#I can’t go anywhere without seeing canon/canon art | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

keyleth-clay · 2 years

Text

I genuinely love Callopea and I hope that it goes fully canon.

Not because a ship has to go “fully canon” to be legitimate, or to be enjoyed by the fandom, but because I think the dynamic between Fearne and Chetney is so different from the vast majority of ships that we’ve seen on Critical Role so far.

Because the thing is, I feel like a lot of the fandom kind of sees Callopea as a joke? And not just goofy or lighthearted, but kind of mean-spirited. Like, the idea that this could ever be a “legitimate” ship or that it has any meaning to it is laughable. (This is also kind of reflected in fanworks, since there’s basically no art of them, and there’s like... two people making gifs. In comparison to pairings like Imodna or Dorym which, while I do also ship, there is arguably less concrete evidence of in canon at this point in time).

Which I don’t think is true! I think there’s a lot of depth to both Chetney and Fearne, despite being largely comedic characters, and I think there’s also a lot of potential depth to their relationship, despite it being largely played for laughs.

Take Chetney, for example. I think the depth of his character is best summed up with this quote from The Night Before Critmas (and yes, I know that was Chutney, but he was the basis for the character):

“He told me to make Voltron out of wood. No one wanted it. He told me to make a Game Boy. I can't do circuits. He told me to make the little trolls, but the hair didn't move.”

Again, yes it’s comedic, but the core idea of the character was here – because Chetney/Chutney isn’t just talking about toys. He’s talking about himself. A huge part of this character is dealing with the feeling of obsolescence, of the world moving on without you and you not being needed anymore. That same idea also shows up with Bertrand at the beginning of the campaign, and I don’t think that’s an accident, and I don’t think Travis is doing that just for the joke.

Growing older can be scary. Feeling like you’re out of touch with the world, or that you aren’t needed anymore, or that you just don’t understand things anymore – that’s scary. In a way, it feels like parts of the fandom treat a character being old as a punchline – it sometimes feels like the very idea of a character being elderly, and an elderly character wanting some form of intimate relationship in particular, is worthy of mockery.

I’m sure we’ve all seen commercials or interviews or something that contain some variation on “as we age, our need for intimacy does not diminish”. Yes, Chetney has flyaway white hair and wrinkles and a squeaky old voice and a hat he’s almost laughably attached to and goofy curly toed boots, and he is still deserving of love, and that isn’t a joke. Not that that love needs to be romantic love, necessarily, but love nonetheless.

And I think that it makes perfect sense that Fearne would be the one to recognize that! For one thing, she’s the only one in Bell’s Hells that is anywhere near his age (though there is still a noticeable gap, but who knows how the fuck time works in the Feywild anyways). For another, with her wildshaping and his werewolf transformation, the two of them are the only ones in the group that understand that idea of letting animalistic instinct take over, of the freedom of being wild, and also the occasional lack of control or fear that can come with it. Not to mention both of their… impulsive morals.

But there’s two more ways I feel that these two connect, which are even deeper than what I previously mentioned – one of which I only realized after this most recent episode.

The first is related to this wonderful bit of meta from @captainofthetidesbreath, which I’m not going to reiterate here because a) you should go give them some love, and b) because this is long enough as it is. But to sum it up, Chetney is a toymaker, and takes great pride in that. He takes great joy in seeing other people, especially children, finding joy in what he’s crafted. Out of everyone in Bell’s Hells, I feel that Fearne is the only one who would truly appreciate that. Just look at what he’s made for everybody else – a box, which isn’t a toy. A skyship, which was immediately left behind for a child who would actually play with it and appreciate it. A wooden hand? And a house for Pâté and Sashimi, which is kind of a toy and kind of being played with, but also kind of not.

Fearne, on the other hand, has always had a certain whimsy about her. She enjoys the frivolous, she appreciates the silly, and she makes it a point to collect and steal and have things, simply because they make her happy. That, to me, is closest to the heart of why Chetney is a toymaker in the first place.

The second was something that Fearne said in episode 25. When Dusk showed her the locket that contained the portraits of her parents and that whole conversation started up, Fearne said”

“I don’t know where they are, and I’ve been looking for them, but maybe they just forgot? ‘Cause it’s been a very long time since I’ve seen them.”

I’m very curious as to whether this is a thought that she’s had before during her search for her parents – or if this will continue to weigh on her now that she has thought of it, at least until she’s able to reunite with them.

Because I feel like this ties in with the idea I mentioned above of Chetney feeling obsolete now that he’s gotten older. I could see a real and genuine heart-to-heart happening between them over this. I also wonder – Chetney’s never mentioned any family; no parents, no siblings, and most importantly for this Callopea ship manifesto (apparently), no spouse(s) or children. I get the sense from both of them of just… getting used to being alone and being lonely. That they are genuinely lighthearted and humorous individuals, but that humour does still help to hide some heavier feelings.

CHANGING TOPICS ENTIRELY, I also want to touch on something else that might seem completely counter to everything I’ve written here so far, and that is that this ship doesn’t need to be deep! They don’t need to have a “You know I’m in love with you, right?” or a “My heart belongs to someone else” or a “You were not born with venom in your veins”, etc etc etc.

A ship doesn’t need to be deep and intense and Romantic-with-a-capital-R to be real and genuine and enjoyable! It can be as simple and light and fun as just two people being attracted to each other and having fun exploring that attraction. Hell, their relationship doesn’t even need to be romantic! I’ve seen people headcanon Fearne as arospec, and I love the idea of a non-romantic but still sexual relationship being explored, and not being treated as lesser because of that.

Hell, they could still end up as a romantic relationship, but start out here, with heavy-handed flirting and overt sexual overtones, and see their relationship as fun but ultimately not particularly meaningful, but then *intense and emotionally-heavy moment later in the campaign happens, especially if one of them nearly dies or does die and is brought back*, and then they realize Oh shit, this isn’t just for funsies, I’ve got real actual romantic feelings for them and I’d be miserable if they were gone. Oh fuck.

And that’s not even touching on the wolf/deer theme they’ve got going on, or the sun/moon vibes that they’re rocking, etc.

Basically there’s just… SO much potential for Callopea, guys. I can’t wait to see where it goes.

#sorry if this is rambling I wrote it at 4 in the morning and then queued it up for several days later #kc speaks #Critical Role #meta #CR 3 #Chetney Pock O'Pea #Fearne Calloway #Callopea

263 notes · View notes

thesalemwitchtries · 7 months

Text

Dreaming Of A Grave Masterlist

“I can’t think of any greater happiness than to be with you all the time, without interruption, endlessly, even though I feel that here in this world there’s no undisturbed place for our love, neither in the village nor anywhere else; and I dream of a grave, deep and narrow, where we could clasp each other in our arms as with clamps, and I would hide my face in you and you would hide your face in me, and nobody would ever see us any more.” - Franz Kafka, from Franz Kafka's The Castle

Series Warnings: Canon typical violence, Swearing, 18 + due to Mature Themes MDNI, Medical Experimentation, PTSD due to captivity, strong themes of depersonalization, tags will be added as necessary and specific tags for chapters as needed.

Reader Character has a name but no other physical description, this is because I cannot write in 3rd person and make it sound good, I'm sorry. I keep her backstory as vague as possible and its not even confirmed if she has hair atp.

Summary:

Accepting Sra. Cardenas' tenancy case comes with the added complication of an assault victim with a fear of lawyers and a grudge against law enforcement. From the moment they meet, Matt is hellbent on helping Charlotte and gaining her trust. Charlotte has a lifetime of experience in hiding, but there's more at stake than just her safety— there's something threatening Hell's Kitchen. Against every instinct, she decides to trust Matt and his fledgling firm.

As their lives (and double lives) become more entangled, they each find mysteries within the other that they're desperate to solve. Evolving from Can I Trust You? to How Can I Keep You Here With Me?

Main Storyline:

Read On AO3 (click here)

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight out soon! Ask to join the taglist if you'd like to be notified!

5/9 is my birthday, and I'd like to do a blurb or ask night to celebrate, please feel free to send in whatever you'd like. My inspiration is at an all time high right now and I want to get out as much as I can to try and keep this flow going!

Tidbits and Extras:

Igor Schematics

You can buy a cat a toy, (but you can't make it play)

Tree concept art coming soon

#daredevil fanfic #matt murdock x reader #matt murdock fanfic #slim ficc #daredevil x you #matt murdock x you #daredevil x y/n #matt murdock x y/n #daredevil x reader #doag #matt murdock x fem!reader #matt murdock fic

16 notes · View notes

tsubasagirl · 2 years

Text

All Yours (NSFW! Gladion x afab!Reader)

18+!!! MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!!! Gladion and reader are aged-up 18 year olds (unlike the canon ages where Gladion is 13-16 and the protagonist is 11), therefore they are consenting adults. I don’t intend to write anything illegal here… Also this is my first time writing actual smut, and I’ve been imagining/fantasising about this one-shot(?) for a long time now. There is another smutty Gladion x afab!Reader (possibly a sequel to this one) that I’ve also had in mind for a while, but I guess we’ll see how this one goes first. Enjoy this whopping 4.3k word long, bitter-sweet/angsty, first time [uh-oh word] one-shot(?)…

Oh and a bonus sketch dump at the end, altho it doesn’t exactly relate to the story and it was drawn over 2 years ago (it’s very self-indulgent; I felt too ashamed and kinda afraid to share it anywhere, especially there being the controversial opinions on self-inserts and all… probably gonna be a tumblr-exclusive art post ahehe…) Of course, there’s just naughty stuff and swearing in here, but nothing extreme to leave a warning about (Also again, as I’ve said with my previous fanfics, feel free to give me any constructive feedback :))

It’s been around a year since I became the champion of Alola, and a year since Gladion became the Aether Foundation president. We also started dating shortly after we claimed our respective roles. We were both often busy doing our own thing, but every once in a while, we would meet up to spend quality time together. Otherwise, we would try our best to get in contact with each other during the little free time we had.

However, from the past few months, Gladion has gotten much busier with his duties as president, so our brief catch-ups via text and phone calls became less frequent, up to a few weeks ago where he stopped contacting me all together. Of course, I’m also busy with my own duties as champion, but as time passes with zero response from him, my mind has been getting more clouded with his absence. It’s for the best if I don’t nag him and let him focus on his work. I’ve also been refraining myself from going to Aether Foundation to check up on him in person, although occasionally, I’ve been asking Wicke on how things have been with him. It was always something like “He’s had to deal with several different responsibilities everyday.” I would also tell her that I trust her to look after him in the meantime, but even so, knowing how reckless and dedicated Gladion is when it comes to accomplishing his goals, I bet he hasn’t been eating or sleeping much…

It’s been almost three months since I’ve last seen him in person. I’m normally content with just texting or calling him regularly, but not being able to play with his soft blonde hair, not being able to stare deeply into his eyes, not being able to melt into his touch — I miss it all so much. I miss him so goddamn much. Whether you wanna see it as deep love or borderline obsession, it’s almost impossible for me to live on normally without it lingering in my mind 24/7.

I mostly have it all together, but it doesn’t help that I’m ultimately just a teenager who tends to get very emotional, sometimes feeling a certain fiery sensation that can’t easily be put out. Every once in a while, when I’m all alone in my room, my mind is completely cluttered with Gladion — I can only visualise his sharp emerald orbs, hungrily eating me up from head to toe, his rasp voice uttering my name with delight, his warm arms wrapped around my form as I immerse into his scent, knowing that he is mine and that I am his — I lose myself in my fantasies of him. Caressing my breasts and fondling their peaks, letting my essence almost soak my bed, massaging my pearl and sliding digits into my folds. It would be sensual at first, but the pace would soon hasten as I think about him more, imagining that it’s him playing with my body, fucking me with his fingers, teasing me with his tongue, satisfying me with his shaft. I want him. I want all of him. I would cry out for him, longing for his love and yearning for his attention.

Now, it’s come to the point where I have a day all to myself… except I have no idea on what to do... How did I end up here? Not mentally but physically standing here in front of the route 8 motel… I’m a mess. I probably look like a fool, having no proper business here, only in sandals, board shorts and a loose tank.

This is where I first met him outside of battle. I just barged in, only to be scolded to get out. What did I even expect back then? Everyone can agree that Gladion comes off as intimidating, and yeah, I was a little frightened when he scolded me, but I also can’t help but chuckle at the memory of that brief encounter. Remembering that moment where you looked miserable after Guzma defeated you, and you muttering how lonely you were… I wish I had met you sooner.

I… didn’t think much into visiting here, huh…? Don’t really have anything else to do… My Pokémon are resting back at home for all their hard work, so it’s just me here at the moment. I hesitantly step into the motel lobby.

I’m greeted by the owner with a gentle smile. “Welco— Oh! Champion [y/n]! What brings you here today?” I nod and smile weakly at her. “Hi. I… just wanted to check something in one of your motel rooms. Do… do you remember the blonde boy who had stayed here up until a year ago?” I stand kinda awkwardly as she thinks for a moment. What am I doing? “Oh, him! The boy who stayed here for two years? My, he sure was a mysterious one. Do you know him?” She looks at me curiously. I stammer, “Y-yes. I don’t know if you know, but from when he left, he’s been really busy taking care of his family business elsewhere, and… he also happens to be my boyfriend, ahehe…” The woman’s face lights up and slightly blushes. “Awww young love! I’m happy for you two.” I scratch the back of my head shyly and blush at the statement. “Thank you, I-I guess… Since he’s been so busy… he… he asked me to come here to find s… something for him… something that he may have accidentally left behind when he was staying here.” What kind of stupid request is this? “Is that so?” She asks with slight confusion. “I don’t recall any lost objects in his room after he left, unless I didn’t check properly.”

She offers the key for the room to me. “No one is staying in there at the moment, so you can take a look in there. I trust that you won’t make a mess in there haha!” I grab the key from her hand and nod, “thank you kindly.” Just as I’m about to turn around and walk out, she suddenly says, “um also, you… don’t look too well. Are you feeling okay?” I pause for a moment, a little caught off guard. Before I put any thought into it, I retort, “I… I’m fine, thank you. Just a bit tired from all the matches I’ve been having lately. It’s… also quite hot today so I probably look a little sweaty haha…” Her concerned expression remains unchanged but she replies, “o… okay… I hope you find the lost thing for your boyfriend. Say hi to him for me.” I only nod in response with a weaker smile. Jeez what is wrong with me?

As soon as I close the door behind me, I stumble my way hastily to Gladion’s former room a little too quickly, fumbling the door handle to unlock it, and bust inside before anyone else sees how much of a mess I am right now. The room is silent and empty. Of course it is. I look around slowly yet frantically, feeling slightly light-headed. Is it the heat, or am I just really tired? What… what am I doing here again? My eyes find a mirror to the right of the room, reflecting my pathetic, slouched posture. God I really do look awful.

My head whips to the bed in front of me. My body automatically flops upon it, slightly bouncing, face first. I groan loudly. I’m such an idiot. I peak one eye to lazily look around the room again. Looks slightly dusty in here. Seems like no one has been here for a while, yet I kinda feel at home. I’m already engulfed by the scent of the bed. Is it just me, or does it smell like him? Am I going crazy? He hasn’t been here it’s been a year of course it’s clean and not fresh with his scent.

I feel a bit more calm as the scent throws me into a trance. I unconsciously release a moan as my hands grip the sheets tightly. It’s like his scent has fully enraptured me. God, I’m hopeless. I tear up, kicking my sandals off my feet and bringing my legs close to me. I don’t care that I’m messing up the sheets at this point. I miss him so fucking much. Before I know it, one of my hands is deep under my shorts and underwear, feeling myself. Not only am I wet with tears but squirming out of horniness. His scent is intensifying the sensation. “Fuck,” I whimper, picking up the pace with my rubbing, “G-Gladion…”

I continue to play with my clit for a few minutes, when I hear creaking from a few rooms down outside. I jolt up and quickly rub my hand dry on my shirt. Crap, my shorts look slightly damp. Hope it just looks like sweat. The door creaks ajar as an oh-too-familiar face peaks from behind it. I briefly freeze in place, gawking at the surprise visitor. He opens the door slowly as he stumbles inside with slight hesitation and possibly shame in his eyes. I suddenly bolt towards him, almost tackling him against the wall as I throw my arms around him in the tightest embrace.

“GLADION! WHAT THE FUCK!” I cry out, sobbing into his shirt. He has one hand rubbing my back and the other caressing my head. He mumbles into my hair, “I’m so sorry, [y/n]. I… don’t think I can give you a good enough of an explanation for being away from you for so long…” I look up at him, feeling like a complete mess but finally whole again, my vision blurry with my overflowing tears. I fight the urge to slap him for making me feel this way, feeling internally destroyed to see how guilty and tired his own face looks. I dig my fingers into his scalp and grumble, “I’m… sorry too… for overreacting like this…” I shove my face into his chest again, engulfing his actual scent this time, “I… I just missed you so fucking much.” He embraces me tighter, stuttering, “you have every right to react this way. I decided to stay away from you so I could focus on my work, yet somehow we still found our way to each other again.”

I pull away and grab his hands, looking up at him again. “Why… why are you here…?” He grasps my hands tenderly and replies, “Wicke forced me to take a day off, and I found myself not knowing what to do, so my only idea was… to come back to where I kinda first started… dunno if that sounds weird…” His thumb rubs onto mind, looking a bit off to the side nervously. I stare blankly for a moment, then giggle, “hehe, funny enough… me too actually… I also have the day off today and didn’t know what to do. Next thing I knew, I found myself wandering here in hopes I could… see you?” Gladion stares back, wide-eyed for another moment, then chuckles, “well… what a turn of events.” We both laugh nervously but happily, and embrace each other once more. It feels like it’s been such a long time since either of us have been this happy, despite how stupid this situation is.

I tug his hand as I guide him to sit beside me on the bed. We stare at each other in awe, feeling kinda refreshed for the first time in what seems like in ages. “So… how’s everything at the foundation?” I ask, slightly swinging my legs back and forth. “Things have been really busy and strenuous, of course. However, I think I’ve gotten kind of a good hang of operations now,” Gladion explains as he briefly looks off into the distance, “and better news — from what I heard from Lillie, she’s only been getting much stronger as a trainer, and mother’s recovery has been going really well,” he rambles with excitement in his eyes, which I can only adore helplessly. “I’m glad things are getter better for you,” I say with a smile. He looks back at me, “…how about you?”

