#(in fairness though I've been stewing on this one for a WHILE)

[thesaintofnevergettingitright]

I’ve seen a few people in the TAD fandom talk about how good a TAD/Hozier collab would be, and here’s the thing. Y’all aren’t wrong! It would be absolutely incredible!

But if I may suggest a slightly more unhinged collab idea for your consideration:

The Amazing Devil and Mariana’s Trench

Hear me out! For some reason I haven’t been able to stop thinking about what it would sound like if Joey Batey and Joshua Ramsey were locked in a room and forced to write a song together. Cuz here’s the thing? I have no idea what that would sound like! But I do know that it would be life-changing and chaotic, and would completely destroy me emotionally, and would include an unnecessary number of classic lit references! And what more can you ask of a song?

Like! I am begging yall to listen to Echos of You and The Old Witch Sleep and the Good Man Grace side by side! Do the songs sound anything alike? Absolutely not! But that’s not what it’s about!

It’s about the strategic mid-song emotional/musical whiplash! It’s about simultaneously being haunted and doing the haunting! It’s about being aware that you’re not mentally healthy and reveling in it! It’s about 19th century poets! It’s about being monstrous! PLEASE listen to this shit!

Echos of You

The Old Witch Sleep and the Good Man Grace

Are you going to tell me that the line

“But the notes of an old refrain still ring louder everyday/ From a little to a manic, a cacophony, a frantic/ A relentless refrain is the only thing that remains”

doesn’t sound EXACTLY like some shit Joey Batey would write? Or that

“Where you see weakness, I see wit/ sometimes I fall to pieces just to see what bits of me don’t fit/”

and

“We’ll dance together, so close we’re sharing breath/ but now I’m leading doesn’t that just scare you to death,”

wouldn’t fit perfectly in an Edgar Allen Poe themed album?? Of course not, because you’d be blatantly incorrect!!!

Anyway, please listen to both of these songs/albums and help me manifest this.

[caffienemocha]

Ace from One Piece please

(oh boy oh boy I'm getting out of my hiatus for this one. BTW THIS IS A SHORT FAN FIC because I've been in a tight schedule and this was just a short ramble :0)

<WARNING: NSFW AHEAD so minors DNI >> any readers that doesn't identify as a male DNI!! >>

˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ PORTGAS D. ACE X MALE READER ˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖

˗ˏˋ 'lemme make it up to you ˎˊ˗

You asked yourself, how did you end up being the boyfriend of the infamous Portgas D. Ace? Although he seems like a cocky, cool, and composed fellow, he's actually pretty clumsy and a dumbass most of the time. You take care of his mess, cook food for him three times a day (not including his midnight snacks), the usual house husband type of stuff. Although he sails around the sea, embarking with the Whitebeard Pirates gathering treasures and casually causing chaos and annoyance to wandering Marine in the area, Ace still holds a fair share of help in the house that rested near the dock the two you live in by giving you an allowance to buy groceries and things you want and need. Ace isn't the perfect boyfriend and he knows it. The countless nights you've slept alone without Ace by your side from his sailings, and even when he returns, he'll either leave in a short while, a few days or even a day after. He tries to make it up to you, by trying to cheer you up with gifts, affection, or straight up session after session of love-making. That doesn't fill the emptiness in your heart though, you wanted Ace to stay for a bit longer, you wanted him to at least stay for a few weeks. You wanted him to take you on dates like the first weeks of you two being boyfriends, you wanted him to treat you like a prince and pamper you as much as he did those years ago. But it was a duty of a pirate to sail the blue oceans, cross the seas, hunt for treasures, and wipe those oppose them, only to come back for a short while before leaving again. Again, you asked yourself, how'd you ended up for someone who isn't there for you most of the time?

..."I'm home." The door creaked open as the salty breeze of the sea nearby went inside the house as Ace took off his shoes and placed it right by the door before closing it and locking it. Holding a small box of treasure full of gold, jewels, and other gems, Ace took off his hat as he went inside the cozy abode, placing the box on the center table. "Welcome back, Ace." You greeted your taller boyfriend with a warm smile as you came out the kitchen, the aroma coming from the room behind you smelled magically and comforting for Ace, he hadn't eaten for a while. "There's my baby. C'mere." He softly chuckled as you took steps forward to his muscular figure who had his arms open wide, wanting to hug you after a few weeks apart. With a sigh of amusement, you hugged him back as your rugged clothes rubbed against his exposed torso. "I missed you so bad, why do you have to be gone for so long..." You said in a whiny tone, as if begging him to stay more longer than usual. Ace's instinct immediately had his arms wrapped around your smaller frame, his muscled arms comforting you. "I know, babe, I know...we already had this conversation before. The seas are big." Ace sighed as if wanting to stay like this forever but his stomach gurgled in response, betraying his thoughts as he let out a nervous laugh, "Quite hungry." "Obviously, you knucklehead." You replied sarcastically. "What're you cooking? Smells delicious." Ace asked with the familiar smile you've been wanting to see after the past few days. "You'll see, c'mon." As you grabbed his arm, you immediately lead him to the kitchen with a pot placed atop a stove, releasing steams of flavorful aroma that lingered around the room. "How about you take a seat while I prepare your food?" Ace only nodded at your words before going out of the kitchen, sitting in the living room as he whistled. Grabbing the pot cover, you grabbed a bowl as you used your ladle to scoop up the delicious stew you've cooked and tenderized ever since this morning. Serving it atop of freshly, cooked rice, you stepped out of the kitchen holding a bowl and a spoon for Ace to use to chow down. Placing it in front of him, the aroma hit Ace's nose as the delicious bowl of protein and rice laid before him. "Looks delicious, babe. Thanks." He said before grabbing it and chowing it all down spoon after spoon.

