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bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture · 3 years

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Alright, so this is a bit later than I intended, but real life is a pain sometimes. And for those who missed the last post, that’s mostly on me for posting it at midnight, so you might want to go back and check for that - it covers the whole convo between Toshinori and Izuku on the rooftop!

But yeah, this is the final stretch, all the rest of chapter 1, so let’s hop right into it because it’s gonna be a ride.

[No. 1 - Midoriya Izuku: Origin]

Lookit that firebreath (I know it’s not shh). Also, again with the weird lack of crowds / people around in what should have at least a few stragglers. I get that drawing crowds / background masses is annoying, but in a wideview scene like this it’s unnerving. Japan is a high-population-density country, so… uh...

Izuku stares forlornly at his notebook, thinking about all the things people have told him over the past half chapter I mean day about being realistic and thinking seriously about his future. Izuku turns the book so the title faces away from him and starts tearing up, rubbing them away while he chastises himself for crying when he already knew he was being unrealistic, and that his knowing was what had driven him so hard to not see reality.

Overhead sign: 田 (den/ta) 等 (tou) 院 (in) 商店 (shouten) [business] 街 (machi) [boulevard, street]

Store sign: (コ)ネストアー (konesutoaa) [cornerstore]

Well, there’s the crowds, though still not able to account for all that empty street. We also see that Izuku has managed to wander his way to another hero fight despite not even really paying attention, and even though he tells himself he’s going to make himself feel bad for watching, he still heads over to join the crowds.

He snaps out of his funk when he sees the villain, asking himself how they got away, then realizes he must have made All Might drop it, which means it’s his fault (which kid, honestly, considering he just left those bottles in open flap pockets instead of holding them firmly in his hands, you are not the one to blame.) Also, he utters the ‘this is my fault’ out loud, but the people in front of him obviously don’t hear, distracted as they are with the reason the heroes are just standing around - which is the middle schooler the villain has.

Izuku has a brief flashback to when he was being violated by the villain, and is horrified that someone else is going through the same pain. We get a brief panover of the crowd:

Izuku and Toshinori are like, only fifteen feet apart here, and have the same reaction to the crowd’s commentary. Incredible. We zoom back in to Izuku, who is blaming himself for All Might not being able to do anything. He mentally echoes the same words as the heroes, that someone with the right quirk needs to show up to help catch the guy. He internally tells the captured person to hang in and apologies, saying someone will save him soon.

God I love this spread. This is everything about Izuku right here. You can actually see where Izuku shoved himself through the crowd in order to sprint forward, and you can also see the genuine fear in Katsuki’s eyes in that moment where he and Izuku locked gazes. Also I checked, he sprinted right past three pro heroes, with none of them reacting in time. Incredible.

Toshinori and said heroes all freak out, and Izuku’s panicking right along with them but is still rushing forward despite that. Death Arms and the bird-helmet hero both yell at Izuku to get back, but don’t actually go after him. The sludge villain and Katsuki both react as well, recognizing Izuku.

Izuku’s notebook hits the ground spine first, and we flash over to Izuku wondering what the hell he’s doing. The sludge villain moves to try and hit Izuku when he gets close enough, while Izuku pulls off his backpack and continues to panic-think over what to do… with the book just so happening to open to the page he ends up thinking about, on Kamui Wood’s signature attack from the beginning of the chapter.

He throws his backpack right at the sludge, all the stuff in it flying out as extra ammunition for the villain’s face to dodge, and while distracted, Izuku ducks underneath the strike and calls for Kacchan. Fortunately, the sludge has been forced to pull away from Katsuki’s mouth, allowing him to take a breath before demanding “You? Why?!”

Remember this for (checks watch) 284 chapters from now. Also fuck, I just realized, remember this?

'a pro should always be ready to risk his life'

'the reason I smile is to stave off the overwhelming pressure and fear I feel'

'a symbol of peace who saves people with a smile must never be daunted by evil'

Izuku took those words to heart as well, and is already reflecting them only moments after his dreams were crushed. And you can tell in the next panel that Toshinori heard those words and was slammed right to the core because of it, because he knows that kind of drive, that sort of spirit.

We see the villain going back to suffocating Katsuki, while telling Izuku to stop it. Toshinori calls himself pathetic again while powering up, and the villain tells Izuku to stop getting in his way, that it’s only a bit longer, and moves to smash Izuku out of the way. Inside the sludge, we can see Katsuki close to passing out. The other heroes finally dash forward to try to get him out of there in time, only for someone else to latch onto the arms of both kids instead.

That someone, of course, being All Might, still steaming from going into his hero form. He tells Izuku that he (All Might) should ‘practice what he preaches’ and reiterates that a pro should always be ready to risk his life (while blood seeps from his teeth).

I’m blown away by Horikoshi’s art in this, and this is where he started. God, just thinking of current manga events and the art there… this man needs to be stopped, he’s too powerful, I am going to cry doing comparisons and I don’t even have a clue about any fancy art terminology or the like, all I can do is stand back and be awed.

Izuku has had a rough day.

And here we see the force of the blow, which somehow didn’t blow away the crowds or damage the windows of all the buildings of the surrounding blocks. Jesus fucking christ. And then the remnants of the blow head upward, causing it to start raining because of the rising air current from that one punch.

How was all that shit not blown away????? A mystery to everyone. Also, Katsuki and Izuku are both passed out on the ground while the crowd and media go fucking wild over what All Might just did. All Might turns to keep an eye on the two while also wobbling slightly, the pressure of holding this form past his limits.

After that, we go back to narration from Izuku, talking and showing the cleanup efforts and the villain in two garbage bags (as he deserves). The heroes chastise Izuku for putting himself in danger (I want to note that this has nothing to do with his quirklessness as far as the scene portrays), while Katsuki gets praised for being tough and having a good quirk, and gets an offer to sidekick. Katsuki isn’t listening or just plain doesn’t care, too busy glaring… or not really? At Izuku.

We get a short scenery panel, I guess to suggest the passage of time, and then we see Izuku putting his backpack back on, thinking moodily about wanting to apologize to All Might but not being able to, so he’s planning on leaving a message on the hero’s website. Katsuki calls Izuku out, and takes a shaky moment before snapping at him, saying he didn’t need Izuku to save him, that he could have handled it himself, that he doesn’t want a quirkless kid’s pity, and that he’s not gonna get won over just with this and to stop mocking him. He then spins on his heels and stomps off with a last ‘stupid nerd’, while Izuku thinks Katuski’s a tough guy. He still agrees with Katsuki, though - he didn’t do anything, he didn’t change anything, but he’s still happy, and now he can focus on a realistic future.

And then All Might zooms into view, scaring the hell out of Izuku. Izuku asks why he’s there when he was surrounded by reporters, and All Might says it wasn’t hard to shake them off, considering who he is- before he hacks up blood and deflates into Toshinori. Toshinori continues on more calmly, saying he’s there to thank Izuku and revise his earlier statement, as well as offer a proposal.

He starts off on how, without Izuku’s story, he would have been nothing but ‘fake muscles and insincerity’, and thanks Izuku. (Izuku quietly muttering ‘fake muscles?’ here makes me cackle, because honestly, same.) Izuku tries to refute it, saying it was his fault from the beginning, getting in All Might’s way and daring to ask if he could be a hero despite his quirklessness- only for Toshinori to cut in and say that that was exactly it - out of everyone there, it was only the timid, quirkless kid who acted, and in so spurred him to action.

He goes on to talk about how the top heroes show signs of greatness as children, how many of them claim that their bodies moved before they could think. Izuku is shaking and clutching at his heart, hunching over and tearing up as he recalls his mother’s words, her apology to him. Toshinori continues, asking if that was what happened to Izuku, who replies with a yes while crying. He thinks about what he’d wanted his mom to say back then, and so we cut to the end of the chapter:

God, what a fucking great first chapter. I can’t think of another series I’ve read that hooks me in so well right from the start like this.

Also wait, holy shit, the anime LIED to us.

‘The story of how I became a great hero’, not ‘how I became the greatest hero’. There’s a massive distinction in there between the two, and Izuku’s character leans WAY more towards the manga phrasing over the anime phasing. He’d never consider himself the greatest, those would always go to All Might and likely Katsuki first, and then probably his other classmates and friends as well. He’d be happy to be among the greats, but he’d never consider himself on top of them all.

...huh, that’s the end, besides the one character panel that I’m gonna throw in a separate post. I fucking love this project so much, and I really wanna see what else the manga has to offer that the anime has lied to me about. This section went by a bit faster than expected, but I suppose that’s what comes from almost all of it being action, so. Thanks for sticking around so far, and let’s see what’s to come in chapter 2 together! :D

#chapter 1 #opening arcs #readthrough #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #yagi toshinori #midoriya izuku #bakugou katsuki #this went faster than expected #ah well that just means this chapter is done #(celebrate emoji)#man there was a lot to unpack in this chapter #I fuckin love Horikoshi's work

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trickstarbrave · 3 years

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big hot topic on tiktok that has been talked abt often that i wanna throw my two cents in abt the discussion but will do so here bc its going to be way easier than condensing it in 60 seconds and ppl will get even more mad abt it on there. under a cut so you can just not look if you don’t want to as it’s probably long and no one likes this discussion

disclaimer: im not jewish. culturally or religiously at all. so i do not have the best of insight of jewish folklore and i will mainly be repeating what i have heard jewish ppl say on it but you listening to jewish ppl on it will invariably be way more helpful. ultimately i am not talking to make an argument for or against lilith worship bc i can’t make that call, mainly just that arguments for it i see tend to be deeply flawed. ive seen jewish people who say they don’t care if people worship her and ive seen jewish people who are very much against it and frankly no one needs my non jewish ass giving them permission on it, i just don’t like some of the harmful arguments and at times BLATANT anti-Semitism i see in the discussions

“lilith isn’t a closed practice!!! she cant be closed!!! she’s a being/deity we can all recognize!!!”

this i feel starts with a misunderstanding of what “closed practice” means. a closed practice is a very broad term to describe any practices, typically spiritually in nature that are not freely shared 100% openly, usually due to trying to preserve cultural or religious practices. you can learn about most of them--if you go to a primary source. many people of closed practices are open about talking about it and teaching it to people who are interested, and some cannot due to years of oppression and theft of those said practices. some require initiation, and a lot of them are passed down with heavy cultural ties. and most importantly “closed practice” is a relatively new understanding of cultural preservation after colonization.

judaism isn’t a ‘fully closed’ religion, but it does have a set conversion order in place, and typically while converting you will learn under a rabbi or teacher. a lot of jewish mysticism, magic, and folklore are passed down culturally, so even converts may take a very long time to learn all the ins and outs of it. and a lot of times jewish practices, beliefs, texts, and folklore has been wholesale stolen by western new-age spiritualists, occultists throughout the ages, and demonized by people who seek to harm jewish people as a whole.

the pure fact of the matter is that unless you are learning from jewish people theres going to be a lot of things about lilith you don’t know. your understanding outside of the cultural jewish understanding of her is very different, yet you are the one who also constantly equates them as the same being with the same stories, with some modifications. yet time and time again whenever a jewish person would express anxiety over it (as she can be viewed as a very HARMFUL spirit to jewish people and not a deity for them) you talk over them and call them sexist, and when they try to correct you over misunderstandings of her stories you tell them you know more than them.

with closed practices what doesn’t matter is your bloodline or your skin, it is about the information you have access culturally, and that information may be kept from people like you so that the faith in question can be preserved because it has been threatened. and yes, jewish people have had their cultural, spiritual, and religious practices threatened. it isn’t about keeping you out because they don’t like you, its about the fact that you don’t know everything and the way you are going to learn it will be difficult and very different. ive seen white voodou workers who are actual recognized practioners (sorry for the lack of proper terminology on this i know they have proper words/titles but i dont know them), and they didn’t just look up whatever they could find online, they had to seek out a priest to learn from, and it took a lot of time and training.

there is a way to approach closed religious/spiritual practices, and someone saying ‘this is closed’ is not them saying ‘go away you cant even look at or be interested in this thing it is not for and never will be for people like YOU’. and ultimately HOW you go about approaching it will be decided by someone in that culture, and not however you feel would be the best way to do it as an outsider.

“how could so many people, if they aren’t actually contacting the “real lilith” be wrong? if shes from a closed practice she couldn’t reach out to so many people right? so they aren’t doing anything disrespectful”

spirits, deities, and other entities from closed practices do reach out to outsiders on occasion and the correct course for dealing with that is to immediately find a person of religious/spiritual authority and trying to work with that person to better understand why. again the point above: you do not have the cultural knowledge to work with them, you do not understand how to identify them, what practices best suit them, the multitudes of stories around them, and history of them working with humans. if you actually value them as an entity it is imperative you understand from a PRIMARY source all of this information, not just second and third hand accounts of outsiders.

and also a lot of colonizers have claimed to be personally connected or contacted by entities from a closed practice and use that as an excuse to not only not learn, but speak as an authority figure about them. there are people who claim to work with shinto spirits with absolutely 0 actual knowledge on shintoism yet feel like they have an authority to speak on it. there are people who claim to have been contacted by voodou, hoodou, and vodun spirits/entities and know nothing about it yet speak as authority figures on it. i’ve seen someone do it for a polynesian god. they did not care about actual learning, they cared about their own beliefs, validating those said already existing beliefs, and getting validation online. am i saying everyone is doing this with lilith? no. but saying “people wouldnt just lie/be wrong right?” yeah. yeah it happens all the time.

“they don’t even like her, they fear her, she’s a demon to them and is actually from babylonia, we are NOT worshipping the same version as her and they don’t even want anything to do with her so why does it matter”

in terms of actual cultural study a lot of jewish and christian stories are born from the cultures their people have had contact with. historically yes, jewish people have been in babylonia, assyria, and that area, and have made cultural exchanges with those people. a lot of cultural sharing has occured throughout history, but the jewish tellings of the stories have particularly jewish cultural knowledge and heritage in them. also we frankly do not have a lot of concrete surviving stories of lili, lilu, and lilitu, so i know you are not basing the meat and bones of your practice on those unless you have access to that cultural knowledge that not even archaeologists and anthropologists even know exists. most of it is on middle ages mysticism that developed her further based on jewish folklore and religious stories.

also just because a culture doesn’t worship and revere a spirit doesn’t mean it is yours for the adopting and taking. we see this with the cannibalistic spirit i will not name from algonquin tribes and shapeshifting spirits/witches i also will not name from navajo. these are not spirits you’re supposed to mention or talk about, and even more so because their culture has such intense, negative stories around them means you should probably give it a little more thought.

the last point i am going to make is the general, overt anti-semitism i see. stop comparing judaism to christianity. stop saying they are evil and misrepresent her because judaism is inherently sexist. stop saying they are oppressing your culturally christian raised ass. stop saying jewish people have no culture of their own and its “all stolen from pagan traditions” (which are somehow all equally open for you to take from too i suppose, as though middle eastern practices are exactly the same cultural weight as all white european ones)

again im not for the forceful closing of practices and i cannot give you fucking permission as i sure as shit do not know but i don’t think any of you even understand what “closed practice” means and why jewish people might have even the slightest misgivings about you working with or worshipping her and it really shows. if you have been heavily studying the occult, jewish traditions, and are doing so respectfully then i sure as hell am not here to argue with you about it so don’t come at me for it. what i am saying is a lot of people who do not have that and are absolutely disrespectful towards judaism and jewish people as a whole really keep making an ass of themselves on witchtok and are absolutely insufferable towards any jewish person who voices their thoughts and feelings on it, and i have a problem with that.

#antisemitism #lilith #ultimately this is part of a larger debate of jewish mysticism inspired old school occult traditions #but i know most of the people arguing have very little knowledge on it #hence the bad argumentation #tiktok has limited character space and time so i figured it would just be better to write it out #basically my point boils down to 'i dont know if you can do this respectfully as i am not qualified to tell you how that looks'#'but i do know that THIS way of doing it absolutely is not'

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svynakee · 4 years

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Mulan (2020)’s idiotic cultural appropriation of chi is really stupid

Qi is a real thing. Not in the way that oxygen, or electromagnetic waves, are real. You cannot find an atom of qi. You cannot measure qi with a device. Qi is real the way romance, or luck, are real. And in the same way that the romance most people experience isn’t the same romance that is depicted in movies of passionate, melodramatic, wild love, the qi in wuxia and other genres is not the qi experienced in real life.

Now, when it comes to romance movies, the concept of love at first sight does not need to be established. It is accepted that there can exist, in the setting of the story, an unseen powerful force that drives strangers together on the whims of fate. There doesn’t need to be a professor pointing at a blackboard explaining the mechanics of destiny, and the evolution of true love, for an audience to willingly accept that love at first sight can be real for the sake of the story. In this way, it is unnecessary for there to be a martial arts master in every story that uses qi to explain what qi is, why it exists and how humans have learned to harness it.

However, the individual story’s take on qi should be established. If there are organised, respected, powerful sects teaching students to use qi, then assumptions can be made about how society views qi, how developed the study of qi is, the place of qi users in this world. If qi users are almost mythical and tend to hide in seclusion, assumptions can be made. If the emperor’s strongest generals proudly use qi in battle, assumptions can be made. If a teacher cautions against improper usage of qi because it can result in both physical and mental harm to the practitioner, assumptions can be made. And even if nobody bats an eye at the fact that the duke’s eldest son and the third imperial prince are doing flying leaps across rooftops on market day, then assumptions can be made about qi, such as ‘using qi is so common that the price of cabbage is more interesting than watching someone doing magic parkour’.

Simply saying ‘qi exists and is for warriors’ does a poor job of worldbuilding. Worldbuilding is important because it sets the stage, gives context to the stakes, lends weight to the protagonist’s struggles. What does Mulan (2020) tell us about…’chi’? One important thing to note is that in Disney’s Mulan (2020), chi is referred to as a skill; ‘he has strong chi’, ‘he has a talent for soccer’. In Chinese works, qi is the energy, the skill is qigong, which is qi (air) + gong (effort). A martial artist therefore has strong qi, or skill in qigong. They are not skilled in qi. In the following points, I will be discussing Disney’s idea of chi, so I will use their terminology.

Only men can use chi, but chi is also available to women.

Not being true to yourself poisons your chi.

Chi is for warriors, implying that women cannot be warriors (this is actually uncommon in Chinese wuxia stories, more common in historical ones where QIGONG AND WITCHES DO NOT EXIST).

The existence of a woman with chi powers is unusual and a cause for alarm, but not unusual enough that the Emperor dismisses the idea after hearing ONE REPORT FROM A RANDOM SOLDIER.

Those in the Imperial army are trained, briefly, to use chi – this is shaky because I think the commander talks about how chi can be used, and Honghui’s compliment to Mulan implies that her usage of chi is what makes them equals, meaning Honghui can also use it.

People recognise that chi allows humans to do super gymnastics and have enhanced reflexes, enough that when the villagers see a young Mulan doing these things, they are freaked out. Or the ancient Chinese really hated backflips.

Despite women using chi being so taboo, Mulan’s father decided to teach his daughter chi just because she was born with a high midichlorian count- I mean, high chi. When she displays chi abilities in front of other villagers, her mother gets angry and tells him to stop teaching her. Yet Mulan still retains her chi proficiency into adulthood, meaning either her father continued to teach her, or chi mastery lasts for a lifetime. In that way, using chi is a bit like riding a bicycle.

Rourans can use chi to run up walls, but Mulan’s friends are only shown to do this very briefly near the end of the movie, with normal Imperial soldiers failing to use this ability.

The Emperor of China is a proficient chi user. His chi lets him use drapery as weapons (actually a common technique in wuxia, the idea being that qi is personal energy and a skilled practitioner can channel their energy into any object, giving them sharp edges or huge kinetic force).

When a woman can use chi, she is a witch. And this is where this becomes HILARIOUS. Because there IS a witch in Mulan (2020).

Xian Lang is a witch.

In her introductory scene, Xian Lang is shown POSSESSING A MAN, her physical form completely disappearing as she does this. She then nails two long range kills using throwing stars and engages in melee combat, easily defeating Imperial guards despite being outnumbered. She is later shown to turn into a bird, or a large swarm of bats. She never turns into multiple birds or a single bat.

Xian Lang was an outcast as a young girl because of her chi. This is why she joined the Rourans, despite being Chinese (as evidenced by her name). She believes that Bori Khan will make a world where girls like her, born with strong chi, will not be outcasts.

Bori Khan treats Xian Lang horribly, being prejudiced against her gender and dismissing her strength. The Rourans in general also hate her for being a witch.

Xian Lang saw through Mulan’s disguise easily and also identifies that she has strong chi.

Oh and Chinese stories rarely have witches, Xian Lang should’ve been an nugui, kind of like an evil spirit or demoness but from Chinese folklore.

