#thought it'd be good to write my stance on this

[reginrokkr]

Probably not the brightest idea to post this when the dash is at its most silent, but it just occurred to me that it's been a long time since the last time I addressed this. So before I forget, I'll be saying it now and maybe reblog it later to give it some visibility:

For my portrayal of Dainsleif, I do not adhere to what is commonly believed in fanon. I see where people are coming from in their excitement to slap together a bunch of Khaenri'ahn-related characters to be spiteful together and think of ways to take over the world, but beyond multiple reservations I have on the matter, Dainsleif is not that way.

Yes, based on everything he's gone through and the fact that he let on that he feels how the curse is slowly replacing his mind he could have chances to turn the wrong way and go down that route.

But that would go completely against what he's been fighting for. Anyone who pays attention to the fact that he's so adamant in opposing the Abyss Order, some of which (if not many of them) he once protected during the Khaenri'ah days previous to the kingdom's destruction. They're messed up in more ways than one to the point of experimenting with other Hilichurls that could've been other Khaenri'ahn citizens for their futile plot which leaves them in no better position than Celestia currently is.

So no, he won't go out there plotting to kill the gods when he said that it's a bad idea to go against them to begin with. He won't go against his word of interfering himself if he saw Albedo going bananas in Mondstadt. He won't follow blindly what some takes of Kaeya (son of a regent at most, this title isn't even inheritable) wanting to take revenge for Khaenri'ah or w/e, albeit as an Alberich Dainsleif will keep into account that the last regent of Khaenri'ah wanted to do something positive for that messed up kingdom to no avail. And he won't yield to the Abyss Twin's nonsense.

And if he happens to go down any of these routes (which honestly I'm not interested to explore unless we see some of it in canon and there's a legit reason behind it to dive more into his character), it'll be against his will or against his best judgement which he'd have lost control over. Definitely not because another will manipulate him, Dainsleif is strong enough to be feared by the Abyss Order all things considered— but because of other factors that are beyond his control which are more than likely related to the curse and corruption he's bearing.

[i-literally-cant-with-this]

A/N ::: This is my first time writing a threesome. And I thought who better to do it with than KiriBaku and F!Reader. I hope it doesn't suck. Let me know! Thanks for checking this out, you guys.

C/W ::: Threesome (KiriBaku + F!Reader), F!Reader slightly spies on the two of them, nearly invisible coercion, Oral {M->F and a little later {F->M}, unprotected sex P->V, pulling out & cumming on F! back, F!'s first time with 2 men at the same time. I can't imagine a bad time would be had by anyone who's with these 2, aged up characters, Kiri is 25 and Kats is around there (I don't know how close they are in age canonically, so deal? Or tell me =). If I missed anything, grammatically or warning wise, let me know and I'll fix it. Thanks, hope you all enjoy this!

WC ::: 4,101

You stood there like a hypnotized idiot, staring at the 2 men as they talked over the picnic table at their campsite.

They noticed your attention. They noticed the first time, the third time. The twelfth time. And whatever number this time was.

You wondered if they were there together together. The way that they fed each other little bites of fruit at breakfast had you thinking. Had you hoping if you were being honest. Not that it'd make a difference. You were over here and they were over there.

The guys waved at you, smiling, laughing at your blank stare.

What they (probably) didn't know is that you were imagining what it would be like to be bent over the table they were eating at. Fucked by either one of them and sucking on the cock of the one who wasn't fucking you. You thought you were being discreet. Isn't that always what you think when you're lost in a daydream?

One of them had gotten up from the table and took a less direct route to where you were standing next to the tree. You were so focused on the blonde that you didn't notice the redhead coming up behind you.

The dazed look on your face was so cute, your finger stuck between your teeth and your thighs clenched together, adjusting your stance to create some friction from your jeans on your puffy clit. It was becoming unbearable. You turned to head back to your site and climb inside of your sleeping bag to ease the nagging of your cunt.

"Hi?" You nearly jumped out of your skin at the word. "OH ... oh my god. Hi. Sorry. There's just a little family of gray squirrels um, the other side of your camp. And I've been w-watchin' 'em." You tried. Your face was scrunched up as you forced yourself to lie to the redhead.

The man laughed. "Squirrels, huh. Yeah, gray squirrels are cute ... or whatever. Um, my friend and I thought maybe you were staring at us and we were going to invite you over to sit with us. If you wanted? Are you ... are you here by yourself? My name is Eijiro ... Kirishima. You can call me Kiri, though.

You smile and nod. "Yeah? I mean, yeah. I'd like that. I am here alone. 'S not much fun out here without some company." Kirishima turns to walk and leads the way to his camp where the blonde is sitting.

He doesn't look as friendly as Kirishima. But you've been known to have bad judgment before. So you give him a chance and you approach him with a sweet little smile and extend your hand. He doesn't do anything but take it and pull you down onto the bench of the picnic table between his spread legs.

"Pretty little mouth you got there." The blonde says. "Good call, Kiri." Kiri smiles and puffs his chest out playfully. "She does have a sweet lookin' little mouth, huh, Kats?" He asked.

Kirishima sits in front of you and reaches out to brush your hair away from your neck. He leans in and whispers in your ear, "So, what are you into?" You're taken aback by the question and unsure of how to answer it. "What ... what do you mean?" You stammer. "Camping? Mmm, I come out here sometimes when I have to get some clarity." You look at the blonde. "I didn't catch your name?"

Bakugo smirks. "Katsuki. Bakugo. And he wasn't asking whether or not you like camping ner--" He was interrupted by Kiri.

"Kats! Play nice with our new friend. Kirishima put his face back down against your skin and took a soft breath in. "Hohhh shit, man, she smells real pretty, too."

Katsuki brushes the hair aside from behind you and lines his nose up with the soft, warm spot on your neck just below your ear. "You're right. Pretty. Like ... like fucking vanilla and cinnamon. And like before sex." You swallow hard and Kirishima moves his head back to look at you. "See? He thinks so, too." The two men look back at each other and nod at some unspoken exchange that took place between them just seconds ago.

"You know," Katsuki said, "we were really hoping to run into someone out here this weekend. His hands were hot as they sat on your shoulders, occasionally giving you a little squeeze. Trying to reiterate their intentions.

"F-find some-someone? For what?" You asked. The sky was getting dark and the wind was picking up. "Why were you guys looking for someone?"

They both huffed a little breath through their noses and Kirishima said, "Fffor ..." he kissed the left side of your neck. Katsuki finished his sentence, "thisss." His lips found their way to the right side of your neck. They felt a little dry against your skin. But the heat coming off of them was undeniable. You try to close the space between one side of your neck but all that does is open up further for the other side to be touched.

"Smells s'good, fuck." Katsuki mutters to himself.

You let out a squeak as the situation settled into your brain. "O- oh. Oh! For that. I ... *aheh* I ... Ok."

No sooner had you finished figuring that out than a rumble of thunder spread through the atmosphere. It startled you so badly that you jumped back against Katsuki's chest and pulled Eijiro closer to you, his chest to yours. "Jesus fuck!" You yelled. "I h- thunder scares me sometimes. If I'm outside, anyway.

"Thunder scares you?" Kirishima asked.

You nodded, "Mhm, ever since I was a kid. I know it can't hurt me. But just the idea that the only tangible thing about is sound, I dunno. It fucks with my head."

Kirishima stood and pulled your hand, his eyes asking you to join him. You watched him as he tilted his head to their tent, urging Katsuki to guide you up and over there with him and you. Katsuki stood and took your other hand and they smiled at you as they gently brought you closer to where they had set everything up.

You weren't exactly resisting their guidance. But your feet were heavy as you plodded over with them. They were walking plenty fast enough to get all of you over there.

"This is us." Kirishima said. Katsuki began to unzip the door and he held it open for the two of you to walk in.

The tent was more like a tiny cabin; there was a little space just inside where shoes could be taken off and left there so no dirt would be tracked around in the sleeping area.

Once the three of you were in, the 2 guys took their shirts off and tossed them aside onto the bed. Kirishima motioned for you to come over to him and you walked there like you had no choice in the matter. Like he willed you there. And so it was.

He raised his arms out and put his hands on your shoulders. Tilting his chin down, he looked up at you through heavy lashes. "You ever been with 2 guys before, pretty girl?" Closing the space between you, he rubbed his nose against yours and flashed you a perfect smile. It brought up a heat in your stomach. You didn't know if you were nervous or excited. Nauseous or getting aroused.

"Don't be stupid, loser! She wouldn't be here if she didn't know what was going on!" Katsuki yelled.

"Excuse my friend ... he's always in a bad mood." Kirishima said as he glared over your shoulder at him. You nod and roll the edge of your hoodie between your finger and thumb.

Katsuki took the opportunity to pull you back against his bare chest and wrap his arms around you. "You're so cute. So much smaller than me." He laughed. "So soft." He whispered into your ear as he ran his hands over your waist, stomach and thighs. "Don't be afraid of us. We promise we're not gonna hurt'cha. Maybe stretch you out some ---"

"Bakugo! Don't scare her!" Kirishima tried to get his brazen friend back in line once again, but he had a smile on his face all the same.

You took the time while they had another quiet exchange to really look around. There was some kind of thick mattress under the 2 sleeping bags that had been zipped together to make one large one. You briefly counted 6 pillows. "You guys like pillows." You laughed for the first time since being brought here.

"Mhm, pillows = comfort. Speaking of comfort, you pretty little thing, why don't we get you more comfortable. May ... may I take your sweatshirt?" Kirishima asked as he rolled his thick fingers just under the hem of the piece of clothing you'd grown accustomed to fidgeting with. You put your arms up over your head so he could pull it off.

Kirishima stepped back for a moment and admired your body in your tank top and jeans. He had a smile on his face as he watched your breasts rise with each shallow breath you took. He pulled his eyes away and turned to Katsuki. "I think that's a good start." Bakugo said.

"I think so." Kirishima looked back at you with a little wink. "What d'you think, pretty? You good with us taking your hoodie off? You look real good ... real good to us. Isn't that right, Kats?" Kirishima asked him.

Katsuki nodded and walked up to you. He put his hands on your shoulders and tilted his head down to look you in the eyes. "We want you to feel good. To feel comfortable. You think you can do that for us? We just wanna have some fun." He shot a half smile at you and put his hand out for Kirishima to come over to him.

He walked to Katsuki and took his outstretched hand and stood close to him. Kirishima looked down at him and put his left hand on the back of his head, pulling him in for a slow, exaggerated kiss. You could see their tongues wrapping around each other.

"Mhmph ..." You exhaled a whine that was full of breath you didn't realize you'd been holding back. You hadn't noticed until you saw their tongues swirling around each other, but you were incredibly turned on. Your clit was throbbing and the wetness that had been slowly forming in your panties was becoming uncomfortable.

The two men pulled back from their kiss and smiled at you, their heads still touching. "We can make you feel so good." Katsuki whispered to you. "Do you want to? Do you want to have some fun and learn some new things?"

Kirishima got down on his knees and put his hands on the buttons of your jeans. "Is this ok, just gonna take your jeans off, yeah?" Kirishima asked you. You nodded. It was all you could do. You didn't want to talk and ruin the moment. You wanted to be quiet and watch as they slowly peeled off your clothing like you were a present they'd been waiting for.

Katsuki pulled the elastic waist of your tank top out and over your breasts, letting it fall back against you. He reached behind your back and unclasped your bra, letting it fall to the floor. Kirishima pulled down your jeans and panties and said, "Looks like she wants to." He kissed your thighs, letting his lips trail over your goosebump ridden skin.

"Are you cold, pretty? Let's go climb into the sleeping bag." Katsuki said.

It wasn't that you were cold, necessarily. But you had never felt so exposed in front of someone. Let alone 2 people. And yet, you had never felt so at ease. It was a strange combination.

Katsuki took your hand and led you to the sleeping bags. He lifted the flap and stepped back, nodding for you to go inside. You crawled in and situated yourself on the plush mattress, watching as the removed their pants, staying in just their boxers. The guys climbed in on either side of you.

You laid on your back, hands at your sides. You didn't know what to do with them having only been with 1 person at a time before this. They got settled on their sides, heads in their hands, watching you. Waiting for you.

Kirishima leaned over your tits and pulled Katsuki in for another kiss. Their eyes were locked on each other as they did so.

It was erotic. You had never seen two people kiss like this before. Katsuki had his hand on Kirishima's shoulder, his fingers squeezing the muscle there with each brush of their lips.

"Kiri, you wanna taste her?" Bakugo asked.

Kirishima nodded. "Yeah, yeah I do." He lowered himself down onto his stomach and scooted closer over to you. His face was between your legs, his eyes looking up at you as he brought his hand up and pushed your thighs apart. "Mmm, fuck, so wet for us already?" He asked. He dipped his finger into your folds and ran it up to your clit. "So wet, Kats. You wanna see?" Kirishima asked.

He pulled his finger out of you and held it out for Katsuki to suck on. "Yeah, so sweet. So fucking sweet, Kiri." You couldn't help but arch your back and push yourself down closer to Kirishima's fingers. They were just out of reach, though. "Kats, she's following my fingers. Watch ..." Kirishima said. He dipped a finger just inside your cunt and swirled it around the entrance.

