#it did start out as me just trying to get into my antagonist's head- how would someone justify doing these things?

[aplaceforstellasscribbles]

Y'know, the plot of WATW relies heavily- you could say is constructed entirely- on the idea that everyone wants to see themself as a good person. No one is the villain of their own story.

Which can be super interesting when writing an unambiguously "evil" character, seeing how they justify and twist things around to frame their actions as morally correct.

It's also interesting when writing a character that isn't unambiguously "evil" or "good." When this person isn't deceiving themself into thinking their actions are good, when they're doing what they were taught is right, when they feel good about what they're doing- they think they're a good person because of course they are, look at all the good things they're doing, look at how kind and generous and thoughtful they are!

And then, maybe, you show them that their actions weren't as universally good as they thought they were, you show them that they hurt people.

What do they do then? How do they move forward from there?

[halfvalid]

Hey! I was wondering if you could do a live action Zoro smut where it's enemies to lovers (boy X girl). I don't mind how hardcore smut (18+?) but I would love if there was some tension (argument or fight!) 😁

speak teeth

ABOUT

| 18+ | smut | explicit |

alternate title: i need the lord

rating: explicit

characters: live action!roronoa zoro | fem!reader

pairing: live action!roronoa zoro x fem!reader

word count: 4.9k

description: you and zoro have never gotten along. after a incident in town escaping from marines, you resolve to sort out your issues with unconventional means. (aka sex.)

tags: strawhat!reader, female reader, enemies to lovers, except it's more like frenemies to frenemies with benefits, kissing, kiss to distract trope, no use of “y/n”, reader calls zoro "roronoa", penis in vagina sex, creampie, pwp, cowgirl position

author’s note: thanks for the request! i kind of lost the plot on this one because i'm terrible at writing enemies-to-lovers and there's not much 'lovers' involved in this since i couldn't exactly fit that into a oneshot. hopefully you still like it anyway? i tried my best.

tags make it seem so much worse than it actually is.

Roronoa Zoro did not like you. 

The feeling was mutual, so you didn’t mind the fact, really. Zoro was annoying, with his three swords, and that stupid low voice, and how he never seemed interested in conversation unless it was either about alcohol or beating someone up. You were undoubtedly annoying to him for various reasons not so different in number to your own grievances of his personality. You two didn’t like each other. It was fine. It was normal. 

It was pissing off the rest of the Straw Hat crew. 

In your defense, you were never outwardly aggressive towards the man. You didn’t purposely exclude him from conversations or avoid looking at him if he dared haunt a room you were in with his presence. You just… didn’t speak to him unless spoken to. And maybe you had a tendency to roll your eyes or mutter some insults when he was talking, but it wasn’t that big of an issue. 

Zoro, on the other hand, was a master of discord. He’d killed and hunted so many people it only made sense for him to be, but it seemed he hadn’t skipped his lessons in petty fights either. Because he was bullheaded and a buzzkill and always opened his big mouth when you were around. Those sarcastic remarks of his were common, sure, but when you were in the room they were tenfold and laced with genuine venom. 

You weren’t sure who’d even started the strife between you two. It had been so long that you’d forgotten. While everyone else had seemingly bonded after your journey together, you and Zoro remained firmly in the stage you’d been while trapped in Buggy’s green room—antagonistic. Obviously you didn’t hate each other—when Zoro had nearly died to Mihawk, you hadn’t been happy—but you didn’t get along, and both of you were just fine with that arrangement. 

Nobody else was, though.

And so obviously you didn’t like it when Luffy announced, as you were docked, that you were assigned to scout the surrounding village together. Your lips twisted, but you refrained from saying anything up until Luffy finished his speech with: “And that’s the plan! Any objections?” 

There were head shakes from all around the deck of the Going Merry. You eyed Zoro in the very corner—his arms were crossed, and carefully he raised a hand, just barely lifting it into the air as he motioned. “Why is she coming with me?” 

You bit your tongue, suppressing the irritated sigh that threatened to escape. “Because,” Luffy said, bright as ever, “You two need to learn how to be friends. Think of it as a bonding activity!” 

“I’d really rather go with Sanji,” you optioned, trying to be more civil than Zoro at least. “He could use a hand carrying the stock barrels.” 

“Nope,” Luffy chirped. “It makes most sense for the two of you to be the one to buy the weapons, anyway.” 

“He’s right. You both are the most knowledgeable on the subject,” Nami whispered, though she gave you an apologetic look. You sighed. Zoro opted to say nothing. 

“Fine. Let’s go, Roronoa,” you said, getting up off the Going Merry’s railing to start walking off the ship. You heard Zoro grumble from behind you, but he soon caught up. You said absolutely nothing to each other for the first few minutes of walking, keeping to yourselves until you eventually reached the market. 

“What kind of weapons are we looking for?” you asked, glancing over your shoulder at the man who trailed just barely behind you. “I know Luffy wants backups, but did he say specifically what?” 

“Probably a few guns, maybe some swords,” Zoro replied. “A katana for me. Extra staff for Nami, in case hers breaks.” 

“Right. Nami gave me five-hundred thousand berry. Let’s spend it wisely. No pit stops.” 

Zoro gave you a look. “It’s not like I’m going to slip into the nearest tavern and abandon you. Luffy said we go together, so we go together.” 

“Right.” You turned away so you could roll your eyes in private. You had to appreciate that, at least; Zoro’s loyalty to Luffy at least meant he wouldn’t be a bitch to you if Luffy told him not to, and Nami kept you more or less under wraps too. “Pistols first. Let’s just get two, and save the rest for a sword because those are more pricey.” 

Focusing on business was fine. You could be a responsible adult and not be petty. And it really did go okay for the first half-hour, wherein you bartered one of the weapons sellers down to a reasonable price for two pistols and also picked up a bo staff on the way.

You were just heading towards another district of the town when Zoro slowed to a stop. You glanced over to see what he was looking at—a wall pasted with bounty posters, various pirates plastered on paper with big numbers shouting out their worth. 

“Look, it’s Luffy,” you said, eyes catching a bundle of posters near the top. Sure enough, all six members of the Straw Hat crew were there. You noticed with distaste that Zoro’s bounty was higher than yours.

Zoro tore all of the posters off, and you were almost surprised when he took yours off too. He crumpled them up into balls, about to toss them behind his shoulder before you grabbed them, carefully tucking them away in your bag. “What’s that for?” he asked. 

“So I can shoot darts at your face,” you replied. “Come on. Should finish and get back to the ship before anyone recognizes us.” 

Zoro shrugged, but followed you as you led him to the closest armory you could find. The shop was small and rickety, and a silver bell announced your presence as you entered the building. There were blades of every kind in the shop; you could see a table of knives and daggers, along with a stand full of long swords by the front. Near the back, you glimpsed some hanging rapiers, and—

“Katanas,” Zoro muttered, pushing past you to slip to the back of the store. You sighed, but followed, glancing over the array of jians instead. Zoro was already picking one up and pulling it out of its sheath, checking the quality of the blade. 

“Don’t—” you hissed, and he glanced up at you, brow raised in question as he spun the blade around in his hand. “You’re going to knock something over.” 

Zoro sheathed the sword, a satisfying click filling the room with the motion. “Calm down.” 

“I am calm,” you snapped. “If you’d just stop stomping around with those big boots of yours, though—” 

Zoro looked far less affected by the entire ordeal than you did, and that pissed you off even more. Logically, you knew he didn’t show much emotion in general, and even his annoyances tended to be deep and quiet—but still. He strung the katana back up where it belonged. “I am not stomping.” 

“Yes, you are—” You cut yourself off as the bell of the store rang again, announcing the arrival of more patrons. These two were whispering to each other, gruff voices that sounded almost scared. “He came in here, right?” One of them asked the other. “Are you sure it’s him?” 

“He tore down his own wanted poster!” The other hissed back. 

You caught onto what was happening quickly, letting a sigh out from between your teeth and grabbing onto Zoro’s arm to yank him further back into the store. You turned a corner, where a narrow hall cut off at a dead end, a wardrobe of swords blocking off the area to any prying eyes. “Now look at what you did,” you grumbled, before you could stop yourself. “You’ve got fucking bounty hunters after us.” You glanced through the stands of swords for a double take—the pair were standing at the front, outfitted in familiar white-and-blue uniforms. “Scratch that, even worse. Marines.” 

“I can take them in a fight,” Zoro muttered, hand going to his swords. You grabbed his wrist and gave him a look. 

“No. We’re not due to leave the docks for another two days,” you snapped. “Can you figure out a way to get out of a situation without stabbing someone?” 

“How can you be sure it was him, though? The Demon?” The more timid marine asked. They’d started moving, and you shoved Zoro into the corner, attempting to hide his ridiculously broad figure with an armoire of weapons. He scoffed, but made no move to adjust, back flat against the wall.

“He had the three swords. And the three earrings, too. Of course it was him,” the other one replied. You rolled your eyes. 

“Ever try being a little less obvious, Roronoa?” you muttered, shooting another glare in Zoro’s direction. “You’re like a flashing red light for every marine within a two-mile radius with your stupid swords. I’m Roronoa Zoro, the pirate hunter!” 

“I don’t hear you yelling at Luffy to take his hat off,” Zoro hissed back. 

“They’re coming this way,” you answered, entirely ignoring his retort. “Hide your stupid swords. Shove them behind a stand or something.” 

“I don’t see why we can’t just—” 

“No fighting.” You swiveled around, tugging his holsters off his belt and tossing the swords behind him with a graceless clatter. Zoro just sighed. “Shit,” you muttered as the marines turned at the noise, starting to move towards the back of the store.

“Now look at what you did,” Zoro mumbled, mocking your words straight back at you. You glared at him. 

“Shut up and stay put,” you snapped. “Let me think of something.” The marines were coming closer, and you huffed out a nervous breath. Zoro watched you from his position. 

“They know your face, too,” he said carefully. Almost derisively, like he was looking down on your idea; making you seem stupid. “Just let me fight them. It makes the most sense.” The footsteps grew louder, then, the marines moving towards the back of the store. 

“I think I heard voices,” one of them muttered to the other. You shushed Zoro, unconsciously moving closer to him until your arm bumped into his. You startled, and then looked up, finding Zoro’s chest just inches away from your face. 

“Is this some new sort of hiding tactic?” Zoro asked, voice dry as a desert. “Are you trying to melt us into the wall—” 

The voices tapered off as the marines moved closer. Your hand shot up to cradle Zoro’s face, covering his dangling gold earrings with your fingers to hide them away. “Fuck this,” Zoro muttered, leaning back to pick up his swords. You shushed him, and he stopped, bent halfway over you so your faces were just inches apart. 

“Just trust me,” you snapped. Zoro opened his mouth to argue, but then the marines’ footsteps got louder—they’d turn the corner any moment now. 

“Fine,” he breathed. “But if it doesn’t work, I’m taking out my swords.” 

Your mind ran a million miles a minute trying to figure out what to do. The marines were just around the corner now, and your breath caught, eyes meeting Zoro’s as you wracked your brain for something, anything that might distract the marines away from the two of you. Zoro’s lips parted, a split-second away from undoubtedly whispering some grand insult when the marines finally turned the corner.

You were kissing Zoro before you could even think. 

“Oh,” one of the marines said, as your fingers nearly pinched Zoro’s earlobe, still covering his earrings. Zoro was frozen for a moment, but the marines behind you seemed startled enough that he realized it was working. A rush of satisfaction filled you for a moment—see, Roronoa, you don’t have to stab shit all the time—before Zoro was kissing you back.

And. Well. You’d started it, but you had not anticipated this. 

Zoro was almost rough, his hand curling around the nape of your neck and tugging you down closer to him. His other hand came to rest on your waist, so impossibly big around your torso that you shivered. What had started out as a simple kiss slipped into one all messy, your breaths coming out in sharp gasps as Zoro barely gave you a moment to breathe. 

His teeth dug into your lip, and you groaned into his mouth, tongue darting along his gums with the motion. He snickered at that, and you felt a little bundle of vexation starting at the pit of stomach at the sound. You ran your tongue into the crevices of his mouth, licking into him with ease. Another rush of satisfaction filled you as Zoro’s grip tightened on your waist. You were winning.

He fought back just as hard, practically merciless as his tongue slid against yours, prying into your mouth like he was trying to bare you empty of secrets. You felt stripped raw like this, but it wasn’t a terrible feeling—the opposite, actually, soft whimpers leaving your lungs as he dug more fiercely into you. Zoro sucked on your lower lip with teeth, and you barely managed to suppress the stuttered sound it tugged out from the back of your throat. 

There were hasty footsteps receding somewhere behind you, which was the only sound that snapped you out of your motions. You were the first to break away—another score gained there—glancing over your shoulder to ensure the marines had really left before fully detaching yourself from Zoro. The silver bell rung again, signaling the marines had made their exit, and you let out a relieved sigh. 

Zoro glanced over your shoulder, straightening his clothes as his tongue ran along his top teeth. The top teeth you’d had your tongue on just seconds ago. “If you wanted to kiss me, you could’ve just said so.” 

“I did not—” You sucked in a breath, all your general irritated feelings towards the man coming back at full force with just that one sentence. “Shut the fuck up. I got us out of the situation, didn’t I?” 

“You have questionable methods,” Zoro replied, leaning over to pick up his abandoned swords and strap them back along his hip. “Don’t think about that all night.” 

“You were not that good of a kisser,” you snapped, though you could feel your face getting hot. Your mouth tingled, like you could still taste him on your tongue; on your teeth; in your gums. There was a vaguely empty sensation at the curve of your waist you tried your best to ignore. “Don’t be so full of yourself. Roronoa. Now pick a sword to buy so we can leave already.”

Zoro seemed irritated, but he complied, brushing past you to inspect a few more of the swords before picking out one. You paid for it as quickly as possible, in a rush to get back to the ship; not even trying to talk the salesman down from his price like you usually would. 

Zoro followed you languidly, absolutely nothing urgent about his motions as you trailed after you back through the village. You wanted to uppercut him so badly. 

“Oh, there you guys are,” Usopp said upon stepping foot back onto the Going Merry. You shot him an apologetic smile before breezing past, beelining for your bedroom without a second thought. “Uh—okay! You good?” he called after you, but you were too far away to respond at this point. 

You slammed the door of your room shut upon entering, heaving out a breath of jumbled emotion all in one go. Fuck Roronoa Zoro and his three stupid swords and his three stupid earrings. He was the most lumbering, bullheaded oaf you’d ever had the displeasure of engaging with. 

He’d been a ridiculously good kisser. Now you hated him even more. 

You locked yourself in your room for the next four hours, busying yourself with various tasks whilst simultaneously seething over Zoro. It wasn’t even that he’d done anything specifically to you in the past. You just—didn’t get along, really. He was irritating, and stupid, and always tried to solve his problems with a blade rather than attempting to use his wits. Not that he had any wits of any kind. He was—

He was, as you were starting to find out, kind of attractive. Which. Okay. You’d known his face was at least easy on the eyes, despite his personality and general attitude not retaining the same qualities. But this was an entirely unappreciated development. 

Someone knocked on your door, snapping you out of your irritated haze. The sun had nearly set, a kiss of dusk coming in from outside as you shuffled over to the door. You yanked it open. “What—”

Zoro was standing in the doorway, arm propped against the side and keeping your door open even as you attempted to close it on him. “Roronoa.” 

“You’re hiding,” Zoro said, a tinge of mirth just barely visible in his eyes. You glared at him. 

“I am not.” 

“Do you have to disagree with everything I say?” Zoro asked. He was still wearing his swords even now, though he’d dressed down as the hour grew late. “You skipped dinner.” 

“Leave me alone,” you muttered. 

Zoro took that as an invitation to step fully into the room. “I told the rest of the crew about the marines,” he said, and you flinched. “Not about that. Just that we got away. Nami wants to leave tomorrow evening now, so we’ll be busy.” 

You stared at him, suspicious right from the start. “And you care enough to tell me? Did someone put you up to this?” 

Zoro stiffened. “I just thought you might want to know.” 

Your eyes narrowed. He looked as normal as ever—face blank, leaving no expression to be seen. But his muscles were tenser than usual, and the veins running up his arm were prominent, like his hand was tightened into a fist where it hid away in his pocket. “You have ulterior motives.”

“You’re so annoying,” Zoro muttered, but he didn’t budge. You scoffed. 

“What, are you here to admit that you were wrong and my plan really did get us away from the marines?” you asked, voice sugary sweet as you riled him up. His jaw clenched, a vein tracing up his neck bulging with the pressure. “You don’t need to inflate my ego—”

Zoro moved across the room swiftly, and you stumbled back in surprise as he pinned you to the wall, hand tight around your arm. Your words died in your throat as his lips sealed over yours with a bruising kiss. His fingers dug into the skin of your bicep—tight, but not tight enough to hurt. 

“I don’t need to inflate your ego,” Zoro snapped, finishing your sentence from where it’d died on your lips. “You do that enough yourself.” 

You stared at him, the tingle of his lips still left as an afterthought on your mouth. “If you’re going to make out with me, take your fucking swords off.” 

Zoro barely suppressed an eye roll, hands working at his belt to slide his holsters off from his hip. “What’s your problem with them?” 

“I think your emotional dependency on a bunch of oversized butter knifes—”

Zoro’s head jerked up, eyes dark when they met yours. “Don’t call them that.” 

You couldn’t resist the quip off your tongue. “You asked.” 

Zoro slowly made his way across the room again, steps careful and languid as he moved closer. “I take it back,” he said, voice a near whisper, every word crisp on his tongue. You shivered. 

This time, you expected it when he kissed you. He wasn’t careful with it, and you didn’t want it any other way—your arms wrapped around the back of his neck, tugging him down closer to you. It got aggressive quick, his fingers coming down to clutch your waist, one of your hands tight around the locks of his hair as you pried open his mouth with your tongue. 

Neither of you complied easily, both trying to get the better of the other. Zoro’s tongue forced itself into your mouth before you tugged on his lower lip with teeth. Both his hands came to wrap around your waist, now, hoisting you up and onto your hanging bed in the center of the room. His fingers dug in hard enough to leave bruises. 

Zoro abandoned your mouth in favor of your neck, biting open-mouthed kisses into your jawline before moving down your jugular. Each one was more hasty than the last, wet and warm with licks of tongue and scrapes of teeth. You didn’t bother moving to give him better access—he had to do that himself, a large hand coming to rest on the back of your skull and pulling your head back to bare the rest of your neck to him. You heard him mutter something in Japanese—probably some obscenity, which pleased you more than you’d like to admit. 

His kisses stopped at the hinge of your neck and shoulder, Zoro pausing to lean over and work his fingers up your spine. They danced over the clasp of your shirt, and you had to choke back a wry laugh, surprised. “I thought the Demon just took what he wanted,” you murmured. 

