#there's a lot of skills-training and support that gifted kids are not given because they are expected to be smart enough to Figure It Out

[magpiemirroring]

Yeah, I think my gifted/AP program was pretty chill compared to some and I only did AP English once I got to high school, but things I recall from it that my non-gifted friends never had to do were:

homework over the summer! (read 2-3 books which I had to be ready to discuss + usually at least one essay and/or research project)

read 2x more books, plays, poetry, etc on average per year.

writing in-class essays weekly. one year I had the misfortune to have english first period. which meant trying to write a 5 paragraph essay on, say, an act of macbeth first thing in the morning when I was barely awake. this would only be part of what I would be doing in class because the essays were to be written in like 30 minutes because the goal of AP was essentially test prep for the AP test, which, you guessed it, involved writing a whole essay in less than an hour.

i still had to write a lot of essays at home

my classes did get fun creative projects sometimes and boy you could tell that there was a lot of repressed weird kid energy building up when it was time for creative projects! (i loved making ridiculous art about books so much that I ended up going to art school to study illustration. the fact that art school also had zero expectations that I could write a good essay was also a non-insignificant factor in this choice )

I also ended up doing a lot of summer school for a couple of years so that I could fit in the Gifted Kid College Bound educational track classes, the classes the school required, and the stuff I was actually interested in (Theatre! Additional semesters of a foreign language! Journalism! I actually dropped math when it was no longer required since I gave up on a math-related career since I was only doing college-track math not ap math. I filled that schedule slot with an extra art class!)

I think a lot of the skepticism and derision toward the idea of "gifted kid burnout" stems from the fact that a lot of folks have no idea what the gifted track in most high schools actually looks like; they've got this mental image, possibly informed by popular media depictions, of "gifted kids" as a privileged group of students who get to go on extra field trips, monopolise the teachers' attention in class, and constantly be told how special they are, but who are otherwise treated identically to all the other kids.

In practice, the gifted track in most high schools – most North American high schools, at any rate – has the same problem as any other educational program: the need to adhere to published metrics. These programs exist for the benefit of students only insofar as those benefits can empirically be measured, which leads to several common outcomes:

Students on the gifted track being afforded fewer choices regarding elective classes – often to the extent of having no choices at all – in order to stream the highest-performing students into the subjects that are most valuable in terms of boosting institutional metrics.

Students on the gifted tracking receiving restricted access to educational resources such as tutoring because it's perceived as a waste of funding. In many cases, gifted students are not only denied access to tutoring, but expected to serve as volunteer tutors and teaching assistants themselves, effectively becoming a source of unpaid educational labour for the schools they attend.

Students on the gifted track being assigned considerably more homework, often literally doubling their workload in an environment where homework loads are already routinely high enough that kids have difficulty finding time to eat and sleep, simply because you get more measurable academic performance data that way.

The upshot is that the gifted track is often less about fun perks and constant praise, and more about receiving less freedom, fewer resources, and heavier workloads than one's peers, getting strong-armed into providing unpaid labour to the school on top of it, and constantly being told one should be grateful for it – and that's without touching on the fact that the unspoken secondary purpose of many gifted programs is to serve as a quarantine for all the neurodivergent kids the school couldn't find an excuse to institutionalise or expel.

Like, shit, there's a reason kids on the gifted track exhibit elevated rates of alcoholism and substance abuse compared to general student populations. That doesn't arise in a vacuum!

(To be clear, I'm not saying that people graduating from high school and immediately having an existential crisis upon realising they're not special after all isn't a thing that happens, but in my experience that's more usually something that happens to the kids who were on the football team, and reframing it as a nerd culture thing is really weird.)

[merbear25]

You write VERY well, and I would like you to make a request to Mihok, Kid, Zoro and Buggy with their child, who has been part of the Gothic subculture since childhood. Unless you certainly mind👉👈

That’s such a lovely thing to say!🥺 I’m so glad you enjoy my writing. I do not mind in the slightest, but since you chose more than three characters, I gave Zoro the chopping block (I’m sorry). I hope you enjoy what I’ve written for you.💜💜

CW: SFW, gn!reader, fluff, headcanons/scenarios, good family dynamic, some humor

Raising a child who's goth (Mihawk, Kid, Buggy)

Mihawk

There was a nurturing side to him without a doubt. Given the fact that you were his child, he would give you boundless support.

Even if those ways weren’t what you might have wanted, they were what you needed, some of which being lessons that you couldn’t appreciate until you were much older.

Like any other child and teenager, you had your moments of insecurities, especially once you began going through puberty. You began worrying about what the other kids may think of you more often than you used to, which led to long conversations about the value of individuality.

In the end, you stuck with your alternative style and did so with confidence. He couldn’t have been more proud of you.

He wasn’t a stranger to the fashion you preferred. In saying that, you were still so young and were still experimenting with what spoke to you specifically.

There were some comments he made, albeit well intentioned, that got an undeserved snarky response, which you would regret and later apologize for.

Although he didn’t take those kinds of things to heart, he was still your father and gave you a firm talking to when you crossed the line.

There were a lot of bands you found out about through him. Music became a bonding experience for the both of you—not just enjoying the music itself but also what it meant to you.

Kid

He couldn’t help but smirk once you started developing your own style.

There was a sense of pride he had that you were going against the grain, even if the other kids gave you the stink eye. This man trained you on snappy comebacks and death glares.

He beamed with pride when you put those wannabe bullies in their place. “That’s my kid!” He grinned to himself.

As proud of you as he was for being your own person, he was still him, meaning you were not immune to his teasing comments on your bad hair days.

“It’s a style!” You’d shout.

“Rats’ nests aren’t in fashion!” His laugh boomed over any retort you had.

Makeup was something you had to figure out on your own. Sure, he wore some but he was far from skilled in the way you would’ve needed him to be. He steals some of your stuff and tricks, by the way.

During the holidays and birthdays, you could always expect some new piece of jewelry or accessory that was handmade by your father. 

Regrettably, you went through phases of adoring them, feeling embarrassed by them, until you were finally able to appreciate them for what they were—a thoughtful gift.

When it came to the music you listened to, he could kind of get on board with it. He offered to take you to a concert one year, which was an offer you couldn’t refuse. Needless to say, you both had a blast.

Buggy

Would love how much you stand out and never hesitated to point out what he liked about your accessories and what not. 

That was all very sweet of him, but he was still your dad, which meant you countered his compliments with eyerolls and groans.

Buying clothes would be a whole ordeal; you dragged your feet doing it with him because he was so adamant about having you try this and that on, as well as putting in his two cents about what you should or shouldn’t pair with them.

“Dad, I know what I’m doing!” You complained, even though you had no clue, and he was giving good advice.

As much of an eyesore you were at times, he bit his tongue as best he could.

However, when it came to makeup, you knew deep down that he was the perfect person to get tips from.

At first, you were riddled with embarrassment, but you managed to push down your pride after reflecting on how patchy your foundation had been.

He teased you a little bit, but it was all coming from a good place. He taught you everything you needed and wanted to know, including all the tricks and hacks he picked up over the years.

When it came to the subculture’s music, he just wanted you to be happy. In all honesty, he enjoyed all of it but thought it best not to bring it up. He didn’t want you to stop enjoying it just because your old man did.

[marauderundercover]

Taking Chances Chapter Seven: Trying for Normal (Gifts)

Prev

AO3

“You can not honestly tell me you are thinking of announcing that girl as your daughter.” Damian says, his scowl deeper than Dick had seen it in a while.

“‘That girl’ has a name, Little D. Plus she’s your sister.” Dick says, resisting the urge to nudge him. They had gotten to the point where a small nudge wasn’t a death sentence, but Damian was on edge. And a small nudge would probably not be appreciated.

“I do not care what her name is, Grayson. Since coming to Gotham she has been involved in two separate Rogue attacks. She is suspicious at best, and a nuisance at worst.” He replies, crossing his arms.

“Enough, Damian. Marinette is not a nuisance. She simply has bad luck.” Bruce says, obviously trying to defend his daughter.

“And poor self-preservation skills. Talking back to the Joker? Snarking the Riddler? For an individual with no combat training, she gets much too involved in attacks. It is idiotic.” Damian argues, shaking his head.

“It might have something to do with the Paris situation. She said she’s been at attacks before, so she must have some experience with villains. And from what I read on the Ladyblog, none of the damage in Paris lasts. She just may not realize how dangerous it is for her to do here what she would do in Paris. We just need to warn her, or, at least remind her, that Gotham is a dangerous place.” Dick says, thinking back to her reaction to the Riddler and the Joker. She was definitely more tense with the Joker, despite the fact that both villains had arrived with armed goons. Maybe she thought the Riddler was less likely to kill someone, not true. Or maybe she- Dick frowns as he remembers a key difference between the attacks.

“I just realized something.” He says with a frown.

“Care to share with the rest of the room, Dickiebird?” Jason asks, strolling in and flopping onto a chair.

“She was more tense at the attack with the Joker, she seemed to understand that it was a dangerous situation. Sure, she talked back to him, but she didn’t try to fight back or anything. But at the attack with the Riddler, he wasn’t even targeting her at first. He was targeting the boy she’d been talking to. And she was more reckless, and then she fought back. She fought well, but it was still super dangerous.” Dick rambles, pacing as he explains the predicament.

“Is there a point to this? I feel like I walked in at the wrong time.” Jason calls out from his chair, feet propped up on the table in front of him.

“My point, Jay, is that Marinette has a crush.” Dick says, shuddering at the word like it’s something disgusting. (It is, his sister is too young for crushes and boyfriends).

“Is that why she ran off with him right after the attack?” Jason asks with a smirk. Dick feels his eyes practically shoot out of his head.

“She what!?” He yells, running over to the Batcomputer to look at the security footage from the wax museum. Spots that were targeted frequently, like the wax museum, had their security footage directly linked to the Batcave. Just in case of an emergency or in case an attack happened and they needed an extra set of eyes.

“I’m sure she didn’t do anything that you wouldn’t do.” Jason teases, and Dick pales.

“Shut up, Jason!” He moans, his typing turning frantic as he scrolls through the day’s footage. He stops when he gets to the moments after the battle. When the phones of the French students had all gone off. Frowning, he watches as his sister runs up to the boy and grabs his hand, leaning in and whispering to each other before the two run out of the room. Towards the bathrooms. Oh hell no. Dick scrolls forwards, frowning when they don’t come out in five minutes. Or ten minutes. Huffing, he switches to the cameras aimed at the exits. Surely one of the cameras had to catch the pair leaving the museum. He rewinds it and watches, but...there’s nothing. They don’t leave the bathrooms and they don’t leave the museum. For the rest of the day.

“Has anyone been in contact with her since the attack?” Bruce asks from right beside him, making him jump out of his seat with a yelp.

“I don’t even have her number.” Dick says, resisting the urge to glare at his adoptive father. He might’ve had Marinette’s number had Bruce actually acted like he wanted her to be there for dinner the other day. Instead, he practically ignored her and she left. And now she was missing. Definitely missing, because she never came out of the bathroom at the museum.

“Hello, Marinette? Yes, I apologize for calling so suddenly. I was- yes. Yes, I did hear about the attack….yes, that was part of the reason I was calling. I was wondering if you would like to come to dinner at the manor. You could bring your friend, Adrien Agreste, I believe was his name. Of course. Yes. Oh no, I’ll send a car. No, no I assure you it- Marinette please. Taxis aren’t always safe after dark. Thank you. Yes, I- we’ll see you then. Goodbye.” Bruce hangs up, and Dick looks at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Just gonna suddenly invite her and her boy toy to dinner, B? What’re you gonna do, interrogate them?” He asks frowning.

“That’s the second time that Marinette has ran off after that alarm. I’ve seen videos of the situation in Paris and I’m concerned. Now go upstairs and act normal. I want all of you on your best behaviors at dinner. Damian, better than best please. No weapons.” Bruce directs before leaving the room, presumably to ask Alfred to pick up Marinette. Dick sighs and looks at his brothers.

“Well this isn’t going to be a disaster or anything.” He says. --- “Tikki this is going to be a disaster!” Marinette whines, throwing herself face first onto the bed. She tries to ignore Tikki’s amused giggle. This was not funny. This was dinner with her family that she hadn’t made a great impression on the first time. And Adrien was invited, and she wasn’t sure where the two stood but she was sure that if Dick was at dinner, he would just push Adrien farther away from her.

“I could practically hear your suffering from Adrien’s room, pigtails.” Plagg says, making Marinette sit up and glare at the Kwami.

“Are you just here to mock me?” She asks, pouting. He snorts.

“No, I’m here to tell you the kid’s on his way over here. I told him you were panicking and he practically ran out his door.” Plagg says with a chuckle. Rapid knocking on the door makes him laugh more before dropping onto the bed next to Tikki. Marinette sighs, rolling off the bed and pulling the door open, jumping forward in time to catch Adrien before he completely falls to the ground.

“Are you okay? Plagg said you were panicking, did something happen?” He asks quickly, looking her up and down. Marinette blinks, slightly taken aback by his sudden concern. It was nice, but still a lot all at once. Shaking her head, she gestures for him to come in and shuts the door behind him. Walking back over to the bed, she once again face plants and groans.

“She’s nervous because Mr. Wayne invited the two of you to dinner.” Tikki chirps, giggling when Marinette lifts her head up enough to glare at her.

“Traitor.” She says, dropping her head back down.

“If you don’t want me to go with Marinette, I won’t.” Adrien says. Marinette immediately jumps up, shaking her head rapidly.

“No, no that’s not what I meant. I just- I’m nervous about actually sitting through a dinner with them. And I’m pretty sure Dick will try and sit between us and glare at you like he did at the museum.” She admits, cursing the way her cheeks heat up. Adrien raises an eyebrow.

“He was glaring at me?” He asks, utter confusion on his face. Marinette groans, dropping her head into her hands.

“Sometimes your obliviousness is cute-”

“You think I’m cute!”

“But right now, it’s kinda making me want to scream into my pillow.” Marinette admits, giving him her signature “not amused” look. A look she usually saves for when Chat Noir is making a pun.

“Wait, why wouldn’t Dick like me?” Adrien asks, thankfully stuck on that now instead of the fact that she thinks he’s cute.

“Um, maybe because we were holding hands? Did you really not notice how he kept standing in between us the entire time we were at the museum?” Marinette asks, suddenly unsure if she’d imagined the whole thing.

“Oh no, I did. I just didn’t think it meant he didn’t like me. I’ve never really dealt with siblings before. I mean, I’ve met Nino’s little brother but...that’s about it.” Adrien says, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. Marinette sighs, grinning softly.

“I don’t really have a lot of experience either, so maybe I was just imagining things.” She admits. Adrien’s shoulders instantly relax and she smiles. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

“So, did you want me to come with?” He asks after a moment of silence. Marinette nods, agreeing immediately.

“Please. I don’t think I can go back there alone, not yet anyway.”

“Of course, Mari. Now, what’re you wearing?” --- The ride to Wayne Manor wasn’t as quiet as her first, with Adrien making quiet jokes and saying things to try and help keep Marinette out of her head. She was thankful that he had come with, because she was definitely going to need the emotional support to get through dinner. The car stops and Marinette sucks in a deep breath. Smoothing out her skirt nervously, Marinette glances at the small, neatly wrapped package sitting between her and Adrien. It was something she had started back when she first found out she was adopted. And that her parents didn’t know her bio dad. A scrapbook with copies of everything important from her life: baby pictures, school pictures, birth announcement, report cards, clippings from newspapers where she had won or placed in contests, pictures of her early designs and recent designs, pictures of certificates and trophies from various competitions and activities. Basically a road map of her life to be given to her bio dad so that he could get to know her. She’d written her name on the front page, with the words “daughter of Bruce Wayne and Bridgette Le” underneath. A sort of amendment to her birth announcement which listed her as the daughter of Tom and Sabine Dupain Cheng. And while she definitely was their daughter, she also wanted Mr. Wayne to know that she wanted to be his daughter too. Not just by blood, which isn’t the important part. No, she wanted to get to know him and for him to get to know her. Pushing down the intruding thoughts insisting that it was too soon and that he didn’t want her in the first place, she opens the car door and steps out, clutching the package to her chest like a safety blanket.

“Would you like me to take that for you, Miss Marinette?” Alfred asks, glancing at the package.

“Oh, no thank you Alfred. It’s for my da- er, um, Mr. Wayne. I can hang onto it.” She says with a bright smile. She could do this. Sure, it didn’t go great the last time she was here. And she was pretty sure Mr. Wayne’s youngest son could kill her and wanted to kill her. But it was fine. Everything is fine. Walking through the front door, her shoulders relax slightly when she sees Dick is the only one standing there waiting for them.

“Marinette! He cheers, rushing forward and picking her up in a hug. As in, legitimately picking her up. Okay then.

“Good to see you too.” She says, trying not to show that he’s literally suffocating her with the hug.

“Good to see you again, Dick!” Adrien says cheerfully. Marinette feels Dick tense before setting her down, his smile less bright as he looks at Adrien.

“And you. Adrien, right?” He asks, sticking his hand out for a handshake.

“Yup!” Adrien says cheerfully. Marinette watches cautiously, noticing that Dick seems to be squeezing a little too hard….and then Adrien appears to match his strength, if the look on Dick’s face is anything to go by. Marinette coughs to hide a snort, her face heating up as both boys turn to look at her.

“Uh, is it just you and Mr. Wayne tonight?” Marinette asks, choosing to ignore their awkward handshake.

“Nope! It’s me and Bruce and Alfred, of course, and Jay and Tim and Damian and Cass. Steph’s not in town and Babs is having dinner with her dad.” Dick says, and Marinette’s eyes widen. There were a lot more people in her bio dad’s family than she thought. She knew about the boys, but she hadn’t seen anything about Cass, Steph or ‘Babs’.

“I didn’t realize I had sisters too.” She says instead of voicing her insecurities. Before she only had the boys to measure up against, now she had three girls too?

“Well, the only official sister is Cass. Steph used to date Tim and she just kinda stuck around. She’s practically family at this point. And Babs and I used to date, but again, she stuck around after and now she’s practically family.” Dick explains with a grin and a shrug. Cause having your exes around isn’t awkward. Or, maybe it isn’t. She doesn’t have any exes to compare it to. Just as she starts to get lost in her thoughts, she feels Adrien brush against her gently. Reminding her that he’s there, for her, giving her the strength she needs to follow Dick into the living room. Where everyone else was sitting. Oh boy.

“Marinette, so glad you could join us. And Mr. Agreste, nice to see you again.” Bruce says, standing from his spot and moving to shake Adrien’s hand.

“You as well, M. Wayne. And please, call me Adrien. Mr. Agreste is my father.” He says, and Marinette can just barely see his wince. His father always had been his least favorite subject, no matter how much or how little they spoke of him.

“Thanks for inviting us.” Marinette says, moving the package so that she’s no longer clutching it like a lifeline. Holding it out to Mr. Wayne, she laughs at his confused face. “It’s a present.” She adds.

“Oh, well, thank you.” He says, his face unreadable. Marinette shifts her weight, glancing between him and the package, waiting for him to open it. Or properly introduce her to the rest of the family. Either option would work at this point. Glancing at Dick, she sighs in relief when he claps. At least someone was going to make the first move.

“Right, so I don’t think you got the chance to meet Jason and Damian properly when you were here the other day.” Dick says, tugging her around a still frozen Bruce in front of the two boys from the other day.

“No, I didn’t. Hi, I’m Marinette.” She says, smiling and holding out a hand to Damian first. He tuts and turns away, making Marinette’s smile fall slightly before she turns to Jason. Jason grins and shakes her hand.

“Welcome to the family, kid.” He says, before whistling. “You didn’t get B’s height, that’s for sure.” He teases, Marinette snorts, her smile turning into a teasing smirk.

“Hey, don’t count me out for my height. Ever heard the phrase, small but mighty?” She asks, crossing her arms. Jason snorts, reaching out and messing up her hair.

“Whatever you say, Pixie Pop.” He replies. She rolls her eyes and turns to the other two siblings she hadn’t met.

“Hi, you must be Tim and Cass.” She says, smiling at both of them. Tim nods, his hand twitching towards his pocket. Marinette tries not to laugh, having seen Max do the same thing when he had to socialize for any amount of time. The boy was always far more comfortable with his phone in his hand, even if he wasn’t actually looking at it. Cass smiles, and Marinette notices her hands moving. “Sorry, could you repeat that, I wasn’t watching closely.” She says. Cass’ smile widens and she nods before starting over.

“Welcome to family. Nice to meet you.” Cass signs, making Marinette beam.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” She says, eyes widening when she realizes she left Adrien alone with a frozen Mr. Wayne. Whirling around, she moved back to Adrien and tugged him forward, rolling her eyes at his surprised yelp. Honestly, he should expect this by now.

