nights, even talking with Henry (I hc that he can talk and understand aquatic animals) when you get into these moods. Anything that helps him get out of his funks he’s hoping it helps you too. You don’t deserve this type of treatment from anyone, especially someone that even he can no doubt eliminate

You were honestly one of the coolest people that he knows, and one of the strongest too! Not just physically, but mentally too. He can’t imagine what could be going on in your head since Sukuna became a part of you, but he knows that you’re strong enough to overcome anything that he throws at you. And if you had moments where you faltered or doubted yourself, that’s okay! Levi would be right beside you the whole way, doing anything he can to keep pushing you forward

Be the teen anime hero that he’s know you can be MC! You wouldn’t be his Henry if he didn’t have any faith in you, you know?

Bonus: you don’t have to worry about your anime nights being ruined after one night when Sukuna somehow found a spoiler to an anime that Levi was really anticipating became a very visual warning for the curse. Levi convinced you to let him take over, and whatever was said resonated with him because you never heard a peep after that, both out loud and in your head

Satan

Oh he was BEYOND fascinated

We all know how much Satan loves to read and how smart he is, so while you look at your condition as a curse (no pun intended), he saw it as an opportunity

Could you feel this curse coursing through your body? Did you feel stronger? Could he see through your eyes all the time or only when you let him? He had so many questions it wasn’t even funny

Very understanding of your situation surprisingly (but still called you dumb for eating Sukuna’s finger)

Satan would be one of the only people you could really trust when dealing with Sukuna. Yes, you trusted all of the brothers, but if you were really in a bind you could count on Satan to come up with a solution quickly

The only issue was his anger. Everyone knows just how angry he can get, and to avoid him ASAP if you even think he’s getting frustrated. Sukuna knows this too, and will be more than happy to taunt him to truly bring out his wrath. While he does need you alive (for now), it wouldn’t hurt to have some type of fun around here. Plus, this could cause your bonds with these brothers to weaken, and the weaker the bond, the weaker the will to help you keep him at bay and defeat him

But Satan knew better, and you did your best in keeping Sukuna away. He may be the Avatar of Wrath but that didn’t mean he was stupid. However, he did have one slip up unfortunately

You see, he was just having a bad day and already got into a spat with Lucifer, and you sensed that he certainly needed his space. So while you slowly backtracked to your room and from his path, Sukuna decided to be the evil ass that he is, and proceed to provoke him. What finally made him snap was his comment that, “You would be a formidable opponent if you weren’t in your older brothers’ shadow, but oh well. Can’t help who you come from I see.”

It took Beel, Mammon, and Lucifer to properly restrain him from ripping Sukuna (really you) limb from limb, with him laughing manically and you scrambling back in fear. Which called for a very long, detailed family meeting (of course after Satan fully calmed down) that resulted in mediated meetings between you and him for the next month. You felt guilty, you should have done better containing him, but you couldn’t predict whenever he decided to pop up!

But after a long talk, Satan didn’t blame you. He blamed himself for losing to his anger and especially blamed Sukuna. He decided that it was time to get rid of this pest once and for all. Be ready MC, cause once he puts his mind to something, there’s no stopping him

Prepare for your bonding time to be deep into books and practicing new hexes and curses. But don’t worry, it’s not always boring and Satan makes sure that you’re having some type of fun. He’s really doing this to have some sort of protection for you: whether it’s against Sukuna or himself. He wants you to know something besides your cursed techniques just in case they fail for some reason

Will shockingly want you to manifest the curse, one main reason is to obviously collect information on him, the other reason is to test said hexes and curses on him

Can a curse be cursed? Let’s find out

You helped Satan with him realizing that anger isn’t the only emotion that you can feel, and with you being so young, he wanted you to experience life as much as you can. And while you had an extra...passenger with you, he will do his best to make sure that it doesn’t get in the way of you enjoying life. It was nice to see a joyous smile on your face

Also you guys did find a hex that made Sukuna meow for the whole day and it was the best thing to ever happen with him lmao

Asmodeus

Honestly wasn’t really bothered with it at first. If anything, he treated it like hot gossip when you told him in the beginning

One thing he will say though: humans can be so revolting at times. I mean you ate a rotten finger, a cursed, aged, sharp, disgusting- you get the point. He did cringe at that, but everything else was pretty normal besides that

Still talked about your daily gossip, painted nails, the works. But recently, Sukuna’s name has been coming up more and more in your recent convos. Asmo, being quite the messy curious demon, wanted to know more about this curse

He really treated Sukuna like he was just your show and tell act and would want you to bring it out to see how he really was. He was amused with your cursed techniques, but he wanted to see more!

He heard you both talking with one another, and he wanted to see him in person! He hasn’t done anything and you’re among the seven strongest in Hell, so what could go wrong?

So much. So much could go wrong

And so much went wrong

After you manifested him, it went downhill from there. The large amount of control you did show caught his attention, but then it moved to the King of Curses himself. He was very delighted to see him up close for more than a couple of seconds, and took his time admiring his physique up close. It was fun for him, but not for you. Sukuna could feel your will slipping since your focus was being divided dealing with Asmo, so he took this as his time to shine

You had an exhausting day, and you were tired, which he used to his advantage. Asmo started to complain when Sukuna suddenly disappeared, but didn’t have a chance to voice it as your arm suddenly gripped the front of his shirt. He felt himself jolt, feeling his heart pumping. He looked into your eyes and realized that this wasn’t you, this was now Sukuna. The black markings that lined your face along with the new eye color (and the extra pair of eyes) came with a grin that stretched across your face

“What’s the matter? You were so eager to be in my presence, is it not to your liking now that the tables have turned? You claim to be one of the strongest, yet I would be able to kill you just being in this form-Ah, the brat is trying to come back, what a shame. Do me a favor, little Asmodeus, don’t insult me like this again. I am a King, and you will remember that. I might have to pay you another visit and take your heart with me next time to make sure you’re aware of that.”