Here’s the thing that I find the funniest about the world Mulan (2020) has created.

Women should not be allowed to use chi. It has given all the proof for this rule to exist, and none to dissuade me from agreeing with it. Because the movie gives us two women with strong chi. Mulan, who actively suppresses her chi, and presumably only learns to use it during her training with the army. So, she is a chi beginner. The other woman is Xian Lang, who is immensely strong despite not looking much older than Mulan. She is probably the strongest character in the story, and definitely a chi master. The only other contenders for the title of strongest chi – not gender restricted – are the Emperor and the Commander. I believe the Emperor is stronger because Bori Khan lures him into a trap and still loses men trying to capture him. He restrains the Emperor with a ton of thick ropes. This guy is terrified of the Emperor and from the few times we see the Emperor fight? I don’t blame Bori Khan at all.

And yet the Emperor never possesses people. He doesn’t turn into a bird, or a swarm of bats, even when these would have FREED HIM AND SAVED HIS COUNTRY. Notably, none of this is ever stated as being against chi law. None of these abilities are stated to be the result of evil experimentation, forbidden techniques or any other taboo method. In the worldbuilding of Mulan (2020), Xian Lang’s chi is only evil because she is evil. And she is only evil because she is a woman with strong chi.

Mulan is a woman with strong chi.

The implication, the weird mess that Mulan (2020) has made, is that All Women With Strong Chi Become Witches. And men CANNOT become witches. Men cannot possess others. Men cannot shapeshift. Men can possibly learn to use throwing stars, but this is debatable. Women can not only do all these things, women are FATED to do so. If a woman is born with strong chi she becomes a witch.

And I don’t blame the ancient Chinese for wanting to suppress witchcraft! It looks hecking dangerous! They can possess anyone. They can break into secure spaces by shapeshifting. Sure, it’s not ethical to deny women access to chi because they could potentially become supervillains, but I can see why they went to that conclusion. The movie does nothing to address this. Mulan doesn’t vow to teach girls to use chi for good. But that’s FINE, because Xian Lang only became evil because of sexism, which is solved now, so cue the happy ending.

Even disregarding how the message of the movie is “girls get bullied for being born weird unless they prove themselves worthy of basic respect”, what is this WORLDBUILDING. Is Mulan in danger of poisoning her chi again and becoming a witch? If chi is for warriors, does that mean civilians can’t use chi? What if a farmer is born with strong chi, do we exile him until he becomes a warlock for the Rourans? How often are girls born with chi and how many of them suppress it correctly? Are they killed if they fail? Do they just join a circus and masquerade as acrobats?

Disney, chi is not a magic you can just throw around! It’s not bibbidi-bobbidi-boo! If you have a magical world, you need to teach the audience about the magical world. INSTEAD OF JUST POINTING. AT ANOTHER CULTURE. AND SAYING “THIS IS REPRESENTATION AND IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS TAKE IT UP WITH THEM”. Yes, qi is part of my culture! CHI. IS. NOT. Its your abomination, stop using OUR STORIES and OUR TRADITIONS as a shield for YOUR SHODDY, LAZY, IDIOTIC WRITING.

Anyway all they had to do was not add ‘chi’ and have Mulan doing normal martial arts for fun or something. Just make her a normal tomboy. Sometimes girls like sport it doesn’t have to be because they were born with baseball magic.

#disney #mulan #mulan 2020 #mulan live action #disney mulan

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chamelis · 4 years

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I mean no offense in asking this but what about that "curry" song is offensive? Is curry not an important dish in Indian culture and eating beef against the majority religion of India (Hinduism)?

dude... are you kidding?? have you been reading any of the posts?

*sigh* ok. since u asked so nicely, let me spell it out for you. and for anyone who has been too afraid to ask bc they really should have caught on by now.

first, have a look at this post i made, where i talk abt what south asians face generally. in that post, i put a screenshot of some of the lyrics of that song. first of all, the whole tone of those words is extremely unsettling to me - two Korean men making a song about a culture that they're literally not a part of. like, don't even say "appreciation". if you want to appreciate my culture and food, just eat the fucking food??

but that's not even the main thing. the thing that quite literally made my stomach drop was .... i can't even bring myself to quote it accurately but, smth like "if two people were eating curry and one dropped dead, the other wouldn't notice"?? smth along those lines.

so you're telling me that you like eating indian curry so much that you went wrote an unnecessary song about it, and proceeded to make a disgusting joke about how made it smells??? comparing it to a literal corpse?? what the fuck???

and yes, i know this song was made in 2010 and the original artists have now apologised for making it. but it took them 10 years??? really??? other groups have done this before, btw. stray kids and oh my girl, as far as i can remember. and when they did this, their fans also spoke up about it. im not quite sure what the groups did in response, but, clearly this has been an issue within the last 10 years. but only NOW the original artists realised that they majorly fucked up by making this song??

and dont even get me started on their apology. it was full of "we love indian culture we just wanted to make a fun and catchy song about it". norazo, you didnt just do that. you made a song by taking random 'buzz' words from our culture ("shanti", "TAJ MAHAL", "namaste" and all that shit), referenced random things that we abide by without context (eating with the right hand, no beef etc.), and descriptions of curry that you thought were funny ("its yellow, but it doesn't smell nice" or some shit. again, these arent direct quotes because i refuse to look those lyrics up again.)

what you need to understand, anon, is that this is the worst way you could appreciate someone's culture. that song is made by people who clearly know nothing further and deeper about our culture and traditions past "taj mahal" and "namaste". they think it's hilarious that our food tastes so great but smells so shit. you mean to tell me they loooove our culture, but then thought it was okay to take random hindu terminology which has a deeper meaning and relevance, and just throw them in a song about curry??

by now, i really hope you're seeing why the existence of this song is deeply unsettling. but there's more of a problem here. clearly, over the recent years of kpop groups' controversial encounters with this song, svt never realised that the song is offensive. they've had the luxury of not learning why this song is stupid and derogatory and berating to our culture. they've been able to ignore the fact that south asians across the world are misunderstood and discriminated against because people like norazo reduce our culture to these songs with no meaning other than to """appreciate""" something in the worst way possible.

and that's the worst part to me. svt clearly dont have to care about racism and the struggles of other asians. they're famous and rich and they have a korean fanbase to rely on, so they dont have to care about the struggles of international fans. but south asian culture is REPEATEDLY used in kpop for the aesthetic - there are so many examples of this that you could probably Google it and find a plethora of kpop controversies explained by south asians.

and you know why this keeps happening?? because culturally, in korea, people aren't understanding why shit like this is dumb and wrong. when it comes to idols and their companies, they're either ignoring the uproar (like pledis), or making a half assed apology and then proceeding to appropriate and diminish another culture for their next comeback. so yeah, svt and other idols aren't forced to care about this shit, but they need to start caring. and if they don't, i and a lot of other south asian fans aren't gonna keep loving and supporting and paying them just for them to turn around and slap us in the face by perpetuating harmful and stupid stereotypes of us.

my friend v made a good post here which explains how kpop has brought global east asian rep and broke stereotypes, and now we need the same for south asian cultures. we have an incredibly beautiful and rich cultural background, but when people make songs like this and idols sing them and find them catchy or funny, they reduce our cultures to a couple words and stereotypes. they make us feel small. insignificant past being people that eat smelly curry with our fucking right hand. i am more than that. south asians are more than that. and at this point, i don't even know if svt, the people whom I've given so much love, know that.

I'd like to believe that they had no racist intentions. but that frankly doesn't matter either way. they fucked up by singing that song and seeing nothing wrong with it. and they're still fucking up by staying silent about it. and this is gonna allow some rookie group to make the same fucking mistake in the future, and the cycle repeats, and south asians are continually discriminated and made to feel shit about themselves because of some song that their favourite idols can't stop singing no matter how many times they're told to.

lastly, if you've read all of this and decided that south asian fans are being dramatic and we're "cancelling ppl for no reason", just send me another ask saying so. then I'll block your IP address.

alternatively, if you have a genuine question about this, if my wording didn't make sense at any point, my inbox is open. but pls be polite. it's the least i ask for.

you can refer to this post which is pinned on my page which has resources you can use to contact pledis and tell them to make an apology statement and urge svt to understand their mistake + inform themselves on this issue.

#asks #answered #anonymous #anon i just woke up and spent 30 mins writing that for you lmao pls be thankful #svt sitch.#ok to rb!

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chelsfic · 4 years

Text

Part Five - Wish You Weren’t Here - Diego Jiménez x Reader - Starz Power fanfic

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

A/N: This part introduces two more characters from the show Ghost and Tommy. Ghost is the main character of the show. Tommy is his best friend and what you need to know about him is that he kills people unapologetically and seems to often find it fun. He’s emotional and impulsive. (Yes, I am also in love with him. Okay? Fine. God.) Sorry if...nothing much happens in this part? I mean I found it compelling to write about the weather. I don’t see the issue? Actually I’m kind of setting up Plot for the next part.

***

It’s not like you expect Diego to send flowers and chocolates and a barbershop quartet... But...you’re disappointed when your Netflix and chill suggestion seems to evaporate from his thoughts over the next few days. He’s obviously very busy. You spend your days flitting around the penthouse while Diego takes non-stop phone calls. It’s clear something big is going down although you only understand one in five words with your high school Spanish. You decide that’s probably for the best. Even if you secretly love listening to Diego’s rumbling voice enunciate the unfamiliar syllables. Maybe he’ll teach you one day…

One day...when he gets his head out of his ass?

By the end of the week you resolve yourself to Diego’s caprice. Either he’ll grow up and make a move or he’ll...continue to taunt you with his sexiness from afar. Ugh. Friday morning is frigid and it’s sleeting as you walk from the subway station to Diego’s apartment building. The freezing rain soaks through your knit hat and scarf, leaving you damp and shivering despite your giant, dowdy winter coat. It’s been pretty mild this year so this is the first time you’ve walked into Diego’s building in your complete winter get-up. The security man does a double take when he sees you walk in, not recognizing the roly-poly, chunky knit, walking L.L. Bean ad. You’re sure the girls that Diego hangs with will continue to go out in miniskirts and strappy sandals all winter long. But you don’t like being cold.

Diego’s leaning on the kitchen counter sipping a cup of steaming coffee when the elevator doors open to reveal you in all your glory: soggy, dripping and miserable. He nearly spits out his coffee as you slump your way over to the closet and begin peeling off your layers of outerwear.

“Shut up,” you grumble miserably. “It’s freezing! And you might have noticed it’s raining--I mean your windows are big enough.”

Your jacket falls off the hanger and lands with a wet plop on the floor of the closet. You leave it there, shutting the closet door and going to join Diego in the kitchen.

“Gimme coffee!” you demand and--feeling bold and edgy--grab the mug out of his hands and take a big sip from his cup. You grimace, “Ugh! This needs milk!”

“Well, it was my coffee, actually. You can have your own…” but you’re already going over to the refrigerator and pouring Diego’s almond milk creamer into the cup, filling it almost to the brim before taking another taste.

“Better,” you sigh and watch him make another cup for himself. “...thanks.”

He looks up and smiles at you and the dimple in his cheek makes you weak in the knees. How can he look so boyishly charming when he’s an actual…

Your hands are slowly thawing, cupped around the ceramic mug but a shiver wracks your body nonetheless. It’s partially in response to the memory of his fingers wrapped around the golden handgun and partially because you’re still pretty damn cold and you’ve only worn a t-shirt under your coat like a moron.

“Come here,” he says, holding out his arms, eyebrow arched expectantly.

Murderer, schmurderer. You set the cup down on the counter and step into his arms. Diego wraps his hands around your bare arms and hisses in sympathy at how cold you are. He rubs his palms vigorously over your frozen skin, warming you with the friction as if he were a boy scout trying to light a fire. Heh--he’s already lit a fire…

You’re boneless, wavering before him as his hands run over your arms until you finally lean forward and let your forehead rest on his chest. You feel his chest rumble against your cheek as he purrs in response to your closeness.

“Should have brought a sweatshirt with me,” you mumble into his shirt.

“Hold on,” he says, pulling away. You curse yourself for speaking and breaking the moment. He goes upstairs and comes back a moment later holding a black cashmere sweater in his hands. “Put this on.”

He hands you the bundle of fabric and you let your fingers roam over the rich fibers. You can think of more amusing ways for him to keep you warm but you’re still touched by the gesture.

“Diego. This is too nice to wear doing housework…”

He rolls his eyes at you and smirks, “Just put it on. You feel like an icicle.”

Of course you’re quietly--stupidly--thrilled. You pull it on over your head and delight in how the sleeves fall over your hands and the bottom hem extends halfway down your thighs. Diego’s eyes glimmer as they drift over your form, secretly pleased to see you dwarfed in his shirt. He clears his throat and turns away abruptly to fiddle with the coffee maker. With his back to you, you bring the collar of the sweater up to your nose to give it a little surreptitious sniff. Mmm...beefy boi scented. You try to squirm your way back into his arms but he’s already distracted, looking down at his phone.

“By the way...I need you to leave early today. I have a lunch meeting,” he says absentmindedly as he scrolls through text messages.

You throw him a withering glance. Leaving early as in doing the same amount of work in half the time?

“Fine, but I’m just doing your sheets and laundry. The rest can wait,” the words themselves sound authoritative, but your tone wavers a little at the end. You’re still unsure in asserting yourself to this man who can intimidate you even if he occasionally dissolves into a needy puddle at your touch.

He looks at you with that enigmatic gaze of his. You try to keep your chin up even as your insides quake. He finally nods wordlessly and turns back to his phone.

***

You’ve just finished putting away the folded linens when Julio walks up to you, “Boss says time to go. I’m driving you home.”

You look up at him and frown in confusion, “You’re driving me home?”

Julio just shakes his head in shared bemusement, “Diego wants me to drive you from now on. I’ll pick you up in the morning and take you home at the end of the day.”

Julio tries to rush you out the door but you stop him at the elevator, “I need to grab my coat, hold on.”

You get your coat from the closet and head back into the living room where Diego is lounging on the couch. He looks up at you with a self-satisfied expression, “Julio told you he’ll be driving you from now on?”

“Yeah?” you answer, “Diego, I don’t--I don’t really know him that well?”

You’re actually thinking about the way Julio’s hand dug into your arm, the way he seemed so ready to deliver you to his boss like a sacrifice when you’d witnessed too much. The memory doesn’t exactly make you feel comfortable spending time with the man.

Diego stands, his height towering over your small frame. He cups his hands around your face and tilts your head back to meet his gaze, “I trust Julio with my life, little girl. And yours. He’ll protect you. Besides...it’s still raining. And soon it will be snowing…”

He leans down quicker than you can process and pecks a chaste kiss to your forehead. What the fuck? My lips are right here, buddy. Before he can pull away you grab his shirt collar and tug him down to smash your lips against his. He responds to the kiss, opening his lips and letting you slip your tongue into his mouth, stroking, lapping, nipping. He growls as he tears himself away.

“You need to leave now,” he pants. “I don’t want my...guests...seeing you here.”

“But...,” you smirk, licking your lips and giving him a knowing look, “I’m just the maid.”

***

Julio is silent on the ride down to the lobby. You fidget, balancing your bag and your still damp jacket on your arm. You catch his eye at one point and try to give him a little smile. He looks like he’s still puzzling out why the hell his boss is spending so much effort on you.

Cool. Start to a beautiful friendship and all that.

When you step off the elevator into the lobby Julio turns to you and finally speaks, “Wait here, I’ll get the car.”

“Sure!” you answer in your chipper, we-can-be-friends voice. If Julio is Diego’s right hand man, or whatever, then you want to be at least friendly, if not full-fledged friends.

You watch him walk away and you notice two men approaching the private elevator. You shuffle out of their way but not before one of them catches you with a penetrating gaze. He’s a white guy, blond buzz cut, tall--hulking really would the correct terminology--with definite crazy eyes. He stares at you like he’s trying to see into your soul. You stare back not because you’re trying to seem unaffected but because you just can’t look away. You watch his eyes widen as they flick downward. You glance down at yourself, realizing that you’re still wearing Diego’s over-sized, expensive sweater. When you look back up the man is still watching you, this time with a malicious looking grin on his lips.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” he says with false sincerity, grasping your elbow in his large hand and giving the slightest squeeze as if to hint at the strength withheld. He doesn’t let go right away. Not until his partner, an elegant, handsome black man, finally addresses him.

“Tommy,” there’s a hint of warning and exasperation in the man’s voice.

The man--Tommy--finally lets you go. You watch them both step onto the elevator, unease shivering down your spine. Even as you walk across the lobby and go outside to meet Julio...you still feel Tommy’s gaze crawling over your skin.

Tommy...

Ghost...

Tags:

@lockedoutofmyotherblog @1zashreena1 @lannister-slings-and-arrows @glowingpena @flower-petal-blooming @symbiont13 @pullthedamnlever @sparrows-books @joalsglasses @ishqinbbc @pre-schoolervengance @skys-luce-stellare @popculturepriestess @nolongertwo @ughwhyareyoulikethist @squidlywiddly87 @damndamer0n @xboxdudett @khicks3

#Diego Jiménez #Diego Jiménez x reader #Maurice Compte #Starz Power #chelsfic

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allegra-writes · 5 years

Text

(Not so good at) Sneaking around

Peter Parker x Stark!Reader

Teen & up

Warnings: None

The Request:

Hey! So we always see the Reader and Peter sneaking around Tony and he suddenly finds out when he catches them making out or doing it and freaks out and it's like "Run Peter, run!" But c'mon!! There's no way his daughter could hide something like that from him I mean he's Tony freaking Stark! So just once I would like to see a fic where the Reader and Peter think they are being so smart and sneaky but Tony knows all along and just let's them go on because it's so much fun for him to see them running around and freaking out and just nearly giving them heart attacks every time he 'almost catches them'. Also let's be honest, he would totally ship it!

“It’s happening! This time it’s definitely happening!” Tony got in the bed whispering excitedly.

“What is, Tony?”

“SpiderStark! Y/n and Peter!”

Pepper turned around to face her husband, exasperated and refusing to have to be awake at such an ungodly hour.

“You say that at least once a week…”

“Yes, I know, but this time it really is happening!” He insisted, excitedly, “I was walking down the hallway outside y/n's bedroom and I hear them yelling at each other and…”

“How is yelling at each other conducive to them getting together?”

“Because of what they were yelling! Hear me out…”

Tony was having a pretty shitty night, the coding for his newest AI refused to cooperate but he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it. He was missing something. He needed another pair of eyes.

Peter was out with MJ, great kid, really, he would totally be on board with that relationship if it weren’t with the fact that it was getting in the way of his OTP.

Because that’s what they were, ever since princess Shuri had explained the terminology to him, he couldn’t help to think about his own princess and his protégée like that. Because, let’s be honest, no boy was ever going to be enough for his precious girl, but the one he loved like his own? The one whose genius rivaled his own, the one who was braver than Cap himself, the one with a heart more pure than Thor's? That one came pretty fucking close.

And he wasn’t blind, he had seen the little glances they stole when they thought no one was looking, the way that “personal space” lost any meaning when it came to them, those kids were crazy about each other.

Now if only those two morons would get along with the program …

Anyway, Peter was out with MJ and Harley had gone home for the weekend. His own precocious teenager was geeking out somewhere on the tower with Loki of all people (and don’t even ask him how the bastard was still alive, Thor himself had just shrugged and welcomed him back), but he was going to have to interrupt them -such a pity - to ask her for help.

“If you’re looking for your firstborn, she just left for her bedchambers” Loki said without even raising his eyes from the book he was reading, sprawled on the sofa of the main living room.

“So early on a weekend night? You managed to bore her that much?”

Loki rose an eyebrow in obvious contempt.

“If you must know, she was visibly distressed after the spider-brat showed up. So much that so that she was of no use to any of our respective investigations so she decided to call it a night.”

“Distressed? Peter Distressed her?”

Loki scoffed,

“That little insect is not as harmless as you seem to believe…”

Tony rolled his eyes.

“Whatever, Snivellus. I’m gonna find her, she’s probably still awake.”

You were awake alright. Yours and Peter’s voices could be heard from the hallway. Frowning, Tony got closer to the room.

“… and where do you get off of telling me what to do or who to talk to?!” distressed, his ass, you sounded furious. “You are not my father, you are not my brother, you are no one!” Jeez, kid, harsh much? “You are just my friend and-!”

“That’s bullshit, y/n! That’s so much bullshit and you know it!” Tony didn’t think he had even heard Peter swear before, but he would have been the first to admit the tension between you two was bound to explode sooner or later. “The way we touch? The way you look at me? The whole way we just… are with each other, that’s not how friends are supposed to be! You wear my freaking t-shirts to bed, for God’s sake! Just admit it, baby, we haven’t been just friends in a long time.” He finished, voice full of venom.

