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yaku69 · 11 days ago

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IMAGINE: ON THE TRIP TO RUSSIA, INSTEAD OF MAXXIE HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH TONY, HE ENDED UP HAVING SEX WITH ANWAR

part 1

POV: maxxie

I can’t wait for the trip to Russia, but it’s been tough listening to Anwar go on and on about how many Russian girls he’s planning to hook up with.

We just threw our bags in the rack, and now I’m gonna try to give Sid some moral support while he’s squirming from the drugs stuck up his ass. LMAO, I love these guys!

I wake up leaning against his shoulder, I apologize for that, but his hard cock can't hide it!

–It has nothing to do with you. It's the vibrations!

–Hm, yeah. (he wants to fuck me)

–Fuck off, homo.

–Are you going to be excited the entire trip? (I can ease it for you)

–Just wait until we get there. Oh man, those Russian peasant women will do anything for Levi's and a Big Mac!

–So.. happy to feel the Russian air? (I said to the brunette who is distracted.)

–... oh, sorry, I was paying attention to that security guard’s tits. (This guy is a figure.)

The idiot went through the metal detector and beeped, now he's trapped in the security room. The professor'll need more than 50 dollars (they think Anwar's illegal, how ridiculous).

We finally arrived at... the prison? What shit place is this? It stinks of rat piss in here.

–At least the mouse is Russian. (How funny, Professor)

–Separate into pairs, each pair will stay in a room... oh, man with man and woman with woman, I don't want to see problems with sex on the first day. (This teacher is a killjoy.)

–Shall we go, Maxxie? (What a stupid question, Anwar, of course I will.)

–Let's go. (I'm not rude.)

This room is as gross as Cris’s ass, but I think we’ve managed to make it work. Anwar brought this hilarious suitcase, with his clothes sorted into bags by mood, climate, and vibe.

-What the hell is that? Upset?

–What to expect from a Muslim mother. Was it you who made this drawing? How beautiful.

-Did you like it? Do you want to stay?

I want This moment of the two of us together, next to each other analyzing our drawing, is what I want until the end of this trip.

–Come on Anwar, dinner time!

–I'll be there soon. (Okay, right?)

In the middle of dinner this stupid Muslim come running to tell everyone that he saw a russian girl (we are in Russia). We run to try to get there in time to see this real Russian girl, but apparently it's Anwar's delirium (he's still recovering from the hours on the plane).

-What you are doing? (I can't even look at your suitcase anymore?)

–Looking for your "Sex Saturday Night Thong", we're going out on the pull.

–just don't bring anyone back.

–Huh?

–Well, we're sharing a room, Max. I don't wanna have to pretend to be asleep while you do whatever you do with some big Cossack guy (he's so jealous)

–Maybe you can tempt your big-boobed peasant girl, have a bit of party, you know?

–Seriously, I don't wanna have to be stuck around watching you do a guy. (just close your eyes?)

–Can I bring a girl back? (This Muslim is starting to say some shit). I could, clouldn't I? You're shit, Anwar!

–Have you ever tried being with a girl? (What?)

–What the fuck is wrong with you? Have you tried being with a man?

–No! Don't be sick. (excuse me? What a fuck?)

–You calling me sick?

–No! I don't know what I think, yeah. I'm just a muslim. Gay's... just wrong. (no way...)

–Then you don't want anything to do with me?

After this, I'm going to change rooms with Sid, this shitty Muslim deserves to go to fucking hell!

Tony is acting strange towards me, touching me in a sexual way. He steals a kiss from me, I'm so surprised that I push him away. The idiot thinks I'm a passerby, I'm fucked up in this damn country!

First morning in Russia, cold and freezing, the woman calls us to take a shower. The girls went first, I decided to go along so I wouldn't have to face a bunch of limp dicks. After my shower, I bump into Anwar on the stairs, who tries to pretend as if nothing had happened.

–Alright, Max? Man, Sid's farting last night was rough. (he doesn't touch himself)

–Just take it back. (It's hard to talk to him with just a towel tied around his waist). Take back what you said. (he had the courage not to respond at all). See ya.

Now we're going to a glue factory (I think) and we're going to learn how to make Russian glue. What a horrible thing! The poor horse is its own glue! I don't recommend anyone watching this scene!

I think I would have preferred to have stayed in the room with Anwar, Tony keeps insisting on sucking me! It's better I talk with Anwar, oh shit!

–The packet says these tablets will totally fush you out within 24 hours. Believe me, Sid, we need those drugs. (he thinks it's Sid)

–Look! There's no drugs, Muslim boy!

–Cheers, Max.

–You fucking prick! I can't believe you are putting Muslim bullshit on me!

–What? (he pretends to be a fool)

–What I do is against God? You're the fucking worst Muslim!

–I pray five times a day. (hypocritical)

–For what? Pork chops? Oh fuck let's get a drink. Allah wants you doing Class As from Sid's arse!

–Just shut up, yeah? You're talking about my religion!

–How come I was ever friends with such a fucking hypocrite? Happy fucking Ramadan.

–It's not Ramadan! (I don't give a fuck)

Does this asshole not realize that I love him? How can he be so stupid? I talked to the crazy old woman about Neil Diamond, she showed me that I should forgive him.

What is that noise? Dear God, who is this woman? Who is this old pervert? Pointing the gun at Anwar, I will intervene with my gay techniques. I almost die, how did he have another gun in his pants?

–Hey. You okay?

–Man... you tried to save me. (I do all for love)

–Yeah. Well, I am fucking drunk.

–You were right, Max. I am a hypocrite. (That dog face asking for food drives me crazy!)

–Go on.

–No. I can't. It's not right.

–It's religion, anwar. It's just stuff. You don't have to believe in it.

–Then where does that leave me, Max? I'm a Muslim boy, I don't get to choose.

–But where does that leave us? fucking hell.

–I lost my virginity tonight. (should be with me)

–Yeah? I sketched an old fat lady. (this bottle in my hand isn't giving me much credibility). Last drop? Okay. I'll see you, mate..

–Wait! I want to ask you something.

–just.. say.

–Today was my first day with a girl, I wanted to kill two birds with one stone, so... could you be my first boy? just to test, taking everything in stride. (oh my lord)

–Yeah, of corse. Do you have any spare condoms?

–many, and I'm not afraid to clear them (come on, eat me, now!)

We fucked all night, I think I could hear it from the two neighboring rooms. This Muslim boy's dick is so juicy that I let him cum inside. he says I'm better than any girl, even Russian peasant girls. Should I believe it?

part 2:

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grimoire-of-geekery · 2 years ago

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Ask Cerebro: an X-Men Cartomancy Spread!

LOL, it's been a while, hasn't it!

I feel like I should say "sorry for the recent lack of content" or something, but meh. There's plenty of content in the Grimoire, and if you don't see something you're looking for, I'm happy to chat with you via my inbox!

As a kid, I always loved the X-Men, and that hasn't changed, as any of y'all who follow this blog will note. I honestly wish I could use the X-Men canon and lore in my geekomancy practice more easily. I had all kinds of X-Men stuff when I was younger- everything from toys to collectible trading cards to poker decks! There was one poker deck in particular I loved so much, I tried to invent games to play with it. And, when I reacquired it a few years ago, I designed cartomancy spreads for it!

The thing is, I didn't post them (or at least I don't think I did) because I found out immediately afterwards that a cartomancer in the Bay Area named Storm Arcana was using the exact deck I used to design it, the one from my childhood, as a tarot deck, and I didn't want to jack his swagger. Since he's fuggin' awesome, y'all should go check out his website!

That being said! Last year I bought a deck of fan-made X-Men tarot cards! And therefore, the spread has come back to life, and I am sharing it!

(yay for shitty infographic!)

So, this method has three phases to it. Primarily, one would use it to consult on a subject of concern for the querent, something they would want to analyze.

To begin, we have a phase involving only the two cards in the center, which we call Mutatis Mutandis. This part is just used for analysis, it's not predictive yet. The first card read is beneath, and it represents the subject. The second card, laid on top to cross it, is that which alters the subject, the mutation to be experienced. This can be read on its own about literally any subject- a person, a situation, whatever you like.

If the result is something the querent is satisfied with, then the reading is over. If they wish further information though, we move into the next phase, called the X-Factors. This phase is for deeper analysis of the various factors associated with the change going on. Each is associated with two major influences in the X-Men continuity, based on which way the card is pointing.

On the top left, we have the Sinister, which is a warning. It lets one know what is most important to know in the situation. This card is associated with Emma Frost if it is looking out from the center, meaning that the subject may be able to benefit from interacting with what the card warns about, and if it points inward it's associated with (you guessed it) Mister Sinister, and it is something to be avoided entirely.

On the top right, we have the Inevitable, represented by Destiny and Apocalypse. This card represents that which cannot be changed, that which is going to happen. If it points outward, Destiny is helping you through this card. If it points inward, Apocalypse tests you and forces you to grow.

On the bottom right, we have the World, represented by Krakoa and Genosha. If it points outward, the world supports you as Krakoa supports all mutants. If it points inward, you are warned that the environmental factors are not in your favor, even if they look good from the outside (just like Genosha).

Finally, the bottom left card represents Homo Superior, represented by Professor X and Magneto. This card represents your own power and ability to influence the situation. If the card points outward, Magneto suggests that your actions are mighty, and you can shape things how you like. If it points inward, Charles Xavier suggests that you should keep your influence subtle and be cautious.

After these are read, you can draw cards from Cerebro, which is the arch of cards over the entire reading. However, you may only draw a number of cards equaling the numeric value of your significator. You will probably find it's best to read these cards in Mutatis Mutandis pairs, though any single card may be an answer. Aces equal 15 (or 14 if you're using a playing card deck). Unfortunately, the Magician as a significator only allows one card draw, and the Fool allows none, and them's the breaks. That in itself might be a message, though.

Once all cards are drawn, you should look for circuits, aka card combinations which have particularly significant meanings. Shared numeric values or suits, shared symbolism, and so on can suggest interesting strategies and may hint at hidden patterns to be used to the querent's benefit.

I hope you like the spread! Practicing geekomancers might be able to employ this for ritual magic as well as divination, of course. That's up to y'all though!

See y'all at the Green Lagoon, mutants!

#x-men geekomancy #krakoan sorcery

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saturniandragon · 2 years ago

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I really wish to know more about your characters, I took the time to read your post about their specie and ngl I've wanted to draw one of your dragons for a really long time now (but alas real life happens. Not saying I don't want to draw them). So if you don't have some more drawings or photos to share, could you share some more information about them 👀 any will do

??? Anon?? You want to draw my dragons?? IM FLATTERED

Official ref sheet for Adra, Mira, and Jesse.

I actually do have some more images to share although they may be a bit outdated. Frankly real life also happens to me (thesis) and I'm not able to draw frequently. I won't lie, the design for my Saturnian dragons are based on Spyro. The first video game I've played pretty much, back on my old PS1.

Anyway here are some old images

Adra and Jesse, last updated 2020.

Ditto, in Skyrim's ebony armor. This is an eternal WIP in my drive, too lazy to finish it with armor reflections and shading and stuff. Last updated 2020.

Adra in spec ops outfit, last updated 2017.

Feral/European dragon form (not quite WOF, I haven't discovered WOF by this time) of Jesse, last updated 2018.

There are also some uhh... ehem... adult-oriented drawings. I can send them through private message if you want to.

--------

Earlier today I also shared the Saturnian lore with my best friend, and he asked me some worldbuilding questions about them. I'll paste some of them here, prepare for massive infodump.

Is this like written by the Saturnians pov or Humans? Since its like an exstensive look on Saturnians

Human observation, yes. Saturnians are very secretive on what data they want to share. Except basic census data, that is still fine for them.

Does the inter space travel from earth and satun back and forth exists?

It does exist. Their space travel enables Earth-Saturn travel in 3-4 months depending on orbit position of the two planets.

For comparison, Pioneer 11, the first Saturn space probe, reached the ringed planet after about 6 years (1973-1979)

also interplanetary space travel is now common? Like earth residents can afford tour to Saturn or is it still closed off to general public?

They use Saturnian ships to transfer people back and forth. Frankly no one really wants to wait 6 years to reach the ringed planet when it can be done within 4 months.

The agreement that the two races had to make to get permission to board Saturnian ships was lengthy. Even then human passengers are closely supervised to make sure they don't "steal" technology.

its interesting that if Saturn itself is 'alive', does the Saturnian revere every land that they built upon and try not to damage or relentlessly build on them and have lenghty process to learn if the soil should be preserved and everything like that?

They try to build… what's the word… respectfully? Responsibly? One of the two. Minimizing altering the landscape and build on whatever is there for them to use.

They claim to be able to "speak" or "hear" from the planet itself, a concept that's truly out of human comprehension. Whether it's actual extrasensory perception, a form of indirect communication with other individuals, or simply just a belief is anyone's guess. They have words for things that humans can't define. And the fact that their life expectancy is 5 to 7 times longer than an average human is already well beyond human comprehension.

They've been around for more than 1.5 million years. Modern humans (that is, homo sapiens) have only been around for 200,000.

whats saturnians blood color? Do they have the same blood types like humans

It's black, nearly void black. Blood types, I haven't done that far on worldbuilding. I may just left it out for simplicity.

also what they were look like in their tribal stage before being one of the most advanced race in the universe? Also if we ever venture outside Saturnia, will we ever find other settlements or civillizations or maybe ruins of Saturnians past?

They've conserved their history completely in digital media through augmented reality in almost perfect detail. This allows anyone in Saturn to access it for research purposes with minimal need to travel. Any leftovers of past civilization have been repurposed for building and manufacturing.

Currently they're experimenting with copying consciousness into digital media although the ethics for that is still debatable among various cultures and subcultures.

if Saturnia inspired from solarpunk aesthetics, does communal events exist? Like maybe a massive festival dedicated to Saturn or 'nature' in our sense or a national potluck day or smth like that, just wholesome communal events that connect with nature and everything

They still do in less populated areas. A bit difficult to do in large dense settlements, where instead it's done through virtual reality.

