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eldenlordofdragons · 1 year

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A Good Papa

Godfrey's memories of Nepheli's childhood are vague, faded as though but a dream's mist. Like most other men and women of the Badlands, there wasn't a very huge concern over one's appearance other than to signify their importance, be it by birth or by the blood they spill onto the dirt. To put it another way, to be well-groomed is simple, but to put excessive unneeded care is... well, self-explanatory.

When Perona returned from a venture on her own, even he could sense her being on the verge of crumbling. Being the first Elden Lord and having any sort of contact with the gods themselves, it's not difficult to sense the auras of forces beyond even Her Majesty's understanding.

And surely, even he believes, that Marika too would have wept for the poor little thing. A ruthless queen she was, but to be under the watchful eye and cruel judgment of the Greater Will leaves no room for love... Nay, nay, the petty biases of gods and men alike, they're to blame.

So for the moment, Godfrey had given Serosh a simple command: Take care of the lass, and set her mind whole once more.

She bears him well, almost resembling a hero of her own making - and that she would become, with time.

Now, according to Godwyn, this child is the 'vessel' of Miquella's power. It's much more accurate to say she is truly a champion, as she had the fortitude to withstand world-ending chaos and find something beautiful, and thus was someone Miquella can better connect to. However, Godwyn doesn't seem to acknowledge her. Or well, the appropriate way to say it is it's hard for him to picture a child holding such significance. And to his credit, it's hard for Godfrey himself to wrap his head around, but he has never denied her and it's not starting now.

So why not, in a moment of peace, do her a good turn?

With some badgering old Gideon - whom shudders every time he even looks at the old badger - he found some books and scrolls some womenfolk wrote in regards to hair. From what he can tell, Perona's hair is actually quite long, in that it can reach the base of her spine. So maybe a style from one of the far-gone kingdoms, so the little lass feels like a princess?

With a nod, he tears the page right out of the book and goes to seek her. Her chambers aren't hard to find, considering she burns incense and prays all the time when she isn't out fighting for her life. Serosh can interconnect them, or at least be a bridge between them considering they both are his masters. From what Godfrey himself understands, the church itself has burned her down with corruption stewing from the inside. To suffer at the hands of so-called prophets and servants, and yet love the gods with such measure... Truly, she is a kind child.

For a few minutes he waits outside the door, scrunching up his nose at the concerningly potent scents. Prayer comes from the heart, not the lips nor the hands. So, her impediment hasn't stopped her from her devotion - and the gods hear it loud and clear.

Soon, the scent weakens, and Serosh mewls from inside, Perona's broken giggles and his chuffs sounding as the bed creaks in the almost routine pets and cuddles. Snorting with the bliss this girl lights up in his own heart, he lifts a large hand and taps. (The poor sap found out early that knocking... knocks the door straight down.)

"A... A... En-ter!" She calls, and the first thing he sees upon opening the door is her sitting there swinging her legs, Serosh licking her arm. As expected her hair’s more tamed, but a bit mangled in attempts at recreating one of the old styles. Upon realizing who it is her face lights up like the sun, a smile stretching from ear to ear. "Papa!"

“Hello, lass!” He greets, not being able to help but reflect her smile. “Couldst I ask thee to borrow thine brush?”

Tilting her head like a listening puppy, she soon nods, slipping off and almost tumbling over her own feet. Flitting over to her wardrobe she grabs a fine brush - one of those more ornate ones with well-bunched horsehair or something. Must have cost her all the coins in her pouch, or a gift from her brother before he passed away. Without questioning it in the slightest she bounces back over to him, offering it without a why or how.

“Thank thee kindly...” Now finding it a bit awkward, not her fault at all, he clears his throat. “Now, couldst thou sit with thine back to me?”

It takes her a few moments to process, but when she does an elongated gasp of excitement inflates her like a balloon, and she squeals with joy. About bouncing on her heels she rushes around, eventually finding a tall-ish stool - a girl has to reach high-sitting books, thanks Gideon - and setting it in the center. With her giddiness refusing to keep her still she perches herself on it, Serosh kneading her back to help her calm down.

A small chuckle. She’s so undeniably cute.

Taking extra caution with his huge hands, he kneels behind her and, remembering his days caring for Nepheli when she was a lass, untangles the snow white strands from the makeshift ribbons. Even with the knots he does run into with each stroke through her hair, she doesn’t flinch or fuss; the scars of cuts and burns concealed by robes and hair alike reveal why.

it’s so soft, like a cloud... That should be impossible, to be so delicate, but Perona is, and while she is she is strong as well. She’d have much to talk about, surely, with Alexander.

“Papa.” She slightly turns her head, quizzically. “Wa... Wa... Weee... Wa... Win... Win-nie?”

“Winnie?” He echoes. “... Oh. Doth thou mean Godwyn? The man you healed before?”

She nods.

“He is in good health - I have thee to thank. Th’art a kind lass, truly, to do something so wonderful for anyone.” He runs a large hand through the now tamed locks; perfection. A few more caring strokes through the side hairs. “I won’t ask thee to strain thyself explaining - Serosh will help.”

Nodding again, she stays perfectly still as he starts to part and braid her hair. Given his size it is difficult - being a warrior should help being dexterous - but he’s managing finely. All he really needs is some pressed flowers now! As though equally pleased, Serosh lets out a chuff, settling into Perona’s lap as she spoils him with ear rubs. The very sight and memory being created washes his heart, bringing a smile to his face.

“Here we are.” Furrowing a brow in concentration he tugs the braids up and tucks them, using a pin to keep them there. “And there we are!”

Squealing in apparent joy, Perona slips right off the stool and runs toward the dressing mirror. Jittering she bounces on her heels, turning to him happily and pointing to her hair. As is normal for her, the happiness keeps her from talking, but there’s no need for her to - her running back over to give him her take on a bear hug communicates enough.

“Papaaa~!” She squeaks, and his hearty laugh bounces her a bit. “Papa, papaaaa!”

With gentle pats on her back, their laughter is shared, Serosh chuffing away as he tries to worm between them. For a moment Godfrey has another daughter, or better yet a doting granddaughter. If she would be to become Elden Lord, though, he will be there at her side, filling the void and acting as the needed father figure she’s been deprived. However Marika will see her, whatever lies ahead, he will be there, if it is what she decides.

All in all, it has been a good day.

#verse: returned papa #perona and godfrey #perona lore #my drabble

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icyism · 6 months

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an independent, semi selective, 18+ (minors dni) icy trix from winx club. i don't care for the live action, my portrayal is based off of the cartoon. specifically the first three seasons. established 2015. re-established 2023. low activity.

are you feeling nostalgic yet?

amaura. 30+ she/her pronouns. est. you can also find me at @wintereign

rules under the cut!

icy is a villain. she's evil, cruel and will likely hate you or use you, if she thinks you can get her what she wants.

the mun does not equal the muse. don't take anything icy says personally / assume that's how i feel about you or your muse.

i'm not big on callout culture. this blog is a safe space and i will not reblog anything unless it affects the community as a whole and a real crime has been committed.

i am not mutually exclusive. non mutuals may interact via dms, sending in asks and or sending in random starters. i do prioritize mutuals over non mutuals, but i have nothing against non mutuals interacting.

please practice patience. my muse for winx club comes and goes. this isn't the first time writing icy. and it certainly won't be my last.

i will not have a live action face claim, any icons you see will be from the cartoon adaptation.

memes are great ice breakers and my preferred way to interact. want to send one in? cool! want to continue? please do so via new text post. i will not reblog the ask. reblog karma is not practiced here.

i don't have triggers and i'll do my best to tag triggers but i'm human & forgetful. there's no way i'm going to remember every single trigger out there.

this blog is a drama free zone. i am too old to be dealing with petty drama. see someone i'm interacting with that you don't like? tough. don't tell me who i can and can't interact with. if it's something serious, i expect receipts. none of this he said, she said.

lastly, i do not send in passwords, nor do i have one. they spike my anxiety and i just don't really see the point in them.

i do ship but it's not my priority. if you're interested in potentially discussing a ship? feel free to come reach out!

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stillness-in-green · 3 years

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Why Deku's ultimatum to Overhaul is bad and he should feel bad

This is a bit outside my normal character wheelhouse, but I really need to get a rant about it off my chest, so here goes:

The Deku and Overhaul scene in Chapter 316 is terrible. It is fucking terrible.

I took a whirl around Overhaul's tag up through when the leaks first started dropping, but didn't immediately see anyone talking about why it's so fucking terrible, only concerns about letting Overhaul see Eri (understandable, but baseless, I think), some empathy towards Overhaul's current state (totally warranted!), some snark about Deku being So Done with Overhaul (haha because who cares about Deku's stated goal of trying to understand villains, right?), and, worst of all, some cooing about how Deku was being so compassionate and noble by offering Overhaul that olive branch.

Deku was not being compassionate and noble there. Deku was being arrogant, small-minded, and so shockingly cruel that it leaves me speechless that anyone could think his stunted and hard-hearted "offer" reflects well on him.

Deku's entire motivation in this arc has been wrestling with the realization that he might have been able to avoid some of the desperate battles of his past if he'd understood more about the villains he fought. He thought of three very specific people--Stain, Muscular, and Overhaul--as he reflected, "Maybe it wouldn't have had to go that way if I'd understood them better." He then thought of Gentle Criminal and La Brava, people who he’d come to some understanding of, who he’d been able to soften the conclusion of his battle with by going along with Gentle's fiction downplaying what had happened between them. The whole line of thought was intended to contextualize his newfound desire to save Shigaraki.

It soon became apparent that Stain, Muscular and Overhaul were, in fact, encounters that he would be revisiting, as a chance to see how he'd grown since he faced them, and as a dry-run on reaching out to villains that would give him a chance to practice ways he might reach out to Shigaraki when the time comes.

Well, based on his performance so far, the idea that Deku might be able to reach Shigaraki is laughable.

Firstly, his tentative questions to Muscular were ill-timed, all wrong for the middle of a battle. Muscular laughed him off, and I don’t think there’s any version of that scenario in which he would have done otherwise. Muscular was a huge threat, gleefully violent, disinterested in conversation about his history. Obviously, right in the middle of a fight was no kind of time to try to figure out what made the man tick! But Deku didn’t get the luxury of choosing the circumstances of that encounter, so yes, that battle probably was unavoidable, certainly if Deku wanted to stop him from doing further damage. But the idea that because Deku couldn't reach him right then and there, it's impossible for Deku--or, indeed, for anyone--to reach him at all is fallacious. Not every person has to be able to like or understand every other person. If Deku couldn't reach Muscular, so what? That doesn't mean it's impossible that someone might. And that means an obligation to treat Muscular like a human being, to afford him human rights, to not stop trying to find a way to rehabilitate him, even as you safeguard other people against him.

Deku's battle with Muscular being unavoidable was not some great triumph, for all that the narrative used it as an opportunity to let him show off how far he’d come in mastering One For All. In the way that matters, the way that Deku himself is currently trying to better, he hasn't advanced at all. Imasuji Goto represented his first test in the lead-up to saving Shigaraki, and Deku failed it.

His next trial was Overhaul.* Here, again, was someone who Deku was explicitly trying to understand. So what was the one thing that was most key to understanding Overhaul's current motivation? What was the one thing that Overhaul was ranting about out loud, incessantly? And what did Deku conspicuously fail to ask about? Overhaul's relationship with Pops.

This was so easy. So obvious. And Deku didn’t even try. All he could think about in the moment he was faced with that broken man was the little girl that man hurt--all thoughts of trying to understand where the man himself was coming from went right out the window, flown away in an instant. Instead of asking about why Overhaul feels the way he does, he demanded that Overhaul feel the way Deku wanted. He was essentially holding the only person Overhaul cared about hostage for the remorse he wanted Overhaul to feel.

I'm not going to try to armchair diagnose Overhaul with mental conditions. I don't have the educational background, and I'm positive Horikoshi doesn't. But it seems pretty clear that asking Overhaul to feel guilt about Eri was asking for something that he might not be capable of feeling, at least not without years of therapy that he was plainly not getting in Tartarus. And if Overhaul is not capable of feeling that guilt, then what does denying Overhaul his meeting actually solve? Who does it help? It doesn’t help Eri. Doesn’t help the old man. It certainly doesn’t help Overhaul himself. The only person who gets any satisfaction out of demanding remorse from Overhaul is Deku. And even Deku didn’t look like he found it very satisfying!

Another failure. A meaninglessly cruel, petty failure. A failure that served only to hurt a man who was already a live wire of agony, to sentence an old man to a coma he might never wake from without Overhaul's expertise, and to deprive Eri of the only actual family she had left.

And look, Pops might very well not be the ideal guardian for Eri, and I'm not saying he should get to "keep" her just because of the blood connection, but it's not like he cheerfully handed her over to Overhaul and walked out the door! He turned to Overhaul because he trusted Overhaul, because he wanted someone to help Eri and thought that maybe Overhaul could. And when Overhaul's thoughts about Eri took a very dark turn, Pops first denied his request about using her to further his research and then, when Overhaul kept pushing it, chose Eri over the kid he personally took in from the streets by telling Overhaul that he needed to leave the Shie Hassaikai if he couldn't muster any more respect for human life than that.

But, you know, Eri is so cute with Aizawa and stuff. And Pops was a criminal. Probably. Maybe? I mean, he was yakuza, anyway, so he obviously must have been a criminal even if the police never actually arrested him. Apparently, this means it's okay to just leave him in a coma forever! Even though Overhaul absolutely has enough medical expertise that letting him talk to a neurologist about what he did to Pops might enable them to figure out how to wake Pops up even without Overhaul being able to use his quirk to undo the damage. Hell, Overhaul is also the person alive who has the best handle on how Eri's quirk works. He might even know what her accumulation condition is. Maybe a better thing to ransom his access to Pops with would be Overhaul telling Aizawa everything he knows about Eri's quirk so Aizawa can use the knowledge to help her get a better handle on it.

But no. Obviously undoing some small part of the concrete harm Overhaul did was less important than how Deku felt about that harm.

And there's more! Oh, is there ever. I called Deku arrogant before; let me circle back to that.

Deku said that if Chisaki would feel the way Deku wanted him to feel, then Deku would uphold the promise to let Overhaul see Pops. But where in hell did Deku get off making that claim? Deku is a student. He's not a pro. He has no authority, medical, legal, carceral or otherwise. He has no say in where Overhaul goes or who he's allowed to see.

What the fuck? What the actual fuck? What kind of strings did Deku think he could pull that he could just casually make that claim without so much as going into a huddle with Hawks and Endeavor about it first? How inflated has this kid's sense of importance gotten that he made Overhaul that promise without even stopping to think about whether it was something he was in any position to ensure? It was such a bullshit ultimatum, not only because of how needlessly obstructive it was, but because it was so formless.

"If only you would feel a wish to apologize to Eri…" Okay, so what if Overhaul goes back to prison and, three days later, calls out to say, "Okay, I thought about it and I really feel like I want to apologize, now can I see Pops already?" Who gets to make that judgment call? Deku? Is he going to drop his faux-vigilante act and come visit Overhaul in prison just so he can squint at the man really hard to see if he's lying? Is Deku going to delegate the call to someone else? All Might? Hawks? A prison warden? A psychologist? Who? Who gets to be the one to say, "Okay, I think his remorse is genuine."