He didn’t give Asmo time to answer, as his grip loosened and you were back. He saw you stumbling, shook out of his own thoughts and reached to catch you. He knew that this curse was an issue, but he didn’t understand just how serious this was, how serious it had gotten so quickly. The thought of Sukuna didn’t scare him, but the promise of him coming back just for him caused some worry. He wasn’t the weakest, but he didn’t want to hurt you! As much as he couldn’t stand his new found scorn of Sukuna, it wasn’t enough for him to take the chance of injuring you

You didn’t strike fear in him, rather the opposite. To see someone he has grown to care about be the one to try and bring his demise was...saddening. He could just feel his heart breaking at the notion. And if this experience taught him one thing is to be more understanding of what you’re going through

You remembered bits and pieces of the incident, and whenever you asked Asmo about it, he would divulge a tad in what happened, but wouldn’t go into too much detail. He didn’t want you blaming yourself, and he didn’t want you to distance yourself from him either. You already proven yourself of formindable you are ever since you gotten down here, and Asmo wasn’t going to let some jealous wannabe demon get in the way of that!

So no more talk of the thing, and whenever it did want to make an unsuspecting visit, Asmo would be ready. The thing was immune to most curses, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t be charmed to some extent, right?

Has covered the eye slits up with makeup and other beauty products every morning, becomes both of your favorite bonding activity. Anything to erase any evidence of it existing and to hear your giggles brightens his day everytime!

Beelzebub

Is very sympathetic of your ordeal

Has mad respect for you eating that finger though, even he doesn’t think that he would eat that

Maybe with some sauces and some Hellroast he might

Is another brother that tries to keep an eye on you. If this Sukuna really is as dangerous as you make him out to be, then he would make sure to be prepared if things went south

Beel’s motto: stay ready you ain’t gotta get ready

Will want you to practice your moves with him. Beel’s pretty powerful, and on muscles alone is one of the strongest brothers. He wants to make sure that you can recognize your full potential, and to always do your best. Expect to be in the gym or the HoL’s backyard working out and training majority of the week

Is thoroughly impressed with your cursed techniques

Beel doesn’t understand that while yes, you have a whole curse residing in you, doesn’t make you less of a human. He forgets that you still have some limitations, and you have to remind him at least twice a week. You gotten more powerful yes, but you still weren’t at Beel’s level

“You can do it MC! Don’t give up!”

“Beel this is over 500 pounds...are you forgetting that I’m still HUMAN-”

But you can never stay mad at him, he’s just too sweet and he means well. He genuinely wants you safe and prepared if anything happens with Sukuna, and if getting you buffed up makes him feel somewhat at ease, then you’ll deal with it

Shares his food with you sometimes. He makes sure that you eat properly too, so no skipping out on meals!

Great listener! Whether you’re complaining about class, talking about a new restaurant you’re interested in (he’s definitely tuned in), or venting about Sukuna, he’s all ears. Even gives you advice if you ask for it or if you really need it

Has encountered Sukuna while he took over your body once, and let me tell you, he was not happy at all

Beel is one of the brothers that are in touch with his emotions; he doesn’t really fly off the handle into a rage unless someone has done something to his family or if he’s being denied food. But now that you’re family and vulnerable not only to other demons but to this curse inhabiting your body, he wasn’t taking any chances

He made sure to be very clear when talking with Sukuna. He wouldn’t stand for anything happening to you, and he made sure that the curse would wish he stayed scattered if that boundary was crossed

Beel is a very protective big brother that’s constantly looking out for you all the time. Even if you feel like that you need to bare this burden on your own, he makes sure that you never feel alone.

He already lost Lilith, and he doesn’t want to lose you too. He won’t mess up this time

Belphegor

See, he knew that there was something wrong with humans, and you were living proof of that

How can you trust humans not knowing if they have another creature living within them?!

Whatever, he’s too sleepy to even care about it

And you weren’t one of the worst so...he guesses that you’re tolerable, but don’t push it!

In the beginning, he thought it was easy to manipulate you, but he could just sense that something wasn’t right with you (and no, it wasn’t because you were just human). He would hear you talking aloud to yourself, except that you were...responding to yourself too?

He thought you finally cracked up lmao

He brought it up as a joke once, but the way you reacted was tense and...ashamed? Oh, he just hit a gold mine. This could make things much more interesting. You shared a little bit of your story with this so called “King of Curses”, but he was smart enough to make a plan off of the information. Maybe he could take advantage of Sukuna like he is of you. Kill two birds with one stone

Well his plan backfired swiftly. After he was freed from the attic and went straight in for the kill, things went array. His hands were wrapped around your neck, he could-should see the life leaving your eyes, but instead he was met with Sukuna’s gaze. Belphie thought he planned this right, he made sure that he didn’t give you enough time to manifest him or to use your curse techniques, so how was this-

“You think I don’t recognize the look of bloodlust, you spoiled child? You were foolish enough to believe that you could get rid of me this easily like the brat?!”, and he was sent flying across the room. How was this happening, this wasn’t suppose to happen!-

“As much as I would like to see them die, they’re useful to me for the time being. Once they are of no use anymore, the only one who will be relishing in their demise is me. They’ll be dying by my hand, not by some weakened child.”

