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tacroyy · 10 months

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losing my shit about the two times vimes gets slapped by a woman in the guards books (night watch and snuff; spoilers for both below). terry pratchett is completely goddamn brilliant.

both times, it's near enough to the beginning of the plot that vimes is partially convinced he doesn't know what's going on and is still information gathering (so, working a little on autopilot, although thoughts are starting to coalesce). the women he encounters show up after a watershed moment—major transformative plot points on both occasions—and both help him and help move the narrative along with the information they provide. and this is my favorite detail—he's tired both times, too, and just needs to think, because of the amount of new information he's processing.

from night watch:

"I think perhaps I lost my memory when I was attacked," he said. That sounded good, he thought. What he really needed now was somewhere quiet, to think.

"Really? Perhaps I'm the Queen of Hersheba," said Rosie [Palm]. "Just remember, kind sir. I'm not doing this because I'm interested in you, although I'd admit to a macabre fascination about how long you're going to survive. If it hadn't been a cold wet night I'd have left you in the road. I'm a working girl, and I don't need trouble. But you look like a man who can lay his hands on a few dollars, and there will be a bill."

"I'll leave the money on the dressing table," said Vimes.

The slap in the face knocked him against the wall. /end quote

and from snuff:

She [Felicity Beedle] turned to Vimes. "It would seem, commander, that providence has brought you here in time to solve the murder of the goblin girl, who was an excellent pupil. I came up here as soon as I heard, but the goblins are used to undeserved and casual death. I"ll walk with you to the entrance, and then I've got a class to teach."

Vimes tugged at Feeny to make him keep up as they followed Miss Beedle and her charge toward the surface and blessed fresh air. He wondered what had become of the corpse. What did they do with their dead? Bury them, eat them, throw them on the midden? Or was he just not thinking right, a thought which itself had been knocking at his brain for some time. Without thinking, he said, "What else do you teach them, Miss Beedle? To be better citizens?"

The slap caught him on the chin, probably because even in her anger Miss Beedle realized that he still had his steel helmet on. /end quote

vimes makes mistakes. he makes mistakes all the time, and he knows this, and pays attention to them. vimes spends a lot of time thinking about thinking (engaging in productive, internally motivated metacognition well within his zone of proximal development, my master's in teaching insists i say). he thinks about his thinking, and he thinks about other people's thinking through the lens of his own.

in both instances, vimes is coming to realizations about the true nature of things.

in night watch, this would initially seem to be more surface than deep: he's getting to physical grips with exactly when and where (and who) in the past he is; he's learning the ground, mapping, figuring things out—but vimes is also trying to settle himself back in to what he knows, and what society is in these different times, to see if that fits. plotwise, in vimes's present, the seamstresses have a guild, rights, safety, standards, rules, regulations, and even societal respect—although certainly not close to what they deserve, it's much more than what they had before vetinari made their guild a reality. but in the past, where vimes is now, the seamstresses don't have this level of security, and are subject to violence (although it is shown to be societal and legal violence [being arrested for working during their profession's peak, etc] rather than interpersonal or sexual violence [the agony aunts exist and, it is clearly stated, dispense the same justice that they do in the future, specifically to individual clients rather than to larger institutional structures]).

so, when vimes puts down rosie by making a disparaging joke about her profession—oh, you're actually not important to me or to men or to society at all; your labor is not to be respected; i got what i needed from you and will of course pay you, but in the most insulting way possible—he's not only communicating what society thinks, but a moral issue of the novel as well. night watch, after all, is about revolution: who gets to be in power, and who gets to control who gets to be in power? it's frankly revolutionary for pratchett, a mainstream english author, to treat sex workers and sex work as positively as he does (of course, his depictions are not without flaws). he makes it clear that, after all, shouldn't we view sex work as physical labor? isn't it true that anyone who is employed is engaging in physical labor? how is a seamstress really different from a "seamstress"? (it's the power dynamics and misogyny standard to western/european/american/christian society: women and sex must be controlled by the patriarchial majority, kept small and afraid and in chains.) pratchett legitimizes the seamstresses in vimes's present. in vetinari's ankh-morpork, the seamstresses have just as much power as the merchants, the armorers, the assassins—and vimes knows this, but he did grow up in the past he's in now.

in snuff, vimes's approaching anagnorisis is more obviously manifested. brilliantly, pratchett begins vimes's encounter with the goblins by talking about vimes's childhood teacher, mistress slightly, who "taught [him] how not to be afraid" and made him blackboard monitor, "the first time anyone had entrusted him with anything;" vimes thinks he'll put a bag of peppermints on her grave if he gets out of this alive. all positive, and in fact clearly transformative, praise from our hero. but vimes is in a goblin cave, and pratchett has brought up mistress slightly because vimes is remembering his first (educational, not physical) encounter with goblins. this paragraph is worth quoting in full:

"[Mistress Slightly] had one book in her tiny sitting room, and the first time she had given it to young Sam Vimes to read he had got as far as page seven when he froze. The page showed a goblin: the jolly goblin, according to the text. Was it laughing, was it scowling, was it hungry, was it about to bite your head off? Young Sam Vimes hadn't waited to find out and had spent the rest of the morning under a chair. These days he excused himself by remembering that most of the other kids felt the same way. When it came to the innocence of childhood, adults often got it wrong. In any case, she had sat him on her always slightly damp knee after class and made him really look at the goblin. It was made of lots of dots! Tiny dots, if you looked closely. The closer you looked at the goblin the more it wasn't there. Stare it down and it lost all its power to frighten. 'I hear that they are wretched, badly made mortals,' the dame had said sadly. 'Half-finished folk, or so I hear. It's only a blessing this one had something to be jolly about.'"

a near-perfect depiction, unfortunately, of the educational experience. encounter something that scares you and makes you uncomfortable, examine it with the help of a pedagogist, examine it on your own, take it apart so that you are not afraid anymore, and instead understand what it is and how it is made: that's the experience from the first word of the quote all the way until "Stare it down and lost all its power to frighten." and then, a heel-turn: your teacher shows that they completely misunderstood the lesson they were teaching—and that you, the child, understood both parts of the lesson perfectly: you absorbed the critical thinking skills and that this existing societal prejudice is, in fact, totally correct and should not be examined using the skills you just learned.

thus, pratchett has vimes, our hero, our moral center, spout the violent, ingrained, dehumanizing, incitement-to-genocide nonsense of the society in which he has been formed. vimes does this tiredly, without thinking, without making the connection between how things are and how they ought to be, missing the direct relationship of that required moral reevaluation to the case and situation at hand. and pratchett throws that directly back in vimes's face, physically. both times, pratchett says: even if you're tired, even if there's shit going down, even if your worldview is being turned upside down, even if you're in the dead middle of processing everything you've so recently learned, you cannot make the mistake of dehumanization/depersonalization. and you, of all people, have to know that, vimes. not one drop of alcohol passes your lips, not one minute after six goes by without you reading to your son, not one arrestee is subjected to even small or casual police brutality. and not one person—seamstress or goblin—is to be insulted and discriminated against and excluded from deserving to live. to do so, to make that mistake even once, is to face the immediate physical consequences of it from someone deeply and fundamentally in the know. you need the sense smacked into you.

from night watch:

"Consider that a sign of my complete lack of a sense of humor, will you?" said Rosie, shaking some life back into her hand.

"I'm... sorry," said Vimes. "I didn't mean to... I mean... look, thak you for everything. I mean it. But this is not being a good night."

"Yes, I can see that."

"It's worse than you think. Believe me."

"We all have our troubles. Believe me," said Rosie. /end quote.

from snuff:

It was a corker, nonetheless, and out of the corner of his stinging gaze he saw Feeny take a step back. At least the boy had some sense.

"You are the gods' own fool, Commander Vimes! No, I'm not teaching them to be fake humans, I'm teaching them how to be goblins, clever goblins! Do you know that they have only five names for colors? Even trolls have around sixty, and a lot more than that if they find a paint salesman! Does this mean goblins are stupid? No, they have a vast number of names for things that even poets haven't come up with, for things like the colors shift and change, the melting of one hue into another. They have single words for the most complicated of feelings; I know about two hundred of them, I think, and I'm sure there are a lot more! What you may think are grunts and growls and snarls are in fact carrying vast amounts of information! They're like an iceberg, commander: most of them is where you can't see or understand, and I'm teaching Tears of the Mushroom and some of her friends so that they may be able to speak to people like you, who think they are dumb. And do you know what, commander? There isn't much time! They're being slaughtered! It's not called that, of course, but slaughter is how it ends, because they're just dumb nuisances, you see. Why don't you ask Mr. Upshot what happened to the rest of the goblins three years ago, Commander Vimes?"

And with that, Miss Beedle turned on her heel and disappeared down into the darkness of the cave with Tears of the Mushroom bobbing along behind her, leaving Vimes to walk the last few yards out into the glorious light. /end quote.

#sam vimes #terry pratchett #original flavor #dw tag

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amasterpieceofmadness · 4 months

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the new suit – tony s.

summary You and Tony are working together on a new suit as you end up kissing him. But before you can confess your feelings you get interrupted by Steve…

warnings none, fluff, mutual pining

wordcount 5.2K

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Tony slides his glasses back on as he’s fishing up on some new designs for his Iron Man suit. "You finished the sketches of the costume? Let me see." He leans over the desk while I’m sitting in a chair, he puts his palms on the table and takes a closer look over at my sketchbook.

“What do you think?” I ask as I lean back in my chair.

"Hmm." Tony stares at the sketchbook, rubbing his hands together as he takes in the designs, his brows furrowing and his mouth twisting into a thoughtful frown. "Very interesting. I see your thought process here. It's clear that you took inspiration from some of my old work, but you also managed to add your own touches. It's creative. I like it." He pushes himself off of the desk and looks at me from under his glasses with a small smirk, which makes me a bit proud to be honest.

“Oh, you haven't seen the best part yet” I lean over, nearly spilling my coffee, to get some more sketches out under a pile of other papers “There you are” I hand him the sketches and once again Tony leans in, craning his neck to get a better look at them. His face lights up as he sees them, quickly analyzing and taking in the details.

"Okay, I like the direction you've taken. I really like your new touches to my original style. It looks damn good, and the new armory you added sounds great!” He seems really pleased with my work.

“Thought you like it. The material for the suit is light but it can still protect you just as good and it is very resistance” I explain my sketches to him, occasionally looking up to check if he’s still listening.

Tony is visibly impressed, nodding in approval as he takes in the details. "Yes, that's a fantastic feature. The light weight and increased protection would be an asset in any battle. I also like the addition of the new weapons. It adds an extra level of versatility, and gives me a little more firepower. And it's great that you were able to do it all while keeping the suit light weight. That's always been one of my main concerns."

“So... when can we get started?” I ask overly motivated, looking up at him while sipping on my like 10th coffee today, even though it’s only 1pm.

Tony smiles and lets out a chuckle as he glances once again at the many sketches of his new suit. "Well, with this level of enthusiasm, I'd say we could start right now. Everything we need is here in the lab. The only thing we need to decide on is the color scheme. Do you want to stick with classic red and gold, or go with something different?"