Then, once that call has been made, how many people have to arrange for Overhaul to be escorted out of prison and to whatever hospital Pops is in? Will Deku get to oversee that visit? Does he think he can overturn a warden declaring, "The scum doesn't deserve a visit, and the old man probably doesn't either," or a doctor protesting, "I'm not letting that man anywhere near my patient!"

The hell of it is, I think Deku could do all of that. He's got a close personal connection to All Might, who was basically a demi-god to this society for decades; he has the ear of the current top three heroes. Everyone is apparently convinced that the power to save this society rests solely in Deku's hands; I'm sure he could ask for anything he wanted. But the fact that that is the case suggests that this society is not even slightly turning away from its dependence on heroes dictating its morality. A hero having the sole right to dictate, out of hand, based on his personal feelings, the fate of people designated "villains" while the rest of society turns away is exactly what Shigaraki is angry about.

The only thing worse than Deku perpetuating the worst problems of hero society in an arc that's supposed to be about him finding a better way is that he didn’t even stop to think about it. It never even occurred to him that that was what he was doing. He thought that what he was asking of Chisaki was just and fair, and thus, he didn’t need to ask for any second opinions or permissions; he didn’t need to think about what would actually be feasible, about what was best for the people involved. He'd made his judgment call about a villain, and that's all there was to it. The villain could fall in line or--nothing. There isn't actually another choice. Hero's way or nothing

I hate it. I hate it. I don't care about whether Overhaul "deserves" to suffer; heroes making the cold decision that they will make him suffer is antithetical to everything a carceral system intended to rehabilitate prisoners stands for. And yes, Japan does at least claim on paper that the goal of incarceration in state hands is rehabilitation.

Restorative justice is superior to retributive justice. It's better for society and it's better for individuals. It is kinder, it is more compassionate. Retributive justice poisons people. It perpetuates suffering for no reason but moral grandstanding. Individuals are allowed to forgive or not forgive anyone they want, but a society should conduct itself with an eye to the long-term welfare of all of its people. That means that even the worst kinds of criminals still have human rights. It means not inflicting pain that serves no purpose.

I've gotten off-track here. Yes, I think that if Overhaul could feel regret about Eri, that would obviously be a positive development for his character. It'd hurt like hell, but it would be a hurt that indicated he was becoming a better person, a person who wanted to do more good, less ill, with his life and efforts. But you can't mandate that someone become a better person. No ultimatum handed down from on high is going to change Overhaul's heart. Telling someone, "I'll help you, but only if you only feel the way I want you to feel. Otherwise, you can just stay there and suffer," is not reaching out to help people who are suffering in the dark, which is, again, what Deku claimed he wanted to do, what he begged for Nagant's help in doing, the way he insisted to the vestiges that OFA should be used.

Deku writing people off because they don't conform to his expectations, because they can't be "good" the way he wants them to be, nor even "bad" in ways he can understand, is him failing to live up to his own expressed ideals. "I wish you'd feel bad about hurting people," wasn't enough to reach Muscular or Overhaul, and it damn well shouldn't be enough to reach Shigaraki.

Cruelty does not beget kindness. You cannot treat people with only callousness and severity, then condemn them for not taking the opportunity to grow. You have to give them opportunities to better themselves. For Overhaul, giving him an opportunity would be letting him help the man he wronged and then moving forward from there. Telling him to feel regret about Eri or else? That's doing nothing but sweeping his pain back under the rug.

---

*I have more or less exhausted my outrage over Lady Nagant in chats with friends, so I'll spare the rant on how disjointed, contradictory and ludicrous her turn was; the gist is "very, on all counts."

---

P.S. Anyone who says that Overhaul "has nothing left to live for" is being a level of ableist that defies description. Prosthetics exist. Assistive devices exist. Speech-to-text software exists. Overhaul is intelligent, driven and highly educated. Even if he never got prosthetics at all, there would still be things he could contribute to the world if he were motivated to do so. The better thing to do, though, would be to get the man some damn prosthetics, hook him up with the neurologist consulting on Pops' case, and let the two of them get on with the matter of waking up the old man.

P.P.S. Overhaul spent six months in solitary confinement. The United Nations considers solitary confinement exceeding 15 days to be a form of torture. Solitary confinement creates severe mental health issues and exacerbates existing ones. It frequently leads to a deadening of empathy, something Overhaul has in little enough amounts as it is. It is absurd to ask a man who's just come out of these conditions to "feel sorry for what you did to Eri," especially if you're planning to turn around and send him right back to solitary. Tartarus is inhuman, and the only reason more of the escapees aren't total wrecks like Overhaul is because Horikoshi clearly didn't bother to do the reading on the wide array of problems that those characters should be experiencing physically, mentally and socially.

#bnha #bnha critical #deku critical #bnha overhaul #chisaki kai #bnha muscular #my writing?#stillness has salt #bnha spoilers #one last salty post before I go back to working on things for characters and plots I actually like in this series #taking my life into my hands and posting this in the tags #but seriously #please please let Horikoshi realize #that Deku saying he wants to use OFA to save villains and then doing nothing but using OFA to beat them down again #is not Deku WINNING #it is Deku LOSING #saving someone takes more than rescuing them from a bullet that wasn't going to hit them anyway #if you don't have follow-through then you're just condemning people to fall through the cracks

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miraculouscontent · 3 years

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Alright, so apparently certain love square shippers felt the need to go into the Lukanette tag to celebrate/mock that Lukanette is “over” (Marinette broke up with him to keep him safe but go off I guess) and that officially crosses all my lines of not dealing with the fandom’s garbage.

The sheer pettiness is astounding to me, to take joy in the end of what was a lot of people’s comfort ship (people don’t choose comfort ships, by the way) because of “toxic Luka/Lukanette stans,” essentially lumping chunks of the fandom together and letting the opinion of those fans shape their own opinion on a character/ship. The sheer sensitivity on display to have so much spite and disdain for a ship that appeared in less than 10% of all episodes in the show. The sheer vindictiveness to feel smug and self-righteous while also being panicked over a non-endgame ship that’s as temporary as their claim of positivity and condemning of salt until they’re presented with something they don’t like.

Goliath really be beating up on David over here because he's bigger and thinks his opinion is more valid. For the record, no, opinions are not more valid due to shipping an endgame ship or presenting oneself as a beacon of positivity.

And it just goes to show how ship-blind these people are, to care about nothing more than the fact that Lukanette has broken up. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’ve seen people who openly admit to caring more about the love square’s security than Marinette’s happiness, which is just part of the issue here.

These people did not care how Lukanette broke up, only that it happened. Marinette’s crush backpedaling (because of the show feeling the need to cater to these exact people, who are so worried about their obviously endgame ship being “in danger”) and Marinette ending the episode in literal tears because she wanted to date Luka but couldn’t are both things that didn’t matter to them because it’s all about their ship in the end. Marinette’s life has been made more and more miserable due to her crush on Adrien while straining her relationships with various characters (see: Alya’s claim of jealousy as a reason for why Marinette “must be lying” about Lila), but so long as these people feel secure in their endgame ship, that’s all that matters.

They didn’t care if it was a clean break where both sides came out satisfied (or at least content). If anything, they wanted Lukanette to end as shoddily/dirtily as possible with zero care into how it affected Marinette, whether because they just don’t like the ship or because they actively desire for the suffering of the people who found comfort/happiness in the ship. Adrien had literally nothing to do with the break-up itself and him being mentioned served nothing for the story, but it’ll be completely overlooked or outright praised because god forbid Marinette spend an episode not talking about Adrien since that would imply that her life doesn’t revolve around him and that would be an apparent detriment to the love square.

By the way, newsflash: Luka was not an obstacle to the love square. He sent Marinette away in “Frozer” to go talk to Adrien. He told her that there was no pressure and that he’d be happy for her no matter what. Had Luka not existed, the love square would still be as stagnant as it is now, and it’s pathetic to complain about Marinette liking/dating another boy when she’s not only allowed to do so, but when “Oblivio” and “Chat Blanc” both exist as little more than tools to hold the supposedly “starved” love square shippers over.

These are the same people who will say they dislike/hate Luka, then do a 180 and claim that they “just feel so bad for him” and how he “deserves better than Marinette” (the sudden sympathy of which conveniently serves to hate on a ship that interferes with their own, further proven by equally convenient and appreciation/liking of Luka when he’s not a “threat” to the love square) while simultaneously shipping her with their sunshine boy because Ladybug is who Adrien wants and what Adrien wants is what matters.

These are the same people who will say that Luka is unnecessary and unneeded, then use him as a prop and stepping stone for love square fanfics and fanart, or suggest that Kagami is fine because she makes Adrien feel good about himself (when Luka does the same for Marinette but sure).

These are the same people who say that “Marinette can’t date Luka because she’s busy with hero stuff” while making fics about the love square getting together mid-”hero stuff” and then giving complete radio silence during “Chat Blanc” outside of how good they thought the episode was.

These are the same people who will tell others not to denounce Adrien for “a few mistakes” and then preemptively denounce Luka’s behavior based on a written synopsis for an episode that hadn’t even come out yet (and also after complaining that Luka was “too perfect,” I might add).

These are the same people who will say that Luka/Lukanette makes them feel “uncomfortable” (usually without offering any tangible reasons or being vague about Luka giving off “bad vibes” when he’s done nothing less than support and respect Marinette's agency) while the show’s endgame ship features the “m’lady” hand kissing Chat Noir who Ladybug has pulled away from multiple times yet he keeps persisting (which is apparently considered okay because Adrien is Chat Noir as if that discredits her discomfort/disdain for the gestures).

These are the same people who will say that Luka is “barely there” or “hardly exists” and then complain about how much screentime is dedicated to Lukanette, the utter greed on display going right over their heads when they have the actual endgame ship.

These are the same people who will absolutely reach for anything about Luka to complain about (again, after saying that he’s “too perfect,” then claiming he “tricked” Marinette into kissing him, claiming that he tried to force her into telling him her secret, or criticizing him for teasing her for her stuttering despite him immediately apologizing) and then either defend or turn a blind eye to Chat Noir (who tried to kiss her mid-battle instead of helping, made Ladybug feel bad for keeping secrets that weren’t hers to tell plus threatening his kwami that he’d quit if he didn’t get let in on said secrets, and mocked her instead of apologizing when she told him to stop calling her by a nickname she doesn’t like and has told him before to stop calling her) at every opportunity.

These are the same people who will say that Lukanette is “forced,” then proceed to ship Luka (regardless of if they like him or not) with literally anyone else for the sake of taking him out of the romance equation (because he has to be taken out via already dating as they couldn’t come up with a legitimate reason for Marinette to not want him otherwise), and the only requirement for this person he’s shipped with is that they breathe and aren’t Marinette.

These are the same people who act bothered by Marinette “””treating Luka poorly””” because of her crush on Adrien (by the by, Adrien’s crush on Ladybug has hurt Kagami as well), inadvertently admitting that Marinette’s crush is a problem, then continue shipping her with Adrien in its canon form anyway.

These are the same people who will say that they hate salt fics (specifically ones that target Adrien) and how they “bash characters,” then write fanfics or draw fanart that intentionally make Luka out of character for the sake of having him look bad or giving Marinette an excuse to run to Adrien (because Luka apparently needs to be made worse so that Adrien can look good instead of Adrien being able to stand on his own merits as a good love interest for Marinette).

These are the same people who will slam Luka when he’s Marinette’s support, then go off and ship him with other characters so that he can support them instead (fun fact that this is usually either Adrien - thus leaving Marinette completely alone and miserable when Luka canonically likes her - or characters that Marinette is actively against, such as Chloe or Lila).

These are the same people who will complain about how salty the fandom is (even when the salt is for catharsis/getting out anger from an episode in a productive way) and then laugh when a simple side ship ends because they’ve been letting said ship live rent free in their heads and couldn’t stop anticipating the episode that declares them “over.”

These are the same people who tell or suggest that people should “just leave” if they don’t like the main ship, unapologetically implying that the main ship is either all the show is about, all that they personally care about (bringing us right back to that little “not caring how torn apart Marinette is about the break-up” thing), or that people aren’t allowed to watch/like the show for other reasons (like Marinette herself, the miraculouses, other characters who may appear intermittently but nevertheless bring them joy to see, etcetera).

These are the same people who get on other people’s case for being spiteful while they themselves ride their high horse into the sunset, playing victim when people call them out for intentionally provoking others or purposefully mistagging to avoid people’s blacklist (tagging is not for the comfort of the tagger so they can “””avoid the toxic stans,””” for the record; it’s for the comfort of the people who don’t want to see that content).

And these are the same people who will go on and on about the toxicity of the stans who ship something they don’t like and then either ignore or downplay the stans who ship what they do like because they personally don’t have to experience it. This isn’t even about ship wars, it’s about the hypocrisy and lack of self-awareness.

I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear about how cruel the Luka fans or Lukanette shippers are when these people are celebrating Marinette’s misery because it means the end of a ship that they don’t like and certain people find comfort in. I don’t want to hear about people cross-tagging/mistagging when the Luka/Lukanette tag has been flooded with people who talk trash about the ship without any additional tags to filter it away, getting so bad to the point where some Luka/Lukanette fans had to find workarounds and/or avoid the tag entirely. I don’t want to hear about how certain shippers are worse because [x] [y] [z] when everyone has different experiences, showing a severe case of close-mindedness or at least ignorance on these people’s parts.

And, with how this season is heading, if something bad happens to the love square by the end of Season 4, I most definitely do not want to hear these same people decry the people who will do the exact thing that they’re doing now.

#category: salt #category: fandom #category: long post #((Mind you--this doesn't apply ONLY to the people who cross-tagged to ''celebrate'' Lukanette ending or mock Luka/Lukanette))#((so... if the shoe fits.))#((I literally don't care if people want to salt.))#((I think the whole situation is gross but like--whatever.))#((But we shouldn't be forced to deal with it because salty clowns want to make sure the people they're salty over see it.))#((And I don't want to hear ''oh it'd be different if people cheered the love square getting a wedge driven in it because it's endgame!''))#((as if mockery is okay if done by endgame shippers.))

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abugeatbugworld · 2 years

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Okay so hear me out: I know a lot of people have mixed feelings about the “Liar Revealed” subplot in A Bug’s Life. I’m not here to try to justify it — I agree it probably could have been done better another way. And yes, you can argue about the hypocrisy of the fact that Atta and the rest of the council sent Flik on what they thought was a suicide mission. (I mean, I don’t think they really wanted him to die, just wander around aimlessly for a few months so they could collect the food without any more interruptions.)

What I am here to do is try to generate some empathy for Atta’s reaction.

I get it. When I was a kid and watched this movie, I could only see Atta as the bad guy. How could she be so cruel to Flik? How could she send him away so callously when he was just doing his best to help the colony?

And then I watched it again earlier this year, and I noticed something for the first time.

Her eyes.

Look at the pain in Atta's eyes. In the actual scene you can see her body go limp as the realization hits her, like she’s going to crumple at any moment. This isn't someone reacting out of spite or petty vengeance.

This is someone acting from a broken heart.