Saturnian "virtual reality" has successfully replicated senses like touch and smell, alongside visual and audio, by directly and wirelessly interacting with the brain stem and providing "fake" senses. Which means this has also allowed the disabled to partake in virtual reality events.

I don't have ideas for Saturn-specific social events right now, but once I do, I'll tell you.

did they ever harness nuclear power?

Fusion reactors, in extremely limited numbers and in very specific use cases. Majority of power is still harvested from wind farms.

i mean if saturnians are technologically advanced, they must've created a technology that can replace or repair limbs?

Prosthetics? They're not super advanced in medicine. They still haven't solved their low healthy birth rate issue. 1.5 million years and they haven't figured out why only 7 out of 10 to 11 of their eggs are able to successfully hatch.

Some cultures believe it's the way Saturn intended and they shouldn't try to figure it out, like why would one question how nature works. Some other cultures believe it's a hidden genetic code waiting to be unlocked, and then some other cultures also believe that doing so will just cause disaster.

If it was an alien utopia, they wouldn't need weapons like railguns. But here they are, still having internal issues waiting to be solved.

#ask #oc: adrastea (saturn)#oc: jesse

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soulcheri · 6 months ago

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"You asked." Technically he didn't. But, she delivered anyway, in hopes he might show her some former signs of jealousy. To her disappointment though, he didn't. He remained diplomatic all the way by focusing on the conversation at hand and what he could get out of it. He didn't even take the bait when she flaunted herself right in front of his face. Maybe he was gay now. He did say he was in a relationship and he didn't specify who it was with. Tyler always was too pretty for his own good. And pretty guys were usually homos.

Nina made a mental note to get to the bottom of his new relationship later. But for now, she watched as he sank three more balls and proceeded to hit her with two more questions. Which meant he still had another free one left. "Yes I do, actually." Have a name for the cop, that is. But rather than give it up so easily ( that wasn't one of his questions anyway ) she proceeded to line up her next shot. "Well, I do want sex. But, I also just want you back." He could tell her their relationship was over as many times as he wants or until he's blue in the face but, it definitely didn't feel over to her. Somewhere deep, down inside that broad chest of his sits a heart that beats for her. She knows it. And she'll do whatever she has to in order to prove it to him. Even help him with his Dante problem. Because while, she didn't tell him everything just yet - Dante told her of his plans to overthrow Tyler as their leader.

If she didn't care about him at all, she wouldn't feel the need to warn him of the attack heading his way. Tyler might be a good fighter one on one. But, could he take down a dozen snakes at once? She didn't think so. "And maybe, just maybe," she says after she takes her next shot and miraculously sinks one of her balls in a corner pocket. "I came here to warn you. Because contrary to what you may think of me... I've always cared about you, Tyler. I may not have been the best at showing it when we were together but I would be disappointed if something awful happened to you or you died for real." If that wasn't enough to cause him some alarm, she hoped her next few words would. "Dante and his goons are plotting an attack on you, Ty. And they don't plan on using their fists. Dante says he has a bullet with your name on it. You should be more careful. Don't let your ignorance or cockiness be the reason that the people in your life mourn you."

As Nina draws closer to him, she can practically smell and taste the scent of him. To this day, he's still as intoxicating as ever. "I want to help you. I wouldn't do it for anyone else but, I would do it for you."

"Just because the year changes doesn't mean I have to change with it." Tyler never thought of himself as a follower. Sure, he might have joined Nina's clique back in high school, but that's because he wanted friends. Nina offered him solidarity and companionship. At the time, her friends were the closest thing to having a family.

When Nina makes good on her promise and begins spilling the dirt on Dante, Tyler leans in so he doesn't miss a breath. But then immediately recoils when she mentions Dante's penis. That was the last visual he ever wanted to have. He still can't believe she let that blonde gorilla mount her. When was the last time he even showered? He was still walking around the Den wearing the same bloodied Band-Aids on his face that's been there for weeks. "Nina, I don't care about Dante's penis size." Or how she could have found it behind the bush of hair. There was no way he was maintaining his pubes and not his face.

...Dante's in bed with a rat? Now that was the kind of information he agreed to play for. It was shocking and useful. But who was the cop? Any one of them could be crooked. Riverwood was unfortunately built on deception and dishonesty. Working with the Vipers made that all the more clear. Toni's hotel was tied in with the mob, restaurants and bars were used for money laundering. There isn't a place standing that wasn't somehow involved in all this gang shit. "Funny you should mention decapitation. Someone else said something similar to me." Kyle Kincaid, to be exact. It wouldn't surprise him if Nina was fucking his hotel investor too. At this point, she should have the keys to the city.

Tyler takes a breath and leans over the pool table again, lining up his third shot. He sinks three more balls and almost the eight-ball. That would have screwed him over royally. "So do you have a name? For the cop?" That would clear one question and then he would have two more. "Then I want to know what you really want from me. I know its not just sex." Tyler takes a seat on the edge of the table when she lines up her shot. He knows she wants him to look down at her cleavage but he doesn't. "You have tons of friends. You don't need me to be one of them."

#❝ chara ╱ nina patterson.#❝ pair ╱ nina + tyler.#❝ thread ╱ play with me.

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skepticalarrie · 3 years ago

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could you break it down how boyfriends could be from louis point of view?!

So when I started writing this post I was still unsure about the interpretation of this song and I was just willing to try to break it down like the anon asked for so we could maybe analyse this together and have some insights. But after writing everything I 100% think *the boyfriend* in the song is Harry and not the other way around. If someone is looking for a more straight forward analysis there's this post, I think everything is very self explanatory about it. But here, I tried to make sense of the use of the pronouns and also a lot of parallels.

So we have three different pronouns here: THEY, HE/HIM, YOU. It's all referring to two different people in the song, one of them is *the* boyfriend in question, in this case being referred to THEY/HIM/HE, and YOU is the subject. And based on that concept, IMO this is what the song is telling us:

The boyfriend (everything highlighted in yellow) = he doesn't open up and doesn't really tell what he's thinking, causing some misunderstandings (so, a lot of communication issues), he uses drinking as a coping mechanism, he knows how to get under the subject's skin, there are lies and pretending involved.

The subject (everything highlighted in red) = feels alone and at times doesn't feel close to the boyfriend (because of the communication issues), feels like a fool and in some sort of cycle, always coming back to loving the boyfriend and to that situation where they're pretending/daydreaming/lying (probably about things being *fine*).

The question is: Is Harry the boyfriend? Is Harry the subject? Is he both? Is he neither (and just writing from a point of view where he's not actively participating)? I don't have the definitive answer for that lol just my interpretation. I think Harry is great at that, he hands us his songs with barely any context and let us to make whatever we - individually - want out of it. The most obvious interpretation here is that he's alluding to boyfriends (or boyfriend) he had/have, or that he's simply shitting on boyfriends without necessarily being one of the people in the song (I'm assuming this is the no-homo-please interpretation for most people btw)

HOWEVER when we look back at Harry's songwriting and the context of other songs, for me, it makes more sense if Harry is the boyfriend. First of all, because his songwriting is almost always about himself rather than about other people, even in songs of pure adoration and devotion for someone like Adore You, Golden, Sweet Creature, he always adds a layer of complexity to it that are a lot about his feelings towards that certain someone. So here's a great post about Harry and his self-critical lyrics.

And then when we look at it from the subject POV (in this case, Louis, of course).... LOL. Defenceless and Boyfriends are literally the same song, guys. I really hope you all can understand the way I tried to draw the parallels on this, it was the easiest way for me to visualize it god I hope I don't sound crazy with this

+ Also the parallel with Half the World Away (an unreleased One Direction song written by Harry): And I started drinking. I don't know half of what I'm thinking. Those are basically the same words he's using to describe the boyfriend in the song.

Highlighted in orange: Harry being selfish, jealous, proud (they're saying it, not me, sorry harry baby you're doing great) having trouble communicating and letting his "walls" down, struggling with coping mechanism.

Highlighted in green: Louis having less problems with communication, more willing to be open and vulnerable, always coming back (like it's a habit).

Highlighted in purple: lies and pretending, they can only be themselves when they're alone (both of them use references to be in bed on that part), like they're living in a daydream because what they have it's not "real".

This is not what I think about Harry and Louis or whatever their dynamics are, and how they deal with their issues and cracks is a completely different discussion and quite honestly, not my problem. I'm just trying to interpret the song and draw parallels with what we have.

Those are the parallels and why the initial concept that the boyfriend in the song is actually himself makes more sense to me. You can take that and make whatever you want out of it. If you think the boyfriend is Louis or whatever other interpretation, good for you, I don't think you're wrong. There's no such thing as being wrong about an interpretation, don't let anyone tell you what something means when you have a different perspective. But please just make sure to share that on your own blog like I'm sharing my interpretation of it on mine.

#ask #long post #boyfriends #lyric analysis #parallels #mine

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fantasy-anatomy-analyst · 3 years ago

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I've been redesigning my elves and their cousin species because they looked too much like stylized humans, so here are my redesign sketches.

(Image description: a sketchbook page of inked and lightly shaded anatomy drawings. It shows four columns and three rows of drawings. From left to right; human, elf, drow vampire. From top to bottom; full body skeletons in profile, faces in profile, hand and foot from the palm and heel side. I will explain the differences in further detail below the cut. End description)

The human category (homo sapien) is here for comparison. Upright posture, no tail, tall round forehead, all the normal human proportions.

For the elf (sylvanus hominoid), I still wanted them to look like they evolved to fill a similar niche to humans. Upright posture, extremely reduced tail that is hardly more than a vestigial nub. They're a little smaller, the arms are a little longer, and the skull is longer from front to back with a shorter forehead. Their hands look just a little longer in the palm, but mostly the same as human hands. Their foot would look more human from the top view, but on this bottom view it becomes clear that their big toe is still more like an opposable thumb. They are fully bipedal and still prefer to live in trees.

The drow (sylvanus arachne) are shorter than elves and have a longer snout area and larger eye sockets. Their hands reach their knees, their fingers and toes are long, they can easily use their feet as secondary hands. They also have long semi-prehensile tails, very large ears, and sensitive facial whiskers. They live in naturally formed caves where the terrain is often very uneven, and they crawl on all fours as often as they walk on two feet.

And finally my vampires (sylvanus draculan). They are not vampires in the way most people make them. They're very alive, just another branch of the elf family tree. Highly specialized for a very particular niche. They have a shorter lower jaw, large sharp front teeth with all the other teeth very reduced, aside from the canines. Their forearm and finger bones are thicker, their shoulder sits more forward. They have a short, stiff tail, about as long as their femur. And their legs are the odd ones out here, because they are in the process of transitioning from plantigrade to digitigrade. As such, it looks a little awkward and off balance. Their foot is still short, but their toes are large, round, and thickly padded while their heel is small. They could rest their heel on the ground, but they'd have a hard time walking that way. Their hand looks far more muscled than those of their cousins, with longer fingernails that look like claws. Their knuckles are also much thicker. Vampires evolved to be sprint hunters in forested areas. Their semi-digitigrade feet add extra power to their lunge, their stiff tail gives them balance and helps them turn faster, though not as well as the tail of a cheetah. They can stand and walk upright, but they go on all fours quite often. They used to be primarily scavengers, but that changed with the extinction of some predators in their area of origin. They use their knuckles when running on all fours, to keep their sharp nails from breaking on the ground. Their main prey is smaller mammals, birds, and reptiles. As scavengers, they specialized in consuming the innards of carrion, evolving their strange tooth arrangement for the purpose of cutting through belly skin to get at the softer guts. They also have very strong immune systems to combat things like gut parasites and all the bacteria that might be found in whatever might be left in the stomach or intestines of a dead animal. As a result of this specific dietary adaptation, they continue to only consume the soft guts when they hunt their own prey. Their lower lips are stiff and cleft to the chin as a channel to let blood drip down, and their shorter lower jaw allows their large front teeth to have plenty of space. They don't have to move their whole jaw as much when their main teeth are free to stab into flesh mostly unhindered.

#image description #accessible art #accessible images #fantasy anatomy #my designs #elf #drow #vampire #elf and elf cousins #sylvanids #humanoid

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artisticrandomness · 2 years ago

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Hi, welcome to my trash heap! This is where I post my art (generally deltarune related) and say random shit to concern random internet users /hj

My requests are nearly always open, so feel free to drop an ask!! Only deltarune related stuff though

I will try my best to keep my blog organized! Tags along with my BYI and DNI below!!

TAGS

sammie committed a felony - art tag

sammie spoke shit - textpost

-and has a life sentence for it - shitpost, follows the other two tags

BYI

I am a minor!! Please keep that in mind when interacting

Tone tags are greatly appreciated when interacting!

My art can be used for icons/banners on site, but nothing else!! Credit must be given, and preferably the art isn’t edited

Please do not steal, repost or heavily reference my art. You may trace my art, however, as long as proper credit is given

Colourpicking and straight up using my deltarune designs are grand, the characters don’t belong to me. If using my design, credit isn’t needed (but preferred), but don’t claim that you designed it

Please avoid DMing me for no reason, it’s very stressful for me. If you have a request send it through my askbox. It’s nearly always open

DNI

Standard DNI criteria. So homo/transphobes, terfs, racists, ableists, etc

Pedos/maps

Zoophiles

Proshippers/Comshippers/whatever you people go by

NSFW blogs

If you sexualize any utdr characters. It makes me uncomfortable, and its just fucked up if your doing it to character that is a minor

Other things I can’t think of right now

Oh, and one more thing;

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK ME TO DRAW KRIS!! I absolutely adore drawing them, but sometimes I struggle to think of ways to draw them, so feel free to give me prompts!! And I with most definitely draw au krises, and I’d love to draw other peoples interpretations of them!! Just please provide a coloured reference, thanks. Like even if my general deltarune requests are closed, I’ll probably still make you a lil kris doodle unless there’s something really wrong with me

And with that, please enjoy your stay!!