Your dad froze outside your door. He felt the need to intervene, to put a stop to the argument before it could escalate even more and both his kids said things they would regret. But on the other hand, he had no idea what to do or how to break up that fight. Teenagers were a scary breed, especially female ones…

Especially Stark ones.

There was a loud crash against the door.

“What the Hell, y/n? You can’t just throw a vase at me! You could have hurt me!!”

His daughter’s response must have been in a lower voice because he couldn’t hear it. Tony got closer to the door trying to listen but the voices sounded muffled now, softer.

There was another dull thud on the door, as if something heavier had hit it, and then a stifled moan, and Tony left hurriedly, before hearing something he really, truly didn’t want to hear…

“… Wow”

“I know, right?” Tony sounded still amazed. Pepper, good pragmatic Pepper, wasn’t as enthusiastic.

“ And you are not bothered at all by the fact that your oldest daughter is currently making out, maybe even more, with a boy in her bedroom?” She inquired, skeptical.

“Honey they are eighteen, and they are smart. They can be a lot of things, but irresponsible is not one of them. Besides,” Tony left out a yawn “Peter is a complete gentleman.”

“It’s not him I’m worried about” Pepper muttered, but Tony’s eyes were already closed.

…

Tony Stark started to suspect Peter Parker wasn’t as much of a gentleman as previously thought a couple days later, when he caught you trying to sneak out of the med bay.

“I can’t believe you licked the alien thing” Bruce was so done as he and your father turned the corner.

“It worked! It was DNA activated!” Tony countered.

“But you didn’t know that at the time! Oh, hi y/n…”

You stood there like a deer in the headlights, cursing silently: it was just your luck to crash into them when you were almost on the clear. You had been so close, but the tell tale glow of the Starkderm -Your father’s high tech take on the transparent medical dressing, designed to aid in healing and completely camouflage wounds, making them indistinguishable from the patients skin once activated- on your neck, let you know your little mission had failed.

“Sweetie, are you ok? Did you get hurt?” Bruce’s tone was anxious and the guilt Tugged at your heart for making him worry. After all they had been through, they didn’t deserve it.

“You should let Bruce take a look at that, neck injuries are a serious matter, kid”

Had you been in a better mental state you would have noticed the amused glint in your father’s eye that belied his concern; but as it was, high on adrenaline and embarrassment, you didn’t see it.

“NO! I mean… n- no, it’s nothing, I mean -just a stiff neck.” You stammered, “That’s it, just a stiff neck. I thought maybe the analgesics in the Starkderms might help. I- I gotta go now. Bye!”

You practically ran out of the room, leaving behind a bewildered Bruce… and a clacking Tony.

“Oh my God!” your father was literally doubled up with laughter, “Did you see her face? She was so red she could’ve given the old mark II a ran for it’s money!”

“I don’t understand, the Starkderms don’t work on soft tissue sprains…”

“Oh Banner, you pure, innocent jolly green giant…” Tony wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and put a hand on his friend's shoulder -well, he tried for the shoulder, but the forearm was as high as he could reach- “It was a hickey. She was trying to cover a hickey”

Banner was even more confused,

“A hickey? But how? who..?”

Tony just raised an eyebrow.

“… No, no way!”

“Yes way.”

“Get out! Finally?”

“Yes, my friend,” Your dad patted Bruce’s (lower) back “Fucking finally!”

…

“I think your father knows”

Tony froze on his tracks right outside the kitchen as soon as he heard Peter and you talking about him.

“What? Why would you say that?” You sounded slightly alarmed, but not enough, in his opinion. Surely he was more intimidating than that, he was Tony fucking Stark after all.

“Well, you know since my aunt and I moved to the tower we have been doing our grocery shopping ourselves…”

“Yeah, I know” Tony could practically hear your eye roll, he knew you shared his opinion on the ridiculous Parker pride that meant that, despite May and Peter finally accepting to move in with the rest of the team into the new Avengers Tower, they still refused any and all financial help from Tony; never mind the fact that your father paid for everything for the other avengers.

“Well, last night after patrol I was tired and I forgot May had asked me to go to the store,” Peter sounded like he was blushing. Tony hadn't even know that was possible. “so I asked Friday, right? And then, when the groceries arrived…” Peter ended his explanation with an unintelligible mumble.

“What? I’m sorry Pete, I didn’t quite catch that last part” Your mirthful tone let your father know that Peter was blushing even harder. Tony had to stifle a laugh, he knew exactly what had been in those groceries��

“Condoms, ok?” Peter finally blurted out, “There was a box of condoms in one of the bags that I definitely didn’t asked for!”

“And you think that, what? That my father did it?” You said incredulously “They probably just mixed your order with someone else’s. Peter do you seriously think my father bought us condoms?”

“… Well, when you put it like that, it does sound a little ridiculous…”

You scoffed,

“You think? Besides,” You added, “we would know if my dad knew, he’s not exactly subtle, you know. Do I need to remind you the Carter Baizen incident?”

“The what?”

“You seriously don’t know?” You sounded beyond incredulous and we’ll into stunned territory now. “It was everywhere. My dad saw him trying to put his hand underneath my skirt once, while we were dating, and he blasted his car…”

“That was true? I thought the tabloids had made that up!”

“They didn’t. So, you see there’s no way we wouldn’t know if Tony –“

“Hey, did someone say Carter Baizen?” Your father interrupted, choosing that moment to finally walk into the kitchen and making you and Peter jump three feet apart “Because I swear, if that bastard is lurking around again…”

“Hey dad! No, ew that would be super creepy. He’s like, super old now…”

“Hello my heart.” He came next to you and kissed your head. “You better be telling the truth, because if I ever see him near you again, I will disintegrate him.” He then looked Peter dead in the eyes over your shoulder as he said, “Nobody puts their hands on my baby girl and gets to keep them”

Peter swallowed hard. Tony smirked. Oh yeah, he was still intimidating af.

…

“Friday, where’s my oldest daughter?” Tony asked certain Saturday evening, not having seen you in the whole week, thanks to the mission your team had been on.

“She’s in her bedroom on the penthouse, boss”

“Really? She’s not, you know, on the third floor, west side of the tower?”

“Negative, boss, she’s not at the Parkers’.” Friday sounded amused, “However, Peter is in her room with her.”

“Figures.” Your dad grumbled. But then an impish little smile appeared on his face: It was time to have a little fun messing with his favorite pair of jumpy teenagers.

As he neared your room, he was able to hear music, whooping, laughter and… Rihanna?

… So gonna let the rain pour,

I’ll be all you need and more…

“Sweetheart, can I come in?” Tony knocked on your door, and the laughs immediately stopped.

“Just a second!”

A lot of shuffling, the thud of something heavy hitting the floor and a few muffled curses reached his ears. A minute latter, a very flushed You opened the door.

“Hi, dad!”

“Hi, baby” He stepped past you into the room and took a look around: The bed was made (thank God) but there were a few pillows knocked off it, one of Peter’s sneakers was visible underneath the vanity and a pair of pink my little pony boxer shorts were laying on the carpet. Your dad poked them with his shoe.

“Nice shorts,” He commented casually, “I thought you had gotten over rainbow colored horses when you were six…”

“Stranger Things made them cool again” you hurried to explain, “Well, not cool cool, they’ll obviously never be cool, but like, cool amongst nerds. It’s more like a nostalgia thing… and who wants to be cool anyway, am I right? Cuz-…”

“Sweetheart, you’re rambling” Tony pointed out and you instantly shut up. “I just wanted to ask you and Peter if you wanted Italian for dinner. Where is he, by the way? Friday told me he was with you…”

“That traitor!” You murmured under your breath.

“What was that, my heart?”

“Nothing, dad” You replied, proud of how even your voice was despite of your heart trying to leap out of your body. “You just missed him, he left like two minutes ago to take a call from May. But I’m sure Italian’s great, he loves it.”

Tony wouldn’t admit it, but he was kinda proud too, you were definitely getting better at lying. As a father it was a scary thought but he knew it was a valuable skill in your shared line of work.

The only thing was, I wasn’t nearly as fun to mess with you if you didn’t fumble and stuttered your way out of the situation.

“Right, then, I’ll go tell Pepper to order while Mor and I set the table. You’re on dish washing duty tonight.”

“Sure, no problem dad.” If Tony hadn’t already known you were trying to hide something, that right there would have tip him off: You never, ever in your life had done the dishes without complaining.

Yeah, you were getting better at lying but there was still a long way to go.

As soon as your dad left, Peter got out of the ensuite, stark naked and arms full of clothes.

“Is he gone?”

“Really, Peter? Really?” You deadpanned, “first you come out here naked and then you decide to ask if my father is gone?”

God, he was so lucky he was pretty.

He chose to ignore your sarcasm.

“And he didn’t suspect anything?”

“He didn’t. Apparently My Little Pony is girly enough for these to belong to me” You snickered, holding his underwear up. He took them, blushing and mumbling something about a gag gift from Ned. Once he had them and his jeans on, he flopped down on the bed, rubbing his face with his hands.

“I knew the striptease was a bad idea!”

You laughed harder at that,

“You said you had moves! I had to see them!”

He peered at you through his fingers.

“Was I any good at it, at least?” he asked shyly but you could see the beginnings of a smile on his bitten red lips.

“Babe, you are the best Rihanna ever,” You said truthfully, “ I’m even tempted to put you on a full on French maid costume. Fishnets and everything.”

You leaned down on the bed to kiss him, but he used his super speed to flip you over so you were one your back and he the one above you.

“God, you are so weird!” He declared, but there was nothing but adoration in his eyes.

“Hey! Don’t kink shame me!” You batted half-heartedly at his chest.

The rest of your complaint was swallowed by his lips.

…

“Daddy! Daddy!” As soon as Tony put a foot inside the penthouse he got tackled by a little dark haired meteor.

“Maguna! Hello baby!” he grunted as he picked the littlest of his troublemakers up. He was getting old, and his little squirt was getting big. He started to walk the both of them towards the kitchen. “How was your day out with your big sis? You girls did something fun?”

“We did!”

Tony scowled in mock outrage,

“How dare you? I specifically forbade you two to have fun without me!” he growled to a giggling Morgan “There can be no fun if I’m not there, I told you!”

“We did! We had fun!” She confirmed delighted. She was obviously not intimidated in the slightest, and Tony was starting to resign himself to the fate of not being feared at all by his daughters.

“What did my girls do? If it wasn’t too fun, I shall allow it…”

“She and Peter took me to the Queen’s zoo!” She replied excitedly, “There were Coyotes! And there were mountain lions and sea lions! And we saw the sea lions have lunch! And then we had lunch. Oh and I got to feed a baby goat!”

“Really? You did all that? In just one day?!”

“Yes!” She confirmed, “And then y/n said she whished she could keep one of the sea lions as a pet, a little one, like a sea puppy! And I said yes, but Peter said he couldn’t let us steal a sea lion!” Morgan frowned, indignant. She looked so adorable that Tony was having a hard time trying to hide his smile.

“Did he now? The nerve on him!” He played along.

“I know! And then y/n pouted, and I made the puppy dog eyes…”

“The what now?”

Morgan sighed,

“The puppy dog eyes,” She explained, tiredly, as if she believed her father to be exceedingly slow, “It’s when I make my eyes real big and sad. Y/n taught me”

Tony rolled his eyes, unsurprised and unimpressed by that little piece of information.

“Anyway, she was pouting and I was making the puppy dog eyes, so Peter said he would be our sea lion instead. And he was making like this” Morgan started flapping her hands and barking in a rather hilarious impression of a sea lion. This time Tony couldn’t stop himself from cracking up, but far from offended, Morgan smiled, pleased with herself.

Once they reached the kitchen, he placed her down on the counter and started gathering the ingredients for a couple PB&Js while Morgan continued the retelling of her latest adventures.

“… And then, at the Aviary, I saw y/n and Peter kiss! But they told me not to tell you, cause it’s a secret…”

“They didn’t try and bribe you into keeping it?” Tony asked amused, without stopping to spread peanut butter on a slice of breath.

“Yeah, they did. They bought me ice cream and a sea lion plushie…”

Tony turned to face his daughter.

“Then why are you telling me?”

Morgan gave him a look far sinister than any seven year old should be capable of,

“Because they would only let me have two scoops…”

Tony had created a monster.

“Wow. We are so lucky you don’t know who Spider-Man is!” Tony commented, thinking just how much it might cost them for Morgan to keep a secret like that.

“But I do know Spider-Man! He’s my friend!” Morgan replied, having totally misunderstood her dad, “And whenever you are away on a mission, he’s the one that comes to check for monsters in my closet when I can’t sleep at night…”

“Of course he does” How was Tony ever supposed to hate her daughter’s boyfriend, when he was Peter Parker?

…

“Harley, what happened?” Tony demanded catching up with the boy on the hallway of the Medical Research and Treatment wing of the tower. Otherwise known as the medbay.

“Tony! It was that fucking Goblin again. He had some kind of gas he tried to douse on y/n. Peter took the hit for her.” The blond boy answered, falling into step beside Tony toward the infirmary, were Peter was being tended to by both Banner and Strange.

“I told you a thousand times, kid: That’s Mr. Stark, or boss for you. I’m your superior, show some respect, this is supposed to be a mission report.”

“Sorry, sir” Harley continued, sounding anything but, “We subdued the Red Goblin successfully and now he’s under custody of S.W.O.R.D. I believe they are presently trying to separate the symbiote from it’s host. Stature and Ironheart stayed behind to handle the clean up and I brought Spidey here.”

“Really? Y/n didn’t want to bring him in herself?”

Harley smirked,

“She knows I’m faster.”

“That I can’t argue with” Tony admitted, well aware of Harley’s disregard for safety rules in favor of speed. And the thrill of it, of course. “Do we know something about the substance that lunatic hit Peter with?”

“It was a poison, fast acting and apparently lethal on normal humans. On Pete's unusual metabolism, however, the effects are… pretty interesting.”

Tony narrowed his eyes in suspicion,

“How interesting exactly?”

Harley’s smirk intensified,

“Why don’t you see for yourself, boss?” He motioned at the door with his head and Tony’s weariness grew: if Harley found it amusing, chances were it wasn’t anything good.

“Mister Staaaaaaark!” Peter’s cheery voice slurred loudly when Tony wasn’t even halfway through the door. He turned to Harley.

“He is high?!”

Harley didn’t even tried to hide his laughter.

“As a kite!”

Tony was convinced that one this days, one of his kids was going to make him roll his eyes so hard, that they were going to get permanently stuck facing the back of his head.

“Nooo, don’t go mister Staark”

“Tony, get in here!” admonished Bruce, who was trying to push back into the stretcher, as gently as possible, the loopy teen with the super strength currently trying to make his way to his mentor.

“Woah, careful there, champ!” Tony guided a squirming Peter to lay back down, “What would y/n say if she saw you trying to escape like this?”

Tony never thought a person could make the exact same face of the heart eyes emoji. He was wrong.

“Y/n! She’s soo gorg- so gurgeu- so… she’s so pretty, and strong and braaave…” Peter gushed, “And I’m so so lucky, cuzz she’s my girl- my girlfriend… how did I get so lucky, mister Staark?” He looked at Tony as if he was just realizing who he was talking to- Which was probably exactly what was happening- and seemed suddenly petrified.

“Oh no! No mister Staark, you can’t know she’s my girlfriend or you’ll kill me! Kill meeee!!”

“Relax, kid. I’m not telling mister Stark anything.” Tony tried to calm the easily distracted boy the best way he could think of. And it worked. Kind of.

“Thank you mister Staark. You did sooo much for me! You made my suits and you took us in and- and… and y/n! You made y/n!! Did you make her in your lab too? Because she’s SOOOOOO perfect!

“Actually I did make her in my old lab,” Tony chuckled “Just not in the way you’re thinking”

“Dude! TMI!!” Harley quipped from the doorway.

“Seriously, Stark, don’t give the boy any ideas, I already walked into him and your heiress making out in the Sanctum enough times” Strange chipped in, holding up a syringe with a bright green liquid Tony assumed to be the antidote.

“What were they even doing in the Sanctum?”

“Besides making out? I’ve no idea.” Was Strange's dispassionate reply.

Peter was still spouting praise over y/n,

“She’s so niiice and sooo good and so brill- so smart!”

Strange came closer with the needle but Peter would have none of it.

“No! No needless! No pricking!” He started to struggle against Banner's hold and he truly did not want to hurt the confused kid.

“Tony, distract him!” He demanded.

“Underoos, what was that about my daughter?”

Peter’s face immediately lit up,

“She’s amazing, she smells so nice and her hair is soooo soft, like a princess!! But like, a- a badass princess… like Leia!” Peter turned suddenly solemn, “Miiister Staark, do you think she likes me? Like, like like me?”

Tony smiled,

“Well, considering she is your girlfriend, I would expect so…”

“SHE’S MY WHAT?”

Strange used the moment of distraction to pretty much stab the syringe into Peter’s thigh. He looked so betrayed that Tony had the unreasonable impulse of hitting the wizard right on his smug face, even though he knew the doctor was only doing his job. Or one of them, at least.

“This should help you expel the toxin faster. You might feel drowsy and lethargic so I strongly recommend you to lay here, take a nap, and when you wake up you should be back to normal,” Strange hesitated, “Or at least, whatever is considered normal for a hormonal adolescent boy with spider DNA… Seriously Stark, how do you even find them?”

Tony shrugged,

“You should see the one with the Prym particles irradiated heart”

Stephen Strange seriously hoped the billionaire was kidding.

“Right. If that’s all, I will be going now. Give me a call when the spider kid wakes up” He added to Bruce, “Even if you don’t consider it necessary, I would like to check on his evolution.”

“Will do, doctor” Banner gave him a reassuring smile. Doctor Strange could be cold, even a downright bastard sometimes, but he had a soft spot for the youngest Avengers, and that placed him firmly in the 'friends' category according to the oldest ones. He disappeared through one of his portals, that closed after him in a shower of sparks.

“Wow, that’s so cool!”

Tony sighed and was about to turn to go to Peter again, but to his everyone’s surprise, Harley beat him to it.

“Ok, Pete, that’s enough excitement for one afternoon”

“No, no, I want…” Peter ended his sentence in an unintelligible mumble but it was clear he was trying to sit up. Harley helped him to hold himself upright.

“That ok, Pete?”

“Kid, he’s not listening, he fell asleep” pointed out Tony.

“Ok, then” Harley guided Peter’s back to lay against the stretcher again, while Tony placed his legs in a more comfortable position. Once they were done, he raised a questioning eyebrow at Harley. The blond shrugged,

“What? I might not take a lot of things seriously, but he’s my friend…”

Bruce hummed unconvinced.

“You caught all that on video, didn’t you?” Tony correctly assumed. Harley gave him a dazzling smile in return.

“Every single glorious second of it, I even got some recordings of the flight back here. If you let me have some of the security footage of this room, we could turn it into a short”

Tony winked,

“You got yourself a deal!”

“God I’m so sorry Vine does not longer exists” Harley lamented, “This material is gold! Gold I tell you!”

“Well, I can always buy the company and bring it back…” Tony suggested, following the kid out. Bruce was left alone with the unconscious Peter, wondering what exactly was going to be awaiting the unsuspecting kid on the internet once he woke up.

“Wakey wakey, spider beauty…”

Peter really didn’t want to wake up, he had the feeling he was going to have the hangover of a lifetime once he did, but that little voiced lured him into consciousness like, well, like a spider lures flies into it’s web.

“Come on, Pete, open those pretty eyes for me…”

“Whu? Oh, oh hey babe…” Peter drowsily greeted you, managing to open one eye. You chuckled, relieved, and Peter thought that that right there was the most beautiful sound in the world. Facing the hangover to kill all hangovers was worth it, just to hear that sound again. He opened both eyes and took you in: You looked a little gritty, and exhausted from the last fight, but even so, you were still as breathtaking as the first time he had seen you, all those years ago.

“Hello, princess” He sounded much more alert now, to your infinite relief.

“Hey, there, handsome” you smiled at him and Peter felt his heart skip a beat. He vaguely wondered if it would always feel like this, or if he was going to get used someday to the idea of you being his. He seriously doubted that last one. “Is that my new nickname?” You asked.

“Yeah, yes it is. Because you are a princess. A badass princess, like Leia.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he was hit by the memory of everything that had happened earlier in that very same room. Peter groaned and covered his face with his hands, something he seemed to do every time he felt embarrassed, which lately was a very often.

“Babe, don’t hate me” He grumbled from behind the shelter of his hands, “But I might have told your father about us…”

Your laugh took him by surprise.

