#strong moral leader my ass

[sga-mcshep-4ever]

"And you support this." "All we know for certain is he's going to die, so we might as well make good use of him while he's still alive." "You do understand the Geneva Convention prohibits using prisoners for scientific experiments." "No offense, Doc, but had the Wraith attended the Geneva Convention, they would have tried to feed on everyone there." "Beckett's report indicates that we have no idea what the long-term effect of this drug on humans might be." "Well, we know damn well what the long-term effects of Wraith culling are, right?" "We're talking about putting a human being in the same room as a starving Wraith, and once we start down that road—" "Which road did you think we were headed down?" "Not this one. At least not this fast." "Having spent time with the prisoner, I don't pity him. He's going to die anyway. This drug could be useful some day." "Some day?" "The point is, we don't get a lot of opportunities like this. Do you know how obsessed with this the Hoffans are? When they found out we had a live Wraith prisoner… He's going to die. I've tried to feed him all sorts of live stuff, but apparently, there's only one item on his menu." "And what about the test subject? If the drug fails—" "We're not just grabbing anybody off the street. The test subject is a terminally ill patient who has volunteered himself." "These are not exactly the type of decisions that I was expecting to make on this expedition. Do it."

[chxrryhansen]

౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊ 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐘 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐂𝐑𝐘

Pairing; Dark!Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings; smut, dark themes, non con, breeding kink, oral- both receiving, degrading, size difference, unbalanced power dynamic, huge daddy kink, choking- to the point reader can’t breathe, dumbification, dacryphillia, spanking, steve is very dark in this, no aftercare!! i think thats it? Minors please DNI!!!!!

Summary; Steve Rogers, your boyfriend, the man everybody loved, his soul soft, standing against all evils. Until he got a taste of that sweet power. He became hungry. Now, you have no choice but to obey his rules. Can you bring him back to the light? Or is it too late? (it’s definitely too late)

here we have my first ever full fic! firstly i would like to give a huge thankyou to @dbnightingale24 for giving me the confidence and tips to write this! and another big thankyou to @evansbby and @hansensgirl for inspiring me in the first place for begin writing💘it’s around 3k words and i really put my all into this so please don’t forget to comment and reblog, i would love to hear all of your feedback!🫶🏻 much love, cherry.

₊♡₊˚ 🎀・₊✧

Steve Rogers, the man everyone respected, the man everyone believed in, looked up too. The man you used to cherish, his sweet boyish nature drawing you in from the moment you met. His pearly blues that used to soften as they fell on you, his gentle touch as he caressed your hair, the tender, loving kisses he used to leave all over your body.

Until Fury resigned that was.

Steve was officially the new director of shield, to which nobody opposed, i mean, who would right? He was Captain America, the man out of time. He was perfcet for the role. Strong willed, commanding yet understanding, he had respect for those beneath him and most of all he was compassionate, something that was hard to find in a good leader. This didn't last for long, of course.

Steve shortly became power hungry, his morals became more sick and twisted as his methods became more sadistic. He was violent, cruel…volatile. There was no bringing back Steve Rogers. The problem was he dragged everybody else down with him, nobody dared to stand up to Steve, too frightened of the consequences.

Tony couldn't talk Steve down, he tried for a while, attempted to reach out to him, guide him back to the light...but nothing worked. Tony couldn't do it, nor could you, not even his best friend of over a decade could sway his newfound mindset. You all figured it was best to keep your heads down from now on and follow Steves orders, no matter how out of line they seemed.

Not that you had a choice anyway.

Bucky was short to follow in his footsteps as his second in command. Both cruel and unforgiving. Your friendship with Bucky was practically non-exhistant, you no longer had movie nights together, giggling with big buckets of popcorn.

A simple nod of his head as he passed you down the hall was about as much as you would get. Steve wouldn't allow it now anyway.

Steve's display of affection changed alongside him, the love he made was no longer passionate, or gentle. In fact, he didn’t make love at all anymore… what he made was simply rough, hard, fucking.

The marks he left behind were no longer loving hickeys while he whispered in your ear, moaning sweet nothings as he gently thrusted his hips into your own. His eyes, gleaming with nothing but pure devotion.

They were bruises... bruises from how hard his hips slammed into your ass from behind, his grip tight on your hair, pulling and tugging as your skin became flustered at the impact of his thrusts. You missed the man he was. You often thought about that life while his cock was busy destroying your cunt. He didn’t care about your pleasure anymore, you were nothing but a hole for him to fuck.

From a distance you could hear Steves heavy boots storming down the coridoor. The sound was instantly unsettling. Your body recognising the noise as a trigger for an oncoming threat, sending you into alert mode.

You stood from your office chair on shaky legs, your posture rigid as he turned the corner to enter. His 6'4, stoic figure coming into view, casting a shadow that filled the room. His broad shoulders spread wide, his presence making your tummy tighten with unease.

He said nothing as he stared down at you, your fingers tugging at your short pink skirt- which he had chosen out for you this morning, the same way he customised your figure every morning. Claiming your dumb, baby brain was incapable of choosing an outfit that proved elegance and professionalism. In reality it was the complete opposite.

He liked to dress you in short skirts, ones that left little to the imagination, your asscheeks peeking out most days and revealing blouses, your tits practically spilling out of your shirts. You were highly sought after by the males at the compound before he came and scooped you up a few years ago.

They knew you were his, i mean he was your boyfriend for several years, you were what the female agents used to coo at, naming you as "couple goals". Where Steve went, you went, and vice versa. You were always seen smiling and giggling together, tag teaming on missons and holding hands as you explored the compound.

But, as steves power grew so did his insecurity. His possesive nature grew strong, wanting, no, needing to show other men you belonged to him, and only him. And you always would, whether you liked it or not.

"Get on your knees."

"Wh-What?"

"Get on your knees. You know i don't like to repeat myself." he growls while pushing your office door closed with one arm from behind, not daring to take his eyes of you.

You gulped as he stepped forward, caging you inbetween his thick biceps as you lean against your desk. One thing he was always good at was making you feel small. Even before all of this. Of course it wasn't anywhere near as threatening as it was now. He used to joke about how tiny you were compared to him, how he could pick you up with one hand, it was cute how big and protective he was of you.

Now, he used it to his advantage. He knew you feared him. He knew that you knew, you would never be able to run from him. He would overpower you every damn time with his brute strength.

There was no running from Steve Rogers. His thick beard scraped against your sensitive skin sending shivers down your spine as he groaned into your neck, your scent driving him wild.

He whispered darkly in your ear "Final chance. Get on your knees. Now, or you won't like what'll happen if you refuse me again."

You inhaled sharply, goosebumps spreading across your body in pure fear, or ecstacy. It was hard to tell these days. Steve had conditioned you so well to his own liking that even your body reacted to him in ways you would never fully understand. Or so he says.

Slowly you inched down towards the floor with your knees bent. The cold, rough flooring instantly proving to be uncomfortable as you figited. But Steve didn't care about that, why would he? His thick hand gripped your chin, forcing you to look up at him through hooded eyelids.

His thumb swipes across your bottom lip, he then pushes further, massaging your tongue as saliva begins to pool in your mouth. Removing his thumb slowly, he tugged on your bottom lip with pinched fingers. Before you even realised what was happening he shoves two fingers down your throat.

You sputter and gag around his thick digits, drool leaking out of the corners of your mouth, dripping onto the hard floor. Your eyes squeezed shut in pain as tears began rolling down your flustered cheeks.

His other hand is quick to grip your hair, tugging harshly. "You fuckin' look at me while daddy gags you with his fingers. Actin' like you don't get off on this shit. You love it. Say 'thankyou daddy'." he mocks with a high pitched tone.

Desperately trying to get the words out, you mumble around his fingers, seeming incoherent. He laughs darkly at your poor attempt, shoving his fingers deeper down your throat, gagging you one last time before pulling out.

"You gonna' be a good whore n' suck my dick? Huh? You fuckin' slut." His hand reaches down, pulling your shirt to the side, making your tits spill out. You hear him let out a loud groan, his pants tightening at the sight of your bare chest. He pinches your hard nipple roughly, rolling it roughly inbetween his index finger and thumb as you cry out, tears continuing to stream down your cheeks.

He shushes your cries gently as he begins to massage the same spot he previously assaulted making you keen with pleasure.

He had a thing for associating pain with pleasure, confusing your silly little brain into thinking the hurt he put you through was a good thing since pleasure soon followed. That he was rewarding you.

"Unzip me. Cmon' you dumb baby, take daddys fat cock out."

Listening to your own heartbeat in your ears, your head pounding with adrenaline, your fingers itch towards his pants. Which was apparently too slow for his liking as his grip on your hair tightens, making you sqeeze your eyes shut briefly before opening them, not wanting to anger him further.

You hurridly unzip his pants, reaching into his boxers and pulling out his cock. It's angry head pointing towards you as he grips the base with his other hand, slowing pumping his shaft over your face.

He pushes his bulbous tip into your closed lips, smearing his hot precum all over them. When you refuse to open your mouth he growls, pinching your nostrils closed. Feeling the air begin to leave your lungs, you gasp for breath and he's quick to shove his dick down your throat.

Gagging at the intrusion you cry harder, your lips stretching to fit around his thick length. his hips thrusting into your face as he fucks your throat harshly.

"That's it, you whore. Take daddys dick all the way down your throat. You fuckin' remember this the next time you try to refuse me."

His hand which was previously tugging at your hair moves towards your throat, holding you in a tight grip.

"Fuck... i can feel my fuckin' cock in that tiny throat of yours. Love it when you cry f' me, just makes me want to fuck you even harder, sweet girl." he grunts loudly over the sound of your gagging. Steve swiftly pulls his dick out as you keel over, coughing and sputtering, your throat sore from his brutal assault.

Before you even have a chance to gain your breath, his thick hands grip your shoulders, pulling you upright, bending you over your desk. Your legs shaking as he positions you so your ass is sticking out.

Lowering himself to the ground, he grips the flesh of your ass, squeezing roughly as he lifts up your skirt, briskly pulling your panties to the side. He shoves his nose into your pussy, groaning in delight at your sweet scent.

"Fuck i could live inbetween these slutty legs, your cunt's always ready for daddy, huh? Trained you so well." Your sticky juices smeared across your legs, dripping with desire, his facial hair bristling against your thighs making you squirm.

He mercilessly pushes his tongue as deep as it can go into your hole. You whimper as he laps up your wetness, his tongue prodding at your insides. Your arousal soaking his beard while your pussy clenched around his tongue. He pulls away for a moment, “God, how do you taste so fuckin’ good.” he groans.

Reaching back to grip his hair in your small fists, you go to push his face back into your cunt, completely overwhelmed with pleasure. His hand grips your wrist tightly, pining your arm to the desk, a sure reminder of who's in charge, seeming as you had forgotten your place. “Stay fuckin’ still or i’ll stop. Don’t you ever pull that shit again.”

You moan lewdly as he moves to latch onto your clit, sucking and swirling his tongue around your sensitive bundle of nerves. Groaning into your pussy as he fists his cock.

Your eyes begin to roll back as your orgasm itches closer. Steve, realising this, pulls away once again. Your juices stringing from your clit to his lips as you cry out, your orgasm beginning to fade.

"Stop with the fuckin' whining. Daddy's gonna' fuck you now. Tell daddy how much you want his cock...Cmon. No need to act all innocent now." he pressures at your hesitation.

"P-Please daddy wan' you to fuck me."

"You can do better than that." Steve husks, giving your ass a harsh smack from behind, knowing your skin will blister from his force.

Your lips quiver as you cry, "Please! N-Need your cock inside me so badly, wan' you to destroy me for anybody else. Wanna' feel you in my cervix daddy, Jus' wanna make you feel good. Love how full you make me feel. Please...I-I'll die if you don't fuck me. Pretty pretty ple-."

and before you can finish your sentence your cut off by your own scream, his cock dissapearing inbetween your folds as he bottoms out with a singular thrust. Your legs become slack as your body spasms at the intrustion, his hands grip your hips, keeping you in place as you squirm, instinctively trying to escape his hold.

"F-Fuck, Y-Your so big daddy. It hurts so bad, p-pull out!"

"Shut up." he groans as his thick hand covers your mouth from behind. “Gonna fuckin’ dog fuck you til you can’t think of anything but this fat fuckin’ cock you dirty little slut, you hear me?” he practically growls as he begins to fuck you.

The sound of clapping skin begins to fill the room, agents around the compound sure to hear the way his dick bruitalises your cunt.

"Such a filthy girl i have, always so desperate for daddy to fuck you, even when you try and deny it, i know this sweet pussy would never lie to me." He coos in your ear as you sob, your face wet with tears and saliva.

"My messy whore, see what happens when you don't listen to me? You see what a mess you become? Fuck. You look so pretty like this, this is how you should always be, filled to the brim with my fat dick.”