“Geeze, Princess. Give a man a warning.” He says, adjusting his shirt that she’d accidentally messed up.

“Sorry k- Adrien. Sorry. Anyway, uh, everyone this is my friend Adrien Agreste. Adrien this is Jason, Damian, Tim, Cass and you already know Dick.” Marinette introduces, gesturing to each of her new siblings. Adrien shoots a wide smile, not quite his model smile but also not quite a real one.

“Nice to meet you all.” He says.

“Marinette, I apologize. Did you want me to open this now?” Mr. Wayne asks suddenly. She turns and raises an eyebrow at his unreadable expression and the way he holds onto the present like he doesn’t know what to expect. Which is fair, considering they’d only met in person the day before.

“Oh, um, if you want to. It’s nothing big.” She says, watching nervously as he nods and unwraps it. His eyebrows twitch together as he looks at the book, obviously not yet understanding.

“Open it, B.” Dick whispers, clearly understanding the gift more than their father. Mr. Wayne nods and opens it, his unreadable expression falling into one that she...still can’t read. But it’s not emotionless anymore. As he flips through the book, a small smile creeps its way onto his face and Marinette almost cheers. That’s the most sincere look she’d ever seen on the man.

“Did you put all this together?” He asks, glancing up from the book to look at her. Marinette nods.

“When I found out I was adopted, I wanted to have something to give my bio dad. So that even if he didn’t want to see me in person, he could get to know me. When I found out you’re my, um, dad, I added some personal touches.” She says.

“And I can keep this?” He asks, and Marinette’s shocked that he sounds almost scared. As if he thinks she’ll say no and take everything back. She smiles.

“Of course. My Maman and Papa already have those pictures. These are all yours.” She says.

“Thank you, Marinette. I- This is an amazing gift.” He says. Marinette’s smile widens and her shoulders sag in relief. Maybe tonight wouldn’t be a disaster after all.

Next

Tag list: @maribat-bdbwm @vixen-uchiha @stainedglassm @liquid-luck-00 @jayjayspixiepop @jjmjjktth @mizzy-pop @trippingovermyfeet @queenz-z @thepaceperson @iloontjeboontje @waiting247 @laurcad123 @toodaloo-kangaroo @ritacrow-blog @deathssilentapproach-blog @kittenmywaythrulife @imarivers8 @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks

[where-is-my-beheading-ceremony]

Aaaaa headcannons!

Claytro edition! (purely based on my personal thoughts)

(note: feel free to enjoy, but if this ship is not something you are interested reading about then I totally understand, have fun scrolling the Nexo Knights tags! ❤️)

-Clay is the only one that has actually managed to touch Jestro's hair, but it was a lot shorter when they were still kids

-These two have regular sleepovers since after Jestro started training to be a royal Jester, they couldn't be roommates anymore

-Yes they were roommates for a few years and Merlok would read them bedtime stories

-Jestro gets cold in his sleep often so Clay would sleep with them to help them feel warmer along with the pile of 3 blankets

-The two also sleep together whenever they feel bad (had a nightmare, stressed, emotional). Less so as adults though since now they barely ever sleep

-Surprisingly, Jestro doesn't fear the cold too much. He doesn't enjoy it more so because of the memories of cold winters in the streets and not because of how cold he's feeling right now.

-Jestro and Clay treated each other with colorful bandages as kids since Jestro used to bruise easily and Clay would get bruises from training

-Jestro and Clay would occasionally text each other in seasons 1-2, more so when there's some celebration. Both wanted to know how the other is doing, but Jestro was far more reserved in giving out info

-Clay even called him on his birthday and snuck to the lava castle to leave a gift l without anyone knowing.

-Jestro did a similar thing, but he just threw a gift at them in the middle of battle because he didn't want to seem suspicious by gifting it genuinely. Clay still understood it and was very pleased

-They made friendship necklaces for each other back when they first met and wore them the whole time

-Clay was the first one to rip off the friendship necklace. Specifically, stone Clay when he first was woken up and still hadn't yet had the chance to remember his bond with Jestro

-Let's pretend Jestro wasn't hurt for the sake of our hearts since that hurt a l o t.

-Jestro had to be zapped after that emotional ride, so fresh with Mondtrox' magic, he too took it off, but kept both his and Clay's necklaces.

-Not long after, these two grow close together again as a duo

-Stone Clay and Corrupt Jestro was the thing that haunted everyone since they worked together and became terrifyingly good at causing mass destruction

-From the outside it didn't seem like they always got along since Stone Clay had some definite anger issues. Jestro always made sure not to talk to him too much during battles since that's when they're most riled up

-The time after battles between the two is spent well. They just hang out and talk, often plotting because they can and Jestro making fun of the knights, as well as giving Stone Clay more reasons to dislike them

-Both of their memories were iffy at that point, so wherever they remembered, they told each other

- Stone Clay was like Jestro's bodyguard who sometimes did a poor job at being one

-Not a day passed where Stone Clay didn't end up carrying Jestro in his arms

-Absolute power duo

-Honestly could've taken down the kingdom

-There's not much Clay could to to stop Monstrox from zapping Jestro

-The first time, he even made sure Jestro wouldn't move, not knowing what to expect and not realizing Jestro felt things completely differently since we'll, he wasn't stone

-The other times Clay just looked away since he still saw Monstrox as the superior out of everyone

-Jestro absolutely loved Clay's new violent nature and Clay absolutely loved how un-hinged Jestro was. The echo to Jestro's voice could even give his stone body shivers

-Jestro treated Stone Clay exactly how someone would treat their ex after he returned to the Knights

-After Season 4, Jestro looked like he'd need life support from how much of a negative impact Monstrox' magic left on him so Clay would occasionally secretly check up on how he's doing even if he's not supposed to interact with Jestro

-Jestro was absolutely not glad to see Clay because he knew that he woukd be the one to get in trouble for it, not the knight.

Now to something happier again!

-Clay always takes any chance given to him to carry Jestro in his arms

-Jestro takes any chance possible to praise Clay's work

-Clay allows Jestro to paint their nails

-Clay is just an absolute himbo, who only has enough braincells to be a knight and leader

-These two have terrible social skills

-Their first kiss was back in their academy days, on one of their last years

-They were both sort of curious is all. But it didn't change much to their friendship since the two didn't feel like they were quite enough for the other

-They still don't have any spoken relationship.

-It's just been mutual simping for each other since their academy days

-The two would be completely content with never being in a relationship their whole lives

-Which is why they need encouragement from others to actually get a move on with their relationship

-Everyone in the academy thought they were a thing. Every single person. But it wasn't spoken about much since it became the usual thing.

-At the start however, there were many rumors and a lot of gossiping. People were worried for Clay's reputation when he himself didn't even feel worried about it.

-Clay is comically stubborn when it comes to seperating him from Jestro.

-Jestro let's go a lot easier, even if he doesn't want to.

-The amount of times Clay had cornered Jestro with both his arms and thought it was a casual thing to do is ridiculous.

-Jestro learns a lot more when Clay helps him study than when he studies in class

-Surprisingly, both performed a lot better whenever they had a task to do together.

-Since Clay doesn't brag about himself, Jestro makes sure to tell as many great things as possible about Clay. Like he'd tell heroic, almost over the top stories about whatever Clay does to other students

-Clay has definitely used Jestro as a weight for an exercise before

-Jestro seems like a mom whenever something bad happens to Clay. He always takes care of them and scolds them on a caring matter

-The amount of shock the teachers were when Clay had gotten into a fight with other students was definitely something.

-But Jestro definitely understood why Clay acted out. Yes he's a model student, but Clay always has to force himself not to speak out, frustration can build up.

-Jestro only wishes it wasn't because some students went overboard on throwing hurtful words towards Jestro and then later Clay. This happened when they were still quite young

-Jestro would wait for Clay when he had to sit through multiple detentions because of that one event

-Jestro's language is words

-Clay's love language is acts of service

-These two till this day have to hug at least once a week

-Clay only dares to show all of his sides around Jestro and Jestro gladly helps them express their frustrations and such. Clay even feels comfortable enough to openly complain about people that have been getting on his nerves.

-Jestro doesn't understand why Clay treats him almost like a porcelain doll. The knight doesn't even dare to hold his hand too tightly and always waits a second to be sure if he can touch Jestro in any way, like a hug.

-Clay is just very worried of causing even the smallest bits of discomfort to Jestro

-Jestro meanwhile doesn't hesitate for a second and nearly tackle hugs Clay instead of going for the careful approach

-Both often times speak out their minds about each other unintentionally so it would go like

"Clay I could just hold your face and kiss you right now!... Wait-I just couldn't think of a better way to explain my joy for my bestest friend ahahaha, yeah-"

"Jestro I'm, so glad to see you're doing well, I couldn't have handled seeing someone I love hurt by that-...because you're my best friend... Yes!"

-Jestro from the very start was a shameless hoarder of Clay's clothes. Whatever he gave them, he gladly accepted

-Whenever Jestro made something for Clay, Clay would spent half an hour staring at it, afraid to ruin it some way by using the thing gifted to him. Same goes with whatever pastries he gets, he feels almost guilty for eating them

-Clay has a few Plush toys that Jestro got him and Jestro's collection mostly consists of the ones Clay got him

-Jestro hasn't moved out of Knightonia only because Clay gives bear hugs and he absolutely loves them

-If given the chance, Jestro would sacrifice much more than Clay could for him even if it doesn't seem like it

-These two would always play hide and seek in Merlok's library and around the castle even as teens at times

-Both of them encourage each other to be childish when they want to be

-Clay has pulled a Romeo so many times and came to the castle late in the evening just to talk to Jestro through their balcony

-Jestro can actually play violin. He's not perfect, but he definitely knows how to play it. He convinced himself he's bad at it since his bad luck always causes the strings to snap

-Jestro has played violin for Clay whenever they're sick to keep them amused

-Jestro once thought about running away in the academy and Clay was so ready to run with them so Jestro immediately threw that idea aside

-These two are like baby ducklings, they follow each other closely almost all the time

-Clay used to always be the one to say "He asked for no pickles" but after Season 4 and Jestro's absolute disappointment in the kingdom and it's people, he became the one to say "he asked for no pickles"

-Clay is glad that after season 4, Jestro started paying almost no mind to how people of Knightonia view him, but it makes him a bit worried even. Especially when Jestro just uses the people's own feelings towards him for his own advantage:

.

Shop keeper: YOU! Came here to steal all my baked goods, burn the place to the ground???

Jestro:... yes.

Shop keeper: what-

Jestro: I just said yes. Now can I get some of those caramel croissants.

Shop keeper now worried for their life: o-oh! Here! They're on the house!!!!

Jestro coming out of the bakery: Here Clay, I got us some of those fresh baked ones!

Clay:...was it on the house again?

Jestro:...mmm...yes?

Clay lightly sighing and going in to pay for it.

.

-Jestro feels sour enough towards Merlok that after season 4, he feels the need to protect Clay from whatever they might say and makes sure there isn't anything they decided to keep secret from them

Last, but not least:

-no matter what happens in their lives, these two will always find a way to keep close to each other, even if it takes time. Couple or not, they're soulmates that will never move on from each other. Inseparable by fate itself.

[writing-and-rebloging]

I'm so sorry for dog piling, BUT. Gojo fucking Satoru, right? This is incredibly messy though. Sorry.

—

He didn't save Megumi for his cursed technique. He took Megumi in the way he took Yuuta and Yuuji, in a sense. All three are children that would otherwise have had no life, no childhood, no precious teenage years, and as someone who had all that denied until the frail years he had in the school, Gojo strives to shield them from that. Canonically. He says he hates the higher ups for that reason at least twice, and that he wants them and that mentality gone.

As op said, Megumi wouldn't have had much choice, and the choice of going with Gojo was one he took with the limited information and places to run he had. And effectively based it off of the fact that "he could 100% assure him, Tsumiki would not be happy", which is selling it short.

Now, let's start with a simple thing, why Megumi was in that position in the first place. Toji's awareness of his incapability to take care of Megumi, and his flawed logic that while he had a shit time, little Megumi, a prodigy, someone gifted and strong with so much potential, would probably be okay. Probably. He had enough of a doubt to tell Gojo about it, though. And from what we see in Shibuya, Gojo did what Toji sort of wanted, and got him out of the ordeal.

Gojo approaches a young Megumi, with a little hatred still bubbling, and actually explains the situation, asks him what he wants to do. Megumi's "I would slaughter them" face is enough for Gojo to say that "he'll take care or the situation". Now, iirc, the deal was already on. He had to barge in the Zen'in household and say, hey, you know this kid you wanted? I'm keeping custody, bye. Megumi still attended school with Tsumiki, something that is plot relevant during the bridge arc, he had a more or less decent shot at having a life considering his circumstances, and I think that compared to the other clan kids we see, it says a lot. Noritoshi didn't had a childhood at all. Mai and Maki didn't had a childhood. There was an actual probably child in the Zen'in corps. Gojo was raised as a weapon. Megumi had to worry about girls fanning over him and tests, and yeah, cursed spirits too, and probably so did Nobara, who already had a good level of skill before going into Jujutsu high, and Gojo even comments on it when he denies Megumi from fighting (curses in the capital are different from curses of the countryside). Going on missions (probably fitted for Megumi's level and with the support that Gojo could and would save his ass) was likely to train him. Not the best, arguably, but a hands on approach. And probably part of the deal. As he said, Megumi was going to have to step up a bit, and personally, I think it has more to do with arranging his freedom than being an asset.

Hands on approaches are also a Gojo thing. He does that with Yuuta, who he sends to a mission with Toge with the instructions of "don't let Rika out, or we'll both get our heads chopped off". Or when he drags Yuuji to a domain battle. Is it the best thing to do? No. But alas. He's shit at explaining things, but he can show them instead.

There's also that thing. They're all child soldiers. Toge, Miwa, Aoi, Hakari. It's also likely what keeps them alive for a little longer since sooner or later a curse would have hunted them. Knowing what kind of world they live in gives them a shot. Megumi was given a shot at a regular life tough, unlike Mai, for example. Gojo, on the other hand, wasn't raised as a mere child soldier. He isn't disposable, he's the prodigy among prodigies, a singularity if you will, with both limitless and the six eyes, he was completely cut out of everything in favor of knowing fully well that he's a mass destruction bomb and the greatest sorcerer of current times. The best weapon in their world. That he would have to carry everyone and their mother because he's better. He never placed the kids worth on their strength, but he did remind them that not being strong enough in their line of work could mean death.

If Megumi had been raised by the Zen'in, chances are he would have ended worse than both Toji and Naoya. He would have been the despised golden child, the son of the deserter, the kid who's seeing his sister be abused daily, and probably viciously as a way to get to him. We know Naoya would have done that, and probably his brothers too, if the hints of the power struggle say anything about their behaviors as a whole. He would have been spiteful, and probably a little egocentric, thinking he's better than he is, and he would have been in literal militar organizations like the rest of the men of the family, cut out from civilization. Point is, he dodged a bullet, even if the thorns aren't perfect.

Now, Gojo isn't a father. He's a 20 long year old dude still trying to get back his youth because he wasn't allowed one. At best, he's an older brother. He outright says he's seeing Toji in Megumi, because they are physically alike. You know, the man that almost killed him, his best friend, and actually did kill the child they wanted to protect. The man he probably blames for what happened to Suguru. It's not the best to try and raise a child who reminds you of such things, but it is a good reason as to why he's emotionally distant from Megumi.

That's also another thing about Gojo to take into account regarding relationships. He has a thousand walls, a hundred locks, and you have to peel him off like an onion. He's distant and shielded from people, and will find the most annoying asshole way to tell them to be safe so that he doesn't has to admit he cares. Because he can't. More so after loosing his "one and true friend". He doesn't want to feel vulnerable. He doesn't want to loose people. So he doesn't bond with them beyond a superficial level. He doesn't interact with Megumi because he's not willing to get attached. He sent Yuuta with a nanny Miguel because he was getting sentimental. He sent Yuuji with Nanami because he was getting too close. And because he knew his limitations, as exposed by Nanami every time he genuinely forgot to teach something to Yuuji, but that's it's own post.

When the prision arc happens, he's pissed off that they did that, and that they sent Yuuji to a death sentence because they couldn't go forward with the execution. An execution Satoru stopped, because Megumi asked him to. And they were, funnily enough, sent when he was away. Almost like those three were children he cared for in Satoru's eyes, not disposable soldiers to carry out orders no matter what.

I just want to put emphasis on this because I can, but Satoru recognized Yuuji as a threat. He was willing to risk it, yes, but he didn't save him just because like with Yuuta, or to be his pawn. He asked for Megumi's opinion and input, and since Megumi asked selfishly for Yuuji to live, he moved heaven and earth to grant that request. Because while not stated, the two assassination attempts are proof enough that convincing the higher ups to drop the immediate execution wasn't easy. And we can easily assume that half of the reason he put the effort in was because he was asked to by Megumi, who he feels responsible for enough to agree to one on one training the second he asked for it. Because that's what he outright states, and we don't really get any indication that that wasn't true, even if Yuuji could turn to be a good ally to change the current status quo. It's a stretch, maybe, but due to the fact that he's a cube rn, there isn't much else of a choice than take "I'll do my best because it's a request from my student" at face value. And I, too, would take that interview with tweezers, considering it lowkey contradicts canon. But to each their own.

He also seems to, to a degree, feel responsible for Megumi due to the fact that, you know, he killed his father, and never hid anything from him (if I wanted to manipulate him into doing my bidding, lying is the first step), instead he was open and told him to ask if he ever wanted to know anything. Megumi never asked, but Gojo didn't deny him the possibility of knowing who exactly Fushiguro Toji was even if it was a biased perspective.

When it comes to Megumi's suicidal tendencies, though... He addressed that is not the way to win, and that it was holding him back to think like that, but, and this is a personal opinion, I don't think Gojo realizes what exactly all of that implies. He's a born and raised sorcerer. Everyone is a little crazy, and everyone is always more or less ready to die, because that's their life, right...? We know he has a lot of unhealthy coping mechanisms (playing clown to regain his youth, sugar addiction to deal with his own head, not trying because he doesn't see the point of it nor does he want others to compare himself to him), but I don't think he's even aware of the full connotations of those either? He is smart, but he's also a stupid sheltered kid, so... Could he have done better? Yes. Should he? Probably. Did he had the awareness to? Unlikely.

Tl:dr: this got long, I missed several things but point is, it's late, he's a flawed character, but I do think he does care about Megumi and all of the other kids, and that he didn't just save Megumi so that he could serve a purpose. But those are both valid takes and good points to raise discussions and character analysis with.

On an unrelated note, Gojo seems to be saying that about himself. He was the one not strong enough to stop Toji from fucking Suguru up (which would result in facing the cult, which would result in Geto going bananas) and got left behind as a result :) he's supposed to be the strongest, and carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, after all :)

Not here to dogpile! I promise!

And while I definitely think Geto wasn’t the greatest at raising Nanako and Mimiko since they do have this unhealthy codependency thing. It should be noted that Geto didn’t have anyone from the cult/family to raise Nanako and Mimiko.

The author stated in the internet that it was only Geto himself that raised them. And it was only Nanako and Mimiko’s decision to join because of how much they love him. It’s unhealthy yes, but Geto is the type who can’t really say no to his precious daughters.

I mean. I definitely think it’s way better than what Gojo did with Megumi. Gojo did not raised him. He literally only “save” him due to his curse technique and thinking he would be a strong ally growing up.

Do I think Gojo cares about Megumi? To a certain degree. But definitely not in a family way. Gojo views relationships a bit too transactional. I mean Gojo was aware about Megumi’s suicidal tendencies, but not completely understanding where it stems from. And plus, there was a flashback in the manga of Gojo literally had him dragging a young Megumi on a mission already. Definitely not dad material.

Gojo basically only “raised” Megumi as a child soldier essentially. I mean, you can’t blame him. Because that was how Gojo was raised, so he thought it was the best for him. Overall. Geto = Dad (not the best but he still raised them with love and care). Gojo = Not Dad.