Zoro didn’t seem to like that. He started unfastening the buttons going down the back of your top. “At least I was polite enough to ask,” he muttered. 

“Just take my clothes off already,” you said, and he stopped his work, leaning back to glare into your eyes. You let out an annoyed sigh, and he rolled his eyes, going back to what he’d been doing. “Are we going to talk about it?” you asked, eyeing Zoro’s chest in front of you. 

You pressed a kiss to his neck, sucking at the skin before grazing it ever-so-slightly with your teeth. His throat hitched under your mouth. 

“Nope,” he grunted, finally unclasping the last button and pulling your top over your head. Since you didn’t have an issue with that arrangement, you didn’t say anything, even as Zoro practically shoved you flat on your back. 

“Rude,” you muttered. Zoro didn’t bother apologizing; he just leaned down to take your breast in his mouth, tongue circling around your nipple. You weren’t fast enough to suppress your gasp this time—a point in Zoro’s favor then, one you allowed with a bitter taste on your tongue. Zoro’s mouth formed a smile against your skin. You brought your knee up between his legs, shoving into his crotch in retaliation. 

“Stop,” Zoro hissed, the consonants of the words brushing across your skin when he spoke. You ignored him, and he let out a groan, hand clamping around your thigh to keep you from moving. “Do you have to be such a brat?” 

“I am not a brat.” You hooked your ankle around his, causing him to slip from where he lay suspended above you, mouths mashing in another too-aggressive facsimile of a kiss. “You’re just a gigantic manwhore with an overinflated ego.” 

“You did not just call me—” You shut him up with another kiss, teeth digging deep into the inner gums of his lip. You ran your hands up the sides of Zoro’s figure, trying your hardest to ignore the stiff muscles of his ribcage. He wasn’t that well-built. He wasn’t even that attractive, you tried to convince yourself. Still, you found the buttons of his shirt, trying to unfasten them quicker than Zoro had with yours. 

One of them caught, and Zoro had the audacity to laugh. You grumbled something incoherent under your breath, tugging his shirt off all the way and tossing it somewhere behind you. “Shut up.” 

“You’ve been the one complaining this entire time,” Zoro replied easily. He leaned down, tugging at your trousers to pull them off, pressing sloppy kisses down your torso now. You resisted the urge to say something in response, knowing it would just give him the satisfaction of being right. Were your points tied now? You couldn’t remember. 

Zoro had pulled your pants down to your knees by now, and you kicked them off all the way, watching as he pushed them off the bed and leaned down to work at the inward slope of your hip. You shivered, legs trembling as you felt your core grow tight, the cloth of your underwear already wet with anticipation. Seeing the ever-steadying tent in Zoro’s pants made you feel just a little bit better, and you were nice enough to let a stuttering moan out as his tongue licked down to the band of your panties. 

He pulled your underwear all the way off, then, but to your distaste completely ignored your fully exposed core to unbutton his own pants instead. “I hate you,” you muttered. 

Zoro stopped in the middle of what he was doing, pants halfway down his thighs and length already out. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, voice careful—you could still hear the mocking tone beyond the coolness of his voice, though, and your jaw clenched in irritation. “Did you want something?” 

“Yeah, for you to shut the fuck up.” You pushed yourself up by the elbows, grabbing one of Zoro’s arms and yanking him down onto the mattress. You used both hands to strip him of the last of his clothes—God, his legs were long—before returning to press your own open-mouthed bruises along his neck. His hips bucked up against yours, insistently chasing any friction, but you tightened a grip on his thigh to get him to stop. “Give me a second.” 

“I don’t like that I’m suddenly under you,” Zoro said drily, and you could feel the words as they formed in his throat, still biting hickeys into his skin. You rolled your eyes, lips disconnecting from skin with a dull pop.

“Deal with it, Roronoa. I��m not moving.” With that, you finally reached down to coax his legs apart, hovering your core over his hips as you lined your entrance up with his length. 

There was an audible hitch of breath on Zoro’s part as you sunk onto him. Point. 

One of his hands tangled in your hair when you started moving, the other coming to press on the small of your back as you worked yourself up and down around him. For the complaining he’d done about the position, he didn’t seem so bothered about it, pulling you into a rough kiss. 

You bit back with force, breath escaping you as your hips bucked against Zoro’s. The wet pool in your lower belly only grew stronger with every thrust, pressure building up inside of you as Zoro’s tongue ran across your teeth. You moaned freely now, too lost in the daze of your pleasure to remember to be annoying. Evidently Zoro felt the same way—he swallowed every one of your gasps up, grunting as you pulsed around him.

Your hips stuttered, thigh muscles contracting with the effort as you clenched down on Zoro. Still, you pushed through even as your muscles started to tire, encouraged by the deep, throaty sounds that escaped Zoro's lips between each kiss. He was big, filling you up damn near wholeheartedly, the crevices inside of you seeming to mould to his skin as you worked yourself on him.

Zoro started moving against you, and you gasped as his angle changed, somehow reaching farther in your body and causing tingles to erupt all along your skin. Your mind buzzed as he thrust into you with renewed vigor, core pulsing as you felt yourself come closer and closer to the edge. 

You came all at once, teeth biting down in Zoro’s mouth before you parted from him. You let out a gasping moan, attempting to toss your head back as stars burst across your vision. Zoro’s hand in your hair dragged you back into a kiss, though; this one was slower, less teeth this time, like him coming had lessened the urge to bite. 

Your movements slowed, coming to rest against Zoro’s skin, warm and—although you wouldn’t say so out loud—almost comfortable. His hand hadn’t budged from where it was pressed against your lower back, holding you tight to him. 

There was a sticky wetness spreading fast by your thighs, and you grimaced, lifting yourself off of Zoro and rolling beside him on your back in one fluid motion. He stifled a groan at the movement, clearly irritated at the fact you hadn’t given any warning. 

You lay there, breath heaving, rising out your high and making no move to touch the man laying by your side. 

After you’d regained some of your dignity, you sat up, eyes narrowing at Zoro. “Get off my bed.” 

Zoro gave you an exasperated look, but he didn’t argue; he just climbed off your bed, retrieving his clothes from where you’d tossed them about the room. He donned them slowly, like he had all the time in the world. Your eyes traced along his figure while he did, and you only felt sort of annoyed by it. 

“I still hate you,” you snapped, after he’d finished changing. Zoro just scoffed, picking up his swords and slinging them across one shoulder. You could see a bruise purpling by his neck. At least you’d done damage. 

“Fine by me,” he replied, straightening his shirt and giving you a look—not quite irritated, not quite sarcastic. “Dinner’s still waiting for you.” 

You glared at his back as he opened the door to your bedroom. “Get lost, Roronoa,” you said, and that was that. 

© halfvalid 2023

[the-modern-typewriter]

Hi, I really love your writing. It’s actually incredible how you can write people of the same pronoun and still make it easy to discern the two characters. I was wondering if you have any tips on how to do that without using phrases like “the short one” or anything like that.

1. Use the character's names

I often use 'the protagonist ', 'the antagonist', 'the hero', 'the villain' on tumblr. However, functionally, I use these like names and/or titles.

Using a character name allows you to periodically clarify who is talking or doing something when the reader would otherwise get confused. I know some people take this a step further by actually using 'Hero' 'Villain' as names more literally/directly, but I don't personally like doing that. It jars my brain.

I think 'the hero' etc works as an indicator where 'the short one' doesn't because it's neutral/not providing new info. Traditionally, we often only use physical descriptors when we don't know who a character is, so it creates distance/can jar when used in the middle of a scene. If you are in first person or limited third, there's just not necessarily a reason why your narrator would think of the other character in that way, which is another reason it can feel odd.

Basically, it's a bit like how we don't notice 'said', but would really notice if someone was uttering/shouting/mumbling in every dialogue tag.

2. Use proper paragraphing.

New character doing something, new line. New person talking, new line. New idea/point, new line. Shift in time or setting, new line.

3. Don't be afraid of easy beats

What are easy beats, you say? They are the moments of action or thinking in between dialogue. Body language. Whatever. Even if you don't use 'he/they/she said', because that can get repetitive. They are a way of providing context and variety to your writing, that can often do double work making it clear who is doing or saying something.

Example:

''So this is dialogue," they said.

"Right."

"And you didn't need to say you were talking next, because it was obviously someone else because it was on the next line. And now it's obviously me again. Hi!"

"All well and good until we've been chatting like this forever."

"Well." They stretched out, lazily. "That's what the easy beat that just happened was for. Did you catch me stretching in the middle?"

"But now I'd need a name or some kind of indicator," Character B replied. "Or it feels odd. Too many theys"

"It's all about balance, my friend. The instinct comes with practice."

Character B wrinkled their nose. "But what if I want to talk for a really long time?"

"Well," they said. "Then you can often start with a pronoun use or a character name to establish. Then you make your next point. Try and keep it relatively easy to follow. After that, try to have some kind of easy beat or action happen so the whole thing isn't talking heads." Character A rose towering to their feet, waggling their fingers in another hello. "And, if we're lucky, we never need to say 'the short one said' again, because we can flow our descriptions more naturally into the action.' Now." They sauntered closer, stopping in front of Character A with the worst smirk that B had ever seen. "Shall we ask the audience which of us is taller?"

[lizaluvsthis]

SMG4: The PuzzleVision Movie

[SPOILER ALERT and more into the ship]

VERY.

MAJOR.

SPOILER.

PLEASE.

Its funny enough how i predicted spongebob squarepants in my theory

(It even also has the ship I had a true pairing with. Squidbob.)

When old fandom meets the new fandom I'm currently in be like-

I see how they got each other's backs...

Suprised that SMG4 has done this- because last time we remembered, Smg3 is the one who comes risking his own life to save his buddy.

Now it's giving the DEJA VU moment but this time SMG3 is the one who gets saved by smg4.

"You saved me!"

Notice how different they act around their partner when they get saved?

Smg3 during wotfi 2023 AND in his recolor design during the 10 year anniversary.

He himself has pushed those things away or pushing out the soft stuff saying— "yeah yeah" or "I'd like to see you die otherwise"

BUT HIM? He still couldn't accept himself with the softness he's gained alot. He still calls his FRIEND. Baka.

(Hah idiot.)

One thing to say that it WAS AWKWARD SMG4 just looks at our guy. My man... my homie... buddy chum pal old fella amigo-

You. Are not. Okay. My man. (GAY PANIC SAYS OTHERWISE)

I know its not relevant but I drew this back in march 25 believe it or not I may have predicted this as well

Me and my brain goofing around telling me what if the gays did do that.

Anyways- back when Three lets Four carry him, as much as they both hate each other they atleast had to do it somehow inorder to escape.

Yet four could ever care less and he was still grabbing his waist at that time, and Three not giving a sh-t just looking up at the sky noticing how pretty it is.

Three... DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHOSE GRABBING YOUR WAIST RIGHT NOW??????????

Two siblings getting both of their fingers broken.

And its even in the right hand! Since Mario is immune to broken bones, Meggy however gets to be on the same place Mario has been in IGBP. NOW she gets to feel the pain what Mario may had felt.

-

And thus at the near end where SMG4 hits PV with a meat hammer or aka luigi- HE LITERALLY KICKED THE HEAD OUT- AND THE ANIMATION THAT MADE IT SO SERIOUS.

I think I understand his anger so much from this clip that everyone would agree.

Ever since PuzzleVision gave back everyones conciousness- he showed the Western Spaghetti and IGBP act of the crew on how emotional things became.

"And SMG4... who knew you could play an antagonist so well! High ranks for me!"

He felt so guilty. He looked down. He knew what PV was talking about.

By an antagonist' actions.

Just like how he was possessed by the goop itself, he started going crazy during that time and he let his anger get on to him.

SMG4 DID NOT WANT TO BE THE BAD GUY.

He was so scared and felt pity to himself because of that. And it was all ruined because of PV himself.

Smg4 didn't want to remember what happened during that encounter and never will.

Besides on the deal with PuzzleVision. SMG4 and Meggy's traumatic experiences weren't talked enough from their problems during the movie.

So much things are happening from the show that no one is talking much about it while watching.

"Is... is it over?"

Smg4 proceedingly cried emotionally because of the torture. He was apparently too blind enough to notice now that he realized it was him to blame. He was so dumb enough and so angry that he could cry.

Three didn't even slapped him or shut him off, he lets him cry over there due to the fact that he may need to release his emotions.

Because he knows how sentimental Smg4 became when it involves with dealing his own emotions that HE couldn't even give an advice for. But could only stay quiet.

Because at what hell of a state would he even say to SMG4 when they're trying to escape from this hell of a nightmare?

Four still doesn't accept himself, and neither does Smg3 too. From everything that happened.

Our boys are suffering enough and its hurting us like hell.

[theemissuniverse]

“IMPENDING DOOM” SHAO KAHN X FEM!READER PART 2

Here’s part 1

WARNINGS : (MDNI)! masterbation (male), p in v, some other things I probably forgot

MASTERLIST

When you woke up, Shao Kahn was not in bed with you. You looked around, confused. Then you realized that he was Kahn of Outworld so he probably had some business to attend to.

You were suppose to feel regret for what you did. You slept with the villain. The main antagonist in your life. But you didn’t. You didn’t even feel slightly bad for it. And that was a big problem.

The truth was you liked the power Shao Kahn had. You admired it. And you wanted some to yourself but you would never tell him that.

That would just go to his head.

You put on your black and red tightly fitted clothing that Shao had picked out for you. You were starting to see the returning pattern. He must’ve of really liked red.

As you put your earrings in, you noticed a note on the dresser. You picked it up.

I have unfinished business to attend to. I don’t care what you do but you are not to leave the palace.

- Your Emperor

You rolled your eyes a little and set the note down. “You can’t tell me what to do.” You grumbled under your breath. You finished putting the earrings in and decided that you hadn’t really taken a look around since you got there.

Opening your door, you walked out to the hallway and down the stairs. The palace was huge. Every room was double the size it should’ve been.

You went into the kitchen and grabbed yourself a water. When you turned around, you gasped. There was a woman dressed in all red, hair dyed red.

“Jesus Christ.” You mumbled.

The woman examines you up and down. “So, you will be the new Empress of Outworld?” You didn’t respond. She continued to stare at you as if she was uninterested. “I don’t see much.”

“Okay…creepy lady.”

You try to walk past her but she got in your way again. “I’m Skarlet.”

You wanted to be rude and say ‘I didn’t ask’ but you were gonna tell yourself to have a good day today. “(Y/N).”

“Shao Kahn took me in. Made me one of his own. He taught me the ways of blood magic.”

She holds out her hand and you watch as blood started to form out of thin air. You rose a brow at this. She then closed her hand up.

“Cool. All I got is a flying kick.” You say to her.

“You have no power?”

“I mean…technically I have telekinesis but I don’t exactly know how to control it yet.” You admitted.

Skarlet looked even more puzzled at you. “Weak. Why would the Emperor want a weak woman?” She was starting to irritate you but it seems like she was only getting started. “I would’ve made a great Empress by Shao Kahn’s side.”

To this, you looked at her confused. “Didn’t you say he took you in?”

“Yes.”

“So, he’s like a father figure to you then?” You questioned and she did not respond. “And you want to be at his side and…yeah it’s time for me to walk off from this conversation.” You said, leaving her.

Through out the day you were incredibly bored. As annoying as Shao Kahn was, he at least entertained you when he was around. How did he have a big palace with nothing to do?

Luckily for you, Shao Kahn was back. You were laying on the bed, reading a book. Shao Kahn walked into the room and closed the door behind him. You sighed in relief. “Thank god.”

Shao Kahn smirked at you. “Did my Empress miss me?”

“Miss is a strong word. You’re just mildly entertaining. Don’t let that go to your head.” You told him. Shao Kahn started to take his armor off. “I met your…whoever she is to you. Skarlet. Seems like a real peach.”

Shao Kahn chuckled. “She is clingy to me. I know.”

“Yeah maybe too clingy.” You closed the book in your hand and sat up on the bed. “She wants to take my place. Why don’t you just give her the throne instead of me?”

“Do not ask me such stupid questions.” When he said that, you threw the book directly at his head but he caught it with ease. Without looking. Your jaw dropped slightly and he placed it down on the dresser. “I do not view her in that light. And I chose you for a reason.”

You scoffed a little. “That girl can make blood come out of her hands meanwhile, I can barely fling a pencil across the room with my mind.”

Shao Kahn finished taking his armor off. He walked over to you some. “Are you jealous?”

“Me? Hell no.” You lied a little. Shao Kahn gave you a look as if he did not believe you and you sighed. “Not jealous just…confused.”

Your head was down. Shao Kahn leaned over and made you look at him dead in the eyes by placing his hand under your chin. “She is not you. That’s all you need to know.” Shao Kahn removed his hand and went into the bathroom. “You will learn your telekinetic gift eventually.”

Somehow you weren’t very confident in that. “Whatever you say. Hey, where were you today anyway?”

“I slaughtered all my concubines.” Shao Kahn said like it was the most casual thing in the world.

Your eyes went wide when he said this. You took up from the bed and walked over to the bathroom. There, he was looking at himself in the mirror with his helmet/crown on. “Um…slaughtered?!”

Shao Kahn shrugged. “I have no use for them anymore.”

“Tuh. I hope you kept one because let me just tell you, what happened last night was a freak accident. It’s not going to happen again. No matter how good it was.” Shao Kahn turned to smirk at what you had just said and you face palmed yourself for the last thing you said. “I hate it here.”

Shao took some steps towards you. He held onto your hips and brought you close to him. “Why must you fight the feeling you have? You know you crave for me. For my power.”

In a sense, you did. Very much. Again, you would not admit it. You would keep telling yourself that you are not a bad person. You are not the villain.

He was taller than you so you had to look up at him. You placed your hands on his chest. Your intention was to push him off but you felt all over his chest and it was glorious to you.

You felt yourself get sucked up in some kind of trance for him. Shao Kahn noticed and decided to not break the tension you two were having.

Shao Kahn bent down to your level and kissed on your neck softly. He began to suck on all the good places. You moan softly, immediately clutching onto him.

“Do not fight it. Give into it.” He licked on your neck and sucked on it one last time before pulling away. “I have changed my mind. We will marry soon.”

You had to catch your breath but when he said you two would marry soon, the wind felt like it got knocked out of you again. “Soon?”

“Yes. Too many mishaps could happen. I will not take any chances.” Shao Kahn turned so he could turn the water on to set his bath. “You should join me.”

You snickered at him for even having the audacity to say it. “Give you the privilege to see me naked? Absolutely not.”

Shao Kahn turned about around. He examined your curvy body and licked his lips at how tight the outfit was on you. “It is a privilege indeed.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere.” You told him and walked out of the bathroom so he could soak in the water.

