#made him a villain in certain threads/verses

[use-your-telescope]

When Everything's Made to be Broken - Chapter 12: Shiny Celebrity Skin

Summary: Theo makes her celebrity debut, with some unexpected results.

Author's Notes: Okay, I grappled with this one for a while - I tried for so long to figure out how to make a certain plot thread work without a certain celebrity appearing at least once or twice, and well… I couldn’t do it. So, uh, I feel weird doing this, but there is a brief interaction with a  fictionalized(!!!) version of Taylor Swift. This is almost guaranteed to be the only chapter where she actually appears in a scene - there are a few mentions of things happening “off-screen” that she’s a part of later on in the story, but it’s not anything that would involve her actively appearing in a scene.

Obviously I do not know her, I do not own her likeness, and I absolutely do not own her music (I’m team Taylor’s version - WE DO NOT LISTEN TO STOLEN MUSIC IN THIS HOUSEHOLD!). And more obviously, Theo is a fictional character who did not help record any of Taylor’s music. And to make it painfully clear, Taylor is not a villain or a hero in this story, and this isn’t meant to be a commentary on her as a person in any way, shape, or form. 

And look, I know some people are not a fan of Taylor. If you’re in that camp, don’t worry! The interaction is brief, and it’s not meant to make you change your mind. Just hang tight - I *promise* this will be worth it in the long run. 

If you enjoy, please reblog!! I'm a lil' blog and reblogs really help me out <3

Content Warnings: alcohol consumption. Discussions of hooking up. 

Word Count: 5,644

Read on AO3 | When Everything's Made to be Broken Masterlist

Song: Celebrity Status - Marianas Trench

I look around, round, look around and look it over, I take it up- up, take it out and, take you nowhere, Trading in who I've been for shiny celebrity skin I like to push it and, push it until my luck is over It never stop stops, never stops, well you better, Think it over prima donna you don't want to sever, All the work to impress, charming girls out of their dresses, And smiling pretty, well pretty will swallow you forever

The celebrity status that came with being an Avenger was exhausting.

Between their public relations team micromanaging every interaction with the press and the constant appearances, it was a wonder there was enough time to actually go on missions. Even if Theo was well-versed in interacting with people in positions of power and putting on a show, it wasn’t how she really wanted to spend her days off.

They had been on a roll - last week, Theo did interviews and cover shoots for two different magazines. The day before, she recorded a 73 questions video for Vogue. In a week, she would fly out to Chicago and feature on Hot Ones.

But before she flew to Illinois, she had a late show appearance to get through. 

It wasn’t until after she arrived and they had a meeting with the production team to run through the order of the show that Theo discovered she was not simply doing a live interview, but she would also be chatting with Chris Anders, an A-list actor who was promoting his newest movie in which he played a combat medic. 

Normally Theo wasn’t thrown off by meeting other celebrities, but even she had to admit she was a bit starstruck. He always looked dreamy in pictures, but in real life he was gorgeous. Like, earth-shatteringly stunning. Bright blue eyes, blond hair, and tanned skin made him the epitome of an all-American guy; if Steve ever traded in his shield for an acting career, he’d probably look like Chris. Theo didn’t typically have a thing for blond guys, and frankly the resemblance to Steve Rogers should have made him appear less attractive, but well… There was something about him that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. 

At least Theo knew she was dressed to kill. The outfit she chose was a far cry from her scrubs: a black cropped tee with a cropped lace bustier underneath paired with an asymmetric leather midi skirt, all Alexander McQueen, and black Louboutin pumps. The confidence boost that came from looking like a badass was much needed, because even Avengers could get nervous when talking to attractive celebrities, particularly when those Avengers were single. 

In real life, Chris was every bit as funny and charming as he seemed. He laughed at Theo’s jokes and asked questions that made Theo wonder if he had taken the time before the taping to learn more about the sorceress. On camera, the conversation was effortless, lighthearted, and just a bit flirtatious; far from what Theo was used to, but it was fun. Chris was a hit with the audience, but it’d be hard not to be with a smile like his.

So when Chris stopped by Theo’s dressing room after taping and asked for her phone number, she was only slightly surprised. Surprised, because well, A-List Hollywood dreamboat who could have anyone he wanted, and he was asking Theo for her number? Theo, with scars on her face and knobby knees and perpetual bags under her eyes? But not as surprised as she could have been, because the conversation was fun and besides, giving him her number didn’t mean there was any commitment. For all she knew, he simply wanted to keep her number handy in case he was cast as a doctor in the future and needed to ask someone about how to approach the role. 

Of course she gave it to him - that was a no-brainer. Not long after, Theo found her heart fluttering when Chris texted her before she even made it back to the tower, asking if she would be attending the Stark Industries charity gala the following evening. 

After such a successful day, there was an extra spring in Theo’s step when she entered the living room. She nearly didn’t notice Loki, lounging with his feet propped up on the sofa and a book in hand, but when she approached one of the chairs so she could sit down and kick off her heels she spotted the prince.  

Loki glanced up from his book, offering Theo a weary smile and nod; if the bags under his eyes were any indication, he hadn’t been sleeping much lately. 

“You’ve returned from your interview; how was it?” 

“It was fine,” Theo shrugged, ducking down to tug off her high heels. “I mean, it’s one thing to give an interview, but they also asked me to do a segment with Chris Anders - the Chris Anders.”

“Ah, yes - if memory serves, he is a well-known actor.” Loki absentmindedly replied, closing his book and setting it aside. “I take it you are a fan of his work?”

“It’s impossible not to be a fan - he's been in just about every major film from the last few years.’ Theo lightly scoffed at Loki’s apathy about the situation. “We watched one of his movies the other day.” 

“Did we?”

Before Theo could answer, Wanda, Sam, and Bucky strolled into the living room, deeply entrenched in a spirited debate.

“— his performance is so nuanced - a video game could never capture that level of emotion!” Wanda huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest as both Sam and Bucky rolled their eyes. 

“Nuance, Schmuance—“ Bucky retorted, “—the whole point of the game is to shoot aliens! The story didn’t need emotions - all it needed were more aliens!”

“Are the three of you still arguing about your animated game?” Loki interrupted them with an exasperated sigh, massaging one temple with his index finger. “I thought the debate had been settled after viewing the film.”

“Well it was,” Wanda replied, “until they tried to say that the actor playing Tom was probably an asshole. But he couldn’t be - he seems way too nice!”

“Remind me, Maximoff - which actor are you fawning over now?” Loki begrudgingly asked, as if he dreaded the answer.

“—Chris Anders.” Theo rolled her eyes, though she softened the gesture with a smile. “He’s probably the most popular actor in Hollywood right now.” 

At that, Loki perked up rather suspiciously. “The one you met today?” 

“Oh my god, that’s right—“ Wanda exclaimed, turning to Theo. “— You were on the late show with him! How was it? Is he nice in real life?”

“I think it went well?” Theo answered. “I had just finished telling Loki that I ended up filming a segment with Chris and didn’t bomb it, so I’ll call that a win.” 

Loki nodded, flashing Theo a small, timid smile. “Well, I’m certain you charmed the actor just as you’ve charmed the rest of us.” 

“Wait, wait, wait - you not only met Chris, but you interviewed with him?!” Wanda nearly squealed, her mouth agape as she processed the news. “I would have died!”

“You know he’s just a guy, right?” Bucky grumbled, looking wholly unimpressed with Wanda’s fangirling.

“Look, I’ll settle for not putting my foot in my mouth on national television.” Theo chuckled, before coyly adding: “Chris may have asked for my phone number though... And he already texted me to ask if he would see me at tomorrow’s gala.” 

In a tale of two reactions, Wanda looked like she was about to spontaneously combust from the shock and excitement, while Loki looked like someone just told him the sky was blue.

Then there were Sam and Bucky’s reactions in-between, which involved whooping and wolf whistles.

“It seems as though he was rather enchanted by you, then.” Loki cocked an eyebrow, jade eyes narrowing slightly as he studied Theo. “You certainly dressed to impress.”

The comment had some sort of undercurrent that, combined with his piercing stare, made the words seem as if they were not meant to be taken as a compliment. Theo’s heart went from fluttering to stuttering in her chest, her confidence faltering as if she were about to be knocked down from a pedestal.

“Is it too much?” Theo asked a bit too quickly for her own liking; she grimaced as she glanced down at her outfit. 

“No, not at all.” Loki slowly shook his head, tongue darting out to lick his lips. If Theo didn’t know better, she would have sworn his eyes darkened as they roved up and down her body. “It’s different from your typical attire, but pleasantly so. You look… ravishing.”

“Yeah, you look hot.” Sam agreed, elbowing Bucky in the chest as he smirked at him. “She looks hot, right Bucky?”

“Yeah, doll —“ Bucky smirked, “— You keep it up and you’re gonna end up with every guy in this city dreaming about all the things they’d like to do with you.” Despite speaking to Theo, Bucky’s attention and smirk were pointed directly towards Loki. 

Theo’s cheeks flared with heat - partly from Sam and Bucky laying it on thick, though mostly she was relieved that Loki was not criticizing the look. 

When his approval started to matter, Theo wasn’t sure, but she also hadn’t given it much thought. Then again, the prospect of Loki not liking her outfit stung more than the idea of her potential date not being into her outfit… If she was honest, Theo was nowhere near ready to try and make sense of that.

“You can’t leave us hanging - what did you tell him!?” Wanda, having regained her composure, asked the inevitable question. 

“That I was going to be there and a drink sounded nice?” For a moment, Theo wondered if Wanda was going to freak out again. Instead, a smile crept up on Wanda’s face, and Theo could tell something was up. “… Wanda, what are you planning?”

“Well if you’re meeting a movie star for a drink tomorrow, we should probably go shopping so you have something cute to wear…” Wanda perked up, winking at Theo. “Oh! We’ll get Nat to come too - she needs a break from the mat anyways -  and make it a girl’s day!”

Before Theo could point out that she already had a dress, Wanda rushed down the hall shouting for Natasha. Theo glanced at the others — Sam wore a shit-eating grin, while Bucky offered no sympathy. Loki just shrugged, though a glint of amusement reflected in his smile. 

Meanwhile, Theo tried not to scream what the hell did I just get myself into? 

Either way, it didn’t matter - she had a date to get ready for.

When the mirrors and the lights and the smoke clear I’d never guess how we ever could’ve gotten here You can say what you say, when the lights go down So shake, shake, shake and shut your mouth

“Champagne?” A waiter came around with a tray of champagne flutes, offering them to guests throughout the event.

“Yes, thank you.” Chris took two glasses, handing one to Theo and keeping the other for himself.

Across from her, Chris Anders leaned up against a cocktail table. Dressed in a navy slim-fit tuxedo, Chris looked every part of the charming A-List actor that Wanda hyped him up to be. The same charming, boyish grin from the night before was on full display as he drank in the sight of Theo in a black lace gown with beading that glistened and shimmered in the low lights. 

Even if she hadn’t been trying to charm an A-List actor, Theo would have felt like a million bucks. The dress, though more suggestive than what she initially picked, hit her in all the right places and really helped her embrace her more feminine side. The stilettos she wore gave her a precious few inches that made her less likely to feel like everyone towered over her, increasing her confidence.

In some ways, it felt like revisiting her first night in the tower, but this time she knew what to expect. The lack of constant scrutiny from Avengefs and reporters may have also helped. Then again, at the end of the day it turned out that charming people and rubbing elbows with the rich and powerful was pretty much the same, regardless of the realm. 

The idea of spending the evening at Chris’s side was both nerve-wracking and exciting. Theo’s consistent presence and conversation was enough to capture the interest of people she didn’t know, allowing Theo to flex her conversational skills and build her own connections, which in turn made the room full of socialites less surreal. 

Chris was more than easy on the eyes. He said all the right things to pique Theo’s interest. He didn’t ask too many questions, which was certainly a plus, and he easily kept the conversation flowing. With that in mind, Theo wasn’t opposed to cozying up a bit more with him. 

Yet, something in her stomach felt… off.

Maybe it had to do with the non-existent privacy at the event. Wanda, Sam, and Bucky had made a game of lurking nearby, spying on her as the actor talked Theo’s ear off about the film he just finished shooting. Focusing on Chris proved to be a challenge when her friends seemed hellbent on reminding Theo that someone was always watching. They weren’t even subtle about it – all Theo had to do was glance over Chris’s shoulder to see the three of them making kissy faces at her. 

Theo started to wonder if her teammates were going to walk up to Chris and start talking about their movie versus video game debate. She prayed they wouldn’t.

Then again, her friends were far from the only people who kept a close eye on the couple. Frankly, Theo hadn’t truly comprehended just how well-known Chris was until they spent the first two hours of the night constantly interrupted by people trying to get even a moment of the actor’s attention. Even Loki had been observing, though he was far more subtle than her other friends - subtle enough that Theo never noticed that she was the consistent focus of the younger Asgardian’s attention. 

The sensation of everyone watching her was incredibly different from the bars from her first night out with her teammates, when it was easy to fly under the radar. Between being seen with Chris, her rapidly growing social media following, and the recent interview spree, Theo certainly had no shortage of positive attention over the last few weeks.

Chris caught the attention of someone from behind Theo, gesturing for them to come over and join the pair. “Theo, I want you to meet–”

“I was wondering when I would run into you!” Even though it had been years, Theo recognized that voice anywhere. 

Then again, the fact that the voice belonged to the one person at the gala more famous than Chris meant that even if Theo hadn’t known her, she would have recognized the voice. “It’s been ages!”

“Taylor!” Theo spun around, arms already open to greet the popstar in an embrace. “How the hell are you?” In some ways, it was like Taylor hadn’t changed a bit since they worked together: the trademark red lip that highlighted a cheshire grin, long, blonde hair with perfectly disheveled blunt bangs, and an outfit that would undoubtedly sell out the moment pictures were posted online. At the same time, all it took was one close look into her crystal blue eyes to see that she was far different from the Taylor that Theo worked with all those years ago. 

“I’m great,” Taylor leaned back, still half-embracing Theo as she took in Theo’s appearance. “Tell me about you - Clearly you’ve been busy since we last crossed paths!”

“Oh you know, I finished med school. Joined the Avengers. Nothing too wild–”

“--You two know each other?” Chris interrupted the reunion, one brow arched in confusion while he wore a half-scowl as he quickly realized that this was not the introduction he anticipated.

“Oh yeah, Theo played on Red – we go way back,” Taylor answered, barely paying Chris any mind before returning her full attention to Theo. “Speaking of, you’ve heard I’m re-recording my first six albums, right? Would you be willing to re-record your parts on Red?”

The question caught Theo off guard, though in some ways, the request made sense; after all, the goal was to make the re-recordings sound like the originals so whenever someone wanted to license a song, they would have no reason to choose the old recording over the new one. 

But Theo’s parts on the original record were pretty small, all things considered. And up until Theo stepped into the limelight as an Avenger, it would have been much easier to find someone else to record those parts than it would have been to track her down. Besides, Avengers were busy, and so were international pop stars - Theo would have understood if Taylor didn’t want to bother trying to coordinate schedules so they could record together.