Steve had always loved fucking you braindead, watching as your eyes glaze over and your tongue begins to hang out of your mouth, drooling all over yourself. It made him feel powerful, like you were dependent on him. Which you were in a sense, always so needy and desperate for him to fuck you.

The impact of his animalistic thrusts turn your skin raw as he speeds up. His arm wrapping around your waist, pressing you close to him as he spreads his legs further apart, hitting a new angle inside your pussy. You let out a loud wanton moan as his balls slap against your clit.

“F-Fuck yes! H-Harder daddy.”

“Yeah? You like that? I know you do, it’s okay. Is my little girls brain goin’ fuzzy? Huh? Poor girl.” Steve mocked, amusement clear in his tone. "M' gonna' cum. Daddy please can i cum?" you whine, the knot in your stomach tightening, a warning that your orgasm was near.

"Yeah baby? You gonna' cum for me you dirty whore? Go ahead, cum all over my dick. Can feel you clenching around me, grippin' me like a fuckin' vice."

Your cream coats his length as you let out a muffled cry, biting your lip harshly as you cum.

"T-Thankyou daddy. Feels s-so good..." you babble, your thick cream creating a ring around the base of his cock. Your weight giving out once again as Steve holds you, smirking as he watches you come undone, giving you no escape from his relentless thrusts.

His thick shaft pummeling your insides as you scream with ecstacy, your pussy throbbing as he fucks you through your high.

"F-Fuck look at that... love watching your cream leak around my cock, taking this dick so good for me. Gonna' cum inside you...yeah? You want daddy to fill you up?" he groans as his own orgasm nears, talking himself through it.

"God, this cunt treats me like a fuckin' king. It's coming baby, daddys gonna cum, Oh fuck fuckkk." his hips twitch and his balls throb as his load begins to fill you, shooting out thick ropes of hot cum into your pussy. Moaning at the sensation of his warmth inside you.

“Take my fuckin’ cum. That’s it, good girl. Love watchin’ your pussy swallow my hot fuckin load, bet you love it too, hm? You slut.” he pants, exhausted from the brutal fucking he just gave you.

He snaps out of it almost instantly, pulling out without warning and tucking his softening cock back into his pants.

Giving your ass a harsh smack, he steps back. You turn to look at him, your eyes glazed over. He stares at the ground with no emotion as he combs his locks with his fingers, making himself seem presentable.

Hope fills you, your heart races as you lick your lips in anticipation, wondering if he will stay to comfort you and hold you the way he used to many months ago.

But he doesn't. You get nothing but a short glance as he turns to exit your office, slamming the door shut on his way out. You slump down against the floor, a complete mess.

Your soft cries turn to sobs, breathing rapidly, your hands gripping your hair as you raise your knees to your chest. It was almost as if he had you in a trance when he was burried inside your cunt, as soon as he was done it was like the fog in your brain had cleared.

People told you there was no bringing the old Steve back, that your sweet, caring boyfriend was gone. Replaced by a monster.

You didn't want to believe them... but maybe you should've.

[wlwmedarda]

I'm honestly just looking to rant and this might be long depending on how fast I get irritated the more I type so if this isn't coherent or well written I apologize in advance. Since it looks like Ambessa will take on a more antagonistic role in arcane season two, I would like to unpack the fandom's antiblackness that you guys are either blind to or aware and too pussy to call it out as my gut is telling me it's gonna increase and if no one is gonna start the difficult conversation then I sure as hell will.

Sevika:

Mel:

Starting off strong with the definition of "you guys want complex female characters but can't even handle her". Mel Medarda is in quite the predicament seeing how she's morally grey, a black woman, AND "gets in the way" of a mlm ship so she was kinda screwed from the start. A cunning politician disowned for her pacifism who acts as a sort of bridge to Noxus' slow introduction, and is THE ONLY CHARACTER IN THE SEASON 1 MAIN CAST SPECIFICALLY CREATED FOR THE SHOW. She's treated like satan incarnate or a Jezebel (highly suggest looking into that if you don't know what that is), GOOD character analysis is rare, and when she is talked about positively, it's so often chalked up to appearances that I'd rather yall not talk about her at all. Oh you love Mel? Then can we talk about her relationship with her mother? Unpack her dynamic with Jayce? Maybe more fanworks centered around her? I've seen yall's fake asses dropping the shittiest fucking takes about her only to turn around and gush over how pretty she is, and yall think you're slick about it and you're not. I would say I prefer the ones who are loud and proud about their hatred but that'd be a lie, they're two cheeks on the same ass; annoying and couldn't give a decent break down of her character if a gun was pointed at they head even she's perfect to dissect. I could talk about her more but we'd be here all day and so many black women even from outside the fanbase have already talked about yall so there's no need for me to add on 🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️.

Quick question, have you guys ever tried to talk about her in a non sexual way? Yes, Sevika is undeniably sexy and you could argue that true stans of hers talk about her outside of horny time, but a good half of the fandom is a different story. In a similar case to Mel's, deep dives into her character are rare to find which is crazy when she acts as Zaun's own "kingmaker". She's loyal to her city and the cause, never to a specific person and will not hesitate to betray you. She could be your right hand man one day, and the next she might find a better kingpin to follow and stab you in the back like it all meant nothing. "Were you tempted?" "Not for a worm like him". Simple and subtle and probably my favorite Sevika scene; she comes to realize Silco is no longer the best leader for Zaun, but he's as good as it gets for now and so she sticks by him. I remember a YouTube comment breaking down how she's essentially the quintessential Zaun: a brute warrior molded by her environment, who defied Vander's peaceful ways and embraced Silco's cruelty. Her mindset and goal is interesting and you'd think it'd result in some fascinating meta or exploration of her upbringing when we got a hint that she potentially has some daddy issues right? Obviously, but what do we get instead? White sapphics treating her like nothing more than a sexual object. How delightful!

Ekko:

This might partially be Riot's fault because — and I hate to sound like a league lore nerd — Ekko is quite underdeveloped compared to the richer origins of his former pre arcane self, but I'm gonna hold off on that till the season finale to see how they handle him. Anyways, at this point the fandom clearly sees him as Jinx's trophy husband. When you talk about him, she is brought into the convo 90% of the time. That's exactly why I prefer black timebomb shippers over the nonblack ones because I trust they actually love Ekko as a character on his own. Even though I have my complaints regarding how's been written so far, I still know he's too good to be reduced to Jinx's loverboy. He fights and cares for his city, the only character that you can confidently say is pure of heart, and is the revolutionary leader Zaun really needs. He's just as smart as Jinx too, he is literally going to create TIME TRAVEL. Why does no one wanna talk about that? Can we be excited for his character development and arc not just for the timebomb scenes you'll get out of it?

Ambessa:

Can't even deny this woman is awful but her presence on screen enthralled me after a couple of rewatches and I also love bad mothers in media so I've settled on a love/hate relationship. Yes, she's definitely gonna have some influence on Caitlyn, which makes sense since she has now lost her mother; she's vulnerable and as we have seen, naive. She's practically free real estate for Ambessa. My recent worry though has been how the fandom seems to be willing to put all of Caitlyn's actions on her as if Cait isn't a grown ass woman who can make her own decisions. Of course being grown doesn't mean you're immune to manipulation, but I've seen some Silco and Jinx comparisons and it is NOT the same. Mind you we haven't even seen the first three episodes; we don't know how far Ambessa's manipulation is going to go and we can't really tell what the dynamic is gonna be like based off of clips and trailers that are likely shown out of context on purpose to throw people off. I'll never defend her actions, hell I'll join in on the lashings, but my black ass is also not gonna sit here and let yall talk about her weirdly or pin all of this on her.

Some might say I'm overthinking this, but I've been here since November 2021 and have sat back and observed for 2 years. You don't have to write deep, philosophical conversations 24/7, I'm sure it's not all in bad faith and I won't act like I don't thirst over Sevika or marvel at Mel's beauty. I'm not saying you have to like these characters and that you're racist if you don't. My frustration comes from the lack of nuanced conversations and hypocritical opinions surrounding black characters in this show. When you try to say something about this, you're hit with excuses; it reminds me of how man obsessed fujoshis act when they're questioned for not giving two fucks about female characters. They're either reduced to one character trait, only admired for their looks, or only discussed when it's about the white character they're connected to. Do NOT under ANY circumstance be black and morally ambiguous, you WILL be held to higher moral standards than everyone's wittle blorbos who can do wrong and are defended from all sides when you dare to take the rose colored stan glasses off and criticize them. What's really ridiculous is you hear the "complex characters" bullshit every two to three business days and some of you have the nerve to boast about this series being diverse while simultaneously ignoring the complexities in the characters of color. This is the main reason I took a step back and with season two around the corner I thought "Hey, maybe it'll be better this time!" and it was a mistake. Good to know yall still have an underlying racism problem you don't wanna address but with some extra classism thrown in. "What will we do once Arcane ends?" hopefully get a job, touch some grass, and reflect. Lord knows yall need it. The faster yall sizzle out the better. I'm done that's all I have to say lol goodnight 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽.

[101suouexpressions]

Umemiya fostering Sakura to be his successor

This is an open secret by now, but in this post, I will dive into the process that Umemiya went through to finally decide on Sakura.

First notice: Pre Shishitouren Arc

In the beginning, Sakura was known as the kid who came to take over the old, disordered, and violent Fuurin, which had definitely given a lot of people the wrong impression of him. However, on his first day, he had proven to have good morals instead of being an arrogant power-seeker.

This had, of course, piqued Umemiya's interest and changed his perception of Sakura.

Shishitouren Arc

However, Umemiya's evaluation of Sakura only commenced when he let the boy participate in the Shishitouren fight. This is like an entrance exam to see if Sakura has what it takes to be a leader.

Clearly, the task wasn't simply "beating the Togame's ass", but it seems like Sakura has to check some certain, hidden boxes. Sakura officially passed the test when he successfully connected to Togame through the fist-fight based on just a few words from Umemiya.

It proved that not only did Sakura have a kind heart, but he could apply newly gained knowledge (this happened again at the bridge, where they had to defend the town from Noroshi, Sakura had learnt to take his environment into account in a fight) very quickly.

The Aftermath of Shishitouren Arc

It seemed that Umemiya had officially made the decision to foster Sakura to become the next leader after that. His attitude had changed.

Moreover, later into the day, instead of hinting vaguely, he explained the concept of a conversation through fists in great details this time.

Doesn't it look like he's teaching it to Sakura? Umemiya only did this because he had officially recognize Sakura as his successor, or at least, his direct mentee.

Throughout Wind Breaker

Umemiya entrusted Sakura with the class leader position, directed him to Kaji for experience, and let him face Endou. Not only did Sakura's credibility increase, but the last point is very interesting because no matter how strong and good at fighting the boy is, Umemiya must have been aware that Sakura is NOT going to win going against a beast like Endou.

Personally, I believe this is a very good parallel to the way Suou taught Nirei how to fight. Umemiya was letting Sakura experience, and from the newest chapters we can tell that Sakura was learning a lot from this challenge.

Why didn't Umemiya choose another person?

Million-dollar question! This was my missing piece, which had been preventing me from writing this post in the first place. Umemiya was in third year, he definitely needed to find a new leader for Boufuurin before he and the four generals graduated. If Sakura didn't arrive at Makochi, then who would be the next leader?

Well folks, with the newest chapter (chapter 146), I can finally give you an answer in the form of a theory.

Umemiya was going to train Sugishita to become the next leader.

I'm making a separate post for this theory, which is coming VERY SOON (I am writing it right after this post). In the mean time, can you guess why? :3

UPDATE: THEORY IS UP!

As a thank you for reading this far, have this Sakura playlist.

[ladyloveroll]

(These are my ACTUAL notes from my friends birthday party full of people who absolutely did not know who the fuck Itachi and Kisame were or how pairing names work or what a ship is.)

Writing kisaita (on and off) for 15 years

Never get tired of the ship

Excellent, friendly people in the fandom to keep making content (Cynni)

Presentation is less about the specific ship and more about the general qualities that make their ship S-tier. You may find this echoed in your own OTP, IDK.

Powerful, badass characters who can kick anyones asses no problem, as depicted where they are casually taking a stroll after Kisame (who still has his little fo-hawk) casually takes down the four-tails

Kisame is noted as the ‘tail-less jinchuuriki’

Itachi is clearly a fucking powerhouse, we don’t need to debate that

Working with strong characters means you are more easily able to portray their weakness and explore that side of them since that rarely gets screentime

Auxiliary, not main characters

Main characters are harder to write because they spend a lot of screen time accomplishing their goal and doing Plot

Auxiliary characters are more malleable, and morally gray ones especially so

Depicted here are Itachi and Kisame, separately, being ordered by their villages to kill their own people. They carry this order out, but do not particularly like it. Nor are they particularly loyal to their own villages, despite carrying this order out. It’s hard to say where their loyalities lie.