It's apparent from the beginning that Atta struggles with anxiety and low confidence. Our first introduction to her character shows her pacing back and forth while waiting for the grasshoppers to arrive, clearly on the verge of an anxiety attack until her mother calms her down. She wants so badly to prove herself worthy of filling the Queen's shoes, and this is her first major test...and she massively screws it up.

For the first time ever, the grasshoppers are coming a second time because the colony lost their offering on her watch. She's belittled in front of everyone by Hopper, who voices all of the insecurities she already feels. “First rule of leadership: everything is your fault.” Then, she endorses (albeit under false pretenses) Flik’s plan to find warriors, knowing that if it turns out poorly, the fallout will once again be on her shoulders.

And the fact is, it was Flik’s fault that she's in this situation in this first place. Of course it was an accident. But his little accident made her job about a hundred times more stressful. As pure as Flik’s intentions are, his reputation is kind of deserved. Disaster follows him everywhere he goes, and everyone knows it.

And then this goofy ant and his strange warriors save her little sister, and she finally decides to give him a chance.

Not only that, but she lets him into a place no one else has ever been.

"Nobody really believes I can do this job. It's like they're all watching me, just...just..."

"Waiting for you to screw up."

Flik is most likely the first ant Atta has ever confessed these feelings to, of not believing she's good enough to lead the colony. And based on the way he finished her sentence, he understands these feelings too.

Suddenly there's someone else who gets it, a kindred spirit of self-doubt. Atta begins to think there might be hope for saving her reputation and the colony. She starts to feel something more than tolerance for Flik. Maybe even more than friendship.

Then P.T. Flea shows up at the worst possible moment, and Atta's initial suspicions turn out to be true. The warriors are clowns.

"Tell me this isn't true."

Atta knew something was up from the beginning, but she decided to trust Flik anyway. She let her guard down. She even apologized to him for doubting the legitimacy of the warriors.

This is the second time she's been humiliated in front of the colony because of something Flik did. They've spent all summer building a bird under the pretense that it was a strategy thought up by experienced soldiers, and now they're finding out it was the brainchild of the ant who got them into this mess in this first place.

Now the clock is ticking, the grasshoppers are coming, and there's barely any food in the offering.

As the future queen, it's Atta's responsibility to clean up this mess. But she's so angry and hurt she can barely see straight.

"You lied, Flik. You lied to her. You lied to the colony. You lied to me. And like an idiot I believed you."

The way Atta's voice breaks on the word me is heart-wrenching. This isn't just about everyone else Flik's decisions have endangered. This is personal. Flik knew how much was at stake for her, and still he strung her along with his lie. And his reasoning?

"I just wanted to make a difference."

(Side note: please read the following words in light of the fact that I absolutely adore Flik and still feel really sad for him during this scene.)

Here's the reality: Flik's main motivation in keeping the truth about the circus bugs a secret was to protect his own reputation. He just said so himself. He wanted to make a difference. He wanted to save the colony. He wanted to be the hero.

Instead of confessing the truth when he realized his mistake, Flik just kept going with it, and the lie kept getting bigger and bigger. Who knows? Maybe Atta would have listened if he'd been honest with her. After all, she watched him and his friends work together to rescue her sister. She knows what they're capable of, even if they're not warriors by title. Perhaps she would have been willing to give them a chance.

But he didn't give her that chance.

So when Atta exiles Flik, she just wants him to feel an ounce of the pain and betrayal she feels. To wound him like he’s wounded her.

And honestly, it probably hurts too much to let him stay.

#a bug's life #pixar #disney #disney pixar #movie #animation #flik #atta #personal #film analysis #movie analysis #animated #movies

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umbramatic · 2 years

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Vaespar Lore Dump

@gay-werewolves inspired me, I'm going to do a lore dump about my special boi(/gurl), my fave OC and secondary sona, Vaespar. (READ BELOW)

The setting I invented that Vaespar is from is a fantasy setting that is both post-apocalyptic and post-human;

in the near future, a goddess of a forgotten religion, The Midnight Lady, reawakens. She sees the state of the world, which has become even more fucked by cryptocurrency among other things, and is fucking pissed.

She promptly reintroduces magic to the world at an explosive rate, mutating all life on earth (except dogs, cats, and corvids, whom she favors) into strange new forms via a magical blight known as the Raven Plauge, and causing the collapse of civilization.

(This also wakes up the other gods in the Midnight Lady's pantheon, who advise her that there were probably better ways but are too late to actually stop or undo her actions. They're important later.)

Most humans end up mutating into funky fantasy races, but the worst of the worst get reduced into some kind of shadow sludge. From this sludge the demons were born.

Demons in this setting are basically like the Venom symbiote. They're ineffectual small shadow blobs on their own, but they bond with other beings and give them enhanced magical power in exchange for sustenance. Now, most demons don't require much in the way of sustenance (though what that is tbd) and aren't particularly harmful, but a rarer, more powerful, and more malignant strain exists, known as archdemons.

Archdemons are much more powerful than normal demons and use their hosts to devour the bodies and souls of others, turning into darkness to engulf and digest them. And one of them manages to find the last human.

Now exactly how one human survived has been lost to time to the point not even the gods know, but this human was once a great hero before being tempted into bonding with an archdemon. And it turns out an archdemon with a human host is EXTREMELY powerful.

Eventually over time the archdemon and human basically merge into one being. And that being... Is Vaespar.

He's a cruel, prideful, sorcerous evil overlord type who has ruined countless lives and devoured countless people. He's immortal and nigh unkillable at this point, so many have attempted to seal him away, but he always breaks free eventually.

His magical powers are incredibly strong, and include some degree of shapechanging ability. However, he can only perfectly *mimic* another being if it's one he's eaten.

He CAN turn into a floating face, or a snake man, or, most importantly, trans his gender. (He's genderfluid babyeeeeee! he/him or she/her pronouns, though leans former, as I've been using)

And when he absorbs enough magical power at once he transforms into his monstrous Ascending Form, which is powerful enough to devour and kill the local gods.

And he did in fact do that once!

See, Vaespar's goal in life is to transform into an eldritch god dragon and rule the world, and he attempted to devour a god (exact identity of said god pending) in order to attain that. But he just kind of... Hemorrhages all the power. And also in this setting killing a god has DRASTIC CONSEQUENCES based around whatever the god was a god of, so it fucks things up big time. HOW is again undecided but.

Vaespar eventually learns in order to get the results he wants and have them stick he needs to devour one particular god specifically: Gliar, the god of light, who's sort of a nega-him. This is around when he gets his signature outfit - it matches Gliar's and is Vaespar's most petty way of messing with him.

He does try to get to Gliar in more significant ways, however.

See, there's this forest spirit goddess lady (name TBD) who is good friends with Gliar. She also has a girlfriend who's a flower goddess named Iuzurva. Vaespar ends up seducing and magically corrupting her to give himself more advantage against the gods and have someone to try and get him to Gliar.

Gliar is despondent and terrified and goes into hiding. Iuzurva is even MORE despondent and falls into a despair that makes her more malevolent and eldritch.

(Also said goddess being corrupted does a fucky to the world's forests, making them even more dangerous places. Not as bad as if Vaespar has killed/eaten her but. She has remained an ally of Vaespar ever since)

There is one person who got oh so close to defeating Vaespar. And that was Evithyan Zerdali.

She was a powerful mage (of one of the more humanlike post-human species) and also a good friend of Gliar, who tried to figure out the secret to killing Vaespar. She was very close to uncovering the secret to killing Vaespar before he ultimately devoured her during a major confrontation, but she got him sealed away again in the process. After her death Gliar became even more reclusive and even started spreading rumors he was a false god.

It is said something of Evithyan still lingers, however...

Vaespar is assisted in his endeavors by various minions and henchmen, and in the "present day" of the story is most closely aided by Loveland, a member of a race of frog people, who resembles a firebelly toad (and thus is Vaespar's literal toady). While not particularly malevolent in and of himself, he is fiercely loyal to Vaespar and the two work closely together.

Vaespar also has the power to access other universes, though he hasn't bothered conquering any... Yet. (This is how I explain interactions with characters and species that wouldn't exist in his home universe.) Some notable jaunts:

-Vaespar once visited a CERTAIN Pokemon universe briefly, and even had a child named Seigbert there. However he has yet to engage in Trainer shenanigans in any other Pokemon universes. Yet...

-He has also become a Summoner in the world of Fire Emblem Heroes, and commands a cabal of fucked up and evil heroes, and had a child with one of them too, Arvis. Their daughter is named Igol.

-He has also ventured into the world of Final Fantasy XIV, having transformed into a Viera, and is doing Typical WOL Shenanigans there

Other Vaespar Facts:

-He has ink blot like markings on his body that reflect his nature as a human/demon fusion, though the exact pattern changes often.

-His height depends on his current form but defaults to 7'6

-In addition to being genderfluid he's pansexual and autistic

-He does still consume normal food and drink, but the urge to consume those is different from his urge to consume other beings (though can overlap if he transforms someone into food)

-His hood has a long "tail" to it, very important

-Those things on his robe are tassels, not cravats, including the one on his neck

-Here's a chart of how his major forms all link to each other

-And a slightly outdated size chart of them next to my other sonas

And finally, because people asked: Even though he's partially a sona I don't mind if people say he's hot. I'm FLATTERED, he's meant to be. (This goes for my other sonas too.)

I tried to keep the images in this thread limited to my own art, but plenty of other people have drawn Vaespar, either because I paid them to or of their own volition. You can see them here! (remove spaces): https :// toyhou.se/ 5157929 .vaespar

This was really fun to write up and do! Feel free to ask any questions. Maybe I'll do my main sona Umbra next.

#original xcharacter #sona #lore dump

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internalsealpanic · 3 years

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The Dog and Duck

summary: Dick Grayson is a terrible flirt (in more ways than one).

a/n: Special thanks to @jd-loves-everyone, @littleredwing89, @glorified-red, and @multifandomgirl-us for proofreading! This fic is based on a headcanon by @pricetagofficial (I think) that Dick Grayson is actually terrible at flirting which is just the cutest thing.

warnings: Potential cringe and terrible flirting advice

Main Masterlist

Series Masterlist

The sound of voices and clinking of glasses mingle around you like a bustling symphony: discordant, rhythmic, clashing but endlessly vibrant. The scent of alcohol hung thick in the air, enough to taste and intoxicate. The amount of people in such a small space made something under your skin hum, whether it was simply an irritable Yasiri or the buzzing energy stored in your bones or maybe even a genuine discomfort, you weren’t entirely sure.

You sip lightly at the scotch in your glass, letting it burn through your throat, but it wasn’t enough to make the itch in it go away completely.

You watch Dick’s eyes intently as they slide past you, just over your shoulder. His sentences coalesce clumsily, syllables squishing and clipping at odd ends as his plush bottom lip catches between his teeth. His eyes are glossy with interest even in the dim lights of the pub. His pupils are blown and dark. You fight everything in you to stamp down the urge to huff or roll your eyes. Not that he would have noticed. You’re pretty sure you could stab someone in the eye and Dick wouldn’t even blink, not when he is so enraptured by whatever the hell is behind you. You feel a gross sticky sort of jealousy pool in the pit of your stomach. You swallow it down not really knowing of any other way to deal with it.

You arch a brow, the tips of your nails tapping loudly against the lacquered wood of the table as Dick once again stumbles absentmindedly over his story about Wally West being living proof of the need for warning labels (for people). You click your teeth irritably while Yasiri’s tail rattles against your collarbone before you take another sip, eyes following his only for them to land on a vivacious redhead at the bar. The irritation bubbling in your veins dwindles into mild amusement. Your best friend is a hilariously predictable moron.

“She is either a suspect or you’re being a creep.” You tease, the cruel curve of your lips barely obscured by the glass pressed against them. The mockery in your eyes shining amber like the drink in your glass. Dick’s cheeks flush as the playful lilt in your voice lances through the fog in his mind. He looks at you, dopey and red-cheeked as if he didn’t know what you were talking about. You roll your eyes, nostrils flaring letting out a breath caught between a huff and a laugh. “Stalker.” You hiss, trying to smother the warmth in your voice with sheer, unadulterated pettiness.

Dick levels you a look, cutting and vicious if he wasn’t flushed. “Am not.” He whines halfheartedly, eyes flicking once again to the woman at the bar. Some part of you is sure you really ought to be mad at him. After all, you haven’t seen each other for almost half a year. This is thanks in part to work and in part to work getting royally fucked up. Thankfully, not because of Gotham’s resident furry and his new little bird boy. Really, you should be furious at being sidelined considering this outing was his idea but here you were smirking into your malt whiskey, tickled.

“Then stop staring.” You challenge, unfolding and relaxing into the moldy cushioning of the bar. Dick glares at you, the pout on his lips obscured by his hand as he rests his chin on his palm but you know it’s there. You’ve memorized the plains of his face and how they shaped themselves, a product of spending far too much time staring at the details. Hey, if he was gonna third wheel you the least you could do was tease him about it. “Or do you want me to wingman for you~”

“HELL NO”

You can’t stop the cackle that spills from your lips. “Why not?!”

“I’m not letting you cockblock me. AGAIN.”

“That was one tiiime, Joystick.”

“Once was enough!"

"’Fiiiine but to be fair, you still ended up dating her, didn’t you?” You defended weakly, running your fingers through your hair, jostling the already wind whipped strands. Dick was red-faced. The liquor was definitely working through his system. The color in his cheeks was lively and cute, making him look boyish despite how much he’d grown. You had, in fact, cockblocked him due to an extreme bout of jealousy, childishness, and hormones. Back then you hadn’t yet learned the art of burying your feelings 6 feet under.

“Fine, fine, fine. Just shoot your shot, Dickie bird.” This does not appease him. He, in fact, crosses his arms over his chest. You set your glass down and raise your brow. “If you fail, I’ll buy you a round.” You add placatingly. Dick’s eyes slide over your shoulder, the lump in his throat bobbing.“Make that two.”

Your eyes shine, cat-like the dim lighting of the lamp overhead. You smile at him all cocksure, placing your chin on your intertwined fingers.“Deal.”

Dick gives you a withering look as he pushes off the table. You take a sip of your daiquiri as he moves through the crowd, gracefully slicing through the sea of bodies. No, maybe they were parting just for him. Dick does have that air about him. A pull that made it so painfully obvious that he was so much more. Dick also had this way of talking that made you unsure of whether you’re being flirted with or if it’s just the way he talks to people. Either way, he had this way of making you feel special and you had no doubt he would sweep this one off her feet.

The redhead at the bar tipped her head finally sensing his gaze on her and as per your expectation, she seemed to reciprocate the interest. Not that you can blame her. Dick was a 10 on his worst day. Now that you thought about it, you’ve never actually seen Dick flirt. You’ve seen him banter but flirt? You can’t seem to think of an instance of it. This’ll be fun.

You watch him closely and your brows climb higher than you thought they could. Something was off, something very un-Dick-like. There’s an unsteadiness in his step that makes your stomach sink. Dick wouldn’t. Even Dick wasn’t stupid enough to blow his shot just to get a few shots, would he?

And then it happened.

“Did it hurt when you hit your face?” Dick asks, winking stiffly. A ripple of pain lances through you followed by an unbearable wave of second-hand embarrassment. “Excuse me?!” Her face morphs into something terrifying before Dick’s brain can catch up. You watch in mute horror as Dick’s face slowly matches the sinking feeling in your gut as embarrassment suffused his entire body.

