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purplemninja · 8 months

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A depressing revelation about Six's ending

2 months ago on the LN subreddit, I made a theory post where I say how Six may have had powers all along and didn't use them until the end, similar to Mono, and this wasn't the main focus of the post but in it I also mentioned a new way to interpret Six's ending and I compared it to a scene in Avatar: The last Airbender where Iroh teaches Zuko how to redirect lightning, the important thing being that lightning is a metaphor for abuse.

A person named Skrappo made a fandom wiki blog that goes into full detail on this new way to interpret the ending of LN1 (crediting me) and I will copy and paste it here for more people to see (I'll divide it between his blog and my comment with "---------" as a border, so to avoid people being confused between his info and mine)

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Credit goes to PurpleMNinja for the original idea.

In an interview, Little Nightmares' "Senior Narrative Designer" Dave Mervik said that he believes that both Six and Mono got equally bleak and hopeless endings. This has confused many fans ever since LN2's release. How could Six's fate be just as bad as Mono's? Mono is trapped forever in an infinite times-loop of betrayal, torture, and depression; while Six has become extremely powerful and has escaped the Maw, taking out anyone who stood in her path. I think I have realised why he believes this.

Let's take a look at Mono's story. He is a small child who has a bag over his head to hide from the world, to try to forget that it hates him. Throughout LN2, he continues to lie to himself, pretending that the world doesn't hate him, he is constantly hiding. But when Six is taken and he is confronted by Thin Man, he has had enough. He accepts that the world he lives in hates him and accepts who he truly is, using his newfound powers to defeat Thin Man and take control of the Pale City. I think we can all agree that this is his most badass moment. But it all amounts to nothing, as he is betrayed and left to sit and rot for the rest of his life in that little room. Until he is stripped of his humanity and turned into the Signal Tower's slave.

Now let's look at Six's story. Like Mono, she is a small child who is in a world that hates her and wants her dead. Unlike Mono however, she doesn't try to pretend that it doesn't. Instead she chooses to be a survivor. Her greatest fear is death, and she will do anything to avoid it (and really, can you blame a 9-year old child for wanting to live?). However, despite living in a world that is kill or be killed, Six still tries to cling on to her childish innocence, she tries not to give in to darkness. Throughout the series, we see her doing many good things; trying to save Raincoat Girl, befriending Mono, hugging the Nomes, etc. But every time she tries to show kindness it backfires. She fails to save Raincoat Girl, she is betrayed by Mono (from her perspective), and she is forced to choose between committing cannibalism by eating a sausage or eating a little Nome like all the other ones she had befriended previously. She ultimately decided that eating the Nome was a better alternative to cannibalism (not realising that the Nome was another child). However the eating of the Nome pushed Six close to her breaking point. She has tried so hard to remain pure, to stay innocent, but every time she is given nothing but heartbreak and guilt in return. I believe that Dark Six is a representation of her inner darkness, her shadow, the animalistic sinful part of her that will do as many immoral actions as it needs (and maybe more for fun) to survive. When Six has her final hunger bout, she realises that truth. She realises that if she wants to live, she has to give in to her shadow, she has no other choice. She eats the Lady, and gives up the last bit of innocence she had left. And now, with the Lady's power, she can finally take revenge and fight back against the horrible monsters that had been treating her like an animal. She walks down the dining halls, massacres the Guests along the way, she is finally able to fight back against the world, to rise above the world. She walks up into the sunlight, finally out of the Maw... and she is met with an endless ocean. We hear a boat horn in the distance, but it is likely nothing more than the Guests' ship leaving. She has spent her whole life being ruthlessly attacked by the world around her, and now that she has finally gained the ability to fight back, it holds back... it leaves her alone. After going through living hell, being forced to do things she didn't want to, and giving up her innocence, she is met with a dead end. It has all been for nothing. She is still stranded, and all she can do is stand there, and look out into the sea, knowing that there is no way for her to escape...

This is why I think that Dave Mervik believes both endings to be equally bleak. Both characters go through so much trauma, leading up to them finally breaking and rising above the world that hates them, becoming able to fight back, and then they are both met with a dead end. In reality, Raincoat Girl and Runaway Kid had it the best. They both died and were able to escape the nightmare, but Six and Mono are forever trapped, alone and hopeless...

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TL;DR - I compare Six's ending to Zuko being taught how to redirect lightning because both characters have been most notoriously abused by the worlds they live in, and after much struggle they eventually are able to fight back, but their worlds leave them there with nothing to fight (Six gets a few guests, but that's it). Making them suffer so much and not grant them any sort of payoff when they're finally able to dish it back out. (I know how the rest of ATLA goes)

I slightly imagine the world wanted Six to either die, or suffer so much but be left stranded when she's able to fight back so that her struggles, sacrifices and losses don't end up with some sort of payoff or reward, making her go through so much to avoid death just to be met with a dead end when she manages to plow through it all. Either way, the cruel world wins.

If that's not a massive middle finger, I don't know what is.

And this new realisation on the ending of LN1 only adds to the tragedy of Six's story, which I've gone into full detail here.

And since I've probably made you very sad, here's some music I think is best when thinking about this interpretation of Six's ending:

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dismalzelenka · 3 months

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Febuwhump 4 - Obedience

This is from the same timeline as Day 2's entry.

Context: Post-canon. Miriam's been subsumed by Hadar as a consequence of betraying her pact and has been brought back by her sister with some questionable divine help. There are complications.

This contains spoilers for one of the available companion endings.

Pairing: Gale/Tav Warnings: none

Read From Beginning || Previous || Next

The first time Miriam realizes she's really and truly trapped is when she simply tries to walk through the front door.

“Where are you going?” Gale's voice booms from everywhere and nowhere all at once as her hand jiggles the doorknob to the room where the portal to Eleanor's tower lies.

It's strange to think of it as Eleanor's tower now, but she supposes her sister has had the place longer than Gale ever has at this point.

“To see my sister,” Miriam says.

“I told you to stay put until your magic stabilizes.”

“You told me not to exert myself,” she argues. “An hour for tea in a warded tower is hardly the risk you seem convinced it is—”

“You are not ready. Your magic is not ready.”

Miriam thinks, not for the first time, that she doesn't know how she feels about this version of Gale anymore. Sometimes he comes to her cloaked in flesh and blood, and for a few precious moments it's easy enough to pretend things are the way they've always been, but the illusion always shatters eventually. It leaves her feeling off-balance, melancholic even. She isn't naive enough to think nothing at all would have changed between them, not in the least; she just hadn't considered that she would still be alive — and still mortal — to see it come to pass.

“You can't keep me locked up in your gilded palace for the rest of eternity, Gale.”

“Why not?”

Miriam wants to beat on the walls in frustration. “Because you know me!” she says desperately. “You know how much this is killing me!”

The silence stretches on a beat too long to be comfortable. “You are not going anywhere,” he says finally. The door vanishes from the wall.

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The passage of time is different in Eileanar. She ventures out of the palace from time to time — this much, she is allowed, though only under supervision from a rather taciturn wizard who refuses to speak to her in anything other than Thayan. She knows she's been here too long when she realizes she's begun to understand him.

His name is Ruzhazny Kest, and in life he'd been a necromancer-turned-transmuter who had discovered in his youth that he vastly preferred working with objects than flesh and bone. She's found the quickest way to shut down a conversation is to ask if he's ever been a Red Wizard. It's become a bit of an experiment to her now, to see how far she can string him along for information before dropping the question that will ultimately make him clam up tighter than a patriar’s purse.

She's honestly and truly so fucking bored.

She's given up hiding the mark of Karsus’ orb on her chest. She'd cloaked herself at first when visiting the City of Gold, unsure of how it would be received if she strolled about wearing Gale's holy symbol like a badge of honor. When Gale had discovered what she'd been doing, he'd all but commanded her to display it. She was his love, his muse, his very own light of creation; and he'd waxed poetic over it for what had felt like hours. It was an honor she would bear with pride.

Of course, she'd refused, purely out of principle. Miriam Taveric had never been a woman who'd been content blindly following orders, and she certainly wasn't about to start now.

Then she'd discovered it would simply glow through anything she covered it with, be it mundane or magical. The first glamor she'd attempted had backfired and only made the thing glow brighter.

“Why,” he'd asked in exasperation, “do you insist on disobeying me at every turn?”

“If you remembered even a fraction of who I was, you'd know the answer to that,” she'd spat bitterly.

And so she wanders about the city these days, Ruzhazny in tow, draped in the finest silks, all cut in revealing ways that elegantly frame the claim he's staked on her soul. If she's going to flaunt it, after all, she's going to do it right.

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He comes to her in the dead of an illusory night. “My love,” he murmurs apologetically. “Won't you look at me?”

“Depends,” she says. She means it to be bitter. It only comes out weary and resigned. “Am I looking at you as your lover, your pet, or your trophy?”

He actually flinches at that, and for another brief moment he looks painfully human again. “I am sorry for the way I have treated you.”

She hates that she immediately suspects he only wants something from her. She hates the way his need for control has soured the way she'd once wanted nothing in the world more than to spend eternity tangled in his arms.

“Miri,” he whispers. “Please look at me.”

He asks, and so she acquiesces. There is moonlight streaming through the window, and he's so painfully, achingly beautiful. He wears sorrow like a veil, and for the first time in a long time she finds herself craving what's beneath.

“What's become of us, Gale?” she asks softly.

“You are more precious to me than my entire kingdom,” he says. He gathers her to his chest and she lets herself fall into the familiarity of his embrace. “And I fear,” he whispers, “that I may have broken something in you.”

She doesn't know what to say to that. She can't refute it, because it's true, but it isn't as though he'd done it on purpose. Nor Eleanor.

She'd been little more than particulate matter for a hundred years. How were either of them supposed to know she'd come back with chaos still dwelling in her veins? How would anyone have predicted the Netherese magic holding her very essence together would be so violently in opposition to it?

She tells him as much, but it doesn't seem to serve as much consolation.

“Eleanor is close to a breakthrough,” he murmurs. “You will see the material plane again — and her — soon enough.”

“Promise me,” she whispers into his shoulder. She clings to him, a lump in her throat and an ache in her chest she can't blame on her mark. Here, she is safe, protected from Mystra's wrath — and that is what it must be, the way her flesh, blood, and bones are thrashed about in arcane madness that cannot be fixed on the material plane even with divine intervention. Here, at least, she is stable. Whole. Maybe she could learn to be happy.

“I love you,” he says softly. “None of this would have been possible without you.”

“But you can't promise to fix me.”

“Trust me, Miri,” he says firmly. “Please.”

It is not in a god's nature to beg, just as it isn't in her nature to obey. It seems they are both bending the rules these days.

Maybe just this once she can make her peace with that.

#bg3 #bg3 fic #febuwhump2024 #day 4 #obedience #bg3 epilogue spoilers #gale/tav #gale of waterdeep #miriam taveric #post canon #diz writes

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theroguedragon3 · 2 years

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Fire & Blood Vs House of the Dragon

Lucerys Velaryon’s Death Analysis

The general argument made by HOTD fans is that the book version (Fire & Blood) is unreliable narration, therefore the show is now canon, as stated by GRRM, because nobody can trust the historical recordings. While I can agree to some extent, I see it as rather an adaption rather than the facts based on the event.

My take is ultimately due to the writers' poor choices where they decide to insert a scene with Rhaenys crashing Aegon’s coronation for shock factor (1x09). Rather than having the newly crowned King, demonstrate the strength of the Targaryen’s to the people, by flying on Sunfyre as depicted in Fire & Blood, at least give him his moment. Then they try to justify Rhaenys not burning everyone, because she was moved by Alicent protecting her son, when we know, she will die battling TWO of her sons (unless they decide to change that too). They also have her explaining to Daemon and Rhaenyra that she didn’t want to be the one to start a war, when in fact she literally would’ve ended it, because all of the major players were at the end of her dragon, due to sloppy writing. Also, earlier in the season how Crispin coleslaw had plot armor, where he beat to death the knight of kisses in cold blood murder. Don’t get me started on Larys’ foot fetish.

The season finale had its ups and downs, but it was the ending that left me annoyed that the writers decided to push yet another accidental or misunderstanding narrative. So, after processing it I decided to re-read the Storm’s End section about the confrontation between Lucerys and Aemond. I wanted to expand upon the words with my interpretation of the situation and basically vent about how the interpretation/change makes Aemond look more of a fool than Mushroom. I wouldn’t have been as heated with this change, if it wasn’t stacked upon yet other misunderstandings and accidents. This event is what sets off the chain reaction and to have it be a result of Aemond accidentally killing Luke, it completely contradicts the nature of their strained relationship and the main theme of a bloody family feud.

The tragedy that befell Lucerys Velaryon at Storm’s End was never planned, on this all of our sources agree.

Firstly, the way I interpreted this quote is that it simply is fact. Lucerys had no knowledge that Aemond was already at Storm’s End securing a marriage alliance. Aemond had no knowledge of Lucerys being sent to remind Lord Borros, on where his allegiances should lie. Hence, there was no prior knowledge to actively plan his death.

Another interpretation would be how the HOTD adaption, relies on changing Aemond’s intent. They decided to go with the route of making him a “grey” character, by having the instigating incident that sparks the civil war, stem from an accident, something out of his control. Therefore, it supports the notion of it being unplanned and portrays him as a “grey” character, who we the viewer should feel sympathy for, only for me it backfired. He was riding on a literal war dragon terrorizing a significantly smaller dragon, who has never been to war, what did he think was going to happen. This decision makes him an egotistical idiot, not long after boasting about his studies on history and philosophy (clearly, he missed out reading about his own dragon’s history), yet he couldn’t foresee things ending in tragedy.

What was his intentions? What was his plan to chase after Luke? To scare and intimidate him, but the boy was clearly already scared back in the throne room. To torment him just for a laugh, only I had the last laugh in the end, because what did he expect Luke to do. Did he expect him to land on the rocky terrain and welcome him to rip his eye out, then continue on his journey back to Dragonstone. Did he expect to capture him, but what was his brilliant plan to do that, without getting them killed by his behemoth of a dragon. Even if it was for an eye and he managed to maim him back in the hall. Lucerys would’ve left with injuries, causing Rhaenyra to seek revenge, still sparking the war because Luke was attacked as an envoy, which is heavily frowned upon.