The answer is WITH EACH OTHER OBVIOUSLY

Any ship that has a timeskip has LOADS of canon-verse material you can work with, especially if it feels like the characters have changed or their dynamic has changed.

For Naruto especially, WTF are Kisame and Itachi doing for three years? Clearly neither of them are out capturing jinchuriki. They aren’t seen lounging around Amegakure or Akatsuki headquarters. They are just traveling the world. Probably doing hits. Probably hitting on EACH OTHER WOOOOOO

Long time skips mean a few thing: 1) Canon divergence, 2) Canon compliant, 3) pre-time skip, 4) during time skip, 5) post time-skip; and that’s not even the AU’s

They clearly haven’t made any other friends during this time either so lots of relationship to explore

The Naruto franchise is notorious for retconning. Probably because Kishimoto (the writer) was pushed to create at a pace that was impossible for any sane or healthy man to keep up with.

Fanficition writers can take advantage of this poor writing by interpreting the character in a lot more ways than if the character was solidly written.

There are a lot of different ways Kisame is written, and accepted as so

Itachi less so but we don’t have time for that

Retconning allows you to take a writers mistake and turn it into utter brainrot that ten other people (me) will reblog every 3 years

This one is kind of specific, but if you like angst then OH BOY this ship has a lot of potential for it

Any OTP that involves an angsty edgelord and a sadistic tagalong can indulge in either EXTRA ANGST and be able to balance out the angst with humor

The KisaIta ship has 4 great themes about it:

Redemption

Acceptance

Forgiveness

And Existentialism of course

Dynamic:

Sharkboy / lava girl

Edgelord / goof

Leader / follower

Maybe old? / a touch too young

Respect for each other

S-tier OTP because of strong themes and repeatable dynamics

Kinkfest here we come

S-tier OTPs must be able to withstand an intense variety of smut writing

Powerful level = able to handle pain and dish out pain

Body things? = more positions

The Shape of Water was one of the single best thing to happen to the KisaIta 18+ fics because (even though it existed before the movie came out) a lot more readers were into it now

Also, Kisame makes this ship work more than Itachi. He is fucking DEVOTED

at this point I was running out of my 10-minutes (THEY HAD THE AUDACITY TO PUT ME ON A TIMER) so i just backfilled the rest of the presentation with fanart and memes i like

Why do I like KisaIta?

I mostly write smut

They’re great at smut

I also like angst

They’re always great for angst, either character

Also look at them they are hot AF

Beefcake service-top vs. ‘shaped like a katana’ masochist

Healthy dose of hurt-comfort

They’re extremely flexible to write and so there’s a lot of stories you can create

thank you for not reporting me to the powerpoint police

[watermelongirl01]

Fresh Blood Part 2

Aaron Hotchner x fem!reader

Criminal Minds x Supernatural

Summary: Maybe your recovery was a bigger challenge for Hotch than it was for you.

Content Warning: Violence Explanation and a Worried Hotchner.

“Hotch.” A firm voice called from the door for the BAU leader.

Hotch turned his sight just to look at Rossi’s worried face. He got closer to embrace you into a strong hug, but quickly returned at the door waiting for Hotch. 

“Hey, how are you feeling?”

“Soon to be engaged.”

“What?” Rossi asked with confusion.

Hotch left the room at the right time, following Rossi’s steps down the hall.

“Do we have something new?”

“Her parents are on the way, they want to thank you.”

“For what?”

“You have to be kidding Hotch, you saved her daughter’s life, you realized first than anyone that she was missing.”

“And JJ”

“Yeah, but JJ didn’t shove transit rules down her ass just to get to her.” Rossi’s exasperation got the best of him earning Hotch’s severe look. “I can see you care.”

“She’s my agent, of course, I care.”

“Not like that, and I don’t mean to meddle in your business, but maybe after this, you should let yourself be happy, 'cause I can tell she cares too” Aaron furrowed his eyebrows.

“We’re not talking about that, Do we know something about her attacker?” Rossi sighed, feeling defeated.

“According to her father, Gordon is a hunter, great skills, but with questionable morals, and a few months ago he had an argument with a close friend leading him to prison, he thinks her daughter got caught in the middle of all.”

“I disagree, she said someone was in danger and she had to let them know.” 

“He was looking for something?”

“Possibly” Rossi nodded while reaching for his phone in his suit jacket pocket. “I’ll stay with her and try to get as much information as I can, you can leave with the team.”

“She’s giving you that much of a hard time?” 

“You are welcome to try and do it better.”

Both gentlemen walked straight into your room, finding you whispering into the phone.

“I’m fine, just a little dizzy, and at this point I don’t know if it is the concussion or the medicine cocktail.” You said ignoring the older man standing at your door. “No, Sammy, just promise me you’ll take precautions.” 

When you finally looked up at the questioning eyes staring, you let out a little yelp immediately hanging up the phone.

“Hi, Dave!” You eagerly greeted.

“Hey, feeling better?” You nodded. “I’m glad, you really scared us. We just wanted to know if you have something to tell us.”

“Yeah! Did you know that you cannot spell Hotchner without Hot?” You asked with a confident smile while moving your eyebrows up and down. “I personally think that maybe that's indicative of who’s the hottest on the team.” 

Rossi sent a questioning but funny look at you, but in your medicine-filled mind, you weren’t sure if you said something wrong or if he was offended by you not finding him the hottest. Hotch just didn’t know how to act, so he caught your attention by placing a hand on your shoulder.

“Don’t tell Morgan, he gets insufferable when you say he's not your type.” 

“She’s on strong meds.” Hotch assured while Rossi was trying to hide his big smile. “What David meant was, if you remember something of the man who hurt you.” 

“He said I was stubborn.” You shook your head in disapproval. “Rude, really rude.”

Maybe you deflected their questions many times or maybe your snarky comments had them tired, but Rossi left the room leaving you alone with Hotch, he didn’t pressure you into telling him the truth anymore, but after the medication started to leave your body, the reality punched you in the face, so it was inevitable to begin to cooperate with him.

“Thank you for saving my life.” You said.

“What did he want?”

“Information I couldn’t give him” 

“Would you tell me exactly what happened?”

An uncomfortable silence made a presence in the room, but you didn’t lose Hotch’s attention, not even for a second. You shifted on the bed trying to make yourself comfortable.

You shrugged your shoulders. “I don’t know, he managed to distract me, I should’ve known the open window was bait.” You hid your face in your own hands for a moment but immediately composed yourself. “I fell right into it and he disarmed me.” 

Hotch wanted to stop you, each word felt like being stabbed once again, but he needed to hear it so he could catch the guy. 

“I woke up tied to the chair, and now I’m here, I’m so sorry.”

“That’s not your fault, you did everything you could.”

“No, I didn’t, that’s why I’m apologizing.” You closed your eyes not wanting to see Hotch’s disappointed look. “I had the information I could’ve given to him, I chose not to.”

Hotch shifted, getting closer to you. “Why did you do that?”

“Because someone’s life was at risk.”

“So was yours.” You opened your eyes lightly looking at him with sorrow and he sighed with tiredness. “Does it have to do anything with the person you were on the phone with?” 

“Yeah, I had to warn them.”

“I get that” Hotch cleared his throat then placed one of his hands above yours. “I also want to apologize.”

“Wait, don’t do that thing.”

“That thing?” 

“Yes, the thing that you do when someone in the team gets hurt and you take the blame.” He looked the other way and let a little chuckle leave his lips. “He was determined to find me either way, tomorrow, after tomorrow, next week. He is to blame, not you.”

“You do know me that well, huh?” You flashed him a big smile.

“I mean, you saved me, I owe you a big one, paperwork is on me, next case.” He returned his gaze to you with a stern look. “Wait, I am going to get back, right?”

“Yeah, after two weeks on leave and one on desk duty.”

“Ha! So I’m getting paperwork either way, awesome.”

A comfortable silence flooded the room and at some point, Hotch’s and your eyes found each other. Hotch squeezed your hand.

“Would you promise me to take care of yourself more than you take care of others?”

“Right back at you, Hotch.”

“We can discuss it over dinner, I do owe you one.”

You shook your head. “I know what you’re doing there, you don’t owe me anything, you saved my life, Aaron.” 

“You’re so smart, huh?”

“Hey, I almost saw Coco people, and the nurse just refilled my medication cocktail, but I can detect self-inflicted guilt when I see it.”

“Would you say yes to dinner and listen to me for once?”

“No.” You made a sudden gesture with your hands, referencing your mind blowing.  “I know, shocking, but if I say yes, you’re going to believe I blame you, and I don’t.” 

He sent a little smile to you and leaned closer to kiss your forehead. “I’m going to catch him.” 

“I know.”

~~~

On your two weeks leave, you almost went crazy, you didn’t know if it was your parents treating you like a child, the Winchesters calling every five minutes to apologize or the members of your team taking turns to check your apartment every night.

“So, let me get this right, He was so sure Sammy was going to become a monster but he became one in the process.”

“And the one he hated the most, a vampire.” Dean’s voice said in the other line.

“That´s what I call divine justice.” You said while shifting to get comfortable on your bed, Not that you ever left it, but trying different positions on the mattress was your only way to have fun recently. “Now we know who is not going to hunter’s heaven.”

“What’s with you and heaven and angels lately? We are not going anyway.”

“We? Speak for yourself, Dean.”

“I don't think they will let in somebody who shot me on the feet when I was ten.”

“It was a mistake and I was six! It was my first time with a gun.”

“Well, now we know how good you are with guns, maybe you need another masterclass from me.”

“Hey, I had no chance with Buffy the Vampire Slayer right there, I was asleep. You know I need at least one hour to process I'm awake.” Dean’s laughter echoed in your cell phone's speakerphone

“Yeah, about that. Sammy and I were talking and although we hope this never happens again, we want to ask you to never place our whereabouts over your own life.”

“You know that´s not happening De, I'm never going to betray you like that guys.”

“Can we at least come up with a believable lie, so you don't taunt a guy with a knife in his hand again?”

“That sounds reasonable.” You agreed, and after some noises on Dean’s behalf, you found out that Sam was also in the room. “Is that Sammy? Put him in the phone!.”

“Hmm, about that.” You tilted your head on your pillow waiting for Dean’s answer. “He thinks everything is his fault and doesn't want to talk,”

“You Winchesters are something else, I swear to God, put him in the phone, I don’t care that he doesn't want to talk because he knows I’ll tell him otherwise but he’s too busy punishing himself.” You hear some noise in the other line.

“Hi.” Sam’s shy voice came to your ears. “I'm really sorry.”

“What’s with all the men in my life blaming themselves for all my mistakes, I must be irresistible.” Sam chuckled a little. “It´s not your fault Sammy.”

“He hurt you because of me.”

“He hurt me because he was a horrible man, and now he’s never going to hurt me thanks to you.”

Now you need to deal with the “Disappearing” of your aggressor, the last time he left a trace was at your building when the security camera from your lobby caught him leaving. You knew the truth, but saying “No need to search for my aggressor, he turned into a vampire and then got the headless horseman treatment by the Winchester’s hand.”  Wasn’t a normal thing to say, so you went along with the lies to your team and just let Hotch know there wasn’t a need for looking for him anymore.

~~~

You arrived at the building first hour on Monday morning, using crutches wasn’t your fashion choice, but it was mandatory for at least one more week by your Doctor. You limped your way to your office meeting with an excited Emily, a ready to hug you JJ, and a happy Penelope holding a cake, right in front of your door.

“Finally! My days of sneaking around to steal your snacks are over, welcome back!” JJ embraced you in a tight hug followed by a breathtaking hug from Emily. 

“Hotch forbid us from your office.” Penelope shrugged her shoulders.

“He did?” The three girls nodded at the same time.

“We missed you a lot around here.” Emily said after letting you go. “Hotch was in such a horrible mood.” You rolled your eyes.

“Aww, missed you just as much, girls.” You said with a big smile on your face, but quickly eying them with suspicion. “Are my snack drawers empty?” 

—-

After a warm welcome back from the team, and a quick trip to a different floor just to get the result of your psychological evaluation, at the end of your day, you found a man sitting on your chair waiting for you.

“Hotch?”

“Hey, I was waiting for you.”

“How did you know I was still in the building?”

“Well, one, I’m aware of everything that happens with my agents, and two, there was no way you would leave early.”

“You make me sound like a workaholic, and that’s you.” You accused while pointing your finger at him.

“Dear, you know the name of every security guard at every single shift change.” You’re not going to lie, the pet name made your heart beat faster.

“Oh oh, am I in trouble boss?”

“Not at all, I just thought that everyone welcomed you back with gifts but me, so I improvised my own way.”

“Oh my God, am I dreaming? please just pinch me to know.”

Hotch rolled his eyes blurting a chuckle while he placed a bag of food from your favorite restaurant on your desk. You were sure your favorite restaurant was your best-kept secret, and you were absolutely surprised when he placed your favorite dish in front of you.

“How did you know?” 