#sammie spoke shit #intro post #kris #knife tw

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colethewolf · 4 years ago

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So, apparently Derek and Stiles were supposed to be an actual couple before Davis pussied out and didn’t do it for...hetero reasons? So in essence, they kept writing them as a couple without being an actual couple and threw them together with women they had no chemistry with (Malia, Braeden in Lydia’s case no romantic chemistry) or forced it by paralleling the shit put of it to the point of creating clones (of Stiles and Derek) with vaginas (Paige and Jennifer, Slightly Malia and Cora respectively).

I don’t know why, it’s been so long since it’s been over but finding out that this is a legitimate thing apparently, I don’t know, I haven’t seen the sources but everybody is saying that apparently it came out that they were meant to be a couple before it was nixed, just makes me incredibly angry.

To be perfectly honest I wasn’t huge in this ship or shipping in general however I enjoyed sterek. My thing with Sterek was that I was excited by the fact that there were these two guys with chemistry that bickered and worked well together and respected one another and the best part they were not Hollywood stereotypical. I mean by Hollywood stereotypical is that they weren’t overly sexualized together, they were not overtly either too macho masculine or super feminine. They were strong, intelligent, flawed, messy but good men who respected and seemed to really love eachother without being paraded. The huge draw also and the biggest point was that there were these two side characters with chemistry where you saw it was going to happen and that was pretty exciting for a lot of people.

My brother got me into the show because he was so excited about it. When it didn’t happen he was bummed out, he was angry because of the baiting because he and many other people believed it, even I felt used and I’m not a part of the LGBTQ+ community, but even I assumed and hope that it would happen because at least one couple seemed to genuinely like and respect and care and love each other. It just didn’t happen. Just quasi-promises in the form of scenes were they were written as a couple without the romanticism, thrown into relationships with women they had no chemistry way, the type of non-chemistry that seemed as dry as the Sahara desert on both sides (Or in Hoechlin’s case a case of the weird crazy obsessive stalker pawing at him making the scenes with Derek and braeden that much more uncomfortable because even acting he was uncomfortable and she was drooling at the prospect of getting up on him.)

If I find the link with the actual sources I’ll send them to you in a message because I think it would be pretty interesting to read. I think it’s legit, I mean I assume that it was probably something that they were planning but I never thought that there would be a legitimate sources where they say yes this was supposed to happen but it did not because dumb reasons. And I think it’s real because I’m hearing it everywhere, I’m hearing it loudly, and the anger and the rage that I’m hearing it reminds me of when the ban began way back and the Sterek fandom was initiated betrayed by PTB and Davis after all of the legwork the Stereks did to make the show popular, viewed and honestly the reason it was profitable at all.

You’re probably not interested in hearing any of this but legitimately yours was the only blog that I could think of that would hear this and give a legitimate opinion because you’ve been vocal about it and in a wonderfully honest way with your thoughts. Like I said I’m not a part of the community, I am not someone who ships anything. But I did start to ship them because it seemed naturally written, the chemistry was electric, they worked well together, and anyone with eyes and the ability to hear and understand what they’re seeing could see that the writers wrote them as being very much in love with eachother.

I apologize about the length.

Yes, I’ve talked about this before. I’ve spoken to sources before about what happened and unfortunately there will always remain unknown pieces of information about it. I don’t think we’ll ever get a full picture and detailed timeline of genuine fact.

But we can piece together the things that we saw and experience without knowing the full details about behind the scenes. For instance, Jeff Davis frequently acknowledged Sterek as a slash-ship. He admitted to intentionally writing Derek and Stiles scenes together and called them one of the greatest pairings in the show. He also frequently admitted to printing out Sterek fanart and posting them around the studio and writers room.

We also know that he intentionally hinted at Stiles being bisexual. He admitted it. He also frequently baited at the prospect of Stiles and Derek possibly developing into a slow-build romantic relationship. We also know that Jeff was fully aware of the Sterek vs. Derek/Jennifer parallels as he, himself, hinted at them being intentionally set in place during season 3A.

Onto things that weren’t confirmed by Jeff Davis, it was obvious that Stiles/Malia and Derek/Braeden were attempts to no-homo the characters as it was not a coincidence that both characters (who had remained single for seasons 1-3B) decided to both get put into separate heterosexual relationships at the same time, whilst also being purposely kept apart in scenes filmed.

The reality is that even if Jeff Davis wasn’t singlehandedly responsible for how Sterek was treated in the show, the fandom’s anger was directed at him. And it wasn’t directed solely at him just because. It was because Jeff, himself, frequently announced via. twitter & tumblr that he did NOT receive pushback from MTV executives.

In fact, Jeff bragged about how the show was his show and that he was able to write whatever he wanted without higher-ups telling him no. It was Jeff who bragged about the show being progressive in terms of queer representation. Regardless of whether or not Jeff had 100% full control over the show and the stories, we don’t know. But Jeff set himself up as the main enemy on his own accord.

I don’t think the fury Jeff received towards him would have been so strong had Jeff not been so cocky as to preach in the faces of the fans. He liked being the one in charge and then subsequently got pissy when fans turned against him and him alone. I think it was a big lesson learned.

Personally, I think Sterek was the show. It brought so much status and power to the show, but when they tried so hard to remove every trace of Sterek, that’s when the show crashed and burned. It’s no coincidence that season 3B received 2+ million views per new episode, only for that viewership to immediately tank when Season 4 came around.....the season where Stiles/Malia and Derek/Braeden. And following that, the views only continued to drop harder and harder.

Had Sterek gone canon, I think the show would have been regarded as a major game changer for television. Instead, I think shows like Shadowhunters, How To Get Away With Murder, & The Magicians really helped bring new standards for queer representation in television. Teen Wolf could have had that, but they fumbled their opportunity with messiness behind the scenes.

That’s what I think about it. But if you do find those sources, I’d love to hear what they’re saying to see if they match up with anything we already know.

#Anonymous

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alirhi · 4 years ago

Text

I'm bad at titles, so yeah... this one is stupid XD

Title: Winter's Frost Chapter: 1/? Fandom: MCU Rating: R to be on the safe side Pairing: Loki/Bucky Summary: Loki never told anyone the real reason he became so obsessed with Midgard. Much better to let them think he wanted to hurt his brother than draw their attention to the one thing in the universe that makes the God of Mischief truly vulnerable.

WARNINGS: m/m, in case that wasn't obvious. probably some swearing. I rarely do explicit sex but it might get to that point, depending on if the mood strikes me. If you're under 18, just go away XD Notes: I haven't written a fanfic I actually intended to share in a really, really long time. I haven't written m/m (I keep wanting to call it yaoi lol. Asian music fandom, y'all!) in years. And I have literally never written MCU fanfic, so... be gentle?

1943

It seemed like Midgard was always exploding lately. The chaos was entertaining at first, but Loki quickly grew bored with all the destruction. Chaos he created was fun and whimsical; this was just nonstop senseless tragedy. At least one good thing had come of it, though...

"Do you have to go?"

Ah, there was that tender smile he loved so much. His lover's ice blue eyes were so soft and full of patient affection; no one else had ever looked at Loki that way. "I still got a war to fight."

He knew, and he hated it. With a sigh, Loki sat up and, spotting the other man's shirt, quickly hid it under the blanket. It was childish, but he didn't want him to go! "It isn't your war, James. You don't have to fight it."

"Loki, we've talked about this." Bucky smiled that damn indulgent smile again. That smile disarmed him every time and made him want to do whatever his charming young lover asked. Bastard. "Give me my shirt."

Reluctantly, he handed it over. Sure, he could have just made it disappear or turned it into something else, but not once had he ever used his powers against Bucky, and he didn't intend to ever start, not even something that minor. Not even to save his life.

"I got drafted, doll. That means I have no choice; I'm here and I fight, whether I want to or not." As he shrugged into his shirt and started buttoning it, he chuckled and shook his head, staring at the other young man. "You know, the thought of something like this happening never once entered my head, but every time I see you, it gets harder to walk away."

"So don't." A pointless, childish hope, but one he couldn't stay silent about any longer. Loki was on his feet in a flash, arms around Bucky's waist. "Come back with me. I can protect you; your government will never find you."

He looked so sad, suddenly; Loki had never known a smile could be so incredibly sad. "I can't. You know I can't."

"Then I'll stay. I'll fight with you."

He almost wept when Bucky abruptly pushed him away. "Like hell!"

"I'm not weak, James! I can fight!"

"I'm not worried about you." That was the worst lie he'd ever told, but Loki let it slide because Bucky was holding him again, and that was all he wanted in that moment. With a soft kiss to his temple, the handsome young soldier told him, "You make me weak. If I see you out there, you'll get me killed. I've already dealt with one dumb, reckless punk trying to dive into a war he doesn't have to fight. You're outside of all of this and that's where I need you to stay. For me. Can you do that?"

There was something more he wasn't saying. Loki was tempted to read his mind, but that was an invasion he'd already sworn off. Instead he read Bucky's expression, the worry in his eyes and the set of his jaw, and he flinched. "You're ashamed to be seen with me. You don't want me around the other soldiers in case they see what we really are to each other."

"No, that's not-" Bucky cut off abruptly as Loki broke away from him, and he sighed. "A little. I'm sorry! I just... Homos don't exactly get a warm reception where I'm from, or in the army." He snorted, raking a hand back through his hair. "Especially in the army."

"Being with one man after a string of women hardly makes you a homosexual, Sergeant Barnes."

Bucky ignored that, though he did shoot the other young man a withering glare. "Loki, I love you. I don't care if you're a man, a woman, or a goddamn horse. I love you. I'm just not ready to fight two wars at once when the first is already kicking my ass."

"If you came to Asgard, it wouldn't matter."

"You're a joke to your own people. You really think they're going to be gentler if you show up with a man on your arm?"

How this man so effortlessly disarmed him and cut him right to the bone, he would probably never know. If it was anyone else, Loki would have a million snarky retorts ready to fly off his famous silver tongue, but Bucky... Bucky was different. Bucky could hurt him... because Bucky was the only one who loved him. "If you let this mess kill you, I will never forgive you."

He smirked, tugging Loki closer and leaning in for a kiss. "Not even if I go to Valhalla?"

"Not even if you haunt Asgard!" He needed to get away. He needed to get away now! But Bucky was so warm and his lips were so soft... Trembling with the effort it took to hold his tears back, Loki clung to him, terrified of having to watch him walk away again, but desperate for just one more moment of peace. "Do you ever tire of making me cry?"

With a soft chuckle, his beautiful soldier boy nuzzled his neck and kissed his jaw. "What can I say? You're just so pretty when you let yourself break just a little like that."

Hiding a reluctant, affectionate smile against his lover's broad shoulder, Loki grumbled, "Sadist."

"You weren't complaining earlier, doll."

They stood like that for a while, just quietly clinging to each other as the chaos of the world outside swirled around them, unnoticed and insignificant for a brief, stolen moment. Then the moment was gone, and with a soft sigh, Bucky kissed Loki's forehead and gently pushed him back. "Go. I know you hate letting me leave first."

Hands framing his face, Loki yanked him close for a fierce kiss before stepping back to grab his coat. "Just... Don't die."

They couldn't look at each other, for fear that neither would have the strength to move again. Loki couldn't see Bucky's sad, bitter parody of a smile, but he could hear it in his voice as he whispered, "I'll do my best."

_____________________________________________________

Next Masterlist

#fanfiction #m/m #loki #bucky barnes #mcu #avengers #captain america #winter soldier #loki/bucky #be gentle #sebastian stan #tom hiddleston #winter's frost

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teacup-baphomet · 4 years ago

Text

G/t Drabble (Crash landed on a hostile planet trope but NOT via the a tiny vulnerable human in a planet of mean powerful alien bigs route)

tw: a bit of censored cursing. Uh. I’m not sure what else. Maybe broaching of sensitive tops such as sexuality and religion. But not really. Mostly it’s just rlly dumb word play/lame humor and a confused alien being confused (and kinda freaked/troubled due to the confusion? you’ll see if you read it i guess). there is some sad lorg boi times. idk. no romantic relationships. just a shaky friendship is forming between a crash-landed big-arse alien (a human! *gasp* i woulda never guessed something as vile as that o: ) and one of the much smaller, very much not human locals. most want to kill the poor dude who got stuck on this planet of hostile lil guys who think he’s a monster and immediately decide they much off him asap. so like having this one ally is kinda important to him. But it’s hard. because. lots reasons rlly. culture differences. the language tech can only do so much. the size diff creates definite issues because trust is hard in general. and trusting a big being that could easily cause havoc on your planet mostly just cuz he /seems/ nice is not a very good foundation... there is much to learn between the two before they can be truly good frens. so uh good luck to them lol *raises glass* I mean. I don’t think I’ll ever write these two again. but I’m sure they’ll end up good friends. probably.

Anyway without further adieu, here have a disappointment (read: attempt to be creative but i’m kinda lazy tbh and still kinda bitter I can’t draw for more than like 10 minutes before I start spacing out :/ )

"We are called humans or the scientific name is homo sapiens" spoke the large alien, Lyle.

"Homo sapiens? That is rather long, is it not? Why is a "scientific name" even a thing? Why would that be necessary? Scientific name versus what kinda name? Emotional name? Why are these science names two words? Seems annoying. What is wrong with just calling yourselves simply homos? Or something else just as nice and concise. Straight to the point if you will. Probably. I... Uh.. I obviously don't know what exactly is the purpose of a scientific name as i already implied... Sooo..." The much shorter – and much scalier- native being (called Torrynts) awkwardly looked off the side to stare at the plain, blank, siding of their dilapidated, isolated house as if it were the most interesting thing in the entire vicinity. Which it wasn’t of course. There was a f***ing alien 15 times their size only a few them-sized lengths way…

Lyle gave his new comrade – and only friend on this gawdforsaken planet that mostly wants him dead- th pondering, and possibly ironically, rather colourfully scaled Torrynt by the name of Kyvlar a bemused look, bordering on coy.