"So, what have you been up to while I was gone?" Ace asked in between bites and chewing. The question caught you off-guard, why so sudden? Yet you answered. "The usual. Clean the house, walk around the dock, watch the sea, buy groceries..." Your voice faded with a mutter as you scratched the back of your head. Ace knew something was wrong, something that signaled him that you truly need him. That he'll stay longer than what he usually does so. Ace didn't replied back until he was finished with his bowl of food, drinking water to wash it all down. Without warning, Ace then pinned you to the chair you're sitting on, his eyes nonchalant yet a glimmer of care and worry shining on his pupils. "Tell me what's wrong. You've missed me so much than usual, huh? Is that right?" He interrogated you as he continued pressing your wrist down the rails of the chair, his face mere inches away from yours. You let out a blush of flustered feelings and a scoff. "You're always gone, of course I've missed you..." You replied in a muttered voice, Ace let out a smirk as he got closer to your face, his freckles adoring his already handsome complexion. "'Lemme make it up to you then, babe." Without warning, he carried you on his shoulders as he went to the bedroom, locking it just after he, and along you on his shoulders, came in and throwing you to bed. "I always remembered you like it rough, you little masochist."

Out of his back revealed a rope, placing it roughly beside your body as the taller male ripped you out of your clothes, placing the torn linen to the floor. Your cute little body obviously turned him on, seeing how his noticeable, massive bulge on his crotch. "I'm gonna make it up to you- I'll go rougher than usual ... so better say yes or no before I ravage your entire body and leave it sore."

[🔥] like for part 2

[galaxystardragoness]

Moonlit Prince

☆Synopsis: Seonghwa and you always meet this time of year, but what will change when he has a proposal in waiting?

☆Characters/pairing: Prince Seonghwa x gn reader

☆Genre: Fluff, Angst, slight bit of horror

☆Au/Trope: Supernatural, Friends to lovers

☆Word Count: 1047

☆Warnings: Implied Smut, Blood, injuries are mentioned

☆Rating: 18+ mdni because this is an adult space.

☆A/N: (optional): This is part of the @cultofdionysusnet winter event! I had fun on this one and I hope you enjoy!! Apologies its been a while since I've posted. Life had other plans so I'll be around more ^^ This is part 1 of what I want to make bigger. Let's see how it fairs though.

Taglist: @abiaswreck @sanjoongie @anyamaris (dm to be added or removed, but it's been a while)

It had come once a year that you had taken your vacation in the mountains in a star gazing cabin. It was also a time that your longest night comes and you end up meeting someone named Seonghwa each year to spend time with each other. It turned into a tradition to see him this night where he was strongest and it kept you on your toes of when and where he appeared. The same night was predictable, but he was not. In fact he has appeared multiple ways and sometimes it scared you, but he was respectful enough, apologizing that he started to announce himself so he wouldn't scare you.

This year, you awaited him to see what kind of tricks he'd come up with. It was however late and you started to worry until you heard knocking at your door. You found yourself getting up quickly heading to the door. Upon opening it, your eyes widened seeing Seonghwa covered in black blood holding his side, his hand on the doorframe and breathing heavily. You didn't hesitate to bring him inside, having some medical experience and closing the door stopping the cold air coming in then reaching to the couch as you heard him hiss in pain. You knew he was holding back when you looked up seeing his eyes closed and screwed shut after grazing the injured area.

“Be right back” you whispered rushing to get the medical supplies, towels, and a basin of water and returning quickly. He saw what you had and watched cautiously as you were careful. He held back when he could, but yelped and cried out when he couldn't do so. You apologized each time and tried talking to distract him seeing it wasn't as deep. With steady hands you carefully and slightly loosened the wrappings to his torso. You helped him move to a more comfortable place which was a chair the reclined, helping him lay back with a pillow and a quilt.

“Thank you. I was late fighting a monster just to see you” He started feeling tiredness hit him.

“Rest and you can explain when you are well enough. I'll wake you when I finish cooking” you spoke with understanding and calm wanting to help. In all the years you both grew on each other despite not having constant contact, but it's also understandable being from separate places. This was also a safe haven for you both.

You started crushing herbs to a paste with water and other ingredients to put on his wounds after he'd wake up making you start cooking so he could eat and heal faster. He always seemed to heal faster under the moonlight when you saw any cuts before, mainly when he helped you cook and accidentally cut his hand when he wasn't paying attention, only catching a glimpse of his unusual color of blood when he was cleaning the wound and it healed quickly leaving no scar behind.