“I have my ways.” He said placing the food containers around.

“Penelope? That’s cheating.”

“Nope.” Hotch looked at you while offering you the seat. “We are going to be here for a while, you know all that paperwork, we might as well do it with a full stomach.” He simply said wearing a big smile from you.

You smiled at him. “Yes, Sir.”

What you didn’t know was that you calling him that way, also shifted something for Hotch even though he refused to admit it.

[ollypopwrites]

From Depths Unknown ; Part 3

Part 1 ⚜ Part 2 ⚜ Ao3

Rolan x F!Tav (AFAB, she/her) *Tav is a Storm Sorcerer, but no actual reference to her appearance.

Rating: E

Tags & Warnings: [18+ MDNI] Language, Canon-typical violence (there is a lot discussion of blood and injuries in this chapter), Major Character Death, Sexual Content (mostly just horny thoughts), background Bloodweave.

Chapter Summary:

Not even Moonrise Tower nor the Shadowcursed land had been this hectic. They dodged rains of incredible fire from dragons, psionic blast from nautiloids and falling debris from buildings crashing around them. Fighting their way through an army of cultists, mindflayers and intellectual devourers, her team felt as united as ever. Everyone felt the finality of it.

Notes: I wanted some whump, okay? I promise they will fuck eventually.

“Rolan? Really? I thought he hated your guts.” 

“You haven’t seen him pining from afar?” Shadowheart asked dramatically. 

“Honestly, Tav, he’s a decent bloke,” Wyll said. “A bit rough around the edges —“

“A bit?!” Karlach protested. 

“Alright, quite rough around the edges,” Wyll amended.

“And pompous,” Shadowheart added. 

“Completely up his own ass,” Karlach agreed.

“Alright!” Tav said, “I’ve told you all, nothing happened.” 

Her and Rolan had been camp gossip from the moment they had walked into their suite; Tav had a hangover and a strong need for coffee, while Rolan was stiff with embarrassment at the questioning looks from her companions. He couldn’t stay long, but they had food and tea and coffee, which was the least she could offer him. She remembered most of the night: the crying, yelling and him having to arrange a makeshift bed for her. As it was embarrassing as it was, she felt a little better getting it all off of her chest. The details were fuzzy, but she knew she had come on to him. While nothing untoward had happened, the camp only saw their leader come through the doors looking bedraggled with an equally out of sorts tiefling wizard. Tongues had been sent wagging immediately. 

“But you do fancy him, don’t you?” Karlach asked. 

She took a deep breath. “Can we focus on the task at hand?” 

“Only after you admit you want to shag the grumpy wizard,” Shadowheart teased. 

“Fine, fine!” Tav felt like tearing out her hair. “Yes, yes I like him. Okay. Can we move on now?” 

“Sheesh,” Karlach breathed. “Take him to bed, mate. You need it.”

She didn’t need Karlach to tell her that. She pushed on, ignoring them. Wyll, however, caught up quickly to her. 

“I won’t lie to you, my friend, he hasn’t made the best impression,” he told her. “But he’s truly a good man.” 

“I know that.” 

“So, are you going to come clean about what happened on the roof then?” He was grinning, boyish and mischievous. 

“Not you too, Wyll, please you were my last hope.”

Her only saving grace was that they found their way to an unusual engineer named Redhammer and his submersible, which happened to be the same culprit that had killed one the the priestesses of Umberlee. While she had half agreed to kill or hand him over if she found him, he offered an opportunity to find the hostage Gondians in the Iron Throne. Tav decided to take some inspiration from Astarion, using him to get down to the Iron Throne before she ultimately left his fate up to Umberlee's order. She thought she should have felt guilty, but he had been so casual about killing the priestess and transporting hostages she found herself lacking any real remorse. After the tadpole was out of her head, she thought she may have to reassess her moral compass. 

After saving the Gondians, Duke Ravengaurd himself and their old friend Omeluum she was happy to be alive and not blown to bits at the bottom of the Chionthar. The priestesses of Umberlee had even rewarded them with a beautiful robe in exchange for finding Redhammer. Gale was the only other person it would have been suited for and he was too embarrassed to wear it despite the entire camp teasing him about it. It was a bit risqué, but when Tav slipped it on she felt it cling to her body and the strange fabric was so damn comfortable she felt as if it were a second skin. She quite liked it. 

They made their way to Sorcerer’s Sundries, knowing the next day would be their chance to finish up the infiltration of the Steelwatch Foundry. Tav was sure Gortash would not bring the Steelwatch down on them right away. The last thing he needed was his army of metal titans tearing apart the city to find them, civilians would inevitably get hurt and then they would get angry. Gortash needed a city scared but ready to cling to a tyrant that could keep them safe, not ready to revolt for stepping on their children. They had to move, but she wanted to let him sweat and take time to get ready for their final push. 

The foundry, the hammer, the last Netherstone. Then the brain. There was finally a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Rolan was rarely in the shop these days. His mirror image had taken his position at the counter, helped along by the other specialists and Cal or Lia. Tav made her way upstairs; despite her pride she owed Rolan thanks for the night before and an apology for the teasing her friends had thrown his way in the wake of it. And she wondered if he’d like her new robes. It was silly, and pointless in the face of everything else that was going on but the desire was there, hiding behind her ‘noble’ reasons for disturbing him in the middle of the day. She made her way through the portal which led to the study Rolan was now using as his own office throughout the day. The blood, ash and bodies had all been cleared away — the decadent room was still in process of being redone to Rolan’s standards but it had come a long way since Lorroakan’s death. 

“Rolan?” She called. 

“A minute, please,” he replied from the balcony. 

Tav rolled her eyes, muttering about wizards and their books. She strolled about the room. He seemed to be in the process of organizing tomes, one of the animated suits of armor was picking up a stack piled on the ground and taking it through another portal. She recalled him mentioning a library, and wanting to cultivate his own favorites for the study. It was his, now, after all. 

“Please tell me you didn’t wear that into battle?”

When he had heard Tav’s voice carry through the study, he noted a lack of distinct irritation at being interrupted. Another sign that Tav was becoming worryingly exempt from his usual ‘prick-ish particularities’ as Cal had so kindly put it. He had just seen her that morning and as awkward as breakfast had been amongst her companions, he had to force himself to finish putting books on the shelf before heading down the stairs. He needed to retain some of his dignity, after all, despite his desire to eagerly stop everything he was doing at the sound of her voice. Tav waited for him below, and as usual, he took a mental note of any new injuries she may have acquired.

Robes with pieces of protective gear was what she normally wore. Soft leathers and sturdy cotton robes, with something to protect her vulnerable points. Even out of armor she usually only wore a simple tunic and cloth pants. His surprise to find her at the center of his study in an outfit that was all flesh and skin tight fabric made him stop in his tracks. The light blue ensemble clung to every curve, dipped low between her breasts (that damned pearl dangling at the center of her chest matched well with this new outfit, he noted), and was slit at the legs so all he saw was skin bared up to a concerning height on her thighs. Her worn leather boots stuck out, not quite fitting in with the sleek outfit, but that did nothing to preserve him from staring dumbly. 

His momentary gawking was interrupted when he realized this scrap of fabric was meant to be armor. All the soft spots of her were exposed to cuts and bruises. 

“Please tell me you didn’t wear that into battle?”

“You don’t like it?”

“That’s hardly the point I’m trying to make,” he said quickly. 

“Then what is the point?”

“Don’t be stupid,” he said. “You can’t wear that in a fight. It’s…” 

Ravishing. So easy to slide aside so I could have any part of you I wanted, he thought. 

“Impractical.” He said aloud. 

“And you decide what I wear now?”

“No,” he replied through grit teeth. “Of course not.”

“Well, I like it.” Tav shrugged him off, turning away and walking around to look at his progress in the study. 

The dress was just as tight in the back, he noticed, his mind reeling and his pulse thrumming. “Where did you even get it?”

“It was a gift from the priestesses of Umberlee,” she said. 

“And what, pray tell, did you do to earn it?” 

“Freed some hostages in a prison at the bottom of the Chionthar and found the man who killed one of their order.” She listed casually. “Duke Ravenguard was down there, if you can believe it. And then Archduke Gortash, magnanimous man that he is, tried to blow us up,” her tone dripped with sarcasm, “it’s been quite a day.”

“Your usual heroics, then,” he grit out. 

“Of course,” she grinned, and everything about the smile was a challenge, a tease, and he was certain he never wanted her so badly. “I know you love to hear about my gallantry. Not bad for a girl who started the day with a terrible hangover, I think.”

“Is there a point to your visit?” He asked tersely. 

“Actually, yes,” she finally came up to him. 

Close enough to touch. The fabric looked soft, and shimmery, probably pleasant enough to run his hands over but the exposed space between her breasts seemed particularly ripe for licking. His jaw clenched as he made the Herculean effort to look her in the eyes. The teasing look she had before was gone, something a little more bashful and sweet. It only made it harder to keep his hands to himself. 

“I wanted to say thank you for last night.” She said, “I don’t remember all of it… but I know I was not at my best. Thanks for putting up with me, and sorry my friends are busybodies.” 

Rolan didn’t know what to say. A whirlwind was inside him. Pure want and affection. Irritation at said want and affection. Irritation at himself for not being able to just say what he wanted to. This was all getting entirely out of hand. 

“How is your arm?”

“My….arm?”

“You’re still scarred, from that ring you so foolishly put on when you had no idea what it did,” he snapped. 

“Oh, that,” she deflated. “Fine. Just these marks,” she pushed back the sleeves of the robe to look at them. “Gale thinks it was some kind of connection to the elemental plane.” At his responding silence she shifted awkwardly. “Okay,” she drew out the word, “I’m going to go.” 

“Goodbye.”

He stayed to watch her go, eyes glued to the way the robes clung to her bottom, the shift of the fabric and delicate metalwork over her exposed legs. 

“You can’t wear that,” he blurted out. “Not in battle. You’ll be ripped to shreds.”

And so would the robe itself, which would be a terrible shame in and of itself, the more he thought about it.

“You said that already.” 

“It bears repeating.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Goodbye, Rolan.” 

As she stepped through the portal and he was left alone he groaned, rubbing both hands over his face, as he muttered to himself, “you’re going to kill me you meddlesome, irritating, beautiful woman.” 

While there had been little notice before the Netherbrain broke free and started unleashing terror on the city, Tav had at least warned her allies ahead of time that it could happen any day at any time. With Rolan’s permission, Counselor Florrick had spread the word that the tower was going to be one point of haven in the city. It had protections and wards, and plenty of space. When all hells broke loose, Cal and Lia were holding down the fort while he made his way to High Hall. Thankfully most of the fighting was happening in the upper city, but mind flayers were running rampant, the sky was red with fire, full of errant blasts from nautiloids and dragons. 

He sent civilian healers as he found them to the tower, instructing them to take whoever they could with them. The high hall was crowded, Flaming Fists taking account of all the allies of Tav’s which had gathered. Many of them he recognized, some he had never seen before, but his heart swelled with pride at the gathering of people who were ready to support Tav and her friends. 

When she came through the door with all her camp in tow, smattered in blood, as she always was, he thought she may cry at the showing. There wasn’t much time, but she took a moment to appraise them of her plan. Her entire party would take the main push to the brain, along with the illithid she had with her. There was no time to explain, she only assured them that this person — Orpheus, was on their side. She needed anyone she did not call to her side to focus on protecting the few points of refuge they had managed to secure in the city, and above all to keep as many civilians safe as possible. She was given means to summon her allies as needed.

As Tav made the quick effort to offer thanks to everyone individually, he felt the terror of it being the last time he saw her. This was not the Tav which he’d had drinks with at the Elfsong every night leading up to this battle, laughing with her friends, carefree for just a few hours. This was the woman who had lead four people to victory against a small army of Goblins, who stormed Moonrise towers and lifted the curse over Reithwin. Focused, determined and if she was scared it never once showed on her face. Only the storm dancing behind her eyes, calm before she exploded into action. 

Rolan had to believe the next time he’d see her, she would be relaxed and teasing him about something over a glass of wine. As she approached him last, before heading out to save the city, he bolstered himself to be whatever she and the rest of the people of Baldur’s Gate needed. 

“The tower is ready, you need only call.” He told her swiftly. 

“Thank you.” She nodded. “Rolan, I — “ she bit her lip and clenched her eyes shut. “If I survive this —“

“You will,” he said certainly. 

“If I do,” she repeated, eyes boring into his with earnesty he hardly knew how to deal with, “would you like to join me for a bottle of Arabellan Dry?”

“Are you asking me on a date? Right now?” As if to punctuate his point the ground shook, horrible screeching sounds and the roar of a dragon sounded out. 

“Might be my last chance,” she breathed. 

“It won’t be,” he insisted. If she was going to be bold enough to ask him out for a drink before running off to certain death — he had to rise to the challenge. He grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips. “You’ll come back to me, gloriously and infuriatingly victorious.”