"Huh. 'Straight' to the point you say?" He paused with a small snort. "Well, my not-so-statuesque friend, do I got news for you~"

Kyvlar suddenly blanched, giving a Lyle a look that was like a knife to the heart while blurting out. "Wait, wait, wait! Hold up! We? There are more than one of you? Here? On this planet? Were you just a distraction the whole time. Oh... Oh no.... Have we really been victim a secret homo invasion this whole time! I-"

Their panicked monologue was interrupted by a most horrendous noise. Like a slowly dying tornado with the hiccups or something.

"STOP. Stop I-I can't. I can't. This is too much much!" Spoke Lyle with his hand covering the bottom half of his and his eyes scrunched shut.

'Welp,' thought the Torrynt, 'This is the end. This is when I die. I should have known better than to immediately put my trust in such an enormous obviously dangerous specimen. Ho-'

Kyvlar’s dramatic internal speech was interrupted when the alien surprised them by uncovering the his face, revealing a huge grin. ‘They weren't upset? Huh?’ The Torrynt blinked owlishly at the human in confusion.

"Sh*t, bite-size (Kyvlar noticeably paled at the impromptu nickname not 100% the foreign joking tone, well it would have been noticeable to someone their size at least), I know you don't mean to, context-wise, but you reminded me of my great aunt Karen when my Uncle Todd and Uncle Copper decide to have their friends over along with relatives for a gatherin'."

Plastering on a faux distraught look and blatantly mocking tone, he continue with exaggerated hand gestures. "Oh no, it's the...the...," he paused with snort, "... the homo invasion... No, no, no... Not here... not in this... this good, Christian neighborhood. Aren't just two of them enough? Oh woe is me!" The alien dropped the mocking tone and smirked towards the smaller being. "Heh. Good ol' great aunt Karen could never remember Uncle Todd was Jewish and so was the majority of that neighborhood.... It’s where my Uncle Todd was raised actually…"

The said smaller being just stared blankly at the homo-no-human they supposed as just “homo” meant something else, they weren’t sure what else, beyond just something else.

"Uhhm. Wh-what? U-Uhm, so what exactly is “homo” then? And what’s Christian? And Jewish too. What’s that? Are... Are those other types of -uh- intelligent, sentient creatures on your planet? Y-you know, b-beside hom-er-h-humans? Or are these subtypes of humans? What kinda are you? What is a great aunt? or Uncle? Does the great indicate a larger size? Oh gawd, a-aren't you humans b-big enough regularly? Oh... W-wait. O-or are you a great- uhm- great aunt, was it? E-er, g-great something? Ohhh. Zyntall (Torrynt swear). I'm sooo confused r-right now... " The timid tiny being, sighed in frustration before their eyes snapped open wide in a panic, and they did an immediate one-eighty with their behavior, and it was off all their previously trust, as wavering as it was, vanished in an instant, squeaking out a quick "sorry. oh, Z-zyntall... I'm so-so-sooo sorry. I-I hope I d-didn't offend y-you or anyth-thing... p-please, oh please, don't hurt me" while gazing everywhere except towards the much larger alien, hoping desperately the 'bite-size' nickname was just a bad joke...

Clearly they not only didn't get what so hilarious about the whole thing but also thought he was a monster prone to violence – still. Lyle sighed, all the mirth that was previously in his expression draining out of him leaving him with an uncomfortable grimace on their face. How disappointing... They really wish there was another human here to share in the jesting. But alas, that was not meant to be. At least as far as they knew there was no "homo invasion" in the making. Lyle wasn’t naïve. He knew humans were easy to slip into a gray moral state, at best. The role of villains at worst. And many of his kind would likely take advantage of a planet full of tiny, vulnerable people. Lyle couldn’t help but inwardly cringe at the thought, getting nervous about something that wasn’t an issue. At least now. Currently, human-wise, it was just him on this distant planet. And as far as he knew, no one - well, no other human at least- had any clue where they were. It probably just seemed he simply disappeared. Never to be seen again most likely. Trapped on this random alien planet in scenario that is akin to some sort of a personal hell of sorts.

'Wow. Hello, major depressive episode that’s making me overly dramatic. I haven't seen you since I was - what - eighteen?' thought Lyle regretfully. Calling this planet a personal hell was probably a bit over the top. But still, he couldn’t even seem to keep the trust of his single native ally. It only adds to his feelings of lonely isolation. And he feared his lonely angst will only get worse and worse. But only time will tell.

Giving a small sigh, he mentally prepped himself to try and get back his small friend’s trust. At least he was able to laugh for a wee bit earlier. It had been so long since he had done such. It was nice. Hopefully next time it will not lead to a backtracking in his attempted friendly ships with an open local, or even worse, a hostile local. The little laser guns that native being had stung like a b*tch. It reminded him when he got bit a couple times by some fire ants during a vacation as a child.

-----------

So yeah these were rando improvised characters made on the spot.

But Lyle is a guy (he/him. He’d be chill with they/them too)

And Kyvlar is… a Torrynt. So like they/them I guess. Torrynts don’t have genders. Like at all. I guess they hermaphroditic (intersex if talking by human terms but not really as they are capable of reproduction and they aren’t human so… I dunno… Not even sure if hermaphrodite is a useful term. As idk if hermaphroditic animals, in nature, are capable of reproduction… I don’t think so? But I’m not sure tbh…). There is no variants like there are with human “sex”. And male/female concepts are 200+% foreign to these wee reptile-like aliens (albeit warm-blooded minded, so perhaps more draconian than reptilian idk. Also aliens being described as reptilian gives me hives due to a conspiracy theory that is like super bigoted actually n’ stuff. Very yikes. Don’t want to talk it about it rlly…). Their reaction would def be “wtf. That’s the weirdest sh*t ever” to such a thought as male n female binary dynamics & whatnot. No exceptions. They’d be like why a lot of you guys limiting yourself because of whether or not you are a potential offspring vessel or not. I don’t understand.

So Yeah. Uh. Anyways.

Their conversation about this prolly (or close to this):

Lyle: Hi. I’m Lyle. Just some random dude form Earth I guess.

Kyvlar: a random dude what?

Lyle: uh. I’m a dude. I guess I meant that I’m a boy though dudes don’t really have to be boys I think. But not to derail too much… Yeah. I’m a man/guy/boy/brosef, whatever you wanna call the male gender. Please not by brosef actually, heh. Anyway. Yep. A boy. That is what I am. Uh. How about you. I can just tell… you ….you have uhm two legs. Oh damn. Wait. That sounded so stupid. I wouldn’t assume your gender or anything. I just… You don’t look exactly human so..uh. UGH. Nevermind. I don’t even know where I was going with that... Heh. ANYWAY, so yeah what’s your gender is what I’m trying to say. Sorry I’m awkward as f***. I’m not used to socializing much. Been doing deep space sh** on my own for a few years now and.. uh.. yeahhhh….

Kyvlar: *stares blankly*

Lyle: Uh. Yeah. So. A Gender? Do you, uhm, have one? Or…????

Kyvlar: Uh. I think so? I mean I’m mostly a day-by-day I’ll figure it out then type but I, I really want be able to fix my home up. I want to learn to cook. Kinda suck at it now. Uhm. I guess… Uh. I should probably help you get on good terms with my people so they stop trying to kill you. You seem nice n’ stuff… so yeah. There’s that. I could use a little more purpose in my life. Not to-

Lyle: wait. Huh? What are you talking about? Are you talking about an agenda?

Kyvlar: Yes????

Lyle: *snorts* I didn’t say an agenda. I said a gender. As in A. Gen. Durr. Like are male or female or maybe something off the typical binary track??

Kyvlar: Uh. Er. Huh??? I, I’m so confused right now…

Lyle: Hooo boy. I’m so not prepared for this discussion at all.

-----------

One of these days I’m gonna have a character that’s silver-tongue and smooth af and not some bumbling awkward doofus (*cough* like I am *cough*).

#g/t #g/t writing #i think this is sfw #i don't know why it wouldn't be #giant/tiny #giant dude #but he's really a human #it's like the crash landed on a hostile planet g/t trope #but the crash landed is a human #and he is the BIG #and the tinies are a bunch of hostile aliens #except for one #and they aren't really tiny #they are technically normal I think #i mean it is their turf yknow?#the tiny alien in this drabble is non-binary I guess #or maybe agender would be a better term?#the tiny aliens have no gender #or rather they have one gender #so it basically is means little to them identity to wise #like how humans are humans and thus that doesn't honestly say much about them.#except gender means even less to these aliens than that #not in a offensive way #in a they have no knowledge of gendered creatures so the concept of gender is very new to them #actually it's a non-issue to most of them because they don't give a shit about Lyle at all #oh your a guy #we don't care just die already #poor dude #he just wants a friend #but's awkward

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chibimyumi · 4 years ago

Note

Hi Chibi! I’m kind of obsessed with your blog. I’ve loved Kuro for a long time so it’s nice to see someone make very thoughtful posts about it. I was reading some of your posts about the kuro anime and was wondering. What is your opinion of the season 2 OVA The story of Will the reaper? I love the reapers so getting to know about their world is great, but will kicking grell’s ass was not great 😖.

【Response to: “are there any S1 or S2 OVAs you enjoyed?”】

Dear Dagonl,

Thank you very much for your interest! I’m happy you like my content, and it’s always nice to hear that somebody is interested in long-winded posts deep-analyses! ^^

Short answer:

As for my opinion on ‘The story of Will the Reaper’: as I said in the original post, in my opinion “[a]ll OVAs for the second season were (almost) as awful as the season itself, save for ‘The Making of [Kuroshitsuji]’.” Though, ‘the story of Will the reaper’ is actually the one that made me add the ‘almost’ in the previous sentence, meaning that it’s marginally better than the rest.

Click for Full Answer: The good things and the... awful things.

1. The good things

The reason I found this OVA marginally better is because I do respect the ambition and (attempt at) creativity the makers have shown. At the time of release the manga had not revealed anything yet about reaper origins. So I guess they could be forgiven for their artistic liberties (unlike the spoiler-revelation of Undertaker’s nature that ruined his big revelation in the manga.)

1.1. Fair world-building

The world-building works well with the idea of Yana’s satire on the Japanese Salaryman through William. As William is something of a self-proclaimed ‘model’ and so unforgivingly rigid, it gives us reason to believe the Reaper Dispatch Society is built on this type of ideal; aka the Japanese office environment. We have also seen that the technology of the Death Scythes is a century more advanced than Kuroshitsuji’s contemporaries, so the 1980s setting was well done in my opinion.

1.2. Fair reflection on reaper/Salaryman doctrine

The biggest critique on Salaryman culture is the robotic attitude employers demand. The Japanese Salaryman™ is expected to be no more than silent executors of the will from above. As explained by William, reapers don’t actually do all that much; all they do is meaningless double-checking JUST IN CASE something might be off.

As a satire this OVA is not ‘complete’ because you do need the information from the manga that came out many years later to understand why the reaper world is a satire in the first place for the actual punch. But in the very least the OVA pays adequate lip-service and does not disrespect the satirical origins of Yana’s design.

One thing this OVA does arguably better than even Yana is showing that most reapers are robotic work zombies like Will, rather than that the Dispatch Office is filled with eccentric youngsters as the named reapers of the series might suggest. (Though there is a downside that I will discuss in section 2.2.)

2. The awful things

So, to me this OVA has two good things, but they are insignificant in the face of the awful things that’s the rest of this OVA.

2.1. Raging homo and transphobia, etc.

This OVA handles Grell extremely poorly. First of all, this OVA makes it explicit that Grell is a homosexual man, blatantly defying both canon and Yana’s explicit statement of her female gender. Why? Because the most obnoxious shippers want their Yaoi, and this sells. This one literally needed to sell because it’s an OVA.

As explained in more detail in this post, Grell was called a man and she eagerly responded “oh, yes”, and later she herself confirms this statement by making it explicit that she dreams of herself in a m/m relationship. (Yes, these subs are accurately translated. Click the link for a Japanese to English breakdown).

Some fans have explained this as Grell’s words before she realised her own identity, and I understand why. We all want something to not be this gross and try to make sense of the nonsensical, and some actual identity discovering journey would have been nice. For Grell as a character however, it only serves to give Man!Grellers more ammo (even though they have the destructive power of cotton wads).

As I said in the post linked above, “[if this statement] used to be [Grell’s] thoughts that are no longer relevant in present time, the script should have addressed that in present-timeline of the story. As it is now, it is clear as day that the writer Nemoto Toshizou did not take that into inconsideration.”

Secondly, this OVA is desperately trying to cater to Grelliam shippers. Fans have always come up with different reasons to ship this, but this OVA had to choose the most toxic one to capitalise on. Why make Grell so shitty to Will for no reason? Being degrading to him is one thing, but Grell was outright deadly violent to William for trying to do his job. And then Grell only stopped being so hostile because she got beaten back and therefore fell in love?

Yes, people justify this by saying that it’s charming to Grell because she’s a masochist, “whatever”. This however, paints a very askew image of real people who enjoy masochism as a kink. Any responsible adult in the SM community would tell you how painfully shallow Grell’s masochism is portrayed as, and how this portrayal takes away all accountability from someone who harms a kink-masochist if something went wrong.

This OVA would ironically have been more effective as an anti-Grelliam story, except that it sells itself as the opposite. With just the manga, people could just say: “oh, Grell doesn’t respect William’s personal boundaries, and William is very aggressive to Grell, but they can sort that out...eventually.” Add this OVA however, suddenly William is an indisputable abuse victim, and Grell is just an “in your face gay” (as the gay stereotype dictates...)

2.2. Contradicting Canon

I am actually not all that harsh about this OVA contradicting canon history because at the time of release nothing about the reapers had been revealed yet. Like I said above, I even respect the creativity to some extent. The only real problem is because this fandom tends to conflate canon with anime information by using cross-media information to understand Kuroshitsuji.