“I– uh, yeah – as long as the timing works out, I’m in,” Theo tried to play off her surprise, covering it up with a (hopefully) bright smile. “Just let me know when and where I need to be and I’ll do my best to make it happen!” 

“Perfect.” Before Taylor could say anything else, someone waved Taylor over to join them. She held up a finger, mouthing “just a moment” before returning her attention back to Theo. “Hey, we should grab a drink soon and catch up. Clearly you’ve been busy and I want to hear all about it, ideally when I’m not being dragged around to make appearances.” Taylor winked, taking hold of Theo’s shoulder as she leaned in and whispered in Theo’s ear. “I might have a separate proposition for you, as well…But we’ll save that conversation for another day.” She leaned back, smirked, and cocked an eyebrow at Theo. 

“You know where to find me,” Theo reminded her, returning a wry grin and a wink of her own. It was probably for the best that they didn’t go into catching up at that particular moment, since there was plenty to discuss and in front of Theo’s date was not the best place to do so.  

With that, Taylor waved at another person trying to get her attention and slipped away into the crowd.

“I wasn’t aware you already knew Taylor Swift.” Chris remarked, his attention still focused on the space where Taylor had vanished into the crowd.

“I’m full of surprises, what can I say?” Theo teased, taking a sip of her drink. 

“Well, I look forward to being surprised by you in the future.” There was something about the way Chris spoke that seemed a bit too smooth, too practiced. 

Then again, he was an actor. Performance was at the core of his work, and like Theo he probably reverted to his own acting skills in social situations, especially when he wanted to seem confident. And trying to impress someone on a date was certainly one of the times any sane person would want to feel confident.

“Hey, let’s go dance,” Theo suggested, gliding her fingers down Chris’s arm and taking his hand. As if a switch flipped, the dazzling grin returned as Chris gestured towards Theo to lead the way. Weaving between the couples on the dance floor, Theo waited until they were in the middle of the group before she turned back to Chris, who held his arms in a silent invitation to dance.

“You look stunning this evening,” Chris complimented, pulling Theo close as they moved to the music. “I’m lucky to have such radiant company.” 

Theo’s cheeks burned as she replied with a shy smile. Sure, she trusted her friends’ judgment about what to wear, but that wasn’t what left her flushed at his remarks. He was new, and the intensity of his gaze felt both intoxicating and dizzying amidst the crowd. When Theo looked closely, she spotted a hunger in Chris’s eyes that left her wanting more.

The night flew by. One moment, they were spinning and laughing among the crowd; the next, the DJ announced to guests that it was the last song of the evening. Whether they were ready or not, it was time for the festivities to draw to a close.

The end of the evening did little to dampen the conversation between Theo and Chris as they followed the crowd out the door; if anything, they both slowed down as they approached the exit, stretching out their time together for as long as possible.

Just after they passed through the exit, Chris took Theo’s hand and pulled her aside.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Chris whispered in her ear; his breath tickled, sending a delicious chill down Theo’s spine. “Go back to my place?” 

Behind Chris, Bucky smirked at Theo and Wanda gave her a thumbs up; if Chris hadn’t been watching her so closely, she would have rolled her eyes at the pair. Inevitably, they wouldn’t be the only people who noticed; after all, a plethora of eyes followed them all evening. 

A yes sprung to Theo’s tongue, but just before she said it out loud, she stopped. Realistically, Chris was a stranger to her - sure, she knew the basics about him — the kinds of things someone usually knew about a celebrity — but she didn’t know enough about him to comfortably let her guard down. Being a high profile celebrity was different from being an Avenger. 

For all she knew, he wanted to use her for something; after all, fame wasn’t all people made it out to be. Besides, people frequently sought after Theo’s magic. 

Restraint was best in the situation.

“I appreciate the invite, but I have to work in the hospital tomorrow morning,” Theo covered, her tone light and casual, but quiet enough that any eavesdroppers wouldn’t hear. “This was fun though - I’d love to go out with you again!”

Out of the corner of Theo’s eye, Loki slipped out of the party with dark eyes and a devilish grin. Trailing close behind, hand linked in his, was a woman who had to be a supermodel, based on her absolutely flawless figure, perfectly tanned complexion, and perfectly styled outfit. 

A pang of jealousy unexpectedly shot through Theo at the sight.

“Of course.” Chris immediately masked the split second of surprise on his  face with a polite, albeit benign smile. “It’s probably just as well, because I have to fly back to California tomorrow morning.”

Despite the rejection, Chris bid Theo goodbye with a kiss on the cheek, which certainly was a surprise. After all, she just turned him down; the last thing she expected was for him to be so… affectionate?

Once Chris disappeared from view, Theo took advantage of her familiarity with the tower’s layout to take a quieter route to her suite. quickly slipped away through a back hall The second she was out of sight from prying eyes, Theo let out a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding. 

While Theo waited for the elevator, she couldn’t help but play the evening over in her mind. Chris was charming, handsome, and there was nothing wrong with him — why was she so hesitant? And what was up with her reaction to Loki?

Of course the silvertongue would be able to woo and bring home anyone he wanted without having to think twice about it. Maybe that was the cause of her jealousy — Loki didn’t have to overthink every interaction like she did. 

Shaking her head, Theo dispelled the thoughts of Loki hooking up with some random person; it wasn’t her business what or who he did in his spare time. 

Which brought Theo’s attention back to Chris. Her hesitancy around him didn’t seem like it was just because she didn’t know him very well; something else lurked underneath that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. But as she thought about it, the only reason she came up with was that everything about Chris just seemed too perfect.

In the end, it wouldn’t matter; playing the role of an Avenger was supposed to be nothing more than a means to an end. At most, it would be temporary. Theo needed to remember that.

I wonder why, why, I wonder why, why I oughta, Let you wreck, resurrect whatever you want to I can't depend, in the end you know I thought you were my friend Just stop, just stop, just stop I think I got it Sorry you, sorry me, sorry every in between, Sorry everybody here will never be somebody clean There's a piece of me they're throwing back at us, And they will buy you and sell you for celebrity status

Despite the knowledge that it was smart to not bring a guy home after the first date, Theo woke the next morning and immediately wondered if she played it too safe.  Chris was friendly, charming, good looking, and didn’t act weird about her being an Avenger - how often would she encounter guys like that? Probably never, but Theo essentially turned Chris down. As Theo laid in bed and stared at the ceiling, she debated whether she should reach out to Chris or not. 

On one hand, he made her laugh; on the other hand, they wouldn’t see each other often with conflicting schedules. He was hot, but probably had fans who would hate on Theo for dating him. He was used to the spotlight, but dating an Avenger might put his safety at risk. They had a lot of common interests, but they hadn’t talked about any serious topics - what if he secretly believed in some kind of cult? He was an accomplished actor, but Theo couldn’t promise to be there for awards shows because monsters and criminals don’t believe in days off. 

Ugh, she did not miss dating.

After mentally making the pro-con lists in her head for the third time, she decided to hold off. If she texted him too soon, she might seem clingy; besides, even if he was perfectly nice and charming and fun to be around, that feeling of something being off still lingered.

Theo rolled onto her side and snatched her phone from her nightstand to check the time, only to find a message waiting for her.

“Had a great time last night - want to grab a drink next time I’m in town? - C”

Though pleasantly surprised, Theo held off on replying. If nothing else, she needed some coffee and to wake up more before deciding on how to respond. Outside her window, the sunrise covered the skyline in a golden glow – it seemed like it was as good of a time as any to head up to the roof and enjoy her morning coffee.

Stillness permeated the tower as Theo made her way to the kitchen. With the incredibly early hour and the event that took place last night, she fully expected to be the first person awake. However, a full pot of freshly brewed coffee indicated that someone else claimed the title of first person awake. Theo wasn’t going to complain - that meant all she had to do was find her favorite mug and fill it up before enjoying some peace and quiet outdoors.

Upon arriving on the roof, Theo discovered just who woke up before her: Loki. He sat on one of the sectionals with his back to her. Loose black curls tumbled past his shoulders, swaying slightly in the cool morning breeze.

“Great minds think alike.” Theo greeted him, taking a seat on one of the other sectionals.

Loki simply hummed in acknowledgement of her greeting before returning his gaze off into the distance.

For once, Loki didn’t have a book with him. Hands wrapped around his own coffee, he sat back in his seat, soaking up the relative peace of the morning. Like the morning on the balcony, the silence held no weight, no pressure to force conversation or entertain the other. In the city that never sleeps, something about early mornings - those moments between where one day ended and the next began - felt almost sacred. Speaking, it seemed, might ruin that. 

Amidst the stillness, Theo caught herself studying Loki’s facial features, contrasting the difference from when he slept to how he appeared in the soft morning light.

Of course, there were things that Theo noticed before – Loki’s sharp bone structure certainly topped that list. But that morning, she couldn’t help but notice new things: the hints of worry lines that crossed his forehead, the crease from furrowed brows (an expression which she imagined he’d perfected at this point, along with the eye roll), the way his lips pulled across his teeth when he was close to smiling, but wasn’t quite ready to commit.

Theo knew Loki, besides being Aesir in form, was technically a frost giant and a god, but Loki looked shockingly human as he relaxed on the rooftop. Even in his Aesir form, Loki often looked more divine than mortal. But here… Some was different here. He seemed softer, less guarded. Perhaps it was the way his shoulders relaxed, or the way he stretched out in the morning glow. 

“How was your evening?” Loki struck up a conversation, taking a sip of coffee.

“It was good,” Theo smiled, looking out across the roof. “How was your night?” 

“It was alright…” Loki trailed off, glancing briefly at Theo before returning his gaze to the skyline. “You were certainly the center of attention last night.”

“Me, or the A-List actor that I spent the night with?” Theo’s attention returned to the god sitting next to her.

Loki chuckled, and Theo caught herself appreciating the way his eyes crinkled at the corners. “I suppose both would be a fair answer. He was rather attractive, I must admit. If I had been in your position, I certainly would have brought him back to my quarters for the evening.”

Theo let out a gentle laugh, biting her lip. Yes, Chris was good looking, and he certainly piqued her curiosity… but she couldn’t shake the feeling in her gut that something just wasn’t right. 

“Are you going to see him again?” Loki finally turned to focus on Theo. His sea-glass eyes held her gaze with surprising openness. A hint of sadness colored his words; it was subtle enough that Theo couldn’t quite place what sounded off about his question. 

“Why, do you want to hit him up if I don’t?” Theo teased, offering Loki a wink. “I wouldn’t blame you.”

Loki gave her a wry smile, shaking his head. “Simple curiosity.” 

“He asked if I wanted to get a drink next time I’m in town…” Theo shrugged, finding herself less enthusiastic about the idea than she was when she first awoke. “I haven’t given an answer one way or the other yet. It was hard to really get to know him with so many people vying for his attention, so it would be nice to do something that wasn’t so… public? Then again, if we ended up dating, I doubt I would ever get any privacy again, so there’s that…”

Loki let out a breathless laugh. “Privacy is already in short supply when one is an Avenger.”

Nodding in agreement, Theo took another slow drink of her coffee.

“That’s true, but at least I can set boundaries and choose what I share with the world,” she pointed out, “I can shape the way people see me, how they see my role as an Avenger.”

“That is what we do in some ways, isn’t it?” Loki mused, his brows drawing together in thought. “Play roles?”

“All the world’s a stage and all the men and women are merely players…” Theo took a big swig of coffee, relishing the bitter taste that coated her tongue. “… Or some shit like that.”

Loki doubled over from laughter, eyes wide as he nearly spit out his coffee from surprise. It took a moment to return to his more composed self before he sarcastically replied: “Yes, or some shit like that.” 

The way he mocked her wording brought a grin to Theo’s lips. “Okay, but think about it — how much of our lives are spent playing roles? How often do we get to be ourselves without altering our behaviors because of others’ opinions? Even putting on a brave face or being diplomatic is playing a role.”

Loki pursed his lips, studying Theo carefully.

“How much time do you spend playing roles?” Even if the question wasn’t out of left field, it still felt much more serious than the conversation up to that point.

“More than I’d like,” Theo admitted, glancing down at her cup and swirling her coffee around. “But it has saved my ass enough times that I will never hesitate to do it if I think it will help me.” 

Theo bit the inside of her cheek, cursing herself for saying too much. The answer would probably come back to bite her in the ass, most likely in the form of Loki asking her a million follow up questions. 

Note to self: more coffee before any early morning personal conversations. 

“I suppose we have that in common, then.”

Much to Theo’s surprise, Loki left it at that, and returned his attention to the city around them. While Loki was known to be cunning, Theo got the sense that at its core, Loki’s answer was not rooted in cunning or manipulation, but survival.

And Theo understood that all too well.

Step one, step two, step three, repeat And I pray at the church of asses in the seats To disappear behind the beat…

[iobartach]

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I got a few for this, so I'm gonna drop 'em into the one post! details / ramblings beneath the cut!

kenga.n ashur.a au

hey. psst. c'mere. do you like underground fighting tournaments? then lemme me give you this au verse as i casually walk away ---

but, nah, pretty much as described! a plot where, for reasons, miguel represents alchemax in a tourney where a bunch of other powerful business conglomerate. maybe he's become CEO in this telling, as well? who knows! but this is me looking to plot out a fight thread, basically. 🤣

something something 'up all night?'

not certain what title to give to this! but essentially ; a plot where a pre-atsv, vigilante miguel & an ally face a series of escalating challenges and encounters throughout a single day/night? like, it's 'got up on the wrong side of the bed' meets 'if something can go wrong, it will' kinds of vibes? that's the basic gist of it? maybe a villain left a trap as a parting gift, and miguel's got a limited time to sort things out? no idea! it'll certainly need expanding upon, but that's the seed of the idea for now!

atsv era & ... (d.ominic t.oretto voice) family(?)

pensively folds my hands together ... oh man, do i wanna do something along these lines! like, there's a lot that could be dug into for this? be it with his adopted daughter gabriella, or with half-bro gabri we won't mention concheta, tyler, or kron or even! found family! his fellow Spiders and friends! let there be a plot where folks offer gentle reminder that he doesn't have to shoulder the burden alone!

& maybe, given the multiverse is involved... some additional plot where miguel meets a spider-man!gabriel? and no, not that gabe, even though that would be cool af to plot with! but well, something where a variant of his little bro either got bitten/had the accident that made his dna half spider in his world? i saw artwork of this idea recently and it's been ... stuck in my head ever since 👀 and now i'm lowkey raging that i can't seem to find it again, i swear i didn't hallucinate this 🥴--

let him be a scientist.. for once!

a fairly fresh thought for the idea pile -- i.e., literally occurred to me as i was watching part of a documentary after work 😂 buuut... i do kinda pine for a plot where miguel is required to use his geneticist expertise to solve a problem? kinda puts me in mind of a potential au even? something like a 28 days later / i am legend style outbreak, except done better than the recent 'zeroes' thing in the comics. happy to expand upon this in further detail!!

[storiesofwildfire]

Flashback

{ @inlucisabsentiam } || send me “flashback!” and I’ll tell you something that traumatized my muse – status; no longer accepting

♔—- “I…” Loki sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He had one too many drinks, apparently, since he was even willing to have this conversation at all. Normally, he never talked about the things that hurt him or upset him or even left him worse for ware. He didn’t really like to unload his baggage onto other people, no matter how much he cared for them or trusted them. 