If he said it confidently enough it may just come true. It had worked for him before.

Tav nodded, squeezing his hand in hers. She hesitated, but there was little time for more to be said. She suddenly began to dig under the collar of her armored robes with her free hand. After fidgeting for a moment with something around her neck she held out the chain of the necklace which held her Pearl of Power. 

“Can you hold onto it for me? I don’t want to lose it again.” 

“You may need it,” he was unsure what else to say. 

“Already used it today,” she said, “it’s just sentimental right now. And just — hold onto it. Please.” 

Tav took his hand and placed the necklace into his palm, gently curling his fingers over it. It was such a small trinket, but the implications of her leaving it with him made it feel immeasurably valuable. He thought he would rather die than let it come to any harm. The dramatics of such a train of thought struck him so violently with the realization that he was undoubtedly in love. The terrible timing for such an epiphany was only emphasized by a loud boom on the roof and the shudder of dust and small bits of debris raining down on them.

Tav let go of his hand and with a determination in her eye he knew all too well, led her party out into the midst of terror with no other word. 

There was no time to stop. 

Not even Moonrise nor the Shadowcursed land had been this hectic. They dodged rains of incredible fire from dragons, psionic blast from nautiloids and falling debris from buildings crashing around them. Fighting their way through an army of cultists, mindflayers and intellectual devourers, her team felt as united as ever. Everyone felt the finality of it. She had seen Astarion and Gale share what they thought might possibly be their last kiss. Watching them felt like an intrusion, but the glance she had gotten of desperate softness in their eyes made her more determined than ever. Tav silently vowed that she would come out of this with everyone alive and ready to begin anew. 

When they finally found the  stalk of the Elderbrain it led higher and higher up over the city. She felt the adrenaline spurring her to start to climb, and she didn’t have to look behind her to know they followed. At the top it was an onslaught of psionic forces: the netherbrain, the illithids it commanded, and the tadpoles in their heads revolting at every move they made to fight against them. There were moments that blanked out, as she was stunned or her head hurt so badly she felt she couldn’t see. They were all moving on pure instinct to survive. 

Karlach’s rage was an unstoppable force, Lae’zel cut down anyone in her path with brutal efficiency, and the only thing more intense than the amount of healing magic Shadowheart was expending was the force with which she brought down her mace. Jaheira and Halsin were in charge of summoning reinforcements as needed, controlling the battlefield with Druidic magic while Gale sent off spell after spell with devastating effect. Astarion and Wyll danced around the battlefield; Wyll’s combined magic and skill with the blade making him virtually untouchable while Astarion flitted in and out of visibility, daggers digging into flesh with deadly accuracy. 

And she exploded with magic. 

Her arm hurt, the flowing lines of whatever had touched her when she put on that ring in the tower glowed and raged as she gave everything she had. When she felt she had nothing left, it fed her new power, keeping a steady stream of lightning ready to strike. There was not a lot of time to think on this new development, only time to acknowledge that whatever it did to her, her magic was thriving on it. Her magic felt centered for the first time in her life. Controllable, not just something she was barely wrangling and flinging around blindly. 

The last push to the crown was upon them. The way just needed to be cleared, she called to Halsin over the clamor of it all, tadpole transmitting to the others her plan. In truly rumbling cacophony explosions rained down, almost clearing their path. For a moment she took in the show of power from Ramazith’s Tower, but they had to bolt forward. 

Lae’zel took the lead, attacking an illithid arcanist guarding the portal they needed to get into. Gale was quick behind her, magic missiles firing off in every direction and counterspell quickly cast afterwards. Karlach was keeping the way clear, as more illithid were summoned, hacking at tentacled heads until they rolled off. Tav took off for the portal, only to come face to face with her father. 

No. It was her dream guardian. The Emperor’s trick. 

When she had first seen the man in her dreams she had thought the same thing: he was just similar looking enough to her dear old dad to get her guard down but not so identical it would ring off alarm bells in her mind. Tav’s father was dead, after all, the Emperor had toed the line of familiarity on purpose. The single moment of hesitation was enough for the guardian to blast her with psionic energy, knocking her off of her feet.  An intellect devourer took its chance and leapt onto her. Searing pain spread through her abdomen as claws dug in and tore. It was climbing up her body, ripping skin with every step. Her arm was pinned underneath one of its horrid legs, unable to cast, and she felt the thunderous pulse in her chest, the tingle of electricity in her veins — and then a dagger came down stopping the devourer in its tracks.

Astarion was above her, kicking the thing off of her. With a cry she felt the claws slip loose, blood pouring out of the wounds. The pain slipped away to the back of her mind as she flung forward, hands outstretched  when a chain of lightning erupted at another dream guardian which tried to stop Gale. Astarion helped her to her feet, shoving a meager healing potion at her. It was not enough to close the wounds, but it gave her a rush of new vitality and they ran for the portal

This was it. This was the final task. All they had to do was survive long enough to take out the Netherbrain. 

After setting off the blasts at Halsin’s command, Rolan had launched himself halfway down the stairs, nearly stumbling and stepping on his own tail. There were a handful of Flaming Fists, armed civilians, Cal, Lia and even Aradin guarding the perimeter of the tower; he had to go join them. The store was always chaotic with all the summons wandering around and magical effects but this was a different vein of mayhem. Anyone he could find with healing magic along the way was running around, people were screaming and crying on the floors and any clear surface available. 

It sounded like Elturel. 

Shaking his head of the thought, he pushed through the doors. People were still running, trying to get through the doors of the tower and whatever building still stood to get away from the carnage. The square was full of bodies and blood and rubble. He spotted Cal and Lia, both alive and fighting well. Cal’s swing was strong, Lia’s aim was impeccable — he was able to focus on casting. An illithid floated forward, chasing after a meal of one of the Flaming Fists' brains, Rolan quickly cast color spray, confusing the creature and shortly after one of Lia’s arrows sunk into its elongated head.

Cal got stunned, his head in his hands as he wobbled on his feet, two mindflayers floating towards him. Rolan nearly tripped over his robes to grab his brother by his shirt and pull him back, Cal fell and as soon as he was out of the line of attack Rolan felt the boom of thunder erupt from his hand. The illithids were sent backwards, landing on their back, prone. 

“Cal,” he turned to offer a hand to his brother, “stay steady.” 

“Yeah,” Cal grunted, shaking his head free of the psionic force which had stunned him. “I’m good, I’m alright.” 

“Rolan! Incoming!” 

Lia’s voice called out before she let an arrow loose. His eyes flicked to the sky, a nautiloid was overhead, a beam of some sort beginning to glow with energy. 

“To me! Now!”

Aradin and anyone nearby enough to hear him huddled close, Rolan swiftly casting an orb of invulnerability. He had never cast it before, not successfully, but it was all he could think of to try. A slight red shimmer created a bubble around them, the nautiloid made its attack. A few people were decimated by the blow immediately outside of the orb, even a ravenous illithid in the middle of extracting a brain from a skull had not made it out of the way in time. The spell worked. Rubble flew into the air with the blast, and stopped bluntly at the barrier. 

Thank the Gods. Rolan thought to himself, sweat beading down his temple. 

Lia ducked in and out of the orb to shoot off arrows, clearing the path for some to make their way to the tower or within the confines of Rolan’s temporary protection. He managed to keep the orb up long enough for the blasts to cede after the nautiloid was distracted from attacking the ground by a Githyanki force of dragon riders. 

“There’s more coming!” Aradin yelled. “We should fall back into the tower.”

“The wards can only take so much,” Rolan snapped back. “Get out there and kill something or get out of the way!”

He never understood Zevlor’s well-known ire for the mercenary more as he fled inside. As he had said, more illithids came out of the woodwork. The alien army had not found it necessary to send any armored mind flayers — relying on the freshly transformed tadpoled masses which had been lurking in the city. They had numbers, but most of them were stark naked, and sloppy in the unusual new bodies. Many of them fell quickly, which was his only comfort against the slowly dwindling numbers of his own allies. If they just kept it up, they could maintain the line of defense around the tower. 

“Come on, Tav,” he heard Lia scream as another Flaming Fist fell to an illithid. “Just kill it already!” 

There was no way for Tav to hear them, but he understood the panic. He felt each second that passed since he set off the blasts from the tower as if it were an hour. They could not keep this up forever, and part of him knew that as intense as it was on the ground, up there where the brain hovered in the air it was ten times worse. 

“Tav needs us to hold strong,” he called to his sister. “We owe her that, at least.” 

Lia was too far away for him to be sure but thought he saw her jaw set in the same way Cal’s did when he was concentrating. His brother felled an illithid in one blow, clean and easy at the neck. 

“Can’t believe I’m saying this,” Cal said, “but Rolan is right!”

It truly was the end of the world.

When Tav hit the water, she blacked out for a moment. Her eyes opened and the gasp that wracked her body filled her mouth and lungs with water as she realized too late in her waking that she was in the Chionthar. She floundered to the surface, hacking and coughing. Once she had her breath, she started screaming for her companions.

“Here!” Gale yelled.

He was not too far off from her, hanging onto some floating debris, with an unmoving lump with white hair. She swam over, grabbing onto the debris. 

“Is he alive?” She panicked. 

“Breathing,” Astarion’s voice was weak, “stop screaming.”

“Where’s everyone else?” Tav felt herself succumbing to the confusion. “Karlach! Have you seen anyone? Wyll!”

“I’ve got Shadowheart and Wyll!” She heard Karlach call, a red spot in the distance, tethering two limp bodies as she kept them on their backs. 

Lae’zel, Halsin, Minsc and Jaheira were still unaccounted for. Tav’s eyes scanned the water, dawn hadn’t broken yet, it was still dark and the depths below were impossible to see into. The only real light was provided by the city which was still very much on fire. Just as Tav was about to give into despair, a giant tentacle broke the water, then another, in its grips was an unconscious Lae’zel, and Minsc who was sputtering and cackling like a madman. Finally a third, and Halsin broke the surface. 

“Minsc! Where’s Jaheira?”

“You look upon her!” He called back. 

Wild shape was one hell of a thing. Tav called to the giant octopus whose eye peered into hers as it breached the surface, telling Jaheira to grab Karlach first as she was treading water and trying to keep two people afloat at the same time. Tav watched, only vaguely hearing Astarion and Gale speaking next to her. She needed to see them all safely put upon the dock, she needed to know she had done it. She hadn’t lost anyone. 

“Stop trying to talk to me,” Astarion muttered. “I’m furious with you.”

“My love, I would have made sure you were transported out of harm's way,” Gale attempted to sooth him. 

“And what about you?” Astarion snapped. “What was I supposed to do without you?” 

She was not quite sure what they were talking about. 

“We were losing, Astarion,” Gale pleaded. “The orb may have been—“

“The orb?” Tav heard her neck crack as she swung her head so fast to look at him. She felt dizzy. 

“He very nearly blew himself up, again,” Astarion seethed. “I saw him reach for the dagger.” 

“Gale!” Tav scolded. “I told you — not an option!”

“Tav, please, if all else failed —“

“But it didn’t!” She yelled. 

“No,” he sighed. “No, it did not. So please, can we make it to land and put this to rest.” 

Just as Tav was about to argue with him, she felt a tug at her midsection, and uncomfortable stinging of pain accompanying the grasp. Astarion and Gale were lifted out of the water by tentacles  at the same time she was and they were being slowly carried to the dock. It was supposed to be over once they all made it on dry land. She had given in to the hope that she had finally led her party to their final battle without losing a single member. The victory was supposed to be sweet, and cathartic. 

The moment they caught their breath on the dock, Karlach’s engine started to fail. 

The main floor of the store was cleared of most furniture to make room for cots full of injured people. Amateur and professional healers alike were running around madly, calling for aid from whoever was still standing. To his credit, he had begun to organize as best he could. It was still chaos, but he was managing to take requests, send off whatever volunteer was nearest to assist, and have Cal take on grabbing potions and herbs from the stores as needed. Rolan was no healer, but he could wrap a wound before too much blood was lost as some poor soul waited for someone to be available. He could also bark orders, arrange for Fists to section off high risk patients from those who could survive without immediate attention. 

There were two surgeons he had managed to recruit. Their space was at the very back near the necromancy supplies were, with a temporary shielding wall of stone. It didn’t drown the screams of agony as they operated but it prevented anyone from witnessing an amputation. 

When the heroes of the hour burst through the door of the tower, even amongst the chaos, Rolan knew something was wrong. They looked like hell. Jaheira was bleeding from a deep wound on her head, Shadowheart was limping, and even Minsc who was always quick to get back on his feet looked like he had been thrown from a twenty story building and felt it. A good chunk of the party was missing. Wyll and Karlach were nowhere to be seen. In fact way too many of them were just gone. Astarion, Gale and Lae’zel didn’t follow, and neither did Tav. Halsin was the very last of them in, carrying someone.