“Yeah, I know, he just gave me the “what are your intentions towards my protégée” speech”

Of all the reactions Peter had prepared himself for, that wasn’t one of them.

“Wait, so he isn’t mad?”

You snorted,

“I know! I was surprised too, but according to him, we won him a lot of money!”

“What do you mean?” Peter was sure the drug hadn’t left his system completely, cause you weren’t making any sense.

“Apparently there was a bet going on. He had a lot of money on “Secretly been together all along, just didn’t know it/refused to acknowledge it”” You explained, “and it seems Bucky made a lot with “Angrily confessed their feelings for each other in the middle of a fight” too”

Peter felt his jaw hit the floor,

“I think I need to lay down…”

“Babe, you are laying down” you pointed out.

“Well, then maybe I need to lay down next to you” He replied cheekily. You feigned an annoyed sigh.

“Fine, scoot over” You climbed on the narrow stretcher with him. The both of you barely fitted, laying side by side, but Peter wrapped his arm around your waist to stop you from slipping out. And if he held you a little closer to his body than was strictly necessary, well, you were openly, officially, his girlfriend now. He was allowed to touch you, to kiss you, to stake a little claim on you in front of everyone, here and there.

He laced the fingers of his other hand with yours, and held your joined hands up in the air in front of the both of you, testing the feeling of freedom, of not having to hide anymore, even if it was just of the infirmary security cameras. He couldn’t help the goofy smile he knew he must have been sporting on his face.

You stayed like that, admiring the way your hands looked together, before you had to ask,

“What are you thinking about?”

Peter seemed to gather his thoughts for a moment.

“You held my hand like this” He observed, pensive, “Back on Titan, I mean. After the snap, as we…” He trailed off, but you knew exactly what was left unsaid: As we turned to dust. As we died.

“And I know you must have felt it happening too, cause I remember I felt your fingers starting to crumble underneath my own and-“ His voiced cracked and he had to stop and take a few stabilizing breaths before he could go on. When he did, it was with tears on his eyes as he said, “And I know you were probably terrified, too, but you still held my hand and tried to comfort me. Because I was scared. Because I needed you. And then, when we came back…”

“We were still holding hands” You finished for him.

“Yeah” He murmured, quietly, amazed. He turned on his side, removing his arm from your waist, and placing that elbow on the thin mattress, supporting his head on his hand, to face you.

“I never told you this,” He confessed, “But I remember not wanting to let go” He squeezed your still joined hands, “I still never want to let go”

“Then don’t” You whispered, closing the distance between you, kissing his soft lips gently, trying to convey in that kiss all the adoration, devotion and longing you felt for him. He let go of your hand, only to softly touch your face, with heartbreaking tenderness, as he delicately bit your bottom lip in a silent request for permission. The helpless little moan that escaped your throat was all he needed to deepen the kiss, lips devouring yours, tongue worshipping every corner of the inside of your mouth, hands pulling you closer and closer, making your body come alive beneath his fingertips.

He rolled into his back, pulling you on top of him, one hand tangled in your hair, the other one trailing dangerously lower and lower on your back, seeking the skin under the waist line of your jeans, kiss getting quickly out of control.

When the need for air finally won, and you had to break the kiss, smiling at Peter’s attempt of following your lips with his, you knew. You knew, as certainly as you knew your own name, inexorably and inescapable like gravity. The words left your mouth in a breathless whisper, but as clear as the feeling behind them:

“I love you, Peter Parker.”

Peter could only gaze at you in awe, slack jawed and heart hammering so hard inside his chest you could feel it on your own. You saw the raw emotion in his eyes and knew he was about to say it back.

“That’s all very good but I think it’s about time Pete an I have a certain conversation”

The sound of your father’s voice had you both falling down of the stretcher in your haste to get away from each other.

“Dad! We were just-…”

“Mr. Stark! This isn’t what you think it is!”

Tony looked down on you at your sprawled positions on the med bay floor and scoffed.

“I think I know exactly what this is” He declared, pulling Peter up by back of the collar of his suit, “which is why I think it’s way overdue that Peter here, and I, talk about the birds and the bees…”

“Dad, no!”

“Dad, yes. Tell me, Peter, do you still have the box of condoms I sent you?” Tony left the infirmary dragging a tomato red Peter with him, and you just knew you were never going to get laid again.

Because if there ever was something worse than your father threatening your boyfriend to defend your virtue, it was your father giving your boyfriend sex advice.

The end.

So, this was too long to post in one go, I guess this prompt got outta hand. Or my characters got a little... Handsy.

#peter parker #peter parker x stark!reader #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker x reader #fanfiction #marvel fanfic #spider man fanfiction #peter parker fluff #iron dad #Iron Man #tony stark

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derekscorner · 4 years

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When relevancy goes too far

Relevancy is a bit of a complex topic the more you think about it. How far do you push it? Which parts of a story are needed to know the other? How should something define the follow up? These questions have widely different answers depending on the person and especially depending on format.

Hell, if you wish to nit pick it further, even the series in question is a factor. Some series’ thrive on whats done while others drown in their own scripts. I believe Kingdom Hearts is one of the latter.

That said, I am not someone who hates KH’s expanded stories simply for existing. The “side games” in of themselves aren’t bad nor is the idea of using such things to expand a world. The same could be said for game novels or comics in my opinon.

However, these things can be a slippery slope or a lazy exist. For example, Assassin’s Creed threw out it’s whole Juno arc into a comic just to get it out of the way which completely shattered my investment.

In turn, Nomura himself isn’t at fault for as much as we bash him for. Something he’s admitted himself as seen here;

So, the new Days is one of the three titles announced in the Autumn of 2007 as new projects in the KH series.

Nomura: Those three titles were all announced at the same time, but in reality the opportunities for the projects were raised in a disjointed way. Birth by Sleep is a project that was raised within our company, but Days is from Nintendo, and coded is from Disney, so we started by talking to each of them.

-source <--Link btw

And anyone that’s read interviews out of curiosity will know that there’s also factors like how ‘Birth By Sleep’ was shifted from PS2 to PSP or that ‘Chain of Memories’ wasn’t a planned title either. (seen here)

So if these things aren’t inherently bad or planned that begs the question of why it’s a problem here? At least in my opinion of the series.

The answer is simple and it lies solely on Nomura’s shoulders for it as a fault, relevancy. The man goes out of his way to make each and every game, concert, or otherwise is attached to the series in some meaningful way going forward.

Naturally, any expanded media is tied to the main narrative in some way. I know this, I am not that foolish. The problem is that Nomura makes them plot relevant going forward.

These titles can’t be true “side games” because they dictate the story going forward in some way. It’s for this reason the more radical fans hate to hear the terminology “side game” to begin with.

This problem was especially bad for years because of how spread out the series became among other gaming systems. And while some like to say it’s fine now due to the collection discs I dont think this will last long given the “phase 2″ images released for KH’s near future.

Hell, I’d even argue this problem isn’t even fixed in truth because the current KH story involving Foretellers, Luxu, and so on is all things spun from a mobile game. Yes, you have to sit through scenes on YT or play a mobile game to fully grasp that cat creature (Chirithy) you saw in KH3.

Naturally, it’s much easier to watch the scenes on YT these days but that also feeds into the loop of not paying for the game itself. I personally see no issue with it but companies are much worse in recent years for shutting down Youtube channels over loose definition of “piracy”.

No game series is worth several consoles. Of course, I’m just speaking from experience, with KH now on the Xbox this may be a moot point in a few years.

I am rambling, off track, lets focus. “Why is this an issue?” is what you’ve read this far for me to explain. The biggest issue with this poor decision making is how it harms the main narrative you’re telling.

For comparison, look at Sora in KH3. He’s often confused by people he doesn’t remember meeting or events he doesn’t remember nor took part in. This is roughly close to what it would be like for someone that’s only played KH1, 2, and 3.

Sora has that same level of insight including what he was told about others like Roxas or Aqua but other characters in-game. This feeds into KH’s misconceived air of complexity.

Kingdom Hearts, as a story, isn’t that complex. It has deeper themes it throws to the wayside but it is easy to follow if you play most games in some form. This ties back into how the series was handled up until the PS4/KH3.

Ever want to know who Roxas was in KH2? Well you had to play Days or you can sit through that horribly boring 3 hour movie on the Remix disc. Even then, the Roxas you see in Days wont be like the one in KH2.

Wish to know who Xehanort was? Play Birth by Sleep! All three campaigns with little variance. Then once you’re done get ready to sit on YT or download a phone app and play Kingdom Hearts Dark Road.

The Foretellers, Luxu, or the Master of Masters? That’s another set of hours, if not days, with the KH Union X Cross, KH Dark Road, and should you choose you can even watch the Back Cover movie which answers nothing at all but shows you the Foretellers in Kh3 graphical glory.

You wish to know how Namine knew who The Lingering Will was? Well dig up a fan translation of a script the Japanese voice cast read for a music concert event. (yes that happened)

You can see where this is going I assume and this is just scratching the surface by the way. You wish to know the finer details like Keyblade types, the inconsistent time traveling, “recompletion”, and so on then be prepared to read word of god interviews, in-game dictionaries/journals and always be ready for a few to change.

Whether it’s a true retcon or just an ambiguous statement, the series is ongoing, Nomura heads the ship, and he is by no means obligated to stick to previous statements if he can make a new one to alter those events.

Then again, holding too much weight in words said outside the game itself is a faulty way of doing things that most fans (like me) have fallen victim too at least once.

At the same time, all of these things are relevant by Nomura’s decision. Sure, the remixes have fixed this to a degree but it’s anyone’s guess for how long. Better yet, at what cost did the remixes fix anything?

The best example of what I mean is Coded. It was originally a game for phones. At the time, only Japan had a phone capable of playing it. Feeling that a shame the game later found it’s way to the DS for all fans to play.

At this point in time Coded was the only true example of a “side story”. It was by no means necessary. The whole datascape plot was more convoluted than it needed to be despite data!Sora being far better than the original at this point, and easy to miss.

But...well that was good. The DS version of Coded was fun as hell to play. The only version of the “command deck system” I’d consider worth any semblance of praise. It did it’s job of getting some level of fans invested such as my friend @blackosprey and it’s story was missable.

You did not need to play Coded to understand Dream Drop Distance or further. This was perfect. This is what games like Days, KH Chi/UX, 0.2, and DDD should’ve been.

Games that reached out to grab new people, games that played around, and games that expanded on the main narrative without dictating it’s direction. A side game is something that exists alongside or outside your main story.

However this isn’t what we got. 0.2 A Fragmentary Passage was a short sequel to BBS but also a pretty tech demo for KH3. Dream Drop Distance was there to show the real Sora that people needed help and to show us that Xehanort was back.

KH Chi was a browser game meant to show the Keyblade War and how it shaped Sora’s era. Now it’s an ongoing curse on the series with time traveling plot that affected KH3 directly.

Coded was made into a movie you needed to sit through thanks to one small newly added scene. Days lost many small interactions it’s fans loved in the transition to a movie that is hard to sit through.

I’ve also heard KHDDD and 0.2 were “shaved off” KH3 in a sense to be their own titles...this...this makes so little sense.

Nomura calls KH “Sora’s story” but this is a lie. If it truly was Sora’s story then your main narrative would be BBS, KH1, CoM, 2, and the original combined form of KH3. That’s the titles he’s relevant, those are the titles he stops Xehanort’s plans.

These other titles could’ve been so fun but none of them were truly allowed to breath and be themselves. They were weakened and limited by Nomura deciding to prop the ongoing story upon them like they’re stilts.

Then as a result you can’t close out KH3 without resolving all of these other events and characters which drags it’s own story down. KH3 feels all over the place because it is. It’s trying to tie as many knots as it can from threads created in titles that were way more relevant then they needed to be.

Kh3 can be seen as a clean break for many but I see it as a matter of time. KHUX and now KHDR are still there casting a shadow, dictating what comes next. Melody of Memory is one of several games planned for an unknown but hopefully more thought out direction.

I worry I haven’t explained what I meant well enough but moral of my story is that making things too relevant hurts not only your main story but these new stories you wish to explore.

You can’t have a story and it’s cast breath if you’re tying a knot of mythos too tightly around their necks and this is a tragedy to me. KH began life with such potential but it constantly holds itself back because so few entries into it’s story are truly just an entry.

And I am not saying games can’t follow up one another nor that they shouldn’t. What’s needed is a clear idea and some breathing room. A good example would be to save people in Days with the game DDD. DDD could’ve wiped away some clutter to focus on the final Xehanort battle in a sense.

Nomura has a huge problem with wanting connectivity without letting games be connected by the name alone. It’s like he wants to do the opposite of what Final Fantasy has done but to detrimental results.

This harms so much but worst of them it hurts development. Because Days was made so important, we had a movie made. Because Coded was elevated, a movie was made. Because the keyblade war was so popular, Union Cross was made.

The Remixes would’ve been better to consolidate lore not waste time trying to appease every whim. KH’s relevancy is a huge problem and I doubt it’ll stop any time soon.

#kingdom hearts #kh3 #khdr #kingdom hearts melody of memory

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sobdasha · 4 years

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"I definitely updated my list of books I was reading on tumblr so it's all good" -me, a lying liar, right before spending several months finishing my reread of All The Discworld Books I Own But In Chronological Order For The First Time Ever Which In Fact Makes A Difference.

(and then I did it again after the libraries closed)

The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin Hm, so. I definitely read this. At some point. It was not really for me, not bad, but not really for me. This particular edition had various notes before and after the text, all of which I read, which made it an experience I got more out of. It's important for me to know that the author is aware that the protagonist is a raging misogynist who's stupid, and yes this was on purpose so you'd realize how really incredibly stupid he is and thus maybe be tricked into changing your mind yourself. It is a legit tactic, but one I tend not to enjoy, so if I hadn't been forewarned I'd have been UUUUGGGGGHHHH MAKE HIM SHUT UP ALREADY and probably rage-quit. As it was, I was able to better appreciate what Le Guin was doing here, even if this book didn't win a place in my heart and I probably won't reread. I definitely preferred Ancillary Justice's take, with the feminine pronouns. For my brain, masculine pronouns = they might as well all be men = business as usual = I didn't really get any gender queering from it. I can't really remember much else now. Oh, it was also part "survival in the wilderness" story, which they're big on making you read in school (which I find very suspicious), and which I tolerated and read a few classic ones on my own until they kept assigning these kinds of stories for us to read and now I get nothing from them and mindlessly hate them. Anyway, as I said, not bad at all but not really for me.

Lavinia, Ursula K. Le Guin This one's a reread--I picked it up from the library during college because we were doing Titus Andronicus in class and it didn't occur to me that there might be more than one Lavinia???? But hey it worked out because later in college we did the Aeneid and then I had Background for rereading Lavinia. This is the book that is lyrical and beautiful and pulls me in and makes me care deeply about the world and the characters. This is the book of Le Guin's that makes me feel the way everyone else feels about Earthsea and The Left Hand of Darkness and etc. I would like to find more of Le Guin's work that makes me feel the same way, because as I've said you can really tell from her other stuff that she's a solid writer who knows her stuff. I just…don't enjoy any of the other things. Anyway I recommend. I always forget about this book, and then when I reread I'm like "wow why don't I read this more often?????"

How Long 'Til Black Future Month?, N. K. Jemisin I liked every story in this short story collection. I should just reread it and try writing this up again tbh but also tbh I'll probably do the rereading and then just not write anything up again. Just read Jemisin's stuff I love her writing so much okay. ETA: that’s exactly what I did, I reread this during my covid rereads and said “I should do a proper write-up this time” and lo and behold where is it

Tehanu, Ursula K. Le Guin Okay, this last Earthsea book treated me much better than the others. It's probably not for everyone else, which might be why it's for me. It's much more domestic, much less "plot" happening, full of introspection, and centered on women rather than men. This novel acknowledges and confronts the rampant internalized misogyny in the previous three books, engages it in a way that the misandrist in me finds satisfying even though it never comes to a good solution for the problem. This book is more like a reflection. Earthsea has never been about "light is always good, dark is always bad; be a hero, fight evil" etc. But this one I think shifts the tone a little farther; it's less about balance, and more...I guess I'd put it as, "actions have consequences." It's not concerned with right or wrong, it's concerned with people getting hurt. It's pretty somber and serious, without any humor to balance it out, tons of bad things happen to people, lots of PTSD...but this time I really cared about the characters, and I feel like it was all handled really well? In addition to critiquing internalized misogyny, it also critiqued victim blaming. Seemed like it handled disability pretty well too--was honest about how people are jerks about it in reality, while still being optimistic and treating Therru as valuable; made occasional mentions of considering work-arounds for having only one fully-functional hand, while mostly just having Therru go about living and doing chores and being capable and assuming she did find those work-arounds without having to draw attention to it; and Therru's terrible scars didn't get magically healed at the end, the whole book makes a point all the way through that her physical scars will always be with her the same way her emotional scars will be, and she's simply learned how to go on living with them. Tehanu: a book full of trauma happening to people, where what would normally be the plot in a fantasy novel ended up not even getting started to be resolved, but Le Guin's writing and handling of the subject matter helped heal my jaded soul.

Ninefox Gambit, Yoon Ha Lee A quick summary of my experience: Chapter 1 - ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh what is going on what even Chapter 2 - no, no this is just, this is what sci fi is like, right? Just give it a few chapters and then by the end of the book everything will probably make sense. I'm sure that's how it works. Remember how even in Ancillary Justice I ended up with two separate Battles of Valskay, but now everything is fine??? It's. Fine. Chapter 4 - (ohhhhhhh I still don't know what's going on) Several Chapters Later - still no clue what's going on, but hit my stride with the terminology, my foreign language instinct kicked in where words stopped sounding weird and while I could not for the life of me define any terms for you, I had a vague comprehension of how the words operated In Context. Sort of. And by then I had, without realizing it, begun page-turning and binging, so I guess I liked the book lol! Another serious-but-not-funny one, but with an extra dose of War Memoir and all the gruesomeness that entails (but probably, like any good War Memoir, probably not actually gratuitous and actually in fact the necessary amount of gruesome). Jedao was turned into a woobie at the last minute and, well, damn, guy knows the way to my heart. The novel apparently gripped me enough that I don't even mind that it only came into play at the very end of the game. And hey, there's two more novels to deal with that revelation, which I have picked up from the library to read immediately! Yay! Current personal theory: based on the heavy math references that made me want to cry at the start, but the almost entire absence of actual numbers, and a reference to "there's no way actual physics works like that, it was obviously a calendrical effect" or something…I'm going to throw out a wild guess that the calendar stuff (and all the social structuring that goes with it) is so that they can break and reinvent math. So they can effect a universe where 2+2=5 and therefore a bunch of people standing in this exact position makes a force field or bullets of rose thorns or whatever and some other dude can make himself immortal. This sounded like a pretty terrible theory already and it sounds even worse now I've typed it up but oh well.

Raven Stratagems, Yoon Ha Lee Guess who didn't write this up back when she read it!!! Also, I returned Ninefox Gambit to the library right before the libraries shut down for covid. So, I had Raven and Revenant on hand for months but I didn't have Ninefox on hand to do an immediate reread to see if that made the sci fi make more sense. (It probably wouldn't have, but I would have liked to do a rereading while the ending was still fresh.) By this time there is a lesser degree of visceral viscera. Lee is brutal, however, about continuing to be honest about what war costs and whether war is worth that cost (which depends, really, on whose lives you think matter. Very relevant for these times. Very much prepared me to shut up and not whine about the inconveniences of protests and their fallout. There is no pretty and clean way to have a revolution, since it involves destroying a particular [terrible] way of life, so we're all just gonna have to sacrifice together). Also I think by this point all the character development from the first novel paid off in the form of character dynamics being hilarious now despite, y’know, the gruesome shadow of war.

Revenant Gun, Yoon Ha Lee Continues to discuss the honest price of war and the messiness of fallout. Shuos "The risks I took were calculated, but boy am I bad at math" Jedao. Oh I think this is also the one where every so often one of the characters thinks, "Okay so this person is a tyrannical murderous dictator but he is ensuring that there will never again be food shortages and no one in the space empire ever goes hungry." And then Lee turns around and is like, "Haha but don't forget this same person invented a form of vital infrastructural technology (and also immortality) that is optionally based off ritual human torture sacrifice. Like he didn't have to do that to make it work. He just decided to anyway. And that's always bad :) " (Also useful in our current climate of "Okay but we should consider the other person's circumstances and point of view" and also "Yeah but that doesn't apply if they're literally Nazis tho.")

