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melrosing · 2 months

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Do you have any thoughts on the Azor Ahai prophecy?

sorry this took a while, I haven't really written much about this in the past so I don't have the relevant shit to hand in the same way. but my thoughts under the cut; conscious this is a contentious issue, so whilst I'm happy to chat about it, pls be normal if engaging.

I think it’s Jon. That doesn’t really get me excited or make me feel anything tbh, I guess because Jon is my least favourite major POV and the Azor Ahai prophecy isn’t one that interests me a whole lot. But I think the only real candidates for Azor Ahai are Jon and Dany, and based on both narrative structure and evidence within the story, I feel fairly confident it’s Jon.

Ofc, the argument for Dany being AA is strong and I think that’s the point. She ticks all the boxes, indeed more than Jon currently does, and the birth of her dragons is pretty much the most fantastic event in the story. She’ll surely have a huge role in ending the Long Night too, so Dany really does fit the bill.

But imo the structure of the story, and of their own personal arcs, favours Jon. I’ll quickly go through why I don’t think it favours Dany.

First off, rules of three: I think it was GRRM’s editor who told us that he likes rules of three in his writing. He makes you think one thing is true, then appears to provide the true solution, before the real answer emerges later on and completely throws you. There are lots of examples of GRRM using this technique in ASOIAF, but let’s go for another example that directly concerns Jon himself: the question of who his mother is.

The first answer we get is a basic one: Ned got Jon on a sex worker, and that’s that. We already know that’s near certainly not the case, because consciously or subconsciously we know that’s not how stories work. Second answer, Jon was born of an affair between Ned and Ashara. This idea is more interesting, has more supporting evidence, and we come across other characters who claim it’s true, like Edric. But still, I think a lot of people (even if they didn’t know R+L=J) would think that still doesn’t feel like the end of it. The closure has come too soon, and it doesn’t have the surprise factor that we know it’s supposed to have. It’s just clean.

Then of course the true answer is one that we still haven’t learnt yet: Ned isn’t even Jon’s father, and his mother is Lyanna, and Jon is the ‘true heir to the 7K’ etc etc etc. I think we’re all extremely used to this information now, but apart from the overwhelming evidence, we accept it because narratively it makes sense. This is the secret third thing, where everything clicks into place in a surprising way and has massive implications for the rest of the story. Rule of three.

I think the same applies to Azor Ahai. First, we’re told it’s Stannis. He ticks most of the boxes, albeit in a really haphazard way, but we know it’s not Stannis because we know how stories work. Then we’re presented with Dany as the answer. This seems to add up really well: she ticks the boxes far more literally - smoke, salt, bleeding star - and characters like Aemon are convinced it’s Dany.

But I think we run into the same problem here as we do with Ashara. The closure’s come too soon, everything fits too neatly, and honestly it lacks the surprise factor. Dany may be a surprise Azor Ahai to the rest of her world, but she isn’t to the reader: we’ve seen what she’s capable of, and if we were told that Dany is going to save the world, most good faith readers would be like ‘well yeah if anyone’s gonna do it’. And so ironically, that’s how you start to get the feeling it isn’t Dany. It sounds painfully self-contradictory, yeah, but it’s the same as it works with Ashara. Consciously or subconsciously, we know how stories work.

So Jon is the third answer. Jon is intended as the surprise, where he didn’t even seem like a contender, is really just some guy. Except he isn’t. To make sense of this, you really have to forget how obvious R+L=J seems to all of us now, bc time and again GRRM has said he didn’t intend it as obvious, and actually seems a bit frustrated how many people had worked it out - even before the show got to make the reveal.

Pasting at this juncture the key details of the prophecy:

When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone. DAVOS III, ASOS

So Jon is descended from Jaehaerys II and Shaera, as the Ghost of High Heart said TPTWP would be. He is indeed a prince, even if he doesn’t know it. When Melisandre looked for Stannis as TPTWP in the flames, she saw ‘snow’. Jon’s story is the one that most directly concerns the fight against TLN; Dany currently has the potential for the most impact, yes, but at the moment she has absolutely no idea what’s going on beyond the wall, and it’s Jon trying to unite the 7K against the Others. This makes him the strongest thematic fit for the hero who will ultimately end TLN.

Then we have the fact that there are two major things about Jon’s story that have to mean something. 1: Jon is the ‘true heir’ to the 7K, the one no one saw coming, that everyone thought was a nobody. Jon was born of the union between Rhaegar and Lyanna that only a dead man and Howland fucking Reed (likely a man with his own knowledge about the TLN, the Children and the Others) know about. Jon was the child Rhaegar somehow knew he had to have (the ethics of that aside…), that made him realise the prophecy wasn’t about him but someone else. Within the story of ASOIAF, this is seismic. It’s no good to say that Jon’s true heritage is nothing more than a political subplot, that’s not how stories work and it’s certainly not how GRRM writes.

And 2: Jon is going to be fucking resurrected. No, he’s not the first character to come back - Beric and Catelyn both got there before him. But if there’s one thing we can be sure of, Jon is coming back for a reason. We saw how ridiculous it is in the show for Jon to just come back to life and get on with everything like normal. Everyone was asking well why the fuck did he need to die in the first place then. To give him an excuse to leave the Night’s Watch? lol. Nah Jon is going to be reborn for a specific reason. Cannot emphasise enough that it is not GRRM’s style to kill Jon for nothing more than dramatic effect.

And who is going to rebirth him? Melisandre. What is the significance of Melisandre? Fucking everything. Melisandre has not been placed at the Wall to get the prophecy wrong AGAIN. She has been placed at the Wall because that is where the answer is. If Jon is the POV most focused on the TLN and the Others, Melisandre is the POV most focused on the AA prophecy. She is the one trying desperately to solve it, and whose revelation we are awaiting because once again, that’s how stories work: we know that Melisandre is wrong right now, so we anticipate the moment she will be right.

So Melisandre seeing ‘snow’ in her flames means something. Melisandre’s weird connection to Jon means something. Melisandre being the one who, seemingly without knowing it, has been preparing Jon for rebirth since about halfway through ADWD - means something also. R’hllorism and its weird connection to the AA prophecy means something. Melisandre and Ghost both having red eyes, with all the rest in mind, also seems to mean something.

Her eyes were two red stars, shining in the dark. At her throat, her ruby gleamed, a third eye glowing brighter than the others. Jon had seen Ghost's eyes blazing red the same way, when they caught the light just right. JON VI, ADWD

And right there’s the fact that Melisandre is the ‘red star of the prophecy’. Everyone thinks it’s the red comet, which we see identified in the ACOK prologue as the ‘bleeding star’ named in the AA prophecy. You know who’s also introduced in that chapter. Fuckin Melisandre. Melisandre and the ruby she wears are alternately described as ‘red’ and ‘star’ - sometimes both together:

Melisandre's ruby glowed like a red star at her throat. DAVOS VI, ASOS

So here’s Melisandre, red as hell, explaining the prophecy. Notice how much she herself seems to embody the imagery of the prophecy - red, flames, blood, burning, etc.

Melisandre was robed all in scarlet satin and blood velvet, her eyes as red as the great ruby that glistened at her throat as if it too were afire. "In ancient books of Asshai it is written that there will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world. In this dread hour a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. And that sword shall be Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him." DAVOS I, ACOK

So we come to the ‘bleeding/red star’ aspect of the prophecy. Smoke and salt are easy enough to come by, but a star is a more specific requirement. As is a birth (or rebirth). Dany seemed to tick these boxes with the smoke of the pyre, the great salt sea, the birth of her dragons/her figurative rebirth, and the red comet.

But I think the bleeding/red star is more likely Melisandre and/or her rubies. How either end up bleeding I can’t say, but it’s not hard to imagine. Does Melisandre destroy her ruby to revive Jon, or use her own blood? Maybe she has to die to do it, leaving Jon none the fucking wiser when he awakens what her reason for reviving him even was. That would be fitting: I think Jon won't understand his own significance for some time yet.

Either way, we have our star: Melisandre has been looking everywhere for one, never knowing it was she herself. This is actually a great beat for Mel’s story - for all the times she’s appeared all knowing, she was missing the woods for the trees, and her own significance in it all. It’s tragic, too, because that revelation is perhaps also one of her own demise.

(sidenote: I also think it's more fitting [and more likely] that the decision to burn Shireen and indeed the idea to do it is Stannis' own. in desperation, he attempts to fulfil what he recalls of Melisandre's methods, but butchers everything in doing so.)

Next we need smoke and salt, and as mentioned, those are straightforward. We’ve been told the Wall has plenty of salt lol, and light a few candles and you’ve got smoke - not to mention Melisandre loves a bit of fire, so figures there will be smoke involved in Jon’s rebirth either way. So salt and smoke both sound like pretty standard ingredients for a resurrection, I don’t think it’s much worth elaborating.

Then what’s left? ‘A birth/rebirth a day after a long summer’, check, we’re told again and again through ADWD that we’re on the brink of winter. ‘When the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world’, check again - Jon is right there on the scene.

The flaming sword comes after the rebirth, but it’s a given that Jon will wield one - it’s right there in his dreams:

Jon was armored in black ice, but his blade burned red in his fist. ADWD, JON XII

(another sidenote: look, a song of ice and fire. I’m aware that GRRM has previously stated that Dany’s fire and the battle against the others are the titular ice and fire, because he’s sure not going to say ‘by the way it’s also Jon’ when he hasn’t revealed anything about Jon yet. But we know that Rhaegar anticipates a child who embodies ‘the song of ice and fire’, and you cannot associate Dany with ice. Dany IS fire.)

I think Jon probably already has Lightbringer, and it’s Longclaw - we see that Ghost is tied in with the red of it all, and who is atop the sword but Ghost. Valyrian steel obviously also has some fantastical role still to play, and it’s notable that Jaime envisions he and Brienne also wielding flaming Valyrian swords (their flames are blue, of course, and Jaime doesn’t know in the dream that the blades are Valyrian, but the point stands that there’s some connection between flaming swords and Valyrian steel going on, and that that all ties to TLN).

So all that’s really left is to wake dragons from stone. This is one where I can’t really guess what it’ll mean - my best guess is that Jon will find dragonsteel at Dragonstone, because even if he did somehow hatch further dragons they’d be damn babies for the duration of the Long Night, but really this part could point to something we can’t yet guess at, so whatever.

And finally, there’s Jon’s heritage. The Targaryens are tied to the wielding of fire, to Valyrian steel, and to dragons. The Starks are tied to winter, to the Wall, to the old gods and the North. Jon’s heritage is representative of the two forces that need to unite to overcome the Others.

I don’t want to get into how exactly Jon ties into the mythos of the Night King and what undead Jon might look like, because whilst there’s plenty in there that no doubt ALSO supports the prophecy, I freely admit I just haven’t looked into it all that much bc it’s not a passion point for me, so I'm not going to seriously try. But we do have this part from Benerro's prophecy:

death itself will bend its knee, and all those who die fighting in her [referring to Dany as TPTWP] cause shall be reborn... ADWD, TYRION VI

You can make this really figurative to get it to work for Dany, but it would make a lot more sense for Jon. He'll rise from the dead (death itself will bend the knee) and 'all those who die fighting in [TPTWP's] cause shall be reborn' - hey just like the Others are. Is Jon somehow going to have his own army of the undead? Possibly.

So, cumulatively:

Jon will unite ice and fire, armoured in ice and wielding a flaming sword

Jon’s Stark and Targaryen heritage are figuratively significant

Rhaegar foresaw the significance of Jon. Rhaegar has been wrong in a lot in all senses of the word, but I think he’s going to be right on this point - on ONE fucking point

Jon will be reborn a day after winter comes

Jon will be reborn beneath a bleeding red star

Plenty of scope for salt and smoke to be involved

Jon will wield a flaming red sword

Jon will be on the ground as darkness approaches and lead the charge against it

Jon will make death bend the knee

Jon may lead an army of the 'reborn'

Melisandre is the POV with the greatest fixation on the Azor Ahai prophecy, and Melisandre is beginning to realise the significance of Jon + will be responsible for bringing him back

Jon is the Secret Third Thing

etc etc

And finally, bc I’ve seen many, many heated arguments over this, I want to establish some things myself before signing off:

I am engaging in good faith here. I have come to these conclusions through reading the books and considering all sides, and think this is a very legitimate reading of the text

This resolution to the prophecy is not something I am invested in. Jon hardly makes my top 20 characters in ASOIAF, and Azor Ahai is not a prophecy I crave an answer for. I’m a lot more interested the southern storylines (in case you couldn't tell)

Dany, meanwhile, is a character I like about five times as much as I like Jon. I’ve not reached the conclusion I have because I think she’s not capable of being AA (currently, I think she’s a whole lot more capable than Jon). I’m only judging based on where I think the story and evidence gestures

I agree that there’s potentially problematic subtext in introducing Dany, a young girl who subverts the typical ‘chosen boy’ narrative by fighting every adversity to be a hero for the ages, [edit - forgot the other half of the sentence orz] only to say actually nah it was special boy Jon all along. It’s difficult to say exactly how egregious I’m going to find it when that comes to be because I don’t have the material to judge, but I fully understand why people find the idea of Jon Snow as AA such a deeply frustrating idea, and I may well share in that frustration when it comes to it

Again: I’m engaging in good faith, so if you want to discuss, please afford me the same. We are discussing a fantasy series

#ask #jon snow #azor ahai #asoiaf #melisandre of asshai

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silviakundera · 3 months

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Did a speedrun through modern cdrama Everyone Loves Me because I'm a fan of both leads. A fairly well constructed romcom for a specific trope, AND also one of the most valid examples of the critique that cdrama storylines are pointlessly over-extended. This would have been a great modern drama at 12 episodes. Unfortunately, it's at least 10 episodes too long. The literal gaming (characters interacting while playing videogames) is very light - it's an initiating plot device piece but doesn't consume much actual screen time. The real genre is IT workplace romance with Hidden Identity trope.