     But this was a bit different. He had a run-in with the source of this particular hardship that just brought all of the past pain back to the forefront of his mind.

     “I really used to hate myself,” he began. “I was always so weird and so unable to fit in with my peers that I just thought there was something wrong with me. I was never happy with how I looked, what I took interest in, how I dressed, or how I expressed myself because I was always made to feel like anything and everything I did was wrong. My father was cruel and my brother… Well, he tried to understand the best he could, but even he wasn’t above destroying my self-worth and letting his friends use me as the butt of their unnecessary jokes. Growing up, I didn’t know how to love myself, and that translated well over into my adult years. It eventually led me right into the arms of a man by the name of Egil. At first, he was everything I wanted in a boyfriend. Beautiful, successful, intelligent, and artistic. I thought…” He couldn’t help the cynical laugh that fell from his lips as he poured himself another shot of vanilla vodka. Ugh, he was going to be positively ill in the morning. “I thought I was dreaming, that there was no way someone like that could love someone like me and, well…

     “I figured out how correct I was.” He knocked the shot back. “When I was dating him? That was the time period I was really struggling with my identity. I knew my romantic preferences and my sexual preferences, but I didn’t know who I was as a person. My mind said male, but my heart said something else. I was trying to sort it out, and that’s when I first took a real interest in drag.

     “Egil didn’t like it, though. I tried to keep it from him for a while, because I just wanted to explore on my own and really find myself before I shared it with him. I was with Magnus, actually, when he found me, dressed head-to-toe in female attire, with a full face of make-up, and my hair styled so much that it almost looked like a wig. Magnus understood my struggles enough to let me express myself with him. He wanted to help me figure it out, but Egil… didn’t take it well. He pulled me out of Magnus’ shop that night, exclaiming how he was a bad influence on me and I needed to pull my head out of the clouds because what I was doing wasn’t healthy. He even demanded that I stop working for Magnus and find a different tattoo parlor.

     “From there on out, our relationship got really, really bad. It was mostly emotional abuse, but because I had so little self-worth and so little courage to stand up for myself, I bent over and took it. I even did quit my job at Magnus’ parlor for a while. Even though Egil was hurting me, controlling everything that I did, repressing me… I was so weak and so desperate to hold onto him that I just let him do as he pleased with me. I was too afraid to tell him no over basically everything. I let him dictate everything that I did and when I did it…”

     He poured himself another shot, but instead of knocking it back, he sipped it. “But even with my fear of him growing and my desperation to keep hold of him ever present, I couldn’t just ignore the fact that I wasn’t a man, at least not completely. So, I started exploring drag again behind his back. I kept it a secret for a long time, but he eventually caught me and he turned… violent. Violent enough to put me in the hospital for almost a week. I left him immediately afterwards, but I didn’t have the will to actually call the police. One of my nurses practically begged me to, but I just… couldn’t. I had enough sense to realize that I wasn’t safe with him and I needed to pull myself away from the toxicity, but there was still a large part of me that was convinced that I loved him and I never did bring myself to report him.

     “He… showed up at the parlor a few days ago. Magnus was off. The woman working the front end is new, so she had no idea who he was. It isn’t uncommon for people to come in off the streets and request me. She didn’t think anything of it, so he sent him back to me. He didn’t want a tattoo, obviously, but he did say that he was sorry for what he’d done, that he was horribly wrong for how he treated me. He said that… he wanted me back and I just…”

     Anything else he had to say fell away from his tongue, unspoken as his hands shook violently enough to spill most of the contents of his shot glass over himself.

     “I’m scared,” he admitted, blinking away tears. “Of him, of what he represents, of how much I hated myself back then, of falling into that hole all over again…”

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #469

Top Ten Crazy WandaVision Theories

So all the while I was watching The Mandalorian I kept thinking, blimey, they’ve nailed this. There’s an oft-repeated problem with modern serial dramas, which is that they tend to tread water a little bit; despite being shorn of the network requirement of episodes being a certain length, or having a certain number of episodes in a season, there’s this in-built compulsion to make about a dozen 45-minute episodes. This is what scuppered the Marvel Netflix series in particular; there simply wasn’t enough story to cover the seasons, and as a result there was a lot of treading of water. This has also affected the recent Star Trek shows, although Discovery does show signs of pulling out of this “twelve-hour movie” mindset. Mando totally transcends this in a superlative way: each episode is basically an “adventure of the week” type thing (Mando versus spiders, Mando goes to the fish planet, Mando meets a Jedi, etc). But each episode also builds on the arc; he’s always on the same quest, and everything he does week by week furthers this quest. As much as I was looking forward to WandaVision, I kept reminding myself, there’s no way they can do this; no way these two shows – my most-anticipated shows from two of my most-beloved franchises – can hit the bar so successfully, back-to-back.

Well.

I’m not sure if WandaVision is quite the overall triumph The Mandalorian is, but they’re both pretty tremendous achievements in slightly different ways. Wanda manages to tell a rather unsettling story in the MCU whilst also doing a terrific job of parodying sitcom tropes; it works on a meta level as well as a practical one. Also, as far as puzzle-box type programmes go, this one has been doing an excellent job; week by week, you’re further intrigued by what’s going on in Westview; what’s real? Who’s behind it? is Vision still dead? Will Darcy get her own show? It’s a fantastic exercise in drip-feeding information, maintaining a degree of unease and suspense, and offering a compelling mystery. Will they keep it up until the end? I’ve no idea; the reveal at the end of episode seven wasn’t quite a jaw-on-the-floor moment but it was exquisitely done, with a theme song and everything. Even if the most obvious predictions end up being true and the finale becomes a relatively straightforward goodies-versus-baddies barney, I’ve got faith in everyone involved to at least give us something utterly compelling and thoroughly entertaining.

But what if there really is at least one huge surprise left up the show’s vibranium sleeve? Certainly, the reveal of Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff – being, visually if not in character at least, the Fox/X-Men universe version of Wanda’s brother, rather than the Adam Taylor-Johnson version we knew from Age of Ultron – was a hell of a moment, seemingly bridging the gap between the MCU as we knew it and the previously Fox-controlled properties. Since then, there’s been this bubbling rumour (which I’ve tried not to read too much into by literally not reading too much; this is something I’ve divined from headlines or stray tweets, because I want to keep forging my way through WandaVision without a map) that there is another epic cameo approaching, on the level of Luke Skywalker popping up in the finale of The Mandalorian. That moment was something of a surprise, even though I had it rather spoiled by Twitter; despite muting as many words as possible to do with the show, “Luke Skywalker” still popped up in trending topics. I’ve learned my lesson, and I essentially forgo any social media (and a lot of other sites too) until I’ve seen the most recent episode. Anyway, what if this is true; what if there’s another character or moment that will rock the Marvel world to an even greater extent than The Other Pietro? If we’d be as surprised and delighted by something as much as we were by Luke making short work of those Dark Troopers? With this in mind, and being aware of the encroaching WandaVision finale, here are some predictions. What could happen? Who could we see? Which long-dormant plot thread will get resurrected? Read on to find out! And – spoiler warning – this has been revisited following the most recent episode; we are officially in the endgame now.

And I’m sure all of these are realistic and serious suggestions.

I Am Your Father: We have actually met Wanda’s parents at last; ordinary decent Sarkovian folk, it seems. But from where did her nascent witchy powers appear? What if, in a shocking last-minute twist, we discover her real father, and he’s played by… Ian McKellen! It was Eric all along!

SWORD versus Skrulls: a post-credit sting will reveal that – shock! – Tyler Hayward is, in fact, a SKRULL! Yes, finally, the shape-shifting buggers will get to be the baddies from the comics, as an up-to-no-good splinter faction of the beleaguered race makes its presence felt on the MCU, having successfully infiltrated world governments over the past thirty years. This will set up Samuel L. Jackson’s Secret Invasion series.

The Ultron of it All: there have been more mentions of Ultron in WandaVision than in any MCU property since, well, Age of Ultron. And now we have a custom-built all-white model of Vision, big as life and twice as creepy. What if – what if – shorn of his own psyche (his own soul?) and without an Infinity Stone to keep him upright, there remains in the hardware some remnant of everyone’s favourite sarky, genocidal mechanoid? Ultron returns! Screw you, planet Earth!

The Sorcerer Supreme is Not Happy: we know magic exists in the MCU because of Doctor Strange, so seeing Agatha and her family get their Hocus Pocus on in old Salem wasn’t too much of a surprise. But isn’t the Sorcerer Supreme supposed to keep an eye on magic use in the multiverse? I was half expecting Tilda Swinton to pop up in the flashback and bind Agatha with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. But now, with all the chaos magic Wanda is using in Westview, coupled with Agatha’s own spelling bee? Surely this has drawn the attention of somebody? Anybody? I mean, New York isn’t that far from Jersey, especially if you’ve got a sling ring, y’know?

No More Avengers: so Benedict Cumberbatch popping up wouldn’t be that much of a surprise (especially as Wanda is in the next Doctor Strange movie) but even if he’s not on Magic Police duty, wouldn’t an enhanced situation of this size draw the attention of one of the Avengers? Except – shock horror! – there are no Avengers! In a revelation that will set up the status quo of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, since the events of Endgame the Avengers literally don’t exist. So who will unite to save the world, not just from Wanda or Agatha, but also from the likes of SWORD? Well, right now, no one; but maybe that’ll change when the real villains appear…

No More Mutants: in the “House of M” storyline, Wanda very famously said “no more mutants” and it was so (more or less). Mutants don’t (seem to) exist in the MCU. But what if, at one point, they did? I don’t think this could have been Wanda’s doing, but what if in the past someone else had used magic to de-power/de-mutify the existing mutant population of Earth, and – basically – made everyone forget about it? And in the climax of WandaVision, well, “no more” is undone and – boom! – X-genes abound. This could even maybe set up some events in The Eternals, who I believe have some history with mutants in the comics (I’m really not very well-versed in Eternals lore)

Soul Stealer: so Wanda’s the Scarlet Witch, and a chaos magician, and super-enhanced courtesy of an Infinity Stone, but still: how did she create not one but three super-powered lifeforms? Where did they come from? Did she steal their souls? Is she leeching her own life-force to maintain them? I think we’ll discover a bit more about her powers and reveal that she’s drawing energy mutliversally, maybe from the Dark Dimension – maybe from Mephisto? I’d actually put money on Mephisto not showing up at all, despite his comic book connections to Agatha and Wanda.

Multiversal Madness: why that Pietro? He’s just a fake, just an automaton – right? But he’s still out and about spooking Monica whilst Agatha’s dealing with Wanda… yeah? And he looks like another Pietro from another universe (even if he doesn’t act like that). So… why? And who? I really, really think there’s some kind of multiversal craziness going on here, some force beyond Wanda (and Agatha!). Maybe it’s to do with Wanda pulling power from across the multiverse, maybe it’s… something else. Maybe we’ll get cameos from Lou Ferringo, Bruce Campbell, Spider-Ham and ROM the Space Knight. Hey, don’t forget: Transformers was a Marvel comic once! And they do have a Chaos-Bringer…

Wanda Did It: one of the prevailing theories/queries about WandaVision has been who’s behind it all. Wanda’s not powerful enough (or villainous enough), so who exactly did create TV Westview? Who brought Vision back, gave Wanda her sons? Well, the latest ep sure seemed to show that it really was Wanda All Along. The explanation being that she’s “the Scarlet Witch”, a presumably hella-powerful sorcerer and also (let’s not forget) imbued with Infinity Stoniness. But is she on her own really that strong, and would she – even in her despair – alter so many minds? What if there’s another Wanda, a Wanda prepared to go all-out, a Wanda who – after losing everything on her Earth is trying to recreate it by pooling her powers will another Wanda? An alternate universe, more damaged, more villainous Wanda – a Wanda who’s already said “no more mutants”, maybe; maybe even the Wanda from the Fox X-Men films (who AFAIK we’ve only seen as a little girl in her brother’s arms). That’s why Pietro looks like that, because she’s trying to rebuild her own life using the powers of this other Wanda. Two Wandas; two Witches. Dukin’ it out. And who can come to save the day, but the X-Men?

We’re All Doomed: giving credit to my brother for pointing me in this direction when he said “if there’s a big bad in WandaVision it either has to be someone very good at magic or very good at science”. Or… both? Think about it. Which character, if they cameoed in an MCU property, could possibly generate as much excitement as Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian? No actor from the MCU; not even Downey. From another Marvel property? We’ve had a Fox actor already and with the rumours about Spider-Man: No Way Home, whether we saw Hugh Jackman or Tobey Maguire, I think that would be exciting but not as exciting. So I think it’s a character, not an actor. A character big and exciting enough to make us all squee. And which character from Marvel has never been seen in the MCU, is not necessarily expected any time soon, is very good at magic and very good at science? One. I’d say only one. Bring it on.

This actually became a lot more sensible than I’d intended! I was gonna go all-out, rolling in Muppet Babies, MODOK, HERBIE, the Phoenix Force, and basically the entire Patton Oswalt speech from Parks and Recreation. And whilst I think virtually none of these will (or should?!) happen, just imagine… man, I can’t believe we have to wait a week!

[royal-dragonslayer-ornstein]

///Alright, little update about the status of this blog. As I’ve mentioned before, I’d like to be active over here again at some point, though I most likely won’t be able to start writing here until exams are over (they come after the winter break, so that’s gonna take a while). I’m also not completely sure how motivated or inspired I will be to write new threads here, so I can’t promise anything.

Thinking about what’s keeping me from writing here, I think the main issue is that I haven’t known what to do with the actual main verses for a while. Ornstein’s timeline is a bit of a mess, it’s so spread out and it’s missing so many gaps (and I’m talking about the ever cryptic lore of Dark Souls as well as my own ideas for him) that I feel like there’s too much vagueness in his lifespan for me to properly develop him. His origins in the Age of Dragons, his life throughout the Age of Fire, his task to find Gwyn’s firstborn, whatever is going on with the Old Dragonslayer (I made the choice back then to consider it canon, might have been a mistake but I think I’m not giving up on it just yet) and what happened to him before and during DS3. I’m honestly not sure how to approach this. On the one hand figuring out the details seems like the obvious choice and maybe I can come up with better ideas now than in my prior years, but on the other hand I wonder if it might be best to keep certain stuff vague and not bother giving a half-assed explanation for everything. I’ll have to think about it.

Ornstein’s character is also a bit limiting in the sense that he mostly interacts with the gods of Anor Londo for the majority of his life (which admittedly I’ve grown to consider to be the least interesting time for me to write), he can have a couple of interactions with some human in the middle of a mission but unless this character is a big deal he’s unlikely to interact with them for long. Most of the people whose muses were deities of Anor Londo or related to them became inactive long ago or are currently in hiatus (which to be fair is true for a good portion of the RP fandom) and I do think that having so many stories over the years, even with the same character written by a different person, be cut short prematurely has been a bit discouraging. Not that I don’t understand, I’m not bitter (that’d be pretty selfish of me) about it or anything, it’s just an unfortunate part of every hobby.