You focused on cooking and kept the stew on a low heat to keep it warm. You looked over at him seeing his sleeping form resting peacefully. The only indication of him being with you is the rising and falling of his breathing that kept your mind at enough ease to not go into a panick. Enough that he was there recently this year giving you excitement to meet again and maybe, just maybe in realization that you had fallen for him. However, you didn't think he felt the same that you didn't say anything nor did you think the situation called for it.

His coughing caught your attention to come out of the kitchen to check on him. Seonghwa sat up in pain to sit up which caused you alarm to help him, but relieved he was awake.

“Just let me know when you need help, but food is ready if you feel up to eating” You spoke being calm as you could be. Seonghwa swallowed and nodded in agreement.

“Thank you. I am hungry”

“Coming right up. I'll bring it to you” You offered knowing he hated staying in one place for too long, but it was nessesary for him for the time being. You filled the two bowls and set it on a rolling table bringing it to him so you could eat together. He smiled seeing you take a seat by him as you ate together. He complimented your cooking and make conversation, feeling his side healing faster with what spices and herbs you put into the soup.

“We've been friends for years now, but.. what if we could be something more” he bit his lip watching your reaction. You lifted your head looking at him.

“I do like you more than a friend, but how would we go about this? We live in different worlds” You questioned, being straightforward wanting this to work, but wondering how it would.

“We can compromise then. I don't want to lose someone like you” he said holding your hand with warmth. You smiled in return pulling the curtains apart as the moonlight was brought through the window.

You felt pressure on your hand as Seonghwa cried out, arching his back under the moonlight which made you gasp out. Seonghwa sat up as his wounds healed, but balled up as wings ripped out of his back, black down to silver in color, silver eyes looking at you with fear. Something that made your heart shatter as you hugged him that made him gasp in surprise. Why would he fear, did he think you'd hate him?

“I don't fear you Seonghwa. I love you no matter who you are and I accept your proposal” You whispered as Seonghwa hugged you closer as tears hit your neck.

“Thank you” he whispered with a cracking voice as you ran your fingers through his hair, letting him calm down. You sat down in awe seeing him completely healed and his otherworldly form. He looked ethereal under the glow of the moon that his hand caught you off guard, caressing your cheek. “Then let's make it official, hm?” He whispered looking into your eyes.

“I'd like that” You whispered back, ready for the long night and what romance and adventures awaited you both tonight and into the future.

[team-avia]

God... I finally did it. I finally beat the last route (Miranda's) and I've been just.... Sitting here? Stewing in my feelings? Replaying scenes over and over in my head? Listening to blessed playlists other fans have made? (Shout out to the person who made the Miranda Resident Lover playlist you are SO RIGHT for each of those songs).

I just... It just... I'm taking Deep Breaths before I replay and hunt for hints and clues that Miranda has MC locked in a time loop. GOD each awkward interaction MC had with her while dating other people... I canNOT. To be FAIR Miranda handled all of that so elegantly while stewing in her spite. "Oh. You want your gf to turn into a werewolf? Okay." "Hmm. What's this? You're leaving with Alcina? Sure. Enjoy that for like a month." "What's that? You want to help Bella? Fi-YOU BITCH YOU BROKE MY HEART CONTAINER. *SIGH* It's. Fine."

I also have all of these memes in my head for each time Miranda hit reset. "Could you ever fall for an older woman?" "Nah." ROLL CREDITS fjdkfkwlw. Anyway.

I do have one question though: will the unclickable choice in Miranda's route right before meeting the cult become clickable in the next playthrough? Or is it permanently there to make MC feel like she has an utter lack of control?

congrats on finishing the game!! and thank u for playing it

miranda be resetting the time loop for the smallest inconvience for real

the option will always be blocked out to symbolize that no matter what, mc cannot have a real choice in the end

-bee

[myemuisemo]

I've been waiting and hoping for an "explain it all" chapter in Letters From Watson's weekly breakdown of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Chapters XIII and XIV gave us a lot of excitement but not a lot I wanted to talk about.

Finally, in chapter XV, I am vindicated: Rodger Baskerville did not die without marriage or issue! To be fair, I had not even considered Costa Rica, best known for coffee-growing, as the destination of someone who wanted to get rich in mining. It turns out that Costa Rica had a gold rush as early as 1815 and continues to have significant gold, copper, and manganese mines.

Like most of its Latin American neighbors, Costa Rica had a tradition of recording marriages, births, and deaths at the parish level. Civil registration began in 1888, after Jack Stapleton/Rodger Jr. had already left the country.

Under the Naturalization Act of 1772, Rodger Jr. was automatically a British citizen, even though he was born in a country that had never been under British rule, because his father was a British citizen. The Naturalization Act of 1844 assured that Beryl, as a foreign woman marrying a British citizen, became a British citizen with her marriage. (source)

How Rodger Jr. was going to prove his claim, Holmes left unexplained. Also vague is how Stapleton got himself back to England with assorted identities. It turns out that standardized passports were not introduced until 1915, when World War I made border control a more serious issue. In the era of the story, a single-page letter would have been sufficient, though it had to be signed by the Foreign Secretary. (source) However, it's entirely possible that nobody ever asked to look at a passport for Rodger Jr.! Passports often weren't required at all, and a sudden increase of travel in the last quarter of the 19th century meant that there often wasn't much monitoring of whether travelers had one, or whether it looked valid.