I smirk and get up, ready to go to work. “No, no, the red-gold is iconic. We are not gonna change a thing there. But we should pick a darker shade for the red. This way the suit doesn’t look like a toy and it really brings out the golden accents I put there” I point to the sketches

Tony nods in agreement, looking at the sketches with a critical eye, taking in the subtle details I’ve added.

"Hmm, a darker red would definitely give it a more sophisticated and mature look. And it would also make the gold accents pop more. Let's go with a darker red, and see how it looks."

I nod in agreement and already walk through the lab, looking around for the stuff we need and turning on all the electronical devices. “Sounds good. But we can decide about the final color later on in the process anyway. Jarvis, put on some ACDC”

Tony chuckles at the unexpected command to Jarvis, but follows behind me as I walk through the lab, eyeing the different machines and equipment as I pass. "True that. For now, let's focus on getting the different parts of the suit put together. And ACDC is always a perfect choice for the mood in the lab." Tony says with a smile, as the iconic rock music fills the lab, filling him with a surge of energy.

We work diligently throughout the whole night, making steady progress on the suit. It’s nothing too unusual for the two of us since we both really enjoy working together and we are both night owls. And I have to admit that I love to work with him. We are very close and always fool around and joke together.

The sun is starting to rise, but neither of us seems to notice, as we’re too busy focusing on creating the perfect suit. We’ve made a lot of progress on putting the different components together, and we’re both beginning to feel a sense of accomplishment. Tony sighs and stretches and I can’t help but glance at his muscles. "I'd say that we should take a break and stretch our legs for a bit. We've been here all night, and I feel the need to move around a little bit."

I nod quickly and take my eyes off of him. If he noticed me staring, he just ignores it. “You can move around while testing the new gloves.”

Tony grins and nods his head, deciding that a physical test of the gloves was a great idea. "Eager, are we? Give me a few minutes to put them on, and then I'll go out on a test run."

“Alright. Jarvis, put on the test mode” Jarvis immediately snaps to attention and responds to the command in a calm and robotic voice. “Test mode initiated”

The suit is immediately powered on and the screens light up with different modes and data readouts. The hands and fingers of the suit appear to be moving and extending and retracting in a variety of movements. Tony's hands flex and move as he tests out the new gloves. I watch as Tony brings his arms forward and aiming the palms towards the ground. He holds the position for a few seconds, as a bright red circle emits from each palm towards the ground. The red rings come into contact with each other and create a force field that quickly expands and covers Tony inside of it.

A huge smirk crosses my face as I see that my plans work out and the new armory is working just fine. “What do you think?”

Tony chuckles in response to my smug grin. "I think it's brilliant. Your idea for the shield component was an excellent addition to this suit. Well done on this upgrade."

“Thank you” I chuckle and check the data on the screens again.

Tony flashes a wide smile as he looks at you with a hint of approval. That million-dollar smile that makes my knees weak every time. "You're welcome. I think your additions have really brought the suit to the next level.” Tony nods in agreement, glancing over at the different components that are stacked on the workbench. "The next step is to finish putting all the parts together and getting the full suit assembled. After that it's just a matter of testing the suit itself and making sure everything works properly."

I nod as well, approvingly, and look up at Tony. “What about you get some coffee, I get breakfast and then we can continue with the suit?”

Tony nods and smirks, excited to continue working on the suit. The day passes and Tony and I don't even leave the lab. Sometimes the other Avengers come in to check on us and they all smile at our teamwork. Currently Steve looks around the lab, smirking at Tony and me. “You know, the way you guys work together... it seems like there is going on more than just friendship”

Tony chuckles as he hears Steve's comment, but doesn't take his eyes off his work as he continues to assemble the different parts of the suit, testing and retesting every component for functionality and efficiency. He responds to Steve's comment without looking away from his work. "We have a good dynamic going. It's not hard to get in a groove and get things done with her on my team. That’s all."

I chuckle and walk over to Tony, handing him some more parts of the suit. “Just admit it, you would be helpless without me”

Tony laughs and jokingly rolls his eyes, as he takes the parts and slots them into the appropriate place inside the suit. He turns and looks at me, as he begins to test out the new upgrades. "Okay, okay, you've got me. I'm totally useless without you." Tony says in a sarcastic tone, though it's clear he's still enjoying the banter and he is thankful for my help.

I too chuckle and sit back down on my own working bench, getting back to work.

“You two are cute” Steve smiles, wanting to tease Tony a bit more.

Tony laughs again and blushes a bit as he hears Steve's comment. After all, we really do have very good chemistry. Tony doesn't deny the fact that there is some truth to Steve's comment, but decides to play it cool. He shrugs as he continues to work. "Thanks, Cap, but we're just friends. Nothing more." Tony says with a mischievous smile, as he continues his work.

“Whatever” Steve smirks and leaves the lab after looking around one final time.

Tony nods his head and chuckles as Steve walks away, but he can't help feeling just a little bit embarrassed, and a little bit excited, by Steve's comment. He glances over at me, as I’m working on my own component. We are just friends, but sometimes it's hard to deny that there is something between us. We continue to work together for another couple hours, until finally we have the full suit assembled. We take a moment to step back and admire our work proudly.

I grin widely in excitement, standing next to Tony. “It's finished! We made it, and it looks good!”

Tony looks just as excited and proud as me, as he grins and nods his head, looking over the full suit. It has a clean, classic look to it, while also incorporating all the new upgrades that they added. The red-gold color scheme stands out, and the added accents look like a perfect blend of old and new. Tony is truly satisfied with the finished product. "I'd say we did an excellent job, wouldn't you?"

“Definitely!” I say a bit overexcited and thanks to my clumsiness I nearly fall over

Tony can't help but laugh a little bit as he sees me stumble, but he quickly catches me with his strong arms and steadies me, supporting my weight. He looks down at me with a smirk. "Careful now. We don't want any accidents to ruin our finished product."

I chuckle slightly but can't help and blush a bit as I get back onto my feet, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. “Of course not”

Tony smiles at the brief blush that he witnesses, though he is careful to keep his expression neutral and professional. He knows from experiences just how easily he can get distracted when I’m close. "So, what do you say, are we ready for a test run?"

”Yeah... Yeah! Let's test it out, getting you dressed up” I smile at him excitedly.

My enthusiasm is contagious, and Tony can't help but smile at my excitement. He starts getting changed, quickly pulling the different components of the suit on. The gloves snap into place, the boots secure onto his legs, and finally the chest and head components are in place as well. I just watch, occasionally checking the screens for the data. I can’t help but think he looks really handsome in that suit…

"Okay, I'm ready to test it out. Let's put this bad boy to the test.” Tony says as he is now fully into the suit.

I smirk at his choice of words and watch as Jarvis finishes securing the last component and the suit seals itself in place. The various monitors light up with different systems and readouts, as Jarvis speaks in his typical calm voice "Suit has been activated and all systems are at full operating capacity." Tony smiles and steps away from the workbench, giving the suit a brief visual inspection before turning to face me. "So, what do you think?"

“It looks damn good” and you too, I think to myself. “Jarvis, activate the testing mode”

Jarvis obeys the command, and the suit powers up fully, with the chest piece shining brightly as the repulsor rays light up. The arm cannons point forward, ready to act. It is indeed an impressive sight. "Alright, let's do this."

As soon as the face mask snaps into place, the suit is fully sealed and active. Tony lifts his hands into the air, as the repulsor rays shoot out at full power. The suit propels Tony into the sky, as the thrust lifts him into a high, smooth, stable flight.

I smile happily, we really did a great job. I walk around checking the diagrams on the computers “Seems like everything works just fine. Try it out some more”

Tony begins to fly around the lab, testing the different features of the suit. He begins testing out the weapons that you had installed as well. He seems pretty satisfied and I too smile happily, glad we did such a good job. “Jarvis, open the window hatch”

Jarvis immediately responds with a calm, robotic voice. "Opening window hatch." The window hatch opens up, allowing Tony to fly directly out of the lab and into the open outdoors. I watch as he flies through the window and up into the sky, his suit still shining brightly in the sunlight. He flies in a large circle around the lab building. I grin widely as I run over to the window and look outside, seeing Tony flying around in his new suit

Tony seems to be enjoying the test run as much as I am watching from the lab. He appears to be in full control of the suit, and seems to have no problems flying it around the outdoor space above the lab. The flight is smooth and stable, allowing Tony to make sharp turns and take advantage of the different features of the suit. He seems to be testing out every aspect of the new suit as he goes along. After a few minutes, he begins to fly back towards the lab window. He returns right through the window and lands in the lab, opening his face mask. I walk over to him, more than happy

“Wow! That looked so awesome!”

Tony nods his head as he pulls the mask off of his face. He is visibly thrilled and excited, both by the positive outcome of the test and by the fact that I were there to witness it. "It flew surprisingly well, and the different weapon systems were all functioning perfectly. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a test run this much. And it all came out looking so good as well. We did a great job!"

“Yes, we definitely did!” I hug him out of pure excitement and suddenly our lips meet for just a few seconds.

Tony is caught off guard by this unexpected kiss, but he immediately wraps his arms around me as he kisses me back for just a few seconds. A brief and innocent kiss, the result of the heat of the moment. Tony pulls his head away eventually, and we just stand there, staring into each other’s eyes for a few seconds. He smiles and I see a faint glimpse of his cheeks turning red. I quickly pull away, blushing heavily and stuttering. “Oh my... I... I'm sorry, I... I don't know what... I ...”

Tony laughs softly as he sees just how flushed I am, but he's unable to hide a brief moment of amusement. "Relax, it was just a quick kiss. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Just a natural reaction to the moment. No big deal."

I take a deep breath, my cheeks still bright red. “We… we did a great job. The suit seems to work just fine”

Tony smiles at the way I stumble over my words, as he notices that my cheeks still haven't stopped blushing.

"Definitely. The suit works perfectly. The results speak for themselves and it will definitely be a game changer. But I guess the suit isn't the only thing that will be changing..."

I turn to look at him and frown, asking concerned “What do you mean? Are you not happy with it?”

Tony laughs as he notices the misunderstanding. "Oh no, I'm very happy with the suit. I was referring to our relationship. It feels like it's been changing between just friends and something more. I mean, late nights in the lab together, our banters, glances and a quick kiss, and you're blushing like crazy.”

My eyes widen at his words and I can feel my heart beating out of my chest. My voice shaky “Tony... I... I think this is just... the lack of sleep or the amount of coffee we drank or the excitement from the suit... I...”

Tony chuckles slightly and shakes his head, as he steps towards me and places his hands on my waist. "Is it really though? Or is it something else? I think we both know that this whole evening we've spent together had more to it than simple late nights and coffee.”

I look at him still dressed in his suit, my face flushed and my heart beating like crazy. “Tony...”

But before he can reply, Steve enters the lab and Tony immediately let go of me, stepping back a little.

“Oh hey! You finished the suit!” Steve says, rather impressed by the work Tony and I’ve done.