The way you reacted to him caught Bakugo's attention almost immediately. You could hear how wet you'd gotten and the moan you let leave your lips was nothing short of filthy. And the sound your pussy made against his hand made you even wetter.

Katsuki crawled over you and propped himself up on his elbows above you, his face directly above yours. "Look at me." He said. "I want to see what you look like when you come. Kiri's gonna make sure you cum. But your eyes will stay on me. Got it, princess?" Katsuki asked you.

You nodded and whispered, "Yes." It occurred to you that you haven't really spoken since you got into the tent. Did you even tell them your name? You honestly couldn't remember and you honestly didn't care. You were responding to their little pet names for you marvelously.

Kirishima lowered himself back down and put his tongue flat against your clit, letting it move up and down. He flicked it against the sensitive bundle of nerves and then swirled it around it.

Bakugo lowered himself down and brought his lips to yours. He dipped his tongue inside of your mouth, finding yours, as Kirishima brought you closer to the edge of an orgasm. Katsuki brought his hand down and swiped a finger across your nipple, flicking it, sending shockwaves of pleasure to your cunt.

"Mmmph, mmmhmmmph" You moaned into Bakugo's mouth.

"Shhh, shh, pretty. I wanna hear you. Let me hear you come." Bakugo whispered as he pulled back from your mouth.

Kirishima wrapped his lips around your clit and sucked, flicking his tongue back and forth rapidly. Bakugo watched as you writhed around, grinding yourself against Kirishima's face. Covering him with your slick as Katsuki put your hands on the back of Kiri's head so you could push him further into your dribbling cunt.

He was doing so perfectly on his own that all you could bring your hands to do was grab ahold of his hair and tug on it a little. He needed no guidance whatsoever.

Your body tensed up. Katsuki knew what was happening. He pulled your chin towards him and looked deep into your eyes. "Keep 'em open, baby. I wanna watch you."

Kirishima sucked harder and flicked his tongue faster. He inserted two of his fingers and began to pump them in and out of you. Dragging them over and over your walls. The sensations filling your body and the noises filling the air, all were bringing you over the edge.

You looked at Katsuki as best you could. Your eyes screwed shut at the height of your orgasm. "That's right, princess. Good girl. Just like that." He smiled. "Awesome, Kiri." Katsuki said. He ran his hand through Kirishima's hair, roughing it up a bit.

You laid there against Katsuki, panting. Kirishima had scooted up next to you, his face still wet with your juices. He kissed your neck and whispered in your ear, "So fucking sweet. Thank you for letting us play with you. You're so pretty. We just had to, baby."

Katsuki sat up and adjusted himself to sit up against the pillows. He pulled you up onto his chest and Kirishima scooted up behind you. His chest against your back. You could feel his cock hard against your ass. It was so hard, so big.

Katsuki tilted his head down and kissed you, running his tongue across your lips. You opened your mouth and his tongue was pushing its way into your mouth.

"Look at me, pretty." Katsuki said as he pulled back. You looked up at him. "You still want us?" He asked. You nodded. "You want us to fuck you, pretty baby? Let you feel us 'n let us feel you?" Katsuki asked. You nodded again. "Say it. Say you want us to fuck you."

"I want you to fuck me." You whispered. "Please." You added, meekly.

"Say no more." Katsuki pulled his boxers off and revealed his cock. It was big. Thick. You couldn't help but reach out and wrap your hand around it, stroking it.

You leaned down and brought your lips to it, kissing the head before opening your mouth and taking it in. "Mmmmph!" You moaned as Katsuki put his hand on the back of your head and pushed himself further into your throat. "Already breathin' through her nose. What a good girl you - ah fuck - are."

You pulled back and stroked him, twisting your hand as you did. "She's got a nice little mouth, Kats. Don't you think?" Kirishima asked. "She looks so pretty with your cock in her mouth." He added.

"Hey," Kirishima scooted down and pulled off his boxers, revealing his hard, throbbing cock. You could see the precum leaking out of the tip. "Can I fuck you now, pretty girl?" Kirishima asked, looking down at you, smiling and stroking himself at a lazy pace. "You look so good down there with Kats' cock in your mouth. I want to make you feel good, too."

You looked over your shoulder at Kirishima, nodding. You spread your legs and Kirishima positioned himself behind you. He squeezed your ass and he pushed himself into your dripping cunt. You could feel him stretching you out, filling you up. Your pussy looked so pretty with Kirishima moving in and out of you. The slick glistening on him in the shadowy light of the afternoon.

He pushed himself all the way in, bottoming out inside of you, his hips pressed against your ass. "Fffuuuuck ... oh, oh shit." Kirishima began to laugh and you looked up at Katsuki to see if this was typical behavior of his when he's fucking someone. He tilted his head to the left and watched himself disappear in your body. "I - hooo shit - did we … did we even get your name?"

"Mmmm, yeah, pretty girl. You never told us your name." Katsuki said, reaching out and running his thumb across your lips. You opened your mouth and sucked on it, swirling your tongue around it. "Tell us your name, baby." He said.

You let Katsuki's thumb out of your mouth and said, "Y/n. It's y/n."

"Well, hello, y/n. It's nice to ... have met you? Meet you? It's nice to have you here with us today." Katsuki said, fumbling for the right words as you ran your hand up and down his cock.

"Mhm, mhm, s'nice to meet you both, t- ... fuck, too. Heh, sorry. Just feels so damn good what Kiri's doing back there."

Kiri smiled at Kats and gave him a smug look. "You hear that, Kats? I feel so damn good back here." Kats flipped him off and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, shitty hair. I could make her brain come pourin' out of her ears. So shut the hell up." He said laughing.

The three of you continued to fuck like that, the tent filling up with the sound of your moans and the smell of sex. You could feel yourself getting close to coming again. Katsuki knew, he could see it all over your face; the way your eyes stayed shut for longer and longer amounts of time. How your mouth would hang open. Down to the turn of your head when Kiri hit those magical little spots inside of you.

"You close, pretty?" Katsuki asked. You nodded. "Me, too, pretty girl. Me, too."

You came. Hard. Your walls tightened around Kirishima's cock, forcing him to pull out of you and cum on your back, your ass. "Hohhh fuckshitfuck! Almost didn't make it there!" He laughed as he patted your ass cheeks and watched them bounce back against his palms.

You worked Kats’ dick through your second orgasm, bringing him to his first. Your mouth, ever diligent around his wide cock, sucking and slurping on it, minding your hand placement. Katsuki's cock began to throb harder and twitch against your lips and fingers. "You ready, pretty girl? You ready for me to cum in your mouth? Huh, princess?" You nodded and opened your mouth, holding your tongue out for him to cum on.

"Awwwh, fuck ... yeah. Good girl. Good girl. There you go. Oh shit ... oh shit." Katsuki watched you, your mouth, your eyes, his cum dripping down your chin. "Oh my god. Fuck, that was good. That was good." He smiled and pulled you up to his chest.

The 3 of you laid there, breathing hard and enjoying the afterglow of a good fuck.

"We're gonna have to do this again." Katsuki said.

"For sure. You were amazing, pretty. So good." Kirishima said as he ran his hand up and down your curvy sides and back. "So soft."

"So fucking sweet." Bakugo added. "Thank you for playing with us." He kissed the top of your head.

You didn't know what to say. It was all so overwhelming. You didn't want to go, either. But it felt awkward to impose yourself on their time together out here. So you said your goodbyes, dressed yourself, and headed back to your campsite, where you climbed into your tent and slept until the sun cycled through once again.

You didn't see Katsuki or Kirishima the next day. But you heard them from their tent. Moaning and talking loudly. It made you smile. It made you miss them. You hoped that they were enjoying one another. Maybe you'd find them again before you all left.

And now, you had a newfound love for camping. And you had a newfound love for being used by two hot guys who wanted nothing but to make you feel good and feel good with you. So maybe you'd come back with a plan. A plan to find them and bring them back to your little campsite, where you could lay under the stars and learn a little more about each other. Learn a little more about how you can make each other feel.

That sounded nice. And you could only hope that they would think so, too. After all, there were a lot of days left in the season and you didn't have anything better to do.

The sun woke you up the next morning. The leftover raindrops on the top of your tent looked so pretty, casting almost prism like lights across the small space. You rolled your sleeping bag down and crawled over to unzip the door. Stepping out, you stretched. For the first time in a long time you felt like you were actually breathing.

You looked over at where the guys' site was, but it was empty. "Damn." Turning back to your little spot, you noticed a plastic bag with a piece of paper in it, stashed between two small rocks.

"Hey pretty,

Thanks for playing with us.

Give either one of us a call if you want to reconnect. 

Kats wants to fuck you this time so he’s really hoping you’ll call. 

xoxo

~ Kiri (XXX-XXX-XXXX)

--> BAKUGO (XXX-XXX-XXXX)

Later, princess 

Taglist ::: @callm3senpaii @millennialmagicalgirl @darkstarlight82

[ellephlox]

Castle in the Sky

Summary: You try sparring with Matt because he wants you to learn self-defense. A minor bump to the head, as it turns out, opens up many doors.

Pairing: Matt x f!reader

Warnings: Hit to the head, some physical intimacy (but no smut)

A/N: Haven't written in months because I've been working on a writing project of my own but here I am again!! I'm absolutely THRILLED to see the new photos of Born Again and I'm also dying to watch Kin season 2 (haven't been able to watch it yet unfortunately).

"Matt, I know it probably pains you to hear this, but I'm seriously going to be a waste of your time."

"You could never be a waste of my time."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but really, I don't think you understand just how bad this is going to go."

"It'll go fine. Just give it a shot." Matt was in a tee and shorts, an excited energy in the way he beckoned you forward. Training, he called it. Self-defense lessons.

It sounded more like a painful exercise to you.

"Besides," you continued. "Let's say I was walking down the street and some malicious guy approached me with a knife and was all, Give me your money or I'll kill you—"

Matt scowled. "If that ever happens, I'll kill him first."

"In that situation," you pressed on, "I guarantee that I would freeze. Any punches or flying kicks or whatever that you have tried to teach me would be sitting uselessly in the recesses of my mind. I'd be scared or disbelieving and I wouldn't even move. Really."

"It wouldn't hurt to try learning, sweetheart."

You sighed. "I'll try, for your sake, but don't think that I don't see through your motivations."

"My motivations?"

"You just want to kick my ass and then laugh as I succumb to your ninja skills."

"It might possibly be a contributing factor."

You gave him a light push. "Alright, then. So you really think you can teach me something?"

"Sure. Anyone can learn." Matt quickly pushed the sofa backwards and faced you, suddenly appearing much more imposing than he did when... well, when he wasn't about to spar with you. You lifted up your hands uncertainly, trying to mimic the boxing pose you'd seen him take on in Fogwell's.

"Okay. That's your first mistake," Matt said, stepping forward to grab your wrists and adjust them.

"How did I already screw up? I only lifted my hands."

"When you're assuming a defensive stance, you don't want to keep your hands that low. It's better to keep them up a bit higher to protect your ribs and face."

He moved your hands upward. "Good. You've got your thumbs right."

"See, I know what I'm doing," you said dryly. "Next time I get attacked on the street they'll be intimidated by my correct thumb placement."

"And you'll be grateful that your thumbs aren't broken after you throw a punch. I learned that the hard way." Matt paused for a moment. "I made the mistake of putting my thumb out. Stick didn't tell me. He said he thought it'd be a good way for the lesson to stick if there was a physical reminder."

"Bastard. Now I want to learn how to fight." You lifted up your fists. "Because if I ever get the chance to meet Stick, I assure you that he will be very familiar with my fists."

"I appreciate that support, but if that ever happens, I very vehemently would recommend against that." Matt held out his hands. "Attack me. I want to see what your fighting style is."

"You mean my fighting style or lack thereof?"

"Just go for it." Matt stood there confidently, his hands crossed in front of him casually and his eyes trained on your collarbone.

"I don't want to hurt you," you said uncertainly. "I mean, I know how dumb that sounds, because you're freaking Daredevil, but it feels wrong to just... throw a fist at you."

Matt only laughed. "Sweetheart, you won't hurt me."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"Um." You considered your hands, feeling suddenly self-conscious. "Don't judge me, okay?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Tentatively you sent a fist towards the left side of his abdomen. You expected him to just sidestep it, especially since it was a slow-moving punch — you didn't have the heart to put all of your strength into it, no matter what he said — but instead he blocked your arm, braced his other arm against your own, and forced you to twist around until your back was against his front and his arm was around your neck. "Come on, sweetheart, you can do better than that."

He was taunting you, and it worked. "Fine," you said, and you tossed your elbow back with the intention of slamming it into him, but it hardly did anything at all; he took the blow as though you'd thrown a marshmallow at him.

"Go for the groin," he advised.

"Don't have to tell me twice," you said, lifting up your knee with the intention to nail him, but he took the opportunity to sweep your other leg out from under you. You fell to the floor, groaning. "I thought you wanted me to try getting you in the groin?"

"And I wanted to show you how that makes it easy for an assailant to knock you down. One foot on the ground is a surefire way to have zero feet on the ground."

"Come on, you kick all the time — flying kicks, spinning kicks, twirly-whirly kicks—"

"I don't do twirly-whirly kicks. And you can go for the groin, occasionally, but only when the timing is right and you won't get knocked down."