As discussed in section 1.2., the glimpses of the Reaper office are interesting, but the downside to this is that it suggests reapers are a race one is born into because all newbies are approximately the same age. Without the manga, this information in a vacuum is fine. Later however, Yana reveals that all reapers are suicides and are being punished for this sin. If a fan accepts both pieces of information and tries to piece them together, then suddenly this bit of creativity becomes a totalitarian nightmare.

People of all ages commit suicide. If a fan were to try shoehorn the OVA info into canon material (for lack of more stories), then we get: 1. reapers are suicides who get punished, and 2. all reaper newbies are approximately the same age and able bodied. The only conclusion we can draw then is that only able-bodied suicides who fit the ‘newbie age’ are punished. What happens to people who fall outside this norm? Is becoming a reaper and ‘paying off’ your sin the only way to “serve your term”? If so, then do suicides who fall outside this norm never get a chance to redeem themselves?😱 Or...... do only able-bodied youngsters get punished for committing suicide because they still had “societal value” but wasted it? Either way would be f*cked up!

But again, none of this is a real problem as long as a fan can distinguish canon from non-canon information ^^ So, moving on

2.3. Are reapers God Almighty?

Unlike the second, the third issue I have with the OVA is actually something I am quite harsh on. In this OVA we see that even trainees like William and Grell have apparent power to judge over somebody’s life and death based on their intellectual value. However, this begs for an urgent question!

Under section 3 of this post I discussed whether the law of “a human dies because a reaper says so” according to Grell would be feasible. It’s a relatively long discussion, so please click the link if you’re interested in the details. If you just want it to be quick then just ask the following question: “why give trainees/reapers with human subjectivity an almighty God’s** power to decide over life and death of others?” If we then add the manga’s canon information that reapers are being punished for having committed suicide, then why give people whose sin was ‘deciding over life and death wrongly FOR THEMSELVES’ the power to do so for OTHERS????

Still, even if we disregard the manga and view this OVA in a vacuum, it is still VERY alarming that trainees are given this power. Perhaps if a trainee misjudges there will be due consequences from above, but why give a trainee this power in the first place? Are human lives just test objects to this “reaper race”?

This third issue is so awful to me because it shows how little the OVA creators thought through matters and just wanted a quick money grab by selling the most toxic version of the Grelliam ship.

**TLN: A ‘shinigami’ is Japanese for ‘Death (shini) God (gami/kami)’, but please note that in Japanese definitions, a ‘kami’ is not ‘god’ in the same way it is in the Abrahamic sense. A ‘kami’ is more similar to a ‘spirit’, and is therefore not a supreme being. Entirely accurately, a ‘shinigami’ would be more similar to ‘death angel’ or ‘death spirit’.

Why would Sascha have committed suicide? Rutger, Will and the JP Salaryman

How does a scythe kill a reaper? A discussion of MBD musical’s horrible writing of universe laws, and canon reaper laws

Can reapers teleport?

A reaper’s dormitory

#Shinigami #reapers #reaper #Grell Sutcliff #William T. Spears #William #Shinigami Will's story #The story of Will the Reaper #OVA #Kuroshitsuji 2 #Season 2 #Black Butler OVA

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presidentrhodes · 5 years ago

Note

How about some IronHusbands? Tony keeps telling the avengers how awesome his husband is but they don't believe he exists because it has been months and they still haven't met him yet and then finally, Rhodey comes home :)

See, I was going to write a cute 700-word fic for this, but your prompt was too good and this turned into a 5K monster. I’m sorry. :(

Title: The Other Mr Stark: Pilot, Scientist and Iron Man’s Mysterious Paramour

Rating: PG

Pairing: Tony Stark/James Rhodes

Summary: Clint leans over to Tony and whispers. “For the record, I know you’re lying. You’re describing the perfect man and he doesn’t exist. You might as well say you’re dating Superman because at least Christopher Reeve was a looker.“

This ignores the chronology and canon from Iron Man 2. It’s not yet beta-ed so, I apologise for all mistakes!

***

“Don’t be ridiculous, Stark,” Clint says from the lounge floor, where he sits cross-legged, trying to build a house of cards on the table. Natasha’s lying on the sofa next to him, her feet on Steve’s lap as he massages them. Bruce sits in an armchair opposite them, his attention fixed on the Starkpad in his hands. Thor stands by the floor-to-ceiling window behind Bruce, watching the cars driving along Park Avenue 80 floors down. “You’re making shit up."

It’s team-bonding night: Steve came up with the idea a month after the Avengers stopped an alien invasion and moved into the spacious penthouse atop Stark Tower. New York began the long, arduous process of rebuilding; tall construction cranes wedged between damaged skyscrapers carried out repair work and men in reflective vests and bright yellow helmets became a common sight all over the city.

Tony’s at the bar mixing drinks for the team, even though he hasn’t touched alcohol in over a decade. His cocktails, he claims, are still kickass. "Why would I lie to you, Barton? I am going to get nothing out of it."

They have been going back and forth for an hour since Tony let it slip that contrary to what the New York Post says every week, he’s happily married. His husband’s a decorated Air Force Colonel and a rocket scientist by training and, Tony insists, he once fought a homophobe bare-chested outside MIT in the freezing Northeast winter, for insulting Tony.

"It was my birthday. Honeybear had no time for assholes,” Tony says, shaking the martini he’s making for Natasha. “The fight was brutal, and this guy was built like a horse. I thought Platypus wouldn’t last a minute but I was wrong. Dead wrong.” Tony gesticulates at appropriate moments in his recounting of the tale and embellishes it with just the right amount of spice to impress upon the demi-gods, assassins and supersoldiers in his audience that his husband is a goddamn hero.

Tony’s husband had apparently exchanged punches with the bigot that left both men bleeding profusely from their noses. “Then Honeybear uppercuts him out of nowhere and it’s a total KO,” Tony says, moving on to make Steve’s drink—a mojito; how typical of Captain Boyscout McSexypants. “I thought I was watching Ali versus Foreman on replay. It was beautiful.”

Bruce snorts at the comparison without glancing up from the tablet.

Clint’s face contorts and he knits his brows in frustration as the sparse details from Tony fail to add up in his mind. The stacked cards look dangerously close to toppling over. “You want us to believe in this ‘mysterious’ paramour, and all you’re giving out are a bunch of ridiculous nicknames and made-up stories with no evidence and no pictures. Sounds completely legitimate.”

“Hey, why did I never come across this husband of yours when I was your PA?” Natasha chips in, the corner of her mouth quirks up. Steve grins at the way Tony’s face turns red and his nostrils flair—from what he has learned, courtesy of Shield and Ms Potts, Tony’s pride hasn’t recovered from being thoroughly fooled by the Black Widow two summers ago.

Tony tosses a lime at Natasha. She swats it away with an expert backhand, and the lime crashes into Clint’s deck of cards. The archer snarls a string of expletives, forcing out Steve’s stern 'Captain America is disappointed in you, son’ look. Tony flashes a lopsided smile from the bar. “Well, Ms Rushman, I don’t discuss all aspects of my life with personal assistants. Even ones as attractive as you.”

“Call me Rushman one more time and—"

Thor finally turns to join the conversation and butts in before Natasha delivers the rest of her threat. "Your husband must be a good, honourable man. I’m sure he’s worthy of his place in Valhalla." The response draws surprised looks around the room. Even Tony double-takes at first, his eyes wide and bug-like as if he can’t believe what his ears are picking up. He recovers fast and rubs his hands together in glee. "See? The god agrees with me. It’s settled, I win.”

The conversation turns to Fury and Shield—specifically, determining if Phil Coulson is a human mimicking an AI or an artificial intelligence pretending to be a 39-year-old homo sapiens sapiens. Tony brings over the drinks and sinks to the floor next to Clint. The archer leans over and whispers. “For the record, I know you’re lying. You’re describing the perfect man and he doesn’t exist. You might as well say you’re married to Superman because at least Christopher Reeve was a looker."

Tony rolls his eyes. "You’ll eat your words soon enough, birdbrain."

***

‘Soon enough’ turns out to be a month later when the topic of Tony’s mystery husband makes an unannounced appearance in the middle of a mission. Taking on a small army of unidentified robots possessing a hive brain, near a country fair, leaves Steve, Natasha and Tony in charge of shepherding a group of children away from the direct line of fire. Thor and Hulk keep the main fighting focused on them while Clint takes out the spare droids, one by one, from his spot on a nearby roof.

Natasha leads them past smouldering scraps of metal and burning tarp, towards the carousel where the children huddle together, their faces white as sheets. Behind her, Steve’s limping along. He’s bleeding into his suit after taking several hits earlier from the droids and their shoulder-mounted plasma cannons. Tony provides aerial support, keeping the stray robots away from the kids.

"You know,” he begins on the team’s shared comms channel, watching Natasha approach the terrified children with an unnatural, almost enviable, ease, like she has spent a lifetime perfecting the art of looking after them. “Platypus is really good with kids too. His sister sometimes leaves her daughter with us when she’s travelling, and he’s a natural with her. I always thought kids are fussy about everything.” Clint groans. Tony ignores him and continues, letting JARVIS take control of the armour to round up and disable the remaining droids.

“Jeannie always says Lila is a fussy baby at home. She has made a career out of screaming when things don’t go her way. When she stays with us, she turns into an angel because of Platypus.” No one responds. Tony’s attention shifts to how pale Steve looks in his viewfinder. He watches the Captain stagger behind Natasha and asks JARVIS to scan his teammate to take stock of his injuries; Tony knows once the mission is over, Steve will downplay his condition. He’ll brush it off as “just a couple of knocks, nothing too serious,” and bury himself in paperwork in his office to avoid medical attention. The man hates hospitals. Tony can’t blame Steve—he detests them, too.

“My scans detect Captain Rogers has sustained three broken ribs and severe lacerations,” JARVIS drawls in his thick, mechanical voice. “Readings indicate his supersoldier abilities have already contained the bleeding, and the ribs should heal on their own by the week’s end.”

“Thanks, J.” Tony lands on the ground next to Steve. They watch Natasha usher the children towards the perimeter that Shield agents, who finally arrived at the scene, have set up. Worried parents, some of them openly sobbing, stand behind the barricades, waiting to be reunited with their children. “Captain. You’re hurt,” Tony informs Steve as a matter of fact.

“I hadn’t noticed,” Steve says, deadpan, and lets out a pained breath.

The faceplate lifts. Tony gives a half-smile at Steve. “Let me carry you back to the infirmary. You need medical attention and my husband is a big fan. He’ll lose his mind when I tell him I carried Captain America bridal style back to base.” Fortunately for Tony, whatever objection Steve’s about to raise dies on his lips as exhaustion wins him over. He collapses face-first on the muddy field, and Tony’s kneeling by his side in a flash, checking for a pulse. He sags inside the suit in relief when he finds one, and JARVIS helpfully diagnoses “severe fatigue” for the Captain. The AI chooses that precise moment to reveal to Tony that Steve Rogers hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in three months.

“Avenger down,” Tony tells the team. A chorus of concerned voices floods the comms channel. “The Captain’s had a long day. I’m taking him back to medical, you guys handle cleanup and Coulson. I am busy in the evening, so, don’t call me or page me unless the world is on fire and one of you is actually dying."

No one speaks for a few moments. Clint cuts through the static in a flat, disinterested tone. "What’s keeping you busy, Stark? Sexy date in the Bahamas with your imaginary husband?"

"If you have to know, birdbrain, it’s our anniversary and I’m going to the base to see him.”

Clint chortles.

“You still won’t tell us what base he’s stationed at. Let me guess, is it Area 51? Is your imaginary husband an alien, Stark? Holy shit, you’re married to Superman."

The words vex Tony. "Do you ever shut up, Barton?” He doesn’t wait for a reply and turns off his comms. Tony carries Steve in his arms and flies back to the Tower.

***

A few weeks later, after pulling another all-nighter in the lab, Tony walks in on Steve, Natasha and Bruce gathered in the kitchen for breakfast. Clint’s on vacation. Tony counts that as a blessing. He knows despite Clint’s cynicism, at some point, the archer started tailing Tony’s every move, inside and outside the Tower, to find out more about Platypus. Working as an assassin over the years, Clint honed his ability to stay under the radar, but all of that training didn’t stand a chance against JARVIS and his all-sensing presence.

“Barton’s been following me,” Tony says, pouring himself a coffee. He curses—someone, and he knows it’s Thor, keeps leaving coffee grounds inside the pot. That barbarian. “He thought he was being clever by using the vents, but nothing gets past JARVIS.”

Bruce narrows sleep-heavy eyes at Tony: “I thought J doesn’t surveil us.” The words come out as nothing more than a low, gruff mumble. Stifling a yawn, Bruce slouches forward and rests his face on the granite countertop. His eyes droop; for all of his unparalleled work in anti-electron collision theory, Bruce Banner remains incapable of being a morning person.

“He doesn’t when you’re in your private quarters. The vents are public areas, and standard building security protocols apply.” Tony strains his coffee. He makes a mental note to speak to Thor—the Asgardian proved himself to be a fast learner of Earthly etiquettes. He’s come a long way from smashing coffee mugs to ordering customised drinks at Starbucks without pissing off the baristas. Even Captain America sometimes gets the stink eye when he asks for soy milk instead of dairy. Tony suspects baristas around the city are too enamoured by Thor’s godly presence to ever crib about his order.

“Why would Clint stalk you through the vents?” Steve asks. Tony finds the puzzled look on Steve’s face endearing. “50% of his DNA is bird. He’s just following his instincts,” he says. Tony bites back a laugh at Steve’s hardened expression; he appears genuinely distressed by the idea that one of his human teammates may not be 100% human.