Shao Kahn thought about you as he took his well deserved bath. He knew you being with him would be an adjustment but he would show you the way.

He knew you wanted to be there with him. Otherwise, you would had tried to at least attempt escape. You didn’t. You also allowed him to kiss all over you and rub his big hands over you.

Shao Kahn would never force you. Not in that way at least so that’s how he knew. You were just scared to embrace the dark side of yourself.

He will help you though.

Shao Kahn pictured you naked. He imagined the stretch marks on your ass looking like tiger stripes. He imagined him putting you in the position so your ass was firmly placed in the air and he stuck his long dick inside of you.

He thought of how nasty you would be. If you were a loud moaner. If you were a dirty talker. If you spoke during sex or none at all. He knew how you really were during intimacy but he knew you were holding back your first time with him.

Your moans were beautiful. Something that would sound like music to his ears. He’d bet that your ass would perfectly jiggle on himself making it impossible for him to hold his nut.

The Emperor was obsessed with the feeling of your hands on his chest as he now imagined a new position, you were riding him. You would throw your head back and your perfect breasts would bounce beautifully on your chest. He would reach up to grab them and you would smack his hand away due to how sensitive they were.

His hands would go to your hips and he would help you ride him like the good girl you were. He imagined how good it would feel for you to moan his name.

The position switched in his mind and he imagined him on top of you. Shao imagined him burying himself deep within you and your pretty fingernails would claw his back.

Usually he didn’t care about letting women cum but you looked so pretty when you came on him before that he’d love to get you to do it all over again.

Imaging you cumming made him finally cum.

Shao Kahn rode out his high, finally the tight feeling in his chest being gone.

He cleaned himself up. Most men feel shame after doing what he just did. He didn’t. No shame was on his mind.

Shao quickly got dressed and left the bathroom. He placed his crown over his head and walked further out to see you were not in the room.

He left his room and went downstairs to see you were speaking to Shang Tsung. He stood a little ways, listening to the conversation.

“You seem weary of the Emperor.” Shang Tsung said to you.

You looked at him with a ‘duh’ look. “He’s a malicious tyrant. Of course I am. And now I’m marrying the douchebag.”

“He is…a man of many things but he chose you. You should be honored.”

“Honored? Honored that I’m going to be by his side while he slaughters innocent people?”

“You could’ve escaped. No one was watching you. But you didn’t. Because deep down, you don’t want to go to the pathetic life you lived. Being second best. No-third best.” Shang Tsung walked in circles around you. “Because it goes Liu Kang then Kung Lao and then…you. Isn’t it strange that no one has bothered to save you from the ‘tyrant’ that is Shao Kahn?”

You went silent as he spoke. You didn’t seem to have one of your comebacks lined up. “They care about me. They’ll-“

“Then where are they?” When you went silent again, Shang Tsung spoke. “Trust that Shao Kahn, and only Shao Kahn, has your best interest at heart.”

Shao Kahn smirked to himself. He should congratulate the idiot sorcerer for talking you down from your Earthrealm friends.

He made his appearance known. He walked over to the two of you. “Have you made arrangements?” He asked Shang Tsung.

“They have been made.”

You looked between the two of them confused. “Arrangements for what?”

“Never you mind.” Shao told you.

He turned to walk away from you but you gripped his arm tightly. “How do you expect me to be your wife if you don’t tell me anything?”

Shao Kahn noticed how willingly you accepted the term wife but decided not to bring it up. “They are a surprise for you. Do not worry.”

You placed your hands on your hips, looking at him annoyed. “What surprise? I don’t want a surprise.”

Shao ignored you. He took your hand and made you walk with him.

He takes you into a big, spacious room. It reminded you of a ball room but you obviously knew it wasn’t one. You looked around confused. “Why are we here?”

Shao Kahn doesn’t respond. He brings his hammer into thin air and then throws it at you.

You dodge the hammer. You looked at the hammer and then looked at Shao as if he was crazy. “What the hell are you doing?”

“You cannot learn your telekinetic gift if you do not learn properly.” He simply said. With his hand, he made the hammer appear in his right hand.

Then he threw the hammer at you again and you once again dodged it. You ducked. “Throwing your stupid hammer is going to teach me!”

“Your instincts will come in.” Shao made the hammer once again appear in his hand. “Come on. Don’t tell me you were right. Maybe you shouldn’t have the throne.”

Something about what he said bothered you. You didn’t understand why. Why did you care? You didn’t even want the throne in the first place.

Shao Kahn threw his hammer at you again and you ducked to your left. This time you were a little mad. “Shut up.”

“Oh, I am merely speaking the truth, (Y/N).” Shao Kahn makes the hammer appear in his hand again. “Maybe my mistake was picking an Earthrealmer that couldn’t even beat me.”

Shao threw the hammer and this time you ducked to your right. You we’re beginning to get increasingly angry. “Stop.”

The Kahn makes the hammer appear in his hand and he steps closer to you. “Pathetic. Even Skarlet has better magic than you. I should call her in so she can show you the ropes.”

He throws his hammer at you and you jumped over it this time. You landed on your feet and this time your eyes looked deadly. “Stop talking.”

“Maybe you were right. I should’ve picked her for the throne. Far better than you. I believe she won’t fail me.”

When Shao Kahn threw the hammer at you, this time you held your hand out at him. You stopped the hammer in mid air.

He looked impressed with you but you weren’t done showing off. “I told you to stop talking.” You then waved your hand in the air, making the hammer cock back. Then you flung your hand forward making the hammer get thrown across the room.

Shao Kahn was knocked down by his hammer and thrown up again the wall. He groaned in pain as he slid down.

You smirked at him and fixed yourself. “You know, you look so much better when you’re in pain.”

Shao Kahn let out a deep chuckle and he stood up from the ground. “I knew you could do it.”

You gave him a look, not buying it. “Why did you say all that stuff then?”

“Because I knew it would make you angry.” He motioned for you to walk with him. “Come with me.”

His hand was held out for you. You stared at his hand, contemplating. For the first time, without a fuss, you let Shao guide you.

You took his hand.

[cocogum]

The Great Wave - Chapters 9 + 10 Review

‼️SPOILERS FOR THE CHAPTER‼️

Warning(s): watch me bully an old man, aurora slander, osamodas king slander, fat shaming, excessive use of foul language, racism, misogyny, did I mention I loath Aurora?, they’re both bad antagonists your honor, cyberbullying, PURE LOATHING.

I’d like to add a side note here:

I initially planned on reviewing chapters 9 and 10 separately but when I saw that confrontation between Aurora and Amalia, I decided to fuse the two instead. I did NOT want to talk about these specific chapters in their distinct posts because it would’ve sucked to see the conflict between Aurora and Amalia getting cut off in the middle of it.

We’re back.

Let the pummelling begin.

Aurora immediately starts making a fart face as she begins diving down to “attack” Amalia.

Are we impressed? No.

Should we be scared? No.

Should we expect any twist in the fight? No.

As soon as Aurora stupidly declared she wanted to fight, we all knew she was gonna get beat up to shit. Tot and Cathiane were trying very hard not to cringe while showing this. You can trust me, I was there in the room with them when they were thinking about this scene.

This is just very painful but my god was it funny as fuck.

This blue bitch with the witch face really thought she could take on a Mother Nature wielder with her chicken fingers please someone get this moron a brain.

Also what reason could Aurora possibly have to have wanted to beat Amalia to a pulp all these years? She claims she’s dreamed of doing this for so long but based on what reason? The fact that Amalia rejected all of Aurora’s weakass brothers and cousin for marriage? The fact that she would respectfully and calmly try to talk to Aurora even though she never liked her??? Bitch, what was the reason that would have made her so mad you wanted to beat her up????

Even Bonta will hear her scream in pain??? Girl, what the fuck are you babbling about? She clinically does not have a brain, where the fuck did it go? Aurora, YOU KNOW Amalia goes out and travels, right??? You know that her squad is filled with divinities, right??? What part of you thought it was a good idea to say that out loud AND think you had THE ADVANTAGE?????

This bitch wouldn’t survive a day outside of her kingdom, this is so fucking embarrassing. I loath her guts but imagine how embarrassed I’m feeling for her. She’s mentally slow. She doesn’t realize anything that’s coming out of her mouth and doesn’t use whatever’s up in that head of hers to properly think of any situation she’s in. She can’t think for herself, she can’t talk for herself if she wants to claim something, she can’t figure out the level of danger that she’s in, she can’t fight, she can’t lead, she can’t speak politely to servants, she can’t even be honest in a normal situation. I bet she can’t even make a sandwich for me, this hoe is even useless in the kitchen, on god.

And finally. FINALLY.

WE FINALLY GET TO HEAR AMALIA SAY THOSE WORDS.

You have no idea how much I fucking wanted Amalia to beat the living crap out of her and tell her how fucking weak she truly is compared to her. I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since we saw her stupid ass “family” make its entrance in Chapter 1.

YES, TELL THIS CUNT THE SEVERE GAP OF YOUR STRENGTH LEVEL ‼️‼️‼️

TURN THIS BITCH INTO A MCSANDWICH ‼️

Amalia is speaking our thoughts so coherently. Not once did we think Aurora was a menace, let alone even an antagonist. This bitch is just so braindead and one-dimensional that even calling her “self-aware” or “sentient” is odd to say.

With all the shit she’s been doing, Aurora is not even an annoyance, she’s a migraine.

This shot of her just getting the shit get beaten out of her made me so happy, you have no idea.

Like Tot must’ve been WAITING to see this hoe get wrecked too.

@geekgirles once explained how the osamodas’ strength might just be very weak compared to other races and how that weakness reflected itself based on where it was positioned in Oropo's tower. Coqueline can also be considered as a preview of what Aurora and her dad's strength would've looked like in the great wave because even Coqueline STRUGGLED to throw good attacks while fighting Oropo. She was canonically confirmed to be the oldest of the Siblings (even older than Echo) and yet the only thing she could have come up with while fighting Oropo was to use her teeth to try to tear Oropo's new form?? She literally went on all fours and tried to attack him with basic primitive skills. Literally what the heck.

So yeah, Aurora is unsurprisingly getting beat up and thrown around like a rag-doll by Amalia.

Amalia, honey.

Aurora’s not naive, she’s just really slow.

And yet that’s not even what we can describe it either.

Your pride is still here dumbass cuz you don’t look fine at all.

You got thrown so hard you couldn’t even fly, bitch.

Hoe thinks she was fine after the beating AND the throwing and then lies again about it.

Fucking pathetic.

I bet if she got a sword stabbed in her womb, she’d be like “i’M FiNe FaThER, bUt I cAN’t SaY tHe SaMe fOr mY pRiDe.” SHUT YOUR DUMBASS UP-

When Amalia comes up to them, this is where the osamodas king pulls out another weak manipulation tactic by saying this:

Motherfucker, you attempted to kick her out of her kingdom, her home, what the fuck are you talking about? Bitch is clarifying that Aurora’s child is Amalia’s nephew now??? He is so fucking weak, he’d pretend like he never tried kicking her out like a complete stranger just to save his own skin.

This dick dared to throw the “he’s your family” card on her as if he didn’t just encourage Aurora to tell Amalia she doesn’t belong in her fucking kingdom a few hours ago.

Dude thought he ate, this is so embarrassing.

Look at him trying to scramble his way out of this.

Now that he realizes how weak and pathetic he is against A PRINCESS WHO BECAME QUEEN JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO, he’s trying to do anything in his power to do what he does best to get out of this alive: lie and manipulate.

Only this predictably fails since Amalia had enough of his and his trophy daughter’s bullshit of constantly being forced to have them around.

And Amalia is absolutely pissed off that they can just say whatever they want so SHE ENUMERATES THE THINGS THAT THEY DID JUST SO SHE CAN BE SURE IT FINALLY DRILLED IN THEIR HEADS.

Even though what she said wasn’t exactly everything they did, she still has a right to point out the main thing they are known for since the necrome war.

But nah, they’re too stupid to actually get it and don’t even bear a second to the idea that their actions could have cost AN ENTIRE FUCKING RACE TO ERASE FROM THE WORLD. Imagine not having a full grasp of the idea that you could have been responsible for an entire race disappearing but also be the reason why the world had suddenly lost about 15% of its population in under a second.

No jackass you’re not leaving.

You’re dying here.

Also what the fuck? He got backed to a corner by a queen newbie and he still has the balls to say that he’ll come back???

Is he trying to see his daughter get her ass kicked again???? Or is he trying to see how long he could last the next time they meet????

How the fuck is he king??? What the hell is that strategy he came up with???? You call that a STRATEGY?????

Now I understand why we never saw him in any of the past seasons before. I understand why his fucking advisor has to be king for him.

Cuz he sucks at his own fucking job.

That guy hired his counsellor to represent him which is why every time the royal council of the world had to reunite, it was always the old white-bearded dude who spoke and was actually present.

This fucking gorilla was so absent from his own duties. So much so, that for an extremely long time, since 2012, we all thought the white-bearded guy representing the osamodas race from Season 2 was actually the real osamodas king. It wouldn’t surprise me if his own people thought his counsellor was their king because not only did WE think that way, but it was also because we learned in Season 4 that this fucking gorilla stayed in caves for long undetermined amounts of time and would hang around with THESE UGLY CRUSTY BATS WE’VE SEEN IN THESE TEN CHAPTERS while he’d be there doing god knows what with them.

This man, actually no that’s not a man. I’d be insulting them if I was insinuating he was one of them.

This fat ugly gorilla not only thinks he can just come back from a fight he already lost without any shame or awareness, but he thought he could handle TWO KINGDOMS AT THE SAME TIME WHEN HE WASN’T EVEN PERSONALLY TAKING CARE OF HIS OWN TO BEGIN WITH.

We don’t even know why he’s been in the caves on his own for so long but it sure as hell couldn’t have been more important than taking care of A FUCKING NATION, YOU FUCKING IDIOTIC CUNT-

I was so ecstatic when I saw that panel cuz not only did that mean I was going to see more prolonged pummelling, but it also means I get to see Aurora act like a total dumbfuck more.

Ew.

By the way, I love how @articwolfclawartist noticed the parallels with the choking here.

Amalia then commits animal abuse and that’s how these two ended up on the ground looking like disheveled and panting losers.

So Amalia not only beats AN OSAMODAS PRINCESS but also AN OSAMODAS KING AT THE SAME FUCKING TIME.

Must be embarrassing for the osamodas king above all. This fat gorilla is much older, more experienced than Aurora, and has been a king for a long time even before Amalia and Aurora were even born.

And who did he lose to?

To a young Sadida princess who became queen just a few months ago.

The fight hadn’t even lasted 30 minutes and he already lost by forfeiting the battle when he realized he and his trophy daughter had been cornered by sadida bomb dolls.

I repeat.

This “man”, who was king for decades, lost a deadly battle against a princess who became queen a few months ago.

He is such a fucking clown and so are all his offsprings cuz my god he has so many.

….she’s incredibly slow what the fuck.

I bet my whole bank account that the entire iop race can skillfully determine when their opponent wants to kill them better than Aurora.

Aurora: “ShE…sHe’S rEAlLy tRYinG To KiLl uS…”

Aurora a second ago: “I’d rather die than run away from that little brat…”

@pinkysgallery summarized it perfectly here.

And just like animals being hunted in the wild, Amalia corners them with freaking bomb dolls and makes these two look terrified as shit. Good. Their fears make me ecstatically happy.

But AURORA has the fucking nerve to speak again and make her look even more braindead than she already was.

I have so many things to say about this moment:

1) What is bitch talking about? This is the shit she can come up with? “ShOrt TeMpErEd”??? You guys didn’t even talk during the fight so how was she short-tempered if she didn’t speak about anything that would have made her look short-tempered???

2) Aurora is a fucking hypocrite but she’s such a hypocrite that she can’t connect the dots and realize how slow she looks when she quickly snapped just for seeing a female sadida servant being scared of her crusty bat, a male Sadida and a female eliatrope getting married, and knowing that she couldn’t fight Amalia so she still went on and tried doing that and expectedly failed miserably.

3) Contradicted to what??????? What is the chicken yapping about????

I believe she took her worthless manipulation “skill” from her dad. If you pay attention to her ugly chicken claws in the panel above, it’s shaking meaning that she’s genuinely scared of Amalia when she FINALLY learned that the boss-ass queen was trying to kill her.

See, here’s the thing I don’t get.

Sure, the osamodas king did not poison Yugo because we see who it was later on after the osamodas king’s interaction with Amalia ends.

But, here he is again telling Amalia she has no place IN HER FUCKING HOME ANYMORE.

According to who??? Who said she doesn’t belong here??? You??? The fucking outsider??? The king to ANOTHER FUCKING KINGDOM???

Oh yeah, right. You don’t rule your own kingdom that’s true. Your fucking counsellor does your job for you so that you can chill with some ugly crusty bats in caves and probably fuck them too while you’re at it.

He just said that she shouldn’t have hurt her nephew but bitch, if she’s his nephew, that then technically means she has to stay in her kingdom to teach him the Sadida way cuz he’s technically gonna be the future Sadida king. Literally what the fuck????

Ever since these two loser clowns came, they told her she had to leave but why????? When Armand got married to Aurora, Amalia stayed and there were no objections. So why is it a problem now??? If anything, now is the best time for her to stay cuz she’s the only one in the royal Sadida family who’s left and can teach her nephew the Sadida culture.

These people treat kingdoms so badly and have poor organisation to the point that the osamodas king had to be replaced by his fucking counsellor.

Fucking kill me already.

I don’t believe Amalia will receive any severe consequences. If she was ever interrogated and she told them the story from her perspective, these two bozos would look extremely suspicious. Cuz from Amalia’s pov, this is what she could say: “I was having a normal day, these two show up and demand the thrown and tell me to leave and on the very same day, my husband gets poisoned so I attack them and fight them. The fight hasn’t lasted 30 minutes and they easily leave.”

Also from who is she going to get any kind of consequence??

The other rulers??? They wouldn’t dare do anything when Yugo’s acting so unhinged right now.

From Gorilla and Chicken’s “family”??? They are so many, I’m pretty sure one of them wouldn’t mind taking the osamodas throne if it means taking the side of Amalia.

Sure, Amalia will learn that Gorilla and Chicken weren’t actually responsible for Yugo’s poisoning but do you really think she’d still give them her position after knowing they weren’t guilty? Hell no.

This fight meant more than just punishing them for thinking they had committed a crime. This fight also meant the beginning of her separation from the osamodas. For too long she had been forced to get used to them around her when Armand was alive but now she’s queen and gets to finally decide to cut them off for good.

In a way, this is also ironic. Gorilla and Chicken were expecting to cut off Amalia from her kingdom and yet here she is cutting them off from what they thought would be theirs if they just yapped and acted like fake responsible royals.