"I promise you that if I somehow manage to get in a fight with someone, the last thing I'll be doing is analyzing whether or not the timing is right for a groin kick, Matt."

"Okay. Try a heel palm strike." He took your arm and guided you through the movement, flexing your wrist and showing you how to pull your arm back quickly. "And go for the nose, or throat, if you can. That's effective. The ears are a good target, too. It's disorienting, even for someone who doesn't rely on their hearing to move around."

You gave him a look. "Please tell me that you don't get your ears boxed on a regular basis."

"Only twice." Matt kept going before you could say anything else. "There's several escapes I want to show you, in case you're ever being held against your will."

He proceeded to demonstrate to you the different ways you could free yourself, whether you were held in a headlock or your hands were tied; for his sake you tried to do as best as you could, though you felt fairly certain that each time you "freed" yourself, it was Matt letting you go, so you could experience the maneuver fully.

"Now get down," he said.

"On the floor?"

"For escaping while mounted. Lie on the floor, on your back."

"Why do I feel like you have ulterior motives?" you asked, smirking at him as you obeyed. He climbed on top of you and grabbed both of your wrists with a devious glint in his eyes.

"Never said I wouldn't enjoy myself," he said. He locked his legs around your waist and grabbed both of your wrists, pinning them to the floor. "So, if you ever find yourself in a position like this — God forbid — then what you're going to do is—"

"Panic and wait for the devilishly handsome Daredevil to show up and rescue this damsel in distress?" At Matt's expression, you backpedaled. "I'm kidding. Kidding. I'll fight back."

"Even though your wrists are pinned, your hands themselves are still free. Try to grab my wrist with your left hand."

You tugged, and Matt allowed you to pull your hand over so that you had your left hand securely locked around his wrist. "And what if my assailant is too strong and I can't do this?"

"Odds are that no matter how strong they are, if you can start kicking with your legs, spit in their face, or scream — anything to distract them — they're not going to be 100% focused on your one left wrist. They'll be contending with your flailing legs."

"Okay," you said doubtfully. "So I just grab your wrist... then—"

"Put your foot on my hip, push, and pull at my wrist simultaneously."

"But you've locked yourself around me," you said, struggling fruitlessly. "How am I supposed to move my legs?"

"Roll onto your hip. It'll create space. And if you can, reach up and grab the ear of the assailant, then pull them to the side."

"I'm not testing the ear move on you," you said firmly. "Nope."

"I second that," he admitted. "But try the hip roll."

To your surprise, it actually worked. And this time, you felt the natural shifting of your bodies, so that you could even slightly believe that it would work on your assailant no matter how big or strong they were. You rehearsed the move with Matt several times, swapping out which hand you used to reach up to him.

"Okay. Again, and faster. Real-time, if you can. And at the end, I want you to roll out all the way, and get out from under me," Matt said.

"Okay," you said, feeling that things wouldn't bode too well for you if Matt was going to put an ounce of effort in, but you got back in position. He grabbed both of your wrists, this time digging his knees painfully into your ribs, just enough for it to hurt without doing any real harm. You gasped, struggling for breath, and lunged forward to loosen yourself slightly, trying to roll over to no avail.

"Try again," Matt said, and you did, spontaneously leaning upwards as you jerked to the left and reached for his wrist. Once you had it, you pulled as hard as you could, pushing your knee against him. You could feel him yielding a bit, going easy on you — which slightly pissed you off even though you knew you'd have no chance against him otherwise — but at the same time it was still exhilarating.

Finally you freed yourself, and rolled out to the left and onto your knees, just as Matt followed through with your shove and lunged to block you.

"Keep going," he urged. "Get back on your feet."

You obeyed, adhering to his commands as he gave them, and it really was like a waltz once you got into the rhythm, dodging and learning to recognize which hand motions meant what.

"Now try dodging a new type of punch," he said, as a way of warning. "I'll be coming from this side over here."

"Which way do I go? To the left?"

"Right. And be ready, because this time I'm going to fight back more."

You weren't quite sure how it happened, though. The sweep of his arm, as you put all your weight to the left, resulted in you losing your balance and toppling over the follow-through of his leg, your arms to the side and unable to get forward quickly enough to brace yourself as your head made a beeline for the edge of the coffee table.

The impact it made felt as though someone had hammered a nail into the top of your forehead. You yelped, hand now free so that it could jump to the spot of impact.

Matt's reaction was visceral; like a TSA agent oddly eager to frisk, he had his hands out and seeking the exact spot where your forehead currently felt like the site of an excavation. "Dammit, I'm sorry — are you okay?"

"I'm okay. Sorry. I didn't think that would happen."

"Why'd you go left?"

"You told me to go left."

"No, I said right."

You snorted despite yourself, closing your eyes against the ebbs of pain. "I interpreted 'right' as 'correct'. My bad."

"No, it's my bad, I should have—"

"Not your fault at all," you managed, brushing at your head. You expected blood, but it was dry. "Just a bump. I should have seen that coming."

"You probably have a concussion." Matt's tone was strangled, his left hand cupping the back of your head while his right grazed the bump. "I could call Claire, and have her come over—"

"Uh, no." The thought of having Matt's practically on-call nurse drop everything she was doing to come help you was mortifying. "I don't even think I have a concussion. Ask me my name. Bet I can ace any question you've got." Physically you pulled his hand away from your head. "Matt, really. It's okay."

"You're trying to mollify me."

"You're too worried," you said playfully. "It'll take more than a little bump to take me out. If you can get sliced up by the Yakuza, I think I can handle a love tap from the coffee table."

"That wasn't a love tap. I could hear the impact on your skull. And I can feel the heat already from the bruise forming."

"See, we don't need Claire. I'll never need to go to a hospital again with you around." You patted at your head and ignored the accompanying stab of pain that would otherwise have made you flinch if Matt wasn't there to detect it. "Can we go through the move again?"

"No."

"But you were the one who wanted me to learn in the first place."

"We'll go to Fogwell's another time," he said. "Someplace with floor mats and no sharp coffee table edges."

You rolled your eyes, but you could already see that his mind wasn't going to budge. He sat in a crouch, his head still tilted towards you as though he couldn't help keeping a constant monitor on your head, and it struck you, with the position he was currently in, how easy it would be to knock him over.

"Cow tipping!" you hollered at him, diving forward and throwing all of your weight against his side; from his crouched position on the tips of his feet, there was nowhere to go but sideways, and for one delicious microsecond, Matt Murdock, the same man you had seen balance precariously on fire escapes and jump nimbly from roof to roof, was forced to fumble his arms out in time to catch himself as he fell to his left. You leapt atop him, straddling his chest with your knees.

"You took down a blind man who was trying to help you," he mocked. "Shame on you. Were you faking the head pain, too?"

"I'm not that devious," you said. "Say mercy and I'll let you go."

Matt tipped his head back against the floor, his eyes reflecting the evening sunlight as it came out from behind the clouds. Without seeming to notice, his hands crept up the outside of your thighs, making goosebumps prickle on your skin. "You think that I need your acquiescence in order to get up?"

You leaned forward, pressing your hands against his shoulders. The muscles tensed under your fingertips, the biceps under your thumbs ready to spring into action at any moment. "As far as I'm concerned, right now I've conquered you, and if anyone were to see us then I think they'd agree with me."

"It's touching to see how much this means for you," he said. "I'll let you enjoy your victory for a bit longer."

"And then?"

"And then I get to win." His voice was lower, reminiscent of the devil, and your stomach dropped. Still you could feel the muscles poised under your hands, and you could feel your blood rising into your cheeks as his own hands crept lower.

You egged him on. "You can try," you said. "I'm warning you, though, that I could beat you whenever I want, easily. I just like to pretend I'm not as strong as I actually am. Wouldn't want to hurt the ego of Daredevil."

"Of course. How thoughtful of you, sweetheart."

"Yeah, you know me."

"I'm guessing that was you who took down the trafficking ring a few nights ago, then? Left all those men unconscious in the alley?"

"Uh, obviously." You leaned in closer. "That's why you've got to play nice, Murdock. If I get mad, I might just go all Hulkish on you and you'll be begging for my mercy—"

Quickly enough that you jumped, startled, Matt rolled out from underneath you with even more ease than you would have expected, and with a swift grab of your wrists, he pinned you down beneath him, just like earlier when you sparred.

"You were saying?" he asked, grinning. Immediately you tried the move that had worked on him previously — he definitely was going easy on you earlier, then — but this time he blocked it. You scowled, and tried again; once more it yielded nothing.

"You're not getting up until you make some amendments to what you were saying, Y/N."

"Well, let me clarify," you began, and Matt's lips lifted upwards as he began to smirk.

Nope. He's not getting any satisfaction yet.

"I'm currently giving you the impression that you've won," you continued, and his expression shifted, as though he were trying not to laugh. "It's an important part of keeping your ego up, of course. Every so often I like to give you these little nuggets of delusion."

"Nuggets of delusion," Matt repeated.

"Sure. I'm selective with them. But when I feel like you need a bit of a self-esteem boost, then bam, you've got it. So right now, I'm giving you a nugget. It's all part of my strategy." You lay beneath him, the floor hard on your back, as he seemed to mull over what his response was going to be.

Instead, he simply took your wrists and moved them above your head, where he pinned both to the floor with his left hand and then moved his right hand down to your throat.

"What?" you managed. "You don't like delusion nuggets?"

"I want you to admit you're lying."

"But you already know I'm lying."

"I want the verbal confession."

"I confess to nothing," you said stubbornly, your heart picking up as his thumb brushed over the center of your throat.

"Try again, sweetheart. And remember that I know where you're most ticklish."

"Uh... you are by far the strongest man I've ever met and I could never compare to you?"

"And what else?"

"I love you?" you said, your voice higher than usual, because damn, Matt leaning directly above you was distracting.

"Better." He released your wrists and pulled you up into him.

You buried your head into his chest, sighing. "Can't believe you just tackled a concussed person to the floor."

"That was not a tackle. That was... one percent effort. Even half a percent." He paused a moment. "And you said the bump wasn't anything to be concerned about."

"Mm. Did I lie?" you asked him, kissing his hand.

"No," he admitted. "But I still don't trust you."

"You shouldn't. Because the next time you're tying your shoes, or cleaning out underneath the oven or something, I'm totally going to cow tip you again."

"Seriously? 'Cow tipping'? Did you make that up?"

"For a guy who knows everything, I'm appalled you don't know what cow tipping is."

"Please tell me you've never actually shoved a real cow over."

"You really do think poorly of me," you said, stretching. "Just you wait, Murdock. When you least expect it, you shall be cow tipped again. Just you wait."

[the-oblivious-writer]

IMPORTANT

If you read my Clarisse fics, please read under the cut.

I recently discovered a few things about the pjo cast; about Rick Riordon and Dior Goodjohn. If you did not know, they're zionists. Rick Riordon was quite clear on his blog, and Dior Goodjohn has posted pro isnotreal things on her twitter before deleting them after getting backlash. Supposedly she apologized for it, but I've seen nothing of the sort. I found plenty of screenshots of her supporting isnotreal, but none of her apologizing. She's still posting about isrealnot, claiming a neutral stance which is just as harmful.

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." - Desmond Tutu

I've had time to wrap my head around all of it - Ik some of you may see that as "dramatic" but as mentioned, a few times, briefly before on my blog, I'm Palestinian. All this stuff is bound to be more personal and emotional for me.

Me and my family were already planning on canceling our disney+ subscription when the term ends (so soon I think), and I will not be watching pjo. At first I thought "I'll just pirate pjo, I have my ways." But now, I'd probably get too sick to watch it. The same sick feeling I got last night when I discovered Dior Goodjohn was a zionist.

Listen, I get not being able to let go, but at the end of the day, where are your priorities? Dior Goodjohn fucked up, big time. And I'll be honest with you, I don't think an apology is coming anytime soon; It'd be nice if I can eat my own words one day, but if/until then, I'm done supporting her and the show.

No more free advertising from me, which means no more Clarisse fics. Thank you all for the support I've gotten, you've been great readers. Of course I'll still be writing for my other characters, but Clarisse is definitely being put on hold as of right now.

If you have a problem with my decision, too bad. There are plenty of other Clarisse authors to follow, I promise you that.

Have a good day.

[bestworstcase]

What do you think Salems goal is, exactly? It's obviously not ending the world to kill herself, but honestly I feel like she has ulterior motives than just "overthrow the gods".

I personally wouldn't be surprised if she wants to rule in the Gods stead after overthrowing them. She's already brought up replacing the gods, and seems to believe that humanity "needs" gods/guidance, but specifically Not The Brothers. I only say this because she was the one who said that humanity was more divided than ever without the gods and that they need guidance (and essentially replacement gods), not Oz.

It's hard to say whether she Still believes this, but since she parallels Darkness (to an extent) and destruction is essentially taking out the old to make way for the new, I definitely wouldn't be surprised. The Brothers are the old, Salem is the new n all.

I just find it hard to believe that all she wants is to overthrow the gods and do... nothing afterwards. I believe characters like Cinder have stated that they're going to be high up in her new world?? I'm not sure tbh.