“A bed! Now!” The Archdruid’s voice boomed over the chaos

A humming sound rang in his ears, the entire world pinpointed to the form of the woman in Halsin’s arms as he was directed to place her on a free bed by a Fist. 

Rolan let his feet guide him to her side, a numb feeling keeping panic at bay. On the bed was a bloody mess of a woman, who in all appearances looked like Tav but… That surely wasn’t his Tav. That was an empty shell; the skin had no vibrancy, the only truly bright color was the blood leaking out of the deep wound in her stomach. Her eyes, open staring up at the ceiling, were empty. 

Shadowheart placed her hands over Tav and the glow of her healing magic flashed and ebbed away. She tried again, but the magic stuttered out. Shadowheart let out a strangled scream in frustration, pounding glowing hands into Tav's chest and each rush of power was weaker and weaker.

“What are you doing? Heal her,” Rolan demanded. “Fix her!”

“I can’t —“ Shadowheart’s voice cracked. 

“Shadowheart’s magic is spent,” Jaheira’s tone was sharp but even, the voice of a General. “And healing magic won’t work on her now. This is a magic shop — find a resurrection scroll.” 

Resurrection implied she was dead. Logically, yes, he could see that. Tav was dead, nothing more than spent flesh and blood. But this was not supposed to happen, this was beyond everything he knew of her.

She always survives. She always does the impossible. She can't be dead.

“How did this happen?”

“Rolan,” Shadowheart pleaded his name, disregarding the question, “do you have a resurrection scroll?” 

The buzzing in his ears stopped, the cacophony of the tower coming back to him. A solution that he could focus on. He took off in a sprint, jumping over the counter. His hands shook as he opened the safe where they kept the high value scrolls.  

“Rolan, that Florrick lady is here, she brought some — what’s wrong?”

He didn’t hear Lia come up, and didn’t take the time to acknowledge her as he started reading through the stock. “We must have one.”

“Talk to me,” Lia said again getting his attention, “what’s happened?”

An idea jolted him, there were stores and stores of supplies in the study. “Upstairs, in the study, the scroll collection —“ he quickly said, “we need a resurrection scroll.”

“But —“

“Check the vaults, check the study — find me a resurrection scroll!” 

Taking in his frantic tone, Lia ran off without further question. There was no possible way this was how Tav’s story ended. In a numb haze he remembered what little he knew about healing and divine magic; there was a time limit on a basic resurrection spell. At some point a soul was too far gone and True Resurrection would be the only other option. Plain resurrection scrolls were rare enough as it was, but a True Resurrection scroll was near impossible for most people to get ahold of. 

Chain of lightning, hold person, cloud kill — his hands fumbled to work as fast as he read the scrolls. He had no real idea how much time was passing, but each second was too long. There were dozens of scrolls, and he looked at each one. Finding nothing of use he ran around the counter to start up the stairs.

He should have told her at High Hall. He should have just said it. He should have thought to find a scroll ahead of time for this very purpose. What a cosmic joke, for her to have made it this far, only to die at the finish line. She deserved better. He would make sure she got a better ending than this. He nearly ran into Lia jumping the last few steps of the staircase. 

“I found one!” 

She held up the scroll and he snatched it out of her hand, narrowly dodging a healer as he ran to the bed where Shadowheart was praying desperately. 

“Found — the scroll —“ he stammered out, short of breath. 

“Use it, quickly,” Jaheira said. 

His fingers fumbled with the clasp that held it shut, as it unfurled he knew he needed to breathe through the panic in his chest. He could do an incantation, he could read the words off of a scroll as he had a hundred times before. There was not a God he prayed to usually, not one he thought to plead with specifically. Mystra, maybe. But given what he knew of her and her friends, Mystra might not be so inclined to help Tav. 

His willpower would have to be enough; this was not how her story ended, he repeated to himself. She was too good, too resilient, too kind, too forgiving, too infuriatingly wonderful — too loved.  Rolan was not going to let her disappear that easily, he vowed as he spoke the incantation.

The spell took hold, golden light shuddering Tav’s body, and then disappearing. For a terrifyingly long moment, he was unsure if it worked. But her eyes blinked, at first it looked like a twitch, but then they fluttered a few times and the light was back in them. Her limbs jolted like she had been electrocuted and then a truly shocking deep gasp for air had her sitting up on the cot. 

“There you are, Cub,” Jaheira said, a steady hand on her shoulder which emitted the familiar green light of her Druidic magic. “Didn’t think we’d let you get out of cleaning up, did you?”

“Hurts,” she sucked breaths in desperately. 

“Lay down,” Shadowheart said. “We’ll find a healer.”

“Where —?”

Rolan was frozen to the spot. She still looked so close to death. Her head swiveled over to him, eyes confusedly still searching for some sense of what was going on. 

“You.” Was all she said. 

“Yeah, me,” he breathed. “Lay down. You look awful.”

“Rude,” she wheezed but let herself ease onto her back. “I think you look… good…” exhaustion, pain or any combination of whatever her body was going through had her slipping out of consciousness. 

“Tav,” Rolan panicked, kneeling next to her. “Damn you, stay awake,” he grabbed her face in his hands and she gave him a heavy lidded stare. 

“Trying,” she said. 

She was still in rough shape. Halsin and Jahiera dumped the last dregs of their limited healing magic into her, doing just enough to keep her from bleeding out on the bed once more. Shadowheart tipped her head back for a basic healing potion, and it dribbled down the side of her face but it brought some of the vibrancy of her skin.

“She won’t succumb to the wounds, but she needs healing quickly,” Halsin seemed to be talking to himself more than them, as he took off to find someone to help. 

“You can rest now,” Shadowheart assured her softly. “Right, Rolan?” 

He wasn’t so sure. But Shadowheart was a healer, she knew better than him. He swallowed hard, and nodded. “That’s right.”

“Good,” Tav mumbled, “tired.” 

Shadowheart and Rolan watched as she slipped into unconsciousness. Her chest rose and fell, although shallowly. Shadowheart heaved a big breath, recomposing herself. She looked around the room, and then to Rolan.

“I need to rest, then I’ll be able to help,” she seemed to be telling herself rather than him. “I’ll stay here,” she said, “I’ll stay with her and rest.”

“What can I do?” Rolan asked desperately. 

“You are the Master of Ramazith’s tower,” Jahiera cut in. “This is your city, you have a duty to its people now — unless you wish to follow Lorroakan’s example, get to work.” Jaheira looked down at Tav, “we will look after her, as she has looked after us.”

Rolan never felt more like an outsider, and he felt he should watch whatever healer Halsin found. If only to see for himself that she was truly going to be alright. Shadowheart was watching the rise and fall of her chest with intense focus, and it felt wrong that she was the only one of their original group by her side. 

“Rolan, there’s a fire that they can’t put out over in Heapside,” Cal was there, Rolan hadn’t even heard him approach. 

“There’s summoning scrolls, water elementals,” he said distractedly. 

“Go,” Shadowheart looked at him. “We’ve got her.”

“And that is supposed to be a comfort?” He snapped. “She was dead just moments ago under your watch!”

“She didn’t tell us,” Shadowheart said back, a tone of shame in her raised voice. “Everything was happening so fast — she didn’t tell us she was hurt!”

“No one here is to blame,” Jaheira was annoyed, he could tell by the arch of her brow. “She would tell you the same.”

He felt another comment on the tip of his tongue, ready to rage and yell to do something with the gods awful feeling in his chest. He nearly lost her. 

“Rolan,” Cal said, “we have to —“

“Fine! Fine.” 

The city still needed saving, despite the threat being gone. Who knew how much help was needed across the city. Running to everyone's rescue was what she would tell him to do, but still he was afraid to leave her side. He touched her cheek: warm, alive, despite looking worse than she ever had after a fight. 

“She’ll be alright?” He asked, wincing slightly at the desperate crack in his voice. 

Shadowheart nodded, her hand coming to squeeze his, “I promise, I won’t let her slip away again.”

Rolan had no other choice but to trust her.

Thank you for reading!

Next Chapter

[vechter]

do you have any fics where dick kicks ass? ive been reading a lot of relationship fics lately and i just wanna see him do some cool stuff! or any comics <33

hmm, all the fics i've read are older ones tbh because going into the dick grayson tag on ao3 is a true test of my patience and mental health now. but here's a couple of my favs:

greatest of ease by ijustwanttodestroy: multi-chapter outsider pov and it's just stellar. it was one of the first few dc fics i read so it will always have a special place in my heart.

strong enough to carry him by one_step_closer_to_death: dick and jason centric one shot. all the angst.

big d stands for big (demon)or by danishsweethearts: multi-chapter and still updating but this one is great. dick grayson as a part time exorcist. great voice for dick.

the primacy of personal conscience by birdsofthesoul: also one of the first few dc fics i read! multi-chapter, multi-pov, set in the modern comics era which is rare. genuinely fantastic writing and grappling with the morality and ethics of vigilantism. kinda iffy about some aspects of it but i adore this one.

as for comics:

nightwing (1996) #140-153: tomasi's entire run is just great. competent and complex dick grayson, when will you come back from war?

the brave and the bold (2007) #14-15: short story also featuring hawkman, deadman and green arrow, excellent stuff

let them live!: unpublished tales from the dc vault (2021) #2: one shot with a manipulative, earnest and hyper-skilled dick grayson

teen titans (1996) #12-16: this one also features garth, lilith, roy and wally. it has team-leader!dick & rlly shows how much everyone looks to him for directions + how well he can rise to that

justice league of america (2006) #41-60: this one is part of his batman era and it has donna! rlly highlights what a skilled tactician he is + how deceptive he can be

batman/nightwing: bloodborne (2002): i know i talk about this one a lot but it's just so good. dick grayson, you will never recover from that kind of devotion.

jla (1997) #68-75: obsidian age my beloved <3 dick leads a kinda B-team justice league to save the main one and he's great while doing it

batman and robin (2009) #20-22: okay, i know this is primarily a morrison run but the issues tomasi wrote for this are actually pretty solid

detective comics (1937) #871-881: this is snyder's black mirror arc and it has a healthy mixture of dick!bats kicking ass + some really great humour and dialogue. but also there's james gordon jr so rlly goes to show you can't have it all sigh

nightwing (1996) #35-37: part of NML where dick takes back blackgate for bruce. i've said this before but truly, no one shines more than dick grayson in a room full of people who want to kill him

just realizing a lot of the NML and dick!bats eras have some solid storylines if you're looking for a hyper-competent dick grayson. sadly, a lot of dixon's writing blurs together for me so i don't think i can give you individual issues.

hope this list helps, anon!

[lakesbian]

OH have you finished all of animorphs then? Any general wrap-up thought on the characters n their arcs if so?

oh boy okay that's a big ask because the lack of specificity means i'm inclined to be comprehensive. i'm gonna force myself to be brief

jakey: very coherent arc from "i'm not the leader why are you guys saying i'm the leader stop saying i'm the leader" to "Subhuman. Flush 'em." it's good. i also like the chain where he's like. initially invested for saving his brother > tells marco he can't make calls about his mother because he's too close to the situation and is frankly an ass about it while hypocritically insisting he can handle the yeerk controlling his brother trying to murder his father, relieved when the animorphs take the difficulty of having to make the choice away from him but still views it as an indictment of his leadership capabilities > during the evacuation of the families he almost like...overcompensates w/ under-prioritizing himself and his loved ones, irrationally prioritizes everyone else's families being moved out first despite the fact that it would have made more tactical sense to do his first > he loses his family over this and it breaks him

rachel: problem w/ rachel is that, unbeknownst to me when i started reading, multiple of the books for her just had no idea what the hell or fuck they were doing, and were wildly out of character. ignoring the books that were fake and didn't happen, her arc is good. the thing is that "we might have to do something terrible, too. get rachel" is the crux of her Issues and the ghostwriters didn't need to do any of that other shit. the fake and true rachel books would've been served better by exploring the fundamental divide btwn her and cassie as people i'm sure you know what i mean

marco: probably the most consistent/strong arc? it's good. reading the end part was like

marco: i haven't seen jake in a few months. i still worry about him of course, just...from my hot tub me: that seems not true marco: okay so he hasn't seen ME in a few months but i have been continuously accidentally-on-purpose spying on him, and also sometimes i turn into a lobster in my fountain to cope me: okay yeah that's true

i like his fundamental internal conflict of. Being a person who is very capable of seeing, as per his iconic monologue, the bright line from a to z, and also continuously kicking the part of him that's horrified & upset by how that line impacts himself/the things personal to him under a rug. and despising when people pity him or acknowledge that he's upset/hurt because it reminds him he's got all that shit under the rug and distracts him from the bright clear line. really really good character writing how he's completely okay with constantly yelling and crying about how he's the most scared and afraid boy ever because fear over physical things is pragmatic, but he can't tolerate having it acknowledged when he's upset by something he knows to be necessary, because that's Not pragmatic. it adds flavor