So yeah, I definitely want to tackle those verses at some point. DS3 is the one I find to be most appealing to me at the moment because Ornstein can interact with all sorts of muses much more easily, and I find that chapter of his story to be pretty interesting, reconnecting with the world after a long life of being detached and fully dedicated to his duties, being forced to go back to his roots. I wasn’t able to start much stuff in that setting, but then again I didn’t look any further than the RPers I knew at the time (something I still try to fix), so maybe now that I’m opening myself up to more writers things will go more smoothly.

It’s worth mentioning that both of my Villain AUs, Eraser of Mankind and Usurper King, are something I have enjoyed writing a lot more than the main verses in the past years, but I also feel like I’m out of ideas for them. There’s not a lot of people I really got to explore them in depth with, so I’m always willing to do more stuff with it, but at the same time I can’t help but feel like it’s a bit formulaic. I need to think of new ideas to do with those AUs.

Bloodborne Verse is the one I feel most inspired to write lately, though anyone who’s seen the OC I made a new blog for this year could probably have guessed that. I feel a little conflicted that this AU is much better developed and is more coherent than the actual main verses of this blog, and I won’t lie I’ve struggled a bit with that. I’m actually writing this one in a few threads (not in Tumblr) with some friends that aren’t on this website anymore. Now that I’ve approached a whole bunch of other soulsborne and eldritch roleplayers maybe I could start new threads for this verse with Ornstein, though I need to come up with a few ideas.

Weirdly enough, I’m feeling pretty inspired to write his full beast form (oh, and for anyone who isn’t familiar, Ornstein’s beasthood is a very peculiar version of the darkbeast, that follows a cycle of transformation more similar to the traditional stories of lycanthropy, in which it builds up gradually until he transforms and goes berserk, then later when he’s exhausted he turns back human and the cycle begins again). In fact if people are interested I’m considering writing a variety of threads in which he goes on a rampage through Yharnam and having that be his first meeting with any new muses he interacts with. So by all means feel free to message me if the idea interests you.

[serpent-in-the-lions-den]

SEVERUS SNAPE | DOUBLE-AGENT | MID-LEVEL

PERSONALITY:

Generally, Severus is seen rather than heard.

The mind of Severus Snape is complex – to be sure. Filled with calculations, fragile threads of truths and lies he’s told and webbing them all together, and innovations for many different forms of magic. To keep all of these thoughts collected, Severus keeps a journal that he has heavily bound to keep secret. There, he states the deepest parts of his soul, creates new potions, spells, and whatever else he deems worthy. It is protected by a blood spell that only he knows the enchantment to. Like him, everything is kept very private and close to his chest.

While Severus has plenty of thoughts coursing through his brilliant mind, he does not initiate conversation. In fact, he says much more with his eyes. Even if they can be cold. However, this does not mean Severus will keep silent – nor is it out of shyness. When Snape graces others with his opinions or ideas, they should not be taken lightly. Every single word uttered has meaning.

Being around Death Eaters and the Dark Lord, he’s kept a keen eye – finding everyone’s tells and when it is best for him to speak his true sentiments. As well as this, if he feels provoked or given an opportunity to speak freely, he will not cower. Often, his retorts have a bite to them, thick with sarcasm or bitterness; or both.

Severus Snape is profound in potions – and dare we say even more skilled in the Dark Arts. Books were a comfort for him growing up, finding company with leather-bound pages and becoming well-versed in their contents. A strength he chooses not to boast about is his ability to create new spells, new magic, even. Most of these, however, were being saved to get a slight revenge over his old school enemies. And therein lies the rub. Snape’s insecurities are tightly bound to Hogwarts and being bullied – not to mention his inability to reveal his true feelings toward the one girl who showed him kindness all those years.

FAMILY:

A broken family. That was the home of Tobias Snape and Eileen Prince.

A Muggle father and a Pureblood mother. Such parents didn’t give Severus an opinion on blood purity – but rather if an individual could prove themselves. While his parents may have had married for love at some point, something shifted their feelings.

For Snape’s father, nothing seemed to please him. Except for, perhaps, a bottle of gin. This instilled a primal instinct for Severus to do better; be better. Strive for power.

As for Snape’s mother, she grew sickly and thin. Her grief taught him empathy. It also made him value any comfort, starving for any sort of love and affection. This was, most likely, the cause for Severus’ immediate interest in Lily Evans – and the roots of his near-obsession with her.

Both of his parents were unhappy, and let it affect both their home and their son. Living near-destitution, the Snape house was filled with hateful words, arguments, loud shattering of priceless heirlooms or objects, and other things that still haunt Severus to this day. When thinking back on his past, Severus prefers the memories of when they both neglected him altogether, rather than any other aspects of his upbringing.

OCCUPATION:

Potions Apprentice to Professor Slughorn.

Invaluable to the Dark Lord, the talents of Severus Snape brought him closer to his inner circle. For Voldemort, it also meant he could manipulate the young man’s talents to foil any plots that the Order may have against him. Knowing his passion for potions, Voldemort encouraged Snape to take on an apprenticeship with Professor Slughorn – while also peeking behind the curtain at Hogwarts and keeping an eye on the Headmaster.

ROLE WITHIN THE ORDER/THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ORDER:

Mid-Level | Double Agent

Walking a thin line between hero and villain had never once crossed Severus’ mind. Yet, here he was. An Order member. At first, in a plot for the Dark Lord, carrying out the order to spy on the organization; find out how it could crumble. The young wizard had already grown steadily in their ranks, garnered enough trust, and was even listening to Voldemort’s other requests like his employment. All for the sake of war. It was a task daunting enough for anyone; however, Severus knew pretending to be an Order member would bring him closer to Lily. That, and potentially erase any suspicions Frank Longbottom might have if he thought he saw the Slytherin’s face during the arrest. At first, it was all an act.

Now, within the Order, Severus is a black sheep. Many of his childhood bullies are within their ranks, and many who distrust him. Although, with Severus’ lust for power, proving himself is nothing new to him. In fact, he thrives on it. No more fighting behind a mask…watching those he cares for nearly meet their end. An easy task to spy, being a great reader of both people and their minds. However, an overwhelmingly difficult task to want to continue fighting for something he didn’t believe in. Not that he believes in the Order either, but his lust for power has now been overcome with a desperate need to win an old friendship back. Perhaps to take Lily Evans far away from any wars as well, forgetting the two sides; no more choosing between what is right, and what is easy. Severus faces this new challenge, while fighting off those he once stood beside. For now, he’ll leave it to fate – if he’s able to win Lily’s friendship back.

After the latest events of Muggles being slaughtered from his mistakes with the orb, Severus feels a familiar pang of guilt. The same kind he felt after calling Lily that horrid name in school. It doesn’t help that The Order sees him as a risk and has been keeping him away from the center of the action. Severus feels responsible and a need to redeem himself. The night of the wedding, The Order tasked him with staying with the healers – at least giving him that opportunity. Among the chaos, steady hands and minds are needed. Which, thankfully, Severus was very skilled with.

SURVIVAL:

Severus Snape survives purely relying on his skills – and providing them to whichever side he feels is winning. It was part of the reason why he joined the Death Easters in the first place. Unfortunately for the Order, Snape believes the Dark Lord will win; that they will fall – and not rise from the ashes, as their namesake. A lust for power has blinded him most of all. But with it, he’s earned the trust of Voldemort, become invaluable. A faithful servant. Once the war s over, Severus believes he will be rewarded for his acts. At least, as long as he continues to do his bidding…

While with the Order, Severus has taken up housing in Hogwarts during the school year under his apprenticeship with Slughorn. During the summers, he’s found a small flat down near Hogsmeade to keep close enough. Beforehand, he often stayed with Lucius Malfoy in their incredibly large manor. It made it easy to stay near his comrades and to carry out any dark deeds.

Until there seems to be a clear winner, Severus will carry out his work as a spy. Even if it means slightly changing sides to do it as time goes on. The skills he carries with Occlumency are not to be trifled with. It seems he’s one of the few to have mastered such magic, making him the perfect soldier for espionage. Especially now that he has a desire for redemption for the mistakes he’s made and devastation he’s caused.

RELATIONSHIPS:

Severus’ relationship with Lily Evans was broken long ago. However, he will try and make peace with her, at the very least. If they rekindle their friendship, Severus would likely switch sides; happily die for her and prove himself. If it blossomed even more (something he fears even daydreaming about will jinx it), Severus would give up everything with the Dark Lord and his following - and give all his loyalty to the Order.

PRIVILEGES & BIASES:

Having gone through a very traumatic animalistic incident in his years at Hogwarts, Severus has a large bias against werewolves. The whole experience left a nasty memory for him, left in complete shock and disagreement with Dumbledore. And having Fenrir Greyback at the Dark Lord’s disposal certainly didn’t make matters any better.

There is one thing that will never chance for Severus Snape, and that is his hatred and bitterness towards certain Gryffindor boys he now has to work with in the Order. The thought alone makes his blood boil and skin crawl. Yet, he will do what he must for his cause…and maybe even throw in a snide remark or two every so often.

Muggleborns are something of a mystery to Snape now. When he first met Lily, he thought she was different from any other one – slumping the rest together with the likes of his father. Although seeing how fierce Dorcas has become – and so well integrated with the Wizarding World – Severus has gained a new understanding. Of course, he’s still untrusting, at first, and even a little cold; but that doesn’t mean his mind cannot be changed.

[homenum-revelio-hq]

Welcome (again) to the Order of the Phoenix, Gina!

You have been accepted for the role of SEVERUS SNAPE with the faceclaim of Aneurin Barbard! We particularly loved Severus’ ambiguous motivations and how he’s playing spy as a double agent for both the Order and the Death Eaters! He’s not all good - he’s not all bad - and that fits our morally grey theme within this roleplay. So glad to see you playing him again! 

Please take a look at the new member checklist and send in your account within 24 hours! Thank you for joining the fight against Voldemort!

OUT OF CHARACTER:

NAME: Gina AGE: 25 TIMEZONE: MST-Arizona ACTIVITY LEVEL: Weekends are usually when I’m on the most 😊 I’ll try to get on during the week – especially on my early days. All that being said, I’ll definitely will be able to post at least once a week! As long as writing is still fun, and doesn’t feel like a chore, I’ll be on the dash frequently (and I’ll keep y’all informed if there’s ever going to be an issue with an activity check)! ANYTHING ELSE: trigger: non-con.

CHARACTER DETAILS:

NAME: Severus Snape AGE: 21 GENDER, PRONOUNS, and SEXUALITY: Cis-Male, He/Him, Heterosexual. BLOOD STATUS: Halfblood HOUSE ALUMNI: Slytherin ANY CHANGES: Request FC change: Aneurin Barnard.

CHARACTER BACKGROUND:

PERSONALITY:

Generally, Severus is seen rather than heard.

The mind of Severus Snape is complex – to be sure. Filled with calculations, fragile threads of truths and lies he’s told and webbing them all together, and innovations for many different forms of magic. To keep all of these thoughts collected, Severus keeps a journal that he has heavily bound to keep secret. There, he states the deepest parts of his soul, creates new potions, spells, and whatever else he deems worthy. It is protected by a blood spell that only he knows the enchantment to. Like him, everything is kept very private and close to his chest.

While Severus has plenty of thoughts coursing through his brilliant mind, he does not initiate conversation. In fact, he says much more with his eyes. Even if they can be cold. However, this does not mean Severus will keep silent – nor is it out of shyness. When Snape graces others with his opinions or ideas, they should not be taken lightly. Every single word uttered has meaning.

Being around Death Eaters and the Dark Lord, he’s kept a keen eye – finding everyone’s tells and when it is best for him to speak his true sentiments. As well as this, if he feels provoked or given an opportunity to speak freely, he will not cower. Often, his retorts have a bite to them, thick with sarcasm or bitterness; or both.

Severus Snape is profound in potions – and dare we say even more skilled in the Dark Arts. Books were a comfort for him growing up, finding company with leather-bound pages and becoming well-versed in their contents. A strength he chooses not to boast about is his ability to create new spells, new magic, even. Most of these, however, were being saved to get a slight revenge over his old school enemies. And therein lies the rub. Snape’s insecurities are tightly bound to Hogwarts and being bullied – not to mention his inability to reveal his true feelings toward the one girl who showed him kindness all those years.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FAMILY:

A broken family. That was the home of Tobias Snape and Eileen Prince.

A Muggle father and a Pureblood mother. Such parents didn’t give Severus an opinion on blood purity – but rather if an individual could prove themselves. While his parents may have had married for love at some point, something shifted their feelings.

For Snape’s father, nothing seemed to please him. Except for, perhaps, a bottle of gin. This instilled a primal instinct for Severus to do better; be better. Strive for power.

As for Snape’s mother, she grew sickly and thin. Her grief taught him empathy. It also made him value any comfort, starving for any sort of love and affection. This was, most likely, the cause for Severus’ immediate interest in Lily Evans – and the roots of his near-obsession with her.

Both of his parents were unhappy, and let it affect both their home and their son. Living near-destitution, the Snape house was filled with hateful words, arguments, loud shattering of priceless heirlooms or objects, and other things that still haunt Severus to this day. When thinking back on his past, Severus prefers the memories of when they both neglected him altogether, rather than any other aspects of his upbringing.

OCCUPATION: Potions Apprentice to Professor Slughorn.

Invaluable to the Dark Lord, the talents of Severus Snape brought him closer to his inner circle. For Voldemort, it also meant he could manipulate the young man’s talents to foil any plots that the Order may have against him. Knowing his passion for potions, Voldemort encouraged Snape to take on an apprenticeship with Professor Slughorn – while also peeking behind the curtain at Hogwarts and keeping an eye on the Headmaster.

ROLE WITHIN THE ORDER/THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ORDER:

Walking a thin line between hero and villain had never once crossed Severus’ mind. Yet, here he was. An Order member. At first, in a plot for the Dark Lord, carrying out the order to spy on the organization; find out how it could crumble. The young wizard had already grown steadily in their ranks, garnered enough trust, and was even listening to Voldemort’s other requests like his employment. All for the sake of war. It was a task daunting enough for anyone; however, Severus knew pretending to be an Order member would bring him closer to Lily. That, and potentially erase any suspicions Frank Longbottom might have if he thought he saw the Slytherin’s face during the arrest. At first, it was all an act.

Now, within the Order, Severus is a black sheep. Many of his childhood bullies are within their ranks, and many who distrust him. Although, with Severus’ lust for power, proving himself is nothing new to him. In fact, he thrives on it. No more fighting behind a mask…watching those he cares for nearly meet their end. An easy task to spy, being a great reader of both people and their minds. However, an overwhelmingly difficult task to want to continue fighting for something he didn’t believe in. Not that he believes in the Order either, but his lust for power has now been overcome with a desperate need to win an old friendship back. Perhaps to take Lily Evans far away from any wars as well, forgetting the two sides; no more choosing between what is right, and what is easy. Severus faces this new challenge, while fighting off those he once stood beside. For now, he’ll leave it to fate – if he’s able to win Lily’s friendship back.

After the latest events of Muggles being slaughtered from his mistakes with the orb, Severus feels a familiar pang of guilt. The same kind he felt after calling Lily that horrid name in school. It doesn’t help that The Order sees him as a risk and has been keeping him away from the center of the action. Severus feels responsible and a need to redeem himself. The night of the engagement party, The Order tasked him with staying with the healers – at least giving him that opportunity. Among the chaos, steady hands and minds are needed. Which, thankfully, Severus was very skilled with.