Plus, I think her goal being that she wants to rule the world after killing(?) The Brothers would be an interesting dilemma for the main characters. Overthrowing the gods? A good idea even Oz would agree with. Salem ruling? ...Well that might not be such a good idea (she *did* immediately go to "let's spread our word and destroy anyone who goes against it" in the Lost Fable, but I have different opinions on whether or not it's reliable so it likely doesn't matter to you). Either way, it'd make things interesting for our heroes. At least, that's how I'd write it.

Thoughts?

to be clear. my stance on the reliability of the lost fable is that jinn answered with absolute honesty exactly the question ruby asked, which was “what is ozpin hiding from us?”—i think she obeys the same rule ambrosius does. you get EXACTLY what you ask for.

so ‘the lost fable’ includes:

information ozpin knows or sincerely believes to be true, AND

actively chose to hide from team rwby, oscar, and qrow.

the reason jinn frames it as a fairytale (“once upon a time…”) is because she is conveying specifically ozpin’s perspective, and fairytales, stories, are fundamental to how he sees the world. she is telling his story in his words, because that’s what ruby asked her to do!

but the lost fable doesn’t include:

anything ozpin doesn’t know

anything salem told ozma that ozpin believes to be false, except when a synopsis is necessary to provide context

anything that ozpin knows but wasn’t actively keeping a secret (for example, the story omits her answers to his questions about the other relics because neither their original locations nor their powers were something ozpin was hiding; he told them what the lamp could do, when they asked, and if they’d asked about the others he would have told them that too).

so jinn herself is not an unreliable narrator per se, but the question ruby asked necessitated that jinn tell only ozpin’s side of the story, without filling in any gaps in his knowledge or correcting his misunderstandings and mistaken assumptions. the lost fable is therefore honest (in the sense that no part of it is a deliberate lie) but biased and limited (because ozpin is fallible and doesn’t know everything.)

which is something ozpin himself points out in his commentaries in the fairytale anthology—on the infinite man: “no one who wasn’t there could know what really happened. and even then, they would only have a small part of the story,” for example.

all of which is the long way around to saying that i do trust the dialogue in the lost fable to be accurate to what the characters actually said, and the scenes to be accurate depictions of events as they happened (if he was there) or as ozma imagined them happening based on what salem told him (if he wasn’t). the parts i don’t trust are the narration, because that’s the part colored by ozpin’s perspective, and the elisions of ozma’s dialogue in the key ozlem scenes, because things salem says in response to ozma lack the context of what ozma said.

(think about what listening to someone make a phone call is like; if the conversation is about a complex subject, it’s difficult to follow along and easy to misunderstand what the person you can hear is really trying to express.)

and on the topic of those elisions: if salem wanted to rule the world herself, i think she would have made an effort to do so before ozma returned. she is demonstrably capable of both merciless conquest (razing vale) and inspiring awe (slaying the nevermore). she’s immortal. she cannot be killed. before ozma returned there was absolutely no one who could have prevented her from, like, taking over a kingdom and expanding it into an empire with herself as the eternal god-queen.

but she didn’t. she lived alone in the woods, in a miserable hovel. given the well-maintained path leading to her doorstep, she had to have been visited on a regular enough basis for whatever community lived outside the woods to go to the effort of paving the way to her shack. which says… village witch.

left to her own devices, that’s what she did with her life: found some village or town at the edge of a forest and built herself a little house in the woods, just close enough that the townspeople could find her when they needed her but otherwise isolated.

and then once ozma found her, they fixed up her house together and lived happily for… apparently quite some time before ozma brought up “humanity seems more divided than ever” as a problem.

there’s nothing in the lost fable to suggest that salem wanted anything more than the life she had with ozma in that cottage. everything she says about bringing humanity together is specifically in response to OZMA telling her he wasn’t satisfied. she’s supporting HIS stated ambitions.

and like… she’s not… wrong? her phrasing is extremely blunt, but… you can’t bring people together without giving them something to believe in—a cause, a creed, a faith, a purpose—no one is going to unite for the sake of being united. ozma despairs that “humanity seems more divided than ever,” and salem goes… well yeah. the gods killed everyone and fucked off. people just need help. we could help. we have the will and the means to change the world, make it better than before.

but.

the problem is.

the task ozma was given isn’t to help people or make the world a better place; it’s to prepare for the final judgment by uniting the whole world—the god of light instructed him to end conflict full stop. ozma needs everyone to unite in submission to the brothers.

and salem is absolutely correct that you cannot achieve that except by conquest. you cannot, you cannot, you cannot unite the whole world under one creed without genocide. it is impossible.

this is why i say the divine mandate is a fundamentally genocidal ideology: the premise is that humans as they are now do not deserve to exist and must be ‘redeemed,’ and the only way to achieve ‘redemption’ is through genocide. the logical end of any ideology that requires universal adoption or universal acceptance of a certain belief or creed is genocide.

salem understands this intuitively; when ozma asks her “are we sure that this is right?” she spells it out to him in plain terms that it’s what is necessary to achieve his goal. her implication is that if the end does not justify the means, he needs to reconsider the end. i don’t think she cared either way as long as ozma was happy, until she learned the truth about what he wanted to do and why.

as i’ve said before, i believe her final statement—why spend our lives trying to redeem these humans when we can replace them with what they could never be?—a) reiterates her longstanding dream of humankind overthrowing their “old masters” and claiming the power of creation for themselves to “perfect their own design” and b) quotes/paraphrases the closing lines of ‘the shallow sea’ to express this idea because she’s trying to communicate in ozma’s language, through stories.

and i think ozma understood her perfectly well, he just doesn’t think her third option of rejecting the mandate is possible. in the present, oz only suggests salem is out to destroy the world when he’s trying to scare hazel into turning against her; what he tells his inner circle is that salem’s after the relics because she wants to “change the world.” he believes she’s doomed to fail.

anyway, as to the question of what salem wants now: it’s revolution.

pretty… overtly. “your so-called free world.” her protégée was an enslaved child who grew up wearing a shock collar in the gilded heart of ozpin’s crowning achievement some sixty years after the vytal accords abolished slavery, and the huntsman who found her in that situation used her suffering to groom her for the huntsman academy instead of using his authority to help her by enforcing the laws against slavery.

watch WOR: kingdoms. compare the almost tender tone with which salem talks about the democratic councils that represent the people to the utter disdain she has for the huntsmen academies that exist solely to train “the next generation of defenders who will fight and die to protect the lifestyle that they’ve become so accustomed to.”

she wants to defeat the god of light, yes—or at least prevent him from ever returning, i do think Plan A might be “destroy the relics”—but she also wants to tear down the systems ozma built to uphold the divine mandate, systems that turned a blind eye to slavery and injustice and abuse. she wants the whole world to know the truth.

i think she also probably wants humans to coexist in peace with the grimm, and i suspect that will be the biggest sticking point; but salem clearly feels affection for the grimm, and—gestures at menagerie’s lack of a grimm problem—coexistence between people and grimm is possible, and because salem herself is grimm she’s never going to have peace or freedom until the existential war between humans and grimm is ended.

and i think she does intend to make good on her promises to her inner circle, in some form. hazel believes she’s planning to create a “new world order” (which, definitionally, a world with no huntsmen academies and no everlasting war is) and mercury says she’s “promised [them] everything,” which he takes to mean that they’ll be “top dogs in her new world.” but the one thing we know for certain about what salem offers to her followers is very vague; all of them project their own desires to fill in the gaps and come away with wildly disparate ideas about what this ‘new world’ will look like.

what salem has always wanted is freedom. she’s never shown any personal ambition to rule—even her rebellion, she isn’t the one who leads the charge, she walks among them. before ozma returned, she was… just the village witch somewhere. i do think it’s really quite likely that her plan is to tear down everything ozma built, destroy the relics or defeat the god of light, participate in rebuilding from the ashes to ensure that the new world isn’t founded upon lies or subjugation or eternal war against her existence, and then just… find a place where she can live. all she ever wanted was to leave the tower. i don’t think that’s changed.

[antimony-medusa]

This is a very half-formed thought but just. Hmmm. Okay so in DSMP fandom we talk a fair amount at how excellent it is that we focus in on platonic relationships a lot of the time (though that's shifting with the rise of TNTduo). And you get the idea that romance is sort of bad, which I don't have time for as a stance, or that it's reductive to reduce people down to only their romantic relationships. And that is very valid.

People operate as part of part of a complex web of relationships, and most of the relationships in your life are not going to be romantic. If you boil someone down to only their romantic relationship, that's no good, and if it was in real life it'd be unhealthy if you only had one solid relationship (romantic) in your life. It's a shallow depiction of life to boil someone down to only their romance, and this even gets more so if you're talking about erotic writing and how people get reduced down to roles like "top" or "bottom", etc.

And if all you're seeing is shallow romantic writing, I can see how that gets really old. However, the thing that's been driving me up the wall is that if all you're seeing is shallow platonic writing, that is no more reflective of the diversity of the human condition. Like SBI is the big platonic relationship in the fandom, and in it my guys are Phil and Techno. And they're the relationship in that quartet who tends to get the short end of the stick, and so they get reduced down to "dad" or "older brother" a lot of the time. So much of the time. Most of the time. Their character gets entirely reduced down to who they are in service of someone else's arc.

Which is exactly what people complain about in romance, it's just with no kissing.

And sometimes it's like, the point of the work is not to give everyone on the field a full and rich depiction, because this is a 5k one-shot, and and there are 38 people in the DSMP, I'm picking one character to focus on and everybody else is in service to that character. That's fine and that's just how writing works.

But thinking about fandom trends more broadly, and the character trends— phil is "dad", techno is "older brother" or sometimes "dad", niki is "girl next door/baker", tubbo is "supportive quirky best friend"— half the time it's tagged crimeboys but even wilbur is just operating as "big brother/dad", just with more screen time. You have all these characters who have one role only, ever, over and over again. And that is no more groundbreaking or innovative or reflective of the human condition than a romance-focused fandom is, it's just that everybody's clothes stay on.

And like, I love Gen, Gen is what I love to write, but it's not inherently better at reflecting humanity, not unless you work at it. All types of relationships are hard to write and complex, romance is just another type of relationship. So I don't quite get the hatred for romance as a worse type of writing/relationship to focus on.

[schneiderenjoyer]

I've been reading through the TWTR series and the development you're making with Schneider seeing herself as both arcanist and human has me curious. Is TWTR!Schneider actually mixed like Satsuki or Pavia or is it something else?

Oh, that's...actually a really damn good question. Uhh

Well, generally I don't think it'll ever be properly brought up in any future chapters or stories for this AU series to its fullest extent, so if anyone wants to learn the depths of how I'm writing TWTR!Schneider's stance at being both human and arcanist, then feel free to read it here. It's a long read so take your time.

In order to understand my thought process, you'll have to understand that how I view arcanists isn't purely by race or the physicality. It's also in concept. R1999 has, thus far, shown to use arcanists as a "catch-all" embodiment of many topical interpretations. From conversations about discrimination, oppression, neurodivergence, etc.

Especially with the recent global release of the Uluru Games not only having arcanist represent the natural issue of cultural erasure or pressure, but also has this strange side plot of talking about drug abuse in athletic sports that sort of felt shoehorned in when compared to just as heavy a topic as racism. But that's just it. If you view arcanists more than just the embodiment of one thing and instead like a vessel to address many other conversations, then it'd make more sense how arcanists can both be a discussion about race, but also about drug abuse, mental health, and more.

That's how I'm writing TWTR!Schneider's situation being human and arcanist. I want to write and give her another kind of embodiment like many arcanists have. And the discussion I chose is about identity.

Gender or sexuality, it's more on wanting to talk about those feelings of struggling with your identity as a whole. The sick feelings of being misunderstood, that you are misunderstanding yourself, and the journey of self acceptance in a world that wouldn't allow it. It's about a quiet conversation with yourself that ask things like "am I wrong for being like this?", "do I have a right when I'm not born this?", or "am I broken for being this way?"

It's about that deep personal battle of knowing you'll find yourself, but also know the world won't welcome or even fully comprehend that depth that you desire. And the constant everyday talk of saying "you're enough." and "it's okay that I am who I am".

I also want to write things about TWTR!Schneider that involves other topics like chronic pain, stuff like long lasting injuries due to health or result in the desperate desire to reach that internal peace. But like how much r1999 writes it so casually, not romanticizing it, not glorifying it to the point it's terrifying how easy it is to just overlook the details because that's how I want this to feel. Natural. Unseeing. Terrifying everyday topics that sometimes, people just miss or keep to themselves.

These are things I want to express in my writing. This is TWTR!Schneider. I'll do my best to at least be decent at interpreting it.

[arcofacatboy]

is it weird to say i feel like i'm mourning arc of a scythe? like it'd be one thing if the book was actually just not that great n whatnot like harry potter but. the book is actually good. i almost wonder if neil tripped and fell into writing a book with good commentary when he seems to be so incapable of understanding those same things

its not that its nessecarily that its just good, perse, but it made me want to read again. i felt like this series was meant for me, and it permanently affected my taste in books

sorry if it seems like im venting in your askbox its just. im kinda just wondering if my feelings are just felt by me or if others understand

No it’s okay - I’m gonna break some of this down with my own thoughts where I can.