Tony stares at Steve with a friendly smile, knowing that he was caught in the middle of something but trying to play it off. "Sure did. Y/n and I just finished up the final tests, and we're very pleased with the results."

Steve looks between Tony and me, smirking softly and raising an eyebrow “Did I interrupt anything?”

Tony laughs as he shrugs his shoulders, pretending to be completely oblivious to the tension that was obviously there between him and me earlier. "Interrupt? No. We were just excited that the suit seemed to work so well, so we were discussing the final results and plans for the suit” he explains calmly and walks over to Steve, showing him the new suit he is still wearing.

“Yeah, we were just testing it out and the suit works pretty well” I smile at Steve as well, trying to hide my blush

Steve smiles back at me and gives a brief nod, as he continues to study my expressions. "Great! Seems like you both did an excellent job. I guess the suit isn't the only thing that got tested out tonight, huh?"

I blush and quickly turn around as Bruce also comes into the lab. “Oh hey, Wow! That suit looks good!”

The unexpected entry of Bruce throws Tony off for a quick second, as he glances over at him and flashes a look of surprise. He quickly regains his composure though, and smiles as he looks back over at Steve and Bruce. "Thanks. You’re just in time to see the new suit in action, if you'd like. Y/n and I just finished up the final tests for it."

As we continue to talk and show the features of the suit to Steve and Bruce, I notice the way that both Steve and Bruce keep stealing glances over at Tony and me with smirks in their faces. I know that at least one of them can clearly see the chemistry that is present between me and Tony. We both seem to be very close and comfortable together as we talk and laugh. After a while I start to feel tired and decide it's now time to get some rest. “Alright guys, I think I'll go get some sleep now. Tony, you good without me?

Tony's expression softens as he sees me starting to feel tired. He gives me a soft smile and nods his head. "Yeah, I'll be fine. You go get some sleep, and we'll meet back here tomorrow morning."

I agree and smile back at him before waving at Steve and Bruce before heading out of the lab and towards my room.

Tony watches me as I walk away, and he can't help but notice the way my curves hug tightly against my pants as I walk away from him. The vision in his eyes briefly lingers as all of the memories from the night come back to him. A faint glow appears in his eyes as he continues to watch me, then eventually he breaks the gaze and turns to Steve and Bruce.

Tony starts to get out of his suit and Steve smirks at him knowingly. Tony knows he's been caught, so he turns to look at Steve and raises an eyebrow in question, waiting for him to say what's on his mind. “So, what exactly did I interrupt before I came into lab?” Steve asks curiously and leans back against a work bench.

“Yeah, what was going on between you two?” Bruce looks confused yet curious between the two men.

Tony sighs as he realizes that he doesn't even have an excuse for this one. He can't deny the chemistry between us that both Steve and Bruce have observed. He just shrugs his shoulders, with a look of acceptance that shows he no longer has room to weasel himself out of it. "Just two friends enjoying some late night lab time. You know how it is. We just got a little carried away by the excitement of the suit."

“No, no... That seemed like something way more intimate” Steve smirks again and won’t let this go so easy.

Tony realizes that he's now in the position of having to either play dumb, or explain everything. Playing dumb in front of Steve and Bruce won’t work though. Tony sighs. "Look, Steve, some words have been spoken and there was a quick kiss. We both felt that this was more than just friendship..."

Both Steve and Bruce start to grin. “That's so cute. But you should talk to her, Tony.”

Tony's face flushes bright red. He hates that he is currently at the mercy of both Steve and Bruce with this whole situation. They are both grinning at him, clearly enjoying his predicament. He tries to act casual and gives off a soft sigh, acknowledging that Steve and Bruce are both right. "You guys... Come on, it wasn't that big of a deal. It just happened in the moment. Maybe it was all just a result of the late nights and energy drinks and the excitement of the suit."

Steve frowns a bit and looks more serious at Tony “The question is, do you want it to be just that?”

Tony looks over at Steve, knowing exactly what he's asking and fully aware of what his answer would be if he let himself be honest. He doesn't want it to be 'just that', but he can't just come out and say it in front of Steve and Bruce. Tony shakes his head from side to side, as if he can't really respond, though his mind is giving him a very strong, and very clear answer.

Both Steve and Bruce just smirk at each other, knowing the answer. Bruce sighs and pats Tony’s shoulder “Alright, buddy, get some rest. And think about it” Then Steve and Bruce leave.

After Steve and Bruce leave, Tony is left alone with his own thoughts, as he realizes that he now has to face the situation on his own. He can't keep trying to play it off as 'just a little accident' or "a result of late nights and energy drinks." It was all real, and he just has to find out how much it means to Y/n. He walks around the lab, considering everything that has happened over the course of the evening, and the different feelings that he feels for her. That brief kiss that had occurred. He's completely lost in his own thoughts as he walks to his room, pacing up and down.

Meanwhile I’m sitting on my bed and even though I’m rather tired, I’m wide awake, thinking of all the nights I spent with Tony in his lab. We were really good friends, but is that really everything? It was all getting to my head. I look over at the clock to see it's already 11:30 pm. I sigh and decide it was no use, so I get up and walk back to the lab, wanting to sketch some more ideas.

Tony is wide awake, as well. The memories from the night keep running through his head and he can't help but notice the way his heart begins to beat faster as he plays those memories back in his head over and over. He thinks about the late nights together where they would work on the suit, the jokes and laughs that they shared while doing so, the excitement that they felt and the brief kiss that they had shared, the blushing cheeks... Tony lies in bed for a while, struggling to fall asleep. He feels just a little bit energized from the night, but more so, he's feeling a bit restless as he struggles to process the events of tonight. He too notices how late it is and he decides to head back to the lab.

I'm sitting on the chair, hair up in a messy bun, looking over some sketches and trying to find some more new ideas to add. I'm so focused on the sketches that I don't even notice Tony entering the lab

Once Tony reaches the lab, he immediately catches a glimpse of the sketches and how casually I am seated with my hair up. I look very relaxed, almost as if this is normal for me to be up at this time in the lab, and Tony can't help but notice how the night had only brought out the most natural and casual side of me. He is also struck by how lovely you look in this setting...

Tony watches as I keep sketching, and he can't help but be charmed by how focused and completely lost I am in the task at hand. He finds himself feeling the urge to hug me and just rest his face against my shoulders to breath in my scent.

I’m just trying out some sketches of additional ideas on the suit when I suddenly feel a pair of strong, warm arms wrapping around myself and I jump slightly. “Shhh, it’s me” It's Tony, who has silently approached me from behind and wrapped his arms tightly around me, pulling me into a warm embrace. He rests his head on my shoulder, the feeling of my hair against his face feeling extremely reassuring. I can feel the heat of his body as his breath is close to my neck.

I let out a breath shaky breath “Hey…” Tony smiles as he feels my body relax in his embrace, and he doesn't even bother to explain his sudden move. He just enjoys the warmth of the moment, just as I am, as he wraps his arms even tighter around me, pulling me closer. “Aren't you asleep?” I ask curiously, ignoring the beating of my heart

"Nope." Tony answers softly, as he continues to tightly pull me into his embrace. He doesn't want to let go. He enjoys this moment of just being close to me without saying a word, and he can't help but breath in the scent of me that fills his nostrils. I relax more in his embrace and lean back slightly into him, closing my eyes and resting my hand onto his arms, feeling his muscles beneath his skin. Tony leans his head towards me, and he gently gives my cheek a small kiss, without saying anything. He feels my body slightly tense up at this, but I don't pull away. He can't help but blush at the fact that I’m allowing this to happen, as he pulls himself away, a small blush on his cheeks. I blush heavily and finally I turn my head slightly so now I'm facing him. We are just inches apart.

Tony stares deeply into my gaze as he can suddenly feel the intense connection between us. He can't help but be struck by everything that he's feeling when he looks into my eyes. He slowly moves his face forward, and he presses his lips onto mine, kissing me soft and gently. I can't help but blush heavily. The first kiss today in the lab was due to excitement, but this one now is different. This is a more intimate kiss, the kind where you slowly move forward, and you keep your lips connected to his. He pulls back after a few moments, just enough for our faces not to be touching anymore, but he is still close enough to feel my breath as it touches his face.

“What was that for..?” My voice is not more than a whisper, just for him to hear

"It was just... an urge to show you my appreciation." Tony answers softly, as he continues to smile at me. His gaze is still soft and gentle, but there's also this slightly confident tone in his voice which hints at the possibility that this 'urge' is something more. He pauses for a moment, as he sees my reaction to his statement, and he waits for my respond.

I smile at him softly “Then let my show you my appreciation” I turn around a bit in my chair, now able to move my arms and lay my hand onto his chest

He doesn't say anything in reply, but he leans forward and slowly presses his lips against mine once more, in a longer, and more intimate kiss. He can't help but let out a soft noise. He continues to kiss me soft and gently, wrapping his arms around me now and pushing himself even closer to me. The kiss feels very tender and affectionate, and he can't help but feel a bit vulnerable in this situation, as if this was all just too perfect to be true. We pull apart and look at each other. He shakes his head as he regains composure and smiles softly at me.

“God, I love that smile”, I say to him, laying one hand against his cheek softly.

Tony wraps his arms around me tightly. He leans closer and he presses his forehead against mine, his eyes closing and taking a deep breath. “And I love you”

My smile grows even more as I hear those words from him. “I love you too” I whisper and he pulls me in for another loving kiss before looking at me again with his charming smile. We continue to stand in the lab, holding each other and no one of us wanting to let go as we finally confessed our feelings to each other. And it’s just the perfect ending to the work on his suit.

A/N Here is my complete masterlist with all the ff, imagines, oneshots, smut and whatever. Check it out and leave a like :)

#marvel #iron man #avengers #tony stark #fluff #marvel fluff #marvel imagine #oneshot #friends to lovers #tony stark fluff #tony stark x reader #rdj #robert downey jr #mcu #marvel imagines

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jalenay · 17 days

Text

Nothing's Wrong with Dale - Publishing Update May 4 2024

So my work work is starting to relax - it'll be 'normal' working hours after May 15, but i'm manifesting some early additional free time (by ignoring some of the things i still have left to do) and i thought i'd give an update on my current NWWD plan to fill you guys in (if anyone wants to know) and to motivate myself to, you know, do it.

let me know what you think and if you have any questions! or if there's anything else you want to know!

So the overall plan is as follows:

First Rough Edit - this is basically just changing the POV from 2nd POV to 3rd POV. This is very tedious and currently what I'm doing right now. I'm also making a list as I go for high level updates/changes i want to make. Just thinking about the story as a whole and what tweaks i want to make now that the whole thing is finally done (primarily moving exposition around, if there's anything extra i can remove, timing of when certain things are discussed, and so on).

My Main Edit - this will be more time consuming but probably more fun as i do my main revise and edit of the story as a whole. i'll likely print the entire story out, make edits on hard copy, and then type up all the edits. I will also probably be sending the updated chapters to my main beta, for her opinion. (this would be the person i first texted about Dale in Dec 2021, she deserves first look lol)

Editor - After I'm happy with what I've done, i'll send the entire thing over to my editors, the main ones who worked on DSM. This will likely take a good amount of time (DSM took one month) but in many ways involves less effort from me lol. Just nerves.