OH MAN ok so first i must preface this by saying that some of this really depends on what you make of their interactions, because not all of this is stated in the text. in the end, we may just have different interpretations ^^

so while it does not seem that geto directly raised nanako and mimiko as followers in his cult, he is still a cult leader himself and it doesnt seem that he makes much of an effort to shield them from what hes doing and what his ideologies are. its very clear that the two worship him as a father figure and greater & both of the twins subscribe to his movement. nanako and mimiko are directly involved in the sorcerer's side of his plans, acting as some of the key players in his plans and even willing to assassinate other sorcerers in his name.

in the end, even with how much geto loved mimiko and nanako, he was subjecting them to incredibly harmful ideology and indoctrinating them into a genocide effort. all in all, that is abuse, no matter how much he loved them.

on gojo's side of things, i really cant claim that he was the best father figure either, but i dont think he was trying to be in the first place. when geto breaks off from jujutsu tech and takes the girls and takes over the star religious group, gojo instead goes to the fushiguros, whom he was either previously ignoring the existence of or he was putting off confronting toji's last words until geto's defection prompted it (we really don't have confirmation of his thought process here and if he had already planned on going to the fushiguros, so this is all speculation).

in any case, the main thing is that gojo and geto practically swap ideologies by the end of the past arc. where geto turns to a violent and drastic solution, gojo instead carries out in the spirit of geto's previous ideals, while also trying to secure a better future for the next generation of sorcerers. interestingly, its right after geto assumes control of the cult in the manga we are shown gojo meeting megumi.

what it seems to ME from their interaction, is that gojo is considering tojis last words and is giving megumi a choice. megumi rejects the idea of going to the zenin clan on the basis that it would make tsumiki unhappy (i wonder if gojo says this because he knows how they would treat tsumiki as a non sorcerer, or because he as a clan kid has some prior experiences. who knows). to be honest, i dont think that megumi had a plethora of options. he could have gone to the zenin clan with tsumiki and been well trained but unhappy, or he could have tried to evade the zenin clan for as long as possible, which wouldn't have been possible to keep up forever without having proper training on his techniques. gojo offers megumi a third option, presumably acting as a buffer and helping to train megumi. it IS possible that gojo could have offered megumi protection from the zenins and to lead a normal life away from sorcery indefinitely, but theres debate if thats even possible. megumi was going to be sold for an [unknown] large amount of money because of the strength of his sorcery, which likely means that the zenin at least knew he could be an incredible asset. maybe someone they didnt see as impressive or valuable might have been able to get out if they fought hard enough, like maki and mai, but that probably wouldnt have been possible for megumi. the sheer strength of his sorcery puts him in trouble in the jujutsu world, whether hes targeted or recruited for it.

i dont think that gojo was specifically training megumi to be a child sorcerer and an asset to him, because his parting words to me imply more of gojos own issues with geto (of course, speculation) than wanting megumi to be a strong ally of his, especially because gojo is not looking at megumi and has a kind of melancholic smile.

i have seen the interview that gege did where he claims that gojo did it to "seek human resources", but i do think that its an incredibly strange setup, especially with having the contrast with how geto is solidifying his own beliefs in how to move forward in the jujutsu world.

part of the reason im iffy about stuff like this is because gege will set up and have gojo act as an adult who is actively trying to help the children he meets and change the jujutsu world starting with the younger generations, and then he will turn around and say that gojo doesnt care as long as the kids are strong. i know that gege is known for being harsh on gojo and hating his character, so i wont lie, i dont put as much weight into stuff like that....

dont get me wrong, gojo was definitely not "dad" material! in reality, i think he was more of a mentor figure than anything else. we know that he gave financial support, he helped megumi train, and he also helped give him advice, but he definitely wasn't there 100% of the time. in fact, im not entirely sure he would have been able to do that at all considering he would have likely had to take up even more missions than he was already doing to take up the slack from geto defecting. in contrast, i dont think that geto should have assumed being their father figure at all, especially in the way he did, considering hes also gojo's age when he takes the twins in (assumed around 19-20s) because he posits himself to the twins as self assured and morally superior to nearly everyone else around them, which is also very unhealthy because at that age you yourself are still learning, and if youre taking care of young and impressionable kids who are willing to take anything you say as the ultimate truth, you should definitely let them know that youre not like. a god on earth. NOT THAT HE SAID THAT but like you get what i mean

[cheeri-archive]

hiiiii as a mace fan. please elaborate 👁👁👁

ahe-he-he-he-heeeeem.

i'll give you the crash course :zoomeyes:

pretty much, i've given mace a little more grassroots as to who he is. he's always been itching for a fight, because he likes to prove himself - and it's not helped that his master, cyslin myr (mirialan), was the same way as a padawan. but HER master, kozish'atrolu myr (togruta), taught her that sometimes it takes wisdom before wanton. and mace learned that well. his younger crechemate awulna kol (mirialan) still liked to egg him on to fight someone who's been taking jabs at him. but she always jumped in right alongside her brother.

he's still a theater nerd. he's always been one. he runs plays in the temple and used his older crechemate (hellir' drovaddal, balosar) as a bargaining chip in the artisan halls to get their support on re-opening a club after dropped interest; even into his mastership, he can still be found giving younglings and padawans tips on how to really let loose the theatrics and get practically whatever they want from older jedi.

he's very close confidants with kit fisto and dara idella (@/spacerocksarethebestrocks), arguably brothers with cin drallig (@/penguinkiwi), and oof. he's got a lot of close buddies.

that akk dog i mentioned? that was a gift from awulna from when they were teenagers; awulna was padawan to an animal handler who found the pup alone and without bond. mace, who had periodically been returning to haruun kal to learn more about his heritage, seemed like the perfect recipient - i blurbed about this a little but tl;dr, it was an instant hit. awulna named her slobber in basic, and mace (secretly) kept that name in korunnal.. he won't admit it because awulna would never let him live it down. and ever since, every dog that comes in the temple Must be petted by mace. it is law. he loves dogs so very dearly.

uhhhhh regarding his lineage, shatterpoint, he does teach his padawans the skill and allows them to practice and grow stronger. he doesn't insist that they learn vapaad/juyo but is happy to help them train in it should they wish - alongside battlemaster cin. he's literally just a giant dad, and is hardly seen without a padawan whether they be his own or someone else's. he adores kids. he took in depa, then aria (@/clone-bar-79s, correct me if the timeline is off!) and omura, then he plans to take on a little one named aubrie wyn after the war.

yes i made him the grandmaster in cheeriverse, taking place before tpm - something something, yoda fucked around and got voted down a way long time ago, maila (@/keys-to-the-stars) became grandmaster for a while and grew tired of it, then she personally passed it down to mace. sadly qui-gon is a big-cock maverick who does what he wants to so he got himself killed on naboo anyway. despite being the grandmaster, he still personally fought in the war with his own troops and gave more power to the council as a whole so there was no imbalance should something happen to him.

idk man. i just fucking love this dude. he's so shaped. i want to hold him. feel free to ask me any specifics bc MMMMMMM MACE WINDU <3

[luckycheesefoodie321]

ok...ok ok ok... ok... so I watched Mulan (2020)... spoilers + LONG POST (yo this took me an hour and a half)...

before yall scream at me for spending money on it, lemme just say i was fully intending to wait until December so that I would not have to give even more money to the Disney machine (especially in light of things that happened with John Boyega) nor endorse individuals who support police brutality or oppression... but my mum and sister nagged me to buy it so we could watch it now, and explaining the politics of supporting both Disney’s greed and the controversy around the lead actress and would’ve just frustrated us both so I paid for it -_- please don’t crucify me... 

also want to preface this by saying I am not Chinese (though I am Asian), and I understand that the 1998 film and this film have inherent issues, given neither were directed by Asian directors, let alone Chinese ones... so the representation of the Chinese culture is likely flawed (and likely straight up wrong) in many ways... additionally, Li Yifei has been shown to support the actions of police in Hong Kong, so just know I’m viewing her role purely from an acting and movie standpoint...

now that’s done... general rating for the movie

when compared to the original animated film (my favourite Disney movie of all time): scrapes by on a 5/10

movie that stands on its own as I watched it (just note I’m the type of person who can enjoy pretty much anything - even if I’m hyper-critical of it): 7/10 (I’m very generous but my viewing experience was nice)

if I break it down completely into its underlying faults and wash away the Hollywood sheen and the nostalgia filter: 4/10 for themes 8/10 for cinematography and the technical aspects... (this movie was gorgeous to look at and had some really fun camera work, sue me for enjoying the visuals)

Full SPOILER review:

For the most part, my nostalgia filter from the animated film, which I dearly dearly love, basically had me ecstatic anytime there was even a hint of a reference to the animated film (see: occasional notes from the songs), and also sorely disappointed when the acting or the general pace pulled the fun or the emotion from key points (see: A Girl Worth Fighting For being abruptly cut off upon seeing the carnage would’ve been so much more impactful because they actually showed the bodies in the 2020 version but instead we got this kinda funny convo referencing the lines completely separated from that scene)...

The biggest issue I have with the film is that Mulan was naturally skilled from the beginning and was told to suppress her abilities.. making her OP from the beginning undermines the 1998 journey where we see every step of her development both in physical ability and her emotional struggles... then through her wits, intelligence, and strategy, as well as being on par and even better than her fellow soldiers, she manages to defeat Shan Yu and makes us feel her “Hero” status is very much earned... so it takes away from what the 1998 film tried to show in suggesting Mulan could just OP her way to victory at the drop of a hat.. and also implied her being dishonest about her true identity was her primary flaw? idk thematically they were trying to be super empowering of women and the capability of women, and the boxes women are forced into according to society... but then suggest Mulan was always inherently gifted/had a special power and that is why she succeeded, while the other soldiers worked hard and effectively achieved the same goal (albeit in a less flashy manner)... so the message gets very confusing...

i felt that Xian Niang (was that her name?), the Witch, had a lot of potential, but I was also really concerned they introduced her to make sure Mulan had a female enemy to defeat, and Shan Yu/Bori Khan was a minion of this female enemy... so in that sense I’m glad she served as a foil to Mulan... I would’ve liked the parallels more if the “being your true self”/”bring honor to us all” theme wasn’t so muddled... Mulan was accepted while XIan Niang wasn’t because they both had powers, but then Mulan convinces her to take the noble path and so Xian Niang died for her? idk there was a better way to fold her into the story...

Shan Yu/Bori Khan was about as much as I expected from him... I think he matched Shan Yu for skill, though idk about ferocity or intimidation power, though the actor was decent enough... but I did enjoy his and Mulan’s fight... less impactful because he didn’t even know about her and how she was the one to take down most of his army...

didn’t mind that Mushu was missing... fondly referred to the phoenix as Mushu (though I understand there may be cultural missteps in a phoenix being the spirit/ancestor/guardian)...

I also didn’t mind they removed the power imbalance between Shang and Mulan and had her love interest be a fellow soldier...I really liked Yoson An’s character actually...but the romance element was significantly dialled back, so we didn’t get the bisexual icon that is Li Shang... also Li Yifei’s emotional acting was normal but not outstanding... so her feelings for Honghui didn’t really register much except for that first time they chat in the barracks about girls, and right before she goes home... (just me being pouty about him not joining the Imperial Guards to Mulan’s home and presenting himself for matchmaking... though I understand it was to keep focus on Mulan’s journey, not her love interest)...

while it probably wasn’t the intention of the 1998 film, the positive portrayal of gender fluidity, the specific empowerment of trans and bisexual individuals through Mulan and Shang (bc let’s get real, he was just as attracted to Ping as he was Mulan), all did not ring in quite the same way in the 2020 version... again I’m not part of either community, so I can’t say for sure, but this is what I read from it...

overall the fun was taken out, with the songs... I would say this is probably on the higher end of Disney Live Action adaptations, there were some fun moments and funny dialogue even, and I didn’t mind that they were trying to do something different, unlike some of the others which made it note for note the same... but ultimately the biggest flaw of most of the adaptations are that it removes the fun and the levity in lieu of a more serious tone... 

I accepted no songs (I was hopeful and then pleasantly surprised when they did pay some minor homages through the score to the original’s songs)... but the fun moments were meant to be intentionally undercut by the reality of the war... there’s a reason A Girl Worth Fighting For was cut off so abruptly in the 1998 version... it was the moment where these trainees (all of them young and having never experienced battle or war before) suddenly realised the severity of the situation before them, and it was in that moment they accepted their fate and duty to protect the kingdom...

the 2020 version just kind of had them walk through the carnage without any real build up... the grand battle sequence with the avalanche was pretty well done, the overdramatic “Hua Jun died but Mulan lived” scene notwithstanding.. i didn’t mind that Mulan volunteered to expose herself rather than be forced half-naked into the snow by the Chancellor dude... didn’t like Honghui got the “you listened to Hua Jun, why is Hua Mulan any different?” line... the “I believe in Hua Mulan” was kinda goofy, but I could see what they were going for... it was kinda undermined by the Commander saying “you dishonoured your family and this regiment but hey, you’re brave and loyal kid”...felt very patronising...

I’m not gonna lie, I kinda loved Cricket... he was adorable and I had half a heart attack when I thought he’d died... 

DIDN’T REALISE MING NA WEN MADE A CAMEO UNTIL I CAME ON HERE...so that was nice..

still pissed they didn’t even put the drum beats for “I’ll Make a Man Outta You”...they were using drums during the training sequence too so would’ve been real easy to do so AND THEY DIDN’T...they did it for “Bring Honor to Us All” and “Reflection”...idk why they couldn’t even give us that much of my favourite Disney song...

again, cannot emphasise enough how gorgeous this whole movie looked...and there were so many fun camera work moments... the visuals had me dead on the floor ya’ll...

idk what else i have to say now...

tl;dr I enjoyed the experience of watching it, but hooooo boi the film is flawed as hell...

[shoichee]

GoMs + Kagami, Hanamiya, Teppei as Pokémon Trainers

Pokémon x Kuroko no Basket Crossover

Headcanons on KNB characters if they were trainers

For only the “Generation of Miracles” (plus Kagami), I wanted to show that they are prodigies in the pokémon universe by each giving them the appropriate specialty legendary/mythical pokémon respective to their anime counterpart abilities/personalities.

Also, as GoMs in the pokémon universe, I was careful to also choose some of their respective pokémon based on base stats and the consideration of type variety, unless a team had most pokémon sharing a type for a reason, in addition to already choosing pokémon based on their pokédex entries.

I have also given pictures of said pokémon suited to each KNB character below the cut.

Warning: spoilers on KNB characters, it’s a given

Kuroko Tetsuya 

his lack of presence would directly translate into the pokémon world pretty nicely and would make him pretty attuned to ghost pokémon floating about, but that won’t necessarily mean he’ll have a full team of ghosts

I feel like he would accidentally just pick up the mythical pokémon, Marshadow as a kid without knowing its reputation and would just let it follow him around like a buddy… and then they would become an official trainer-pokémon relationship later on // they’re both tiny and usually unnoticeable; they’d be best friends

he’d definitely have a Zoroark, since these pokémon require very strong bonds with their trainers, and they’re infamously known for their illusions and trickery; for Kuroko, he probably saw right through a Zorua’s (pre-evolution) tricks back in the day and then it became intrigued by him and joined him along the way before evolving into the Zoroark we see present day // this is a tribute to Nigou as well, since they’re both dog-like/fox?????

surprisingly, he’d have a Hatterene just trailing behind recently; Hatterenes hate extreme emotions emitted from humans and I’d feel like it would just be lured in by his dry personality

Hatterene’s color scheme is literally the same blue and pink like Kuroko and Momoi, so Hatterene is very much a Momoi who chases Kuroko around while he doesn’t mind it at all

his 4th pokémon, Vanilluxe, came to be when he spent hours hiding in the tall grass for a Vanillite (pre-evolution) to show up; he was willing to go out of his way to catch one because he wanted an ode to his love for vanilla milkshakes

all in all, he would be the trainer who is able to instantly connect and make friends with other pokémon around without even trying; ironically, he would have the most variety of typings in his team because of that

he’s the protagonist trainer who would always be the first to openly stand up against the villain teams and foiling their plans, but he would need the support of the other GoMs (cough) to take down the team bosses

he would definitely be friends with N (BEST franchise character)

he’s a “youngster” trainer like a “youngster joey��� vibe KDJWORKWKW but like he’s pretty OP by the end of his journey

Kise Ryota

Cinderace with its hidden ability Libero is perfect for our blondie; Libero is an ability that allows the user to become that type of the move it just used until it uses a move of a different type, and then it’ll switch to that next type (I thought about Greninja with its Protean ability at first because it’s the OG ability and it's the exact effect just a diff name; but Cinderace’s design is a soccer motif and it reminded me of Kise in the old Teiko days)

Kise would very much be a renown model in the pokémon universe, and he’d idolize Elesa (from Pokémon B/W and B2/W2); both are blonde models too LOL (except she dyed her hair black in B2/W2)

so he’d have a Luxray (non shiny OR shiny, both suit him), because since he looks up to her so much and she’s an electric-type gym leader, he’d probably have an electric-type of his own

I would think he’d have a dragon-type pokémon like Haxorus to connect him with Aomine (a dragon-type trainer) since in the anime, Aomine was Kise’s mentor and role model in basketball; it would give him a fighting chance with Aomine if they ever faced each other in a pokémon battle

he would have a shiny Sylveon, and he would love to dote the ever living fuck out of it and feed it poképuffs (maybe from Murasakibara’s café LOL) and sing with it, and every time it sweeps someone’s team with its Moonblasts, he’ll cheer it on so much BDHWIRWI it also adds a certain connotation to his idol reputation as this “approachable guy” with his adorable Sylveon too

this guy has an idol status not just in the beauty/fashion industry, but also in the sports world (especially in Unova’s sports stadium in Nimbasa city)

he’d meet tons of other models and fashion icons like gym leader Nessa, champion Diantha, etc. WHEW JUST SAYIN

he would have his face plastered everywhere on trainer PR videos and even getting offers for some minor acting roles in Pokéstar Studios

one day, while he’d be at the studio, there was a whole commotion how the studio and the museum had their deliveries mixed up because the studio had the real meteorite while the museum had the well-made prop of a meteorite; and uh, it turns out this meteorite had the alien virus that pretty much had its DNA mutated into a Deoxys

long story short, being a very experienced trainer, Kise would manage to catch it after hours of chasing it in the wild areas nearby

over time, he and this particular Deoxys would come to have enough mutual respect for each other to be able to battle as a proper trainer-pokémon duo

that being said, he won’t resort to using it unless it’s life-threatening; note: he changes its Formes using a chunk from the meteorite in the studios he broke off (Deoxys [and its many forms] is further reference to his versatility as a basketball player)

Midorima Shintarou

as a man who seeks for good luck and fortunes he’d stack up on a Chimecho for sure and… 

Togekiss; he used to have its pre-evolution Togepi to solely to try to make it stand up while sleeping for good luck (according to the pokédex), and the more he kept trying, the more he made it attached to him and before he knew it, he had a fully evolved Togekiss // he’ll NEVER admit that he loves it to bits, though

this might be unexpected at first glance, but he’d have a Mega Absol; hear me out, it’s called the “disaster pokémon” according to its pokédex, however it is only named so because it warns others of disasters when it appears SO IT WOULD WARN MIDORIMA OF INCOMING BAD LUCK

he’d probably receive a Rowlet from Momoi as a gift from her laboratory, and he didn’t have the heart to abandon it; he’d evolve it to a Decidueye… and just… keep it (this pokémon is a reference to his no-miss shots)

ultimate good luck bringer: Ho-Oh ✨

would have the most “balanced” team out of everyone in terms of type-coverage (reference to him having the most coverage in skills for basketball, from shooting to absolute defense to having ball-handling skills)

he’d totally avoid Akashi’s Kadabra (pre-evolution of Alakazam)—who will be mentioned later down in the list—because it’s said to bring bad luck, as well as avoiding all the Ninetales because he doesn’t want to risk accidentally pulling off one of their tails and be cursed

he’ll avoid caverns as much as possible (but it’s impossible to avoid them all) because those are the habitats of Golbats (who will supposedly give bad luck if one bites you) but if there wasn’t a leeway for him, he will literally LATCH onto his Chimeco and keep his Togekiss and Absol out of their pokéballs to guard him LMAOOO

I would feel he would constantly strive to fill up his entire pokédex, so he’d be a pokémon master in training in a sense; he’s someone who wants to prepare himself for any situation and opportunity, so being a pokédex filler would always provide him an encyclopedia on potential pokémon to either stay away from or catch more of because of certain luck factors

make no mistake though, he’s a seasoned pokémon battler, don’t fuck with him

Aomine Daiki

an intimidating Garchomp would be his ace™️ pokémon, ummmm have you SEEN its base SPEED stat??? it’s a monster

we’re gonna go overkill and give this man a Mega Rayquaza just for the sole fact that he’d be the “ace” trainer of ALL ace trainers and veterans alike

however, because of his “lack of practice/training” like in the anime, he’d probably just stick with these two pokémon, since usually Garchomp already sweeps everyone’s teams without a sweat

homie is probably napping on top of one of the laboratory roofs (probably the one Momoi works in) or escaping to a nearby cliff or hill to relax and keep a lookout for any promising trainers that pass by him

is a trainer who pretty much kept one-shotting all the trainers throughout his journey in the region (aka that’s us protagonists when we play against NPCs)

he would also be that trainer who wiped the floor with the current champion so badly that he felt that all his “training” leading up to that moment didn’t even feel rewarding (plus there’s those countless trainer battles before where it didn’t feel thrilling), and so, he just left the league after, waiting for the day a sufficient rival could show up in his life

he’s definitely cleared the challenging battle systems of each region (probably back when he still had some passion for battling and had a good full team): Battle Frontier, Battle Tree, PWT tournament, Battle Manson, Battle Tower… you name it, he’d probably be done with most of them, if not, all

Murasakibara Atsushi

he’d have a Bewear, Appletun, and lots of variants of Alcremie’s just hanging around him

note: you should search up all the variations of Alcremies yourself, hint cough, it’s 60 variations total

maybe he’d have a Snorlax chilling nearby because it’s so huge

Murasakibara would be a Pokécafé owner AND HE’D HAVE HIS BULKY BEWEAR AND HIS SNORLAX GUARD THE SHOP, YOU CAN’T ARGUE WITH ME 

or he would UNLEASH his G-MAX forms of Alcremie’s

and he’ll just use his pokémon to make the tastiest poffins, poképuffs, and pokécurry

he’ll never bring out his final pokémon, Melmetal, unless it’s an absolute emergency and his shop is in danger

he would love Kuroko’s Vanilluxe, in a sense where he would always impassively joke about eating the ice-cream pokémon and Kuroko would just constantly hope he’s not being for real

he wouldn’t be motivated by ambitions like other trainers would have, he just wants to chill and loaf around all day; if someone pissed him off about he was a “weak” trainer or how they were becoming overly cocky when talking about their goals, he’d be right there smiling and ready to annihilate them | (• ◡•)|

Akashi Seijuro

Espeon would totally fit him as his first pokémon; its eyes are very reminiscent of his feline irises, and it’s tiny in size but a very powerful sweeper when set up right AND THEY’re ~calm~ while being capable of either sweet or very calculating later on / LIKE PET, LIKE OWNER

Tsareena; this one has a literal attitude of a queen and its pokédex is pretty terrifying in which one kick from its legs “leaves a wound in the opponent's body and soul that will never heal”... sound familiar?