First of all, I can’t really say how you should label your feelings about Neal and his books. I’ve personally tried to avoid using words like mourning or grieving due to the context of why I’m retracting support from Neal in the first place. People, children, are being ruthlessly murdered every day. Me being upset that my (now former) favorite author is completely apathetic towards the victims of genocide will never compare to the grief, pain, and trauma that the people of Gaza and Palestine have been made to face for months now. That doesn’t mean you can’t label your feelings that way! That’s just something I try to keep in mind when talking about Neal myself.

The reason I shifted the focus of this blog, while keeping its original branding, is because I want to at least try to help in a way Neal is refusing to - making his fans aware of the absolutely inhumane treatment of Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli government. Like Neal, I’m by no means an expert on… anything going on right now. I try my absolute best to spread accurate information, but that doesn’t make me a professional or expert. I’m not Israeli, and I’m not Palestinian. I’m a white person living in the relative safety of the USA, who isn’t going to be the target of antisemitism or Islamophobia. I should not be anybody’s primary source of information. But, unlike Neal, I feel like I’m at least doing something, and I want to keep trying to do as much as I can. I’m not trying to one-up Neal here, this isn’t a competition - but I’m saying that all the excuses he’s used for saying nothing could easily be applied to me, and many of the people who have spoken out against him. And yet, here we are.

I haven’t reread Arc Of A Scythe with knowing the additional context that Neal is okay with being completely silent on a genocide, but I have been rereading Dry while keeping that in mind, and, yeah. Neal makes a lot of parallels to real-world crises in that book, and how governments, people in power, and regular people treat them - with where I am in the book right now, everyone not affected by the Tap-Out seems to be completely apathetic and not concerned, because the Tap-Out hasn’t made their life any worse… so it can just be swept under the rug while the people of Southern California lose access to potable water. Literally most of my notes are pointing out how hypocritical Neal is being with his commentary - he’s doing things right now that he portrays as bad things to do in the book. The most egregious example so far is linked here.

So, I can’t say why Neal has taken the stance that he has right now. There’s no point in speculating if he was always this performative in his activism, or if he’s fallen into the Israeli propaganda trap, because it ultimately doesn’t matter. He’s being ignorant and harmful, and he deserves to be condemned for that either way.

You’re not alone in how you feel, I think - a lot of former/current AOAS fans have been really thrown for a loop by Neal’s shit. We have to move forward from here, but no one person can tell you how to do that. (Also, none of this was me trying to be rude or disrespectful, so I’m sorry if it came off that way. One adjustment I’ve had to make for this blog is not talking like a YouTube shitpost, so my tone probably seems a little different from posts I made pre-“Neal being a colonialist sympathizer”.)

P.S about the Harry Potter thing: I’m not sure what you mean by “not that great”, but I agree with you there. There’s so much “not that great” stuff in Harry Potter that the average person doesn’t even know about - the entire franchise is rooted in these really weird ideas about race, class, and a million other things, so it’s bad beyond “oh the goblins are antisemitic caricatures and the author is a terf”. Those things are still extremely bad, don’t get me wrong. But if you want to know more about how bigotry permeates into every part of the franchise - not just the movies, books, and Hogwarts Legacy! - I recommend this video essay by Lily Simpson. It’s ten hours long, but definitely worth a watch. (Yes I did watch the entire thing over like, a week this summer.)

[majorpepperidge]

Hiii, it's me. The writing anon. Come to ramble about more Pen. Heeho.

SO-

As one can guess based on my self-imposed title, I like to write and in turn means I like to very normally (okay not really) delve into characters and how they tick. So Pen has been a fun case of reading his dialogue and not knowing if I wanna punch him or like the fact there are cracks of being genuine. That said, I wanna like discuses two of Pen's piece of dialogue that make me scream at pathea for not doing more with this.

Dining, asked about his favorite things: "We're supposed to use teachings of the Light to solve issues, not weapons, so I prefer not to own anything that could hurt anyone. Although, not everyone in the local Church agrees with my stance..."

Rejected, but the player is married: "You are teasing me, no? Do you not already have a family? Protect your loved ones, do not dare break that trust!"

I'm screaming internally because something about these just adds so much to Pen? The fact that Pen, the guy who claims he has many lovers, who gets giddy when the player divorces their spouse and asks how good it felt and more, point blank goes "Do not break your family's trust". Something about that just gets the gears a whirling. It makes me wonder if Pen comes from a broken family and or something similar. I know people have given their own headcanons, saying Pen is the emperor of Duvos's son for example. So that just gets the gears turning but also that dining dialogue. Pen, tthe man who CANONICALL OWNS A RELIC OF DESCTRUCTION SAYS HE PREFERS NOT TO OWN ANYTHING THAT COULD HURT HIM-I???

It honestly makes me wonder if Pen, prior to the player coming to Sandrock, was already cracking. Maybe playing the role of enforcer for the church and seeing what the church taught made him start questioning stuff or he being outside of Duvos's toxic mindset and more started making him question everything, only shoved deeper into what he was taught as a child in Duvos by Matilda.

Anyway! Food for thought.

Sidenote: Love how Pen offers to just deck Yan for the player, that's sweet of him fhdjkf

I've never heard the 'son of Duvos Emperor' headcanon, that seems a bit...well, it ain't for me. Personally I think he was purely a genetic experiment/test-tube baby and was treated as such; lacking in a lot of love growing up and essentially told to 'fight for Duvos or be left to rot' (I'm not entirely privy to Duvos' setting/lifestyle, but I'd imagine it's p close to the Garlean Empire of FFXIV, so that's kinda what I'm basing a lot of this on lmao).

Everything abt his life up to Sandrock has been fighting, learning a very skewed history of the world, being trained in deception, etc etc. But then coming to Sandrock and having a lot of those preconceptions shattered slowly but surely and making him second-guess some things. To me, it feels like there's no love lost between Pen and the Empire as a whole; but he doesn't know anything but being loyal to it. All it takes is someone treating him genuinely and not being put-off by his loud persona for those cracks in belief to quicken. But he can't take back what he's done, ofc. So there's the main crisis, for him it'd be 'What's the point? I may want this but I can't escape Duvos' but snap him out of that and you're gonna have The Most Loyal Man Ever cuz now you're his entire world, oops!

[degloved]

aaa fic requests open………… hoffheight love languages……… (but they dont label their relationship bc inner turmoil of being apprentices ;-;)

hello anon!! first of all this was a very delightful prompt. saw rarepairs (regardless if i ship them) are so fun to me !! hoffheight especially, i think they're slept on (by myself also, tbh.) i thought about the best approach to take so as not to make this too long, and initially decided to pick a handful, out of the five, which i thought most would be best suited to them. those being: quality time, physical touch, gift giving. this is very funny, as it still turned out to be excessively long (normally, these are 500 words—somehow i've ended up with 1600 words here.) therefore, i've decided to post it also my ao3 & the link to it, should you wanna bookmark or what have you, can be found at the bottom. i hope you enjoy! thanks for sending in a prompt, once again! p.s. i'm getting around to writing everything everyone's sent in! i just find myself a little more inclined to first jump into the prompts i know i'm gonna do without much trouble. chainshipping, while largely what i'm getting the reqs for, isn't my forte, hence the wait. but i'm trying!

-> READ ON AO3 <-

‼️SAW REQS STILL OPEN‼️

The Apprentices, despite their shared unshakable tendency to slip into petty conflicts with one another on an hourly basis, appeared to work oddly well together; like a well-oiled machine. Left-brain, right-brain, and their brawn; Lawrence's steady hand, Amanda's creativity, Mark's ability to put it all into motion.

If they were a machine, then Adam was surely the cog that didn't quite mesh with all the other moving parts. Perpetually on the fringes of the warehouse, uncertainly hovering about—passing a wrench here and a drill there—until inevitably slinking off with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

He didn't fit, and he wasn't even really sure he wanted to.

Wasn't sure whether he'd fit anywhere else, either.

He'd always moved through the world with a sense of displacement; as if something had plucked him off some distant planet and dumped him here, only to cruelly leave him to his own devices. Because Adam's life was also a fucking joke, whatever higher power lurked out there must've also seen it fit to exacerbate said feeling. If there'd ever been any hope of an eventual breakthrough—any hope he might stop listlessly flopping on dry land and find a suitable body of water to slip into—it'd sure been squandered now. With something of a bitter chuckle, Adam had the thought he might walk the length of the Amigara Fault without ever stumbling upon his own hole, too. (Well, at least that meant he was safe! Safety being, of course, a commodity these days.)

“Adam?”

The sound of his name bouncing off of the warehouse walls broke him out of that depressing little reverie he'd embarked on. Somewhere out of sight, the clanking of metal against metal; the noise was sharp and, by rights, ought to be annoying if not outright grating on the ears. Unfortunately, he'd gotten used to it. Didn't bother him half as much as it really should.

“Yeah?” he called out—though set down the camera he'd been fucking around with (hopelessly fucking broken after he'd knocked it off the table last week), letting his legs carry him to the machine Mark had been working on for the past hour. “Need help?”

“Nah,” the other man shook his head, rogue droplets of sweat flying every which way. “This should be done.”

Mark stood up on slightly shaky feet, dusting himself off. Adam supposed working for Jigsaw was as good exercise as any: his skin glistened beneath the pallid light overhead, face appropriately ruddy. (His own cheeks must've decided to take inspiration from it, flushing in tandem.)

“I was thinkin',” he continued, hands on his hips, ���You've been cooped up in this dump too long. Wanna get out of here?”

Yes. Dear god, please.

But, Adam would never go down that easy. Pointedly, he adopted the same stance, accentuating the jut of one hip, and—with a scoff: “Way to treat me like y'all's dog, some fucking... charity case stray. What, we're gonna walk 'round the block so I can sniff about and take a piss? How big of you, Mark, thanks for the enrichment.”

Mark rolled his eyes, hardly the one to fall for the theatrics. (He was no Amanda.) “What's crawled up your ass tonight, then?”

“Nothing!” he huffed, “I'm just saying it how it is. Got the leash ready, then? I'm really itching to pay a visit to that fire hydrant—”

A strong hand fisted itself into the front of his shirt, tugged him up to the very tips of his toes—at which point, he was being shut up in the most cliché-but-effective way possible. Mark, ever the cavalier, let go of him with all the consideration one might let go of a garbage bag. Adam stumbled back, slightly dazed by the kiss and thrown off-balance—figuratively and literally. “Stop pouting and get dressed.”

Adam raised an eyebrow, “Something fancy?”

Mark snorted, “No.”

-

A bowling alley.

A bowling alley.

Adam had a hard time believing it. Out of all places in the world, a bowling alley? (What were they, sweaty seventeen-year-olds making the best out of the spare change left over from lunch that week?)

In the dimly lit space, he leaned against the worn wooden railing, eyes fixed on Mark as the other stood poised at the edge of a polished lane. His face was scrunched up with a frankly disturbing level of focus; two massive hands firmly gripped a ball, fingers knuckle-deep in its holes. With a smooth, practiced motion, Mark swung his arm back and then forward, releasing it with a precise flick of the wrist. The ball glided down the lane and—crash—it sent the pins scattering, every last one of them.

When Mark turned, pride and triumph etched into every little line of his face, Adam... was a little smitten, alright? Watching him trudge over, eclipsing the colorful lights behind him, Adam soon found himself rather crowded against that railing. “Getting a kick out of showing off?” he needled.

“Yes.”

“God, you're sooo...” Adam groaned, head thrown back. Laughing, despite himself. He felt two thick arms encircle him, peel him off the railing, press him up against a plush chest and a soft stomach.

(It was not lost on him, despite the illusion of privacy in this here corner, that they were in public. All but asking to be seen—which was far from their usual gig.)

“Sooo what?” Mark hummed, grinning.

“Shameless.”

“A little.”

“A lot.”

“The right amount,” Mark leaned down, making the most out of the situation by placing a shockingly chaste kiss to the underside of Adam's jaw, the drag of his stubble tickling just enough to chase a giggle out of him. “You like it.”

“That's a bold statement right there,” murmured Adam, letting his arms fall about Mark's shoulders; so broad, his hands didn't meet in the middle. The reminder of this man's sheer proportions, as ever, sent a little thrill through him.

“You gonna deny it?” Another kiss, a little to the left. Adam was impressed for the fact his knees hadn't yet given out. Granted, he did have supports.

“Mm, maybe,” he hummed, letting his eyes fall shut, fingers digging ever so slightly into the fabric of Mark's shirt. “Possibly. Depends.”

Mark hummed against the front of Adam's throat, the sound more so felt than heard in the way it reverberated throughout the column of his neck, thrumming along the underside of Adam's skin. On a whim, he hooked his ankle around one of Mark's legs.

“Y'know, we've still got an hour on this lane...”

“Wow,” Adam intoned dryly, “Truly didn't cheap out on me here. And you've got your priorities straight. Can't believe I'm not being mobbed by your manifold suitors every day of the week. Should probably start hitting the gym, you know, fend them off easier...”

“Lucky you're easy on the eyes,” remarked Mark, tone measured—though there was a warmth in his eyes, “'cause that mouth is doing you no favors.”

Adam cracked a smile, reveling in his turn to be a smug shit.

-

By this point, Adam had developed a strong sense that something wasn't right. Not to say something was wrong per se, but... Well, they'd been driving for upwards of thirty minutes now—and they still weren't home. ('Home' was used, here, very loosely.) He was quite certain it hadn't taken them even half as long to reach their very romantic destination initially. So, what gives?

