#turns out that this is the technique that he learned specifically for the sake of causing less damage to people

[villain-in-love]

I swear to fucking gods...

*grabs him by the face*

WHY ARE YOU SO DAMN NICE???? ANSWER ME!!!

[xo-cod]

Hi my love! Hope you’re doing well 💕 no pressure, but if you were taking requests, would you be able to do a blurb of the 141 men learning how to braid their daughter’s hair? I’ve been reading your girl dad fics and it makes me so soft!!!! Imagining these burly guys trying to figure out little girl braids makes me laugh lol.

Again I love you blog, you’re incredible 💕 hope you have an amazing day 💕

hi lovely, you're so kind ily 🥹🩷 hope you're doing well! <3 this was so so cute omg, i loved this so bad 😭

i hope this was along the lines of what you wanted :")

price: "goddamn it, not again" lowkey getting very frustrated with himself because it's not turning out the way he wants it to be and he's a perfectionist. he's already run the brush through her hair gently for the umpteenth time, causing her to grumble and wanting to go play instead. but he holds her back carefully, determined to make her braids the prettiest anyone has ever seen. he holds her hair band between his lips as he frowns at the braid again.

"just a second, honey" it's loose and he doesn't know how to tighten it but he's determined. nobody is moving an inch until he perfects that braid. his back curved slightly uncomfortable and he's definitely going to get neck pain, bending a little down to get the best access to her head and he does finally manage to get it accurate. it only took an hour but he's very proud of himself :")

simon: "this bit.... goes underneath right? over the top, underneath the side, down back under.... piece of cake, honey" simon is a dedicated man, his tongue peeking out from his lips as he tried his very hardest to memorise what he had learnt from a youtube video. his daughter sat between his huge thighs, his big fingers working her hair very delicately in order not to pull on any strands. he has the hair grips secured between his lips, eyes narrowed very carefully as he braids her hair trying to get all of the hair. he is a man on a mission and he will carry out the task to the best of his ability.

"bloody hell, that took it out of me" he finally lets out a relieved sigh at his masterpiece, there might be a few strands sticking out and the braid might look a little lopsided but it's unique :") only to have his daughter shake her head once causing the braid to tumble down and his face in pure utter shock and disbelief

gaz: "keep your head straight okay, honey?" gaz should def open a hair place, he's already mastered the technique of braiding from his mom especially because his hair type is different and requires a certain amount of care. so he knows exactly how to braid, call it his secret talent ;) lowkey finds it therapeutic and will 100% decorates his girl's hair with different clips and grips, whatever her little heart desires. he loves brushing his fingers through her locks and he always manages to get the parting accurate on the first time. which saves a ton of tantrums on her end.

"my beautiful baby girl" best believe he's whipping out the camera to take pictures of her hair and send it to you, marvelling at how gorgeous she looks. he's all smug when she wants to come to him for her hair but it bites him back in the ass when he's half dressed needing to leave the house in five minutes to head to bade only to be tugged by his child by the wrist to have her hair braided in that specific way she loves.

soap: "christ sake, why would they add so many pieces?" soap definitely underestimated himself, he didn't mean to blow his own horn but now that he has, he doesn't not accept defeat easily at all. will memorise that youtube video back to front, his daughter seated in his lap both of the criss crossed as he works delicately. his face set intently, eyes slightly narrowed as he braids. he's confused by the movement but gets the hang of it after a while and then it's like second nature, he's so happy with himself.

"look at you, little lass. my sweet girl" his little girl perched in his lap as he tightens the braided pony tails, gushing at how cute she is and how perfect the braids he had done on her hair came out. will 100% parade her around so everyone can see how perfect his braids are but no touching his little girl or her hair at all, under any circumstances <3

[woodlaflababab]

Hot Take: The Lion Turtle wasn't that out of left field.

Was it a deus ex machina? Yes. Technically. But it wasn't like some sudden dip in writing or like this was unprecedented and had no basis or reasoning in universe. Hear me out. This is Long.

Let's go back to book 1, specifically the book 1 finale. At what point prior to that are we told that there's a spirit that can turn into a giant koi monster and wipe out everyone? We didn't even know about the whole Tui and La thing until we are in the midst of the battle and there is no viable solution. Aang as he is, does not have the ability to solve this problem.

However, Aang is the avatar.

50% of that is having all four elements. It means mastering diciplines, practice, it's skill that you gradually improve on, it's being clever with the tools avalible to you.

But the other 50%, that I feel is too often forgotten, is spirithood, or being the bridge to the spirits. Spirits are not tools. They're explicitly shown to be things that just kinda Do Shit, and Are There. They don't care about the human world for humans' sake, that's the Avatar's job. The spirits are unexplainable. (I am ignoring Korra) Dealing with the spirits isn't something you can learn. There's not really a special technique Aang learns on How To Spirit 101.

But as the Avatar, Aang has the ability to comune with spirits, to seek them out, call to them, ask them for help, and give them help in return. Part of being the Avatar is doing things no one else can, and again, 50% of that comes from having four bending abilities, and the other 50% is his connection to spirits.

The Lion Turtle is the earned pay off of Aang's actions. Aang, like in the Northern Water Tribe, faces a problem in which neither he, nor anyone around him, knows what to do, and just like in the NWT at the twelfth hour, he turns to the spirits. He chooses to find a place where he feels connected, and calls out. He opens himself to a world outside of human control knowing that, as merely human, he is not capable.

It's the same set up.

Aang faces a problem: Giant Invasion/Having to defeat the fire lord

He does everything he physically can: Takes down a dozen ships/Masters three extra elements

But pulls back when he realizes continuing this way will destroy him: Retreats and admits hes in over his head/Refuses to commit violence with the intent to kill because that means sacrificing his values and the last remaining shreds of his people's values.

(PSA: Taking care of your mental/emotional health is just as important as taking care of your physical health)

He opens himself up to other people for solutions: Yue is just like 'you gotta dude :|'/His friends mock him

He chooses to turn to the spirits: Brings it up with Yue and Katara and Yue brings him to the spirit oasis/ Leaves the others to meditate

[Enter Magic Meditation Here]

He Goes To A Weird Spirit Place: Spirit World/Lion Turtle Forest

Fucks Around for a while as he tries to figure out wtf hes supposed to do: talks to spirits and Roku/talks to the avatars and momo (best place of advice obvs)

Finds the spirit he needs to help give him info: Koh+Ocean Spirit/Lion Turtle

Is granted sudden new powers that can solve his impossible situation: Giant Koi/ Energybending

Uses that shit

Saves the day

The end.

And I don't think this is really a cheat for him either. Aang still gives his everything to trying to fight those ships, even after seeing how many there are. He still has to go through all the hassle of the spirits fucking with him.

With the finale, he still admits to Momo that he may have to kill Ozai. He still accepts that, if literally no other solution is avalible, he'll do it even if it means sacrificing himself and his nation. He still has to do the battle to subdue Ozai and still has to risk being internally fucked by bad mojo from Ozai.

He still has to prove himself. In my opinion, he has to prove himself far more in the book three finale than book one. Book one he just kinda takes out some ships and then chats with some spirits and then the Ocean spirit does everything for him.

In the fight with Ozai, AANG had to learn all four elements, HE had to learn the avatar state (even if it conveniently got taken as soon as he did and then given back at dramatic moments), HE had to face Ozai even without the avatar state, HE still tried to reason with Ozai to the end, HE still used the avatar state (apon being gifted with a poke in the back) to fight back, HE still decided to not take the easy way out, HE still commited to and accomplished taking Ozai's bending.

He earned his use of the elements

He earned his use of the Avatar state (prior to lightning bc they couldn't have Aang be op too soon jebdjsbdn)

He continuously believed there has to be another way

He sought out solutions.

And he still had to get ragdolled some to top it off.

And as to the other Avatars' advice, and the idea that he was selfish.

He followed the wisdom of all the Avatars he spoke to.

He was decisive: "No, I'm not going to end like this."

Justice brought Peace: the firelord being rendered powerless and stuck to suffer jail the rest of his life weak and helpless is justice

He actively shaped his own Destiny: he decided how he was going to end things and shaped his destiny and the destiny of the whole world

"Selfless duty calles you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs and do whatever it takes to protect the world": to which Aang says "I guess I don't have a choice Momo, I have to kill the firelord."

The Lion Turtle did not come out of left field and Aang earned/deserved his ending.

[thefreelanceangel]

How open is your character(s) to trying new things? Does their desire to go out of the box have limits; ie. they don't mind trying new foods but you'd be hard-pressed to get them to holiday anywhere outside of their comfort zone?

C'allie will try anything once.

Anything.

And if someone she loves is really into whatever the new thing is, be it a very spicy dish or a weird sex toy, C'allie is willing to keep trying it until she's either Certain It Is Not For Her or she's at least lukewarm towards it. She's really more likely to become fond of something for her spouses' sakes rather than not, but hey, she didn't like martinis when she first tried them and now she finds them quite tasty.

Who knows what else she might end up delighting in? Best to just try everything (and everywhere and... everyone) just in case. Even crime. She's all about giving new types of crime a shot!

While Anna... She's not adverse to trying new things, but it absolutely must be her idea to do so.

If Seifer leaves a new bottle of wine sitting around, she'll sample it. If someone insists she try this new vintage from Thavnair, she'll adamantly refuse. And become decidedly hostile if someone pushes the point. If someone mentions an interesting location in passing, Anna'll take Seifer to see it, but if he insists on going somewhere for a vacation, she'll balk.

However, offer her a new spellcasting technique and she'll immediately want to learn it, test it, refine it, turn it into something uniquely hers.

Narasen is... reluctant to visit new locations (and equally reluctant to visit some old locations) and even more reluctant to meet new people without Voranoix right at hand. (He's really much more outgoing and charismatic than she is.) She's very uncomfortable in strange surroundings or around strangers (either individually or in groups) and prefers one OR the other.

She can visit a new place with her husband or she can meet a new person in a safe location. Either/Or -- not both.

However, she's perfectly willing to try any dish, wear a new style of clothing, pick up a book from a different genre or author. As long as the novelty can be explored from the security of home, she's game for anything.

Now Summer will go anywhere and try anything, provided whatever she's trying doesn't violate her principles. This means no one angling to have her try a one night stand is going to succeed--she is fiercely devoted to her One True Love. Anyone trying to get Summer to try a new drink, visit a new location, meet a new person, or try a new thing like 'slap frog'* or juggling will be met with enthusiasm and interest.

She loves exploring most of all. Finding new places, visiting new locations is part of what fuels her writing. And her One True Love shares that interest, which makes the exploration doubly fun as it's something she and Kona do together.

And Chessi is fairly similar in her willingness to go anywhere and try anything. She's spent years of her life surviving rather than living and so enjoys experiencing new foods and beverages especially. If Sezra wants to explore a new location or take up a new hunt bill, she's delighted to accompany him.

Where Chessi becomes much more hesitant is when a single stranger, often with others affiliated with them lingering in the background, approaches her to smile and ask if she wants to see something neat. She does truly and devoutly believe the best in people and Chessi is, honestly, pretty slow on the uptake. That particular setup, however, happened to her often enough (with upsetting or even painful results) that she becomes nervous if it happens again.

Anyone in her small family can offer her anything, ask anything of her, send her anywhere and Chessi won't hesitate a moment. Anyone she considers a friend (or more specifically considers her a friend) can ask her to do anything, sight unseen. And luckily for her, she's now met enough loving people that no one takes advantage of that anymore.

[quirkwizard]

How do you think the story would change if Izuku manifested Blackwhip during the forest camp arc? Like specifically when he is trying to reach Bakugo?

For the sake of this, I'm still saying Bakugou will get captured. I could see a scenario of Izuku pulling him out in time, but Bakugou not being captured would radically change so much and I want to focus on your question. For this, let's say the feedback of "Black Whip" hurt his already damaged arms so much that he couldn't pull it off.

If you are talking about story changes, while I don't see any major differences in the plot. I can't imagine too many situations where he would act or react that differently with the extra power. However, I do see things getting a lot easier for Izuku going forward. "Black Whip" is one of the most useful Quirks Izuku has on hand, so giving it to him so early on is going to be a major boon. Saving Bakguou will be easier with a giant fishing line for him to grab. He's going to breeze right through the License Exam with the extra range and defense and would likely win against Bakugou in their rematch. He might even take the chance to escape with Eri thanks to the whips giving him an easy way out. After that, "Black Whip" won't be as helpful due to how enclosed and chaotic everything is in the Hideout Raid. It could be useful in the fight against Overhaul himself, like using it to combo attacks, having it intercept Overhaul's touch, or destroying even more of the environment. It may help the most with Gentle because it would give Izuku more mobility and control over the situation and work around Gentle's Elastic affect.

As for anything character focused, I could see a lot of changes with Bakugou as well. Between all the insecurities he has been feeling around Izuku and him getting suddenly another Quirk would put quite a bit more mental strain on him. He's going to have a lot less time to come to terms with everything, but I could still see him doubling down to surpass Izuku and maybe recognizing Izuku as a hero a lot faster. As for Izuku himself, it would be immensely more difficult to hide the fact that he had "One For All". They could pass it off like they did in cannon, but that is only going to work for so long. Other wise, I could see Izuku going a lot of what he did in canon, that being keeping an eye out for more Quirks, turning to his friends to learn how to use it better, and trying to master "Black Whip. Though there are all the benefits of having it for more time could bring, like learning how to control the black whips or coming with new techniques with it, such as a proto version of the Faux One Hundred Percent. Since he still learning to use Full Cowl, he could try to pull that internalizing trick early to better protect himself while he practices.

[sunkissedliterarylightofchrist]

Rank the half•alive albums and explain why pls

Along with the full albums, I sprinkled in my favorite EP’s because I totally 100% decided to just be extra and not at all because I forgot the function and difference of an EP from an album until halfway through writing this uh yep don’t worry about my musical terminology definitions at all I am a musician I do in fact certainly know these things shush.