Hexarchate Stories, Yoon Ha Lee A collection of short stories set in the universe of those three books. There's one story at the end that does satisfy the "But I wanted another sequel!!!" urge. And there's a bit of backstory for Jedao and Cheris. But by and large what you should be in the mood to read is flash fiction snippets that simply happen to be set in the same universe but have no bearing on the plot. Which is pretty cool and interesting if you are in the proper mindset! Even better, Lee includes author's notes at the end of each story to talk about the story, or the influences, or the context of his life at the time, etc etc. That is always my absolute favorite part of a short story collection. Also these notes told me everything I needed to know about why I liked certain things about his writing. "I wanted to write my own AUs," "If I get stuck I go on TV Tropes," "My only regret is that I had to cut the scene where Jedao goes to ~Halloween~ dressed as himself and trolls people" ahhhh that's also a regret I share.

Dragon Pearl, Yoon Ha Lee This one is YA! There is a lot less gore although I guess there was still genocide! Read this when you are in the mood for something that doesn't attempt to hide the fact that the plot is completely, conveniently contrived to give you fast-paced action and fun. Min sure has a lot of coincidental meetings that should stretch my disbelief but I don't care. Also, I am enjoying reading books with girls as protagonists that do what I'm tired of being told to love about boy protagonists--just keep barreling along with complete self-assurance that you are right and, if you run into trouble, you can egotistically figure your way out.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin Gods and mortal ruling family's messy soap opera sexcapades is not exactly my favorite genre, but luckily it is handled by Jemisin so it's all good. Lots of Souma Family Values. I'm really appreciating how Jemisin considers choice of narrator very carefully and uses it to brilliant effect in this trilogy. Stories are things told by a narrator to an audience; why should we rely on the artifice of an "impartial" "reliable" "omniscient" 3rd person narrator writing into the void? This trilogy was Jemisin's first, I believe, so it's a little awkward coming back to them now, only because Jemisin is such a powerful writer that the themes she's begun working with here have only gotten stronger with each successive work.

The Broken Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin This one I rated as I read for Protagonist Is Blind based on the scale of a sighted person going "but some of my best friends are blind!" In that regard, I think the book does really well! Blindness doesn't define Oree's life and value; Oree doesn't get magical powers that make her a blind person who isn't really blind; Oree moves away from home and gets a job and lives on her own which seems very accurate to me based on my knowledge of one (1) person who is blind; instead of being ~cured~, Oree actually gets more blind at the end of the story and this is considered a Good Ending. Also personal bonus points are awarded for references to her stick being handy for hitting people with. Some stuff was stereotypical, but Jemisin's intent was not. A+, will read again, please support including way more characters who are blind in media. Anyway I enjoyed this one.

The Kingdom of Gods, N. K. Jemisin First off, Jemisin directly up front critiques the narration choices she made in the first two books and then pays it off like a boss at the end. Like holy crap. I admit by now I was getting a bit bored of the genre, but the book was still very engaging because Jemisin is a master. It may also have been affected by how much increasing pain I've been in lately.

The Awakened Kingdom, N. K. Jemisin I'm dead. This one was way more my speed and you need the other three books to understand this novella but ohhhh my god it's perfect. I read a lot of choice passages of this aloud to my roommate because how could you resist. It's still heavy but it's hilarious. Bless Shill.

#sobdasha booking

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davidcarner · 6 years

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Buy More High Ch 7, The Coup d’Etat

A/N: I've been working on some fics that you all haven't seen yet, and they've been a little heavy (well for me they are, for everyone else, eh). We went from tomfoolery, which I always enjoy, to maybe a touch of angst. You know I hate angst. So let's try and find a spot somewhere in the middle. Welcome to Ch 7, The Coup d'Etat

A/N 2: I've just struggled with this chapter for days. I'm not in love with it, but I'm posting it and moving on. I don't think it's the best, and I'm sorry, but I just don't know how to fix it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but neither does Emmett.

Chuck woke up, opened his eyes, and stared up at the ceiling. He felt around him, and realized he was alone in bed. He heard sounds in the kitchen, thought for a second, and pulled the covers over his head. Today…today he refused. Today he just didn't care, and no one could make him go in. This was him adulting, and today he was going to take an F in adulting. His mother was back, causing more problems in his life. He knew it was a bad idea to say anything to her about the play, but it was the only way they could afford the rights. He groaned. Hee just wanted to stay in bed, but it was lonely, but what was going to be even lonelier, was after lunch when he was with Roan Montgomery, and Sarah was with Cole Barker. UGGGHHHHH! Cole. Barker. He was good looking, smooth, and had that British accent that made all the girls swoon. All the girls swoon? Was it the 70s? He bet Cole Barker never used the phrase, make all the girls swoon.

"Are you going to hide in bed all day?" he heard Sarah's voice ask. He loved hearing that voice, and he was going to miss it today. Today SUCKED! So hard. UGGGHHHHH!

"Yes," he said as poutily as humanly possible, burrowing further under the covers.

"Are you going to pout all day as well?" she asked, humor in her voice. Why was there humor in her voice? Didn't she realize today was going to SUCK? Didn't she care?

"Maybe," he huffed, a little irritated that she wasn't bothered by this at least as much as he was. Weren't girlfriends supposed to be sensitive when their boyfriend was feeling insecure about the British hunk?

"Charles Irving Bartowski," she said. Welp, she was done kidding around.

"Uggghhhh," he replied, throwing back the covers and seeing Sarah. He paused in mid-throwing of the blankets. Sarah was wearing a pink button up blouse, and a tan skirt. Chuck got a grin on his face. That wasn't Buy More attire. "Saarrrahhh," he said, sing-songy and grinning. Maybe his girlfriend was more sensitive to his needs than he realized.

"See something you like?" she asked, the smile on her face enough to light the room.

"Emmett is going to be so mad," Chuck said, laughing. How did he get so lucky to have this amazing woman in his life? He'd take having the worst mother in the world if the trade off was Sarah freaking Walker. He got an idea.

"What is he going to do?" she asked. Chuck smiled, hopped out of bed, and grabbed his shoes.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm going to get my own clothes," he said gleefully. He bound out of the house, stopped, and then came back.

"Keys?" she asked, an amused and knowing smile on her face.

"Keys," he confirmed.

}o{

Sarah glanced at Chuck. His light lavender button up shirt and black slacks were a whole lot better looking than the nerd herd outfit he had been forced to wear since school started. She asked him if he was okay with her teaching with Cole, and he quickly said no, but that was his problem, not hers. She squeezed his hand and he grinned at her. They pulled up into the parking lot, and exited the car.

"We got this," Sarah said, winking at him. He gave her a quick hug and kiss and started toward the school when he felt her hand yank him back. She kissed him hard, and he forgot where he was for a moment. She released him and ran her thumb over the back of his neck. "We got this," she said again.

"Walker, Bartowski," Casey grunted walking by. He looked…pleased, which worried Chuck. They started toward the school and Sarah took his hand in hers. He looked at her, a little surprised, and she smiled at him, encouraging him. They heard footsteps behind them.

"Charles, Sarah, good to see you both," Roan said, a mysterious smile on his face, like he knew something they didn't.

"I'm sorry about yesterday, Roan," Chuck said. "I just needed sometime to adjust to some…personal conflicts." Roan waved his hand.

"Think nothing of it, my boy," Roan said. "Diane told me the entire situation."

"I guess I need to get caught up," Chuck said, a little worried about teaching history. Roan grinned.

"Yesterday we talked about bloodless coups," he said, a grin on his face. "We talked about leaders and the styles of leadership they use, and how a good leader can adapt. I think today we'll try a social experiment, we might all be in for a suprise." Chuck nodded, having no idea what he was talking about. Roan parted from them once they got inside. "Charles, Miss Walker," he said, nodding. They watched him walk off.

"Do you feel like that should have meant more than it did to me?" Chuck asked. Sarah shrugged and grinned.

"You better read up on your history, Mr. Bartowski," she said.

"I would but my mate keeps me busy most nights," he replied.

"Well, your mate should probably stop then so you can catch up," she said, looking at him, pointedly.

"Uhm, well, you see, I'd rather she didn't," he said. She nodded, an amused smile on her face.

"I thought so," she said.

"What are you two wearing?" they heard the voice of Emmett say. The two kept looking at each other.

"Do you think if we ignore him the bad man will go away?" he asked. The two started down the hall away from Emmett.

"I'm talking to you," Emmett said. "Beckman, tell them I'm talking to them." Beckman was walking down the hall toward them.

"If you two would join me in my office," she said. "Also, Emmett is talking to you."

"We're ignoring him," Chuck said. They walked into Beckman's office, and Diane locked the door. Emmett pounded on the door for a minute and then went away.

"I loathe that man," Beckman said. She turned to Chuck and Sarah. "We should hurry, I have a feeling he'll be back. I owe you two an apology for yesterday."

"I think I owe you one," Chuck replied, looking ashamed.

"No, Chuck, what we did to you yesterday was…inexcusable," Beckman said. "If I were you I'd be prepared for anything today." She looked at them for a moment. "I approve of the wardrobe."

"We felt there were no real consequences to not dressing the way we wanted," Sarah said. The door opened and Emmett had the keys. Beckman was fuming at the invasion into her office.

"What do you think you are doing?" Beckman yelled.

"Talking to these two for their inappropriate dress," Emmett replied. Beckman gave Chuck a look and nodded.

"I talked to Mrs. Vanderbeak yesterday," Chuck said to Beckman. "She wanted to thank you for the recommendation of the hotel."

"How is she?" Beckman asked.

"Excuse me," Emmet said.

"She seems to be doing wonderful," Chuck replied.

"Ahem, I need to talk to you two about your dress," Emmett said.

"She said she's finally getting the time to be the aunt she wanted to be," Chuck said.

"I'm talking!" Emmett bellowed. All three continued to ignore him and he stomped out.

"Quick, let's go out this side door," Beckman said, and they all hurried out. Emmett came back in holding a megaphone.

"EXCUSE ME!" he bellowed into the megaphone. It was then he noticed the office was empty. Chuck and Sarah found themselves in Chuck's classroom, laughing about the insanity of the situation.

"You know," Sarah said, walking into a hug, with Chuck sitting on the edge of his desk. "In a few minutes, this could be scandalous."

"Well, we wouldn't want to upset the students now would we?" Chuck asked.

"God forbid they see a couple in a respectful loving relationship," she said. She saw something in his eyes. "What?" Chuck shook his head, an amused smile on his face.

"Loving?" he asked. Sarah blushed, but stayed where she was and bounced a shoulder.

"Gotta problem with my terminology?" she asked.

"I do believe we have already established you are the linguist in this real-"

"Ahha! There you are!" Emmett exclaimed. "Now, I'm going to need you both to get into your proper uniform."

"I'm really getting tired of this tool interrupting us," Chuck said to Sarah, making her laugh.

"We are within the school dress code, Emmett," Sarah said.

"We had a deal," Emmett said, trying to draw himself up to look important.

"We did, and then you altered it," Sarah said, pulling away from Chuck and walking toward Emmett. He started backpedaling. "Pray I don't alter it further."

"I don't know if you could be any hotter," Chuck muttered. She turned to him and winked. Emmett fled the room before Sarah hurt him. She gave him a kiss on the lips with an emphatic smack and headed toward her room. For the next several hours the two of them taught their classes, and then the bell rang for what used to be their joint planning period. Sarah and Chuck had decided they would keep this period together until someone told them different. Chuck noticed very little traffic in the hallway as Sarah came in. He kept watching the halls, until it looked like a ghost town well before the bell rang.

"Something's going on," Sarah said. The two walked out of the room, and saw no one in any of the halls. No one was in the classrooms, no one was in the lunchroom, or in the gym. They walked to the front office where Emmett was fuming and Mary Bartwoski was watching him.

"This is your doing," he said, stomping toward Chuck and shoving his finger in Chuck's face.

"Would you like me to remove that for you, Chuck," Sarah said, venom dripping from her voice. Emmett pulled his finger back, quickly. "Now what are you talking about?"

"Those children," Emmett said. Chuck looked outside where all the teachers and students were.

"Some of those are teachers," Chuck replied. Emmett was stewing.

"Don't be smart," Mary said. Chuck turned towards her slowly.

"Chuck, she's not worth your time," Sarah said, putting her arm around him. Chuck looked at her, and the two walked outside, their arms around each other. The crowd cheered.

"What is going on?" Chuck asked.

"A coup, Charles," Roan answered. "A bloodless coup." Emmett came outside with his megaphone.

"If you are not back inside this school within one minute, all of you will be given failing grade," Emmett said. Students began to panic, and many started back inside, apologizing to Chuck and Sarah. They told them they understood, and not to worry about it. Chuck thought they would all go in, but they didn't. In a bit, only the teachers and the students that had Chuck and Sarah, or were in the play, were outside. "Seems your little stunt didn't work, Mr. Bartowski," Emmett said, gloating.

"He had nothing to do with, you pompous twit," Casey yelled out. "We just all hate you." Emmett's eyes were opened wide in shock.

"Students, you have been led astray," Emmett said into the megaphone. "I will give you one more minute to come inside or you will all be given failing grades."

"Why did you split up Miss Walker and Mr. Bartowski?" one of the students yelled.

"Because of their inappropriate behavior," Emmett said, with a tone in his voice that the student was stupid for asking.

"What inappropriate behavior?" a voice yelled. Chuck found the student. It was Luke Carter.

"They were making unprofessional sexual advances on each other," Emmett said.

"When?" Luke yelled back.

"At the football game," Emmett said, proud of himself.

"No they weren't," an adult female voice came from the same direction as Luke. He looked over and saw it was Luke's mother. "They were watching a football game, cuddled together, like any other couple out there. I saw the entire thing. They also saved my sons life at the dance. How is any of that unprofessional?"

"Well, it's not proper," Emmett said.

"I wish I had a boyfriend treat me the way Mr. Bartowski treats Miss Walker," a voice yelled. Chuck was pretty sure it was Olivia.

"I wish I had a girlfriend as hot as Miss Walker," some boy said.

"Hey, watch it," Chuck warned.

"See," Mrs. Carter said. "They are not unprofessional."

"It's out of my hands," Emmett said, proud of himself.

"Well, so is the check I wrote you," another male voice said. Emmett paled.

"What?" he squeaked.

"I'm going to move my son to a private school since he can't learn from those two, and I won't be making the rest of my donation," Dr. Carter said. Chuck thought Emmett might pass out.

"Now, wait just a minute," Emmett said. "We had a deal."

"It got altered," Chuck said. Sarah smiled at him and Emmett went pale.

"What do you want?" Emmett choked out.

"Everything back the way it was, plus whatever those two want," Dr. Carter said.

"I can't just go and fire Mrs. Bartowski," Emmett said.

"I didn't say you had to, but those two go back to teaching together, running the play, and whatever else, and if they don't, I don't pay the instalments that I planned on paying," Dr. Carter replied. Emmett looked defeated.

"But you said a lump sum," Emmett whined.

"He altered the deal, Emmett," Sarah said, shoulder bumping Chuck.

"I hate Star Trek," Emmett muttered. Chuck just shook his head.

"Why don't you use Mrs. Bartowski with curriculum, testing, and helping you run the school in an environment more suited for the students," Sarah offered. Chuck looked at her.

"That's a great idea," he said.

"You can live with it?" she asked. Chuck shrugged.

"She's good at what she's good at," he replied. "Another thing," he said out loud. "These stupid Buy More uniforms go." Emmett nodded.

"Mr. Bartowski, Miss Walker, I will check in with you before I release a check to him each month," Dr Carter said.

"Thank you, Sir," Sarah said. "You're helping these kids."

"You save child's life, I figured it was the least I could do," Dr. Carter said.

"Okay, if we're all good back to class," Beckman ordered. The students all turned to Chuck and Sarah.

"You heard them kids, back to class," Chuck said. Sarah gave him a hug. "Careful, we'll get separated," he joked.

"Give him a big kiss," one of the girls yelled out. Sarah laughed and they all went back inside.

}o{

They sat in their booth at the restaurant that night, Ellie and Awesome joining them. Chuck raised a glass.

"To my big sister, who still watches out for me, and saved me, yet again," he said.

"Here, here," Sarah said, as they made the toast. Ellie grinned.

"So I happened to know a guy who could help you out," Ellie said, shrugging. "You two literally did all the work. All I had to do was point out how bad things were going and he had the solution." She looked at Chuck and Sarah and Chuck thought she was going to explode.

"What, Ellie?" Chuck asked, a grin on his face.

"So, you two, how serious?" she said.

"We're mates," Chuck answered. Sarah rolled her eyes, wrapped her arms around him and looked at him.

"I can't speak for him, but it's as serious as I've ever been involved with someone else," Sarah replied. "Oh, boy." Chuck looked up and his mother was heading toward them.

"What is SHE doing here?" Ellie hissed. Sarah was taken back at how much venom there was in her voice.

"Eleanor, how are you?" Mary asked as she approached. Ellie just looked at her. "Charles, I need a word with you in private."

"No," Chuck said, sitting there, shaking his head.

"Charles," she said, in a voice that was used to being listened to. Chuck continued to sit there. He took a chip, dipped it in salsa, and ate it slowly. He then began to choke, because he dipped it in the hot salsa. Sarah rubbed his back as he coughed it up. "It's obvious I have made a terrible error in the past, and have not been a proper mother, that's why I'm here." Ellie and Chuck both looked at her. "You're going to have to refinance your home."

"Why would I do that?" Chuck asked.

"Because I co-signed for it," she said.

"What?" Chuck said. "How, you were never there!"

"You were going to be denied and the loan officer knew me and that I was your mother," she explained. "She went around your back, and did break some laws, but we did it for you. I will not be on that loan as long as you are seeing her."

"First, what the hell business of yours is it who I see?" Chuck asked. "Second, you two broke the law, not me."

"I will sue to have my name removed," Mary said.

"Fine," Chuck said, throwing up his hands. "I'll refinance it. Now go away." Mary didn't move.

"You will be denied," she said. Chuck turned toward her.

"Then I'll figure something out," he said. "You know what, I won't pay it, then it will screw with your credit too." He turned back to the chips, but felt the eyes of the other three on him.

"I will refinance it in my name and you will quit dating her," Mary said. "Every since you've begun this dalliance you have made terrible decisions." Chuck turned to Sarah.

"You're the linguist," he said.

"A casual romantic or sexual relationship," Sarah said.

"I wouldn't call it casual," Chuck replied. Sarah bit her bottom lip to try to control her smile. This wasn't the time. "Like you said, it's the most serious I've ever been."

"That means nothing," Mary said.

"Why don't you go away," Chuck replied. "Just go far away."

"You will not live there and be involved with her," Mary said.

"Sarah Walker is her name, and you will not tell me what to do," Chuck said, his voice rising. Sarah grabbed his hear arm.

"Hey, hey," she said, and he turned to her. "Not casual?" she asked with a grin. He nodded. "I know how to fix this."

"Girl, do not get involved," Mary said. Ellie slammed her hand down and stared at her mother.

"You will not disrespect Sarah one more time or I will throw you out of here myself, are we clear?" Ellie asked, daggers in her eyes. Mary stiffened, turned, and walked out. "I'm sorry," Ellie said looking back to the others, ashamed. Sarah reached across and grabbed her hands.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Sarah said, beaming. Ellie smiled at her.

"Welp, looks like she's back," Chuck said.

"This is my fault, I told you to talk to her," Sarah replied.

"No, that nut decided to act that way because," Chuck replied. "Now, what is your great idea that will fix this." She grinned and bounced a shoulder.

"Simple, you move in," she said. Chuck wasn't sure what to say.

A/N: David…are you seriously ending it there? Yep….til next time…hope you enjoyed it! Reviews and PMs are always welcomed!

#Chuck #Sarah #Charah #Buy More High School #fanfic #fanfiction

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ineedrelationshipadvice · 3 years

Note

my boyfriend is paying half of his friends rent and he doesn’t even live with him. he lives with his mom where he also pays rent. we’ve been dating for 3 years now, 4yrs in April, and I don’t see him ready to commit to me. when i mention even a promise ring he laughs and thinks i’m joking, but i want a least a sign that if i stay it won’t be for nothing. is that wrong? if he’s paying for two rents instead of building a life with me should i worry? i hope my question makes sense. i don’t want to date and then break up at our 4+ years and seeing it was all for nothing when i could’ve been doing something else. i also don’t want to pressure him into commitment. i guess i’m just worried that he doesn’t love me that way.

Okay, so there's a lot more going on here than might seem so on the surface. So let's just pick everything apart, piece by piece, and address them individually. Because this is just a big, tangled ball of yarn, and we can't address the whole thing; we have to address each piece by itself.