Those words still resonated with him still to this day. Honestly, the whole incident did. No matter how many times he tried to convince himself that you forgiven him and want to build a real bond together, his mind refused to erase that horrid memory, and he deserved it. When Belphie remembers back to that day, he remembers the horrified and heart breaking looks on his brothers’ faces, the way that your eyes show how betrayed and petrified, and how you were gasping out begging him to stop, before he comes out and puts everyone in danger

He felt disgusting, guilty, mortified, regretful, a disappointment. Those feelings only escalated after having them explain the truth to him, both about yourself and being a descendent of his dead sister. He could see how much you touched his family, and you extended that kindness to him too, and he just exploited it

He stayed far away from you for a very long time. He didn’t try to approach you at all, only staying in the planetarium or even the attic, to avoid crossing paths with you. He didn’t deserve to make a connection with you like his older brothers, as much as he wanted to. He was remorseful, it wasn’t because of the whole Lilith revelation, but because you really didn’t deserve that happening to you

You made the first move to make amends, to have a fresh start, and he couldn’t have been more grateful, albeit nervous. He was so terrified of messing things up again, but you were there to help keep him grounded. “I won’t lie to say that what you did was okay, but I’m willing to move on from it. You aren’t completely forgiven, but we can work towards fixing things, together.”

Belphie was shaken by Sukuna’s words, but he wasn’t necessarily scared of him. In fact, he would personally find a way to cast him out of your body and destroy him permanently as the perfect apology and thank you gift; the thank you for reuniting him with his family, and for helping them develop healthy relationships with one another. They weren’t as separate as before, and it made him feel so warm every time he thought about it

Not that he would ever say that to anyone

You both spent time together either napping or plotting for future LYS (Lucifer You Suck) pranks. And since Belphie is pretty good with magic himself, he would be teaching you some new spells or curses that you could use to protect yourself, even against the curse inside you

Belphie will make sure to not make another huge mistake when it comes to you ever again. He’ll have his little slip ups, but you were never put into harms way because of them. He doesn’t want to sabatoge this bond, and he wants you to truly be happy spending time with him. He’s not the greatest role model (obviously) and may be tight lipped about how he feels most of the time, but he really does have your best interests at heart

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findingjoynweirdstuff · 3 years

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With all the recent VOD asks - and as an interested person in the topic of archiving - how many old VODs have you managed to find? And do you have any tips for finding downloads / archives?

It varies a lot per streamer.

You’ll find a few specific ones on archive (and usually pretty important ones! That’s where I found Karl’s November 16 vod and I think Niki’s birthday party might be there iirc?)

Maybe I’ll make a proper guide post at some point on how to find ‘em with recommendations for channels, but for now I’ll just make a way-too-long answer to this ask and dump this here for the time being, since I know every time I say “I’ll make a proper post” I never get around to it lol

Okay. So.

You can usually find vods spread out on YouTube over multiple different archive channels. Some, like Fundy and Badboyhalo, have extremely well-organized and thorough unofficial archive channels that have everything laid out super easily.

Pro tip! Don’t search “Fundy VODs” on YouTube because that will only get you to Fundy’s official channel, which -- no offense to Fundy -- is...lacking...

Instead, search “Fundy stream archive” and you’ll find the comprehensive unofficial channel. Fundy stream archive my beloved -- it has everything.

It’s a bit of an unfortunate and ironic situation whenever a streamer’s official VODs channel accidentally makes the more extensive unofficial ones harder to find :’)

Others, like Jack Manifold and Tubbo, are more difficult to locate since there aren’t really any single-streamer archive channels that are super extensive (though recently, a new JM one has popped up, so if that one continues it could be a good resource -- it just doesn’t have a lot yet)

(Also I swear if I get ONE more person coming to me because of this post saying that Tubbo has a VODs channel I’m gonna punch a wall /lh)

(I love you all and I know you mean well but akj;ldfshgslka;as;fjkldghtubbopleasegetapropervodschanneliswear)

The Karl Jacobs VOD playlist is now unlisted for whatever reason but still accessible as long as you have a link! (pssst...just gonna slide it here real quick)

Tommy’s first-day Dream SMP VOD got privated for some reason. I luckily had a copy downloaded so I tried uploading it to YT, but it got blocked worldwide :/ So not entirely sure what to do about that. I’ve still got the file at least?

Tommy’s VODs channel is amazing, though, and including the first day VOD I can only think of a couple other VODs that have gone missing due to specific reasons, so you can find Tommy’s POV extremely easily. Same with Quackity, Awesamdude’s VODs channel is great too.

Phil and Techno are both A-ok in the archive game. Techno’s got a playlist that’s easy to find, and Phil's got archives of all his VODs directly on Twitch. No problem finding any of theirs.

Antfrost and Puffy are the only two that I’ve really run into problems finding. A helpful anon let me know that thankfully, Antfrost’s bathwater lore stream VOD is available on archive and it looks like a few others are on there too. More recently I’ve found people who are archiving Puffy’s VODs (thank goodness), but I made sure to start trying to preserve Puffy’s VODs and Ant’s Eggpire lore streams myself from January 14 onwards. I’m not the best at it so the VODs are kinda scuffed, but it’s better than nothing and I’m trying to figure out a good system. They’re currently unlisted rn but if you need a stream link, just lmk

I believe Flypaw? has a bunch of Eret’s old VODs saved, but not sure if they’ve been able to upload them anywhere

Other than that, Eret, Tubbo, and Jack Manifold’s August VODs are pretty much Void Zone unfortunately. I put together one of Eret’s VODs from clips alone and got around an hour of footage recovered, but piecing everything together is extremely time consuming and I haven’t done it for any others since :/

(Tubbo literally put a six-minute clip of one of the most important Disc War VODs from August on his VODs channel but not the actual full thing...