5 - Conditions of a Punk

This album is nice. Like- it’s nice. I don’t dislike it, I think it’s good! Just not in the same incredible level as their other stuff.

Instrumentally, it’s not as great as their other stuff. With this one they were really trying out different styles and techniques, and I like some of it, but not all. I don’t like the effects and ‘washy’ effects like I love the fuller, richer tones in their other works. But I’m grateful for it because they learned a lot from it that they then put into their future work!

Lyrically, the subject and theme of romantic breakup isn’t something I have personally been through, so I don’t understand it to the same degree that others might. BUT, when thinking about some specific songs through the lens of friendship breakups, (cough, Did I Make You Up? cough) it is FANTASTIC.

How much I like this album really is a case by case basis with each song to be honest. Or maybe it’s because I haven’t been compelled to do a deep dive analysis into every single song, so I don’t love CoaP as a whole, I don’t know.

It gets bonus points because it has the most songs on it and everybody likes as much music as possible. But then again, that’s where one of its big flaws lies. The storytelling in this album doesn’t feel cohesive and smooth like in their other music. By putting so many songs in that didn’t all fit together, it caused some tension on the album overall.

So yeah. The album is okay, the songs are better as individuals than as a whole, but also these are the ‘worst’ of their songs (although I don’t think h•a has any bad songs at all, they’re far too skilled for that. Just my spur of the moment two cents here.

4 - In Florescence

I. LOVE. THIS. EP. SO. STINKIN. MUCH.

Okay, this is four of the songs from Now, Not Yet (RUNAWAY, still feel., creature, and BREAKFAST) remastered with an orchestra. And it’s ✨GORGEOUS✨

With each song, they took the same lyrics and the same overall beats of the song, but changed everything else. And not just for the sake of changing it, but to make the songs even better! From the length of the songs, to the different orchestral arrangement, to the beat drops, to the overall mood and tone, heck, even the way that Josh and the choir sing the songs (let’s all just take a moment here for Josh’s incredible controlled vocal cracks and wavering vulnerability with the way he projects oh my GOSH some of his best singing of all time is right here in my opinion wow he is good)

I adore the original versions of each of these four songs so much and I love these versions of these songs just as much, if not more, and this remastering was the best idea ever and I adore it and I think everyone should give it way more hype and listen to it WAY more often.

And it has my favorite song creature, made as my favorite version of it with all the gorgeous instrumentals, so it gets bonus points.

3 - 3

Only reason it’s above In Florescence is that those songs were remastered from Now Not Yet while 3 has all originals, and definitely not because I wanted to make a joke.

All three of these songs absolutely smash and it is 100% their best EP. The Fall, Aawake at Night, and Tip Toes are some of their best songs ever. I never see people talking about these but they 100% should. These songs cover what hovering in the cusp of submitting yourself to Christ looks like— either the first time when you’re saved, or over and over again when you sin and temporarily turn your face from Him in shame before running back into his arms.

Also the sound of it is so good??? Definitely the most techy and alternative of their music. Love love love it. They’ve veered away sound-wise since as they’ve discovered more of their personal style, but when they did do this stuff they totally crushed it and the sound of this EP holds a special place in my heart.

Love every syllable, need do a verse by verse breakdown of it at some point to give this beauty the screen time it deserves.

2 - Persona

My life got SO MUCH BETTER the day this album came out, seriously.

Once again they’re talking about the human condition, and once again they’re nailing it. This album is split between ‘the ache for a healthy world and a call of accountability for how we are hurting it’ and how that pushes us to cry out to Abba Father. Then also, we have to appreciate the past and harness it to drive us into the future, while savoring and appreciating the present, to be able to go into he future boldly without worry because God’s got us. We’ve got to open ourselves up to God and take off our mask, our persona, with Him and with the people who love and care for us.

AND THE ROCK IN THIS ALBUM- SO GOOD. And I loved their soft, melodic style they also leaned into so much, it really goes to show how much range they have and how well they really do it all! A lotta bands and singers do only have a one-note style, so I adore how diverse they can be musically! And the tone that they pair with what they are saying in each song is perfect.

The only reason that Persona is below Now, Not Yet, is I’m incredibly attached to how NNY depicts the walk of faith and what being a Christian looks like so majestically. Persona has elements of that, but is more focused on both the anger and softness of the general human experience and how that affects everyone. But in every other way, it’s equal to NNY, I adore both of these so much.

1 - Now, Not Yet

This album. This album- is a masterpiece. It goes like this:

Life Hurts -> We See Our Condition -> We Want to Run From It -> We Can’t Improve Alone -> Seeing Sin -> Explaining Sin -> Even in Sin, I Feel Alive, But Not Because of Me, Because of Something(One) Who Saved Me -> [Big Shift in the story right here] Maybe I Don’t Have to be Stuck in this Sin -> There is Certainity in the Goodness of This Thing(Person) -> This Good Thing(Person) Has Saved Me -> Oh Wait but I Still Feel All That Pain -> I’ve Been Saved from my Sin but it’s Still There -> I Long for Pure Goodness -> I Find it in this Thing(Person) -> I Need to Rest In It -> True Goodness is Revealed to Me -> I Can Surrender Myself to It -> Jesus is the Answer

ROMANS EIGHT BABY. GO READ ROMANS EIGHT (and how Romans Seven first leads to it) WHILE LISTENING TO THIS ALBUM I BEG YOU.

Point-blank period, no grey area. Up until creature, you could intrepret different songs in different ways, but at that point when they pull off the curtain and show God at the center of it all, everything else suddenly clicks into place and becomes so much richer and better. It starts off pretty ambiguous, but with each song the final point becomes clearer and clearer.

This album is called Now, Not Yet because that’s the theme. We are Creation, both Haunted and Holy. And we feel the tug of the world between our flesh and our souls. We’ve been saved already, its guaranteed. But until that day, we’ve got to continue to fight. And for His Glory, pointing it back to Him in all that we do.

Do I even need to dive into how it sounds HOLY COW YALL ITS A MASTERPIECE OF HEADPHONE GREATNESS AND A TOTAL BOP. Literally do not know how they didn’t win an award with this it’s incredible. Love all the soundboard stuff they did, ‼️the beat drops‼️, and how their music just flows through you and gives you chills in the best possible way. And the way they use percussion to like give glitter to what they’re saying is just so cool?? And gotta love how the bass and consistency of the backing tracks always are, and how it elevates up Josh’s voice- especially with all the add on effects that are added and the echoing in a lot of these songs!

👏So👏amazing👏

IN CONCLUSION I could talk about half•alive and what it means and how it sounds and how all of it glorifies God and how I want all of my friends to listen to them as well and how I hope to meet them all day thank you for giving me an opportunity to talk about this.

[dimensionhoppinghybrids]

That wrankled Joseph a lot. He felt in a way, responsible for the two. He felt responsible for their safety.

Joseph gave a begrudging nod.

Hed do it for the sake of survival. No more, no less.

"Things are going to be hard from here on out." He told them both.

"Lets do our best, and please, try and keep your heads low." He asked of them.

"I can accept my own fate, but I can't and won't stand seeing you both abused." He stated as he went to get some sleep.

A heavy weight felt like it was pressing on his shoulders. He would need to be as prepared as he could be.

For the next few days, wouldn't be kind to aby of them.

Breakfast amounted to rice and dumplings, and maybe bread. There was very little normal food and faire that they were used too. They were given chopsticks, not spoons.

And Joseph was made to wear a gi of a light blue tint and a red sash, while later on they'd see seniors with brighter colors, and either a golden yellow or jade green sashes.

The seniors were cruel in a lot of ways, and in the first few days, Joseph was challenged often. Given no weapons, and forced to use "techniques". Joseph didn't know what that was, but Joseph at times won more at times through experience and a bit of guile. Other times he lost, but that was because hed been pushed.

Those that lost, turned angry and gave hateful looks. Those that won, smug and demanded a lot of things from Joseph.

He was treated more or less like a slave in some parts. Or a servant.

He was made to do what the seniors felt were menial and unworthy of their precious cultivation time.

From washing, to gardening, to cleaning. At least at first.

As the week progressed, he was pushed into fights by more capable disciplines and he lost more often. Came back more battered. They always made sure to not take it too far. But he didn't know what they were working towards.

Because it was all a means to a goal. A goal he couldn't see, even as he adapted, was forced to learn by masters and tutors, smacked and ridiculed for being either a bumpkin or a "barbarian" outsider.

While he was suffering that, things were different for Moriko and Miran.

In some ways, they were shunned, but in their case as servants, not by choice. Most servants looked either tired, afraid or both. They tended to keep their heads down, and try not to become a beacon of attention.

Those that they were forced to interact with did so with trepidation and fear. They were coerced by circumstances to interact with them. And only a few, specifically female servants, tried to bully Moriko.

It was the young masters that tried to either be more handsy, or bigger bullies in various, cruel and snide ways.

Then came the day. The day things went from bad, to shit above the knees bad.

Joseph had been forced into another bout. And this time, it had been a senior that hadn't held back on his "pointers."

It got so bad, that Joseph had been dragged to the healers. And the healers, against his wishes, had removed the mechanical items that were his prosthetics.

Using Qi, and tools, they had removed them all and sent them off for research of the "formations" as they called the runes and mechanisms of his items.

He had been healed. Fully healed. Just as demanded and was put in a artificial sleep while he recovered.

While Joseph, Miran and Moriko all talked, something... Weird happened. Weirder then usual. There was a glow that came from Joseph. A glow that was connected through a tether that had been connected to him by Qi and the many wonders that it brought by masters of its craft. It snagged him and the other two, and then, like a fishing rod, pulled them roughly to a reality they were not supposed to be in.

They landed roughly in front of great stone walls and a gate with fractal protections and inlaid with images of many kitsune bowing and scraping on the floor in either worship, or in deference.

They were certainly not in Kansas anymore.

The feeling was strange and before either of them could do anything they were yanked away. A normal day now turned upside down as the two barely had time to think before they arrived, and what they saw they couldn't believe.

Moriko and Miran recognized this from stories that they use to be told and read. This was a lot like what they thought ancient human sects might look like. The two were a bit in awe, and a bit ashamed that they were in simple clothing. Though the images did make them feel a little uncomfortable.

"Joseph, we should be careful here. Something powerful has brought us here, and this might be our ancestors afterlife." Miriko said hoping he'd take her caution seriously.

[thephaedronachronicles]

50 Good Questions with an Okay Author: Q. Alexander

1. What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?

“I personally have never gone on a trip specifically for the sake of writing, not to say I haven’t thought of doing so. It just hasn’t happened yet.”

2. What is the first book that made you cry?

“A child called it. My 6th reading teacher read it to us or assigned it to us; I can’t remember which, but that book is so raw in its approach—very powerful and purposeful in it’s message.”

3. What is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry?

“Considering I’m self published I can’t really speak on their practices, but I can say that the whole thing gives me gatekeeper vibes; so maybe passing on potentially great authors.”

4. Does writing energize or exhaust you?

“It depends, I tend to manically write in month long spurts, then cool off. It can be both invigorating as well as exhaustive.”

5. What are common traps for aspiring writers?

“Believing that a story needs to be completely original. It’s okay to find inspiration in other works, nothing is original, simply adjusted.”

6. Does a big ego help or hurt writers?

“Too much of anything is harmful, although I’m not one for humility.”

7. What is your writing Kryptonite?

“Finding articulate ways to illustrate what I see in my mind, a lot of the time I find myself fleshing out characters or storylines after I’ve written them because I sort of glossed over the general idea.”

8. Have you ever gotten reader’s block?

“Yes, usually when I’m writing. I’ve had a bookmark in ‘Salem’s Lot for the past two months because I’ve been full steam ahead with finishing Black Empress.”

9. Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?

“I currently write under a pseudonym.”

10. Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

“More than anything I try to build characters that deal with exaggerated emotional circumstances that we all experience in our lives. In Nasir’s case, he’s a man in love who’s concerned with losing himself, I feel like that’s where his magic comes in. Physically he’s a god, but in his heart and his self doubt he shows that he’s just the same as us. Uncertain of what tomorrow holds.”

11. Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly?

“I feel that emotion is a cornerstone of writing, sure you would be able to literally write, but I feel there is no power in words that don’t touch your heart.”

12. What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

“I don’t have many friends that are authors, but the few I do silently inspire me to sharpen my craft.”

13. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?

“With the exception of my self-help book the vast majority of my works, published and unpublished are connected.”

14. If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

“Continue to follow your dreams, this will come when it comes.”

15. How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

“It allowed me to take myself seriously; I think it did the same for my peers as well. After publishing Lost King I was able to analyze my work as if it wasn’t my own, which allowed me to correct mistakes and apply new techniques.”

16. What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?

“My MacBook, I don’t think I’ve gone anywhere without it for longer than a day.”

17. What authors did you dislike at first but grew into?

“The first time I tried to read King I was turned off, his writing style is so in depth and idiosyncratic that I almost wasn’t able to understand what it was I was reading, now I’m utterly enthralled by his works.”

18. What did you do with your first advance? “Wished I had one.”

19. What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

“I was driving in the car with my mother and little brother; we were going to my dads house and a group of white guys in a van pulled up next to us and proceeded to call us niggers, I was only twelve, maybe thirteen but I remember crying. I wanted to jump out of the car so bad, I think it was the first time in my life that I ever experienced helplessness.”

20. What are the most important magazines for writers to subscribe to?

“I have a staunch opinion that magazines are a dying medium, but if I had to pick I would say Ebony and Jet magazine, I’m also biased in my opinion.”

21. What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel? “Walk Two Moons.”

22. How do you balance making demands on the reader with taking care of the reader?

“I usually intend for the reader to go through an emotional journey along with the characters, as far as rewarding them, we’ll just have to see how the next couple books turn out.”