The only good thing the writers highlighted from this stupid taunt chase sequence was the bond between Lucerys and his dragon. Kudos to Elliot, because he really portrayed the amount of fear the character would be feeling, as he’s being pursued by the anime villain cackling fool on Godzilla. One thing I would like to add is that Arrax didn’t go on the offense, till Aemond spoke in High Valyrian demanding that Luke owes him a debt. Lucerys’ fear and anxiety probably skyrocketed, prompting Arrax to go on the attack to defend his rider. Arrax himself would be scared, as it’s being pursued by the biggest of its kind, it knows it is prey and the predator is on the hunt. Similarly, Vhagar would be able to feel Aemond’s contempt for Luke, as she saw no problem in destroying them, after having her scales ruffled.

So here for once we need not rely entirely on Grand Maester Munkun, Mushroom, and Septon Eustace. None of them were present at Storm’s End, but many others were, so we have no shortage of firsthand accounts.

This passage outright illustrates that the events that took place in the hall at Storm’s End, has been recorded in history from multiple first-hand accounts. We are no longer relying on the three unreliable narrators but are given details on the conversations that occurred. Unless everyone who witnessed the events were remembering things drastically different to one another or the story was concocted by some anonymous person, I tend to put more weight that the event was documented to as close to the truth, as those who had witnessed it. Otherwise, we would’ve been provided with other versions of the conversation, to allow us to put more weight into one scenario over the other. This is illustrated when the people observe Lord Borros’ demeanour after having the message whispered to him by his maester. Some say he was red in the face, probably from anger at the threat of punishment, should he break an oath sworn by his father, while others suggest he was gloating at holding the power over the two warring houses. It is left to us the reader to determine which observations we want to believe in.

“Look at this sad creature, my lord,” Prince Aemond called out. “Little Luke Strong, the bastard.” To Luke he said, “You are wet, bastard. Is it raining or did you piss yourself in fear?”

Lucerys Velaryon addressed himself only to Lord Baratheon. “Lord Borros, I have brought you a message from my mother, the queen.”

“The whore of Dragonstone, he means.” Prince Aemond strode forward and made to snatch the letter from Lucerys’ hand, but Lord Borros roared a command and his knights intervened, pulling the princelings apart. One brought Rhaenyra’s letter to the dais, where his lordship sat upon the throne of the storm kings of old.

This passage offers us an insight into adult Aemond’s character. Upon seeing his nephew, within the first breath he belittles him in front of another lord, under his roof, as a guest. Lucerys ignores him, because he knows that Aemond is trying to get a rise out of him. This interaction immediately sets the tone, of the relationship between the two. In another Lord’s Hall, he can’t even reign his emotions in and behave, as he is still a guest. This is further highlighted by his actions, as he has the audacity to approach Lucerys, ready to snatch the message out of his grasp, only for Lord Borros commanding his knights to stop a possible altercation. Need I remind you Aemond is still a guest, one who has such animosity and spite, once he locked eyes on Lucerys, that performing his duty as a prince, became overruled by his impulsive nature, similar to the fight when they were children (which again is portrayed different in the show).

But Prince Aemond drew his sword and said, “Hold, Strong. First pay the debt you owe me.” Then he tore off his eye patch and flung it to the floor, to show the sapphire beneath. “You have a knife, just as you did then. Put out your eye, and I will let you leave. One will serve. I would not blind you.”

Prince Lucerys recalled his promise to his mother. “I will not fight you. I came here as an envoy, not a knight.”

“You came here as a craven and a traitor,” Prince Aemond answered. “I will have your eye or your life, Strong.”

While the dialogue is similar to the show, the drastic difference is obviously when Aemond declares he would have Luke’s life, should he choose not to give him his eye, to avenge what happened to him. Of course, the writers had to cherry pick by cutting the end of this dialogue from the show, because there is nothing “grey” about Aemond’s intent. It is pure hatred that he feels for Luke, and it goes to further support that he is acting out of his emotions. Also branding Luke as a traitor, would give Aemond leverage to kill him, as he could justify it as serving his brother, the King, who is being “usurped” by Rhaenyra and the Blacks. This scene also serves to contrast their personalities, as Luke a 13-year-old refuses to rise to the bait, while Aemond a 19-year-old wishes to instigate a fight, while spewing threats to harm his nephew.

Let’s say if the writers wanted to push the “grey” character narrative and include the full dialogue, along with Maris’ scene that prompts Aemond to chase after Luke on Vhagar, only to suddenly decide to torment him, cackling like a maniac, till Arrax goes rogue and retaliates, then Vhagar kills both Luke and Arrax, by accident, because he only wanted to bully him, ending with shocked Pikachu face shot. In the end, there would be no way to justify it being an accident, because the intent is clear, which the writers knew would only confuse the audience, as Aemond’s reaction would be OC, so they have to discard it.

At that Lord Borros grew uneasy. “Not here,” he grumbled. “He came as an envoy. I want no blood shed beneath my roof.” So his guards put themselves between the princelings and escorted Lucerys Velaryon from the Round Hall, back to the castle yard where his dragon, Arrax, was hunched down in the rain, awaiting his return.

And there it might have ended, but for the girl Maris. The secondborn daughter of Lord Borros, less comely than her sisters, she was angry with Aemond for preferring them to her. “Was it one of your eyes he took, or one of your balls?” Maris asked the prince, in tones sweet as honey. “I am so glad you chose my sister. I want a husband with all his parts.”

Aemond Targaryen’s mouth twisted in rage, and he turned once more to Lord Borros, asking for his leave. The Lord of Storm’s End shrugged and answered, “It is not for me to tell you what to do when you are not beneath my roof.” And his knights moved aside as Prince Aemond rushed to the doors.

This passage essentially was the tipping point that pushed Aemond over the edge. His lack of manhood was literally insulted to his face, how could he not react. He was already agitated at the mere sight of his nephew, but hearing her taunts about a little boy (whom he despises) taking his manhood, it triggers him into seeing red. Instead of leaving straight away, he asks Lord Borros’ permission to allow him to leave, as he didn’t know if he would stop him like he had just previously done. Lord Borros wants to stay out of this feud, as he has no stake in it and clearly knew about his intentions, but wanted no blood on his hands, by suggesting he will not be responsible for Aemond’s actions once he leaves and thus the knights allow Aemond to actively go after Luke.

It was bad weather for flying, even for a dragon, and Arrax was struggling to stay aloft when Prince Aemond mounted Vhagar and went after him. Had the sky been calm, Prince Lucerys might have been able to outfly his pursuer, for Arrax was younger and swifter…but the day was “as black as Prince Aemond’s heart,” says Mushroom, and so it came to pass that the dragons met above Shipbreaker Bay. Watchers on the castle walls saw distant blasts of flame, and heard a shriek cut the thunder. Then the two beasts were locked together, lightning crackling around them. Vhagar was five times the size of her foe, the hardened survivor of a hundred battles. If there was a fight, it could not have lasted long.

Observers notices the young dragon Arrax, struggling to navigate against the harsh winds, the pouring rain and constant lightning thundering around them. Unbeknownst to Lucerys, Aemond would be hot on his tail, coming after him with a vengeance, despite the fact he would strike the first shot against the blacks, kickstarting the civil war that both houses knew was inevitable. We are informed that the watchers on the castle walls were still able to see the confrontation, albeit at a distance, but enough to watch the blast of flames, followed by the dragons locked together in combat. After seeing Aemond rush to his dragon and fly off in pursuit of Luke, the people knew what his intentions were, once he caught up to Luke and their dragons engaged with one another.

For HOTD there is no way anyone else observe the fight, as they flew off into the storm, to the point they were literally above the storm clouds at the end of the scene. Now we are left with an accidental death, where the blacks will retaliate with intentional murder, making them appear as eviler out of the two. After all, Aemond didn’t mean to kill his little nephew, but he had no choice but to pretend he did it intentionally, carrying the stain of kinslayer everywhere he goes, only to become a maniac that commits mass murder on said dragon that he lost control of. At this point they might as well write him as losing control of Vhagar, while she burns down the Riverlands, omitting him of any responsibility, because he didn’t mean to kill thousands of people.

This whole white washing the characters intentions completely contradict the very theme of this story, which is a family feud, stemming from years of resentment that escalates into a bloody civil war. Both sides are hell bent in their beliefs on who should sit the Iron Throne, both are willing to go to extreme lengths to achieve their goals, both Alicent and Rhaenyra are ambitious, cunning and are not good people. Let the characters own their villainous characteristics, don’t strip them of their agency only to replace them, as naïve hesitant peacemakers hung up on a forgotten friendship.

#house of the dragon #hotd #anti hotd #aemond vs lucerys #fire & blood #lucerys velaryon #aemond targaryen #hotd 1x10 #anti ryan condal #anti sara hess #analysis #hotd analysis #lucerys death #shipbreaker bay #anti aemond targaryen #character analysis #hotd commentary

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bigdumbbambieyes · 1 year

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I’m with you a 110% with Chrissy being a paramore girlie, but I have to disagree w/ the hellcheer = Rose Colored Boy. The boy in the song represents toxic positivity & is pretty condescending and invalidating to her. I definitely agree it’s a Chrissy song (I’ve got it on my own playlist for her), but I can’t see Eddie just dismissing her feelings like that & pressuring her to “be or appear to be happy”

hi anon!! glad you agree with Chrissy being a Paramore girl 🤍 it just makes so much sense to me and I’m glad I’m not the only one!

I completely understand where you’re coming from, and maybe I should’ve elaborated in my post about why I think Rose-Colored Boy is a song for her and Eddie, so I’ll do that now (if you’ll indulge me)!

I don’t believe Eddie would be dismissive of her emotions intentionally, ever, but I do believe very early in their friendship/relationship that he wouldn’t be very in-tune with how to be supportive of a girl’s bitterness. He knows his own bitterness and has sat with it for a very long time, but to suddenly see a popular cheerleader with similar feelings? I can see him being a bit tone-deaf like ‘what do you have to be bitter about? you have everything!’, kind of like when they met at the picnic table and he said that she’s nothing like he thought she would be, y’know?

And specifically this part of the song is what clicked for me with them:

To me, this would me a pivotal moment in their friendship/relationship. Chrissy would open up about her feelings for the first time and Eddie would unintentionally try to make light of it, hoping to make her smile because she’s upset and that’s what he does, but it backfires and she cries. He quickly apologizes and they talk it out, and it would ultimately bring them closer together because Eddie would get a closer look at Chrissy’s complex inner thoughts and she’d finally have someone to tell her real thoughts and feelings to.

I hope this made sense!! I never meant for it to come off as Eddie being someone with toxic positivity (bc he isn’t), but rather just a young adult who is a bit clueless with girl’s feelings and tries to make light of something he doesn’t fully understand - until he does. 🤍

#i really hope this made sense skfndkfn #anon tag #thanks for asking 🤍#chrissy cunningham #eddie munson #hellcheer

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melonisopod · 2 years

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The scene I imagined and dreamed about for Lostbelt 4 is so dramatic and sad but actually thinking about some aspects of it makes me laugh.

Myra’s full-on having a screaming fit in the middle of town square cussing out God while Mash and co. are just looking on awkwardly. Arjuna is exhausted from having just reset the world and can hear Myra yelling at him from up in his Vimana and he’s too tired to come down there so he just astral-projects her up to him. So Myra is now passed out on the ground during that time and Mash is like “Senpai are you alive? Speak to me!” meanwhile Arjuna uses one of his glowy orbs to beam war flashbacks into Myra’s brain in order to show his tragic anime backstory of how he got to this point. Then he whooshes her back to earth and she immediately gets up and is like “I redact my previous statement, Arjuna did nothing wrong in his life ever,”

#okay that's not *quite* what she says #she empathizes with his original desire to rid the world of evil an suffering #but obviously doesn't think what arjuna is doing is right #interestingly enough douman is the one to suggest arjuna give myra an audience #because he knew myra would at least try to empathize but ultimately refuse to go along with his methods #and that would piss arjuna off royally and make him feel betrayed in a way #like he'd hoped she would truly understand him but she turns out not to #and that just spurns him further towards deciding she and the rest of chaldea are 'evil'#but it ultimately backfires as he thinks of her in his final moments #and wonders how she reached a different conclusion than him #despite also desiring to rid the world of suffering #which leads to him being summoned #and then he's ready to beat the shit out of douman

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rosequart · 4 years

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i compiled a bunch of direct quotes about pink diamond/rose quartz from the newest artbook, end of an era. some of these quotes are taken from charts and scribbled notes, so the sentence structure might be weird.

let me know if there are any typos/missing information you think i could add!

quotes from rebecca sugar: on pink diamond/rose quartz

Pink Diamond is so sure that she’s powerless, but she’s actually profoundly powerful, so much so that she devastates people’s lives without understanding it because she thinks that she has no real power or sway.

The thing that she really lacks is balance, any ability to temper her extremes. This is part of her character throughout her forms: she’s always very extreme.

Pink fits into those older tropes, too: the restless princess, the little Winsor McCay clown.

Pink is pure want. Impulse, desire—she’s infectious. She is the flip side of White; she can bring out a Gem’s hidden personality—their deepest wants. This isn’t necessarily a Diamond power (she has a handful of Diamond powers both destructive and constructive), but she has this power in a very human sense. She is an enabler and very manipulative when it comes to getting what she wants, so when what she wants is to get closer to someone, her intensity, and her sincerity, opens them up and draws them in.

White and Pink were always clashing. The Diamond body repressed Pink’s wants, as directed by White, the self-critical conscience. Pink’s shield made it impossible for White to override Pink’s identity, so she had to find other ways to repress her.

Episodes like Bismuth make much more sense when you know that Rose is Pink, and even more sense when you understand how poorly Pink treated friends who became inconvenient.