“Wait, shit. I- I meant- Shit. I didn’t mean to say you look like you banged your face. I mean, of course, you don’t-” You watch in fascination as Dick stumbles through apology after apology after apology. Until finally, he gives up. “Actually, I’ll just leave.” Dick shambles gracelessly back to your table while your brain tries to process what just happened.

You wheeze against the table, pounding your fist against the table. “Dickie, yanno you did have a shot before you opened your mouth, right?” Your hand is clamped over your mouth trying to stop the shrill cackle bubbling in your throat.

“Y/n...”

“Jeez, Dicktopus, was gin really worth getting blue balled?”

“You better have your money,” he sneers, cutting you a scathing look as he slides into the booth.

“I-” The smug look on your face vanishes when you reach into your wallet. “If I apologize for you, will you cut me some slack?” you try, brandishing your nearly empty wallet.

“I’ll buy you a shot if she doesn’t tell you to fuck off.”

“Hmm, if I get her number for you, will you get me two?”

“Sure, why not?” Dick whines petulantly. His head sinks into his arms desperately trying very hard to implode. You cough into your sleeve trying not to laugh and hope he doesn’t notice. A blush creeps up the tanned skin of his neck. He tries to hide it by placing his hand on his neck but the color’s already made its way to his ears. Feeling a little bad for him, you squeeze Dick’s shoulder once, then twice, then twice once more. You swing your legs dramatically out of the booth. You hear Dick groan and you chuckle.

You flick your eyes to him one last time before moving forward. You roll your shoulders, realigning your form into something more suave and less goofy. The rhythm of your feet goes from a clumsy shuffle to a confident saunter. The woman looks at you skeptically, her lashes fluttering mockingly. You move, easy and casual. With a playful grin, you apologize and make up some bullshit excuse about Dick being extremely shy. She eases. You continue on your little sales pitch as if it was the most natural thing in the world. You draw a laugh out of her. You can hear her heart pick up. She smiles at you telling you that you and your shy friend are fine. You chuckle and promise to tell your long-suffering friend that, tilting your chin towards Dick who is still trying to melt into the table. She scribbles her number onto a napkin and hands it to you with a flirtatious wink. You smile lopsided, cute and sheepish, as you wave her goodbye.

Dick stares at you with slack-jawed awe. This time you feel genuinely bashful but you shrug it away with a sharklike grin spreading across your face.

“Pay up, pretty bird,” you say slamming the number on the table, teeth gleaming in the low light of the room. The petty satisfaction oozing off of you is almost palpable. Dick looks up at you, his pretty mouth twisting. “What are you? Seven?”

“If by seven you mean lucky, then yeah,” you sneer, nudging your empty shot glass against Dick’s shoulder. “Pay up, Dickenson~” you sing. Dick’s face twists even more and he waves you off, pushing off the table.

“Let’s just go,” Dick bites out, cheeks burning. You bite your lips trying to resist the urge to tease him more but it’s hard. Not when he’s all pouty and cute.

“I mean you did just wine and dine me,” you laugh musically. You promised yourself you would stop teasing him but you never said you would stop making jokes. There’s a complicated expression on Dick’s face before it shifts back to exasperation.

“You. Are. Awful.”

You shake your head not even denying it as you follow him out of the old Dog and Duck into the fresh Bludhaven air.

“How are you good at this?” Dick whines into one of your throw pillows. The poorly counterfeit superman one he had gotten you a few years ago from a trip to the Philippines. He's pouting at you like a kid. To be fair, you did laugh at him in the club (and the whole way back to your safehouse which was not a short walk).

You chuckle, tapping a cool can of beer against his forehead.“Sadly some of us need to work at being charming, Dimples McGee.” He accepts the can, scowling at you. Your grin doesn’t waver which only serves to deepen his scowl. It was an irritating feedback loop. Well, irritating for Dick. You’re having the time of your life. You settle on the other side of the couch rolling your beer can in your hand. “ Plus, you’ve seen pops talk right? The man sweet talks like his life depends on it.”

“Right, I’ll remember to ask him for flirting advice next time he tries to kill me,” Dick says, rolling his eyes at you. You perk up at the awful idea before you snicker and press a hand to your lips in a barely held back smile. It’s Dick’s turn to perk up. His blue eyes shine with interest at your expression like he’s trying to capture it. You turn to him with a serious expression. “Please, please ask him that. I will pay you to record his reaction. Please. Please. Dickle, please,” you beg, moving on your knees to his side, your hands clasped in prayer. Dick shifts sticking his tongue out at you childishly.

“Noooooo!”

“Pleeeeeeaaaaaseee”

“No!”

With an ‘oof’, you plop yourself between Dick’s legs, your chest against his. You stare up at him with eyes mimicking the wide-eyed innocent look he uses on you when he asks for a favor. Dick gives you a sorry look asking you to please drop it. You don’t. You double down trying to look as cute as possible.

Dick looks down at you, glaring then grimacing then smiling. “Ok, fine,” he huffs stiffly, wrapping his arms around you. You snuggle up against him, smug in your victory. Your nose brushes against Dick’s pulse which makes his breath hitch. He squirms under you but you just find yourself laughing. “You. Are. Evil. ”

“I promise to make your Granny’s goulash,” you say in a halfhearted attempt to appease him. Dick’s face softens “Now, that’s just bribery.”

“You’re gonna be a cop here in Bludhaven. You gotta learn how to take bribes.”

His brows crease as you shake your head. Dick huffs, planting his chin against the crown of your head before pressing his lips to your hair. You feel one of his arms pulling you closer, his hand threading through the tangle of your hair. You smile against his skin, breath tickling him which just makes him squirm. He’s breathless under your touch and you don’t even know it. You two sit basking in the close proximity and the soft intimacy you two shared. Your limbs tangle and twine around each other carelessly.

Out of context, you two could have been lovers.

You sigh, feeling a bit drowsy from the ‘tussle’. You blink, mind reaching for something. “Wait…. Brucie flirts like his life depends on it too! What’s your excuse?” you grin, jabbing a finger into his chest. Dick scowls at you, clearly flustered again. He stammers, babbling out answers. “Hey, I- I could probably do it...” Dick mutters, finally finding a semblance of coherence.

“After that performance?” You challenge, sitting up, eyebrow raised and arms crossed. A sharp laugh spills from your lips. It’s louder than you intended, your entire chest moving along with every exhalation of air.

Dick looks at you like a kicked puppy which has you roaring with laughter. “You don’t have to laugh that hard”

“Admit it, Grayson, you are an actual bonafide dork”

“I’ll bonafide you,” he growls and you’re bent into the couch cushions, clutching your stomach. Dick looks like your house plant like he’s about to disintegrate. You sit up again and cross your legs. Your lungs expand as you draw in another calming breath before you give him a softer, lopsided smile, placing a hand on his knee and shaking him gently. “Come on, practice on me I’m probably one of the few people you don’t have a stick up your ass around.” Dick, not getting up, puts his hands in his face looking positively mortified by the idea. You make a little affronted noise in the back of your throat and thanks to whatever god is up there that you don’t seem to know how much he doesn’t wanna fuck up flirting with you.

“I don’t know how to!” The cry is muffled but the mortification still bleeds through. The admission startles something out of you. “Holy shit, Nightwing can’t flirt his way out of a paper bag. Oh my god, this is great!” you cackle, falling into the cushions.

“I’m trying damn it!”

“Ok. Ok. Ok.” You breathe. You’re still clutching your still aching stomach. You wish you recorded that confession. “Ok. Phew. Ok, I need a minute,” you say folding over into the cushions again, another bubble of laughter rising in your throat. This is the best ab workout you’ve had in months.

“Take your time,” Dick deadpans, rolling his eyes, color rising in his tanned cheeks.

“Ooook, I think I’m good. First, we need to work on your wink.”

“The hell is wrong with my wink?” A wry smile tugs at the corner of your lips. You make vague hand gestures, hoping somehow you could physically pluck the correct words from the air. “Just try winking, Ric.” Dick raises his brow but gives in. He winks at you in his usual devilishly charming way. You shake your head. “Wink at me like you’re trying to get my number.”

He stiffens and gives you the most artificial wink you’ve seen outside of a bad 50s flick. You drag your hand over your face. “How come you can wink so naturally while fighting and look like you work at in car sales when you flirt”

Dick tries again. He ends up closing both his eyes and scrunching his nose- looking like a disgruntled puppy. You squeal and Dick’s eyes fly open. Your mouth works to flatten itself but your mind is still picturing the expression. “What?” he growls. You wave him off. “Sorry. Sorry. Just- just try again. Please.”

Dick gives you another stiff wink and you’re surprised to find yourself cringing at your best friend for the first time in your life. You drag your hand over your face. “You look like you’re trying to ask me to prom.”

“You’ve never even been to a prom!”

“Who do you think scares off Joey’s dates? Pops?” you snort picking up your beer can and taking a sip. “Did you miss the absentee father part?”

You both silently agree to move on.

“How the flying fuck did you date both Babs and Kory with your atrocious flirting skills?”

“I have good pick up lines.”

“Uh, sure, buddy.”

“It worked on both of them!”

“Well, hit me.”

“Call me Fred Flintstone,” you wait patiently, “cause I’ll make your bedrock.” Another artificial wink.

You blink at him, mind still trying to catch up. “Dick you are the epitome of ‘you’re lucky you’re cute’,” you groan, palm flat against your forehead.

“I’m not cute! I’m handsome!” Dick protests, mouth twisting into a pout. A shrill squeal is dying in the back of your throat as you draw a breath. You pinch his cheeks, “you pouting just furthers my point.”

“Are you just trying to destroy my confidence?” Dick whines, lightly shoving you away.

“Oh no, the girl back at the club did that. I am just dancing on your grave.”

“Give me another wink.”

Dick fails at winking, again. You cringe openly at him and he scowls at you halfheartedly, more defeated than angry. Dick’s used to being good at things, you supposed. You tap your finger against your chin, trying to unspool a thought and rethread it into words. “Ok, figured out one of your problems.”

“Aside from my terminal dorkiness?”

“You’re too nervous-”

“You would be too,” Dick cuts in.

You snicker, teeth bared in a mocking grin. ”Did you miss the part where I got her number?” Dick refuses to answer. You sigh but you can’t keep the smile off your face. “Let’s start with body language because for a guy with so much muscle control you are shit at this.”

“You’re just gonna keep being mean,” he moans.

“I’ll stop being mean when you sweep me off my feet,” you jab.

“Ok, fine, maestro. What do you need me to do?”

“You’ve got to lean into me and smile coyly,” you say vaguely. Dick leans in close, your noses touching, his lips ghosting over yours. You can feel his breath hot against your lips. It sends bolts of electricity careening through your nerves. Your brain takes its sweet time catching up, giving your body ample time to soak up the proximity of the almost kiss. You gasp then reign yourself in. “Dickle, that’s- that’s a teensy bit too close,” you laugh awkwardly, hands playfully shoving at his chest.

Dick shakes out of his haze. “You said to lean in!” he says leaning into your space again. “Yeah, I did but I never said lean in close enough to eat my face. I can smell the gin in your breath,” you snort airly, pushing at his chest again.

Dick sits back, embarrassment creeping into his features. His bottom lip is caught between his teeth as if he’s thinking carefully about his next few words. “I’m just-” Dick puts his head in his hands. “Like you said, I’m too nervous.”

You raise a brow. The sound that comes out of you is too sharp and disbelieving to be a laugh. “Pfffft, it’s just me, you dork.”

That’s the problem, Dick thinks. It’s you. The exasperation bleeds into his features. Dick fidgets, shifting and shaking in his seat like a wet chihuahua. Don’t you know how much he wants to get this right for you?.

“Stop twitching! You look like you’re having a seizure.”

“I’m nervous!!” he says. “Don’t you ever get nervous about a person you like?”

You side eye him. “I do,” you admit, rubbing your thumb over your tattoo out of habit. Dick’s eyes widen, then narrow. You see the word ‘who’ forming on his lips but his train of thought is cut off by the sound of Yasiri’s tail rattling against your skin as she emerges. Your poor danger noodle is likely frustrated with the lack of progress. You quietly thank her by scratching her chin. “Whatever made this world just decided that you had to have at least one very obvious flaw,” you say, insincerely patting him on the back.

“You're enjoying this.”

“Way more than you think,” you say grinning at him. Dick simply grimaces at you. “You’re not helping me.”

“Were you really expecting me to help?” You shrug. “Why would I do that?”

“I’d help you!”

You level him with a flat look. “No, you wouldn’t. You’d laugh just as hard as I did.” Dick opens his mouth then closes it. He opens it again. You raise your brow at him. “ I- ok yeah. No, I would laugh harder,” he says, giving you a cheeky, lopsided smile. Vindication and something warmer tug your features into a smile.

“Just… relax and be yourself,” you mock sagely. Dick rests his head on yours. “ I hate you,” he groans, pressing his shoulder into yours.

“You’re just thinking about it too much,” you say, pressing back, “just do what’s natural. The more you over try the funnier it is.”

“Goes back to my problem of being nervous,” he huffs into your hair. You boop his nose. “Goes back to my point about you overthinking things.”

“I’m not!”

“Fine.”

“Fine?”

“Fine,” you say, reaching back and presenting your danger noodle in your palm, "practice on Yazzy.”

“You’re not serious?”

You hold up the clearly unamused snake eye level with Dick. “Go on." Dick gives you a withering look. He exasperates, then looks deep into Yasiri’s black eyes. He opens his mouth and Yasiri flicks her tongue at him. The next few things happen in quick succession. Dick’s body relaxes. His face breaks into a smile that makes your heart flutter. He lets out a bubble of laughter that has you jumping and reaching for your own breath. "I can't!" he gasps. You both dissolve into laughter.

“Suit yourself - but prepare to have blue balls," you grin, punching his shoulder, "at least, they'll match your new suit!" you cackle. Dick flushes red.“I - I - you are legally the worst and most unhelpful human being in modern history!”

Your cackle rises higher even as Dick shoves a pillow in your face. You push it away and wipe the tears away from your eyes. “Just practice on me, go on,” you say, reaching out, “once more." He frowns at you. "Please?”

Dick closes his eyes. His movements become leisurely the way you've seen him when he's about to do a routine on the trapeze. “Do you have a map?” he says, pushing a strand of hair out of your eyes. The oxygen in your lungs evaporates. Heat spreads from the line of skin Dick’s finger grazed to the rest of your body. You swallow trying not to collapse under the weight of his gaze. You realize he's expecting an answer. "No, why?” you stammer out stupidly.

“Because I keep getting lost in your eyes,” he says, eyes glittering in the dim lights of your apartment. Some part of your brain short circuits, fizzing out in sparks and fire, then the rest of your brain follows. The entire structure goes out in a puff of smoke. You're completely frozen. Dick watches you with a furrowed brow, bottom lip caught between your teeth. Apprehension rolls off of him in waves and you can feel your lungs work again. "Exactly! Exactly that!" You squeal in delight. Dick smiles relieved. "I knew you could do it, you magnificent dork. I could kiss you right now!" you say squishing his cheeks and pressing your forehead against his. Dick’s breath catches. There's a hopeful look in his eyes. "Would you?"