YEAH FUCKING KICK THEM OUT MAKE THEM WISH THEY WERE NEVER HERE ‼️‼️‼️‼️

I’m so happy she finally fucking beat the shit out of them so that they can FINALLY learn that they have no place here.

YOU BLUE-SKINNED DEVILS HAVE NO PLACE WITH THE SADIDAS GO BACK TO YOUR OWN COUNTRY ‼️‼️

Man, they’re such racists too cuz they realized the eliatropes stayed here, can you believe that? The audacity.

I’m just pissed that she didn’t kill them off though. They might come back for whatever fucking reason which infuriates me to no end cuz like…how the fuck do you come back after getting your ass beat the fuck out by one person when you had someone with you???

I swear if they come back wearing a smirk, I’m eating raw chicken and gorilla brain on the same day.

Fuck these people and fuck anyone who thinks they’re good antagonists. These shitheads gave me a daily migraine during the first volume and I’m so fucking glad they’re not acting like they’re the shit right now.

Look at them running away with their tails between their legs.

THIS IS THE SECOND FUCKING TIME THEY RAN AWAY WTF

If they think they’re royals and can take care of a kingdom, then why the fuck do they run away constantly???

Can you imagine having them as your king and princess? I’d rather die cuz I might as well vanish from the face of the earth if I was a sadida while being aware that these two animals would rule my kingdom.

I bet that the simple inconvenience that could impact the sadida kingdom would make them run away. If that happens, I wanna know what’s Aurora’s excuse this time.

The two people who shouldn’t have interacted so much in the necrome war were Eva and Armand. Eva was able to fight while handling two hyperactive children, and Armand was a fucking king and yet he was fighting on the first line of the battlefield.

Plenty of people, myself included, focused on Aurora leaving during the necrome war but now that I keep thinking about it more, the osamodas king was a bigger deal because he DID NOT have a reason to tell Aurora to run before running first.

If anything, because of the gorilla hanging around in caves and Aurora doing god knows what when Armand used to do his royal job, these two goobers are just royal cosplayers.

Literally. They’re just royal cosplayers.

Gorilla doesn’t do anything besides hanging in caves and Chicken just stands around.

I want you to know how big of a deal this is.

This is serious to think about cuz why the fuck WOULD ANYONE ENTRUST ANYTHING TO THESE CUNTS?????

Anyway, now that we’re done with whatever kind of circus that was, we go back to Yugo and Adamaï trying to balance the poison.

Yugo stop stressing me out with your words.

I know you’re not thinking straight right now and you’re having trouble thinking optimistically in a time like this, but YOU’RE THE SAME PERSON WHO KEEPS SAYING THAT THERE’S ALWAYS A SOLUTION TO EVERYTHING.

You’re gonna be fine AND you’ll find a way to get rid of the poison. You’ve got six Dofus, which can turn any demigod, and mortal, into a god! I’m pretty sure a deadly poison has got nothing on you if you’ve got these artifacts with you.

You’ll be fine (I’m definitely not trying to calm myself down rn)

Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

The mysterious dragon and the female sadida servant were accomplices all along.

Not gonna lie, I seriously thought the Gorilla and Chicken hired this sadida servant for sharing the same hatred towards Yugo and Amalia, but now that I learned I was wrong, I have to keep reminding myself that the blue-skinned “royals” should not be taken seriously but should be treated like NPCs instead.

What flabbergasted me at this moment, however, was the reveal.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the female sadida servant wasn’t real. Instead, it was just a disguise. The actual culprit was…

Julith.

Freaking Julith.

She had been ordered by the dragon to poison these two which ended up making Yugo drink it alone instead. @onyichii once theorized, back when chapters 7-8 came out, that the female sadida servant in question could have been Julith and they ended up ACTUALLY BEING RIGHT.

Hi daddy 🥰💕 help me instead 🥰🥰

It was Grougalorasalar guys….

I-

I really thought the mysterious dragon in the dream was Draconiros…

Ever since Chapter 1 came out, I went on a legitimate rant/theory explaining why it would make a thousand times more sense that it was Draconiros and not Grougalorasalar.

Last time I checked, both dragons were the best choice for this theory but I was still shocked that it was the black dragon all this time. I was mainly surprised because Grougalorasalar had been part of Ogrest’s chaos when he was fighting Yugo and Dally back in the ovas which would be weird if he was the same dragon who traumatized Yugo in his sleep for unintentionally causing chaos around the world.

Not to mention that he’s smirking here almost like he’s enjoying the sight of Yugo suffering like this. Now yes, he technically hates Yugo so it would make sense to see that he’s enjoying his pain but then why did he tell Julith that they’ll put a traumatized Yugo and a confused Adamaï out of their misery if he’s now saying this? :

“We’ll talk about it later” ???

What do you mean by that?

When the poison didn’t fully do its job due to the six Dofus in his body, didn’t you just come out in the open to kill Yugo once and for all? Why then tell him that “we’ll talk about it later”?

This makes me wonder if there’s more to this poisoning than we’ve been let on.

Because there’s a possibility that since Grougalorasalar noticed the poison hasn’t entirely worked, maybe he’ll try something else or severe the effects of the poison by moving Yugo and Adamaï away from the Sadida kingdom right now.

mom come pick me up

Grougalorasalar is weird. Not in a bad way but not in a good way either.

He’s just weirdly weird? Does that make any sense?

At first, when I read chapter 10 for the first time, I thought Grougalorasalar being the one responsible for the poison wouldn’t have made sense until @kerubimcrepin explained how black dragons tend to be more inclined to cause chaos.

So I guess it would make sense why he’d be perfectly fine prolonging Yugo’s suffering if it meant it could slowly kill him? But then again, we have no idea if the belladone is even deadly enough to kill Yugo because he’s still breathing. The belladone poison should’ve killed him instantly so maybe the poison is only effective enough to severely injure Yugo but nothing more than that.

Man, I hate that it ended on a huge cliffhanger like that cuz how is Yugo supposed to get out of this one and how will they all react when they find out it was Grougalorasalar and Julith who tried poisoning them?

Do people know that Julith was supposed to be dead? Amalia knows her world of twelve history pretty well given her royal education so maybe she learned of Julith’s death in one of her classes teaching her about the Dofus era when she was younger.

Either way, it doesn’t matter.

Yugo, Adamaï, and Amalia will all be shocked as all hell in the 2nd volume.

My god, I already need it so badly I can’t wait anymore…

I’m scared and I don’t wanna throw up when I see what’s next for them…

[sammy-deserves-better]

Hey people who definitely didn’t follow me for my AUs here’s another AU I thought up on the spot!!!

Fantasy/Royalty AU bam lets get into it

Julia and Bowie are the princess and prince of the kingdom, as you do, it’s gay and lesbian hostility in that castle every day

Axel, Wayne, Raj and Emma are knights with Axel being the head of the knights, Emma is also secretly a florist because why not

Priya is the head of the guards while Caleb is the personal guard/advisor to the king

Chase is a travelling bard who loves to talk about his ‘amazing’ adventures of ‘helping’ people

Nichelle is still a famous actress but instead of movies she’s like, famous from plays and all that jazz

Ripper’s a barbarian that’s pretty good at his job, unfortunately he is not taken very seriously

Millie is a famous writer but she’s so damn difficult to find at times and only a few people know where she actually lives

Damien is a wizard’s apprentice, he’s still learning but he’s got some real talent within him

Zee is the court jester, he didn’t even like try out for the role he just started talking one time and the king thought he was hilarious

Scary Girl is a famous necromancer because she is, funnily enough, scarily good at her job

And MK, silly ol’ MK, is a master thief who is wanted all over the world, but can never be located, always managing to escape at the last moment

Alright here’s some more details yippee

Raj and Bowie are like, in love, obviously, knight x prince romance! Forbidden love that isn’t really forbidden but like it’s super cute and Raj is so smitten and Bowie just loves this handsome knight that would do anything for him

Wayne and Emma are friends here because I also think they’re silly, Wayne’s the only one who knows Emma’s secret florist job because she trusts him enough and also he accidentally found out but it’s fine!! But he also nearly gives away Emma’s secret so many damn times because he’s just a little bit stupid

‘Man I wish I could get Bowie a nice bouquet…’

‘Oh well Emma is actually a fl-‘

And then Wayne gets elbowed so hard he can’t breath for 2 minutes

Emma also definitely has a thing for the cute court jester but she has no idea on how to actually approach Zee so she just sends him flowers anonymously and sighs while looking at him lovingly

Julia and MK meet because MK climbs up the damn castle walls at 2am and sneaks into Julia’s room just to rob her, gets absolutely slammed by the princess, wakes up and is tied to a damn chair with Julia right up in her face about to rip her to shreds and all MK can say is ‘you are REALLY attractive oh my gods’

This throws Julia off, they start talking, Julia realises that despite the fact she is holding one of the most wanted criminals hostage in her room, she wants to keep seeing MK because she’s entertaining and mean and just slightly pathetic, so she lets MK go on the promise that the thief will come back every night and so she does and yadda yadda lesbians toxic yuri wins

Millie’s stories actually come to life because shocker she’s actually a wizard in disguise and she needs to be really careful about what she writes so that’s why she hides herself away and is so hard to track down because if the wrong people knew about her magic capabilities oh no that’s a lot of blood and injury and angst and 10k words every chapter

Millie’s parents also had this ability to create anything from mere writing, they shared this ability with the kingdom, and so if an important figure asked them to say…make a protector of the kingdom, they would do so, and they did, and that’s where our villain/antagonist comes in but that’s a story for another day

The older gens are also involved in this one way or another as well, most are just backgrounders but some hold important to the story

Damien is the wizard apprentice to Leonard and Tammy, two great and powerful sages who spend their time helping the world

DJ is the one who taught Emma how to be a florist, he’s kind and understanding and always helps Emma choose the right flowers to give to Zee

Eva trains Ripper under her watchful eye, she’s proud of how far he’s come, but feels he can do just a bit more

Aleheather are the king and queen of the kingdom, Bowie and Julia are their adopted children

And that’s all I got for now uhhhh add whatever you want to this it’s just a silly time

[widowsistersandfriends]

Every Villain's Weakness

Note: I know I mostly write for Marvel, but I really love Gal Gadot and had this idea in my head to write for her! I hope you guys enjoy!

Summary: You are playing the evil villain in a movie with Gal, and your biggest weakness gets exposed.

Word Count: 3003

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You were Gal Gadot’s co-star in a new upcoming movie. The movie was a hot topic, as it was a female protagonist and a female antagonist. You were playing the evil villain, working with a secret team to steal gold and take over the world. However, Gal’s character was a witty detective who takes this investigation into her own hands in hopes of defeating all evil.

Gal was older than you and much more well known, which is why you always felt small and shy around her. It didn’t help that she was almost six feet tall either. You had done multiple scenes with her already and had started to get more comfortable around her. However, there were plenty of times where you’d stutter, laugh, or just blank when you did scenes with her. It was a mix of being nervous and taken aback at her flawless beauty. You knew her face well, but each time it seemed to get more and more gorgeous.

Currently you were on break getting your makeup redone for the next scene. You were chatting with your stylist when Gal sauntered in, already ready for the next scene. 

“Are you ready for the next scene? It’s an interesting one,” Gal said, smiling as her beautiful accent surrounded every word she spoke.

You took the script out and skimmed over the next scene. It was the first main battle against the hero and villain. Ultimately in the end of this scene, the villain gets away and continues her scheming with her team in their hidden lair.

“Ah good, even the scriptwriters know I always win, acting or not,” you said with a smirk.

“Is that so? You already know how the movie ends,” Gal said, now moving closer to your chair.

“Maybe I’ll convince them to change the ending to be more realistic,” you replied, as your stylist now began using the makeup brush to blend in the rest of your makeup. 

You couldn’t help but squirm when the brush went over your neck, letting out a soft snort and giggles. Your stylist just chuckled, used to this reaction.

“Oh? What’s this?” Gal said while smirking.

“Nohohothihing,” you giggled out, silently cursing in your head, knowing that your stylist was dragging it out to embarrass you. 

“Awww are you ticklish?” Gal asked, as you refused to make eye contact with her.

“Nohohoho Ihihim nohohot,” you giggled.

“Oh really?” She asked, gently placing her hand on the back of your neck and giving you several squeezes.

You squealed with giggles, scrunching up and shutting your eyes.

“Gahahal stohohohohop,” you squealed, quickly getting up and moving away.

“Who’s the winner now?” Gal asked, chuckling at your reaction.

“Me,” you said, trying to pull her down onto the couch where you sat to tickle her back. You had no idea if she was ticklish or not, but this was a good opportunity to find out. However, your plan backfired, as she grabbed both of your wrists and pinned you to the couch. In a flash, she began to squeeze up and down your sides, using the perfect amount of pressure to have you screaming with laughter.

“GAL STAHAHAHAP YOU AHAHAHASS,” you shouted, trying to push her hands away.

“Now is that any way to talk to your fellow coworker?” Gal asked with a grin.

You nodded your head, knowing that she was gonna torture you more. However, you were saved by the director, as she announced that it was time to film the next scene. 

You laid there panting, as Gal let you up.

“Better hope that makeup doesn’t run from you sweating,” Gal teased, poking your tummy. You flinched and let out a huff before getting up to go film. 

“Oh and by the way. It’s cute that you’re ticklish,” Gal said with a wink, before heading out the door. You bit your lip, feeling your cheeks warm as a smile spread across your face. You did your best to compose yourself before going to film, but it wasn’t easy.

Throughout your next few scenes, Gal would sneak in little pokes and squeezes whenever she could, especially when you broke character and laughed. She would add on to it by tickling you to pieces just to embarrass you even more. 

The next scene was an interrogation scene, towards the end of the movie. In this scene, Gal’s character interrogates you to get the information about their whole scheme and eventually leads to the final battle. You were looking over the script, grimacing at the method of torture. You knew they weren’t going to actually use real electrodes, but the thought of it made you shudder. 

“You know what I think we should do instead in this scene?” Gal asked suddenly, entering in her outfit for the scene. She was wearing a red dress underneath her detective coat. 

“What?” You asked.

She leaned down to whisper in your ear softly, “I should tickle you.”

You pursed your lips to contain the squeal that was about to escape your mouth. You shook your head, unable to speak. The thought of it was too much. Especially in the outfits the two of you were going to be wearing. 

“Aww what, you don’t like that?” Gal asked teasingly, running a finger down your spine. You jerked away from her, as she giggled at your reaction. 

“Wait right here, I’ve got something to take care of,” Gal said, throwing another evil smirk your way.

You let out a huff of frustration, tongue tied every time you were around her. It also didn’t help that she knew an embarrassing secret of yours. 

She came back a few minutes later, telling you it was time to film the scene. When you got out to the filming area, the scene looked different than what you expected. The table was still in the middle, but there were no electrodes or any scary looking things to be found. There was just a small little chest that was sealed, so you didn’t know what was inside. 

“Don’t worry, all the lines are the same. I just convinced the director to make this scene easier for you,” Gal said, looking directly in your eyes but showing no sign of teasing or joking.

“What do you mean?” You asked, confused at the sudden change.

“You’ll see. You won’t even have to act, I promise,” Gal said, as you saw the corners of her mouth twitch.

Your eyes widened with realization, knowing exactly what she meant.

“You really told the director to use tickling during the interrogation scene?!?” You asked Gal in disbelief. 

Gal let out a fake evil laugh before breaking down into hysterical giggles. 

“I wanted the scene to be with more laughter rather than painful screaming. And besides, this gives me a chance to test things out,” Gal said with yet another smirk.

“What do you mean test things out? And stop smirking, it’s so annoying,” you huffed, not really meaning it.

“Oh you’ll see,” she said, before walking towards the table.

The scene starts with your character being trapped and tied on the table. Gal’s character has finally captured the villain and wants answers. However, like any good villain, you weren’t giving away information for free or without a fight.

“You ready to get tickled to pieces?” Gal asked, smirking as she tied you to the table. 

“I hate you,” you said back, purposely slipping your wrist out of the ties.

“You want the scene to start early?” Gal asked, running her nails over your stomach, making you yelp and immediately behave. 

“This isn’t fairrrr,” you whined, now completely tied in an eagle spread position. 

“Aaaaand action!” The director yelled, as you quickly got into character.

Gal approached the table, walking slowly in her heels.

“Well well well, seems like you haven’t learned your lesson,” Gal said.

“You let me go this instant,” you growled, glowering at her.

“Not before you tell me about your little team of scheming snakes,” Gal hissed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you said, adding in a slight voice crack to show your character’s nervousness. However, you were naturally nervous for what was coming. And maybe slightly excited.

“You want to play the hard way or the easy way?” Gal asked with a rare serious expression.

“Hard ball. All the way,” you growled, pulling at the ties.

“Oh you’re not going anywhere, little one,” Gal said, going off script and adding in the nickname. You tried your hardest to not blush, hoping the camera wouldn’t pick up on it.

“Try me,” you said.

Gal took her detective coat off, revealing a gorgeous red dress. Almost as red as your face was. Your character’s outfit was sleeveless, which left your armpits wide open. You silently cursed in your head at whoever designed this outfit. 

Gal stood at the end of the table, staring you down. “Are you gonna talk? I’ll give you one last chance.”

“Go fuck yourself!” You shouted back, as your character was meant to be mouthy and stubborn.

“Very well then,” Gal said, raking her nails up and down your feet.

“Waiaiait stahahahap nohohot thahahahat,” you giggled out, struggling to remember your lines at this point. You decided to just hold out as long as possible, as that was the main idea of the scene until the cue came to give in.

“Every villain’s weakness huh,” Gal said.

“Anythihihing buhuhut thahahat,” you giggled, as your feet tried to swat her hands.

“I’ve got your number ~,” Gal said teasingly, now tickling your feet with full force scribbles. You were caught off guard since you were basically winging it at this point, which caused you to squeal and scream with laughter.

“NOHOHOHO PLEHEHEHEASE IHIHIT TIHIHICKLES,” you shouted.

“That’s the point. To make you laugh until you can’t stand it any longer.”

You continued laughing and enduring the torture, until Gal went into her second ask.

“Are you ready to talk?” She asked, slowing her fingers.

“Nehehver!” You shouted, out of breath from laughing. 

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Gal said with a wink, while moving up towards your upper body. 

“Now where else are you ticklish?” Gal asked, as you knew this wasn’t part of the script but for her personal gain.

“Up my ass,” you spat back.

“Hmm, is that here?” Gal asked, clawing away at your ribs as you arched your back before going into full blown laughter.

“NOHOT THEHEHERE STAHAHAHAP,” you cried out, wondering how she was so good at tickling. 