Rose is tracked carefully through the entire show. She makes sense once you know she is her own worst enemy. She dreams, achingly, that she could become compassionate, because she’s sure she’s incapable of compassion. Her lack of respect for herself makes it impossible for her to respect everyone closest to her. She reveres them instead, because they are better than she could ever be, and that reverence is so honest and intoxicating that it draws everyone closer to her, without them understanding the deep self-hatred that pull is coming from.

She couldn’t stand herself; self-destruction is a huge theme throughout the show—the struggle of the feeling that you shouldn’t exist, and what that can do to a person. A lot of the themes of the show exist within Rose, like her inability to be honest with other people or herself about what she’s done. She’s so deeply ashamed of herself and her past, with very good reason. The truth is that the people in her life would be so much more understanding than she believes they will be. The contempt that she has for herself gets turned outward as contempt for other people when she can’t trust them. When she can’t trust herself, she can’t trust other people, and it makes it impossible for her to be close with anyone. It makes life extremely difficult for her. It makes living difficult for her.

Rose wants [honesty and trust and being able to grow and change] so badly, but she can’t really accomplish any of that until she accepts herself—and she never does.

quotes from rebecca sugar: on rose and greg

Rose and Greg have a very specific relationship. They parallel each other: Greg left his unsupportive family to follow his dreams. He changes his name and begins living as his stage persona...He invents himself.

Rose is instantly interested in Greg; he’s so human, sweet and funny and pliable. But as they get a little deeper into their relationship, Greg starts to realize how alien she actually is. She objectifies him, she laughs at him...she can’t seem to relate to him or pick up on how he’s feeling. They have a physical relationship, but they’ve never had a meaningful conversation. He starts to feel used. So he challenges her in a way she’s never been challenged before: he asks her to treat him like an equal. This is huge for her. She’s always been less than the other Diamonds and more than everyone else. She opens up to him in a real way, and over time she’s ready to confess everything to him. But he understands what it is to run away from home and reinvent yourself. He doesn’t need her old name and he’s not going to drag her through whatever it was she ran from; as far as he’s concerned, her old self isn’t the real her anyway. The real her is her in the present, the person she decided to be. [...] This is an incredible relief for her! With him, she can live authentically in the moment...They both can, but on the flip side, they enable each other. She never unpacks what scares her about her past, and neither does he.

They really wanted to have a child [...] It’s something they are genuinely excited about. And that’s something that’s left a little open-ended—just how selfish it was for Rose to do this knowing that she would disappear. What Rose is doing is outrageously selfless and outrageously selfish at the same time, and you can really read it both ways and neither is untrue.

chart notes: on pink diamond/rose quartz

Pink learns to keep secrets. She tells her new Pearl to keep them too. (She puts on an act. Behaves better.) She doesn’t trust herself...keeps asking her Pearl what to do...

The Game: Rose plays Batman on the ground. (Pearl is Robin and Alfred.) Pink tries to use Rose as an excuse to call off the invasion. This backfires when Blue and Yellow send in reinforcements.

Rose finds herself the head of a family. Determined to be everything White was not—she is close with everyone, flexible in everything. Love & fun are the rule—and there are no rules—and everyone is the most special!

chart notes: on rose and the crystal gems

Pink keeps asking Pearl what she thinks. Pearl understands she should have no opinions, and should follow orders. She is caught in a paradox. Her head swims. She laughs—feels scared—what is this?

Pearl is falling in love. Pink, as Rose, is intoxicating. She’s free somehow. They both are, when they’re on Earth.

Rose falls in love with Pearl’s surprising boldness that comes out of left field—!

Pearl and Rose start fusing a lot.

Pearl and Rose—the dust clears, revealing an endless honeymoon. Pink is gone and Pearl is free—free to love Rose.

Garnet trusts Rose, respects her secrets. She sees in Rose a self-made gem, a quartz that transcended her station out of sheer will and the power of self-love. Garnet loves Rose and her mystery, the way she learns to love & embrace the mystery of herself. Rose is her rock and inspiration.

Rose teaches Amethyst: you can be anything you want to be! Huge advocate of shapeshifting, self-expression, anarchy—however, Amethyst can sense shame from Rose and Pearl over the Kindergarten.

chart notes: on rose and the crystal gems, post-pink diamond reveal

Amethyst finally understands Rose: wanting her to shapeshift, not feel obligated to be a quartz, suddenly feels sympathy...kinship. It wasn’t Amethyst being inspired by Rose—Rose was inspired by them!

Garnet shocked: Rose taught her to love herself. If that was a lie—if Pink Diamond was self-hating, and wanted to disappear—than what does that mean for Garnet? No—it wasn’t Garnet being inspired by Rose—Rose was inspired by them!

Pearl is finally released—but, a rift—! Garnet feels betrayed! But, Pink did change! Pink did grow! Rose was different! That’s why Pearl was inspired by Rose—or, wait—Rose was inspired by them!

chart notes: on pink and the other diamonds

Pink, the littlest diamond, is largely ignored by Yellow, Blue, and White. Her silly impulses and eccentricities are not particularly helpful to the other diamonds in their endeavors. No one wants to play with her. Pink desperately wants White’s attention and approval (she will never get it).

Pink’s [original] Pearl is the only one who sees how much this upsets Pink. Pink is bright in front of Yellow, Blue, White—but when they don’t have time for her, she privately takes it hard.

Noticing Pink’s behavior, Yellow and Blue think she should have her own colony. White insists—she hasn’t really changed. She’ll never change. She gives Pink a colony—if only to prove Pink will fail.

White knows Pink is out there. This expensive, embarrassing tantrum is not worth her attention. Pink will come groveling back when she’s done running away from home.

Yellow and Blue are relieved to have Pink back—but White is vindicated. I knew you’d be back, your silly game is over—get back in place.

Steven gets Yellow and Blue to understand who he is now. But White won’t have it [...] In an ultimate act of self love, Steven fuses with himself, as White realizes—she can be wrong, and she’s truly lost her ‘daughter’.

#steven universe #end of an era #pink diamond #rose quartz #eoae spoilers #su spoilers #rose

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drabbles-mc · 3 years

Text

Starting Over

Juice Ortiz x F!Reader

Combining two Anonymous requests for this: reader is Jax's younger sister, and with Juicey boi. Stuck fiercely with him through Potter. Douchebag! Anyway, so. It's just after Tara, and Juice has gone MIA. As soon as reader hears Jax wants Juice, she goes to find him - obviously get's pointed to him by Wendy (not Gem because she knows what she'll do). When she goes to Juice, he tries to scare her off, but she gives him some lip, then maybe some smut - then she takes him far away, never to return! & can I get a Juice x Female reader where she finds out that Jax wants Juice after he goes MIA, and she's been with Juice for ages without the boys knowing - and she realises that Juice is in danger, so she manages to find out where he is, and she goes there, has some fluffy/angst time with Juice, before pulling him into her car and driving off to take him away and completely leave Charming and the sons behind. Maybe a fluffy pregnancy reveal too? Ultimately, must save Juice and protecc

Warnings: language, angst, slight steam

Word Count: 2.3k

A/N: Figured that these two requests ran pretty parallel to each other so I combined them! Only thing I didn’t do was full-on smut because it didn’t really fit with the whole mood of everything. But we gettin’ Juice outta his mess for sure. Enjoy! xo

SOA Taglist: @garbinge @masterlistforimagines @mayans-sauce @adela-topaz-caelon @i-just-read-stuff @chibsytelford @mijop @shadow-of-wonder @xladymacbethx @kkim120 @multiyfandomgirl40 @toni9 @unicornucopia-fuckers (If you want to be added to the taglist just let me know!)

Things had been falling apart for the club for a while. Growing up in the middle of it had exposed you to a lot, but even so this was the most chaotic it had been in your lifetime. You couldn’t blame it all on Jax, knowing that things started crumbling long before your brother took his seat at the head of the table. But there was a lot more frustration there between the two of you than there used to be.

That rising tension was the original reason that you never told Jax, or anyone in the club for that matter, that you had gotten involved with Juice. It had sort of just fallen together. There was something about him that you couldn’t pull yourself away from, no matter how far he seemed to spiral. His life was just as messy as yours, if not messier, which was another reason the two of you decided to keep things quiet—it was supposed to cut down on the mess.

However, once you noticed that Jax’s feelings about Juice took a turn, you got nervous. Ever since Tara was murdered, he was on a warpath. You couldn’t necessarily blame him, but Juice was on thin ice as it was and you weren’t going to let him become another casualty if you could help it. You didn’t lose him in the depths of things with Potter, you weren’t going to lose him now.

You had looked everywhere for him. You scoured all of Charming but he was nowhere to be found. You stopped by his place, and immediately noticed that certain things were missing. His place wasn’t cleaned out, but you could tell that he packed the essentials to make a quick getaway. Your heart sunk inside your chest as you tried to strategize how to find out where he was. There was a short list of people you felt like you could trust to ask who wouldn’t blow up your spot to the rest of the club.

You found yourself on Gemma’s doorstep. For as much as you loved your mother, she was the last person that you wanted to talk to about this. You did, however, know that she and Wendy were close these days, and that anything Gemma knew about Juice, she might’ve pipelined to Wendy. It was a long-shot but she was the only person you had left that you felt like you could talk to without exposing yourself, or Juice.

Gemma opened the door, “Hey, sweetheart, everything alright?” she hugged you once you stepped inside.

You nodded, “Yea, all good. I just, uh, is Wendy here?”

You could see the gears turning in Gemma’s mind, “Yea, why?”

You shook your head, “Nothin’ I just wanted to talk to her about some counseling stuff,” you tried to play it off, “One of Lyla’s girls is a little,” you shook your hand slightly, “Rocky right now. Just wanted to get her opinion on some stuff. That’s all.”

You’d gotten good at lying to Gemma—it was the only way to have any semblance of privacy. She nodded, convinced for the time being, “She’s in the guest room with the boys. Send them out before you start talking about that shit though, alright?”

You nodded, “Of course.”

You made your way back to the room, politely sending your nephews on their way before shutting the door, allowing you and Wendy your privacy. Confusion was written all over her face as you sat on the bed with her. You took a deep breath as you tried to get your thoughts together, praying that this wouldn’t backfire on you.

“You know where Juice is?” there was no point in beating around the bush.

“Why would I know that?” she couldn’t meet your eyes, and you knew that she was trying to hide something.

“I know the club wants him dead,” you paused, correcting yourself, “I know Jax wants him dead. I just…I just wanna help him.”

“You wanna help Juice?” she clearly didn’t buy it.

You ran your hands down your face, not able to fault her for being skeptical, “Jax might be my brother but that doesn’t mean that I blindly support everything he does. I’m not my mother,” you shook your head, “Juice can’t survive this on his own. He needs someone.”

“You?”

You took a deep breath, knowing you’d already put yourself in a pretty deep hole. What was the harm in digging yourself a little deeper? You met Wendy’s eyes, “I’ve been with Juice for a while now. Way before all this other shit started. I can’t…I can’t let Jax get to him.”

Wendy pressed her lips together into a thin line. She knew as well as anyone what your family was like. It was a wonder that you turned out the way you did. She took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, “He’s at my place. That’s…that’s why I’m still here.”

You raised your eyebrows in surprise, “Y-your place?”

She nodded, “Gemma was banking on me staying in rehab way longer. Figured it was a free, empty place for him to stay. I wasn’t gonna kick him to the streets when the club wants his head on a goddamn stake. So…he’s still there.”

You leaned in a hugged her, for the first time in a long time. It felt a little foreign at first but she leaned into you for a moment and accepted it. You pulled away, trying to fight back the tears that were stinging at the edges of your eyes, “Thank you. Seriously.”

She nodded, “Don’t mention it. Seriously.”

You both got a quiet laugh out of that. Taking a deep breath to steady yourself, you stood up. Before opening the door, you turned back to Wendy, “If Gemma asks, I asked you about some rehab counseling shit for one of Lyla’s girls.”

She nodded, “Got it,” there was a brief pause, “Take care of him. He needs it.”

You nodded but didn’t say anything more as you left the room. You made your way back through the house, giving your nephews hugs and kisses goodbye before saying goodbye to Gemma as well. You tried not to let your anxiety shine through as you tried to put together some semblance of a plan.

You raced back to your place and packed a few bags. You grabbed the few things that Juice had left at your apartment over the last few months, not wanting to leave any trace of that behind once you were gone. You packed the essentials, grabbed your emergency stash of cash, and then hit the road to get to Wendy’s place.

You knocked relentlessly on the door. When there was no answer, you finally spoke up, “It’s me, Juice.”

Seconds later Juice opened the door, gun in his hand by his side. You could see it written all over his face that he was spinning out. You took a deep breath as you stepped into the apartment, shutting the door behind you. You immediately stepped in and wrapped him in a hug, your heart breaking at the way he practically fell into your embrace like you were the only thing keeping him tethered to the earth.

After a few moments, you pulled away from him. You could see it in his eyes how lost he was. You reached out, gently cupping his face, “We gotta go.”

“What?” he looked confused.

“We gotta go. We gotta get out of here. You can’t stay here.”

“Yea but…but you can’t go with me.”

It felt like a punch to the gut to hear him say it so definitively. “Why not?”

“Because you’re Jax Teller’s fucking sister,” he snapped, “You can’t just…leave Charming. You can’t just leave. Especially not with someone the club wants dead. They, they won’t stop until they find you. Or me.”

“They’re not going to find us.”

“You’re an escape artist now?”

You scoffed, “I don’t think that you’re in a position to be criticizing. It took me one day to find you.”

He gnawed at the inside of his lip, “You can’t do this. You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“That’s a risk that I’m willing to take.”

“Well I’m not,” he shook his head, “You’re not putting yourself out on the line like that for me. I won’t let you.”

“You won’t let me?” your laugh was hollow, “Let me? You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do. I grew up under Gemma’s fucking thumb—I’m done getting bossed around by other people. You don’t get to tell me that I can’t come with you.”