So first, your boyfriend and his rent payments. At the end of the day, there's nothing REALLY wrong with this. Why is he paying rent for a place he's not living at? Maybe there's a reason, maybe there's not. I think it's dumb, but it's not my money. Should he be also paying rent at his parents place? That's a conversation for him and his mom, but again, that's his business. Effectively, with this rent scheme-thing he has going on, the final ruling is: his money, his business. You can give him suggestions on spending his money, and you can tell him how you'd like him to spend his money. But at the end of the day, it's his money, and he can do whatever he wants. ---------

Second issue: building a life with you. This ties into the first a little bit. Again, should he probably be considering building a life with you? Yeah, sure. But his money, his business, once again. He works for that money, and he's spending it in a way that suits his needs. Again, should he be contributing to your overall relationship? MAYBE？It really depends on what kind of commitment financially you're wanting from him. But in the same way that you should be spending your money on your needs, he can spend his money on his needs.

One thing that I usually emphasize for most people in relationships is you should not financially invest too much money into your partners. That might seem like a cheapskate sort of thing to say, but there is value in that. Money makes people fucking looney. Some people get really irrational around money, and it causes way more problems than it needs to. So just separating that from your relationship is very important. You should either strive for equal contribution for all parties, or no contribution from either party. Sure they can take you on a date, and you can pay for a gift for them on Christmas or whatever. But this is just you two spending your money for YOUR reasons; they wanted to pay for your date, you wanted to buy a gift; it has nothing to do with "exchanging" money, even though logically that's basically what is happening.

But the moment you start long-term money investment into another person's life, weird power imbalances start to occur. The person who spends more can feel like they're "owed" something for the money they spent, even though that's not how relationships work (outside of sugar baby / findomme sorts of relationships). It's basically IRL simping at that point, except with cash dollars. Further, money shouldn't be this weird give-and-take between people; money is just a thing, and you spend money, that's how the economy goes round. Nobody is obligated to do anything with that money they don't want to, and there should be no obligations set upon anyone unless those obligations are mutually agreed upon.

AKA, think of relationships like a Kickstarter. You are investing money, and you should have ZERO EXPECTATIONS for that account to return your investment. Yeah, maybe it will pay back some time in the future; but it also might flop. So that's a risk you are taking with your money; therefore, don't spend more money than you're willing to lose. That's just financial advice at that point. ------------ NEXT PROBLEM, you don't want to date for a long time and learn it was all worth nothing in the end.

This is an issue for one reason, and that is because you are literally describing all relationships. Whether they're coworker relations, people you're dating, or friendships, all relationships are throwing all your time and emotion into someone for that to inevitably not work out. This sucks for some people, especially people who preference long-term relationships, because you give a WHOLE LOT to a single relationship, and if it crashes and burns, that's very problematic to you in a million different ways.

An example: I fell in love with this girl in high school. We hit it off, she was one of the only people who treated me like a human being, she gave me affection and respect. I loved it, and I loved her. And she reciprocated to a large degree! We had a bit of an age-gap, making dating illegal (I just graduated, she was a sophomore), but we were fine just being friends anyway. We spent ALL OUR TIME together, and although our relationship wasn't explicitly romantic, we definitely felt the same way toward each other, and would love to take the relationship elsewhere when it was socially acceptable to do so. We were like that for THREE YEARS, teetering on the brink of romance, giant crushes, physical affection, all that good stuff. And then... one day, she just changed. She started drinking heavily and partying, she started hooking up with randos (and not me, even though she said we should be together since by that time we could date). And eventually I just got the hint that she was just playing with my emotions. I didn't want to let that go though, because I mean, she was my best friend and someone I legitimately cared about as a human and as a romantic partner, and I put so much time and effort into fostering that space with her. But in the end, she was literally hurting my feelings by not treating me with the respect she used to give, the respect she taught me I deserved. So I left, and we stopped associating.

That story SUCKS, but that's just how relationships go. I didn't know she'd take a weird left turn at the end and start having loose sex with everyone she knew. But that's the way the cards were played, and it's not my job to figure out why that happened, but rather to react to the state of play as it's happening. AKA, to use financial terminology again, if you see that an investment is crashing and burning, continuing to invest time, effort, and money into that thing is a self-fulfilling prophecy, because you already know what's gonna happen. --------- Now the final issue: promise rings and pressure to commitment. This is the big one, so pay attention.

HOW THE FUCK IS THIS GUY NOT COMMITTED TO YOU AFTER FOUR YEARS OF DATING.

There's a reason I told that specific story from my past, because it's basically the same situation as yours in the scale of time. After that time, my girl didn't commit to me; she flaked on the idea of our relationship. YOUR PARTNER IS DOING THAT TO YOU, ACTIVELY, EVERY DAY. Are they actually dating you? Sure, that's nice. Do they take care of you or make you happy? Yeah, probably.

But let's think about this seriously for a minute. How much of that happiness is the security of you being in a relationship, and how much of that is actually fear of losing that security blanket which is not actually providing value to your life. Don't answer, because I know the answer: you're scared. You put so much time and effort into this thing and you want it to work. That's natural, you're just doing your best. BUT IT'S NOT WORKING. You know this already. You literally told me that you don't want to prove this was all worth nothing. But this is a self-fulfilling prophecy; that's what this relationship already is. You wouldn't have said that to me if you didn't already have a legitimate, logical fear that this was a true statement that you were stating to me.

But no, that can't be. Logical thoughts be damned, I WANT THIS TO WORK. So what do we do? We adjust the logic to fit our narrative. In the same people who are crazy about Trump form conspiracy theories to justify their worldview, you have changed the logic of your own relationship.

It's not that he doesn't commit to you, right? It's just that you don't want to pressure him into commitment. Sounds logical, right? IT'S NOT LOGICAL. YOU HAVE BEEN DATING THIS PERSON FOR FOUR YEARS. That is an eternity in modern-dating standards, and you STILL don't feel like he is putting the appropriate amount of effort into you.

But no no no, like, you just don't want to upset him; you don't want to make him feel pressured. Because then he might leave. Yeah, he might. Then what? What if he leaves tomorrow, no explanation? Would the relationship have been worth it? You know the answer is no.

"But but but, I'm happy. I feel good in my relationship." You do, yes, and I'm sure you have a lot of great experiences and memories with this person. But you also have bad memories, like memories of him LITERALLY LAUGHING AT YOU for the idea of wearing a ring that shows he cares about you. After FOUR YEARS. You have visions of your future with him where you are ready to throw your life into this relationship, but when you look at him, he can't even balance his finances, because you know it's impossible with his current circumstances to do that.

This is your brain speaking to you. It is telling you what is wrong, and you are making excuses because realizing that you might have been on the wrong path is uncomfortable. And that's okay, like my story told you, this shit sucks. Sometimes we waste time, and it really sucks. But if you were taking a roadtrip from New York City to Florida, and then realized you were actually on a highway to Chicago, would you keep driving to Chicago or would you stop and take the nearest route to Florida? That's only a question you can answer.

I say that for a reason. I can't tell you what to do; that's not my job. My job is to tell you the shit you don't want to think about, but the stuff that you know is true already, based on the evidence you have provided to me. And I see a person who is irresponsible with their finances. Is that bad? No, he can do anything he wants with his money. But do I see a person who laughs at their girlfriend when their girlfriend wants a sign of affection? Yes. Do I see a person who is struggling with their relationship and feels unfulfilled and unhappy about the future. So MY logical reaction is to let you know that you are more uncomfortable and unhappy than you are giving yourself credit for.

By all means, try to discuss this with your boyfriend. There's no shame in that, because you HAVE invested a lot, and it sucks to lose that. If you think you can fix this, you should do everything in your power to try to fix that. But you need to start fixing things ASAP. Because you're halfway to Chicago, and Florida is only getting further away.

Have a talk with him; let him know you're feeling unfulfilled. Let him know that you feel like he isn't committed to you, cite your reasoning. Let him know that you are concerned about the stability and future of your relationship with him. Let him know that it worries you about the way that he is spending his money, and you would ask if he'd be willing to invest that money into building a long-term future with you instead. Have those hard talks. And if he gives you the same sass or disregard that he's already shown you, DUMP HIS ASS.

Because maybe you have wasted your time. Wasting your time isn't a bad thing; it just means some time got wasted. I still have fond memories of my crush from high school, because she was great, and made me so happy and fulfilled. But she was not treating me right, so I had to get out. You are not being treated right, presently. It's time to either fix that scenario, or get out before you waste any more time.

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shitloadsofwrestling · 7 years

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Gregory Iron shared the photo above, along with the following caption:

READ & SHARE: I don't normally address things like this, but I'm making an exception in this case in an effort to make a point. On Sunday afternoon I wrestled for a promotion in Oconto, Wisconsin alongside my one legged tag team partner, Zach Gowen. It was brought to my attention that a local "wrestler" named "Cooter Bocephus" had an issue with this, because I, a performer with cerebral palsy, was booked over him. In a statement on his Facebook profile, under the name Bo Cephus --which has probably garnered zero attention from the internet wrestling community until this very moment-- he wrote the following: "This weekend a promotion had a man with cerebral palsy "wrestle."...isn't the goal to make what happens in the ring believable? Make you stop and think whoa, that guy or girl is a bad ass ...how does a person with a deformed arm/hand put a headlock on another person and make the fans believe it hurts, or the person really has the other locked in? ...my question is when is enough enough?" Let me address Mr. Bocephus' post, and if someone would kindly tag him, I'd greatly appreciate it. "The Handicapped Heroes" were brought into Wisconsin to perform as what we in pro wrestling call "an attraction," or "a draw." You see, Cooter-- if that's your real name-- the goal of a wrestling promotion, or any business for that matter, is to get asses into your place of business and to spend (or "draw") their money, thus making the business profitable. "The Handicapped Heroes", which features a wrestler with one leg from Detroit, and a wrestler with one partially functional arm due to cerebral palsy from Cleveland (that's me), have a unique story and look. When you put us on a flyer and advertise us, it's an attention grabber. Furthermore, booking a one of a kind team like us helps attracts sponsors and could even get the promotion featured on the news as further promotion! In fact, our story was covered by ABC News Wisconsin that very day! After I did some research, I'd argue that the character and story of "Cooter Bocephus," an out of shape local wrestler that has never wrestled outside of Wisconsin or Minnesota that portrays a redneck in jean overalls-- a character that's already been done on a larger stage and much better, I might add-- probably isn't going to draw many eyes to the product or from local TV stations. Furthermore, based on your lack of name value and overall inexperience (according to Cagematch.net, you've only had 27 matches since 2009) I'm going to assume that the cerebral palsy "wrestler" didn't take your spot, as I'm guessing that I cost much more money to book than you do. Now let's touch on your headlock comment, Mr. Bocephus. I mean, this headlock issue seems very important to you. You're probably the same type of "wrestler" that despite your lack of success in the industry and the fact that you've averaged about 3 matches a year over eight years, you throw around insider terminology freely as if you've traveled the road thousands of miles and know it all, despite never profiting a dime... ...actually I just checked your old posts, and you do. Go figure. Yes, I do have cerebral palsy. And yes, while I'd never word it this way-- because it sounds ignorant and disgusting for anyone to do so-- I do have a "deformed right arm/hand." However, as I mentioned earlier in this post, it's "partially functioning." While I shouldn't even have to explain this, my left arm is still fully functioning, and thanks to incredible grip strength from years of only utilizing my left hand, I can still lock a tight grip on to my right fingers and hand, successfully utilizing a headlock. If it didn't make sense, I wouldn't do it. I think it's fair to mention, though, that based on your pictures online, I think it could be argued that my "deformed" arm has more muscle definition than any muscle on your entire body. Also, after watching one of your matches, your headlock, as well as your in-ring psychology, could definitely use some work (match is included in the comments below). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3_ZmMWwZHU&feature=youtu.be] One more thing. One of the words that Cooter used in his post was "believable" when it comes to in-ring performances with cerebral palsy... ...this is coming from a man whose finishing maneuver involves pretending to stick a rubber duck up his opponents' rectum. Hey, nothing against being silly if you're over and drawing money-- look at Joey Ryan. However, the fact is the only reason anyone knows "Cooter Bocephus" is because I took 15 minutes out of my day to acknowledge his existence. My point here? If you want to go far in pro wrestling, or anything in life, work hard. Travel. Go out and get as much in-ring experience as you can. Diet. Exercise. Be able to properly assess your situation, and figure out why you haven't got as far as you think you should be. There's always room for improvement. I try to improve daily. Don't be a Cooter, sitting on the internet, crying. Find an excuse-- or find a way. -Greg

#gregory iron #pro wrestling #indie wrestling #indy wrestling

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ganymedesclock · 7 years

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Character Analysis: Hunk

[ Shiro ] [ Lance ] [ Pidge ] [ Keith ] [ Allura ] [ Coran ]

Without Hunk, team Voltron really wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.

...Okay, that was bad. Seriously though.

Hunk is kind of an enigma in terms of background. Our earliest insight is that he’s known Lance for a long time- definitely, they were together at the Garrison. Official sources also confirm Hunk is Samoan. Other than that, we don’t know much about his family or life situation.

We do know that he’s an engineering student- and I’m willing to bet future seasons will if nothing else give us more insight into his history.

It is worth mentioning that from the design of Hunk’s arms, he’s quite athletic- seemingly, at least as muscular as Shiro, and probably more because while Shiro has every reason to have more of a “bodybuilder look” (space jail, he probably lost a lot of subdermal fat), Hunk would have a healthier musculature with more body fat reserves, so, yes, I’m fairly sure Hunk could destroy most of the team in an arm-wrestling competition.

Cowardly lion

Hunk definitely has some problems with anxiety. This has been actively addressed at times (s2e9) but this is an element of himself that he is very aware of and is overwhelmingly used to managing. I think that many fan reads of the character often overblow his timid aspects and fail to look into the fact that this is not remotely the only side of him.

Hunk’s element is earth and his Lion is the left leg of Voltron. As the bottom left quarter, this places him at an intersection of support (leg) and defense (left side). The easiest way I can describe Hunk is that he is someone who needs a steady foundation to operate from. In contrast to Lance, who mostly embodies the “movement” element of the leg, Hunk embodies the ideal of “support”. He’s the leg that sticks on steady footing while Lance might be moving forwards to test the ground ahead.

Pulling this out of the metaphorical and more into Hunk’s personal life- Hunk’s anxiety and motion sickness are things that plague him when he doesn’t have that stable footing, figuratively or literally. He is virtually never nauseous when at the controls of his own Lion- it’s when he’s being helplessly towed along in someone else’s, or has lost control of the situation one way or another- that he starts to get sick.

Even stressed, however, it should be emphasized Hunk is no pushover- if he doesn’t like a situation he will let people know, and his willingness to let Lance tow him along into situations he doesn’t like would seem very much to be the exception, not the rule. It’s just that often said unpleasant situation is either essential, or his friends are running into it headlong anyway and more than selfishly fleeing for his own welfare, he wants to make sure they’re safe, too.

When Hunk is sure of himself, he’s not merely brave, he’s an unmovable force of willpower. This is reflected strongly in his bayard, as well- with his massive artillery piece, he probably has the greatest firepower out of any of the bayards we’ve seen, but its weight and size could probably throw even him off his feet if he wasn’t planted while using it. In general, as long as he feels pretty sure of himself- he’s not deterred by much, including things like privacy.

We have somewhat of a scenario of just how far Hunk’s fortitude can go in the story of Hunk’s predecessor, King Alfor. Because the prior team of paladins did not fall apart with the betrayal of Zarkon, their core- rather, they rallied around Alfor, who held them together. Alfor, who ultimately chose to sacrifice himself and his kingdom rather than fight a losing battle- the cautious mind of the Yellow Paladin- but also held a successful defensive line against Zarkon long enough for the Castle Ship to depart.

This would suggest by precedent alone, that Hunk with stable footing could match wills with Shiro- for whom force of personality is one of his paladin virtues- and not back down.

(Also noteworthy- Hunk’s capture during the mermaid episode appears to play into the very mechanism by which Hunk establishes his steady foundation, because the Baku’s whole trick is convincing people that it’s safe and trustworthy)

Harshness and Softness

So far with each of the paladins there are two matched and conflicting values- and Hunk is no exception.

On the one hand- Hunk is an absolute sweetheart. He enjoys taking care of others, and doesn’t want to do something that will hurt or endanger his friends. Once someone has earned his loyalty and trust, he’ll do a lot for them, even if he doesn’t think it’s a good idea, or if it puts him in a bad place- for example, he actively volunteered to go toe-to-toe with the planet-eating Weblum after knowing full well what it’s capable of. (after all, the first act of the reactivated Yellow Lion was to sling himself bodily in front of a downed Bue- this is a way that Hunk and his Lion resemble one another)

Sentimentality and compassion are big deals to Hunk. It’s no surprise that he’s a very close friend to Lance, who is also sentimental and compassionate in a lot of ways. They also have similar bayards, suited to providing cover fire for their zippy, close-range counterparts. And given a good impression, it doesn’t take very much at all for Hunk to warm up to someone, as seen by his rather ready adoption of Keith as early as s1e2. Kindness is one of his stated virtues as the Yellow Paladin, after all.

The other side of the coin is, since Hunk’s friends mean so much to him, he is easily the most skeptical of potential threats on the team. The divide between friend and foe is very stark and Hunk’s bad side is a stone wall worthy of China’s northern border.

In particular, entirely outside of slightly harsh caution- “we’ll help you but I trust you as far as I can throw you”- Hunk has a lot of enmity for people who actively betray the team, or manipulate his teammates. In particular, we see this with Hunk’s response to Rolo, Nyma, and Beezer.

(I find this very significant, concerning how Hunk is closest to Lance, and Lance’s reactions to several situations, the mermaids in particular, suggests that he’s been manipulated or tricked by people before- and Hunk has a very strong reaction to people doing just that.)

Intelligence, but simple terminology

It’s repeatedly emphasized that Hunk is every bit the technical genius Pidge is. As I mentioned on Lance’s analysis, their class was very small, and one of the first things Hunk does on an alien planet is to effortlessly hotwire a piece of mining equipment without even looking at what he’s doing most of the time. And complaining the entire time that Lance dropped him in a tense situation.

Technology is just as much of an interest to Hunk as food is, which suggests a similar pattern in Hunk- he likes things that have an element of construction and creativity, and a lot of different components to them. But compared to Pidge, who is very heavy on jargon- Hunk tends to explain things in a very accessible manner, and seems not as quick to pick up an entirely new set of technical language (see s2e4, when Hunk hesitates to try and piece together exactly what Allura and Coran are telling him, not helped that they’re arguing- while Pidge picks it up rapidly)

This would suggest that Hunk’s knowledge base, while easily as sophisticated as Pidge, tends to assert itself in a more practical manner. Hunk takes complicated topics and breaks them into simple, easily-digested components which would probably make him much better at explaining something than Pidge, who is inclined to tangents and assuming everyone knows what a Turing computer is.

It also indicates another side of why Hunk enjoys the things he does- he is probably a much bigger fan of subjects that he can engage directly, and his general inclination to get his hands all over other people’s equipment and personal belongings reflects that this is the main way he expresses his curiosity. Hunk is smart, and motivated heavily by understanding- so he intrudes, but he intrudes specifically to understand.

When he’s not particularly interested in a subject, he’s usually not nearly so inclined to investigate- which suggests that his hassling Keith about the latter’s galra heritage is more heartwarming than one might suspect.

Unlike Lance, who is pretty much curious about people constantly, even if he doesn’t like them (much of Lance’s relationship with Keith can be summarized as “incredibly jealous of you but also seriously what is your deal”)- Hunk’s curiosity comes with a pretty firm off switch if he’s decided he doesn’t like the person first. Responding with curiosity means the situation feels safe- he’s sure of his footing.

Personal growth

I touched on the concept that Lance and Hunk embody two slightly different concepts of what it is to be a leg- movement vs. stability, but just as Lance (movement) does also offer and engage with stability, Hunk (stability) also engages with the sense of movement.

As Lance points out- for an anxious person who gets readily motion sick, Hunk is in a space exploration program at the beginning of the series. Getting into a situation where people are shooting at him and placed in mortal peril, being basically conscripted into a space war- one would expect Hunk to be the most opposed to this whole idea, and yet he was the one leading the charge to the Balmera.

Part of this is his desire to take care of others- he can’t comfortably sit by and watch Shay’s people suffer, especially when Shay herself arguably had misfortune brought upon her specifically because she helped him- but an entirely other side of this is...

Hunk, genuinely, does have a sense of adventure and curiosity. And he wants to be taken seriously on that. The fact that this is difficult and his anxiety sets him at a bit of a disadvantage is not stopping him.

Puns

Hunk likes to make puns, this is a science fact. In general, he has quite a sense of humor and was the most enthusiastic about the squishy asteroid fight. Hunk in general is very emotional and pretty dang open about his expressions of such.