My body gets fluttery all over from the sight of his cute face. God how I missed seeing it, it drives me crazy in love sometimes. “Still going strong as champion!” I smile widely as I playfully flex one of my arms, “there’ve been some tough battles, sure, but I’m still the best! Although, I’m curious if you’ve thought up of some new battle tactics yourself, President Gladion.” His face flushes but he can’t help but beam proudly for me and remarks, “[y/n], you know that I don’t like to be called president… but that’s my champion. As expected of you to remain undefeated.” We’re both grinning from ear to ear as we intertwine our fingers. His face suddenly drops as he looks down and lifts our hands off the bed. “Why is it… slightly damp here…?”

Shit. I quickly retract my hand in a panic. My face heats up more. “Um… um you know how miserable I was b-before? Yea, yea, I was… laying here, sobbing like a baby f-from how much I was missing… you…” Gladion stares at me in confusion, retorting, “but… you were sitting right here, and… wouldn’t your head have been on the pillow…?” More panic. My eyes constantly dart between his face and my knees as I ball my hands upon my legs. I can’t think of any other explanation…

“You… you know as teenagers, w-we start feeling particular emotions w-we didn’t feel as kids? Y-you know, puberty and hormones and s-s-stuff…” I stutter uncontrollably. It clicks in his mind almost immediately, evident as his eyes widen and the red in his face deepens. We both look away, equally as embarrassed. God just kill me already. I avoid eye contact with him as we sit in silence for what feels like an eternity. Eventually, I stand up and start making my way to the door. “It was really stupid of me to have come here in the first place I’m so sor—“

Gladion grabs my wrist. I look back, slightly teared up with shame. He has a serious look in his eyes, staring deeply into mine but still blushing furiously. “Are… those feelings still there…?” His rasp voice huffs. My face couldn’t be any hotter. He couldn’t look any hotter. Fuck. I only slightly nod in response. His voice hitches, “d-do… do you want… me… to relieve those feelings for you…?” My face gets hotter. We stand there for another moment in silence. I nibble my lower lip and nod again.

He pulls me slowly onto his lap as we both sit on the bed again. His hot breath tickles my skin as I look down into his emerald orbs. “You… aren’t the only one who’s been feeling these sorts of feelings, you know…” He caresses my face with one hand and grabs my ass with the other, “I also touch myself when I can’t get you out of my head.” My mouth slightly waters and my heart starts to race tenfold. “And now that we’re together for the first time in ages, I feel like this is the only chance I can have you all to myself.” The fiery sensation overwhelms my whole body again, and I purr, “I’m all yours, President.”

Our mouths latch upon each other, where neither of us hold back any of the hunger that’s been stirring up from the past few months. Our tongues claim every inch of each other’s caverns while our hands slither tenderly yet clamber desperately along each other’s forms. My straddling core shifts rhythmically upon his hardening member, making him grunt and making me moan, soon pulling away to gasp for air. Our hot breaths mix as a thin string of saliva drips on his chin. One of my hands is tangled in his bangs, while the other is raked in his scalp. Our chests heave heavily, foreheads touching. My vision is hazy but I’m still entranced with his orbs.

I sit up to lay on the bed upon my back, dragging him down with me. My hands fall back on both sides of my head, and my legs lay flat with my knees tight together. His aroused expression becomes more nervous and embarrassed, but still huffing with hunger. He hastily slips his shoes off, then pins his hands by my head, legs apart while kneeling with my legs between them. A different kind of tension overcomes the room.

“Um… this… is my first time,” Gladion mumbles, eyes slightly shaky. I bite my lower lip, stammering, “m-me too. I t-trust you with all my heart though. Just… be gentle…” His throat swallows with a big gulp. Slouched over me, he slowly tugs the straps of my top down over my shoulders, revealing my bra. I almost bring my hands inward to cover myself, suddenly feeling ten times more self-conscious. He slightly retracts his hands, also self-conscious about what he’s doing. Fuck my heart is beating like crazy! I take in a deep breath before I awkwardly reach behind me with both of my hands to unlatch my bra strap. His hands lower again to slowly shift the bra up to reveal my bare breasts. I swear, our faces couldn’t be any redder at this point. His hands cramp up, and we freeze for another moment. My breath hitches to break the silence, murmuring, “y-you can do a-a-anything to them…”

Gladion takes in another big gulp, and leans down slowly. His clammy hand hovers over one breast for a moment, then grabs it as gently as possible. A small squeal escapes my lips, making us both jolt in place. I suddenly stutter, “It’s ok! They’re really sensitive, b-but you can keep going.” He briefly sucks in his lips and nods, before proceeding to massage it. Oh my god this feels completely different from when I touch myself holy shit! I attempt to muffle my audible delight as he plays with it more, fascinated by its soft touch. He soon grazes a thumb over my stiff peak, making me release another squeal. With curiosity in his gaze, he starts fondling it, and his other hand grabs my other breast with more enthusiasm. My hips squirm more, as I fail to repress a gasp. My skin is tingling from his hot breath, burning as his eyes examine my hard buds as his fingers fondle them more roughly.

He finally takes it into his mouth, sending a whole new, electrifying sensation throughout my body. FUCK! He sucks it rhythmically, picking up the pacing with his other hand. My whole body is a squirming mess, and I stop trying to hold my moans in. My hand holds the back of his head as he licks my bud frantically. “Yes, yes! That’s it! G-Gladion!!” I gasp with delight. He quickly switches to my other breast to eat it up like there’s no tomorrow, other hand crazily playing with the freshly sucked breast. I’m practically hyperventilating, as my grip tightens in his scalp. In between licks and sucks, he sloppily growls, “I fucking love how you say my name!”

Without a warning, my lower back arches violently as my essence leaks from my shorts. Gladion pulls away, as I quiver and pant uncontrollably, my vision hazy again. “I… I… I j-just came,” I whimper, “b-but… I want you… inside of me.” He’s speechless, now less red with a new sense of confidence written in his face, but still nervous as hell. I push myself up to remove my top and bra, as he sits there, still in a daze. “But first,” I mutter, tugging his shirt as I eat him with my eyes, “I also want to see you… undressed…”

Gladion’s face suddenly drains, looking down to the floor for a moment. “Uh… okay… j-just for you… but just so you know,” he looks back at me hesitantly, “my body isn’t a-anything impres—“ “I don’t care about how you look!” I retort, grabbing his shoulders with reassurance. “I love you, no matter how vulnerable you may feel. No one is perfect. As I said, I trust you with all my heart. I… just hope you return those feelings…” He cups my face to kiss my forehead, then mutters, “O-of course I do… I’m… just nervous…”

Trying not to hesitate, he slowly pulls his shirt over his head and tosses it to the floor, revealing his lean form. I stare in awe. I know that he’s a bit self-conscious about how pale he is… but he’s brave for doing this… He looks into my eyes again, mumbling, “now that I’ve seen your breasts, you… probably want to see my… dick… right?” I nod almost way too enthusiastically, feeling my face flush and my heart racing again. “J-just to see and… maybe t-touch… I can s-s-suck it another time…” I stammer, hands tightening into fists on my knees.

His eyes widen, and an unexpectedly huge smile spreads upon his face as he suddenly pulls me into a tight hug. “Fuck! Stop being so cute my heart can’t take it!” My whole body goes limp as I watch him swing his legs off the bed to unfasten his pants. Pulling them off, only in his underwear now, it was now visibly obvious how hard he is. I quickly cover my mouth with the back of my hand. “Fuck” is all I mutter. I’m already hard again. With hunger in his eyes, he remarks, “make it quick so I can get inside of you.” Before I can even process how hot he sounded, he finally pulls off his underwear, his member springing out with a slight bounce, with a few droplets of pre-cum dripping from its head.

Now I’m the once who’s fascinated. Although I can’t see Gladion’s face as I take a closer look at it, I can sense him burning up from this sudden exposure. He reaches over to the dresser next to the bed as I stroke it, making him shudder. I snap out of my entrancement when I hear him tearing a packet open. The serious fire from earlier is in his eyes again as he stammers, “y-you can’t play with it today, but you can put this on f-for me.” I can only gawk as he hands the condom to me and stands his boner upwards. Not at what he’s holding, but just over the situation we’re about to get into…

I take a deep gulp as I place the condom on top and roll it on. I lay on the bed again, nodding to invite him to remove my shorts for me, which he does with ease. He desperately removes my soaked underwear and spreads my legs open, briefly examining my lips as I part them with my fingers. I gasp, unable to hold back my excitement. No more foreplay — I want to feel you inside me right now. He positions his member and slowly sinks it into my entrance. We both moan loudly, then he mutters, “fuck it’s so tight and hot! I’m already so close!” I pant heavily, “me too…” I intertwine my fingers with his on both sides of my head, “you… can start slow… then pick up the pace when you can’t hold it in anymore.”

Gladion nods and starts to thrust very slowly. I’m struggling to keep my eyes open while the fire in my core consumes me, but now I can truly see how his eyelashes flicker shut, his lips parted while huskily breathing, sweating but flushing with passion — my fantasies of him pale in comparison to his actual aroused expression. As he huffs heavily, I moan melodically, “holy shit you feel so good!” The pace of his thrusting gradually picks up, increasing the volume of my moans, and our clammy hands grip even tighter. “I love you so fucking much, [y/n]!” He growls into my ear, sending sensations from my face to my bucking groin. “Keep saying my name, I fucking love it!!” I gasp monstrously, wrapping my legs around his hips as the other end of his cock frantically rams into my ass. The euphoric ecstasy reaches its highest peak as he slams into me for the last time, making us scream each other’s names almost simultaneously. I feel it spasm inside me as he almost collapses upon me. We gasp loudly for air, my eyes scrunched with only stars in my vision. Holy… shit…

After Gladion collects his breath, he slowly pulls out and turns us both over to lay on our sides. The bed is soaked in sweat, and our lower areas are drenched with my essence, but neither of us care. He stares at me dreamily and whispers with a smirk, “well… did I relieve your feelings…?” I sloppily link my arm with his and giggle, “no shit you did hehe… you being here was enough but you really brought it all… must be a new tactic you came up with.” He chuckles and brushes stray hairs from my sweaty face, seemingly satisfied with his work.

Other than the sexual tension we had, it seems like neither of us can take the actual heat anymore as we roll on our backs away from each other, laughing. We lay in silence for yet another moment, when I’m struck with another dumb idea. “What if… we stayed here for the night…?” I suggest, turning my head to look back at Gladion. He pouts as he thinks about it, then turns his head to me and says, “fuck it why not? Who’s gonna stop the most powerful people of Alola?” We laugh again.

Eventually, we both get up clumsily to clean ourselves off in the bathroom. We then decided to hang out until evening, and have our first sleep together without a care in the world. We can deal with the mess we made in the morning anyway…

As the bottom right text says, Forgive my horny ass idk whether to be proud (of these drawings) or ashamed (fucking a fictional character)

#gladion #pokemon sun and moon #gladion x reader #gladion headcanons #smut #my text #buronzuwyngzu doots

63 notes · View notes

veliseraptor · 1 year

Text

been a while since 150 words meme innit. and now that I have finished my exchange fic (woo!!!) and was just looking at some of my other wips and going "huh some of these are good actually, I should get back to them"...and I have some flight time/days off coming up...seems like a good time for a round of this

so! send me a number from the list below (with sample excerpts from the fics on offer this time) and I'll write 150 words in that project. you may send me up to three different numbers if you really can't choose.

mix of CQL/MDZS, Kinnporsche, and some wild cards under the read more

1. Xiao Xingchen was still bursting with questions, but he held them back for now, instead cupping Xue Yang’s face and kissing him. “You don’t have to take me anywhere nice,” he said. “I just want to be with you.”

Xue Yang made a strangled, choking sound followed by a laugh. “Xingchen, oh my god,” he said. “You can’t just say that.” His face was, Xiao Xingchen was delighted to see, bright red.

“Why not?” he asked.

“Why not, he says,” Xue Yang said. “Why not. Because it’s so unbelievably goddamn sappy, Xingchen, I’m getting secondhand embarrassment.”

“I’m not embarrassed,” Xiao Xingchen said, smiling, more than a little pleased with himself. “So you don’t need to be.” (Redux)

2. “Quiet, Felix,” Malkar said. His words cut through mine like a knife through a throat. I could almost taste the blood. I shut my mouth and looked down at my hands. “Look at me,” Malkar said, harder, and I quickly lifted my head again but I couldn’t quite look right at him. My breathing was getting quicker. Malkar hadn’t moved from where he was sitting but the way he was looking at me he didn’t have to, and I knew he could hurt me just fine from over there if he wanted. I swallowed, trying to figure out what he wanted from me.

“You are an eager young thing, aren’t you,” Malkar said, sort of like he thought it was funny and sort of like he thought I was stupid. My stomach was all hot and squirmy and a little piece of me wanted him to just hit me and get it over with, but Malkar wasn’t like that. (Pygmalion)

3. Porsche called him midafternoon on Thursday when Vegas was reviewing some accounts and trying to figure out where he wanted to start carving out his niche. He was eyeing the wine imports and debating whether the lackluster returns were a result of bad decision-making or meant that it just wasn’t a very lucrative market for them when his phone started buzzing. He glanced at it briefly before picking up, just in case it was someone he really didn’t want to talk to.

“Hey, Porsche,” he said, running his finger down a column of numbers without really looking at them, feeling the slight texture of ink on the page. “Need something?”

There was a brief pause that brought Vegas’s finger to a halt. Followed by Porsche saying, “the most important thing here is that everything is going to be fine.” (Undercut)

4. People kept telling Vegas he was lucky.

Lucky to be alive; lucky that none of the bullets had hit his heart, lucky that one of them had lodged just right to prevent an arterial bleed, lucky to avoid surgical complications or an infection considering, quote, the severity of the damage.

Lucky to be getting the best care and treatment in state-of-the-art facilities thanks to his uncle’s generosity, so fortunate, Vegas, aren’t you grateful.

At first, for a while, Vegas was mostly just tired. (post canon vegaspete long(er) fic)

5. “You want to know why I haven’t moved on?” Xue Yang said. “Why you can’t get rid of me, Song-daozhang, no matter how much you want to?”

Song Lan set his teeth.

“It’s you,” Xue Yang said. “Isn’t that hilarious? I’m haunting you because you’re keeping me here. I made you, and you killed me, and if you didn’t have me you’d really be alone.”

Song Lan shook his head and tried without thinking to speak the words: no, that’s not true. It came out a mess of sounds. Humiliation swept over him when Xue Yang laughed.

“Forgot, did you,” he said. “I’m right, you know I’m right, you hate me but I’m the only other person now who knows what it’s like. You hate me but I’m the person you know best still left in this shitty world and you don’t want to be alone.”

Song Lan turned his back, resolute, refusing to look at the ghost. His heart was in his mouth; he felt sick. No, he thought. No, it’s not true. I don’t want…

“Blood and death ties people together,” Xue Yang said. “And you and me, Zichen, we’ve got plenty of both between us.” (the poison in your bones)

6. “I don’t think I’m better than everybody else,” Song Lan said. “I never have. I try to…I do my best to live by my principles.” Xue Yang’s silence felt eloquent. “When have I claimed my superiority over others?”

“You don’t have to say it,” Xue Yang said. “It’s written all over you. The way you walk, the way you look at everyone around you like they’re not worth your time.”

Song Lan was surprised by the pang of hurt. “That’s not how I feel,” he objected, but he knew – he’d heard it before, hadn’t he? He knew that people saw him as cold, aloof, unfeeling. They took his discomfort for distaste and his quiet for contempt. He was not Xingchen, who approached the world with an open heart; he never had been, but he had never needed to be.

“Is that why you hate me so much?” Song Lan said.

“It’s one reason,” Xue Yang said after a while. “I have plenty of others now.” He paused, and then said, bitter as wormwood again, “besides, even if you don’t think you’re better than everybody else, you definitely think you’re better than me, and you’re not. If you’d lived my life, who’s to say that you wouldn’t turn out just the same?”

“I wouldn’t,” Song Lan objected, appalled.

“You say that so easily,” Xue Yang said, his voice muffled, like he’d turned his mouth into his arm. “Like you just know, but you don’t. You can’t.”

“I know I’m not a murderer,” he said. Xue Yang let out a harsh bark of a laugh.

“Maybe you weren’t,” he said. “You sure are now.”

That ended that conversation. (Walking Far From Home)

7. “Bringing a full complement of bodyguards would be too conspicuous,” said Khun Kinn. Khun Vegas smiled and Pete thought oh no.

“I agree,” he said. “But there is room for a plus one. He knows my staff, and most of your bodyguards, but an unfamiliar face…” Khun Vegas’s eyes drifted very slightly in Porsche’s direction before moving back to Khun Kinn.

Oh, no, Pete thought again, but with a little more despair this time.

“Take Pete,” Khun Kinn said.

Vegas’s gaze swept to Pete, flicked slowly over him from head to toe. “Isn’t he one of Khun’s?” he said. “He won’t be thrilled that you’re loaning out his bodyguard to me.”

“That’s not your problem.”

“Considering Khun,” Vegas said, “it actually might end up being my problem.” (the devil drives)

8. “You’re a disgrace,” Kinn said. Vegas could feel his breath as he spoke. He grinned; it felt wild and barely sane.

“And yet your family would be fucked without me to do your dirty work.”

“Our family,” Kinn said pointedly.

“Only when it’s convenient.” Vegas released Kinn’s shirt and shoved at his chest, pushing him back a step. “Otherwise? As far as your papa is concerned we might as well be your dogs. Or your whores.”

Kinn’s jaw clenched. “That’s just you,” he said, cold in contrast to the hot anger in his eyes. “And don’t pretend you don’t enjoy your dirty work.”

“Just me,” Vegas said. He felt dizzy, reckless, his pulse throbbing in his ears. Drunker than he knew he was. “Which one, Kinn? Am I your dog or your whore?” (no tenderness)

9. “What’d you do?” asked the guy who’d introduced himself as Jace, who made Xue Yang think of nothing as much as the verb to skitter. Xue Yang drummed his fingers on his legs, considering how to answer that question.

“I killed twelve people,” he said. “Would’ve been fourteen but one person was out of the house and another one I just fucked up the follow-through.”

Three pairs of eyes stared at him. Xue Yang felt the corner of his mouth tug a little and he shrugged again. “What can I say, I’m precocious.”

“Why?” Freddy asked. Xue Yang’s stomach clenched like a fist. He considered giving his flippant answer (I had a bad day) and his make-people-mad answer (they looked at me funny) and decided on the answer his lawyer had tried giving.