“You better talk. Who are you working with. I need names,” Gal said, digging in between your ribs and making you squeak.

“NOHOHOHO ONE NOW LEHEHET MEHEHEHE GOHOHO,” you shouted, struggling to get the words out.

“Don’t lie,” Gal said with an angry tone to her voice, now spidering over your tummy. 

“IHIHI PLEHEHEAD THE FIHIHIFTH,” you screamed.

“I’m not letting you go until you spill,” Gal threatened, walking over to the top end of the table.

You looked up to see her grinning down at you. 

“How are you holding up?” She asked, breaking character to let you know this wasn’t part of it.

“You are such an asshole,” you huffed, feeling super vulnerable at the moment. She was near one of your worst spots and you knew she was gonna test it out. 

“Sorry but this is way better than electrodes. Plus I can take notes on all your spots and use it for the future,” Gal said, wiggling her eyebrows. 

“You know I can do the same and get revenge? I have fingers too you know,” you said sarcastically.

“I’ll be fine,” Gal responded confidently, as you rolled your eyes.

“Are you air ticklish?” Gal asked, wiggling her fingers inches above your exposed armpits. 

You burst out into giggles, trying to pull away from her fingers.

“Stahahahap gehehehet awahahahay,” you giggled.

“Oh my gosh this is so cute. Quick get the cameras rolling so this can go in the blooper reel,” Gal said, continuing to torture you and embarass you even out of character. After she spent a few minutes teasing you, you guys were back to filming.

“You will talk, whether you want to or not,” Gal said, slowly pacing back and forth. 

“I will escape. And once I do, I’ll return to my…” you paused, as your character was supposed to slip up but catch herself. 

“You’ll return to your what?” Gal asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“N-nothing,” you said, embracing yourself for the next round of tickles.

“Spill,” Gal said raking her nails all over your armpits.

“NEHEHEHEVER AHAHAHHAHA,” you laughed out, hating how ticklish you were.

“You sure are ticklish for an evil powerful villain,” Gal teased, as you blushed in embarrassment. 

“I think I’m gonna have to step it up,” Gal commented, walking over to the small chest in her heels. 

“What are you gonna do to me?” You asked with deliberate fear in your voice. You lifted your head up slightly, not sure of what to expect. Your eyes widened when you saw Gal take two electric toothbrushes out of the chest, holding them up for you to see. A smirk took over her face, ready to feast on your ticklish body. 

“You want to play the hard way? Oh you’ll get the hard way,” Gal said, turning them both on and running them over your feet.

It tickled so much to the point where you couldn’t even get any words out. All you could do was scream with laughter and squirm to the best of your abilities. 

“Not so mouthy now huh?” Gal said as you continued to struggle.

“Better get talking ~~,” Gal sang in a high pitched teasy voice. 

“OHOHOKAY IHIHILL TAHAHAHALK,” you shouted.

“Go on,” she said, throwing in a smirk to frustrate you.

“Ha, you really thought you’d get the satisfaction of winning huh? You will never defeat me, even with your childish tactics,” you said, gritting your teeth.

“Childish tactics? They seem to be getting you pretty well,” Gal said.

“You’ll never be good enough to defeat me,” you growled, attempting to escape the ropes.

“You sure about that?” Gal asked, sticking the electric toothbrush into your belly button. 

“GAHAHAHAHA STAHAHAHAP,” you screamed bucking against the sensation. She left it there to torture you for a bit, before moving it to your hip bones. One toothbrush for each hip. This made you lose it. You didn’t care if your character was supposed to hold out longer. You couldn’t stand how much it tickled and had to tap out.

“STAHAHAHAP IHIHI GIHIHIVE PLEHEHEHEASE,” you pleaded, desperately squirming against your restraints for any opportunity to escape.

“Oh do we have a weak spot?” Gal asked, knowing the obvious truth.

“PLEHEHEHEASE IHIHILL SPIHIHILL JUHUST STAHAHAHAP,” you cried out.

“Speak,” Gal demanded, temporarily stopping. 

After catching your breath, you began to speak.

“I work for Group 9, a secret team that has a whole database to track when places are unguarded and who we have to take out in order to be successful. We have a secret lair where everything is kept hidden. They have a tracker on me to see where I am and I can see where they are in relation to where I am,” you explained, still trying to process the torture you just went through.

“Very well. I have all the info I need,” Gal said, finding the tracker and taking it. 

“And cut!” The director shouted, as you laid there in disbelief of what you had experienced. What you thought was only a dream turned into a reality. However, you would never say that to anyone. 

“Dreams really do come true huh,” Gal said, smiling at you.

“Just let me up you jerk,” you huffed.

“Ah ah ah what was that? Remember you’re still tied,” Gal said, turning on the toothbrush and putting it inches away from your hips.

“NO PLEASE! I’VE HAD ENOUGH AHAHAHAHAHA,” you laughed as she gave you one last round of torture.

“Alright you’ve had enough,” Gal said, letting you up.

“Finally.”

“Just know that I can use this even if it’s not a scene. If you’re a brat just know you’ll get wrecked,” Gal said, smirking at the reddening of your cheeks. 

“Just wait until we do a movie where you’re the villain,” you said back, seeing the slightest flash of fear before it disappeared on Gal’s face.

“Sorry that’s not happening,” Gal said.

“You’re just scared of being tickled,” you said, pushing to find out.

“Even if I am, you’re still way worse,” Gal said.

“Deflecting again are we,” you said, now smirking yourself.

“Careful or I’ll have you tied again,” Gal said with a tone of warning. 

“But then again, I always have you tongue tied, so in a way you’re always tied around me,” Gal said, smirking as you turned to hide your blush.

“Don’t worry, you’ll only be tied for things you like. Tickles and me,” Gal reassured you. Your mouth flew open, as you covered it to keep in your squeal. 

“You’re adorable,” Gal said, pinching your side to make you yelp.

“I am not,” you denied in annoyance.

“Come on, let’s go get lunch so you won’t be Miss Grumpy Pants for the next scene,” Gal said, giggling as your face lit up at the mention of food.

The two of you went out for lunch together, talking and bonding more now that you got over the hump of embarrassment. She made sure to get you good and catch you off for the best reactions. However, you didn’t mind despite how embarrassing it was. Especially in public. 

The two of you finished the movie strong, filming many action-packed scenes together. However, the interrogation scene would always be your favorite. You thought to yourself about how lucky you were to be acting with your absolute favorite actress. Despite the fact that she would always tease and frustrate you with her smirks, you had such a strong bond with her that you would cherish forever. 

[late-to-the-party-81]

What's up, Buck?

AN: And another late answer to an ask! Hahahaha. Thank you for the thot, Em. He looks so grumpy here!

Unbeta'd ficlet ahoy!

Divider by @firefly-graphics

Masterlist

Relationship: Bucky Barnes x Avenger Reader

Word Count: 1.4k

CW: Antagonistic work colleagues to lovers, Grumpy Bucky, Canon typical violence, confessions of feelings, idiots in lust, kissing, implied future smut.

“What’s up, Buck?” You called out with a smile as you passed the metallic staring machine in the corridor. He didn’t answer you. He never did. Just flared his nostrils and kept on staring, while you kept on walking.

“What’s up, Buck?” You gave him a jovial shoulder bump as you found him in the communal lounge-slash-kitchen, holding a bowl of cheerios and milk in his left hand and shovelling it into his mouth with the spoon in his right. He scowled as some of the milk sloshed, but said nothing.

“What’s up, Buck?” You gave him a wave as you strode onto the quinjet, passing where he and Steve were sitting sorting out their equipment, as you followed Nat to the cockpit. He tossed his knife over and over in his hand, glaring at you, but as usual, stayed silent.

“Quit bugging him,” Nat chided.

“But he’s gotta answer me sometime. How many missions can we get through where he doesn’t even exchange a single word with me? I’m determined to get him to say something, even if it’s just ‘fuck off’ or ‘shut the fuck up’. It’s not normal, Nat.”

“Yasha isn’t normal, скворец. Who would be after everything he’s been through?

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right…it’s just that I get on with everyone, Natty. I don’t know why he’s so grumpy with me.”

“He just doesn’t know you yet. It’s gonna take him a while to warm up. If you haven’t noticed he doesn’t really talk to me much.”

“Aah, yes, but he does talk to you.”

“You just want him to notice you crushing on him. I see those eyes you make at him.”

You stuck out your tongue at her, but Nat just shook her head, put on her headset, and started her pre-flight checks. You sat back and tried not to ruminate on the intriguing, and very hot brunette super-soldier.

—----

You pulled your knife out of the chest of the goon you’d just downed and jogged down the corridor in front of you. 

“I’m on my way guys, wait for me to catch up…”

“Don’t worry, Starling. We won’t leave you behind.” You heard the smile in Steve’s voice over the comms and rolled your eyes to yourself. The daft nickname that Nat had given you, after she found you doing karaoke exactly once, had now been adopted by the rest of the team. Well, almost the rest of the team.

You saw a partially closed door ahead of you and pushed it open, coming face to face with Bucky’s rifle. You skidded to a halt and raised your hands in the air.

“Heeeeeeey! What’s up, Buck? Apart from your gun, that is.” You stuck out your index fingers and pressed it to the end of the barrel, pushing it away from you. Bucky glared. You tried not to notice how sexy he looked all battle dishevelled.

“Come on, man. Lighten up.”

“I almost shot you.” It took you a moment to decipher the growl he made and then another moment to process that he’d actually spoken to you. 

You grinned and made a theatrical stagger towards the closest wall, clutching a hand to your chest.

“Be still my beating heart! He speaks!”

Some of the tension went out of Bucky’s body and he lowered his rifle to point at the floor.

“Are you always so blasé?”

“Are you always so stoic?

He rolled his eyes and started to walk away from you down the corridor. You trotted behind him, trying to keep up with his long-legged stride, and turned off your comms transmitter.

“Is that why you don’t like me? You don’t think I take anything seriously?”

He stopped short and you almost ran into his back.

“I don’t ‘not like’ you.” He turned and looked you over.

“Could’ve fooled me, Sergeant Barnes. This is the first time you’ve ever spoken to me.”

“This is the first time you’ve said something that isn’t that ridiculous phrase.”

You pinched your nose, feeling a headache coming on.”

“You do realise that if you’d done anything other than just stare at me, all haughty and serious, I’d have expanded my vocabulary.”

“Maybe I didn’t know what to say. What was I supposed to say?”

“Anything, Bucky. I don’t know. Maybe ‘Nothing, just chilling’, or ‘the value of the Yen against the Dollar’. Anything. We could’ve been getting along all this time, you know.”

“Anything, Starling? What if what I wanted to say wasn’t appropriate?” He took a step towards you, backing you against the wall. His expression had changed. “What if I didn’t want to ‘get along’? What if I want something different? I’ve seen the way you look at me. I know what you want. Maybe we want the same thing?”

His eyes were dark and for some reason you were transfixed by the way his tongue popped out from between his lips.

“Umm. Erm. Is it warm in here? Just me? Maybe we should be going, you know, catch up with the others.”

“Don’t change the subject, not when we’re finally talking, скворец. You want to ask me, don’t you? You want to ask me that stupid question one more time to find out what I really want to say, don’t you?”

His breath was warm on your face, his eyes hypnotising you. He was standing so close his knee was almost slotted between your thighs. All you’d have to do would be to drop slightly and you could grind against it and…

“What… what’s up, Buck?” You barely recognised the croaky voice that came out of your throat.

Bucky’s right hand came up and cupped your face, thumb moving over your cheekbone and he dropped his head even closer.

“My blood, скворец, every time you talk to me. That’s what’s up. I want to kiss you to stop you saying it, and then carry on kissing you to find out what other things your lips will say…”

He moved his lower body closer, pressing his hips against you and heat suffused your skin at what you felt.

“And when you prance around in those tiny sleep shorts that barely cover your ass, guess what else is up?”

You drew a ragged breath into your lungs, feeling dizzy from the adrenaline coursing through your body.

“Do you understand now why I didn’t respond?”

The gap between you was infinitesimal. You were so close you were breathing the same air and at some point your hands had come up to rest on the leather of his tack jacket

“You should have said it, Buck. You should have said all those things, and we could have been doing this sooner.”

You closed the gap.

At the first touch of his lips against yours, both dry and chapped due the exertion of the mission, your eyelids closed allowing you to just feel. His mouth moved over yours, not softly, but not aggressively either, like he was trying to hold back. Your fingers curled into his jacket and the firm material creaked. You could smell leather, and gunpowder, and steel, and Bucky’s sweat. 

You wanted more. Wanted to drown in it. Drown in him. 

You wanted to run your tongue up his chest and taste him, you wanted to wind your fingers into his hair and clutch him to your breast, you wanted…

“Starling? Buck? Where are you guys? Did you stumble into some more trouble? We’re waiting for you at the jet.”

Steve’s voice burst in over the comms, pulling you both out of the moment. Bucky stepped back from you and pressed his finger to his ear.

“We’re here, Stevie. Don’t worry, be with you in a few minutes.”

You lent against the wall, and grabbed your water bottle, taking a healthy slug and giving yourself a few moments to collect yourself. 

“Come on, Starling. You heard the man. Let’s move out.”

You gave him a sharp nod and strode forward. You got a few steps in front of him when you felt Bucky grab you, his cool left hand feeling blissful against your heated skin.

“Oh, and our conversation isn’t over, doll. Not by a long shot.”

You gave him a coy smile.

“Your room or mine?”

Tag list: @christywantspizza @jobean12-blog @bucky-bucky-bucky-bucky @tuiccim @yarnforbrains @sidepartskinnyjeans @flordeamatista @krissy25 @bodeckersdiamonddoll @goldylions @ohsymphony @luxeavenger @wheezy-stucky @doasyoudesireandlive @chemtrails-club @seitmai @talia-rumlow @poppunksnowwhite

[gnomewithalaptop]

I am once again thinking about my Reverse Falls plot bunny where Canon!Dipper switches places with his Rev Falls counterpart

Just hear me out! Like -- the dynamics would be so good. Because in either universe, the twins know each other better than anybody else, right? They've known each other their entire lives! So they'd obviously realize something was up pretty quickly, but the way that goes down would vary wildly depending on the combo you've got going on

That's why I really want Canon!Dipper in the Reverse universe -- out of the two of them, I definitely think he could "fake it til you make it" a bit longer than Mabel, but I also think the potential dynamics between him and Rev!Pacifica and Rev!Gideon would be fascinating to see play out. Cause like, let's be real: that kid can hold some grudges, and he's pretty pessimistic when it comes to people and second chances (at least compared to Mabel). I can see him having a really hard time wrapping his head around the personality shifts and trusting Pacifica and Gideon with anything -- which would only make things harder, since they'd already be predisposed to hating his guts. But also, just the idea of Dipper trying to navigate a strange world where his family is full of manipulative bastards and the entire town seems terrified of him makes my inner ten-year-old extremely happy

And then the dynamics with Rev!Dipper and Canon!Mabel would be playing out in tandem with all of this. And the script is completely flipped from Canon!Dipper's, because Mabel doesn't go into this knowing something's wrong. She has to figure that out for herself from context cues, and like. I doubt "evil mirrorverse version of my brother" is going to be her first guess right off the bat. So you get extra wiggle room for Rev!Dipper to get situated as a quasi-antagonist and start screwing things up, and you get fun hijinks while Mabel and the gang make several very wrong choices about what's going on with Dipper

And like. Okay, so: I've always interpreted Reverse!Dipper as somebody who's very pragmatic -- he's very much an "ends justify the means" sort of guy. Don't get me wrong, he's not as vindictive as Canon!Gideon, but he also isn't particularly sentimental either. He's lived his whole life in "every man for himself" mode (with some small exceptions for his sister).

And then I think about combining that kind of mindset with Mabel's unstoppable wave of optimism and endless harebrained schemes where she tries to make things better for a person she doesn't even know that well. And I think about Reverse!Dipper being faced with this realization that his world is dark and cold and uncaring because that's how he relates to the world.

Let's be real: at the end of the day, both sets of twins love each other so fiercely. It's just that the Rev Falls kids have gotten caught up in all these manipulation games and power plays, and once you get caught up in that kind of cycle, it becomes harder and harder to get out again. So I can see this swap having a positive shift on both the Rev Falls kids -- taking them away from their lives and showing them that they don't have to interact with the world this way

I'm thinking about Canon!Dipper seeing the humanity in Rev!Mabel and talking to her straight the way he did to Pacifica in Northwest Mansion Mystery. I think about how she hasn't gotten to be a kid because of the Tent of Telepathy's whole Dance Mom schtick, and finally getting it impressed upon her that that isn't normal. I'm thinking about Canon!Mabel showing Rev!Dipper it's okay to trust people and let them in. That he doesn't have to treat the entire world like it's out to hurt him, doesn't need to strike first to make sure the other guy never gets a chance to

Anyway. This got so long but -- yeah. I yearn for the Gravity Falls Mirror Mirror episode that exists only in my mind

[separatist-apologist]

Something In The Orange

Summary: Someone is trying to murder Eris Vanserra's soon-to-be wife.

And no one can rule him out as a suspect

Note: Big thanks to @octobers-veryown for the mood board and the unknown anon for the song inspiration.

For @sjmromanceweek

Read On AO3 | Chapter 1: First Date

“Knock knock,” came a soft, sweet voice. Arina turned from her usual haunt in the window, surprised to see an actual, living woman standing in the doorframe. She wasn’t from Avalonia if her high, starched neckline and her chestnut colored hair hidden beneath a pearl studded net was any indication. Arina sat up a little straighter as the woman stepped nervously inside. “I hope you don’t mind. Lucien mentioned you might welcome some non-Vanserra company.”

“I would,” Arina replied without mentioning she’d have welcomed any company that wasn’t the sneering, smug face of Eris Vanserra. He came every evening to insult her while seeming genuinely surprised she didn’t like him, hovering in the doorway until he was satisfied he’d done his duty and vanished. 

“I’m Elain,” Elain told her, extending a delicate, gloved hand. Arina rose from her spot in order to shake it, delighting in the friendship etched over Elain’s face.

“Oh,” Arina said, because she’d heard the ladies at court gossiping about Elain. “I thought—”

“That I’d be pregnant?” Elain asked with a gleam in her eye. “Yes, I heard that rumor was going around. Lucien was caught kissing me and my father overreacted just a tad.”

“I’ll say,” Arina replied with a laugh.

“Don’t tell anyone, but it worked out for me. He never would have been allowed to ask me to marry him otherwise.”

“And that’s what you wanted?” Arina questioned.

Elain smiled, biting her bottom lip. “Yes, it is.”

“Well, someone should be happy to be married,” Arina declared, ignoring the look of curiosity Elain shot her. There would be time to confide everything given they were about to become sisters through marriage, but right then all Arina wanted was a reprieve from Eris.