Do you like:

* Capable & ambitious female lead x male lead with a competency kink whose turn-offs are white lotus & green tea girls and turn-ons are brash ladies who can cuss you out; dressing up to impress is not required

* Romantic dynamic of equal partners (2 strong personalities, not active/passive)

* "We don't know yet who is going to be the breadwinner. My goal is to be a CEO."

* Low heat (just a few kisses),

* modern workplace dramas (so much working)

[heavy spoilers below]

The actual set up & outline are:

* Online friend group who casually game together, in the last days of university. One of the guys starts catching feelings for the girl, our FL (let's call him Gamer Friend). FL isn't romantically considering Gamer Friend at all, because she has a crush on a guy from her uni.

* This crush is Gamer Friend in rl! 😮

* ML isn't open to being crushed on by anyone at rl uni, because he is already hung up on FL (as his online friend) 🙈

* FL asks for advice from her gaming buds on how to pursue her rl crush. Gamer Friend doesn't want her to succeed, because he wants to win her heart, so he keeps giving terrible advice to chase him by acting out the soft-spoken innocent maiden archetype (the opposite of FL's real boisterous & brash personality)

* This creates a comedy of errors where ML in rl is being pursued by the woman he's in love with, but he's shooting her down left & right. This culminates in her confessing and he publically rejects her in a harsh manner. When she comes crying (and vengeful) to the group, the guys all realize the identity confusion. Appropriately horrified, bros have no idea what to do. (This whole scene is gold tbh.)

* This plotline covers 7 episodes, but should have been dealt with in 4.

* Next 5 episodes (should have been 2!): Gamer Friend, toiling under karma, tries to be virtually supportive of his beloved while in person desperately making gestures to show remorse & have her less willing to obliterate his RL person. (this is all complicated by them both hired into the same company post-grad; there's a whole gaming dev & art design subplot - like in Lighter & Princess, the writers did the research so the setting is reality-based). This arc ends with identity reveal: she finally knows irl crush = Gamer Friend

* Next 6-7 episodes lead her from being (rightfully) furious and humiliated to them finally becoming friendly & supportive of each other. He waits to ask for more until he feels truly forgiven for the shakespearean hijinks that kept them apart. Includes work drama and fake-dating For Reasons. This arc, again, could have been 3-4 episodes.

* Final 5 episode arc is dating era and culmination of the gaming dev plotline. Heavy emphasis on work drama. Only 2 out of the last 5 episodes had significant romance material for the main couple, which was the major flaw in the drama. Avoided the separation cliche but also no marriage scenes at the end - we just see that they're still close, supportive partners a year later. Should have been 3 episodes ;)

The structure is right for a simple rom com set up of: one party pursues, gets rejected, then the other party pursues & corrects their mistake. The misunderstandings are logical enough; FL is assertive and we see evidence of her talent (not just told); ML likes her for herself & doesn't want a childish, obedient woman like the idol dramas represent; they are shown to make a good team & respect each other; the wronged party isn't a push over and their forgiveness has to be earned. It's clear why they like each other and that they work as a couple. (Though the emphasis is on compatibility & domesticity rather than sexual heat.)

The showrunner just needed to compress each arc and spend a lot less time on corporate minutiae. The way I engage with this type of drama is to binge, skip all 2nd couple scenes, and liberal use of fast forward ⏩⏩.

#everyone loves me #cdrama #drama watching #drama review

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wifeofnatasharomanoff · 1 year

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“Just friends..?”

Warnings: smut, kinda sorta angst? not really tbh (dom nat 🤭🤭)

Words: 1,296

AN: This is basically FWB Nat and R in the beginning <3

You breathe heavily, collapsing on the bed. “Uh- Y/n I have to go.” she says, putting her clothes back on. “Mhm. Yeah that's fine Nat.” you force a smile, waving goodbye to her.

“Remember, don't fall in love.”

5 words replay in your head, over and over again, completely forgetting about all your surroundings until-

“Agent Y/l/n, you are needed in the meeting room.” you hear FRIDAY say. “Of course I am.” you huff, putting your clothes back on and exiting your room.

“Ah! Y/n you made it, wonderful. Take a seat!” you glare at Tony, taking a seat. “So ladies and gentlemen, I have cleared all missions from your schedules tomorrow night.” you furrow your brows, looking over at everyone starting to complain and bicker.

“Uh no, there will be no such thing as disagreeing. Tomorrow I am throwing a party!” you roll your eyes. “When do you not?” you overhear from the other side of the table.

“I.. am going to ignore that question. Everyone is going. No questions asked. Bring a date if you have one.” Tony leaves the room, as well as the others.

You wake up the next day, walking into the kitchen. Looking over you see Wanda talking with Steve about something, and Peter- on a call with MJ?

“Whatever.” you mutter to yourself, opening the fridge to grab some water. Closing it you see Natasha directly in front of you, causing you to step back. “God! Natasha- a little warning please?” “I would but.. where's the fun in that?” she winks.

“Hey! Y/n, anything happening? Got a date for tonight's party?” Wanda nudges your shoulder, winking at you. “No.. no dates.” you laugh it off, sipping the water.

“Aw, well.. I do plan on helping you pick out a dress.” she gets up, waving goodbye. “Wanda I- am perfectly capable of dressing myself.. and she's gone.” you walk back into your room, not having anything else to do.

“Hey.” you look up from your laptop, seeing her. “Hey Nat.” she sits on the bed next to you. “Wanna do something?” she tries to lift your top off, kissing your neck. “Um.. Natasha I don't think–”

“Why, what's wrong?” she looks at you. “Would you maybe.. wanna go to the party as my date?” she almost immediately takes her hands off of you, getting up.

“No! No- just, just because we have sex sometimes doesn't mean this means anything.” hurt flashes across your face, nodding. “Of course not- I just meant..” you get up from the bed, standing up next to her.

“Y/n no. This. This doesn't mean anything okay?” she walks to the door, turning back to look at you. “We're just friends.” she leaves the room.

A few hours later, Wanda comes in your room holding dresses up. “Y/n. You are gonna love thisss– oh no.. honey are you okay?” she drops the dresses on the bed, walking closer to you.

“Yeah- yeah I'm fine.” you croak out. “Well.. wanna hear something that'll get you a bit happy?” you nod, confused. “I heard, that.. Carol might ask you to go as her date.” you widen your eyes in surprise. “Really?” she nods.

“Is that a 'yes Carol I'd love to go with you'?” she bats her lashes, mocking you. You laugh, nodding your head. “Yes! I mean It's not like anyone else would ask me.” she picks the dresses up, “You know I'd ask you if Vis hadn't have.”

“So.. how's the black one?” she holds up a slightly revealing but modest black dress. “I love it.” she squeals, throwing the dress at you. “Put it on. Right nowwww.”

You go into the bathroom, putting it on. “Hm?” you give a little twirl, showing the full dress to her, walking out of the bathroom. “If Carol saw you right now.” she says.

“Oh my god- no. If anyone saw you right now.” you smile, hitting her playfully. “I look that good?” “Uh yes. Actually stay still I'm posting this.”

You look at her, confusion displayed on your face as she takes out her phone to take a picture. “You're stunning, I have to go get ready, parties at 8. I told Carol you said yes.” you slowly nod your head, processing all she said. “Bye Y/n, love you.” she leaves your room.

You finish getting ready, hearing a knock on your door. “Y/n! You- you look beautiful.” Carol holds out a rose, you thank her, smiling as you take it. “Thanks Carol. You don't look too bad yourself.”

You two make it to the party in time, hand in hand. “Y/n damn girl!” Sam comments, “Thank you..” you laugh slightly, walking up to the bar.

“Y/n I'm gonna go talk to the guys, I'll be back.” you smile at her, not seeing Natasha take a seat next to you.

“Y/n I'm sorry for earlier today I–” you interrupt, “It's fine. It doesn't matter now Nat.” giving her a reasurring smile. “It.. doesn't?”

You shake your head, bringing your glass to take a sip of the drink. “Mhm. I actually got asked out by Carol.” she felt hurt.

'why?' she thought.

“Oh- really? That's nice.” she places a hand on your shoulder, smiling before she left to talk with Wanda or something.

“Wanna dance?” Carol takes your hand helping you up. “Um- sure.” you laugh nervously as she pulls you to the dance floor.

She grabs onto your waist, swaying to the music. Looking down at you, she says “How long have you been in love with her?” you spin, pressing your back to her, as she tightens her grip on your waist.

“Wha- how did you know?” she presses your ass against her body. “It's pretty obvious.” she chuckles. “I'm sorry Carol I just..” she hums in response. “It's okay, plus- she looks mad.” she says, causing you to glance at Natasha.

Widening your eyes, “I should go- talk to her.” “Yeah you should. And hey- good luck.” you smile at her, squeezing her hand before leaving.

You walk out of the party, following her into the hallways. “Natasha!” she stops. “What's your problem?” she turns to look at you.

She sighs, rubbing her temple. “You are.” you gasp quietly, looking up at her. “What do you mean?” “Y/n you make me feel things I don't know how to feel.”

.... “Then.. let me help you feel them.” you move closer to her, locking your lips with hers. Letting out soft moans, she pins you against the wall.

Deepening the kiss, she pulls back to look into your eyes. You nod, giving consent. She brings your legs up to wrap around her waist, pushing her thighs to your core.

“You're so wet dekta.. is it for me or her?” she rasps out, you let out an embarrassing whimper. “You! Natasha.. it's all for you please.” she smirks, bringing her hand up, slipping between your thighs.

You moan desperately at her touch, craving more. Without hesitation she shoves two fingers into your pussy, rubbing your clit with another. “Fuck! Natasha..” you moan out.

“Shh.. baby, you don't want anyone hearing hm?” you gasp, feeling her thrust in deeper. “Ngh- Tasha I don't care—” she cuts you off, kissing you passionately, silencing your loud moans.

“Mmph—” she slips in her tounge into your mouth, you buck your hips forward, taking her fingers in deeper. You widen your eyes, gasping in pleasurement.

She breaks the kiss. “Kotenok are you close?” you nod your head. “Then cum for me Y/n.” you scream, gripping onto her shoulders as you came.

Breathlessly, she looks down at you. “Look at you.. you're so beautiful. Come on let's get you taken care of in my room.” she pulls you into her room, closing and locking the door.

#natasha romanoff x reader #natasha x reader #natasha x y/n #natasha x you #natasha romanoff #natasha marvel #wanda maximoff #natasha romanov

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furiroad · 10 days

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Furiosa spoilers under the cut 🚗

It's actually staggering how much that movie did not need to exist. Gonna bullet point some thoughts

My sarcastic lol @ the lightning fast sisters cameo at the end where they're all played by completely different people. the quick flash of Cheedo's eyes bc they managed to get Courtney Eaton back for three seconds didn't appease me

I guess it technically passes the bechdel test bc right at the start Furiosa says "be still" to Valkyrie but iirc that's the only pass moment. I know not passing the bechdel test doesn't mean the movie is automatically bad I just think it's interesting considering it's following Fury Road

"she talks to her mother" I don't think they ever said her mum's name out loud

You know how mad max fury road could have a silent version w no dialogue + isolated soundtrack and it worked because you could tell what's going on anyway? This movie has the opposite problem. Way too much talking. They over-explain everything

The best bit was the prolonged torture scene at the end where Hemsworth explains Furiosa's entire character arc and the message of the movie out loud to her and also us

Even his teddy had an arm missing, replaced with a barbie arm. Thanks. We get it

Her arm made robot noises

Actually threw MY arms up in disgust when she went back for that boy she supposedly had a romance with despite the film never bothering to actually show/explain that. I'm calling it a romance because the actors did. I guess it was supposed to be a Capable/Nux parallel but it didn't work for me and not just because I'm a dyke and a hater OK, if you're gonna do a ROMANCE, DO A ROMANCE. don't leave me sitting there wondering why Furiosa is risking it all for some guy she's had ONE conversation with, especially after he offers to get her away from the Citadel and back to where she came from, WHICH IS HER ENTIRE MOTIVE EVER SINCE SHE WAS TAKEN

I DON'T GET IT

Them trying to emulate Max and Furiosa's instinctive, perfect we have to trust each other moment by having Jack and Furiosa... look at each other Meaningfully fifty times while they were supposed to be driving cars? Don't make me laugh! You will never be them!!