Beryl Stapleton is left in a terrible situation -- though less terrible than if her husband were still alive, as her grounds for divorce were surprisingly scanty. She is legally a UK citizen, but she has no family in England. There is no social safety net. Her husband's money was tainted and is running low. It is unclear what, if any, skills she has to support herself, and her reputation is in tatters.

She would be better off going back to her family in Costa Rica -- even though she likely lost her citizenship upon marriage, a woman in 1889 didn't have enough rights for anyone to care, as long as her family received her. But would they? Marrying a scoundrel was usually blamed on the woman. (While Costa Rica had birthright citizenship for children born there of foreign parents, it required not claiming the parents' citizenship, as far as I can tell. A Costa Rican woman's citizenship followed her husband.) Her best bet would be remarrying, but the bloom is off that rose for Sir Henry Baskerville, and it's not like she particularly cared for him. If he did change his mind, he would be unable to take her into any polite society.

Laura Lyons is also left high and dry. Her biggest benefactor, Sir Charles Baskerville, is dead. Her father still won't see her. Stapleton's promises to fund her divorce were lies, so she's still tied to a husband she doesn't want.

Mrs. Barrymore is mourning the loss of her criminal brother, but she's in better shape than either of the higher-class women. Her husband does not, so far as we know, beat her. She and he can prevent Baskerville Hall from falling to ruin while Sir Henry is away recovering, then use their inheritance to start an inn or pub. Because she's not gentry, her brother's disgrace has little impact on her respectability. But people will come from miles around to eat her stew and hear the story of how the Barrymores served dinner to a murderer and to Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

Mrs. Mortimer is so far forgotten that James Mortimer is off on a long jaunt with his new bff, Sir Henry. She was a plot device to get him a fancy cane and relocate him to Devon, nothing more. Let us imagine her knitting contentedly in a cottage with a cat.

While I was correct in my vague recollection that The Hound of the Baskervilles involves a moor and a dog, I know nothing whatever about The Valley of Fear, which is apparently up next month.

[bluegekk0]

Character questions - Part 3

Another character post answering questions from that one ask game, yippee

---

» What flavor would your character say their personality is?

Vyrm - sweet and savory. When I think about him in regards to flavor, I think of something like beef stew or roasted potatoes, but with a bit of sweetness to it, and I think Vyrm would agree. The smell would be more on the subtle side, but the taste would become very clear once you bite into it. Does that make sense? Pretend that it does

Grimm - spicy and sweet or fruity. Spicy doesn't need much explanation, it matches his personality perfectly. But there is a sweetness to him that only becomes clear when you get to know him. There's also the fact that I imagine that's kind of what he smells like, a very pleasant fruity kind of smell.

» Would your character prefer baking, cooking or mixing drinks?

Vyrm - neither of them does well in the kitchen, and out of the two, Vyrm is definitely worse. But I think if he had to choose, he would gravitate towards baking. Not only there's less pressure there if he only sticks to recipes that can be considered snacks, but it's also a great bonding activity for him and Grimm, and even the rest of the family. Also, I've seen some people compare baking to science, so he would find himself more at home doing that. Whether or not the results of that science would be edible is another story.

Grimm - I mentioned baking being compared to science, and in that same vein, cooking is more like art. And for that reason I think it would be something Grimm finds more appealing (not that he wouldn't absolutely love baking with Vyrm, he would). He's much more of an artistic type than his husband, so I can see him eventually figuring out the secret to cooking well and learning to love it. Though I can also picture him really enjoying mixing drinks. He definitely has more experience with that, if only due to his affinity for teas and especially his history of drinking. But cooking is more practical for him so I'm still going with that.

» How big is your character's appetite?

Vyrm - fairly big, he can eat a lot at once and he very much enjoys it. It's mostly due to his nature as a wyrm, eating all you can once in a while was the survival strategy for them, and the calories and nutrients were essential to gain the energy needed to survive the harsh conditions of their environment. Things changed a bit for Vyrm after changing forms, his body is now much smaller and so needs less food intake, but he also went through a very long period of being severely underweight. Right after his hibernation, he had to adjust to eating food at all, and once that happened, he started eating a lot, to the point it could be considered overeating. He had to gain back his weight, and the decades of avoiding eating only made his appetite bigger. After moving to Dirtmouth, he continued that habit for a while until he gained enough weight where his health wasn't a concern. Now that he has a lot more fat on his body used primarily as heat regulation and extra padding around his organs, he still needs to eat a fair bit to maintain it, even more than he would in his homeland due to the colder climate of Hallownest. He is a bit overweight, but not to the point where it's a concern, and he was able to develop a diet that allowed him to sustain his body while also not increasing his weight further. He dedicates some of his weekly routine to going out and hunting, so that is when he eats the most since raw meat is essential for his diet (sometimes he's able to eat it at home if Hornet brings something home or he buys it at the market, but he does enjoy the exercise part of those hunts). Outside of that, he eats small meals here and there to enrich his diet, so his large appetite is perhaps not that obvious if you only know him from his Dirtmouth activities.