In any case, Mark's hand was warm where it lay on his thigh. Very rarely did it move, only to switch gears on the odd occasion—and just as quickly, it’d return to its post. They haven't spoken much, but they didn't need to. The silence enveloping them was comfortable and cozy, like a blanket straight out of the dryer on a cold night. An oldies station played very softly, so much so Adam could hardly pick apart the words.

Frankly, he could doze off.

Out of nowhere (and perhaps it was a good thing, as his eyelids had gotten concerningly droopy), Mark spoke up. “There's uh,” he cleared his throat, “something in the back.”

Adam, too tired to needle ('There's uh, something in the back'—are you a caveman?), twisted in the passenger's seat to the best of his ability, pawing at the—true to his word—a box wrapped in brown paper. It sat just out of his reach. Took a few tries to propel it toward himself.

He looked at Mark, an eyebrow quirked.

“Well,” the other's eyes were firmly affixed to the road ahead, perhaps stubbornly so, “Open it.”

“It's for me?”

“Might be, if I don’t change my mind.”

Needing not be told twice, Adam swiftly undid the wrapping, balled it and carelessly tossed it to the floor.

Then stared, mouth agape, at that which was revealed.

A camera.

“How did you—”

“I didn't do anything,” Mark blurted out, tone on the side of defensive for some odd reason, “It was all Amanda. And Lawrence. I just did the wrapping, that's all.”

Adam couldn't tear his eyes away, turning the box this way and that (even though he couldn't really read or see much of anything, dark as it'd gotten.) A well-timed glance in Mark's direction—just as drove beneath a street-light—revealed a deep blush staining his cheeks, seemingly spreading down his neck.

Adam’s lips twitched. His throat tightened. His heart throbbed.

Softly, fondly, he said: “I can tell. It looked like shit.”

(He’d bet all his life savings—granted, there wasn't much there, but it was the thought that counted—that Amanda and Lawrence had less than nothing to do with this.)

“It did, didn't it?” Mark smiled, shoulders sagging. Perhaps with relief.

Adam set his hand atop Mark's, still sat on his thigh. Squeezed.

The silence resumed.

[keryth-fr]

Lore Overhaul - Humanoid Forms

One of the very first issues I encountered when starting to write my clan lore around 6 years ago, the drastic difference between breed sizes was one of my first big blocks. At the time, I thought I had found a rather elegant solution - just give everyone smaller humanoid forms they can magically transform into.

While the idea has shown its flaws over time, I'm still somewhat attached to the idea (and the humanoid designs I've commissioned). Since this impacts every area of my lore, I figured it'd be a good place to start as I revamp my setup! The write up became a little long (close to 1,000 words), so it's been placed under the cut.

Though none truly know from where the practice originated, it is considered a common courtesy for dragons to change their size and shape when in public areas. This is especially true for those who are larger, such as Imperials. It is thought that this came around, at least in part, due to unfortunate injuries caused by the larger breeds interacting with those who are much larger - this includes both other dragons, beastclans, and other animals. 

While is it technically acceptable to simply change one’s size to match what has more or less become what areas are built to accommodate, many choose to take on a humanoid form, as smaller, more nimble fingers can be of use in many ways. These forms are similar in appearance to those of the beastclans, but tend to have elements that read, as a whole, still draconic in nature to observers. 

It is largely up to personal preference on if one chooses to keep most of the features of their natural forms. In these cases, the dragon’s smaller form will be nearly identical to that of their natural one, with the largest exception of more dextrous fingers in places of claws, and a bipedal stance. This is most commonly accepted among hatchlings and young adults, as not all will have the skill in magic yet to be able to finely tune their appearance to remove many of the features that tend to stick between forms. 

In most polite societies that involve dragons, it’s excepted that one removes as many scales, horns, wings, tails, fur, and other such features when they are capable of it. This is seen as both evidence of immense care towards one’s appearance, but also a way to signify that an individual has put the time and energy into refining their magical skills and honing their control.

While they rarely face outright discrimination, it's not uncommon to see individuals that choose to keep more of their draconic traits as lazy or in some ways uncultured. However, at the same time, there are many that prefer to keep their tough scales or their horns and wings at all times.

In addition, when one spends a large amount of time around members of the beastclans, it is not unheard of for them to begin incorporating that clan's traits into the humanoid form. This may result in a practiced dragon being able to take on a form near indistinguishable from a Maren, Serthis, or any of the other clans. There may still be some remnants of the dragon's natural form that give them away, but for those that grew up in beastclan communities, those may be hidden completely.

While it's generally expected to remain within one's humanoid form in public spaces, there is leeway given when one is outside, as there is generally much larger amounts of space for a fully grown dragon outdoors. One's home, whether this be a house, den, or any other structure, may be built big enough to accommodate both the dragon's natural form and humanoid form, though one typically needs to choose or or the other due to the fact that there is typically a rather large size difference between them. This may not apply to some breeds, such as the recently rediscovered Veilspun, as they are already similar in size to what is generally considered socially acceptable.

In addition, one may use their larger, natural form for some forms of work or travel. Should one be crossing the continent of Sornieth, it's much easier to do so with a large pair of wings or a longer stride than when one is significantly smaller. Similarly, if someone is needing to move vast amounts of material, especially across a distance, there are dragon-size carts, bags, and other methods of carrying things that are made available for those who choose to use them.

Similarly, many dragons choose to remain in their natural forms should they ever need to engage in combat. As most who craft their humanoid forms for use in polite society trade their tough scales, sharp fangs, and curved claws for soft skin and delicate fingers, it is simply more effective to do so.

In time of conflict, the transformation into a smaller, weaker form can be used as a sign of trust and faith to those one is attempting to ally themself with.

Items such as clothing can be enchanted to change size with the wearer to some extent, but it frequently is not strong enough to allow for major shifts in size and shape. While it's not considered polite to go in the nude while in a humanoid form, bare scales are hardly scandalous.

There is some debate among scholars as to the exact origins of the specific traits commonly used within humanoid forms stem from. They make an appearance within many of the beastclans, but never do they occur all at once in any currently known life form other than dragons utilizing shape changing magic. And then, they only appear due to social expectations and convention. However, due to a lack of evidence, this is once debate that is likely to never be settled unless something absolutely earth shattering is excavated or otherwise uncovered. Of course, there are those who dedicate their lives in the pursuit of definitive answers to this question, just as there is for every other mystery out there.

[kustas]

i would be interested in hearing your thoughts on gogo monster!

oOoOOhhh man...short and poignant in a most disturbing way. I'd already read some works by the same author where he proved being extremely good at 1) writing realistic children, with deep attention paid to how they see the world and act with each other, and 2) drawing illusions, surrealism and dreamscapes...and that little story is just those two things combined isn't it

I had rather high expectations because several people who's tastes I trust told me it was really good, including that it was better than tekkonkinkreet (my favorite manga! how can you!) and was shocked to see it was so short? Taiyo Matsumoto never writes really long manga and I had read shorter things by him but it was still unexpected. Despite the shortness of it all the pacing is nice and slow and gives off that busy monotony of what school was like...the length is perfect for what it's doing, I couldn't see it done otherwise.

The art itself looks great, technically speaking and according to my subjective tastes. That being said it's extremely similar to the other stuff he was doing at the time style-wise which for an artist who willingly experiments with that was a tiny bit underwhelming? I haven't managed to spot anything unique in it - in the context of the artist's mangas. In the wider context of manga in general, it's still a fresh, original and wonderfully drawn comic.

It's all I love in a plot: show don't tell, a humble scale and a healthy dose of vagueness you may interpret. Added to this comes a sort of...respectful distance? I've felt in a lot of the author's work. Despite a small cast and a lot of solo, almost first person moments, you don't quite feel immersed. You're not part of what's going on, only witnessing it. It adds to the atmosphere.

Yet another outcast child protag, this time (if you compare to tekkon, to sunny, even to the prelude to no.5) a softer little guy. Yet another instance of dealing with undisclosed mental health stuff affecting his everyday life. Still love to see that, the gentle kindness in relation to that subject matter is what made me love this author in the first place. I'm easily attached to characters like that and in this case, his relationship to loneliness and strange lack of care for the treatment given by fellow classmates tugged at my heart strings a whole lot.

Now, for the fucked up stuff. This manga actually scared me! The uh, supernatural? Elements creep slowly. I did not see them coming and their execution was terrific. There's something uniquely scary in showing stuff happening and the rest of the world denying it your face, added to this the point of view of a young child, an age where your opinion on the world isn't one many regard as important, where your perspective gets brushed off ... if I had to give a meaning to the story it'd be that. A sort of personification of the discomfort of childhood, of not being taken seriously but of fearing what's coming next, not yet being old enough to be aware of your own life's past tense but feeling the changes in you as you grow up.

10/10. Reconsidering my stance on those under the bed monsters right now

[dgalerab]

alright here's my thoughts on how you'd fix stranger things (starting at s3 bc my stance was always that i could deal with how s3 did s2 dirty if it was building up to something properly in s4 and haha. hahaha. hahahaha. ahahahahahaahaha.)

mostly in vague terms of character arcs bc i'm still niggling at the idea of writing some screenplays for alternate episodes as a writing exercise

max vs mike: honestly the max/mike as foils aspect was GALAXY BRAINED and UNDERUTILIZED but it should have been mike's hypervigilance vs max's rebellion. *me dry heaving with the urge to not go on a rant about how the duffer bros see anyone with a gf as Normal and this blinds them to the traumatic elements that--*

mike should have been, honestly, on the same side as hopper. like, he's an angsty pre-teen so he won't ADMIT that he's on hopper's side but i think his friction with the party should have been that he's constantly overthinking where el can go without being noticed. you could still have the hormonal teens aspect with some grumpiness vs hopper but i think the overall aspect should have been that mike and hopper are very similarly overly protective

meanwhile max is going through it at home with extremely overbearing patriarchal figures. setting up for her grief arc in season 3, we really should have seen how billy is being abused, how he hands it down to max (by being biting with her from a safe distance since she laid down the law) and how she then struggles not to hand that down to lucas (also she should have had another moment where she again threatens billy away from lucas, showcasing the fact that she's as protective as mike is, despite her quarreling with lucas). so coming off this oppressive environment, she pushes to get el into freedom, being a little bit reckless, bc honestly who's gonna know? wound up with teenage overconfidence for taking on billy + a little bit of a self harm undertone because of her frustration with herself for inadvertent curtness with lucas bc of her struggles at home

the nancy/jonathan subplot is pretty good, but honestly? i think both of their sides should have been legitimized. keep and possibly even amplify all the moments with karen and nancy and the very serious fact that nancy is the victim of misogyny, but also give the byers more money troubles!! give jonathan and joyce moments where they're struggling financially! give joyce struggling to find work bc everything is shutting down because of the mall!! *slams fists on tables* lean into the horror of the mall!! the mall devours!!! the mall is the flesh monster, devouring all!!!!

ANYWAY

shut the absolute fuck up with making hopper unlikable so he can be redeemed by *checks notes* being tortured in a russian prison. fucking christian-ass hellsinner nonsense. give me hopper floundering trying to give joyce a sense of safety. taking her seriously but not knowing how to help. knowing she's thinking of moving away for money and trauma reasons. being scared to ask her to stay. being scared to offer to protect her. and honestly, i think he should have moved to cali with them, purely bc joyce felt safer that way and that's part of his redemption arc is just to trust her

make will less uwu babey boy. boy's been possessed. let him be fucking sloppy and mean. have him fighting not (entirely) against his friends to keep his lost childhood, but also himself. give him a crushes he doesn't want to have. make him be a dick about lucas and mike trying to get el back after the breakup. make mike be a dick back bc will started getting personal. FUCKING INCLUDE LUCAS IN THE ARGUMENT BRO

speaking of lucas has such an underdeveloped character arc in season 3 you'd have to invent it from scratch and tbh i'm still fucking noodling on this one. i feel like it'd have to contrast max and mike's different takes on overprotection. honestly, i feel like lucas' entire thing is the competition for hero with mike in s1, which would be an interesting arc - like, honestly, it would be fun if lucas was getting REALLY into tactics and it's part of the reason he hard commits to fixing mike and el's relationship but he's also weird about d&d now. it would make an interesting shift from the whole "sorry will lol we have GIRLFRIENDS now so we don't have TIME for interests, that's how PUBERTY works bc what 13-14 yos are really known for is being really normal about their interests and only being into girls). like maybe they've been straying from d&d bc mike's overvigilance is leaking into his dming and lucas' tactical special interests are leaking into his rp and dustin's over it and will wants them to just play d&d NORMALLY bc he doesn't want to face that he's not normal anymore and never will be again and this is deeply intertwined with the horror of puberty and queerness and trauma

i like the scoops troop dynamic but i think they shouldn't have been so disconnected from the party. i think there should have been this chaos with mike and max's war of the different flavors of the same person and lucas' Operation Get My Bf and Gf to Agree campaign and meanwhile dustin is like "so anyway there's a russian base underground" and they're like "DUSTING THERE'S NOT A RUSSIAN BASE UNDER THE MALL"

i don't care about alexei get rid of him

honestly i don't care if this is my get babygirl steve a boyfriend agenda, i think eddie should have been introduced in s3 as a direct foil to billy and a queer puberty parallel for will. i'm too winded from my other thoughts to elaborate but i'm right

karen should have divorced ted. instead of being like "what am i doing nearly fucking a teenager i have a family" she should have been like "what am i doing nearly fucking a teenager i gotta GET OUT OF THIS FUCKING MARRIAGE"

anyway tbc i need a breather before i deal with season 4

[lady-lunaaa]

I come with QUESTIONS for the question game.