23. As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

“I’ve always been a butterfly, there’s something poetic about transformation, then beautiful death and butterflies have a habit of fluttering by when I’m being introspective and I find I have a lot of similar traits.”

24. What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters?

“The few characters I have based on people tend to be far more compelling to me. Camille, a secondary character that I molded after a girl I went to karate with, Beatrix Kiddo and Cammy from street fighter (her namesake) was intended to be a filler member of Alpha Sect. but the more I wrote about her the more I wanted to make them resemble the impact that that person had on my life. I ended up loving the character so much that I made her integral to the central storyline. Another character, Nacira, was based off a girl I had a brief crush on in high school. Nacira’s personality is more akin to Xena, but the quirky, fun parts of Nacira are based on her namesake.”

25. How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

“Within the Phaedrona series a solid five, outside of that canon I would say another six or seven.

26. What does literary success look like to you?

“Creation is literary success to me, whether my books garner fame before or after my passing is irrelevant, the magic for me was creating them and bringing them into corporeal form.”

27. What’s the best way to market your books? “Write them well, the rest will follow.”

28. What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

“I did a considerable amount of research for TPC, in all I would say a solid three months looking into physics and theoretical physics, specifically when it came to Black Empress, as this one has a more sci-fi/ space setting as opposed to Lost King that always felt more mystical/occult.”

29. Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?

“It can be, depending on what’s being written at the moment. But do I look for spiritual release or stimulation when writing? No.”

30. What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

“Making them vulnerable, I’ve been raised by and have known strong women my entire life. Making them anything other than utter bad assets is hard for me.”

31. How long were you a part-time writer before you became a full-time one?

“I’m still currently a part time writer, even though I write every day. My bills are just a bit too big for my revenue from writing to cover, but then again I have a taste for the opulent.”

32. How many hours a day do you write?

“As I said earlier, I’m pretty manic when I write. Some days I won’t write at all, and others I’ll write all day. But at the same time I’m constantly creating storylines or ideas within my mind.”

33. What period of your life do you find you write about most often? (child, teenager, young adult)

“Definitely young adult, considering that’s the phase of my life that I’m exiting, I’d like to write a story similar to my childhood but I’m pretty sure I’d be cancelled if I wrote about the things us 90’s kids actually did when our parents weren’t around.”

34. What did you edit out of this book?

“Originally TLK was about Nasir, Alexius, Samir and Aiden being poised against each other by Amara, this didn’t work with my final vision but a part of that storyline remains in Samir and Aidens relationship.”

35. Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?

“I can’t really say yes or no to that, that’s n excellent question that I don’t have an answer for.”

36. What are the ethics of writing about historical figures?

“Maintaining a respectable amount of honesty; I think that matters more than whether they’re depicted as good or bad.”

37. How do you select the names of your characters?

“Some are based on mystical deities and others tend to be names that I’ve heard and been fond of.”

38. If you didn’t write, what would you do for work?

“I’d do porn.”

39. Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

“I live for book reviews, I love the thought of someone feeling so moved, whether good or bad, to write about how the book made them feel.”

40. Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

“Certainly.”

41. What was your hardest scene to write?

“My hardest scene to write in TLK was the final fight between Nasir, Ahmry and Kasraja. It was hard for me to find a way to make Kasraja feel properly evil, and I still sort of feel that his goal was righteous in the eyes of the Aranaki, so I guess the issue was I didn’t make him evil enough. In the Black Empress the hardest scenes for me to write were the deaths.”

42. Do you Google yourself?

“I did even before I was a writer.”

43. Whats one thing would you give up to become a better writer?

“I don’t know, I like to keep things, giving things up is not something I’m very good at.”

44. What are your favorite literary journals?

“I actually don’t read a lot on literature, I tend to read more about science and the occult.”

45. What is your favorite childhood book?

“Tears of a Tiger.”

46. What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

“Keeping my ideas in check, Black Empress was supposed to be massive, but I eventually had to split the story into two parts because what I had planned would’ve been exhaustive in my opinion.”

47. Does your family support your career as a writer?

“I’ve been blessed with a family that has wholeheartedly supported all of my creative endeavors.”

48. If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?

“Go to college immediately after highschool and study literary arts.”

49. How long on average does it take you to write a book?

“We’ll have to see, TLK took me a little over 10 years, Lies You Should Tell Yourself took me 8 hours, while Black Empress only took me about a year.”

50. Do you believe in writer’s block?

“Not anymore, I prefer to call it burnout. I just let myself reset for a day or two then jump back in.”

[haztory]

hi mcdonald’s can i get uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh nanami + “nice tits”

“Nice tits.” from my writing event that ends today! 

 warnings: adult language and sexual themes, but that’s about it!

a/n: 3k words all for sanju that probably strays from the prompts but its fine bc i love you biiiiitch. thanks to everyone that requested a prompt! they will be out momentarily!!

nanami kento x gn!reader

There’s a universal understanding amongst the adults in the general realm of well-formed maturity and a sense of responsibility that there is no situation to ever exist in which listening to Gojo Satoru’s advice is a viable option. 

Much less any advice about love.

“You know,” His voice sings to your left, interrupting the tranquil silence of your office by his surprise warping, “If you needed help in satisfying your urges, you only had to ask. Looking at porn during school hours is a bit of a cry for help, (Y/N).”

“Go away, Gojo.” You reply, hardly perturbed at his unannounced visit and continuing the matter at hand. Your index finger continues its motions, pushing the wheel of the mouse downwards and studying the plethora of Google Search images the float past your eyes on your computer monitor.

Gojo leans his elbow on your desk, perching himself on the left side of your body, “Hey, I don’t judge! I’ve done it once or twice myself. I just always pictured you as more of an ass-person.”

Landing on an appropriate image for your task you click it, enlarging it on your screen. Gojo whistles.

“Now that’s just obscene, isn’t it?”

A finger enters your line of sight, pointing itself obnoxiously at the screen, specifically at the rather large pectoral belonging to that of a male model. An image that is necessary for your study of a new cursed technique that you witnessed on your last excursion with Nobara, and not at all the focus of sexual release as Gojo might insist. Even if they are rather admirable in their size. 

You would rather die before ever telling him that, though.

“They should really put a warning on those honkers—”

“Is there a reason you’re bothering me?” You ask bluntly, printing the image and retrieving it from the printer tray beside you.

“I just wanted to see what my second favorite teacher was doing, but never did I think I would catch you in the act of making a shrine to tits, so—”

You roll your head to the left, meeting Gojo’s shit-eating grin with a deadpan stare. With a sigh, you shake your head, “I’m studying.”

Even beneath the blindfold, you can see the waggle in his brows as he props his head on the bent elbow. “Oh suuure.”

Huffing impatiently, you swivel your desk chair to face him, placing a singular finger on his chest to push him back from your immediate space. He only continues to grin in his usual unabashed manner, as though he’s caught you red-handed. It makes you roll your eyes once more.

 You didn’t need to explain yourself; it wasn’t like you were doing anything immoral. Sure, staring at a number of pectoral muscles might seem inappropriate to the passing eye, but it was easily explainable. 

But as it always is with Gojo, he manages to rub that small part of you that just has to fight back. Fuckin’ prick. “We came across a cursed technique two days ago that targeted the chest. It caused—”

Gojo waves his hand in your face, “Seismic tremors in the pectoral muscles that affected a cursed energy point, yeah, yeah. Nobara told me all about it.”

“If you knew what I was doing why are you making me sound like such a creep?!” You exclaim, kicking his chest with the heel of your shoe. He catches your foot with a laugh, dropping it and holding his index finger upward.

“Because it’s fun to tease you.”

Huffing, you turn back to your monitor and point at the door, “Leave.”

“Oh, come onnn,” He warps in front of your computer, leaning himself over the top of the screen, “I’ve brought you a little gift of knowledge to help your studying.”

Even as he desperately tries to insert his gangly arms into your line of vision, you continue typing into the search bar. Some variations of “pectoral”, “muscles”, and “large men”. For research purposes, of course.

“Oh yeah?” You ask noncommittally, knowing full well the manner in which Gojo dangles his plots of mischief disguised as help, “And what would that be?”

Smiling largely once more, he lets out a giggle, “The larger the muscle, the more potent the attack on the cursed energy.”

Sparing him a quick glance, you mumble, “Doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.”

“No, but it does take a genius to figure out how to reverse the effects.”

He stops the statement there; grin audible in his words. After having spent years in the presence of the obnoxious Gojo Satoru, you already know there’s an ulterior motive to his words, something that is going to bite you in the ass rather aggressively.

And as much as you want to avoid being in the line of fire, especially the one directed by him, you’re simultaneously dying to know where this is going.

You hesitate to ask, but it comes out. Dripping in all of its cautiousness. “And?”

“And it also takes a willing participant to study.” His smile, in all impossibility, became even wider.

“I’m still not getting the picture.”

“A participant with rather large pectoral muscles.”

Oh.

Oh no.

“Someone who would willingly participate for the sake of education.”

Of all the people to have figured out about your (not so) little crush on a fellow sorcerer, it had to be the world’s largest idiot and nuisance. You had to end this, now. Before he does something so irrevocably stupid— 

“Shall we go ask Nanami?”

And that’s how you find yourself flushed with absolute mortification, gripping your clipboard with tight knuckles against your chest, wondering how you ever managed to forget the utmost important rule when it comes to Gojo Satoru.

Never listen to him, especially on the matter of love. 

Maybe that’s indicative of the state of your crush as a whole, something you should probably pay more attention to, seeing as the minute Nanami Kento was mentioned, you’ve forgotten the extent of logic and reason and followed the whims of Gojo without hesitation. 

It’s problematic, horrifying, and ultimately a monumental issue at the moment considering your mouth is as dry as a desert and your brain absolute mush, rendering you completely unable to formulate any words.

“Wow, Nanami,” Gojo shamelessly says, one hand shoved in his pocket as he stands beside your frozen figure, “Nice tits.”

Nanami hums unenthusiastically, unbuttoning the last button on his blue shirt and elegantly removing it from his large, muscular frame. Folding it neatly on the expanse of the couch beside him, he turns his stoic gaze back to you, hardly even concerned about his half-nakedness. 

Whereas you felt yourself almost drooling at the revealed expanse of firm muscles peppered with sparse hair. The fact that it was that easy to get to see this, to almost be able to touch it— 

Maybe listening to Gojo isn’t a bad idea after all.

“Shall we begin?” Nanami asks, pulling his glasses off of his face with his (large) hands and folding them on top of his shirt. A strand of blond falls onto the front of his face and his gaze trails from the impassive stare at Gojo, to you. 

And by all that is sweet and holy you swear that you’ve ascended to an ethereal plane and before you sits an angel waiting to take you to the pearly gates. No longer stares a man unamused at the teasing of the white-headed idiot beside you, but instead a celestial being with a body made of pure stone and dare you say, looking at you with a tenderness in his gaze that was absent only a moment before.

An elbow digs into your side, pulling you rather dramatically out of your stupor and towards the smug grin of the man beside you. 

“Well?” Gojo asks, “If you’re not going to touch him, I will.”

“Thank you, Gojo, but I can take it from here,” You all but hiss, pushing him once more away from your body, accompanying the action with a pointed glare. Beginning a backward trek towards the door, he holds his hands up in surrender.

“Alright, alright. I can see when I’m not wanted. I’ll be back in half an hour.”

Opening the door and stepping out of it, he halts, turning his head to look over his shoulder and says, voice coated in that familiar tone of teasing, “Remember to use condoms, lovebirds!”

He shuts the door quickly, hardly giving you a chance to spear your ire at his retreating figure, but you have half a mind to chase him down the hall when you hear his echoing laughter ring out. 

An awkward silence settles between you and the man of your horrid fascination that not even an uncomfortable laugh can ease. Clearing your throat and trying to remember your sense of professionalism, you straighten your shoulders and take a deep breath, facing the handsome man with a confidence that was growing incredibly difficult to face. 

“I’m going to touch you. For research. Your chest, specifically.”

In a move you’ve never quite seen before, Nanami sheds that formidable air of quiet stoicism and lets a small smile grace the features of his face. It gently pushes against the corners of his mouth and his bare shoulders move the slightest bit with the exhalation of his amused breath. 

“For the tremors in the pectoralis.” He says, leaning his body to rest against the backing of the couch, straightening his legs wearing their usual tan slacks to rest naturally in the position and hands folding in his lap. 

You gulp. “Y-yes.”

“I read your report.”

“You did?”

“I always do,” With his eyes still trained upon yours you can see them widen a bit at the realization of what he’s said as if that were an intimate detail he hadn’t meant to make you aware of. He quickly brings his fist up to his mouth, clearing his throat, “You are one of the few sorcerers here that fill them out correctly. I learn a great deal from your detailing. It’s… very helpful. You’re very thorough.”

Blinking repeatedly, you only nod at the compliment. Despite wanting to combust internally at the growing flames that burn inside of you, you take a step forward. Then another until, in an unforeseen reversal of circumstances, you’re towering over the man of great strength and respect. The man you’ve admired for the longest time.

The man that continues to stare at you with a softness you’ve never seen him reveal before. 

You can see the spattering of freckles that have intricately placed themselves over his broad shoulders resembling that of an artistic constellation and the delicious protruding of his biceps, great in mass yet telling of his of strength as your try to conservatively trail your eyes over his torso.

He’s beautiful, incredibly so. Baring himself to you in this way only affirms that.

 “Thank you,” you breathe out, and it’s more intimate than you intended it to be, but truthfully, it’s as fitting a phrase as it can be considering the proximity and the intensity behind his stare.

It’s all you can give him without crumbling at his feet. Placing your fingertips against his shoulder, you gently push him back, silently instructing him to lay on the couch. He follows suit like the dutiful sorcerer he is.

“I’ll just be examining the way in which your cursed energy extends from your chest. It shouldn’t hurt, but if you feel uncomfortable, just let me know.”