SURVIVAL:

Severus Snape survives purely relying on his skills – and providing them to whichever side he feels is winning. It was part of the reason why he joined the Death Easters in the first place. Unfortunately for the Order, Snape believes the Dark Lord will win; that they will fall – and not rise from the ashes, as their namesake. A lust for power has blinded him most of all. But with it, he’s earned the trust of Voldemort, become invaluable. A faithful servant. Once the war s over, Severus believes he will be rewarded for his acts. At least, as long as he continues to do his bidding…

While with the Order, Severus has taken up housing in Hogwarts during the school year under his apprenticeship with Slughorn. During the summers, he’s found a small flat down near Hogsmeade to keep close enough. Beforehand, he often stayed with Lucius Malfoy in their incredibly large manor. It made it easy to stay near his comrades and to carry out any dark deeds.

Until there seems to be a clear winner, Severus will carry out his work as a spy. Even if it means slightly changing sides to do it as time goes on. The skills he carries with Occlumency are not to be trifled with. It seems he’s one of the few to have mastered such magic, making him the perfect soldier for espionage. Especially now that he has a desire for redemption for the mistakes he’s caused.

RELATIONSHIPS:

Severus’ relationship with Lily Evans was broken long ago. However, he will try and make peace with her, at the very least. If they rekindle their friendship, Severus would likely switch sides; happily die for her and prove himself. If it blossomed even more (something he fears even daydreaming about will jinx it), Severus would give up everything with the Dark Lord and his following. Everything with the Order. All to be with her – away from the rotting parts of the Wizarding World.

OOC EXPLORATION:

SHIPS/ANTI-SHIPS: Ships: Snape/Lily & Snape/Chemistry. Anti-Ships: None

WHAT PRIVILEGES AND BIASES DOES YOUR CHARACTER HAVE?

Having gone through a very traumatic animalistic incident in his years at Hogwarts, Severus has a large bias against werewolves. The whole experience left a nasty memory for him, left in complete shock and disagreement with Dumbledore. And having Fenrir Greyback at the Dark Lord’s disposal certainly didn’t make matters any better.

There is one thing that will never chance for Severus Snape, and that is his hatred and bitterness towards certain Gryffindor boys he now has to work with in the Order. The thought alone makes his blood boil and skin crawl. Yet, he will do what he must for his cause…and maybe even throw in a snide remark or two every so often.

Muggleborns are something of a mystery to Snape now. When he first met Lily, he thought she was different from any other one – slumping the rest together with the likes of his father. Although seeing how fierce Dorcas has become – and so well integrated with the Wizarding World – Severus has gained a new understanding. Of course, he’s still untrusting, at first, and even a little cold; but that doesn’t mean his mind cannot be changed.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO?

I am excited to explore a redemption arch for Severus! I think it could be really great to see him actually believe in the cause and put his complete loyalty to The Order. I’ve tinkered with this idea before in another RP where his motives were driven by romance. Now, I can see hm relying on changing his mind on his own accord and a longing for his old friendship back to guide him to the side of good and light.

ANYTHING ELSE? Super excited to be re-applying as Sev! 😊

[agl03]

For some reason I've got my hopes up that Fitz and Simmons aren't the targets for Malachi. He's already got access to their brains, so I'm thinking that maybe he doesn't really need them. Crossing my fingers for the writers to not separate them...AGAIN, as Liz would say.

Hi Anon,

I want to think that too but the set up of Fitzsimmons being left out whole storming of the temple of Doom is one of the most telling things for me.  It’s not uncommon for Jemma to stay back…but not Fitz, he’s usually right in the thick of the action.  So if it’s not to be kidnapped, its for some good mortal peril a huge story reason and likely to do some major leg work for setting up the off the rails next season.

The repeated references to Fitzsimmons intelligence and importance to both Shield and the Baddies, as Izel said how rare they are still stands out to me.

The other red flag for me is that Deke is all happily working with Nana and Bobo.  Usually when someone gets something like that they’ve been longing for all season something bad happens after they get it.

One way or another I am 110% certain we will see Fitzsimmons separated one last time before the series ends, the easiest way to deal with Iain working multiple projects is to have him kidnapped or on a side mission kind of thing.  I would very much like for FItzsimmons to make it through the Season 6 finale together and then have the separation happen in Season 7 instead.  

There is also no question that Malachi transports himself right into the Lighthouse meaning he’s looking for something or someone there.  Or that Fitzsimmons are having a conversation with what I’m assuming is a Holo Enoch there as he’s on Kitson.  My guess is Fitzsimmons call him after Malachi crashes the party and he likely warns them of Malachi’s intentions of taking Earth as the new Chronicom world.  With bonus information about why he was collecting the Monoliths in the first place. 

I would love nothing more than for Fitzsimmons and a the red shirts to ward him off and everyone comes home safe and happy….but AOS doesn’t do that a massive shoe is going to drop, I can feel it.

Side note I won’t say no to Deke somehow getting back in time to save them.

I’m also fully prepared for a MASSIVE cliffhanger and the New Life has me starting to lean towards and ending like Self Control’s when we had those peeks at everyone in the Framework and we had MONTHS to agonize over where everyone landed.  Even more it has the possibility of leaving the team more scattered (through time and space dun dun dunnnn) than ever and thanks to the convenient use of the all powerful monoliths and lots of villains in play.

I do have other targets in mind right now for Baal Gad to be after as Malachi seems to think he could handle Fitzsimmons on his own.  

Koenig (Patton you said you would be back!  We are literally out of time here!)  If someone wanted to take Shield out of the mix he is the keeper of the secrets and a good place to start for information.

Enoch as I am still sticking with him leading some sort of resistance 

Someone important power wise on earth

Someone else on the team based on what Malachi saw in Fitzsimmons memories.

The monolith power ball

Insert new McGuffins here

Because Malachi killed Atarah he didn’t seem interested in the time travel thing.  Otherwise I think he would have strung Atarah along longer before pulling his little mutiny.  

But

We have enough spoilers for next season that we KNOW Time Travel is in the mix.  Chloe also said that they have a new HQ next season so maybe the Lighthouse gets blown up…it’s made it two seasons.  Or playing with all the monoliths in the Temple of Doom goes VERY wrong.

We also strongly suspect some familiar faces will return so this could also mean we’re diving into the Multi Verse too.

I don’t think I have ever gone into a season finale with so many threads still loose theory wise.  Usually at this point I’ve got things mapped out pretty well but this time I think it’s going to be down to the wire and I’ll need to pick at every single scrap of information that comes out between now and then. In the form of peeks, interviews, and promo pics.   

[theinquisitivej]

Spiderman: Far From Home – A Movie Review

After an animated masterpiece gave us what many consider to be the new best Spider-Man film, and after a monumental finale to a developing narrative that was twenty-two movies in the making, what hope does a sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming, a movie praised by many but seen by others as not much more than just middle-of-the-road, have of satisfying an audience who have been especially well catered for when it comes to superhero movies connected to the man who does whatever a spider can?

Well, it turns out it’s got a pretty good shot, because I got a lot more out of Spider-Man: Far from Home than I ever expected I would.

         Jon Watts returns from Spider-Man: Homecoming as the director for its sequel, and with that comes a cemented sense of identity, as Far from Home takes the praiseworthy parts of Homecoming’s personality and places even more emphasis on those elements. The aesthetic for the Home series isn’t as palpably noticeable as something like Guardians of the Galaxy or Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok, but it nevertheless maintains a consistent tone with the previous film which makes this particular perspective of the MCU feel lived in. There’s a charmingly grounded feel to how characters will engage in idle conversation about certain major events from other MCU films in a way that jokingly downplays moments or story beats that were presented with heart-wrenching gravitas in other films. It’s amusing for invested audience members, but it’s also an effective method of reminding you that this world is inhabited by a population who are routinely affected by world-spanning comic book shenanigans, but don’t have the advantage of hearing first hand what the hell is going on. As such, developments like Captain America going on the run become background news that gym teachers are only semi-aware of in the previous film, and, in Far From Home, the “blip” that erased half the population then brought them back 5 years later is just another thing that people have grown to live with. The film even feels comfortable enough to use it for comedic effect when one of the characters uses the blip to put Flash in his place when he’s being insufferable, and that is so endearing. As a result, while the visual aesthetics of these MCU Spider-Man films may not be as immediately striking or distinctive as other branches of this franchise, they provide a consistent tone of down-to-earth sincerity and people just getting on with their lives that makes them really pleasant experiences.  

         And while last year’s Ant-Man and the Wasp was an enjoyably sprightly heist movie which nevertheless felt out of place and too rushed out after we were still reeling from the weighty punch of Infinity War, Far from Home not only improves on its namesake predecessor, but also acts as a remarkably suitable follow-up to Endgame. The sombreness of Endgame’s first half and the epic scale of its second half are contrasted by the everyday levity and more personal stakes shown in this film. The action is inventive and varied enough that you’re interested to see how Spider-Man deals with foes we’re not used to seeing cinematic depictions of him fight against (elemental and… other, more spoiler-y threats), in environments that are labelled as ‘far from home’, outside of his typical comfort zone of New York. The comedy works because of a comforting sense of cohesion to the characters which make them work well together, and yet the dialogue is natural and flexible enough that you always see the individual traits of each character shine through. With a diverse cast of commendable talents like this, that’s a treat.

         But while the film is a remarkably appreciated light-hearted palate cleanser, that doesn’t mean it’s pulling its punches with its heavier dramatic moments. This film deals with a teenager who watched someone he looked up to die in front of his eyes, and is now confronted with a world filled with iconography and heated discussion about that idol, and some of that fervent conversation is even directed at him as everyone asks if he will be the person to step up and take the place of his hero. It’s an emotional state that makes you feel so much for Peter, especially as Tom Holland has gone from strength to strength and solidifies himself as the definitive version of a young Peter Parker in my eyes. He’s killing it in this, selling the subtle balance between Peter having some newfound confidence to be able to stand up for himself and make his own decisions about what he wants and who he is, while also being racked with guilt, expressing uncertainty of the world of large-scale superheroics that he’s had a taste of but isn’t sure he wants to go back to, and retrospectively questions his own actions. A subtle detail in the film that does a lot to convey Peter’s current state of mind is his spidey-sense (Peter-tingle) not being quite as sharp as we might expect it to be – Peter is having trouble trusting his instincts. This, and his general anxiety over where he’s heading and his fears of the past are masterfully represented in one reality-bending sequence which shows some of the darkest imagery Marvel has ever put in their films as it puts all of Peter’s inner turmoil and doubts up onto the screen.

SPOILERS IN NEXT PARAGRAPH

         But what works especially well in this film for me is how it creates these brilliant parallels to the first Iron Man to commendable effect. Both films feature ceremonies near their opening in which the hero is expected to attend and someone close to them criticises them for not quite presenting themselves correctly (if at all), as well as protagonists who question how the legacy that’s been left to them should be best used, villains who seek to use that legacy and the technology of Tony Stark for their own selfish ends (and both villains use the distraction of a more immediate seeming threat to disguise their manipulations behind the scenes), before concluding with the heroes having their secret identity revealed to the world. And of course, both feature tech-savvy geniuses working on their superhero suit in a holographic workshop while ACDC music plays, and the only thing I love more than that unspoken “this kid has everything in him that made Tony Stark great without him realising it” moment is Peter saying “Oh I love Led Zeppelin”. These parallels allow for a neat bookend of this whole arc of the MCU with Iron Man starting us off while Far from Home brings it, well, home. But they also reinforce the main theme of Peter’s emotional journey as he asks himself if he can, or should be the next Iron Man. The answer, as Happy tells us, is that no one could live up to Tony Stark, not even Tony. Peter doesn’t need to worry about being the next version of someone else, but the first version of himself. The film uses these connections between his character and Tony’s, between Far from Home and Iron Man to show us that we can move forward with confidence as we establish our own identity and take the parts of the people who inspire us along with us. Far from Home echoes a lot of the characteristics of Iron Man but ends up being something new, and it is exactly in that way that Peter ends up honouring Tony’s memory while still moving forward by the end of the film.  

         There’s a lot at play which could have stacked the deck against this film being a critical success; between the explosion of artistic creativity on display in last year’s singular Into the Spider-Verse, and Endgame’s entanglement with gargantuan levels of audience investment allowing for once-in-a-lifetime emotional payoff, I expected for a long time that Far From Home would be unfavourably compared to these two relatively recent blockbuster triumphs. But it was exactly the film I needed for this series after Endgame, and full kudos to the showrunners, I wasn’t anticipating that. It’s packed with youthful sincerity, delivers an adventure with scaled back yet more personal stakes which makes the whole thing feel that much more meaningful, and while I enjoyed seeing the kids in their own environment in the school in the last one, the trip through Europe makes it an enjoyable journey. The more time passes, the more I appreciate about what it achieves under the surface with its character development, inspired connection with other films in the series, and its ability to capture the experience of trying to find your way.

Final Ranking: Silver.

When all the threads of the MCU have been tied up by Endgame, who better than a spider to start weaving the first strands of the next web.