“Just snapped, I guess,” he said. “I don’t really remember. It’s all sort of blurry.” Straight up lie, that. He remembered everything with razor sharp clarity and hoped he would forever. He’d need it. (Caged)

10. Liu Mingyan was a problem.

If she had to be fair (though Sha Hualing was not generally interested in being fair), she was less annoying than her brother, but that was setting a remarkably high bar, and she was more annoying to Sha Hualing specifically. As far as Sha Hualing could tell, Mingyan-guniang had made it her business to interfere with Sha Hualing’s business at every possible opportunity. Sometimes it seemed like she couldn’t turn around in the Human Realm without running into her, even when Sha Hualing wasn’t doing anything wrong. Or hadn’t done anything yet, anyway. Or at least hadn’t done anything Liu Mingyan could possibly know about. (under pressure)

11. “Xue Yang,” the idiot went on, and Xue Yang’s stomach clenched like he saw Xiao Xingchen’s right hand do. “I don’t know how you escaped your rightful fate, but this time I’ll make sure I personally witness your head rolling in the dirt. And we’ll see what explanation our esteemed Chief Cultivator has for lying about your death.”

Xue Yang glanced at Xiao Xingchen, trying to read his expression, what he was thinking. If they’d told him then he should be on their side, shouldn’t he? Unless they didn’t believe he hadn’t known, but then why hadn’t Xiao Xingchen said something, made some kind of accusation–

He was trying to think too many things at once and none of them were getting him anywhere.

Xue Yang screwed up his face into his best expression of offended confusion. “Who are you and what the fuck are you talking about?” (Entanglement)

#150 words meme #i have asks to answer still but #let's start with posting this #fic excerpt

26 notes · View notes

bi-naesala · 10 months

Text

A regular day

(Written for @p3akishinjiweek day 4: Everybody Lives/Shinjiro Lives AU | Role Swap AU)

Canon divergence, Role swap, Hurt/Comfort, Repressed feelings, Past relationship

Shinji goes to find Akihiko with a mission: today, they're going to have some fun together, whether he wants it or not.

(This particular brand of role swap has been insipired by this art, this one, and this one.

Basically, Miki doesn't die in the fire and is recruited by SEES with Akihiko and Shinjiro, but Akihiko's persona goes berserk and kills her.)

(AO3 link)

(Fic under the cut)

Finding Akihiko has become Shinjiro’s specialty. He’s become so good at it and even if you blindfolded him, his legs would still take him to the place where he’s currently hiding.

Well, it’s also true that Aki doesn’t run from him anymore…

… But that doesn’t mean he’s always happy to see him.

That seems to be the case that day, because as soon as he hears Shinjiro’s steps – he could recognize their sound anywhere – he turns towards him, a frown on his face.

All the words die in Shinjiro’s mouth, and for a moment, all they do is to stare at each other, while the air becomes tenser and tenser by the second.

It’s Akihiko the one who breaks the silence, and he does so with a sigh. “Shinji, whatever you have to say, I don’t have time for it.”

He doesn’t seem particularly busy, but Shinjiro decides against pointing it out. He’s not here to start a fight, not today.

“What if I told you I wanted to go to the arcade?”

Akihiko visibly recoils from the surprise. Shinjiro has to use every ounce of his willpower in order not to laugh.

“To the arcade?! Why?” Akihiko asks, still in shock.

“Do I need a reason?” Shinjiro shrugs, but from the way Aki raises an eyebrow at him, it’s obvious that he’s still unconvinced.

“C’mon, how many times have we gone there without a reason?”

“That was before,” Akihiko points out, carefully choosing his words. That’s true, after Miki’s death, they’ve stopped hanging out like they used to – and not because Shinjiro didn’t want to – but still…

“Doesn’t mean we can’t do it again,” he says, stretching a hand towards the other. “So, are you coming or not?”

To tell the truth, he doesn’t really have a plan; he just got up, that day, deciding that he and Aki were going to spend some quality time together, just like they used to do before everything went to shit.

It’s being a quite stressful period for Shinjiro, and he can only imagine how worse it is for Aki, so why not have some fun? If you ask him, he thinks they deserve it.

Still, he’s not so naïve to believe that Akihiko won’t try to argue, so you can imagine his relief when he actually takes his hand without complaining.

“Alright, why not?”

They really end up going to the arcade, and they manage to have a good time too, despite their rustiness.

Shinjiro’s pretty sure a group of kids is making fun of them for their abysmal scores, but he doesn’t care. He still makes sure not to tell Akihiko about it – admitting he hasn’t noticed them – just in case he’d start a fight. Causing a scene and getting kicked out isn’t something they need – that would sour the mood incredibly.

A spark of their previous playful rivalry reignites, as they try to best each other’s score.

In the end, Akihiko’s the winner, but that’s only because Shinjiro’s distracted by the fact that he’s grinning. He’s grinning, for fuck’s sake! How long has it been since even the shadow of a smile had graced those lips?

It’s a far cry from his usual sour expression; it makes him look younger – more like his age – and more carefree. Shinjiro wishes he’d always smile like that.

“Wow, Shinji, you suck,” Akihiko teases him, but he doesn’t mind. Anything to make him have some fun.

His “plan” consisted in having a nice day at the arcade and then going back to the dorm – he has so much to do – but since it looks like Aki doesn’t have any intentions to leave his side, he decides that, whatever he needed to do, he can do it later.

Aki takes precedence – always has.

They could go to Hagakure – another one of their usual hangout spots – but they always go there. They should change it up.

“I bet you can’t handle Wild Duck Burger,” Akihiko challenges him, aware of Shinjiro’s widely-known and often voiced distaste for the fast food chain – honestly, any sensible person who cares about nutritional values instead of stuffing your face full with garbage would agree with him.

Aki knows it, that’s why he said it. Shinjiro has half a mind of telling him no, but you know what?

“And I bet you that I can.”

Challenge fucking accepted.

He tries the damned burger, all while Akihiko watches him intently – is he expecting him to throw up, or combust into flames as soon as he takes the first bite? – and he even manages to finish it. It wasn’t as evil as he thought it would be, but he still doesn’t want to know what the hell they’ve put in it – it mustn’t be anything good.

“Wow, you actually did it.” Why does Aki sound so surprised?!

Shinjiro scoffs, crossing his arms, offended. “I fight Shadows, for fuck’s sake. Why wouldn’t I?”

Akihiko doesn’t say anything, he just keeps looking at him like the fact that he’s an absolute powerhouse in battle – which is true, by the way – counts for nothing here. Little shit.

“Fuck off.”

Akihiko laughs.

After lunch, they find their way back to Paulownia Mall, as Shinjiro thinks about something else they could be doing… Oh, wait! How long has it been since he’s last fed her? With everything that has been going on lately, he completely forgot.

Well, he’s found out what he wants to do now – better take care of it immediately, before he forgets again.

“Hey Aki, wait here a moment,” he says, already making his way up to the pharmacy.

Akihiko, of course, noticing where he’s heading towards, follows him.

“Why are you going there?” he asks. “Do you need medicine?”

“Ugh, didn’t I tell you to wait?”

“I’m serious.”

He does look serious, dead serious in fact. Is the idiot convinced he’s sick, or that he has some sort of secret injury he needs to take care of?

Shinjiro didn’t really want to let him know about… well, this, but he supposes he doesn’t have any choice now.

“I just need… cat food.” The last part is barely whispered.

Akihiko narrows his eyes.

“Cat food? Don’t you have a dog?” he asks, confused.

“Yeah, yeah, we have a dog too,” Shinjiro replies. Thinking about it, he should get something nice for Koro-chan too, before he makes it back to the dorm. “But this is different.”

He doesn’t say anything else, not that he needs to: from the amused way Akihiko is looking at him, he must’ve put two and two together already, even without him confirming it for him.

“You’re such a softie,” he comments, in fact. It’s clearly meant as an insult, one of the many he throws his way; too bad that Shinjiro’s gotten used to them, so they don’t faze him anymore – most of the time, at least.

“Shut up,” he says, with no real heat in his voice though.

Shinjiro purchases the cat food without any hitch, if you exclude Akihiko’s presence, but there’s little he can do about that.

“Can you wait for me here?” he asks again, once they arrive at Port Island Station.

It’s not that he doesn’t want him there, but there’s a reason why he wants to be alone to feed the cat he’s befriended: the problem with this little kitty, is that she’s extremely untrusting of strangers – must be her survival instincts kicking in – which means that, with Akihiko with him, she might not show up, even if she’s come to trust Shinjiro.

“No way, I want to see this,” Akihiko replies, the stubborn idiot.

Shinjiro sighs. “Fine, don’t complain to me when she doesn’t show up, though.”

They walk towards the back alley.

Much to Shinjiro’s surprise, she makes her presence known immediately, and loudly too, from the way she meows as she approaches them.

“Hello there, little one,” Shinjiro greets her, crouching to the ground and stretching a hand for her to smell. “Long time no see.”

He opens the food can and lets the cat eat it. He had bought a small bowl to leave there so that she wouldn’t eat from the ground, but some assholes stole it; he should buy another one, it’s not like he doesn’t have the money for it…

Akihiko crouches beside him, watching the cat intently. As soon as she’s finished her food, she turns her attention to him, rubbing herself against his knee while purring. Huh.

She’s acting way too familiar with him, which is weird if this is the first time she meets him. That can only mean one thing…

“Aki, you sure you’ve never seen this cat before?”

“W-What do you mean?” Akihiko asks, face getting redder by the second. He’s so easy to read, sometimes.

Shinjiro can’t help but to smirk. “Nothing, nothing at all… It’s just weird that she’s taken such a shine to you. She never does it for people she doesn’t know.”

“Lucky me then, huh?” Akihiko deadpans, but he still stretches a hand towards the cat, giving her light scratches behind her ears.

“Some shitheads thought it would be a fun pastime to throw rocks at her. I just made them reconsider…” he admits, then.

He’s omitted the violent part, Shinjiro’s sure of it, though for once he can’t find it in himself to reprimand him.

“Assholes,” he comments, in fact, to which Akihiko nods. For once, they’re in agreement.

“I did think she was too well-fed for being a stray. I should’ve imagined you were involved,” Akihiko says, then. “Such a softie indeed…”

Shinjiro shoves him with his shoulder, only to be shoved in return, which prompts him to do it again, this time with more force, until it escalates, because of course it does – neither of them are known for backing out from anything, after all.

They end up on the ground, roughhousing for a bit, making the cat escape, probably in search for a safe place. The poor thing must’ve thought they were being serious, but they’re playing around more than anything else: they aren’t being as aggressive as usual, and they’re not trying to hurt each other too much. Compared to other fights they’ve had, this one’s pretty tame.

“Okay, okay, enough!” Shinjiro exclaims, laughing, after Akihiko pins him to the ground. There’s a playful sparkle in his eyes that makes his heart melt – why can’t he always be like this?

“You surrender?” he asks, still not letting Shinjiro go.

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, sure, I surrender. Now get off before someone calls the cops on us.”

It’s something that has, unfortunately, happened already, during one of their brawls, and that’s an experience neither of them wants to repeat. Even just being reminded of it is enough to convince Akihiko to let him go; he rolls to the side, and then he gets up, dusting off his pants.

Shinjiro would’ve followed him, too bad he’s too busy staring at him – “like a creep,” Takeba would say.

He can’t believe that, for once, everything’s been going according to plan: he just wanted to spend a normal day with Akihiko, and spending a normal day they did, with nothing bad happening.

“Earth to Shinji! Are you okay? I haven’t hit you that hard.”

When Shinjiro’s eyes find their focus again, he sees Akihiko leaning towards him, a confused look on his face. He shakes his head.

“Yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry…”

He begins pushing himself up when Akihiko extends a hand to him, with the clear intent of helping him up.

Shinjiro doesn’t think twice before grabbing it.

“So, what no—"

Before he can finish, Akihiko throws himself at him.

At first, knowing him, Shinjiro expects a fight – he never knows when to quit, huh? – but he’s stunned when he realizes that what he’s doing is hugging him.

It’s so tight that he can hardly breathe, but he wouldn’t change it for anything in the world: it’s been ages since they’ve hugged.

“Thank you… Shinji,” Akihiko mutters, before burying his face against Shinjiro’s shoulder.

For a moment, he’s afraid he’ll start crying, but Aki has stopped doing that a long time ago; he kind of wishes he would do it again, instead of keeping everything inside without letting anyone in, not even him.

He doesn’t know what to do; he wants to hold him close, he wants to caress his hair, he wants to kiss him, just like they used to, but he’s afraid of being too much: what if Aki can’t handle it? What if he runs away? Shinjiro won’t forgive himself if that happens.

Eventually, he closes his arms around his frame anyway. Oh, how he’s missed this, and he mustn’t be the only one, because as soon as feels him returning the hug, Akihiko’s grip on him gets even tighter.

Why can’t he just come back to them? Why does he insist on being alone, when it’s obvious that he doesn’t want to be? Why does he keep punishing himself?

Shinjiro wants to grab him by the shoulders and shake him until he understands that hurting himself like this won’t make up for Miki’s death, but he knows that doing so, now, would only make matters worse.

They already had this discussion, right after Aki had left SEES; he found him at what, with time, has become his usual alley, all battered and bruised, and tried to get him to come back, at least for a medical check-up.

“Do you think Miki would want to see you like this?!” he tried, hoping that bringing up his sister would get him to take better care of himself. Damn him and his mouth, he shouldn’t have said anything, because all he managed to accomplish was to make him angrier.

“She wouldn’t want to be dead either!” he had shouted, ready to vent all his anger with his fists… only to stop once he had realized who he was about to attack.

Shinjiro had tried to reach out for him, but Akihiko had managed to push him and run away. He had never run away from anything, until that day.

After that, it took Shinjiro a week before he was able to find him again, and it was then that they stroke an accord: Shinjiro would never mention Miki again, and Akihiko was never going to pull a disappearing act like that ever again – Shinjiro had been so afraid something bad had happened to him.

He knows he should keep his mouth shut, and yet he can’t help but to mutter:

“I miss you.”

Akihiko remains silent, which only cements the idea that he shouldn’t have said anything in the first place. Shinjiro’s about to apologize, when he speaks:

“Me too… Shinji, me too, really, but…”

He pulls away from the embrace. Shinjiro already misses the closeness.

“I can’t come back, not yet.”

That “not yet” catches Shinjiro’s attention. That’s not something Aki’s ever said, not until now at least. Does it mean that he might join them again in the future? He wants to ask, but he doesn’t want to push his luck further.

“Can we still see each other in the meantime?” he settles with, instead. He doesn’t think he’d be able to handle not hanging out with him until he decides he’s ready for SEES again.

There’s a shadow of a smile on Akihiko’s face. “Never said we couldn’t.”

Oh thank fuck.

“Not that it would matter either way, with your stubborn ass,” Akihiko continues, then, and… is he teasing him, the little shit?!

“As if you’re any better!” Shinjiro defends himself, because really, Aki’s even worse than him. Everybody else would agree on this, no doubt.

As much as he’d love to argue with Akihiko more, he’s noticed that it’s gotten quite late.

“… I should leave.”

Not that he wants to, but sooner or later he has to go back to the dorm. That’s a shame, though: he’s been making so much progress today with Aki!

Speaking of him, at least he’s not taking it personally, which makes Shinjiro feel a little less guilty about leaving him alone.

“Yeah, don’t worry,” he says, in fact. “Unlike your brats, I can handle being by myself just fine.”

Shinjiro would tell him not to speak of them like that… if only it wasn’t true. Really, sometimes he feels like a father, and he just recently turned eighteen!

“What are you going to do now?” he can’t help but to ask.

Akihiko rolls his eyes. “Nothing dangerous, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ll just hang around and see where the rest of the day brings me.”

It doesn’t exactly instill confidence in Shinji, but it’s better than him actively looking for a fight. He is good at surviving on his own, he has to give him that much – even though he wouldn’t need to if he just came back.

“Ok, so… See ya?”

Akihiko chuckles, shaking his head.

“Sure, see ya, Shinji.”

Shinjiro begins walking away, only to stop and turn his head to get one last look at Aki. He’s still smiling.

For a moment, it’s like the view in front of his eyes and the image of a younger Aki – the one that Shinjiro holds dearly in his memory – overlap. It’s hard to distinguish the two.

It happens all so suddenly that it scares him, before he gets a grip on himself. Now it’s not the time to reminisce, even though seeing him like this makes him very happy.

He loves him, he loves him so much it hurts, and he wants to protect him, to keep him from the rest of this fucking world, since it’s so hellbent on hurting him.

He wants… and yet he knows that, in the grand scheme of things, what he wants doesn’t matter.

If he can’t get Akihiko to join SEES back – for now – at least he can make sure he doesn’t get in too much trouble, and be there for him when he needs it, which is exactly what he’s been doing, and what he’ll keep doing.

Aki doesn’t think there’s a happy ending for him, so he has to do the believing for the both of them.

It will get better, and he will fight for it, everything else be damned.

No matter how hard it will be, they will have their happy ending.

#P3akishinjiweek #akishinji #akihiko sanada #shinjiro aragaki #persona 3 #p3 #persona #my fics #mine #had a very good time writing this #if i have other ideas for this au i might explore it further

4 notes · View notes

beardedhandstoadshark · 1 year

Note

Have you played Tears of the Kingdom yet? If so, what are your thoughts?

YEA I DID (haven’t finished it yet tho)

-> this ask keeps getting postponed because when it came in I just started playing for a few days and made a list of some highlights but then I found more stuff while playing and it got longer, and longer…so

TDLR

game good, I keep getting distracted by EVERYTHING, Rauru >>>> Rhoam, I like how they changed all the things that would’ve been deliberately sought out by returning players like the towns or Satori yet kept the rest the same enough to not feel alienating, Zelda‘s voice actor did not need to go that hard on the blood moon clip (though I‘m not playing with English dub since dubs are generally pretty good here which is nice :3)

Also here’s the list:

I miss my ice module anon. I miss her a lot

Also one of the new enemies gave me a total jumpscare. Like, an actual jumpscare, I was just walking around some random cave collecting stuff and then BAM. NIGHTMARE FUEL. They did not have to bring deadhand back like THAT man ;-;

LOVE the new towers, it’s such a cool way to see stuff and travel fast

Not sure if I should hate or love the fire temple- on one hand, the intended way seems convoluted af and I could not understand where I‘m supposed to go with the carts for the love of me- on the other hand, there’s so many ways to go through this dungeon on your own

Surprisingly did not run into any Redeads yet despite doing a good chunk of the maps and 3 dungeons but it can stay that way NVM I FOUND THEM. OH HECK NO.