Nidoking, cough I wonder why I picked this guy he’s a king, but jokes aside, it’s here to add more type variety to his team, and it’s mostly there to be a status inflictor (aka poisoning) and hazard setter with traps for his opponents… sound familiar with how he initiates his shogi strategies?

Mega Alakazam. that’s it. this pokémon has 5000 IQ like ?? would totally wipe the floor with Akashi in shogi if it tried

you thought Aomine had an overkill legendary, but Akashi has Hoopa, who’s capable of a Confined form and Unbound form, representative of his two contrasting personalities 

he’s an ambitious trainer aiming to become a Pokémon Master, and he’s one of those feared prodigies that all the region champions just lowkey sweat hearing about him coming to wreck their leagues apart

his pokédex would be damn near completed

he looks more into a pokémon’s utility and how it can fit into his strategies; it just turns out that most of the capable/eligible pokémon he ends up picking are psychic-types because they all tend to have extremely high intelligence to pull them off

Momoi Satsuki

Mega Altaria fits Momoi’s aesthetic of being cute, but very dangerous if you underestimate it, and I wanted a cute connection to Aomine who I primarily headcanoned to be a dragon-type trainer, so Altaria is a dragon-type pokemon that I picked out (perfect alternative would be Mega Gardevoir if she never met Aomine)

Blissey is a pokemon that brings happiness to anyone that eats their eggs, and it very much fits Momoi’s personality

Tapu Lele is a totem pokemon that has incredible knowledge, and is known to be able to outsmart any opponent during battle, referencing her pre-cognitive defense research abilities

she would definitely be constantly mistaken as a pokémon “Beauty” (yes that’s a trainer title), but in actuality, she’s training to become a pokémon professor as an assistant 

Momoi’s “professor specialty” would definitely be her researching about a pokémon’s current stats (plus their EVs and IVs) and would pinpoint their level of potential and thus, predict their growth (and the steps taken for a certain type of growth) // she’d probably become really famous in the world of competitive battling because a lot of trainers would try to approach her to help “train their teams”

Kagami Taiga

I think he would ironically have a Lopunny because it used to be Alex’s but she just left it in his care and now he has this prankster bunny that’s basically an Alex 2.0 to other pokémon in its vicinity ?? but it has hops like Kagami so

a hotheaded, short-tempered guy like Kagami would have an Incineroar (they… kinda look the same) 

Krookodile would be very much up his alley… its offensive stats are also not something to take lightly, especially when paired with moves like Earthquake and Foul Play

Kommo-o would be a pokémon that embodies Kagami’s personality very well: it seeks to battle only strong opponents for the reason to defeat the “darkness,” and its presence is more than enough to scare the weaker opponents away; Kagami has been mentioned as the “light” many times throughout the series, and his piercing gaze on the courts generate suffocating pressure on the opposing teams // it’s also a pseudo-legendary pokémon on the same base-stat caliber as Aomine’s Garchomp (hinting at their game against each other) ( ᐛ )

last one I’d find really amusing to give for Kagami would be Victini, the adorable mythical pokémon said to bring only victories for its trainer… and it’s a reference to his ascendance to the top of the Winter Cup after defeating all the GoM’s teams

oh yeah, I forgot Mega Lopunny existed so I’ll just attached that right below

anywho, so he’s a rising pokémon trainer who wants to become a pokémon master… but only for the battling part LOL like he doesn’t believe in “catching ‘em all” so to speak because he’d be someone who would believe in winning battles with the pokémon you truly bonded with; in other words, he’d probably only catch new pokémon if he feels a certain connection with them

but because of that, he doesn’t have much info on other pokémon besides his own, and it bites him in the ass when he has to try to figure out ways to take down opposing teams

reluctantly would team up with Kuroko after finding out many of the competitions require double battling but he doesn’t have a single strategy for it, and then Kuroko would pop out of nowhere and offered a hand to be his double battle partner until he learned how to double-battle on his own

spoiler alert, they totally start becoming travel companions in exploring the world together

of course Kagami would have battle strategies, but he isn’t like Akashi where he would actively look for the appropriate strong pokémon for his strategies; he makes strategies to accommodate his existing team

Kiyoshi Teppei

HE HAS A LUCARIO, NOT ONLY THAT A MEGA LUCARIO; they both seek for justice and they’re extremely loyal, and they both are able to read their opponents very easily 

HE ISN’T CALLED THE “IRON HEART” FOR NOTHING, I CAN SEE HIM WITH A SHINY METAGROSS JUST BEING AN OFFENSIVE TANK YET BEING ABLE TO SWEEP, JUST LIKE AN ACE WOULD

he would live a double life: a shopkeeper of his grandparents’ pokémon item/antique store by day, pokémon ranger and patroller by night

he would keep his local area safe (ง'̀-'́)ง

yes, I only see him as a steel-type trainer

he’d be so precious with his pokémon and meticulous in his care for them: he’d probably shine his Metagross everyday or brush out his Lucario’s fur, just because !!

and his pokémon would be fiercely protective of Teppei in return, mostly because they noticed he has bad knees and they don’t want him to strain them any further(;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`)

Hanamiya Makoto

no debate, he’d have a shiny Hydreigon… dude that pokémon is an absolute nightmare to level up and evolve, let alone tame, but back when it debuted in Pokémon B/W, it was the most OP pokémon out there // shiny variant of it because it has a similar color scheme to the Kirisaki Daiichi basketball team, and he’d probably have a shiny version just to flaunt it off and piss people off

Salazzle with a hidden ability Corruption, where it allows it to poison any pokémon regardless of type or ability; again, it’s to piss the trainers off in battle

and finally, a Dracovish; a person like him would totally have this inherently fucked up pokémon just for the sole purpose to disturb the hell out of his opponent trainers, but make no mistake: it’s an underdog sweeper 

look, he’s an admin of some sinister villain team and he has his other Kirisaki Daiichi starter players as his personalized grunts (they’re like a specific sect of the villain team; e.g. Shadow Triad or the Seven Sages of Team Plasma)

you might wonder, why don’t I give him a “spider” pokémon, since the webs are the analogy used to compare to his strategies in basketball? too many villains have Ariados in their teams and Galvantula is a friendly, fuzzy tarantula soooo it wouldn’t fit Hanamiya at all

I don’t think he would have any deep motive to be villainous other than to just enjoy people getting fucked over by his own deeds and actions; sometimes, it isn’t so deep

“it’s your boy, Guzma Hanamiya” if you get this reference I love you

End Note: “Mega” forms and “G-MAX” forms are not separate pokémon, but rather, temporary power-ups during battles; they are just shown to show the differences in appearances compared to their original forms when they transform.

[inkdemonapologist]

How was Sammy's home life?

I don't have a lot of headcanons about the like, pre-Studio lives of the BatIM folks tbh! I........... do have a few about Sammy though.

He mentioned having been musical from a young age in the Hot Topic takeover, and he's so comfortable composing for a band and apparently comfortable enough playing a bunch of different instruments (based on possible requirements for the Sanctuary) and handles SO much as music director that it seems to me like he MUST'VE had some formal training -- this isn't just a kid who taught himself to play banjo really well. On the other hand, he also mentions having had bacon soup as his favourite food and being really enamoured with chocolate cake, which both struck me as such.... modest things to have as Big Favs?

So my favourite headcanon is that Sammy is an only child from a lower-middle-class family that noticed he was Extremely Musically Gifted, but couldn't easily afford to support that gift, so they worked Very Hard to make it possible for him, sacrificing a lot so that their son could pursue a better dream.

You end up with someone is simultaneously kind of entitled, but also has sort of a defensive chip on his shoulder because he never quite belonged in the circles his parents got him into. Unlike Joey, he doesn't try to put on a fitting persona to get where he wants to go; instead, he's been tacitly taught that his talent is what got him here and focuses on THAT, pushing his skills as hard as he can so that he doesn't HAVE to fit in. His parents were constantly busy working and didn't have time for much else, especially given that I'm sure Sammy's music took up a lot of HIS time, too. The resulting young man has a warped idea of how much you're supposed to give to your job or your passion, and is also used to having the house to himself to practice/study and struggles to focus or cooperate with a group.

But overall his home life was fine! It was fine, and quiet, and busy, and he learned from example that love is a kind of sacrifice.

[daily-dose-of-imagines]

Hitmen AU! | Head Canons | 19+ [Haikyuu!!]

ΛӨBΛ JӨΉƧΛI [PART i] [PART ii] [PART iii]

Here’s Aoba Johsai~!! Can’t believe I made it to the 3rd school SKSKSK 

Like the others, I hope you guys enjoy these ones as well~! As always, thank you for the support for this AU!

» » Admin Ko

»»————-　♔　————-««

In terms of the other groups in their precinct, they’re one of the groups that is known, but not known enough. Often compared to Shiratorizawa, they often consider the popular group their rival.

Their right hand man, or the ‘true’ boss, was actually the mentor to Karasuno’s ‘gifted’ sniper, and thanks to teaching the kid, the mentor gained a new scar.

T̷o̷r̷u̷ ̷O̷i̷k̷a̷w̷a̷

If y’all thought he was the head boss--- you’re wrong, but also right.

despite being cunning and observant, Oikawa is more the right hand man than a boss. If anything, he’s the boss in the shadows 

he enjoys being an element of surprise and being out on the field gives him that advantage

he enjoys torturing his victims via psychological torture and physical 

though he enjoys it, he is the team’s main sniper and is constantly improving himself and his skills

he acts sweet and cute on occasion, but can be sinister and uncomfortably sweet

“Ah~. So this is where you were hiding~! And Iwa-chan was thinking I couldn’t find you~. You’ll tell him that it didn’t take long, right~?” An oppressing aura came from the brunette as he grinned wickedly at the cowering and injured man before him. Despite having been shot in the shoulder and thigh, he had managed to escape to a nearby alleyway, though of course running away wouldn’t do much. Especially against someone as cruel as the figure standing above.

“Besides, Iwa-chan was so mean saying that I let you get away! I was just giving you a chance to escape! It’s a lot more fun when you can break someone’s last hope after all~!”

Unsettling. That’s all one could think of when put face to face with a man like this. 

“Though it was fun, I have to say bye~. I really did wish you could’ve told Iwa-chan that I did find you~.” With that, a psychotic grin and a sudden silence filled the alleyway.

Lean and buff, he doesn’t really show that much of a strong body with the clothes he wears on a daily, but once in mission gear he’s literally thicc thighs and bulging biceps

messy reddish brown hair that’s either slicked up and back while he snipes, or down and fluffy when he’s torturing and interrogating

doesn’t really like tattoos, but does enjoy piercings has a couple on his ears. Has a bit of a nasty fleshed together ear scar from when he tutored Kageyama in sniping way back when.

Literally covered from head to toe in bruises, scars, and wounds because of how hard he trains himself

he’s rather cute and teasing to his s/o

he really enjoys toying with them

calls them his little bunny 

I̴s̴s̴e̴i̴ ̴M̴a̴t̴s̴u̴k̴a̴w̴a̴

a trainer in the group

he runs through various training regimes with the rookies

his skill is wide set 

though not an expert, he is still considered a jack of all trades as he has the basics down for any required skill in their group

besides being the trainer he’s the one who runs errands and brings updates to the team in regards to client pay and which people have purposefully tried to avoid paying them

A slow tilt to his head as he observed the fidgeting figure before him. They were seated in the store’s storage room. A make shift table and pull out chairs hastily put together at the sudden visit. 

“I’ve been informed that you’re late again on your payments Hirai-san.” His voice was smooth, no indication of emotion as he stared blankly at the nervous man. The constant fidgeting and incessant shaking of his leg being major indicators that the client hadn’t expected this abrupt visit. Well, luckily-- or rather unluckily for them...he had some spare time today.

“You’re lucky that I don’t have another appointment after this Hirai-san. So why don’t we have a nice long chat about your payments?”

One of the tallest members in their group

is also one of the best fit and built as well due to his skill set and the body’s demand to keep up to date with each and every skill he knows

has one tattoo 

he’s very casual with his s/o

likes to tease and be in a more comfortable / chill sort of environment

isn’t too aggressive when it comes to PDA, but doesn’t mind displaying it every once in a while

T̷a̷k̷a̷h̷i̷r̷o̷ ̷H̷a̷n̷a̷m̷a̷k̷i̷

One of the strategists within the group

he works alongside Oikawa when they need to hustle to put send out assignments

usually is the one who processes the transactions made by those on the dark webs and hands out the assignments with a sort of witty humor to help soothe the nerves of his fellow teammates

despite being calm and collected, he’s rather caring and kind to the rest of the team

though isn’t afraid to be sharp and cold when it comes to helping with interrogations as the ‘good’ cop

“Oikawa...I told you to let me get to them first before you have your way.” A soft sigh came from the calm male as the one before him couldn’t help but huff and pout as he scuffed his shoe against the floor.

“I just couldn’t help myself! It’s been so long since I got a chance to play with someone at base!” The reasoning was simple, and he understood that though they still had one more person to interrogate, and he’d make sure the taunting male would at least wait.

“I understand that, but as we bring in the next person let me take care of it okay? If things do not work as I’d like I will immediately call for you.” 

A pout and a huff came from the other male before a reluctant nod. “You say that but we all know that they’ll crack with you before I even get a chance.” Another chuckle and a pat to the pouting male’s shoulder was all that was given as the next victim rolled in.

“I apologize, but you know Oikawa. You may be effective here, but you do some amazing work out on the field too.” 

Noting how the mood lightened around the other, He would say a job well done to himself as the male left in a happier note.

“Now then....let’s go ahead and start. Shall we?”

second tallest in the veteran squad 

is much more lean than built 

frequents the gym and spars with Matsukawa on occasion

doesn’t have tattoos or piercings, but does have bruises and cuts from sparring

similar to Matsukawa, he’s rather calm and casual with his s/o

doesn’t really tell them much about details of missions or any interrogations he does

is a gentlemen with his s/o

H̴a̴j̴i̴m̴e̴ ̴I̴w̴a̴i̴z̴u̴m̴i̴

the “known” boss of Aoba Johsai

unlike the other groups, Aoba has the idea of two bosses, the real one being Oikawa

is the face of Aoba johsai in a sense

ruthless and blunt with his work

besides keeping Oikawa in check, his strength lies in close combat and fighting any sort of fight that requires him to be close to the target

in a sense is a close combat decoy if the sniper fails to complete the kill he’ll take the kill into his own hands

“Tch. Goddammit Shittykawa!” An annoyed grunt came from the suited male as he sprinted down the empty halls. He heard the cut of the bullet in the air, yet instead of hitting it’s intended target the bullet got the ear of their kill instead.

Of course the sniper’s cheers and demands that his bet had been fulfilled were ignored by the decoy as he chased after the runaway target. Rage and irritation spiked with every step he took until he came face to face with the target desperately trying to pick a locked door. A sort of last attempt at salvation as they got on their knees and pleaded to the decoy to spare their life.

Nothing of the sort came as he stepped forward, his worn combat boot making rough contact with the back of the target’s head as he pressed down.

“Beg all you’d like...you should wish that the sniper had killed you. Now you have to deal with me.”

A very built boy with thicc thighs and big biceps like Oikawa

Though he is just a touch more leaner than the other 

has two tattoos on his body and like the others, is covered in scars and bruises

likes to keep his hair short or spiked up and out of his face so he can keep his eyes constantly on the target

honestly with s/o he’s a flustered mess of a man

oikawa teases him so much for it

he’s very shy and considerate of his s/o

will always call or text whenever he can

[eujazmine]

⟨ RYAN DESTINY. CIS FEMALE. SHE/HER. ⟩ though the mist might prevent some from seeing it, JAZMINE HARPER is actually a descendent of H E C A T E. it’s still a question of whether or not the 23 year old BUSINESS MAJOR from HOUSTON, USA has taken after their godly parent completely, but the demigod is still known to be quite PASSIONATE & MISCHIEVOUS.

hi everyone it’s rae #2 again 😔 but allow me to introduce you all to my darling jazmine, who is a revamping of a couple muses i’ve played in the past. as always, like this post and i’ll hit your dms!

History (death tw)

claimed at birth in houston, texas since her father could see through the mist. her father started physically training around the age of three. it wasn’t anything too crazy at first, since she was only a toddler when they began, but her father wanted her to have a head-start athletically. on her 6th birthday, hecate gifted her a spell book and required that she started her magical training.

she started attended camp elektra in california during the summers when she was seven years old. at some point, her father got married and started having more children. when she was twelve, he announced that they would be moving to new york for her new step-mother’s job. that summer, she attended camp half-blood, and leaving for camp was the last time she had seen her texan home.

it was around that time that her and her father’s strong personalities truly began to clash. they had different visions for jazmine’s future, and she started to resent being under his control. it also frustrated her that she couldn’t alter his perception via mist, which led to even more complications whenever she was caught doing so to her step-mother.

she spent nearly two years with her family in new york. after nearly getting expelled from school and having too many issues at home, her father sent her away to year-round camp in greece by the time she was 14.

due to extensive training, she was among the top-ranked during her time at camp athens. she devoted much of her free time, including summer breaks, to questing and rigorous training, and was often recruited through the school for selective quests.

once she graduated, she tried staying with her father in new york again to work and save money, but this only lasted about six months. she went back to europe to travel and she fulfilled quests for money to support this new lifestyle.

at 20, jazmine had another terrible fight with her father. she left and hasn’t seen him since. after this, she started to take questing seriously again. she went on more dangerous and complex quests, knowing there was no one really out there waiting for her safe return.

then came 2019: the zeus incident. she, celeste (daughter of zeus) and adelphie (daughter of apollo) teamed up to retrieve poseidon’s trident from zeus. these three had quested in the past, and were a notoriously powerful trio, but they had never gone against celeste’s own father.

by the time they had defeated the guard monsters and reached the trident, zeus had become aware of what they were up to. he killed adelphie on sight. as jazmine futilely tried to heal adelphie’s lifeless body, celeste used this moment to carry the trident back to the ocean via the wind. soon enough, zeus zapped celeste off the mountain. whether the god of thunder hadn’t seen her hiding in the darkness or he just didn’t care, she’ll never know, but he spared jazmine and left.

after carrying adelphie back down the mountain and presuming that celeste was also dead, she came across rostam, who had prophesied that something would happen at the mountain. he helped her bring her friends back to eonia, where she was allowed to rest and enroll for the following semester.

now, she’s at eonia studying business because 1) she has nowhere else to go and 2) she doesn’t think she wants to fight her whole life anymore. 