Grimm - in theory, he could modify his body so that he doesn't need food at all. There may have been a point in his life where that was the case, but since then he allowed himself to properly consume it. He really wanted to taste it, plus he saw eating as a social activity that he wanted to engage in, and since his appetite isn't very big, he made sure he doesn't need a lot of food to gain energy and support the rest of the body. Things stayed the same after he settled down with Vyrm, out of the two he's definitely the one with a smaller appetite. In fact, that trait of his helped Vyrm find balance in his own diet - they often eat together, and so they both eat portions of similarly small size. For Grimm that is the norm, and thanks to it, Vyrm found it easier to develop the habit of eating less between his hunts. As for blood, it is not as much part of his diet as it is "nourishment" for his organs which lets them run for a while longer. I imagine it gets absorbed into his body as he drinks it instead of being treated as actual food, so I don't count it here.

---

Previous: Part 2

Next: Part 4

Original OC questions post

[joyfullyacat]

i've been stewing on this idea for a little while doing house projects, lets see where it takes us

cw: hurt into comfort??? the mental health of robots yes i had a detroit become human phase how could you tell word count: 1.5k (not beta'd and loosely edited i apologize)

It was never exactly on your schedule to become a criminal quite literally overnight but, then again, when did life ever go to schedule?

Robots, androids, animatronics, what-have-you had just become their own sort-of people with rights being debated as of you waking upon this very day and you had just staged a wonderful breakout of some creations meant children's entertainment with the help of a child and his definitely-not-an-animatronic-bear father.

So, all in all, it was a pretty productive morning and subsequent afternoon you had.

Now in the quiet of the night, tucked away in a - hopefully abandoned - lodge that was a fair distance outside city limits and ideally far enough that any authorities searching for you would call it quits for the temporary time being. It was Sun, mini Music Man, and you currently. Gregory and Freddy took the rest somewhere else and deemed it best you took care of the daycare attendant in these times.

Except it seemed like you were the least qualified person to manage this task at this point in time.

Sun was just about to pace a hole into the carpet, mutterings coming from his voice module that were unintelligible though you could occasionally make out friend and purpose.

You could only hazard some guess to what he was actually saying but you knew this was essentially a breakdown. The closest you've seen him come to it at least. He had never gotten even halfway to this point on the daycare's busiest days of snot-nosed children and flu season.

The only reason he hadn't switched yet was probably because he, as the very first thing, had turned on just about every light in the living room upon arrival and it seemed to be just enough.

Though he needed rest.

He needed a break from being at the front of the stage.

"Sun...?" You began warily, removing the mini Music Man from your lap and tucking him off to the side on the couch you were currently sat on. Standing up after and approaching the attendant.

Drawn by either your voice or your movements, blinding eye-lights snapped to you then. Optics impossibly wide and it almost seemed like he held a grimace.

A differing emotion from one quite literally forged onto him was... Frightening.

And incredibly sobering.

"Hey... Look at me, you see me, right?"

A single nod was all he offered you, the mutterings having quieted down now as you had his attention.

"Right, you see my hand?"

His head tilted down a slight, looking over your outstretched invitation and accepting it almost immediately after. Taking your hand into his with a grateful squeeze and then he nodded in affirmation.

"Good, could we sit down?"

Hesitance.

Another nod.

You guided him carefully over to the couch, the animatronic landing on a cushion unceremoniously with an almost comedic fwump as his weight settled.

"Okay... I'm gonna be right here with you but I'm gonna have Triple-M here turn off the lights alright? I think you need a bit of rest."

Sun busied himself with messing with your hand he had hostage, offering the most smallest "Okay." That you had ever heard from him yet.

The scuttling pitter-patter of the little robot was all you needed as indicator that your plan was in action, offering silent thank you to the sweet companion as you kept your focus on Sun.

One by one, the lights went off.

Bit by bit, the tension that he held in his form began to ease and by the time the final light as clicked, he looked to you with almost sleepy relief. Eyes lidded downwards and that smile no longer seeming strained.

One final squeeze of your hand before he relinquished the hold so he wouldn't accidentally crush the limb again in the transformation sequence.

A painful lesson both him and you had learned the hard way, though that was fine.

For these two? Any way was good for you.

The rays of his head descended in a wave, a typical nightcap popping up shortly after with a flourish and a little jingle of the bell that rested in the pompom at the end. The pants were replaced by another pair that shot down his legs from the hip.

Day turned into night quite literally before your very eyes and it wasn't long until an ambient red hue filled the room.

Moon looked up to you momentarily with that burning gaze before he dropped his head with a crackly sigh, taking a moment to loosen up in the body after being pent up for so long.

At least that's what you assumed, you weren't too sure how the inner machinations worked between them.

"Thank you for that, Starbright." He offered after a few moments of silence, when you had just began to pull away to give him some privacy.

You didn't think an animatronic of any sort could sound as exhausted as he did in that moment, brows knitting towards the center as you couldn't stifle the concern you felt. Moon had the energy of someone who had been too strong for too long and finally just got to decompress but wouldn't let themselves fall down too far just yet.