Tubbo...Tubbo why...causing me nothing but Pain :’)

As long as you have the date located, though, you can usually search up the date with the streamer on youtube and find that specific VOD, if it’s not one of the Void Zones. The hardest part is just knowing what date to search for tbh, since stream titles can be kinda vague sometimes.

Which is where the fanbase comes in!

Not just recaps or word-of-mouth, even livetweets on Twitter can help you figure out the specific date that something happened.

Hope this helped some? This is a mess of a post, I’m so so sorry, I just kinda spit this out out of nowhere huh

Anyways, this goes for everyone -- by all means, send me asks n stuff about VODs! I might not be able to find everything or respond to every one, but there’s not really an easy system for finding this stuff, so I don’t mind doing a bit of searching for you all!

(PS: if anyone knows where you can find Sapnap’s storytime stream, because it’s gone missing yet again...I would be so very grateful)

#dream smp #asks #long posts #reference

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writingonesdreams · 3 years

Text

Sortinghatschats - When heroes fly

Using the @sortinghatchats system best explained by @wisteria-lodge. Check them out for more info.

As per usual, trying to get a show out of my head involves a sorting post. When heroes fly is a 9-episodes long Israeli tv show about four former army friends coming together after a fallout to save a common disappeared friend.

Double lion, double bird and double badger. If the snake lion was a double snake, the show would have all sortings represented as pairs.

Aviv, the designed MC, gives me a strong lion primary vibe. He is the guy who is unstoppable on a mission, but who is completely lost without one. He burns hard after the death of his commander he had to leave behind to save the rest of his squad and never stopped hating himself for it. It’s like he failed to live up to his ideals in his own eyes and the resulting trauma made him even more angry with himself as a failure and he chased everyone, including his big love Yeali, away from his own suffering.

Aviv is in the worst state out of the group, when we meet him - he lives with his mother, can’t hold a job, has problems to sleep at night, looks like a walking corpse and gets anxiety attacks and flashbacks. But, once he hears Yeali might be alive, he turns into a freaking bulldozer who jumps on the first plane to Columbia and drives the group to search for her.

His ways are very lion secondary. His solving method is jumping, attacking probelms head on, listening to his instincts and feelings. He also has that leaderly air around him. Although he is the worst off from his friends and they haven’t seen each other in years, not to mention their relationships are more than cracked, they still listen to him as if he was their commander, following him to risky, dangerous or even insane situations, most of the time without knowing why or against common sense. Cause this is Aviv, and it’s easy to get swep in his unstoppable energy.

The most emotional energy is, ironically, between Aviv and Himmler, with the two arguing the most. Himmler openly blamed Aviv for their commander’s and best friend’s death, for not staying to die with him, not caring about the fact Aviv saved dozens of other soldiers by doing so, including Himmler. Himmler seems like a Snake Lion to me. He hangs on to the loyalties to his closest people to unreasonable degree. It breaks him to blame one loved one for the death of the other, but he does and it’s what breaks the group for years too. Himmler is the most hedonistic, unapologetically selfish and indulgent. He is wealthy and he enjoys it, with all the delights of earthly living. His neutral state is very chill - he is fine not doing anything in particular, when he is not helping or honoring his best friends from the army. He notebly doesn’t have a wife, kids and or close friends after the breakup of his last friend group, maybe hinting at a burned little snake, too hurt by everything to seek new people.

The lion comes in the form of his brutal honesty. Not sure if this comes from his wealth and comfy lifestyle, but he is arrogant and likes to tell people exactly what he thinks, consequences be damned. If he feels something, he is gonna tell you, and you are probably not gonna like it, cause he feels a lot of bitterness.

Maybe the shared lion secondary with Aviv is what makes these two clash so much. They are both very feeling and action based and their arguments can get physical, when heated enough. But they also get each other, synching in a way I don’t see them do with any other characters on the show and deep down really respect each other. Himmler is the most selfish, and the one who blames Aviv for what he himself blames himself for and taunts him for having a mental breakdown and not dusting himself off like the others have. But Himmler at least confronts him, telling him what the others have been thinking the whole time, letting this issue get out in the air and adressed properly. Himmler also makes fun of Aviv’s hero complex, the way his lion primary makes him brim with high ideas and the desire to save the world, but also endlessly loves him for it. It’s a very complex dynamic (and a brilliant tearjerker reconcilliation scene).

Not to mention how Himmler goes and saves Aviv without a word, cause he just can’t leave him, no matter how logical it would be. Maybe this is the source of their problem - that Aviv could let Azoulay die alone to save the others, but Himmler wouldn’t be able to leave his loved one behind, no matter what the smarter “right” decision would be. He just physically couldn’t. And he didn’t with Aviv at the end.

Benda is the cheerful, friendly and warm-hearted of the group. He doesn’t have an ongoing conflict with anyone and is quick to forgive and forget. He is closer to Aviv though and rigoriously defended him from Himmler. I’m guessing him on a badger, because he is very people-oriented and driven. He doesn’t need a mission or a system and he doesn’t care about people in general, but about his people. The conflict kinda makes him choose between staying safe and stable with his beloved wife (who he went through a drug addiction together) or risk everything for his long lost army buddies. A frequent badger arc problem. When she reprimands him for what he risks for them, he tells her she “can’t understnad, cause she isn’t one of them” which shocks him just as much, but it’s how he partly feels. This isn’t a snake circle sentiment, but a group-based one. Obligated to them, after fallouts and absence and problems he had to deal with on his own, to be there for them. Benda strikes me as a badger secondary too for his connecting personality, the peace-making ability that plays a middle ground between the two edgy lion secondaries.