Personality

being able to manipulate mortals as a child has made her view people more as vessels of entertainment or stimulation, and it shows. her sense of humor primarily revolves around teasing others, such as mocking them or playing tricks on them, and her blunt remarks can often be perceived as quite insensitive. she is very observant and has no problem using this trait for blackmail or manipulation, but she uses this to provide frank judgment or advice when asked. “0 to 100″ is a pretty accurate way to describe jazmine -- meaning for the most part, she has a calm, cool vibe, but her hot-temperedness can quickly get her in trouble. she can be impatient, vengeful, and petty, refusing to be the bigger person or the “loser” when crossed. stubborn and prideful, she could hold a grudge forever until she serves her own sense of justice or receives external mediation.

her bluntness and outbursts might give off the impression of her being mean, which she kinda is sometimes, but she isn’t that mean. she’s a compassionate person, and she’ll often help others if she feels sorry for them, despite trying to brush off their problems as beneath her. this is especially true when it comes to her friends. although she can be particularly harsh with them, her fierceness also comes with extra love and protection.

Powers

her most powerful ability is mystiokinesis, but it didn’t come easily. like other children of hecate, her magic is strongest at nighttime and very limited during the day. she was given a spellbook once claimed and has been perfecting her craft since. her magic gives her a limited grasp of all kinds of abilities, but she is most skilled in the areas of magic that have helped her the most on quests, such as vitakinesis, offensive spells/curses, and magical tracking. she works hard to improve her mystiokinesis through camps and personal training, but she is prone to overdoing it and negatively affecting her own health.

mist control is her secondary ability. it was the first of her powers to develop. as a child, her suggestions seemed to be a little too convincing to mortals. although it wasn’t fool-proof, she found herself manipulating people’s perceptions in her favor, possibly to get herself out of trouble or solely for entertainment purposes. she mostly uses it to her advantage around mortals or on quests. at eonia, and hasn’t found much use for this skill at eonia.

umbrakinesis is definitely her weakest power, but she would love to be more skilled in it. it has been the most difficult for her to develop, so she can only sometimes use the shadows as a shield or as a method of travel during the night. however, she has been able to levitate since she was a kid, which has been pretty convenient ever since she learned how to control it.

Extras

tl;dr: retired adrenaline junkie prone to moodiness

she has been at eonia since summer/fall 2019. you can get some more details about that last quest on celeste’s intro and self-para, if you haven’t already! feel free to assume that your muse had heard something about it.

she’s very hard-working and puts 110% into the things she cares about. the number of hours she has devoted to magic and academics is endless. neither of these areas come super naturally to her, so she has to work extra hard to develop them to reach her standards.

those 2 years she spent traveling europe and questing for cash?? she was living her best life. she used mist control and mystiokinesis a lot during this time to do things like avoid getting arrested, sneak into fancy masquerade balls, crash weddings, and waive any extra fees she couldn’t afford. she’ll bring up a wild memory from time to time if the conversation calls for it, but it’s rare for her to give out too many other details.

character inspo: think michelle jones (1), jessica huang (1, 2), hotaru imai (1, 2), fallon carrington (1, 2, 3), mal (1), daoming si (meteor garden), jennifer pierce (1, 2, 3), sam puckett (1), rosa diaz (1, 2, 3, 4)

works at the dining hall. she doesn’t care about this job and therefore puts no effort into it, so don’t expect a smile or cheery tone from her when you walk in.

involvements: black student union, gamer’s guild, football (soccer)

a skilled fighter, she is well-versed in swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat, but she prefers using magic since it comes from her godly lineage.

she’s been playing soccer since she was a child, a sport her dad forced encouraged all of her siblings to partake in. although her and her father had many other issues, this actually wasn’t one of them, seeing as they both shared a genuine love for the sport. she’s known for being overly aggressive and instigative on the field, so she's at risk of losing her position if she starts any more fights.

Potential Connections

ex: there was probably never any official title tbh so she might even claim that they weren’t exes. jazmine’s a very private person and finds this kind of stuff too vulnerable, so maybe your muse got tired of being treated like a secret.

quest mates: could’ve been for anything tbh, but if your muse was significantly weaker than jazmine, she would’ve for sure let them know.

tutor: she works hard to maintain her grades, but sometimes she needs the extra help. 

people she protects: for whatever reason, jazmine has a soft spot for your muse, so she’ll take care of them when they’re sick, bring them home from a party, put a curse on their ex, you name it.

past hookup: she never called. consider yourself blocked.

friends: self-explanatory! unlikely friends, friends who bond over mutual hatred, frenemies., etc.

enemies: her moral ambiguity and rude remarks probably rub some people the wrong way, so enemies wouldn’t be too surprising.

clients?: i’d imagine that some people have paid her in the past to bring misfortune to their enemies. they probably paid her some money to put a lil curse on them. it’s never anything permanent. if they paid her extra, maybe she did some research and brought them something to blackmail them with.

targets: the people that her clients have paid her to curse. she’s just a third party trying to chase the bag, so no hard feelings, really -- but if your muse somehow found out they got cursed by her, she’d be willing to reverse it for a price.

pawns: maybe she views them as weak. maybe she just finds them funny. either way, she has little respect for your muse and will mess with them for her own entertainment. it’s all in good fun!

people she met while exploring europe: she was up to a lot of shenanigans during those two years, so the possibilities are endless.

[ofeva]

⌠ REINA HARDESTY, 21, CISFEMALE, SHE/HER ⌡ welcome back to gallagher academy, EVANGELINE ASTOR! according to their records, they’re a THIRD year, specializing in MEDICAL TRAINING + COVERT OPERATIONS; and they DID NOT go to a spy prep high school. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of (lace bralettes under pressed collared shirts, the sound of mozart’s piano sonata no. 11 echoing from another room, reading at candlelight with a bottle of merlot, holding your breath underwater until your lungs burst). when it’s the (taurus)’s birthday on 5/12/99, they always request their EGG CUSTARD TART from the school’s chefs. looks like they’re well on their way to graduation. ⌿ kati, 23, she/her, est ⍀ @gallagherintro

STATS / PINTEREST / CONNECTIONS / CLASSES

INSPIRATION.

camille preaker – sharp objects

ophelia – hamlet

marla singer – fight club

mia wallace – pulp fiction

celeste wright – big little lies

hester argyll – ordeal by innocence

melisandre – game of thrones

BACKGROUND + CLICK FOR BIO.

tbh i wrote these bullets and the bio is better if you have time for it. but if not: 

so, james and elizabeth weren’t supposed to have children...they tried and they just couldn’t do it ! at an older age, they wound up adopting evangeline, their heir and saving grace. eva doesn’t know anything about her birth parents, she was adopted as a baby.

james and elizabeth were very strict about eva’s upbringing and she was a lonely child. she didn’t understand why they didn’t want her playing with other children, why they got so upset when she did typical child things like coming home covered in dirt and climbing trees. 

she was a very imaginative child and therefore made up her own friends, playing in the woods as she pictures elves, fairies, and goblins, telling herself stories and creating her own adventures. it helped ease the loneliness, but she was always a little...strange. the other children called her names. she never really outgrew it. 

when eva stumbles home one night with bloody knees, patched up by the nanny, she can hear her parents whisper: "maybe this was a mistake. we weren't ready." 

eva has a wild imagination and likes to talk about how her room is haunted sometimes, always making up stories about ghosts and things she hears in the woods. the sort of thing a normal parent would dismiss, but her mother seems visibly nervous. 

on eva’s twelfth birthday, it all makes sense: eva is not their first child. james and elizabeth managed to have one child before her, named isabella. she was sickly from the day she was born, and now eva understands why your james and elizabeth are so concerned about cleanliness, why she can't go play with the other kids. isabella never turned twelve. eva’s been walking the halls of the astor estate like the ghost of a girl she never knew existed, she never had a fucking chance.

she goes to school in the city and she attempts to persevere, to be the daughter that james and elizabeth want. her grades are immaculate, she shows strokes of genius and she devours books faster than most people can get through a chapter. james and elizabeth think it might be easier if they send eva to prep school, away from their home. they say that she’s just too smart, but evangeline knows the truth deep down ; they don’t want her there.

she goes to a rich, private school in new england and easily sticks out like a sore thumb. so, she learns to assimilate, emulating characters from her favorite stories, trying to bend herself into someone else that people might like. eva has a hard time being herself.

assimilation, covert operations, these are not the only skills she gains as she tries to fit in with your peers. a study she does for her science project about the effects of teenage vaping is published in an academic journal. it's funny because eva loves nicotine herself. she knows better than anyone what that shit does to her lungs, but she’s too in love with the aesthetic tbh. she just doesn’t care.

welcome to the breaking point ! as it’s been mentioned, eva doesn’t really fit in with the cool crowd and high schoolers can be vicious. there’s a group of mean girls she often clashes with. eva likes to sneak out at night with a bottle of merlot and a flashlight and read, but one night some girls follow her. they start pushing her around and she pushes back just a little too hard, and lucy prescott tumbles down the side of a hill.

oh, lucy prescott is fine.

she’s just a bitch about her broken leg and busted elbow and her dad is a big donor, so eva gets fucking expelled and loses her scholarship. no college is gonna accept her now. she doesn’t know how to tell her parents, fearful of being a disappointment.

in the airport, she’s given strange letter. apparently, her parents don’t know anything...someone’s covered the incident up and she’s been accepted into a college that she didn’t even apply for. a school for espionage with a straightforward track to mi6. eva’s parents are so proud, they start bragging about her...but it’s too little too late. the bitterness that's grown inside of her heart is there because they only care about her successes, and she knows they’d never support her in her failures and fuck ups. they don’t see her for who she really is and they don’t care.

she gets on pretty well in school, but it quickly becomes clear that she’s most interested in people. what makes them tick, what makes their heart beat, how the blood courses through their veins. so, she transfers to gallagher academy because it offers a medical training program that her spy school in london doesn’t. at least...that’s the story. 

WARNING...ACCESSING TOP SECRET INFORMATION...

yeah, that spy school isn’t just any spy school. it’s fucking CALEDONIA. eva easily gets obsessed with things and her latest is the world of espionage. what’s special about caledonia? the students there have nothing to lose. caledonia is all eva has left, and it’s all that she knows to be loyal to. 

mr. stewart noticed her when no one else did. he tells her that he's been watching her for a long time, that she’s so much more than her family's prowess or the expectations she could never live up to. it makes her feel valuable, worth something. he is the parent she’s always wanted.

she’s no longer competing against a ghost of a sister that no longer exists. no, her competition is tangible, real, and so much more annoying: his name is cole conner. 

so, meet eva’s new obsession. as her years at caledonia progress together, he’s one step ahead of her at every turn. it’s true that she spends late nights studying, but it’s not just medical journals. it’s everything. it’s how to be the best at everything. 

when cole is sent on the gallagher mission, eva is not even surprised. of course he would, he's the favorite. but months go by with no word, it almost seems like he's doing nothing at all, and rumors turn in the mill. in short: he sucks. so, mr. stewart asks eva to start in the fall and work alongside cole. she’ll be a transfer student, repeating a year to catch up on medical credits that her old school lacked, and she’ll also take on the second specialization of covert ops, to keep an eye on cole, of course.

PERSONALITY.

CREATIVE. eva is very much lost in her mind sometimes, but she’s always full of new ideas, new thoughts, and has an uncanny ability to keep herself occupied. she’s hardly ever bored and as much as she likes to read, she also likes to write, keeping notebooks full of random scribblings mostly, but the occasional poem or short story will come to fruition. 

RESILIENT. she’s been through a lot and continues to take it. the home where she grew up could leave anyone battered down and discouraged, but every time someone else wins, eva gets back up and continues to fight. whether it’s against her parents, against the world, or against, well, cole, she’ll bite back at what stands in her way despite the fact that obstacles keep coming up over and over again. she does not give up.

INTELLIGENT. eva is just really smart! how else can you say it? she has a voracious appetite for learning, for getting her hands on as much of the world as she can, and she is genuinely clever and calculating, the the point where she hasn’t been able to fit in with her peers growing up. that’s why schools that specialize in teaching gifted people, like gallagher, are the best fit for her. she can find her people. 

HEDONISTIC. however, the one thing about her is that she is not exactly disciplined, and it’s probably what sets her behind her rivals; she’s hopelessly self-indulgent, engaging in activities that make her happy over what she’s being told to do. that’s why she has a weakness for good wine, for staying up way too late, for reading an entire book in a day because she can’t hold back. 

OBSESSIVE. eva is so prone to obsession! she can’t stop herself when she fixates on something and yes, this can be a strength when she is trying to learn or accomplish her goals, but it’s a bit much. she puts all of herself into everything and she can’t just casually like something by half – either she’s so bored by it or she is all in. – “i never really learned how to like something. i always let it consume me.” 

IDEALISTIC. always unrealistically aiming for a perfection she can’t achieve, she holds herself and others to impossible standards. she does this in relationships too, which is probably why she finds herself falling in love with fictions at times, sometimes lacking the perception to separate her dreams and her realities. she’s a dangerous enemy but a powerful ally because of this. she doesn’t fear going after what she wants. i actually have no idea if she’s ever been in love or if she’s just emulating the idea of love that she reads about in literature. 

HEADCANONS.

eva’s reasons for doing things: 1) spite. or 2) the aesthetic. eva is so fucking about the aesthetic, it’s literally why she smokes cigarettes or wears skirts on a windy day, she can’t stop herself. catch her in the forest, drinking a bottle of wine and reading her book by CANDLELIGHT when she could just sit inside by a lamp but no, she has to look fucking feral at all times.

does not really have a sleep schedule. she’ll just sleep when she’s tired, kind of just collapses when she feels like she should. time isn’t real, she likes the nighttime, sleeps whenever.

loves used bookstores and will probably bribe fourth years to bring her back books that are worn and loved when they go into roseville. just likes the feeling of worn down paper, slightly smudged ink, and the annotations of a stranger.

her favorite weather is rain and thunderstorms! for the aesthetic a bit, she will be melancholy for the sake of it, sitting by the window with a cup of tea, just thinking, journaling, writing poems about a lost lover and how she misses being tangled up in bedsheets, forgetting her own name. so dramatic.

used to be on a swim team as a kid and zoom zooms in the water, she’s not very fast on land but she’s a fucking shark !!! 

grew up with piano lessons and can play the piano. sometimes writes her own music but it’s mostly for herself, will write songs about the people that she cares for. she’s talented!

her parents were much older when they adopted her and due to the secluded nature of her upbringing, most of her interests are older movies, older classic novels, older music...the stuff from the house she grew up in, she has old-fashioned taste. 

does not really understand or use social media :/ tiktok terrifies her, doesn’t like the idea of the government having her info so. she is not really on any social networking, but she can be reached via text of course! does like emojis! 

do i have to say it........obviously she’s bisexual......please forthe love of god if she doesn’t kiss a girl in the woods while she’s here i will lose my damn mind. 

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

FELLOW BOOK LOVERS? someone who’s into reading like she is, perhaps she will join the book club but they stay up late and discuss poems together and they just love to talk about media! maybe someone who’s a little more hip to contemporary things and can expose eva to some different genres, or get her to read some cheesy ridiculous romances or YA that she never would’ve touched otherwise. or they’re snobs like her. i’m just thinking rly hard about this pin. 

MESSY EX PLS. hmm oh my god give me someone for eva to obsess over, please? not even in a positive way, but i’d love someone from her past; they could’ve met a) in america while she went to school there, b) her summers in london, c) any of her summer travels, maybe a summer romance...literally i’m down to work with anywhere in the world, but this would be someone that knows TOO MUCH about her and therefore she has to avoid them due to her role as a double agent, but she probably really wants to talk to them. they probably ended on bad terms without much closure but honestly, she can’t talk to them. terrified they’ll catch her in a lie, they just know her too damn well. 

SOMEONE WHO IS SUSPICIOUS OF HER. they think she’s a bit odd, and while eva is good....there’s good spies at gallagher too and they just get a bad vibe from her. ask her a lot of questions, think she’s strange, and after the brotherhood bullshit last year, they’re wary of a new transfer student. eva is determined to give your character the runaround. 

CRUSH. obviously eva is prone to obsession anyways, so let me have your dreamy, interesting muse that she can idealize in her head and write some poems about, maybe they vibe and talk about books and they have the same fave book and so she’s like instant heart eyes but obv. can’t and won’t do anything about it ever <3 she will act like this. i can see maybe this person being a legacy or someone eva needs to learn more about n she just becomes obsessed with them on a personal level too. 

KINDRED SPIRITS. best friends but like they click INSTANTLY ah ! literally it’s like they’re soul mates, they have shared interests and they can spend all night talking. this is someone that eva is also tempted to reveal all of herself to but she can’t. she doesn’t feel bad about lying but she does to this person because they click on such an intimate level that it feels like they’ve known one another forever. terribly sad betrayal to come later <3 homies but make it dark academia tbh. also a vibe. also this.

SECRET FWB. obviously because of her job she prob shouldn’t be getting distracted or involved with anyone, but! sometimes a girl has needs. they probably sneak around a lot and they don’t really understand eva’s need for keeping things so secret? but she’s trying to keep the other agents like cecilia, cole, & allister from knowing that she’s being self-indulgent. 

OPPOSITES ATTRACT FRIENDSHIP. give me your sunshine girls, your sparkly pink princesses, your muses that are always laughing...eva is attracted to her light and wants to be around her all the time, finds her adorable and compelling! they’re very different in energy but they find each other fascinating and eva finds her energy just so infectious, this girl makes eva feel optimistic about life and she adores her. would protect this girl with her life. 

FLIRTATIONSHIP. this. probably like a flirtationship where they don’t take each other seriously or where she flirts with your muse a lot because she finds it funny and your muse continually puts down her advances but it’s all like jokes and amusing. 

PEOPLE FROM HER PAST. not a ton of these obviously, but i wouldn’t mind one or two people that kind of make her squirm. maybe the angst of old friends that lost touch would be really fun? i’m a sucker for ex-friend things and then we can build them back up or ruminate in the awkwardness, whatever the vibe turns out to be. 

PEN PAL. obviously eva was a lonely child so she found ways to make her own fun or...make her own friends. whether through an exchange program at school or something she found on the internet, these two have been writing letters for years. i feel like she stuck with it because she was such a lonely person whereas most people lose touch or you’re a kid so you forget about it. they probably graduated to text message over the years. 

CARETAKER? idk someone who is like an older sibling figure to evangeline. she’s obviously never had that in her life, but someone who...sees that she’s struggling and wants to look after her? develops a soft spot for her? she’s like their weird daughter/younger sister/whatever and we love that. like that quote....ur such a soft and messy thing, no one knows how to take care of you...but this person does <3 holding her hair when she’s had too much wine, giving her tissues when her fave character in a book dies, etc.

GENERAL SPY STUFF. obviously eva is trying to get the best of cole and learn about her classmates so we’ll get to that. but also, eva is really interested in characters that cole is close to/cole cares about ... she shall be asking them lots of things and reporting back to mr. stewart, thanks.

also down to plot dynamics among classmates, roommates, and things relating to caledonia or whatever else, we can always just vibe with it. 

[hirazuki]

I read on your latest art post that you see parallels between Orochimaru and Sakura. That's interesting; usually he's linked to Sasuke. Please elaborate on your thoughts. Also, fantastic art! You are a gift to the world! Thanks for sharing!

Aaah anon, you are so sweet!! Thank you so much, I’m glad you liked the art! 💜 And sure! I’m sticking it under a cut because, well, I can never be brief :D

So, I’ve always felt like, even though Sakura has obvious parallels with Tsunade (her temper, super strength, etc.), a lot of those are only surface level. And a bunch of them, in my opinion, were actually instilled by Tsunade herself (the super strength, for instance; if Sakura had trained under someone else, she wouldn’t necessarily have developed that ability. It’s not necessarily an innate quality of hers, though to have taken to it so wholeheartedly, the potential was obviously there). If you look a bit deeper into her circumstances and how she responds to adversity, she’s actually a lot more similar to Orochimaru:

Both were the ones left behind by their teammates: The timeline is a little unclear as usual XD as to the order of things during the Second War, but generally speaking Jiraiya left his team and Konoha for 3 years to teach the Ame orphans, and it’s strongly implied that he only ever stayed at the village for brief stints after that; primarily, he’s shown to be busy travelling, establishing his spy network and searching for the child of prophecy. Likewise, ever since meeting Jiraiya during the Chunin Exams, Naruto was mostly out of the village training and travelling with him, even before he officially left on his long three year absence. Tsunade left Konoha permanently after Dan’s death; and I’m fairly certain the only reasons she wasn’t branded a missing nin were Hiruzen being the Hokage at the time and her lineage, because she essentially walked out and vanished. It’s either stated or strongly implied, I believe by the village elders, that they repeatedly sent out people to track her down and failed? I’d have to go back and double check, but I’m pretty sure something like this is mentioned when Homura and Koharu talk to Jiraiya about becoming Hokage, right after Orochimaru’s attempt to destroy the village. Likewise, Sasuke left Konoha permanently for training with Orochimaru, and also had people repeatedly trying to track him down. Meanwhile, Orochimaru was left behind still working for the village -- training Anko, working as ANBU/Root, working with Danzo who, despite what anyone thinks of him, still counts as village leadership. Everything Orochi did while in Konoha was actually endorsed by the government (regardless of whether it also lined up with his personal interests or not), whether directly by Danzo’s orders or indirectly through Hiruzen refusal to acknowledge or examine anything Danzo was doing. Sakura was left behind, also still working for the village; in her case, this took the form of pursuing her own training, developing new skills, joining up with other teams to run missions, etc.