That meant thinking about him and talking about him. Anything to escape him, even temporarily.

Unfortunately, it was all Elain wanted to talk about. For the first time since Arina had arrived, she allowed Elain to take her out of her bedroom. “When is the wedding?” Elain asked her, adding, “Lucien isn’t allowed to get married before Eris.”

Eris had such a big ego that Arina believed that was true.

“The end of the month,” she said with her usual glumness. 

Elain’s smile brightened. “Rest assured, princess, that nothing happens on time in the palace. If they told you a month, expect six at minimum.”

“You’d wait half a year?” Arina questioned, wondering if Elain knew that Lucien had once been meant for Arina before he was caught. Did it bother Elain? Would it bother Arina were the circumstances reversed? Maybe, if she loved the man and thought the other woman loved him. The problem was Arina’s apathy. Lucien and Eris were nearly interchangeable given how little she knew about them. Maybe she and Lucien would have gotten on better, or maybe they would have been antagonists right from the start, too.

Maybe there was something about her when it came to Vanserra men. Whatever the case, Arina decided it was better to say nothing to Elain rather than risk the budding friendship between them. She couldn’t take another week locked up in her room with the company of a man she suspected had tried to kill her. 

“I’d wait half my life,” Elain assured her cheerfully with a bounce in her step. “If you saw my home, you’d understand.”

“Where—”

“The North,” Elain interrupted, as though she’d been dying to say it. “It’s cold and dreary and even when it’s warm it's not. Here, at least, you have the benefit of all four seasons and proper warmth, you know?”

Arina could only nod her head. 

“Have you seen the gardens?” Elain continued, plowing forward Arina’s emotional defenses with a single minded determination that could have made a soldier weep. “They were the first place I visited when I was brought here. You can tell a lot about a kingdom based on their royal gardens.”

Arina hadn’t seen anything in the palace and it hadn’t occurred to her to ask. Every time she considered it, Eris would appear with that disdainful smile of his and Arina was angry all over again. He acted as if she had done something to cause this marriage—like it was her fault. Arina hadn’t been consulted. She’d been a baby when the details had first been arranged. It was tempting to try and tell him that but Eris wasn’t stupid.

He wanted someone easy to blame. 

And she refused to give him the satisfaction of trying just so he could break her down. If Eris wanted to be at odds then that’s what they’d be. Arina mulled it over as Elain dragged her out into warm sunshine toward a sprawling garden of greenery Arina just did not care about. A building in the distance caught her attention, though.

“Do you know what that is?”

“A kennel, I think,” Elain said, cheerful as ever. “Filled with hunting dogs so I’d stay away if I were you.”

Dogs? 

Arina followed Elain, steps slowing as she recalled the little stray that she’d spent the better part of six months feeding, trying to coax it into the palace. She’d almost managed before her father spotted her and forced her to watch as one of his guards killed the animal outright. It was one of many hard, brutal lessons her father inflicted on her. She needed to be harder, colder, less compassionate.

But Arina still thought about that dog, so skinny she could see his ribs poking through spotted fur, and the big, warm eyes that had trusted her. What a mistake that was for the animal. Arina carried the guilt around like a sack of stones tied to her back, wishing she could go back and save it somehow. Save it from her father or herself, whichever was easier.

Did the king treat his animals well? It was all she could think about as her and Elain took a tour around the garden. Arina recognized she wasn’t being a good friend to Elain, who was clearly trying. Elain’s passion laid in the flowers around them, pointing each one out to tell Arina the names and little plant facts she’d gathered over the years. 

“Do you know if there is a library in the palace?” Arina heard herself asking Elain as they began to double back through the maze of shrubs and trees all artfully planted around an immaculate lawn and careful, stone laid pathways.

“I’m sure there is. All palaces have one, right? Maybe Eris would know?”

Yeah, Arina bet he would. Perhaps Elain noticed her hesitation because she added, “I could ask Lucien? We could go together, if you like?”

Relief flooded through Arina. “I would like that.”

“I’ll get you a sun hat for the garden,” Elain continued undeterred by Arina’s lack of enthusiasm. “You read, I’ll plant.”

“Only if we can have a picnic while we do it,” Arina agreed, the scene stretching before her easily. Perhaps life wouldn’t be so bad with Elain around. Wherever Lucien was sent to once he was married could likely support her, too. They could be friends, living far from the palace having little adventures and general fun while Eris terrorized the capital.

Elain and Arina split ways once inside, leaving Arina to double back toward the kennels. No one paid her any attention, though a few guards watched with bemused expression until she got close enough she could smell the dogs in the air. Only then did someone in a fluttering, red cape and a white and gold uniform say, “Those dogs could kill you.”

“I won’t touch,” she promised, drawing her hands close to her chest. “The prince said I could be here.”

That was a lie and one that was likely to get her in trouble if Eris ever learned about it. But for the moment it also gained her access which was all Arina cared about. The inside smelled heavily of dog and some kind of minty cleaner, with rows of large, spacious cages that housed the animals. Arina didn’t know what she’d expected.

Something small and hungry like the dog from home. These creatures were big, tall enough that when one stood, blue eyes watching her with interest, the shoulders of the creature would have reached her hip. They weren’t starving with no ribs to be found, and glossy gray coats that were reminiscent of smoke. 

They looked fast. Smart, too. No one was inside to watch her—the guards had turned their backs and were chatting amongst themselves. Arina dared to step closer to the cage of the dog standing and looking at her, palm held out in what she hoped was a friendly gesture.

“Hi,” she whispered, watching the dog also creep closer, ears perked up high and tail wagging ever so slightly. That seemed like a good sign, she thought. The two of them came closer and closer, until Arina dared to press her palm to the bars of the cage and the dog sniffed cautiously, his curiosity overriding his instincts. Or, perhaps, they weren’t as mean as the guards made them out to be. After all, all the dogs were sitting at the edge of the crates, some with thumping tails and others with soft, low whines.

Arina was looking at the dog in the next crate when the one smelling her hand offered her palm a tentative lick. She smiled, exhaling as she did. The dog licked again, tail thudding behind him and Arina whispered, “Good boy.”

She went around to all twelve dogs, daring to stick her fingers between the bars to scratch their noses as she became bolder. No one tried to chew off her fingers and by the end of the day, Arina was in a better mood than she’d been in months. She was going to wash her hands, dress herself nicely, sit beside Eris and beg him to let her take them out for a walk. She’d do whatever Eris asked, no matter how absurd. 

Maybe things weren’t so bad, she reasoned. Her marriage was a political farce but there were other good things happening around her. Maybe she didn’t need love. Maybe having friends and a fulfilling life could be enough. Arina wasn’t one to give into pessimism if she could help it. The sun always returned, was still a force to be reckoned with and maybe she could be, too.

At least, she thought so right up until she felt something wrap brutally tight against her throat. Arina tried to pull, tried to struggle but whoever held her had an ironclad grip. Arina went down, lungs aching, thinking of the dogs in the kennel. 

ERIS:

Eris hadn’t intended to meet his youngest brother’s fiance before the wedding. In his mind he figured he’d have to attend the wedding and he could introduce himself there. Tucked away in his study, lounging in a chair, Eris found himself taken by surprise when Princess Elain stepped inside without knocking, her arms crossed over her stiff dress.

“We need to get you a more interesting wardrobe,” Eris said the moment the door clicked shut behind her. The clothing of the north wasn’t practical or fashionable and had always been his one annoyance about Elain’s older sister Nesta. They were beautiful women dressed like nuns. Elain was, perhaps, the most egregious of the three given how effortlessly beautiful she was. It seemed a shame to put her in those heavy coats and tightly boned corsets. 

“Oh?” Elain Archeron asked, her pretty, pink lips upturned with a smile. “Perhaps we could pick out a new wardrobe at the same time we work on your manners?”

“I deserved that,” Eris conceded, sitting up in his chair. “What can I do for you?”

“Where is the library?”

“Off-limits to you,” Eris replied with a small amount of curiosity. “Have Lucien give you the key.”

“It’s not for me. It’s for Arina.”

Eris loathed the way his body seemed to twitch with interest almost as much as he loathed himself for noticing. Elain didn’t notice and Eris refused to give in to the sensation even as his traitorous mouth said, “If she wants access, she’ll have to ask me.”

“She hates you.”

Eris stared at Elain. “I was told you were sweet.”

“I can be,” Elain replied, offering him a truly saccharine smile. “I don’t suppose you want to hear what I was told about you.”

No, Eris was certain he didn’t want to learn the court gossip that surrounded himself. Cruel bastard was likely the most common refrain—but Eris didn’t want to hear it, all the same. 

“Well, as compelling as an argument that was, I’m going to regretfully decline. If my beloved wants to visit the library, she can ask me.”

“And you’ll take her?”

Eris didn’t believe for one moment Arina could read. His father had lamented how woefully uneducated women just a little further west to them were—how a formal education was often eschewed in favor of creating a dutiful wife, of which Arina seemed also unskilled at. No, if Arina wanted in the library it meant she was up to something nefarious and Eris would be there.

Supervising. 

“Anywhere she likes,” Eris replied, flashing Elain his most convincing smile. Not that it worked on her, of course. Elain merely watched, brown eyes narrowed with suspicion. When had the palace become filled with women who hated him, he wondered? Once, Eris had walked these halls like a god. Now women stared him down with disdain in their eyes.

Well. Elain and Arina did. 

But how long before their bad attitude affected everyone else? 

“It was nice to meet you,” Elain assured him, her tone betraying that meeting him had been the exact opposite. Eris inclined his head, allowing Elain to leave as he reclined back in his chair, chin resting against his fingertips. So. Lucien’s former and current fiances had teamed up, had they? Formed a little alliance at court? 

That annoyed him. 

He could have gone to complain to Lucien, who was irritated that Eris was going to marry Arina even after Lucien himself had wrecked everything. Lucien had never considered the consequences of his actions and figured everything would work itself out because it always had.

For him. Not for anyone else, of course, but for him it always had and always would. Lucien got the woman he wanted but had to face down the reality that in doing so, Arina got Eris.

He considered going to his father and demanding Arina be kept away from Elain. Beron would see it done which was precisely what kept Eris in his chair. If his father thought secluding Arina away from court and isolating her from all potential friends was a good idea, that told Eris he was being unreasonably awful.

He didn’t want to align with his father on the personal. Rarely on the political.That didn’t mean Eris was going to stop what he was doing and rush to see Arina. He was in no mood for another showdown with a woman and instead returned to his work with renewed vigor. If there was one thing Eris always found motivating, it was avoidance. He didn’t want to talk to Arina and so work suddenly became fascinating.

His duties, once mundane, seemed to him almost special in comparison. And as Eris finished, well aware he needed to go see her, he had the realization that he wished he could grasp her by the shoulders and make her see that he had not wanted this either. That he had begged and negotiated and argued in circles trying to avoid the fate they’d now found themselves in. 

If he could have freed her, he would have. Without hesitation.

He couldn’t. Not without enraging his father and risking a lot of people’s lives. Beron would hurt Eris but he wouldn’t kill him, not after the years spent grooming him to one day become king. In his way, Beron seemed to like Eris better than anyone else in his family. Perhaps it was being the hoped for, first born son that softened Beron—if Beron’s treatment of Eris could ever have been called soft. 

He’d suggested just killing Arina’s father, absorbing the territory, and installing Arina at court. It had seemed like Beron might agree for a time before his advisors caught wind of the plan and promptly shut it down. There was nothing nobles hated more than seeing one of their own so easily deposed. It made them restless—hungry for blood. As far as Eris was concerned, this was their punishment for throwing their little tantrum.

Diplomacy had won the day, which meant none of their daughters would ever sit on a throne.

Arina had saved him from that, at least—he liked sleeping with the ladies at court but he didn’t want to be married to them. They lacked ambition, were merely puppets to their more powerful fathers who would attempt to weaponize their daughters against Eris and though Eris knew it wasn’t their fault, he resented them for it.

Was it so wrong to want someone to want him? Yes—and he knew better than to want it. Eris had pushed those notions away until they were so deeply buried he was convinced they didn’t exist anymore. Boys wanted love but men knew better. It was that thought that kept Eris from seeking out Arina until she didn’t come to dinner. Predictable behavior, he thought with some irritation—and rich, too, given she’d accused him of being a coward. Eris spent the better part of the evening preparing his speech to her in which he’d demand her silence as he informed her there was no escaping this marriage.

And to get used to it. They could figure the rest out later, though Eris wanted separate lives. He’d offer her up any of their numerous estates if she wanted to live somewhere else—after she gave him a son. Just one, he thought privately. The idea of having to sleep with an unwilling woman more than he was required to made his stomach turn. 

Every step brought him closer to the proverbial hang man’s noose. Hells, but he did not want to have this conversation with her. Eris had nearly convinced himself not to go into her room at all when he arrived. But Arina had called him a coward and Eris needed to prove to her—and maybe himself—that he was no coward. He could do hard things.

He could…walk in on Arina laying dead on the floor.

“Fuck,” he breathed, crossing the room quickly only to slam to the ground, his knees screaming in protest. “If you godsdamn die right now—”

There was a cord twisted around her throat, tight enough it had left a bruise against her otherwise unblemished throat, but not so tight Eris couldn’t slide his fingers through and relieve the pressure against her airway. With his other hand, Eris lifted her floppy, lifeless body into his lap so he could undo the knot behind her tangle of thick hair. 

She wasn’t dead. As he worked he saw the faint, frantic flutter of her throat pulsating against her skin. Close, maybe, but not dead and that was all that mattered. Arina began to take deeper breaths as color returned to the gold of her cheeks, chasing away the blue tinge of her lips.

Eris was certain he’d aged a decade in the frantic minutes it took to free her. Arina opened eyes filled with panic as she gripped his forearm, looking around wildly.

“Don’t speak,” he warned, pocketing the cord. “Just breathe.”

“You,” she rasped, the word an accusation. Did she truly believe he’d order her dead only to revive her? It would have been all too easy to slit her throat while she laid there and blame it on someone else. Eris shifted, spreading his legs a little wider as Arina pushed herself from his lap only to collapse between his thighs, palms flat on the marble floor. 

“What did you do to make someone so vengeful?” Eris asked, more curious than anything. That was twice now—surely it wasn’t a jilted courtier coming after her. There was something deeply personal about this second attack, though Eris couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Poisoning was detached, removed from the person being killed but strangling seemed intimate. Angry, even. 

Arina didn’t answer, turning those too-big eyes on him. “Is there a bruise?”

Eris clenched his jaw. “Yes.”

“I think I’d like to be alone,” Arina whispered, pushing herself off the floor like she’d practiced this before. Eris recognized what was happening—the way she set her jaw, swallowing the urge to cry so she could look at him with blank, dead eyes. No emotion, just a numb sort of detachment he’d perfected himself. For a moment he remained exactly where he was, his mind unable to process what was happening.

And then he stood. “You need a guard.”

“I want to be alone,” she repeated, her voice whisper soft. “Thank you for this.”

It wasn’t good enough. Eris hated her dismissal even more. “Tell me who did this.”

“I don’t know,” she said, refusing to look at him.

“I’ll—”

“Eris, she whispered, twisting her fingers nervously in front of her body. “Please.”

Growling in frustration, Eris stalked from the room unsure what he wanted to do. He heard the lock click behind him, shutting him out definitively. Fine. She didn’t want his help then he wouldn’t offer it.

But all night, all Eris could see when he closed his eyes was Arina lifeless on the floor in a heap, her face hidden beneath all that soft hair. His mind forced him to replay her wrapping those long fingers around her throat, feeling for the dark bruise already forming against her skin as the light winked out of her gaze.

It wasn’t the first time someone had hurt her that way.

But Eris swore it would be the last. 

[quyqyart]

This scene suffered from the pace being rushed which makes it hard to understand what Kabru is going on about if you didn't piece together the story through his POV. This is unfortunate cuz this moment is so realistically messy yet is the satisfying moment when the leading and supporting characters finally come into an understanding.

Kabru's antagonism makes perfect sense only if the readers remove themselves from their favoritism to Laios.

I see some confusion over why he thinks Laios is an enemy of humanity. Firstly, Laios thinks the things that killed all of his family and community are cool. This alone to me is at least sympathetic enough to see why he harbors subconscious prejudice against Laios. It doesn't make him right, but it's logical enough.

Secondly, yeah he's in over his head with his own judgment and thinks too highly of his own motive*. Thirdly, he's bit of a dick to Laios I won't even lie here (I do blame stress for the punch) . But like everyone except Falin is a fucking dick to Laios when you think about it.

And to be completely fair, ever since he knew of Laios' interest till even here still Kabru's been flip-flopping between "This man might save us all" and "He would choose monsters over humanity, we are doomed if he got the power which he is very close to getting rn, let kill him". It's not like he went 100% antagonistic.

This is getting long so,,,My breakdown of Kabru's pov, which explains his actions regarding Laios, under the readmore.

Let see thru Kabru's pov in chronological order:

Taking it from the start, Kabru has a bit of a savior complex no doubt stems from his survival guilt. Being the sole survivor of a massacre by monsters it's understandable he feel that it's his duty to find out why it happened and prevent it from happening again. We saw him and his crew talking shit about how good he is at reading people, and he totally gonna topple the greedy governor and save this place. Then they continuously got their asses handed to them by monsters cuz while Kabru read people well, he can't handle monsters. So yeah he admitted deep down he's not making it to the deep.

So now Kabru wants to find someone he can trust to save the island. He got his eyes on Laios bc he can't read him. Laios is a damn good dungeon explorer and isn't motivated by greed while almost everyone is, so what gives?

Here we see Kabru reveals he had failed to get Laios attention while trying to get to know his mysterious party. This is my interpretation only but he was definitely pissed about it too. Kabru is a bit over his head about his own charm so Laios ignoring him probably stunk.

Even after knowing Laios' special interest he was like "huh so that's how he is" until the matter of dungeon master's power come up and it occurred to him "wait would this guy who loves monsters use the power to make the dungeon full of powerful monsters that will destroy people?" He definitely did not decide Laios was humanity emeny right there, it's a possibility. As much as Laios pulling through and save the island from becoming another Utaya tragedy is a possibility.

Here, we see him desperately clinging to the former possibility until the latter took over "It's too late to get through to him i have to kill him." But did it take over? In that panic, his true feeling comes out. He still wants to understand Laios as a person, he still wants to believe in Laios after all.