Dubi, the last of the four, sees like a double bird to me. His main conflict is with his faith and whatever he believes in it still or not, going about it in a very introspective, long hand philosophical way. He is the most traditional and religious of the group and big or rituals and doing things “the proper way”. The way he writes off Yeali, his own sister, seems the coldest and easiest of the group. But that’s just how he works - Yaeli couldn’t surive the car accident, so what does it matter they can’t find the body? What is the search for? He wants to move on from this, he wants to give his parents a proper funeral, a grave to mourn and move on. He is the most settled of the group with a steady teacher job and kids, the one quickest to adapt to a new normal after his experiences with the army, the one who suffered the least backlash (although he didn’t come unscathed completely ofc).

Now that I look at the sortings, their reactions after Azoulay’s death are making more sense, all acting true to their types.

Aviv was the lion hero, paid with terrible suffering and loss, but was also glad he was the one to suffer the most, sparing all the other ones from that kind of pain. His mission to save everyone fueled him, even when the cost was as terrible to bear as it was, the split second decision to leave one (dying already) behind saved them all.

Himmler as a snake primary couldn’t understand this reasoning or feeling and just raged against it. For him one person he loved couldn’t be measured again anyone else, not the numbers, nor the cause or any logic.

Benda as a badger cared more about the group as a whole than the individual, and although he missed Azoulay terribly, he didn’t even think to question Aviv’s decision. One died, more were saved. End of story.

Dubi agreed with Aviv too, cause it was the birdy logical sensible decision to make. Azoulay was mortally injured. They would have risked dying for his body or died with him, and that was not something their beloved commander would have wanted. He understood and accepted it smoothly, but he also understood why Aviv and Himmler wouldn’t see eye to eye on this - and picked Himmler’s side, so he wouldn’t be alone.

Aviv - lion lion

Himmler - snake lion

Benda - badger badger

Dubi - bird bird

#sortinghatchats #when heroes fly #double lion #snake lion #double badger #double bird #feel free to correct me #I haven't done a sorting post in a while #very character driven show #very bromance centric #and the hurt/comfort in this show is insane

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stxphxn-strange · 3 years

Text

playing pretend

a/n: hello hello hello! i have a prompt fill for this Dark!Stephen AU from @ironstrangeprompts and im just gonna post it before i can start second guessing my writing lmao

tw: mentions of torture, injury, implied past abuse

Prompt: Dark!Stephen AU. The avengers never really notice Stephen’s pacifist to-a-fault superheroing style until one day a magical incident corrupts him/magical entity possesses him. They’re treated to a completely unhinged and lethal Stephen, the avengers realize just how much Stephen was holding back, what with his quick work dispatching all of them, resulting in very heavy injuries. However, he takes special interest with Tony Stark, whom he has been dating for a few months now. He has Tony all strung up in the middle of the battlefield in front of the other broken and beaten avengers, he taunts and tortures him. “Being a doctor and a sorcerer is so very useful, I can break you in very precise manners, put you back together and then do it again.” When he gets bored of Tony’s screams and decides to end him permanently, Stephen suddenly snaps back to normal. The real Stephen has been battling internally to gain back control, knowing that he’s about to kill the love of his life gives him the final push to break free. He portals them all to safety and to receive medical help. Cue heavy angst and Stephen trying to make it up to them but especially Tony, who insists that everything is fine and that he knows it wasn’t the real Stephen. However they both know that Tony is just putting up a brave front and is undoubtedly traumatized by the incident. Up to the author on if they want to end it in a bleak or hopeful tone.

It took Tony a few minutes to register his surroundings when he woke up. He wasn’t lying in a makeshift coffin of bent metal, broken bones, and the ruins of the building. The familiar baritone, the melody of his waking world, wasn’t hollow and cruelly taunting him. Stephen sounded like himself, soothing and loving and reassuring but worried and tired all the same. Tony heard guilt in his partner’s voice, delineating his dream, his memory, from the present. He wanted to follow that voice, the real Stephen’s voice, and leave the past behind them. Guilt was eating away at Stephen as he tried to calm Tony down and wake him up. He defaulted to the standard promises and phrases when Tony had nightmares, but this time was different. This time Stephen was the cause of the nightmare, and he knew it. No matter how much Tony said it wasn’t his fault, that everything was okay, Stephen knew he had to repair the pieces of Tony’s trust he’d obliterated.

Tony thrashed again in his sleep, feebly kicking the air in front of him just like he did on the battlefield. “Stop!”

“Sweetheart,” Stephen began, unsure of what to say. “Tony, wake up. You’re safe, no one will hurt you.”

“Stephen!” Tony groaned and thrashed again, his eyes still shut as he fought to wake up. “This isn’t you… don’t do this.”

Stephen barely held back tears as he spoke again. “It’s over Tony, I’m back. I’m me again. I won’t hurt you, I promise I’ll never hurt you as long as I live.”

Tony was shaking when he finally woke up, unsure if he was even breathing. He opened his eyes hastily, studying the look on Stephen’s face. Stephen looked concerned, even worried, but unsure of himself as he murmured soothing nonsense to Tony.