Max being there for a second wasn't cute! I rolled my eyes

Same at "remember me?" MAKE UP YOUR OWN STUFF

So many things happened because they needed to happen (plot demanded it) and didn't make any sense in context. My favourite was when Furiosa rode her motorcycle up a dune to get away after cutting off her arm and the biker gang couldn't follow her up there for some reason

So much Christian imagery... threw me off tbh

Considering it's Furiosa's movie it sure isn't about her + she doesn't speak at all for almost the first half

This movie was way too long

I called it about the peach seed

I called it that she cut her own arm off

George Miller read some of my blog but not all of it

You know how The People Eater rubbed his nipple that one time and it was delightfully weird and gross and got a good reaction? Well in this movie he's constantly rubbing it, the whole time. Really lessens the impact of the nipple rub

As you can see this movie has made me insane

Like this is not really about the nipple rub but do you get what I'm saying here

Furiosa spends most of the movie hiding her hair (because as we all know, having long hair immediately identifies you as a woman) and then when her head covering gets knocked off and her hair is revealed (omg she's a girl) she leaves it like that and becomes an Imperator. On what planet

The history man frames the entire movie for some reason. Do they show Miss Giddy? Take a wild guess

One of the coolest parts of fury road was that a gang of bikers ended up being hardcore wasteland grannies w guns and loose morals in response to people fucking around for far too long without finding out. Did this movie have anything like that for me? Take a wild guess for a second time

The car fight scenes weren't even that great. Couldn't remember hearing any good music under them (brother in arms truly lightning in a bottle) and they went on for too long which feels wild to say about suped up car battles in the australian wasteland: 2 but oh well. This is how I feel. Fury Road was so good at carefully measuring out high octane action and then downtime and careful, quiet character introspection and this movie had no idea what it was doing either way

Honestly I don't hate it but I feel like it was a waste of time and it doesn't need to exist at all. A real nothing experience. Am I going to see this movie ten times in cinemas? No I am not even going to see it twice in cinemas

I don't know what I was expecting.

oh my god also they played clips of Fury Road over the credits as if to say "remember how fucking good this is in comparison to the dumb shit you just watched"

#furiroad personal #spoilers for the furiosa movie i mean it

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curapicas · 6 months

Text

I find it curious Link Click uses the twins flashback to shove on our faces right away the parallels between Cheng Xiaoshi and Li Tianchen. Both combative boys, protective of their family, somewhat naive in different ways and quite enamoured with looking cool. So yeah, there's parallels, but to be fair the writing is good enough that you can find parallels with the main duo regarding any of the new s2 characters. And I think Link Click cleverly does that so we only realize closer to the finale what is, in my opinion, the strongest parallel: Cheng Xiaoshi and Li Tianxi.

They are both "the babies" of the group. Whereas Cheng Xiaoshi has two endlessly nagging friends who often scold him and push him to do better, Li Tianxi lost both her mother and a brother capable of caring for her, thus her needs go ignored as she grows up with Qian Jin. Qiao Ling and Lu Guang work together with CXS to earn a living/pay off his debt, LTX is used by her family to carry out the shady stuff they don't really need to do (both CXS and LTX get in extremely emotional and vulnerable situations because of it).

Cheng Xiaoshi eventually grows and understands his powers as a duty, and even though LG and QL still try to shield him from the worst*, they look proud whenever he shows what he's capable of (QL even calls him cool!). LTX's one "act of rebellion" is framed as a betrayal and she's straight up murdered. In the confrontation, she even prefers hiding behind CXS, whom she met hours beforehand, exactly bc she knows what her family is capable of.

Both are sensitive people, burdened by well-meaning actions with over-the-top consequences (it hurts to try and explain this one). In (this specific trauma for) CXS case, he was already an adult and in s2 spends the entire time reevaluating and adapting; in LTX's, she was a child and hardly knew how to deal with this guilt and /waves hands/ everything after

I really like this parallel of their running and emotional actions setting off this part of the plot. They cross paths, but the people they help do not have their fate changed significantly by this. But those moments where they FEEL Emma (+Lu Guang in this specific parallel) and Chen Bin were enough to carry LTX and CXS both into their roles in the story.

LTX finally "goes back" to the home she idealized, CXS is waiting at home for his parents. They cross paths, both get shot in that tunnel, but just as quickly go down opposite directions. LTX out of care for her (criminal) brother, parts with him; while CXS waits, he also built a new home for himself with new people he can call family. There's hope for him yet.

*tbh they're a biiiit controlling, but I can see that habit developing through the years, not because they don't mean well

#link click spoilers #link click #shiguang daili ren #cheng xiaoshi #li tianxi #I'm pretty sure I'm missing things but anyway who did cxs possess when he went to the past? exactly #oh look it's the dead ones of the trios (lovingly)#does it count as something in common to have QL basically adopt them both? lmao #huh. I just realized that in the all-white shot only cxs has a shadow. probably bc of the point LTX's walking cycle is but heey #also. I'm trying to put it in order in my mind but LTC and LG also relate in some interesting ways #btw people are welcome to chime in

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kennyieeee · 12 days

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knock knock moshimoshi ! may i make silly req bout how fuuta, mikoto & john (separate) react when timid shy fem!reader confess to them. like…they’re not so close just normal stranger with the occasional encounter but then have feelings towards them lol ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°. situation when they come off from milgram. and how their relationship is where the 3 of them become yandere boyfie (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧. bout john, they know he’s just an alter but they just like john himself (•‿•). lmao sorry this is too complicated & cringe ew

Delectable

Yandere! Fuuta, Mikoto and John x Shy! Fem! Reader

(ft. noone.)

(Kenny: idk if you wanted to separate Mikoto and John but I separated them anyway, sorry!! I also I kind offfff didn't understand the John knowing alt ego part I'm stupid, again, sorreyyy, I did my own thing. Fyi I don't bother to check the deep lore, I just do minimal research and remember stuff at the top of my brain soooo, idk what Mikoto's ideal date is becuz I don't remember. Also it's okay I'm cringe too let's cry together.)

Info/TWs: drabble type, fem reader, tooth aching fluff, japanese formalities, yandere themes, (mentions of) murder, smoking, kidnapping, overbearing behavior, twitter :skull:, fuuta and mikoto is cute and wholesome but john is... um, extreme yandere themes for john(? ,i got carried away tbh), written in 2nd perspective

𝐒𝐲𝐩𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬: After they were finally scott-free from the Milgram prison, they can finally move to to love life problems instead of... Homicidal problems, good thing there's this shy girl who had their eye on them but she's so precious that they might as well go back to their homicidal problems. (wc: 2,035)

Yandere! Kajiyama Fuuta

My poor boy was traumatized after the Milgram incident happened.

Then he returned to college as if none of that ever happened.

Thankfully though, the incident made him realize his own wrongdoings, and quickly went to apologize to the people he had harassed online, so on and so forth, he genuinely wanted to repent.

Things went by normal after that though, he was slowly but surely healing.

Until one day YOU came.

With your meek posture and nervous expression, you politely asked him if the two of you could talk in private.

Someone he hadn't really taken note of, a classmate of his, just asked him to talk in private suspiciously.

"What's the big deal? We can talk here." He puffed out gruffly to you and you flinched.

Then your face turns beat red. Whether he could see it or not. Your eyes showed that you're visibly embarrassed about something.

You pleaded with him, and he just sighs and agrees.

"W-Would you uhh..."

"Get to the point."

"Would you umm..."

"Would I what?"

"Would you...like to go on a date with me?" Your voice turned down to lower octaves and he couldn't hear it.

"I couldn't hear ya."

"I love you! Would you like to go on a date with me!?"

Well it came out just great, in your own ways. It didn't take long for Fuuta to realize you were a little... Timid.

Fuuta, though surprised and equally embarrassed himself, decided to give you a chance. You seemed... Capable enough.

Café date it was.

Of course, it went great too, in your own ways... Again.

It was an open space, but you just couldn't refuse when Fuuta requested it.

The receptionist asked for your order. Looking at the menu still, you shuffled and stuttered about what you wanted to order. You anxiously think of ways to talk it out quickly, you figured it would be easy if you just said that you'd have the same order as Fuuta.

And to your surprise, Fuuta was actually quite gentlemanly.

He noticed you looking at some part of the menu you liked and ordered it for you, then got a different one he liked on his own.

He noticed you weren't good at conversing, so he talked to the receptionist on his own just to cover you.

That just made you fall deeper.

You sat at one of the tables across from Fuuta.

There were some curt conversations that ended very quickly. Until he asks a question, that is.

"Why do you like me anyway?"

You now put your yapnology on the line. You may be shy and meek, but when it came to the things you love, you can ramble on for days.

"That's because I like that you're fierce, you put on a brave and courageous act, what is not likeable or admirable about that!?" You tell him in delight.

"Even when you put on a fearless face, you're still kind and loveable, even people like me can tell that you have a big heart. Oh, and despite you being gruff and grumpy, you're really gentle too—" You conversed on and on and on about what you liked about him. If he hadn't told you to stop, you probably wouldn't have.

That left a blushing mess of a tomato, which was Fuuta.

The way you talked about how you loved him was so endearingl that you might've made him fall deeper than yourself to him.

You both came in contact for a while.

Fuuta liked it when you happily talked to him about something, a video game you both liked, or even himself, which still made him flustered to this day.

The person being you, always shy to others, afraid to talk to others from your nature, now looked completely different when you smiled at him with those pretty lips of yours.

Which looked delectable. By the way.

Although he didn't like it when others start to be comfortable to you.

Not fair.

The smile you give off, the adorable ramblings you do are all supposed to be his.

Don't blame him when he gets a little jealous.

Don't blame him when he starts to go back to toxic hell twitter to bash on the people who tried to be "friends" with you.

Anyways, he's your lovable, fierce, but kind boyfriend that totally doesn't have a criminal record.

Just a little reminder that he proclaims that he owns you, for some reason.

Yandere! Kayano Mikoto

Oh sweet dear, Kayano Mikoto...

Kind to you once and now you're here, head over heels.

Him too, though. You just happened to make the first move.

He had quit his job for the company he's working on which was draining him, and now he's aware of it, so for the sake of his sanity, he tries to find for something else more casual.

So he made a dressmaking shop! Right next to your bakery...

The shy, little squeaky baker that you are, kindly welcomes your neighbor, with a pastry gift.

He accepts it and thanks profusely, and boy was the pastry bread the most heavenly bread he had ever eaten in his life.

Someone had a little crush.

He visits your store once to get another bread or any pastry but he sees you struggling to carry boxes and immediately offers to help.

One time his hand brushed against yours and you jump and cover your face.

Other than being acquainted, to the others in the outside, you both were only kind strangers to each other, busy on their own jobs.

But you just took your shot one day and confessed about your little crush.

Mikoto happily accepted your offer and took you in a date.

Cinema?

Cinema.

Horror movies? Not so much, but you were too shy to refuse.

The way you shrieked at the movie was just too low of a shriek that it almost made Mikoto laugh.

But it was cute.

The terrified you just looked adorable. Your expression was like a treasure he found. What else besides your kindness and adorableness could you possibly have?

He can't lie that he's not curious. It makes him want to dig up more about you.

He gives you a warm smile at the cinema that had a sinister feeling underneath.

The date went well and you acquired his number! Yippie!

Days went by. Don't get yourself wrong, your boyfriend is sweet, caring and kind, what more could you ask for?

But sometimes he's just... Too sweet.

In a bad way.

To the point that, you can't even have any time for yourself because it was occupied by you hanging out with him.

And there was no, "no", option.

He's just dying to know what kinds of delectable pastries and expressions you make with that adorable meek face of yours. He can't wait.

Besides, he's kind right? He's sweet, he gives you kisses, tells you that sweet things you need to hear, and takes care of you that you could even call him a malewife.

It's only fair that he gets something of a reward in return.

Yandere! John

Even after in Milgram, John didn't disappear.

Even though he knew he wouldn't have to kill anymore for Mikoto, he still stayed.

Now he woke up, being himself, as an alter ego, at night.

Now he doesn't have much of an idea on what to do.