Cover, Self-publishing Details - while my editors have the manuscript, I'll be narrowing down what I want the cover to look like and hiring a cover artist. (i've got a short list of artists right now, but i'll probably continue to refine that). I'm bad a visualizing covers and so this will be hard for me, although i have some basic ideas. i'll need to gather reference photos too and then work with the artist. I also want to publish more widely than just Amazon and will hopefully get DSM out to other places as well as a test run before NWWD. Look into more marketing? This is the most miscellaneous of the steps.

Process Edits - actually go through all the edits and notes given to me by my editor. This takes a lot of time (and is mentally taxing - no one likes to read pages of people telling you what you need to fix about what you wrote even if its overall extremely helpful and necessary)

Finalizing - I'll send the edited version to my first beta and another ARC reader/friend. I'll work on the formatting for the book. Coordinating where it will be published and when.

Publishing!

This is a loose list of steps that I mostly defined right now, but are similar to what i did with DSM. As i said, I'm in step one, currently just finished Chapter 25 of 36 of that rough edit.

I'll try to provide some updates on the process at it moves along, if people are interested in hearing about that. I'll most likely keep those updates on this blog, along with any other publishing specific commentary. if any one has any questions or thoughts on the whole thing, please feel free to send them to this blog or comment on this post.

I'm very excited to really dig into publishing NWWD and looking forward to sharing it with you!

Thanks to everyone for all their support - I wouldn't even be considering this (i probably wouldn't have even had a finished draft) with you!

#self-publishing #nothing's wrong with dale #writblr #writing #NWWD status #so excited to be making progress again #long road ahead but its gonna end with me having a full book published #so i'm beyond thrilled #publishing

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icycoldninja · 3 days

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Hello! Can you do a dmc boys + v with a erza scarlet (from fairy tail) reader like s/o? She is a great magic swordswoman and weapons master, she is often strict and serous when it comes to serious situations but deep down inside she is very caring and warm towards the people she loves and loves sweets and cute girly things.

OH MY GOD YESSSS! I LOVE FAIRY TAIL! THAT'S SO COOL YOU WATCH IT TOO! YEEEEEEEEE! DMC X FAIRY TAIL, SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ALL IN ONE!👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆

Sparda boys + V x Erza-like!Reader headcannons

¤ Dante ¤

-Oh, Dante loves a girl who can both kick his ass and be willing to give him forehead kisses and cuddles whenever he wants them.

-Will definitely want to spar with you, not only to test your skills and hone his, but to help you improve.

-Loves to watch your magic at work; the fact that you can Requip into different outfits not limited to armor alone is incredible and makes him wish he had that power. He'd never have to physically change clothes again!

-Always lets you take charge during missions. You keep a cool head under pressure, always know what to do, and can easily come up with a plan, or part of one, at least.

-Dante knows that deep down inside you're still a girly girl, and of course, will treat you like the princess you know you are, from taking you places to just covering you in kisses and giving you a relaxing massage.

-Will buy you strawberry cake whenever you want it, usually including a few scoops of strawberry ice cream to go with it.

■ Vergil ■

-As a powerful and MOTIVATED swordswoman, you have gained Vergil's respect.

-He sees your commanding nature and level-headedness as a great asset, as well as something he can relate to.

-He appreciates your ability to think on your feet and analyze the enemy. In battle, you're basically a female version of him with magic.

-Vergil appreciates your sweet, feminine side too. Sometimes there are dark days where he feels less motivated than usual, which is when he could use a reassuring pep talk or maybe just a lap to lie in.

-Shares your (and Dante's) passion for strawberry themed desserts.

-Is also very curious about your magic and likes to watch you Requip into different clothes, wondering how many outfits you have at your disposal.

□ Nero □

-Thinks it's really cool that you can change your clothes magically, always surprised with your arsenal of armor.

-Wants to train with you all the time because you two make a badass team.

-Your seriousness is a welcome counteraction to his rash decision making, as you can stop him (forcibly so, if necessary) from doing something stupid.

-Nero likes that under all that toughness, you have a delicate heart, and does his best to take care of you in that regard.

-Will 100% buy you dresses, skirts, cute tops, and whatever else you might want.

-Also buys you any desserts you might crave--including strawberry cake.

● V ●

-V was afraid of you at first. Your headstrong, strict, and serious nature made him think you would hurt him, which wouldn't be hard thanks to his poor health.

-Thinks you're amazing when you fight. He could write epics and poetic songs detailing your feats.

-Once he got to see your magic, he was so inspired, he wrote poems for 8 hours straight and wore out his wrist.

-He never expected you to have a caring, girly side, but after seeing just how sweet you really are, realized that this was your true personality.

-This is great, because sometimes he gets violent nightmares and needs comfort.

-Wants to learn how to make strawberry cake for you.

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skitskatdacat63 · 3 months

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Mark Alan, Count of Queanbeyan

+ explanation & lore

Okay first I'll explain the drawing itself, and then go into Mark's lore a bit, so stay with me!!!

First of all, yep. Mark with long hair. When I first conceptualized how he'd look in this au, I just genuinely could not imagine him with the typical long curly wig. And that irked me, bcs its just sooooooo historically inaccurate for him to have had short hair, no wig. I sketched him and Jense out as chibis, I drew Mark with short hair, and literally wrote "haha wow he looks so bad with long hair!!" Hello, can I take back that statement? It's actually shocking how good he looks???? Maybe it's a testament to my skill that I could make this work. But I did! And man, shameful to admit, but this might be my best portrait ever 😭😭 Funny tho, guy I've barely drawn, and never as detailed as this, ends up being one of my favs. Mark, you bastard!!

^ lmao as you can see, I tried out a more Seb type wig and then realized ahhhhh nah, he needs a different style. And it worked so, yay!!! I've thought a lot recently, "man it would suck back then if you looked shitty in a wig" and I rescind that. I'm telling you, you think a man would look bad in a wig? I say think again, you're just not conceptualizing the right type of wig for him.

Also wow, its crazy thst I can finally actually visually see what he would look like next to others like Seb and Fernando in this au. Hehehe look at them!!! The boys!!!! Just need Jense :,)

Anyways, I digress, some lore notes about Mark since I don't think I've really talked about him in this au on main much.

He is, of course, Seb's closest servant. His Groom of the Bedchamber(yes that term makes me feel rabid.) He's actually also based on a real guy, whom was described as the Emperor's "favorite" and despite not technically having very important positions, he had a lot of influence because of his closeness and connection with the Emperor. So, yeah, I think that's gives a pretty good pic of Mark in this au :)

He's actually pretty satisfied with his role, but he does feel a bitter and jealous when interacting with others like Jenson and Fernando. Because Mark doesn't have a title, well not in the same way. He's a count, not a King, not a Prince. Yes he's nobility, but not in the same way. And he's satisfied being under Seb, because that's what Mark was raised to do, take care of and keep Seb in line. But often realizes he's never going to be on par with him, not in the same way Fernando can, even if he's Seb's closest confidant.

To build on that. He's very satisfied with his role, and even continues to be satisfied when Fernando comes into the picture. Fernando and Seb don't get along, Mark is always going to be the closest to Seb, always going to know him the best, take care of him the best. But he realizes, he would never get to marry Seb, he's not ranked high enough for that. He was raised to do what's best for the Emperor, he's never going to be able to compete with Seb the same way Fernando can. He really wants Seb and Fernando to succeed! To grow closer! But it still really hurts sometimes.

His closest friend, other than Seb, is Jenson of course(and eventually Fernando, after they stop growling at each other like they're Seb's dogs.) But he does get bitter about Jenson sometimes. Jenson is a prince, who had some great performances in battle. But eventually got tired of that lifestyle, and "retired" to being part of Seb's court. Mark can't really understand that. How do you throw that level of prestige and freedom away. How do you just become the Emperor's servant, when that was never what you were born for. But also, I think Jense definitely uplifts him, they just get along so well, and Jense truly cares for him, no other motives :)

LOL sorry I realize how depressing this sounds 😭 I think all of the above is just Mark at his most bitter, but he's genuinely pretty happy. Think of the whole "not bad for a number 2 driver thing", that's him in this AU. He knows his station, and god damn it, he's gonna be the best, most loyal groom there ever was!! He just cares for Seb so deeply, and it truly is his life path to serve him. Seb cares for him too, feels like he can always rely on him and always be reassured by him and his eternal presence in Seb's life. It's nice to have someone you can always fall back on. Sometimes literally. Yes he makes Mark carry him to bed.

Not to stray away from just Mark, but aaaaahhh the Martian in this AU. Just Mark having to put up with Seb's brattiness all the time, and care for him all the time :) He's so tired of catching Seb naked tho...Seb please put clothes on, this is not befitting of your station. Seb takes Mark with him everywhere, and they share the same bed on trips. Mark is always the first Seb goes to to ask his opinion. I said earlier that Mark feels like he cannot challenge Seb in the same way Fernando can, but Seb really wants him to honestly! He loves hearing Mark's thoughts and opinions. Mark is widely known as Seb's favorite, and is often seen as the second authority in the palace and in the court.

As for Webbonso? I think they really dislike each other in the beginning just because the roles that they're in. They both feel like they're pitted against each other, and ir doesn't help that Seb loves to tease them and often favor one in front of the other(he later realizes how shitty this is, and tries to rectify it, because he never intended to make them actually jealous, he just loves being bratty.) Eventually they realize they're in extremely similar situations(both beholden to and stuck eternally with the Emperor), and find comfort in each other in that.

Yep that's right...the palace is honestly one big polycule djkfkglg. But I hope thay explains Mark in this AU well enougg???? All you need to know: Seb's long-suffering servant.

#heres mark in a wig. if thats your thing! a thing that. no one asked for :)#BUT WAAAAAHHHHH MAN IM SO PROUD OF THIS HONESTLY #how the fuck does he look so handsome???????#i never in a million years thought this wouldve worked. but yep! it does!#but i will say. bro looks like he should be on a dollar bill dhfkkglv #okay anyways yes i understand that this is extremely niche and very confusing to anyone outside my circle #but i hope you like it even if not????? im super proud of this one 🤭🤭#my first time rly drawing him honestly. every other time has been chibis or an obstructed view #BUT THIS. THREW MYSELF INTO THE DEEP END. and i didn't drown!#gotta draw jense next. and his silly bicorn hat. cause hes that kinda guy #i was gonna put mark and jense together. but man i hate keeping art to myself that i finished already #im proud of it! must click post! no hoarding!! or ill never post it lol #aaaahh man im getting drawing men im surprised #im so happy w his expression. w his squiggly eyebrows. he looks very introspective #f1 #formula 1 #mark webber #boy king au #catie.rambling.txt #catie.art.#*sometimes I realize. man if i just took away the historical clothing and wigs and stuff #my art would have such a wider appeal 😭😭#but then i realize. nah i dont give a shit. i draw what i want!!! and you guys will take 1700s Mark and you will LIKE IT

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reunionatdawn · 4 months

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My Analysis of the Best Paired Endings in 3H (Part 5: Hubert/Ferdinand)

Hubert: I've already dedicated my life to Lady Edelgard. To throw my lot in with you is inconceivable. But if I had two lives to give… I might devote one of them to you. Not as master and servant, but as equal partners.