Whoever decided one of the most horrible enemies of the entire series should be reimagined from undead corpses to the insects feasting on said undead corpses is both an utter genius and I hope they get cursed for the horrors they unleashed upon the world

Also unlike the promo art Gdorf isn’t green in the scenes I’ve seen so far which is…interesting- is that smth they did with the other versions too, and greendorf was just nostalgia bait? Is it censoring? The green just a side effect of the evil goo I haven’t seen yet? All of it?

Speaking of I THINK I JUST FOUND THE FRICKIN OOT SPIRIT TEMPLE!??? I‘d recognize that main room with the stupid middle light anywhere, took me WAY too long to figure out how to get on the middle platform-

Can’t wait to jump into a well and get jumpscared by the goo hands =)

Between Rauru‘s name, the temples, and the whole thing with Ganondorf essentially being the first part of oot all over again there’s lots of ocarinas here for something that mostly referenced skyward sword so far-

RIP Wolf Link,at least even in the Sacred Realm he still gets to hunt and bring insane amounts of meat to Link :(

Where is Kass. Seriously where is he. I didn’t find him on the road or in Rito village is he ok-

F to the Sages of Shadow, apparently they got fired

BOTW DLC ITEMS IN BASE GAME LETS GOOOOOOO

Also the details that‘re here because of botw, like NPC’s recognizing Link or that one town existing, paints a really interesting picture of the "canon“ botw run: mainly that Link did most shrines, talked to every main quest npc, helped with the town, saved his house from destruction and gave it to Zelda (or they took SO long to demolish that Zelda could buy it herself, but the first one‘s cuter)

but also that Link never talked to any other non-important npcs, and that he did the whole thing without buying a single piece of clothing other than the Hyrule set. My man did the entirely of death mountain and the desert purely by chugging potions and eating food. (And a vai outfit lying around somewhere or sold, presumably. So weird that you can sell clothing, does anyone actually do that? They’re so expensive to buy)

#another anon ask #i keep playing until 1% and always sit there wondering it’s been that long already!?#then again the switch basically turns into an oven so. It might be thst.

1 note · View note

pathfinderofparadise · 2 years

Text

Hey what’s crackin’?

Rules

1. Don’t expect fancy text or art for replies or asks.I’m kinda lucky that I’ve been able to work on this character and his boys. Plus I can’t see half of the fancy text on my phone, rip. Speaking of I may be on my phone more often than not? Unsure.

2. The art featured on this blog were made by me, for me. Do not repost nor share anywhere else without my permission. Linking people directly to me is encouraged.

3. I do have a full time job as well as depression. Sometimes my attention won’t be here and for that I apologize.

4. Aicken is being played in a KH ttrpg my partner is hosting for me and some of my friends, which is where some of his canon and random posts may come from. However for the sake of roleplay, everything is flexible.

5. There MIGHT BE mature themes and the like. Preferably my followers be mature as well, 18+.

6. I’m dumb as fuck and my memory is a sieve. I can and will forget information about the series and i apologize for that. You are free to DM me about corrections in the story and the like.

7. Ships? All are welcome to try if you and your muse fond of Aicken. Multiship is fine here, and my man is pan and poly. I have no expectations and neither does he, however, so if you want it you gotta work for it.

8. If you need something tagged you can hit me up, but I’ll try to cover things as I go.

9. You can hit me up for anything, really. I’m quiet and tired and I’m just here to vibe, showoff my art, and hopefully let other people enjoy my characters.

10. I can rp on discord but chances are I’ll be much more unhinged there than on Tumblr. Sure I’m official and the like sometimes but I literally just word vomit on there for fun.

11. I’m open to any and all blogs, be them OC, Canon, Multiverse, Multifandom, aaaaand crossovers. I personally don’t have any AU’s in the works yet but they’re possible, for a sure.

12. Goes without saying that I won’t accept god modding or BS powers,especially when it comes to Aicken’s Unbound Heartless. They may be Heartless but if you wish to banish them or try to gain any sort of control over them, you need to talk to me first. When defeated they return to Aicken’s heart to rest, and I don’t have any plans for that plan to deviate without just cause. They are his and will stay in his command.

13. I’m not too horridly picky reply length but like. One word replies at MOST are for fuckin’s with. Fun and memes and tomfoolery. Constant and serious one word/ one short sentence replies drive me up a wall and I won’t be likely to keep up writing with you. You don’t need to write a novel,as I sure won’t, but? Bruh.

Please read Aicken's page to learn about him, and then Unbound to read about his type of Heartless. From there you can go check out the individual types listed.

Hopefully I'll have a pinned post for mobile users to access these in a different form.

Tumblr mobile really, really should add pages, jfc.

Mun

Okay so. I’m 30, She/Her, and you can call me Rijolt/ Rij or Bird.

I work as a game tester for Nintendo which is,in fact, a full time job staring at screens all day.I may go for long bouts of inactivity because I just perish as soon as I’m given the OK. Which is why, like… Don’t expect too much outta me. This is for a creative and fun outlet which I came in already expecting mixed results. Don’t take any inactivity or favoring one thing or another personally. If anything, kinda treat me like a cat. Me just existing next to you is hanging out and that’s pretty fucking sweet as is.I may even toss goodies in your ask box when my mind goes off the shits.

Aicken

If nothing else, this blog will be used as his journal for his experience and heartless studies as I play through his adventure in the ttrpg game. The Unbound pages are even written by him! I did plan on him making entries for normal Heartless but also I think I would die if I did so I refuse.

Thanks for reading <3

#Rules #For Mobile

0 notes

earnestly-endlessly · 3 years

Note

kind of an odd request — do you have fics where erik is grumpy with everyone else but a ray of sunshine with charles?

Hi anon, thank you for the ask. First and foremost, I'm so sorry for how long this took me but I've been searching for all the fics that come to mind that fit your request. Second, this is not an odd request because I love this trope so much. I mean, it's basically canon that he's grumpy with everyone except for his Charles, right? Anyway, I might add to this list later on, but I can't sit on this any longer and hope that you have found some fics that you enjoy!!

Fic Recs Where Erik is grumpy with everyone but a ray of sunshine with Charles

Twice as Blind – Darksknight

Summary: Erik is probably the biggest asshole on the face of the earth, and because of this, he'll probably die alone. Charles is a complete flirt and playboy and, probably, will never commit to anyone ever.

(The lesson here is that when you have two friends who are BOTH secretly seeing someone, well, it's probable that they're seeing each other.)

In the moonlight, on a joy ride – scarlettblush

Summary: Librarian AU. Charles is the young librarian and Erik is the college student who is completely besotted with him.

The Proper Care of Actors – Clear_Liqueur, Clocks, Etherei, afrocurl

Summary: Erik is an A-list action star who is notoriously difficult to work with, until the day he gets cast alongside Charles Xavier, rom-com darling who can charm the pants off movie audiences the world over and apparently even one Erik Lehnsherr. The paparazzi catch them out and about soon enough, and their real-life Hollywood movie romance becomes instant tabloid fodder.

Rumor Mill – ikeracity

Summary: Erik is the grumpiest, most foul tempered worker at Stark industries. His grumpiness is the stuff of legends.

So it's obviously the talk of the office when Erik is being made to go to the company party and he's bringing his husband. There's rumors flying round about how much of a masochist or equally antisocial bastard Erik's husband must be to put up with him. Others think he must be a meek mouse perhaps bullied by Erik.

What they weren't expecting was the confident, charming, adorable and unbelievably nice Charles that turns up on Erik's arm. What they certainly weren't expecting was how much Erik obviously adores his husband and how happy he is to let others see this.

Work/Life Balance – pocky_slash

Summary: Alex is pretty sure his weird, anti-social boss is a robot. Right up until the guy's adorable husband shows up. His adorable husband who happens to be a famous actor. His adorable husband who happens to be the very same famous actor who was the source of many of Alex's teenage fantasies.

Terrifying Domesticity – ishipitsobad

Summary: Erik is the most dangerous and notorious mafia boss around for miles, and yet the strangest things terrify him.

For example: his children, and his very pregnant mate.

Of kittens and teacups and love – Ren

Summary: Modern AU in which Charles and Erik are flatmates. Charles studies psychology and likes tea and chess and keeps bringing home stray kittens, and Erik lets him because he's maybe perhaps a little bit sort of in love with him.

Fools Rush In – LoveSupreme

Summary: Erik owns a cafe on the edge of campus and accidentally starts maybe-stalking a Biology Professor there.

Growing Pains – ikeracity

Summary: Twelve-year-old Erik Lehnsherr is an angry, closed-off foster kid with trust issues and a bad temper. Ten-year-old Charles Xavier is a lonely kid in boarding school who just wants a friend.

Logan pretends he doesn't think they're both fucking adorable.

Series

Home Together (The Finding Our Way Remix) – significantowl

Summary: Erik is not the sort of person other students strike up conversations with. His expression, his posture, every part of his manner say: Don’t talk to me. I don’t want to talk to you. But none of that stops the boy ahead of him in line with the collapsible white cane, and nothing can stop Erik from falling for him, like it or not.

Melted Ice Cream and Macaroni Art – pocky_slash

Summary: Everybody likes Charles. Nobody likes Erik. And that's really the source of Erik's doubts. Also, there's ice cream and a baby. Part of ‘the Daycare’ verse.

Walling in or Walling Out – stlkrchck

Summary: Erik stifles a sigh. Of course this is Mr. C. F. Xavier. Of course.

For the prompt: Charles and Raven are throwing a holiday party. Erik is the grumpy neighbor who is annoyed by how loud they are being. So he goes to complain, and Charles makes it up to him.

(Wise Men Say) Only Fools Rush In – wildelybroken

Summary: After reading a fic where Erik and Charles are super sluts, meet at what is presumably Raven and Emma's engagement party, and end up sleeping together, I made the following comment and just inspired myself.

"They start casually texting each other throughout the day, maybe while they’re bored or frustrated at work, and start out meeting up and sleeping together semi-frequently. And eventually they accidentally start dating without noticing it at first, not until Raven and Emma get them alone and are like “wtf you two super sluts are actually dating??” And at first they deny, but then they’re both like “holy shit, we are!” And they meet back at one of their places and they don’t have to say anything, they just look at each other and come together immediately, kissing passionately and ~making love~. In the middle of it they realise that’s what they’ve been doing for a long time now and they confess their love to each other and they live happily ever after because they deserve all the good in the world."

For Charles – Shigai

Summary: Tired of being told he has to find his 'heart', classical piano graduate Erik Lehnsherr decides to travel to Italy and drink from the famous Italian passion for music. While searching for it, he meets Charles Xavier, a graduate in Fine Arts who is basically travelling around the world perfectioning his technique, and who will turn his world upside down.

Together they will discover that, sometimes, what you thought you didn't need is what you needed the most.

Erik Hates People – Anonymous

Summary: Erik hates people- it's his rule, a way of living.

Sugar – humanitys_cutest

Summary: Erik glances at the clock for what feels like the tenth time in less than half the minutes. It feels like he's been in some meeting or other since the day started almost 10 hours ago, and he's had just about enough of listening to these pompous old men discuss what would be the best design for his building like they know anything about it. He tries as subtly as possible to massage his temples to assuage the building migraine, but he knows it's no use.

He just wants to go home.

Everyone Likes Charles – Rosawyn

Summary: '“Everyone who's met him likes him.” Cain's grin was even stupider than before. “Once you meet him, you'll see.”

It was almost like a challenge then. And damn. Erik hated saying no to a challenge.'

Still Going Strong – JackyJango

Summary: Speaking of forty-eight, Erik hates it. Hates it even more that others are aware of it. While he’s pragmatic enough to know and accept that aging is inexorable, the increase in number gives the people around him the freedom to pounce at him with questions, opinions and advice he'd fought to keep at bay all year.

Besides, Erik believes that youth is a state of mind, not a phase in one’s life.

You have a child’s mind in a man’s body, Charles constantly tells him.

But despite his age, Erik is healthy. He works out daily. His muscles are steel and he can dead-lift four hundred pounds. He can break bones without breaking a sweat. Most importantly, he can still carry Charles to the bedroom and fuck him senseless. And as long as Erik can do that, he’s perfectly happy.

All I know is pouring rain and everything has changed – hllfire

Summary: Charles meets Erik, the man he had heard about many times from his sister and some friends, on a rainy Sunday morning. The stories about Erik paint him as a distant and intimidating man, but Charles finds out that maybe the stories had been wrong.

How to Successfully Ruin Your Life – humanveil

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Charles Xavier accepts a job at his local café, expecting nothing more than a fun, new pastime. What he gets is a mysterious customer and a schoolboy crush.

Stolen – ishipitsobad

Summary: Erik is a miserable, grumpy, cantankerous bastard, and he has every fucking right to be. He drew the short end of the stick when he got the Underworld as his domain, and there isn't very much fun to be had in judging and governing dead souls who would rather be anywhere else but with Erik in the depths of Hell.

So when he meets Charles, brilliant and lovely Charles who is more popularly known amongst the mortals as Persephone, and feels the promise of something wonderful that could make his eternally doomed existence infinitely more bearable... you can bet all your drachmas Erik's not going to let Charles go any fucking time soon.

Erik Lehnsherr's Guide to Saving the Universe By Meeting Your Soul-Mate and Falling in Love in Less than 72 Hours – magneto, pangea

Summary:Army Pilot Erik Lehnsherr is just trying to enjoy his day off when a mostly naked person crashes through the roof of his car. Even more alarming, the strange falling naked person—who goes by Charles Xavier when he's not speaking an ancient dead language—brings tidings of the apparent potential end of the world, and begs Erik to help him put a stop to it.

Well. His mother has been nagging at him to go out and meet new people.

The Theory of Partnership Dynamics – Pangea

Summary: “Detective Lehnsherr, how wonderful to see you out on the job!” The fed in the front greets him as they draw nearer. He’s shorter than the other two by a full head, and he’s beaming at Lehnsherr as if completely undeterred by Lehnsherr’s paint-peeling scowl.

“What do the feds want?” Lehnsherr asks bluntly.

“You know I can’t tell you that,” the fed answers cheerfully. Then his gaze lands on Alex, and, impossibly, his grin gets even brighter. “Did you get a new partner?"

“No,” Lehnsherr says through his teeth while at the same time Alex says, “Yes.”

#fic recs #cherik fic recs #cherik #asks #earnestly answers #I'm sure there are waaaay more fics out there #might add more later

217 notes · View notes

the-scandalorian · 3 years

Text

Tempered Glass: Chapter 7

Pairing: Din Djarin x Female Reader Rating: M (will become explicit) Word Count: 5.5k Warnings: slow burn, canon-typical violence, cursing, pining, Din in suspenders, fluff Summary: Din takes a job with his old crew, and you and the kid wait for him on Arvala-7. Notes: Sorry this took me forever!

Previous Chapter | Masterlist | Next Chapter

Image from The Art of Star Wars: The Mandalorian

After you left the atmosphere of Tatooine and jumped into hyperspace, Din swiveled his chair around to face you in the copilot’s seat.

“I should take a job. Everything we made went to Peli, and I don’t like being low on credits. There’s a crew I used to run with...I can reach out to them...” he hesitated then added, “but you and the kid can’t come with me.”

“What do you mean I can’t come with you?”

He sighed, shoulders dropping. “I mean, I don’t trust them enough for you and the kid to come.”

“If you don’t trust them, wouldn’t it be better to have backup?”

“I just—,” he looked away, “I don’t want them to know either of you exist.”

“If you don’t trust them, should you be taking a job with them?”

“We don’t have a lot of options.”

“I could get work somewhere. We could go somewhere safe enough for a few weeks. There are some places where I have contacts, and non-bounty hunting work is usually less conspicuous.”

“I don’t think we should stay anywhere that long right now.”

“But—”

“I’ll feel better if you and the kid are safe together.”

“I—”

When he bowed his head in a silent appeal, your determination crumbled.

“Ugh, fine.”

He sighed in relief, reaching out to rest his hand on your knee briefly. His touch was reassuring.

“But, just so you know, this is only going to work once, so don’t think that my staying back with the kid is going to be a regular thing.”

He removed his hand and turned back around to face the viewport.

“I am taking your silence as tacit agreement,” you said to the back of his helmet.

He chose to ignore that, fiddling with the controls instead.

***

Now that you’d both admitted you wanted to stay together, abandoning the pretense of strategy and convenience all together, things were a little off between you and Din. Neither of you were used to being vulnerable, so conversations were slightly stunted again. You found yourself being overly polite, and Din was doing the same.

That first night back on the Crest, he offered you his bunk.

“I’m not taking your bed. You need it to take off your helmet.”

Besides the unshakable lingering chill of the hull, sleeping there wasn’t that bad. You usually slept with every sweater you owned on and that kept you warm enough.

“Use it when I’m not. You shouldn't have to sleep on the floor.”

“Sure, thanks,” you agreed, knowing you’d never take him up on that. You didn’t want to be on a different sleep schedule than he and the kid.

You did try to nap with the kid in Din’s bunk the next day because there wasn’t all that much to do in hyperspace. As soon as you lay down, though, you knew it was a mistake. First of all, it was crazy uncomfortable (somehow not better than the literal floor and the close walls made it slightly claustrophobic), and second—and far more importantly—it smelled overwhelmingly like Din. It smelled like his pine-y soap and beskar and blaster residue and leather and whatever else made up his infuriatingly good scent. It conjured images of crackling fires and golden skin and warm embraces and taut muscles.

Shit.

There was no chance you were going to be able to fall sleep when all you could think about was him.

The kid, on the other hand, was snoozing contentedly beside you. When you’d fully given up on napping, you edged your way out the bunk carefully, doing your best not to wake him.

Din was sitting in the hull on a long crate against the wall, cleaning his blaster, the pieces spread out next to him. Usually, when you were in the hull at the same time, you’d find a place across from him. Instead, you purposefully sat next to him, drawing your knees up to your chest and leaning against the wall.

You decided you were going to push through this awkward phase and make things not weird right there, right then. And you were going to do that the best way you knew how.

He tilted his helmet toward you momentarily then refocused on the blaster in his hand.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yes,” he said, running a rag along the barrel.

“How does one develop a catchphrase? Does it happen organically or is there an iterative brainstorming process?”

Din paused, sighing dramatically, set his blaster and the rag down next to him, and pushed himself back until he was also leaning against the metal wall. His helmet clunked slightly as he relaxed it back. “This is the way is not a catchphrase. It’s a tenet of the Creed.”

“And ‘I can bring you in warm or I can bring you in cold’ is also a tenet of the Creed?”