“Yes, Y/N, I do. You’re not throwing your whole life away for me.”

“I’m not throwing it away! I don’t want a life here in Charming if you’re not in it.”

“They will never forgive you for leaving.”

“Fuck ‘em.”

“Y/N,” he sounded angry but you could see the tears in his eyes. He turned away love every chance he could, not wanting to deal with the heartbreak that followed, “You can’t leave. Not with me. Not for me. I’m…I’m not worth the fallout.”

“Yes you are,” you stepped in and cupped his face once more, “You are worth whatever it takes. I love you.”

He closed his eyes, tears escaping down onto his cheeks, “I love you too.”

You pulled his lips to yours, catching them in a rough, needy kiss. He wrapped his arms tightly around you, like it was the last time he was ever going to be able to touch you. His tongue ran along the inside of your lip before meeting yours. You moaned, fingers pressing into the back of his neck. His hands slid underneath your shirt, nails raking lightly along the soft skin of your back.

You pulled away, breathless as you rested your forehead against his. He gave you a light squeeze, “I love you.”

You smiled despite the heaviness of the situation that you were in, “I love you too.”

“We can finish this when we get to wherever we’re going,” he chuckled, and it was nice to see him smile.

You nodded, pulling away from him a little bit, “Right, right,” you took a deep breath as you looked around Wendy’s place, “You got a bag packed?”

He turned and walked towards the closet, digging around before resurfacing with a duffle bag that was bursting at the seams. You looked at the kutte that was draped across the top of it and your heart broke. Leaving Samcro behind was going to be a big shift for the both of you—it was all you’d ever known, and it was all the family Juice had anymore.

He saw the look in your eyes and the tears returned to his. You shook your head slightly, “You gotta leave it, baby. Nothing good is gonna come from you keeping that.”

He nodded even though he didn’t want to admit it, “I know.”

He gripped the leather tight in his hand for a few moments before laying it on the end of Wendy’s couch. You nodded in approval, pulling him towards you and kissing him softly on the lips to let him know that it was going to be okay.

“You sure you wanna do this?” his voice wavered a little, “There’s…there’s no coming back from this.”

You nodded, “I’m sure,” you tangled your fingers with his, “Let’s go.”

The two of you packed what little you had into the trunk of your car. You situated yourself in the driver’s seat before turning to look at Juice. Worry was still present in his features but you could tell that even despite that, he was glad that you were there with him

You reached over, taking his hand in your own, “We're gonna be alright. We're going to figure all of this out. We'll be safe,” you paused, “Do you trust me?”

He nodded, no hesitation in his response, “With my life,” he paused for s few moments, “You’re really willing to leave behind your family for me?”

“You’re my family,” you waited for him to meet your eyes, “Juice?”

“Yea?” his eyes searched yours, trying to guess what you were going to say next.

“I mean it, you know. You’re my guy. My family.”

His smile as soft, sincere, “You’re my family too.”

“I know now might not be the best time,” you chuckled nervously, “But really when do we ever have a right time for anything, right?”

“What’s going on?”

“I’m…I’m not going to be your only family for much longer,” you couldn’t hold back your nervous laughter as you took his hand and rested it on your stomach, “A fresh start is going to be good for all of us.”

His eyes widened as he realized what you were telling him. A smile broke out across his face as he leaned over and kissed you hard on the lips. He’d never been more ready to run off with you than he was in that moment.

“Alright,” he chuckled, unable to believe the situation he was in, “let’s get the fuck out of here, then.”

You smiled, kissing him once more softly on the lips, “Let’s go.”

You threw the car in drive and pulled out onto the road. As you took off, Juice's hand came to rest on your thigh, “I love you.”

You smiled, glancing over at him for a moment, “I love you too.”

Your eyes made their way back to the road in front of you. Letting out a deep sigh, you let yourself soak up the fact that you were on your way to somewhere new, with the only person who really mattered, the only person who ever really tried to look out for you these days. Charming faded out of your rearview mirror and you had never felt more relieved, despite the uncertainty that laid ahead. All of the anxiety though., faded away when you felt Juice's thumb tracing back and forth on your leg. You had faith that the next chapter was really going to be the start of a whole new book, just for the three of you.

#soa #sons of anarchy #sons of anarchy imagine #soa imagine #juice ortiz #juice ortiz x reader #juice ortiz x you #juice ortiz imagine #juan carlos #juan carlos ortiz #my writing #fanfiction #drabblesmc

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goggles-mcgee · 3 years

Text

Too Late: Gabriel Agreste (commission for miner249er)

Third chapter of @miner249er ‘s commission

Chapter Summary: Gabriel’s thoughts and time at the hospital

Previous Work

Last Chapter Next Chapter

The sterile smell of the air, the beeps of machines and muted conversations were Gabriel Agreste’s new normal and it absolutely killed him. Every move of his body was pain, even blinking seemed to bring him some amount of it, no matter how small. He could hear the TV in his hospital room, he cast it the briefest glance and grimaced when he saw it was the TVi News with Nadja Chamack. At first he paid it no mind but when he heard his name he became more alert. With his good arm he patted around for the remote until he finally felt it and quickly turned up the volume. There was no holding back his growl when he saw Alec Cataldi speaking about the “rumor” of him and Nathalie being Paris’s local villains. His hand twitched with the need to find his phone and call up his lawyers but even he knew how it would look.

Suing Alec Cataldi and TVi Studios off of a rumor? Yeah that would just make things worse. His lawyers had already done so much with making sure that that’s all that stuck was rumors. No one could prove him and Nathalie were Hawkmoth and Mayura but there were so many goddamn “coincidences” that made sure that the rumors would not go away anytime soon. They would haunt him for as long as he lived and that was his fault. He thought akumatizing Marinette Dupain-Cheng was the best thing he had accomplished. In some ways it was, because he just so happened to akumatize Ladybug. He thought he had everything in the bag. Victory had been so close, he could practically taste it on his tongue.

Then she strayed. At first he didn’t notice, it was like every other akuma, she wanted revenge. She said so. So, being a generous person, he allowed her to go after her craved revenge before he asked for the Ladybug and Cat Miraculi. Gabriel never imagined her revenge included him and Nathalie, he had never felt any resentment towards him when they first linked, but then it was like she could shut him out of her mind. Out of her thoughts. Some part of him knew it had to do with all his missing butterflies, but a bigger part was screaming about how close he was to getting what he wanted. They were well and truly blindsided.

The Protector has come in so fast it was almost inhuman, which maybe he should have expected seeing as when he akumatized people he enhanced their abilities while also giving them some kind of power. None of his alarms went off. Nothing suggested danger. Even when Nathalie had gone to check the security cameras and check news coverage to track his akuma, she hadn’t noticed. He certainly couldn’t blame her for what transpired. No, that felt like the universe telling him it was done putting up with his bullshit. Nooroo had always told him that abusing the Miraculous the way he did would come back to him, distantly he would worry about what it meant, he hadn’t expected it to happen so fast.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was to be his masterpiece. He had always sensed her emotions, her anger, her sadness, they were always so strong and held so much potential. Yet, every time he had sent out an akuma for her, her emotions vanished so he would have to find a new target. It had been so infuriating each and every time, and then a miracle happened. Her emotions seemed to be too big to control this time, of course he knew it most likely had to do with Mlle Rossi since she was doing her damndest to convince him she was a negative influence on his son. Of course he pretended to believe every lie she spouted about the girl, there was no ounce of guilt, he just looked forward to the future akuma.

He regretted it. He regretted it so much. Gabriel frowned when he felt a tear fall, he hated feeling weak, always had. Thankfully no one was in the room to witness the rare moment of weakness. He had only cried in front of one person and that had been Emilie, but even she was guarded when she spoke to him now. Not that he didn’t understand her anger at him and Nathalie, but he wished she would forgive him and just be there for him. He needed his wife. Currently though, she was still mad and disappointed at him. He tried to explain that he did everything for her and their family so they could be happy again, but it had ultimately fallen short.

She hadn’t wanted his “excuses,” and really he could understand, or try to. When she awoke it wasn’t to a welcoming she may have expected if she had ever expected one from the beginning, Emilie came back to police tape all over their house and reporters stalking the front for a story like vultures. They pounced and the rumors grew. His missing wife just so happened to stumble out of their house after he and Nathalie were rushed to the hospital. Of course Emilie heard the rumors, when she felt like talking to him she had come and demanded answers and really, there was no way he could lie to her and he hadn’t ever planned to. Gabriel had just never expected to have to tell his wife he had maybe terrorized Paris and fought against a child, maybe two, one of which was quite possibly their own child.

He thought she would leave him, it terrified him, haunted his every waking moment. That thought hurt worse than everything the Protector did to him in the name of justice. Gabriel didn’t want to think anymore so he decided to just tune into the news once more and hope they were past speaking about him. “We have a video of The Protector going into the Agreste Mansion and after a period of time, leaving. Now we don’t know what happened inside but hours later we had you and your team there at the mansion along with other news stations when M Agreste and his assistant Mlle Nathalie Sancoeur were brought out of the mansion on stretchers. Then not long after, in your words,’ a dazed Mme Agreste was spotted coming out of the house.’ That was after the police search!”

Guess he hoped for too much. He groaned and looked away from the screen and resolved to just stare at his heart monitor. He blamed his private nurses for putting the TV on the news because he had no recollection of changing the channel to the news before he had been given his daily dose of morphine and had taken his small nap. Some small part of him told him they did it on purpose, that they knew what Nadja and Alec were going to be reporting on and put the show on purely to annoy and torture him. Even if his team of lawyers made sure no charges could stick to him or Nathalie, the stink of the allegations and rumors lingered.

He could see it in the way other nurses would speed walk past his room. Could see it in the way his bodyguards would flinch when he would speak to them or ask them to do something when they weren’t guarding his door. It was behind the smiles his doctor would give him during his vitals checks. It was carried in the air of the whispers of those who passed and hoped he didn’t hear them speaking. Some didn’t care if he heard and would loudly speak of his villain side full of contempt and poorly held anger. He saw it in the way the hospital wing counselor, yes each wing had a counselor apparently, would leave a pamphlet about their group therapy. Not just any group therapy, akuma victims, whether it be turned into akumas or directly targeted by akumas, you were encouraged to join. Since he and Nathalie were “for some odd reason” targeted by the Protector even when they said it was a random attack not done by the akuma, they were heavily encouraged to join in. Even if it meant they had to be wheeled in on wheelchairs.

Gabriel did not need that. He absolutely did not. There was no way he was going to sit in a room full of people he had akumatized and listen to how he ruined their lives. He had an imagination, he had a pretty good idea how royally he screwed up. Though he hadn’t known it at first, he hadn’t even thought of it when Nathalie and him were on their way to the hospital. Pain wasn’t on his mind, no, it was anger. He had been furious that his plan had backfired so spectacularly, and he immediately started planning on revenge. There was no realization, there was no sympathy, not until he heard the news. When the police had been investigating his house for any signs of the “intruder” Emilie had stumbled out from the “basement.”

It was then and only then that Gabriel realized what he had done. Everything he had done, terrorizing-because really, that is what he did-Paris, made everyone live in a constant state of emotional staleness that was now exploding in uncontrolled fits of tears and yelling, and what for? Absolutely nothing. Emilie hadn’t needed him to go on some crazed vengeful mission like he had believed. There was no need for him to don the Butterfly Brooch and be the “madman” everyone knew as Hawkmoth. The name they still whispered about whether consciously or subconsciously when having a breakdown or feeling even the slightest bit upset. There was no need for him to involve Nathalie and make her wear the very same damaged Miraculous that he believed had taken his wife from him. Yet he did. His assistant, no, his dear friend was paying that price now because of him.

Nathalie. He hadn’t even seen her since their admittance into the hospital. Of course he asked how she was doing but doctors were vague and nurses were worse because they would change the subject or stay quiet and you knew. You knew the person you asked about wasn’t doing as well as you had hoped. Distantly he knew what he was doing to everyone in Paris, he somewhat acknowledged the damage he had done but nothing prepared him for the guilt that ate at him for what had happened to Nathalie. It would seem as though Emilie held some ill will towards him because of it as well. When she came and he asked how she was doing, his wife would only respond with, “How do you think Gabriel?” and nothing else. Gabriel desperately wanted to know but it was like everyone in the hospital made some odd pact to never inform him and it was driving him mad. He had just wanted his wife back. His old life back.

Now he had a wife back who, while still staying with him was determined to show him how wrong he had been. Gabriel didn’t know what part of everything she was more mad at (maybe it was the emotionally distancing himself from their only child and leaving said child to fend for himself in a social world that he knew nothing about) but he would do anything to make her happy. Though she was not letting him in, she was there physically but she had closed herself off emotionally at the moment and really, could Gabriel blame her? No but that didn’t make the heartache hurt any less when she wouldn’t smile at him, when she would only come for an hour or two at most instead of the full visiting hours like she once did when he had been in a car crash when they first married. She had visited everyday and had snuck in his favorite snacks because she knew he hated the hospital food.

When she visited she brought him pastries from Tom & Sabine’s and every time it was like more salt added to his wounds. Like she was doing it on purpose to punish him in her own little ways. Emilie would still sit by his side and hold his hand, but her smile was fake, it was fake coming in and it was fake leaving, and the hand around his heart would grip harder the more he saw it. She would of course be visiting today and though Gabriel always loved to see her, he didn’t know if he could handle her emotionless smiles. Not when his pain was throbbing both physically and emotionally. Usually he could ignore the looks, the whispers, and just about everything else, but today he felt unnaturally raw.

“Oh you’re awake. Good afternoon.” That was Emilie’s voice.

Gabriel turned and saw her standing in the doorway. “Hello Love.” He winced at how hoarse his voice sounded.

Immediately Emilie went to his side table and poured him a cup of water which he gratefully took. “You always seem so surprised when I come. I come everyday Gabriel.”