.

Both of them reacted to loss by fixating on getting stronger and throwing themselves into their work: Orochimaru, after losing Jiraiya and Tsunade (and Dan and Nawaki, and seeing how their deaths broke Tsunade -- I think that was really the last straw for him), started pursuing his goal of learning all jutsu and attaining immortality with a single-mindedness that had not been there before. His fixation on these, at least to me, comes across as the simple desire to build himself up in such a way that he’ll never be affected by loss again. Similarly, after Naruto and Sasuke both left, Sakura approached Tsunade and essentially demanded of her to train her up. She also threw herself into learning and excelling in medical ninjutsu, building up her taijutsu skills and attaining incredible physical strength -- again, in an effort to ensure that she’d be strong enough to face whatever life threw at her next. Specifically in this case, she bears no similarity to Tsunade, whose reaction to loss was to cut ties and run, hiding indefinitely while giving in to her bad habits. (No judgement on Tsunade here, I totally understand and support her reacting to the events in her life like this, I’m just pointing out that she’s basically the opposite to Sakura in this regard). Both Orochi and Sakura reacted to loss by taking the strength equals survival mentality to heart, and being more driven than ever in terms of improving themselves. 

.

Both have an interest in the human body: For Orochimaru, this interest manifests more in terms of genetics, biology, pushing the limits of what is possible, experimentation, etc. It is the darker side of science that, occasionally, intersects with what Tsunade practices. For Sakura, it’s the medical field, specifically with a mind towards healing. However, given what we saw of her behaviors, thought processes, and abilities during the arc with Sasori and Chiyo, I personally can see Sakura having the affinity to specialize in things like poisons. Had it not been Tsunade that was available to train under when Sakura was at her lowest and darkest point and it had been someone like, say, Kabuto? I definitely think Sakura could have easily gone down a darker path in medial ninjutsu; one that still incorporated healing, of course (Kabuto is still extremely adept at being a healer), but possessing a large repertoire of how to cause damage to the body as well. This is my own interpretation, obviously, but I do think that the benign nature of Sakura’s medical training has more to do with who her teacher was than with Sakura herself; I have no doubt that she has the capacity of being as devastating as Kabuto within the medical field, and that could have been quite easily nurtured back when she was freshly abandoned by her teammates and left to pull herself back together, determined to catch up to them. 

.

Neither comes from a prestigious shinobi lineage: We have no clue who Orochimaru’s parents were. A popular fan theory is that they were ninja who were killed in the line of duty, but unless I’m forgetting something, we’re never actually given canon confirmation of that. All we know is that they died while he was very young, which is what started him on his path of questioning life, death, mortality, etc. Sakura’s parents, as we know, are civilians and, from all appearances, don’t really seem to have any clue as to what life as a ninja is about. Unlike Sasuke (an Uchiha and Indra’s incarnation), Tsunade (a Senju and granddaughter of the First Hokage), Naruto (the Kyuubi jinchuriki, son of the Fourth Hokage and the previous Kyuubi jinchuriki, an Uzumaki, and Ashura’s incarnation), Orochi and Sakura didn’t really have anything going for them in terms of bloodline. (We know nothing of Jiraiya’s parents other than the implication that they didn’t die while he was young, so he falls in this category too). That’s not to say that Sasuke, Tsunade, and Naruto didn’t also work their asses off to get to where they did; they absolutely did. But Orochimaru and Sakura (and Jiraiya) had less to work with, even if Orochi was naturally gifted with things like ninjutsu and hailed as a genius. Also, that kind of division -- between clan kids and non-clan kids -- isn’t really explored that much in the series, but it’s something that would definitely affect a shinobi’s mentality and outlook on things growing up. (Obviously, this last part doesn’t apply to Naruto -- he grew up a clan-less orphan, for all intents and purposes, but you get the idea).

That’s what I can think of off the top of my head for now! If anything else occurs to me, I’ll reblog this and add to it ^^ Hope that was a satisfactory answer!

[kendrixtermina]

The Recruitment Freebies: Thoughts on Sylvain and Felix

Now when it comes to recruiting characters, there are 2 who kind of stand out and are, in their own way, somewhat ‘easier’ to get.

Sylvain joins you automatically if you’re playing fem Byleth, whereas Felix actually requires high stats/abilities that no one else does but since your primary weapon is most likely going to be a sword anyways and he requires sword skill, he’s actually not so hard to collect. Given that they’re both handy units (Felix kicks butt like no tomorrow, Sylvain is pretty customizable and gets a relic early on) you’re sorta encouraged to snatch one or both.

If you’ve seen them in their original environment, you’ll easily notice why: They’re kind of the kingdom’s token cynics. 

[Longer Essay Under The Cut]

The Initial Situation

One thing that stands out right away is that the Blue Lions are one of the tightest-knit groups: The Black Eagles have sort of vaguely heard of each other because most the imperial nobility lives in the capital and the one commoner used to be famous, but that’s it, only Linhardt and Dorothea really express any regret over betraying Edelgard if they do, and their fates don’t differ that much by whatever faction they’re in - Ferdinand is certainly sad to see the Empire itself go down (see that amusing line about an ‘Adrestia-shaped hole in [his] heart’) and has a minor existential crisis when his family’s lands are confiscated after he spend his whole life preparing to rule them, but while he gets that line wondering what might have become of him if Byleth had chosen a different path, he pretty much always becomes a statesman no matter who winds up on the throne.

The Golden Deer, meanwhile, are from wildly different backgrounds and even Claude just showed up last year. If they stay together, they eventually become a tight-knit group under Claude’s leadership (except Lorenz, if Byleth’s not with them), and if you recruit em,  they will largely pursue their own interests as they were never too unified to begin with, with most of the commoners saying they were never that involved in politics, and most of the nobles acting out of self-preservation or opportunism.

By contrast, most of the Blue Lions know each other personally and will be pretty conflicted about defecting from the Kingdom if you recruit them, and it’s no wonder:

Sylvain, Felix Ingrid and Dimitri were childhood friends and all big weapons enthusiasts, Dedue has followed Dimitri everywhere he went for the last few years, Anette’s father worked for Dimitri’s, Mercedes is Anette’s BFF from magic school and while Ashe didn’t know the others before since he was a poor village kid before Lonato took him in, he becomes fast friends with the rest of them due to their shared admiration of knight stories.

So in this more idealistic and old-fashioned groups, Sylvain and Felix can be thought of as the token cynics or more independently-minded characters. This is most obvious with Felix: He sticks out like a sore thumb, vocally expresses his dislike of the others and their values and basically keeps to himself on the training grounds, and its only through the other’s doormatsey dispositions that they seem determined to ignore his hostilities and continue considering him a friend whether he wants to or not. He doesn’t fit in with the other Blue Lions at all.

Sylvain, meanwhile, doesn’t stand out that much at first glance, he seems like another fairly common character archetype in the silly childhood friends lineup and gives Ingrid plenty of cause to get into Mom Friend mode,  but the whole thing with him is that while he pretends to be a hedonistic oaf, he’s actually something of a brooding intellectual type underneath, very ‘byronic’ overall.

Ultimately, both of them are motivated by a desire for, and love of freedom. (which is probably why a lot of ppl think they’d be a compatible and interesting as a romantic couple - for all their outward difference, they have a common ‘core’ there)  Sylvain has been treated all his life like his life and power don’t really belong to himself and he desperately strains against those binds by acting out, and Felix finds his countrymen to have a bit of a grostesque lemming mentality and wants no part of that.

At the same time both show their ‘cynism’ in very different ways, and neither of them is a ‘complete’ cynic, but the areas where you find their residual idealism are also different. I would say that Felix’ cynism is more apparent, while Sylvain’s runs much deeper, but more on that later.

Though he cares little about maintaining a reputation and indeed seems to sorta seek out or get a kick out doing what his father would hate, calling himself a ‘good for nothing/scoundrel/ someone who’s going to hell’, to sorta go against that pressure to be a good kid, when it comes down to it he’s actually still pretty honorable and does actually believe in The Power Of Friendship (as noted by both Ashe and Dimitri - it’s probably why they like him) He’s inclined to be a Good Guy, he just doesn’t want the pressure that goes along with it.

It reminds me a bit of that one Fiona Apple song: “Do I wanna do right? Of course./ But Do I really wanna feel I’m forced to/  answer you?/ Hell no!”

Felix meanwhile - well. Some might say he’s tsundere, and I suppose he is, stock phrases wise, but to put it more specifically what he is is counterdependent.  Which is a word commonly used to describe that teenage behavior of always doing the exact opposite of what your parents or the mainstream do, thereby being just as influenced as a dependent person. It’s closer to being dependent than indepedent - He wants badly to be independent, but doesn’t really know how. He still very much has attachments to his father and his oldtime childhood friends, he just rejects them fiercely, because between Glenn’s death and his first deployment to Sreng, he came to see that attachment as something that will destroy him, something incompatible with self-preservation. He still dearly loves Rodrigue, Dimitri and the others, but he doesn’t want to be like them. He wants to be free, he’s a reasonable man and sees that they’re all walking off a cliff and he doesn’t wanna jump of of it, but his opposition is so absolute because some part of his kind of wants to.

At the same time he’s not entirely a complainer for complaining’s sake. Though very fighting-focussed he has his own strong code of ethics and standards- Dimitri markedly falls short of them. They’re not that different, Felix too feels the wide open wound of being still bonded and attached  to people who aren*t there anymore (”Training for a duel with a corpse”, as he puts it) - But while Dimitri let it eat his life (though there’s more complexity here of course but that would derail this into a whole different essay), Felix kinda errs on the opposite side of pushing down all attachment, but at the same time, he does it because he’s concerned with saving the ones who are still alive. That’s the point he stresses in his paralogue where he argues with his father, “We’re here to protect our subjects”. He wants to protect himself, yes, but he also wants to protect other people. He’s all about that.  He wants people to protect themselves not glorify throwing their lives away.

Which is why despite all his vocal complaining he still ultimately hangs out with the others, cannot help but worry about their wellbeing etc.  They might be negative bonds now but they’re still very much bonds.

Meanwhile, in Sylvain’s case the cynism comes not from rejection but disillusionment and distrust. He’s a good guy but his ability to form bonds is almost completely destroyed. All his life he got showered with fake conditional love while being presented with an example of what would happen if he didn’t stay in ppl’s good graces: His brother, who’d been dropped like a hot potato. I don’t think he can think of himself as good; He kinda got treated as an unfair existence the moment he came into the world.   At least if you get no love, you still have the hope that you might eventually get love. But fake love? Fake love poisons everything. It’s disgusting wrong, it’s not really for you and it just makes you wanna get rid of it by any means neccessary. Speaking from experience here.

Apart from the bonds he got with his childhood friend and those with exceptional people skills like Byleth, Mercedes and Dorothea, he doesn’t really trust anyone beyond a certain level.

But that’s a subtle distinction.

At first the most apparent difference, and the first contrast to come up in their support chain, is focus. Felix responded to the unpleasantness in his past with absolute laser focus, particularly on fighting and becoming stronger, whereas Sylvain avoids ever the appearance of focus like the plague, downplays his capabilities and chases distractions in a way that may be rather relatable to those of us who had the whole weird-ass Gifted Child Experience. Hence, Sylvain might come off as extravagant/frivolous while Felix appears disciplined, even ascetic.

This is also apparent in how its implied that they “jump ship” - Sylvain does it on a whim because of fem Byleth’s ample bosoms, (whereas man Byleth needs to impress him with reason skill which ties more into his hidden dephts) whereas with Felix it would tie into his pursuit of strenght and how he focusses on that more than anything else. Byleth stands out as a badass, so Felix juins his class or that’s his reasoning in the dialogue he gets.

But at the same time what we see here is that both were born with great natural power but don’t want that defining their lives. Sylvain downplays and refuses to use his, while Felix is determined to get straight that he actually “earned” through his harsh discipline and dedication, and vocally disavows conventional wisdom (”Crests, lineagle, knighthood... all trifles. Only strenght and skill matter”)

Post-Timeskip

So while a lot of characters like, say, Dorothea, get alot of the same dialogues in each route, others kind of get different little arcs depending on where they end up - for example if you recruit Lorenz for the empire he will at first join out of pure opportunism (that, and trying to get mercy for his corrupt-ass father), but then towards the last few months, he’ll actually come around to Edelgard’s way of thinking.

Felix is one of the characters whose dialogue differs the most by route - church & Alliance overlap a lot though with a few pointed differences, and his ending narrations are totally different depending on whether you recruited him or left him with the Kingdom. Of course, this would have to differ to an extent as he can’t exactly become Dimitri’s right hand when there’s no Dimitri, but the outcomes are starkly different to the point that even his paired endings with different characters all have two versions.

In the Kingdom route he generally succeeds his father whereas in the other routes, he typically renounces his title and becomes a mercenary unless his partner or BFF convinces him otherwise.

Unlike, say, Ferdinand, who does about the same thing regardless of who he ends up working under, for Felix the decision to ditch his classmates is a big big turning point, a choice

Sylvain by contrast has rather more similar endings wherever he goes and his dialogues are more similar - one highlight being how he has the exact same “history is written by the winners, whoever wins will say they’re right war will probably always exist...” lines regardless of whether he’s fighting for or against Edelgard. Whenever he isn’t commenting on the weather of their next destination or the general suckyness of the war, he remains mildly sceptical of whatever side he’s on, including one memorable instance where he refers to poor Hubert as “Edelgard’s idiot sidekick” and thinks they should try more negotiating, though he’s not blind to Dimitri’s flaws either when they go fight him.

Not really a big joiner or believer, this one, no illusions about how they could always be wrong, which perhaps makes it more touching how he invariably ends up becoming a peacemaker and activist after the war, basically becoming a fulltime do-gooder.

Since the inner mechanics with Felix are quite different, so are his outcomes. Sylvain’s gonna be like “I’m not optimistic but I gotta try doing the right thing”, no atter who he’s following, but you get a whole different Felix depending on what route you’re playing.

Because for him, wether to stick with Team Kingdom or not kinda represents a choice between his lingering attachment and his drive to reject that.

In the Kingdom route, he stays a lot more like he was in his academy days: Complains a lot, but still sticks with everyone to the end. He sort of fills the role of the contrarian number two, the one providing a contrastic viewpoint (while, Sylvain, while not optimistic, is no less stubborn about sticking with a friend in need than the rest of Team Kingdom)

He comes across as the Only Sane Man at times, esp. when he calls Titanic on the whole Revenge Trip to Gronder, “Iceberg ahead? ya’ll seeing the iceberg right?” but of course if you’re just complaining you’re kinda part of the problem - He muses that he must be crazy too, if he’s going along with everybody. Can’t bring himself to leave. Eventually that attachment wins out and he doesn’t even bother hiding it especially once Dimitri gets his act together. At that point he figures that the best he can do is to keep him on-course. Though they don’t go back to the same dynamic they once had, they go back to being BFF and the new dynanic is probably more useful to Dimitri as a counterpoint, they pretty much each succeed their fathers in proper Kingdom Manner and stay an A-team for the rest of their lives just like their das were. Idealism triumphs, though it’s a more matured, well-thought out one that is less about high standards and more about forgiveness/redemption.

It seems like he kinda became what he didn’t want to be early on (in the paired ending with Dimitri he even winds up in one of those chivalric tales he used to hate!), but it also looks like that made him happy. Maybe because it resolved the contradiction and tension within himself, all the energy he expends in rejecting his feelings of attachment, to like, actively not care about Dimitri.

I mean in their B support at one point he almost accidentally lapses back into Nerding Out About Swords Like Old Times - He needs to actively remind himself that he’s supposed to hate Dimitri now, and he does an even worse job at No Longer Liking the others.

Indeed when he gets what he ostensibly wanted, or rather what he wants to want, it doesn’t seem to make him all that happy - This was indeed the realization that prompted me to do this analysis. He goes full lonesome cowboy and marches off and he doesn’t sound all that happy about what he’s done, and his paired ending with Sylvain is one of the ones that makes it very obvious - In the Kingdom route, they stay Together Forever as they were in childhood, like they never got estranged at all. In the other routes it’s a sad, melancholic, darkly romantic thing about how Sylvain inherited his title, Felix came to help him out once and they never saw each other again, and Sylvain eventually gets a keepsake from Felix... and this is if you recruit them both. They get a sad enough dialogue if you grab only one and make them fight each other, but even if they run away together, essentially, they don’t become happy together.

The circumstances aren’t that different, if they still wound up in the same faction - But Felix is different.

Because he doesn’t just leave because of Byleth’s heroic charisma like many of the others - He  goes because, in essence, he is putting his pursuit of strength over his lingering attachments for his friends. To leave the kingdom means to actually become what he pretends to be. To actually become a lonewolf warrior who cares only about strenght rather than an ultimately loyal tsundere.

Which is where the above rambles about counter-dependency come to bear: He says he doesn’t care but he does, so much he can’t stop. So to take this step, which at the time seens reasonable and sane and free to him, is to cut off part of himself.

Though even here there are different gradations depending on where you recruit him to.

In the Alliance and church routes he simply jumps ship on the kingdom out of self-preservation. Sanity before Honor, just like he was always talking about. The kingdom’s in horrible shape, it can’t win, or so he sees it, Sylvain’s reasoning is pretty much the same but more resigned/sad (”There was nothing I could do”), after all for all they know, Dimitri is long dead (though Felix, always one with keen insight, suspect him to be alive a bit before he shows up)

Then Dimitri turns up alive, but promptly gets himself killed, and Felix regrets it. Every bit as much as other kingdom characters. He wonders if he could have stopped Dimitri if he’d been with him. He channels this into avenging Dimitri first on the empire and then on TWSITD, and starts using his name at this point.

Tellingly enough, he refers to the local afterlife beliefs that are so prominently featured in the Kingdom route. The ones that Rodrigue taught to both Felix and Dimitri and that likely played a role in the latter’s inability to forgive himself for all that Rodrigue is largely a good man who was a positive influence. He talks about “facing” Dimitri in the afterlife or allowing him to rest in peace much like Dimitri’s own talk about appeasing the dead - As much as he’d like to be Felix was not actually immune to his upbringing. basically he really regrets it.

The church and alliance routes differ somewhat in the dialogue before the last stage in a way that makes the church route seem “milder” - He considers working under Byleth once they become King/Queen, so he doesn’t seem quite as “lost”, whereas in the alliance route he expresses interest in dueling Nemesis. Not that far beyond his usual “must fight worthy opponents/ blood knight attude” but certainly more of an embracement of it and also very reckless, since as far as we knew the zombie horde is blazing an almost unhindered trail through the land and pretty much had Hilda’s renowned invincible brother for breakfast.

The empire route, of course, requires him to go even further - it’s one thing to evacuate a sinking ship, another to go a path where there’s a good chance that he’ll have to go against, and even fight/kill his former comrades. The game sure included tons of unique dialogue for this. You can even have his feud with his father end quite lethally, and Dimitri will even comment on it when you engage him. Ouch!

Right after the holy tomb scene most the recruitees’ dialogues are either some variation of “I’m scared but I trust you sensei” or “Now that she’s actually explained her reasoning, Edelgard’s got a point” - Felix’ is neither.

Though he’d presumably agree that Crests and Status are overrated, that’s not what he talks about. He says he wants to forge his own path, one that isn’t his father’s or Dimitri’s.  

He may or may not be doing the right thing but it’s for the wrong reason.

It’s a decision that’s perfectly logical if you feature in all factors except for his own heart - by which I don’t mean some bullshit 19th century “head vs heart” contrast but simply self-knowledge, which is necessary to make choices that you won’t regret, especially when the ‘correct’ path is ambiguous.

He wants to be free, deeply and desperate but, there’s also the counterdependency in play. He’s not going with the Empire because he wants to go with the empire, but because he wants to go against Rodrigue and Dimitri. Rejecting them to prove to himself that he can.

And turns out he can. He can cut em all down, with fairly unfazed Dialogue about how he’s going his own path, will never bow to the likes of Dimitri, will pursue strenght no matter who stands in his way etc.

They all curse him for betraying him, only Sylvain who’s not the sort to have much certainty about being right, gets more of a “sad/tragic” line about their childhood promise.