If he still exists, then that must mean that Mikoto held some stress.

One of ways to ease stress other than murder is break your lungs.

Even though Mikoto already does it. He finds it fair and fine if he does the same.

So he sat in the alleyway near his office, smoking.

Until someone had to approach him.

"K-Kayano-senpai? You're smoking again?"

John puffs out a smoke and turns his head to you. You say meekly, you were dressed seemingly as an office worker.

Now John has no idea on who you are, but even the likes of him can realize that you're an acquaintance with Mikoto, and you possibly work in the same place as him.

"...Yeah." He says, tone indifferent.

This didn't sound like your co-worker Mikoto, you knew it was him but you just can't help but feel that something is wrong.

Just when he sounds so... Different.

"Y-You can tell me all about your problems, I'm here to help out..."

You sat beside him, trying to reach him out, metaphorically.

"It's nothing."

"But... You told us everyone that you're gonna try and stop smoking, I m-may not be in the position to ask stuff like this but as your co-worker I'm just... A b-bit worried..."

"Well, why do you care anyway?"

"B-B-Because I um..."

As it seems like it, you don't know how to hide the fact that you're embarrassed.

"Because I- I- I like you... Kayano. Ever since I started to work in the office as your kohai, you always guide me so kindly, I was too intimidated by all my co-workers but you..."

John heard you talk about things you liked about Mikoto. Even found out some things he didn't know about him.

Hearing you talk about him in such a way, when almost all of his co-workers treated him like trash... Made him feel comfortable.

Not all people deserved a hard smack at the cranium with a bat. Not you, especially.

You were genuine. You liked Mikoto with all your heart.

John should relate to you, but he didn't understand why he somehow felt a twinge of jealousy.

"We can meet up at this place again." John stands up, ready to go home, he smoked enough outside. Which was unhealthy, but it was refreshing hearing you talk.

"A-At this time?"

"...Yeah. And also... Call me John if I'm gonna smoke here some time again." Though you'd rather not have him smoke, this side of him was new... Almost different from the usual him and you wanted to know and help more the best you can.

A nickname his warden had given him once, but it was his actual name. You didn't even ask why you should call him that.

After that, it just became a routine.

The morning Mikoto was kind to you, but he was a bit confused when you called him John.

You visit a different Mikoto at night, however he may be a bit cold and uncaring, but he seemed aware of everything.

You were too shy to ask what happened in the morning. Other than that, you and John bonded comfortably to each other.

John liked you even though he didn't seem like it.

This daily meet up routine at night made you think that you got closer to Mikoto. Not someone else.

One day, you couldn't meet up with him.

"You were absent yesterday." John stated.

Then you tell him that your manager had you overworked that night.

John was barely able to have brushed it off until you started to visit less and instead focused on meeting up with the Mikoto you meet in the morning.

You visit only once the week and you tell him that all the blame is supposed to go on your demanding manager.

He sees the deep eyebags in your eyes and you tell him that you don't have much courage to stand up for yourself.

That's fine, he'll be your protector.

After that night, your manager never saw the light of the day ever again.

Let's say, miraculously, you found out or suspected John to have killed your manager. Of course you're weary.

But despite that, John wouldn't be afraid to use your own shyness to his advantage. 'Why would you tell everyone that your sweet, kind, all helpful senior was the cause of your manager's disappearance? A nobody like you who can't even meet a person in the eye? Psshh, stop kidding.'

No more meet ups? Guess you'd just have to switch the meet up place.

Maybe a basement that Mikoto couldn't hear and know would be good.

Look at you there chained up, crying and wailing to be let out.

But why would he when those tears of yours just looked absolutely delectable. You might as well call him your boyfriend while you're stuck here.

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bebx · 7 months

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Honestly, I don't get how people can think that Sylki won't be endgame. Are they forgetting that it's Disney? Or that the writer is a Sylki shipper? Let's be realistic. I agree that it would make zero sense, but this argument is lame, because we know Marvel doesn't care and they're capable of doing that. I wouldn't be surprised if they rushed it and pulled "actually Sylvie has been in love with him the entire time, but she's been hiding it, trying to push him away, because she thinks she doesn't deserve love. But she got over it now." Not to be rude, but I feel like everyone who believes that Sylki won't happen is delusional. I really want Lokius to happen, not Sylki, but even the idea of Sylki not happening is too good to be true. I feel like those leaks are true.

the leaks, which came from several people who claimed to have seen the entire season (and they all said the same thing), were correct about Marvel’s revealing that Mobius has 2 sons in episode five. I know it’s just a “rumor” and there’s no way to know if they really did see the entire season, but tbh I expect Marvel to pull the Sylki endgame in the finale (like how those leaks also said they would do that, getting Loki and Sylvie back together in the last episode).

if I had to guess, I’d say it’d go exactly the way you said, that Sylvie was always in love with Loki all along, but didn’t think she deserved to be loved, hence why she tried to push him away.

I would love to be wrong, but I guess we’re all finding out soon.

also I wouldn’t call anybody delusional for thinking Sylki won’t be endgame or that Lokius will be canon, unless it’s in a joking manner where I’m also making fun of myself. but in all seriousness, I don’t think anybody is ever “delusional” for having opinions about which direction the show will go based on what was actually showed so far in the series. because if this weren’t Disney, I’d say Lokius would absolutely go canon, after all those hints and everything they gave us so far. Sylki parting ways as friends and Lokius going canon as a couple are very highly unlikely, but it’s not entirely impossible either.

as for the writer, if you mean Eric Martin, dude’s a troll (and I say this with respect lol nothing against him, I’m sure he’s a good person with good sense of humor), he’s always liked both Sylki and Lokius posts because he knows fans monitor his likes and I fully believe he’s doing it on purpose just to (playfully) mess with the audience. so I wouldn’t take whatever he liked on social media as a “confirmation” of anything, not even his personal opinion about which ship he thinks is “better”.

*and even if he does personally ship Sylki, it’d still be unfair imo to assume he only made Sylki endgame solely because he personally liked the ship. if he’s a professional writer, I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt and believe that he had other reasons behind his writing choices that had nothing to do with his personal feelings, since after all, the characters belong to Marvel, not him. so his personal preferences shouldn’t be the only factor in deciding which direction things should go. (to be clear, what I mean is: it’s perfectly okay — and it is a good thing — to write a story based on how you, the writer, personally prefer, but I don’t think he’d make Sylki endgame just because he liked it without any other reasons involved when it’s still Marvel’s show and he was hired by Marvel, not his show, if that makes sense.)

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drawnfamiliarfaces · 2 months

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First Ninja can easily defeat Chase during Heylin Eclipse. If he finds out about this phenomenon, will he take advantage of the opportunity?

Well, perhaps not easily, but his chances of winning certainly rocket from 15-25% to like, 75-85%!

The thing is, we do not know many details about Heylin Eclipse, the only sure thing is that Chase seems to be unable to use magic freely (but he still can participate in showdowns and use Wu, which imo require some?? sort of minimal magical capacity) and transform into his dragon/lizard form. It also seems that the same magic usually assists Chase in being/reacting faster, since he is easily caught by Wuya (but she is also weakened?? so). Does it just takes away that buff he acquired since becoming Heylin or is the Eclipse actively nerfing him (making him sluggish)?

However, just as Chase himself said, despite lack/suppression of Heylin magic, he is not helpless - he has strategy and experience on his side and not to mention probably 100 tricks up his sleeve AND its one of the rare instances his motto of 'using Wu as a crutch' is nowhere to be seen, because he literally had Serpent's Tail hidden in his gauntlet! (talk about aces in sleeves huh!)

(I kind of wish there was a bit more of that smart and experienced Chase in the episode, instead of what happened.)

So that's mostly the reason why I think First won't get a win too easily. But of course the main question is would he even use that opportunity? TBH I don't think he will go out of his way to do it.

(kinda radnom babbling on under cut, u can ignore it, the point of anwer was said xD)

In my mind, after First VS Chase event, First is too busy doing his stuff to actively worry about Chase. I mean, this guy still has a Sorcerer locked under his town attracting/causing chaos and monsters, and a Ninjanomicon to write and to prepare the future generations to keep Sorcerer locked and Norrisville safe, and probably other dozen things he has to worry about (and unlike Chase, First got only this mortal life and time to deal with it all, lol).

And while, sure, while Chase is a menace and a threat to any capable warrior, Chase also has been around for so long: he has clearly established his place in Hierarchy of Dark forces loooooong before Ninja came around. And yet while participating in wars and causing trouble, he is yet to be the supreme overlord of the world or whatever, so?? Chase kinda leads an existence of eternal evil final boss, doing his evil things and what not. Mostly he is too busy collecting cool warriors, like pokemons or trader cards or whatever.

I feel like in some sense First would understand the whole 'letting evil exist for the sake of the world balance' thing. Because like the XS last episodes established - Chase's existence is a sort of necessary evil that keeps balance from being upset too much on either side. Selfish and Cruel enough to be evil, but also Reasonable and Honorable enough to be sorta neutral good...-ish? I guess the right alignment would Lawful Evil? Though it doesnt really fit completely right, but it somewhere in that ballpark.

(On a side note, IMO about the Sorcerer - he is pretty much clear is not necessarily just Evil, he is more of Chaotic Evil. And Chaos is sort of also neutral, in a sense?? I mean Sorcerer was running around turning people into monsters, causing havoc across continents to gain power to... I dunno, be unstoppable? Cause more chaos and pain? Destroy everything?? Perhaps his goal was to make the World be like Chaos Realm/Land of Shadows? Who knows??? His motivation is as mysterious as his defeat in the finale, lol. But his deal feels more like those World-ending Spiders That Eat from XS, because it seems to me, he basically just gained more power for sake of more Chaos, not like... rule the world or something.)

Also while Chase is bugging First, he is kinda... not actively doing world-ending evil stuff to First's knowledge?

It's like... bothering First is distracting him from doing other evil stuff (he still probably has some schemes going on, but like in the background, not related to First), so First is like 'I could waste energy and effort to put an end to his reign of terror...but i guess i can let him bother me if it stops him from actively doing evil, just for a bit ' (but Chase is certainly doing evil, just nowhere First can see lol).

But, let's suppose First does figure out about Heylin Eclipse. For it to be of any use to First, it has to happen soon and in his lifetime, when he is still physically capable to take on Chase. He also got to plan out how he would defeat Chase (kill or capture him, how to do it and etc.). AND he also got to plan it around his duties to Norrisville. So like, if by incredible stroke of luck, all of it aligns? First might attempt it and most likely win!

But i feel if, it would take much longer (like say 30+ years) for Eclipse to arrive, First would not prioritize capturing Chase over his duties in Norrisville. This dude already wasted most of his life to defeat the Sorcerer (and like a bajillion creatures and monsters to do it), AND he is gonna waste his afterlife to keep him locked up too, just let the poor man rest! xD

(There is now an image in my head of First looking at Chase and going 'Not My Problem' and just peacing out of there.)

So, yeah, while I'm sure First can defeat Chase during Heylin Eclipse, Im not so sure he would actively dedicate himself to doing it.

On ANOTHER, much more shippy note (that u can ignore if its not ur thing), there is something very delicious in the idea that First, knowing such a blatant weakness of Chase's, and just doesn't do anything about it. Perhaps it's because, in some way, First prefers to fight Chase in full power, a much honorable battle no matter if it ends in defeat or victory. Or because it feels like such underhanded tactic of striking when his opponent is at their weakest. Maybe it feels this way because, they are enemies in name only because of their moral alignments, not because either of them actually hate each other (that much lol).

Ooooo just imagine, First and Chase confrontation during Eclipse, Chase fully expecting First to take the opportunity (because its what he will do), but First does the unexpected, and instead of ending the fight, he steps back and that stops Chase on his tracks. And somehow they end up waiting out the Eclipse together, First keeping an eye out for his weakened enemy, while Chase, despite all his previous flirting and needling, is geniuenly baffled by First's behaviour. He really did expect First to take the chance, after all the annoyance and bothering, and just generally First being exasparated with him. But here they are, with Chase at his weakest and First watching his back.... Trully strange.