Tony admires the way the Captain works hard to adjust to his new life in the 21st century—waking up to an alien invasion led by a horned Norse god proved to be a hell of a way to get over the initial culture shock. And, while Steve made a quick study of smart kitchen appliances and most of the Internet, genetic modifications and other advances in technology set off regular alarm bells in his head. Noticing the way Steve’s lips curl downward, Natasha offers a quick clarification: “Tony’s being an idiot. Clint’s not actually part bird, even if he is as obtuse as one."

"Well, birdbrain has to get more creative than vents to get the jump on JARVIS,” Tony says, squeezing between Steve and Natasha. They hear Bruce’s gentle snores—he really hates mornings—and Tony whispers. “Honeybear is the only one who has gotten past J.”

On cue, JARVIS chimes in softly: “That is correct. His method was delightfully inventive, one that has enhanced my detection abilities tenfolds.”

Without being prompted, Tony volunteers the information to his teammates in a hushed tone: “We had a bet. Each of us picked a random day to break into Stark Industries. The goal was to get into my office without alerting J."

Steve and Natasha listen, their expressions dull, as Tony explains in unnecessary details how his husband got the jump on artificial intelligence—Natasha makes mental notes to make her own attempt later if only to test her own skills against an all-seeing machine.

"Honeybear set off a small and easily contained fire in our backyard while I was sleeping. Because J’s primary protocol is to protect me, he had to assess its threat level. But, it was in a contained environment; the variables were known, and the calculation should’ve been easy, except his protocol says he cannot dismiss the threat until it is eliminated,” Tony says, watching Steve’s eyes widen. The Captain, ever the cynic, is probably working out a hundred different world-ending scenarios about a rogue AI. He and J aren’t so different in their personalities, Tony thinks.

“JARVIS spent most of his processing power keeping an eye on me. His second protocol says he must at all times protect the Stark Secure Server, my private server. And, no, Natasha, I know that look. It’s not at Stark Industries, I know you’ve looked, and I won’t tell you where it is so that Shield can go snooping.” Natasha glowers at him, her cheeks flushed at being caught red-handed. “That left J with very little juice to handle everything else for all Stark Industries offices around the world. He didn’t even notice Honeybear walk onto the premises or enter my office.”

Tony pauses to let his teammates absorb and appreciate his husband’s ingenuity: Steve looks impressed, Natasha scowls at Tony. Bruce, with his eyes still closed and head down, breaks the silence. “I’ve seen J’s documentation. You wrote him to back himself up on local servers precisely to avoid this situation. You said your roommate at MIT gave you the idea. Plus, you use an insane amount of RAM, I’ve seen your set up.”

Tony claps.

“Finally. Someone who sees the obvious error in this story. And yet, somehow, Honeybear got into my office undetected. Either he’s the superspy of the millennium—sorry, Widow—or someone is lying.” Tony glances at the ceiling. “What? You like him better or something?” JARVIS doesn’t respond. Instead, music flits in from the overhead speakers: Tell me lies. Tell me sweet little lies (Tell me lies, tell me, tell me lies). Oh, no, no you can’t disguise.

“Smartass.”

***

On Christmas Eve, Tony arrives at the common floor and overhears the team in deep conversation. His curiosity plants him in a corner outside the lounge, within hearing distance, but strategically hidden from the occupants inside. He picks up on Natasha speaking with an underlying worry in her tone. “That’s not the point, Clint. When I assessed him, he was dying. Very painfully, if I may add. He’s proven himself to be a team player and he’s a vital member of this team—"

Clint cuts her off. "He’s delusional, Nat. He’s making up an entire person and coming up with these larger than life stories. It was funny the first time, but it’s clear he believes in the stuff he says. If he’s losing it, we need to know because we’re a team. We have got to have each other’s backs at all times.”

Steve chimes in: “His life is his own. We should respect his privacy, Clint. I’m sure when he’s ready, he’ll introduce us to his husband. Don’t force it on him.” Tony’s built-in cynicism would have once made fun of the unadulterated optimism behind Steve’s words. But, hearing the Captain speak in his, and Platypus’, defence like that makes Tony want to immediately buy the Brooklyn apartment he knows Steve’s eyeing and give him the keys in a gift-wrapped box with a bow.

Captain America’s assurances fail to convince Clint or soothe his exasperation. “Your optimism is misplaced, Cap. There is no husband, no boyfriend. Nothing! Nat and I have looked everywhere and there’s not a trace of Stark ever getting hitched, let alone to another military man. I get it, don't ask, don't tell when that was still the law, right? What about now? There has to be some kind of a legal record, somewhere, if Stark's really married.”

“Maybe it’s a manifestation of his trauma,” Bruce supplies. “He’s well overdue a psych evaluation. He hasn’t talked to anyone since the invasion. We should cut him some slack.”

Clint doubles down. “We need to know if he’s hallucinating before someone tries to take over the world again. It’s one thing if he’s making it up for street cred, but if he genuinely believes in it…"

"He’s creating another armour,” Natasha says. Tony feels vindicated by the admission—he knows she pokes around his lab whenever Stark Industries business calls him away to the other coast. Her clandestine efforts fail to outsmart J’s all-sensing presence, but confronting the Black Widow about it, and risking dismemberment, ranks low on Tony’s list of priorities. To have her admit it in front of their teammates takes a small weight off his chest. “I’ve seen the blueprint. This is a leaner, tougher armour with some serious firepower.”

“Yeah. Fury commissioned it,” Steve says. Someone—Bruce—curses out loud at the revelation. Tony bites his lips and presses a hand over his mouth to stop himself cackling. Fools, those god-damn irredeemable fools, Tony thinks. Steve continues. “He wants to recruit that Air Force Colonel he always raves about.”

“James Rhodes.” Clint jumps in. “See, now he is an impressive man. I’ve read his files and I can see why Fury’s in love with him. Hell, I’m in love with him, too.” Tony’s close to tears from holding back his laughter at the archer’s enthusiastic tone; he doesn’t want to risk giving away his location and miss the rest of the conversation about the new recruit. “So, Stark’s agreed to make a suit for the Colonel. That's…surprising, seeing how possessive he is of his tech. He tased me last month when I tried to get a good look under the hood.”

“Maybe, Fury made him an offer he can’t refuse.”

“Does Stark know?” Natasha asks. “About Fury’s plans to recruit the Colonel? I heard Nick mentored him in college.”

“Shit,” Clint shouts. Tony regrets the lack of visual cues to go with the congregation inside and makes his own: Clint jumps on the sofa without warning next to Bruce, who turns a deep shade of green. While Steve and Natasha work to calm Bruce down, Clint squats on top of the backrest, like a bird perched on its nest among sky-high branches. Tony laughs at the imagery in silence.

“Rhodes went to MIT too, didn’t he? He studied aeronautics and astronautics—basically, rocket science. And, he’s Stark’s age. It’s not impossible they crossed paths there. Do you think Stark is holding onto some creepy university crush or did he make up his fake husband based on the Colonel?"

"He really needs that psych eval."

That’s when Tony decides he’s heard enough. He can barely keep himself together and in his excitement, he knocks into a solid, immovable mass. "Fuck,” Tony mutters and looks up into Thor’s dark blue eyes. Maybe the city baristas had a point, Tony thinks, and it’s futile to fight the Asgardian charm that oozes from every pore on Thor’s body.

Tony still pinches himself from time to time and wonders how a god fell out of legends, waltzed into his life and took up residence in his penthouse. After butting heads over Thor’s murderous brother Loki, they forged a friendship based on mutual respect—another thing which puzzles Tony because Thor’s a deity and he’s just a guy. Thor protested once when Tony blurted it out. “You’re not just a 'guy’.”

Thor’s quieter and more reserved than his broad GQ-model-like physique suggests; he prefers to observe instead of participating in the team’s special brand of eccentricity. Everyone on the team agrees that Thor is immeasurably perceptive.

“Hello, Pointbreak,” Tony says, clasping his shoulder. “What are you doing out here? You’re missing all the fun inside. They’re talking about having me committed because they don’t believe Platypus is real. They think I’m hallucinating.”

Thor’s face twists into a frown, a contrast to Tony’s playful grin. “Then they are silly,” he says. “I have seen how fondly you speak of him, Tony. You love your husband."

"More than I can put into words, buddy.” Tony sighs as his smile falters, his arms crossing over his chest. “Platypus is the bedrock of my life. Got me through some really bad times. After everything he has seen me say or do, he’s still here, and I wonder what I did to deserve him. You know? It’s surreal. Which god answered my prayers that I got so lucky?”

Thor steps forward until he’s up in Tony’s face, mere inches separating them. That man may possess a delightful and exuberant personality. But he has no concept of personal space, which Tony files under 'Usual Asgardian Oddities’, along with Thor’s habit of speaking to inanimate objects when he thinks no one is looking. Large hands rest his bony shoulders in a hard grip, and Tony thinks Thor is about to impart some godly wisdom. Interruption, if only to point out the awkwardness of their proximity, may come across as rude. "Listen here, Tony Stark. I have lived and watched over your realm for a thousand years. I’ve seen civilisations rise and fall, kingdoms destroyed by greed, great men brought down by hubris. But, you, my friend, you are among the best of them. Midgard should be proud to call you her son. Never ever doubt your worthiness.” Thor beams.

Tony tries to think up a response to that, but his mouth snaps shut. How does one top a speech where an actual god calls you worthy? In the end, Tony nods and stays still until Thor lets him go. “I will consider it a great honour the day you choose to let us meet the man who has stolen your heart. For one who’s deserving of your love, I also consider him worthy.”

On his way out, Tony texts his husband: You won’t believe it but I think Thor just blessed our marriage.

The reply comes immediately: Holy shit. I feel blessed already. Merry Christmas and see you soon xx.

***

Fury calls the team for an urgent meeting after New Year’s Day. His memo reads like every other missive he sends, curt and to the point: Meeting at 10 @ HQ. Don’t be late.

They take Tony’s private jet to DC because the Quinjet was out of commission, undergoing repairs after their latest mission—a villain holding Manhattan’s power grids hostage—damaged the engines. Onboard, they huddle in front of the flatscreen watching CNN analyse Justin Hammer’s trial. Tony gives them a breakdown of his business rival—how Justin tried to sabotage the Stark Expo by presenting cheap knockoffs of the Iron Man armour that blew up the entire venue. The anchor reads out charges levelled against Hammer: money laundering, racketeering, fraud, public endangerment, copyright infringement. And a dozen lawsuits from Stark Industries and affected civilians.

“Ouch,” Clint says, reclining in his seat. “That’s a bit excessive, even for making cheap knockoffs of your suit and blowing them up at your expo, Stark.”

“Trust me, birdbrain, we take corporate espionage very seriously,” Tony replies. A live feed shows Hammer arriving at the courthouse in orange overalls, with dark circles under his eyes and his hair in disarray. The press swarms around him, shoving microphones and cameras in his face. Hammer tries to push his way through the crowd. “Oh, Justin. You know, if he had even an ounce of charm in his bones he could’ve gotten the charges reduced.”

“You can’t charm your way through everything, Tony,” Bruce points out.

Tony smiles. “Not everyone can, no. My husband on the other hand—” The shift in the atmosphere is palpable. Clint tunes out of the conversation to stare out the window. Bruce shifts uncomfortably in his seat, Natasha presses her lips together in a frown, and Steve surveys the lines on his palms. Only Thor shows interest, so, Tony continues. “Few years ago, I dared him to charm a store manager at Macy’s. They had this perfume set from their exclusive collection. I wanted to see if Platypus could convince her to give him a set for free. You should’ve seen him, Thor. He knew all the right things to say, the right moments to smile, and I think if he had asked, she’d have given him the keys to the store. We gave it back later because it would’ve come out of her paycheck, otherwise. Platypus is a real charmer. You’ll love him.”

Thor’s laughs drown out Clint’s audible scoff. “I look forward to meeting him.”

“We should buckle up, we’re about to land,” Steve says, pointing to the seat belt sign.

***

Fury waits for them in a conference room on the top floor of the Triskelion. One by one, the Avengers fill in, with Tony being the last to enter. He takes the seat closest to the door.

“I’ll keep this short,” Fury says, without preamble. It’s one of the few things Tony admires about the director—he loathes wasting time as much as Tony. “The Avengers Initiative was started to be Earth’s first and last line of defence against extraterrestrial threats. We’ve shown the world why we need to exist and your heroic efforts have won us more goodwill from the public than we have anticipated. My bosses have instructed me to expand this team. You will meet the new recruits over the course of the year. They will train with you and Stark has agreed to house them at the Tower.”

Clint perks up. “Colonel Hottie said yes?"

Natasha kicks him under the table.

"What? He’s perfect. He’s smart, brave, and real. No offence, Stark.” Tony shoots him a dirty look. Clint turns to Steve. “Hey Cap, what’s your opinion on team romances? Yay or nay?"

"Clint,” Steve gives him his best 'Son, stop disappointing Captain America’ look. “This is neither the time nor the place.” The archer slumps in his chair and says loudly, “Look, I just want to know how many protocols I’ll be breaking to ask Colonel Rhodes out on a date."

Before Steve or Fury can answer, a new voice replies. "The answer would be none, Mr Barton. As flattering as your proposition sounds, I am unfortunately off the market.” All seven pairs of eyes turn to the doorway—James Rhodes leans against the doorframe in a grey polo shirt, a black bomber jacket and a pair of tight-fitting black jeans. Clint swallows and stammers. Natasha kicks him again.

“Colonel Rhodes,” Fury says and motions him to come forward. “Meet the team."

Rhodes takes stock of the room, his eyes resting a millisecond longer on Tony, and says, "Hey. Call me Jim."

Steve’s the first to rise as he moves in to shake Rhodes’ hand. "Good to meet you, Colonel. We’ve heard a lot about you from Fury, and we’re looking forward to having you on the team.” Bruce and Natasha go next: They exchange quick, courteous 'hello’s before Clint almost trips over himself to greet Rhodes. He tries to play it cool but stutters at the last moment, and the words—"I’ve read your file, Colonel, where have you been all my life?“—come out all jumbled, lacking the charm and finesse he had practised ever since Steve let it slip that Fury was trying to recruit Rhodes. On his turn, Thor flashes the Colonel a knowing smirk, and despite never reading any of Rhodes’ files, he says, "Good to finally meet you, Jim. I’ve heard a lot about your adventures."