In Summary

Hunk is in some ways really the heart of the team, but his focus on protecting his allies means he’s heavily polarized in his response to allies versus perceived threats. He’s highly intelligent and wants to be respected and acknowledged, and even from his close friends, if he ever decides he’s not okay with something, he will let people know.

It’s very important for Hunk to feel like he’s sure of himself.

#voltron legendary defender #vld #Hunk #Voltron character study #readmore #third post!! third post

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not-close-to-straight · 7 years

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IronHawk (Part Four)

MASTERLIST.

****************************

“Hawkeye shared your HEAT with you?!”

If Tony hadn't still been edging on a panic attack, he would have laughed because Bruce had gone from mild mannered Banner, to seething, pacing, grumbling under his breath, and starting to turn a very lovely shade of green with in about three seconds.

“Bruce? Hey Bruce, you said you'd keep touching me.” Maybe whining wasn't the best idea when there was an almost Hulked-out Banner stomping through the lab, but Tony had never been very considerate. “Bru-u-u-u-ce!”

Whining had the desired effect however. The green tinge disappeared from Bruce's usually pale skin, and he crossed back over to where Tony knelt on the floor.

“Sorry, Tony. Sorry. I...did not take that very well.”

Bright jade eyes stared at him, and Tony took a second to appreciate how beautiful parts of the monster were, before breaking the tension with a chuckle

“No, no you really didn't. Should I find someone else to talk to this about?”

“We are fine.” came the gruff reply. Bruce held a hand out and Tony took it, opting to sit back on the desk, with Bruce taking the chair again. “From the beginning now.” he ordered.

A shiver ran through Tony when Bruce spoke. Having the other guy lurking so close to the surface made his voice a deep, gravelly baritone. “Hey, would you growl for me? I would just love to hear--”

“Shut up Tony.” Bruce snapped, then closed his eyes to pull his temper in more. “Encouraging me to be vocal when I'm feeling borderline feral is a very very stupid move on your part.”

“Borderline feral? Whys that? No honestly tell me. What is it about Hawk sharing a heat with me that--” Tony stopped talking when Bruce's hand clamped down on his thigh, no where near as soft as it had been before.

“Tony. You should never open up a dialogue between yourself- an unbonded omega- and an unbonded Alpha about sharing your heat with another Alpha. At least not without warning them. Unless you want things to get messy. So you need to stop irritating the matter, and tell me calmly what happened.”

“Should I wait until your eyes aren't green anymore?” Tony asked quietly, and after a moment, Bruce nodded.

“Yeah. Um, some physical labor maybe. Keep my mind occupied.”

Tony picked up his discarded screwdriver from earlier. “I feel like that's a great idea.”

***************** “So you went into heat unexpectedly.” Forty five minutes later, the men had pulled the engine from the Classic Shelby Cobra on the far end of the shop, and were taking it apart and cleaning it meticulously. Bruce hadn't spoken the entire time, but after nearly an hour of quiet he was ready.

“Yes. Didn't even really know what was happening. Just cramps and wanting to vomit. I gotta tell you Brucie, not a blast.”

“And Natasha…”

“Figured it out. All but manhandled me into the elevator and locked me in my room. Left me a pile of food and evacuated the tower.”

“Right.” he adjusted his glasses and reached for another piece. “And then?”

“And then I spent two days…” Tony actually blushed. “Trying to deal with it.”

“But Hawk had been gone on a family emergency.”

“And didn't know. So I'm assuming he came home, no one was here, ended up checking the penthouse and thought I was in trouble.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I didn't really have a chance to tell him anything.” Tony flinched when Bruce's eyes started coloring again. “No, no not like that. I mean, he thought I was in trouble, yelled that he was coming in, and broke through my door. Wings out, gun up.” he had to smile at the memory. “It was… primitive. Like an avenging angel had come stomping through to rescue me.”

“Then what?” Bruce asked, voice calm and soothing, knowing the rest of the story couldn't be easy.

“I-I-ahem.” Tony cleared his throat, and ducked his head. “I asked him to stay and help. Believe me Bruce, I was so far gone I would have asked JARVIS to help if I thought he could.”

To his credit, Bruce didn't even smirk at the embarrassing admission. “So he helped. There's no shame in that Tony. On either side. So what's the problem between the two of you?”

“He-he made me beg, Bruce.” Tony nearly whispered, his hands pausing in polishing. “He told me no at first, got angry at me for even asking him. Then when he decided to stay...he made me beg for it. Beg for him. Like it was a trial for him to be bothered by...the whole thing.” He was horrifyingly close to tears, finally speaking about it. “And then when he was done, treated me like I couldn't take care of myself. Like I was helpless, and useless. Just because I'm an Omega doesn't mean I'm still not me.”

Bruce was quiet for a long time again. “Why do you think he said no the first time, Tony?”

“He said I didn't know what I was asking.” Tony scoffed and reattached a bolt to the engine.

“Have you ever shared a heat with an Alpha before? I mean before Hawk, obviously.”

“Of course not. I've been on suppressants since I was in highschool.”

“So you didn't, in fact, know what you were asking. Because I can't imagine you would research it. Porn, or whatever.”

“...no.”

“And how did you handle him saying no?”

“I--dammit.” Tony sighed and dropped his head into his hands. “I told him that maybe he couldn't get it up for me because he was into the avian variety these days.”

Bruce laughed. Actually laughed out loud. “Jesus Tony. You were asking this guy to help and then told him he couldn't get it up? I'm surprised he didn't throw you out of a window!” After his laughter died down, he wiped his eyes and picked back up the piece he’d dropped. “So Clint got mad. Understandably so.” a chuckle escaped, and he struggled to keep a straight face. “Did it scare you when he got angry?”

“Yeah.” Tony said in disgust. “I got all...omega-y. Bared my neck, and curled into the bed and all that.”

“Well, hormones are at their highest during heat. Your body was giving into instinct because your mind was barely online. That's nothing to be ashamed of, Tony. That's why our secondary characteristics exist. Did Clint accept your apology?”

“Yeah. That's when he decided to stay.” his voice hardened, and when Bruce scooted closer so their knees touched, Tony made a grateful sound.

“He made you beg?” Bruce kept his voice low, letting their legs rub against each other, and arms brush every time he reached for something.

“He kept saying things like ‘tell me you want it’ and ‘look at me Tony, say you want my knot’. He...we were face to face. I couldn't even look away. Even when we were…locked together.” Tony's face flamed even repeating the words, and Bruce sighed sympathetically.

“Let's skip over that for now. How did he treat you after?”

“Ugh. I woke up, and he was telling me to go get cleaned up. That he had to change the sheets. Thought he was going to stick around and get another go at me. So I kicked him out.”

“I see.” Bruce wiped his hands on his jeans and leaned back against the wall. “So let me see if I have this correct.” he held up his hands and started counting off on his fingers.

“Hawkeye comes busting into your room for the sole purpose of saving you because obviously something's wrong because the tower is empty. Upon seeing you in heat, and realizing that you are barely coherent while asking him to do something as horrifyingly intimate as share your heat, he declines. Instead of being grateful that he is trying to look out for you, even though I'm sure you could tell exactly how badly the unbonded, adrenaline rushing, ready for battle, Alpha wanted you-” he sent a sharp glance at Tony, who was trying to hide his face again. “-instead of being grateful, you threw his manhood in his face and accused him of beastiality. So far so good?”

Tony just nodded miserably.

“Then, the same Alpha accepts your apology for such an insult, and actually agrees to help. He then repeatedly asks for your consent before just splitting you in half-” Tony jerked at the rude terminology. “-and you think he's making you beg? Do you realize that most Alphas would have just pushed your face into the bed and mounted you? But Hawkeye wanted to be watching you, I'm assuming so he could kiss you, but also to make sure that at all times you were okay with what was happening.”

Bruce hesitated before asking. “Was he good to you, Tony? I can't imagine he would hurt you on purpose but if it was your first time...it's not easy to take an Alpha, even if they are being gentle.”

“He was good to me.” Tony's voice was barely audible.

“Ok, that's good.” A deep breath. “So after all that, instead of just leaving as soon as he was able, he stayed. Got a bath ready so as soon as you woke up you could take a soak because I'm sure you were sore and exhausted. Then offered to strip the bed and remake it, so by the time your next wave hit, you would at least be clean and have a clean bed to lie on, instead of the sheets that had already been through two days of heat. Did he offer you food?”

“Yeah.” Tony was getting the sickening feeling that he had read the situation all wrong.

“And you turned it all down? Kicked him out?”

“Yeah.”

“And you're the one that's angry with him?”

“I'm assuming I'm in the wrong here.” Tony groaned and banged his head against the wall.

“Tony.” Bruce removed his glasses, rubbing his eyes. “Alphas are hard wired to do three things. We protect our Omegas, provide for our Omegas, and breed our Omegas. Tony, Hawkeye was trying to protect you. Turning you down because he knew you'd regret the decision later. Asking you over and over to make sure you DID in fact want him, and he wasn't taking advantage. Watching you the entire time in case anything went wrong. Staying with you after so you didn't have to wake up alone. Trying to take care of you after… he was just doing what every Alpha in the world wants to do.”

Banner folded his hands in his lap before continuing. “Tony, I will never understand how it feels to be an Omega, how it feels to be such a slave to something like a heat, where you are literally physically pained without an Alpha. And it's well within your right to have an Alpha service you and then kick their ass to the curb. But you can't do that with your friends. I mean, you rejected every attempt on his part to be there for you, except the obvious, and that's….that's pretty brutal. I'm not surprised at all that Clint is feeling uncomfortable.”

Tony sent him a questioning look. “Except the obvious?” He repeated and Bruce shrugged uncomfortably.

“You rejected everything but his knot. Tony, you took your friend and team member and regulated him to the same level as one of those…” Bruce made a motion with his hands that had Tony wanting to crawl under a table. “Dildos that thrust and vibrate and promise perfect orgasms every time.”

“God.”

“I have heard you bitch time and time again about how Omegas shouldn't be treated like a cock-hungry hole begging to be filled.” Tony groaned again, the vulgar words sounding worse coming in Banners quiet voice.

“And of course I agree with that, Tony, everybody does. But have you ever thought that Alphas shouldn't be treated like they are just a sex toy? I imagine it took just a shocking amount of patience and self control on Clint's part to override his instincts and not just take you the moment he could scent your heat. Alphas… we are just as desperate as Omegas during something like that. Have you heard of an Alpha rut? It's not fun.”

“God… god dammit.” Tony cursed, then cursed again, kicking his foot out to send a chair flying.

“And to make matters worse,” Bruce continued and Tony leveled him with a glare.

“What else could I possibly be doing wrong?”

“To make matters worse.” Bruce repeated. “Clint walks in here, after weeks of you avoiding him, to see you nearly curled up in my lap, letting me- another Alpha, comfortably touch you. After you pushed him away. And then you insult his wings. Again. Insult something that is entirely him, whether they were there a few months ago or not. He is so crazy about Tony and you just--”

“Sorry what?” Tony whipped around. “What was that you just said? About Hawkeye being crazy for me?”

“You… didn't know.” Bruce realized, eyes widening in surprise. “I assumed you asked him to help because you knew he wouldn't be able to say no to you. You didn't know? The guy can hardly keep his eyes off you. Everybody knows! You walk into a room and the poor guy is tripping over himself to get close to you, or having to leave a room so he won't stare.” Bruce tapped his chin thoughtfully. “That makes this all much worse, Tony.”

“This is… so much worse.” Tony wanted to crawl into a hole and die. “And really? You thought I asked him because he couldn't say no to me?”

“We all know it's not a stretch that Tony Stark would use someone's weakness against them to get what he wants. And I am telling you, you are Clint’s weakness.”

They fell silent for a long while more, each going back to reassembling the engine.

“You need to talk to him Tony.” Was the last thing Bruce said, before they attached the engine to a crane to be set back in the car. “Talk to him and hope you haven't ruined anything. Misunderstandings can absolutely destroy any relationship. Talk to him and clear the air because I feel like both of you are operating with the wrong side of the story, and that's not going to end well.”

************ It was after dinner by the time they finished putting the engine back together. Bruce had made a point of staying close, letting Tony lean into him whenever he needed to, and resting a hand on his thigh whenever he got the chance. Tony was still fairly thoughtful after their talk, and Bruce just waited quietly for Tony to bring it up again.

“So I need to talk to him?”

“Right now. Go find him right now.”

“Now now? Or can it wait until-”

“Until what Tony? You're next heat? Because I don't think there will be much talking going on then.” Tony blushed bright red and Bruce chuckled. “I'm sorry. I've just never seen you blush so much. But you need to be realistic, Tony. You've waited all this time, waiting longer is going to ruin things. And if you're going to be due for several more heats over the coming year… you don't want this standing between you guys. I imagine he's terrified to talk to you about it, so you have to go to him.”

“Why would he be terrified?”

Bruce sighed and wiped his hands on his pants. “You know the upside of being an omega?”

“No. No I haven't found it yet, no.”

“The upside is, every Alpha in the world, bonded or not, male or female, young or old, will kill themselves to be around an omega. Even outside of heat. You walk into a grocery store and can't reach the cereal? Sound a little frustrated and every Alpha in the place will be racing to help.”

“Well that would be nice.” Tony said with a shrug.

“Downside of being an Alpha?” Bruce looked a little vulnerable suddenly. “Everything you go through is projected in your scent. You know why I've never taken a mate? Because Omegas can smell the mutation in me, the rage. It makes them uncomfortable. With Steve, the scent of not belonging is so strong that most Omegas avoid him, because you guys need us to smell like safety and warmth and how many Avengers do you think carry that specific scent?”

“Natasha's an Alpha and she smells great.” Tony argued.

“But you've been around her for years. You know her. A random Omega on the street would run away because Natasha smells like danger and pain and secrets.”

“Oh.”

“You rejected Clint, rejected his wings.” Banner ran a hand through his messy hair. “And I know you didn't know, but rejecting something of an Alpha like that… it can really do some damage to our psyche.”

“Fuck.” Tony groaned. “Fuck I have to talk to him.”

He washed his hands, drying them in his jeans before stretching, joints popping as he raised his arms above his head.

Bruce just watched, arms folded, eyes tracing every movement of each muscle. It really was interesting how being off suppressants had changed Tony's body. Just in the month or so, his muscles had gotten leaner, his hair was growing faster and even his voice had slightly changed. It was fascinating. In fact, if he asked nice enough maybe Tony would let him take notes and--- “Bruce.”

“Hm?” He met Tony's eyes and raised an eyebrow.

“What is this?” Tony motioned between the two of them with a small frown. “What's… what's going on here?”

“Nothing's going on.” Bruce shrugged.

“But the touching… and the staring. You know, with your eyes?” Tony widened his eyes dramatically and Bruce laughed.

“It's not anything Tony. You need physical touch right now to keep you calm and centered and I am happy to provide it. As far as the looking,” he let his gaze drop over Tony's lean frame. “Well, you're a good looking guy Tony.” He sent him a teasing smile. “Actually I was noticing how being off suppressants has changed how you look.”

“I didn't think anyone else would notice.” Tony frowned.

“It's not actually all that obvious. But you forget, you and I have spent a lot of time up close and personal testing and fitting new suits and working on projects.”

“That's true. So that's it? You're not…” he hesitated, “interested in me?”

“Oh.” Bruce smiled in understanding. “You think your omega hormones are making you irresistible? While that's not entirely true, as evidenced by the whole touching thing, that's as far as it goes. Anything else is purely a protective Alpha thing.”

“But you got mad when I said Clint was with me in my last heat.”

“I did. But only because I assumed that you were upset about it. It just kickstarted my protective instinct. Also because if it's affecting the dynamic of the team it can be dangerous. And stupid.”

At Tony's dubious look, Bruce added, “Don't you think Natasha would have kicked Clint’s ass if she knew what happened, and knew how upset you were? She would have beat him black and blue for upsetting an omega before even asking about his side of the story.”

“That's true.” Tony admitted. “So just now you were just… looking?”

“Do you want me to be attracted to you, Tony?”

“I don't… really know.”

“Well, if you figure it out.” Banner shrugged, smiling a little. “You know where to find me.”

Tony fidgeted a little, then stepped closer, and closer again until they were standing very close. When Banner shifted a little uncomfortably, Tony leaned towards his neck and took a cautious sniff.

“Mmmm.” He hummed a little and curled closer automatically, drawn to the scent of Alpha and Banner tensed.

“Tony.” Damn he needs to learn some boundaries. Bruce thought, clenching his fists so he wouldn't pull the omega closer. Instinct. That's all it was. Instinct.

“I don't scent mutation or anger in you at all.” Tony announced and turned to leave. “I think you smell good.”

He slipped out the door, missing the bright green that filled Banners eyes.

********************* ********************* “Hey Stark.”

“What's happenin’ Cap’n?” Tony tossed a salute at Steve, shouted a hello to Wilson over the obnoxious noise of Super Mario, and waved at the women, who all three were sitting together drinking tea.

The common room was his favorite area of the tower. Even though each Avenger had their own set of rooms, and in Natasha and Peppers case, a whole floor since Pepper used it as an office as well, they all automatically ended up here. Nights off ended with at least one member asleep on one of the many couches. Coffee was brewing at all times in the kitchen. Tony's favorite place, the bar, was always stocked to overflowing. Various posters decorated the walls, music was always on.

It felt good. Felt like home. Felt like family.

Perfect.

Or maybe it would be if Hawkeye was anywhere to be found. Tony felt uncomfortable when Hawk was in a room but it was worse if he wasn't. Tony wanted to go to Clint’s room and just… burrow in the covers and…

“Hey Stark.” Natasha echoed Steve's greeting as she came over, pressing a kiss to his forehead before pouring herself another cup of tea. He waved her away, only slightly annoyed.

“I'm fine, Spider-girl.”

“You're going to explain that, right?” Steve raised his eyebrows over the paper he was reading. Tony just rolled his eyes.

“She keeps checking my temperature.”

“Ah.” Steve smiled that annoying know it all smile.

“Is it just something you Alphas do? Is everything about my feelings broadcasted through my temperature?”

“I don't quite understand the science behind it.” Steve calmly turned a page. “But apparently you Omegas run a little cooler than Alphas do. So if you are too warm, something is going on.”

“Were you like this with Bucky? You know, back in the day?”

“I wasn't the Alpha back in the day.” Steve replied, barely hiding the flinch at the mention of his best friend, the Winter Soldier. “Bucky was. And he was constantly checking me. My temperature, making sure I was eating, making sure I was warm. He was pretty obsessive about it and I never really understood it until after the serum and all those instincts came up in me.”

“Can I ask?” Tony moved closer and dropped his voice. “Were you two…”

“Absolutely not. Best friends and that was all.”

“Right. Because homosexuality…”

“Isn't for me. But that doesn't mean that I don't believe two deserving men can't find love together.”

“That's not the answer I was expecting.” Tony said with a short laugh. Steve shrugged.

“I am adjusting to a few things about this time. Smartphones still freak me out. Homosexuality not so much.”

Tony grinned and clapped the man on the shoulder. “You're getting there big guy.”

Tony's phone buzzed with an incoming text from Banner. -Clint's not here. Left to do some scouting for a solo mission. Guess you're off the hook today, but don't wait too long Tony. Remember what we talked about.

Tony put his phone away and set his jaw, determined not to obsess over the Alpha.

“Hey Wilson, ever cried when you lost Super Mario?”

“Stark, I am king of this game.”

“Please.” Tony shoved him over on the couch and grabbed a remote. “I practically invented this game.”

****************** ******************

Clint landed on his balcony wearily, barely making it through his door before dropping his bag and various weapons on the floor. Clothes came next, and he actually stumbled over his feet trying to get to his shower.

He. Was. Exhausted.

What was supposed to be a recon mission had turned into a clusterfuck when a patrolman had inadvertently walked into the abandoned building Hawkeye had been watching. The lights and noise had caught his eye, and he had went to investigate.

He might have been alright, if he had simply walked in with his flashlight. Instead, the officer pulled his gun the moment he saw other people in there.

Chaos erupted.

Both of the rival gangs screaming that the other had set them up. Bullets started flying, with the officer stuck in the middle, scrambling to hide behind an overturned fridge.

Hawkeye had leapt from the roof, wings folded tight, diving as fast as he could. His wings snapped open at the last minute, pulling him up short.

Only tough while holding guns, the gang members had ducked and screamed louder than ever when he landed in their midst. He had laughed, saluted the police officer, and picked him up, wings beating furiously to get both of them off the ground.

It had been harder than he expected to fly holding another person, even if the officer was young and smaller than Clint in bulk. And the gang members recovered quickly, and switched from shooting at each other, to aiming at Clint, which certainly hadn't helped matters.