He hums once more from his supine position on the couch. Despite being much larger than the couch allows, he hardly looks uncomfortable. Only watches the way in which you press your fingers into his chest, pushing into his muscle and slowly massaging your finger in a circle. You circle around the left side, trailing around the outer edge of the muscle and above the rib cage, stopping and pressing rather firmly when you feel a surge in an energy presence beneath the skin. Almost on the center of his chest.

You snort a quiet laugh when you realize where it is.

“Should I be worried?” His deep timbre vibrates your indented fingers drawing your focus to his interested stare. He looks relaxed, the usual crease between his brow hardly recognizable. A stark refute to the question he posed.

You quickly shake your head, smiling growing wryer, “No, not at all. I just… think it’s funny that your energy presence is strongest where your heart is.”

Nanami quirks an eyebrow, “Isn’t that the same for everyone?”

“Would it be much of a surprise if I told you Gojo’s comes from his mouth?”

Nanami rolls his head, a breathless laugh exhaling as he stares at the ceiling. “No, I guess it wouldn’t.”

“Everyone has a different point from which their energy roots itself. Each one gives a different feeling of sorts. It doesn’t really mean much in terms of power and technique, but it is noticeable. You have an overwhelming presence as is, I just…” Your shoulders drop with a sigh, one stemming desperately from loving admiration and instead try to disguise as just an exhalation, “…never realized it came from there. Kind of fitting if you ask me.”

His brows furrow in contemplation, unsure if whether he could accept the statement. Unsure of whether it was a fitting examination or compliment for him. He must deem it something insignificant of his ponderance because he quickly moves on.

“And yours?” He asks, alight with curiosity, “Where does yours come from?”

You hum, grateful to finally shed the last remnants of awkwardness and engage in the usual friendly conversation you tend to have with him. The brief discussions that always prod a little too close for friendly discovery, but never breach the line of professional respect. That self-imposed limitation that you desperately wish he’ll cross, that this conversation is once again coming toward.

“Take a guess.” Allowing that lilting tease to infiltrate your words, you watch as Nanami adjusts himself on the couch. Bracing his arms against the cushion, he pushes himself into a sitting position and crosses his arms. Trailing his eyes over your seated body next to him, he leaves a burning trail in his wake.

He fixates on your face for a second and your breath hitches, before he travels downward over the column of your neck, then your chest, to your legs. Drinking you in as per your consent and request. Then, he extends his hand. Palm facing upwards in a silent request. You understand.

Placing your own hand in his, he turns your hand upward, allowing full access to the center of your hand and tracing his finger over the lines.

“Your hands. That’s your center.” He says with finality, monotonous but confident. With a small smirk, he looks up at you, “You are a healer after all.”

You give a small nod, “I’m not sure if it comes from my fingertips or my palm, but yeah. My hands.”

Looking back down at your hand in his, he traces the finger in a circle, “Palm. That’s where I feel it the most.”

“What does it feel like?” You ask with a laugh, expecting something asinine and noncommittal considering Yuuji once said your presence felt like a cool wind on a summer’s day and Nobara insists that it feels like a warm shower.

Two entirely opposite feelings, yet somehow categorized in the schema of comfort. You hardly expect Nanami to give something so introspective, nor anything that reveals too much considering the extent to which he tends to maintain the boundary of respect in the conversations of explorations. The kind in which two people teeter on the thin ice of interest, yet never voice it.

And yet, his eyes connect with yours again, and it's entirely too overwhelming for you to process. Too interested, too warm. His face betrays no nervousness nor any hesitation as he stares, entirely convinced that this is what was meant to happen. As though he knew from the moment Gojo asked that it was going to unfold this way.

Like he prepared for it. Like he decided today was the day that he crossed that line.

“Home. Warm and comforting.”

Slow heat the creeps its way up your spine that makes your brain halt thought altogether and sputter intelligently, “Gojo’s kind of feels like… tar. Thick tar. Super gross.”

His hand, large and warm, encompasses your hand once more, lays it flat against his chest to feel both his exuding energy and the steady beat of his formidable heart.

“And mine?” He asks, low and gravelly. Like sweet honey that has you captured entirely, unable to escape. Not like you want to. No, you’d rather drown in this overwhelming redolence than ever live without it.

You don’t even realize your breathing heavily, nor that his face has gotten closer to yours. When did he move there? Did you move there?

Either way, his face is in front of yours, noses almost touching and the compulsion to answer him on the tip of your tongue.

“Addicting,” you whisper.

And then his lips are on yours, molding sweetly into you, and it's everything you have ever imagined it to be. Slow, yet firm. Warm and craving, and you can only fight for more, more, more.

His hand moves to the back of your neck, pulling you in impossibly closer and you place your hands on his bare chest, the great reason as to your current predicament entirely, to steady yourself and your erratic heartbeat. Time seems to slow in the passion of his kiss, and yet when he parts for air, you feel as though you only had him for a second.

All the months of pining could barely make up for that singular moment.

“I’ve been meaning to do that for a while,” He says, leaning his forehead against yours, breath fanning over your aching lips. You scoff in laughter, meeting his smile with one of your own.

So, maybe, just maybe, listening to Gojo wasn’t a bad idea. And maybe, sometimes, he’s right about some things.

“Hey Kento?”

“Yes?”

“You really do have nice tits.”

“Likewise.”

[raayllum]

The Southern Raiders and Thunderfall: A Comparison

My brain loves parallels, and ATLA, and TDP, so here is a comparison meta, focusing less on relationships like my prior one about Kataang and Rayllum, but more episode and narrative structure. This meta will focus primarily on episode 3x16 of Avatar: The Last Airbender, “The Southern Raiders” (TSR), and 3x06 of The Dragon Prince, “Thunderfall,” in addition to 2x05 “Breaking the Seal.” The primary relationships explored here will be Viren and Harrow, and Zuko and Katara, with supplementary mentions / considerations of the former two’s love interests/canonical partners, Sarai and Aang, respectively. No, this is not saying that Zuko (an antagonist turned protagonist) is exactly like Viren (a current straight up antagonist), just that they have similar narrative roles in these specific episodes, and is instead a Structural and Narrative focused analysis. 

Big spoilers for both shows, will not be reflecting too positively on either Varrow (although I do ship it) or romantic Zuko/Katara (although I do not). With all that in mind, let’s read on.

Parallel Premises

The Southern Raiders and Thunderfall are both episodes, inherently, about the theme of revenge and the cycle of war. Character B seeks out a way to “fix” things by evening the score of the war and to help Character A get closure and revenge. Character’s A closest friend/partner isn’t there for most or all of the episode. Upon the moment of revenge, the choice Character A makes defines much of themselves and the direction their relationship with Character B goes. The episode ends with a reflection of the importance of breaking that cycle and learning to move on in whatever way you can, even if you cannot ever fully let go of your hatred. 

Harrow and Katara - the Revengers

So, first things first, for the sake of this meta, Character A is the spot both Harrow and Katara occupy. Each are deeply compassionate and moral leaders, refusing to turn their back on others just because they belong to different nations, i.e. Katara helping Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation citizens, and Harrow aiding the queens of Duren and their people.

However, both have tempers and can be ruthless when it feels like people are getting in their way or when their patience has (emotionally, understandably) snapped. Harrow knocks Viren down a peg when he feels like the man is wasting his time in 1x03, despite Viren actually trying to do something good for Harrow, and when Sokka is trying to bring up his perspective on their mother’s murder, Katara shuts him down.

I’ve talked about the parallels between dark magic and bloodbending before (sectioned meta here). In that meta, it was about the parallels between Callum and Katara’s arcs, but here we draw the contrast between Katara and Harrow. Dark Magic and bloodbending are both about control and power:

Hama: Once you perfect this technique, you can control anything... or anyone. Katara: But, to reach inside someone and control them? I don't know if I want that kind of power. H: The choice is not yours. The power exists.

Dark!Callum: But you were born to do magic. The kind of magic that humans can do. You can have unlimited power. And you can choose what to do with that power! 

The core similarity between them is control and power, the ability to enact your will over others than Dark Magic is entirely dependent on - to take what is inside someone else, their energy or blood, and to use them to your own ends. Harrow’s morality is worn down over years of hardship, creative solutions proposed to him in softer terms (if the Magma Titan looked a little more human, after all, perhaps it would be more easily recognized as similar to illegal organ harvesting). Katara is worn down by grief, and in their largest moments of anger, they give into each form of temptation due to hatred, regardless of the innocent who may get in the way - or if not fully innocent, those who did not commit the crime they’re avenging.

K: That’s not him. That’s not the man.

But a tragedy inherently takes at least two, and so does a revenge quest, so let’s take a look at the characters who are responsible for orchestrating said revenge missions, and in escalating them. 

Viren and Zuko - the Orchestrators 

Viren and Zuko are both extremely different yet similar characters. They are morally questionable for most of their respective series, hiring and creating assassins (Zuko takes the straightforward route to protect his own political/emotional standing, whereas Viren conjures them out of magic and sets his own son to secretly complete the task). They have a shared tendency not to think things through - just about everything Zuko does, and Viren choosing to go help the queens of duren even though he’s needed alive more than anyone to complete the spell - as well as similar tempers. Both are driven by obsessions (for Viren, the mirror, and for Zuko, the Avatar) and believe that destiny is chosen for them as a ruling force.

Zuko: And I know it is my destiny to capture him. / I know my own destiny, Uncle. Viren: [Zym’s] destiny will be the destruction of all humanity.

There are also parallels between their behaviour as per related to the characters specifically involved in their revenge quest (Zuko, Aang, Katara; Viren, Sarai, Harrow) along the theme of protection. Viren attacks Thunder and then moves on to get rid of what Thunder was protecting, and Zuko knocks Katara out at the North Pole in order to get to Aang.

V: He was protecting something very precious. K: He’s my friend. I’m perfectly capable of protecting him.

But we’ll get more to the parallels between them when we talk about episode structure later. For now, let’s move onto the loosest - but honestly most important, in some ways - connective thread and comparison:

Sarai and Aang - the Moral Caution

Sarai and Aang are the moral through line. Sarai speaks out about the plan that Viren and Harrow initially concoct in 2x05 that leads to her own death. While Harrow has taken the blindfold and understands that the lives of the people of Katolis are not worth more than the lives of the people of Duren just because of which side of a constructed border they fall upon, he is unable to apply that same logic to Xadia the way that Sarai can. Likewise, Katara (and her brother) hold onto their reasonable grudge against any and all members of the Fire Nation, one that Aang does not hold even once he finds out the Fire Nation wiped out his people. He is also the only Gaang member who has bad blood with Zuko who doesn’t hold a grudge against him, either.

A: Everyone, even the Firelord and the Fire Nation, have to be treated like they’re worth giving a chance.

S: Does it think? Does it feel? Does it have a family?

Yet, as previously noted, Harrow and Katara are blinded by their hatred. Harrow ignores Sarai’s clear counsel in 2x05, and in 3x06, she is not there to advocate for herself. Aang advocates on behalf of Katara’s emotional wellbeing - as he’s come to know her better than anyone next to her brother.

S: It’s a mistake, Harrow [...] There’s no shortcut! A: And what exactly do you think this will accomplish?

The fact that Katara is driven to where she is in TSR by a loss - her mother - that parallels the way she’s lost Aang in the past just hammers in the Aang-Sarai parallels even further.

K: So let me tell you something, right now. You make one step backward, one slip-up, give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang, and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore. Because I'll make sure your destiny ends ... right then and there. Permanently.

Z: I want you to tell me what happened to your mother [...] Katara mentioned it before when we were imprisoned together in Ba Sing Se, and again just now when she was yelling at me. I think somehow she's connected her anger at that to her anger at me.

Harrow’s love for Sarai, and his hatred at Thunder, is also what propels him to take action, when Viren uses it against him in 3x06.

V: Tell me you don’t want justice. Tell me she wasn’t your world. [...] She didn’t get to see the princes grow up. She should have. And what of them? They were robbed of their mother’s love.  H: You’re right. I do hate him.

And in 2x05, again, Sarai questions the way Harrow is framing things in his mind.

S: You keep it calling it a monster. H: Yes. It’s a giant beast made out of rock and magma. I call that a monster.

Zuko: She needs this, Aang. This is about getting closure and justice. Aang: I don't think so. I think it's about getting revenge. Katara: [Angrily.] Fine, maybe it is! Maybe that's what I need! Maybe that's what he deserves! Aang: Katara, you sound like Jet. Katara: It's not the same! Jet attacked the innocent. This man, he's a monster.

The life they will take is justified because its of a monster. The life they will take is justified because it took the life of someone they love, regardless of the fact this person may also have a family, or loved ones, too.

Aang: The monks used to say that revenge is like a two-headed rat viper. While you watch your enemy go down, you're being poisoned yourself.

Viren offers Harrow a “short cut” from the consequences of their joint actions; Zuko offers Katara free rein to do whatever she wants, regardless of whether it will be emotionally good for her or anyone else around her in the longterm. 

No Choice

The Southern Raiders, Breaking the Seal, and Thunderfall are all connected by the theme of agency, just as the arc of every character in either show. The way that Katara parallels Zuko in TSR, with her obsessive and explosive temper.

K: But now that I know he’s out there, I feel like I have no choice! A: Katara, you do have a choice.

Zhao: You freed the Avatar! Z: I had no choice!

Viren and Zuko don’t ask Harrow OR Katara if they’re interested in revenge. Zuko and Viren both go behind their backs, in a manner, collecting the ingredients necessary for the journey they believe the other needs to take. For Viren, it’s the unicorn horn and Sarai’s last breath, taken secretly without Harrow’s knowledge. For Zuko, he gets information from Sokka without revealing what he plans to do with it, and then presents it to Katara, who feels that - in her own words - the knowledge itself strips away her agency, much like how bloodbending worked according to Hama. Much like how Viren, deducing Zym’s existence, takes things one step further, unable to leave it alone.

But when, then, do Viren and Zuko push for possible - or literal - revenge the way that they do?