"You... Alright there?" You treaded the territory carefully, the two had always been a bit prickly when it came to their own needs and wants, it had taken much cajoling to get them to admit a number of simple things.

Cleanings, privacy, comfort, etcetera.

...Thinking on it now, no wonder the other company figured you'd be good to handle the intertwined duo. You had already been fighting for their own piece of mind for a bit now.

For a moment, there was nothing.

Then all at once he grappled onto you, uncaring for your startled yelp as he clutched you close by your waist and hid his faceplate along your stomach, lengthy limbs encompassing you fully in a bodily embrace. Just sat there.

When no further action was made, you simply rested a hand on the edge of his hat, your thumb idly petting in small circles along what would be his temple.

You had always let them take the pace, even if that pace was a slow-burning candle or a roaring pyre.

Currently? It seemed the candle burning was steady after the initial burning of the wick as Moon spoke up.

"Sun is confused on why you did what you did... As am I. You've done much for us and you... Still find ways to do more."

The comment stumped you at first, your little soothing motions coming to a stop before they continued when you found your words.

"I think I've confused you before with my actions, haven't I?"

He nodded, not missing a beat.

"I know you've got a super memory in there, two in fact..." You teased kindly, leaning into him to lightly hug about his head. "What have I told you before, hm? I think I've given you many reasons."

"...You've apologized for liking us." It wasn't said unkindly, matter-of-fact and something you'd never quite live down it seemed as the very light jest was made.

"Yes I have and perhaps those two things are intertwined, if that's what you're trying to figure out. Though I'd do this for you even if I did not hold romantic interest - simply because it'd be the right thing to do."

Moon bit out with a withheld growl, "You've thrown away everything for us."

"I have but life never goes on a straight path - or at least you're often forced to make-do. You'll take wrong turns and go off trail. You'll come across holes in the way that you have to fill in by whatever means necessary."

"...So in this tangle of passageways. Where do we lie?"

You chuckled as Moon seemed to perk up at the use of metaphors, many night shifts you had spent with similar discussions. Always supplying much food for thought from your end and their own.

"I believe you are the beginning of a new path. I know not where it'll lead or what is in the way of that path but I will head down it with you all the same."

His hold momentarily tightened around you before he relaxed entirely.

"What was that thing you told us about caring, way back when."

Your brows furrowed involuntarily, immediately wracking your brain for thought.

"...When you begin to care for something, it'll tire you out in ways? But it is never regretted."

"That's right... I think Sun and I finally understand that now. You worry us but we care for you. We want the best of your health and safety and it is... Reciprocated?"

"Without a doubt." You quipped on the spot.

"Caring is a tiresome emotion but it is... A nice one. Is love the same?"

"It falls hand-in-hand with caring sometimes. It can be invigorating but draining... It is just as tangled as life I would argue."

"We'll have much unknotting to do."

You finally dropped the hug with an unbecoming snort at the joke, peering down to Moon who had finally peeled himself away to look up at you with that familiar impish air returning.

"I suppose we will, for now, let's take things one step at a time, yeah?"

"Yeah..."

-

trying to pin how i wanna write the two is a fun challenge

this is also a fun,,,maybe au to explore

i hope you enjoyed!!

[ironmyrmidon]

I've been reading Dungeon Meshi, and I think it would be super easy to turn it into a TTRPG Module or video game RPG. Dungeon Meshi is clearly very heavily influenced by RPGs. I think DnD 5e would be a natural fit, and not just because that's the one RPG whose rules I can remember clearly enough to talk about.

Here's the way I would do it. You could adopt the food radar chart from the manga pretty much unchanged, assigning different foods and spices different nutritional values. Food preparation would be based on a Wisdom-based Cook's Utensils check, where failure means the food is ruined during the process. would keep DCs low, say 5 for simple food (Roasts, Stews), 10 for more complicated food (Bread, Omelettes), and 15 for specialty dishes (Mousse, Souffle). A player who is proficient with Cook's Utensils and has help from another player for advantage should be able to successfully cook most of the time. After all, ruining the food should be an exception that puts players into unexpectedly difficult situations, not something that's frustratingly common.

Then, if your players don't eat 3 square meals or fail to meet their nutritional needs, they have to start making hunger checks (increasingly difficult Con saves) or start racking up points of exhaustion. I added in the Con saves to make it less likely that the party all becomes exhausted at once, letting characters who can resist the exhaustion for a while help carry the characters who can't until they can replenish their food supplies or escape to the surface. If you want to make your game especially accurate to the manga, you could give dwarves disadvantage on hunger checks.

I thought you might have to ban spells like Goodberry, but I think instead we can use the nutrition system to handle them. The expanded nutrition wheels that are used in the second half of the manga have 9 nutritional values, so I think fulfilling 1 nutritional need per spell level seems fair. Therefore, see this list:

Goodberry (Lvl 1): Energy*

Create Food and Water (Lvl 3): Energy, Protein, Carbs

Heroes' Feast (Lvl 5): All 9 Nutritional Needs**

Magnificent Mansion (Lvl 7): Energy, Calcium, Iron, Pick 2 of (Protein, Fat, Carbs), and Pick 2 of (Vit A, Vit B2, Vit C)

*Berries are nutritious, but a single berry is not gonna have much of anything.