He had cursed, dropping the officer on the ground as far away as he could before turning to return fire.

He tried to avoid shooting arrows while airborne, but he didn't have a choice this time, and it almost hadn't worked at all. He had struggled just to aim properly, not trying to kill the other men, at least not on purpose, and unfortunately he hadn't been entirely successful.

But he and the officer had managed to get away without any harm, so he had to count that as a victory.

Clint shut the water off wearily. It had been too long of a day. He hasn't wanted to do the recon mission anyway but had been cornered into it as a favor to Fury. Then the whole mess with Tony and Bruce in the lab. Then the mission had gone badly. And now he had to meet the client who had hired him in the morning and explain what exactly had happened.

Fucking clusterfuck of a fucking day. ********************

Tony paced in front of Clint’s door nervously. JARVIS had sent him an alert when Hawkeye had returned, simply because the man insisted on landing on his balcony instead of using the door like a regular person. It always activated the alarm in JARVIS’ system, and Tony had finally downplayed the sensor until it just sent a message to his phone that something man sized had landed on Hawks balcony.

He had been awake anyway, unable to sleep, tweaking the color on a new suit. He had seen a new shade of red on a beautiful Ferrari the other day, and that's exactly what he wanted. Rare new Ferrari red. And maybe lighter red on the edges.

When the alert came through his phone, he had scrambled out of the lab, and was upstairs and in front of Hawkeyes door before he had even thought about it.

And now he was over-thinking it.

He should just leave. Wait and talk to Hawkeye in the morning. Nothing good happens after 2am anyway right? He's pretty sure he heard that on a show somewhere. And 3am was later than 2am and by that reasoning-

“Damnit Tony, either come in or get away from my door because your pacing is keeping me awake!” Clint yanked his bedroom door open, pulling an undignified squeak from Tony as he jumped back in surprise.

“You can hear me pacing?” He asked once he recovered, and Clint rolled his eyes.

“Advanced hearing, remember? Plus, you are about as stealthy as a drunk Italian. What's up?”

“I um… well…”

“Tony!” Clint’s voice was sharp, even though everything about his posture screamed exhaustion, and disappointment and defeat.

“There's nothing going on between Banner and I.” Tony blurted, then covered his face with his hands, mortified.

“You're bothering me at 3am to tell me about your relationship status?” Clint asked impatiently, folding his arms. Tony's eyes were drawn to the large biceps, the broad shoulders. Clint wasn't wearing a shirt and the muscles in his stomach visibly moved as he shifted from one foot to the other. His wings weren't showing either, and for some reason that bothered Tony just the littlest bit.

“No. No that's not why I'm here, I just thought you would want to know.” Tony took a deep breath to gather his thoughts before speaking again.

“Hawkeye- Clint- I need to apologize to you. I-I haven't been treating you well, and I have no reason to be acting like this. It has been…. brought to my attention that what I thought went on during my last heat wasn't in fact what actually was happening, and I feel really bad about it. About… everything. So I'm sorry.” The words came out rapid-fire, Tony too nervous to slow down in case he didn't say it all.

“What was it that you thought was happening?” Clint’s posture hadn't relaxed, if anything he looked MORE tense.

“I thought… I thought-” Tony was grateful the hallway was dark, and he could just barely see Clint’s features. He wasn't sure he could continue if he had to maintain eye contact. “I thought you were just… humouring me. Or pitying me. By making me beg. By trying to clean up after. I assumed that you were looking down on me for being an Omega. But now I know that isn't the case.” He cocked his head. “I mean, that isn't the case, right?”

“Of course not.”

“Thank god.” Tony cracked his knuckles, the sound startlingly loud in the early morning quiet. “I--I miss you, Clint. You’re never around anymore.”

“I've just been busy, Tony.”

“Avoiding me?”

Clint sighed. “Tony… I know your heat was hard on you, and I get that, but it wasn't exactly easy on me either. I figured we could use the space from each other for a while.”

“Ok.” Tony nodded. “Ok I can understand that. However, I am... done needing space. So maybe, you know, maybe you stop being busy?”

“I don't have a problem with that. Would much rather sit and play video games anyway.” His teeth flashed in the dark as he grinned.

Tony grinned back, shuffling his feet a little. “So… so are we good?”

“We're fine.” Clint answered. Tony nodded, reluctant to turn away.

“Okay. Okay good. We are… fine. We're good. Okay. So I guess I'll just…”

“Come on.” Clint opened his door wider and motioned Tony inside.

“Wait, what? Why-”

Clint groaned and reached for him, dragging him inside and kicking the door shut. “It's 3am Tony. I have to be up in a few hours to talk to a client, and you're giving off so many ‘hold me I'm sad’’ vibes I could nearly choke on them.”

“I--sorry about that.” Tony didn't really know what to do, standing in the middle of the bedroom awkwardly.

“It's fine.” Clint slid under the covers of his big bed, and patted the spot next to him. “Come on. Jeans off, I don't snuggle against denim.” And Tony breathed a laugh and dropped his jeans before climbing into bed next to him.

“So how are we going to-?” Clint didn't answer, just grabbed him, twisting him until they lay chest to back, Clint in the big spoon position.

“Oh this is good.” Tony scooted back against him, pressing as close as he could. When Clint’s arm wrapped around his waist, Tony laced their fingers together as well. “This is… good. Just….stay just like that.”

“I'm right here, Tony.”

Tony might have imagined the kiss on his shoulder, but he didn't ask, just closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.

This was… so good.

******************** It was still dark when Hawkeye disentangled himself from Tony and got dressed.

“Hawk.” Tony mumbled, a hand reaching out. Clint smiled in the dark, his enhanced vision letting him see Tony in this vulnerable, sleepy, moment. “Where are you going?”

“I have to meet a client.” He strapped his quiver across his chest, the reinforced strap sitting right in between where his wings would appear. “I don't know how long I will be gone. But stay as long as you want.”

“Seriously?” Tony sat up, hair sticking up in adorable spikes. “I can stay?”

“Of course you can.” Checking his pockets one last time, Hawkeye turned to open his balcony doors to leave. He hesitated though, and turned back to Tony. “Tony.”

“Mmm.” The genius was almost back asleep already, but blinked his eyes open.

“I'm not sure how long I'll be gone, but let's find each other when I get back.”

“Yes Alpha…” Tony's voice trailed off as sleep claimed him again.

Omega. It took all of Hawkeyes control not to shed his clothes and climb back in bed next to Tony, but he resisted, calling his wings and jumping from the balcony.

Tony would be there when he got home. They could continue this, then. ****************

#ironhawk #tony stark #clint barton #bruce banner #science bros #alpha clint #omega tony #abo dynamics

132 notes · View notes

man9a · 7 years

Note

thoughts on kenji kishimoto pls???

omg anon who are lets me friends omg im crying yes

kenji my son, my husband, my boyfriend who spits in my mouth

100/10 would bang kenji kishimoto

if juliette didn’t exist i would pray every night for kenji and warner to bang

peoples reaction to the new books like: wARNETTE. While im like kenJI

more kenji 2k17

everyones not talking about this but they should like a line in the synopsis for restore me is “When tragedy hits, who will she become? Will she be able to control the power she wields and use it for good?”

Like nothing better happen to kenji. IF KENJI IS HARMED I SWEAR TO GO d

kenji protection squad

also did i mention that i would bang kenji because i definitely would

kenji can deck me and i’d cry and tell him do it more

I neED KENJIS BACKSTORY I NEED IT. ITS NOT A WANT ITS A NEED.

I love how sarcastic he is like yes my son yes

HE CALLED JULIETTE OUT ON HER SHIT AND I LOVED HIM FOR IT LIKE YES BABY YES BABY YES YES KENJI YES MY SON LIKE:“All you do is sit around and think about your feelings. You’ve got problems. Boo-freaking-hoo,” he says. “Your parents hate you and it’s so hard but you have to wear gloves for the rest of your life because you kill people when you touch them. Who gives a shit?” He’s breathing hard enough for me to hear him. “As far as I can tell, you’ve got food in your mouth and clothes on your back and a place to pee in peace whenever you feel like it. Those aren’t problems. That’s called living like a king. And I’d really appreciate it if you’d grow the hell up and stop walking around like the world crapped on your only roll of toilet paper. Because it’s stupid,” he says, barely reining in his temper. “It’s stupid, and it’s ungrateful. You don’t have a clue what everyone else in the world is going through right now. You don’t have a clue, Juliette. And you don’t seem to give a damn, either.” I swallow, so hard. “Now I am trying,” he says, “to give you a chance to fix things. I keep giving you opportunities to do things differently. To see past the sad little girl you used to be—the sad little girl you keep clinging to—and stand up for yourself. Stop crying. Stop sitting in the dark counting out all your individual feelings about how sad and lonely you are. Wake up,” he says. “You’re not the only person in this world who doesn’t want to get out of bed in the morning. You’re not the only one with daddy issues and severely screwed-up DNA. You can be whoever the hell you want to be now.You’re not with your shitty parents anymore. You’re not in that shitty asylum, and you’re no longer stuck being Warner’s shitty little experiment. So make a choice,” he says. “Make a choice and stop wasting everyone’s time. Stop wasting your own time. Okay?”

also his humOR:

“Who’s Bruce Lee?”“Who’s Bruce Lee?” Kenji asks, horrified. “Oh my God. We can’t even be friends anymore.”

“I am going to MURDER YOU—”“No,” he says, pointing at me as he shifts backward again. “Bad Juliette. You don’t like to kill people, remember? You’re against that, remember? You like to talk about feelings and rainbows—”

“Hey, um, I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m looking for a friend of mine,“ he says. "Have you seen her? She’s a tiny little thing, cries a lot, spends too much time with her feelings-”“Shut up, Kenji!”“Oh wait!” he says. “It is you.”

“So that’s it?” Kenji says. “You just like him for his personality, huh?”“What?”“All of this,” Kenji says, waving a hand in the air, “has nothing to do with him being all sexy and shit and him being able to touch you all the time?”“You think Warner is sexy?”“That is not what I said.”

“Can you, like, see invisible people, too?”“No,” Warner says to him, eyes focused in front of him. “I can feel your presence. Hers, most of all.”“Really?” Kenji says. “That’s some weird shit. What do I feel like? Peanut butter?”

“I’m not falling for Warner,“ I say quietly."Sure you aren’t.”“I’m not,” I insist. “I’m just– I don’t know.” I sigh. “I don’t know what’s happening to me.”“They’re called hormones.” I shoot him a dirty look. "I’m serious.”“Me too.” He cocks his head at me. “That’s like, biological and shit. Scientific. Maybe your lady bits are scientifically confused.”“My lady bits?”“Oh, I’m sorry” - Kenji pretends to look offended - “would you rather I use the proper anatomical terminology? Because you lady bits do not scare me-”

“You know, I can sort of control it now,“ I tell him, beaming. "I can moderate my strength levels.”“Good for you. I’ll buy you a balloon the minute the world stops shitting on itself.”

Kenji clears his throat. "Hey–guys? Your loin passion is grossing out the little ones.”

“When are you putting me down?” he counters, no longer amused. “I mean, I’ve got an excellent view of your ass from here, but if you don’t mind me staring -”I drop him without thinking.“Goddammit, Juliette - what the hell -”

“I’m sure he is fine,“ Kenji is saying to me. "He probably just got hung up doing whatever it is he’s doing. You know, commandering and shit.”“Commandering isn’t a word.”“It has letters, doesn’t it? Sounds like a word to me.”

“I have a pretty spectacular face.”

“Back to work. And this time, focus. You’re not an ape. Don’t just throw your shit everywhere.”

“The man is moody as hell.”“I am not moody—”“Yeah, bro.” Kenji puts his utensils down. “You are moody. It’s always ‘Shut up, Kenji.’ ‘Go to sleep, Kenji.’ ‘No one wants to see you naked, Kenji.’ When I know for a fact that there are thousands of people who would love to see me naked—”

“Have you ever had a girlfriend, Kenji?”“What?” He looks mortally offended. “Do I look like the kind of guy who’s never had a girlfriend? Have you even met me?”

“Please—please get up—and lower your voice—”“Hell no.”“Why not?” I’m pleading now.“Because if I lower my voice, I won’t be able to hear myself speak. And that,” he says, “is my favorite part.”

“Okay, hold up,” he says, turning to block my path. “We both know there’s no way you haven’t noticed all of this” — he gestures to himself — “so if you’re trying to play games with me, I should let you know up front that it’s not going to work.”“What?” I frown. “What are you talking abou—”“You can’t play hard to get, kid.” He raises an eyebrow. “I can’t even touch you. Takes ‘hard to get’ to a whole new level, if you know what I mean.”“Oh my God,” I mouth, eyes closed, shaking my head. “You are insane.”He falls to his knees. “Insane for your sweet, sweet love!”

Kenji snorts.“That’s because you’re not fragile,” Kenji says. “If anything, everyone needs to protect themselves from you. You’re like a freaking beast,” he says. Then adds, “I mean, you know—like, a cute beast. A little beast that tears shit up and breaks the earth and sucks the life out of people.”

“You know, you have a really strange way of telling me you’re attracted to me.”

“Damn,” Kenji says after a moment. “Damn damn damn. This shit is bananas”

“Son of a motherless goat!”

“So, let me get this straight,” Winston says. “Our plan is basically seduce the soldiers and civilians of Sector 45 into fighting with us?”Kenji crossed his arms. “Yeah, it sounds like we’re going to go all peacock and hope they find us attractive enough to mate with."

#this is long im sorry i love kenji so much #shatter me #r #Anonymous

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sg-imagines · 7 years

Note

WHAT IF READER WAS A FRIENDLY RIVAL SUPERHERO TO SUPERGIRL AND THEY TEASE EACH OTHER DURING FIGHTS AND THEY KEEP SCORE OF WHO HAS THE SICKEST ONE LINER

Y/S/N : Your Superhero Name

You didn’t specify the reader’s powers, so I basically made her into a female Deadpool, with regenerative powers.

ALSO THIS WAS SO FUN TO WRITE I LOVE THE IDEA OF SUPERGIRL HAVING A FRIENDLY RIVAL SUPERHERO ITS SO CUTE

You slam your knee into the drug lord’s ribs and punch him when he doubles over in pain. The satisfying sound of your fist connecting with his face gives you the motivation to continue on, fighting off the rest of his goons.

“As fun as this is,” you say between punches. “Game of Thrones is on tonight, and if you make me miss it, Ned Stark won’t be the only one without a head.”

The criminals don’t seem to get the reference, or maybe they just don’t care.

You calmly pick up one of them and throw them across the room, knocking down a couple of other men in the process, like a game of human bowling.

“Hole in one!” You exclaim. “Or is that golf?” You shrug, making a mental note to brush up on your sports terminology.

You realize you’re talking to yourself and there’s two neat piles of unconscious men at your feet. You silently congratulate yourself for being an amazing, competent and kickass superhero.

You smile smugly when the cops arrive to arrest the drug lord and his henchman. You spot Maggie and give her a thumbs up. She gives you a dimpled smile, returning the gesture.

“You can tell Supergirl I beat her to this one.” You say, saluting your favorite cop with two fingers before running off into the night.

“Y/S/N says hi.” Maggie grins at Kara as she wraps her arm around her girlfriend.

“Didn’t she stop the infamous drug lord Mr.X last night?” Alex says.

Maggie nods. “She wants Supergirl to know she beat her to it.”

Kara laughs, then smirks as she says: “Oh, it’s on.”

Alex sighs. “You’re way too competitive. Aren’t you both on the same side?”

Kara shrugs. “Nothing wrong with a little friendly superhero competition.”

When Kara gets the call that a pro-alien rally is being attacked by CADMUS, she heads straight over.

Cyborg Superman is on site, inflicting terror on anyone within his reach.

“How can you support those freaks?” He shouts, blasting a laser beam through a parked car, damaging whatever stands in his way. “They should go back where they came from. Or better yet, we should just exterminate them.”

“I don’t think so, pal.” Supergirl swoops down with ease, slamming her fist into the pavement as she lands in front of Cyborg Superman. Spider-like cracks form around her, and she slowly rises, glaring at the CADMUS created creature in front of her.

“Stop this, right now.” She demands, her voice dropping an octave lower like it always does when she speaks as Supergirl.

“You shouldn’t have come.” He spits, his voice dripping with disdain. “Stupid girl.”

“Actually, its Supergirl, not Stupidgirl. But whatever, I mix them up too sometimes. Easy mistake.” You appear by Kara’s side, grinning like a toddler who just saw a chocolate fountain.

You pat your fellow superhero on the back. "My girl here can knock you across the galaxy. So as menacing as your second grade vocabulary is, I’d shut my rusty, poor excuse for a robot mouth if I were you"

This only seems to anger Cyborg Superman, and he launches himself at you, grabbing your neck with his CADMUS enhanced arm, his gripping tightening on you has he backs you up into the nearest wall.

“Can’t make any wise remarks if I crush your vocal cords, now can you?”

You try to reply with something very intelligent and witty like: Fuck you, you robotic lab rat or Eat my amazingly round and extremely breathtaking ass but you seem to be at a loss for words. As in, you were being chocked to death.

You reach for the handgun in your belt, trying not to focus on the amount of air you were losing. Your grip tightens on your weapon as you yank it out of your holster and aim it at Cyborg Superman’s face. You pull the trigger and laugh as his neck snaps back and he stumbles off you.

“Jokes on you, asshole. My vocal cords would’ve grown back. Probably.”

As much as you want your expertly taken shot to his face to end him, it doesn’t do much damage. Cyborg Superman is back on you in seconds, but this time, you’re ready. You pull out your two swords and charge.

The clang of metal against metal rings in the street, your swords slamming continuously against his arm at a steady pace.

You leave little marks here and there, slashing and jabbing at his stomach and legs. But there’s only so much you can do before you slip up.

You lift your sword up for a final blow, but Cyborg Superman anticipates your move and knocks your sword out of your hand, quickly moving to grab your second one. He flips it around and brings it down onto your wrist, slicing your hand off.

The sword clatters to the ground, your hand falling down with it.

“Holy shit, that hurt like a bitch! Fucking hell.” You slowly lift your arm up, staring the spot where your hand used to be. “Shit. That’s going to take some time to grow back.”

Cyborg Superman was making his way toward you again when Supergirl appears, grabbing him from behind and throwing him into the nearest building.

“It’s about time. Where the hell where you?” You pick up your swords, one at a time, and return them to there place, crossed in an x form across your back.

“Saving civilians. CADMUS unleashed some sort of toxic gas on the city, but I got them out of there in time and the DEO arrived to contain the gas.”

You nod.

“Well you saved all those civilians, which is good and all, but do you have any sick ass one liners? Ha, didn’t think so.” You wiggle your detached hand in her face.

Supergirl laughs at the sight of you, her friendly rival superhero, fully decked out in your red spandex suit and black weapon’s belt, holding one of your own cut off hands, nonchalantly waving it in the air like it wasn’t one of your limbs.

“You’re gross.” Supergirl smirks at you. “And I totally have sick one liners.”

You raise your eyebrows. “Oh really?” You taunt.

“Yes, really.”

You’re about to tell the Kryptonian that there’s no way she has better one liners than you when Cyborg Superman is suddenly at Supergirl’s side, punching her with all the force in his metal arm. She is sent flying across the street, smashing a hole into a small shop’s glass window.

The blond is on her feet in seconds, flying up and quickly crashing down into him, knocking him into the ground. He reacts quickly, rolling to the side as Supergirl goes in for another punch. He grabs her by the neck and slam her into the pavement.

“Go back to your dead planet, Supergirl.” Cyborg Superman says her name like she’s pure filth, spitting it out with such disgust and contempt.

“Hey Dickbot! Need a hand?” You shout from the roof of the small shop, smiling. You jump down, landing gracefully, and throw your actual hand at him, hitting the CADMUS soldier in the face with a loud thump.

Shocked and maybe even a little grossed out, Cyborg Superman releases his grip on Supergirl, just enough for her to break free and give him a roundhouse kick in the jaw. He crumples onto the floor, and she steps over him, delivering the finishing blow, knocking him out cold.

“You really shouldn’t have come.” She says, mimicking his condescending tone from earlier.

You pick up the hand you threw at Cyborg Superman and use it to clap for Supergirl, smacking it against your stump, creating an odd sort of clapping noise.

“That’s some good shit, right there. 10 out of 10 for style, form, and sick one liners. Great job.”

You both smile at each other, another menace stopped, thanks to Supergirl and and Y/S/N, National City’s heroes.

#supergirl #supergirl imagine #kara danvers #kara danvers imagine #kara imagine #kara x reader #reader is a superhero #and fights crime with supergirl #i love this concept

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