Push and Revenge

Zuko and Viren both, ultimately, have good intentions... to a degree. Zuko says that he wants Katara to trust him, but she still lets him go on trips with two of the most important people in her life - her best friend and her brother - before this episode. What Zuko actually wants is for Katara to like him and not be constantly putting him down. Which is fair, but ultimately short sighted. 

He is not entitled to her trust or good graces just because “Everyone else” trusts him now, “What is it with you?” like there’s something wrong with her for not liking someone who had repeatedly attacked her and all of her loved ones. (Which, in many ways, Zuko’s line is one of the most entitled line from any character in the whole series, to be perfectly frank.)

Z: Your sister. She hates me! And I don’t know why.

His emotional responses make him unable to connect with her, as Katara literally just got done telling him why: “And then you turned around and betrayed me! Betrayed all of us!” 

Meanwhile, Viren is trying to assuage his own guilt. In some ways, this is a similarity he shares with Katara. Sarai died saving his life, much like how Kya died saving her daughter’s.

K: I’m not the helpless little girl I was when they came [...] She was protecting the last waterbender. ME!

V: On that fateful day, so many years ago, Queen Sarai saved my life, but minutes later, Thunder struck, there was nothing I could do to save hers.

Ultimately, though, Viren isn’t the one who avenges Sarai. Harrow is. Viren is trying to make up for the loss he feels responsible to for his friend, to assuage guilt that both he and Harrow - both Katara, to her mother, and Zuko, to Katara - feel. But in spite of the fact that Katara and Harrow are the ones still grieving, being the primary loved one, and primary revenger, Viren and Zuko are the ones who keep Pushing the mission forward.

When both Harrow and Katara are ready to turn back, as Harrow thinks their mission is completed, and Katara thinks theirs can’t continue (and again, has just bloodbent an innocent person), Viren and Zuko escalate the mission further, specifically through violence.

Z: What can I do to make it up to you?

Viren offers to go kill a baby, and Zuko shoves a man up against a wall and interrogates him. Likewise, Zuko and Viren are the first attacker both times; Zuko firebends at Yon Rha before Katara steps in, much like how Viren paralyzes Thunder with dark magic before Harrow steps in. 

Moreover, Harrow and Katara are in so deep, that after doing things they would have found deplorable before (bloodbending, murder, dark magic)

They just keep on going further in.

The Differences

The key difference between these episodes, then, is in the obvious. Harrow is a more passive Revenger than Katara and Viren is a more active Orchestrator than Zuko, bloodying his own hands directly whereas Harrow just allows him to over doing it himself. There’s the choice that all of them make, of course - Harrow chooses to fully go through with it all, and perpetuates the cycle a generation further by allowing Viren, as far as he knows of, to depose of the Dragon Prince, an innocent baby. Katara chooses to spare Yon Rha and ultimately walks away.

But the biggest difference, perhaps, is that Sarai is dead with no one to speak for her, and Aang is there to speak for Kya. As a mother, she did everything she could to protect Katara, physically and emotionally (calling her sweetie, giving her one last smile, etc). In some ways Aang takes on this role in TSR; he hears Katara out but also empathizes with her. Katara runs to her parents, and Aang runs to her.

K: I’m going to find Mom!

A: Katara, are you okay?

She doesn’t do what he would have done, but his primary concern was always for her, and she knows it: “Thanks for understand, Aang.” Since, as he says, “This is a journey you need to take. You need to face this man. But when you do, please don’t choose revenge. Let your anger out, and then let it go.” 

One of the reasons Katara is able to maintain her own morality because her own moral through line, Aang, didn’t die at Ba Sing Se. And Zuko himself says this: “You were right about what Katara needed.” Forgiving Yon Rha wasn’t it, but letting her anger out in a way that wouldn’t harm her further was.

But Harrow’s moral caution in Sarai didn’t make it, and so he gives into his grief and hatred and anger and causes more pain and more suffering. But, eventually, he learns the same lesson that Aang and Katara do. 

H: Do not let the past define your future, as I did. Free yourself from the past. Learn from it, understand it, then let it go.

Now, Harrow learns his lesson too late, unable to make it true for himself, but Katara is. She forgives herself and Zuko and walks away as a stronger person for it. And Callum (and Rayla, and Ezran) inspired by Harrow’s letter and their own choices, are able to do the same in Harrow’s stead. Neither of these things include forgiving the man who took Callum/Katara’s mother from them, but it does include looking forward instead of back. 

K: I wanted to do it. I wanted to take out all my anger on him. But I couldn’t. I don’t know if it’s because I’m too weak to do it, or if it’s because I’m strong enough not to. [...] But I didn’t forgive him. I’ll never forgive me. But I am ready to forgive you.

Aang: I’m proud of you.

C: I hate him. He’s the one who took my mother. Looking at him, seeing him, it makes me, it makes me sad and angry and... confused. That was her spear, my mom’s, and my stepdad put it into his heart. How am I supposed to feel about that? Glad? Happy that we got revenge? Or maybe regretful, and sad, because... Because that was Zym’s dad. I feel so sorry that this all happened.

Rayla: Me too, Callum. But look at them, playing together. That’s the miracle. That’s hope. They’re the ones that are going to break the cycle.

And that’s the message that these episodes ultimately leave us with, as heartbreaking and difficult as it may sometime be. That breaking the cycle of war and violence and grief, for ourselves and those around us, is a worthwhile process, that can lead to Healing.

[grasshopperdoingdogpaddle]

I had a thought and I'm curious about what you think about it. I cant remember if its canon Chase's warriors are all people he's fought, defeated, and they pledged their loyalty too or if he just collected them, but do you think it's possible they were all his apprentices at some point? Maybe they failed and got turned into cats as punishment, or when they died. They each thought they were The One special apprentice. Does that mean it would be Karnappe's eventual fate?🤔

No, I don't think making apprenticing the warriors was Chase's usual modus operandi for building his army of fallen warriors.

The vast majority of them were probably brought into the fold the same way Guan almost was: strong-armed into swearing their loyalty to him, usually by being fought and defeated. Sometimes through more complex means perhaps, like how Guan was putting himself on the line and gambling his freedom for the sake of Dojo and the little dragons-in-training, so some of the other fallen warriors might have gambled their freedom in hopes of getting something out of Chase or protecting someone or something from Chase too. But always roughly that pattern.

I doubt that ever really involved taking them on as an apprentice before Omi. The way he interacts with Omi is pretty unique to them.

For one thing, although I think Chase has mastered a lot more fighting styles in his 1500 years, Chase's main style is Wushu, specifically Tai Chi.

We have a wide range of masters of different techniques from different cultures. Even though Chase learned enough about those techniques to defeat each of these warriors one-on-one, I doubt he needed to or had the ability to mentor them in their specific specialties. And I doubt he'd want to. He brought on warriors who were already capable fighters. He set out to be a tyrant, not a teacher. He probably "got them accustomed to the ways of evil" when they first joined, but that's the extent of it.

I also think the "chosen one" talk was unique to Omi. "The one who I'll let rule by my side for eternity." There are some fallen warriors he seems closer to than others, but none of them he holds as close by his side as he does Omi when he gets Omi on his side, and none of them he'd kneel for like he did for Omi, so I don't think that's something he offered to anyone else.

Plus, there's also the fact that Chase didn't have an actual plan for how to get Omi to transition from being his apprentice to being on his side. He knows how to get fallen warriors to swear their loyalty or to gamble it away, but he was pretty antsy about how he was going to get Omi to join him. He's not really used to this. At times, he was even a little bit awkward in his interactions with Omi, or he was pretty worriedly talking to Wuya about the fact that if he didn't get Omi on his side, he'd have to destroy him, but never actually seeming willing to destroy Omi. His schemes with Omi are ever-evolving in a way that shows this strategy is pretty uncharted territory for Chase.

As for Katnappe, no, I don't think she was in any danger of being turned into a jungle cat or that Chase ever thought of her as a potential chosen one, or even an actual apprentice. In The Apprentice, Chase never seemed to seriously consider her or actually mentor her. Both Ashley and Jack were only offered the position as part of a complicated plan to make Omi learn how to lie and deceive others "to get a taste of evil." After that, Chase presumably just discarded them both since that was the only role he wanted out of them and he doesn't mention it again.

If there was a pawn on one of Chase's plans who might have been at risk of being turned into a cat, it might have been Jermaine, who was "one assignment away from earning a permanent place" there. Even that was still just part of a plan to get Omi to act though, so Jermaine wasn't a potential chosen one in Chase's mind. If Jermaine had beaten Omi in the showdown and "earned a place" as a jungle cat, Chase was probably counting on the fact that Omi would definitely be willing to wager his own freedom to try to win Jermaine's back. Omi wouldn't have tried done that for Katnappe, even in theory.

[angeloroki]

you are the ua traitor — tamaki; shoto; bakugo

you were the ua traitor. and that broke his heart.

— character ; amajiki tamaki x gn!reader, shoto todoroki x gn!reader, katsuki bakugo x gn!reader

— request ; So I have this idea 👉🏻👈🏻 tamaki ( idk if you write for him ) shouto and bakugou ( feel free to add or remove anyone ) reaction to reader who sent by the league of villains to spay on UA. like the students were on a mission and the villains attacks and reader take their side ? Again plz if your uncomfortable with it just ignore it and ily 🤎🤎Also sorry for any mistake English isn’t my first Language

— genre ; angst

— warnings ; none

— a/n ; ty for your request hun, im totally okay with it!! so i hope you'll like it :)

(ily too <33)

amajiki tamaki

broken

his heart was in pieces when he understood your real presence in UA

you were called in by the professional heroes with nejire and mirio to rescue civilians from an attack on the downtown shopping center

he was warned that it was an attack of the league of villains

the young brunette was not afraid of the villains, but he was afraid for you, his s/o, afraid you would get hurt or worse

but he was happy to be with you on this mission,

you were there to reassure him and to have his back and vice versa, you were just a great duo

but never, never would he have imagined the scene before him

indeed, he was going to fight toga when he saw you deflecting his blow to protect the young blonde

« y/n ? » he said confused

but was he really ?

but everything came together like a puzzle, the rumor of an informant within the school, how each attack coincided with their exit from the school, information leaks

but still everything was fuzzy in his head

and maybe he didn't want to admit the truth

that the person he was in love with was just a villain

tears came to his eyes, and his gaze found the ground. motionless, paralyzed, he was losing his means

he saw you strike a violent blow to a hero who was going to arrest you

another hero came and shook tamaki with both hands

« hey son let them, the building will collapse ! », he shouted in his ears

but tamaki came to free himself from his hold to approach you

you stared at him, poor baby, he was in a bad state

« did you lie about that too ? did you lie to me when you said you loved me ? »

tears came to his eyes, he wanted to hear your truth from your own mouth first

he refused to admit that you had just helped the league of villains to knock out all the heroes

you sighed softly, you had never planned on tamaki in your mission

and even less fall in love with him

« you can still become a hero. and be with me. i beg you. » his voice was now a whisper.

a hero tried to capture you and failed miserably

the cause ?

tamaki

he was holding him back with his tentacles from approaching you.

« i'm sorry. i'm sorry that my love feelings for you are true. » you said.

his gaze was fixed on the ground, but he guessed that you had fled with the other bandits.

he let you go. and you were gone.

shoto todoroki

shoto and you were on patrol in an area when you were called in to help some heroes who were in trouble against the league of villains

your boyfriend who was very attentive to you noticed right away that something was bothering you

although he asked you if you were ready to go, you assured him that everything was fine

he knew you too well and knew something was wrong as you said

and his thoughts were confirmed all too quickly

you had arrived at the battle scene when he heard someone call your name

it was the one villain called twice, he has dealt with before in many attacks

« y/n you're finally here, oh my god, there is so much noises ! no it's silent what do you mean. y/n, shigaraki you don't have to do anything more in the UA ! »

shoto was a man of great composure, yet it was only these few words that managed to destabilise him with incredible force.

he was going to ask you what it meant

and before he noticed you were no longer by his side, he saw you alongside some villains

but instead of seeing them fighting or at least stopping them, shoto quickly understood that you were simply helping them to dodge the heroes' attacks

he said your name in a weak voice at first, filled with concern

he started to walk towards you, at a slow pace then he accelerated his pace

his thoughts whirled at a crazy speed, everything fitted together perfectly.

you were the traitor the teachers had been talking about for the last few weeks.

and you had chosen the worst time to reveal it.

once he was on your level, your first instinct was to protect yourself in case of an attack.

but the last thing he wanted to do was capture you or attack you , he just wanted to understand.

he needed to understand.

todoroki just wanted to understand how you could have betrayed him, or everyone else in the school.

« tell me i'm misinterpreting what's happening, please. »

his usually stoic expression was replaced by one filled with sorrow

and that's what broke your heart the most, plus the fact that your first love was a hero and not a villain like you.

his hands that were connected to yours clenched a little more as if he was afraid that you would disappear at any moment

yet he wasn't wrong to be afraid

and he understood that quickly

« don't give up on me, please. i-i love you y/n, even if we're not in the... same camp. »

never has shoto shown himself so weak in front of someone.

and even less so unreasonable

he, who was so hard on the rules. he was willing to make an exception for you.

and yet, you couldn't let that happen

you had to bite your lip until it bled to keep from crying in front of him.

you would have liked to say that he was only a pawn in your plan, in your mission.

but did you also have to lie to yourself ?