[lilietsblog]

two of my favorite subtle narrative things about Rise from the Ashes

1) it would be very easy to sell this narrative with the guy who’d gotten convicted with fake evidence bieng, in fact, innocent. it’d be all simple and straightforward, and AA loves itself some straightforward simplicity (looking at you Farewell)

but they don’t do that

instead, nobody involved doubts at any point that Joe Darke is the murderer. he did not kill this one specific person but he sure as fuck did kill all the others! and you know what? it’s legit. it’s specifically brought up that like. personal off the record conversations can’t be used as proof in court, and you can know something 100% definitely for sure as a fact and be completely unable to prove it because the court isn’t going to just take your word for it

they made the situation fucked up with the fact that Joe Darke? most definitely deserved his sentence!

and yet, what happened was still horrifying and wrong

even when the guy really is guilty, forging evidence is still horrifying and wrong and yes it really is about the principle of it

evidence presented needs to be trusted, or nothing will work

(dark age of the law who? this narrative beats all that bullshit with a flick of its fingers)

2) ok so in early convos with Angel she insists that prosecutors consider detectives to be disposable and replaceable. that they don’t care and don’t even really consider them to be people. just some puppets

you mostly forget about it by the time you get to the resolution... but if you remember

actually, not a single prosecutor during this case considered any detective disposable (this happened in Investigations. but in RftA? no) all the firings? those were Chief Damon Gant's initiative. Lana did not make the decision. and they weren’t becaause the detectives were disposable, they were necessary for covering up the tracks. marshall was still kept on the force, too, and bruce goodman kept his position

meanwhile, who really IS considered disposable is

young prosecutors

yes, the word 'young' is there for a reason Lana is 27, Neil Marshall was about the same age I think, Miles Edgeworth is 24 (and was 22 at the time) in this profession, it’s very very very young

the thing about young prosecutors is, they are officially considered responsible for and in charge of... something they are really not equipped to handle yet. baby Miles had no idea how to watch out for fake evidence. he was 22 and he used what he was given by the police department, just putting his trust in them

this is a power dynamic that's explicitly explored in the case, both by pointing out that Damon Gant controlled the Prosecutors' Office by controlling Lana (oh, she was competent enough to run the office... but not enough to prevent someone else from doing so through her), and by demonstrating how easily he broke Miles down on the first day of trial

just by abusing that trust just by going "oh you are getting mad at us? but officially, you're the one responsible"

and it's not how it works out in practice because 24? IS NOT A REASONABLE AGE FOR BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS KIND OF THING IN ITS ENTIRETY. Miles can be responsible for his own behavior in the courtroom and that's about it, he has enough trouble with that already. but formally prosecutors are in charge of so much more and I bet Damon Gant just LOVED hiring himself some kids

(I headcanon this as a universal explanation for improbable prosecutor ages in this 'verse. there was a thick layer of people who LOVED getting kids in positions of formal responsibility where they’ll make excellent scapegoats)

(and there’s maybe a reason Franziska always obsessively scours the scene of the crime personally and plants tracking devices on her subordinates. maybe she knows. maybe her brother getting burned was enough for her to say ‘but never me’)

and Gant literally considers them disposable. like oh! i messed up and accidentally killed someone! time to get my prosecutor puppet to take the blame! that's the least fucked up thing about that, btw

let us consider the body in Miles Edgeworth's car and just how close he was to getting blamed for the crime. he's actually twitchy for that exact reason when Phoenix first talks to him. people have been assuming he just got out of the murder charges somehow with a trick and might have in fact murdered someone. if Angel had just not been there! if Angel had just not been there, this could have worked out very, very differently

(there's a reason Miles is so bitter to the point of childishness: but if she cares, why did she do it in my car? they'd have found blood traces and he'd have been at least very suspicious, and with this justice system's track record, he'd probably wind up arrested too. sure, Phoenix would have gotten him out of the guity verdict, but... going through that once was already one time too many)

but that's not the most fucked up part either! sure Damon Gant needed some scapegoats and who he thought of was young prosecutors, but let's go back in time instead

let's look at Neil Marshall's death

so, there's a slight parallel between RftA and Goodbyes, in that both deal with a past case and two murders committed by the same person and when Manfred breaks down and goes on a Motive Rant, he focuses specifically on his murder of Gregory, and also brings up Miles enough that you can draw a thread with the second murder

but when Gant breaks down (in possibly the best villainous breakdown all AA ever had)

he only, only, only talks about the murder of Bruce Goodman

he is upset about it! he might not be all that broken up but he didn't mean to do it! it was stupid! it wasn’t a decision in cold blood, he genuinely regrets that this worked out the way it did, he just kind of panicked!

Neil Marshall who?

what he admitted earlier is that he saw the opportunity. he saw the scene as it was and he figured 'oh hey i can use this to blackmail Lana Skye' he just saw an aftermath of a fight and thought 'oh hey if I kill this guy and arrange the scene a certain way, I can get Lana Skye both to help me get a conviction with forged evidence AND in my perceived debt. neato!'

you know, some convenience in apprehending a suspect (admittedly a serial murderer, but its not like the killings were still ongoing. he went on a specific spree and then they tailed him for half a year without any results) and a politics/intrigue boost. all just for the cost of ah that guy

he literally considered Neil disposable enough that it's never brought up by the narrative. we are meant to understand that yes, this is indeed the degree to which he doesn't care

he apologizes to Miles at the end for using his car. he sounds completely genuine about it, too. oh sorry buddy pal old chum! you make more than we do anyway!

I mean, I looked up prosecutor salaries in Japan, and I can testify: yes, Miles does probably make more than Chief of Police Gant, possibly combined with all detectives that appeared in this case. that is in fact a thing

and I guess he's resentful enough over this fact that the lives of these children? are spare change for him

and that's the irony. Angel insists that prosecutors think of police as disposable... is that really what’s going on?

(and what took Gant down? it was having Miles on our side. he was so used to bossing children around, he did not expect one to say 'welp I'm done' and turn on him. he did not expect Miles to be broken down to the point of suicidal ideation and consequently complete lack of fucks to give about his career... but just enough rage and desire for truth to turn around and take him down. he did not think anything of young prosecutors, and he did not expect Miles Edgeworth)

[creatorofclay]

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I work evenings(typically) in retail full time IRL so my time can seem scarce or sporadic sometimes. I only ask that you be patient with me, but you are also welcome to poke me if you feel like it’s been a while since I responded. I try to get to everything in a timely manner.

I don’t have any triggers, and I tag everything that is triggering in my posts. If you need something specific tagged, don’t be afraid to ask me. You can send an anon even, if it helps. All triggers are tagged "tw trigger" from me

My side blog is a Simon blog! @itisnothingtodie! He used to be his own account, but when my activity shifted over here to Elijah, I figured it was best to keep him much closer. He is still very low muse at the moment, but if you are interested in him feel free to message me there!

I also now have @finalfcrm, which is my special RK900 blog! My special boy, interact at your own risk ;)

Also be aware if you follow him I follow back from this blog.

Icons are gifts from the lovely @rob0badge uwu

Be gentle with me I am soft. But, I am always happy to make new friends! 

Chloe is also a muse here!!

Private/By request only for any long form RP and any sort of friendships or romantic ships. Everything with her should be discussed before hand to help me out. (Chloe isn't as straight as Elijah, so anyone is welcome. Chloe is welcoming to all love and new to relationships outside of her home. Just bear in mind courting her means dealing with Elijah to some extent)

Asks to Chloe are open to EVERYONE. You need only specify if it is for her. Asks by default are answered by Elijah.

I will not rp Chloe with any Elijah blog at all. This is because her personality is based very heavily on Elijah’s, and my portrayal of him naturally, so it won’t make much sense for her to be one way when other Elijah’s are not the same as mine. (@repliicantceo is the only exception because Eli and Elliot are not actually Elijah)

Chloe was meant to have her own set of tags, but I've changed my mind about that lmao All interactions will still be tagged either Elijah ic or Chloe ic. She will still have her own musing and aesthetic tags

When it comes to shipping…

I am multi-verse and multi-ship, however I will only ship with female muses.

All romance will only be with those over 18 please.

I ship chemistry above all else. If you feel like our characters could have something, let me know! We can talk it out to see how it would go! And also at the same time, I encourage you to follow on if your muse has a crush. Unrequited drama can be very interesting.

Be aware that if you include yourself into a verse with a certain muse I already ship with, there will be drama and choices will have to be made. All interactions are default verse Elijah unless specified otherwise.

That being said... I am also open to poly-shipping if it interests you~

Mun

My name is Ash, I’m 26, she/her pronouns, and I (still, i know) have a deep love for Detroit: Become Human.

My primary RP blog in the fandom was Simon for months, but, Kamski has always been an interesting character to me. He’s exactly the kind of villain/antagonist that I really like. Mysterious, ulterior motives, and fascinated by the main character in some way.

I am incredibly shy, but I’ve been trying to come out of my bubble, but, don’t be afraid to approach me with something if you want. Even if its just to ramble about something in your life or a headcanon you came across. I love it all.

I have a discord, it is much easier to reach me there. Just ask me for it. I am always online on mobile, don’t let the offline status fool you. 

Verses/Timelines found here!!!

History

muse relationships here!

Elijah Kamski was born on July 17th, 2002. He attended the Universirty of Colbridge at a young age and was a bright pupil to Amanda Stern. After graduating at the age of 16, he went on to found CyberLife, moving to Detroit to begin his research into creating domestic intelligent androids. It took years to develop his formula for thirium, but he was finally able to use it the way he wished.

In 2022, his android became the first to pass the Turing Test. Kamski’s thirium 310 solution proved to the world that the artificial beings were ready to move to production. The original, RT600 model, became Kamski’s star, and one he treasured. She was his personal assistant as he worked to create more and more androids, watching his company grow.

His status and company grew and grew, creating a name for himself and putting androids in every home, workplace, and office they could. He was proud of his work, but he always had a curiosity with more. He wondered if the machines he created could someday develop their own consciousness like the sci-fi novels he so loved growing up. Could it really be so easy as a single thought or number change? What if his own Chloe became her own person? Would she stay or would she leave him? Could she be her own person in the real world?

All of his questions couldn’t be answered before his mentor from his university, and good friend, Amanda Stern passed away in early 2027. With her help, he had been trying to answer his own questions, but, both of their busy schedules, along with her sudden illness, got in the way. Kamski was devastated, but, luckily he had a few good friends, including a painter who came to be better known in the 2020’s.

Determined to prove his theory about the consciousness of machines, Kamski proposed to his company the idea of sparking an android revolution. He already had the pieces needed, the perfect leader and a space to control it should things get out of hand. But, the executives didn’t like the idea. They thought he had lost his mind with his grief and was just seeking other outlets. But, sparking an android revolution without any real way to stop it was a terrible idea for business. They old Kamski maybe he just needed a break from it all, give himself time to grieve on his own time. Kamski took the action to heart as a betrayal and stepped down from his position.

He continued to work for the company for a year or so, working on his side project in secret. During this period, he retrofitted his “perfect leader” instead to be a caretaker for his dear friend after he was in an accident. No longer worrying about trying to spark the revolution, he left the programs needed for it inside him, but, took away his connection to the main program he would need to control it.

Finally deciding to officially leave the company, Kamski took his original RT600 he built, as well as a couple ST200s, to keep him company as he isolated himself from the world in his home. His house was built on the edge of the lake, overlooking the peninsula that the CyberLife tower was built on. He saw fit to still keep watch on his old company, if only for curiosity’s sake…

As for Chloe herself…

The RT600 spends her days at Elijah’s side, caring for him and making sure his life doesn’t fall apart. With a personality penned by Elijah Kamski himself, she resembles her creator in more ways than one. She can be just as clever, just as sneaky, and is absolutely protective of those she cares for. A loyal machine with the freedom of a deviant, but she’d never truly leave Elijah.

(To be updated if necessary)

[skygemspeaks]

submitted by @rosejen8675

So, I have a story idea for My Hero Academia that I’ve been wanting to bounce off of someone for a while now. You always seem pretty cool in asks and have a lot of fun AU’s, so I’d thought I’d ask you. 

Izuku has gotten pretty used to people dismissing his quirk ramblings by the time he’s a pre-teen. Then one day he comes across a video online of someone talking about a hero’s quirk and sort of picking it apart, just like he does every day. He sees that the video has gotten a good amount of views and positive feedback, and it bolsters him to know that people out there do like to talk about this stuff. He notices something a bit off about one of the observations the person makes though, and feels bold enough to leave a comment about it. The person messages him back saying that the Izuku actually had a really good point, and that maybe he should make a video about it himself. And Izuku becomes inspired to do just that.

His first videos aren’t great, mainly just recordings of his usual mutterings. Some comments are mean about it, but a few provide constructive criticism about how he could make the videos better and make his point better understood. Izuku starts putting more planning into the videos, doing a bit of research and actually writing out scripts for himself, and they start to get better. A couple episodes get recognized by older and more popular channels, and that causes Izuku’s channel to become more well known.

Izuku is thrilled to have people who actually approve of his hobby, even if he’s never actually met them. He starts to recognize certain regulars, especially ones that leave comments that lead to discussions among the viewers and himself. Some people leave mean comments of course, but they never really say anything worse than Kacchan already does. 

After his channel gains a certain amount of notoriety, people start to leave comments asking about his own quirk. He’s analyzed so many others, what does he have to say about his own? Izuku doesn’t want to tell them he is quirkless, because he’s afraid that they will take him less seriously or stop watching all together if they know, just like most everyone else has done. He doesn’t feel comfortable just ignoring it though. 

One day when he’s having lunch his glass does that thing where water condenses in just the right way at the base of a glass that it starts sliding on it’s own, and he gets an idea. He can make people think he has a quirk. He’s mentioned in previous videos what type of quirks his parents had, so people would believe he has some kind of telekinesis. He practices enough that he figures out how to get the glass to slide when he wants it to, and during his next video he sets it up to slide toward his hand part way through. He acts super casual about it, and lets people think what they will. 

People end up taking the bait. Izuku feels a bit guilty for the deception, but tells himself he’s not outright lying. One person comments it’s a shame he didn’t inherit his dad’s fire-based quirk, and suddenly Izuku is getting ideas. Could he find a way to make it look like he had? Would people believe it if he did? There’s only one way to find out. 

After some research into sleight of hand and stage magic, Izuku is able to make it look like’s he’s accidentally coughing up smoke in one of his videos. People start debating in the comments about which is his real quirk and whether or not he could have inherited both. From there it starts to escalate. Izuku becomes curious to see how far he can push this. He keeps coming up with new quirks he could have and different ways to imply he has them. People start getting really into it. Entire threads are created trying to piece together the mystery Izuku is presenting them with. Some argue that he has an analysis quirk that he’s been using the whole time, and that he’s doing this to tease them for not realizing it. Others say he definitely has one of those quirks, and he’s challenging them to figure out which one it is. Some say he has an illusion quirk. Only a very small number put out that he might be quirkless and messing with them all.

Even with all the fake quirk shenanigans, Izuku makes sure that his video’s analysis content is still top notch. Because of this, a few students at UA end up showing one of videos to their teachers. Then some of the teachers start watching episodes that sound relevant to the topic they covering, and telling the students about it. At one point Present Mic mentions a video of Izuku’s in response to a caller question, and Izuku proceeds to lose his mind over that endorsement for a week. 

In the grand scheme of things, this AU changes little. Izuku still ends up getting attacked by a sludge villain and meeting All Might. He still inherits One for All, and most of the events at school and with the League of Villains fold out in the same way. The difference is made in little things. Izuku becomes a bit more confident before UA, at least when it comes to his ability to analyze and make plans. Certain teachers recognize him during the entrance exam, and are delighted that they now know what Izuku’s ‘real’ quirk is. A number of the 1-A students recognize him, tell him how fun or useful they found his videos, and ask if he’ll give them advice later. Even some older students come up and tell him that such and such episode gave them new ideas on how to use their quirks in combat.

At the end of the day it’s not a huge difference, but all of them combined make a world of difference to Izuku. 

So what do you think? I’d really like to get a more polished version down at some point, because I like the idea a lot. I do kind of worry about the whole ‘pretending to have different quirks in his videos’ part. Do you think that’s too out of character for Izuku?

I’d appreciate any feedback you could give. Thank you!

AhhhH????? I would read 100k of this!! It’s super interesting, and I do like the idea of him teasing his viewers about what quirk he has. It’s a fun, harmless little thing, and if I know the internet, it would ABSOLUTELY help bring in the views lmao.

I’m super interested to see how this would affect canon though, in small but noticeable ways, how the people in his life see him.

All Might, who’s seen a couple of his vids (because at this point, who HASN’T?) despite being technologically illiterate. He’s always had a fondness for the boy who does such great quirk analyses, at the easy confidence he seems to portray in his audience, the kindness that shines through, the mischievousness, the resourcefulness in making it seem like he has all these different quirks. And then he meets Izuku, and he feels his heart break for him, and he’s amazed that even with the online fame, this boy is so genuinely modest.