Hubert's earliest memory was being told that he was a servant and he must guard his "master" with his life. As a member of House Vestra, he was also responsible for carrying out House Hresvelg's dirty work from the shadows. He left his carefree innocent childhood days behind long before coming to the monastery.

Hubert said he killed his father for his disloyalty to the emperor, but I suspect his resentment ran much deeper than that. Deep down, he truly did desire to devote his life to someone as an equal, not as a servant. Even if he wasn't consciously aware of it, I think he despised his father for robbing him of that dream.

Dorothea: Oh, Hubie, I finally get you. You're just another servant suffering from unrequited love for their mistress. Hubert: You completely misunderstand. Unrequited love? Do I really look like the kind of drooling simpleton to have that kind of motivation?

The fact that Hubert was so obsequious to his master was not natural for him. He is an Aries, which is a very masculine fire sign. They actually have a naturally powerful and dominant personality, and they are also known for not being very emotional.

Edelgard is the "obvious" person Hubert would be in love with. Dorothea assumes this as well as Ferdinand in Hopes. But he denied that he was motivated by unrequited love. And you know what? I actually believed him. The way he described Edelgard was idolization, not love. Hubert wanted to crush the nobility he hated, and he admired Edelgard for sharing that goal. He was definitely bonded to her since she was the only person he could trust. But there was a distinct lack of emotional intimacy between the two.

Edelgard: Well, that's utter nonsense! You can't possibly keep something so fascinating from me! Who is it? Hubert: It is you, Lady Edelgard. Did you ever really doubt?

In their A-Support, Hubert was reluctant to open up and share his feelings with Edelgard, much to her frustration. She even tried to use her power as emperor to get him to confess his secrets, but he wouldn't budge. The dialogue actually changes slightly depending on whether he has already reached A-Support with another girl.

But curiously, even if he has, he will still say that the person he loves is Edelgard. You could always take his declaration at face value. However, I believe that it should not be. The implication was that crafty unreadable servant didn't think the details of his love life were any of her business. He knew she didn't want to drop the subject, so he just lied. He'd rather deal with the awkwardness of her believing that he is a simp than letting her know who he is dating.

Ferdinand: Please do not compliment me again though. I find it quite unsettling. It is like hearing a snake sing an aria. At least put it in a letter next time. Hubert: In the very unlikely event that there is a next time, I promise to put it in writing.

Even if Hubert doesn't have A-Support with another girl, I still think he was lying to Edelgard in his A-Support. I got the sense that Ferdinand was the one Hubert "canonically" had secret romantic feelings for, regardless of their Support level. The way he describes Ferdinand is so similar to how he described Edelgard in his B-Support with Dorothea. While Hubert hated the nobility, he genuinely admired true nobility and all of the qualities associated with it.

Hubert: Is it a gift? Perhaps for someone you fancy? Ferdinand: A gift, yes. For you. Hubert: Hm. Who is the unlucky— Did you say for me?! This coffee is a gift for me? Have I heard you correctly?

In Hubert's other A-Supports, the woman is always the one to come onto him, which he does admittedly enjoy. But Hubert actually took the initiative with Ferdinand. If Byleth marries him, he won't even have a ring because he's "never done well with gifts or flattery." But he will compliment Ferdinand and buy him expensive tea?

If this A+ Support is unlocked first, Ferdinand will be drinking Hubert's coffee in his A-Support with Edelgard. It implies that his relationship with Hubert helped him reconcile with his subordinate position to Edelgard.

I loved how the unapologetically evil Hubert developed a crush on the compassionate and conventionally attractive Ferdinand. And I loved how some genuine flattery from Edelgard's #1 fan fed into the flamboyant Ferdie's ego and turned him into a blushing schoolgirl. Hubert is a man who is described as ghoulish inside and out, yet I daresay, there was mutual attraction.

Hubert: I have an entire laundry list of loathing, but if I had to pick one, it would be reminiscing.

The tagline for FE3H was, "Sweet memories twisted by time's cruel hand". Hubert did not have any particular emotional response to fighting any of his former Black Eagle classmates, with one exception. He became nostalgic when Ferdinand confronted him in Enbarr.

While I think he will settle for an attractive woman who makes the first move, Ferdinand was the one he always fancied. This definitely feels like the "canon" ship for Hubert. Of course, no pairings are truly canon, because of player input. By "canon" I mean the writers favored this pairing the most, similar to Eliwood/Ninian in Blazing Sword.

Ferdinand: I cannot afford to die now, or my page in the history books will end in a most horrid fashion. "Plagued by the guilt of striking down his father, Ferdinand welcomed the cold embrace of death on the battlefield." Or some such hogwash. Yes, I killed my father-and I would be a liar if I said it did not wound me nearly beyond reckoning. But I will not hate myself for it. It was the correct choice. I did the right thing.

Ferdinand and Hubert had a prominent relationship in Hopes as well. More prominent than any of Hubert's relationships with his potential wives. I can't exactly say Hubert is a good influence on Ferdinand's (or anyone's) morality. With Hubert goading him, Ferdinand beheads his father, while in his paralogue "Retribution" he tried to save him. And an Empire-aligned Ferdie never does let go of his obsession with his historical legacy.

But Ferdinand had a positive impact on Hubert's character development across both games. He criticized Hubert for not thinking for himself and never expressing an opinion of his own. Hubert is the one who wrote the letter to Claude/Seteth to carry on their goal to defeat those who slither in the dark. We can probably assume he did this on his own. In Hopes, Hubert also used his own money to hire Jeralt's Mercenaries to save Ferdinand's life, without consulting Edelgard.

Hubert & Ferdinand Hubert and Ferdinand became the left and right hands of Emperor Edelgard, competing constantly with each other to see who could be the more helpful. They were opposites—the Minister of the Imperial Household, melancholy and merciless, and the prime minister, bright and compassionate. Still, they brought out the best in each other. As the Empire became orderly and prosperous, the two came to be known as the nation's "Two Jewels," and were remembered fondly for generations to come. Some say their fame made even Emperor Edelgard jealous.

According to Teaspoon Translations, the Japanese ending for Hubert/Edelgard states that, "Even in their retirement, spent just by themselves, there were likely no romantic exchanges until the end." For Hubert/Ferdinand, it states: "Stories say that even the Emperor was envious of their inseparable relationship [lit: relationship in which they are truly open with one another], but the truth remains unclear."

Hubert's intimate relationship with his partner was apparently meant to directly contrast his emotionally closed-off relationship with his master. And Hubert probably displays the most positive development in his ending with Ferdinand. Instead of being feared for his unsavory reputation, he is actually remembered fondly by the public. I suspect all that kinky sex they were having behind Edelgard's back made all the difference.

#fe3h #fe3h meta #fe3h hubert #fe3h ferdinand #fe3h ferdibert #ferdibert #hubert von vestra #ferdinand von aegir

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still-a-morosexual-help · 2 years

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Hey, sorry to bother you but I’d like to request if you could write a list of all the things Mammon’s canonically good at- like his talents, his good traits, and things his done that caught your eye or things that just makes you love him. I just want to have a list to remind me of the things that make me love him. Again sorry for bothering you, take care and have a nice day!

It's not a bother at all! I've actually been coming up with this list for about a year now and I've actually spoken about it on this blog a few times too! I keep on postponing posting it cos I figure I should post it when it's finished but new things keep on getting added to it, so this is as good a sign as any to post it!

Like you said everything is based off canon (main story, devilgram, chats, events, manga & anime). I've probably gone into more detail on some of them in my other posts but if anyone wants me to clarify a point lemme know.

I will probably be adding to this with each new detail

Canon* Things Mammon is Good At

*(main story, devilgram, chats, events, manga & anime)

• Analytical

• Supportive

• Hand to hand combat to an extent

• Trapeze

• Balloon art

• Customer service - both as a waiter & as a host/entertaining customers

• Singing

• Dancing

• Chess

• Surfing

• Swimming

• Card games

• Cheating at card games

• Modelling

• Good with kids

• Emotionally intelligent

• Technology to a certain extent

• Cooking to a certain extent

• Maths - his mental maths is faster than a computer's and his answers are all correct

• Debating/winning arguments ?

• Teaching/being a mentor

• Leading the others

• Salesman

• Anything he tries if he puts effort into it/is serious about it

• Rope climbing/rescue

• Thinking on the spot/spontaneous decisions/actions during stressful situations/under pressure

• Inventing things using mechanics, engineering & magic (physics??)

• Multitasking

• Office work/ Sales

• Paper work? Organisation? Anything regarding being a Throne which is basically a Personal Assistant

• Can walk in heels very well

• Flying - either by his own means or with the help of magic objects

• Understanding others' emotions and manipulating them to get what he wants

• Calming down Satan when he's pissed

• Coming up with new extremely successful business ideas

• Designing clothes

• Driving

• Fixing up cars

• If you take just the card art as evidence - pole dancing

• If you're considering AUs, which I am, - he has the ability to rule a kingdom (with MC's help)

• Can talk to crows, command them & get them to spy for him (which he relays to Lucifer)

• Pushing down his own fears for others - Prioritises MC & Luke over his own fears

• With animals - volunteers at a human world dog shelter? Cat person.

• Making jewellery

• Soothing nightmares/getting his traumatised younger brothers to sleep

• Steering/Sailing a pirate ship

• Fastest of the brothers

• Quick draw standoffs/shootouts

• Juggling

• Script Writing

• Film Directing

• Editing Videos/Films

• Facing Interviews

• Agile

• Can waltz

• Really good at whistling - it sounds musical

Bonus;

• I vaguely remember "skating" but I can't remember where it's from so I'm not 100% sure if it's canon

• I don't have the band devilgram with Luke & Beel so dunno if he actually plays an instrument

• this is never stated explicitly in canon but considering he's the best at dancing and he's a really good trapeze artist = he's probably very flexible

*despite being good at all of this his skill level varies a lot depending on how motivated he is, how easily he'll get distracted, how much effort he puts into it, how much he's paying attention etc.

• He's good at sewing & and embroidery, though he can get bored and lose his concentration after a while which makes him pissed off/start spiralling

• Basketball

For example:

- he's still failing maths at RAD despite being very good at it & the best at math from all his brothers

- he made a plan (that included tricking Lucifer, Solomon and Satan) on the spot to steal a book from solomon that worked very well. He lost the whole game because he couldn't be bothered to read the cover of the book to make sure he got the right one - he immediately gave up after finding this out

#asks #obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me!#shall we date? obey me!#swd obey me #obey me mammon #om! mammon #swd mammon #shall we date mammon #om mammon #obey me! mammon #shall we date obey me #swd obey me!