Something clogs your throat as you pull away. You're pretty sure it's your heart. You force the nervous laughter in your throat into something else. "Need practice with that too, Dickens?"

"Dunno," he hedges, eyes holding yours, "you tell me." His hand cups the side of your face. You ease into his touch like a marshmallow dissolving into hot cocoa. "Can I?" he whispers, thumb brushing against your bottom lip. He's being careful with you you realize. Your eyes flutter closed. You can feel your nerves disentangling. They cross and recross so that you're fully aware of your lips. The gap between the two of you is small but it feels so impossibly big. Anticipation, anxiety, and excitement all thicken the spaces between you. You want him. You want this. Is it so wrong?

"Yes."

Tag list: @batarella, @anothertimdrakestan, @lucy-roo, @multifandomgirl-us, @idkmanicantenglish,@birdy-bat-writes, @boosyboo9206, @americasmarauders , @l-inkage, @arestorationofbalance , @cloudie-skay, @wunderstell @hyp-oh-critical @glorified-red

#dick grayson x reader #dick grayson x you #dick grayson imagine #dick grayson #merc!reader #my writing

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13uswntimagines · 4 years

Text

Always Yours (Christen Press x Reader)

Request: Christen Press x reader based on a song "hold me while you wait" by Lewis Capaldi

Author’s note: Hey dudes, so i couldn’t get this idea out of my head. I’m not sure how well it actually follows the song, but this is what made sense to me. I hope you enjoy! hit me up with Requests, Questions or if you just wanna say hi!

Christen sighed contently, settling back against her fiance, watching whatever boring reality show the team had chosen for the night. She reveled in the feeling of the women below her, glad that everything had finally worked out for the better. Everything was perfect, well almost. There was still a little twinge at the back of her mind that reminded her of the one person she had hurt more than the rest.

“Have you guys seen this video yet? The fans are going crazy,” Kelley asked, pulling the women out of her thoughts. Tobin grabbed the outstretched phone, holding it so Christen could see it.

“Is that Y/n,” Christen questioned, her breath leaving her when she saw your form on the small screen. The image was grainy, but it still made her heart stop to see you on stage. To see you following your dreams.

“Yeah,” Kelley smiled at them, wiggling her eyebrows at Christen.

“Why are the fans sending it to us?” Tobin mumbled, her eyebrows furrowing. As far as the fans knew, you hadn’t spoken to Chris since college.

“just watch” Kelley shrugged.

*******

You smiled out at the audience as you stepped to the front of the stage. Their clapping and cheering were almost as loud as the pounding of your heart in your ears. You would never get enough of this feeling, and you wondered if it was the same one that she had every time she stepped onto the pitch.

“Damn you guys are loud,” You laughed, the crowd roaring back. You shot them a cheeky smirk, pulling the acoustic guitar strap over your head and pushing the stray hairs that had fallen into your face back.

“Do you mind if we get serious for a few minutes?” You asked into the mic, receiving a cheer of approval in response. As much as the fans loved you upbeat stuff, they went even crazier when it was just you, them, and your trusty guitar.

“Ok, cool.” You smirked, beginning to pluck the opening chord to the next song in your set absentmindedly.

“So, the past few years have been kinda a rollercoaster ride for me. You know, I met this person, and they were my… everything.” You stated, a wistful, faraway look taking over your usual charming smile.

“And sometimes I thought that they could love me too, but they could never make up their mind, and I settled for them just being there. I settled for them letting me hold them while they figured out what they wanted,” Your voice turned sad and bitter. You had wanted her more than anything on the planet, but she didn’t know if she wanted you or Tobin, and you wondered how close you were to be a thing. But she had chosen, and the heavy piece of paper tucked into your back pocket was like a knife in the balloons holding your Dream.

“Today I got an invitation to their wedding,” You gave the audience a bitter laugh, shaking your head. “So this song is for them. An apology if you will, that I can’t make their wedding,” You finished quietly, changing to the chord progression for Hold Me While You Wait.

****

“Holy shit,” Christen whispered, her eyes wide as the song began. It wasn’t her first time hearing it, but the emotions of this performance were off the charts. She could feel the heartbreak that permeated the song. It was the story of an almost relationship that tore you to pieces. An almost relationship that you tied yourself in knots to make work. The almost relationship you had with her.

“She’s not usually this emotional,” Christen mumbled, her eyes wide.

“The fans all think that you’re the one who made her this emotional. They think you two are the ones she dedicated the song to,” Kelley said quietly, shaking her head.

“She never said that,” Tobin grumbled far too quickly. You were always her biggest competition, and you had been there for Christen when she wasn’t. When she was being an ass about commitment.

“She didn’t have to,” Kelley rolled her eyes. So maybe she still had a little resentment about how the way things ended between her teammates and her best friend.

“They’ve been speculating that the whole album is about Chris for months,” Tobin clapped back. It had started with an old photo of the two of you from college. An old photo that wasn’t supposed to ever see the light of day, and now they wouldn’t leave her alone about it. Your fans weren’t as crazy as some, but she was tired of being called out for being the one to come between you and Chris. “But it seems kinda petty to me,” Tobin groaned. You were usually the first one to tell the fans to leave them alone. You usually didn’t stoop to their level.

“If it is, she has a good reason. Chris kept her on the hook for months,” Kelley spat back.

“It was hard not to,” Christen spoke quietly after a few minutes.

*****

Memory

“Just stay awhile,” You said from the bed, pulling the sheets tighter around you. You always hated this part, it made you feel dirty, used. She would beg you to come and then walk out like you were nothing more than a call girl. Ever since college, you were the one who would pick up the pieces that one Tobin Heath left behind. The one who held her while she made up her mind.

“Y/n, I can’t stay,” She rolled her eyes at you, pulling her clothes on.

“Yes, you can Chris. I love you so much, and I’ll do my damndest to show you every day,” You pleaded. Why couldn’t she see that you were the better option? The more healthy option. Tobin could never make up her mind. She didn’t want a real relationship unless it was convenient for her, and Christen just couldn’t seem to let her go.

“I love her Y/n,” “and she loves me back, and she’s finally ready,” Christen said, finally turning to look at you.

“How many times has she said that before, and how many times have you ended up right back here with me?” You huffed back, thinking about the thousands of times this had happened before. The thousands of times Christen had told you the same thing and then called you crying because she hadn’t been right. For a while, it had been fine with you. It had been alright because you got to hold the girl you had been in love with since you were kids while you waited for her to make up her mind.

“Just don’t” She spat in your direction. Going from sweet to cruel in a second flat.

“I’m trying to protect your Chris,” You growled back, standing from the bed.

“Don’t make this harder for me then it already is,” She mumbled lowly. And you sighed.

The wait was over, and so was Christen’s desire to be held by you.

“Turn around Chris,” Your voice was barley above a whisper. You knew that this would tear you apart, but you needed to hear it. You needed to know why. You opened your arms for the woman, who shot you a quizzical look.“Tell me more about her, something I don’t know,” You mumble, pulling Chris back into your arms, for what you know will probably be the last time. You buried your nose into her neck.

“She scrunches her nose up in her sleep,” She said, running her fingers through your hair, soothing you.

“Hmm,”

“And she loves kids. Like she goes out of her way to make them happy,” You could hear the smile in her voice, and you swallowed the lump in your throat, trying to enjoy your last moments with the woman you loved.

*****

You stepped away from the mic when the song was over, taking a gulping breath after the final note. Your chest heaved in a way that was unusual for you, and you casually wiped the tears out of your eyes. You weren’t an overtly emotional person, only able to articulate what you were feeling through song. You blinked a few times, stepping back up to the Mic.

“Tell her thank you for Paris,” You hummed out the words that would probably get you into trouble, but right now you didn’t care. You knew this day was coming, but that didn’t mean you were ready for it. At least you knew that Tobin wouldn’t hurt her again.

*****

“She’s crying,” Tobin said in shock. She had never, ever seen this much emotion out of you, even when you had come to say goodbye.

“What happened in Paris? She never told me, and she won’t talk about it,” Kelley asked, her eyebrows furrowing. Christen and Tobin shared a look.

*****

Two days before the Woman’s World Cup

“Chris is going to freak when she realizes that your here,” Tobin mumbled, settling down in the seat across from you. You had picked a cute cafe for this conversation. A conversation that you really didn’t want to have, but you felt you needed to.

“I didn’t come to see her, I came to see you,” You husked out, taking a sip of your coffee.

“That’s a first, I was like 99% sure you hated me,” Tobin leaned back in her chair in shock. The two of you had a tumultuous relationship to say the least. She was always chasing Christen, and you were always the one who cleaned up the fallout.

“No Tobin, I don’t hate you.” You started, looking off into the distance, trying to control your emotions. You knew that this was inappropriate, but you had to be sure. You had to know.“I just… I need you to tell me one thing,” You finished, glancing back at your cup, adamantly not making eyecontact with the woman in front of you.

“You flew to Paris to ask me a question?” She questioned in disbelief. She thought you would have fought harder. That you would have come to make a scene and try to win the girl that you had held for so long. She took in your form, defeat visible in every movement you made. You weren’t the same person you had been all those years ago. It was like your sunny personality was gone.

“Yeah, “ You nodded, finally looking into Tobins worried brown eyes. She could almost see the cracks in your soul. The piece of you that Christen had taken with her when she chose Tobin.

“Ask away,” She said with a wave of her hand.

“Do you love her?” You asked seriously. Clenching your fist on the table. You needed to know. All your efforts would be worth it if she did. You would be able to live with yourself if she did.

“Of course I do,” Tobin said in exasperation.

“No Tobin, do you love her so much that you feel like you can’t breathe without her. Like you’re in the dark, and she lights you up?” You grabbed her hand, looking her solemnly in the eyes.

“I love her so much that it terrifies me, that I don’t think I could live if she didn’t choose me,” She responded, with as much honesty as she could muster. You nodded back, sitting back in your seat and taking a sip of your drink.

“Promise me something?” You requested after a few seconds of silence. She waved her hand again. You gave her a thoughtful look. “That you won’t let her go…”

“I already bought the ring. I was gonna give it to her after we win,” Tobin admitted with a blush. You nodded again.

“Don’t wait,” You said quietly, placing a 50 on the table and walking away. Tobin watched you go, shaking her head. She would never understand why you had settled for being Christens play thing.

*****

8 Hours after they won the World Cup

“You can’t waste your life like this,” Christen rolled her eyes as she entered the hotel lobby. She was in france.

“Who said it’s a waste?” You smirked back, standing and placing your hands in your pockets.

“I did. You just flew to Paris for me to turn you away,” She huffed back, approaching you and pulling you into a hug. No opportunity to make her smile was a waste to you.

“I wish that I could change your mind,” You hummed into her neck, refraining from placing your usual kiss on her neck.

“I know,” She said back resolutely.

“I didn’t come to ruin your night, just to tell you congrats,” You mumbled, pulling back so you could look at her, sending her the widest smile you could.

“I don’t know if I believe you..” She quarked her eyebrows up at you.

“I just wanted to give you this and congratulate you on your big win champ. I always promised to the first copy of my album,” You laughed, pulling the the first copy of your first album ever out of your back pocket. It was funny, even now she was holding you while she waited for Tobin to be ready to go celebrate with her.

“Take it. I signed it and everything,” You said quietly, pushing the square plastic that held the key to your future into her hands. No it wasn’t like the art that Tobin made, but it was yours.

“Y/n” She started. Placing her hand flat on the plastic, shaking her head.

“At least it’ll sell on eBay if you don’t want it.” You gave her a sad smile, placing the album that she had inspired into her palm and turning away. “If you ever need to… talk, just call me,” You said over your shoulder, leaving the Hotel. Trying not to think about how this was probably the last time you would ever see her.

*****

“She told me to Marry Chris,” Tobin murmured thoughtfully, squeezing the women in her arms that much tighter. She was lucky and she she knew it.

“I didn’t know that,” Christen smiled, leaning back and placing a kiss on her fiance’s lips.

“Yeah, she said that she wanted you to be happy, and us fighting over you wasn’t making you happy,” Tobin nodded, brushing a strand of hair from Christens ear. Even in your worst moment, all you wanted was for the girl of your dreams to be happy. That was what love was, to want the best for that person, even if it wasn’t you, and to hold them until they knew what they wanted.

“What did she write in the album she gave you?” Kelley asked, pulling the couple out of their sappy moment. Christen blinked for a moment.

******

Christen’s hands were shaking as she watched you walk away, almost like a drug addict coming down from the high. She glanced down at the album in her hand, aptly named “the heartbreak hotel”. You always did have a flare for dramatics. Her lips quirked up at our loopy handwriting.

Together or apart, we both accomplished our dreams. Thank you for allowing me to hold your for as long as you did. Both our waits are over, and i wish you nothing but happiness.

Always yours,

Y/n

PS. say yes to your happy ending.

#uswnt x reader #uswnt imagine #uswnt imagines #christen press x reader #christen press imagine

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liria10 · 3 years

Note

Favorite Benny books?

Ok so. Tumblr crashed as I was typing this on mobile. I am retyping it on desktop cause fuck this site, and I Have Opinions, and my friend I will let you hear them or so help me!

.... This got. Really. Really long. I am adding a read more to spare you guys from that.

Ok so! As a preface, I haven't read many VNAs with Benny in it, and of her solo books, I still have 2 of her Legion books to read.

I'm going to (re)start this with the VNAs!

Love and War: a very classic answer perhaps, but it is a really good introduction for Benny, even if the book has its flaws and can certainly show its age nowadays. Cornell absolutely nails her right off the bat, and from her very first page, Benny is just a character that keeps you interested. Not only does she work great as a counter to both Seven and Ace, but she also brings a breath of life to the whole range the way only a prose character can.

Plus, I think one of the greatest successes of that book lies in how Benny appears as a rounded and flawed person from the beginning. She’s not your ordinary girl dragged to a whirlwind of adventure and an universe of wonders, but an older, adult woman, with a good chunk of life experience and adventures already behind her, and while setting foot inside the TARDIS opens up a new and unexpected chapter in her life, it does also remain just that. A chapter. Benny had a life before the Doctor, and from that moment, while noone could have predicted it then, she would have one after him as well.

The Left-Handed Hummingbird: I just finished that one last week, so it’s obviously both fresh in my mind, and one I'm thinking highly of at the moment. Well I mean, it’s Orman! Or course I love it. She really is great at writing both intricate, large stories, and yet focusing on the personal, on the human side of things. And I find that this book does a great job at putting benny in the role of the grounding presence both for ace and the doctor, as well as exploring how time traveling as they do, and dealing with seven’s schemes can be frustrating for benny. That whole tardis team is a mess, and none of these people really… work well together, but it’s because they’re so dysfunctioning that they’re fascinating, and orman absolutely nails that.

Theater of War: A very different type of book, it is honestly a fun romp, and it has Benny being an actual archeologist, down to dealing with the academia side of things. And it’s the little things, but I love it when Benny books remember that about her tbh? Also, it has some nice theater theming, and well, as an introduction for brax, it certainly works well! It’s one of those VNAs that I think is just fun. A well crafted story with good takes on the characters, that’s always enjoyable to me!