“Well...It’s just you don’t seem like you want to be here is all. Not that I can blame you but…”

Quiet. He hated when she was quiet. Then she sighed. “It’s not that I don’t Gabriel. I’m just...I’m just so mad. I’m mad that you’re hurt, but I know it’s your fault that you’re hurt in the first place. I’m mad that it’s your fault! I’m mad that you left our son emotionally. I’m mad you got Nathalie involved! But I don’t want to be mad Gabriel. It feels bad to be mad right now because I know you’re in pain. But I also know you. And I know you’re not completely sorry about what you’ve done.”

“Emilie! I am sorry, I really am!” He cried.

“I need more convincing than you just saying it. I’ve been thinking about it and I want you to go to that akuma therapy they have here. Then...and only then do I think we can begin to heal.” She said with such finality that Gabriel had to swallow. It was absolutely the last thing he wanted to do, but he knew Emilie wouldn’t budge, all he could do was nod.

“Thank you,” she murmured, “I know it won’t be easy, but I think this will be good for you, for us.”

“You might be the only one who thinks so.”

“Adrien thinks so too.”

“You’ve spoken to him?” Gabriel asked, and maybe it was a bit desperate but his son hadn’t visited him once.

“Yes. He’s not ready to see you yet…” Emilie admitted as she looked down at her hands. “He barely started visiting Nathalie.”

He had visited Nathalie!? But not him. Not his father. No he couldn’t be mad at him, not after everything he put his son through, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t hurt. That didn’t mean he wasn’t blinking back tears. His own son didn’t want to see him. God, what did that say about him? About everything? Nothing good if he put thought into it so he resolved to do the opposite and just avoid the thoughts until they took him by surprise. If he thought Emilie’s anger was bad, he could only imagine Adrien’s, he had never seen his son mad. He had never allowed him the pleasure of emotions before, and seeing how everyone’s little emotions resulted in meltdowns, he feared what his son’s repressed emotions would look like.

And really Adrien had a lot to be angry about. Number 1 being that he was Chat Noir, part of Paris’s dynamic superhero duo, and his father was Hawkmoth the villain he was fighting and had to stop. Yeah, there was much to be mad about. “How is he?” He settled on asking.

“I’m not going to lie to you Gabriel, he’s not okay. Our baby is hurting,” the because of you was implied but unsaid, “his friend is still missing, his friends are all having mental episodes over some Lila girl and everything that has gone down, and he is still having to deal with the fact that people talk. Plus I mean it’s not everyday you find out your dad is a supervillain, one you were supposedly fighting.”

He couldn’t hold back the wince. “Do you think he’ll ever forgive me?”

“Honestly? I don’t know Honey,” even though his heart sang at the term of endearment it also broke a bit, “I want to say yes, but I just don’t know.”

“We’ll just have to see I suppose. You should go check on Nathalie, Dear. I am feeling tired,” it was a lie, or was it? He was exhausted but whether that be because of his body being in pain or because his emotions were everywhere was anyone’s guess. “I’ll see you tomorrow though yes?”

“Yes. Yes of course. I’ll bring some Eiffel Apple Bon Bons, I know you probably haven’t had any in a while.” She still remembered his favorite candies.

“That would be lovely, thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too Gabriel. We’ll...We’ll get through this.” Will we? He watched as she walked out and even after that just stared at the door. He was really going to go to that akuma therapy...for the first time in a long time, Gabriel was scared. Scared if everyone would whisper or would they make the animosity toward him known? But the thing he was the most terrified of? He was terrified of what he would hear there in the group therapy. He didn’t know if he would be strong enough to listen.

The TV ripped him from his thoughts and he almost gave it thanks. “I don’t think I have to remind everyone just what Hawkmoth has done to this great city, to its people. From babies to the elderly, from the smallest of things to the most emotional moments of our lives, they have all been prey to him. One has to wonder if he had a heart at all. And if he did, I have to ask, was it worth it? Was it worth it Hawkmoth? This has been Alec Cataldi.”

“And Nadja Chamack.”

“And we are signing off, see you next time Paris.” The two hosts said in unison.

Almost.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #ml salt #gabriel agreste #emilie agreste #nathalie sancoeur #nadja chamack #alec cataldi #gabriel agreste salt #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #angsty thoughts for Gabriel #revolt of the akuma #goggles commission #gabriel has to face consequences like an adult #and he no likey

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pennylogue · 4 years

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Steven is a Diamond, and that’s okay.

So, Steven’s way too caught up in the fact that he’s a Diamond right now, and therefore a hideous and overpowered monster who can’t hope to be understood by normal humans or normal gems. Let’s talk about that.

For all Steven’s enthusiasm to be a Crystal Gem and to demonstrate his powers, he’s always been weirdly ashamed of how being half-Gem affects his ability to live alongside humans. I don’t think he’s ever really decided how to feel about it. It’s only after seeing Steven growing substantially and changing his hair and getting diamond eyes, now that it’s clear that his physical form is so malleable to how he thinks of himself and what he wants to be, that it really hits me how growing up with Greg and around so many humans has affected his identity. How sort of…quietly unhealthy it was, to go around with his gem covered up all of the time, and his appearance so determinedly human. I mean, think of how upset and ashamed he was when he decided his inhuman aging would screw up his friendship with Connie.

Right now, Steven is a whirlpool of self-loathing mixed into repressed issues and trauma with the Diamonds and hatred for his mother, and because he’s feeling so disconnected from and alienated and misunderstood by both other humans and other gems, because his gem powers are being triggered by his trauma, he’s connected some dots and blamed it all on being a Diamond.

Looking back at that quiet “No,” at the end of “Fragments”, it’s easy to identify it as one of horrified realization. And you know, this is the logical conclusion of Steven’s feelings about his mother in “Mindful Education”, of “Storm in the Room”, of “Volleyball”—but it’s also the sum of a lot of other things:

Peridot: The Diamonds are the Gem matriarchs! …We live to serve them.

The culmination of Peridot flipping to the Crystal Gems is tied directly into her rejecting the Diamonds. Diamonds are introduced as the symbol of everything wrong with Homeworld.

Garnet: “How dare you fuse with a member of my court? You will be broken for this!”

…

Garnet: Pink Diamond thought for a moment, and then laughed; a wicked, empty sound. “You wish to save these life-forms at the expense of our own? Ha! Don’t be absurd. Return to your post, and I will forget your insolence.”

Diamonds are shatterers. They hate fusion. They hate Earth and organic life. They hate Garnet. They’re the evil queens in Garnet’s fairy tale.

Garnet: The Earth belonged to Pink Diamond. Destroying her was the only way to save the planet. For Amethyst to be herself, for Pearl to be free, for me to be together. For you to exist.

Free will and the Diamonds are utterly opposed. It might be a tragedy that Pink Diamond was killed, but she was a monster, like the other Diamonds. The ultimate enemies of the Crystal Gems.

We got almost five seasons of the Diamonds being spoken of this way. You see how terrified every Gem is of the Diamonds, whether they worship them or despise them.

And then we found out a) Rose Quartz was one of them. And b) that Steven is one of them.

Hey, quick question–anyone remember what Sapphire said, right in front of Steven, after the reveal?

Sapphire: Of course she was a Diamond. What a long road she took, to torture us all like this...

…Yeah, we never really got his feelings on b, did we?

I think Steven was so overwhelmed by everything else that was going on and everyone’s reactions, and later so eager to jump on the chance that being seen as one of the Diamonds gave him to fix the corrupted gems and help everyone, that we’ve never really seen him process this realization. Steven drew a very clear line in the sand. The Diamonds are the Diamonds, and Steven is Steven. The Diamonds are wrong about everything, so they’re also wrong about him being Pink, the same way everyone else in the series who’s called him another name has been wrong. He’s not Rose Quartz. He’s not Pink Diamond.

Except…that second part isn’t true. Sure, Steven has a human body. Sure, Steven’s not the original Pink Diamond. That doesn’t mean he’s not a Pink Diamond.

But it was easy back then, right? Because Steven was so, so different from them. A Crystal Gem. A defender of fusion. Weak. Small. Human-colored. Harmless. And as Steven says in the finale promo:

I don’t hurt people. I help people.

Yeah, there’s no way that building an incredibly black-and-white mindset with impossibly high standards for himself to create and hold on to a sense of identity was going to backfire.

So yeah, we never really saw Steven process that he was supposed to be one of these terrifying rulers. Except now he’s hurting people. In fact, it seems that all he can do is hurt people. And since he’s only able to see the bad things he can do, the amount of horrible power he has and how isolating it is and how terrifying it is–of course he blames it on what’s always seen as the source of so many horrible things.

No wonder he’s having an identity crisis! He’s always told himself that he’s different than the Diamonds. He’s better than them. He has to be. So if he’s doing everything wrong, if he’s a freak, if he’s a shatterer, than it’s because he’s a Diamond. He’s just like them. He’s just as bad as them. He’s just as much a monster as the Diamonds are.

It’s complicated, what’s going on. Steven’s very, very wrong. But he’s also, strangely, right on target.

The thing is, this isn’t happening because he’s a Diamond, it’s because he’s human. He’s experienced trauma while growing up and is trying to react to it in a very human way. He literally has PTSD and CPTSD, and if you’ll look up the symptoms you’ll see he’s showing all of them. He’s not a monster. He’s part-human, so his symptoms are manifesting in partially inhuman ways. And that means he just happens to have the power to do a lot more damage than other humans when he lashes out in a way that is, once more, very characteristic for humans. But you know, even the best of humans can do a lot of damage, too, especially when they never really get over trauma. After all, Greg sure did a number on Steven.

The flip-side of this is that the hilarious irony of ancient magical rocks trying to treat themselves as perfect and inhuman alien beings has always been that, that in reality, they’re every bit as fucked up and human as humans are. That’s the whole point of the Crystal Gems and the Homeworld Gems. Remember back when Garnet seemed so perfect? Peridot seemed pretty alien and unfeeling at the beginning, right? Jasper, Topaz, Aquamarine, it goes all the way up to the Diamonds.

The whole point of the Diamonds and why the old system was broken was that the Diamonds tried to present themselves as perfect beings without flaw, when in fact they were all just as much a disaster as every other Gem. Remember back when Rose Quartz was a flawless goddess? Yellow and Blue were terrifying when we first saw them, but then we saw them comforting each other at the Zoo. They’re literally just a screwed-up family grieving and dealing with the death of one of their own–White’s first appearance painted her as this terrifying and totally inhuman being above even Yellow and Blue, but in the end, every one of the Diamonds is a normal, flawed person…just vested with the power to do a lot more damage than most.

The thing about White, was that she was so sure she had to be perfect, that she had to make everything better, but in the end, the solution was just to…let go. Accept that she was imperfect, and live with the consequences of it. Let other people help her. Stop trying to fit into being something she’s not, and just let herself be who she is.

Does any of this sound familiar?

All four of the original Diamonds had destructive powers. All four of the original Diamonds experienced a change and made a conscious choice to control themselves and try to stop using their powers to negatively affect others. White Diamond might be stuck being White Diamond, but as “Homeworld Bound” made clear, she’s also the only one who gets to decide what that means.

So you know what?

You can call Steven half-Gem and half-human, but that doesn’t really describe what he is. He’s a human with a Gem. A Gem with a human form. None of that’s good or bad. It is what it is. And as much as it sucks to be different from everyone else, he’s also the only one who gets to decide what being different means to him. Steven Universe isn’t Rose Quartz and he’s not his mom, but just like he’s a human, he’s also Pink Diamond, and that isn’t bad.

And I think that’s what he needs to hear from everyone. The solution at Steven’s birthday party wasn’t to react to the situation they were in and cheer him up the same way you’d cheer up a baby. He wasn’t just a baby, he was Steven stuck in a body that he didn’t know how to control. What he actually needed was to hear from Connie that she wanted to be there for him, no matter how strange he was.

He needs the people he loves to stop telling him he’s “better than” his trauma and his diamond powers, to stop freaking out at how much damage he can do or treat it like a problem to be fixed. To not tell him that they know he’s going through, they’ve been there, too. They haven’t, and that’s not what he needs to hear. He needs to hear that none of what he is is bad. That his loved ones will be there for him and will love him unconditionally.

And I think that’s what will allow him to accept himself; accept that if he’s a Diamond then he’s also a human, if he’s human then he’s also Pink Diamond–and, just like the previous Pink Diamond, he’s the one who gets to decide what that means.

TL; DR I actually really hope diamond eye Steven is permanent for non angsty reasons. This kid needs to stop being ashamed of his identity.