He lolled his helmet to the side, looking down at you. “Okay, fine, that one isn’t,” he conceded.

“So you admit it—you have at least one catchphrase that you regularly use on bounties.” You smirked up at him.

Without missing a beat, Din fixed you with that unreadable visor and quipped: “I’ve been told I have a sexy voice. I’m just giving the people what they want.”

Your jaw dropped, a shocked laugh echoing through the hull. You had planned on teasing him and had not expected him to turn it around on you so smoothly.

“Uh... I was sort of hoping we’d stick to our unspoken agreement to not bring up the stupid things I said when I was drunk.” You looked down at your hands, suddenly unable to meet his gaze.

“Oh, definitely not.”

You looked back up. “Alright, well then in the name of fairness, we’re going to have to get you really drunk the next time the opportunity presents itself, so we can see what embarrassing things you say.”

He paused for a moment, considering, then said, “Does that mean you’ll carry me home?”

You cracked a smile, nodding vigorously. “Of course. That would only be fair.”

A warm laugh rasped through the modulator. You crossed your ankles in front of you, letting your knee rest against the cold beskar on this thigh.

“I feel skeptical of that promise.” He dropped a gloved hand to your knee.

“Okay, okay I can’t promise to carry you home, but I can promise to tie your shoe if needed.”

“My boots don’t have laces.” He lifted a foot off the ground to show you.

You shrugged playfully: “Well, that’s not my fault.”

“This doesn’t sound like a very good deal for me. I tied your shoe and carried you home.”

“To be fair, both were against my will.”

“But necessary.”

You rolled your eyes at him. “Okay, okay, I can’t carry you, and I can’t tie your shoe... so I’ll...,” you bit your lip as you fished around for something else to offer, “...hold your hand? And not let anyone tickle you.”

He huffed and rubbed his thumb over your knee: “I’m not ticklish.”

You pursed your lips. “Right, sure, of course not. My mistake.”

He harrumphed. “Can I ask you something now?”

“I’ll allow it,” you intoned seriously.

“Where are you actually from?”

“Naboo. Most of my back story was true—I just left out the one major detail.”

“Your favorite color?” he deadpanned.

You laughed. “Yes, exactly. What about you? Where are you from?”

“Aq Vetina.”

You waited, hoping he’d elaborate.

“When my parents died there, I was rescued by the Mandalorians and raised in the Fighting Corps.”

“I’m sorry,” you said, placing your hand over his and squeezing gently. “That sounds like a tough life for a child.”

“It was all I knew,” he explained, shifting slightly.

“Still, that can’t have been easy. It makes sense that you couldn’t leave the kid.”

“Yeah,” he said quietly, solemnly. There was a tension in his shoulders that hadn’t been there moments ago.

“Less serious question,” you replied, changing the subject to something lighter.

“Okay.” He relaxed a little.

“Why don’t you ever use a straw to drink with your helmet on?”

“These are the things you think about?” he laughed. His laugh was usually a quiet, muffled sound through the modulator, but it was getting easier to pick up on it. “There’s a seal on the helmet, otherwise the filters wouldn’t work,” he tapped the release on the side of his head. “So a straw isn’t a possibility, unfortunately.”

“Mmm,” you responded, “that is disappointing.”

He gripped your thigh lightly, turning toward you. “I, uh, heard back about the job... while you were asleep. It’s a go.”

“Ah... great. I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t hear back.”

“I know. It will be fine.”

“Okay... So, any ideas for where the kid and I should stay?”

To your surprise, Din explained that he had a trusted friend on Arvala-7. When you agreed to the plan, he disappeared to the cockpit to set the nav—a two-day trip.

***

That same evening, you discovered a new favorite activity on the Crest. Before bed, the kid was being particularly fussy, so you pulled out your data pad and downloaded the first children’s book you could find. It worked liked a charm.

From then on, it became a daily routine: you’d read to him until his eyelids drooped before his nap and before bedtime. Regardless of his mood, listening to you read seemed to soothe him. You’d pull him into your lap and settle onto your stack of blankets against the wall. He’d watch your face, enraptured, as you relayed story after story to him. His favorite—the story that elicited the most chirps and grabby motions and ear wiggles—centered on a family of frogs. You revisited that one at least once a day, sometimes more if he was grouchy.

You weren’t sure how to feel about his hyperfixation on that particular story given his appetite for frogs.

At this rate, your digital library was going to be largely children’s books. You didn’t mind.

You noticed that Din would find something to do in the hull while you read. The first couple times, he sat and cleaned one of his many weapons or sewed a hole in his flight suit. Very quickly, he stopped bothering with an ostensible task and would just sit and listen.

When you were still 15 hours out from Arvala-7, Din was seated on his usual crate in the hull, the one next to the weapons cabinet, as you finished the final page of a particularly thrilling story about a snail. The kid was snoring softly in your arms, so you clicked off your datapad, and got up to settle him in his hammock for his mid-day nap.

“You’re good with him.” Din was leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees.

“I guess,” you shrugged, snapping the door to Din’s bunk shut and turning back to him. “I just think about what I liked as a kid. I loved when my parents would read to me.”

He nodded, helmet trained on the floor between his boots.

“I’m sorry—” you started, realizing how that must have sounded to Din.

He looked up and cut you off. “Don’t be. It’s nice for him to have some normal kid experiences.”

“You know what he’d really love?”

“What?”

“If you read to him.”

He dipped his helmet slightly in acknowledgement, rolling his shoulders back at the same time like he was uncomfortable agreeing with that.

Several hours later, you pulled Din down next to you in your normal pre-bedtime story time spot. He had the kid in his arms. You switched on your datapad and toggled through the catalog of books you’d downloaded, all of which had colorful covers and silly, whimsical titles, until you found the frog book.

“Here,” you offered, passing it over to him.

You leaned your head back against the wall and closed your eyes, listening to Din’s serious, even voice narrate the heartwarming hijinks of a family of frogs. The kid cooed and babbled along.

To your (and the kid’s) utter delight, Din’s rendition slowly evolved into a full-on dramatic reading, complete with sound effects and slightly different voices for each character, as he leaned into whatever prompted the most enthusiastic responses from the kid. You kept your eyes closed and said nothing, worried that if you drew attention to this new development, he’d get self-conscious and stop. You couldn’t help from smiling a little though.

When the story came to its conclusion, you opened your eyes. Din was scrolling through the library of options, browsing for the next book. “What do you think? Which one next?” You looked at him, but he wasn’t asking you. The kid let out a string of gibberish, pointing with a teeny finger. Din read out the titles of several options, selecting the one that triggered the most animated trill.

As Din began the story, he shifted until his body was flush with yours. The places where his beskar made contact with you were cold, even through the fabric of your clothes, but you didn’t mind.

By the time Din finished the second book, the kid was displaying the telltale signs—drooping ears and unfocused eyes—that bedtime had arrived.

Din handed you the datapad and stood to tuck the kid into bed.

As he shut the door to his bunk, you said, “I think you just put me out of a job.”

He scoffed, but you could tell he was pleased.

***

As you got more comfortable around each other, Din took to walking around without his armor—beside his helmet—on. Most of the time, he’d even leave his gloves off. He wore either a flight suit that zipped up the middle or a black shirt and pants...with suspenders. The first few times, it was jarring to see him like that, without his armor. He looked wrong. It was like seeing a turtle without its shell... but if turtles were sexy.

The first time he emerged from his bunk with the suspenders hanging loosely by his sides, you stopped dead, mouth hanging open. He tilted his helmet sharply at you: “What?”

“You sometimes wear suspenders under your armor?”

“...Yes?”

You couldn’t help the laugh that escaped you and the goofy grin that spread across your face.

“What?” he prompted again, shoulders pulling up toward his neck.

“I just really wasn’t expecting that,” you laughed.

“What were you expecting?” The playful note in his voice left you flustered. He took a step closer, much more relaxed now that he was the one doing the teasing. He was getting too good at flipping things on you.

Instead of answering—because you were not about to address the fact that you had absolutely thought about what he wore under his armor—you strode up to him and pulled the suspenders over his shoulders. He stood uncomfortably still, arms hanging awkwardly by his sides.

“What are you doing?” He looked down at his shirt then back up at you.

“I just want to get the full picture.” You looked him up and down.

“Thought about this a lot, have you?” He quirked his helmet down at you suggestively. It was only the second time you’d gotten that particular flavor of head tilt, and you...didn’t hate it. It made your neck feel hot. You disregarded the intense desire to grab him by the suspenders and jerk him toward you.

Instead, you narrowed your eyes at him, enjoying this new bold flirtation. Without looking away from his visor, you hooked a finger through one of the suspenders and pulled it out a couple inches, letting it snap back against him.

“Ow.” He stated it so matter-of-factly that it obviously hadn’t hurt, but for dramatic effect, he rubbed the spot on his chest where it hit him.

“You’ll survive,” you assured him, patting his shoulder and brushing past him to climb the ladder to the cockpit. When you sat down in the pilot’s seat and kicked your feet up to rest on the console, you still had a smile on your face.

***

A few hours later, you were seated in the copilot seat with the child held tightly in your lap as the Razor Crest descended through the atmosphere of Arvala-7. On the way, Din shared how he’d met this friend—he had helped Din when he was originally tracking down the child months ago.

However, when you asked what his friend’s name was, Din said he didn’t know. Honestly, you weren’t even that surprised. Just exasperated.

Din told you the details of when he tracked down the child, including the assassin droid he'd crossed paths with. He explained how he’d teamed up with IG-11, but in the end, he had to destroy the droid to protect the kid. The anger in his voice was raw when he described watching IG-11 point his blaster at the child.

As the dusty, cracked surface of the planet came into view, you asked, “Is that what caused your thing with droids?”

“What thing?”

“Din.”

He was silent for a long moment.

“Droids destroyed my home planet, killed my parents. They’re the reason I was a foundling as a child.”

His words washed over you, and your heart dropped. You leaned forward in your seat to put a hand on his shoulder. He stayed perfectly still, helmet trained on the controls in front of him.

“I’m sorry.”

He nodded stiffly and reached up to squeeze your hand briefly.

“We’re about to land.”

You took that as a cue to drop the subject for now.

***

You and Din, the kid in his arms, approached a small collection of low structures. You swept your eyes across the uniform landscape—all was dry and sienna and flat. The Ugnaught’s homestead was the only sign of habitation in sight. The buildings were brown and domed, and windmills creaked slowly in the warm breeze. Three blurrgs in a large corral watched you balefully.

“Mandalorian!” the Ugnaught greeted, emerging from the door of his low home.

“Ugnaught,” Din replied with a nod.

“I did not think I would see you here again. What business brings you back to Arvala-7?”

“I was hoping that my friends could stay with you for a couple nights—I’ll pay you for the lodging.”

Of course he'd refer to me and a literal infant as his "friends."

You introduced yourself, offering your hand.

The Ugnaught bowed his head slightly as he clasped your hand: “It is nice to make your acquaintance. I am Kuill.”

At least Din knows his name now.

Kuill turned back to Din. “The child remains in your care,” he observed.

“Yes,” said Din, offering no explanation. He set the child down on the ground, and he toddled his way slowly over to Kuill.

Kuill scooped up the baby, and he chirruped happily, reaching toward his whiskery mustache.

“It hasn’t grown much.”

“I think it might be a Strand-Cast.”

You shot Din a skeptical look. He’d never shared this particular theory of his with you.

“I don’t think it was engineered. I’ve worked in the gene farms. This one looks evolved. Too ugly,” mused Kuill.

You raised your eyebrows at the frankness of his statement. He is not ugly.

“Your friends are welcome to stay with me. No payment will be necessary. I have spoken.” Kuill turned and headed back inside without so much as a backward glance.

“I insist,” Din said to his back.

Kuill disappeared into his home.

Din turned to you: “He does that. Just ends a conversation like that.”

“I understand why the two of you get along so well. Men of few words.” You raised an eyebrow at him.

Din nodded, reinforcing your point inadvertently.

You and Din stepped closer to each other at the same time. For the first time, you let the concern you were feeling color your features.

“I’ll be back in three days, if not sooner.”

He was padding his timeline in response to the worry that was etched across your face. You knew Din could defend himself—that wasn’t your fear. It was that, whether he liked to admit it or not, he occasionally let trust blind him. The irony of that wasn’t lost on you, considering how long it had taken for him to trust you. This was the trademark paradox of Din. He was loath to fully let people in, but he had a tendency to take people at face value and assume they would keep their word—because he always kept his word. He had a surprisingly generous worldview for someone with such a violent profession and brutal past.

Din reached down to grab something small that was tucked in his belt—the metal ball from one of the controls in the cockpit that the kid loved to play with. He occasionally pretended to be irritated whenever he wanted to play with it, but you knew he found it endearing.

He handed it to you. “He’ll want that.”

You smiled and nodded, looking at the sphere in your palm. Din raised a hand to your chin and tilted your face back up to his.

Do we... hug? He doesn’t seem like a hugger.

So instead, you offered, “Be careful, okay?”

“I will,” he promised. He stayed there for a moment longer, looking at you and rubbing his thumb along your cheek. Before you could decide if you should also try to hug him, he turned abruptly to walk back to the Crest.

You stayed and watched him as he walked the distance back to the ship and disappeared up the ramp. You stayed and watched as the Razor Crest rumbled to life and took off. You stayed and watched as it ascended through the atmosphere and vanished from view.

***

It was a relief to be off the ship for a few days—even if Arvala-7 wasn’t exactly your ideal planet. It would be a treat to eat real food, instead of shelf-stable ration packs, and to have more than the limited space of the ship to move around in... not to mention an actual bed.

Kuill was a kind and welcoming host. He offered you his spare room, where you placed your things, and you sat down for tea together in his small kitchen.

“How did you come to be in the company of the Mandalorian and the child?”

“I guess he has a soft spot for people who are wanted by the Empire?” you chuckled, and Kuill nodded somberly. “Now, we’re just helping each other out.” You weren’t really sure how else to explain it.

Kuill didn’t press you anymore than that, nodding sagely. Instead, while you sipped your tea with the kid on your lap, he told you about his background—decades of indentured servitude to the Empire before he worked off his debt and bought his freedom—in the solemn, frugal way that was clearly characteristic of the Ugnaught. You understood why Din trusted him: he was forthright, calm, wise.

“What can I help you with while I’m here?” you asked, already anxious to find something to occupy your time.

“You are my guest. You do not need to do any work.”

“I would be happy to,” you insisted. “I would rather be busy. I can help with cleaning or repairs—whatever you need. My formal training was in programming, but I’ve picked up general skills along the way.”

Kuill nodded and said, “Come.”

He turned and walked out of his house. You set down your tea on the table and followed him, the child tucked in the crook of your elbow, happily clutching the silver ball. Kuill stopped in front of the workstation that was a short distance from his doorway. Tools and wiring and various speeder parts were arranged on and around a long workbench and a collection of smaller tables and shelves. The circular backdrop of the workbench was the repurposed window of a TIE fighter.

An assassin droid was laid across the tabletop.

“Is this the droid that Mando shot?”

“I believe so, yes. It was left behind, in the Mandalorian’s wake of destruction. I found it lying where it fell—devoid of all life. I recovered the flotsam and staked it as my own in accordance with the Charter of the New Republic. Little remains of its neural harness. Reconstruction will be quite difficult.”

“What are your plans for it?”

“To convert it from an assassin droid to something more useful: a protocol and nurse droid.”

You nodded. “Handy.”

“I will have to reconstruct the neural harness, and then it will have to relearn every function from scratch. It will be a blank slate on which to program something nurturing instead of destructive. You may help me restore him if you would like.”

“Of course.”

The two of you got to work.

***

That night, when you lay down to sleep, you tossed and turned. The child was snuggled in a makeshift crib next to your bed. You found yourself sitting up periodically to check on him. Every time you checked on him, he was sleeping soundly.

Eventually, you slipped out of your bed, tiptoed quietly through the house, and walked out into the cold, clear night. You walked aimlessly for a while, circling the corral of blurrgs. They were asleep, eyes shut tight, standing in a close clump. Then you turned to head out across the open plain and watch the stars through the thin veil of clouds that dusted the sky.

You were starting to regret that you hadn’t pushed harder to go with Din. He was with a whole team of people who sounded untrustworthy at best, malicious at worst. You couldn’t help but think of all the things you should have said to him before he left. You hadn’t even hugged him.

It was freaking you out a little just how attached you were to a man who you’d known for a couple months.

You walked until the chill of the night air became too much, then turned back.

In the morning, you sat at Kuill’s kitchen table again, feeding the child. Kuill moved around the small food prep area, pulling together breakfast and making tea.

You followed Kuill as he went about his daily jobs, caring for the blurrgs, doing routine maintenance, and continuing the work on IG-11.

You were sweating in the sun, hands covered in grease, concentrating on refitting a damaged arm joint when Kuill’s calm voice brought you out of your train of thought.

“It is curious that the Mandalorian elected to keep the child.”

You looked up at him. “He secretly has a soft heart,” you said, smiling to yourself.

“Yes, that much is clear, but he is also set in his beliefs, and this choice went against the Guild Code. What is curious is that such a small being could inspire a change of heart in such a rigid person.”

You considered his words.

“I... think he was just waiting to find a greater purpose than hunting, to find someone to love, you know? It comes naturally to him, but I don’t think he’d ever had the chance.”

Kuill hummed thoughtfully. “Is that not what we are all doing—looking for a greater purpose?”

“I guess?” You shrugged.

“And have you?”

“Have I what?” you asked, wiping a bead of sweat off your forehead.

“Have you found the greater purpose you were looking for?”

You considered for a moment then said, “Well... I found a purpose a long time ago, when I joined the Alliance, and since then, I’ve been too busy trying to escape the wrath of the Empire to really think about what’s next in the larger sense... Staying alive has been the main priority.”

Kuill hummed again, glancing over at the kid. “You weren’t looking for something greater, but it appears to have found you.”

“I...,” you started. You watched the child, who was siting on the hard ground admiring the silver ball clutched in his hand. “I’m not sure.”

“I have spoken,” said Kuill, bowing his head, and he lapsed back into silence.

You watched the kid as he dropped the ball and staggered to his feet, squealing excitedly as he chased a lizard that darted past him. You wondered where Din was at this exact moment, and your heart squeezed in a familiar way.

***

The second night was much like the first. You walked outside for some time, thinking of all the awful things that could be happening to Din.

What if they turn on him?

What if another hunter finds him?

What if he doesn’t come back?