cassie: i think it's funny how some of the other roles on the team are "the leader" "the lieutenant" "the axe-man" (<- not to be confused with the ax-man) etc and she's The One With A Continuously Functioning Moral Compass, Nerd #2, and The Emergency Lisa*. i've been told that the cassie books are either some of the strongest in the series or absolutely nothing but the thing is that i like the absolute nothing ones because i think the shenanigans are fun. so overall she's got great books. the struggle of a character who finds the moral compromises she's forced to make while participating in a war genuinely psychologically intolerable but still keeps being sucked in further is good & a nice sort of foil 2 some of the other morphs. i do have. And this has to be said despite being somewhat tangential. i do have the firm opinion that. rachel and cassie v much come off like they should be the classic "people who were bffs as kids and start becoming distant/incompatible as teens but are ignoring it and will be insisting on hanging out/calling each other bffs for several more years until something causes a bigger schism" dynamic & it would add a lot more if the text was aware of this fact and did something about it. but that's a longer post for a later time

tobias: his stomach flipping over while he tries to deny that the hawk-boy form of himself ellimist is showing him is him is perhaps one of the most stark scenes in the entire series and i think we should all be drawing it more. it's nice they put an abused autistic kid who doesn't feel like a human person in animorphs so that various children reading could have their brains rewired. i like how he's got a very heavy internal life. he's always Pondering. the torture plotline is a bit weakly written i think, his strongest moments are when he's doing an identity crisis thing. his dynamic with rachel is really good and the end of his arc does feel fitting. i think with how aximili is always going on abt how tobias is his shorm aka soulmate it would've been good if we saw more of the convos they were having or they had a more clearly Besties bond going on. although i DO like that aximili almost never shouts, someone (jake?) explicitly notes that when ax Does yell it means you'd better fucking listen, and to my memory the only call-caps moment aximili has is yelling "TOBIAS!" when he thinks tobias is critically wounded. more of that shit please. i would've also liked more tobias books in general bc he has one of the strongest narrative voices out of the gang

aximili: I was so mad about his very last book in the series being a shit ghostwriting moment. So mad you do not even want to know. entire plot of, like, book 8 all over again, except this time he's casually considering endorsing genocide for some reason. anyway i think there's a lot of interesting things going on in his head but his arc doesn't really wrap up well & there are a few ghostwritten books where he feels poorly done w/o having a rachel-type Really Iconic book that makes up for it. he works better early and mid series. he's also just a fundamentally hilarious character concept which is great. i'm sad that people lied to me about him being autistic compared to other andalites (he's not) but i like when he has axtism moments anyway. i would like to see 100 drawings of axmini get cinnamon roll now please

[sugutoad]

HOTD OC FACE CLAIM HELP

I am an indecisive little bitch and I always struggle with finding a proper cast that actually suits their vibes. So I am just going to leave it to Tumbl to help me decide based on their parents, personality and the vibe I am looking for in their looks and YOU, yes you, are gonna help!

Subject: Alaric Vallici

Part 1 - Myrielle Vallici

Part 3 - Nymeria Vallici

CONTESTANTS:

IMAGES (in order):

PROPAGANDA

(Choose face claim based on the information under the cut)

Personality: Alaric possesses a magnetic charisma. His wit and humor make him beloved among those who follow him. Speaking of those who follow him, Alaric is a natural leader, refusing to listen to anyone. Alaric has disregard for rules and authority and he sees the structure of power and tradition as roadblocks in his life meant to be bent or outright broken. He doesn’t adhere to the conventional expectations of lordship; instead, he follows his own set of rules, choosing the path that fits him and his goals the best. His decisions are driven by what serves him in the moment, not by any moral code or desire for approval from those around him. He does not think when he does something out of anger, but rather moves and acts in impulses and faces his consequences later. He has bravado and confidence. Alaric’s confidence is almost contagious—he carries himself with an air of superiority that demands attention, and he never doubts his ability to win, even when the odds are against him. Although born a bastard, he believes being a Vallici and son of the High Septon puts him in a position higher than the royal children. Alaric’s charisma is built on his supreme confidence, which borders on arrogance  Alaric uses humor as both a weapon and a shield to hide how he feels. His jokes can range from small jabs to full on hurting someone which is usually unknown to him. He holds no loyalty to anyone really except himself, his Mother and Myrielle (his sister). He is an incredible fighter, training when he was young with first his Father and then being the squire of Harwin Strong. He is an absolute man whore, often going to Flea Bottoms to go to the taverns in company of whores. Most of his previous relationships before his marriage with Cerelle Lannister are driven by desire and whim. This does not mean he isn’t capable of deep affection, because he can be outright pathetic when in love. He doesn’t hide his flaws, nor does he pretend to be anything he’s not—what you see with Alaric is what you get. His life consists of passion and the simple thrill of a chase. He is incredibly dramatic (all the siblings are)! While he normally thinks about himself, he is incredibly selfless when it concerns the people he loves.

Vibes: Tall, really tall! That Chris Evan snatched ass body. Sharp, sharp features! Soft dark hair and dark eyes that are babygirl. Pathetic but also really confident looking if that makes sense?

My Personal Favorite: Harry Gilby

Parents:

THANK YOU!

[marinavarshavskaia]

Tyler Joseph is a genius

I’ve been studying psychology and personality types for a while now (maybe 5 or 6 years), and his personality is insanely interesting to study and observe.

He has always been sort of like a mystery to me. I tried to type him, i tried to study his interviews, but nothing really seems to connect in my head. He really reminds me of my sister, who is just a few years younger than him. They’re both quite emotional and they have this hidden anger within them, but they really try to hide their emotions behind this metallic ass bombastic ass “no one can break” ass shell. They’re also both quite aloof?? I guess. I used to think it was a bad thing, now i think that it’s not really a crime for someone to be aloof if u just treat it like a personality trait. As u grow and evolve, you actually learn that we all have shitty personality traits that, if not toxic, can be accepted. Not by everyone, i guess, but by some.

It also seems to me like Tyler has a VERY strong tendency to daydream constantly. I noticed that people that are very aloof tend to be like that, cause they are not 100% connected to reality. When u daydream all the time, people turn into shadows that just float around u, and it becomes very hard to connect with them and view them as real human beings. So i don’t think that he wants to be mean towards others, he’s just really not present enough.

His imagination can influence his personal life badly, but it also helps him with his art, which is fantastic, honestly. Sometimes u should sacrifice some aspects of your life to become the greatest. Maybe it’s naive of me to think so, maybe it’s the truth, i honestly don’t knowowowoowowowwow😭

But what makes him stand out is his strong sense of identity. His identity is so present that u can literally see him in a gigantic crowd within a few seconds, and it has nothing to do with his appearance. Sometimes someone’s energy is so strong that they just can’t help it, they’re always separated by it from other people. I also feel like even though he wants to be seen as someone who’s “cold” or “tough”, his warmth is extremely visible to literally everyone. He is a lot more feminine than masculine, and it seems to be one of his insecurities. It’s hard for him to accept his soft spot, his warmth and his feminine side, which is a lot bigger than his masculine side. Maybe it’s just my opinion, idk.

He looks inward a lot. He looks inward so much that we basically almost never hear about his exterior world in his songs and in his interviews. People connect to him because of it. The more insincere u are, the more u try to write songs like you’re part of some sort of morally superior movement, and your identity is literally non-existent. What’s unique about Tyler Joseph is the fact that he didn’t start as a musician with some sort of idea of a group he could be a leader of, he only wrote about his own experiences and thoughts, looking inward. His identity came first, other people’s struggles second. It’s how it’s supposed to be, honestly. People cannot relate to u if u don’t understand who the hell you are as a person. And it’s not even selfish to put yourself first in that regard, that’s absolutely ok.

I think that Tyler is one of the greatest artists out there. I love him and his loyal fan base. He deserves his success, his influence on people’s lives is undeniable, and his music literally saved my life at one point.

Thanks for putting up with my insane rant🥺❤️

[thesunfyre4446]

If I had a dollar for every post I’ve seen claiming Alicent will abandon her family for Rhaenyra I could pay off my mortgage lol

It’s just hilarious to me that they will insist Rhaenicent is “feminist” that word really needs to be stopped thrown around simply because Rhaenyra’s got a vagina.

They’re other go to tactic is to insist all the men in HotD (on both sides) are evil incarnate whilst all HotD women are innocents who can do no wrong. Therefore Alicent is in the wrong for supporting devil man Aegon II instead of girl-boss Kween Rhae Rhae. She needs to be “redeemed” by abandoning the evil men for Barbieland Dragonstone.

Well they say “all male characters are bad!!!” but Rhaenyra’s precious Strong boys are conveniently missed out 🤷🏽‍♀️

hotd is determent to keep pushing the narrative that alicent and rhaenyra never wanted this war. they're not allowed to be angry, resentful, ambitious, cunning. book!alicent's the leader of the green faction & the green council VS show alicent had no idea this was happening apparently? book!rhaenyra was screaming during childbirth that she'll murder all the greens VS show rhaenyra who of course never wanted war :( it's all daemon :(

this is what i like to call feminism written by men. still very much enforcing the monster VS angel stereotype where woman are either victims or monsters. and sure, alicent and rhaenyra ARE victims of the patriarchy. BUT they can also be cunning, power-hungry, ambitious, vengeful. but of course only men are allowed to be "cool evil", or "morally grey" and have bad ass moments.

that's why we have barbieland rhaenyra VS mojodojo mojo dojo casa house aegon. evil or morally grey men as opposed to the women. EVEN rhaenys is not allowed to feel resentful for her crown being stolen. NOOOO of course it's corlys who's ambitious.

so by that logic if alicent wants to be redeemed, of course she should abandon her children and family and join dragonstone-barbieland crew. i mean look at rhaenys, she's willing to put aside the fact that she believes rhaenyra killed her son for the "sisterhood".

honestly anon, it's the show's bad writing fault.

[violetlunette]

Why I love Candace Flynn: Design

Candace is one of my favorite characters of all time. Not just my favorite girl or cartoon character, but one of my favorite characters across all media.

Why? Well, it’s a bit hard to explain, as it’s easier to describe why you hate something than like it, but I’m going to do my best. For simplicity and because I may think of other things later, I’m breaking this into several posts.

First, I’ll start with the basics: her design. I adore Candace’s design.

Candace has a fairly unique design that I didn’t often see in cartoons at the time. The only one that comes close is Jazz Fenton (who is also a great character and the best in the Danny Phantom universe). Yet despite the similarities, Candace is still Candace. You’re not going to confuse her for anyone else. (Except for the Princess and “Kevin,” but I digress.) Even if all you see is her silhouette, you can instantly tell who she is.

Plus, while the design is cute, you can tell that she’s still dorky. She’s extremely tall, has lanky limbs, and has a long neck that holds a rounded “P”-like head. Her body is a flat bean shape instead of a shapely figure like Vanessa’s. And yet, despite this, she still has people who think she’s attractive, while in most shows she’d be the gunk, which I like.

And I think all her colors match her personality perfectly.

Her hair is bright orange, a color associated with energy and zaniness. There is NO ONE on the show with more energy than Candace, and I’m willing to bet she’s the zaniest as well.

Another primary color of hers is red, which embodies passion, love, and war.

Starting with war, Candace is the fighter of the series. (Along side Perry.)

No matter how many times life beats her down, she always jumps back into the fray, just as strong as ever (though some days are harder). In physical combat, Candace more than holds her own, and in universes where she’s allowed to fight, you can tell she’s very much in her element. In 2D, she’s a rebel leader, and in the Star Wars universe, she’s the only Storm Trooper that can aim (sorry, couldn’t resist). Honestly, I think the only one that could match her in a fair fight is Perry, and even then, it would be a close call. (But that’s another post.)

She’s also very passionate about all she does, whether it’s busting her brothers, Jeremy, Ducky Momo, or other little habits. Whether it’s something she likes or hates, she doesn’t half-ass anything. If cares about it, she’ll fight to the end.

Speaking of love and hate, a trait that’s overlooked due to her brattier moments is how Candace loves and loves hard, though she may not always show it. Candace is a romantic through and through, supporting any relationship she sees while doing her best to help, whether it’s for her parents, Isabella, Stacey, or, of course, her own love life. (And Perry’s, but that’s not canon.) Her entire relationship with Jeremy shows how deeply she swims in the pool of love, bordering on obsession. However, it’s not just towards him that we observe this love. We see it towards her friends, her parents, Perry, her brothers, their friends, and others. When not in busting mode, she goes out of her way for them, and when it comes to their happiness, she’s willing to drop busting—for a while, at least.

I could go on, but I don’t think anyone will argue that red is definitely her color.

Her next color is white, showing her innocence in certain things, her need for order, and her resolve to do right. We arguably get to see this displayed best in the Star Wars AU, where Candace is a Storm Trooper with a black-and-white morality, believing she’s fighting against disruption to keep order and peace. When she sees that that’s NOT the case and that she’s on the wrong side, Candace immediately switches sides to try and fight for the greater good. Funnily enough, the Star Trooper armor really reflects her mentality here.