*eyebrow wiggle*

but thats just silly shippy thoughts haha. I do feel like First will 100% use that opportunity to whoop Chase's ass just to vent all the frustrations about the trouble and annoyances Chase caused.

anyway ye sorry for rambling ;D

#que?#ninja showdown #my immortal soul #lsorry if ur ask was gen anon i made it a lil bit gay in the end lol #i want so badly to write out some of my ns/mis ideas im GONNA EXPLODe its becoming not enough just to write down my unhinged notes for art #<- previous tag was there when i first drafted this ask. but honestly i started to write and yet it still makes we WANNA EXPLODE #i have too many ideas and not enough energy to write bros TToTT

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eluxcastar · 3 months

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I know there's an questionable amount of 13 with Arlecchino but. Can i have 13 sandrone? Please? Or 14? There's no food going on with that doll

Sandrone experiencing a crumb of love

── ୨୧：sandrone x reader

୨୧﹑synopsis :: sandrone questioning why her assistant has not left on account of her delightful personality

୨୧﹑genre :: slight fluff

୨୧﹑content :: gn reader, they're not in a relationship, not proofread

୨୧﹑words :: 1.4k

"I could see the worst parts of you and still think you are the most beautiful person I’ve met."

sandrone is written like a bitter old man LMAO, but tbh, that's just the characterisation of her I prefer. some like her motherly, and Idk I just like her being a bit grouchy and wondering why these damn kids are on her lawn (slight joke), BUT I DID TRY TO GIVE HER A HEART so you can have that consolation

I hear your burning question "Riri what happened to the fourteen part" well you see the dreadful phenomenon we all know and hardly tolerate called "I can't read" struck again BUT I had an idea retrospectively so I will do that

prompt list

Sandrone is not the most personable woman. She is aware of that fact; she just doesn't care. Many people will come and go, but, dedicated entirely to her work, she finds that adapting herself for the comfort of others is an inconvenience.

You have always been her exception, a fatuu she kept around initially out of the necessity for a helping hand to hold the torch for her or aid in the testing of her creations. There is always something that needs doing, and with that workload, the demand for an extra set of hands arises to make a place for you. Assistant isn't quite the right word, her first inclination settling on lapdog and staying there as she took great pleasure in her cruelty towards you to see how long you would last under the thumb of her snappy and curt demeanour.

Evidently, you proved to be more resilient than she expected, and with time, her intentional tormenting died down to the bare bones of her attitude. Sandrone no longer requested you complete such dangerous tasks alone or begin spiels of the unnecessarily specific detailed demands she had of you. She relaxed into a state of simply accepting that, for a little while longer than the rest, you would be there to stay.

It's almost nice to hear sounds around her workshop, formerly filled only with mechanical dolls and spare parts she keeps. A person flitters about moving tools from her wall to her hand, living, breathing, capable of speaking with or without her prompting and all too inclined towards doing it. She listens to you as you work across the room—your footsteps, the humming whenever you start when you forget she's there, the clatter of gears, even the rubbing fabric of your clothes sometimes—and it's pleasant for the silence to be filled with life.

The thought almost confuses her, really, but she'll get over it.

What she may never get over is why. There are plenty of places you can go, a transient, run-of-the-mill worker she picked at random from a pile of names and didn't care to know anything about you beyond your capabilities until you showed up.

You remain steadfast by her side and don't show any signs of dissatisfaction, lost in your own little world some days. Maybe you cope with her by blocking out her presence. That would explain the humming and why you seem so happy to work here.

People always find something wrong. You have found nothing, and it makes her suspicious.

"Why are you here?" she asks one day, speaking out of the blue, out of character for her.

"I work here" is the response you offer, short as she usually is and with a bit of sass of your own that you picked up.

"I know." Slightly annoyed, she rephrased the question. "You could have transferred jobs before now."

"Paperwork's not worth the trouble," you joke, though she doesn't get that or doesn't find it funny, and her expression only sours at you. You throw your hands up in defence. "I kid, I kid! I don't have any reason to."

Sandrone knows what people say about her. She doesn't trust such a superficial reason, especially after your comment. "You're satisfied here?"

You shrug. "The work is easy, the conditions aren't gruelling. It's better than most places."

"I see," she says, falling silent. Her curiosity is mostly sated, save for some remaining questions she hasn't roused the courage to ask you yet.

"Should I be more unhappy?" you question, "You stopped making workplace hazards, and it's not unbearably cold in here. It's not like you're that difficult anymore."

She presses her lips to a lip line, a frown tugging the corners of her mouth. "You speak too carelessly."

You only offer her a smile and an unbothered "I know."

"I should reprimand you," she adds. Her hand absently finds a pleat in her skirt and toys with it, fingers running over the fabric as a background to the conversation. She considers what to say if you're so flippant with her again. Perhaps you think she'll go soft on you if you act friendlier towards her. She lifts her head with another thought. "If you have an ulterior motive, speak."

From the corner of her eye she sees you turn to glance at her for only a second before your focus is back on the tools you stand arranging for her. You always put them away just as she likes them.

"Is it a crime to just like you?" you retaliate with something unexpected, something gentle.

Sandrone opens her mouth to speak, bitter words on the tip of her tongue that die the moment she gains a hint of a conscience against ruining it. Nobody likes her. Sandrone is disagreeable, has a terrible personality, is snappy and disdainful, and is downright rude at times. People don't simply like her.

"People believe I'm terrible." She settles on a half-hearted grumble as she turns away. There's nothing more to be said, really.

"That's ridiculous." You say it too quickly for her liking.

She glares back at you like sharpened daggers looming inches from your back, though she's across the room and would have a hard time getting to you so quickly. "You're lying," she spits.

"A little," you admit, trying to ease the damage, "I don't think you're completely terrible."

She can't keep the frown from her face this time. "But I am still terrible."

"To an extent," you admit, cautious, but not nearly enough. "You have good qualities as well. It's not enough to just say you're terrible."

Seconds pass in silence, awkward on one side and impatient on the other as you shift your weight between your feet. Sandrone merely stares ahead, clearly having no intention of speaking and every intention of watching you squirm for as long as she can prolong it.

"What? You wanted me to be honest."

"You're reprehensible," she mutters. Her hands ball to fists in her lap and then relax again as she lets out an irritated huff. It's not worth working herself up over something she has heard many times before, a fact she has long accepted.

You sigh, a strangely upsetting sound. She doesn't like it, she knows that much. It's not the kind of sound you make when you're happy, and she'd much rather hear you hum your little songs across the room. "Don't end up a self-fulfilling prophecy."

"I'm doing no such thing," she says, sending another sharp glare your way to accompany her retort.

You crack a lopsided smile at her. It's a ridiculous face you're making, really, and in response to a perfectly reasonable statement. "Aren't you?" you question.

…Perhaps she might be. Perhaps a part of her does search for abhorrence. There's no greater reason to suspect you secretly despise her than her own belief—paranoia, one might even say—but to expect anything else is setting herself up for stark disappointment.

"Do you mean it?" she says quietly, eyes more focused on the fabric between her fingers to stave off the nervousness she's strangely riddled by.

You're nobody. Your opinion means nothing to her; it never should, never has and never will. You can lament all you like and--

"I could see the worst parts of you and still think you are the most beautiful person I've met."

She pauses, hand stilling in place, skirt pinched between her unmoving fingers. Her head tilts up, and she twists in her chair to meet the back of your head in a one-sided staring contest. At the first sign of you turning to her, Sandrone turns away, determined to hide whatever face she makes to gawk at you.

You are not real, fake, an imposter. She made a doll to curb her loneliness and programmed it to speak. You must be. You must be saying what she wants to hear. It is not new for lowly grunts to fear Harbingers to the point of reverence, though you have never shown signs of false flattery in your time with her.

Yet all of that is a lie; you are not another lifeless creation that operates on a mechanical heart. Perhaps you have simply gone mad in your time with Sandrone, or she has. Madness might suit her a little more than you.

"You jest," she manages to say after a long stretch of silence, browns furrowing to hide her shock at the sentiment, though you can't see her face. "I should cut out your tongue."

#♡ — anon visit.#✦ — headcanons.#sandrone #sandrone x reader #genshin impact #genshin impact x reader

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brighttears · 9 months

Text

Battery II Charged

Joel Miller x f!reader

Series masterlist

No physical description

Summary: On the road, your ease lasts only a couple hours before your luck runs out. An overhead confession from Joel leaves your head spinning.

Word count: 4.9k

Warnings: mention of Joel’s pill abuse, mention of death, suicide, and grief

A/n: not super exciting tbh, good stuff’s at the end. i’m gonna be fucking with some cannon stuff just so i’m not just rewriting scenes from the show so some things are changed/missing! don’t worry Joel stops being an ass like halfway through this and then we will have soft Joel from now on (mostly, probably)

—

You’ve been up for hours before anyone else wakes, Tess being the first, wandering into the room, obviously having just opened her eyes.

“Hey.” She says when she sees you.

“Hey.”

“Coffee?”

“You have coffee?”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she chuckles, strolling into the kitchen to start a pot.

“Thanks,” you say as you get up from the couch, stretching.

“Joel’ll be up soon. Just has to shake off those pills.”

“Does he take those a lot?”

She nods, “Can’t blame him.”

“Why not?”

She turns to you, resting her elbows on the counter behind her. “Let’s just leave it as I can’t blame him.”

You nod. Not your business. Just as long as he doesn’t take them on the road. “Are they coming with us?”

Tess shakes her head, “Nah, he’s not stupid.”

As if on cue, Joel emerges, looking lost. He glances at you, double takes, eyes still almost half shut, and then shambles over to Tess, placing his hand on the handle of the coffee pot.

“It’s not done yet. Just put it on.” Tess tells him. He grumbles incoherently and then goes to slide into a seat at the table, rubbing his hands over his face. “You gonna be good to get outta here soon?” He nods slowly, face still in his hands.

“I can help you guys get packed up if you want,” you offer.

“Sure, you can help me get some stuff together. It’s all under the floorboards in the bedroom.” Tess answers.

Joel speaks up, audibly groggy, “No. She doesn't need to touch anythin’. I can handle it fine myself.”

You sigh, unable to stop yourself from rolling your eyes, and Tess chuckles.

“Whatever you say, sir.” You salute him. Joel stares at you, then looks to the floor, shakes his head, and peels himself out of his seat to trudge into the bedroom. You ignore the scraping of furniture on the floor and choose to join Tess at the table.

“Is he always like this?” You whisper, sipping the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had, granted you haven’t had one in at least a decade.

She shakes her head, making a face as she sips from her own mug, “He’s better once he warms up to you. But, he’s kinda just that kind of guy, you know? He’s a good guy, and he can be sweet, but, world’s really fucked with his head, you know how it is. He was a whole different person before.”

“You knew him?”

“No, but I knew his brother. He told me what he used to be like. Huge softy, if you can believe it.”

You nod and sip, trying to picture that in Joel. “So, what’s the whole story with him and his brother?” You whisper.

“Well,” she sighs, “they were together from day one. I met them a few years ago, we ran with a crew for a while, met some Fireflies, and Tommy wanted to split and go with them. They kind of had a falling out, Joel and I stuck together, came here. They were communicating through the radio towers but Tommy stopped responding a few weeks ago. That's when we started looking for a car, go out and find him. Just got a tip he might be somewhere in Wyoming, so that’s where we’re going.”

“You think he might be somewhere in Wyoming?” You repeat back, giving her a leery look. You’re not in love with that plan—Wyoming is very far and a big state, there might already be nothing to find there. But, on second thought, you don't really care. You’ll be in a car with two capable people, and that is more than you can ask for. You’re fine just being along for the ride.

“You got anything better to do?”

“Nope.” You chuckle, and she returns one, smiling into her cup.

Yeah, you guess you are friends. The thought almost makes you choke on your coffee; a whole year with nothing like this, only passing faces, fake friends created for the sole purpose of getting something out of it, and, well, Rat King. But now, you’re exchanging an honest smile and chuckles with a woman over coffee. What a lucky break, to have met Tess.

Ruining the moment, Joel plods back into the room, filling up a mug and choosing to lean against the sink rather than take a seat at the table with you.

“I’m not infected, you know.” You say to him. “Not contagious with anything. And if I smell, you smell worse.”

“Fuck are you talkin’ about.” He says into his mug, squinting.

“You’re acting like if you come too close I'm gonna put a knife to your throat.” You stare at him in all his beheaded glory, marks from the sheets not yet faded from his cheek. “I don’t bite.”

Joel just stares back, then, finally and reluctantly, he takes a seat across from you at the table.

“Ok, I’m serious,” Tess says, setting her mug down, “you two better not keep this shit up. It started off cute, but now it’s getting real fucking annoying.”

“Cute?” Joel says, screwing his face up, and you say over him, “I’m not doing anything.”

“Alright, alright,” Tess puts her hands up, “we’re gonna cut this shit out now. You two, shake hands.”

“What?” Joel screws his face up again. You sip your coffee, looking between them.

“Shake her hand.” Tess gestures, raising her eyebrows at him. Joel moues. It’s been nothing more than irritating so far, but now, it’s starting to hurt your feelings a little. You haven’t done anything wrong. For god’s sake, he should be on his knees thanking you for what you're doing for him. What is it about you that’s so wrong?

Finally, he offers his hand, and you shake, his hold firm and warm.