It wasn't a crazy thought. You were used to people not coming back.

Until that moment, you hadn't considered that you'd be the sole guardian of the kid if Din didn't return. For a split second, you felt the crushing weight of responsibility for the life and safety and happiness of the tiny green child that Din must feel at all times.

Eventually you fell into a fitful sleep, waking early, and the day dawned bright and cold. As the sun climbed, the chill rapidly dissipated, making way for a dry heat that seemed to be the only weather condition on Arvala-7.

You spent the morning helping Kuill continue the repairs on IG-11. You did your best to not count the hours that slipped by. He’d said it could take three days, so there was no reason to be concerned yet.

But... did he mean he would return ON the third day? Or the fourth day?

And for that matter... did the day he left count as day one? Or was yesterday day one?

Did he mean seventy-two hours from the time he left? Or that he’d be back at the start of the third day?

How did I not clarify this before he left??

That evening, you were in deep in discussion about artificial intelligence when Kuill said, “I believe your Mandalorian has returned to you.” He pointed behind you, and you whipped around to see the Crest touching down in a cloud of dust in the distance.

“Will you—?” you asked, turning back to Kuill.

“I will watch the child.” He seemed vaguely amused by your enthusiasm.

You sprang to your feet and walked as fast as you could toward the Crest. You briefly considered running, but that felt dramatic. He’d only been gone a couple days.

Why did he land so fucking far away?

You’d made it about half the distance when the ramp of the Crest finally began to lower with a hiss. Your resolve snapped, and you started to jog. Din descended the ramp, and you were so relieved to see him that you weren’t even embarrassed anymore that you were literally running to him.

Din cocked his head—a curious head tilt—when he saw you sprinting at him across the dusty ground. He paused at the bottom of the ramp.

“Are you—?” he started to say as you crashed into his chest and wrapped your arms around him. He barely budged upon impact.

His shoulders relaxed immediately, and he pulled you tight against him.

Well, if he wasn’t a hugger before, he is now.

“I’m okay,” he reassured you.

“Good,” you said into the fabric bunched around his neck.

After a moment, you released him and stepped back, the steadying weight of his hands remaining on your arms. He looked like he was in one piece, but the slight heaviness in his shoulders told you that the job had taken a toll on him.

“I, uh, missed you too,” he said, a little awkwardly.

You smiled at him and took his gloved hand in yours to walk back towards Kuill’s home. You felt slightly giddy that you were casually holding the Mandalorian’s hand. He seemed taken by it too, his helmet tilted down to where your fingers were intertwined.

“The kid?” he asked, looking up to your face.

“He’s good. Misses you, I think. Ate several frogs. And one lizard. The usual. He is disgusting,” you laughed.

Din made a sound that you would almost swear was a snort. “Yeah, he is,” he agreed fondly.

Kuill was waiting outside his home, the child in his arms. When you and Din were close, Kuill set him down, and the baby tottered over to wrap his tiny arms around Din’s calf.

You watched as Din bent stiffly, slowly to pick up the kid.

“You’re hurt,” you realized.

“I'm fine,” he said.

You felt sure that wasn’t true, but you let it be for the moment.

“Thank you,” Din addressed Kuill. He reached into the pouch of his belt for credits.

“I will not accept payment,” Kuill insisted, shaking his head. “In fact, your friend here helped me make great progress on my current project.” Kuill raised his eyebrows at you.

“Very well,” Din acquiesced.

You gathered your things and said your thank yous and goodbyes, returning to the Crest, which—with a jolt—you realized was already starting to feel like home.

***

Chapter 8

***

Taglist: @bbdoyouloveme @beskarhearts @bookloverfilmoholic @elinedjarin @eury-dice3 @dincrypt @dunderr @honey-hi @jagi-yaaa @just-me-and-my-obsessions00 @mbpokemonrulez @red-leaders @speakerforthedead0 @tuskens-mando @spideysimpossiblegirl @theflightytemptressadventure @ubri812 @zoemariefit

If you want to be added or removed, let me know!

#my writing #tempered glass #the mandalorian fanfiction #the mandalorian fanfic #din djarin fanfiction #din djarin fanfic #the mandalorian x you #din djarin x you #the mandalorian x female reader #din djarin x female reader #the mandalorian x f!reader #din djarin x f!reader #mature #mando x you #mando x female reader #mando x f!reader

270 notes · View notes

kellinrk800 · 3 years

Text

toko fukawa comphet no i don’t take criticism

nobody will even see this because my account just. doesnt get traction but here have a ramble abt toko’s backstory and how much i firmly believe her attraction was comphet.

spoilers for thh, sdr2 and udg

tw// ab/se, n/glect, severe bullying

toko was severely neglected and unwanted when she was a child. she grew up with two mothers and one father due to both sleeping with the same man and neither wanting their child which caused her to be mistreated. once she was locked in a closet and forced to stay there for three days without food. clearly, she grew up in a household completely devoid of healthy love. genocide jack’s development was likely a response to cope with the traumatic experiences.

her time in elementary was no different. in third grade, she was used as a scapegoat for stolen money and her classmates tied her to the jungle gym with a garden hose as punishment.

her first real “love” was with a boy who she had been friends with since elementary but when she finally confessed through a letter, she found it pinned to the bulletin board to mock her. this was genocide jack’s first kill, leading me to believe that her murders were actually a form of protection.

on one occasion (and most likely more considering her difficult relationship with understanding rejection) she was ghosted halfway through on a date after spending three days and nights planning it so that she would not mess it up. she later found out that the boy only asked her out because he lost a bet.

the most likely only healthy representation of love she ever has was through media, which is arguably extremely heteronormativity and the actual healthiness of how relationships are presented in media is debatable.

she internalised all of these things happening to her and believed she deserved them somehow, building her inferiority complex. she began to assume that people only expected bad of her and self victimises herself almost on instinct despite her nature to express opinions without care for others most of the time. her self esteem is extremely low and she often worries about being considered an “old hag” in ultra despair girls.

toko fell in love with the idea of love, not an actual person. at some point she turned to novels and writing as a way to express her emotions and she used that passion to create works of art through her novels and created a toxic idolisation of the perfect relationship with nothing but media, her family’s relationships and her past experiences to go off.

she began to let herself get hurt and internalise it which ended up building her inferiority complex even further to the point of becoming unhealthily infatuated with anyone she saw fit as a stand in for the dreamy perfect people that made her books succeed.

time and time again genocide jack and toko were mistreated in their relationships, causing their system to suffer greatly. jack began to kill anyone toko saw fit as a perfect romantic interest to protect them both, but this most likely caused her own mental health to decline as well, leading to the aggressive, startling and manic personality we saw in the games.

toko began to both idolise and fear falling in love. while she knew they would most likely be killed and she would have to cope with knowing that the police could come knocking any day if they put the pieces together, she also still purposed her life around being in a perfect relationship because it was now causing her to gain traction through her novels.

this only furthered her unhealthy infatuation with relationships. she became determined to find a man who fit her description of the perfect man and would not mislead, use, mock or hurt toko in hopes that he would not be killed and she would finally achieve her dream.

enter byakuya togami. blonde, blue eyed, rich, cold and most importantly, entirely unattainable. he was an ideal stand in, especially considering the circumstances of the killing game (jack’s unique killing style would immediately be found out). she was able to fantasise from afar without ever really getting as severely hurt as she had in the past because he simply did not care to provide her his attention.

jack had two options. kill byakuya and get executed, or suck it up. clearly you can tell which option she chose. in addition, she had all of her memories from prior to the game which most likely slightly numbed her thirst for blood. by the end of ultra despair girls, she has grown a respect for toko, a softness for komaru and even calmed jack down to the point where it’s suggested that she no longer uses her skills to murder but instead fight despair.

in fact, near the end, toko is acutely aware of what is happening despite the fact jack was fronting (they don’t usually share memories, only emotions), suggesting they may have slightly integrated but i don’t really want to make assumptions considering i do not have did and am not educated enough to speak confidently about did.

ironically, the killing game was actually good for both of their mental health’s. i’ll only be talking about toko but in ultra despair girls she was emotionally stronger and more mature. she believed she finally had a purpose other than romance and that she could fight against all odds. she even credits makoto for her newfound courage. she criticises cowards and those that remind her of her past self. she is willing to challenge her fears.

komaru had an amazingly powerful and positive effect on them both. her softness, optimism and empathy help toko’s character develop even further. when komaru tries to give in to despair, toko encourages her to face her fears. toko, who was before extremely afraid and uncomfortable with being touched, is now willing to comfort and even hug komaru. she claims she’s finally found a true friend (that’s actually human, can’t forget kameko the stinkbug) and that she found hope in her.

komaru admires toko and doesnt really mind her split personality, instead just considering it “a bit strange”, which is a noticeable difference from how she was treated by everyone else for it. toko is protective of komaru during chapter two due to her suspicion of shirokuma. later, they even sleep in the same bed.

however, when toko risks komaru’s life for byakuya, they get into an argument in which toko accuses komaru of manipulating her with terms such as “friends”, which leads to komaru showing that she really does trust her.

later, this arguably resolved after servant forces jack and toko to fight against komaru for byakuya. they fight back against servant and komaru forgives her because they are friends, which makes toko extremely happy, so much that she blushed and admits she has never had a real friend before. she thanks komaru genuinely for the first time and they try to become real friends.

toko swears she will help komaru with anything she can’t do by herself, just like komaru would do for her.

toko even stays by her side to the point of rejecting the opportunity of going to future foundation to stay with komaru :)

in the end of danganronpa goodbye despair, which is set after ultra despair girls, kyoko reminds byakuya that someone is waiting for him and he jokes that she shouldn’t remind him of “something so horrifying”. and honestly i think the fact he was able to joke about it shows that perhaps toko and byakuya found a somewhat healthy relationship as friends, acquaintances, or even just bearing eachother’s presence.

a notable addition that didn’t really fit anywhere else is toko’s scrapped execution. “first kiss prank” is the title and it consists of byakuya running towards her before toko gets hit by a roller. that says enough about her biggest fears and how badly her past memories affected her.

in conclusion, toko fukawa’s obsession with byakuya was comphet due to pressure from the media and her toxic ideals. the fact she was able to form a healthy relationship with komaru is hhh and i could talk about them for hours. tokomaru is the second closest thing we have to inmedia stated canon (fuck kodaka’s statement me and the homies hate kodaka’s statement about naegiri /j)

sources: toko fukawa’s fandom wiki, genocide jack’s fandom wiki, free time events, transcripts

#danganronpa #toko fukawa #fukawa toko #touko fukawa #fukawa touko #tokomaru #syomaru #toukomaru #trigger happy havoc #ultra despair girls #character analysis #in which i am unhealthy obsessed with toko fukawa

355 notes · View notes

greenhappyseed · 3 years

Text

Things are getting dark in the BNHA manga, so I wanted to return to brighter times and do a post on Inko Midoriya and her many parallels with All Might. Their interactions are some of my favorites in BNHA, not as a ship (although I am multi-ship friendly) but as two adult humans with little in common and no overlapping life experiences that nonetheless become co-parents because of deep empathy and one determined kid with a knack for bringing people together. The canon Inko-All Might interactions are short, but they occur at critical points in the story and touch on almost all major themes of the series.

The main chapter where All Might and Inko meet starts with them depicted as adversaries, facing off for a fight. #1 hero vs mama bear! Except...they don’t actually fight. They talk through what they each want for Izuku and come to a mutual understanding. These characters really see and trust each other in a way that contrasts with the Todoroki “watch me” story. Before I dive deep, check out the difference between the beginning and the end of Chapter 97, because this art is everything:

Ok, now for the good stuff.

1. In a story about succession and what we owe future generations, Inko is All Might’s predecessor with respect to Izuku. If Nana Shimura gave him OFA and made him a hero, Inko gives him a second life and unofficially-but-actually-officially makes him a “dad.”

2. Much like how All Might can’t be the sole pillar supporting society, Inko can’t be the sole pillar supporting Izuku. The difference is that we watch Inko arrive at this conclusion in the span of one chapter while All Might and, uh, society, aren’t there yet. When Inko truly sees how much Izuku is driven to become a hero, and how much he NEEDS something she can’t give, she starts to back down. Unlike Endeavor, she knows her son’s future is not about her.

Izuku wants this so much he won’t stay with Inko and will “go wherever”.... and it’s almost like All Might will follow to help Izuku be that hero...

3. Speaking of, allowing Izuku to move out at 15 and having All Might “raise” him is an incredible sacrifice on Inko’s part. She’s unexpectedly “retiring” as an active day-to-day parent and letting go of the one thing she spent her life building and protecting. Trusting your life’s work in someone else’s hands is really, really hard, but she does it. (Can All Might?)

After the Overhaul arc, we see Inko acknowledging the progress Izuku has made, which includes All Might by extension (because she’s clearly thinking about him too). Seeing how Izuku can grow without her, Inko is slowly getting comfortable with her decision to “retire.” (Can All Might?)

4. Inko’s weight gain parallels All Might’s weight loss in that both characters neglect themselves to help others (parenting and hero-ing) and they PARTICULARLY ignore themselves when worrying about Izuku.

5. Izuku, Inko, and All Might all seem to know when people need a little saving. Starting with Inko...when All Might flexes into his iconic muscle form and performs dogeza (and then poofs down to his true form), he’s not merely apologizing — he’s showing deference to Inko. She has power over All Might AND she’s not sold on the bloody reality of her son becoming a hero, even if she supports his dream. From here, she could block the next symbol of peace. She could take away the child All Might loves. She could extract whatever she wanted from the longtime #1 hero. Just think about what some other, less charitable characters might do.

But Inko doesn’t take anything from All Might. Instead, Inko sees how much Izuku and All Might need each other (I mean, LOOK AT THEIR FACES when they think she’s saying no!!!). She moves to reassure All Might that Izuku needs him, that she doesn’t hate UA (even though she railed against the school minutes earlier), and that she doesn’t want an big, heroic sacrifice. Inko trusts he will help Izuku “walk a path” different from his bloody one. She just wants a happy child, and All Might is integral to that because these 2 boys are a bonded pair. Izuku lives for All Might and All Might lives for Izuku. All for one and one for all, united we stand divided we fall. Inko sees how deeply All Might respects and cares for Izuku, to the point that the next symbol of peace is secondary (unlike Endeavor, who is invested in Shoto carrying on his legacy above all else).

Oh hey, 200 chapters later, it turns out All Might IS willing to follow Izuku anywhere, because he just can’t be apart from his boy. And, after Inko and All Might built mutual respect in Chapter 97, we see in Chapter 309 that All Might is not afraid to cry in front of Inko and show his real concern about Izuku. (He doesn’t cry in Chapter 97, but he readily lets the waterworks flow in Chapter 309.)

Now, we don’t see Inko’s reaction to All Might beyond the second panel below, but we know she previously decided to trust the boys despite her own fears. It’s not out of character for her to trust them again. In fact, it’s kinda sweet to see them both reassure her [while still clinging to their dumb plans, sigh]. Izuku makes clear he’s not intending to sacrifice his life, and All Might won’t let Izuku go alone. Of course, both of these promises will be...challenged...in chapters 310+, but the intent is there and that’s all Inko can ask for (I mean, that was all she originally asked of All Might in exchange for her consent — no sacrifice + “look after” Izuku.)

Finally, note how All Might stands throughout the scene, projecting a large, protective presence because it’s his turn to give back. Izuku extends his hand to his mother; All Might extends his height above them both. For all of 309 he’s high above Inko and Izuku; in 97, he’s shown equal to or below Inko except the brief moment he looms over them just before kneeling to the floor.

6. Inko and All Might only interact twice in the manga, but both times are critical turning points between acts AND both times are shortly after encounters with villains — Shigaraki/AFO in particular. The first is in the immediate aftermath of Kamino and All Might’s retirement (literally, All Might retires at the beginning of Chapter 96 and he meets Inko at the end). The second Inko-All Might interaction is in the immediate aftermath of the war and jailbreak (Chapter 309). At a meta-level, Inko’s character page is at the end of Chapter 94, right after we see Izuku & Shigaraki with AFO saying “it’s your turn.”

Interestingly there are TWO earlier near-interactions in canon. The first is in the School Briefs light novel, taking place just after the internships/Stain arc and before final exams. TL;DR: There’s a Parents Day at UA that involves a villain kidnapping 1A’s parents (spoiler: it’s really a rational deception by Aizawa and the parents are in on it). But things go awry and Inko nearly falls into a fire pit for real. A playing-the-villain-but-actually-in-his-true-form All Might swoops in to save her, of course! Afterwards, Inko runs over to thank him, thinking she’s talking to a local theater actor. :)

Lastly, in Chapter 70, right after Izuku runs into Shigaraki at the mall, Inko and All Might are both near Izuku at the police station. However, neither one speaks to or acknowledges the other, and the art doesn’t even show them together. The closest we get is the bottom right panel:

Despite both All Might and Izuku knowing about these two near-meetings, neither one tells Inko. My head canon is that they do this to avoid embarrassing her — she’s obviously terrified when All Might visits her home, so All Might saying, “we’ve met but you didn’t know” would be impolite. Likewise, if she at all remembered All Might from the police station, she doesn’t say so. Kindness all around!

I don’t know if it’s likely, but I’m really hopeful that a “found family” with most (all?) of these characters will happen in the end (maybe with Shigaraki too??)....I enjoy them way too much!!

#bhna #mha #my hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #all might #mha all might #mha inko #bnha inko #bnha all might #bnha meta #inko midoriya #midoriya inko #yagi toshinori #mha toshinori #toshinori yagi

293 notes · View notes

princessamericachavez · 3 years

Text

YES HELLO CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT FJORESTER HEART TO HEART?

THE WAY IT PARALLELED THE JELLYFISH TALK??

Fjord following Jester into trouble and momentarily doubting but eventually being like “I don’t care” because he would follow her anywhere even against his best sense

Both of them sitting there, looking out at the night ocean... like they did on a ship so long ago when Jester first opened up about her sadness.

And now she’s volunteering some of it again:

“Look, you have to see the moon from up here [...] This is where I used to come when, you know, I lived here and I didn’t really any friends. And I would dream about leaving the city and look out in the ocean and think about all the places I could go.”

Sigh

*breathes in*

SCREAMS

guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuys

omg remember

“And then I don't know what. I want to explore the world. I want to see the lands we haven't seen. I want to find the things that people are scared of and solve them or do whatever anyone else needs to do. But-- I hope she's a part of that.”