Wgile it's easy to get pissed at Kabru just as we did the the Shuro/Toshiro vs Laios fight scene. Fellow autistics know how much it fucking hurt to get your social ineptitude get dragged out like that. I do think Kabru's rant here is good for Laios. This is the first time somebody has admitted to want to get to know why he like monsters despite them hating the creatures. It's not the solidarity like what he and his sister has, but it's not total rejection. Again, his own party members who care about him want nothing to do with his interest (minus Senshi)

Tldr: Kabru's alright and his actions make complete sense even if it's flawed

[max1461]

Here's my other problem with tumblr discourse: even when I make the context/intended interpretation of a post really explicit, people ignore this context and respond to it in like... for lack of a more charitable term, a discoursebrained way.

So a while ago I made a post about some ethical intuition I had, and at the top I put a huge disclaimer which said something to the effect of "this is just an expression of my feelings, it's not meant to be a philosophically airtight position, please don't take it as such", followed by a readmore and then the actual post. Why did I do that? Because I figured that if I didn't, people would nitpick it in various technical ways that missed the basic point. Lo and behold several people still did that, and when I replied basically restating the disclaimer, one of them said "oh I didn't even see that. Well I think if you post a half-baked thought online I retain the right to nitpick it".

I guess that's true. My blog is public. But the point is that I want to use my blog for certain things and not others, right, that's what I'm attempting to do. And people seem actively resistant to my attempts to guide the discussion on my blog in certain directions, which makes blogging less enjoyable. Of course some people will always do that, that fact doesn't bother me, but it feels like the irrelevant/point-missing discourse so often overshadows the meaningful discourse that I start to feel less of a desire to put in the effort.

Like, the point of issuing that disclaimer was to say, as explicitly as I could manage, "I am trying to have a discussion about feelings and intuitions here, I am aware there might be ways these intuitions are not fully consistent, but that is not the discussion I'm trying to have". But even so explicit an attempt to specify a conversation topic does not work; the discourse machine demands a certain kind of engagement and that is the engagement every post will get no matter what.

I don't want to put the person who missed my disclaimer on blast: it's honestly an error that anyone could make and on its own it's no big deal. If said person is reading this: you didn't do anything wrong and I am not mad at you, to be 100% clear.

It's not a one-off mistake that bothers me, it's the fact that this is how discussions on here so often go that putting in the effort to discuss things productively often feels wasted.

Another example of this that... if you go through my #society tag, you will see a lot of uncertainly in my phrasing. You will see me say a lot of "it seems like we should..." and "we should find some mechanism to..." and so on and so forth. Why? Because, as I've mentioned before, I've gotten a lot out of political discourse on here. When it's good, I actually find it quite good. But it's good when it has a constructive or collaborative tone, when I am bouncing ideas or thoughts back and forth with someone. Generally I am trying to invite this kind of discourse.

Sometimes, again, I say it really explicitly. I don't have them off the top of my head, but I know there are quite a lot of #society posts where I've said something quite straightforwardly to the effect of "here are some niche social/political issues I've been contemplating, does anyone have any ideas for how to respond to them". Obviously there's a spectrum in how explicit I am about this, but even when I'm really clear, most of the responses I get are still "discoursebrained", in the sense that they seem antagonistic and generally more interested in saying "X guys are cool and Y guys are lame" than in productively engaging with a set of ideas.

Even if you disagree with my claims or my premises, there is a way to state that which adds to a conversation instead of shutting down a line of inquiry. I am always trying to invite this type of mutually-productive discussion, and I so rarely achieve it.

Over the years my methods have changed. I come from a background of like, forums for specific nerd interests. Those places are plenty contentious, full of plenty of drama and disagreement. But ultimately, I always still felt that productive discussion was valued above destructive discussion; that because we were all united in a common goal of [doing our nerdy hobby], a comment where you build on someone's idea to say something useful to others or to introduce a new insight was generally valued above one where you just said "you're wrong for such and such reasons, hah!" or even "you're right for such and such reasons".

Coming from this background, I assumed this would also be the case on tumblr, and that I would not have to put in any extra effort to invite this sort of discourse. Alas, this was not true; even long and thought-out replies from respected discoursers often just amount to "here are the guys I agree with and here are the guys I disagree with, for such and such reasons". This is lame and boring and not appealing to me.

So over the years I've tried to be more and more explicit about what types of discussion I am trying to have, I've tried to tee up the sort of interactions I want as much as possible, but it hasn't really worked.

The problem is not strictly the quality or measuredness of the responses or their tone or anything like that. These are the things most people focus on when they critique the discourse, but I think they miss the point. The problem is that most responses don't seem to be intended to advance a mutually-productive discussion, they don't build on the base of what they are responding to, they just make various assertions and statements of allegiance in the vicinity of the material they are responding to and call it a day.

Maybe this is too harsh. I'm sure I do this too. And it's not always bad. Sometimes I use someone else's post openly as a jumping off point to elaborate my own ideas (although I try to be careful about this, and also make it somewhat clear that I am doing it), and this can be productive. I do actually want to hear people's ideas. It's not any single instance of these things I'm complaining about, it's just that discoursey responses seem to drown out all other types of discussion, even when you are really clear about what type of discussion you are trying to have.

So that's my complaint.

[stressed-depressed-andobsessed]

It was @local-pr1nter who planted the Theatre Kid Mondo Owada idea into my head

Anyway

Here's the character list for who's who in my Danganronpa x Hamilton musical AU thing

Hamiliton Musical of 78' AU

Alexander Hamilton - Kiyotaka Ishimaru

He wasn't going to audition at first since he's never watched Hamilton before, but after a mandatory movie night watch with the entire class so they could 'study' the musical, he decided to try out for Hamilton himself

Taka absolutely loves Hamilton's passion and drive throughout the musical. He doesn't like the occasional cursing (and actively despises the affairs, both emotional with Angelica and physical with Maria), but he tries to look past it because it's all just an act afterall. He wouldn't actually curse if he were picked for the part (and definitely would not cheat on any future love interests)

He studies Hamilton HARD. Just as hard as the homework and topics that are discussed in class. He watched the entire musical 6 times over just to make sure he knew everyone's lines, moves, and personality. It doesn't matter that he was only going to be playing Alexander Hamilton, he still needs to know everyone else's lines too

Sayaka is his biggest hype man when he was practicing his lyrics before the rehearsal. Did he stumble over a line? That's ok, practice it a couple of times with me then try again! Can't hit a particular high note? Try this method she learned during a routine practice she was doing with her bandmates! Nervous before the audition? Look to the side of the stage, she'll be right there smiling and silently singing with you!

Hina is also like that, but with the dancing parts. Need advice for singing and dancing at once without getting tired quickly? She's got him, here's a technique she learned from swimming competitions!

Don't get me started on how loud they (and Mondo) screamed when Taka got the lead role. You would've thought there was a fire, or someone was attacking the school

He's still not over the cursing thing, but he'll manage! Somehow...

Aaron Burr - Mondo Owada

You thought he screamed loud for Taka? Wait until you hear what he did when he found out about his own role

He cried. Very hard.

It was almost scary how expessive he was after finding out he was gonna play THE Aaron Burr

"KYOUDAI! TAKA! KIYO! OH MY FUCKING GOD! TAKA! TAKA! TAKA TAKA TAKA TAKA! WHERE'S CHI? OH MY GOD! I GOT TELL CHI TOO! OH MY GOD!"

This man's happiness could not be contained

He practiced his ass off though so he definitely deserved his role. He was right there with Taka for the 6 viewings (plus the movie night viewing) of Hamilton

After just watching the musical, he started practicing singing. Considering he already knew the musical like the back of his bike before this, it didn't take much practicing to get every single line down for... Hercules Muligan.

That's right! He auditioned for Mulligan! Not Burr.

He definitely didn't think he was good enough to play the Narrator of the musical so the supporting friend of the MC will have to do.

He chose Mulligan mostly because of the man's lines. He sings in, like, 3 songs and most of the lines were about fighting, having sex, getting drunk, or being a spy. Cool ass guy with a cool ass voice. Right up Mondo's alley

The dancing was pretty simply to figure out too since it was mostly background choreography that he already memorized when he was 13. When he was back at home with Daiya, belting out the lyrics and dancing stupidly in the middle of the living room

After the wave of initial excitement, he realizes the responsibility that comes with being the narrator and the MAIN FREAKING ANTAGONIST AND HAVING TO 'KILL' HIS KYOUDAI OH GOD HOW IS HE GONNA DO THING?? BURR HAS LIKE 3 SOLOS AND A 2 WHOLE DUETS WITH HAMILTON AND SO MUCH STUPID DANCING AND-

Eliza Schuyler - Sayaka Maizono

No-one was surprised by this to be honest. Considering Eliza is the other lead besides Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, it would make sense to choose someone who knows exactly how to carry the show when needed

Sayaka practiced pretty hard so she could be Eliza. No offense to the other girls, but she was practically born to be the main Schuyler sister! She's the best at singing and acting since she already has the experience so all she really had to focus on is practicing the lines (and Jesus does Eliza have a lot)

Of course, she celebrated with her bandmates after breaking the news to them. Not everyone in the group knows Hamilton that well, but they still had some fun having a karaoke party and singing the songs

She did have to plead with her manager to get the month and a half off of concerts to go to the practices. It took a lot of compromising (along with some promises that her fans would surely pay to come and see her), but eventually, the crabby old man agreed on the condition that she does some in-between photoshoots to make up for her otherwise radio silence towards her fans

Sayaka immediately began practicing her lines with Taka after finding out about her role. It's a little awkward to pretend to be in love with him, but they end up laughing about it throughout the rehearsal whenever they have to be affectionate towards each other, so that helps a bit

Angelica Schuyler - Aoi Asahina

Hina decided her role through the process of elimination. She doesn't want to be Eliza since she knows Sayaka is going for that role (and she would KILL as the Female Lead!). She doesn't want to be Maria or Peggy since there's only 1 song that they sing in, and she wants to dance and sing as much as possible! (These strong lungs and athletic limbs are made just for that, and they will NOT be going to waste!) Angelica is perfect! She's in a couple songs and is one of the main-side characters, she also has a whole solo where she gets to sing as loudly as possible about two of her friends! The context of the song might not be positive, but when has negativity ever stopped Hina?

She joins in on the practice sessions that Taka and Sayaka hold and joins in on one of the re-watches with Taka and Mondo

She, of course, has one on one sessions with Sayaka to improve her vocal cords. Going from loudly screaming the lines to passionately singing the lyrics

She practiced her choreography with Taka and Sakura, she asked Chihiro to join as well, but they ended up denying while poorly hiding a giggle

They're hiding something...

Oh well! Hina loves secrets so she'll just wait and find out with everyone else!

It doesn't really have to be clarified that she celebrated when she got the part! She was so so so so so excited to be Angelica!! Yayayay! Not only does this mean that she gets to sing and dance with her friends, but she'll also get to brag to her family about a fun new skill she learned! Or maybe she should keep it a secret until the big day? Oh, she doesn't know, she might just explode from the excitement!

She put all her excitement into the swim competition that she had a couple days later, and it won her first place! Yay!

Peggy Schuyler - Kyoko Kirigiri

Kyoko definitely wasn't planning on auditioning for any part. She'd much rather be on the sidelines with Toko

That plan changed quickly when Makoto wouldn't shut up about her being someone- ANYONE- so he wouldn't have to be alone in his small part (If he even got the part, his luck is kind of wonky sometimes)

She finally lamented and auditioned for Peggy. No practice at all, just went for it.

She was present for one of the watch throughs and watched the musical again on her own. The first watch was used to analyze how the characters act and interact with each other, the second was to analyze the plot and movements of the characters. She deduced that Peggy has the second least number of lines of any female main-ish character, (The first being Maria Reynolds and there is no way she is 'seducing' Taka on stage in front of people she most likely knows.) her movements aren't terribly complicated either and whenever Peggy is on stage, she's overshadowed by others, so no-one really pays attention to her. That role is perfect.

Kyoko simply smiled when she read the casting list and saw that she received the role of Peggy. Not only would this make Makoto less nervous, but also practicing for the musical wouldn't take up any time because Peggy is only present in 4 songs and speak briefly in 2.

She has cases to work on and she'd rather not let practicing get in the way of that

George Washington - Sakura Oogami

This may seem like a weird decision, but Hina and Taka thought it was a great idea that someone as stoic and wise as Sakura to play someone as respectable (and tall) as George Washington

It didn't take much convincing as she holds respects for him (and might've been a little intrigued in being in the musical)

It did take a bit of practicing since Sakura's way of talking is more slow-paced while Washington's lines are fast-paced

She is just as resilient in training her mental muscles as her physical muscles though, so the practice is welcomed with honor

All the practice definitely pays off as she finds her name 8th down on the cast list

A smile and a nod are the reaction that the stoic Oogami gave at this revelation... Then a gasp followed as Hina also read the list and basically tackled her from behind in excitement

Hina then went on and on about how amazing Sakura was going to look in Washington's waistcoat and trousers and how amazing she was going to sound because Washington's voice is amazing, and Sakura's voice is amazing and Hina loves all of the parts where Washington sings and now it's going to be even better because she'll get to listen to her girlfriend sing and-

Sakura was not let go of for another 4 hours, but she did not mind one bit

If she wasn't already excited for practice, then she definitely would be now with Hina's bouncing, bubbly excitement radiating all over the place

Thomas Jefferson/Marquis De Lafayette - Yasuhiro Hagakure

Gonna be so honest, I originally only picked this because of Hiro looks

And I'm going to go on a whim here and say that the judges (Who I'm going to say now were teachers like Chisa and maybe some eager volunteers from V2 and V3) at the audition also took Hiro's appearances compared to Lafayette and Jefferson in to account when casting people

Hiro did have some really good accent skills, probably from having to hide his voices whenever someone he scammed bumps into him

He's pretty good at fast talking too, probably also from him having to think of quick excuses on the fly for when he also bumps into someone he's scammed

Both of those qualities are needed to be Lafayette along with being silly and everyone knows Hiro is like the goofiest goober around when he needs to be

He's also witty, engaging, and very sarcastic when needed which are all the qualities needed to be Jefferson

Hiro had both characters down, he loved both of them, but he couldn't decide which one to do. He tried asking he crystal ball, but that just 'told' him that he would vibe as either. So, he consulted the cards, who also told him that he'd be fine as either

He auditioned as both Lafayette and Jefferson since that would amplify his chances of getting at least one of them. He sung a bit of Battle of Yorktown for Lafayette and Cabinet Battle #1 for Jefferson

The audition judges couldn't decide which they liked best so they decided he would follow in Daveed Diggs' footsteps and give him both roles to play

He looked at the cast list, he got there after everyone else with Leon because he had detention, and cheered, attempting to fist bump Leon, but Leon seemed upset. He let it go and went to tell Taka instead

He knew he would get at least one of the roles! Afterall, it was in the cards!

John Laurens/James Reynolds - Leon Kuwata

This man went straight for Alexander Hamilton with absolutely no practice

Well, that's not completely true. He practiced a little bit in the shower and sung Hamilton's parts in Helpless with Sayaka one time

He actually did pretty good despite the very minimum amount of practice

He stumbled on a couple words, he auditioned with My Shot, but ultimately made up for it with his dancing and charisma towards the judges

That's most likely the reason why they gave Leon the part of John Laurens. Laurens is Hamilton's bestie up until his death, he doesn't have too many wordy lines, and he's mainly there to hype up the crowd/his friends. He's perfect for Laurens!

Which is so not perfect for Leon since he's gonna have to watch as whoever gets Hamilton sweeps Sayaka off her feet while he sits back and literally cheers him on!

He goes back to the judges and tells the main judge, and the only one he can really find in this big, old school, Chisa (as nicely as he can) that he doesn't want to be Laurens. He uses the excuse that he feels as though he should be in more of the musical. Chisa agrees and tells him she'll see what she can do!

Cool! Now all he has to do is go serve his detention (Which he may or may not have gotten for racing toy cars in the hall with Hiro and making someone trip) and come back later to see his name right next to Alexander Hamilton

...James Reynolds? Wasn't that the abusive husband? That's not what he meant by 'being more in the musical'! This guy only had like 2 lines and one's about calling his wife a whore!

Leon was left so much more upset than before; he didn't even notice Hiro trying to fist bump him or him leaving. He was seething when he realized that Mr. Hardass was taking his spot at woo-ing Sayaka, the exact same Hardass that gave him detention.

Now he had to pretend like he was really happy for Ishi-Ton and Say-Liza while also remember all these new stupid lines for not just Laurens, but also Reynolds

Hercules Mulligan/James Madison - Byakuya Togami

Literally only got these parts because of his deep voice

He did not audition for Mulligan or Madison, he auditioned for Aaron Burr. Why not Hamilton himself? He did not want to be seen as a protagonist; he sees himself as more suited to be the antagonist, and he did not want to have to fake not 1, not 2, but 3 romances with women he did not have a lick of feelings for.

Aaron Burr is level-headed until he started acting like that fool Hamilton, he thinks his plans through to a detrimental level, and he only mentions a love interest for a couple minutes before focusing on his life plans again. He was the perfect candidate for Togami to stand in as.

He did not practice any dancing but did multiple different private practices for his vocals. He auditioned with Wait for it as it did not require dancing so he could focus on his lines for the pitiful judges that watched him. He did perfectly and was left to wait for the confirmation.

He wanted to wait for all the idiots to clear away from the cast papers, but an unexpected squeal from the overgrown, meathead who was raving about getting his part made him push everyone else out of the way to see if what the big baby of a biker was saying was true. It couldn't be true; Aaron Burr was his part.

...There had to be some kind of mistake! He scanned over that sheet 3 times to find that the dreaded papers were not lying. He was not Aaron Burr; he was Hercules Mulligan and James Madison. Madison he could respect, the man is sophisticated and responsible both in history and in the musical, but Mulligan is a short, angry brute! That is the person suited for that currently over-emotional biker, not Aaron Burr!

He turned to tell that stupid biker that just as the meathead was rushing off to find the little tech student.

Damn it all.

He went to instead lay out his fury with Chisa, the main judge, in a not so polite way. It didn't seem to affect her though. She simply said that she could give those parts to someone else, and he could work in the back with Fukawa...

He dialed the number of his private vocalist to inform them of the change in lines he would have to practice.

King George - Celestia Ludenburg

She too practiced in private.

Of course she was going to go straight for the King, who else would befit her?

It didn't take much singing to convince the judges. Her voice is powerful, condescending, and sarcastic. Perfect for King George!

She will not be spitting like he famously does, but besides that, she already has his part in the bag.

She didn't have to go check the list to know she got her part, but it was worth getting all dressed up to see Togami's hissy fit at his cast reveal

Maria Reynolds - Junko Enoshima

The cheating, the manipulation, the groveling, the despair of a broken marriage caused by her, how could she pass that all up?

The part wasn't hard at all to get down, she was already basically a natural actor.