A shock suddenly runs through you as if he was a live wire, and you feel like your skin is melting in the most delightful way possible. The moment of contact is over in a second, but you feel that something inside of you has shifted. You can’t put your finger on what it is, but it feels like trouble. You set your hand on your leg, but it’s as if the warmth from his hand has been transmitted through your skin and onto your thigh. You quickly take your hand away to place on your mug, warm like it’s supposed to be. Your eyes are stuck on each others, but neither glares. Just, stuck. His are brown like dark bark in the sun, rich, deep, pretty. You look down at the table.

“Alright, we got that taken care of?” You hear Tess.

“Yeah.” You answer, eyes still on the table. Joel clears his throat before he copies your response, his tone devastatingly unrevealing. You will your gaze back up only to be caught in his again, and you look around at the wall, down at your coffee, and back up, all in a second, only to be caught again. He holds it for a moment before looking down at the table. Whatever this feeling he’s giving you stinks to high heaven of trouble.

“Alright, good, then let’s get the fuck outta here.” Tess concludes.

You bring the battery back up on your back while Joel and Tess carry the rest of everything you’ll have for a while, abandoning your coffee, not even bothering to place the mugs in the sink. This place will be left exactly as it is, but neither of them seem to mind leaving all of this behind. You leave the apartment and then follow the two wordessly through a maze that eventually leads out past the gates, ending in emerging from a literal hole in the ground. Once outside, still crouching on the ground, you take a deep breath of fresh air, free from smoke and ash and stink. The dawn is breathtaking, being seen for the first time in years, half of the sky barely past midnight's shadow, pulled up like a shade by blood orange leading down to the peachy halo of the sun somewhere behind the toppled buildings, speckled and tangled with green. A flock of birds pass overhead, dancing in the smearing sky. You could laugh.

“Focus,” Joel hisses, looking at you over his shoulder, also crouched, scowl back in play, though it’s understandable in the stress of the moment. You nod. He’s right. Plenty of time for this later. Right now, you’re still not quite in the clear.

The three of you scamper silently through the badlands between the Boston QZ and freedom. As you venture out, though, your excitement begins to fade, realizing that you’ve been looking through rose colored glasses for a while now. The QZ is a shithole, but out here is just a much wider shithole. There's less people, no rules, but neither of those pluses are as good as they had been sounding in your head. Less people, because they’re mostly dead or infected, the rest being not much more than animals who know how to talk sweet. No rules, means, well, no rules, no morals, just the loose goal of ‘survive’, which translates to fight dirty, do anything you can, anything to survive. Live to fight another day.

“How far’s the car?” You ask, the first to speak.

“Not far.” Tess responds, distracted as she scans your surroundings. You're in the city now, the remains of it at least, weaving around crashed cars and large, rocky craters, twenty years of weather and neglect preceded by bombings and a storm of hysteria. You were expecting Joel to say something like ‘We’ll get there when we get there’, but he stays silent, eyes also scanning around. You seem less fazed. Are you not scared enough? Or have they just been inside longer than you have? You do feel like an animal in its natural environment, ears knowing what sound to look at, eyes knowing what movement to check, agile feet over the broken mounds of rock and glass and all of the other debris out in the open broken world.

“The car’s supposed to be at the church on Park Street. Few minutes walk from here.” Tess finally answers you.

“I know where that is.”

“Good for you.” Joel says.

“Fuck off.” You reply.

“Excuse you,” Joel looks at you, screwing his face up.

“Hey,” Tess interjects, shooting both of you a look, “Jesus, I feel like the parent of two disobedient kids. Knock it off.”

Joel huffs and looks at the ground. You smirk to yourself, seeing him again as a pouting dog being checked by his owner.

It’s silent until you reach the church, red brick with a steeple reaching high into the sky. Parked directly in front of it, as if on display, is an old Dodge Caravan, white with fake wood siding, dusted with dirt, wheel wells caked in dried mud.

“This thing looks like it’s from the 90s,” Tess comments. “You think it’ll run?”

“It better.” You say, shoulders aching with a vengeance from the battery still hanging from them.

“You said that right.” Joel adds gruffly.

You stop at the front and lower yourself to the ground to unload the battery from your bag. Finally free of the thing, you stretch your shoulders back with a deep sigh.

“Surprised your back’s not broken by now.” Joel says as he comes to squat next to you, looking over the battery.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothin’,” he glances at you, “jus’ maybe we shoulda traded bags.”

“I can handle it.” You retort, though he sounds honestly well intentioned, “I’m not weak.”

“Wasn’t callin’ you weak. What, I can't say anythin’ without it bein’ an insult?”

“That’s all it’s been so far.”

Joel just sighs, then stands to open the hood of the car. You stand to look inside with him; all looks right, though you’re not sure you know enough to make a judgment.

“How’s it look?”

“Looks fine.” Joel says, then bends down to take his pack off and dig through it, pulling out a couple tools which he sets on the ground before hefting the battery up and into the empty space under the hood, grunting with its weight.

“You came prepared, huh?”

“Sure did.” Joel mumbles as he picks up the tools and leans over the engine to start working on it.

“How do you know how to do all that?”

“Used to be a mechanic.”

“I thought you were a contractor.” Tess questions, coming up beside you.

“Before that.” Joel replies, “When I was in high school.”

“I can just see you now,” Tess chuckles, “jumpsuit all covered in oil, you name embroidered on the little pocket.”

You laugh at the thought—Joel leaning over a car, jumpsuit tied around his waist as he works, dirty white t-shirt straining against his back muscles and those broad shoulders—”Fuck,” you say to yourself, startled by your own thoughts.

“What?” Joel looks back at you, panic in his eyes.

You dart your eyes away, shaking the thoughts of him out of your head. “Nothing, nothing, sorry.”

“You sure?” Tess asks, raising her eyebrows at you.

“Yeah, yeah, it was nothing, really, sorry. Is the car ready?”

“Just about.” Joel replies as he leans in close to continue with a wrench.

“You sure you remember how to do it right?” You say, recovering yourself. He pauses to glare at you but doesn’t respond.

“Let’s hope he does.” Tess says.

He glares at her too, then states, “I know how to do it. Just give me a damn minute.

“Alright,” Tess chuckles, raising her hands defensively, then steps back to examine the van. She slides over the side door to step inside, “Damn, look at this thing. We could sleep in here.”

You come over to peek next to her, “How the fuck did you score this?”

“Beat it outta someone.”

“Really?”

“Yup. Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“Must have been a good beating.”

“It was.” Joel calls from the front, then drops the hood down and comes around to get into the driver's seat. A pair of keys fall into his lap when he drops the visor down, and he takes a deep breath before easing the keys in and turning the ignition. The van roars to life, and you all laugh with delight, Joel clapping his hands and whooping.

“Hol–ly–shit,” You laugh, half of it being at Joel’s sudden enthusiasm, “look at that.”

“Look at that.” Joel repeats, and you watch his grin through the front mirror.

Just as he catches you, Tess says, “Alright, let me out.” You step back out and she walks around to get into the passenger seat, “Alright, grab your shit and let’s go before our luck runs out.

You and Joel nearly bump into each other as he gets out and he mumbles a sorry before you both go to gather your things. He hands you your bag and you mumble back a thank you. The relief from having a working car must have flooded all the resenting sarcasm out of you, and you actually almost smile at each other as you both get back in. You flump onto the backseat, sighing as you rest against the cushion, rolling your aching shoulders again.

“Thank god I don’t have to carry that thing anymore. N’ I’ve got plenty of room in my bag for all the shit we have to pick up now.”

“What’s our first stop?” Joel asks, adjusting the mirror to look at you.

“About twenty miles west.”

“What am I lookin’ for?”

“Gas station. BP. Next spot’s just the same, gas station about thirty miles west from that one.”

“Alright, perfect, we’ll see if we can find some gas.” He says as he puts the car in drive and starts out, rounding the corner, “We’ll be there in no time.”

You lean back in your seat and let yourself smile. It all worked out. With a car, dare you say, it looks like smooth sailing from here.

“Lemme see if I can find some music,” Tess says, digging through the glove box. “Oh, shit,” she chuckles, pulling out a CD, “Don fuckin’ McLean. Were you ever into him?” She asks Joel.

“Shit, is that American Pie?” He asks hopefully, glancing at it held out in Tess’s hand, “Oh shit, put that on. I love this album.”

You chuckle from the backseat. Such a wholesome little moment, and as Tess slides the CD in and the music starts to play, an air of ease falls over the cabin. Morning sun cascades through the windows and you squint through the dirty pane, watching your surroundings start to speed up past you. On the road again, heading somewhere far, finally free again. No more curfews or guards, no more fucking ration cards or deals in basements. You look ahead to the front seat at your new companions, catching a small smile on Tess’s lips. All you can see of Joel is his shoulder and his hair, wavy and stroked with silver. In the mirror, his eyes are locked on the road, but his brow is relaxed, and there might even be a smile of his own hidden under it. Leaning back in your seat and looking back out the window, the music in your ears for the first time in many years filling you up with giddy warmth, you think you could get used to this.

—

The next couple hours are in fact smooth sailing, both stops being stress free and bountiful, two crates, found exactly where you’d left them, full of food, guns, and ammo next to you on the seat with two red jugs full of gas on the floor below them.

The car breaks down just past the border of Massachusetts.

“Shit.” Joel seethes, waving the gray smoke away from his face as he slams the hood shut. “T’s done.” He announces, looking at you and Tess.

“Fuck.” She mutters, closing her eyes and dropping her head.

You watch the fumes slinking out from the hood. It was foolish to think this thing would take you all the way across the country. Of course it would break down within two fucking hours. Why not?

“Come here and help me get this shit out before the car explodes.” You say, going back to open the side door and start packing whatever you can fit into your bag. You shove another gun into the back of your jeans and empty half a box of bullets into your jacket pocket. Joel is behind you when you back out, and you shove a crate into his hands, “I got most of it. Just take whatever else you can fit in your pack. Same with Tess. We’ll probably have to leave some behind.”

Joel does as you ask, kneeling to unload the contents of the crate and dividing it up for the two of them. Once everyone’s pack is filled to the brim, you leave only a few things behind, set in crates next to the car, and set off on foot.

Joel traces his finger over the folded map found in the glove compartment as you walk. “We’ll just follow route 20. Maybe take a turn at, uh, Albany, ‘bout a day's walk. That’s the next real town, pretty much just farmland for a while.”

“Great.” Tess says through tight lips.

—

At dusk, you decide to call it a day, though you’re only a few hours away from Albany. You set up under an overpass and light a small fire before nightfall takes away the option. Everyone is all deep sighs as you sit back to rest, no one used to all that walking. Your shoulders are still throbbing, a lasting consequence of that damn battery, and you pull your shirt down to see red bruises covering both sides, flashing like a mockery in the light of the flames.

“Damn, that battery really did a number on you.” Tess comments, leaning over to examine the bruising.

“I can’t decide if it was even fucking worth it.” You say, readjusting your shirt with a huff.

“Well, commendable act.” Tess sighs, resting her arms over spread knees.

“Thanks,” you mumble, not used to genuine praise.

After a moment, Joel says, “You look tired.” You look up at him and he’s staring with puppy dog eyes, probably unintentionally, but puppy dog eyes just the god damn same.

“I am.” You mumble, not meaning to be honest about it.

“Well,” he grunts as he stands, pulling his gun out, double checking it’s loaded, and leaning against the concrete wall, “I’ll take first watch. Tess, I’ll wake you up in a few hours.”

“This is starting to sound like you still don’t trust me.” You say.

“T’s not.” Joel says, “You just look the most tired.”

You sigh, torn between a longing for sleep and hesitancy to be in such a vulnerable position.

As if reading your mind, Tess assures you, “Don’t worry, we’re not gonna kill ya or split. We’re in this together now, and we need you sharp. Get some sleep.” She nods her head to the ground. You pause, then obey, curling up on the hard ground with your hands between your knees and pack under your head. You’re out within minutes, being more exhausted than you had realized.

—

An almost silent scuffle is enough to wake you up and tense every single muscle in your body, but the two familiar, faint voices relax them just as fast. It must just be Joel waking up Tess for her watch, chatting in between shifts. Their low tones tell you this isn’t for you to hear, but you listen anyway.

“She’s jus’… she’s just so damn… pretty.” You hear Joel. Who is? …Who else would it be, but you? At this realization, your face lights on fire. Tess starts to chuckle, but then it turns into cackling, as quiet as she can manage.

“Sh!”

You can hear the wild grin on her face as she whispers, “You have a crush on her!”

You want to squirm, twist your legs up, but you stay still. You don’t understand the impulse, but you don’t like it, either. You feel like a fucking highschooler; a callback to an alien world, but you haven’t felt anything like it since.

“No, I do not, now be quiet before you wake her up.”

“Yes, yes you do,” she continues to stifle laughter.