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earthnashes · 10 months

Note

How do you keep up the motivation for working out? Or the planning of what exercises to do and go for? Asking cause I’ve been interested in weight training and tried it before but ya know- after 3 months, took a break, and now it’s hard to get back into it. Hope you don’t mind the questions! Congrats on your progress too!

I don't mind questions at all, no worries! :)

So I guess my answer to the question is to really evaluate why you're trying to get into weight training: What are your goals? Is it for the aesthetics? Is it because you wanna be strong, athletic? Is it a lifestyle you're willing to commit to?

I say ask yourself these questions and really evaluate what you want out of it, because I'll be honest: motivation is what got me started, but it isn't why I'm still at it. The bottom line to getting into weight training at any level in my opinion is to view it as a lifestyle commitment. Because it is; anyone can lift weights, for sure, but if you wanna make any meaningful progress in the gym you have to take it seriously.

As such, my one of my biggest tips in the motivation department: make weight training a non-negotiable component to your lifestyle. More than that, make your health a non-negotiable component to your lifestyle. Because fitness is a long game, one you will play for the rest of your life, so it must become a regular part of your life, however way you choose to make it so.

SO with all that said, some tips that could help you to stay consistent:

1.) Make a training plan. Figure out exactly what you're aiming for with your training program (are you training for strength or hypertrophy? Conditioning?), then select the training split (Fullbody | Upper Lower | Push Pull Legs | Bro Split) and exercises you're going to utilize to reach that goal (I recommend only selecting 4-6 exercises per workout. If you're doing more than that, unless you're an experienced and/or professional lifter, you're building unnecessary fatigue). Do your research here.

2.) Decide your training frequency. An extension to 1: once you've decided your training's purpose and the exercises that'll help you reach it, choose for how long this block will last. At minimum to see any sort of progress I recommend 4 weeks, but ideally something around 6-16 weeks for your training program to see substantial results is best. This is including the deloads (premeditated active rest periods), which is another thing entirely so I won't go into detail here.

Once you figure out how many weeks you're gonna go, plan how many days a week you're gonna go. Select specific days and times and treat it like it's mandatory. No matter how you're feeling or the weather or whatever, you're fuckin goin to that gym and getting the workout in. Be mindful of what your body is saying, but hold yourself accountable; don't make excuses.

3.) Have contingency plans. Let's say you've planned a training block for 5 days a week and you're going strong. But something at work comes up and it cuts your time much shorter. Instead of shrugging and going "Welp, can't go anymore I guess :/" try thinking "if I can't go 5 days, I'll go at least 4 days a week." Can't go 4 days? Go 3 days, so on. Backup plans for your backup plans. Learn to adapt to the challenges every day life brings you.

4.) Treat it like riding a bike. Weight training regardless of your goals is a long term game, and there are always gonna be ups and downs. There are gonna be times where it's hard to get back into it. Well, like falling off a bike, the best thing you can do to continue riding the bike is to get back on it. So get back on it. If you need to start slow again, then do it, because any step is still a step more than before. You'll gain momentum again, just give yourself some grace and patience.

5.) Trust the process. Because weight training is a long game, it's also a game of waiting. Visible progress is gonna take some time, so take inventory on other things to gauge it. Instead of looking at the scale or at the mirror, ask yourself how you feel. Do you feel more energized? How has your mood been lately? Do you feel a little more confident? Do you move easier? In the gym, are your numbers going up? Do the weights move easier? Do you feel focused and in the zone when in the pocket? Take inventory with yourself often and trust that you're making progress, even on days where it feels like you've stagnated.

----------

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that's all I got! I hope that answers your questions! :)

#weightlifting #powerbuilding #earthsong talks #ash talks #fitness advice

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ruhua-langblr · 2 months

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Hi, you seem to have a decent grasp on Language Learning Resources™, so maybe you could help me.

I currently have a 2600+ day streak for Duolingo Spanish, which I initially picked up because I took classes in school and wanted to see if I remembered any. I'm well aware of the limitations on the app, and at this point it's just because I like to see the number go up. I've only ever been a casual student but I would like to progress eventually. The problem is I have trouble finding a method between gamified app, and full-blown, academic, novel -and- textbook self study. Do you know of good ways to move past Duolingo lessons without biting off more than you can chew?

Thanks for any input you have

Hi!

I feel like that "number goes up" connection is the main reason a lot of people don't want to move on from Duo and similar apps! I hope to do a post that goes into all of this more in depth, so consider this a shortened version~

My personal philosophy is that you shouldn't have to chose between just gamified apps and academic study—ideally you need it to be engaging enough to keep up for when you have less motivation, but with an academic rigor! I'm gonna drop some general resources/resource types and try to give them all a shot! Don't think of replacing Duo with a singular app or activity, but a collection of resources that you can switch between.

Anki: SSR vocab learning. Lots of customization and habit tracking features available so consider this a good "number goes up" replacement (and if you really love looking at data it's much more thorough!). With Spanish as your TL (target language), you'll have plenty of pre-made decks available. You can have specific decks, sentence mine, or have a huge 5,000 most frequent words deck. Anki isn't my favorite method personally, but people get SUPER into it and it works for them—also you'll hear this everywhere anyway.

Language Transfer: I wish my TL was one of the ones they have! If you're coming from Duo then you've probably been lacking a good method to really train your listening skills. 100% free, and I've heard great things about their Spanish course as well. All the files are available to be downloaded to listen to offline. Great to put on when you're getting ready in the morning, for bed, or during a commute.

LingQ/Youtube/Podcast Comprehensible Input: "[TL] Comprehensible Input" in the Youtube search will get you pretty far. There are podcasts like this as well, but it's nice to have a visual stimuli as well! This is pretty much the epitome of a ~natural language acquisition~ style. Immersion and immersion at an appropriate level is what works best. If you've even dipped your toes into the language acquisition sphere, you'll know Steve Kaufmann. LingQ is his app that's based on these principles.

Textbooks: Duo assumes that you can just pick up grammar from pattern recognition and that can work, but upper-level nuanced grammar or grammar patterns that are vastly different from your native language are hard to intuit. Find a good, dedicated grammar textbook and use that as what you will learn the details of grammar from. All that audio stuff will teach you what sounds right, this will teach you why/how it's right. (Buy a used textbook, visit your library, or check out my pinned post...)

+More: There's so MANY ways to learn a language. I'm focusing on specific methods that would fit in naturally with your existing habits (solo, digital, habit-forming), but there's tons more out there that you can do: journaling, discord servers, italki, chatting apps, graded readers, etc.

To start pick one that you feel the most drawn to and then a second that compliments where it might be lacking. Make a goal that you feel is reachable, and build from there.

Best of luck!

#langblr #resource #language learning

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petruchio · 5 months

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Bestie I think you’re so right about the movie altering Lucy and Coryo’s romance to better convey the themes within the limitations of the medium!

Like it’s actually a huge book! I knew they would have to cut a lot for the sake of run time so I was fully expecting them to sacrifice some of the details that do so much heavy lifting for the deeper themes.

But I was so pleasantly surprised, and I honestly think that preserving the themes must have been a central goal in the production! I was noticing small changes - but they all seemed to serve keeping the major themes in tact?

Like I saw it with my family (who all read thg but not tbosas) and I went in wondering. Like how are they going to make a meaningful, faithful, adaptation of such a large book?? Will my family understand The Themes? And they did!

I think it speaks to Suzanne’s writing ability (her themes are layered throughout every level, so a few cuts won’t gut them entirely) and smart/intentional alterations.

Like you mention with cutting the kiss, I think doing so highlights the transactionality of this moment. Coryo won’t kiss her OR give her the compact until she denounces Billy taupe! Like literally he won’t save her life (do the right thing, like Tigris says) if she’s in love with someone else! Interesting!

But like you say, if they do !finally! kiss (without that monologue) it’s easier to miss how manipulative he’s being in that moment and the importance of it!

I think they made a similar smart choice with being shipped off to 8 - I might be wrong here!! But I’m pretty sure he isn’t ordered to be a peace keeper? He CHOOSES that because he sees it as his only avenue left? (Which I thought was some military industrial complex commentary sprinkled in but now I’m afraid I imagined this whole thing LOL)

So assuming I’m not misremembering - I thought making highbottom force him to become a peace keeper also worked similarly. Like letting him choose that (without the internal monologue) makes his motivations seem genuine when they aren’t fully. So it’s just better for the movie medium perhaps?

Anyways, rambling done lol thanks for listening 🌟

ohhhh how i love all of this!! i love you for taking the time to send all this to me -- and thank you for validating my reading of the altered love story!!

and YES i was so pleasantly surprised by how well they managed to maintain a lot of the thematic content of the book, esp because we KNOW how much they gutted it in the original trilogy. i have a couple theories on why: the first is that the filmmakers are devoted readers of my tumblr blog and they understood the importance of preserving the political themes from the novels when adapting them to the screen (ok obviously i am joking.) my real theories are -- the cultural conversation has shifted a LOT since the original films got made, and i think they were more aware and more *able* to be more explicit with so many of those ideas. i also wonder if the act of adapting the story of someone from capitol was easier than adapting someone from district 12 -- there's been much ink spilled over how we, the privileged moviegoers who are watching the film in theaters, are much more like capitolites than we are like katniss herself. and i wonder if that made it easier to adapt -- because one of the big critiques of the thg films is that they really glam jlaw up even when she's in district 12, and it makes scenes like the "remake" scenes kind of lose their power and biting social commentary. whereas with snow, and the capitol, and the games themselves, we're meant to understand that they ARE a facade, and the movie can really lean into that. (side note, my least fav costume in the whole movie was lucy gray's swimsuit. pretty much for that exact reason -- it was too ~perfect~ for the setting.)

to your point about the change with snow deciding vs being ordered to become a peacekeeper -- i honestly couldn't remember either so i went to see if i could find the quote from the book and it's this:

[...] But as he approached the dean, a cold dread washed over him. There, arranged on the table like lab specimens, were three items: an Academy napkin stained with grape punch, his mother’s silver compact, and a dingy white handkerchief. The meeting could not have lasted more than five minutes. Afterward, as agreed, Coriolanus headed directly to the Recruitment Center, where he became Panem’s newest, if not shiniest, Peacekeeper.

honestly i wish i remembered what exactly is meant by "as agreed" but i do think you're right that in the book it's more implied that he doesn't have another choice -- because he didn't win the monetary prize, he has to enroll. so i think you're right that the point is that the idea that it's his choice at all is in question because it's societal pressure and his family's financial status that kind of forces him into the military industrial complex. but i think, because they made this scene so explicit in the film, that you're right that having him be ordered to do it instead of hearing him justify it in his head manages to accomplish what we need it to for the sake of the plot moving forward (if kind of weakening that angle of sc's commentary)

also, here's something to chew on -- i was thinking as i was watching the film if part of the reason some of the changes didn't irritate me so much was because i was more forgiving of the need to shift things around to account for the lack of internal monologue because the book is written in third person instead of first person. i mean, obviously i am overly attached to pretty much everything about katniss, and yes that comes down even to her internal monologue, but i did wonder if that made some of the changes feel more natural to me, because we still kind of get them explained to us in the book as an observer, instead of listening to someone explain themselves to us (i don't know if that makes any sense?) -- but i guess what i'm trying to say is that maybe reading tbosas is more like watching a film, vs reading thg which is more like you are experiencing something alongside katniss? and that's because of the pov choice?