What is the last scene you wrote for your neighbor obi wip?

Share the scene you just wrote, written by another person pov- mafia Zeke wip OR the pock breakup wip

Share 3 songs from your playlist for OSAS

What is your favorite scene you've written so far? Your mythology wip please

What is the last dialogue line for neighbor obi, mafia Zeke, mythology wip, spy au, werewolf pock, pock break-up

Share your fave paragraph for werewolf pock

Give the first line for your break up pock wip

Write the next five sentences for merman nai and share

What's the last scene you wrote for werewolf pock

Choose any number you want and give us the inside scoop on the spy au with our fave aot loves and merman nai

Bonus: Do you have any Dottore crumbs to share?

GIRL, YOU WENT HAM. I am wheezing! I love how you know each and every one of my current WIPs 😂 I love you, baby 💙 I shall answer under the cut

The last scene I wrote for my next door neighbour!Obito wip was a little dialogue draft between Kakashi and Obito discussing how he (Obi) needs to let people (aka reader) in.

Lil' mafia boss Zeke pov:

He burst inside to find you lounging behind the bar, sipping on a drink. You liked to help yourself. Only fair, he thought, since he did the same with your sweet pussy. You quickly straightened at the intrusion, perfect tits clad in lace bouncing with the movement, before you noticed it was him and relaxed back into your casual stance. Your elbows leant on the polished wood counter as you eyed him curiously. He didn't bother with a greeting as he stalked over to join you. Time for that drink.

You watched him silently as he catered to himself, downing the first measure of whisky he poured into the crystal-cut glass before pouring another. And then another.

The good thing about you was that you didn't ask questions, never had. You just followed him blindly and let him handle his business while you handled yours. Not to say that you were stupid or timid, far fucking from it. You were the smartest, most calculating, and fucking craziest bitch he'd ever met – you were his perfect match, he'd admit if he was being sentimental.

Okay, I absolutely adore my OSaS playlist so I love this question! It's hard to pick just 3 but Fear of the Water by SYML, Won't by Tanerélle and Her and the Sea by CLANN.

Hmmm I haven't actually written a whole lot for Hephaestus!Obito yet but if I had to choose it'd be the scene between Fugaku and the boys in the throne room. I'll add a snippet:

Itachi sighs, looking at the place his brother once stood with a troubled expression. Fugaku hasn't taken his eyes off his eldest son, a look of disdain clear on his features.

"And you, boy" Obito hates when he calls him that, he is well past the age of being addressed as such, a man of two and thirty, "dress appropriately for when our guests arrive, I will not have you embarrass me any more than you already do."

Obito's jaw ticks as he clenches his mouth shut to keep the foul words he wishes to speak spilling from his tongue.

Last line of dialogue from next door neighbour!Obito (I chose this WIP since it's the only one with actual dialogue so far lmao):

"Because….nothing is gonna happen."

"Is that the truth or what you want yourself to believe?"

Again, I'm not into the meat and bones of werewolf Porco yet but I'll include a snippet of a scene:

"What?! If she wants to be one of us, she might as well get used to the ridiculous superstitions that run this hick town. It's a borderline cult…" Zeke mumbles, wiping at the stain on his front.

"What do you mean by that?" you ask, a feeling of unease creeping into your gut at their shifty reactions, but morbid curiosity wins out. You always were too nosy for your own good, your mother would tell you as a child, "curiosity killed the cat".

"It's nothing, really. Just silly old wives tales, that's all." Marcel answers for him with a nervous chuckle, his eyes darting away from you too soon, betraying his lie. A half-hearted attempt at changing the subject if you had to guess. But you don't give in that easily.

"Oh come on, I haven't encountered anything nearly as interesting as this since I got here. Unless sheep farming and trees count…how's a gal supposed to keep herself entertained?" you take a nonchalant sip of your rum and coke.

"I like this one," Zeke grins wolfishly, showing his teeth, Pieck sends another jab his way before sliding her hand under his and entwining their fingers. They make a cute couple, opposites attract and all that.

First line from ex-boyfriend Porco WIP:

How long does it take to fall out of love with someone?

The last scene I wrote for werewolf Porco was him and reader meeting for the first time. It's in note form so I shan't be sharing a snippet. But he runs into her (literally) all shirtless and sweaty 🤤

I literally hadn't started Merman!Nai besides notes so y'all get the boring beginning 🤣

The ocean is a predator, its roar deafening and inescapable, swelling up as if to devour you whole. The ship shrieks and cracks as its body is ripped apart and claimed by the sea. You can hear the horrified shouts of your men but you cannot see them. Nothing but the dark blue maw opening before you is visible, foaming edges curled like fangs, as it descends upon you.

Okay, I'm choosing my AoT spy!au and I'm just gonna share my favourite moment so far:

You saw the shadow of emotions flicker behind his eyes, saw it in the set of his clenched jaw, the subtle flare of his nostrils. And for a moment you thought he might not keep his cool, but to his credit, he smoothened out his countenance and even pulled a hand from his pocket and held it out to you. Before you knew what you were doing you were placing your hand in his. Your calloused skin softened over the months prior to the war (although your scars remained), but his were still rough and warm against your own, and it jolted a memory loose of the last time your flesh met his.

It was at an ambassador meeting shortly after the peace treaty, a show of good will between two previously warring nations, and the feelings that had welled up inside you threatened to raze the building to its foundations. Who could really blame you for what happened after that? A carnal clash of hatred, desire and frustration.

You didn't even bother looking up at the man as you leant fowards and placed a hand on his chest, resisting the urge to dig clawed fingernails into his heart, and murmured, "Drinks are on you, Galliard."

I unfortunately do not have any Dottore crumbs 🥲 it is my greatest shame, preparing for my flogging as I write this. Maybe one day...

[threehousing]

*pulls up a chair* tell me about the tragedy and heartbreak of ferdinand's character

SHYD YOU ASKED FOR THIS. THE CAN OF WORMS HAS BEEN OPENED. THE WORMS ARE OUT.

okay OKAY

ferdinand really fucking kills me because he, as a character, cannot escape the inherent tragedy of his arc in essentially any route. Disregarding his possible "death" ending if you choose to sacrifice him as a playable unit, his ending options are as essentially as follows:

Dies on The Bridge of Myrddin, if unrecruited in VW and AM.

Returns to his war-torn country, having actively fought against it. As such, I'd say it's pretty probable that a good chunk of Adrestians view him as a traitor -- the effects of war and propaganda don't just disappear when the last battle is over.

Installed as PM under Edelgard -- given that she tells him absolutely nothing in CF, I'd say it's not too much of a stretch to assume this continues afterwards. In this scenario, his kept in the dark about essentially everything and is never seen or viewed as an equal or true friend, only ever as a useful, manipulable ally.

Let's dig into this further.

In every route, his father is killed, his lands seized, and everything he's known his whole life is ripped away from him for reasons that he does not understand at the time. Now, sure, irl i would be of the stance "cry me a river Mr Landed Gentry", BUT I am nothing if not nuanced and on a human level these events would be incredibly traumatic. His entire life and the future he thought he'd have is ripped out from under him.

From there, he has two choices: one, go with Edelgard; or two, fight against her.

Now I have my thoughts and opinions on which is more realistic for his character (the motivations of the BE on CF is always kinda. unclear and questionably-ooc to me, but I digress. It's a game mechanic. whatever.), but both come with a great deal of tragedy.

If he goes with Edelgard, he essentially goes against his morals. I find CF Ferdie particularly heartbreaking. In the little chats you can have with him in explore, a lot of his dialogue thinly veils how conflicted he is. In chpt 14 he wonders what his life would be like if he'd made different choices. This does not sound to me like the thoughts of an untroubled man. He also actively worries about the lives of those living on the front line, which. Babyboy </3

By the end of CF though, he seems to have lost that sense of guilt, and bought into Edelgard's view. It's. Interesting. From a character perspective. He very much loses that fire that pits him so strongly against Edel in white clouds. My experience of playing it was kind of like watching a spark die out.

Afterwards, his ending says he becomes PM. Now, given how Edelgard behaves towards him in CF, I can't imagine much changes post-war. She's not just gonna become some paragon of virtue and honesty all of a sudden.

The heartbreak of Ferdinand on this route, in my opinion, isn't so much that something horrible happens to him -- he only actually dies in 2 possible routes (un-recruited) -- but it's that he's inherently less than he is elsewhere. His core character traits, pride, moral drive, and a desire to help other people*, are rotted on CF. He's the worst version of himself.

(*granted, in an incredibly obnoxious and privileged way, but he repeats endlessly that the reason he's so gung-ho for nobility is bc he thinks they're there to help the people. It's a view that's so, so niave, but his intentions are good. At his core he is an good person.)

(Defo comes across here, but CF is my least favourite route because I found it downright harrowing to play. This is one of the many reasons.)

On SS, this doesn't happen, but equally he is still quite sidelined -- something that is the fate of all the BEs on SS, I think. The writing doesn't really lean on them at all, which I thought was a bit weak: just because you lose your house leader on SS, doesn't mean the other students should be ignored too. If anything, you'd think it'd be the opposite. Alas, I guess.

But yeah, SS should really be the route that Ferdinand gets to flourish in -- with Edelgard as the active enemy, it would make sense to have Ferdinand step into the role of leading the other BE (except Petra bc she's a literal princess, but the game never pays that any mind at all, and that's a whole different rant. anyway--) but he doesn't. Instead we get Seteth and Flayn on SS -- which no hate, I love them, but, again, does mean Ferdie and the other BEs get sidelined a lil.

In this route, he's lost his family, his lands, his title, his home, his country -- and now he's fighting against it. Quite possibly, fighting against people he knows, while his own people suffer -- it's not canon, but given that Hyrm was granted to Arundel to govern after Ferdie's shitty dad is removed, it'd make sense for Aegir land to also be granted to Arundel. Can't imagine the people there are having a great time either. That's not canon, of course, but someone's gotta be in charge of Aegir land, and it's sure as hell not Ferdinand at that time, given he's... y'know... fighting against the Empire.

AM and VW are basically the same deal as SS, except depending on who you recruit can be more upsetting. How many of his friends are you making him fight? How many are you making him kill? How many of his friends is he watching die, cut down by his own choices?

His endings for SS, VW, and AM are, in my opinion, less fundmentally upsetting than CF? He retains his moral backbone, retains his stregth of character. He returns to his country victorious and able to change it for the better. But -- what kind of toll does it all take on him? To have his whole life flipped upside down, torn from him, twisted beyond recognition? Everything he's ever known is gone, and he has to pick up the pieces.

Meanwhile, he has to come to terms with the fact that he fought against his own country. What kind of inner conflict and agony does that cause someone? Someone who is so proud of who they are. What does it do, recognising that what they are proud of is actually contrary to all the morals they thought it stood for? Those morals that he made the foundation of who he is? And then to follow those morals and fight against the very thing he held so dear?

He's gonna need some therapy. Magic fantasy therapy or whatever.

ANYWAY THIS HAS GOT SO LONG. Gonna cut myself off before it reaches any more words that I have to proof read. Have I. Have I made literally ANY sense??? Ferdinand is so inescapely upsetting, man. So are so many characters in 3H (basically every blue lion springs to mind), but I feel like the Tragedy of Ferdinand von Aegir is not one mentioned all that often.

[tumblingxelian]

OK, @rachelsshowerthoughts I have my head in the game & some time to write!

Firstly I am so glad you like this so much, thank you & some quick notes before I address your stuff!

So my initial thinking was Adrien & Chloe can use the transformation to pass as the same person, thus fooling Fu. Not as sure this is necessary, especially as given how said transformation works it could also be taken as a gender fluidity matter. Or its just Ladybug at first who knows about the 'siblings'; basically just gotta keep Fu off their backs at first XD

Also I forgot at the time that we already had a plan for Adrien's birthday, IE the chill hang session with Nino so a kidnapping party at Adrien's is not likely, which is probably for the best story structure wise XD

OK onto your insightful additions!

Ooooh Marinette also having a friend as her body double is extremely fun and clever & really adds to the parallels between the kids and their respective upbringings, responses and treatment by adults and others, kudos!

Good insights regarding Alya too, like I think in canon she was Marinette's go to as she also tried to give her the bee, but yeah in that situation there really wasn't anyone else to choose either. Kagami meanwhile, been around even longer, made real effort to make sure they could be friends & she has 100% thrown down with an Akuma right?

...

Oh wait, I think I just realized that your post does not in fact indicate Marinette knew all along, but was indeed fooled until the confrontation with Fu, please belay my previous remarked! I would remove them but they were already in the notes so context is necessary XD

Also yes I love Marinette being like, "I 'guess' they're siblings???" works so well. I imagine that Adrien is on the Chat Noir staff phone while Chloe is there in person cos she has more freedom to move around than he does.

There's a subtle voice filter to keep Marinette from noticing ;)

Also I love Marinette being like, well yes the Guardian doesn't like it, and yes they are breaking the rules, but gods that is so convenient and clever!!!