But that’s on the battlefield. Back at the monastery it’s a different matter. In this route he shows significantly LESS regret about what happens to the kingdom peeps - after all, he knew he’d be fighting them. He’s just completely embraced the ‘living to fight’ thing here and you get the sense that some other parts of his may have been lost in the process.

Ironically he says he killed more ppl than he can count and that he’s practically as bad as Dimitri now (”Your better world better be worth this”, indeed...) and while he’s completely unflinchingly resolute he’s not exactly unphased.

You can certainly understand why he’d end up as a restless sorta wandering mercenary  (interesting, too that if you pair him with Byleth they’ll go with him - interesting enough in its own right since that’s the sort of life they use to have before coming to the academy)

So I guess this could all  ultimately be seen as a parable on ‘be careful what you wish for’, or, more accurately, ‘know yourself before making wishes’.

[crushedbyhyperbole]

Disco Ball Diva

A/N: For @buckyshelves Merry Christmas, I hope you enjoy this and have a great festive holiday

To @bucky-smiles​ for organising this secret Santa gift exchange, you’re awesome and so, so kind

Also... thank you to my friend Haz who beta read this for me.  You are always so supportive of my writing and I love you

Summary:  You’re inappropriate, sassy, have snazzy powers, and now you’re an Avenger-in-training.  Not everyone appreciates your blasé attitude, and when a surveillance mission goes south you’re thrown together with one hot brooding super soldier.  It doesn’t help that you can’t stop ogling his bum.

Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Reader w/ powers

Word Count: 7k.  I actually feel bad that it’s so long.

Warnings:  Violence, gun violence, Bucky kills people, mentions of blood and injury, bad language (which is a given for me), some sexual tension (light) but mostly just reader is an asshat XD

The Avengers compound is not like you imagined it.  Or maybe it is but you haven’t found any of the secret stuff yet.  Hidden jet hangers under the basketball court, labs in the basement, glass cases full of superhero suits.  Wait.  That’s the freakin’ X-Men.

Still, it’s nothing like you hoped.  The conference rooms are boring, obviously, because meetings are the epitome of dull. The communal lounge and kitchen are both boring; there’s no espresso machine that doubles as a drone, no fridge that transforms into sentry bot, there isn’t even a SodaStream.  Yawn! You don’t even need to see the fitness suite to know that it’s not a place you want to visit, and you’re not allowed below the ground floor yet.  Talk about not trusting the noob.

Your room is a vision of extreme lacklustre, but you only moved in yesterday, so, no redecorating just yet, save for the peace lily your brother gave you.

Congrats on your new job and home by the way, here’s a half-dead plant I had but couldn’t be bothered to look after.  Now it’s yours.  Enjoy!

Your super power is definitely not green thumbs, nurturing life, healing, or anything even a tiny bit supportive.  You can’t fly, don’t have super strength, speed, or a crazy-good aim.  There’s not a green rage-monster just below the surface waiting to erupt and smash things.  Well, if someone steals your cookies you might have to choke a bitch but hey, rainbows are cool, right?  Super distracting, like oh hey, what’s all this shiny shit flashing around?  Oh dayum, I totally didn’t see that badass super warrior coming to kick my ass.

You swallow hard.  The small conference room feels like an interrogation room despite the polished wood table and plush leather chairs.  Of four sets of eyes that are currently watching you, only one pair is encouraging.

Tony Stark.  The guy who recruited you.  Took you from a life of selling hotdogs on street corners in the City and apartment sharing with a crazy cat lady called Angie who you found on Craigslist.  You had nothing against crazy cat ladies, per se, but you would prefer it if the pissy smell was optional.  Angie had opted in, hence why you jumped at the chance to opt out.  Ugh.

“Rainbows?”  The scowly but buff brunette with the dreamy blue eyes and robotic arm, scoffs mockingly.  “You project rainbows?”

The equally buff blonde who you suspect might be Captain America (or maybe his stunt double) snickers, his head lowered to hide his amusement.  Does Captain America have a stunt double, for like, TV appearances and meetings with officials, and stuff?  You’ll ask later.  Right now, you’re annoyed.

“Oh, I’m sorry, fist-of-victory!”  You snap your fingers like the queen you are.  “Am I too snazzy for you?  Do my rainbows ruin the whole Neanderthal vibe you got going on there?”

Loud snorts and chuckles pull you back.  The redheaded vixen you know already as Black Widow is pinching her nose to stifle her laughter, and Tony is looking to the heavens in askance but emotional stability is not forthcoming.

“Wow.”  The brunette says flatly.

“Fist of victory.” Tony ponders, eyes twinkling.  “I like that.”  He levels an amused gaze at you, rolling his next words around in his mouth.  “Manchurian candidate is a little out-dated, wouldn’t you say, Barnes? Ready for an upgrade?”

Oh shit!  Your eyes get big.  The brunette is none other than the infamous Winter Soldier.  You should have known by the arm.  Show no weakness!  Your brain screams.

“What’s the official title for that skill, you have?” Steve Rogers has gotten his face to cooperate, now there’s no trace of a smirk.  “Light manipulation?”  

“Walking disco ball.” You put on the light show again, manipulating the effects so the lights are dancing across the, now stormy grey, eyes of one Sergeant Barnes.

“It’s definitely distracting.”  Natasha says objectively.  “Could be useful.”

“See!  That’s what I said!”  You punch the air, sending the lights into a frenzy.

“I have a theory.” Tony is playing his cards close to his chest still.  “That’s why y/n is here.  She’s agreed to work with us, and at the very least she can be a supportive member of the team.”

“Team, frickin’, playahhh!”  You holler, earning a concerned look from Rogers and a downright obnoxious groan from Barnes.  “What?  What you complaining at?  You fucking love me already!”

The truth was that you didn’t know how your ability worked.  You could feel it when you did your thang, like the hairs on the back of your neck stood on end and the air in your hand felt stiff and substantial.

Better not talk about hands full of substantial stiff things around grandad Tony, he might kick the bucket.

You could manipulate the amount of reflections in your light show by making the air heavier, make them move, dance, even adjust the size of them a little.   Agreeing to work with The Avengers had been a no brainer; you get paid, get a place to stay that isn’t full of the stench of sadness and cat piss, and you get to find out more about your ability.  Win, win, win.

+++ A couple of weeks later +++

“You really expect me to take Rainbow Brite on this mission?”  Barnes has his arms crossed across his chest, refusal crinkling his brown and pursing his lips into a thin line.  The guy looks hot in tac gear.  One bicep straining against the material, the other is obviously free and oh-so-fucking-awesome.  Thighs tight under those black tac pants, thigh holster accenting the flex of muscle as he shifts his weight.  Wait-what!?

“Wait a fucking minute!”  You squawk.  “Rainbow Brite?  Oh, hell no!”  You march up to him, similarly decked out in black gear that makes you look like some tiny recruit in ill-fitting body armour instead of badass like him.

There’s a smirk on his perfect mouth now, dusky pink lips lop-sided with amusement, and the twinkle in his eyes is more than a little alluring.  What the fuck?

“Huh.”  You stop your tirade, blinking, baffled.  He’s playing with you.  Trying to get you pissed so you’ll refuse to go, or maybe he wants you to go so you’ll make a fool of yourself and Tony will see you’re not useful. Too many mind-games already, you don’t have the patience for this shit, so you go with an insult instead.  “If I’m Rainbow fucking Brite then that makes you Twink.  Dink!”

“Well, he does epitomise my sparkling personality.”  Sardonic, deadpan.  It’s classic brooding Barnes and you’re almost proud that he got an 80’s pop culture reference.  Almost.

“And they did rename him Mr fucking Glitters back in 2014.”  You pout, adopting his stance, arms crossed.

“Perfect!”  Tony pops m&ms into his mouth, turning away dismissively.  “Rainbow Brite and Mr Glitters it is.  Head to the carpool, there’s a vehicle waiting for you both.”

There was no getting away from this mission.  You’d grumbled, griped, whined, and begged Tony to send you with anyone but Broody Barnes but the Iron Man was true to his alter ego, he did not budge.

You are about to take a few pot shots at him in the insults department when Barnes’s voice comes over the earpiece you have already been fitted with.

“Earth to disco ball. Get in the damn car already.”

“It’s disco diva to you, giant cocksicle.”

He laughs at that and is still grinning when you slide into the passenger seat beside him.

“You’ve got some mouth on you, kid.”  Was that acceptance?  Admiration? Whatever it was it looked good on him.

“Yeah, you know you want my mouth.”  It sounded better in your head but now that it’s out it can’t be taken back.  Barnes looks a little frowny but at least he’s got nothing to say so you can quietly die in peace.

Can someone cringe so much they die?  You might find out.

The mission is surveillance.  Low-key observations of a facility out in Nova Scotia that makes products for iGoddess, a beauty company owned and run by Gabrielle Porter, the niece of one Alexander Pearce, crime syndicate king-pin and scumbag extraordinaire.

You know the company; you buy their stuff.  Well, you do now you can afford it and it’s not wasted under the scent of cat urine and bleach.  How can a company so devoted to making women feel special and empowered be mixed up with drugs, weapons and human trafficking?  Fucking bullshit, that’s what it is.

Bucky had ditched the car in the parking lot of a lake-side leisure and visitors centre about fifteen miles away, and with gaudy waterproof outerwear over your tac gear, you had begun the hike that would set you smack-bang in the middle of nowhere good.  Posing as hikers had been Tony’s brief but you’re cold and bored, and your body aches from being on the solid ground.

You’re both lay just behind the crest of a hill a little way away from your target building.  Bucky mutters his observations into his comms as you look through your own binoculars trying to see what he’s looking at.  He’s talking guard numbers and movements, the weapons they carry, security features and people entering or leaving the facility. It’s no use, you’re not cut out for this.  Surveillance is soul destroying.  You’d rather be interred in Tony’s kitchen, at least there’s coffee there.

Not even an hour in and you’re itching to get up and move around.  The hike had gotten your blood pumping but now you’re going stir-crazy, joints tingling with the need for motion.

Boring.  Boring.  But at least you can entertain yourself.  Where there’s light there’s beauty and you tease the air through your gloves, finding that your skin doesn’t need to be bare for you to create the effect.  Well whadd’ya know.

“There’s movement.” Bucky warns.  “Looks like some of the guards are exiting the compound.”

You snort, they’re probably bored too.

“A Jeep and a couple of motorbikes, moving quickly.”

“Sounds like they’re going home.”  You mumble, focused on the lights in your hand.

“They’re headed this way.” He curses.  “Grab your- What the HELL are you doing?”

Bucky tackles you to the ground from where you were on your knees almost at the hill’s crest.

“Asshole!”  You’re trying to get away from him but he pins you to the ground.

“I’m the asshole?” He complains as he rolls off you, sliding down the hill on his ass, shoving his gear unceremoniously into his backpack. “Mission compromised.”

“What happened?” Tony’s disembodied voice doesn’t sound happy.

“We were spotted.”  At the bottom of the hill, Bucky starts picking a path through the rocks and small fissures hidden by the wild grass and heathers. A quick glance back tells him you’re not following; you’re caught.

“Uh, hi, guys.”  You chuckle nervously as one of the guards levels an assault rifle at you.  “Would you believe we’re winners of a free weekend iGoddess Spa?”

Bucky is livid.  If it had just been him, he could have taken them out and escaped, but, no.  Tony had to insist that he bring you, show you the ropes, look after you.  Babysit you.

He snorts.  You don’t need a minder you need to be put in a padded room where you can’t inflict any more of your weird bullshit on him. Fucking rainbows.  What kind of skill is that, other than one that gets you caught?

Eight hours ago you were both doing great.  There’d been some small-talk in the car, he’d opened up a little and you’d responded. Even on the hike over you’d been great, your filthy mouth was a source of much amusement for him, and you’d listened. His instructions were followed close enough to the letter, and he was happy.  Everything was good.

Now it’s all fallen to shit and he’s locked up in a heavy-duty restraint chair that brings back memories of dark places and dark times for him.  To his side, you’re slumped forward in a regular wooden chair, cable-ties binding your wrists and ankles to the wood, pulling at your skin, making your hands and feet turn blue.  How the hell are you both supposed to get out of this?

He’s watching the movements of your chest that tell him you’re still breathing.  The cut on your head has stopped bleeding but you’re drooling blood-tainted saliva down your grey rash-guard.  Both of you had been stripped down to your undergarments and checked for hidden weapons.  He was the first to be incapacitated as they’d used you as leverage, holding a gun to your head until he complied, stripped, and submitted to the chair. When they’d took away your gear you’d fought and Bucky had seen red; he’d strained against the chair until the butt of a gun to the head had put a stop to that.  When he came to you were out cold, beaten and bloody.  How hard had you fought?

Your feet and hands are turning purple now.  The weight of your body pulling the restraints against your skin is making the plastic ties dig deep, cutting off the circulation.

“Y/n?”  Bucky hisses, hoping the noise doesn’t prompt the guards to come back.  “Y/n! Wake up!”

The room you’re in looks like an interview room.  Two-way mirror, camera in the corner, reinforced door with heavy-duty locks that were strangely not engaged.  It’s grey and cold, and the only things in the room are the two chairs and you two. The device Bucky is locked into is bolted into the floor; a permanent feature, like they expected him or maybe Steve. He tests the chair again.  It creaks but doesn’t give.  He’d have to really put some brute strength into it to break out, and that would create too much noise.  He’d wait.

“Y/n!”  A little louder now, and you stir.

He keeps talking to you, just bullshit words, what he wants for dinner, what film he’s going to watch when he’s home safe.  Anything to help draw you back to consciousness.

“You wana watch a film with me, y/n?”  He thought for sure you’d tell him to go fuck himself.

You moan, head lolling as you come back to him.

“Hey!  Rainbow Brite!”

“Fuck you.”  It’s a whisper but he’ll take it.

“There she is.”  He allows himself a relieved smile.  “C’mon, sweetheart.  I need you to sit up for me.  Take the weight off those ties before there’s any permanent damage.”

It takes a few more moments before you can shuffle yourself properly into the chair, then you’re flexing your hands and feet to get the blood moving again.

“Oh-god-it-hurts-so-fucking-bad!”  You are practically wailing as the pins and needles sensation in your extremities reaches a peak.  The slightest movement now sends a cacophony of intense pain into your limbs.

“It’ll be over soon.” Bucky sooths.

“Why are you being nice to me after I got us caught?”  You eye him suspiciously, flapping your hands to rush the blood into your fingers.  Rip the band aid off.  “Is this some kind of prank?  Ohhhhhhh!  This is an initiation isn’t it?  Oh, I see. Where’s Iron Doosh?  Hey!  Tony!”

“Would you shut up?  This is real.  We’re really captured.”  Bucky hisses.

“Tony Stank, Skank, Spah-hank.”  You sing-song as you struggle against your restraints, examining your bound feet through spread knees.  “I hope this is one of the chairs from his good dining set.”  You stand, leaning forward and centring your weight above your bent knees.

“What are you doing?”

“Just need to…”  You shuffle over to the mirror.

“No, y/n, wait!” Bucky begs.  “Don’t break the glass.”  His frantic expression says the rest.  Your feet are bare and you’ll shred yourself to ribbons.

“What?  You’re crazy.  Why would I do that?”  You chuckle, amused that he’s so worried.  “There’s no one in there.”  You wink at him.  “They’d be in here by now if there were.”

You shuffle a bit more and grunt as you throw yourself backward to the ground.  The chair cracks but doesn’t break.

“Fuck!”  You struggle some more, grunting and groaning like a butch female tennis player in a grand slam.  One of the arms loosens and you fight against the wood until you get your left hand free, then you’re reaching into your hair for a bobby pin to jam into the clasp of the cable tie on your right arm.

Moments later, you’re free and rushing to Bucky who is fighting against his own restraints. There’s sweat beading on his bare chest and his hair is sticking to his forehead.  A quick swipe of your hand clears his brow and he stills, watching you as you search the chair for whatever mechanism has him trapped.

“There’s a big red lever at the back.”  You muse. “You think it’s an ejector seat?” A cheeky wink.  “If I sit in your lap we can both go for a ride.”  You don’t have time for giggling and flirtation, but you do it anyway.

“Y/n.”  Bucky chastises lightly.

“What?  This is every girl’s wet dream.  Every, damn, girl.”  You mumble as you grip the handle.  “And I can’t even enjoy it.”

“Just pull the damn thing already.  We don’t have time to mess around.”

“Pity.”  You tug the lever and a loud hiss fills the room, pressure releasing from the chair.

Bucky is on his feet and at the door before you make three steps.  He’s rubbing his right forearm where the metal clamps had bitten into his flesh, there’s blood there too, long ago dried.

“There’s movement out there.”  He has his ear to the door.  “I need a weapon, we need our gear, and we need a vehicle.”

“I need some chocolate and bottle of wine.”

“What?”

“Are we not making a shopping list?”

Bucky rolls his eyes and grabs your wrist.  “C’mon.”

With the door cracked open, Bucky can see movement at the end of the corridor; there’s a security room which is promising for retrieving your gear, but not if you want to avoid being seen.

“Stay behind me.”  He pushes you towards his back.

You look down at his bum. “No problem.”  You sigh and then you’re moving, your hand on his bare back so you can feel where he’s moving next.

Bucky suddenly shoves you down into a squat, shushing you with a finger held against his lips.  The way he moves is like water, smooth and forceful, carrying the momentum of his body towards a lone guard who has paused at the corner by the security room.  How he hasn’t seen you is a miracle but the man doesn’t even hear Bucky until the his own knife is slipped from its sheath and into the his temple. There’s no sound, no gurgling, not even much blood.  Bucky lowers the body to the floor and cleans the knife on the pants of the dead man.

Looking at him now, you can see why people fear him.  His expression is cold, calculating, and focused.  It’s necessary, the distance he puts between himself and the act of killing.  Even when Bucky was him, there was always a distance; a gap between him and his orders.  Now the killing is his choice and he has to live with that, there’s no excuse of mind control now.  This is all him.

The security room has one guard inside who is overpowered moments after Bucky opens the door.

Fucking amateurs, you think.  Does that room not have cameras that cover the door and surrounding corridors?

Turns out that it does and the reason the guard hadn’t seen you was because he was sexting his girlfriend.

“Sexting?”

“Yeah.  Like sex role play and talking dirty over text.”  You snort.  “Jeez, you’re old.”

“What can I say? You’re broadening my horizons.” He winks then and it’s so out of place in this grim situation that you laugh nervously.  “Sounds fun.”

“Well don’t take tips from this guy.”  You wave his phone in the air loosely.  “He’s fucking terrible at it.”

“What’s bad about it?”

You’re not sure if he means to ask that, he’s busy trying to get outside communication through the phones which seem to be keycode protected and also checking through the security feeds to see if he can find your gear and a way out of this for you both; he’s clearly distracted.  At least he’s happy now that he has a pair of handguns and a pair of knives, no weapons for you because you haven’t completed your firearms training yet.  But let’s face it, who would arm you anyway?  You were a disaster waiting to happen.

“He’s a bit of a wham-bam-thankyou-ma’am kinda guy.”  You chuckle. Bucky is going to regret starting you off down this line of conversation.  “His poor woman has probably never experienced even mediocre sex with this schmuck if his sext skills are anything to go by.”

“Too eager to bury the bone?”  Bucky sounds distant, but he is listening to you as he checks drawers for weapons, keys and anything else that might be useful.  God knows your gear was nowhere to be found.

“Check it.”  You hop up on the desk near him and scroll through the laughable chat.  You feel slightly guilty reading this guy’s private shit but he’s dead so he isn’t going to care.  Reading from the chat, you do fake voices.  “So she’s like ‘hey baby, you free tonight?  I got something for you.’ Peach emoji, cat emoji.  And he’s like ‘you off your period? Can we bang?’  I mean, what the fuck dude?”

Bucky is smirking when you look at him.  “What did she say?”  He straps both thigh holsters to his almost naked body.  It’s comical how he’s gearing up from salvaged stuff wearing only a pair of skin-tight spandex shorts that leave nothing to the imagination. Once Bucky is packing (in more ways than one, now) you have to force your eyes elsewhere.

“’Yeah, baby! I missed you so bad.  Can’t wait to be in your arms again.’  She just wants lovin’ y’know?”  You spoke the line in a soft, breathy voice.  Fake, of course.

“And what did he say?” Bucky is checking the monitors one last time before he moves to the door.

“You like a bit of sexting? Huh, Barnes?”  You smirk, eying him mischievously.  “Living vicariously through the sexting chronicles of Captain Dick-Down over there?”