“No the fuck I don’t.” A pause. Then, “Shit, maybe I do.” He groans, voice muffled, “I’m fucked, aren’t I, god, I’m so fucked.”

Oh, shit.

“Yes, yes you are.” Tess chuckles.

The worst part is that you’re just as fucked as he is. It seems to be hitting you both at the same time. A crush, yes, that’s what the young aliens used to call it. A fucking crush. Maybe it’s due to time, being much, much, older—hundreds of years older, it seems—but this crush doesn’t feel like any one you’ve had before. Maybe because it’s Joel, like no one you’ve ever met. But, how, exactly? You’ve met damaged people, you’ve met people just as cold, just as standoffish. No man has exactly been this standoffish to you, though; most men you’ve met on the road have tried something within a couple days, even if it’s been in a group. Warm bodies. Hungry animals. Horny survivors.

There’s no way you’re going back to sleep now. Your mind is spinning, gyrating, tying itself into knots. Joel, Joel, what is it about him? You’ve met handsome men. You’ve slept with a couple handsome men. You even held one of their hands once. But, Joel, you’ve barely even touched.

Pretty. That’s all he said. Is he just another horny survivor? None you’ve known have confided in anyone, cared to discuss it with someone. And not anyone has ever used the word crush. Come to think of it, most of them only use the word sexy to describe you, just to say, hey, you’re so sexy, let me fuck you. That’s about it.

Joel, Joel, Joel, shit, what is it?

“Ah, Jesus,” Joel says.

“A crush, wow. Gotta say, I was not expecting that from you. I always thought you were a pork ‘er and move on, never say a word about how you actually feel kinda guy.”

“Hey, you callin’ me a slut?” Joel says. Tess tries to muffle her laughter but it burst out of her hands. “Sh!” She sounds like she has her hands pressed firmly against her mouth, but she’s still laughing.

“Yes, actually, I am calling you a slut.” She finally manages to say, “I mean, with us, it was never like that. I mean, did you have a crush on me? Because, I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t call it that.”

“No,” Joel whispers. “It wasn’t like that. I mean, you know I… care about you, all that. But, yeah, y’know, it was jus’…”

“Yeah, we’re on the same page, don’t worry.”

“Jesus, Tess, this is… goddammit, I don’t have time for this shit. I mean, what should I—what should I do?”

“Don’t look at me, loverboy. I’ve got nothin’. Are you gonna tell her?”

“Fuck no.”

Tess chuckles, “Why?”

“Why on earth would I? This is my problem, not hers. You think shit’s tense now, imagine how’d it be with that piece of fuckin’ information hangin’ in the air.”

“You don’t think she likes you back, do you?”

“Of course she doesn’t.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I—well, I mean,” Joel stammers, “why the fuck would she? Look at me, I’m just some fuckin’... old man, who—who—”

“Oh, shut the fuck up, Joel. Don’t sell yourself short. You’re a good guy. You’re handsome. You’re kind. You’re gentle. You’re a fuckin’ badass. You’re—holy shit, you’re blushing,”

“Would you keep your fuckin’ voice down?”

“Aw, you’re killing me, Joel. I’ve never seen you like this. Never. She has got a fucking hold on you, doesn’t she?”

“Tess, stop fuckin’ around, and just tell me what to do.”

“Hey, I told you, I’ve got no advice on this one. Crushes are not my strong suit. I’m sorry, but you’re on your own on this one.”

“Ah, don’t tell me that. Shit, Tess, come on,” he nearly whines, “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do.”

“Alright, why don’t you just sleep on it?”

There’s a pause, then Joel sighs, and you hear him shifting into place on the ground behind you.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. This is bad. But it feels good. But it feels bad. You’re almost nauseous with the number of wings fluttering in your chest, almost dizzy, and you realize you’ve been biting the inside of your cheek so much it hurts. Half of your brain is having a party while the other half is looking for a knife to stick in its chest. What does this mean? What’s going to happen? What do you want to happen?

What do you want?

Joel is the first word that comes to mind, and you want to bang it out of your head and into the ground. But there it is, sticking like a bullet under your skin. Should you talk to Tess about it? The only person you can talk to? Tell her you heard everything? Or should you tell Joel? Oh, god, you don’t even know how you’d broach the subject to him.

What, are you two gonna start holding hands now? What else do couples do—oh, god, couples, what, are you gonna start dating? You almost laugh to yourself but you catch it before either of them realize you’re not asleep like you’re supposed to be. This is all like an out of body experience. None of this exists.

Your mind wanders to the one time you have seen something like this—Agatha and John, who you met on the road along with a few others; the lovers, everyone always used to call them. Joined at the hip, linked by their hands almost all of the time. You used to make fun of them for their googly eyes at each other, but they never minded. They were in love, and they knew it, everyone did. Marriage without the $25 piece of paper or veil and bowtie. There was always this rosy air about them, their love was enchanting, so real, so innocent, so sweet.

And then John died. And then Agatha killed herself.

The whole group fell apart after that.

That’s why all of this, ever since the second you touched him, just that shaking of his hand, had given you such a bad feeling. Because you knew what it was, and even before you found the word for it, you knew it’d end bad.

What John and Agatha had was the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen, even before the world ended. They found each other, and they chose it—love, despite everything, the ugliness, the loss, the loathsome world. And it was so pure, like an angelic little bubble that they floated in. The way they touched each other, the fleeting passes over waists and arms, they way they flowed like a living duet. The way they held each other, when they cried, when they laughed, just, whenever they could. You’ve never seen people sleep so peacefully. The love was tangible between them.

And then when John died, Agatha fell apart, like an angel from heaven, like a baby bird from a nest, into a pile of feathers and blood. She was a shell. For a week. And then she killed herself. She couldn’t live without him.

You envied her before. And then, immediately, you mourned her.

These violent delights have violent ends.

Love is dangerous. A crush is a bullet with god cocking the gun.

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una-guanabana · 9 months

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🥀shadows and roses🥀

Okay so I finished ACOSF yesterday, and all I could do after that was lie in bed for most of the night trying to answer my own questions. As if SJM had written at the end: based on what we learned through this series what do you think happened…?

▪️Does Elain get to be with our beloved shadow singer?

▪️Does Gwyn ends up with him?

▪️Is Mor ever going to come out to her family?

▪️Will Lucien be happy and find a place to call home?

I got into this series because I saw a bunch of fan art. And I kind of spoiled the main plot for me, I knew Rhysand and Feyre were end game but I kept getting confused about Azriel, Gwyn, Lucien and Elain.

I was expecting each character to have their own chapters so we could see the development of these relationships. And I was so sure Azriel ended up with Gwyn.

And Elain with Lucien.

But nothing of it happened.

I enjoyed Nesta’s journey and how she was mated with Cassian. I adore them both.

I know now that there might be another book to this series and I’m here to pour my heart out about how I feel about the story of two of my favorite characters.

💐Elain and Azriel💐

Because I saw lots of fan art declaring Az and Gwyn were kind of endgame. But I disagree.

I’m glad it didn’t end like that.

I know they all are gonna be happy in the end. But I have my biases about it.

I proceed to enlist my reasons to believe why ✨ELRIEL✨ is the right path.

🌹 Let's face the fact that Elain has a trauma after being kidnapped and dropped into the Cauldron. Yes it did served some greater goods like the fact she DID NOT marry that ;d10t whose name I don't even remember. (Ok I do, freaking Grayson) and now the three sisters get to be together for ever. 🥹🫰🏼

But Lucien and Tamlin helped plotting this against Feyre. I still can’t see how this could have made Feyre go back together with Tam but… he was desperate.

And he knew she loved her sisters and would not allow them to be hurt.

Granted, maybe "they didn't know" what the King was capable of but GOD, Elain must be having a hard time forgiving Lucien. Not just because hauling them to the King but because all of his omissions to her sister. I always thought about our lovely Lucien as Tam’s puppet. Like they were in this toxic friendship where Lucien was agreeing to everything Tam said because he would get upset if he didn’t and Lucien was being disloyal to himself just to have Tam content.

🦇While on the other hand Azriel saved her EVERY SINGLE TIME.

😒I remember how Lucien sat there trying to reach through the bond to see if he could tell what was wrong with her and after the most uncomfortable 30 minutes he doesn’t have a clue and Azriel 😍 can tell after 30 seconds Elain is a Seer.

🌿He takes her to the garden and didn’t push her, he just keeps her company. And the fact that he remembers Feyre mentioned Elain’s love for flowers IS SO SO SWEET. 🥹

👒Feyre says they are and I quote “the only civilized ones.” Which means they are so alike. At their first meeting they both try to smooth the mood and end up relaxing around each other.

☯️They are both quiet and introverted but Az is a spymaster, he tortures people and is surrounded by shadows. He feels insecure about his past and his scars and Elain is all sunshine and flowers. Calling him BEAUTIFUL when they arrive at the townhouse, making him blush. BALANCE. They can perfectly complement each other.

🗡️Az hands Elain Truth Teller, and he had never handed it to anybody.

❤️‍🔥After 500 years of Az head over heels for Mor, Cas noticed he no longer looked at her as he used to. AFTER 500 YEARS! What could have happened? What took Az out of his monumental crush on Mor? ELAIN! The answer is ELAIN. 😫😫😫

🤩It would be refreshing if this mating bond didn’t work. My heart squeezed when Az asks Rhys about the Cauldron being wrong about it. How he tried to expose his reasons to believe it doesn’t make sense she was mated to Lucien because his two brothers were mated to the Archeron sisters. And tbh I think the same. Amren said it once, that it was not a coincidence the three sisters were there. And we also have THREE BAT BOYS. Lovely, handsome, always caring BAT BOYS. (I’m not saying Lucien is not all those things but it just makes better sense to me she goes to the other available bat boy).

🍁And it would be more interesting than seeing Lucien being unhappy about Elain's indifference. Their interactions are uncomfortable, FUN but uncomfortable.

🏔️You know what would be SO OFF THE CHARTS?! That we could get to see them trying to make it work between Lucien and Elain. And also Az and Gwyn. Go through the details of how they can make it work fine but there’s still something missing and BOOM, Elain ends up going back to Az because that’s what she truly wants. And what Az wants too.

🌠Rhys said his parents were mates but weren't right for each other.

And don’t worry, Lucien is still got a lot of options for his future love life. He will be happy. Let's just accept the fact that just because they're mates doesn't mean Elain doesn't have a choice.

I don’t owe the fan art. But girlll very accurate.😍😍😍

👒🦇🥀ELRIEL FOR EVER 🦇👒🥀

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rayssion · 8 months

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Very rushed review of The Kane Chronicles:

Generally I'd give the series 3.75. These are some other points:

First person POV: this's totally personal opinion, but I don't go well with first person pov, mainly because it just feels so limited because if you use third person pov it gives you space to talk about everything and everyone in the same paragraph without being objective and without modifying them to the character's speculations. First person pov can be really good though if it was consistent and done well.

Changing POVs: another thing that I personally don't vibe with, changing povs. Now I can really endure first person pov if done well and if it was consistent as I said, I can even enjoy it. But in this case I didn't because they kept changing. I know Rick is very well capable of doing a great fppov, example the pjo series and he really did well with changing perspectives during hoo but the thing is, hoo is written in third pov. Here I can't be jumping from dealing with Carter's emotions to Sadie's existential crisis every now and then, if you really want to cover both characters without lacking then do a third pov as in hoo. But I understand it was part of development, Rick tried fppov in pjo, then again in tkc but with two persons, probably figured later that it won't do and changed the style for hoo, so it's alright. Ngl though, it gives messy writing sometimes, remindes me of when I read One Of Us Is Lying, it felt inconsistent and all over the place without going anywhere actually, I didn't like that book.

Love interests and quick/rushed love life: now whoever you are, just know that I'm giving you the bombastic side eye if you ever said that you believe in love at first sight, nah-uh. I'm not bluffing guys I hate it, you can't just look at someone and be like "omg they're so perfect I love them they're the loml!!". Like I can understand if it's like or admiration but not love. And here in this books we had a great deal of it. This's totally objective and personal opinion but I hate how Sadie went quickly with it and was like "oh, I love this Anubis dude" like you just saw him girl what?? Same thing with Carter and Zia but I actually enjoyed how Zia didn't immediately go with Carter but took her time first, gave herself a space to evaluate and also for personal growth, I liked it. Another thing is how Anubis kissed Sadie, bro that was your third encounter so far guys, and Anubis is like 5000 years old and Sadie just turned thirteen, I'm not saying don't date because of Anubis age, but I'm saying she's just a child and Anubis just kissed her with no consent, not to mention it was on the third encounter (do I look petty because of this emphasis?, probably but anyways). And I know people would be like "what's wrong with kissing at thirteen?" Nothing at all, I just think it's still early. But nothing will ever beat the shock I had with kissing at nine, looking at you A Thousand Boy Kisses.