#steven universe #steven universe future #suf #suf meta #steven universe future meta #homeworld bound #homeworld bound spoilers #su spoilers #su future meta #su meta #su future #character analysis #the pennylogue #fun with diamond parallels #kind of

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 3 years

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The Voyage So Far: Paramount War (Part Two)

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

ace’s execution is, in a way, the exception that proves the rule when it comes to one piece’s themes of blood and family. ace is set up to die for the crimes of a father he never knew and never wanted, and he does die here, but in the end he dies for the family he did choose, in the form of luffy, rather than the one he didn’t.

god do i wish we knew more about ms portgas d. rouge. with ace’s storyline pretty much wrapped it looks unlikely that we’re going to be learning more about her than what we got, which in my opinion is an absolute tragedy, because what little we do know about her is amazing and she’s an absolute badass. oda give us more female ds please.

whitebeard’s power is so cool. it might be one of the visually coolest devil fruits we’ve ever seen, in my opinion. he he causes earthquakes and tsunamis while far past his prime; he pulls the sky apart with his bare hands. this whole arc is world-shaking, and whitebeard’s power is perfectly appropriate for it.

doflamingo’s speech on justice and rightness is one of the most well-remembered quotes from this whole saga, and rightly so. i’ve always found it fascinating, myself, because he’s right. he dead-on hits how the one piece world works- the world government and the marines rule the world not because of any inherent actual goodness or justice or right, but because they won a war a very long time ago.

in a way, this reminds me of blackbeard’s line of “people’s dreams never die” from jaya. i like how oda isn’t afraid of letting his villains be right about the themes of the story, sometimes even having better awareness of them than the protagonists.

man, if i had to pick a single favorite spread out of the whole manga, it might be luffy’s marineford entrance. it’s so epic, and so completely unexpected for everyone else there. absolutely nobody was expecting strawhat luffy to drop out of the sky with a posse including two former warlords. it just makes me grin!! so much!!

it also gets followed up by a solid two pages of just people’s reactions, from smoker’s “what the HELL is he doing with CROCODILE” to moria’s immediate incoherent rage, and i just love that the world and cast of one piece is so well-established and built up that we know exactly how all of those people know luffy and why they react the way they do.

going back to what i mentioned in the last post about marineford being luffy’s conflict of interest arc, i’d say it’s also the only time where he isn’t the future king first and foremost. in this arc, before anything else, he’s a little brother.

there are a lot of what-if moments in marineford. moments where you kind of have to ask “what if this specific thing hadn’t happened, had gone differently?” would things have turned out differently? squard’s betrayal is one of them. does this change the outcome? would whitebeard have been able to survive if not for this injury? there’s no way to know. marineford is a lot of little tragedies, and they just pile up and up.

marineford has just so many incredibly striking spreads. all of the momentous moments (and there’s a lot of them, in this arc) are done full justice. this is such an image heavy post just because marineford is such an incredibly visually strong arc.

conqueror’s haki is so cool and i love the way it’s set up and built up throughout this saga, with luffy’s constant inadvertent uses of it, from duval’s bull to marigold and sandersonia to the wolves in impel down, all leading up to this moment.

i’ve heard people complain about conqueror’s as kind of a deus ex machina, but i honestly love it, it’s very cool and honestly i think it just seems to fit luffy as a power. if there was ever gonna be a character who turned willpower into a weapon, it would be monkey d. luffy.

i’m gonna take this chance to talk about garp, because this sequence of panels is heavily implied to be garp’s thoughts just before luffy punches him down, and it hurts. garp is a flawed person who makes some bad choices, and there’s no arguing that, but i think it’s very obvious he really, really cares about his grandsons, even if he never could understand them as people and that they never would have been happy as marines. and that’s just tragic, really.

the moment ace gets freed and the brief span of time where he and luffy can fight together feel so triumphant, and i think it’s one of the reasons the final tragedy of marineford hits so hard and feels so cruel, because luffy succeeds, here. he saves ace. he gives absolutely everything he had and makes it, and saves ace. the ultimate failure isn’t his. there was nothing more he could have done.

the first time i was reading one piece, i hit this page (which is also the last in the volume) and had to put the book away, take the bus downtown, wander around for a few hours, and buy myself some candy and some new books before i started feeling okay again.

the thing about ace’s death, i think, is that it’s a tragedy, but it also feels so completely essential to the story going forwards and luffy’s character growth specifically that it’s really, really hard to imagine one piece without it. there are a lot of (really excellent!) fix-fics out there for marineford, and although those are often really good and their authors super talented, i think it’s really hard for them to ever hit the same way canon does with regards to this.

i always think of this scene specifically in contrast to zoro and mihawk’s fight, back on baratie. zoro and mihawk are both people who believe in honor in battle, true victory or death, and that’s reflected in their fight, in zoro’s refusal to turn and run even in the face of imminent death, and mihawk’s respect for that resolve. whitebeard, too, is an honorable man. he refuses to turn to run, even when facing certain death.

the blackbeard pirates, however, are not.

i do enjoy how, just like roger’s, ace’s execution backfires tremendously on the marines. this was entirely a predictable outcome, too! this exact thing happened twenty years ago! the marines don’t learn. they don’t change. they’re so assured of their own rightness and power that they make stupid mistakes like holding a massive public execution after the last one blew up in their faces.

(this is why they need coby so badly, for the record, and why it’s important that he still decides to become a marine after witnessing their corruption firsthand in shells town. the marines are long overdue for a reformation, one that orients them towards real justice.)

i really, really enjoy crocodile in this saga. mostly because he hasn’t been redeemed at all, he’s still pretty much the exact same kinda awful person he was in alabasta, he’s just on luffy’s side this time, and it lets us see him in a better light, when he gets angry at whitebeard for nearly dying or when he helps luffy and jinbe escape to keep the marines from getting their way. few of one piece’s characters are truly so one-dimensional as they can seem, and i really appreciate that.

i really really love all the interactions between luffy, ace and sabo as kids. they’re so fun and bounce off of each other so well. even though we only see them together for a brief time, they really feel like siblings. (which of course only makes later events hurt so much more.

i’ve always been a little fascinated by the fact that it takes us this long to get luffy’s full backstory. it’s almost a fakeout, because we get part of his backstory in the very first chapter, and we’re kind of led to believe that’s all there is. it’s not until ace’s introduction nearly two hundred chapters in that we’re given any indication there’s more.

but at the same time, it makes sense. marineford is luffy’s focus arc, as arlong park to nami or thriller bark to brook. he hasn’t had a focal arc that’s really about him before this, while all his other crewmates have. it makes sense that this would be when he finally gets his flashback.

i think it’s cool that dragon and the revolutionaries show up at the grey terminal fire, because it’s one of the only looks we’ve gotten so far into what their actual regular operations are like. and, of course, they’re saving people. i really like this about the revolutionaries, that helping people in trouble is basically their modus operandi, when pretty much everyone else in one piece’s world mostly does saving on an incidental basis if at all.

i think a lot about how the last line of sabo’s letter to ace is also both of their last words to the strawhats.

death in one piece always feels much realer and more impactful to me than in most other series, and i think this is part of the reason why: in one piece, we are always shown the mourning. nami at bellemere’s grave, carrot grieving pedro, ace and whitebeard’s funeral.

there are fewer deaths, comparatively, than most other series, but they’re given so much room to echo. we’re still feeling the impacts of ace’s life and death in the most recent chapters of wano. it ties into the theme of inherited will and all the way back to hiriluk’s final speech, of men not being dead so long as they’re remembered.

the picture of luffy at marineford always kind of strikes me. he looks so young and so solemn, and yet much more himself than he did when we last saw him losing his mind on amazon lily. i really like it.

sometimes i just think about the sheer depth of trust and love the strawhats must have in each other to separate for two years, far longer than they were ever together, to solely dedicate themselves to improving for the sake of crew and captain. none of them even hesitate, and none of them ever doubt that the crew will be reformed at the end of it.

after all, luffy keeps his promises.

#the voyage so far #one piece #opmeta #not japanese #arc: marineford #arc: post marineford #long post

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tsumucore · 4 years

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“I just want to be with you all day, every day...” ♡‧₊˚

Request by @artsamber : Scenario where Oikawa and his s/o are in a secret relationship bc she’s kageyama’s older sister and everyone finds out during one of their matches uwu 🥺

Word count: 1.8k

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There was nothing more exhilarating than the atmosphere of a sports event - the throngs of spectators eagerly rushing to claim the seats that would give them the best view, the shrill blow of whistles as referees dictated whether matches were taking a turn for better or for worse, the smell of overpriced street foods wafting through the entire arena as vendors waved over potential customers. However, all of this went unnoticed by you; your attention was on your phone as you impatiently glanced at it for what felt like the umpteenth time.

You were planning to meet up with your boyfriend to wish him luck - the way you always did before all of his matches. When he finally texted you the meeting spot, you were marching towards your destination with a purpose. You pushed through the crowd as politely as you could, before ultimately giving up and breaking into a borderline jog to your agreed meeting spot - a utility closet located on the outskirts of the building. By the time you reached the door, you gave yourself a second to catch your breath and fix your hair before pushing it open.

“It’s about time,” a familiar voice lilted at your arrival. Before your eyes had even adjusted to the incredibly dim lighting, you immediately launched yourself into your lover’s arms and buried your face in his jersey as the scent of his cologne filled your senses to the brim.

“I missed you so much, Tooru.”

“Y/N,” he murmured as he tilted your chin up and kissed you gently. “We just saw each other a few days ago.” He moved both of his hands to cup your face and kissed you a few more times before slowly migrating to your jaw and down your neck.

“I know,” you sighed contentedly as you relished in the feeling of his soft lips pressing against your delicate skin. “But it’s not enough… I just want to be with you all day, every day.” His lips stopped moving on your neck as his chocolate-brown eyes looked up at you with curiosity.

“We could, you know. We could just tell everyone about us - we wouldn’t have to sneak around anymore, and we would be together whenever we pleased!” You had to admit that it sounded tempting, but the rational part of your brain told you to hold your horses.

“Tooru, you know why we can’t do that. For God’s sake, you’re playing against my brother in twenty minutes. Considering your history with him, I don’t think he would necessarily be our biggest fan,” you ran your hand through his soft hair, silently willing him to resume his kisses. He didn’t. Instead, he stepped away from you.

“We’re not dating him; we’re dating each other. Whatever qualms Tobio has about us shouldn’t matter. I mean, obviously they matter, because he’s your brother. But at the end of the day, we shouldn’t let what others say keep us from being with each other,” his voice was rising higher and higher as his cheeks grew flushed and his eyes held an intense expression.

“And what if everything backfires? What if Tobio starts hating me? What if it only becomes that much harder for us to be together? What if-” Your ramblings ceased to continue as Oikawa closed the distance between you and rested one hand on the small of your back while the other stroked your cheek with the gentlest touch.

“I have faith in our relationship. I think you should too.”

Your eyes widened as he gazed at you with the most loving expression you had ever seen him wear. As much as you feared the consequences of making your relationship known to the rest of the world, you realized that it wasn’t fair to Oikawa - you were stifling him, in a sense. Your internal deliberation gradually came to an end as you felt yourself relent to him.

“This really means a lot to you, doesn’t it?” Now it was your turn to bring your hands up, cradling his face.

“More than anything,” he beamed. Your heart melted at the sight of his elated expression, and you sighed before kissing him once more.

You felt as though you could stay here with him, in this dingy utility closet, with its single lightbulb and musty air, forever. However, you didn’t forget that time was ticking, and he had a game to be at in about ten minutes. You took his hands in yours and kissed his knuckles for luck, the way you did before all of his matches. With one last embrace, you parted ways - he was on his way to a very last-minute warmup, while you were on your way to hunting for the best leftover seat you could find.

The match between the two teams was eventful - at least, it felt that way for you. This was the first time you had ever watched a game between your brother’s school and your boyfriend’s school; needless to say, you cheered for both. You ignored the confused and occasionally dirty looks that were being thrown at you from spectators; it didn’t matter - you were here to proudly support them both, regardless of the outcome.

However, all matches demanded a winner, and this one chose Karasuno. It was an intense game, and although Seijoh had put up an impressively ruthless fight, they ended up losing the last set by two points. You felt your heart swell as you watched Kageyama get absolutely dog-piled on by his teammates, and you felt your stomach churn as you switched your gaze to Oikawa’s crestfallen demeanor while he led the rest of the team to bow in thanks for the audience.

After both teams left and the court was starting to be prepped for the next match, you proceeded to make your way to a hallway near the locker rooms, where you knew the teams typically congregated when they weren’t playing. As you meandered through the crowd and turned the corner, you were immediately greeted with the sight of both teams standing around and talking amongst themselves as they waited for the locker rooms to be unlocked. Karasuno were excitedly chattering away and jumping on each other, while Seijoh were much quieter, murmuring to themselves as they tried not to focus on the rambunctious bunch next to them.

You approached Kageyama, pulling him in for a hug and ignoring his faltering protests. It was apparent that although he was acting as if your affection was annoying him, he secretly appreciated it. You congratulated the rest of the members as their giddiness enveloped you. As the elder sister of their beloved setter, you naturally earned their respect. While Tanaka and Nishinoya were practically tripping over themselves as they fought over who would get to hold “Big-sis Y/N-chan’s” bag, your eyes drifted over to the other team.

You swallowed thickly as you caught Oikawa’s eye, cheeks heating up under the duress of his strong gaze. All you wanted to do was jump into his arms and comfort him with hugs and kisses; you didn’t give a damn anymore if people saw. You were exhausted with pretending your relationship didn’t exist; your boyfriend needed you right now, and his feelings meant a great deal more to you than what others thought. Before your brain could process what was even happening, your legs were moving quickly to where he stood and your arms were flinging themselves around his neck.

His arms promptly wrapped themselves around you in response and his lips curled into a smile. “Thank you, love,” he whispered into your ear.

You stayed like this for a few seconds before all hell broke loose. Both teams were gaping at you before screaming exclamations at the top of their lungs. Their expressions of disbelief reverberated through the hall, causing random spectators to stare curiously at them.

However, no one’s voice could match the sheer volume of Kageyama’s. He was shouting your name, and then Oikawa’s name, and then your name, and then Oikawa’s again and again and again. He marched up to the two of you, with Tanaka and Nishinoya hot on his heels, and got right in your boyfriend’s face. At this point, he didn’t say anything - he just stared at him with the most vicious glare you’d ever seen cloud his face. Oikawa stood his ground and stared directly back, with his hand in yours the entire time. You gritted your teeth and stepped directly between them, lightly pushing Kageyama back with one hand while the other remained intertwined with Oikawa’s.

“Tobio, please,” you said to him in the most soothing voice you could muster. “I understand that this may come as a surprise to you, but-”

“A surprise? Y/N, this is ridiculous! Him?” It was almost as if he was questioning himself instead of you.

“Tobio,” you spoke in the same gentle, soothing tone as before. “I understand this is a lot to take in - no, don’t scoff at me like that - but Tooru and I are together now. It’s okay if you need time to adjust to this, but it’s ultimately happening. I promise you, this is the happiest I’ve ever been. So, can you please give this a chance for me?”

Kageyama’s scowl was still etched on his face, but his eyes softened just the tiniest bit, and when you saw that, you knew everything would be okay. “The happiest you’ve ever been?” he asked you slowly.

“Ever,” you beamed.

Your brother’s seething expression gradually melted into a mildly grumpy one, which you could accept. “I still don’t like it,” he muttered as he looked at the ground. “But if you’re happy, who am I to stop that?”