“Just looking to know what not to do if the opportunity for sexting ever arises.”  It’s light-hearted and completely unlike the grumpy Bucky you’re used to.  Maybe there was something in the air; sex pollen or something.  That’s totally a thing.  “C’mon.”  He says after a moment, eyes twinkling with mirth, soft lips pulling up to the side in a cute smile.  “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

It’s comedy gold, the pair of you running the halls of an apparently secret part of the factory, him in his tight little shorts and you in your panties and spandex t-shirt over a sports bra that makes your rack look like a uni-boob.  You awkwardly tug your rash-guard down over your ass whenever Bucky is behind you and you’re thankful you didn’t wear a thong though that would be better than skid marks.  God, you hoped you’d not shat yourself when they beat you.

You barely encounter anyone until you’re almost at the warehouse; Bucky is so stealthy that even with you hindering him, he only has to subdue one foreman and drag you into a cleaning supply closet once, to avoid a pair of patrolling guards.  Not that you’re complaining, being squashed up against an almost naked super soldier gave you endless thrills, even if he was all stiff and awkward about it.

Bucky stalls before the double doors that lead to the warehouse.  There’s a heavy plastic strip curtain over the exit too, it’s almost opaque with age and hinders your view of what is beyond the meshed safety-glass of the door’s small windows.

“They know we’re coming.” He whispers to you, mere inches away. “There’s a lot of them out there and I can’t keep you safe if you disobey orders.  So, please,” he begs, “please do as I tell you.”

He begs so sweetly, you think, blushing.  But you’re not one for passing an opportunity for inappropriate comments.

“I’ll be a good girl, Daddy.”  You bat your eyelashes, feigning innocent.  “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“Really?”  Bucky doesn’t know whether to blush or be annoyed. You never seem to take anything seriously; it’s always a joke, or something you can twist to your amusement. He gets doubly serious.  “If you die, it’s on me.  You think I haven’t lost enough people over the course of my very long life?  You think I want to wash your blood off my skin later tonight?  Bury you alongside all the other people lost to some fight or other in the name of SHIELD or the Avengers?  I can’t save you if you don’t want to be saved.”

You watch him as he fervently tries to convey the dire nature of your situation, desperate to make you understand that he doesn’t want you to die here, he cares.  His eyes are piercing and your heart is a ricocheting bullet in your chest.  What if you don’t make it out ok?  What if this is it for you?  Both of you? Suddenly, you’re acutely aware that Bucky Barnes, Winter Soldier, Fist of HYDRA come Fist of Victory, has cleared himself a little spot in your fucked-up soul, and is there to stay. You don’t want him to get killed because of you, but there’s nothing you can do, you’re not trained for this, or at all really.

You nod once, not trusting your voice in that moment.  You could choke on your words or you could vomit all over yourself.  It’s a lottery, so you say nothing.

“Good girl.”  He gives your shoulders a reassuring squeeze. “Stay behind me.  Be quick, keep low, don’t hesitate, and for Christ’s sake no disco ball.”  There’s a small smile tempting the corners of his lips, like he’s saying he forgives you for getting you both into this mess.  “Ok, sweetheart, lets go.”

Out in the warehouse there’s a whole host of guards and workers, patrolling and overseeing shipments being loaded into lorries.  It look like it’s important, and probably why the majority of the facility is clear of security staff; the merchandise is being moved.

It’s a mad dash, crouching low as you ghost around the edge of the warehouse.  The huge rows of stacks are packed full of boxes and crates, further obscuring your movement around the area.  Bucky is silent, especially since he’s barefoot; he’s every bit the assassin he’s hyped to be, but you can’t take him seriously padding around almost naked with the top of his crack showing and his junk all jiggly in the front.

A radio crackles to life. Three personel down.  Prisoners have escaped.  Cameras last caught them headed your way.  

They must have found the bodies.

“They’re in here somewhere.” A man says, loud and authoritative. “Search the rows, shoot to kill. They’re not low-life mob goons, they’re Avengers and can’t be allowed to live.”

Well that settles that, you think, gone are the chances of mere bodily harm.  It’s death or death.

You watch in awe as Bucky scales a nearby stack to stalk one of the patrolling guards.  When his opportunity arises he yanks the man up by the throat, snapping his neck in the process.  You can’t help but admire that metal arm, so sleek and powerful.  You groan, light and lusty, earning you a concerned look from the owner of said appendage.

Killing that guard has yielded an assault rifle, another knife and another handgun.  You’d think Bucky would be too smart to arm you but apparently he’s not.  Silently he points to his eye and then to the gun where he shows you how to turn off the safety, puts the gun in your hand and moves behind you to adjust your grip. He aims for you, pressing his chest against your back and you swear you can feel his junk against your ass.  Once he’s satisfied that you aren’t going to injure yourself, he’s gone from behind you, crouching low at the end of the row.

He grabs another guard and drags him backward.  The struggle is louder than he would have liked, and the man got out a partial shout before his throat was closed forever but Bucky is hopeful that he can thin the numbers down enough to make it possible to get you into a truck and away safely.

Bucky shoves the newest body under the nearest stack and beckons you to him.  You both move like a two-carriage train, he’s the engine and you’re the caboose following in his wake.  He only leaves you to commit murder but you feel lost when he’s gone, cold even.  There’s something alluring about the way he uses his body and your mind drifts to other carnal things.

A hand on your shoulder makes you jump.  There’s more of a commotion going on in the warehouse now, not just the sounds of men moving goods and silently searching for two prisoners.  There are massive amounts of footfall, boots hitting the concrete at speed; bringing in reinforcements from outside.

Bucky is about to whisper in your ear when the squeal of a megaphone pierces the air; he stills with his lips almost touching your skin before pulling back with a frown.

“Sergeant Barnes?” Bucky knows that voice, he’d heard it for years, worked with it, even obeyed it on occasion.  “Save the girl.  Turn yourself in.”

You shake your head, panicked, urgent.  Don’t leave me, your eyes are saying.

A noise nearby draws Bucky’s attention and he suddenly forces you to the ground under a stack where he slots himself immediately after; the security team are searching for you, stealthily stalking the rows.  It’s cramped and dusty, the bottom shelf above you so close you can barely breathe without your back brushing the metal supports.  How Bucky fits is beyond you, the man is a beefcake, all bulk and magnificently defined muscle.  Thinking of him naked is the only thing that keeps you from succumbing to claustrophobia. Something brushes your hand and you jolt, eyes snapping to meet his.  He grasps your hand properly and gives it a reassuring squeeze.  In your chest, something gives.  Maybe your permafrost heart is thawing, maybe you’re about to have a stroke, maybe you really like him.

When the coast is clear, Bucky pulls you free and you emerge into a different row, one with fewer boxes, one you’ll likely be spotted in.  You can just see the massive doorway of the warehouse, double sliding doors like a hangar, several half loaded trucks and maybe forty men with body armour and guns.  One guy in the middle is wearing a full-face helmet with a white skull etched across the features.

“Holy shit!  Is that Punisher?”  You hiss before Bucky can clamp his hand over your mouth, the warning look on his face is stern as he leans in to you.

“Crossbones.”  He corrects you, barely audible despite the proximity.  You still don’t know who that is but he’s totally not as cool as the Punisher, so it doesn’t matter.

His hand is still over your mouth but there’s no point in struggling, you couldn’t break free of him even if you tried, so you push your tongue out and squirm it against his palm, making him recoil in disgust.  Your chuckle is silent and his frown turns to the ghost of a wry smile before his attention is fully back on the man he calls Crossbones.

Bucky is taciturn at the best of times but he’s in full diagnostic mode now, assessing the situation. His eyes flicker around the warehouse from yet another new position.  It seems like he’s trying to get you closer to the trucks but you suspect that’s what Crossbones expects.  There are more men closer to the trucks too and Bucky has already had to kill another two in the latest relocation.  The missing men haven’t gone unnoticed and Crossbones is issuing orders, plugging the gaps so you can’t escape.

“I will find you Barnes.” Crossbone’s voice sounds wet through the megaphone, like he’s salivating with excitement at the prospect of getting his hands on you both again.  “If you turn yourself in, maybe I’ll let the girl live.”

Bucky’s eyes are downcast, like he’s actually considering it, but the moment passes and Bucky’s resolve hardens.  He drags you away towards the end of the row.

“The end of this row has a direct line of sight to the exit.  I need a distraction.  Can you do that for me?”  He whispers.

You nod, lips set in determination.  “One disco ball distraction coming right up.”

“On my mark.”

The fluorescent strip lights overhead create more than enough light for you to use.  With your right hand flat against Bucky’s left shoulder blade and your left manipulating the air to create a huge show of dancing lights, you move in tandem.  Bucky steps out of hiding, keeping you just behind him with his metal arm, he surges forward squeezing off four shots.  The way his arm snaps to aim so quickly is astounding, like he has a targeting chip implanted in his brain.  Who knows, maybe he does.  Four men fall and remain still.  Another three shots, then another two and he’s pulling you into another row at a crouching run to the opposite end as he discards the empty gun and pulls out another. He’s saving the assault rifle for Crossbones.

“Again.”  He instructs gruffly.  “Can you get their eyes?”

“It’s not an exact science this, you know?”  You huff and he seems to know that you’re saying you’ll try your best.  Of course you’d try, but you don’t know much about your power, even after the few months you’d been training with the team.  If it meant you both got out of this alive, you’d flash your tits at the enemy for Christ’s sake.

You emerge again, him with the gun in his metal hand this time, stepping out with you at his back. This time they are ready for you and they start firing before Bucky gets off his first shots.  He makes a dash for a fork-lift with a huge pallet of crates sat at floor level.  He shoots his rounds in threes until the 9-round magazine is done.  The gun is discarded as you both slide behind the cover of the pallets.  Machine guns rattle, pummelling the crates with round after round.  Bucky prays the crates don’t contain munitions.

“I make fourteen down. Twenty-two left.”  His breathing smooth where your is ragged.  You curse yourself for being so unfit that even a tiny bit of stress and exertion leaves you heaving air like a couch potato made to climb stairs.  “Crossbones is a problem.”

“What do we do now?”

Bucky has two handguns, four knives and an assault rifle, you have one gun and your rainbows.  This isn’t going to go well, you think.

“You’re going to hide over there and watch the rear.”  He points to your left.

You smirk.  Now isn’t’ the time for joking.

“I’m going to thin the crowd some more and, if I can, take Crossbones out.”  He looks determined but ridiculous in his underpants, dusted with dirt and debris from the floor that’s stuck to the slightest bit of moisture on his skin.  “This might not work.  Run to the left, hide in the stacks again, stay down and don’t expose yourself.”

You nod and he readies himself to break cover.  The shooting has stopped now and it sounds like the guards are changing positions again. His muscles clench, coiling ready to spring.

“Wait!”  You stop him with a hand on his arm, the metal is unnervingly cool.  Tension builds.  “I wanna fuck you until you pass out.”

“Ummmm.”  Bucky blinks, eyebrows raised in surprise but he’s smiling.  “You’re serious?”

“Yeah, well, no, but, uhhhh.”  You splutter, this hadn’t gone well at all.  “I couldn’t let you go without telling you, you know, what Captain Dick Down said to his girl.  You asked, for future reference, and all.”

“Oh.  Right.”  He frowns, turning away again.  “Move when I do.”  He orders stiffly, preparing to move.

Well, shit!

“Bucky, wait.”  Your voice is softer this time, tears prickling your eyes.  There’s a chance that neither of you will make it through this and it’s suddenly hit you that there’s something missing.

“What now?”  He grumbles, turning to find you closer than he expected.

You surge forward, cupping his jaw in your hands as you capture his lips in a kiss that’s both urgent and needy.  You don’t care if he doesn’t respond, you need to feel this before it’s too late. All this tension between you, the jibes and snarky banter, it’s unresolved and sexual in nature.  You want him, and if this is all you can have then so be it.  One stolen moment before it all slips through your fingers, and you both go to your graves.

You’re already pulling back when he snaps back to attention, quickly pulling you back for another kiss. His tongue delicately touches between the seal of your lips and you sigh with longing.

“You ready?”  You pull away but he’s still clearing his head, trying to focus again.

On your feet you’re running out, pumping your legs as fast as you can, heading to the wrong place. Machine guns stutter to life and Bucky is on your heels a second later, fear contorting his features as he scoops you up in his metal arm and returns fire almost blindly.  He’s shielding your body with his own and yips like a wounded pup when the bullets find him.

On your knees beneath the curved shield of his back you see the enemy are far closer than you thought. Everything in you yelled stop and you felt the pressure rise through your body and out, cascading off you like a roiling storm.

The bullets stop but the guns are still firing, muffled by the thickness of the air.  Despite the pain in his lower back and hip, he turns to see what’s happening.  Bullets sluggishly pushing through the air like flies in syrup, all but stopped and slightly redirected on a path that will take them away from a central focal point that is you.  You’re doing this, shielding you both as if by some miracle, your power not only refracting the light causing rainbows but acting like a forcefield.

“As much as I have to break up this little party, I really can’t have you killing my friends.”  The voice of Tony Stark is heard a second before the Iron Man himself and several of his Iron Legion appear and shoot each and every remaining guard with a taser disc, stunning them into unconsciousness.

Crossbones is a different matter and is somehow resistant to the zapping he just got.  He levels a grenade launcher at the stacks near where you and Bucky are crouched and fires.  No air shield will save you from all of that falling metal, but Bucky is still fast despite his wounds.  There’s blood running down his leg in rivulets as he pulls you to safety, and shields you instinctively with his body once more while the sound of explosions and grinding metal fill the air.

“I did not know I could do that.”  You praise yourself.

“I still got shot.”

“It’s just a flesh wound.” You snort.  “Walk it off.”

“You’re a real ray of sunshine, you know that?”

“I must be something special if you took one in the ass for me.”  You wink.  “I hope it heals puckered, then you’ll have two rusty bullet holes.”

“STARK!”  He shouts but pulls you closer to him.  “Evac for one.  She’s walking hom-owwww!”  You pinch the skin on the inside of his thigh viciously enough that he shoves you out of his embrace.

You both stay close on the Quinjet home.  Bucky had been confused as to how Stark had known to mount a rescue mission but when you produced Captain Dick Down’s phone from your uni-boob bra it all became apparent. All of the comms in the facility had been locked down but that was a personal device, one that probably wasn’t allowed to be carried.  Good old Captain Dick Down.

The facility had been put to a far worse use than drugs and weapons trafficking.  iGoddess was a front for human trafficking and also human experimentation.  The restraint chair they had strapped Bucky into had been used to restrain test subjects; Alexander Pearce was trying to replicate the super serum that made Steve and Bucky what they were.

“So, this was a win for us.” Steve said in the debrief.  “Our intel was lacking but it worked out in the end.”

“Says you who didn’t get shot in the ass cheek.”  Bucky grumbled, shifting cautiously on the Mr Glitters cushion you’d given him as a joke.

“I got to see some wonderful scenery,” you grin brilliantly, “so I’m not complaining.”

There had been no further discussion about the kiss you and Bucky had shared when you thought you might die in that place, but that’s ok.  Your daily thrills are made up of making him squirm, and since you two had become closer since your ordeal, you have had several of moments like those.  There’s plenty of time and you’re prepared to play the long game, starting with your newest idea.  You pull out your phone and casually write a text while Steve is rambling on about seized research and assets.

[I’m so turned on right now].

Bonus add-on for this work:  Captain Dick Down - External link to AO3

Because apparently 7k words wasn’t enough and I just had to try my hand at a little text chat/social media piece.  It’s more of an embellishment.  Enjoy

And if you liked this story, why not try Good Ole Stuffing, a smutty follow on for the same reader/character.

[thisstableground]

hey! what was your first experience with in the heights/how did you discover it & how did you become so thoroughly overtaken by it? i hope you feel better soon

ooh, i like this question!

so i got into hamilton around november 2016 and thats what lead me to it. first listened to in the heights must’ve been early january 2017, because i remember it was the day before i went back to my home in brighton from my mum’s where i had spent christmas  break, and i was laying on the couch in mum’s living room and eating grapes the first time i listened. i don’t remember much of my emotions towards it that first time, other than enjoying it but finding the story harder to keep track of (it was only the second musical soundtrack i’d ever listened to, after hamilton, which is a lot easier to follow because it’s sung through). i can remember unexpectedly laughing out loud at usnavi in the club and going “wait what” when abuela died and that’s about it. but i vividly remember my second listen to it the day after. i’d gone and read all the story summary on the Genius lyrics page so i understood it more, and i can remember getting on the train back home just as i was listening to It Won’t Be Long Now on headphones and getting such shivers that I nearly cried (and then i did cry on the train later, at Alabanza), and it entered frequent rotation between my near-constant relistens of hamilton.

so i really liked it from the start but i think it didn’t completely take over my heart until i started writing fic for it. fic for me is about learning who the characters are and it really took no time at all of writing some character study and dialogue for usnavi and vanessa before they just grabbed something in my heart and made a permanent home there, now that i understood them a little more.

i love the music and the originality and the skill that is in it, but i think that something that made it really stick emotionally and become my favourite is that it was about such ordinary people. it was about people who struggle and who aren’t necessarily doing anything that will make them go down in history but aren’t any less valuable or lovable for that, and it was a revelation for me at that point in my life, where i still only defined myself by my grades and intelligence and was really struggling with the fact that i could just barely get through a day functionally, never mind do anything world-changing to establish a legacy, which at the time felt very important to me and is part of what drew me to hamilton. it’s hard to explain, but in the heights just made me feel like it’s okay for your legacy to be that you work hard in the ways you are able to and support the people around you and look for help from them when you need it. it felt like permission to live an ordinary life and reassurance that you can find happiness doing that.

it’s funny because with all of that, i would’ve thought that nina would’ve been my favourite – i’m a former gifted kid university dropout who put way too much pressure on myself with grades. and i do love her but somehow it’s usnavi who i relate to most. the getting stuck, the way that his past and his grief have given him sort of tunnel vision for what he wants from his future and how he needs to think more about what he wants now, and what he wants outside of what other people think he wants. the big ADHD vibes, the nervous chatter. and relating to him in some ways made me want to be more like him in others – the positivity and kindness, which i’m 100% sure is something that i developed more in myself the more i listened to his parts in the musical and wrote stories about him. i talk a lot more now than i used to, because i’m not so self-conscious about the fact that i talk very quickly and excitably, and that sometimes i make an idiot of myself by babbling.  i like who i am much more now that i lean way more towards an usnavi than an alexander. 

it also came along like, when i wasn’t exactly mental health recovered but i had been living in brighton a while and gotten past the worst parts and even with all the problems i was still having i felt like i was in the place i was supposed to be, for the first time in my life. i remember when i was younger i used to be in my own bedroom just sobbing and thinking “i wanna go home” and not knowing what i meant because i was in the only place that i could technically consider home but still didn’t feel like it, and always feeling torn between different parts of my identities and not knowing where i belonged within those identities and communities that i’m a part of. i’d never want to claim that this means i understand what it means to be latino or an immigrant because i dont and i know i never will, but even though ITH is not my identity narrative, it comforts me to hear it anyway. it felt and still does feel so, so good to listen to finale where usnavi says i’m home and think yeah, me too, and to know that he’d been looking for so long for that certainty and finally found it just like i had.

its been the fuel for so much of my creativity, alongside other LMM fandoms. i think part of it is  because of an interview i read with lin once, where he said he wrote ITH because nobody was writing the roles he wanted to play so he had to do it himself. that attitude but turned towards my own areas of neurodiversity and mental health has since been the centre of most of my academic work and the foundation of what i did for most of my creative writing degree: the idea that if the story you want doesn’t exist it’s not because it’s not worth telling, it’s because maybe you need to write it yourself. i’d never had enough of a sense of purpose before to sustain any creativity.

 before i started writing fic and doing art prompts back in december 2016 i hadn’t made or written anything much for years and years, and even before that i’d never really done more than write a few poems and some essays and doodled some abstract art at very sporadic intervals like once or twice a year. and i started that creative journey off with hamilton but it’s ITH that stuck with me and that i’ve stuck with (and DNH, but like, i’m into that for the opposite reasons i am into ITH, where ITH is a beautiful thing that inspires me want to make more beautiful things, and DNH is a trash fire that i’m frantically trying to put out and then weave a nice rug to cover all the damage).

GOD this gave me all my big ITH feelings again. i can remember writing fic after nightmares when my PTSD was still bad. i can remember being in the phase where i was still surprised whenever i woke up and felt good about life and i’d put ITH on with headphones and turn the corner out of the street i lived on at the top of a hill and could see all the brightly coloured houses leading down to the sea and felt safe. i have such a strong memory of a day when i had been in the middle of undergraduate dissertation panic where i just went outside and went to the park which was empty because it was pouring with rain and i went on the swings and played ITH loudly and sang along because nobody was there to hear. the people i’ve met through fandom are some of my favourite people ever.   i just love this show so, so much and it has a really important place in my life and my memories.