Finally, Rhodes turns to Tony, who has been hanging back with his hands jammed in his front pockets and a closed-off expression on his face. "You look like the cat peed in your cereal today."

"It’s your fucking cat,” Tony grumbles. He doesn’t move away as Rhodes treads over and steals a peck on the lips. The rest of the team stare in stunned silence; except Fury, who rolls his eye, and Thor, whose indulgent smile suggests he feels pretty damn good about himself for uncovering some hidden knowledge before everyone else. Steve notices the identical wedding bands on Tony and Rhodes’ fingers first, and it finally clicks. “You’re married to Tony?"

"I am afraid the secret’s out, Captain. I am the mystery husband you’ve been hearing about and I assure you, I’m very real.” Rhodes slings a hand over Tony’s shoulder, and Tony melts into the touch, leaning on him for support, with a hand around Rhodes’ waist. No one speaks—no one fully overcomes the shock around the revelation, and though Steve looks like he’s working out the right words to say in his head, he stays quiet. At some point, Thor starts recording the confusion in the room as it unfolds—for a Space Viking who gives off strong Luddite vibes, he turns out to be exceptionally adept at using Earth tech. Tony isn’t surprised that Thor not only knows how to use a smartphone camera but he also developed a keen sense of when to use it—Barton looking like a flustered deer caught in headlights should be memorialised in every medium.

“I’ve been told the secrecy around my existence has become a matter of concern among the team,” Rhodes says, fixing his gaze on Clint. The archer shrinks in his seat. He avoids looking at Tony. Or Rhodes. “I’m happy to answer questions, perhaps over dinner, and provide clarifications on whatever my husband has told you about me. He likes to exaggerate, as I’m sure you know. But if you don’t mind, I’d like some privacy with Tones right now. We haven’t seen each other in a year and this meeting was not my idea of a reunion. It’s lacking in some quality action if you know what I mean.” He leaves very little to the imagination. Steve’s scandalised; jaws clenched and his eyes dart from Tony to Rhodes and back to Tony. Thor continues recording as he holds the smartphone in front of the Captain’s face until Steve tries to swat it away, and misses. Only Bruce, Tony notices, shows remorse for doubting his accounts and questioning his sanity.

With a final nod at the team, Rhodes walks out. “Coming?” He asks from the doorway. “I’ll catch up,” Tony says and lingers long enough for Fury to dismiss the team and leave. Clint’s sour expression—his nose crinkles as if he smelled something horrible—clashes with the way Tony’s eyes sparkle and his grin stretches ear to ear. “Hey birdbrain, how does it feel to be a clown? For what it’s worth, you never had a shot with him because I sealed the deal in '87. You were still working the circus. Yeah, that’s right, I read your files too—even the 'redacted’ ones.” Tony trots out of the room as Clint flips him off, with a big, smug grin plastered over his face. Some things are worth the wait—Rhodey has always been worth it.

–FIN–

#james rhodes #tony stark #ironhusbands #tonyrhodey #rhodeytony #avengers #mcu #fics #asks #rhea writes #theherothechampiontheinquisitor

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himbo-buckley · 5 years ago

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Intimacy, Sex and Buddie (better known as I have a lot of feelings about this show, some of which are related to the before mentioned topics) - Part 2

G’day friends, family and lost travelers! Welcome back to another instance of: I read too much into things!

This is where we really dive into the Character analysis and it’s gonna be a fun ride!!! (well, maybe. For me at least because thanks to 3.16 I am living! That episode validated me so much and now I truly believe I am right)

This is part two of a three part Meta / Character Analysis, and while you probably don’t need to read part 1, I would recommend it, so here is the link:

part 1

Also:

I should preface this by saying this meta was supposed to be a lot shorter and only talk about how both Buck and Eddie use sex to distract their respective partners from whatever topic they actually wanted to talk about but since I decided to rewatch the show to make sure I don’t miss any such scenes, it has exploded a bit and taken on more topics.

I should also mention that I am a Buddie shipper and while I tried, you will find several references and arguments for the ship in this Meta, not all of which necessarily call for a romantic pairing but just: These two are deeply connected and you cannot look at one without discussing the other and they are each other’s strongest emotional connection.

I should also preface this by saying that the whole of the 118 has some obvious intimacy / commitment issues except Bobby (which is sort of surprising) but *John Mulaney* voice we don’t have time to unpack all of that!

On another note I cuss a little in this Meta because my parents let me listen to TicTacToe as a small child and after that it never stuck that cussing is wrong so, uhm, parental supervision is advised or something?

This Meta will so far have three parts (this is part two), one for each season and is organised by episode so you could technically follow along

So here goes nothing, Season 2: (Also called „Why is Ryan naked so much?“)

Episode 2.01:

I’m not gonna talk a lot about this episode, because I feel like it’s been analysed to death already. Important to know is that Buck hasn’t yet given up on Abby coming back (see the shower scene), he is very lonely and there is a lot of homo- erotic tension.

Basically this episode goes like this:

Buck *after meeting Eddie*: nooooo, Dad, I don’t want a brother! He’s better than me! Put him back where he came from!

Eddie *takes one look at Buck*: Ui, you guys lied, he’s an ass - I like it! This is way better! We’re gonna be friends!

And then Buddie decides to something stupid to prove themselves (to each other) and they end up saving the day and bonding.

Also Eddie saying: „You guys hungry?“ after the Ambulance blows up? Iconic! He is such a little shit.

Episode 2.02 / 2.03:

(I’m putting them together because two-parter)

This episodes truly proves how hard they’ve already bonded, despite Buck not even knowing Eddie has a kid yet, especially from Eddie’s point of view: I actually think he started seeing Buck as his partner first.

I love how he always takes charge, even in his first episode and expects Buck to go along with it - which Buck does (after some initial reluctance), because Buck is good at following orders and trusts Eddie. It might be an army thing, probably is an Eddie likes control thing. What is truly unique about Buddie, is the fact that Eddie defers to Buck’s judgement as needed, something he doesn’t do with anyone else, I think, unless the chain of command tells him to. Just look at how annoyed he is by Ali and her interfering.

That being said it really isn’t all to relevant for this meta, except to say: Interest- ing how fast they trusted each other and became a unit - I guess it’s true what they say: birds of a feather flock together.

Episode 2.04:

Here we get our first real insights into Eddie’s character (aside from that he is a little shit and likes to take charge) as well as some very nice shots of the man’s body, proving my theory that someone in charge really wants to get busy with Ryan Guzman. Which I am not exactly complaining about.

I do think however it’s a very noticable shift from the way they treat the other young, attractive guy in the cast. I talked about this a little in the first part of this Meta, how they went out of their way to hold Buck accountable and make him relatable, but refused to bank on his sex appeal, aside from a few scenes which mostly were about explaining why Abby reached out to him (and uh, we do not need to talk about how creepy that really was, do we?). Eddie though really gets sexualised from the get go. Or maybe that’s just me and I missed something? (Someone with more insight on such topics take the wheel? Because that really isn’t my area of expertice and I don’t wanna say anything false)

A main difference between Buck and Eddie at this point (or in general) is that Buck is always looking for connection. He craves emotional intimacy but it scares him because he cares too much and people keep leaving so he searches out physical intimacy - or he used to. Actually by Season 2 Buck is actively looking to connect emotionally with another person.

Eddie on the other hand isn’t even on the same level as Pilot!Buck, because he avoids both physical and emotional intimacy (except with Buck because, you know, steam engine). The episode implies that it might be caused by Shannon leaving, but the rest of Season 2 and specifically Season 3 show us that it’s an Eddie thing (likely caused by his upbringing if you fast forward to 3.15). And it really makes me want to know how Shannon and Eddie met and how long they had been dating before she got pregnant. Probably not that long tbh.

One thing to notice about the episode is that it parallels Eddie both with Buck (neither wants to date one of those girls, both deflect about their reasons) and with Abby - watch 1.03 and 2.04 back to back, both are about a character taking care of a special needs family member, both have another family member consider them stuck when they themselves do not and both feature Buck trying to help (passively by talking to Abby on the phone vs. actively by having Eddie and Carla meet)

Also as I pointed out in another post the conversation about dating is kind of similar to the car conversation, and I really am clowning now - which is why I will not try and parallel the conversation between Maddie and Buck with the one between Bobby and Buck in 1.09!

I still don’t fully understand the need for that scene (you know which one) aside from being another instance where the boys get sexualised and giving us our first insight into Eddie romantically and also the first time he uses Christopher as a shield (also not the last).

The general take away from the episode is that Eddie is bad at asking for help and Buck is bad at asking for permission which means they fit really well - because Eddie doesn’t have to voice his needs and Buck doesn’t have to feel bad about steamrolling him.

In terms of the overall theme of this meta your main takeaway from this episode should be:

Buck - no longer substituting physical intimacy for emotional intimacy but also not seeking out emotional intimacy, both because he has a connection through Maddie and is building one with Eddie but also because he still considers himself spoken for, though the episode ends with him realicing he might not be (and then he keeps realising, because he is one stubborn mf).

Eddie - avoiding both physical and emotional intimacy and using Christopher to deflect, mainly because he doesn’t have the time for either (but still getting a connection through Buck, thanks to someone just punching right through his boundaries)

Episode 2.05:

no relevance, our boys are barely in it

Episode 2.06:

Well, if you want to write about Buddie crumbs than yeah, definitely important. Also, you can draw a definite parallel between Abby and Taylor, because Buck knew both their voices before he saw their faces and built an emotional connection to those voices. This fits because, well, Buck is afraid of emotional intimacy, but when it’s just a voice it’s easier for him to let himself be vulnerable cause it’s not an actual person.

Plus, considering the thing with Taylor is one sided prior to their meeting, he isn’t actually cheating on Abby. Or so Buck thinks. (Also Taylor doesn’t have a chance to hurt Buck and leave him because you know, she is not aware he exists?)

Also Eddie talks about becoming a firefighter because he missed the camaraderie of the army - aka the emotional connection he had with his squadron (is that the right term?). So technically he did actively try and seek it out - to a point at least. Because, as I will discuss in Part 3, Eddie may consider the 118 his family but his relationship with the other three firefighters in not on the same level than the one he has with Buck.

Episode 2.07:

Let’s all give a warm welcome to Shannon Diaz! I like Shannon, I think she is great (I also think she and Eddie are similar because they both run away from problems which is why they would never work out - unlike another possible relationship mentioned sporadically in this Meta, hint hint ;) ... okay, moving on)

We learn that „not in the picture“ means Eddie is still married, which begs the question how much Eddie has told Carla and the 118 about Shannon up to this point (as little as possible), what they assume about her (probably the worst) and if Eddie ever sets the record straight (I’m assuming yes, because while Eddie doesn’t share - Eddie is also protective of his family and Shannon is his family for better or worse - I really wish they didn’t kill her off and instead played out the divorce storyline because there was so much chance for growth! Although that was probably too similar to Athena and Michael, which is why they didn’t do it. So they fridged her. Damn, and I am still salty about it.)

I really love when she comes to the house, because we learn so much about them as a couple. Like how her eyes grow warm when he opens the door but Eddie’s don’t but then he goes in to hug her (and you can really tell that Ryan Guzman is an athlete in the way that he always acts with his whole body and conveys so much through movement). And the fact that Shannon immediately pushes to meet Christopher (probably because with Eddie you need to push, because he is very stubborn and also in need of control), and her saying she never thought Eddie would be into something so fancy? Yet another insight into Eddie’s character and into his upbringing, which while probably not poor seems to have been fairly modest.

Also love how they fight almost right from the get go, implying that it is their normal (as proven in 3.15). They really never stood a chance!

There is a lot of backstory we get through their fighting, both at the house and at the school, most notably that even in marriage Eddie was never able to fully open up to Shannon - aka be emotionally intimate with her. Which made her feel very alone.

And I don’t wanna defend Shannon and her actions because other people have said it before and this is not what this Meta is about but I can see her point of view. With Eddie and the way he just always needs to be in control and make the decisions she probably thought she had to do something drastic to get him to notice her and her struggles.

Interestingly enough Eddie is emotionally vulnerable with Shannon at the end when he tells her that he understands why she left and that he misses her, but then he immediately kisses her and look, we don’t know what happens next but we can guess from the latter episodes.

And look, tbh with Eddie it’s a little bit harder to draw the line between physical and emotional intimacy than with Buck because Eddie’s love language is touch and actions, so technically in a way he is always emotionally intimate when he is physically intimate (probably why he didn’t wanna go out with any of the girls in 2.04 - Eddie, different to Buck, can not just separate feelings from sex, while Buck has a hard time reconciling the two)

On Buck’s side of this Meta he finally comes to terms with Abby leaving, which doesn’t have too much relevance for this meta except there are a lot of parallels between Buddie in terms of: how long is too long to wait - because while Eddie pretends to have given up on Shannon, he actually hasn’t, whereas Buck outwardly is still waiting for Abby but on the inside has given up hope - something they both come to terms with in this episode

Episode 2.08:

Fun fact: The german title of this Episode is Lovestorys. Can you guess if there is anything of relevance in it?

Okay, first off for the millionth time, in case you haven’t read part 1 or you aren’t convinced yet or maybe you just forgot: Evan „Buck“ Buckley was never a sex addict. Kay? Good.

Also, remember when I said the show doesn’t sexualise Oliver the way it does Ryan? Yeah, this episode exactly. Buck has sex twice and we see less of his body than of Eddie just getting out of bed. Is it a contract thing? Was Ryan always running around naked on set? Did Oliver refuse to take his shirt off? Is he always cold because he’s vegan? Should I figure out Twitter just to ask the cast these questions?