« stop loving me then, because it's not possible. » you reply in a cold voice.

you pushed him away violently, and with your partners you managed to push the little heroes aside to escape.

you did it for him, for his sake, you convince yourself.

even if it would break your own heart.

katsuki bakugo

you and bakugo were in the middle of a hostage rescue

admittedly, this was not bakugo's strong point, attack was more his domain

yet your superiors had specifically assigned you this mission

and what surprised you was that he didn't grumble while trying to change your mind

you didn't know it but he was happy to keep an eye on you, you were dealing with the league of villains and he was relieved to be able to be by your side to protect you in case things got out of hand

although he knew you were capable of protecting yourself

but now he wasn't sure if you ever even needed him

indeed, you were the two heroes still standing against the villains,

the other pro-heroes were either injured or unconscious

he wanted to keep you out of the way to avoid hurting you when he wanted to attack

« get out of my way moron, it's time to attack ! »

and yet you pushed him away with a calculated gesture and tackled him to the ground

you had handled him gently and carefully not to hurt him

and it was the fact that you attacked him instead of your opponents that caught him off guard

he didn't even try to struggle, letting you do this technique that you had learned from aizawa, in a few seconds only

and yet even though he suspected what was going on, he dared to say

« i knew you were stupid, but not that stupid ! we're not in training, the bad guys are the assholes over there idiot ! »

he was quick to get out of the way, but you made it easy to keep him in your grip

« don't be silly katsuki, you know we were never on the same side. », you say in a voice filled with pain.

you understood well what he was doing, the young blond is a smart and a clever man although he didn't let anything show in class

he simply refused to accept the truth, hiding his face

without saying anything, he pushed you away and went to attack the villains who were starting to flee

this time, and it was the last, you tackled him to the ground so that he

you didn't know about this surprise attack by the villain league, the last thing you wanted was for this mission to go wrong and katsuki to get hurt.

his expression was a mixture of anger and pain

« DON'T THINK I'M GOING TO LET YOU ESCAPE JUST BECAUSE WE'RE IN THE SAME CLASS Y/N! » his voice broke in mid-sentence.

you felt your throat tighten, it was the first time he had used your name.

Why did it have to happen in this particular situation?

it had been a while since he had stopped struggling, only his bruised eyes were still trying to struggle

you didn't answer, a heavy silence was between you despite the mess around you

« answer me, damn it... » , his voice had calmed down, but you could still feel the anger simmering.

« you couldn't understand katsuki. » you fled his gaze, your hands still holding him.

he let out a dry laugh.

« yeah, you're just like all the rest. »

bakugo was still stronger than you, in just a second he was up and pushing you away.

he turned his back on you.

« go away. but i will find you. »

[ask-fantasy-sanders-sides]

How competent are Dee and Remus at fighting compared to Patton, Logan and Roman? How does Virgil work with a group?

      When it comes to combat, Dee and Remus are a much more competent team than Roman, Logan, and Patton! (Mostly due to Virgil’s influence on them)

      Logan has never needed to learn any combat skills, since he’s barely ever seen combat. He’s frail and uncoordinated, and Logan doesn’t have any motivation to train skills he isn’t instantly good at. He does know quite a lot about different flora and fauna, which can be incredibly helpful in battles against those things, but his excitable companions aren’t likely to listen to his advice, if he’s even given time to speak. He took some “self defense with a knife” lessons from Remy at his brother’s insistence, and heard old war stories from his Grandfather, but that’s as close as he’d ever gotten to a real fight before this adventure! (And, despite Remy’s best efforts, Logan is still more a danger to himself than anything around him)

      Patton was trained for battle, but he was also trained to use it as a last resort. And, though he was trained in the use of a few weapons, he was discouraged from ever using anything more than his fists. All this in mind, though, Patton was trained for single-combat; facing down a singular, humanoid combatant without any assistance. 

      Roman did get to witness the thick of a few monster hunts himself while travelling with his Mother’s temple, but he never payed attention to the mechanics of the fight, and was never trained himself. When he and Remus started travelling on their own, they were both mostly winging it; they relied heavily on Roman’s magic and Remus’s unreasonable HP, and both of them being able to fly out of their enemy’s reach most of the time. Roman refused to admit he wasn’t an instant master of the sword, and refused any help he was offered for the sake of his pride (until Virgil bullied him into lessons). Still, despite how little technique he knows, Roman would never run away from a fight!

      And, there’s the problem that none of the three know how to work together. 

They have very little experience as a fighting team

Logan has no defensive, martial, or stealth abilities, is unarmored and cannot dodge, and almost all of his combat spells backfire on his team in some way

Patton has useful skill in a fight, but he is also the least likely to engage in a battle, or put any effort into one that’s already started

They were all either trained to fight alone or not trained at all, so they don’t know how to fight together without impeding each other and/or hurting themselves.

Roman gets carried away by the 'valor of battle’ easily, so he doesn’t do any defending until it’s too late, and he won’t let anyone else get any offense in either if he has an opening to steal the spotlight

Roman is their healer, but he is also the most trigger-happy and one of the most fragile party members, so he is almost always the first to go down 

None of them are very good at sensing when danger is near

      So, Roman or Patton’s sheer might can get them out of a few small-scale situations, but they can’t work together, and Logan can hardly even defend himself.

      Janus and Remus (mostly thanks to Virgil’s training) do not have these problems.

      Janus has had access to many offensive and defensive spells since he was a child, and though he doesn’t have as much energy to use on them as Logan does, he has more variety to work with and more experience in using them. He has less mobility than Logan (who is already pretty bad), but he has much higher stealth, HP, and natural armor, so he can take a few hits before being knocked down. And, although he doesn’t have much strength to put behind it, he was been trained extensively to use a sword, and had one crafted specifically to his liking. And, of course, he has natural poisons he can breathe out in a fog form, spray from his hands, and inject via a bite attack!

      Remus had just as little training as Roman had before he met Virgil, but he was also born with the unnatural strength and health of an Angel, while Roman mysteriously was not. He got along pretty well on his herculean strength and might alone for many years, but then he met Virgil, and Virgil insisted on training him. Virgil taught him mastery of many different weapons, and how to wield two identical weapons at once without sacrificing maneuverability or power. And Remus may not be as stealthy as either of his companions, but he is better than his brother, and he can actually survive standing bold-faced in the front line of battle.

      Virgil, as you are already aware, is a pretty formidable soldier even when he’s almost dead from surface exposure.

      And, of course, they can read each other extremely well!

They’ve had over ten years to learn each other’s tactics and fighting styles, to the point where they can give orders and assess conditions without speaking, and predict each other’s every move.

They trust each other absolutely; each one of them can simply expect the other two to watch their backs and make up for their weaknesses, as they do the same 

They know their strengths; None of them is here to steal the spotlight. They know who is best to tackle each target, and when they need to make room for one of their allies, or step in to help them.

Virgil (a seasoned warrior in both solo and team combat, and a vast multitude of weapons and styles) spent many years training his companions to defend themselves and compliment each other’s skills, turning the odd group into a veritable three man army.

Virgil and Remus are both extremely sensitive to incoming danger, including sensing when traps are located nearby

      Of course, that doesn’t make their group perfect:

They tend to find themselves outnumbered

They have almost zero ability to heal their party after a battle

Occasionally, Remus can lose control of his Rage and go awol

Janus could run out of spells, and lose a lot of his ability to contribute effectively

Remus and Virgil are MUCH faster and more agile than Janus, who can get separated from them if they aren’t careful

      If Logan, Roman, and Patton got a bit more training (some more than others, and bless your heart Logan you really just need more offensive or defensive spells my dude) and the six of them teamed up, they could be quite an indomitable force to face! But, as it stands, our ‘light sides’ don’t really hold a candle to the other three, in general skill or in teamwork.

[nissakii]

Significance of “Madness” in anime

We’ve already established in other posts about significant emotions and concepts in anime or specific media before. The Significance of losing or the one of visuals and metaphors in Haikyuu!! are some of those I would love to mention here, but today we shall delve into a broader topic that goes more along the lines of Makii’s thrilling post about Danganronpa and the Significance of Despair.

Today, our topic of interest is madness.

To ease your mind, in this post we will be talking about the representation of insanity and madness in some anime characters and how that reflects on the story and ourselves as an audience.To make one thing clear, a lot of the times we see overexaggerated versions of unstable characteristics in anime that aren’t realistic.

This is in no way a discussion about actual mental illnesses and not a professional approach to analysing them to our real life standards, but maybe a start to an interesting discussion about how we portray and handle what one may colloquially call “craziness”.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s start!

Artists, and no matter for example if they write or draw, use their platforms to deliver messages in cryptic ways. As humans, we have the innate ability to look at something and consume the facts through entertainment which makes us crave new media to follow and analyse.

We love to question things instead of just taking them as they are, and that is why most writers out there will play around with the perception of their audience.

You may be familiar with the common question that ghosts through your head as you enjoy the latest episode of your favorite anime.

Why did he do that? Is she a traitor? What makes them think that way?

Although one might always do it consciously, we most definitely analyse whatever media we consume and decide for ourselves if it is important enough to keep in mind for future reference.

What the writer or founder of the anime ultimately wants from the reader is a reaction.

No matter what they intend to do with it, if they enjoy the viewer getting excited or traumatised is not of importance, but a reaction is evidently one of the goals. 

And as strong emotions always evoke an even stronger reaction, anime characters are often very idealized and have ideologies that make them want to do one particular thing.

Be it save the world or destroy it, we focus and look at these characters and root for them if they give us a reason to do so. 

Both sides of good and bad can have deeply rooted admiration drawn out of us, and it sometimes doesn’t even matter because the more interesting part is the lovely grey area in between. 

We need a balance of good and bad to enjoy both.

Empathy makes us viewers want to relate to the characters, and if the author gives us the possibility to learn why someone does something, it gets harder and harder to dislike them. That’s why tragic backstories and flashbacks are such an overused tool in anime, because with the extreme behaviour some characters show they also need equal amounts of redemption.

We attach ourselves emotionally to characters depending on our personal tastes as well.

If someone likes and relates to a strong and independent protagonist who would drop anything for the sake of justice, you will find a lot of resembling characters in shounen for example.

On the other hand, if a darker or more obsessive character manages to take over a special place in a viewer’s heart, putting them on a pedestal gets more and more interesting, because you’re not supposed to.

Contrary to that, characters with insane or dark personality traits are often very popular, again tracing this back to human instinct of emphasising with wronged characters and curiously inspecting the fully deranged ones.

As this isn't something that should be put into vague concepts, we’re instead going to look at examples of characters and entities that are seen as ‘mad’ and how they’re interpreted.

It’s not just about villains being unreasonably immoral in this post, as we look into what madness entails and how it's shown, we also have some examples of corruption to look at.

So of course there are the typical evil-thinking evil-doing villains out there. 

Some of them have an actual backstory to make them more realistic and believable, some others are just pure evil. While they are often called mad for their actions to achieve their goal, the reason why they are put into that light is the stark contrast between the protagonist and the villain.

If the protagonist loves to save people and always has a smile on his face, of course he will differ from his counterpart when he finds out that his methods are a bit more vicious.

The protagonist perceives the villain as insane most of the time, but what does the viewer think?

We seek to look not only at characters that are enjoyable to watch, but also try to find similarities between us and them or draw lines in their behavior to understand them better. As mentioned before, empathy plays a huge role here as well, since whatever happens in anime doesn't have actual repercussions, we can forgive characters more easily. 

For example when they are taken by Insanity as a side effect rather than being insane due to trauma, we often get an 'ally turned traitor' trope through hypnosis or brainwashing, which is just as interesting to look at. 

If a person did something horrible under the influence of something they had no control over, are they still to blame? 

Does Insanity only involve a separate entity that comes from evil, or are we also looking at the gradual descent into darkness when life just isn't the same anymore? 

Insane and with no fear: Soul Eater

A great example of how insanity plays with characters be they good or bad is Soul Eater. 

With a premise that one needs a sound mind and body to inhibit a sound soul, we obviously know that people close to becoming Kishin-eggs will have a rotten soul drenched in bad deeds, but what about the good guys? 

In this instance we have a lot of different types of madness and insanity that touches multiple characters at different times, and by far the most drastic would be the black blood. 

The black blood being a synthesized weapon form of blood that can change form and harden into shape, is a weapon made by Medusa and introduced for the first time with Crona. He was melded together with Ragnarök as a weapon and used the black blood in his proficient fighting style. 

Soul Eater as well as Maka and other characters later come into contact with the black blood, and the consequence of the immense strength that comes with it is debilitating madness. 

As explained in the anime, the madness makes one deny the soul of oneself and others and takes away your fear. Now with no fear present, the person exhibits extremely erratic behavior and is not scared to hurt others or themselves.

This is an insanity that shows how essential a person's fear is, shown by Maka in one of the latest episodes when she fights Asura. The fact that she learned how to accept her own fear and realise that humans need it to survive is why insanity in Soul Eater is merely a concept to differentiate between what is human and what is Kishin. 

A Kishin kills and murders with no fear of anything. 

A human protects and masters one's own fear. 

The power hungry insanity: Hunter x Hunter

In Hunter x Hunter we have a lot of characters that don't exactly fit the norm of human action. 

With people like Chrollo, Illumi and even Chimera Ants there is enough crazy to go around. 

Still, the character we shall delve into to look at a different kind of instability is none other than Hisoka Morow.

Yes, in comparison to black blood madness Hisoka is an actual human being with no known influence outside of his own intellect. The contrary to another weapon or entity making someone insane is being shown in this anime.

Hisoka is just insane. 

We have no means to see if there is anything that might have caused Hisoka to be the way that he is, but what we do know is that his character is almost too nonchalant for his own good. 

His goal is to accumulate power and fight others that he seems worthy, as that is what attracts him. No person is spared if he believes he found a worthy opponent he will make that clear to them and pursue them passionately. 

We could rule that the clown is just eccentric, but with the given information from the anime he definitely had some sort of mental difference next to his peers. Harming himself holds no problem to him, and his behavior is deeply rooted only to suit himself. He has no self-preservation except for when he needs to accomplish something, and he even enters the spiders just to get close to Chrollo. 

Now we see a single person carry themselves throughout a story only to achieve one thing: a good fight. 

After having looked at these two examples of insanity in anime, let's look at how that insanity can be portrayed visually. 