There’s Aizawa, who watches all of Izuku’s videos, because having in depth knowledge of all kinds of quirks is especially important for a hero who doesn’t have a physical enhancement quirk of his own, a hero whose true strength lies in his mind. When Izuku is put into his class, Aizawa doesn’t immediately dismiss him. He knows the kid has the brains to be a truly amazing hero, and maybe now is the time for Aizawa to repay him for all the help he’s received from his videos in the past.

Imagine the sports festival - the name of his channel trending on twitter as people freak out about how the winner of the obstacle race is actually this famous youtube personality? Imagine the chaos, especially if he didn’t tell any of them that he entered UA. Or maybe he told them he entered, but didn’t specify which department 

(because that seems to be Izuku’s theme these days. Now in addition to what quirk he has, people are arguing over whether or not he’s in the hero department.

“Of course he’s in heroics! He’s mentioned before how much he’s wanted to be in a hero since he was a child, you morons.”

“Just because he wants to be one doesn’t mean it’s possible for him though. He obviously has an analysis type quirk, so he’s gotta be in support or management.”)

Imagine people finally getting CLOSURE as they find out what his quirk actually is, and isn’t it so cheeky of him that the quirk he was “born with” was the one quirk he never teased in any of his videos.

He makes a sheepish apology video afterwards for nearly scaring his audience to death in his match against Todoroki, and he quietly makes his disapproval known when his fans start commenting about how that Bakugou kid is so villainous and shouldn’t have won the tournament.

Dear god, imagine the Stain incident! People seeing our boy almost carried off by a Noumu.

And once people know he’s in heroics, imagine his fans begging him to upload vlogs, the day in the life of a ua hero student. At first he refuses to, because he thinks his teachers would disapprove, but after UA’s reputation takes a hit with all the villain attacks, Izuku suggests the idea to Nedzu, to help show people that UA really is doing its all to help.

Imagine him giving a tour of class a’s dorm building, and getting ready for the cultural festival!

Imagine him meeting Gentle, and La Brava is lowkey salty about how many more views he has than them, but Gentle is quietly freaking out because he’s been a fan of Izuku’s channel since forever now???

Ahh, sorry for getting so carried away my dear, but this idea is just too good for me to leave alone!! I would definitely love to read this if you decide to continue it. And if you want to talk to me about it more, please feel free. It’s such a fun verse to play in and I’d love to help contribute to it :)

[welcometoteamz]

verse.    »    canon

Blaine as presented in the iZombie canon. Willing to write him at any point in time during any season. open to all.

verse.    »    i don’t think he’s faking

So there was a year long hiatus between seasons 2 and 3 where I wrote Blaine’s amnesia as being a legit and lasting thing, and he forged new dynamics and relationships with folk. i didn’t want to throw all that out so. he has Blaine’s history, but basically he becomes a new character with the same name/face . selectively open to mutuals.

verse.    »    new and improved version

Blaine tells Peyton when his memories return, and he makes a genuine effort to turn his life around. In her words, his memories come back, but he stays this new and improved version of Blaine. who is honest and doesn’t let his own fears and insecurities and accountability skirting fuck things up for himself. selectively open to mutuals.

verse.    »   bye bitch Blaine never feeds Angus and he’s left to turn Romero and eventually decompose at the bottom of the well.

open to all

verse.    »    untitled DuBeers verse

Rita survived getting shot in the head, and due to having no where else to turn went to Blaine. The two struck up a partnership/kinship/cute yet mischievous little dynamic. pretty much exclusive to @fairisfair, but if anyone wants threads set in that verse they can let me know.

verse.    »    teenage dirtbag

Blaine prior to the iXombie series, where he is a high school/uni student who eventually turns to selling underage kids beer which turns to him pushing drugs which leads to works for Boss after Angus cuts him off. open selectively to mutuals.

verse.    »    untitled au where blaine never started up meat cute

Yeah by this point he had turned Angus and carelessly turned Jackie but in this verse liv confronts him after seeing him with Dougie and Hutch. in this verse blaine didn’t know he could turn someone via sex, but after the confrontation at the morgue and being unable to get drunk he needed to feel something and turning jackie was an accident. so now liv is keeping a close eye on him which means no criminal activities. exclusive to certain mutuals.

verses under cuts bc their descriptions are too long. 

»    the blaine didn’t steal the cures au/rob thomas is inconsistent

» the latter half of s3 and all of s4 were lackluster imo and i wanna ignore it them

verse    »    the blaine didn’t steal the cures au/rob thomas is inconsistent

bc i’m bitter. Blaine tries to turn his life around, but get caught in a lie and fuck it up for himself due to his own insecurities and fear of rejection. it’s more tragic if he still tried to behave himself even after his lie was exposed, and it was the hit from Angus that dragged him back into his old life after he got his retribution. like he was all angry but also defeated when don e showed up and told him they were taking his clients. he was just resigned to his miserableness. he was that devastated over losing his new life, nothing mattered to him anymore. and yeah. the fact he was with Peyton while lying is no doubt problematic and i’m mad at them for getting me on board with that and then pulling the rug out from under me…

But in my mind, he was still going to try and start anew even if she chose Ravi. even after his lie was exposed, and he knew he wouldn’t change how they saw him…he knew he was capable of doing good, and would have kept doing it. imo. He stopped caring about the business when he was in his depressed funk. Candy had to get on him about the orders. He wouldn’t have stolen the cures, because in that state, he didn’t care. he was so apathetic about everything. it took nearly getting killed for him to have a sense of what to do with himself. and yeah, they showed him with the blue juice recipe. that’s what i mean by inconsistent. one episode he’s all “well at least i have this and i can be dastardly” and the next he’s drunkenly singing love songs and moping and neglecting the business. You’re telling me that Blaine stole the cures, went shopping for the blue juice ingredients, and then went to get drunk and sing his set? nah son.

Which goes into the whole “i think there was more to the Natalie situation than we got, but they changed it bc she left the show for a new one and they were reduced back to 13 eps.”

Not just the inconsistency of her having money, and of Oates not finding her like she said he would. esp. when she was amnesiac…but they had the bodyguard see Ravi’s ID, and note where he worked. There had to have been a reason for that.If she told him about the cure and used it to barter her freedom.If she sold the information to them or something…because if she said she got it from Major, and his friend Ravi, then they’d know to ransack the morgue. For that matter, when she escaped, you don’t think they’d go looking for her with the guys who tried to save her from them? but like. if Ravi hadn’t slept with Katty Kupps and if pavi had sailed in s3. Blaine would have kept working as a lounge singer while also doing shady plots stuff, and he would have been content.

Which goes to ways Blaine could have gotten out of his lie, that someone like Blaine would have thought about. Like.

Why not just get out of his lie with another lie? It would have been in character. Lie and say Ravi’s memory serum works. Major is injected with both at the same time, no one thinks anything of it when his memories come back. then do the same thing when a cure is able to be mass produced. Blaine gets to be happy and be with Peyton. Yes he loses the brain business, but I think he’d be willing to give that up for a fresh start and someone who loves him. Even if he gains it through bad and shifty/dishonest means.

Let’s not forget that was the episode where he had to sign the millions in inheritance back to Angus. if he that had not happened and he had all that money to fall back on? my trashy lil dude is set. so yeah. that was inconsistent and Lazy and this verse ignores that. open to all.

open to all.

verse.    »   the s4 was lackluster and i wanna ignore it au

S4 was all over the place and Not Good imo. idk if that is due to the episode count or if they changed things when they realized they had promoted a predator... but you have the Renegade stuff, the FG stuff, and the angus stuff.

Which wound up being all filler. like. why not tie it all together and have Angus as the ultimate big bad? not that i wanted fuckface to get more screentime. but like. how about Angus’ cult his plan to team up with FG from S3? if Blaine or don e tell them?

IT DOESN’T EVEN COME INTO PLAY AT ALL IN S4 WHEN FUCKFACE RETURNS. NO ONE CALLS HIM OUT ON HATING FILLMORE-GRAVES, REMINDING HIM OF HIS PLAN. HOW AWESOME WOULD IT HAVE BEEN IF THIS WAS EXPOSED TO HIS CHURCH AND THEY TORE HIM APART LIKE THE HYENAS DID SCAR IN THE LION KING?

And they never mention Blaine killing chase’s brother/Vivian’s husband Harrison. Now there are two tangents I could go into here. the first is how Blaine storyline in the back half of S3 may have suffered due to Andrea Savage leaving the show for her own series, I’m Sorry.

It’s possible we would have seen her and Blaine face off if she learned he presumably killed her husband Harrison.  but like. they still could have done that with chase. chase is Harrison brother. he worked with Blaine. he is smart enough and would easily be able to figure out that Blaine was the OG brain supplier and would have been the one to kill his brother.

Once he no longer needed Blaine, i.e. was done with his blackmail? He would have but him in the guillotine. I expected this. I expected Blaine to pull the same card he pulled on Liv in S1. That without him, they have a zombie apocalypse on their hands. There was a brain shortage prior to the outbreak when Blaine approached him in the S3 finale. In S4 it’s even worse. There’s even a plot about Major tracking down watered down brain tube dealers.

Chase is a proud man, he wouldn’t have gone back to Blaine automatically… but after the US Government cuts off the brain supply in the finale, Major enlists Blaine to increase his operations.You don’t think that in the middle of the brain shortage crisis, Chase would have bitten the bullet and remembered Blaine’s proposal?

Ok, at this point, you’re probably asking yourself. “Mmhm, okay, so maybe that’s a better plot for Blaine… but then who did steal the cures?”

Again, see the last verse. Osborn Oates. Don’t remember him? Yeah, neither do any of the characters, apparently. He was the guy who was Natalie’s captor. Who apparently had the the influence to bribe Max Rager guards under Vaughn Du Clark’s nose. He was described by Ravi as being like a Bond villain. Natalie warns Major that wherever he goes, he’ll find her, but then… he doesn’t.

She travels the world. He doesn’t track her down. Even when she herself would have been vulnerable and amnesiac.

He doesn’t even try to track down Major and find out what he knows… if he was responsible for her escape. We know he is aware of Major. Major and Ravi followed he and his body guard.His body guard even checked Ravi’s morgue ID, and would have known where the cures were kept had he known about the cures.

Which… I think, Natalie might have told him about, in an effort to barter her freedom. Remember when we first met her? She said that since she was paid in brains by Blaine, who had become her pimp after turning her, that she ran through her savings and was broke. Yet… when she returns in S3, she tells Major that she traveled the world and had a place in Italy that she got thanks to her savings earned as sex worker.So… what is the truth?

I don’t want to speculate about a villainous Natalie. I actually liked her character, and she was certainly victimized and I don’t want to take away from that at all. Given her desperate situation though, might she have made some choices out of self preservation? Her own best interest?

I think there was more to the Natalie situation than we got. I think it suffered because they went from 19 episodes in season 2 back to a 13 episode order. I don’t know if her exit had more to do with propelling Major’s character’s decisions, or if because Natalie’s actress Brooke Lyons had gotten work as a series regular on the show Life Sentence. Maybe a bit of both? Maybe they did plan to kill her at the end of the arc, but the arc happened sooner than anticipated due to the shortened season? Knowing that they’d be losing her, they couldn’t carry that thread over to S4?

So instead they just dropped Osborn Oates, and over the summer Rob Thomas decided to change it to Blaine in S4 because no one would question it? Sorry Rob, I question it. You said in post S3 interviews that you planned to reveal who stole the cures in the finale, but there was no time so you’d get to it in S4.Really? That’s why? No time? If you had the time, how would it have come into play? The way it did come into play was Blaine seeking out Mama Leone, because Chase was blackmailing him. Are you telling me Chase would have done that in the S3 finale? That you would have seeded Renegade as a plotline even then?

I’m calling bullshit .I think it’s far more likely that plans fell through, and you needed the time to do a rewrite.

Even if Natalie had nothing to do with the cures being stolen, if it was planned to be Blaine all along…

You kill her off, and she doesn’t even get to confront Blaine? They never have a scene together? He’s responsible for her being a zombie, which led to her being kidnapped, and then held hostage.Yet he helped Major find her when he could have pleaded ignorance. He gave him Oates’ address and let him know when he was back in town. He didn’t have to do that. He could have said that it’s not the address on record, and Major wouldn’t have questioned him.

He could have elected not to tip Major off that he was back in town, and he wouldn’t have been able to find Natalie and give her the cure when he did.I’m not saying this excuses Blaine of what he did to her at all, or that the two would have been “even” or made peace. Not at all. There is no retribution for what he did to her.It does however, go back to my belief he was legit trying to change. open to those who are interested.

[hxlfsoul]

Headcanon dump. Feel free to disagree, but if you do and approach me about it, please be nice?

Shoto is asexual demiromantic. This means he has no interest in sexual stuff in general and he will only be romantically attracted to people he feels close to.

I will carry the idea into threads - and I do, a lot - that the more threads I have with someone, the closer they are (while all are separate verses, if it’s with the same blog, then it counts as him feeling closer to certain class members as the thread continues/we start new threads). This closeness does carry from my canon verse into the pro hero verse (however, other verses are only influenced by what happens in that specific verse).

He actually regrets his choices when it comes to his hero outfits but he feels it would be more effort than it’s worth to change it - although, he does change to a nicer looking outfit for pro hero verse. I’ll probably do a rough sketch of my idea but I cannot draw so bear with me when I do that one.

While he had bad fashion sense - for the most part - at the start of highschool, by third year he’s learned how to dress in a way that’s both classy and casual (like button-down shirts with jeans, for example).

While Shoto isn’t really a fan of jewellery and accessories, he can often be found wearing flower crowns after the end of first year.

He and Uraraka probably made friendship bracelets for the izucrew and other friends - Asui, Iida, Midoriya and Momo all have bracelets from the two. (Shoto has probably given bracelets to Kaminari, Mina and several OCs as well, just from threads/interactions with ones he classes as friends).

Shoto loves physical affection, but he gets overwhelmed very easily and will shy away from it in public too. However, he enjoys holding hands with his friends, short hugs etc etc.

Upon graduation, Shoto got keychains for his friends. Two for each of them. One keychain was a picture of them all and the other was a cartoon cat, a different colour for each person corresponding to the colours he associates with them.

Shoto has a colour he associates with everyone he knows. For his mother, it’s a pristine white, for his father a fiery orange, for Midoriya forest green etc etc. Often, gifts given for birthdays/christmas and the like to those friends have to do with that colour, even if he never actually says anything about it.

Shoto finds comfort in music and when he feels anxious or overwhelmed, he usually puts headphones on and listens to his favourite bands. He feels the messages from music and relatable lyrics help him cope with his past and his feelings.

He also has a song he associates with each of his classmates/teachers, but he would never tell them what it was.

While he never really knew Touya, he does miss him - more in the sense he misses the brotherly relationship they could have had.

He is good with words, but only when writing - he can phrase things in beautiful, descriptive ways while writing them, but actually speaking? he stuggles a lot with it at times.

He has a habit of denying anything troubles him when confronted about it. He may give offhanded comments then and again that hint at his past, but when someone directly confronts him, he can feel panicked, so therefore denies it and attempts to change the conversation topic.

He does want to forgive his father, despite his intense hatred towards him, but he still feels like his father isn’t trying hard enough or doing enough to fix their family. In the end, while he doesn’t want much to do with the man, he wouldn’t really completely cast him aside either as he holds onto the childish hope that his father truly is going to change for the better and at some point, he’ll be able to forgive him.