“Breathe, Tones,” Stephen said. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. It’ll be okay, I promise. Just breathe, we’re alright. I’ll leave you be once I’m sure you’re okay, and—”

Tony wrapped his arms around Stephen and hugged him tightly. “Don’t you dare. Don’t go… please don’t go Stephen.”

“I can’t risk scaring you again Tony. I’ve already hurt you enough, it’s not fair to keep putting you through this,” Stephen argued, fighting his urge to hug Tony back.

Tony only held on tighter, determined not to let Stephen leave.

Stephen still wanted to disappear, but he quickly understood that Tony wouldn’t let him go that easily. The mechanic was still shivering and trembling, slowly starting to calm down as Stephen hesitantly hugged him back.

++++

They both woke up at the same time, almost four days later. Stephen woke up slowly, feeling like he was underwater or in a fog, while Tony started awake across town.

It was pitch dark in the room, the heavy curtains drawn shut to keep out any intrusive light. It was the middle of the day, judging by the clock Stephen kept on his nightstand, but he couldn’t feel the sun on his face, or see any light from his window. He was bathing in pitch black. At first, he thought he was dead, doomed to an eternity in darkness, when something red bloomed and came to life beside him. Even now, his Cloak was always dramatic, comforting as it covered him like a blanket.

As his eyes adjusted, Stephen registered Wong and Christine on the other side of the room, just studying him.

Christine was the first to meet his stare, rushing to his bedside. “How do you feel?”

Stephen grimaced in pain as he shrugged. “Not great, thanks.” There was something else on his mind, but he was too afraid to ask. He was almost too scared to hear the answer.

Luckily, Wong spoke up before Stephen could ask. “You slept for three and a half days, Strange. How much do you remember?”

“Something attacked the Compound… I think it was me,” he mumbled.

“Not exactly,” Wong began, gentler than Stephen had ever heard him.

“Possessed or not, I still attacked!” Stephen sat up, paying the price as he rose quicker than his body could handle. “It doesn’t matter if I saved everyone, not if I almost killed them first.”

Neither Wong nor Christine spoke, and the cloak simply wrapped tighter around Stephen’s shoulders.

“You did save everyone,” Wong said finally. “And you banished whatever entity possessed you. We still haven’t figured out what it is, but…”

Wong’s voice trailed off as Stephen stopped listening. His head started to hurt as he remembered, in searing detail, more of what happened and what caused him to snap out of the state he was in.

Tony was near silent, his voice failing him after hours of tortured screams. Somewhere, somehow, Stephen knew that he was the one hurting him, the one causing Tony so much pain even though he promised never to hurt the hero. He wanted to stop, to end all of the carnage he’d brought to the Compound, to his friends who were starting to feel like family, to Tony… but he couldn’t. The hand controlling his impulsive strings was strong and steady, and it wouldn’t rest until Stephen finished its bidding.

His movements were mechanical as he strode, like the marionette he’d become, to stand in front of Tony.

And Tony just looked at him with a defeated, almost calm look on his face.

Stephen’s voice sounded distorted when he spoke, preening with a twisted smile as he bent to look upon the man of iron. “Accepted your fate?”

“You won’t be the first person I’ve loved who’s hurt me,” Tony said, between pained breaths. “There’s nothing to say.”

Stephen tried to back up, to keep himself still, but he couldn’t fight the influence of his controller and struck Tony again. “Arrogance is unbecoming.”

Tony inhaled again, deeper and more pained this time but somehow even calmer. “Go ahead and finish the job. I won’t hold it against you, Stephen.”

Stephen was hyperventilating when he heard Wong’s voice again, pressed against the headboard of his bed like he was backed into a corner.

Christine approached him tentatively, resting her hand on one of his shoulders.

Stephen recoiled away from the touch and curled up on himself like a turtle retreating in its shell. He ducked his head under a pillow, shaking in fear and pain from moving too quickly. “Did I… did I kill him? I remember everything until I was about to… please tell me I—”

“You didn’t.” Christine cut him off, hoping to keep her friend from spiraling further. “Wong said you saved everyone, and that includes Tony.”

Stephen sobbed just hearing his partner’s name. Guilt wracked his entire body as he cried harder and harder, his magic running through his veins. Was he not this exhausted, he’d probably set fire to something from his high levels of stress and fear, but all he could do was cry until he fell into painful sleep.

++++

He didn’t finish it.

He didn’t listen.

Tony remembered the horrified look he saw on Stephen’s face, the remorse in his eyes as he sent a vaguely corporeal figure of dark energy through a portal.

Tony remembered the way Stephen apologized again and again as his eyes started closing, overwhelmed by the pain seizing his mind and body. A part of him hoped that Stephen had listened, that maybe the last thing he’d see in this life would be the face he’d come to absolutely adore…

… But he’d woken up sometime later in the MedBay, wanting to see Stephen more than anything. In spite of everything that’d just happened, or maybe because of everything that’d just happened, all Tony really wanted was to go back to sleep, preferably in his partner’s embrace. That really didn’t seem like too much to ask for.

“How are you feeling, Mr. Stark?”

Tony almost didn’t notice Peter pacing around on the ceiling, in fact he didn’t know his pseudo son was even in the room until he suddenly landed a few feet away. “I feel great, Kid. Definitely not like I took a ton of bricks to the face.” He didn’t remember the gory details of the fight, so Tony couldn’t say whether or not he was being literal.

“Welcome back, Boss,” FRIDAY said, a hint of worry in her voice. “And good morning. It’s currently half nine on Tuesday. I’ve been asked to inform you that Col. Rhodes has returned from Washington and has volunteered to lead all reconstruction projects for the Compound. He’s also asked me to keep you updated and will be coming to see you this afternoon.”