Return of the Living Dad: Orman again?? What a surprise! But frankly, I love how this book is all about Benny and her daddy issues, be it with the Doctor or well, her actual dad. Between that, her budding marriage with Jason, and finding out so many old wounds reopened, I just. Really love how raw Benny can be under Orman’s pen? How underneath it all, she still has that side of the scared orphan that lost both parents to a war she was far, far too young to ever comprehend, and how that just left her rebelling against the world in general, and resenting deep down her parents for that abandon. I mean, it’s neat character stuff, but it can very easily be written as dull & cliche shitte you know? And Orman really… always get down to the heart of it all, and boi does it make for some great reading.

The Dying Days: It’s a very fun book, and well, technically works as the first round for Benny as the lead woman after all! It’s a joy all throughout, triumphant where it needs to be, and managing to both celebrate the Doctor and what he brought to the VNAs, as well as setting up the stage for Benny to go on to her own range. It’s basically one last run of the old team, and well. I do love Benny & Eight, and yes I am blaming Parkin for it. Also, big brained take to have Eight give her Wolsey because I love that cat and Benny deserves a cute kitty in her life. We all do.

Ok!! Now on to the NA, and my personal favorite era!

Dragon’s Wrath: It’s a fun one!! I do really like the story being centered again on archeology first and foremost, and it’s a good romp that has some really good take on Benny. Especially the trial scenes, I love how those one get down to Benny as someone who despite everything, loves history, and cares very very deeply about the artifacts she uncovers. Also, it introduces brax as a mainstay of the dellah era, and does so in a rather nice way. Overall, a very enjoyable book!

Beyond the Sun: Benny & students stranded on a planet with mystery to uncover, that’s already a fun premise, and then throw in all the various queer themes present, especially with Emile, and the whole scene of them all in drag performing on top of a bus, and it’s just a rather good book. Plus, I love how it mirrors the whole VNA Doctor mantra, except with a very Benny twist. Sometimes cruel, sometimes cowardly, but trying her damndest to do good. And well, that’s just Benny isn’t it? I always harp on about the very heart of Benny being her humanity, and if there’s something that book highlights, it’s that.

Deadfall: Jason takes center stage in this one, and well, I do really love Jason. It’s overall a fun book with some nice lore ideas, and I love how it works Cwej in the whole Dellah setting. Also, at least it’s a story with Jason in the lead that doesn’t end in utter tragedy, and that’s always nice!

Tempest: Ok so. That book isn’t great. The story’s cliche, the characters aren’t the best, and the plot itself? Forgettable, it’s another in the list of “sort of base under siege story in the dellah era” which you’d think wouldn’t be super common and yet! So… why am I listing it here? Cause the concept of the planet!! The idea of a world of storms and disaster, run through via a blind train as the only means of transport? The fantastic animal life described in it??? That book left an impression of me, and that’s not something I can say of all of the others.

The Medusa Effect: … Justin Richard writes a good Benny. Like, legit. I love how that one really works with the setting & history of Dellah, and gives further information on the planet’s involvement with the Dalek war. Plus, it also got some really, really nice aesthetics. I am soft for good aesthetics ok? Benny, dancing with a skeleton on the deck of an old spaceship made to look like a cruise liner in an hallucination/dream sequence type of thing? Sign me right up!

Beige Planet Mars: That one is a blast. I remember just, absolutely loving it when I read it tbh. Between the overall description of Mars, the further Lore Implication of the Mars invasion & all that, as well as it basically being one last round of more… Normal dellah books before everything goes to hell? It’s one i’d highly recommend if you want to have a good time.

Tears of the Oracle: Probably my favorite of that whole range? (apart from dead romance, which I am not counting as a benny book) I love just, how much overall… feelings isn’t quite the words i’m looking for, but i can’t think of a better way to put it… there is throughout the book? It was thought to be the end of the NA as it was written and well, that shows. I love how it weaves the whole mystery of “what happened to that legendary archaeologists?” with the whole side of what’s basically some of the only survivors from dellah going on one last round of discovery. The status quo of the range was destroyed quite a few books before that one, but imo, it’s there that they take the time to stop for a bit, and just. Deals with what that means in actuality. And ngl, I love the entire sequence of Benny & Brax walking through the wreckage of what used to be their home, it’s a scene that works really, really well.

And well, it does a great job at setting up the future as well after all! Yes, there’s still 3 books after it, but when you look at where Big Finish picked up… they went for what Tears of the Oracle was setting up. It really makes the transition flows well between those two, unlike my rambling for a full paragraph before going to “here’s the BF books I like”

The Doomsday Manuscript: A very good start for the range! Not only does it set up the whole collection, but it also introduces the Fifth Axis as a major threat, and does so in a wonderfully well paced book that keeps you hooked throughout. I like how it also sets up Jason’s loss as something Benny is still suffering over, as well as how she hasn’t lost hope in finding him again. Plus frankly, it’s also a really good story.

The Glass Prison: You’d think that for a book where Benny spends the majority of it in prison and not very active due to being near the end of her pregnancy, not much would happen, but the way Jacqueline Rayner builds up an atmosphere of unease, mistrust and a genuine disturbing ambiance throughout the book is just, fantastic.

Genius Loci: This book. This book!!! Ben Aaronovitch writes an absolutely powerful story of Benny as a young woman, lost and finding herself faced with far more responsibility than she ever thought possible. The way he writes the whole mystery, while also making Benny as a 20yo not only believable, but quite distinct from Benny as the adult we’ve all come to know and love is just. So good. My main grip with this book is how abruptly it ends, and how we’ll never get the sequel. I want to read Terra Incognita and more of Benny slowly finding herself damn it!

Dead Men Diaries: Just like Doomsday Manuscript, does a great job at establishing the collection as well as the recurring cast. I really enjoy most of the stories in it, and I think BF started out so strong on those books srsly!

A Life in Pieces: I love it so much. It’s pure brax at his most manipulative, and for such petty reasons. I really like how it both deals with the aftermath of the Fifth Axis occupation, as well as the repercussions Brax’s schemes have for the people living on the collection. Also, it’s just 3 very good novellas in a row that build up to something more, and I always like seeing that.

Nobody’s Children: That book has the best Draconian story in the entirety of doctor who and related. Like, yeah just that. It’s also nice to see the fallout of the Mim/Draconian war. It’s one I didn’t expect a lot out of, and frankly, I ended up really loving it.

The Vampire Curse: The middle novella is one I absolutely hated, but the other two are really good, and mixing benny and vampires is just, very fun. Also!! Predating the Predator is in it, and it is a really good take on vampires in a science fiction setting that also has some nice creep factor as well, and manages to be both a good vampire story, and a good sci fi story, which isn’t always an easy balance to find.

Life During Wartime: It’s a surprisingly hard hitting anthology about living under a fascist regime, and the compromises you have to make, the personal sacrifices and small rebellions. Honestly, there’s a lot I love about it, but certainly one of my favorite moment, is when Benny, having to dine with one of the officers, miss jones & jason, sees that the officer is nearly on to her hiding peter away, and that split second moment of “if I have to, I am willing to kill everyone in this room to protect my son” before he just laughs it off, it’s a lot of tiny moments that build up to a really well done ambiance tbh.

Something Changed: While it did the terrible, terrible sin of introducing Doggles to the world, I really love the concept of every chapter after the first being a different split universe, and how they’re all spiraling more & more out of control. It’s got some really good stories in between too, though they can also be rather hit & miss. An aspect I love about it too is how impactful Wolsey’s death ends up being.

Present Danger: That one is fun, I love how it’s basically everyone vs the deindum, a situation slipping more and more out of control, mixed with some neat stuff one the deindum’s whole temporal deal. It’s again a bit hit & miss, but it’s still a blast, and as the last anthology of the collection era, it does send it all off with a bang.

Welp. Far, far too many words later, and here we are!!! I love Benny a lot ngl, and I genuinely think that prose is the medium best suited for her. I have been rather disappointed with the more modern books, I find them far more bland than what I personally expect from Benny but ah well. Can’t always get everything.

And while it’s neither a book, nor even an official story in any mean, the fanfic “Sepelio” that’s an Hannibal au set in the Dellah era is great, and the benny story I have been enjoying the most lately. I would be remiss not to at least mention it!

#ask #ask tag #bernice summerfield #.... Look I love benny probably a bit too much for my own good

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astrognossienne · 3 years

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birthdays: 4 - the unabashed social climber

My dabbling in birthday numerology has resulted in a ridiculously viral and classic post on my tumblr that goes through all the birthdays. The total sum of all birthdays essentially adds up to a range of numbers 1-9. In that post, I provided snapshots of the personalities of these birthdays. Now, here, on my website, I shall expound further as to why I came to these conclusions. To continue this series, we'll get into my other least favourite birthday number: 4.

4, 13, 22, 31: humanitarians, romantic, penetrating, provocative, faithful, pragmatic, reserved, immature, nakedly ambitious, tries too hard to be omnipotent, controversy always seems to surround them, savage for no reason, prides themselves on being infallible but are utterly fallible, know-it-alls, critical, anxious, smart-mouthed yet very sensitive (almost too much so), proud, tries hard to be individualistic but in reality is just like everyone else, very shady, can be and is often very disrespectful, patronizing and egotistical, needs their ass kissed, due to their vast insecurity and inherent inadequacy they have a need to conquer others and if they can’t do so then they will try very hard to destroy them, wayyy too sensitive and resorts to being caustic and abusive when they’re hurt (which is all the time), tries too hard to act/look/talk hard, can be tough but sweet, can be quite judgmental, always working, likes to one-up people, needs control and is often very self-controlled, often fake, passive-aggressive, very opportunistic and savvy, great at making friends, very contradictory and hypocritical, often very talented and hardworking, competitive, inspires others, wants to be known as kind and great in everyone’s eyes, almost always supremely unlikable individuals, often downright repulsive, has low self-esteem and projects it on others, often has hidden motives, adroit in using people’s emotions for their own ends

I think I pretty much summed them up there. Those who have these birthdays (especially those born on the 4th and 22nd) are the ones who I'm the most indifferent towards and amused by, but in the interest of fairness, let's dive into the psyche of these people, because if nothing else, they're moderately interesting psychological case studies.

When I think of 4's, I think of the character Eve Harrington in the classic film All About Eve. They're hurt, bitter, broken, miserable insecure bitches and often have low self-esteem and inadequacies within themselves, but they cover it up with false "self-love" and "assertiveness" which is actually condescension, aggressiveness, cockiness, and arrogance. This is evidenced in their unabashed social climbing they do. All social climbing have one thing in common: they seek to increase the social climber status by attacking and taking status away from others. They revel in this, since in their mind it secures their power over others, which is very important to them. They're often sad cases with attitude problems. They can’t, or don’t know how to reconcile their pain in a healthy way, so they direct it back out in mean, cruel, and insensitive ways - hurting others just because they were hurt. This process works only briefly, and usually generates extreme guilt in the person, making them stop for awhile. But, the pain of their past hasn’t been healed, so once again they try to bleed off the pain by hurting someone by being mean or rude. It’s like draining the pressure in a boiler. They know they’re inferior and broken, so they take it out full force on the people they envy and those whose true authentic power that they want. They often say what they don't mean. They're also forces of nature, and they somehow always seem to draw deep emotions out of people, and a lot for people seem to be deeply drawn to them. Fours, in turn, are often drawn by those who know how to control their emotions and make them work for them as well as those who have a deeper well of emotion than they and aren't scared of displaying it.

They have the amusing paradox of being mean AND hypersensitive at the same time, but the key is if one feels that these people are actually worth the time you have to take to get to know them, ignore their natural walls, abnormal need for control, rudeness and meanness, and love them anyway. If one can get through to that hurting part and heal and love it, these individuals can be loyal and even amazing friends for life. (incidentally, it's for this reason that I always seem to see these individuals deeply connected to 2's, 5's and 9's because I think 4's sense in them a kindred spirit, or someone they can use this strange type of "love" on and still feel accepted. But I'll cover those numbers at a later date). It might seem crazy, but a common way these people try and pull their partner/friends close is by expressing anger (of which there is a lot of) and unneeded childish aggression, often ruthlessly attacking perceived weaknesses. It usually works in the opposite way (unfortunately), but often underneath the anger is a strong plea for connection and love. The anger is a mask of protest about not getting that love. They like to create conflict and are very restless. They’re whiny and their edginess is based on their M.O. that "people want to hurt me; I must hurt them first to be safe". They’re often very petty and very small and are too selfish to show any real compassion for those going through a tough time or a tragedy, often pouring salt on the wound (although strangely enough, they're often touted as paragons of compassion and virtue).

They're not satisfied with the ordinary, and more often than not they do tend to lead extraordinary lives. They have an accessibility and a mystery at the same time. They can be calm and insanely disciplined. But they are also very fiery and passionate, and often make rash and headstrong decisions and can be very immature and insecure about themselves because of the need for balance that the number 4 suggests. They can also (only when seriously evolved) be inspirational, using their talents to move masses of people in a way very few can, such as Barack Obama (August 4), and obnoxious personalities like Beyoncé (September 4), her husband Jay-Z (December 4), and their friend Justin Timberlake (January 31 [another classic case of the low-level 4]). They are victims masquerading as warriors and use their victimhood as a weapon and other opportunistic tactics to cement their power. However, there is a lot of fixed-sign-esque (especially that of a Leonine/Scorpionic nature) ego associated with the number 4, and this requires everyone to bow down and kiss their ass. If the 4 doesn't get this type of treatment, then they'll destroy everything and everyone in their wake to assuage their hurt feelings and damaged ego, such as it is in the case of Meghan Markle (also born on August 4) and what she and her husband Harry are currently doing to the Royal Family.

Meghan tried to gain unconditional and total acceptance from them/England/the world. Since she didn't get it, she and Harry took their ball and went home" by backing out of the Royal Family and the duties associated with it and moving with their children to America, effectively cutting themselves off from Harry's grandmother, brother, and ailing grandfather. Which brings me to another point about 4's: they like to do things on their own terms, often alienating others along the way to satisfy themselves. Now that Meghan has had time to think about the "abuse" that she feels that she has received, she's going to get her ultimate revenge by trying to destroy the Royal Family with allegations of racism and mental/emotional abuse. Note: it wasn't a problem when they were courting, and it wasn't a problem when they got married, but since she didn't get the "kid glove" treatment she wanted, now they're a "racist family". I often wonder, if the firm/tabloids/press went after Princess Diana so brutally, as blonde-haired, blue-eyed and pretty as she was, what did Markle honestly expect? This speaks to the 4s often shocking naivety. Also, Markle kept referring to Kate Middleton in her interview, so that means that she's fixated on Kate as a point of envy. This is how hate and negative emotions will cause things to change and often unnecessarily so.

On the positive side (only when evolved), 4's can be active, hard-working, systematic, diligent, careful, objective, firm, introverted, serious, patient, reserved, thoughtful, sensible, analytic, calm, orderly and loyal. For those born on the 4th, 13th, 22nd, and 31st, this describes them in a nutshell.

#a freebie from my website #enjoy!#4 #four #numerology #birthdays #mine

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thotsforvillainrights · 4 years

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OOO~ Good choice of best boys! Could you give me your favorite headcanon for each of them? I'm really curious!