You threw your arms around him as you chanted your thanks to him over and over again.

“Tobio, you’ve grown so much,” Oikawa commented which earned him a glare in his direction. His tone suddenly deepened as he proclaimed, “And now I need you to know that I’ll take care of her.”

At this, Kageyama appeared to be taken aback as he stammered out a “right.”

During this entire “soap opera” moment, as you mentally dubbed it, you had completely disregarded the audience that was practically eating up every word being exchanged between the three of you. A wave of embarrassment suddenly crashed over you, causing you to lower your gaze and instinctively clutch onto Oikawa’s arm. He understood at once and turned to his team, announcing that there was nothing to see anymore and to enter the now unlocked locker rooms already before they stank up the place. At this, Karasuno also began to awkwardly disperse; some entering the locker room, some leaving for the restroom - anywhere else away from this hall was preferable.

Kageyama began to turn on his heel to follow his teammates, but before he was able to take a step, you grabbed onto his hand and squeezed it. He squeezed back, causing you to smile before finally releasing him. It was now just you and Oikawa left to yourselves.

“We did it,” you beamed up at him. “You were right about everything. I’m just so… at peace now.”

“Now the world finally knows you’re mine,” he teased before pressing a feather-light kiss on the tip of your nose. “Now I can be with you all day, every day.”

.°• rules ₊˚•. masterlist .°•

#oikawa tooru #oikawa x reader #oikawa scenarios #kageyama tobio #kageyama x reader #kageyama scenarios #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu angst #haikyuu writing #haikyuu

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fromthedeskofelizabeththird · 3 years

Text

Hellfire

This is a prequel to Exercises in Self Control, going into the events leading up to Enji's arrival on Reader-chan's doorstep from his POV.

You don't need to have read Exercises in Self Control to enjoy this fic, but I recommend it!

Fandom: BNHA

Pairing: Endeavor x Reader

Rating: Explicit. Minors BE GONE

Trigger Warnings: Enji is possessive and thirsty in this fic so bear that in mind before continuing. Some of Enji’s fantasies involve dub con

Sequel Piece: Exercises in Self Control

AO3: Here | Want to support me? I have a Kofi

For as long as he can remember, Enji has had problems sleeping. He’s counted the ceiling tiles, counted sheep, counted hours. He’s helped himself to cups of tea, herbal and otherwise. He’s tried meditating, he’s tried ASMR, all to no avail.

It doesn’t strike him as out of the ordinary that he can’t sleep tonight either. He stares at the ceiling, eyes wide open, listening out for the wind in the trees outside. He put chimes in their branches on purpose; something to ground himself every time he closes his eyes.

Tonight he’s grounded by something else; the warm body sharing his bed. He lies flat on his back and doesn’t look, listening to your soft breaths.

Enji is a grown man, now twice married, but this is the first time anyone has shared his bed. In his first marriage, he and Rei slept in separate beds. He visited her only occasionally and never bothered to stay the night, making sure to leave the moment the deed was done. Tonight you’re the intruder and his immediate instinct is to tell you to leave.

He can tell you’re asleep from your steady breathing and he wonders how you got so relaxed. His own children never slept in his arms even as babies but here you are, not just an adult but one he stole away, sleeping so calmly that for a second even he believes you’re an ordinary husband and wife.

You’re not, of course; your first conversation was your wedding vows. You became husband and wife knowing little more than one another’s names.

Against his better judgement, he turns to look at you, admiring what details of your face he can make out through the darkness. He knows you’re beautiful without looking.

Your beauty, in fact, was one of the first things he noticed about you and he remembers that moment with perfect clarity.

Even before Rei’s admittance into a hospital, it had been years since he felt welcome in his own home. It fell silent whenever he returned, his childrens’ laughter dying the moment he was in sight. He had always told himself it didn’t bother him; that they would understand when they were older. Everything he did, however cruel, was for their benefit in the long term.

Touya’s death was the first time he questioned it. Rei’s hospitalisation only drove the point home. For the first time in his life, he saw his house for what it truly was: misery and trauma under several layers of paint.

He couldn’t stand being there for more than a few hours, sitting alone in the dark with nothing to do but think. At first he stayed at the office for longer, taking on extra jobs and filing away paperwork long before it was due. It was a temporary solution and one that backfired spectacularly. He was greeted at work one day by smiling interns, who enthusiastically pointed out the piles of paperwork they had completed in his absence. They told him they’d done it so he could spend more time with his family and didn’t understand why he reacted with anger.

Enji realised then that he needed an alternative hiding place; somewhere no one knew him and he could spend the night alone.

He went from one bar to another, never settling down in one for too long. His reputation was crucial to his career and he didn’t want to risk being recognised.

It was with a great deal of reluctance that he finally arrived at a hostess bar. The owner was well versed in discretion and offered him his own table towards the back, as well as his pick of any of the hostesses. Enji didn’t bother to absorb any of their names or memorise their faces. Instead he asked for the owner himself to tend to him. He had a vested interest in his good graces and was therefore less inclined to gossip.

It became his routine for the next few months. Enji would finish up at the office and head straight for The White Rabbit , simmering in the corner as he sipped his drink. He stayed there until the early hours, returning to the estate once everyone else had already gone to bed and leaving for the office before they woke up.

It seems strange to him now. He used to be a regular, but he hasn’t been since he married you.

He remembers your first encounter far more clearly than you do. As far as you are concerned, your first meeting was in your home, the day he bought you from your father.

You couldn’t be more wrong, of course. He’s known you far longer than that.

Enji spent that much time at the bar that he came to know the regulars. He knew which men were married and booked hostesses to escape their wives. He knew which customers worked long hours in an office cubicle and came to the bar to let loose. He knew which ones were heroes as well and just as incognito as he was.

Among all of these customers was a familiar gaggle of six businessmen who very often dropped in after work. They were boisterous and very often blind drunk, booking multiple hostesses to sing karaoke with them.

One night in particular, you attended their table, carrying over a tray of crimson strawberry daiquiris. Your specialty, he found out later.

The businessmen were louder than usual that night and when Enji glanced over at them, it was with disapproval. He quickly became distracted, though, by something else entirely. You were setting a tray of drinks on their table, laughing and smiling as you tended to each customer.

Perhaps it was the backless dress you had on, showing off smooth, unblemished skin that reminded him of undisturbed snow and still waters. Maybe it was the coquettish way you fluttered your eyelashes as you spoke to them, giggling at their bawdy jokes and expertly dodging any of their attempts to take you by the wrist. Perhaps it was the way you left them hanging.

In any case, the next drink he ordered was a strawberry daiquiri and he relished the tangy sweetness, all while thinking of your lips.

That night, for the first time in many years, Enji fell into a deep slumber and deeper dreams. He dreamed about bending you over his desk, holding one arm behind your back and slamming into you so forcefully that you squealed. Your cunt fluttered every time his hips hit your ass, betraying how many times you had unravelled around his girth.

“Enji,” you whined, “Enji please .”

He slapped you across the ass at that, relishing the way you squealed in shock. He let go of your arm, eying the red marks he had left on your skin.

“It’s what you deserve,” he said in his dream, holding onto your hips and driving his cock in deep, so deep that you cried out and gripped the desk. He came so hard that it painted your insides and left him groaning in pleasure. He held you in place as his cock twitched and filled you with his seed, letting go only to shove his fingers deep into you to stop any drops from escaping.

“Enji,” you said, quivering.

He woke seconds later, pleasure running through him and semen covering his sheets. He cursed and threw himself out of bed, spitting obscenities as he rinsed his body clean.

For a moment, just a moment, he hated you. He was filthy, all because of you and your backless dress and long eyelashes.

You’re sleeping with your back to him tonight and he draws back the covers to admire it. He takes in your naked shoulder blades; the way the moonlight hits the curve of your spine. Not so long ago this view was enough to drive him mad.

The dream left an imprint, after all. He thought about it when he brushed his teeth, patrolled the streets, got into the bathtub at night.

He continued to attend the bar, telling himself it was because he liked the atmosphere and not because he hoped to catch another glimpse of your innocent smile.

He told himself he didn’t want you.

He didn’t want to defile you and fuck you senseless.

He didn’t want to fill your belly with yet more Todorokis.

You were a distraction and one he needed to be free of. He was Endeavor, the flame hero, the world’s number two. He couldn’t afford to fall into such debased habits as the businessmen who had tried to paw you. He was better than that, better than them and certainly better than you.

Every night he sipped strawberry daiquiris and masturbated furiously when he got home, fantasising about you in all manner of scenarios, each filthier than the last. He took photos of you as you worked and scrolled through them when he got home. He filmed you at the bar and watched it over and over, knowing what he was doing was wrong.

Heroes didn’t do this. He should have been protecting you from such terrible invasions of privacy, not enabling himself. Something about you, though, prickled at his skin. Something about the backless dresses you sometimes wore and the careful way you mixed drinks. He knew desire all too well, but never for a person. It was intoxicating; addictive. You were untouched and unspoiled and it drew him to you like a moth to a flame. He wanted to spend the rest of his life as relaxed as when he came all over his fingers, before reality sank back in and he remembered the ghosts lurking in every corner of his home.

One night, desperate to be free of you, he ventured into a nightclub and took a girl into the bathroom, pushing her down onto her knees in front of him and holding her in place to fuck her mouth. She had the same colour hair as you and that was why he chose her, pretending you were the one gagging on his cock. He thought it would help him; that once he got a fix he would stop thinking about you. Ultimately, it only made matters worse. The girl in the bathroom wasn’t you and every time he looked down at her he came crashing down to earth. He wondered what you would think of him if you knew what he had done.

It took him ages to cum that night, holding the girl’s head in place as it shot down her throat. She slumped over when he let her go, choking on semen and wiping her mouth even as he dropped notes down to the floor. Just like when he finished alone, Enji felt disgusted, tucking himself away and leaving the girl without bothering to express his gratitude.

He went to the White Rabbit straight afterwards, paying for you to stay at the bar and ordering his usual daiquiri. He expected to feel different, only to curse his own stupidity for ever thinking the woman in the nightclub could have compared.

He splashed out on bracelets, earrings and more, eager for you to wear them. The thought of them touching your body where he couldn’t made his mouth water, even though you never wore them. The only jewellery you ever wore was a set of plain earrings. Your mother’s, he found out later.

Meanwhile, his dreams only grew more obscene.

He dreamed of rescuing you from villains and insisting you spread your legs in exchange. He dreamed of hiring you as one of his house staff, permitted only to serve him without clothes. He dreamed of sitting you down on your knees before him and covering your face in cum.

He was a man possessed, desperate for any sight of you. The realisation came to him slowly: he didn’t only want to corrupt and break you anymore. He wanted you to desire him as he desired you. Perhaps even more.

He wanted you to want him, wanted you to let him touch you.

Every time he sat down in the bar, he almost managed to convince himself that your circumstances were different; that he truly was the honourable man the world believed him to be. He almost believed that his touches wouldn’t ruin you.

He was desperate and not only to be fucked, though refused to acknowledge it.

He told himself it was no weakness on his part, no dent in his armour. He wasn’t as vile or depraved as the businessmen who tried to paw you on a near daily basis.

He begged the owner of the White Rabbit to let him spend the night with you, begged him to leave the pair of you alone. He was quite convinced that he wouldn’t want you anymore the moment he had you in his arms. He’d find an imperfection on your body that would shatter the illusion.

The owner, being a shrewd businessman, refused him every time.

Enji isn’t proud of how cruel he became in his desperation. It wasn’t hard to break the owner into handing over your name, nor to track you down to your home address. It was all too easy to learn of your father’s gambling problems and difficult financial situation.

He was on your doorstep before he knew it, happy to pay any price to keep you under his roof, unspoiled and protected from harm. He was an honourable man, he told himself. He could keep his hands to himself.

It was what you deserved, after all.

You shiver next to him and he drags the covers back over your body, considering that you are the only person he has ever wanted and the only one to want him in return. He brought you into his home, yes, but you’re the one who sought him out. You’re the one who led him to the bedroom and shed your clothes willingly. He’s almost certainly spoiled your body, but if anything that makes him want you more.

He’s addicted to every inch of you: the feeling of being buried within you, the scent of your hair as he holds you close. You’re the only person he’s ever fucked for pleasure and he hasn’t been able to resist ever since. Even now that you’re asleep, he’s desperate for a fix. He feels starved of oxygen and it’s keeping him awake.

Not long ago, he would have prodded you awake and told you to spread your legs. Now, though, he rolls over onto his side so he no longer faces you, content to listen to your gentle breathing instead.

He curses under his breath as you begin to stir and squeezes his eyes shut, laying perfectly still as you yawn and turn over onto your own side to make yourself comfortable. His skin still prickles when you touch him, especially as you drape an arm around his chest and plant kisses on his shoulder.

“Enji,” you whisper, “are you awake?”

He doesn’t answer and you smile before burying your face in the back of his neck, the combined heat of your bodies lulling both of you to sleep.

He has no need of wind chimes to ground him anymore.

#enji todoroki #todoroki enji #endeavor x reader #endeavor #bnha endeavor

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blackbutler-readerinsertsandjunk · 3 years

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Hi, I hope I'm not bothering you, but before anything, I hope you have a great day and take care of yourself 🌟

Some heacanons for Undertaker, Snake and Sebastian with a fem S/O who's basically a Kitsune? Just like Sebastian, she has a human form and a "demon" form, and her Kitsune form has the usual bigass 9, super fluffy tails and cute ears.

She's usually very teasing, loves to mess around, to trick and play funny, harmless pranks on anyone.