She practiced only for a stupid older sister's benefit. Poor Mukuro was so nervous about her small little part that she had to practice her chosen part over 30 times (It was definitely because Mukuro was nervous and not because Junko kept laughing and pointing out every little mistake she made)

Her part also came with the added bonus of getting to feel up Mr. Stick-in-his-ass without getting detention. In fact, she might be praised for the added realism

She didn't check the casting roster until really late at night, unfortunately missing the RichMan™'s breakdown, to avoid everyone else for her poor sister's sake (MukMuk is such a big baby, she swears)

She got the part (Yay) and so did her sister (Boo)

George Eacker - Mukuro Ikusaba

She didn't have that many lines, but she just kept messing up during practice for some reason

Luckily, she got them right for the audition (or she hopes she did, Junko didn't say anything so she must have done good)

She wasn't going to audition for any part, just work with Fukawa in the back, but then Junko said she'd be perfect for the part of the murderer of Philip Hamilton and asked her to try out for it

She couldn't deny her little sister, could she?

It was nerve-wracking, but the list had finally been posted so regardless of her nervous-ness, she would have her answer once she went to check the papers.

Junko had to end up dragging her to the papers late at night because she couldn't bring herself to go

She got the part, yay.

Charles Lee - Makoto Naegi

He wanted to be in the musical to support his fellow classmates while also not having to memorize many lines as he might end up forgetting them out of nervousness

Charles Lee, George Eacker, and Samuel Seabury were all good choices. Samuel would be hard though, because he and Taka would have to be singing over each other and he might not be able to say his lines at the same time as him. Especially because of how loud and intimidating Taka can be

He decided to eliminate him and focus on the other 2 options. They both had relatively short parts so auditioning with both of their songs wasn't met with any restraint from the judges

He figured, with his luck, he had to get one of the parts and if he didn't, because that was still definitely a possibility, then he could help Toko with backstage work full time

Luckily, he got Charles Lee. Unluckily, Byakuya decided to take his anger out on him by ranting about 'The Giant Oaf' as he referred to Mondo for almost an entire hour

That's ok though, Makoto is always up to support a 'friend' in times of distress!

Samuel Seabury - Hifumi Yamada

He originally was just going to work backstage with Fukawa Toko-dono but at the prospect that his Mistress is going to be centered as royalty and there is a commoner whose sole role is encouraging the Town People to worship her, he immediately started practicing for the part of Seabury

He was pretty good, even putting on his Manly™️ Voice while auditioning

Because of his impeccable performance, (and the fact that no-one else auditioned for that part) he was almost immediately given the role

Mistress Ludenburg even praised him for his role! (Then ordered him to make her some tea to celebrate)

That's all the main characters sorted I think so next post will be all about how each song and the practices for that particular song went. As expected for the class of 78, there will be lots of shenanigans (and maybe even some fanart to go with it if I can figure out how to draw some of these characters)

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Hold on, there's someone I have forgotten!

Philip Hamilton - Chihiro Fujisaki

Chihiro practiced with Sayaka privately, which was super awkward at first, but they eventually got over it

They wanted to surprise everyone by being in the musical! They know it will be really hard because they'll have to preform in front of everyone in a pretty major role, but that's what the practice is for. They've been getting physically stronger with Mondo, so it's time to up their emotion and mental strength (along with their vocal strength because they have a pretty small voice)

They were really nervous about preforming just in front of the judges, but that's ok because they did it and that's all that matters

They didn't even get a chance to look at the casting roster before Mondo came barreling into them announcing his role. Getting to see the unabridged happiness and excitement from Mondo almost made up for being crushed in a back breaking hug.

After the initial excitement, they then had to listen to his anxieties about all the lines and dance movements he's gonna have to remember before joking that they wouldn't have to do that themselves since they didn't audition for anything. Mondo will not admit that he stumbled to keep up as Chihiro pulled him down the hall (not running, just speed walking as they did pass Taka on the way) back to the casting papers

It took a minute as they specifically requested that their name went on the second paper and not the first so the likelihood of anyone finding their name on accident was low, but they sure did find it... and they were almost immediately put into another crushing hug. They may have gotten stronger and used to Mondo's physical affections, but the bear hugs are something they don't think they'll ever get used to

They leave off telling everyone else, they'll figure it out during practices

Alright, that's everyone! Any other minor roles that weren't assigned to anyone is picked up by other Ultimates that aren't in the 78 class (maybe some of the class of 77 helped) like the background dancers or the prop and set movers. Toko doesn't get a role, not because I don't like her because I absolutely do, but because:

1. I could not find a role that fit her comfortable

2. Realistically, she would not and could not perform in front of potentially 100s of people (Most of whom are made up of the classmates' family and friends, along with Sayaka's fans who came just for Sayaka)

3. She would not want to risk Syo coming out in front of hundreds of people. She would rather have her come out while backstage because then someone could notice and get her away from the stage area more subtly and without worry

She's content with having to pull the curtains or just motioning for props to be sent out to the stage.

This entire performance is going to be put on in a sort of hall, think of a graduation ceremony kind of hall. Despite the huge school and its amenities, they could not fit all the props, characters, and costumes along with 100+ people anywhere in the school comfortably. The school funds the renting of this hall though since this is for a festival. The festival will be happening at and around the school where some students will also be selling tickets for the musical and then there will be an announcement, signaling that the musical will start in an hour. All guests will then move to the hall, get their tickets taken, and take their seats.

[nightshademyn]

Ok I'm still going insane about the wisdom saga specifically god games so I'm gonna start yapping under the cut because I have A LOT to say

First off, as I said in a previous post, Apollo's verse really does feel like the first/tutorial boss. There's nothing really personal (?) about why he doesn't want Odysseus to be set free, and I'm pretty sure that's intentional with how much this saga took from video games. Also I love his voice because it's fucking Brandon McInnis and as someone who's in the middle of her first FE Engage run w/ male Alear, it was a fucking shock lmao (did not expect to see male alear's va here)

I have no real in depth thoughts when it comes to Hephaestus's verse other than it just scratches my brain the right way. Something about Mike Rivera's voice is just sooo good and there's something so sweet about Jorge getting both his parents as vocalists in his passion project. It makes me smile every time.

OK OK HERE'S WHERE I START GOING INSANE. APHRODITE AND ARES. First off I swear you can hear the danger motif in the instrumentation WHICH MAKES SENSE because Aphrodite isn't going to be easily swayed and that poses a danger to everything Athena is trying to accomplish! It would also foreshadow that Ares is going to come in if Athena pushes Aphrodite to release him. SECOND! This is the longest segment and I wanna argue was the one that took the most effort out of Athena, and I'd like to think it's because of their history with the Trojan War. I'd like to think that Ares and Aphrodite are still holding a grudge from when Athena helped Diomedes almost kill them both during the Trojan War lmao. (Also Athena referring to Telemachus as her friend and Ares' insult towards Telemachus being what causes Athena to lock in is so sweet)

I love Hera's verse and I love how amicable she is towards Athena?? It makes sense to me that she's not quite as hostile as Aphrodite and Ares despite being the final "boss" before Zeus because to my knowledge in mythology Hera held no longs standing animosity towards Athena, probably because she's the child of Zeus and his first wife Metis and not the result of an affair. They were actually on the same side of the Trojan war. So it makes more sense to me that she's less antagonistic and more testing Athena. And I love that her verse starts with "So many heroes/So many tales" because Athena is the goddess that helps out most greek heroes. Off the top of my head outside of Odysseus there was also Perseus and Diomedes that she aided. Hera is testing Athena and asking her what makes Odysseus so special out of all the heroes Athena has mentored

AND FINALLY ZEUS!!!! THE OTHER BIT THAT MAKES ME INSANE! I wanna double back to make a comparison because in the beginning of God Games, it almost sounds to me like Athena is trying to find her rhythm, like she's choosing her words carefully to appeal to Zeus and get him to agree with her. And then once she's convinced the other gods, she returns to zeus with confidence and pride ("I've played your game and won/ Release him") DEMANDING THAT HE RELEASE ODYSSEUS! AND HOW? HOW DOES ZEUS RESPOND???? WITH THE SONG ABOUT PRIDE CRUMBLING AT HIS HANDS!! I firmly believe that's why Zeus struck Athena the second time she approached him. In his eyes, she was prideful and defiant and needed to be taught a lesson (and if the line "to make me feel shame" is any indicator, he probably did not like being called out for his propensity for affairs during Hera's verse). Also I might be going insane but the line "thunder, bring her through the wringer" IS SUNG IN THE FUCKING DANGER MOTIF SIGNALING THE DANGER ATHENA IS IN

The warrior of the mind motif returning first with a soft piano and then with a triumphant brass section (trumpets probably?) was also so good and what a way to end that song

I think that's all I had for now but I will probably come back with more to say because this musical is doing things to me

[theemissuniverse]

“PLAYING WITH FIRE” RAIDEN X VILLAIN FEM!READER

SUMMARY : You’re one of the villains (you’re also obsessed with Raiden) and you want Raiden all to yourself. When you see Kitana flirting with him, it’s the last straw. (I guess you could call reader a yandre)

WARNINGS : MINORS DO NOT INTERACT! praise kink, soft!dom, dirty talk, “good boy”, some other things I probably missed

You didn’t care if you were the villain in his book. You wanted him. You needed him. And you would have him.

Flirting with Raiden was always interesting. He would stutter or simply tell you that he was not interested because YOU are the antagonist. You knew that wasn’t true. You knew he wanted you as badly as you wanted him but his morals were aligned.

You decided to give it a rest. That was until you spied on the royal family and you saw Kitana flirting with YOUR man.

Her hand brushed up against his shoulder slightly. She laughed at every joke. Every joke. Even the unfunny ones. The last straw? She kissed him on the cheek.

Oh it was over.

So, you wrote a note to Raiden saying that Kitana had been captured and for him to come alone to your location.

Raiden followed the instructions. He was tired of this cat and mouse game you two played. He couldn’t understand why you couldn’t leave their lives alone.

He walked through your mansion and went to the room. When he opened it, he saw you in your green lingerie set.

Raiden sighed, now understanding what you were doing. “Really, (Y/N)?” You didn’t say anything. You simply stood up from the bed. “So you didn’t capture Kitana?”

The crazy in you started to come out. You were a witch. So, with your emotions, you made some plates crash into the wall. Raiden jumped slightly. “Why? Do you want her to be here?”

Raiden shook his head at your crazy antics. “You’re unbelievable.” He turned to walk out the room but with your power, you slammed the door closed.

All the candles in the room lit up and some slow music started to play by itself. Raiden was not scared as he knew you wouldn’t hurt him. He was just annoyed.

He was annoyed because he did have an attraction to you and he did have very dirty thoughts about you. He didn’t want it to be known though. He didn’t want to give you the satisfaction. “Whatever you think is going to happen, (Y/N)…is not going to happen.” He said, now facing you. He walked over to you, closer to the bed. “You failed. Again.”

All you did was smile. That was scary to him because usually you would say something snarky. You just stared deep within him.

Raiden started to feel a tingly sensation. His chest started to heave up and down. It felt like someone was sucking him off even though obviously no one was. He moaned a little and that’s when he realized you were doing some spell on him.

Raiden sat on the bed, unable to stand from how much pleasure he was receiving. You bent down to his level so you could whisper in his ear. “I’m making you feel this way without even touching you. Can your precious princess do that?”

You sat on his lap. Raiden was trying to control himself but his desire for you and the pleasure he was receiving was all too much. You started to kiss his neck and Raiden moaned. “That’s all this is about? You’re jealous?” Raiden managed to let out a chuckle. “Even if you do have me, what do you think will happen afterwards?”

“If? I will.”

Raiden was about to say something but the spell started to become stronger. “Oh my…” He fell back on the bed and continued to moan in pleasure.

You watched Raiden fall apart underneath you and smirked. “Why do you enjoy playing hard to get? I understand. I’m the big bad wolf but you want me. Otherwise the spell wouldn’t be working.”

It was true. The spell could not force people that didn’t feel attraction to you. If they already wanted you then the spell would work. Maybe work too good if they wanted you badly.

Raiden didn’t want to admit it though. That would just give you the satisfaction of having him. He didn’t think he could do this for much longer.

You played with the buttons on his shirt and started to undo them: “Say the word and I’ll finally give you your wish.”

Yup, Raiden couldn’t do it anymore. He needed you. Even though he’d probably regret it afterwards. “Okay, okay. I need you. I need you, (Y/N).”

You smirked and lifted to spell. Raiden no longer felt the tightness in his chest anymore. “I’ll make you feel so good, you’ll cry.” You told him.

What surprised you was the first thing Raiden did was grab the back of your neck and kiss you. You kissed him back, wrapping your arms around his neck.

The kiss was a hunger full and sloppy. You took the hat off Raiden’s head and threw it to the side of you two so you could play in his hair.

Raiden flipped the two of you. He took off your underwear in one swift motion. Then licked his fingers before rubbing your clit.

You were already wet for him so it was easy for him to rub your clit in circles. You gasped at the sudden feeling and threw your head back.

Raiden kissed your neck as he rubbed your clit in circles. You didn’t want this foreplay. You wanted him now.

You pushed his hand away. “I want you now, Raiden.”

Raiden stuck two fingers in your pussy to check if you were ready but you were a little tight on his fingers and not wet enough. “You’re not ready.” He told you before going back to rub your clit.

I guess the upside and downside for you was that Raiden actually cared for your pleasure and if you would get hurt.

You felt him rubbing in fast motions and you decided to preform the spell again on Raiden so Raiden wouldn’t get left out.

Raiden grunted at the feeling of tightness coming back to him. “Cut it out. I’m trying to focus on you.”

You brought him to your lips and kissed him. Raiden accepted your kiss, keeping his pace on your clit.

You moaned very loudly in the kiss as Raiden was starting to already make you feel close. You tried to push his hand away. “I’m about to cum.”

Raiden ignored you pushing his hand away and kept going. You didn’t want to cum on his fingers. You wanted to cum when he was inside of you. “Raiden, okay. I want you inside of me.”

“Take the spell off and I’ll stop.”

You hurried, taking the spell off and when Raiden felt the tightness disappearing, he stopped rubbing your clit.

He stuck his fingers in your pussy again to check if you were ready and this time you were.

You helped Raiden take his shirt off. When you did, you couldn’t help but stare at his chest. His whole body was built like it belonged in an art museum:

Raiden noticed your staring and blushed a little before removing his pants and underwear.

You flipped the two of you over so you were on top. Raiden held onto your hips and guided you on him. You slowly slipped on him and moaned as he stretched you out.

Raiden grunted a little before clinging onto your hips tightly. You didn’t wait to adjust. You just started to move on him.

Moans slipped out your mouth. You rode him like you’ve been waiting forever. Raiden had to admit he had waited for this too.

Your pussy clenched good around Raiden, making him throw his head back. “By the gods, (Y/N).”

“Aw, you like it, honey? You like it when I ride you? You’re such a good boy.” Your hands were placed on his chest and you started to bounce on him harder.

Raiden moaned. He watched as your breasts started to pop out of your bra. The mere sight of that made him want to cum on the spot. “You feel so good.” Raiden made sure he had a good hold of your hips before starting to fuck up into you.

You yelled out in pleasure, not expecting that. Your pace began to slow up as Raiden continued to fuck up into you like it was no problem.

Raiden noticed you slowing your pace. He got the hint that you were actually very submissive and you liked to play you were dominant.

He flipped the two of you over so he was on top of you. Raiden gave you a kiss to talk to you on the lips. It was like he was telling you to “get ready.” He placed both hands at both sides of your head and then mercilessly started to ram into you.

Your mouth fell into an “O” shape. You had no idea that Raiden could be this rough. You shut you eyes in pure pleasure as Raiden continued to fuck you like he hated you.

Raiden wasn’t used to having sex like this but he knew you liked it so he kept going. He had to admit, he liked it too.

It was an overwhelmingly amount of pleasure. You had to place a hand on Raiden’s chest to get him to move.

Raiden took your hand and pinned it to the bed. He also made sure to pin your other hand so you couldn’t use that one to escape.

“Raiden. I can’t.”

“Can’t what?” Raiden kept going at his same pace. “This is what you wanted. You wanted this and now you got it.” You were so wet that your pussy started talking. Raiden chuckled a little and kissed the top of your breasts. He had to admit, he was enjoying himself. Usually you were the dominant one in the relationship but you were actually so submissive to him.

Raiden felt himself getting close. He was still a gentleman though and wouldn’t cum unless you came before him or at the same time. “Are you close?” You couldn’t even speak, you nodded. “Use your words.”

“Yes.” You moaned out.

“Me too. Where do you want it?”

“Inside of me. Please.”

Raiden probably was going to regret it but you looked so good that he couldn’t deny your request. He picked up your thighs and wrapped your legs around his waist so he would be forced to cum inside of you.

“You talked all that talk and you’re about to fall apart underneath me.” Raiden told you. He caressed your face lightly. He watched your eyes well up with tears. “What did you say again? You’d make me feel so good I’d cry?” He wiped some of your tears away. “Aw, don’t cry love. You’re almost there.”

Raiden talking to you made you want to cum even more. He picked up on that you liked when he talked to you so he kept doing it. “I’ve waited so long to bury myself in you and now you’re about to have all of me.”

You were about cum hard but wanted to wait for Raiden. You pressed on his chest again. “Raiden. Wait.”

Raiden did not let up on his pace. “Didn’t you want this? You wanted me to do this to you so take it.”

“I want you to cum first.”

“Too bad.” Raiden took your hand and instead of pinning it to the bed, he interlocked your fingers together and then pinned it to the bed. “Love, if you have to cum then cum already. I’m not stopping you.”

You couldn’t hold it in anymore. You started to say incoherent things and Raiden kissed your neck. He didn’t stop his fast pace and rode out as you came on him. “I know, I know. Let it all out. You got this.”

You came very hard on him. Raiden grunted as he felt your pussy clench on him. His pace started to become sloppy. “(Y/N).”

You realized he was actually talking to you, not moaning. “Yes?”

“If I cum inside of you, we’re doing this again. I don’t want to ever stop.”

You didn’t know if that was just the sex talking or if he actually meant it but you nodded. “Okay.”

“I’m cumming. Oh, (Y/N).”

Raiden came inside of you hard. You held on to him with your legs to make sure every drop got inside of you. When he was done, he pulled out and then fell beside you.

Raiden didn’t expect him to act like that during sex. I mean, he didn’t think he went overboard but it still wasn’t like him. He nervously looked up at you. “You liked it right?”

You smiled at him. Then gave him a peck on the lips. “You’re the best I ever had.”

Raiden pulled you close to him. “I meant what I said, I want to keep doing this but we can’t tell anyone. Lord Liu Kang will never forgive me.”

“Welcome to the dark side.” You tell Raiden. The two of you leaned in and kissed each other.