But of course, "Not that Marinette would EVER do something like that, once the Guardian makes his stance clear! Oh no, absolutely not!" XD

Also yeah that all makes a good deal of sense. Low key I could see Marinette choosing Kagami if Origins still has the Stoneheart army, but not being able to get to her before Alya or Kagami or someone is in danger. So she'd definitely be the default, go-to in her mind for body double, look alike replacement and so on.

Also gosh that is such a good justification for Marinette to do it and and freaking loved that dialogue XD Kagami must be so confused but maybe also a little like, "Well this explains a lot and or she's even sicker than she realizes."

Also yeah, the public is probably just like, "Damn, Ladybug is less playful today" while Kagami's like "Must succeed no second chances" & whichever blonde is current Chat is just (oO) Also Kagami's explanation 'dialogue' & the medicine drop off bit, again, so good XD

As to why Fu is OK with it, I think it'd be a combo of things.

Off the cuff is the fact that while yes Marinette knowingly broke a rule she did so by necessity, so he's already inclined to be a bit more patient.

From his perspective both because of when & why they did it & their refusal to face consequences the Chats are doing so for childish reasons.

Then there is the fact he is angry at Plagg who either did not tell them or almost certainly did, meaning Plagg was breaking the rules and likely so were both Chats.

Then there is the simple fact he did not choose Chloe at all & he does put thought into this, let alone the widening circle of people aware of the Miraculous concerns him.

The there is the fact that so far Marinette has been obedient & respectful while the Chats have been argumentative, contentious & even implicitly threatening in Chloe's case.

Chloe: I won't reveal your location to the damned supervillain, but I will come by here every day and make your life a nightmare. Adrien: She'll do it too, she has free time & pettiness is powerful.

So it isn't entirely baseless but at the same time he fact he makes it clear that Marinette can do this again and as she feels is necessary. That is the part that I think really sells that he is being unfair and that some of that is frankly just down to pettiness that they aren't listening.

& yeah I can see the Chats, especially Adrien being a bit more patient with Fu at first. Yes they broke the rules but it made sense, they are used to needing to define their own limits cos the adults in their lives are unreliable. But this is dangerous magic & it was meant to be secret, so...They'll grudgingly take it on the chin but stand their ground.

Then Fu just gives everything to Ladybug & its like what the fuck?

Now its personal, now its about them, now there is something he specifically finds wrong in them or that is wrong with him & either way, they are not taking that shit anymore. So Fu's locked in & its tense.

This might actually be a good scenario for them to talk to Ladybug once they leave about some family stuff & due to lacking bias she is actually sympathetic. Extra points if its Chloe doing the talking.

Also good insight regarding the training too, that works really well & adds another element of how Fu is being unreasonable. Yes Kagami can fight but can she be Ladybug? The Chat have being doing this more or less as long as each other, so Marinette if anything was the irresponsible one here,

Or it was Fu but no one point that out ;)

(I tend to imagine part of why Fu picks teens is cos he figures if he's wrong & they are bad its easy to take the powers back, not so from an adult. Like its rather ruthless but it makes sense.)

As to the Roger stuff yeah I think that fits.

The Order is a toxic environment, his training was incomplete, his guilt complex is massive and he is deeply terrified of what the Miraculous powers can do when in the wrong hands. He's also extremely experienced & has by & large done this fairly well for a long time but at both great cost and with some failures that eat at him.

That's a strong concoction for "I know best" that makes even benign actions risk being obtuse & unpleasant because its so hard to push against.

Not letting the Kwami know secrets is actually not too terrible if only because otherwise Nooro would 100% have been forced to reveal some shit he really shouldn't.

But otherwise yeah I agree and also think it needs to blow up in his face.

I think much like canon his habit of having Marinette run to him for Miraculous should do it. Maybe Gabriel realizes they are switching out much sooner & sets out watchers & timers & grid patterns. Steadily triangulating Fu's general location and being able to strike him there without any of the heroes themselves screwing up.

As an aside, if Stormy Weather is the second Akuma, it should totally be Chloe's turn.

Picture this.

Adrien's doing modelling, his bodyguard is there, a camera man, plus some kids from school & a small child.

Sneaking away to be a super hero would be tricky at best.

But Chloe? She was just hanging in the general area to keep him company or bail him out, he can just toss her the thing.

Besides, its apparently a weather girl with some wind powers, how bad can it really be?

Cue Stormy Weather being literally one of the strongest Akuma ever, ensuring Chloe's first debut is as chaotic as Chat's X3

Adrien: So, how long before they make a Chat Face-plant compilation? Chloe: It was not the dignified debut I planned, but in all fairness, what the fuck was that girls power level!?

Adrien: Over nine thousand! Chloe: One thousand and six! Both: ... Wrong dub!

I had the most hilarious Aware AU thoughts:

OK, so everything leading up to Origins is the same as discussed.

When Adrien stops to help Fu he's almost caught but Chloe was waiting outside & jumped in when Nathalie showed up and made a sufficient enough spectacle that Sabrina could grab Adrien and they bolt into the school.

Argument over seats ensues, Adrien & Nino making tentative friends.

Kagami is probably around but maybe not in this class. Gabriel is irritated but also figures that an Akuma attack is a good reason to force Adrien out of going to school & keeps Nathalie waiting. So he can't even head out to the arcade across the street.

This is all a big red flag to Nino when he hears & sees that yes, Adrien's bodyguard & his fathers assistant have basically parked outside the school to obsessively watch them all day.

Stuff happens, Ivan becomes an Akuma & in the chaos Adrien, Chloe & maybe Sabrina, grudgingly agree to go to the Agreste Mansion cos it is at least very heavily fortified. Minor argument with Nathalie but time is dead bodies with a giant rock monster around.

Anyway this means Adrien has company when he finds Plagg.

Fortunately the Kwami of Destruction is all in favor of teenage rebellion "Fuck yeah, stick it to the old people!" & has no issue ignoring that Chloe knows Adrien's identity, though they do work to cover it up a little bit when needed.

But, but, but, here's the fun part.

Chloe also becomes Chat Noir.

Not all the time but when its impractical for Adrien to do it she dons the ring. Both already having many aesthetic commonalities and a familiarity with each others personalities, the way the Glamour works & mild physical form changes when transforming and... No one notices, not even Fu!

Also both flirt with Ladybug, a lot.

This also helps keep a bit of a divide going once Fu is discovered, because Adrien shares details on the book with at least her, or potentially the entire "Shitty parents club". & this leads to knowing about Fu earlier and a more contentious relationship.

IE, he wants to take Plagg back, Plagg does not want to go back, they do not want Plagg to go back & they have enough information to make Fu's entire operation very fucking difficult.

Also the book may be found or stolen earlier.

Like Bubbler is a great time/excuse to trash the mansion for funsies ya know?

Obviously Marinette is not a fan of this whole... Everything, even if she doesn't get all the details or learn IDs, she respects authority figures and seniors, & though she might not want to lose Chat she doesn't think turning it into a contest of wills is the "Right" way to fix things.

Also I think Kagami might be Marinette's first pick for an extra ally which might happen sooner as Fu would want someone else more in line with his thinking on side.

This isn't a dig at Alya, but in Aware Marinette as technically known Kagami longer. Sees her as very respectful & dutiful, and has 100% seen her bravely try to throw down with Akuma to keep people safe.

Meanwhile the bee, or perhaps snake or tiger can still end up lost XD

Chat: Me, knowing the location of the Miraculous no one told me was missing? Its less likely than you think! Also Chat: Hey, new hero, we should definitely 100% accept this person & not question their identity!

One big difference between Fu & the other shitty adults, is that he's much more like Roger. IE, he is trying to do the right thing, genuinely does not want to bring anyone pain. He is just intensely paranoid & overly cautious tot he point where it can become harmful.

So, first of all, this is hilarious to me. Yes, absolutely, all of this.

second, I see your "Kagami is chosen by Marinette first", and raise you "As a body double". Like, I think part of why Alya gets picked to be the Fox was proximity - the Akuma was her little sisters, it was the middle of the night, she's already aware of the situation, Marinette trusts her and needs a teammate, boom, Alya gets to be the Fox. However, for Kagami, you're right, she does know her longer here, so probably trusts her more. So, I suggest learning about the "Cat Siblings" (this is Marinette's best guess, if she doesn’t have their identities, that the Chat Noir duo are siblings) gives Marinette ideas. Like, yes, Fu is clearly against it, but part of Marinette probably thinks "dammit, that’s such a good system, though!". How many times has she been screwed over because she had to be Ladybug, and completely fucked up her schedule? There being TWO people to be Cat Noir, while not ideal, is still better for Cat Noir in general. Not that Marinette would EVER do something like that, once the Guardian makes his stance clear! Oh no, absolutely not!

Which, uh, doesn’t mean she hasn’t THOUGHT about someone else to let borrow the earrings in an emergency, OR that she hasn’t thought about Kagami specifically, OR that she hasn’t quietly discussed it with Tikki (in hypotheticals) what to do if she's taken out! So (my best guess for what happens) when Marinette comes down with a particularly nasty flu, and can't even stand up without feeling dizzy, she actually doesn’t think that long before calling up Kagami, like, "uh, hey, weird question, do you think you could take over being Ladybug for me? I can taste colours, and not in the fun way."

Of course, Kagami does it, and because she's VERY different from Marinette (personality-wise) while the public is fooled thanks to the Glamour, Cat Noir is "uh, excuse me? Who are you???", and Kagami has to awkwardly explain that your regularly scheduled Ladybug currently has a fever of one hundred and four, and can't really leave the bathroom right now, so she's filling in. After it’s all over, she quickly leaves to give Marinette the earrings back (maybe drop off some medicine?), and Cat Noir(e) is left feeling, like, "ha, maybe the old man will get off our backs now, Ladybug clearly agrees with us!"

Which. Uh. Yeah, no, that doesn’t really happen. Maybe Ladybug's just better at explaining it, (or Fu is just a little prejudiced against the Cat in particular, I imagine the Order weren’t Plagg’s biggest fans, Fu probably internalized a lot of their shit), but he's . . . not OKAY with Ladybug sharing her ID and position with another person, but much more understanding. If Marinette was really that sick, then going out as Ladybug would have been seriously detrimental to both her and the fight against Hawk Moth. And there NEEDS to be a Ladybug in every fight, to purify the Akuma. Yes, Fu would rather she hadn’t done it, but it was clearly the right decision at the time, so Fu will trust Marinette on this. He still doesn’t recommend doing it too often, but a back up Ladybug is clearly a good idea.

Well, this means that Back Up Cat is good too, right? Nope! Still salty about them, still thinks one of them should knock it off, still thinks he should take the Miraculous back!

Yeah, you can imagine how this is going down with the Cat Noir(e) Duo. ESPECIALLY because this is the Aware Kids. It’s every instance of favouritism, of "unexceptional", of "not good enough". Congrats Fu, you just got knocked into "Adults we DO NOT trust"! You already had a foothold, now you get a proper seat!

On the flip side, I see this as where Marinette starts questioning Fu a little more. Because for all her black and white mentality, all her naïveté, the double-standard is GLARING. She's spent the past few months watching the battle of Wills that is Cat Noir(e) Vs Fu. She was expecting a HELL of a talking to once she wasn't throwing up her stomach. Instead, she gets mild disappointment at the SITUATION, general understanding, and even gets COMMENDED for her reasoning and quick reaction to the situation. Which makes her go "waitwait,wait, wait, hold the FUCK up", because what? What the HELL? Why is it ok if SHE does the thing that Fu's been railing against, but not Cat Noir(e)? Good grief, shouldn’t it have been a worse decision? The Cat Noir(e) Duo at least started at roughly the same time. They've been training and getting better alongside her. Now that Marinette's no longer fever-fogged, she's thinking it honestly would have made more sense to have Tikki take the earrings, and go find one of the duo to be a replacement Ladybug. They would have at least had some idea what they were doing! But no, instead she sent a friend, who had barely any idea, to do the job. And that's . . . . fine? What? And DON'T say it’s cause Ladybug needs to be there to purify the Akuma, Marinette knows she NEEDS back up! If anything, the Cat Noir(e) Duo was always kind of a comfort to her, cause she knew she was always likely to have SOMEONE there to support her. Fu so clearly showing favouritism is a hit to Marinette's view of all authority figures being kind and reasonable, making her start questioning him a bit more. Which, ya know, is probably needed.

On Fu himself, yes, he is very much like Roger. I'm not sure on how the particulars work out, since we have no idea what Roger's home life was like as a kid, but I've been operating under the adage "nothing exists in a vacuum". Roger didn’t spring forth fully formed with his opinions on "serving the public (toxic)", he had to learn that somewhere. Someone taught him those views, which he's passing onto Sabrina. And we SEE, at least partially, Fu getting taught his paranoia - if not from the Order itself, from the incident that took the Order away, which Fu probably feels a lot of guilt for. Which, as far as I can tell, he's managing by doubling down on the few teachings he had. Don’t give out IDs. Always put the Miraculous back in the box, don’t let them out. Don’t let the Kwami know any secrets.

Unfortunately, much like Roger, I feel like Fu also needs to see his stubbornness blow up in his face before he realizes he's fucking up.