(Also, remember when I said with Buck it’s mostly Girl on top, yay, it stays true)

In terms of actual relevant story, there’s that woman on the freeway (highway? Idk guys, I’m not from the US) reinforcing that Buck has finally accepted that Abby and him are over and then there’s the Taylor Kenny - story, which is sort of just beating the bush of sexual vs emotional intimacy with Buck trying for the latter and only finding the former (remember the Brunette from the Pilot? Yeah, that’s why I’m reminding you).

What I like is the fact that, after spending so much time calling out Buck 1.0 (and they should, because stealing a fire truck? Twice? Babe, for realsies?), this episode went: look, maybe girls like meaningless sex, too? Although, technically they have been telling us from the the beginning, that those girl were using Buck in the same way he was using them (again with the Brunette) - Buck just never understood that until Taylor.

We also get the soulmate scene with the very sweet couple, once again, rein- forcing how lonely Buck is and how much he is craving love and a connection and stability. That really is what his character boils down to at the end of the day: a lost kid trying to find his place in the world. And now I’m sad.

As for the Ali storyline, oh man, I’d really rather ignore it? Not because I have anything against the character per sey it’s just - we get to see their first meeting and then 5 episodes later their first date and by the end of the season they are in love love except by Season 3 she is gone? And in between she is hardly ever mentioned? So I really don’t know how to comment on their relationship in terms of this meta and what it means for Buck except: I think it was one of those right times right moment kind of things and Buck is sort of transfering a lot of his wishes and needs and feelings onto her, but their relationship has a weak foundation, which is why it ended so fast (except we don’t know how fast it ended because there is a 5 month gap between Season 2 and 3 and the breakup gets mentioned one (1) time. Soooooo...)

And Eddie, well, he was in the episode.

Episode 2.09:

I like this episode a lot and it tells us so much about Hen’s issues, but in terms of this meta: no relevance!

Sidenote: I do always forget they did Hen before they did Chim. Then again this episode in general feels very disconnected because there was no prompting, no connection to the present.

Episode 2.10:

Ah, yes, that one! The gift that keeps on giving in terms of Eddie and this meta (and also Buddie, but I’m trying not to be ship-y around here)

(One tiny sidenote though, I do think we see Eddie roll of off Shannon, and, while I don’t want to reinforce some stereotype about Top and Bottom, because I am not a gay man and therefore not qualified to comment, with Buck it’s generally girl on top? So Buck usually lets his partner set the pace while Eddie prefers to be the one in control? Okay, you know what, let’s just say it fits with their characters and maybe they match and leave it at that?)

(also, again with the Ryan shirtless, I mean, not that I am complaining, it’s just ... yeah, please, someone who knows this stuff come talk to me about it and explain because I don’t know and maybe I am seeing things?)

(sidenote #3 with actual relevance: They did not mention Buck’s girlfriend even once. They never do until the final.)

First of, this episode proofs what I said before: With Eddie there is no separating Sex and feelings. It is interconnected („We are working things out.“).

Also there is a point to be made about Eddie and control. So far we have always seen Eddie be the one in control and make decisions and this is our first real indicator that it actually bothers him, that maybe he wants someone else to tell him what’s right or wrong, too.

I’m gonna fast forward a bit, because we are nearly at the end of Season 3 irl and so far we have seen Eddie ask for help several times but only with two people - Buck and Lena - he actually takes the advice. I don’t want to say too much because it really fits better in Season 3, but wether you ship them or not, it is noticeable that out of everyone Buck is the one Eddie let’s help the most. The one he trusts the most.

(Man, they are both just two lost boys looking for their home, aren’t they? (and now I am sad again.))

There is also the topic of trust brought up, which you know, we hear about a few times from Eddie, and it really is such a big thing for him, isn’t it?

To fast forward again, that is one big difference between Eddie and Buck. Both struggle with self worth and trust but while Buck’s biggest problem is that he doesn’t trust people to like him, if they actually get to know him (or if they even want to get to know him), Eddie just plain old does not trust people? Because Eddie is a pessimist, so he doesn’t even try to connect, while Buckeroo trusts way too much and too easily and he is such an optimist and gives away everything and then he still isn’t enough - and then and only then does he give up hope (which is something we see happen in canon maybe twice? With Abby, maybe with Ali, and with Christopher, but again, Season 3 you guys!)

These two really are the different sides of the same coin, huh?

In relevance to this Meta, Eddie is trying very much this whole episode to be open and vulnerable and he struggles so much because he is very scared. The main issue with Eddie is always (and specifically with Shannon) by making himself vulnerable, he opens Christopher up to getting hurt as well (and vice versa because he can’t let Shannon into his son’s life without letting her into his own life) and this is what we see him struggle with in this episode and also what intensifies his already existing issues with intimacy throughout the show in general, his need to protect his son.

It should be noted that in the end Eddie puts Christopher’s wishes above his own well-being which is in fact what he will always do because Christopher is the most important person in his life.

As for Buck in this episode, well, after having so much development in his last episode, he really was there more as a sounding board for other characters. However I will mention that, after the show points out the whole thing is none of his business twice, Eddie then turns around and makes the Shannon thing Buck’s business, because well, connected and all that. Trusting and giving up control. Emotional intimacy. Just repeating myself now.

Episode 2.11: No relevance.

Episode 2.12: No relevance.

Episode 2.13: No real relevance.

There is the scene in the hospital between Buck and Eddie that reinforces the peas in a pot thing they got going on and a reverse from the Christmas Episode when Eddie asked Buck about what he should do. Here Eddie acts as the sounding board (even though Buck has already done the thing but then so has Eddie by hiding Shannon).

This is also yet another instance of Buck trying to help another person with no regard for his own safety but I’m with Eddie here: I have sisters as well. I too would do countless stupid things to save them with no regard to my own safety and I’m a girl - I was not raised on the believe that is was my job to protect them from harm like both Buck and Eddie probably were (because gender rolls).

Also Buck thinks it’s his fault that Doug even found Maddie and Eddie explains to him why its bull. To reinforce the whole connection thing, it is very noticeable that these two always give each other exactly what the other needs - with Eddie from the get go always working on building up Buck’s self worth and Buck always lending a hand to Eddie and taking control when needed (remember Carla? That was Buck taking control for Eddie because Eddie didn’t know what to do).

There is also the short scene when Shannon comes to the hospital and it prob- ably did a lot to help rebuild Eddies trust in his wife.

Episode 2.14:

STOP MAKING EVAN BUCKLEY WORRY ABOUT HIS FAMILY 2k21 (because it’s too late for anything before that)

It’s also our first real: Eddie can be a dumbass, too sighting and there is that one scene (you know which one) which in text is not shippy at all, but ended up in every gifset because Oliver is looking at Ryan like he wants to eat him alive.

Aside from that, this episode really isn’t about them and that’s okay.

Episode 2.15: Crime is hard. That is all.

Episode 2.16: No relevance.

Episode 2.17:

First of all, Eddie is not shirtless? At the beach? Damn, what’s wrong, 911? Is it because Gavin was there? Have you used up all your contracted shirtless scenes by now? Did Ryan find out he was the only one running around set half naked?

Also poor Eddie, you know, you’d think getting married your done having those: what are we - conversations and then bam: there it is again. He really can’t catch a break, can he?

Also I know it’s been said before, but I’ll say it again: Eddie Diaz is not in love with Shannon. Maybe he has never been or maybe he just stopped at some point, but right then and there he isn’t in love with her. He does however love her deeply (she is after all the mother of his son) and she is his family which is sort of where the problem in their relationship lies. Because Eddie, who has problems with trust and intimacy, frankly doesn’t care enough about Shannon (and also doesn’t trust her enough) to try and be open and vulnerable with her, which is what he needs to be in order for them to work, a fact that Shannon seems to be aware of and have accepted.

(Because if you have to wait for a sign on what to do in your relationship, yeah, you already know - you’re just not accepting it.)

And this episode is so heartbreaking and I just had to stop myself from ugly crying because Shannon loves Christopher so very much. And I just hate that they killed her off, so in my mind I have already half plotted a fix it fic in which she survives because that was just unnecessary angst.

Though that’s the topic of another post.

In terms of the relationship-story I am similarly floored as I am by the „Help!“ scene because (at least for me) this is the first time I have seen media really address that yes, you can be a good parent and still not be ready for a serious relationship because those two things are very different. Sure, you sometimes see examples of it through subtext but never before has it been so outright stated.

And I like that both Shannon and Eddie ask themselves that question, but come to a different conclusion - or actually they don’t. Like I said above, for Eddie this relationship fits because it’s easy and he doesn’t have to change or better adapt. He can just keep avoiding the hard stuff (being vulnerable) and still have the good stuff (sex). And then Shannon might be pregnant again and look at his speech at the restaurant: He is basically saying our child is awesome, so we should get back together because if we make such awesome children than we can’t be that bad together. And that is so very wrong, which Shannon understands.

The problem is, that Eddie doesn’t fully understand why their marriage hasn’t worked in the first place. If you tie it into 3.15 Eddie Begins, I think for Eddie, the reason why Shannon left him was a little to get back at him for leaving her and a lot about feeling left alone and being unable to cope with raising their child alone, but all of that is gonna be different now because he will be there for her physically and emotionally as he is no longer in the army! So the issue is solved. They should be a family again. Even without a new kid. After all: they love each other.

And look, those are all fair reasons and true but the thing Eddie doesn’t understand about relationships in general and his marriage to Shannon in particular is that she also needs him to be emotionally vulnerable with her. Shannon needs Eddie to let her be there for him, just like he is trying to be there for her. Because relationships are always a two way street.

SO obviously this is where the episode ended. There were no more scenes af- ter that. Nope. Bit weird how it was so short but you do you, 911, you do you!

And well, Buck was there too.

Episode 2.18:

I’m just gonna come out and say it: Ramon and Helena are bad parents. Flying to your daughter-in-law’s funeral only to bad mouth her and then try to take your son’s son away again? Yeah, I do not like your style. I wonder how much of Eddie Begins was already planned at this point or if they built that plot about his family for 3.15 based on this episode. Huh. We might never know. (except Twitter)

Also me thinks Eddie choose LA because of Pepa and Abuela, not because of Shannon. She was probably just a bonus.

As for Buck (and Ali): the actors seem to have had fun doing those scenes? I guess? Other than that it’s a little cringy and very out of nowhere and probably more caused by the show having money left over and deciding to built a new set. ANd damn what a set. I wonder how Buck is supposed to be able to afford that because that apartment has probably about 50-75m2 considering there is a kitchen and a living room as well as a room behind the living room and probably an extra room in the upper floor as well (someone do a floorplan and also tell me why Buck needs so much space and wether they think I could move in with him. My apartment is not this nice and LA isn’t that long a commute).

Point being I don’t know why they brought Ali back in the first place, especially in this episode. She was never mentioned after their first date, so why? Just to give people something to discuss during hiatus?

There was no point to have those two incredibly lovey dovey scenes only to have that scenes about what he wants to do next because all those scenes? Would have worked just fine with, you know, his sister (except a little different because incest). Who actually has the what if you can’t go back to being a firefighter - scene with him. So why have a girlfriend you barely introduced and never used before? I’m not mad, 911, just confused! (Fuck me, I really am getting twitter)

As for the topic of this meta, there really isn’t much too tell. Ali honestly doesn’t figure into things except to create more abandonment issues.

I should point out that this episode reinforced the whole Buddie connection thing - from Eddie holding Buck’s hand the whole while he’s pinned to saying „Almost (back to normal)“ to Buck going to Eddie’s ceremony despite probably still being on somewhat of a bed rest.

Other than that, that’s it for Season 2. Whew!

Before I let ya’ll off the hook, though (look, you’ve read it this far, you can now just bear it a bit longer) I wanna comment real quick:

Compared to Season 1 Buck barely had any character development (mainly because he had so much in Season 1 and sometimes stuff like that needs to settle - real life would be the same way)

Eddie however has nearly no development at all and in fact as of Season 3, not a lot has changed in that regard. His issues just became more obvious. Which is something I actually like a lot, because one: he went through a lot of shit in a fairly short amount of time and two: he is such a stubborn and reserved character, anything else wouldn’t be in character and ultimately feel rushed. Plus, because this is his personality it’s feels like we’re actually getting to know him like you would a person in real life? Piece by piece, no unnecessary exposition. Or maybe that’s just me, I don’t really know anything about storytelling.

I also want to comment on Buddie real quick because it would be dishonest if I didn’t and also it’s just glaring me in the face:

The thing is, while I do not necessarily believe they have any intention of making them romantic (because I have been burned too often and just recently by a show that liked to praise itself for its diversity (so a heartfelt fuck you to Sera Gamble and who ever decided to kill off Quentin Coldwater, because that character mattered so much and you destroyed it)), I do think we are right when we talk about connection and parallels and being each others person and just generally being each others closest relationship. Because they parallel their stories so much and they connect them so often and they did do it from the get go like as early as Episode 4 - which was already written and probably already shot by the time Episode 1 aired. So there. I said it. Buddie is real, wether it’s platonic or romantic, it is real. And that also matters!

(although of course if they went with romantic? That would matter a bit more! Tim Minear, listen to me, you could make TV history! This would be bigger than Supergirl making the sister gay in the second season! Ya’ll would be legends, revered by fans for years to come! Also I’d bake you a cake?)

And there you have it! Season 2! We made it! And only like 2000 words more than Season 1.

Can you believe at this point I have written nearly 10.000 words on these two exceptional characters and their issues? And it’s technically only one issue, like I’m ignoring so much stuff just glaring at me right now!

(also on a side note, this is where I tag @angelcamael , who asked me to do so and @greyhello because she inspired me to write this meta in the first place and while it is now ... no longer about that original topic, I’m still gonna tag her)

#buck meta #eddie met #911 meta #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buck #buddie #911 #911 fox #mine #textpost #season 2 #buddie meta #meta #my meta

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