A famous way to show someone's psychosis is the “Kubrick stare”. A directorial technique that got named after the director Stanley Kubrick who used a forward tilt of the head with eyes locked onto the camera to show the actors of his movies at their peak of madness. It became a very popular stylistic device and is used still very often in modern movies.

The character is supposed to look menacing, evil-plotting and absolutely unhinged.

Such devices, if used often enough, automatically invoke the message to the viewer.

If you’ve seen the Kubrick stare once in a psychotic character, you will definitely associate it with the same derangement again.

In anime we have a similar thing, and you might be aware of this already.

Familiar with the ‘eye angle just before a character goes insane’ meme?

It’s a running gag that shows multiple characters such as Asura from Soul Eater, Pain from Naruto, Light from Deathnote and Jason from Tokyo Ghoul in a frame where you can only see their eyes and it somehow looks extremely grotesque as if they were looking into different directions with their eyes.

As much as it is a joke, it is a perfect example of something extremely similar to the Kubrick stare used in anime culture. It goes so far that if any anime watcher would see a new character look like in a frame, one would assume they were about to go crazy.

Even Oikawa Tooru from Haikyuu!! was shown with a Kubrick stare in the last moments of the second Seijoh vs. Karasuno game, when his desire to win overtook him with incredible force.

Without loss there naturally can’t be any wins, and without sadness there will be no joy in laughter.

We need the different depictions of what one might call madness, to fill our stories with nuance that relies on our reality.

Be it an unknown entity, hunger for power, lack of fear or the good old fashioned thrive for world domination.

Madness is just another part of what we call life, and to be honest in healthy doses and for effect why not enjoy it in anime?

Now, do you guys know any other characters or concepts in anime that would be worth mentioning? I would love to see them in the comments! 

Until then, stay sane!

-Nissa

[makeste]

I read the meta you reposted about anyone being able to become a hero, and I would just like to give some thoughts. I agree it is wrong to think in terms of good vs bad victims and measure everyone as the same. Just because Shoto never killed anyone in response to his abuse and Toya did doesn't mean that Toya was always an evil person looking for an excuse to break bad. Different people break from different things.

these are all good, well-reasoned points, anon, but I disagree with a few of them. let me try to explain.

so the thing about this whole atonement process is that it’s hugely complex, and there isn’t really any kind of roadmap for Endeavor to follow when it comes to trying to make things right. I actually appreciate that his arc is written in such a way that his epiphany doesn’t just happen all at once, and you can see how his approach gradually turns from one that’s still mostly selfish and centered on him, to one that’s actually focused on his kids and what they need. you can see the stages he progresses through as the series goes on.

1. I’d argue that it all starts when he first gets yelled at by Deku (“Todoroki isn’t you!”). he realizes that maybe this kid has got a point, and that treating his son as an extension of him rather than as his own person might just be sorta shitty. so he files that away, but we don’t really see much of a change in him yet.

2. then a few months later he gets thrust into the #1 hero role, which has the interesting psychological effect of forcing him to see past himself and his ego for perhaps the first time in his life. he suddenly finds himself in this position as the new Symbol, and starts to feel the responsibility of that, and it basically triggers the entire rest of his redemption arc. because once he starts looking outside himself, he starts to realize the impact his actions have on other people, including his family. for the first time, he starts looking at the situation with fresh eyes, and realizes how much he’s hurt them.

3. quick little detour here, I feel like it’s important to note that Endeavor -- like many abusers -- actually does love his family and never intentionally set out to hurt them. but the problem is that he is so self-centered for most of his life that he never stops to consider that his family and his kids don’t simply exist to serve his own purposes. he abuses Shouto during his training but I’ll bet you he himself never thought of it as actual abuse, just him being hard on him in order to toughen him up. he thinks he’s doing what’s best for Shouto by making him strong in the hopes that he’ll one day surpass All Might, because that’s always been his goal, and so he just unilaterally decides that should be Shouto’s goal too. he wants the best for him, but it never enters his mind to consider that his son is his own person who, gasp, might not actually want the same things that Endeavor wants. btw I should clarify that absolutely none of this excuses anything he does, holy shit. but I feel like it’s important to mention, because many people complain that the change in Endeavor happens too abruptly and is too unrealistic, but I don’t think that’s true at all. it’s just that people don’t like to acknowledge that abusers are still human (meaning that anyone can become one if they’re not careful to consider how they treat others). Endeavor’s actions are monstrous, but they stem from realistic places, and I think that it’s a very well-thought-out character arc.

4. and so basically, once that change finally starts happening, it’s not that he suddenly starts loving his kids all of a sudden out of nowhere. it’s that he finally starts loving them for their own sake, rather than his. for the first time, he starts loving them selflessly rather than selfishly. and it’s not a change that just happens overnight, because he is so used to everything revolving around him that even after he starts realizing what he’s doing wrong, it still takes him a while to break free from those patterns.

5. and so for example, he suddenly becomes wildly supportive of Shouto and his training and attempts to go full-blown helicopter parent. because clearly that’s what Shouto needs, right?? all those years he was trying to make him into his own personal mini-me rather than loving his son for who he was and supporting him as his own person. and so we see him hounding Shouto in texts to let him teach him his Ultimate Technique (but not because he wants him to surpass All Might, but because he just wants him to be the best hero he can be! it’s different now!), and attending his training sessions to cheer him on from the stands like an obnoxious soccer mom. and afterwards he tells him he’s proud of him, and that he wants to become someone Shouto can be proud of.

6. so you can see there’s some progress at this point, but at the same time he’s still making a lot of the same mistakes. his intentions by this point have genuinely changed! but he’s still looking at the situation from his own point of view, and not taking into consideration how his son feels about the forced attempts at reconciliation. he’s thinking ‘I was a shit father, I need to make it up to him by being supportive.’ but he doesn’t stop to consider that Shouto might not WANT his support by this stage in the game; that he might, in fact, not want anything to do with him at all.

7. and this doesn’t change until after his battle at Fukuoka, when he has dinner with his family and Natsuo blows up at him. he basically lays it all out on the table, but this is the most important part:

I am willing to bet that he did not, in fact, get it until pretty much that moment, actually. because up until this point, he’s been doing exactly as Natsuo said -- trying to make nice, trying to show that he’s changed, and to be a good father now. but he doesn’t stop to consider (a) just how much hurt he really has caused them, and (b) just how impossible it is to simply erase all of that. the pain Natsuo’s expressing here isn’t something people can simply get over. and I don’t think Enji realizes until this moment that he was still going about this in the wrong way.

8. and that, lastly, is what finally leads to this:

he finally realizes that it’s not about him. and apologizes, but makes it clear that Natsuo does not have to forgive him, and that he doesn’t want to burden him by making him feel otherwise. he acknowledges Natsuo’s feelings, acknowledges the pain he’s caused, and realizes that what he and the others need is space. and this is when he makes the decision to build the new home for them and Rei, so that they can finally start to move on -- without him, if that’s what it takes.

so this is basically the progression of Endeavor’s redemption arc up to this point. and I’m sorry it took so long to recap, I didn’t mean for it to lol, but there were a lot of parts I didn’t want to just gloss over. so now, here are a few last points I want to make about his arc.

1. first off, it’s important to consider the timeline here. when making your point earlier, you talked about Endeavor building the new home for his kids, but how “on the other hand” he kept trying to force his relationship with Shouto. however the order of these things is switched around. because Endeavor building the house is something that happens at the end of his arc. and in fact we have not seen him try to force anything with Shouto since then. this is important to acknowledge because it shows that he is learning and that it’s not just an insincere case of one step forward, two steps back. the progress he’s making here is genuine; he really is trying not to be selfish anymore.

2. I know I said “the end” of his arc just now, but in fact we have no reason to believe that this is the end of it. every time I see an argument about “well why hasn’t he done this yet, or why hasn’t he said this”, I wonder why people assume that just because he hasn’t done it yet, it means we’re never going to see it. for instance, he still hasn’t apologized to Shouto specifically for the way he abused him all those years. but just because we haven’t seen it yet doesn’t mean that it won’t happen.

3. fandom has this tendency, when it comes to characters they don’t like and don’t want to see redeemed, to continuously move the goalposts so that no matter what that character does and how much they change, they can continue to justify why it’s not enough. I’m going to take a quick break from Endeavor and use Bakugou as the example here instead, since I think it’s easier to summarize.

“Bakugou is such an asshole, all he cares about is himself, he’s definitely going to become a villain.”

[Bakugou refuses to join the villains] “well whatever, he’s still a jerk, just look at how he can’t even work together with others and refuses to help anyone.”

[Bakugou learns to Win and Save, and unlocks the Power of Teamwork] “well whatever, he still doesn’t care about anyone else. look at how he’s still an asshole to Deku even now.”

[Bakugou starts helping Deku train and learn how to control OFA] “whatever, that’s literally the bare minimum, there’s still no proof that he even cares about him.”

[Bakugou literally takes a life-threatening blow to save Deku] “whatever, it’s like he said, his body moved on its own so there’s still no proof he really cares.”

[Bakugou wakes up from a two-day coma, immediately asks about Deku’s health, and rushes to his bedside] “whatever, I don’t know why everyone is making such a fuss over it, he hasn’t even apologized to him yet.”

and so on and so forth. and I guarantee that once he finally does apologize, it will then shift to “well why couldn’t he just have done that in the first place.” but you get my point.

basically, there are certain characters whose redemption arcs fandom will actively continue to deny no matter what. Bakugou is one of those characters, and so is Endeavor. and I’m not saying that in order to call those people out, because everyone has their own boundaries of forgiveness, and I don’t have the right to dictate anyone else’s, just like they don’t have the right to dictate mine. everyone has their own line, and where it’s drawn is different for each person. like for me, the one particular character who can fuck off for all eternity as far as I’m concerned is Overhaul (although I admit I am still curious to see what Horikoshi has planned for him post-prison break in spite of all that). and there are a lot of other people for whom Endeavor crosses their own personal line. and you know what, that’s fine.

but here’s the thing -- if you actually want to debate his redemption arc with people, you should be willing to do so in good faith. meaning that if you really do think Endeavor is unforgiveable (and I’m speaking now in general terms, not addressing you specifically anon), just go ahead and say so! but don’t come up with an arbitrary list of criteria that he needs to meet in order to qualify for redemption, only to keep on adding more and more items to the list. and most importantly, don’t assume that your criteria are the only valid criteria and that you can speak for everyone else. and especially don’t act like you have a right to go around slapping people with labels like “abuse apologist” just because they don’t share the same opinions as you about a fictional character.

anyway! so as usual, a post that I originally meant to be only a few paragraphs long turned out to be a whole damn essay, I apologize. but anyways anon, basically I share the same opinion as you as far as the mindset that Endeavor needs to have for his atonement (i.e. that it’s not about him). however, I think he’s made more progress than this ask gives him credit for, and I don’t think any of it has been fake. that being said, it’s still a process, and his biggest tests are yet to come. whatever ends up happening, I hope the outcome ends up being one that the rest of his family can find peace with.

[andromedasstarship]

faceless, nameless - chapter 2

photo credit - unknown 

pairing - kylo ren x reader

warnings - canon-typical star wars violence, torture, fighting, angst. 

summary - You took a moment to examine this guy and that’s when it hit you, FN-2187, a stormtrooper was wearing Poe’s jacket and you could’ve sworn you saw red.

blog rules

a/n - i dont claim any ownership over dialogue pulled directly from the films :) this chapt is like 3.5k so buckle up!!! 

masterlist // read it on ao3 here 

chapter 1 // next chapter 

-----

the stars

Present Day 

Starkiller Base. 

A few months ago, you had given everyone on base a lesson in First Order torture techniques. Personally, you thought it was a rather pointless activity, knowing full well that none of them would ever be even slightly capable of standing up against Ren. Poe blabbed on about ‘hope’ and ‘they need to be able to find comfort’ and other random ‘good guy’ optimism nonsense. At the end of your lesson you stressed that the best chance they had of keeping their mouth shut was to find a memory- a good one-, and latch onto it as tight as possible until the Order was finished with them. 

Poe was really glad he talked you into giving that lesson, seeing as your advice had helped him withstand the past few hours of near constant torture at the hands of the Order. Various troopers and officers had come and gone, all failing in their attempts to extract what he had done with the last piece of the map to Skywalker. 

Around hour three his body began to give out and all he could think about was how you certainly hadn’t been lying in your constant complaints about how cold Starkiller was. As he faded into unconsciousness, he silently prayed you weren’t having a full blown breakdown and that BB-8 had somehow managed to find you on Jakku. 

When he woke again, no clue how much time had passed, he was greeted with a deep modulated voice from the other end of the room. Ren. 

“I had no idea we had the best pilot in the Resistance on board.” Ren stated, voice flat. “Comfortable? 

“Not really.” Poe responded, voice equally as flat. Behind his mask, Ren was staring quizzically down at him. Ren was more than used to the feelings of intense hatred that his prisoners projected towards him- if anything it was the expected response-, but there was something so different about the emotions Poe was projecting, unlike anything he’d ever experienced. It was so... personal. 

“I'm impressed, no one has been able to get out of you, what you did with the map.” 

It didn’t take a genius to know what was coming next. Not bothering to respond, Poe started to slip back away into his happy memory. In his mind, you were there, back turned to him but he could still hear you laughing as the two of you ran through the field by his childhood home 

He was forcibly removed from the memory when Ren reached outwards, slamming Poe back against the chair, with the Force. “I see.” Ren said darkly, twisting his hand ever so slightly, watching in enjoyment as Poe began to strain against the pressure building in his brain. 

Poe’s mind was panicked, trying in vain to hide the memory of you, but it was too late, as Ren had already caught the tail end of it. 

“Is it a girl that holds the last of the map Dameron?” Ren taunted, forcing his way deeper into Poe’s mind. 