( Like, maybe she trips someone with one of her tails, temporarily transforms in other people, or transforms one object into another for a brief moment aka plays around with illusions and stuff )

I know it's a rather weird request, and you really don't have to do it if it's too weird, haha, but I really think messing around with Sebastian or the servants like that would ultimately be super hilarious~~

Or maybe she can even mess with Ciel's enemies who come dine with him 😂🦊

hihi, you’re never bothering me, I promise!! <3

and this is definitely not the weirdest request I’ve ever gotten, not that I really think any requests are weird! they’re all just different and I treasure each and every one even if it’s not something I write often

and I really liked doing this! my favorite is Snake’s because I’m a sap XD

SEBASTIAN

Oh… dear… she’s too adorable. If there was any doubt about it, a partner who shares physical traits with a cat is his biggest weakness. The ears? The tails? All that fluffy cuteness? He’s… he’s pretty well done for. There are some occasions where it’s to the point that if she wants something and just purrs, that’s all it takes for him to give in.

That said, Sebastian is definitely someone who can appreciate her playful nature… as long as it doesn’t happen to be causing problems for him. (Name) typically has to keep her distance from the estate because of Ciel’s allergy, but when she is around, it’s free entertainment for Sebastian. Provided she doesn’t mess with the servants so much that it makes a huge mess for him to have to clean up, he enjoys watching her play her tricks. Heaven help her if she does screw things up for him at all; even his precious S/O has no immunity from his disappointed glares.

Actually, he finds it most hilarious whenever she fucks with Ciel in any way. And she can do that with her presence alone, or by simply ‘accidentally’ hitting him in the face with her tails, or by switching her body with his so that the poor earl is literally allergic to himself. Much as Sebastian does his best to publicly cover up such sadistic proclivities, he can’t deny that he finds Ciel’s suffering very, very amusing.

Whenever she’s resting, he likes to pet her. He runs a hand over her tails or scratches behind her ears ― and will happily do so for hours if he isn’t stopped. More than once Ciel has found the two of them asleep in a chair by the fireplace… when Sebastian was supposed to be running Ciel’s bath. Although he will never hear the end of such things, Sebastian thinks it’s worth any lecture or punishment Ciel will give him.

(Name) is allowed to pull one, single, solitary prank on Sebastian every year. It’s often her most thought-out and elaborate one, as opposed to her simple ones on everyone else through the rest of the year. Usually, when this trick finally comes to fruition, everyone else is standing there with their eyes wide and mouths gaping, silently asking each other, Has she just done that? Of course, Sebastian always just laughs. Everyone has concluded that (Name) is not to be fucked with, because fucking with anyone to whom Sebastian is devoted on that level will not end well.

SNAKE

She… reminds him a little bit of Joker or Dagger. Someone who’s lighthearted and always smiling or doing funny things is a blessing to Snake, even if sometimes he might be shy about the whole situation. (Name) is a very different person from him, so it’s an adjustment. They’re living proof that opposites attract, though… he does care about her a great deal.

With some pranks, like if she trips someone with her tails, he gets a little worried! He just can’t help it; he knows small things that seem harmless can sometimes backfire. Though, when he sees that she knows who’s used to her tricks, who can take the hit, and she doesn’t do anything dangerous, he relaxes a little. If she ever trips him, ah ― the snakes will do their best to catch him, but he’s probably going to be awfully red-faced for a short while. Damn, he knows what she’s like and he literally fell for it!

Although it starts out as a prank, when (Name) switches their bodies for a short time, it’s more intimate than anything. Despite the fact that he is incredibly disoriented by suddenly being in a female body, let alone his S/O’s body, he gets to see her in his body. More than that, he gets to see himself through her eyes. It’s different than looking in a mirror; he doesn’t see his flaws as flaws anymore. Is his hair really that endearing even when it’s always a bit messy? Do his scales actually shimmer with a gentle, silvery iridescence, making him look beautiful and otherworldly, instead of like an ugly freak? Is his smile really that… nice? It started out as a prank, and he’s surely distressed until he’s back in his own skin… and yet… in her quest for amusement, (Name) has helped her lover see himself in a different light.

Sigh… oh, she most certainly uses his snakes to prank people. Why? Because they see her as someone safe who adores them, so they don’t usually fight her if she picks them up. Thankfully, she knows to avoid using any of the snakes who are venomous, just in case they happen to bite if startled. She owns up to it being her idea, but if a bunch of snakes suddenly spring out of the pantry one more blessed time, Bard’s going to ban them all from the kitchen!!

Snake really, really likes to feel her fur. The skin of reptiles is so much unlike that of her fur, the texture he gets when his fingers rest on top of her ears is… wow. Honestly, he could sleep very soundly ― and in fact has ― cuddled into her, with his cheek nuzzled against her fluffy tails.

UNDERTAKER

Hee-hee… he’s definitely got a special little lady on his hands! If there’s anyone who enjoys a good prank, it’s him. He loves watching her carry out these schemes of hers, even if they don’t require too much planning. After all, a cheap laugh is as good as any other. It’s also a joy to him that he found a woman who has such a prominent sense of humor. This kind of S/O is all he’s ever really wanted in life!

Well… when he’s still in work as a mortician, he encourages her to play tricks on his customers. It’s nothing too involved, the same kinds of things he does himself ― popping out of a coffin, offering them biscuits from an (unused!!) urn… turning herself invisible before brushing up against them with her tail. It’s especially funny when members of the Phantomhive household come to visit and she can play pranks on them.

To that note, it is of incredible amusement to him when she plays her pranks on the Undertaker himself! He has exactly no problems with being a victim of her tripping him or switching out his ink for honey, and in fact is one of the few people who can openly laugh at himself without any embarrassment no matter what kind of prank’s been pulled on him. He just giggles at whatever it was, grinning brightly at her as if she’s just made his entire day. However… (Name) should probably be prepared for him to get back at her with a joke of his own in the same vein as whatever she did. If allowed, it has the potential to escalate into an all-out prank war, so… she should just be a bit careful.

If she’s up for it, occasionally he will walk her on a leash through London’s streets to shock the populace. Not only is that image brazen and sensational enough to likely induce some ladies to faint, he’s parading a supernatural creature through the streets. Most people will think it’s some kind of costume, but he just gets a kick out of causing a scandal like that. He thinks it’s the funniest thing ever… the papers will be talking about it for weeks!

Genuinely believes she’s one of the best things in his life. She’s added many more laughs to his daily goings-on, and not to mention she’s an absolute treat to cuddle with at night. He doesn’t require as much sleep as she does, so he can stay awake long after she’s drifted off, just… looking at her. Much as he doesn’t feel the need to treat her like glass, he’s still soft for her in a way he isn’t for many people.

#Black Butler #Kuroshitsuji #Sebastian #Snake #Undertaker #headcanons #romantic #fluff #slice of life #domestic #I LOVE THEM ALL YOUR HONOR #queued

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nagitoandkokichioneshots · 3 years

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Nagito x shsl hentei artist reader?

-It’s clear that Nagito worships the ground all the Ultimates walk on. You are no exception

-While others may take a...certain interest, provoking controversial opinions upon your creations, Nagito seems to be the one that sees passed your artwork

-He only sees the talented, dedicated artist behind the canvas....you

-It is canon that Nagito tries to keep the people he loves away from him, in fear that his luck cycle may hurt them. At first, the white haired male may seem a bit aloof from you. Both before and after realizing his love for you

-But the thought of you presence, no matter what it is, he cannot shake his mind off of it. While your pieces were rather captivating to some, him being no exception, he wanted you--someone so ambitious, someone so enthralling, someone so creative

............but how?

-Would he hurt you if he got too close? Does trash like him even have a right to be in your breathing space? Would luck be on his side if he confessed to you?

-It was now or never. As much as Nagito loved the thought of you being his, he wanted to turn his fantasies into reality

-And it was this faithful day where his luck was on his side. The skinny male was walking in the hallway, hands in his pocket. His ghostly green orbs were fixed onto the tiled floor, his mind pondering about you. A subtle smirk curled onto his chapped lips, as he allowed his brain to fill with his original movie, you playing as his beloved SO

-How he’d give you the world. Or...as much as scum like him could. How many praises would be inestimable. Would you prefer to go out for dinner or try cooking at his home? Either way, as long as you were happy, Nagito was happy. Nothing would be too good his shining ray of hope. Could someone as disgusting as him even be allowed to kiss someone as skilled and beautiful as yourself?

-”ACK!”

-The notorious lucky student was snapped out of his daydream, laying his eyes on the room where the screech was heard. He rushed over a few doors until he stopped in front of an open door, revealing canvases arranged in such a way, a circle was formed around a small pedestal

-The art room

-Only two students were inside that room. Someone whom was painting on an easel, the sunlight shining upon their (H/C) hair, delicate hands gently holding the paintbrush as it swished across the canvas in such a spellbinding motion. No doubt the artist was (Y/N)--Nagito’s hope. The other student was

-”(Y/N)? P-Please help m-me.....” A familiar purple haired nursing student meekly asked the ultimate hentai artist. Mikan must have tripped and landed in a...suggestive pose, as she was prone to do. The (H/C) just flashed a sympathetic smile at her, not putting her paintbrush down

-”Just two more minutes, Mikan. Yes, keep that pose. Rightttttt.....there!” (Y/N) grinned, absorbed into her masterpiece in progress. The nurse silently whimpered, but obligated in fear of being hated rather than embarrassed

-Nagito couldn’t help but let a deep chuckle from the back of his throat out. He loved how invested (Y/N) was about their art. Their motivation and resolve was unbreakable. How dedicated they were to their talent was certainly an absolute example of hope

-”Hm? Komeada-kun?”

-The soft sound of a wooden brush being set into a plastic container made Nagito’s stomach drop. Footsteps hitting against the floor signaled that the artist was coming towards the lucky student, stopping in front of him

-Just his luck

-”Komeada, what are you doing here? Pretty much everyone else went home,” His/Her sweet voice filled the room, a head nod towards the clock reading 5:12 pm was followed after that. Nagito felt a friendly smile form onto handsome face, as he waved his hand to the symbol of hope

-”Oh, hello (Y/N). I’m so sorry. I heard a sudden scream coming from this room and I went to go see what it was,” His explanation was followed by a sigh “It was a stupid move. Trash like me doesn’t deserve the honor to check up on shining symbols of hope like you ultimates,” He frowned, crossing his arms. The (H/C) rolled their eyes and chuckled lightly

-”Komeada-kun, stop. You aren’t trash. I was just curious what brought you here. That’s all,” (Y/N) responded, turning to Mikan for a split second “Mikan, you can get up now. I think that’s enough painting for me today,” This made the aspiring nurse gasp in relief as she quickly got up, brushing any excess dust from her bare legs

-”Th-Thank you, (Y/N). I’ll s-see you tomorrow,” She let out in a timid squeak as she scurried out of the room. (Y/N) turned back to Nagito, their warm beam never leaving their face. Before Nagito could speak, he felt a snug hand wrap around his callous one. The hentai artist pulled him towards the canvas that showcased the stunning, but incomplete painting that was made by them

-”I don’t mean to waste your time if you are in a hurry, but maybe I can get some feedback on what you think so far?” The brilliant artist requested Nagito, motioning to the painting. The male bit his lip, not wanting more of his bad luck to inflict any further damage onto his crush. His careless chuckle already put him into this situation--alone in a room with the ultimate that stole his heart. It was screaming for bad luck to occur

-”Oh, while I’m honored that someone as gifted you would want my opinion, I don’t think it matters what a worthless being such as myself thinks,” Nagito stated, making the (H/C) frown

-”Oh....it’s that bad?” They asked, focusing their (E/C) orbs onto the wooden floor. Nagito stepped back a bit, shocked from their thought process. Because he wanted to refrain from saying anything in order to leave the room quickly, it backfired. They took it the wrong way

-They were upset....they lost some of the bright hope that was inside of them....

-Because of him

-Nagito opened his mouth to degrade himself again--after all, he deserved it. He truly was a worthless piece of trash who unintentionally harmed his loved one’s self esteem. However, what came out was a quickly planned apology in his mind. He knew talking down about himself wasn’t going to fix this. Maybe this would

-”Huh? Oh, not at all, (Y/N). I really love it. Though, while all your pieces are amazing, it kinda...baffles me....” He trailed off, making a pair of (E/C) eyes rip away from their gaze from the floor, focusing onto Nagito instead

-”Baffles you? I’m...not sure what you mean. I’m sorry,” (Y/N) spoke, as if silently asking for a better explanation of Nagito’s choice of words. With his skinny arms crossed and a collected smile on his face, Nagito took this opportunity to praise the real star of the artwork--(Y/N)

-”Even though your artwork is absolutely incredible, I’ve noticed many people don’t really appreciate what makes them so important. While it’s not right for someone as worthless as me to speak out against ultimates, it bothers me a little. After all, such stunning pieces of art should be enjoyed along with the skilled creator who brought them to life,” It was Nagito’s turn to wrap his lanky hand around (Y/N)’s. The artist gasped at the slight sensation of heat being transferred from their warm hand to Nagito’s usual frosty one. However, her gaze never left Nagito, as he continued his confessoin

-”You, (Y/N). I’ve always admired your work. To say you’re extremely talented would be an understatement. You’re incredible. And...I’ve come to love you, not only as an artist...but as a person too. I’ve never saw this much hope inside of someone before,” A pale blush was dusted upon a pair of pale cheeks, making another giggle leave his chapped lips. This time, it was a more playful, joyful one--an amiable laugh that brought a smile onto the artist’s face as well

-”(Y/N).....I’ve grown to adore and admire you...far more than any other ultimate. You could say I’ve fallen in love with you and your hope. But...I’d like to think of you as the total embodiment of hope...at least...my hope,” Nagito tenderly pulled (Y/N) closer to him, the feeling of their hot breaths leaving their lips made both of them gradually fill with a coziness inside their bodies

-”(Y/N)....will you be my one and only hope?” The lucky student finally asked his crush, making him hold his breath as they searched for an answer. However, this only took a brief moment as the space between them was closed with a pair of warm lips meeting Nagito’s chapped ones. (Y/N) pulled away after a few seconds before letting a cheeky smirk form upon their lips

-”I’d love to, Nagito,” The artist verbalized their answer, making Nagito let out an exhale of relief and happiness. (Y/N) felt their fingers intertwine with Nagito’s, as the two of them made their way home together, leaving the school with a feeling of hope inside both of them

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