(Random one up to me? Ah, it’s like a dream come true!)

~Random Headcanons for Mun’s Best Boys~

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up

~Spinner~

-Although he plays a ton of video games that have gore and action, he’s also a God at animal crossing. Of course he doesn’t say anything about it out loud because if Shigaraki hears it then he’s probably going to tease him. If not, then Dabi damn sure will. Either way, it’s his little secret honestly. He’s got so many hours logged into New Leaf that his village is insane. When New Horizons came out, Spinner was extremely happy about it. He put back most of his savings and bought the fresh copy to go with his new switch. He literally hasn’t been that excited for a Nintendo game since breath of the wild came out. He might secretly invite Toga into his room and play the game with her since he knows she won’t judge, but there’s no guarantee that she won’t spill the beans about him playing it.

~Twice~

-Jin has tried on multiple occasions to get over his smoking addiction but it just wasn’t working out! At one time he tried throwing away every single cigarette in his apartment, and car. That didn’t work because he went out an hour later and bought up 4 packs (and smoked 3 of them). The second time he tried, he froze his credit card in a block of ice inside the freezer, and donated all his cash/pocket change to keep himself for buying more. It almost worked until he found half a smoked one in his jacket pocket. The third time he attempted to quit, he actually went to a few smokers meetings but he was deemed ‘not mentally stable’ enough to stay. In other words, his personalities started arguing with each other and scared the crap out of the other members. Even till this day he struggles with his addiction. He wants to stop so badly, but it’s just too tempting. Maybe if he had a certain someone in his life to help him?👀

~Setsuno~

-He has a secret talent in playing music. Toya is a master at playing the guitar and his voice isn’t too bad either. He would sometimes come home and play/sing his heart out. It was his way of venting out his emotions and de-stressing after work. His best covers range from Simple Man (lynyrd skynyrd), to Free Falling (tom petty). He was pretty well versed...until he became super focused on the Shie Hassaikai. Still sometimes he comes back and picks up the guitar just to make sure he still has his skills and that they don’t disappear. As for his singing, he does that almost every time he gets in the shower.

~Pops~

-He’s super focused on the outside parts of his home. When he goes out to shop for anything, he always returns with gardening stuff, or bird and fish food. The koi in his pond are the healthiest they could be. And every day he gets a slew of beautifully colored birds that come to eat the food he leaves out. He replaces the water in his bird baths almost every two days, and he also has a small corner of the yard dedicated to his rock garden. Not to even mention how perfect his flowers are that he tends to. As Chisaki would put it: ‘the outdoor area is Pop’s happy place’ and it’s very true. He meditates out there with Tengai every Friday morning, and other times he’ll sit out back at night and watch the moon above him. Pops is such a peaceful sweetheart (despite his yakuza ties and the things he’s done in the past).

~Compress~

-Sako has an alley cat that he claims as his own! It started one day when he was coming back to the base after a long walk outside. He spotted a scruff looking grey cat hiding behind the trashcans and watching him. After he entered the base, he shuffled around in the kitchen until he found some canned tuna. Since it was cheap and affordable, he decided it would serve as makeshift cat food. Sako would feed this cat every day and night, siting on the steps and talking to it about his day while the small thing would purr happily as it ate. It got closer and closer until finally one day he approached Sako without being prompted with food first. Compress brought the cat inside and cleaned it. He also took it to a cheap vet and gave it a checkup as well. The reason why he doesn’t let it inside is because Toga is insane and he doesn’t trust her around cute things since she’s known to cut stuff up. Another reason is that Magne is allergic to cats, and Tomura can be downright cruel sometimes. Sako allows the cat to stay in the alleyway, and he rarely misses a feeding.

»—————————–———————————————————–✄

Instagram: @pastelbattydraws & @pastelbattystore

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRNMJH7vHL7APNobUykhK4w?view_as=subscriber

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buniyaad · 4 years

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veer-zaara for yunoasta !!!

Anon, thank you for the wonderful prompt. I hope you enjoy the feels.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

It's Captain Fuegoleon who tells him that he'll never become Wizard King.

It doesn't burn as much as he thinks it would. There's no sneer accompanying the older man's words, no actual distaste on his part, just the cold hard truth of the matter.

He's not cruel about it, either. He simply calls Yuno to a formal meeting, and communicates what the rest of the Clover Kingdom nobility wants him to communicate. A prince of another realm can never rule as our rightful king, is what Captain Fuegoleon says.

I'm sorry, is what Captain Fuegoleon means.

Of course, that doesn't mean Yuno is stripped of his citizenship, or kicked out of the Magic Knights. He's Vice Captain of the Golden Dawn, and one day, he'll become their Captain, but that's where his career ends.

He tells Sister Lily, because out of everyone he knows, she's the only one who knows how to listen without interrupting. He sends Belle away to play with the children, and recounts his story as they sit across from each other at the rickety little kitchen table that still hasn't given up.

Somewhere along the way, he begins to cry, but he doesn't even notice, not until she takes his hands into her own, and squeezes them lightly.

The rest of the world finds out a few days later, when Belle is chewing out some junior Golden Dawn members, promising them that after Yuno gets tired of looking after them, she'll steal him away to the spirit world where he can become her king, because to hell with Clover Kingdom.

Once the rest of the Magic Knights find out, word swiftly travels back to Ralph Niaflem, who's strategically set up a small base on the border of Spade Kingdom to keep tabs on Yuno without breaking the uneasy peace treaty between Clover Kingdom and the transitional government currently leading Spade. Its been six months since the invasion concluded, and Yuno's only a few moons away from his eighteenth birthday, so Ralph is bolder than he's ever been.

Yuno doesn't need to do anything. He's leading reconstruction efforts along the border of the Neutral Zone on Clover Kingdom's side, so it's Ralph who finds him at the mead hall after the last round of meals have been served.

Come home, is all he says.

Leave them, is what Yuno hears.

The assumptions don't baffle Yuno as much as the audacity does.

It makes sense why some would talk. It's a nobleman's world, after all. Yuno knows parentage is as important as power, and he has the power, he's always had the power, but he simply does not have the parentage. He knows this, understands it, and gets why Captain Fuegoleon looks at him with pity, gets why Captain Jack offers him a spot on his squad if he ever gets bored of running around with the hoity-toity soldiers of Golden Dawn, because it's just a fact of their world, the fact that no man is born equal.

But the audacity – the fact that people think that being Wizard King is all that's ever mattered, that's what burns Yuno alive.

Because none of it matters, so as long as the people he loves are OK.

As long they're OK, Yuno will accept anything.

Maybe that's why Ralph comes with a contract next.

Come to Spade, and you and your foster family will never have to worry about food ever again, says Ralph.

Come to Spade, and Clover will never be able to look down on you ever again, Yuno hears.

Asta is the only one who contests the decision in high court, charges at Damnatio and the council, demanding justice, demanding equality.

He doesn't get it, of course, because Asta himself is only around so that Clover Kingdom can save face, not because Asta is their savior, not because Asta put his life on the line to establish a contract with the Anti-Magic Demon – no. Asta's only around because Damnatio can't deny that Asta has saved millions of people across borders, and Damnatio knows that exiling him is the same as offering him up as a free resource to another kingdom, and Damnatio can't have that, can't have a weapon that strong in another realm.

So Asta gets to stay – but like all other weapons, he doesn't get a say, and once the nobles are tired of hearing him yell on Yuno's behalf, they tell him that Yuno can become an advisor to the king like Marx Francois, should the future king ever desire, but that's about as far as they'll budge.

And that burns Asta alive.

Captain Vangeance and Yami Sukehiro are finally cleared for duty by the time Ralph prepares his third strike. This time, it's a missive from the transitional government in Spade, offering Yuno the opportunity to rule over his own army, because now they think that Yuno is an ambitious little soldierboy, and that if they can get him into the country as a high-ranked general, he'll eventually take the mantle as king.

As always, Yuno declines as rudely as possible, because there are no niceties left to share with Ralph – no respect for a man who desires nothing more than to snatch Yuno away from the only home he has ever known.

Maybe that's why Ralph's fourth strike is the worst.

Asta breaks Solid Silva's nose defending Yuno's honor, because Asta will accept any and all disrespect thrown his way, so as long as the insults are only directed towards him. Yuno doesn't think the Silva tribe has much common sense, because the young man, Solid, he says something in full earshot of seventeen other Magic Knights, so when Asta throws his punch, no one makes a move to help until Solid starts wailing about his precious face.

Yuno only finds out after Klaus and Mimosa hurry him to the courthouse where Asta is awaiting suspension details for attacking a fellow Magic Knight. He's outside when Asta comes out with a limping Captain Yami, whose hand is around the back of Asta's neck as the shorter of the two is dragged out like a ragdoll. He's there when Captain Yami throws Asta at him like he's a sack of potatoes. He's there when Captain Yami yells at Yuno to get the chibi in line before Asta gets himself fired for picking fights with every blueblood in the country.

He's there when Asta grumbles underneath his breath that if the asshole had kept Yuno's name out of his filthy mouth, then maybe Asta wouldn't have had to break his nose in public with seventeen other Magic Knights standing around.

He's there when he realizes it's not all for naught.

Yuno doesn't need to tell Asta he loves him. Instead, he shows him.

They're back in Hage, because Asta is suspended from his duties for a month without pay, and Yuno's just as petty as the rest of them, so he flies Asta home on his broom. After Asta's gotten his scoldings and scarfed down twelve baked tatoes in record time, Yuno leads him into the forest towards Fanzell Kruger's old house, having already promised Sister Lily and Father Orsi that they'd be back the next morning.

Asta doesn't understand until they're in front of the old house that's still furnished with the basics, a house that Yuno keeps tidy and well-stocked because he oftentimes needs a quiet place to do his paperwork.

Yuno doesn't tell Asta he loves him. Instead, he leads his beloved through the doors of the old house, and into the bedroom upstairs.

A week later, Ralph approaches him while he's lunching with the Vice Captain of the Green Mantis, finalizing the details of a new community center that will help the isolated villages have a place to congregate outside the old Grimoire Tower now undergoing renovations. It's good work, and En Ringard is an intelligent man, and things are going well until Yuno catches a glimpse of Ralph's sandy blonde hair.

The fourth time, Ralph slides over a copy of Clover Kingdom's constitution of rights. The section detailing the ban on same-sex marriage is marked with red ink. Before Yuno can punch him in the throat, Ralph slides another missive across the table.

This one promises Yuno he can marry anyone if he becomes the Spade king – including Asta.

It's the only time he doesn't rudely decline Ralph's offer. Instead, he's shaking with rage he can't understand. Ralph excuses himself and disappears from sight, while Yuno spends the rest of the day pouring through the documents, comparing notes, imagining a life where he can hold Asta's hand and be recognized for it.

They're not hiding it, of course, and the nation hasn't outlawed their existence, but that's about as far as the King's mercy goes. They can't marry, can't take in children unless they take up the cloth as celibate fathers, can't inherit wealth from each other, can't even claim each other during a health crisis. They're out in the open, in love and bound together for life, but they have nothing to show for it in the eyes of the law. They know it, and the kingdom knows it. They know it, and even Captain Yami and Captain Vangeance give them pitying looks, because they know Yuno and Asta will end up just like them – living detached lives with their respective men, lives that only matter to them and them alone, because Clover Kingdom doesn't care about them, doesn't recognize them.

And so the fourth strike is the worst, because Ralph is a master tactician, and worst than Damnatio will ever be. Clover Kingdom's citizenry sneer at them when they hold hands at the fish market.

Ralph offers him a kingdom, an army, and the right to marry Asta – all in the same breath.

They sleep in the same bed now, whether it be at the Black Bulls base, the Golden Dawn headquarters, or Fanzell Kruger's old house. The only place they don't share a bed is the church, and only because Father Orsi claims that only only married men can share a bed under God's eyes. At first, they're scared, because perhaps they've miscalculated, and maybe their love isn't enough, but the old man is of a different breed, and he's already yelled at seven different barristers for rejecting a marriage license for two men even though Asta and Yuno never asked him to fight on their behalf.

But he does, and so does Sister Lily, and so do the orphans who pick fights with the children who disrespect them, and that's how Asta and Yuno know that they're loved, that they'll always be loved.

So when Ralph comes to him a fifth time, Yuno has his answer prepared.

It's two weeks after his and Asta's eighteenth birthday, and Captain Vangeance has gifted them enough wood to build their own house in Hage, so that they have a place to canoodle until Father Orsi is able to threaten a barrister into approving his and Asta's marriage license.

It's funny, because they don't even have to propose to each other. Their loved ones do all the work for them.

Ralph approaches him while he's going over measurements for the kitchen. They meet under the bright, mid-afternoon sun, a day when Asta is away on a mission, and both Father Orsi and Sister Lily are in the capital for a formal meeting of the nuns and priests under Clover Kingdom's church.

“Your Highness-”

“Please, call me Yuno. There are no princes in Hage.”

He hums into Asta's chest that night as they canoodle beneath the stars. Asta's limbs are splayed out in every odd direction, while Yuno is curled up against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. The chill hasn't settled in yet, but when it does, Yuno knows that he'll be fine, so as long as Asta is fine, so as long as they're together, forever.

“When I'm Wizard King, I'll make you co-Wizard King,” Asta tells him for the sixth time that night.

“Still not the actual Wizard King,” Yuno hums.

“Then I'll kick Damnatio's ass until he makes us both Wizard Kings!” Asta yells at the sky.

Yuno can't help but laugh, because at one point, it did hurt knowing that he wouldn't be able to follow Asta to the top, but he'd forgotten that no matter what, Asta will never let him fall behind. One way or another, they'll both get there, regardless of who gets there first.

Whether it's as the Captain of the Golden Dawn, as an advisor, or as co-Wizard King – it will always be Asta and Yuno, together forever.

Yuno presses kisses up against Asta's throat before reaching his lips. The sky is free of clouds tonight, and the empty field next to Fanzell Kruger's old house is illuminated with an abundance of moonlight. Yuno smiles down on his beloved before pressing his lips against his forehead.

Asta's fast, too fast, and Yuno's on his back again, pressed against an old blanket as Asta kisses the daylights out of him. When Asta finally lets go, Yuno laughs into his neck, laughs as Asta leaves kisses along his shoulder while adjusting his hips, laughs as he falls in love over, and over, and over again with the same man, now and forever.

Ralph doesn't show up again after that, not until many years later when Asta and Yuno are pushing thirty, and Father Orsi has finally succeeded in threatening the council into signing off on Asta and Yuno's marriage license with the help of two royal houses, countless nobles, many of the commoners, and almost all of the peasantry.

Ralph gives Yuno his birth family's old engraved bookshelves as a wedding gift. He fills the furniture with books, photo frames, and his and Asta's grimoires.

And all is well.