I AM STILL SCREAMING I SWEAR

Anyway, we are just getting started but look at Fjord’s faces through this bit

Because that’s when he realizes that maybe... just maybe... Jester might want the same thing he does... maybe

And then, what does he do?

He diverts attention to something funny: her drawing dicks on the tower. Why? Because Jester is talking about something sad and Fjord wants nothing more than to cheer her up.

And then, wishfully, Jester brings up one thing that I’ve been thinking about ever since we found out these two coast kids had been in Nicodranas for years without knowing each other.

“I wonder if I was ever sitting up here and saw your ship go by even knowing”

“I bet”

Invisible String_Taylor Swift.mp3

okay but also

PLEASE GUYS

if any of you have any art skills and wants to give me that poetic image of younger Fjord and Jester, each looking up wishfully... she’s lonely and young and on top of that tall tower looking at the life she craves to live and Fjord is looking at the city full of homes like he’s never had and they are unaware that they are looking at each other’s future??

GUYS PLEASE C’MON

ok ok ok moving on so Fjord....

he brings up Vandran... awkwardly... nervous... stuttering about the whoel thing...

and his voice suggests that his optimism in Eisselcross was a front put to keep the others calm.

And then he says the magic words:

“Would you come with me?”

“Of course!”

Like he has to ask, please. Like she hasn’t followed him everywhere since the very first day they met. Like she wouldn’t follow him to the ends of the earth just like he has followed him through plunging falls and vertiginous heights above volcanos.

Still Fjord, deep down still that insecure kid who faked a whole personality for months, tries to give her an out.

“I don’t know if being on the sea is of any interest to you or if you want to stay in Nicodranas because you can now and I would totally understand.”

BOI HE JUST TOLD YOU THIS IS HER LIFE LONG DREAM

LITERALLY

STOP FREAKING OUT

“There’s... That is my favorite place to be. I love it out there.”

THE WAY SHE LOOKS OUT WITH JUST AS MUCH LONGING

“And I feel like there’s so much that we could see and share... Besides fucking Darktow is out there and we spent less that one day on it... That can’t stand”

LOOK AT THEM

THEY ARE SUCH A MESS AND SO CHAOTIC AND THEY ARE BOTH SO CURIOUS AND EXCITED FOR NEW ADVENTURES

Also, does his tone talking about that remind anyone else to the way he talked about the possibility of finding treasure to make Marion even fancier before she meets Jester’s father again???

Because I really feel like that’s the same mood.

The same longing for more while trying to make her laugh.

“I would love to go out there with you. I would love to meet Vandran.”

“We could make this our port.”

“We could make this our port”

“WE COULD MAKE THIS OUR PORT”

(sidenote this line alone could’ve sent me spiraling before they were canon... and still kinda does)

excuse me while i scream for the next ten minutes

And then Fjord drops the hint that he wants to still deal with some stuff in Port Damali

ONE SHOT WHEN TRAVIS

GIMME THAT ONE SHOT

YOU WANT IT

I WANT IT

WE ALL WANT IT

UKOTOA WANTS IT

I WANNA MEET SABIAN AND GO TO DARKTOW AND GO TO PORT DAMALI

PLEASE

“But... this city really is beautiful”

YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO SAY IT LOOKING AT HER LIKE THAT

AND YOU REALLY DIDN’T HAVE TO SAY IT LOOKING AT HER LIKE THAT JUST LIKE YOU DID WHEN YOU SAID THE JELLYFISH WERE BEAUTIFUL TRAVIS

AND YET HE DID

“There’s always a home for us here”

hey hey hey hey remember that Tarot reading and Fjord’s future card being “home/the traveler”??????

BECAUSE i do

IF I MADE A DRINKING GAME WITH SHOTS EVERY TIME THIS CONVERSATION had a throw back for the campaign I WOULD END UP LIKE VETH

“Or... maybe we could... you know... get our- our own place”

THE LOOK OF A WOMAN WHO JUST REALIZED THIS MAN WANTS TO MARRY HER (in paper graph again)

im sorry but the rest of the cast’s faces are too good to let out

And then Jester gets SO EXCITED THAT SHE CAN’T EVEN SPEAK

because this boy

this man

this man she loves

he wants to spend his life with her

this isn’t just a “come have adventures and fun with me” proposition

this is a “spend your life with me proposition”

and while she can’t talk of course Fjord panics

much like she did after the “i love you”

because these idiots are really made for eachother and still stumbling through their own confusing feelings for each other even after so long as friends and they are so afraid of screwing it up

But when finally she speaks, when Jester says “yes”... her tone isn’t just a “yes”... THAT YES SOUNDS LIKE AN “I DO”

And they are both so nervous and happy okay?

And then

OKAY LISTEN STRAIGHT OUR OF A ROMCOM

He looks at her

and she meets his gaze

and they both look down blushing

and then she looks at him first

and he meets her gaze

and they don’t look down this time, this time is steady... because they both know they love each other

“I’m really glad that everything happened the way it did”

“Yeah, me too.”

Good and bad. Tumbles and crushes and heartbreaks and deaths and tears and fights and laughter and adventures and doubts and confusion and longing and pining and protecting each other and fighting together and falling and rising and catching each other and healing each other and looking out for each other because it all lead to this... to this moment where they are together and so sure that they are loved and cherished and that this is where they want to be and there’s so much more in their future to look forward to

And Jester snuggles up to him and Travis does the tiniest move to show how he leans against her that just DESTROYS me

and of course Fjord needs to make a joke then, to lighten the mood, because these two disasters are friends first and foremost and is in their chaos that they understand each other

and they have so many adventures ahead

i love them so much you guys

im going to miss them so bad

i love them

oh god

#fjorester #fjord #jester lavorre #critical role #cr spoilers #ONE LAST OF THESE FOR OLD TIMES' SAKE?

169 notes · View notes

sineala · 3 years

Text

Tony Stark and Arthuriana

Coming to you by special request, a very long post about 616 Tony's interest in Arthuriana, with a focus on all of Tony's run-ins with Morgan le Fay!

I feel like I should disclaim the extent of my knowledge here, which is that I still haven't managed to read anywhere near every issue of Iron Man -- at least, not yet, anyway -- so I'm just going by the things I know I've read, and Morgan le Fay's Marvel wiki entry is frustratingly under-cited, so it's very possible I've missed something relevant, but I'm pretty sure I've got the big stuff down. My other disclaimer here is that I'm not as big an Arthurian nerd as Tony is, which is to say that most of my familiarity comes from modern retellings -- T. H. White's The Once and Future King, Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave, Rosemary Sutcliff's Sword at Sunset -- and not so much the usual classic sources on the Matter of Britain, though I've read bits and pieces of them.

(This is because I wanted to read versions of them that were as close to the original as possible but so far have not ended up finishing any of them because, well, that's hard. So I've never read the Mabinogion because I do not know Welsh. I've got the Norton Critical Edition of Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, which is probably the best student edition if you're looking for something without modernized spellings, as I was. I've also got -- well, okay, it's my wife's but I'm borrowing it -- a relatively recent Boydell & Brewer edition (ed. Reeve, tr. Wright) of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), which is, you guessed it, in Latin with a facing English translation. I haven't gotten very far in it because, in case you didn't know this about Latin texts, the beginning is pretty much always the hardest, so I gave up and read some Plautus adaptations instead. Anyway, if for some reason you too want to read Geoffrey of Monmouth in the original Latin I'd recommend that one, but I can't recommend any particular English translations because I've never read one by itself. I bet you didn't think you'd be getting Latin prose recommendations in this post. I mean, maybe you did; it is me, after all.)

Okay. Right. King Arthur. Here we go.

We've got:

Flashbacks to Tony's childhood in late Iron Man volume 1

A brief discussion of Morgan's origin story and Avengers #187

Iron Man vol 1 #149-150: Doomquest

What If vol 1 #33: What if Iron Man was trapped in the time of King Arthur?

Iron Man vol 1 #249-250: Recurring Knightmare

Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #1-4

Avengers vol 3 #1-4: The Morgan Conquest

Civil War: The Confession

Mighty Avengers vol 1 #9-11: Time Is On No One's Side

In terms of universe-internal chronology, we know from Iron Man #287, from 1992, that Tony has been a fan of King Arthur since childhood. This is an issue of a fandom-favorite arc which features Tony having a lot of childhood flashbacks, including the famous "Stark men are made of iron" line (in #286) that for some reason MCU fandom decided it loved; I mean, seriously, I've seen that quoted in way more MCU fic than 616 fic. But slightly later, in #287, we get an entire page devoted to Tony's love of King Arthur.

The narration reads: "Over the next few years, I learned as my father intended. Discipline of body. Strength of character. But in what free time I was allowed, I worked my way through the school's library. At thirteen, I discovered Mallory [sic], who showed me a whole new world. A world of dedication to a cause greater than oneself. Of chivalry and honor. And the fantastic deeds -- of armored heroes."

The art shows Tony as a child sitting under a tree, reading a book labeled Mort D'Arthur by Mallory [sic] -- no, don't ask me why nobody at Marvel checked how to spell either the name of the book or its author -- and daydreaming of King Arthur, the Sword in the Stone, knights, et cetera. Just in case you somehow missed the extremely blatant hint that we are meant to understand that Tony's knight obsession heavily influenced him becoming Iron Man as an adult, we see one of his armors mixed in with all the drawings of knights. So, yes, canonically Tony is Iron Man at least partly because he's a giant King Arthur nerd, which I think is so very sweet. I love him. He's such a dork!

(This issue is currently in print in the Iron Man Epic Collection War Machine, should you need your own copy.)

This isn't actually the only reference to Tony as a King Arthur fanboy in this era of canon, either; a little later, in IM #298, we see that one of Tony's passwords is actually "Mallory." (Yeah, no, they still couldn't spell. But it's cute.)

But in terms of actual publication order, this is definitely not the first time we have seen in canon that Tony is into Arthuriana, as I'm sure you all know. I would assume, in fact, that giving Tony a childhood interest in Arthuriana is because Doomquest is one of the most beloved Iron Man story arcs of all time, and that all started at least a decade before IM #287 here was published.

The villain of Doomquest -- the one who isn't Doctor Doom, at least -- is Morgan le Fay. Yes, that Morgan le Fay. Yes, Arthur's evil half-sister Morgan le Fay. Yes, all of this King Arthur stuff is canonically real history on Earth-616. Morgan's first appearance in Marvel, per the wiki, was in Black Knight #1 (1955), which I have not read, and judging by the summary I feel like this is probably just supposed to be a straight-up comic retelling of Arthurian legends for kids; I don't think Marvel really had the whole Marvel Universe in mind as a concept in 1955, so I'm not sure this was meant to connect to anything else. I feel like this is another one of those instances of Marvel discovering that they can write comics about characters in the public domain for free -- like, I'm pretty sure that's how we also ended up with, like, Norse, Greek, and Roman mythology wedged into 616.

As far as I can tell from the wiki, the first time Morgan tangled with the Avengers (or indeed the larger 616 universe) in any way actually predated Doomquest -- it was in an early arc in Spider-Woman (#2-6) and then Avengers #187, which came out in 1979, actually right when Demon in a Bottle was happening over in Iron Man comics. If you read #187, Iron Man is not in it because he's off the team due to his drinking problem and also his accidentally murdering the Carnelian ambassador problem. So Wonder Man's filling in instead. This issue is part of Michelinie's rather sporadic Avengers run, which makes sense, I guess, considering where we see Morgan next.

Anyway, Avengers #187 is the classic issue where Wanda is possessed by Chthon, but what you may not remember from Chthon's backstory (I sure didn't!) is that he was summoned by Morgan le Fay because she was the first person who tried to wield the Darkhold to summon him. As you can imagine, this did not work out especially well for her and her followers and they had to seal Chthon away in Wundagore Mountain, which was where Wanda found him. (The Spider-Woman stuff is only slightly earlier and also appears to be about Morgan and the Darkhold; the Darkhold is not one of the areas of 616 canon I am especially conversant with, alas. It's on my to-read list.)

Doomquest, as you probably know, was a classic Iron Man two-parter in Layton & Michelinie's first Iron Man run that set up Tony and Doom as rivals; Doomquest itself was IM #149-150, in 1981, and then in their second IM run they came back and did a sequel in 1989, Recurring Knightmare (IM #249-250), and then the much later four-part sequel to that was the 2008 miniseries Iron Man: Legacy of Doom, which was also by Layton & Michelinie but generally does not seem to be as popular as the first two parts. They've all been reprinted, if you're looking for copies; I have a Doomquest hardcover that collects the first four issues and then a separate Legacy of Doom hardcover. Currently in the Iron Man Epic Collection line there's a volume called Doom, which confusingly only collects the 249-250 part of the storyline (as well as surrounding issues), because for some reason the first Layton & Michelinie run isn't in Epics yet but the second one is. So the beginning of Doomquest isn't currently in print, as far as I can tell. I'm sure you can find it anyway.

So what's Doomquest about? Okay, so you remember how Doctor Doom's mother's soul is stuck in hell for all eternity? Well, Doom's obviously interested in getting her back, and the strategy he has embarked on is to try to team up with other powerful magicians who can help him out, and he thinks Morgan le Fay would be a good choice, for, uh, his quest. Doom's quest. A Doomquest, if you will. (If you've ever read Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph & Torment, you're familiar with the part where he later ends up waylaying Strange for this and they go to hell together. And if you haven't read Triumph & Torment, you really should, because it's amazing.)

So Doom is off to his time machine to go team up with Morgan le Fay and Tony thinks Doom is up to something -- Doom has been stealing components for his time machine from a lot of people, including Tony -- and he follows him and it turns out one of Doom's lackeys has a grudge and wants to trap Doom in the past forever, and Tony gets caught up in it. Now they're both in Camelot. Surprise! #149 is actually all setup; they don't get to Camelot until #150.

IM #150 begins with Doom and Tony thrown back into the past; there's a fandom-famous splash page of them locked in combat, only to realize that they have found themselves in Camelot.

They are then discovered by knights; Doom would very much like to attack them, but Tony, who naturally would be happy to LARP Camelot forever, persuades him to play nice. Also Doom thinks Iron Man is only Tony's bodyguard so he keeps referring to him as "lackey," much to Tony's annoyance. Somehow everyone thinks they're sorcerers. Can't imagine why. The knights take them to meet King Arthur himself, and Tony has clearly had his introduction all ready to go, as he introduces himself in a timeline-appropriate manner, says he's here to apprehend Doom, and demonstrates his "magic" by levitating Arthur's throne. Doom's response is essentially "I'm the king of Latveria," which is, y'know, also valid. So they're guests at Camelot for the night while Arthur figures out what to do with them.

We then have a page devoted to Tony alone in his room, musing sadly about how alien he feels, how he doesn't know if he'll ever get home, how he could never fit in here without his beloved technology. Then a Sexy Lady shows up to keep him company for the night, and he decides maybe it's not all bad. Thanks, Marvel. I guess they can't all be winners.

Doom is using his evening much more productively; he compels one of the servants to tell him where Morgan's castle is, because he's still interested in having that team-up. Then he jets off. Literally. He has a jetpack.

The next morning Arthur's like "one of you is still here and one of you has punched a hole through the castle wall and flown off to join Morgan so I guess I know which of you is more trustworthy." He then explains to Tony who Morgan is, because Tony professes ignorance, because clearly we had not yet retconned in Tony's love of Arthuriana. Tony offers to go fight Doom and Morgan with Arthur; meanwhile, Morgan and Doom have teamed up and Morgan has offered to help get Doom's mother out of hell if he commands her undead armies against Arthur because for Reasons she can't command them herself anymore. So that's a thing that happens.

So, yes, it's Tony and Arthur versus Doom and Morgan. Fight fight fight!

Tony tries Doom first but then decides to hunt Morgan down, and in the ensuing fight we get what I think is Tony's first ever "I hate magic," a complaint that we all know he still makes even to this day.

Anyway, Tony freezes a dragon with Freon (mmm, technology) and Morgan gets upset and disappears, so the battle comes to an end, and of course Doom is extremely mad at Tony because he blames Tony for Morgan not sticking around to save Doom's mom, because I guess Doom trusted her to keep her word? Weird. (Like I said, for the next chapter of Doom saving his mother, go read Triumph & Torment.)

Doom says if he and Tony work together, the components in both of their armors can send them both home. So Tony has to trust Doom. Which he does, because he really has no other choice. They build a time machine and Tony makes Doom agree to a 24-hour truce when they get back, so they can both get home. So it all works out okay, and they end up in the present, and Doom tells him, ominously, that they will meet again. Okay, then. That concludes the original Doomquest. It's fun! You can see why fandom likes it.

So that's all well and good, but you might have noticed that Tony's ability to get home hinged on Doom actually being trustworthy. And Doom was. But what if Doom hadn't been? What if he'd just stranded Tony in Camelot forever As you may have surmised from the form of that question, that is in fact a question Marvel asked themselves, because, yes, there's a What If about this! What If v1 #33 is "What if Iron Man was trapped in the time of King Arthur?"

The divergence point from canon, as you can probably guess, is the very end of Doomquest. Instead of Doom bringing Tony home, he deceives him and leaves him in Camelot. And since Tony cannibalized a lot of the tech from his armor to make the time machine, he doesn't have a way to go home.

This is not a story where Tony comes up with a way to go home after all. He really doesn't get to go home. But instead of drowning his sorrows in mead -- because, remember, Demon in a Bottle has already happened and Tony is sober now -- he decides he might as well just play the hand he's dealt. So with what's left of his armor, he defeats some enemies that Morgan rounds up to send against Camelot. And for his services, he's knighted. He is now Sir Anthony.

Tony acknowledges that he is both living the dream and would also like very, very much to go home.

He does end up having some fun in Camelot; it's not all miserable. But he obviously doesn't want to be there.

So if you're at all familiar with King Arthur, you know how this goes, right? Arthur fights Mordred and Mordred kills him. And that does happen in this version. Except Tony is right there, and with his dying words, Arthur asks Tony to rule Camelot... and Tony agrees.

So, yes, Tony Stark becomes king of the Britons after Arthur's death and he never goes home again. The end. Man, I love What Ifs.

Heading back to main 616 continuity, there is still more of this arc to go. The original Doomquest was only two issues, yes, but it was popular enough that Layton & Michelinie did a sequel a hundred issues later, in their second run of Iron Man, and that's Iron Man #249-250, Recurring Knightmare. (In the intervening issues were Denny O'Neil's IM run, specifically the second drinking arc (#160-200), and then Layton & Michelinie came back and most famously gave us Armor Wars (#225-232). I would have to say that Armor Wars is definitely the standout fandom-favorite arc of their second IM run; for their first one, I think a lot of people would have a hard time choosing between Doomquest and Demon.) But anyway, yes. Recurring Knightmare.