**This is a level 5 spell, but it costs 1000 gold to cast. It's not exactly an inexhaustible source of food, but the food is supernaturally wholesome, so I think we should boost its nutritional values. Don't give your players too much gold though.

I have a few other considerations. Carrying capacity should probably be used, because how much food you can carry is important to how far you can explore. The dungeon's town should give players access to most spells, services, gear, and especially food stuffs for the right amount of cash, since the dungeon makes the town prosperous.

You can also bring over the resurrection crews, but that's a post for another day.

[demonslayedher]

Things that ran through my mind while watching this episode:

--Alternative title: "Kamado Tanjiro Soothes the Hearts of Aching Writers"

--Like, Kyogai's journey as a writer ends with Tanjiro choosing to respect his written word by not stepping on it, whereas Zenitsu's future as the author of "The Legend of Zenitsu" is just beginning as he's on the brink of meeting the heroine. I don't know whether this is poetic or an insult.

--In any case, Tanjiro has far more respect for Kyogai's writings.

--But!! That being said!!!! This episode showcases Zenitsu's narrative strengths, as he mentally recaps his own life stories and in this case, the merits he found in Tanjiro, whom he chooses to believe in. I've always loved Zenitsu's bittersweet reflections, they have such a lyrical quality to them. He is possessed of much talent, when he cares about something enough (which, to be fair, isn't always... or even most of the time).

--So! Back to the beginning of this episode, we get the recap of Tanjiro's self-empowering speech set to some of my favorite BGM of the first season. Granted, it's some of my favorite because I got so accustomed to hearing it on the first Mugen Ressha trailer than was playing everywhere, so I came to associate it Rengoku-san, and then I was surprised when I didn't hear it in the movie, hahaha~

--That said, I think a lot of this BGM got retired after the first season, but they took what worked and kept developing on it later, so KnY sounds more like KnY as the anime goes on.

--I LOVE THIS BATTLE SEQUENCE SO MUCH. It's just such a fun watch!! Look at all that believable movement!! Of course Tanjiro was impressed, we all were! You did great, Kyogai! You did great, Ufotable!

--All this, while we get such a good dive into both their heads, too. Tanjiro is very actively growing as a swordsman over the course of this battle, whereas Kyogai is stewing, as writers are so prone to.

--And Kyogai is so taken aback by everything Tanjiro verbalizes that he just finds himself going along and responding, again, I think this is because Kyogai was trying to write an epic about heroes, and Tanjiro says things that literary heroes would.

--The whole device of the paper falling everywhere not only looks dramatic in the context of a rotating room, but Tanjiro actively benefits from it in how it adjusts his thinking, and passively benefits from how emotionally affected Kyogai is by Tanjiro's innocuous action.

--Seriously, there are so many levels to why Pep Talk Boy .vs. Bop-It Demon was such a good battle.

--Tanjiro slayed Kyogai with those words of validation before the blade even reached his neck.

--What was Chachamaru doing this whole time? Was he sprawled against the wall with claws dug into the wood?

--Kiyoshi landed a hit on Tanjiro's forehead which actually hurt him! Whoa!! Maybe Kiyoshi was the one with demon slayer potential!! Teruko also did her best, she had to have been the one who ran around collecting all that ammo! Good job, children!!!

--But Shoichi and Zenitsu interactions remain my favorite.

--So, back to Zenitsu, I already expressed praise for his narrative inclinations, but the sunny sky background they gave Tanjiro like the one in his inner space?? Was Zenitsu hearing the sound of Tanjiro's inner space??? Is it the sound of sunshine????? AND THAT LINE BEING INCLUDED IN "THE SONG OF KAMADO TANJIRO" ALWAYS GETS ME, AAAAAAHHHHH

--Allow me to praise Zenitsu for his courage in the face of charging boar, too. Zenitsu!!! You are brave!! You are dependable!!!

--This was the point when, despite myself, I found myself really liking Zenitsu after all on that first watch. Inosuke, however, I found myself hating even more.

--This fight they have, though. It's so visceral and grounded, it's just two boys roughing it out without expending fantastical powers worthy of fighting demons. From, say, a stage combat perspective, there's a satisfying amount of dynamism to it which keeps them moving, and in every action they are both committed to a single goal. They respond how they hinder each other, and it builds realistically as a situation Zenitsu had gotten himself stuck in as a punching bag.

--And I'm so glad Tanjiro recognizes his efforts. He was already saying when they entered the mansion that he "can tell, Zenitsu is--" (really strong, but he didn't get to finish that statement), but here, he gets to see that when Zenitsu tries, he can be very dependable. If anything, Tanjiro's annoyances with Zenitsu stem from the fact that Tanjiro knows Zenitsu is capable. (Contrast this his treatment of Inosuke in the following episode, "that's ok, we all have our own strengths and limits, you can rest").

--That said, what a long and overly dramatic end to this episode. Ufotable may have run out of steam for how to fill to the final seconds after all that dedication on animating the Kyogai battle and the Zenitsu & Inosuke spat.