#Black Clover #YunoAsu #Asta #Yuno #real talk #ava's ficcing adventures

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soyouareandrewdobson · 4 years

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Alex ze Pirate “Mini Review” 1: About Male Abuse

Alex ze Pirate is in my opinion the WORST “comic” series Dobson has ever written up until this point (date for archives: June 2020). Sure, I agree with people that his “hot take” comics on Star Wars Fans, political issues and virtue signaling for the sake of making brownie points are worse overall cause they are uneducated propaganda that give insight in how much of a loathsome human being driven by spite he genuinely is, but Alex “offends” me as someone who enjoys fiction. It may not be the worst thing ever written, but it just does so many things wrong in terms of storywriting, storytelling, presentation and creating fictional characters, I can’t help but wonder what went wrong that Dobson even remotely thought this thing would be a “successful” comic series to establish him as a creator. Cause I can tell you, having read the likes of Don Rosa’s work on Disney, Hilda, Cleopatra in Space, Spirou, Asterix, One Piece (of which I will talk a lot in my next few posts) and many more, I can confirm by comparison that Dobson’s pirates as a published comic would have only one use on the public shelves: alternative for toilet paper during the COVID-19 epidemic

Believe me, I would love to write an in depth analysis of everything wrong with Alex ze Pirate, from the lazy artwork up to even the publication history of this trainwrack. But doing so would take a lot of time and there is one individual part of this I think deserve at least extra attention. Something that in my opinion embodies quite well a lot of things I consider wrong with this comic. So before I am going over Alex in its entirety (and believe me, the day will come) let me just talk within the next few posts about one certain aspect and story of the comic, that genuinely got me to loath this comic to the core: Sam the Cabin Boy and “his” own individual story Dobson drew in three parts around 2010.

For starters, lets talk who Sam is: Sam is one of the main characters in the comic and actually the first person who joined Alex and Peggy in the initial pages of Legends, the “original” form of Alex ze Pirate.

See, back in 2004, Dobson released Alex ze Pirate in form of a single comic volume called “Legends” which features Alex trying to recruit a crew. The thing is around 78 pages thick and based on what I saw pretty terribly paced. For comparison: When Luffy in One Piece got his crew together, he spend multiple volumes and at least three minor story arcs to get Zoro, Nami, Sanji and Usopp to join him. All while also giving us good insight into the kind of people his new crewmates were (especially Sanji’s and Nami’s backstory got to me), defeating the likes of Buggy and Captain Black, meeting Dracula Mihawk and defeating one of the biggest bastards Eichiro Oda ever created in form of Arlong. What is the story how Sam joins the crew? An orphanage organizes an auction and sells kids off. Which I assume was even illegal in pirate times, so kudos for already showing us how despicable the world of Alex ze Pirate is to begin with and how much it deserves to be nuked in some sort of alien invasion.

Sam also doesn’t really get anything to do when he is introduced, just helping Alex escape on a small boat. Which is weird because he does not know her at all, she is just some stranger who bought him off and has no means to keep him in check, so why even bother following her and not let the mob get rid of Alex?

Anyway, I wish I could tell more about Sam’s involvement in Legends, but I don’t have really more than some scans of it in the beginning and near the end. So I don’t know his involvement in the rest of the volume. I also can’t say how he plays out in volume two, because that does not exist at all. Cause for reasons I will never understand, Dobson just abandoned the idea of telling a “coherent” and ongoing story with Alex ze Pirate and instead went to his colored one page comics/strips with it, turning it into what some people called “Garfield with Pirates” (which I consider a genuine insult towards any newspaper comic out there, even something as Boondocks). And the first thing we see of Sam in “classic” Alex ze Pirate?

The perverted dwarf of the crew showing of his shota underwear so that Alex and Sam stop bickering who is the cutest, leaving him embarrassed and humiliated.

Which kinda sums up his role in the comic to a t. Cause this is what Sam is: He is the buttmonkey of the crew. And honestly, I would not have a total problem with Sam being a buttmonkey, if a) he wasn’t it all the time, b) he would actually do something to deserve any form of humiliation and c) if the other characters in this comic itself would not be some of the biggest assholes I have ever seen, who get away with abusing the poor lad.

See, here is the problem: In a crew featuring a choleric homophobic soulless ginger

A black rat person who wants to fuck the ginger even without her consent

A furry abomination that has the same brain wavelengths as Chris Chan

And a perverted dwarf who tries to impersonate Happosai from Ranma 1/2

Sam is the only decent person in the entire crew. He works hard, he even questions the morality of his friends at times, he is honest, he is not perverted, almost good to the point of childish innocence and he has a very humble “goal” which is he wants to own his own piece of gold. Not even a big pile of treasure, just one single coin would be enough for him.

So he is likeable and relatable. In fact, if anything goes by, he may have been one of the most popular ones in the comic. And yet he is the one who gets constantly abused by “fate” and his friends, because as Dobson would say it, he is supposed to be the buttmonkey. There is just one problem: People do not necessarily like buttmonkeys.

I can primarily speak only for myself here, but I hope what I have to say resonates with others too. See, I get it: A character who is the butt of a joke can be fun. Like Daffy in Duck Amuck. But there is a fine line where a character being humiliated for the sake of a joke is fun (and perhaps even deserved because of his own shortcomings or deeds/actions that make the humiliation sort of kharmic, like lets say Johnny Bravo) and a character being humiliated to the point it feels disproportional, unfunny and mean spirited if not outright sadistic, can be crossed. Take Meg Griffin from Family Guy for example whose only “purpose” for existing within the last 12+ years is to get shat on by her family and the writers. People have no idea for a plot with her, so what do they do? Have her father physically and emotionally abuse her, fart in her face for what is supposed to count as a joke and then add additional insult to it by acknowledging that they are only doing this, because they have no other idea for her and think abuse is fun. Let me just tell you from experience, it is not.

And that is essentially what Sam is: He is the Meg Griffin of Alex ze Pirate, used by his creator as the butt of very unfunny jokes, even if he does not deserve any of the things said or done to him. Want to see some examples?

How about the description Dobson gives Sam within the introduction of one of his volumes, showing how little Dobson as the creator even cares for him.

Why is he called an unworthy “slob” if he is the only one who actually works? Shouldn’t a slob be someone like Dobson, who can’t even take care of himself anymore? Also the confirmation that he was kidnapped at the age of 16. And as we have no clarification how much time passed between Legends Vol. 1 and anything afterwards, that means that in a way Alex is a child abuser.

And now, here some examples by the rest of the cast. Like Uncle Peggy framing him for all sorts of his perverted actions and even trying to kill him for no apparent reason?

Alex trying to kill him with chicken pox…

…Destroying all his worldly posessions which is hilarious because he is a poor orphan…

…Essentially describing him as worthless because he was born with an Y-chromosome…

… doing the kind of thing Dobson claims women would never do to man, using their sex appeal to hurt them…

…forcing him to do some unnecessary and rather petty work for her in a physics defying manner (seriously, the way he holds the axe does not compute with how he swings it. Try it out yourself)

… stealing his food and just being a cruel sadistic cunt to him just because it is fun.

Which is “funny” in so far as that there are a few comics indicating she would jump his dick and ride it like a little pony if she could.

By the way, Talus and Atea are not better. None of them calls Alex out on her bullshit on average, Atea uses Sam to trigger traps in one story arc…

And Talus, the closest to a “friend” he is supposed to have, once for no apparent reason made him dig through his litterbox

And don’t get me even started when the characters decide to gang up on Sam, to the point he gets sexually harassedor is called to be less worth as a human being than the dirt you find in your belly button

Fuck’s sake, even in fanart everyone gangs up on him, even the freaking big bad of the story everyone is supposed to hate or be afraid of

Bottom line, Sam is an abuse victim played for laughs in this comics. And just to clarify, I do not think this was Dobson’s intention. But if the character is undeservingly the butt of jokes for the majority of over 120 strips, it turns nasty. The way Sam is treated, I just find disgusting and indictive of just how unlikable any other character in this comic is to the point I do not want to see this being turned into a proper “franchise”. And I assume others were disgusted by it too, cause Dobson eventually decided to make a story more or less addressing the treatment Sam receives, while also attempting to prove that deep down the assholes with starring roles in this trainwrack care for him. How did this play out? Well, I am going to talk about it, so likely not well. If you want to see the details, grab yourself some popcorn and take a toilet break before we tackle part 2 of this thing.

#andrew dobson #so you are a cartoonist #sjw #comics #comic #webcomic #alex ze pirate #sam the cabin boy #legends #tom preston #disgusting #male abuse #unfunny

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beneaththetangles · 3 years

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Reader’s Corner: Last Dungeon, Talentless Nana, and Oregairu

The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat, Vol. 1

When a proficient assassin gets “taken care of” after he is no longer needed, a goddess gives him the opportunity to be reincarnated in another world, but with a task to complete. The hero who will defeat the Demon King who is projected to go crazy with power and destroy the world himself, and he needs to be killed once his job is done. To that end, the newly-reincarnated Lugh is born into a noble house that secretly conducts assassinations to eliminate problematic nobles in the country. From here, this is pretty standard isekai fare: Lugh makes use of powerful skills and knowledge of his previous life as he meets girls, invents items from Earth, and prepares for his eventual encounter with the hero. A few things help this novel out, though: For one thing, as far as the romance/harem aspects go, things are not dragged out much at all. Lugh is explicitly in love with one of the girls, and is made well aware how other girls feel about him, so overall the romance aspect is more pleasant than frustrating. There’s also a running theme of Lugh wanting to live for himself instead of blindly following orders from those above him like he did in his past life, and how that affects both his current assassin life and his greater mission. This leads to the possibility of keeping the hero (who we do not yet meet in this volume) from being corrupted without killing him, which definitely has potential. Overall, though, this is still a fairly “standard” isekai that is mainly for established fans of the genre, who are okay with something that is entertaining even if it isn’t particularly groundbreaking or amazing. ~ stardf29

The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat, Vol. 1 is available from Yen Press, who provided a review copy for this article.

My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong, As I Expected, Vol. 10.5

After an increasingly seriousness tone, compounded for the last several volumes, 10.5 features the fluff of a date chapter involving Irohasu and Hikki and the special treat a chapter devoted to Zaimokuza. These initial stories, the earlier adapted into an OVA, reflect much of what makes the series special: outstanding and unique voices, the hilariously self-deprecating thoughts from Hikki, and the interplay between the characters. That last component is especially uproarious in the dating chapter, one of the rare instances in which the Oregairu anime doesn’t nearly do justice to the written volume. To be sure, this entire light is a special treat for Irohasu fans, with Watari himself stating in the afterword, “With Iroha on the cover, it’s been like, this volume has been all Irohasu! Irohasu 100 perfect!” But as expected of the author, even for a “.5 novel,” there’s more here than just romantic moments and humor. The third and most lengthy chapter reminds readers that the characters are all growing as they each, in their own ways, reach for that “something genuine.” So while volume 10.5 may be a respite from those coming immediately before, it’s not a throwaway, but rather a worthy addition to this popular and engaging series. ~ Twwk

My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong, As I Expected Vol. 10.5 is available from Yen Press.

Talentless Nana, Vol. 1

Let’s take a group of high school kids with super powers and place them in a separate high school where they learn to defeat enemies of humanity. Sound familiar? It sure feels very similar, after all, to the premise of My Hero Academia. Yet by the end of the first chapter, Talentless Nana has sets itself apart. The students of the series have super powers called talents, and are separated and trained to supposedly use their powers against the “enemies of humanity.” But that’s not the whole story. The first chapter ends with the titular Nana murdering one of the students in the name of protecting the world from these same “enemies of humanity.” According to her and the people who brought her to the school, the true enemies are the talented humans. She has a cell phone telling her predictions on how many deaths each student will cause from their misuse of powers. It’s a psychological manga that makes you question every character and their motives continuously, and also a fascinating tale of paranoia and misinformation. ~ MDMRN

Talentless Nana is currently simulpublished by Crunchyroll.

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, Vol. 1

This light novel has an anime adaptation airing this season, and since I enjoyed the first couple episodes, I became curious to check out the source material. I’m sorry to say, of that I’m not a fan. Lloyd moves from a strange village on the edge of civilization, where everyone is so OP that Lloyd is considered weak, and comes to a more normal municipality, where everyone but him can see that he’s totally OP; comical adventures ensue. On the bright side, this story is quite funny and has some interesting characters. Unfortunately, I had other issues with it. An extended scene near the beginning of the tale features the villagers heaping ridicule on Lloyd and describing all the ways he is “weak.” It’s supposed to be funny, but frankly, their criticism is so unreasonable and hurtful to Lloyd that it qualifies as abuse. Besides knowing the truth yet not dealing with this situation, the village chief, Alka, is also petty, cruel, capricious, deceitful, needlessly destructive, and OH YEAH SHE’S AN OVERPOWERED AUTHORITY FIGURE WHO’S MORE THAN 100 YEARS OLD AND SHE’S GROOMING A KID (Lloyd) SO SHE CAN GET IN BED WITH HIM. Sorry, but being a sexual predator just isn’t funny. It’s a pity that she keeps showing up to ruin scene after scene. I won’t be continuing with this series. ~ jeskaiangel

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, vol. 1 is published by Yen Press.

Skip Beat, Vol. 16

The boys take center stage in volume 16 as Reino’s actions bring a surprisingly physical reaction from Sho, while the fallout of his insertion once again in Kyoko’s life has implications for Ren. So while this volume remains as interesting as the rest, that has less to do with the intricacies of the idol (and now acting) world and more so with its introspective look at Ren and Sho. The latter continues to be humanized as the series forces us to consider the question, Has he changed? It certainly seems as much, though readers’ feelings may turn based not only on his repentant treatment of Kyoko, but also the seriousness with which he approaches his craft, focused on for the first time in these chapters. Meanwhile, Ren is an absolute mess, with his worry about and desire for Kyoko finally bubbling to the surface in the form of…a stomachache? An unexpected side of Ren, for sure, but one that adds additional layers to his characterization. ~ Twwk

Skip Beat Vol. 16 is available through Viz, who provided a review copy for this article.

Shadows of Spawn: Collected Edition

Shadows of Spawn was a manga adaptation of the American comic of the same name…kind of. Instead of Al Simmons, though, a Japanese-American street thug named Ken Kurosawa dies and goes to Hell. He is then brought back to life years later as a hell-spawn after making a deal with a devil named Malebolgia. So, same general concept, but instead of a former government assassin, Shadows features a common criminal / martial arts expert as the main character. Kurosawa sells his soul for the primary purpose of returning to Earth to protect his sister, and spends the remainder of the three-volume series trying to do just that from the shadows while battling and befriending fill-in characters that represent similar ones from the mainline Spawn comic series. The thing about Shadows of Spawn is that the plot starts slowly, but the cast grows quickly as it tries very rapidly to build an ensemble cast for a new (manga reading) audience while staying inside the existing foundation of Todd McFarlane’s Spawn universe. The saddest part of all is that by the time the series really hit its stride with storytelling (volume 3), the series was cancelled. It’s a shame, as concept definitely had potential. ~ MDMRN

Shadows of Spawn: Collected Edition was published by Image Comics, but is currently out of print.

#Manga #Light Novels #The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat #Sekai Saikou no Ansatsusha Isekai Kizoku ni Tensei Suru #Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru.#My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU #My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected #Oregairu #Talentless Nana #Munou na Nana #Suppose a Kid From the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town #Tatoeba Last Dungeon Mae no Mura no Shounen ga Joban no Machi de Kurasu Youna Monogatari #Skip Beat!#Shadows of Spawn #Otaku Reader's Corner #Author: stardf29 #Author: TWWK #Author: MDMRN #Author: Jeskai Angel

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