Poe’s face was scrunched up in agony, desperate in his attempts to shield your identity from Ren. Ren mistook the admirable struggle as proof that it was this girl who held the key to the map, rather than Poe’s personal attempts at keeping you safe. Ren continued his mental assault, breaking down every mental wall Poe tried in vain to put up. 

A flash of your masked face. Ren was getting closer. 

Then there it was, you- unmasked, no disguise-, staring up at Poe in his memories. 

Poe in his panic started thinking of every single thing he could- what he ate for breakfast before he left, the color of his favorite shirt, the list of chores he had to do on base-, anything to try and divert Ren from you. 

It was like time stopped, the mental probe retreated only for an instance before Ren was back in Poe’s head with a new unrelenting force, pulling up Poe’s most recent and clear memory of you. 

“I don’t like the idea of this.” You said quietly.

“Have I ever let you down Princess?” Poe said with a grin. When that didn’t seem to amuse you, he put a hand on your cheek, angling your face up towards him. “Three days, I’ll see you on Jakku then. I promise.” 

And then the memory was gone. 

----

Jakku. 

It had been two years since Poe and blondie- you later learned his name was Leokai-, had stumbled upon you bleeding out in the sand. Adjusting to Resistance life had been difficult and for months you thought you’d never gain their trust. It wasn’t until you had accompanied Poe to a Resistance ‘recruitment’ meeting and noticed a First Order operative slinking around the crowded room. You had quite literally dragged Poe as far away from the building and off the planet in a matter of minutes, effectively saving him from giving a ‘we’re right here’ speech directly to the Order. After that, the general opinion about you among Resistance members turned positive. 

You still donned a disguise for their safety, lest their mind was ever blended up by Ren. It was incredibly simple, a well designed wig and different colored contacts. Natural enough that you’d never attract undue attention, but still enough that unless Ren had specific intel to look for this version of you, he’d never double check a fleeting memory that might include you; luckily no one had been unfortunate enough to test this theory. During any official Resistance business or battles you donned a plain white mask that wrapped securely around your face. 

When you first got the mask, you and Poe had had a field day with it, trying to figure out how much movement it could handle before falling off; Leia had actually caught the two of you trying to tie yourself to Poe’s X-Wing to see if that would finally get the thing to move. 

All in all, life with the Resistance was treating you pretty well. Except for right now, as you anxiously waited for Poe in a small nondescript ship on the outskirts of the Niima Outpost in Jakku. Poe, you had quickly learned, was one of the biggest idiots you had ever met. You weren’t exactly sure how he had talked you into splitting up for this mission. Splitting up was never a good idea, how had every horror HoloNet show not taught him that already? But Poe had made an undeniable point, the First Order- the Knights of Ren specifically-, were hot on his trail for the last piece of the map to Skywalker and you couldn’t risk being caught up in that fight. 

So, you agreed to split up. But Poe was late.  Late enough to warrant the uncontrollable worrying. Ever since ‘the incident’ you had developed a horrible case of ‘abandonment issues’; everyone reassured you it was a perfectly reasonable response, but you hated it, the complete lack of control over your own brain drove you nuts. You were pacing back and forth, doing your best to calm your nerves. Wherever Poe was, for his sake, you prayed he had a damn good reason for being late. Knowing that you were full of nerves,  Poe had even given himself a very wide arrival time so you wouldn’t worry. But here you were, worrying . 

Unable to wait around any longer, you decided to gear up and make your way to the outpost. If you were lucky, maybe someone had seen him or maybe you’d even find him yourself. You pulled your hair tight to the back of your head, clipping it in place, before sliding your mask on. As you headed out the doors of the ship you grabbed your staff, slinging it around your shoulder. A year ago, you managed to finally access funds that you had left behind on your home planet. Not only did it help purchase a lot of life saving supplies for the Resistance, it also meant you were able to buy and build a brand new staff for yourself. It wasn’t as advanced or sleek as the one you used in the Order, but it did the job just as well. 

The trek to the outpost would only take less than an hour, giving you adequate time to try and calm your nerves. You made a list as you walked, you made a lot of lists these days, having found it greatly helped in controlling your anxiety. 

Poe was just a bit lost, his sense of direction was never as good on the ground as it was in the air. 

Poe was being his charming self and chatted up someone a little too well and lost track of time. 

You still had your ship and if he wasn’t back by the end of the day you’d be going back to D’Qar and putting together an official search party. 

You struggled for a solid fourth item, but by then you were just reaching the outpost. It was loud and dirty and unlike anything you’d ever been to before. No one gave you a second glance, which you were grateful for. As you made your way through the many stalls you were growing more and more antsy, none of the people you saw being Poe. 

Nearly two hours had passed and you had thoroughly walked through the entirety of the outpost, not that there was much, at least ten times. Just as you were about to turn around and head back to the ship, a familiar shade of orange and beeping caught your attention. You almost fell to your knees in relief when you saw BB-8. Except he wasn’t with Poe, but rather a...scavenger girl? It was like BB-8 could feel your eyes on him, because he turned around to look at you and began beeping excitedly. The girl beside him turned to face you as well and without thinking you got a better grip on your staff and ran at her. 

The girl’s face morphed in confusion, but quickly put together what was happening and got her own staff into position, giving you one last look before she turned and started to run as well. Her hesitation and your own speed meant you easily caught up, swiping at her legs which sent her topping down. She hit the sand hard, not letting it stop her as she rolled to her back and instinctively pushed her staff upwards, expecting yours to come down. 

What she definitely didn’t expect was the electrical end of your staff, on and buzzing, pointed straight at her face. 

“You stole this droid.” You hissed. 

Before she had time to respond, BB-8 was rolling up to the two of you, beeping like hell. It was a funny mix of ‘I’m so excited to see you’ and ‘please don’t hurt this girl’ and ‘I’ve got so many stories to tell you’ and ‘I promise this girl did not steal me’ and other random beeps. He was talking so fast and your head was still clouded with adrenaline, so it took you longer to process what BB just said. As soon as you realized the girl hadn’t just not stolen him, but rather saved him, you turned the electrical current off and pulled your staff away from her face. 

You stuck your hand out, glad she was unable to see the look of pure embarrassment on your face. “I um, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have chased you like that, I just saw BB and…,” you trailed off, unsure of how to explain yourself. 

Luckily, the girl grasped your hand and lifted herself off the ground. “I would’ve done the same, I think.” She replied, giving you a tentative smile. 

You still had so many questions unanswered, but before you could say anything BB-8 started beeping like crazy again; saying something about how he could see a man up ahead-staring at the three of you-, that was wearing his master’s, Poe’s, jacket. 

Not bothering to apply any of the lessons you had just learned from storming the girl, you switched the electrical end of your staff back on. A quick look at the girl told you she had the same idea, both of you getting better grips on your staffs. Both of you took off in a sprint towards the man and you  almost  felt bad for him- you were clearly taking him by surprise, the way his eyes widened like saucers-, but he was wearing Poe’s jacket. 

His attempt at escaping was short-lived. The girl swung out in front of him, shoving him to the ground- quite similar to what you just did to her-, and you quickly took up the rear, positioning the electrical end right at his throat.  

Everyone was breathing heavily, no one had expected to do so much running today. You took a moment to examine this guy and that’s when it hit you, FN-2187, a stormtrooper was wearing Poe’s jacket and you could’ve sworn you saw red. You pressed the tip of your staff to his chest, not enough to seriously hurt him, but enough to send a shock through his body. 

“I’m only going to ask once,” you started, glaring up at him from behind the mask, “where, did you, get that jacket?” Punctuating each pause with the lightest of electrical taps. 

“Ow! Ow! Quit that! I’ve had a pretty messed up day, alright? I’d appreciate it if you stopped accusing me-” 

“Liar!” You yelled, putting the end back in his face. “You stole it from his master,” you said, tilting your head towards BB-8 who was beeping in agreement, “I’ll give you one more chance to answer honestly.” 

FN-2187 raised his hands up in surrender. You studied his face for a moment, searching for any signs of deception; there weren't any, but that explained nothing. “I swear! I swear, his name is Poe. That’s right? Poe Dameron.” 

At the sound of Poe’s name your shoulders relaxed a little bit, but the relaxation was short lived as you FN-2187 continued. 

“He was captured by the First Order.” 

No. 

“I helped him escape okay, but we crashed a little further out,” FN-2187 was silent for a moment, “Poe didn’t make it.” 

No No No No No No No No No. 

“You’re…, you’re lying.” You said angrily, unable to accept that as truth. When all FN-2187 did was give you a look full of  pity, you hit the switch on your staff, pulling it back to your body. “You’re lying…” You repeated, much weaker this time, glad that they were unable to see the tears forming behind the mask. 

“I’m sorry. I really am.” FN-2187 said quietly, in a voice that was just the right amount of sincere to be true. 

Out of the corner of your eye you saw BB-8 start to roll away, you couldn’t let him get lost now. “If you even, think, about running away while I go get the droid, you won’t live to see another day.” You threatened, quickly turning on your heel to go catch up with BB. 

In your absence, the girl and FN-2187 were both still quite winded. At least you had gone into the outpost knowing there was potential for action, the two of them were completely caught off guard. 

“Are you with the Resistance too then?” The girl asked. 

A fleeting look of confusion appeared on FN-2187’s face before he jumped up and nodded. “Yes, yes I am. I am part of the Resistance. A Resistance member.” 

“I’ve never met a real Resistance member before. And now in one day, I’ve met two.” The girl replied, with a gentle smile on her face. 

By the time you managed to get BB and ‘drag’ him back to where the other two were standing, they had finished their conversation. FN-2187 tensed up when you reappeared, something you were okay with, not wanting him to feel too comfortable around you. 

No one had time to say anything before the sound of blaster fire diverted all of your attentions. A quick look up at the sky confirmed your one of your worst fears, the First Order was here. FN-2187 grabbed both of your hands and started pulling.

“Don’t grab my hand!” You and the girl both shouted out, but running alongside him anyway. The three of you weaved your way out of the Outpost, doing your best to avoid the unrelenting fire of bullets and bomber shots the Order was raining down on you. 

“They’re gunning for me!” FN-2187 screamed, causing you to roll your eyes. 

“They’re gunning for all of us, especially the droid. Now keep up!” You yelled back. It didn’t take much mental strain to understand that if Poe had really been captured and had really crashed on Jakku after escaping, that the Order would’ve followed him here. Your feet pounded the sand, pushing yourself ahead of FN. 

“We can’t outrun them!” FN-2187 called out from behind you. 

The girl was ahead of you and she pointed out towards a quad jumper. “We might! In that quad jumper.” All of you running towards it as fast as you could. 

Of course, as soon as the words left her lips, the TIE fighter tailing you blew the thing to smithereens. All three of you seemed to pause for a moment before the girl started running towards a hunk of,- oh my god was that the Millenium Falcon-  junk to her left. 

“Hey! We still need a pilot!” FN-2187 screamed, still running a few paces behind you. 

“I can pilot anything!” You yelled out, not bothering to look at him over your shoulder. The three of you, plus BB, raced up the walkway of the ship, slamming the door shut behind you. 

“Gunning position is down there.” Rey said hurriedly, pointing at a set of stairs. She didn’t look back as she rushed ahead to the pilots seat. 

Just as FN-2187 got ready to mount the stairs you grabbed him by the back of Poe’s jacket and yanked him around to face you. 

“Not the time-”

“If you do anything down there to make me believe you’re still working for them, FN-2187, I won’t hesitate to come down here and gouge your eyeballs out myself.” You spat, relishing in the way his eyes widened at the use of his official call number. You didn’t give him the chance to reply, just let go of his jacket and made your way to the front of the ship to co-pilot. 

The girl was already pulling the ship into the air by the time you made it up there. You wasted no time, quickly throwing yourself into the chair beside her. Both of you fumbled to pull on headsets as you worked the controls. “Stay low.” You ordered. 

She gave you a confused look. “What?” 

“Stay low,” you said more urgently, “it confuses their tracking.” 

The girl went low and you were glad you were strapped in. You didn’t expect the smoothest of rides, but it was certainly  jerky . 

The constant sound and feel of blaster shots hitting the exterior of the ship were making it difficult to focus. “What are you doing down there!” You screamed into the headset. “Shoot back!” 

“I’m trying,” FN screamed back up, “are the shields up?” 

You blindly reached over and smacked a button. “Yes! Now shoot !” You yelled. 

Where FN-2187 was lacking, the girl was making up for it tenfold with her piloting ability; this girl was good. Internally, you knew you were being unreasonably hard on him; it wasn’t so far fetched to believe that someone would defect from the Order, hell you defected- even if it wasn’t necessarily your choice-, and your position and relationship to the Order had been much more intimate and substantial than a ‘trooper. Pushing those thoughts to the back of your head, you focused on helping the girl pilot the ship. The two of you working in unison to attempt to shake the TIE’s trailing you.

“Hold on!” She shouted and in the background you could hear FN asking what for. The girl pulled on the steering hard and you went veering to the right before she rolled the ship around, giving FN the perfect shot at the last TIE. You internally promised yourself, that if he missed this fighter you’d be fulfilling your eye gouging promise. Luckily for all of you, but especially FN-2187, he blew the TIE fighter right out of the sky. 

“Wooo!” In the rush of the moment, you weren’t exactly sure who was whooping and hollering, it might as well have been all of you. 

Once you felt the ship was out of imminent danger and safely gliding through space, you relaxed back into your seat. Looking over at the girl you smiled, even though she couldn't see it, you hoped she was able to read the emotion from your eyes. You think she could, by the way she smiled real big back at you. 

She stuck her hand out and said, “My name is Rey. The guy downstairs said he’s Finn and he’s with the Resistance too.” 

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a/n - im having so much fun with this yall dont even know. likes/replies/reblogs always appreciated and if youd like to be tagged just ask! 

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no permission is given to copy or republish my writing on any other platform or account. if you see this story outside of my blog or my ao3 it is stolen work. i do not own nor claim to own star wars or any of the character involved in it.