WELL that was a ramble! i'm always amazed by how much we can say about these books and films!! they're just so layered and so fascinating -- i'm loving all the conversations i've been seeing about tbosas. i feel like a lot of it is really starting to gel for me the more i read people's thoughts and analyses. (i still think the third act is messy though. no matter how great suzanne's themes are, i do think the pacing is rough. lol!)

#answered #anonymous #tbosas #tbosas thoughts #<- feels like i should make a specific tag for tbosas metas

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cookinguptales · 2 years

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It's been bugging me for a while and I love your meta and all your thoughts, so I wanted to get your opinion on this.

Why do you think Nandor is so repressed? Or so in denial about Guillermo? I understand Guillermo and his motivations (well not so much this season but I can still make sense of them) but why is Nandor this way? I want to study him like a bug and go inside his brain

I, too, feel the feminine urge to put Nandor in a jar and shake him. I've had a couple days to think about this now, so here are my thoughts. There... are a lot of them, fair warning.

At first, I thought this was a loss response. He lost all 37 of his wives and their children in one fell swoop, and that seems to be something that has affected him strongly. And, y'know, I still think that's part of it. I think that after losing everything he had, the idea of trying again and making new relationships scares him. Having someone to love is having someone to lose, and Nandor is so afraid of loss.

But then, y'know, I thought about the actual relationships he had with his wives, and I think a lot of what affects him now affected him then, too. It's a little hard to tell because most of the information we have from him is several centuries removed from the actual events, but it does seem like he probably never loved any of them with his whole soul. He said he didn't love all of them, and that's by his own admission. He didn't fight to keep any of them when they all left, and none tried to stay with him despite his vampirism. And he was pretty clearly leaving them alone for long periods while he went on his campaigns.

I think it's kind of telling that of all the creatures for his ghost to remember and miss, it wasn't any of his wives, it wasn't any of his men. It was... a horse. So I think we can probably say that he had a hard time creating serious human relationships even when he was alive.

I think... I've talked about this before and I'll probably talk about it again, but I do think that Nandor's got an almost pathological sense of dissatisfaction. He's never actually satisfied with anything in his life and he's always chasing after the next big thing. But I think that's because he's afraid of the intimacy that comes from working at a relationship. It's easier to chase the idea of a relationship than build one with the people who are already close to you.

If you think about it, all of Nandor's serious love interests have never really demanded vulnerability from him. Even Gail, his longest-term relationship to date, was a fairly surface-level love story. She didn't expect much from him; he was just a guy for her to have some fun with every few years. The things they knew about each other were also very surface level. Like in the grand scheme of things, who cares if she likes yogurt and Bob Seger if you can't figure out her actual basic character motivations? It's important to remember little details about your SO, but Nandor was missing the forest for the trees.

So when he was alive and now that he's dead, we still have the same Nandor. A man who was constantly conquering new lands instead of cultivating the country he already had. (And immediately letting it fall to shit without even noticing once he was turned.) A man who had 37 wives, but not one who would stay with him once things got hairy. A man who was very happy to pursue new love interests, but very hesitant about actually giving them any real part of himself.

Nandor is a man who is all about acquisition, but he doesn't know what to do with things once he's got them. He loves the thrill of the chase, but the aching and terrifying vulnerability that comes after that is anathema to him. He's simply not willing to put in the work. He likes the fun part, the conquering, the fighting, the hunt. But actually opening up and cultivating a real relationship? Letting them see the awkward, weak parts of him? Trusting them to love him anyway?

He hates that.

I'm thinking back to season 1, y'know? When Guillermo got hurt? He told him that he was his friend, but then immediately felt too vulnerable and walked it back. That's Nandor. Letting people see the soft, unexplored emotions inside of him is too much for him. It makes him feel fundamentally unsafe the way a battlefield never has. Even he doesn't like examining those emotions too closely.

(And let's be real... a horse isn't going to ask you about your feelings.)

So then we have Guillermo. Guillermo, whom he cannot hypnotize into forgetting his awkward, embarrassing moments. Guillermo, who has slowly learned him over the years, both inside and out. Guillermo, who has seen him at his worst and still loves him. Guillermo, who knows him.

Nandor has a kind of intimacy with Guillermo that I'm not sure he's ever had with any other living soul, and I think that scares him. I think it thrills him, yes! I think that's sort of what was actually happening in that familiar fights episode. He senses this strange bond with Guillermo and wants to strengthen it and test it and wallow around in it. He can tell on a fundamental level that there is something important and good and fun there.

But he also refuses to examine it. He refuses to name it. He refuses to let Guillermo that last little step into his heart. To put it into the show's metaphorical terms, Guillermo has managed to break into Nandor's secret basement treasure room despite his best efforts, but Nandor still batted Guillermo's hands away when he tried to examine the treasure.

He still can't even force himself to admit that he likes those rainy Sunday movie nights with Guillermo or that Guillermo is his best friend. (Though Guillermo now seems to understand the things that Nandor cannot say, in these situations.) I think admitting to himself that he's in love with him is just far too much for him. I think admitting that he loves, truly loves, Guillermo would be admitting that he's never felt anything like this before. I think it would be admitting that he's never let anyone in this deep.

And most of all, I think that would be giving Guillermo the power to hurt him like no one has ever managed to do. Not his 37 wives, not his dead children, not Gail. No one. Because if he lets Guillermo see all the most intimate parts of him and Guillermo doesn't like what he sees... that would break him, I think. If Nandor finally allowed himself to really try with a relationship and still got rejected... well, let's just say that it would hurt a lot worse than Gail's rejection of the shallow version of himself that he allowed her to see.

I think that the real root of Nandor's issues is a fear of vulnerability, loss of control, and rejection. He won't let himself fully feel his feelings because he can't control where they'll go. We're talking about a literal former warlord over here. He likes to control things and he likes to feel powerful. The fact that he can't control his own emotions is troubling to him, and the fact that he can't control his relationships with others is even more so.

So he at least controls what he gives them of himself. What he allows himself to internally acknowledge. He still keeps some parts of him segmented off and secreted away. Because it's a way to protect himself and protect that sense of control. If he never allows himself to become fully vulnerable with a person, he can retain control. If he never allows anyone to fully know him, then they cannot reject the most fundamental parts of him that he never allowed them to see.

It is, I'm afraid, one of those mortifying ordeal of being known things.

We're starting to see him loosening up, though. He was willing to give up control of the Council. Control of the household. Control of his life to Guillermo. He's willing to be something other than the leader at all times. And he's starting to let go of those emotions he's kept on such a tight tether for all these years.

I keep coming back to s3, y'know? When he said, "I have no one to share my dreams or my fears with." That's what Nandor really wants here. He wants someone he can finally free himself around. He doesn't want someone that's willing to let him confide in them -- he wants someone that he can bear to confide in. He wants someone who he can trust with those parts of him like he's never trusted anyone before. He wants someone who he can tell his most secret desires to without fear of judgment or reprisal. He wants someone who he can talk to about being afraid without feeling like he's lost a fundamental part of himself when doing so.

And then in 4.06 that's exactly what we saw. We see Nandor truly opening up, truly allowing himself to be vulnerable with someone on his wedding night. But not his wife. It was Guillermo, when Nandor finally allowed himself to give Guillermo something real and true and scared. To admit how he was really feeling right in that moment. The vulnerability we saw in his eyes for just a moment was heartbreaking.

He's still completely repressed and completely in denial. The fact that he went through with the marriage in the first place is evidence of that. He still ended up choosing yet another shallow, empty relationship that would place no real demands on him. But I don't think he's going to be able to ignore what he really wants for much longer. I think realizing what a massive cock-up this wedding was is the beginning of the end for him.

I think Nandor's going to hit a breaking point soon, and it may very well come when he realizes (or at least believes) that Guillermo no longer wants him. He's finally found that person that he's willing and able to give everything to... and that person might just reject it.

For now, anyway.

Ah... love... I feel you, Nandor, it sucks...

#replies #wwdits #wwdits meta #nandermo #wwdits s4 spoilers

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gojos-fr-bae · 9 months

Text

𝖂𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝕷𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖘 𝕯𝖔 𝕻𝖙. 1- 𝕳𝖔𝖜 𝕮𝖚𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖚𝖘

Pairing: CEO!Gojo x Fem!Lawyer!Reader

Warnings: Cursing, drinking, smoking, strippers, giving head, thoughts of su1c1de, mentions of sex

Word Count: 1k

H/C- home country

Minors DNI

A law suit.

He scoffed at the thought that someone would dare try make an attack at him. He thought that it took a certain level of stupidity to try attack the CEO of the most powerful tech company in Korea.

That was a week ago, a week before had had to sit through the most brutal court hearings he had ever experienced. For once, someone had managed to leave his army of lawyers speechless.

A person was suing Gojo industries because their phone had exploded in their hand. This at first didn't phase him. But as he sat their being served a 20,000 dollar fine, he couldn't help but stare at the woman who had caused his amazement., as she walked out celebrating her victory with her client and associates.

How...curious.

"Did you find her?" Gojo asked his assistant Nanami as he walked as he entered his office.

"Yes actually, now get off my back," He said in his monotone voice, slamming the file down on his desk

"Thanks Nanamiiin," He said, giving him his signature toothy grin, opening the file. "And you reached out?"

"Yes, her contract with Hanbada ends in two says and I've already scheduled an interview tomorrow at 11am."

"Alright that's all, you may leave."

"Now that that's settled, what the fuck are you thinking?" Nanami asked, speaking to Gojo not as his assistant but as his friend.

"What do you meeean, why do I have to have some hidden motive to hire such a brilliant person to my legal team?"

"Well first of all, that's the first time I've heard you use the word brilliant this entire year and we're in August, and second of all the last time you did this it was with that lady in marketing and got caught fucking her in the board room,"

"...details, details, wanna go to the club?" he asked, getting and picking his phone and car keys.

"Sure I guess," Nanami replied, sighing and taking off his tie, "But lay off the drugs for once will you, we have a meeting tomorrow morning and I don't need you to show up wrecked like last time."

"We both know I can't promise you that," He said turning around to face his friend and lighting a cigarette.

"So, you excited for that interview you got comin' up?" you best friend to Toji asked, placing your wine on the coffee table while opening his bottle of beer on its edge and sitting next to you on the floor.

"Mmm, I don't know, it's for the company I went against in my last case."

"The asshole who kept staring at you in court?"

"The very same."

"Fuckin' shit" He groaned, taking u gulp of his beer "Need me to take you?'

"Nah it's ok, if he does anything weird I'll kick his junk and call you.

"That's my girl" Toji laughed before playing the movie and pulling you into his side. "If that doesn't work pull out you knife and aim for the jugular."

"Yes sir."

"Satoru get your ass up so we can leave this shit hole." Nanami seethed at his best friend who was currently fucking some random stripper's throat with a vape.