Tony sighed. “Thank you. Wait… that means Rhodey came back early?”

“He did,” FRIDAY replied simply. Her voice sounded like what a nod looked like as she continued. “Would you like me to tell him that you asked about him?”

“Sure, but don’t bother him. He doesn’t have to rush to see me,” Tony replied, knowing that Rhodey would probably come anyway. He was maybe the one exception to what Tony had told Stephen earlier, before…

“Col. Rhodes will be here within the hour,” FRIDAY announced.

“Thanks Fri.”

Peter, who had started pacing on the ceiling again, asked what Tony had been wondering since he woke up. “Where’s the Doc?”

“I dunno, Pete. I��ve been wondering that myself,” Tony admitted. “Fri, you wouldn’t happen to know… would you?”

“As far as I can tell, Doctor Strange returned to the Sanctum following the… altercation… on Thursday,” the AI reported.

“What? Altercation? What happened?” Peter landed on the floor again, looking more worried than Tony thought he deserved to.

“There was just a small wizarding mishap, don’t worry about it,” Tony said. He shrugged, trying to reassure Peter as much as he could. “Not even an emergency, Underoos. We would’ve called for you if it was.”

Tony also didn’t want Peter to see what happened. Maybe he was sheltering the kid, but he didn’t want Peter to ever find out about the attack on the Compound. It was bad enough that the team, even in their varied states of consciousness, saw what they did. They saw the fear in Tony’s eyes, saw him slowly surrender to Stephen’s ruthless attacks until he just stopped trying to fight the sorcerer. Tony knew he couldn’t parry these magical attacks, couldn’t break the spelled restraints… but he didn’t want Peter to see how easily he’d given up.

If Peter had more to say, he simply chose not to ask about it. Instead he just shrugged. “Glad you’re okay, Mr. Stark. May heard from Pepper that you got hurt, so I wanted to swing by… no pun intended.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that calling me ‘Tony’ is fine?” Tony asked, rolling his eyes warmly. “I’m fine, Pete. Not up for working in the lab today, I’m afraid, but—”

“That’s okay! My suit isn’t going anywhere, we can upgrade anytime,” Peter replied. “I promised May I’d be home for movie night, but I just wanted to come see you.”

Tony smiled softly. “You’re a good kid, Son. Get home safe, and I’ll give you a call when I’m back in working condition.”

“Thanks IronDad!” Peter was gone in a second, leaving Tony in the quiet with his thoughts.

“Fri?” He asked after a few minutes.

“Still here, Boss.”

“Will you… will you tell Stephen I want to see him?” Tony asked.

Maybe he was the spoiled brat everyone believed, or maybe he was exhausted and touch starved and showing signs of an addictive personality. Tony didn’t know, he didn’t care, and he just wanted his sorcerer back.

“I’ll let him know,” FRIDAY replied, softer than normal.

++++

“Stephen, it’s been days. Days since the attack, days since you holed yourself up in my library like you’re going into hibernation—”

“Good morning to you too, Wong.”

Wong may have laughed at Stephen’s attitude if he didn’t feel so bad for him. Stephen was completely out of it, so much so that he didn’t even realize how late in the day it was. “It’s almost eight, Strange.”

Stephen just sighed. “Did you need something from me?”

“Stark is asking for you again. I think you should see him.”

“You said that yesterday,” Stephen muttered.

“I’m saying it again now. I know you, Stephen, I can read you like any book in here.” Wong began. “You’re trying to outrun your guilt but you know it’s not that easy. Ignoring Tony isn’t going to make things go away, and it’s not going to make either of you feel better. He misses you, and I know you miss him too.”

“I don’t know how I can even look at him after what I did… he trusted me,” Stephen whispered, looking down at his lap. “I broke his trust.”

“Not willingly, and he knows that,” Wong reminded him. “It wasn’t you, Stephen.”

Stephen ignored him, beginning to tremble as he thought back to what Tony had said to him. “He told me he wouldn’t hold it against me… that I wasn’t the first of his loved ones to hurt him. I don’t know what I could do or say to prove to him, let alone to the team, that I’d never hurt them again.”

“Hiding away in here isn’t helping to prove that,” Wong said.

“You just want your chair by the window back,” Stephen accused him.

“Of course I do! But I also care about you and your happiness. If you need anyone to vouch for you, I’ll be here,” Wong replied.

“That sounds like you’ve made up my mind for me.”

“I have. Go now, before it gets too late.”

Stephen opened a portal to the tower, just outside of the lab. “I doubt Tony would be asleep, he’s always awake.”

His suspicions were confirmed as he closed the portal. Tony was in his lab where Stephen thought he’d be, a mug in one hand and a pen in the other.

Stephen’s entire body trembled with nerves as he opened the door, the cloak knocking loudly and dramatically to make his presence known.

“FRIDAY, Quiet Place Protocol please,” Tony said. He looked up and smiled sadly at Stephen as the lab’s usual blaring music shut off. “Hi.”

“Hey.” Stephen suddenly didn’t know what to do with himself. He was too scared to get any closer to Tony, afraid to hurt him, but at the same time all he wanted was to hug him.

The cloak made the first move, flying off of his shoulders and resting on Tony’s.

“Aww, hi Levy.” Of course Tony had a nickname for the relic, he had nicknames for everything and everyone.

Stephen found it annoying in the most heartwarming way, and he couldn’t help but smile as Tony sat down at his workbench.

“You can come over, you know?” Tony asked, half teasingly. “I told you I don’t bite, Steph.”