Recurring Knightmare is... well, the best way I can describe it is "a trip." It is definitely a sequel to Doomquest, and it is also definitely not a sequel you would ever have expected to see for Doomquest.

Much like #149, #249 is pretty much just setup. Fun setup, but the big action is in the next issue. We open with Doom in Latveria, on his throne, pondering which of his servants he should have disintegrated. Anyway, he's just hanging out there when a mysterious object appears. In California, Tony is suited up and entertaining the crowd at a mall opening when the same object also appears! He takes it to his lab. Please note that this is after the Kathy Dare incident, so Tony is still recovering and is walking with a cane. Doom sees on the news that Iron Man has found the same object, which cannot be carbon-dated, and he shows up at Tony's house. He criticizes Tony's taste in art.

Anyway, Doom basically orders Tony to work with him. Tony refuses, and then Doom sends some robots to attempt to steal Tony's version of the object because he thinks if he has them both he will be powerful. Doom manages to steal it, and when he puts the pieces together, both he and Tony disappear.

So where do they go, you might ask? Camelot?

Not exactly. The future! There is a great callback to the Doomquest splash page.

It turns out they are in London in 2093. Merlin brought them there. Tony still hates magic. And in the future, King Arthur is still there, except he is now a child, because he has been reborn. But he does remember Tony from Doomquest, at which point Tony kneels. Doom, of course, is not impressed. He asks why they have been brought to the future.

The answer is that things are going wrong in the future. If you do not personally remember United States politics in the 1980s, I need you to google the words "Strategic Defense Initiative" right now. I'll wait.

Back with me? Okay, so this is a future where Reagan's Star Wars program actually happened the way he wanted it to, and the satellites are still hanging around the Earth in the future and messing everything up, and Arthur and Merlin need Tony and Doom's help to stop them. Doom once again flies away with his jetpack, of course.

Tony is game to help, but he's not in an armor that can stay in space for long. This is when Merlin takes him and Arthur to the mall and Tony manages to get everything to upgrade his armor at Radio Shack. You see what I meant about this issue being weird.

Tony is out in space trying to disarm the SDI platform, which is where he runs into his future descendant, Andros Stark, who is in armor you will probably recognize from Iron Man 2020. He is referred to as "the resurrected spawn of Iron Man 2020" so I assume he's actually directly related to Arno rather than a direct descendant of Tony; Wiki confirms that Arno is his grandfather. This is all from way before Arno was contemporaneous with Tony in canon. Anyway, he's fighting Tony.

Oh, by the way, Future Doom exists. Future Doom would like to rule this future Earth and for some reason Andros would like to help him. Meanwhile, Present Doom finds out from Merlin that he can't leave except by magic and he can't leave without Tony, so he is reluctantly on Tony's side.

They need help from the Lady of the Lake, except the lake has been paved over and is now a parking lot. Merlin makes the lake come back and then of course they get Excalibur. Arthur is a kid, so he can't wield a longsword; Doom assumes he's going to take it because he is basically a king, and he's pretty grumpy when the sword picks Tony. Tony then uses Excalibur to destroy the space lasers, and I bet that is a sentence you never thought you would read. It's pretty cool. Tony concludes that magic has its good points. Tony stops Andros and Doom stops, uh, himself, and the world is saved and they get to go home. Also, Doom finds out Tony is Iron Man, but when Merlin sends them back he conveniently erases their memories, so neither of them remember anything about this and Tony's secret is still safe. And that's the sequel to Doomquest.

And if you think that's weird, wait until you see Legacy of Doom.

Iron Man: Legacy of Doom is a four-issue miniseries from 2008, also by Layton and Michelinie. Even though it's from 2008, it's set during a much more classic time in Iron Man, continuing on from where we left off in this Doomquest saga. We start with a framing story in 2008. Tony, who has Extremis now, is busy scrapping some of his older armors and reviewing his logs when he suddenly remembers that there was a whole thing with Doom that happened that he seems to have forgotten about until right now. So the whole thing is narrated by Tony in flashback.

Tony's in space fixing a satellite when a hologram of Doom shows up and summons him to Latveria. It's not really clear why Doom needs Tony's help in particular here, but Doom tells Tony that he's discovered that Mephisto would like to bring about the end of the world, which Doom finds, and I quote, "presumptive." So Doom has his Time Cube, and with it he takes Tony to hell.

(Yes, I promise this is relevant to Doomquest. There will be some Arthuriana shortly.)

Doom brings Tony to Mephisto, and it turns out it's a setup! Doom trades Tony for an item he wants from Mephisto, leaves, and Tony's going to be trapped in hell forever! Oh no! (I mean, he's not. But it's quite a cliffhanger.)

At the beginning of issue #2, we find out what the Arthurian connection is, which is that we learned that after the events of Doomquest, Morgan had been granted sanctuary by Mephisto in exchange for a shard of Excalibur that she had somehow stolen. Doom still wants Morgan's help with some magic -- he doesn't mention what it is here, but he says he needs someone of Pendragon blood, and that'd be her -- so he traded Tony to Mephisto in exchange for, I'm guessing, Morgan and the Excalibur shard.

I have probably mentioned this elsewhere, but Legacy of Doom #2 is one of my favorite issues of Iron Man ever, solely because of the next scene. We return to Tony in hell. Howard Stark is also in hell, and he is now a demon, and Tony has to fight him. Mephisto brings popcorn and watches. This is the one time in canon when Tony actually confronts his father, and okay, yes, it's a fistfight in hell and Howard is a demon, but that's comics for you. Howard spends several pages insulting Tony -- specifically insulting his masculinity, but that's a whole other essay -- until he finally insults Maria too, and that's when Tony fights back, because his mother taught him to be good. Honestly if you're a Tony fan I'd recommend this issue just for that scene.

Anyway, we go back to the Doom and Morgan plot, and Morgan casts the spell Doom wanted, which was fusing the Excalibur shard with Doom's armor. Then Doom sends her back to Camelot rather than hell, because he's still mad that she never helped him get his mom out of hell like she said she would.

Tony freezes Howard with Freon -- yes, the same trick he pulled on the dragon back in Doomquest -- and tells him, "You're no father of mine." It is immensely satisfying.

(I had been going to mention that I thought it was a shame that neither canon nor fandom seems to have really engaged with this confrontation, and I know canon never believes in narrative closure but fandom sure does -- and then, anyway, it occurred to me that since the framing story of Tony remembering this is set when Tony has Extremis, there's a very good chance that he no longer remembers remembering it. Goddammit, Marvel.)

(If I got to retcon one canon thing about Tony, I think "the entirety of World's Most Wanted" is up there. I mean, okay, a lot of things are up there, but WMW is definitely on the shortlist.)

Okay. Tony has now engineered his way out of hell, and he's back with Doom in Latveria. Doom has Excalibur. Doom would very much like to fight him. While wielding Excalibur. You get the sense that this is going to be bad. Another cliffhanger!

Legacy of Doom #3 opens with Tony destroying Doom's lab to buy time and running away from Doom and Excalibur. I should probably mention that Doom still doesn't know Tony is Iron Man (anymore), so he thinks he is dealing only with Iron Man, Tony Stark's lackey. Meanwhile, some scientists at SI think there's something weird going on with space. Meanwhile meanwhile, Tony is in a forest taking a breather when a mysterious old man walks up to him.

It's Merlin! Surprise! Merlin wants Tony's help to stop Doom from doing whatever he's doing with Excalibur. The sword makes you invincible and the scabbard makes you invulnerable, so Merlin sends Tony to Scotland on a fetch quest for the scabbard. Doom has now magically sent the sword in search of the scabbard, so the sword flies away to meet it and Doom follows. Turns out the thing that's wrong with space is a thing that's going to hit Earth at the exact place Tony and Doom are. What a coincidence! So Tony and Doom get trapped in a stone circle and fight some stone warriors and then Tony ends up with the scabbard. And by "ends up with," I mean it fuses to his armor. Next issue!

Legacy of Doom #4 is when things really, really get weird. A giant demon made of eyes (???) appears, and this demon is apparently what Doom had been preparing to fight (because it's mad that Doom stole one of its spellbooks), and now he can't, because the sword and the scabbard aren't together. Thanks, Shellhead.

That's when Merlin shows up and says all is not lost. They can defeat the demon... if they put the sword into the scabbard.

"But I'm the scabbard now!" Tony says, uncomprehending.

"Yes," Merlin says. "You are."

Then Tony gets it.

So, yes, Doom has to, um, penetrate Tony. With Excalibur. I love comics. I love comics so much.

So that's a thing that happens.

And then Tony flies off and, I guess, resolves to never, ever think about any of this again.

We head back to the framing story, in which Tony, now having remembered all of this, flies to Britain, buys the land the lake is on, and paves it over, presumably so it will be there for Merlin to bring back in Iron Man #250. The end.

Whew.

Okay, yeah, I know I didn't have to summarize the whole thing, but Legacy of Doom here really is one of my favorite Iron Man miniseries. And I just want to share the love. Please read it. It's great.

But the Arthuriana fun doesn't end there! In fact, now we get an Arthurian-themed arc that actually isn't in Iron Man comics. It's in Avengers! Iron Man is involved, though.

(There is also apparently a Morgan arc in Avengers #240. I actually haven't read it. It seems to be yet another Spider-Woman arc. I get the impression that this isn't really Arthuriana other than having Morgan in it fighting Jess, though, so it doesn't seem quite as relevant. Morgan also apparently has some appearances in FF, Journey into Mystery, and Marvel Team-Up, but those seem like more of just basic villainy. Also, probably not involving Tony.)

Kurt Busiek's 1998 Avengers run, volume 3, is in large part the kind of Avengers run that is a nostalgic love letter to older comics. Heroes are heroes and villains are villains and good triumphs over evil. The Avengers all live in the mansion and are BFFs. I love it. It does assume that you are already a fan of the Avengers, because it starts out by summoning pretty much everyone who has ever been an Avenger and is available to the mansion, and that is... a lot of people. Thirty-nine, by my count. Also, when the entire team is magically whisked away, we are treated to the following narration, as Steve disappears: "And Captain America's last thought, as the world goes white around him, and he with it -- is that Iron Man would hate this."

The narration doesn't tell you why Iron Man would hate this, or how Captain America would know that Iron Man hates this. This is not explained later on. But if you have read comics -- or if you have read the above summary of Doomquest -- you know that Tony is absolutely, one hundred percent, thinking, "I hate magic." And Steve knows it.

The reference is not relevant to the plot; if you don't get it, you'll be fine. But that's what I mean when I say this is a nostalgia run. There are definitely Easter eggs for people who have read a bunch of comics. Busiek does this a whole lot in his work -- there's a reason you can buy an annotated edition of Marvels -- and, yeah, it happens here too. Just know that there will be references you're not getting, if you're new to comics.

Anyway. So Busiek's run actually starts out with an Arthurian arc, #1-4, "The Morgan Conquest." The name is a dead giveaway. Yes, Morgan le Fay is back. Again. For once, Doom is not involved.

The Avengers are all back from their sojourn on Counter-Earth after fighting Onslaught -- don't worry about it -- and mysterious things are happening. There are a lot of monster attacks. So pretty much everyone who has ever been an Avenger is summoned to the mansion, at which point we learn from Thor about some mystical artifacts that are being stolen. (They are the Norn Stones and also the Twilight Sword. That sounds like something from a Zelda game, doesn't it?) The Avengers go to try to stop this, end up in Tintagel, and then they run into Mordred. He wants to capture Wanda, presumably for Magic Reasons. Morgan le Fay casts a spell on all of them, reshaping reality. Yes, all of them. Surprise!

So now all the Avengers are living in a medieval castle and/or town; Morgan is their queen, and thanks to the power of mind-control they are all basically living in Ye Olden Times. The Avengers are all some variety of knight, except for Wanda, who is chained up in the dungeon so Morgan can steal her magic and use it to fuel all this reality-warping.

Wanda calls for help, and that snaps Steve (Yeoman America!) out of the mind control (or altered reality or whatever you want to call it) pretty fast, because Steve's always been very good at resisting mind control, and then Steve promptly goes and snaps Clint out of it, because I guess Steve is also good at inspiring people to snap out of mind control. "Oh, man!" Clint says. "Not another alternate reality! Not again!" (I assume he's referring to Counter-Earth? Maybe?)

So Steve and Clint go around reassembling the Avengers and orienting them as to reality. They get Jan and Monica easily, but then Steve insists on trying to get Tony because, I guess, he likes Tony and would really like to hang around Tony, who is half-naked and asleep in his bedroom, and certainly I am reading nothing whatsoever into this. Clint tells Steve it's not going to work. Tony has historically been fairly susceptible to mind control; it was only pretty recently at this point that he'd been doing Kang's bidding in The Crossing. But the more serious impediment is that this is Tony Stark and he would obviously like to LARP being a knight forever and ever. Tony, therefore, does not believe Steve, and throws him and Clint out of his bedroom and into the barracks.

"Iron Man's a good guy, normally," Clint says. "But he's waaay too into his whole nobleman/lord of the manor trip. That spell musta hit him right where he lives!"

Clint speaks the truth, clearly.

Anyway, they go around and manage to make pretty much every Avenger in the room other than Tony snap out, and attempt to rebel against Morgan while Tony is stil fighting them because he is Still A Knight. There's a lot of punching, because some of the Avengers still aren't free; they weren't ones Steve found.

The day is saved when Wanda manages to channel Wonder Man and break free. This gives the Avengers a fighting chance against Morgan and the Avengers are all lending Wanda their power when Tony finally snaps out of it and is on the side of good.

Then they take Morgan down, go home, and attempt to figure out which of these thirty-nine people should be on the active Avengers team. Hooray.

But that's not the end of Morgan le Fay showing up to screw around with Tony's life! There's more to come! Not much, but there is one that I know of, and at least one more memorable reference.

(I haven't read all her appearances or anything, but one of them definitely involves Tony; I can't swear that he doesn't appear in any of the other books Morgan shows up in, but it'd be a cameo for him, because I only know of one more arc that she's in in a book that Tony stars in.)

In a few more years, we have now entered the part of Marvel Comics history where Brian Michael Bendis writes all the Avengers books at the same time for, like, seven years running. It was sure A Time. There were a lot of word bubbles.

And the thing about Bendis is, Bendis looooooves Doomquest. If you're familiar with the very end of his tenure at Marvel where he made Doom be Iron Man after Tony got knocked into a coma in Civil War II, you have probably figured out already that he likes Doom. But he also likes Doomquest, specifically.

I mean, if nothing else, the giant splash page in The Confession where Maleev redrew the climactic Doomquest fight while Bendis had Tony talk about how deeply meaningful to his understanding of the world this all was -- and how it allowed him to predict Civil War -- was probably a big clue, right?

As far as I am aware, Morgan le Fay makes exactly one more appearance in Tony's life. And that's in Mighty Avengers vol 1 #9-11. Only one of those issues is named, so I'm going to assume the arc is named after it: Time Is On No One's Side.

You remember Mighty Avengers, right? The deal with the Avengers books at the time was that after Bendis exploded the mansion and made the team disband in Avengers Disassembled, the main Avengers book was no longer called just Avengers. Instead, the main Avengers book was New Avengers, and that was the only Avengers book. Then Civil War happened, Steve got killed, and New Avengers became the book about what was left of the SHRA resistance (i.e., Steve's side) after the war. So about halfway through New Avengers, Mighty Avengers starts up, and Mighty Avengers is about an extremely fucked-up and grief-stricken Tony Stark trying to run the official government-sanctioned Avengers team, with Carol's help. This is the comic with the arc where Tony turned into naked girl Ultron. You remember.

So, anyway, there's this Mighty Avengers arc where Doom is Up To Something (there are symbiotes and a satellite involved) and somehow Tony and the Avengers end up in Latveria, punching Doom. Also, by the way, Doom is visiting Morgan in the past because he likes her. The Avengers attacking his castle made him have to come back to the present, so he's kind of cranky. And he fights Tony, and in the course of the fight, his time platform explodes and sends Doom and Tony and also the Sentry to... the past.

This is one of those times where you should definitely look up the comics if possible because the way the past is visually indicated here is that it's colored with halftone dots the way you would expect old comics to be colored, although they have modern shading and color palettes. It's very charmingly retro.

So the three of them are stuck in New York in the past, and naturally they would like to leave. There's one person in this time who has a time machine and it is, of course, Reed Richards. Doom and Tony have a lot of banter in this arc; I think it's entertaining.

Sentry has to be the one to break them all into the Baxter Building because of that power he has where no one will remember him. So they do that, travel forward in time, and end up in Latveria in the present again except Doom is gone and also things are currently exploding where they are.

Doom, of course, has made a side trip to visit Morgan again and he asks her to help him build an army, because I guess this is what their relationship is like. So the rest of the Avengers are captured by what look to me like Mindless Ones and are in a cave in magic bondage, because comics. Jess comments that at least they aren't naked, because she too is remembering that memorable New Avengers trip to the Savage Land. Doom threatens Carol in some creepy sexist ways and eventually it turns out that Tony and the Sentry are fine and everyone kicks Doom's ass. Business as usual.

And the last page of the arc is Morgan alone, wondering where Doom is. So technically Morgan and Tony don't come face to face here, but I think she counts as being at least partially responsible for ruining Tony's day here. And then Secret Invasion happens and Tony has a very, very bad day.

There are a few more Morgan appearances after this, but, as I said, I don't think any of them involve Tony. She shows up in Dark Avengers, apparently, which was one of the post-Civil War Avengers titles I didn't read, and I know that recently, on the X-Men side of things, she's been in Tini Howard's Excalibur one, which I have only read a little of. No Tony there. Just a lot of Morgan and Betsy Braddock and Brian Braddock and the Otherworld.

If you are interested in Morgan's other appearances, you might like this Marvel listicle that is Morgan le Fay's six most malicious acts. I pulled some of the Darkhold backstory from their discussion, but it's not really focused on Morgan and Tony.

So there you have it! That's everything I know about Tony's love for King Arthur and every run-in I know about that he's had with Morgan le Fay! One of two terrible people in Tony's life named Morgan! Actually, I don't think we've seen Morgan Stark in a while. I wonder if he's alive. There should be a Morgan & Morgan team-up. I should probably stop typing and post this.

The tl;dr point is that you should all read Doomquest and its sequels, especially Legacy of Doom. They're great!

#posts i actually wrote

62 notes · View notes