"F-fuck Nanamiin, come on don-mmmhh," Gojo groaned, puffs of shisha escaping his lips.

"Fucking asshole," Nanami whispered under his breath, planning how he would murder his stupid friend.

Everything hurts.

His head hurts, his arms hurt, his legs hurt. But worst of all, is the ache he felt in his heart. It was so unbearable it caused him to shed silent tears, wishing for his torture to end.

Why did he have to wake up? Why did he have to keep breathing, keep living, why couldn't it all just...stop.

"Get up, you need to get to work."

"Am I really that insufferable and unlovable?"

"Satoru, please."

"Why did she leave," his voice croaked, tears spilling from his eyes as he gazed out his bedroom window, laying still in his bed.

"I don't know Gojo, and I wouldn't say you're unlovable, insufferable sure but you know."

Gojo just sighed before getting up, and sprinting to his bathroom. All Nanami could hear were his friend's sobs while he threw up everything he had eaten in the past 24hrs.

Looks like they would be late.

"Sir, miss L/N is here to see you."

Gojo sighed, running his hands over his face, careful not to rub the concealer and foundation covering his eye bags, contacts, blocking how red his eyes are from the bottle of whiskey and two cigarettes he took for breakfast.

"Send her in," he groaned, plastering his most charismatic smile on his face.

"Miss L/N, please, have a seat," he said, motioning to the seat across his desk.

"Thank you sir," you said in a soft tone, bowing slightly before taking the seat he offered.

"So, tell me about yourself"

"Oh, well I studied law at Cambridge and-

" uh uh uh, that's not what I meant, I already saw all that on the resume, I want to know more about you" he said in a deep tone licking his lips while looking you up and down. Strike 1.

"Oh.. ok, well um... I'm from H/C, I'm 22 and I love dogs."

"H/C huh? No wonder you're so beautiful" Strike 2

"Hahaha, yeaaahhh. Anyways I would really appreciate a spot on your legal team. I researched it and noticed a lot of prestigious and highly respected advocates and attorneys and it would be my honour to work beside them," you said trying to shift the conversation back to a more professional tone.

"I'm sure you would do well considering how sexy you look in that suit," Strike fucking 3

"Alright you douche bag I'm not going to sit here and let you sexualize me noing there's dozens of companies in the country who offered me well paying jobs so I wi-"

"We'll pay you 50,000 dollars per month"

"And where do I sign,"

So, you ignore all his passes on you but here him out when he talks about work? How...curious.

A/N: This is shorter then I intended but I wrote it in a rush and isn't that good. Who knows, maybe I'll re-write it. Part 1 of a series. pt.2 coming soon I hope.

#gojo satoru #gojo #jujutsu gojo #gojo x reader #gojo fluff #gojo imagine #gojo saturo #gojo x you #gojou satoru x reader #jjk gojo #what lovers do #nanami #ceo gojo

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bluegekk0 · 7 months

Note

This might be a weird question, but what gives you the energy and motivation to draw?

I just don’t understand how people can make multiple high-quality drawings in such a short time

not a weird question at all! i've also used to wonder that a lot

for me, i think it becomes more obvious what motivates me to draw when you look through my art. my au is my primary inspiration for everything, i think about it all the time and whenever i see something cool or funny, i immediately start thinking of drawing something like that with my characters. that's why you'll see a lot of meme/photo redraws on my blog, for example. but it carries over to real life as well, like when i got a haircut and got inspired to draw fpk trimming grimm's fur. it's the little things that motivate me to get my tablet pen and draw, and being able to actually make what i'm imagining real is a great feeling

of course, this is not the first time i felt the urge to draw my favorite characters, i've had that every time i got into a new game or series. the difference being that, at their core, hk character designs are very simple and give a lot of freedom for experimentation, be it with original design interpretations, or more complicated compositions where you don't have to worry about too many details on the characters. this is what finally got me to focus more on painting and rendering, something i've struggled with for years before i got into hk

seeing the progress i've made is also a massive source of motivation. you don't notice it as you draw, but looking back you start seeing all the things you've improved and new techniques you applied, and it makes you want to keep going and get even better. i still have moments where i feel like i'll never be able to achieve the level of the artists that inspire me, but i want to try. at the end of the day, i'm doing this for myself, it's not a competition

and lastly, as toxic of a mindset it can be sometimes, the response and feedback i get from you guys also motivates me. i've never expected people to get this invested in my au, i honestly thought people would just ignore it, or call it dumb or worse. i don't think i would still be active on this blog, or really get far in my art, if it wasn't for the incredible response i got. sometimes chasing that high of having my art blow up gets toxic and it's something i'm trying to work on, but i can't also ignore the positive effect it had on me. i guess it's just a matter of finding a healthy balance

so in short, my advice is to find a character or two that you're really obsessed with, and just draw them. make it anything, it doesn't have to be the next mona lisa every time. draw them eating their favorite food, or give them a fun little outfit. you'll improve a lot with time, even if at the time it doesn't seem that obvious. from my own experience, using something like a meme inspiration as the base to experiment with your artstyle is another thing to do that serves as very good practice and keeps you engaged

it's not always easy, sometimes i lose motivation too, but having something to fall back on helps. just don't give up, keep drawing your favorite guy or gal, or anything else you enjoy, and it'll all be okay

#ask stuff

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dumping-ideas · 1 year

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I'm done reading Amidst a Dream, and also Pop in My Heart. And the different tone shift is like a straight punch to the gut followed by a kick to the head, and then being thrown to the ground after hearing Hoshizora Orchestra.

In Emu's 2nd focus event, it was all about how her dreams are important to everyone and that she shouldn't stop dreaming even in front of reality. And yet her 3rd focus event is all about her having to face the reality that WxS will part in the future, no matter how much she dreams to be together forever. Having the two events run simultaneously is very very effective.

And truth be told, I kinda dislike the conclusion in JP newest event.

I like how it's just the previous event where he decided to talk to Emu's brothers and we immediately see it in the prologue lol. I like how civil this conversation is, and how smooth Tsukasa presented his motivations to Emu's brother. And Tsukasa's need to improve is very apparent to them, to the point where they know Tsukasa won't be satisfied being in WxS for long if there's no new stimulation--and it's also something that Rui is very aware of in his side story, and maybe also Emu realized unconsciously. Although they attributed his growing desire for growth to their collaboration with ArcLand, I think it's already planted in Pop in My Heart--back when Tsukasa realized what world-level acting is.

And it's amazing how Tsukasa keeps moving forward! He decided to join a one-month workshop while balancing practice for the normal shows with WxS. Thank goodness for Tsukasa's healthy body and lifestyle or else we would've seen the sick-because-overwork trope WxS style lol. And it all paid off! Tsukasa shared the tips he gained from the workshop and other actors to WxS, he even got a lead role in the closing show, and his acting as Peter Pan managed to impress everyone.

(Although Nene in her side story refused to acknowledge Tsukasa's growth is due his acting capabilities--and attributed said growth to the director and Tsukasa's communication skills and I was like why Nene?? Why the denial?? And if it's a 'Nene being her prickly tsundere self' she's alone in her room, who is she trying to fool?? Maybe she really didn't want to be impressed by Tsukasa's growth lol)

Also, I love the detail that it's the star-shaped cubes that melted when Rui, Emu, and Nene were in the family restaurant.

I like how they handled Emu's conflict too--something that I looked forward to ever since Island Panic, and something that was foreshadowed in Curtain Call as well. From how excited she was at the start, and then when she felt conflicted when she realized that Tsukasa would stand on another stage without them, and how miserable she felt when she couldn't support Tsukasa genuinely like she was before. She's scared because it means that the end is approaching.

But Rui and Nene, with the VS help, made her realize that the four of them had done so much together. And Emu realized that Tsukasa, Rui, and Nene had helped her in achieving her dream--something that she also mentioned in Pop in My Heart. And because she understood it, she decided that it's okay for everyone to realize their dreams as well, and that she would accept everyone's decision. But what she didn't know was that Rui was working on how to keep them together while realizing their dreams. He knew that he needed to hurry because Tsukasa probably wouldn't be able to wait for long (btw, KAITO said something about Tsukasa not having to rush in Pop in My Heart too... would that advice play an important role down the road?)

I understand Rui's decision to keep quiet about his decision because he didn't want to give Emu any false hope in the chance that he'd fail but at least two heads are better than one lol.

Can I say that I love how the event presented both Emu and Tsukasa as Peter Pan? Both of them were the Peter Pan in everyone's mind--someone who freely lived as themselves and pulled people to Neverland, a land of dreams and childhood fantasy. Yet, Tsukasa was also Wendy at the same time--someone who took care of others and wouldn't mind growing up. He's only Peter Pan in the sense that he let people dream, but he's not Peter Pan. On the other hand, Emu was Peter Pan through and through.

Even the part where she couldn't grow up and leave Neverland--and I hate that.

Like, why did Emu had to let them go? Why does it feel like she's being left behind? Sure, she said that she'd made her peace with everyone going on their separate ways in the future, but Even the way Emu keep telling the others that she'd support their dreams just felt like she's reassuring herself that's the correct choice.

This is a personal opinion, but I want Emu to grow out of Wonder Stage and PWL. Sure, it was a place full of memories and smiles, but why stop there? In My Pop in My Heart, she saw that there are many ways to make others smile. And besides, what makes a home is not the place, but the people in it!! When she decided to support everyone, she already made a home for Rui, Nene, and Tsukasa in her heart. She didn't need to stay at Wonder Stage. Maybe this was why she was a merry-go-round in the song PV. Because all she did is circling around the same place over-and-over-again. Can anyone help her to move forward to? Not just as her friends' supporters, but also as a dreamchaser herself??

She can just find expand her own dream! Now that she had protected Wonder Stage and PWL, what does she want to do? Is there anything else she could do? Why did the writers wrote it like she'd be stuck to Wonder Stage?? It's like, just like Peter Pan who was stuck to Never Land and doesn't want to leave, Emu was made to be stuck to PWL and didn't want to leave. However, Peter easily forgot things, so even if he got hurt he wouldn't care. But not Emu. So the way how the story portrayed Emu as Peter Pan in the sense of the 'boy/girl who couldn't grow up' is kind of unbalanced. Because while Peter Pan is stuck as a boy forever, Emu wouldn't. She would grow up as an adult as well, just like everyone, and she wouldn't be able to be a supporter forever. She had to decide what her own dream would be now--and everyone would support her as well in return.

Even the way Emu keep telling the others that she'd support their dreams just felt like she's reassuring herself that's the correct choice. It's still a choice that was still hard for to take.

Also, speaking about Tsukasa, there has been ominous foreshadowings about how he would have to make a choice soon--because it's impossible for him to keep balancing WxS and his personal growth together, and how the story leaned towards Tsukasa leaving Wonderlands x Showtime. I think the next event about the collab with Phoenix Stage would also tie-in to Rui's next focus event, when he'd finally found a way to keep them together.

#pjsekai #proseka #project sekai #random gacha game post #wonderlands x showtime #otori emu #tenma tsukasa #i dont think this is #analysis #but just putting it in the same category

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