Stephen felt like a marionette again as he walked towards his boyfriend, but his heart was in control this time. He wanted to protect, to cherish, and to spoil the man in front of him with nothing but love and attention. He was just afraid, still unsure of himself as he studied Tony’s face. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey… I know.” Tony opened his palms on his lap, silently asking to hold Stephen’s hands.

Stephen let him, trembling harder as Tony held him gently. “I don’t know what happened, Tony. Something took over me, and I couldn’t stop it. I’ve never been overpowered like that before, and I didn’t know what to do. But please listen when I say that I promise it’ll never happen again, I mean that’s a given if you leave me, but—”

“I’m not leaving you,” Tony said firmly. “I know you weren’t voluntarily doing all of those things.”

“I never, ever wanted to hurt you. I still don’t want to hurt you.”

“You didn’t.”

“Tony…” Stephen took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. “Tony I could’ve killed you. The entire time I was trying to break the curse, to get that thing out of my system, I almost killed you. And you almost let me do it.”

“I did.”

Stephen didn’t know what to say. Tony had that calm, accepting look on his face mixed with a kind, trusting expression. It was the same look he’d given Stephen in the ruins of the Compound, and it hurt. It didn’t feel like an apology would be enough to make things right, but what else was there to do now? “I’m sorry, Tony.”

Tony slid his arms around Stephen’s waist and pulled him into the hug they’d both been needing. “I’m fine baby, it’s okay. It’s over.”

Stephen knew it wasn’t just over, and he knew Tony knew it too. But in the moment he was too fatigued to fight about it and let Tony hold him closer. “Have you been sleeping?”

“Trying to,” Tony replied. “Not to be cheesy or whatnot, but I do sleep better with you next to me.”

“May I take you to bed?” Stephen asked, sounding even shyer than when he normally asked that. “Please? I know it’s early, but I wouldn’t object to a nap.”

Tony nodded, shifting to press a chaste kiss to Stephen’s lips. “That sounds nice. FRIDAY, save and shut everything off please.”

“Engaging ‘You Shall Not Pass’ protocol, Boss,” FRIDAY reported dutifully.

Tony scoffed. “Remind me to never let you and Peter give Fri name suggestions again.”

“You could just change it if it bothers you that much.” Stephen chose to remind Tony of that instead, even though they both knew Tony was secretly fond of the movie references hidden in his protocols. “Besides, that serves you right for calling me Gandalf all the time.”

“If the shoe fits, babe,” Tony said. He stood up, keeping an arm wrapped around Stephen’s waist as they left the lab and headed for the elevators.

Despite feeling safe and loved in Tony’s arms, more than he could have ever hoped to be and probably more than he deserved, Stephen was still anxious. He felt out of place in the Tower, never mind the fact that he usually spent half of his time there, and he felt even more out of place amongst the team.

“How are the others?” He asked quietly, afraid to hear the answer.

“They’re getting better.” Tony saw no point in sugarcoating the truth. Stephen would see right through it, and that wouldn’t help him process everything. “Carol and Thor are both bored of training with each other, but no one else wants to spar with either of them yet. Or with Natasha, for that matter.”

“Does anyone ever want to spar with them on a good day?” Stephen asked, trying to keep the mood light.

“You’re all a bunch of sore losers who can’t rise to a friendly challenge” Natasha quipped, suddenly materializing in front of the couple. “Tony, what’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why is he here?”

“Natasha, I—”

Natasha pointedly ignored Stephen. She never disliked the sorcerer, she was actually indifferent and had no issues telling Tony that, but Tony’s trustful, rather soft nature was a concern of hers. It worked in her favor, sure, but she was really trying to be a better friend to Tony and look out for him more. It was this concern that motivated her to look at Stephen with disgust. Natasha wasn’t scared of him, she took heavy damage in the attacks but it was more minimal compared to some of the things she’d put his friends and family through.

Tony was acting as if none of that happened, and that couldn’t stand.

Natasha frowned and glared at Stephen as she addressed Tony. “Tony what the hell are you doing?”

“I’m not—”

“Don’t play dumb and tell me you’re not following. What are you still doing with him? You barely sleep more than an hour without waking everyone up screaming from phantom pain and nightmares! Do you think we can’t hear you yelling and begging for Stephen to stop torturing you and just kill you? Because we all do!” Natasha took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. “And after all that, you’re holding him like nothing is wrong? I don’t understand how you can be so forgiving sometimes.”

She stormed off before Stephen could defend himself or before Tony could respond. Her words echoed in Stephen’s head as Tony continued to lead him down the hallway, into the elevator, and into the penthouse.

Stephen sat dejectedly on the bed as Tony shuffled around the room, grabbing a few blankets from the closet. He didn’t say anything as Tony made a little nest of pillows and blankets, the cloak joining the haphazard pile the minute Tony curled up under a throw. Eventually Stephen allowed himself to lay down, offering no protests as Tony hugged him again.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized again, mumbling into the soft fabric of Tony’s shirt.

“I know,” Tony said simply. “Relax sweetheart, it’s okay.”

He was still tense, curling up smaller in Tony’s arms. “Are you okay?” The sorcerer asked.

“I’m fine,” Tony reassured him. That was half true. He was fine, to a point, but there were things bothering him that he had no idea how to tell Stephen about.

Eventually they would have to face the music and talk about everything, and they both knew it. For now, Tony was somewhat okay with ignoring it, clinging to the hope that having his Stephen back would keep the memories at bay.

Tags: @stark-strange-love2 @salty-ironstrange-shipper @funkylittlebidiot @richieleeparker @chocopiggy @hatakehikari @taruyison

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