This does not mean he doesn’t hate him, it just means he wants to stop hating him - and just because he forgives him doesn’t mean he’ll forget either.

If his father went back to abusive habits after Shoto finally got over it, he’d have no problem cutting Endeavor out of his life completely. He just believes that everyone deserves a second chance, even if they’ve done terrible things.

He also doesn’t hate his father as much as he thinks he does, he realised that when he felt distressed at the idea of him dying. He knows he still harbours an intense hate, but it doesn’t mean he wishes for Endeavor to be hurt/killed. The idea of that actually upsets him a lot.

He just rules it off as being that Endeavor is still his family, no matter what (he would feel the same way about Dabi, for example, if Dabi turned out to be Toya. He doesn’t want his family to be hurt even if they’ve done pretty terrible things that Shoto couldn’t forgive).

This does NOT mean the mun is an Endeavor apologist or anything, I’m just trying to be realistic to a point - no matter how much you hate someone who is family, you can still feel upset at the idea of anything bad happening to them. This is just how complex human emotion actually is. I don’t think Endeavor has redeemed himself or is anywhere close during the canon time, but Shoto wouldn’t be able to hold onto that hatred forever. No one can hold onto hatred forever, no matter how intense.

I don’t excuse what he has done nor do I condone/tolerate it either, I am aware of the extent of his abuse towards Shoto and his family, I am aware it was TERRIBLE and UNFORGIVABLE, but that doesn’t mean there’s no possibility of him being forgiven, only that it would take a hell of a lot of work, time and effort.

It is unhealthy to hold onto hatred and the past as much as Shoto does, which is he fully of aware of, hence why I portray him as someone who WANTS to forgive Endeavor but feels as if he CAN’T in the current time. It’s the same for Dabi - he (and the mun) acknowledge the mistakes made, crimes etc and that there are consequences as their should be.

I just wanted to clarify that before people accuse me of being an apologist/condoning and tolerating abuse because honestly, I really really do not. As someone who has faced that sort of thing as a child, I understand the things such harm can cause (although not on the same level as Shoto) and I understand how hard forgiveness is when it comes to it.

So please, no hate for that. It’s just what I, personally, believe and what I feel the muse would think too. Anyone who doesn’t like it? Don’t send me hate, you don’t have to agree or pay attention to that as it isn’t really in any threads. If it’s that much of a problem for anyone, I’d rather you unfollow and block though. I don’t want to be involved in anything just bc of a couple headcanons. It’s completely valid if people have headcanons that are the complete opposite, I support that stuff entirely as well.

Anyway back to the headcanons:

In his dorm, Shoto has several boxes of stationary with cute, novelty things. For example, butterfly rubbers, paw print covered pencils etc etc. He has a soft spot for adorable things.

He chose the hero name Lacuna half way through second year after spending some time researching interesting words (because he was bored). Lacuna means “missing piece” and he feels that symbolises how he felt like he was missing something his whole life, after his mother was sent away and such.

He eventually chose his full title to be “The Guiding Hero: Lacuna” as he wants to be a hero who guides others, who helps with bad situations - a dependable person people feel they can go to outside of fighting villains and rescue operations.

After graduation, he spent a year working at Endeavor Hero Agency before leaving and starting his own agency. He plans to merge both when his father retires if Endeavor Hero Agency is left to him. Shoto has no plans to take his father’s hero name when he does retire, as he wants to be a separate person - his own person.

He would explain as much to his father if he felt it was important to or he was asked to take up the name of Endeavor at a later date.

He loves pale blues more than any other colour and often decorates rooms using it (he painted all the walls in his first apartment blue).

The reason he tries to excel at things and work hard is because he fears being thought of as a disappointment by anything.

[hxlfsoul-a]

Headcanon dump. Feel free to disagree, but if you do and approach me about it, please be nice?

Shoto is asexual demiromantic. This means he has no interest in sexual stuff in general and he will only be romantically attracted to people he feels close to.

I will carry the idea into threads - and I do, a lot - that the more threads I have with someone, the closer they are (while all are separate verses, if it’s with the same blog, then it counts as him feeling closer to certain class members as the thread continues/we start new threads). This closeness does carry from my canon verse into the pro hero verse (however, other verses are only influenced by what happens in that specific verse).

He actually regrets his choices when it comes to his hero outfits but he feels it would be more effort than it’s worth to change it - although, he does change to a nicer looking outfit for pro hero verse. I’ll probably do a rough sketch of my idea but I cannot draw so bear with me when I do that one.

While he had bad fashion sense - for the most part - at the start of highschool, by third year he’s learned how to dress in a way that’s both classy and casual (like button-down shirts with jeans, for example).

While Shoto isn’t really a fan of jewellery and accessories, he can often be found wearing flower crowns after the end of first year.

He and Uraraka probably made friendship bracelets for the izucrew and other friends - Asui, Iida, Midoriya and Momo all have bracelets from the two. (Shoto has probably given bracelets to Kaminari, Mina and several OCs as well, just from threads/interactions with ones he classes as friends).

Shoto loves physical affection, but he gets overwhelmed very easily and will shy away from it in public too. However, he enjoys holding hands with his friends, short hugs etc etc.

Upon graduation, Shoto got keychains for his friends. Two for each of them. One keychain was a picture of them all and the other was a cartoon cat, a different colour for each person corresponding to the colours he associates with them.

Shoto has a colour he associates with everyone he knows. For his mother, it’s a pristine white, for his father a fiery orange, for Midoriya forest green etc etc. Often, gifts given for birthdays/christmas and the like to those friends have to do with that colour, even if he never actually says anything about it.

Shoto finds comfort in music and when he feels anxious or overwhelmed, he usually puts headphones on and listens to his favourite bands. He feels the messages from music and relatable lyrics help him cope with his past and his feelings.

He also has a song he associates with each of his classmates/teachers, but he would never tell them what it was.

While he never really knew Touya, he does miss him - more in the sense he misses the brotherly relationship they could have had.

He is good with words, but only when writing - he can phrase things in beautiful, descriptive ways while writing them, but actually speaking? he stuggles a lot with it at times.

He has a habit of denying anything troubles him when confronted about it. He may give offhanded comments then and again that hint at his past, but when someone directly confronts him, he can feel panicked, so therefore denies it and attempts to change the conversation topic.

He does want to forgive his father, despite his intense hatred towards him, but he still feels like his father isn’t trying hard enough or doing enough to fix their family. In the end, while he doesn’t want much to do with the man, he wouldn’t really completely cast him aside either as he holds onto the childish hope that his father truly is going to change for the better and at some point, he’ll be able to forgive him.

This does not mean he doesn’t hate him, it just means he wants to stop hating him - and just because he forgives him doesn’t mean he’ll forget either. 

If his father went back to abusive habits after Shoto finally got over it, he’d have no problem cutting Endeavor out of his life completely. He just believes that everyone deserves a second chance, even if they’ve done terrible things.

He also doesn’t hate his father as much as he thinks he does, he realised that when he felt distressed at the idea of him dying. He knows he still harbours an intense hate, but it doesn’t mean he wishes for Endeavor to be hurt/killed. The idea of that actually upsets him a lot.

He just rules it off as being that Endeavor is still his family, no matter what (he would feel the same way about Dabi, for example, if Dabi turned out to be Toya. He doesn’t want his family to be hurt even if they’ve done pretty terrible things that Shoto couldn’t forgive).

This does NOT mean the mun is an Endeavor apologist or anything, I’m just trying to be realistic to a point - no matter how much you hate someone who is family, you can still feel upset at the idea of anything bad happening to them. This is just how complex human emotion actually is. I don’t think Endeavor has redeemed himself or is anywhere close during the canon time, but Shoto wouldn’t be able to hold onto that hatred forever. No one can hold onto hatred forever, no matter how intense.

I don’t excuse what he has done nor do I condone/tolerate it either, I am aware of the extent of his abuse towards Shoto and his family, I am aware it was TERRIBLE and UNFORGIVABLE, but that doesn’t mean there’s no possibility of him being forgiven, only that it would take a hell of a lot of work, time and effort.

It is unhealthy to hold onto hatred and the past as much as Shoto does, which is he fully of aware of, hence why I portray him as someone who WANTS to forgive Endeavor but feels as if he CAN’T in the current time. It’s the same for Dabi - he (and the mun) acknowledge the mistakes made, crimes etc and that there are consequences as their should be.

I just wanted to clarify that before people accuse me of being an apologist/condoning and tolerating abuse because honestly, I really really do not. As someone who has faced that sort of thing as a child, I understand the things such harm can cause (although not on the same level as Shoto) and I understand how hard forgiveness is when it comes to it.

So please, no hate for that. It’s just what I, personally, believe and what I feel the muse would think too. Anyone who doesn’t like it? Don’t send me hate, you don’t have to agree or pay attention to that as it isn’t really in any threads. If it’s that much of a problem for anyone, I’d rather you unfollow and block though. I don’t want to be involved in anything just bc of a couple headcanons. It’s completely valid if people have headcanons that are the complete opposite, I support that stuff entirely as well.

Anyway back to the headcanons:

In his dorm, Shoto has several boxes of stationary with cute, novelty things. For example, butterfly rubbers, paw print covered pencils etc etc. He has a soft spot for adorable things.

He chose the hero name Lacuna half way through second year after spending some time researching interesting words (because he was bored). Lacuna means “missing piece” and he feels that symbolises how he felt like he was missing something his whole life, after his mother was sent away and such.

He eventually chose his full title to be “The Guiding Hero: Lacuna” as he wants to be a hero who guides others, who helps with bad situations - a dependable person people feel they can go to outside of fighting villains and rescue operations.

After graduation, he spent a year working at Endeavor Hero Agency before leaving and starting his own agency. He plans to merge both when his father retires if Endeavor Hero Agency is left to him. Shoto has no plans to take his father’s hero name when he does retire, as he wants to be a separate person - his own person.

He would explain as much to his father if he felt it was important to or he was asked to take up the name of Endeavor at a later date.

He loves pale blues more than any other colour and often decorates rooms using it (he painted all the walls in his first apartment blue).

The reason he tries to excel at things and work hard is because he fears being thought of as a disappointment by anything.

[tetsuwan-atom]

KNOW THE MUN - for real! - THROUGH MUSE!

Tag muns you want to know better; repost - don’t reblog.

Read more for length

What inspired you to try/create that muse/s:

Bowen Chuuno is a muse that has gone through a long list of changes and developments over the course of time. The gears were turning internally around 2006, but the character didn't make a debut in his first form until 2009, when he was introduced to a Suzumiya Haruhi roleplaying forum. The element of the STA was already a part of the character, but so were the early versions of what would become Leland Brighto, the Ministry of Science and Merlin, Bowen's boss. This was also where the X had originated from as the original 'baddie' that Bowen had to face, with initial creations such as Barringer and Oni coming onto the scene, though with different backgrounds to today's versions. When things had wrapped up on the forum, development on the Bowen and the 'universe' around him was shelved for a few years.

During that time, I had created an alternative version of Bowen and Leland that resided in a Fate/Stay Night chatbox RP, which was part of a greater forum community. During that time, came the early ideas and growing development for the whole 'Multiversal God' aspect to Bowen, through that chatbox RP. Other characters, like Tenma and Guntaro, first came to fruition through this chatbox RP, as did the original  'Incarnation concept' of past versions of Bowen. While the forum still well exists and so does the chatbox, I had moved on long ago onto broader things.

Discovery of Tumblr and the roleplaying community came in 2012, though the initial activity wasn't that serious. Believe it or not, this blog was meant to be a strange 'roleplaying meme-like' thing, which quickly turned into something else. It was during this time that Bowen Chuuno officially got his name, Leland became Leland and the current version of what I call the 'Mighty Atom Universe' came to light, even with ongoing amendments that may come in the future.

Bowen had also come about, back in the day, as sort of a younger version of who I am now, mainly in the sense of appearance and some personality traits, though he has predominantly gone on to become his own identity. Early versions of him carried names like 'Bluey', 'Tetsuro Yochi' and so on, before finally settling on the name Bowen Chuuno.

What is inspiration for that muse/s: There are many aspects of inspiration that both take from the early days of his development as well as the verion he is now. There's the life of driving trains, shift work, being a normal person and having normal days. There's the life of exploring universes, saving worlds and the whole 'Secret Agent Man' trope. Then there's the part of living like a human, but is really a god who will grow up to be an incredibly powerful being, despite still having naivety in relation to how old he is. There's so much to explore with Bowen and the Mighty Atom Verse as a whole.

Music helps too.

Thread/AU that made you really happy: The AU that I've been exploring the most is the Madman AU. Originally he came about as an AU to another muse's RP, where the love Bowen has for another drives him to save her, which in turn transforms him into the villain he becomes. In recent times the Madman AU is more of an altered future, where time and horrific experiences are what causes the change. It's different playing a villain-like character who has thrown almost all of his good self behind. Yet, he is not a lost cause and can well be saved and turned around to become the good guy once more, in certain RPs.

Thread wise.. oh, there are so many. So many threads make me happy. There are many threads and RPs that I also miss terribly, many that I hope I can resume one day in the future.

Something really special on your wishlist: There are a few things, both canon-wise and AU related. I've wanted to explore more into the Atom lore, as well as finally introducing villains like Tenma into an RP one day, from start to finish. It's something that has been planned in the future. There may well be other things to come in the future, when the ideas do come to me!

Something you are looking for in short future for your muse: Not sure. Will see what happens!

Share something related to your muse!

Believe it or not, the current IDND concept came to me in 2010 after doing work experience in a retail store. While I never got to use them, I was curious in regards to the Motorola scanning guns they used to scan barcodes for whatever purposes. It was this sort of handheld, gun-like computer that became the basis for what the IDND would end up as today.

Recently more inspiration has come from the smaller Motorola handheld scanners, which will become newer versions of IDNDs for certain AUs. From beam technology, in the current model, to portal technology in the next, to a sort of 'Beam me up Scotty' instant travel in the third. From memory the third one is like a 'smartphone scanning gun' thing that I have seen before, but will need to do more research on.

What do you think about character’s design/how do you came up with this: Bowen's design mainly had Yamato Ishida's face in mind. The long-ish hair similarly styled, the blue eyes. It was based on how I looked when I was his age. The outfit was sort of due to my love for V-neck jumpers, as well as epaulette shirts, even though the latter is well normally hidden underneath the jumper. It's not what one expects for a 'Secret Agent' type character.

What your muse teached you: I guess he's taught me many things.. can't particularly think on that one right now!

What is roleplay for you: Roleplay has been an escape for me, for so long. A way of diving into imagination and fantasy, to create, write, explore and share ideas. Even though times are different now, I still love to enjoy that escape and explore more with others, in the stories that are written, through the characters portrayed.

Just say something nice about another mun!: There are so many muns whom I've had the absolute pleasure in chatting to, it's hard to pick one. Seriously, you're all amazing and I'm so, so glad to know and interact with you all!

tagged: @rosalia-the-guardian - thanks!

tagging: @appleofintelligence, @fxtelism and anyone who wants to do this!