Her final color is her dark blue eyes—aside from her skin. At first, I thought that green eyes would suit her personality best, as in fiction, green eyes can symbolize jealousy and passion. I already covered Candace’s passion, and I don’t think we need to talk about her envy towards her brothers. Further research, however, revealed that people with blue eyes are shown to be cautious, sensitive, and have a high pain tolerance. I am not sure about the cautious part, as Candace is pretty reckless in her busting. But she is a sensitive soul with fragile self-esteem. (Heck, she has several falls of anxiety.)

Following that, we see many times over the course of the series that Candace’s pain tolerance is HIGH. Blue eyes also represent innocence in the media, which is debatable but could fit. I don’t think Candace is “innocent” as much as she’s just oblivious at times. Despite this, there’s rarely any maliciousness in her actions. While her goal is to bust Phineas and Ferb, she doesn’t seem to want to get them in real trouble. What she wants is validation from her mom and others, but that’s another post.

Anyway, Candace’s design is fun and reflects her character perfectly. And, if you couldn’t tell from all the fan art of her on my blog, I love drawing her. The design is fairly simple (which I believe was the intention) but is creative enough that I can have just the right amount of fun.

Anyway, what are your thoughts? Do you like her design or feel that improvements could be made to fit her better?

[i-darling-amaflower]

I've tried thinking about which characters in DFF are my favorite and which ones are my least favorite, but that becomes exceedingly difficult as the show progresses. The reason for this is, as many posts have pointed out, the way the show reflects reality and therefore has no "Good and Bad" no "Black and White," but instead simply has many different hues of grey. So, at the end of the day, it all comes down to one's opinion or the way one perceives a character. I will do my best to express my thoughts on each of the 9 main characters.

1. Por

The leader of the pack. He is one of the one's we're obviously not supposed to like as much; he bullied Non, he stole his work, he was two-faced, he almost killed Non. But he still has a bit of complexity added to his character what with his family situation. Ultimately, in my opinion, that does not excuse any of his actions. He is pretty low on my list.

2. Top

This is gonna be a short paragraph. I hate him. The things he did weren't as extreme as some of the things Por did, but he literally has no excuse whatsoever. He's just plain annoying, a bully with a backstory as long as his dick, which is to say nonexistent.

3. Fluke

I think he has morals? If he does he fully does not listen to them. His biggest flaw is his selfishness. I believe he would've ratted Top and Tee out when Top broke the camera if it wouldn't have caused a crack in the friendship of the group, and therefore his spot in the popular group in school. Because let's be honest, he doesn't give a rat's ass about his "friends," he doesn't wanna be a part of whatever they're doing 3/4 of the time. But his selfishness ruins what potential he might've had, to the point of him being downright creepy.

4. Tee

Now this is a character. I think his shade of grey is the perfect blend of both white and black. Yes, I obviously hate what he did, but at the same time I understand. I would rather jump off of a cliff than give someone other than myself problems, but if I was a little less like that and a little more cowardly, I think I could relate to him a lot. He wasn't as warm to Non as Jin was, but he definitely wasn't as cold as Por and Top were. And boy, does he have a past. It looks to me like he's been a part of his uncle's gang for quite a bit, which would obviously quiet the kindness in anyone's voice, if not in there whole being. He has a sick father he genuinley cares about and no other way to make money. He's in a corner. And while I believe there's always a choice, I understand why he saw the one he picked the clearest. The thing, though, is that he didn't want to hurt Non, he didn't want to bring Non to his uncle, it just wasn't as strong as his want for himself and his father to be fine. But this is what makes him stand out more than the other members of the original friend group. He regreted it. He feels guilty. It's quite literally haunting him. He never could and never will be able to escape that part of his life. He even brought Non 2.0 (aka White) right up close to himself, and he would do anything to keep White there, safe where he can see him. So while I don't like him, and he is easily one of the more everything-i-do-damages-Non characters, he is still a very interesting one.

5. Jin

I can't explain how much I hate him. When I was in elementary school there was an anti-bullying poster that said something like "a bystander that does not help is just as guilty as the bully." And although both Fluke and Jin acted as bystanders, I hate Jin more because he is under the impression that he is kind and innocent, and he is branded this way to all the other characters. Even Non believed it. He takes no responsibility for what he did, or rather, what he didn't do. I don't even think he feels guilty about what happened to Non, he so easily forgot about it. He moved on so fast for someone he saw as a "friend" or, going even further, a "crush." The most evil thing is that the change in the way he acted between the past (smiley, warm, there) and the present (frowny, cold, closed-off) was not due to the fact that he absolutely ruined this kid--someone he considered a friend--'s chance at a future by leaking a video of said kid being groomed, and then proceed to nearly (if not actually) kill this kid with the help of his friends. No, it was do to the fact that his new crush said they were just friends. That's so incredibly pathetic. I'm obviosuly not saying that crushes can't literally crush your soul, but I think he had other issues he could've been worrying about.

6. Phee

Up until episode 9 I absolutely loved him. But then he dissapointed me a bit (which he is aloud to do, he's literally still a kid; for that reason I haven't kicked him off of my list of characters I like just yet). He has a big heart, which was used to cause a lot of good, but unfortunately became his flaw. It started to grow until it out-weighed his sense of justice. I think he still loves Non and wants to know what happened to him, but not as much as he wants to forget and move on with Jin. He came to the house partly to get answers but mostly to fix his relationship with Jin. He started to like the friend group, so he wants to live in ignorance, and that I do not agree with.

7. Tan

Him and Non had a pretty weak relationship, but despite that, he still loves him (he loves his whole family, actually, even if their parents don't deserve it) deeply; deeply enough for them to be the only thing he's living for. In my--who am I kidding, the fandom's opinion, he is currently doing nothing wrong, killing people or not. He lost literally everything, and frankly, it shows. But instead of giving up, he perserved, which is more than Phee can say.

8. Non

Jesus Christ, this poor kid. A family that forgot about him while he was there, and loved him after he was gone, and a boyfriend that loved him while he was there, then quickly forgot him after he was gone. He'd never had it easy in his life and still didn't have it easy (possibly) after his life. If you think what happened with Keng was Non cheating on Phee, fuck you. Fuck you. That was grooming, Non was being taken advantage of. Although I don't really think of Phee sleeping with Jin as cheating, it was more cheating than Non and Keng. Yes, he pulled the rest of the friend group into the illegal money thing, but that was not his fault, it was Por, Top, and Tee's fault. So much shit happened to him, and none of it was deserved; I really hope he's alive and killing them.

9. White

I don't dare to have opinions on him yet because I'm really expecting a deeper backstory. I don't think he's as naive as he's letting on.

If you want to add any of your opinions, feel free to!

[littleapocalypsekitten]

*Looks in on the American Politics tag and asks self WHY?!" Okay, I am no political expert, but I'm middle-aged, have been politically-aware for American politics and have probably been casting my ballot for longer than half of tumblr has been alive. (I mea culpa for that time I voted for George W. Bush. It happened once and did NOT happen again). I was registered as an Independent until recently, left-leaning since 2004 or so... Yes, I am THAT old. I'd say I've been politically aware even since before 2000 since some of my favorite cartoons liked to make fun of politicians (I was really into Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain and politics was the source of many gags, showing that they were not shows just for children). Urk, anyway, with the election so close and people talking about some very serious issues, I thought it high time to remind people of certain things, things I have observed in every election year. Politicians talk out of both sides of their asses. Party doesn't matter, it's a fact. They will say what they think they have to in order to fetch the most votes. Whether they actually keep their campaign promises when in power is up to them and up to a number of other factors, such as how many other people on their side are elected (as well as how many of them do turncoating). - (I honestly did not expect John Fetterman to become the asshole that he became when I voted for him, but I still suspect he's better than Dr. Oz). This can be good or bad. I suspect, for instance, that the signs pointing to Kamala Harris continuing "Genocide Joe's" policies might actually get reversed once she's done having to play pussyfoot with "yay Israel no matter what" voters who are for the Dems' other policies. I've seen signs that she doesn't entirely agree with everything that Biden is doing (and remember, she's just the VICE President, she doesn't make policy. Her job is twofold: Tiebreaking vote in the Senate if the Senate gets tied on something and "Be there if the President falls down dead." That's it). Policy is such that Bills are proposed in the House of Representatives, are pass / fail in the Senate and if passed, go to the President's desk to be signed into Law or not. Executive Orders are another thing, but I believe there is a sharp limit on them, because we do not have a Monarch. Granted, I think the likelyhood of Harris continuing on Biden's track of supporting an ally-nation with the materials of war when almost any other nation would be getting sanctions is strong, but I do think there's a chance that Harris is pussyfooting for votes and can be reasoned with on the "stop supporting genocide!" thing. Maybe. Hopefully. I also think that "we" have limited power over what other world leaders do, ultimately. Trump would send nukes. American Foreign Policy Always Sucks. That's just the whole of it. We are an empire. There is no moral purity in living in / being born in an empire. I don't have to agree with it, I was just born here and for a variety of reasons, can't get out. Anyone who has the "America is World Police / Superman of Nations / Supposed to be the "moral" nation" was probably taught an idealistic history (as my generation was). Kick American Exceptionalism to the curb! I am planning to vote. It is my personal decision and it's not because I am supporting our horrid foreign policy, it is because I really don't think there's much to be done about it since it's sucked AT LEAST since the Vietnam War and I am concerned with domestic policy primarily (I make no secret about being selfish, concerned about things such as my status as a disabled non-wealthy queerish woman, and with concerns about my family) and I really think as far as foreign policy - either way is going to suck, one guy is going to suck harder (and possibly turn the world into a radioactive wasteland through either evil or dementia - and not the fun kind, like Fallout).

[fizz-pop-thwip]

Hey people write Steve in character challenge GO

(warning long ass post ahead, character analysis turned Civil War analysis BC I'll never shut up about that movie)

Right off the bat, Steve isn't and has never been a rule follower. Steve has an extremely strong moral compass, he has the strongest feeling of right and wrong and he is going to go after the right thing even if he's told not too. This is so prevalent in ANY captain America movie.

Why he behaves so seriously would also come from how he grew up. He wasn't taken seriously ever due to his size and his health, if he wasn't loud and clear on what he thought, no one would be paying attention. But to be honest, I think the movies kinda do him wrong when showing he isn't serious outside of battle, he's always coping with some kind of fight or dilemma or stressful situation to be fixed, especially with the role of leader on his shoulders it's his job to take it seriously. On the rare occasions we do see him relaxed we can see he's just a calm and polite guy who's just maybe a little quiet in big groups. (Which would also be a product of his pre-serum days. In big groups no one's paying attention to the little guy)

I think a reason he's misconstrued as an asshole (aside from needing to be used as a plot point in a fic) is because of how he reacts in a battle. He's stern and being the leader of the group, is telling people what to do in the heat of battle. He takes problems seriously and looks at them from a very logical stand point, (again, which is his role as the leader) which is such a VAST fucking contrast from Tony who still thinks of problems from a logical stand point too but tries to find humor in every situation, even the world ending issues.

So it makes sense if you much prefer Tony's type of character, that you aren't going to like the way Steve handles problems, which is the opposite method of Tony's emotionally.

I think the first movie really enforced that divide between Tony and Steve fans with how opposing they were. And even with Age Of Ultron to clear the air, Civil War threw out all of the relationship we were supposed to believe they had.

If I'm being honest, on Marvel's behalf, I don't think they did a very good job in enforcing that Steve and Tony were good friends before Civil War. But it will always and forever be crazy to me that Tony would ever consider himself as close of a friend with Steve as Bucky is.

"I was your friend too"

He says like he was there when no one would listen to Steve, like he was there when no one took Steve seriously. Like he was there when Steve was sick all the time. Like he was there when Steve's mother died and he had no one. Like he was there for Steve when he got into fights he couldn't handle. Bucky was there since day one.

It links back to steve wishing to have someone who 'understood his experience' the ENTIRE catws movie being about how important Bucky is to Steve and Steve being willing to let Bucky KILL him to prove how much he cared. TONY AND STEVE NEVER HAD THAT CONNECTION.

And I know that's the point. I know that's the point of the movies, Bucky being the thing Steve is willing to leave the avengers for, the avengers who have been his new family in his time where he knows no one in a new world. But when I see people saying Steve betrayed Tony I just don't understand. Bucky means SO much more to Steve. And technically yes, the Avengers were all certainly helpful when he needed it, they were definitely important to him too, but they just don't compare to Bucky.

And quick side note, don't get me wrong, if someone killed my parents I'd want them dead too. It's not like I blame Tony's immediate reaction to the information but to look me in the eyes and say Tony had the right to, is ridiculous. Bucky was tortured and brainwashed and forced to kill and do what he did. That is an innocent man.