How Set quickly agreed with Sadie it felt weird to me, as if he's other plans but yeah, I actually like Set so we're turning a blind eye on this.

Execution: the writing was kind of poor at describing the magic or the feeling of gods inside you, it wasn't bad but I know Rick can do better by levels. But I really loved the fight scenes, it was done so well I can't say anything else about it, much better that boo tbh.

The whole Sadie Anubis Walt thing, because I love Walt, he was a really good character, but I just didn't like the solution. For me I'd prefer it if Walt ends up dying and Anubis banished or forbade to ever getting close to Sadie. Idk about you guys, but if you look at pjo and hoo it just feels like the main characters having a lover is such a big concept within the books, and we all know this's not how real life works, so I'd really rather it ends up with Sadie alone than the two boys emerging in one just to be with her. Point for polyamorous representation in Sadie though, even if the book didn't focus on it much.

Idk if you picked it yet or no but I'm a big antiromantic person, so you can say I'm just a hater for all the couples in this series alright.

Now for the big thing! Flat characters: I really don't have to elaborate on this, the characters felt a little too superficial to me, the only one I can sympathize with was Carter, but other than that they all felt one dimensional. It didn't help me to blend in the mood and didn't help me getting attached to any of them. In fact I had like 150 pages left of the serpant's shadow and I delayed it for three? Four? Days with no shame because I felt I had had enough, I wasn't even anticipating finishing the book because I just fell out, I didn't feel any noticeable character development through the books and I really finished it for the sake of finishing actually.

The books didn't really expand with the concept of lose and grief, it all just felt like "we lost our parents? Our uncle is possessed? We lost some friends? Our friend is dying with each second? Yeah, let's go fight some demons and rebel gods" like they were so plot heavy that they didn't go through emotions of characters one on one (maybe that's why there wasn't any palpable character development). Surly they'll be like "oh I'm so sad all these people died and we have no parents now and we are to fight some big chaos monster, oh I feel so sad" but they don't show it! I don't want you to tell me how you feel, I want you to show me! Let me feel it myself.

The comments while recording, I didn't necessarily hate them or like them. I just think it'd do well without them, they're giving Wattpad fanfics ngl.

But all in all, great adventures, got to know more about Egyptian gods ( whom I knew nothing about except for Anubis and Ra, even though I live in Egypt now lol) added another character to my faves (Carter ofc, tbh the books ruined Anubis for me, and Walt would be great if he died ") so yeah,

see you soon with Magnus Chase and the gods of Asgard!!

#dead Walt supremacy lol #the kane chronicles #kane chronicles #carter kane #sadie kane #walt stone #tkc anubis #anubis deity #god anubis #zia rashid #rrverse #riordanverse #rick riordan #tkc #series review #book review

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mickmundy · 1 year

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spy headcanon thread! just some of my personal thoughts and musings about his character :-) enjoy!

starting off by saying that spy is Absolutely Everything to me.. i've put his thread off for so long because i have SO much to say and im afraid i'll leave stuff out BUT we're going to take a Stab at it (😏) and i guess i'll just add more stuff later if i need! As Usual this is just pasted from my twitter so i'm sorry for any wonky formatting issues!

the most important thing to me about spy's character is that it is Varied and can be Contradictory. i say this about all of the mercs tbh but spy is among the Most important given his role/occupation as a spy. he IS A Spy, but he's also Just Some Guy (gender neutral).

spy is a bit dry; very sarcastic, a bit stoic, but he's definitely not heartless. i think he's very "emotionally in-tune" to those around him and prides himself on being able to read a room exceptionally well!

... but just because he knows what people might be thinking doesn't mean he's going to do anything about it! he likes being in the know but seldom ever enjoys interfering; it's best if he keeps out of the fray, or so he tells himself!

that being said, i Do think spy makes exceptions to this rule (which To Me is what makes his character Interesting!).... as we see in expiration date! he spends his "last living days" helping scout become a worthy date for miss pauling!

if he sees someone Floundering or really stuck in some kind of emotional squander, he'll pass by with a hand on the shoulder and a concise, discreet, kind word of advice in their ear and move on. no need for thanks, he's just Sharing an Observation! if you try to thank him, he'll give you a coy look and be like "for what?" but he knows. he's just letting you know you don't need to thank him <3

loves breaking balls. he'll help you if you ask him, but not before he gives you a LOT of shit for it. he'll volunteer himself to help you (even if you tell him you need his Stinking Help!) and he'll roll his eyes and say "ha! you are So helpless! i know you're glad i'm here to see this through with you uUu" LOL

but he will give you genuine insight and Surprisingly Good advice. huh, you didn't know he knew you so well! despite his job as a spy, he'll tell you to be authentic and will encourage you to listen to your instincts.

is an Observer First and an Action-taker second. prioritizes being in the know and likes being in the background (despite how good he is at being in the spotlight!). always thinks before he speaks, very calculated in everything he does!

got wiser with age. when he was younger i think he was quick to save his own skin and thought only about himself. among his first "selfless" acts were running out on scout and his mom to "protect" them, but with the wisdom of hindsight, that wasn't the smartest idea!

firmly believes in the power of respect. seems to have a positive relationship with all of his teammates (yes, even sniper, engineer and pyro lol) and scout's mom, too (regardless of how u see their relationship). tells scout that he has to earn pauling's respect to be worthy of her!

won't hesitate to stick his neck out for/work with people he appreciates. in the comics, he works with (and even prioritizes the safety of) miss pauling, helps sniper, and obviously comforts scout when he's dying in the way that Scout would want to be comforted. good job pops!

which brings me to dadspy... how i love you... i could make an entire other thread about my dadspy thoughts BUT i'll keep it "brief" here. i don't think he ever "treated scout like shit" nor do i think he was abusive to scout's mom or scout. he's just the world's most mediocre absent father to me... KDSKF

i think scout's mom knew What Spy Was and knew that at some point, he'd have to leave her. i think she's a perfectly capable woman who spy is genuinely still in love with (they have an open, long-distance relationship!) and is quite the deadly catch herself! perhaps i'll make a thread on her if that's something people would want....

i don't think she resents spy for running out and i think spy has complicated feelings about running out. he's convinced himself he did it for everyone involved's safety but in hindsight he Does feel a Bit (emphasis on Bit. it's not Earth Shatteringly Dramatic, just a little demon that sneaks up on him now and then...) guilty and tries to "make up for it" by Trying to get along with scout even if it's... not easy LOL. him turning into tom jones when scout died was to comfort scout the way Scout would want, which i think says a lot about spy's character.

however, once scout finds out the truth, i think he tells spy that he shouldn't have lied to him about it ("what kind of dumbass lies to their son on his deathbed! 🧍") and spy's like "ah... i suppose that... was also a mistake." and they smirk/smile at each other.. Road To Forgiveness begins..

also i personally love the running gag that everyone knows that spy is scout's dad (except for scout), not because i think spy would tell all/even some of the mercs but because it's SO obvious that all of them are like "i mean yeah.. doy". extra points if their knowledge Also surprises spy. "WHO TOLD YOU? HOW DID YOU KNOW?!" and the mercs are like ??? "erm... we have eyes...?" LOL

DESPITE being Stoic and Unknowable and Mysterious, he is also Quite the Doofus. one of my favorite and most important thoughts on his character. i think his authentic laugh is his snort laugh and i think that's what made scout's mom fall in love with him... :') has a great sense of humor.

loves playing pranks, causing mischief and being a Smug Cunt. will hide behind his Carefully Crafted Facade, but those who really know him (heavy, scout's mom) can see right through it! teaches scout some of his "best ones" (though not before pranking HIM with them first! it's okay though. scout's a good sport and gives him props LMAO)

a short list of spy's "best ones":

cleaning a glass door REALLY well and tricking the mercs to run into it at full force

oil on the kitchen floor so that anyone who comes running in will slam into the oven that engineer Just Fixed God Dammit! and destroy it

mentos in soda

scout and spy have the "same laugh" when they REALLY start howling. snorting, wheezing.... they sound almost identical. usually if they're laughing THAT hard, the rest of the mercs are looking at them like this >__> (covered in soda, can't get up from the ground because oil, etc)

obviously enjoys literature! language is one of his favorite things, though. loves learning about different dialects, slang, accents and learning the intricacies of grammar, too! likes studying the other mercs for this reason. the base is a fun, mixed bag for him!

the best secret keeper. contrary to popular belief, spy will NOT air your business if it's Serious. he might "let it slip" to medic that sniper sleeps with a stuffed animal, but he won't let anyone know that heavy has ptsd. he likes giving people shit, but not genuinely causing harm!

ah.. breaking balls as a love language.. this is something that i think is shared between spy, scout, and scout's mom. they LOOOOVE to give you shit, but it comes from a loving place. i think a lot of scout and spy's banter in exp date is like this:

it's not actually Insulting to either of them (spy calling scout a failure, scout telling spy to go to hell, etc) and is in fact more like a thing of Endearment. if you know people like this then you know what i'm talking about. idk how else to describe it KSDFKS

he is very girlfailure that thinks he's a girlboss but is actually a girlfailure and is coming to terms with his girlfailing. as i've said, spy isn't heartless. he knows he's made mistakes and knows his job has costed him a lot and now he's trying to reconcile with it. sometimes it's funny, sometimes its angsty!

is a total foodie and has a LOT of opinions about all kinds of cuisine! loves cooking with engineer and pyro (YES i think pyro is an INCREDIBLE chef. they only burn things because it's fun/funny! for the bit. you understand), and heavy has a perfect palette (just a personal hc of mine heh) so he always gets to tag along and taste test! <3

if spy is involved with any of the other mercs, scout's mom knows about it. they're in an open relationship and spy values her just like he'd value any of the mercs in a romantic relationship. she knows all of them and they're all very polite to her (ala like they are with miss pauling), but she quickly surprises them by being snarky and playful like spy and scout! she also doesn't hesitate to begin telling the mercs the most Humiliating Dirt on spy AND scout! HEHEHE

i don't think he'd cheat on her nor do i think he'd bother cheating on any of his partners. he's very open with communication when it comes to his interpersonal relationships (this is ironic to everyone but him because his relationship with his son is currently in shambles). he's good at it when it comes to romantic relationships though!

his love languages are, well, any and all of them! he loves being in love, he's a huge romantic and is not shy about showing it. will absolutely DROWN his partner in gifts and pretty words (that he really does mean!) and so on... perhaps to the point of it being a little overwhelming! at his partner's request, he'll dial it back... but he still loves to spoil his lovers, and THAT is something he WON'T apologize for! >:)

as i touched on earlier, has a good rapport with all of the mercs and pauling. he's patient with soldier and the other mercs hear him out about the bucket list idea (and are all Quietly Amused by how scout promptly ruins that for him. team dynamic ykwim). i think he's the closest with heavy (i'm a spoovy enjoyer), engineer, pyro, and sniper (BUT in kind of a "unique" way. perhaps i'll elaborate) but he enjoys the company of all of the other mercs as well!

is Informed about engineer's, demoman's and medic's research (though not on the levels they are of course) and likes being in the know about things going on around the base. he mostly shares enemy intelligence with these three over anyone else. they talk frequently and Love to gossip (engineer SWEARS its not gossiping but demo and medic are like "no. its gossip!" SKDFKSDF)!

will absolutely always enable you to treat yourself. scout, spy, medic and demo are the KINGS of "go on!! treat yourself!! :D" no matter what it is. if spy sees you really struggling about whether to get something, he'll slip it in with his own purchases and gift it to you later. "this one is from me, so you don't need to worry about compromise. <3"

in battle, he's a bit more sadistic than his teammates; likes making people squirm and is more than capable of getting under your skin. information extraction is part of his job and he treats it as such: Part Of The Job. he doesn't get a LOT of pleasure from hurting others, but he Does enjoy starring in a good revenge tale!

no, i do NOT think the world's most absent father cares about his 30 year old son's sex life nor do i think he's even "fiercely overprotective" of scout just in general. i think he knows scout is a grown man who has to make (and account for) any failures and fumbles he makes in his life. he'll be there with a kind word (and a few snarky ones!) when shit hits the fan, but he's not running around fighting scout's battles for him. scout loves battling too much to let him anyway! LOL

he teaches him things that Spy Himself values (like respect) because he... values it and since spy IS trying to be a bit more of a Dad to scout, it's also a reflection on him (to spy. scout doesn't care or think of it that way). insists on the value of self improvement! (something he himself didn't learn until he was Much Older... but scout doesn't need to know that!)

#ok FINE this is good enough for now...#-_-#hit tweet limit three times <3 i have things to SAY #dutchfoolery #dutchiehcs #mercthreads #<- yeas i have other mercs in there.. take a look if u want... heh #tf2 #spy #rrgghhh sorry for the tags... grrhhh

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