[ordinaryschmuck]

"Ooh, look! Another Amphibia critique from Schmuck!"

Yeah, yeah, blame Twitter. This one came to me last night because of a post and it's been stewing in my brain ever since.

I'm learning more and more that nothing causes an Amphibia fan to foam at the mouth more than when you tell them that the first season is mostly filler.

Cause here's the thing: I've seen that first season THREE times. And every time, it felt like a chore to get through as I'm forced to watch characters go on silly adventures as the show dangles this carrot on a stick in front of your face, promising something interesting with a grander story.

"Ooh, look! Something's going to happen with the music box!"

"Ooh, look! Sasha's here and she means business!"

"What will come of this? Tune in next time to find out!"

And when you tune in next time, you're met with Anne and Sprig pretending to be cops or the town having a literal shipping war. And sure, that can be funny, but when you promise a grander story and take too long to get to it, it leaves people WANTING that story feeling a little disappointed.

Or worse: Annoyed.

Even MORE worse: Angry.

And when you bring up that season one is mostly filler, you're given the usual three responses:

"It's to build the world and develop characters!"

"It's starting off fun to suck people in before getting darker like [Insert show here]"

"[Insert show here] had a first season that was mostly filler and people loved THAT. Y'all just hating."

And those are good arguments, but there's also good counters to all of them.

Infinity Train is a series that has a new cast of characters every season, each one having only thirteen episodes to grow and develop while showing off the world around them. The writers make each episode count though, not wasting time as every goofy adventure the characters go on it either reveals something about themselves or about the lore of the train. You can absolutely let characters go and do something silly for ten minutes AND have it feel like the plot and development of the world and characters are moving forward. You just gotta do more than something as inconsequential as Sprig learning to be more patient when watching a hog or Hop Pop learning how to be honest instead of selling literal garbage. The meat of those episodes (I.E. the LESSONS) can be brought up in smarter, better ways that leaves EVERYONE satisfied, especially when they learn these exact lessons later in the series anyway.

As for starting off by being fun defense, it's a fair one until you realize what show everyone's trying to copy.

You see, Adventure Time is a great show. One that nailed the "silly at first but serious later" mindset. It changed the landscape for serialized animation, and shows have been trying to do what IT did ever since. BUT they forget one essential factor that's the reason to Adventure Time's success: It had NO plan. It started off silly and fun only to get more serious over time, but in a similar vein to your favorite comic series. The writers just wanted to have goofy fun times and nothing else, but the longer the series went, it would get more and more serious as it started to evolve into serialized storytelling. There was never a singular arc in Adventure Time or even an endgame in mind for how the show would conclude. There were definitely arcs but they were treated as small webs of something the show COULD build upon if the writers wanted to and less as a part of this grand narrative to a complete story. Even the latest spin off, which has a singular story in mind, is something based on an idea that NEVER went further beyond being something silly upon its conception. The writers just wanted to do something fun and would LATER come up with a good and expansive story through it.

Basically, the reason why Adventure Time nailed the silly THEN serious style is because it improvised the whole thing. When a show like Amphibia tries to go through the same style, it does it WITH a plan in mind and forgets that Adventure Time succeeded because it didn't HAVE one. The writers know exactly where they want the show to go and plan out how to reach that finish line, leaving behind crumbs of the grander narrative every now and again. But in Season One, so much of the focus is about characters going on fun adventures and leaving behind those crumbs not as often as they should. The end result might just be one of the weakest examples of a show being silly THEN serious because of it tries to be one thing while also wanting to be another.

And as for the final defense, about how other shows tries to be silly THEN serious too, let's look ANOTHER series made by Disney: Gravity Falls.

Gravity Falls' first season, let's be honest with ourselves, is a lot like Amphibia's. There's hints of a story there, but much more time is dedicated to Dipper and Mable going on goofy one-off adventures while the second season takes a much more serious direction towards the plot and characters. It still leaves crumbs as well, like what's going on with Gideon and the Journals, but the majority of the season is still stuff like Mabel freeing a merman trapped in a public pool or Dipper using a video game character to intimidate Robby. So while it's the same as Amphibia it terms of tone, there's ONE difference: Episode length. Within the first season, Gravity Falls has twenty episodes where Amphibia has thirty-nine. Amphibia has ten-minute episodes stitched together to meet the twenty-minute runtime that Gravity falls have, and the end result is making a series feel MUCH longer than it actually is. It drags out the silliness longer, making Gravity Falls more digestible because we're watching random nonsense ONCE per week and not TWICE. So when the bigger, more serious story stuff comes, it feels like less time was wasted to get to it.

You can argue all you want about how Amphibia's first season doesn't have filler or, if it does, it's not a detriment. And if that's how you see things, that's fine. But not everyone is going to feel that way.

Look, filler can be fun. It can give you an enjoyable little adventure in between the meat of this grander narrative the writers are building. But filler isn't fun ALL THE TIME, and you need to find a right way to space it out between the story bits if a serialized story is what you want to make. As fun as it can be, it's not the necessity that people claim it is for a good show to exist. Some amazing series exist when they're all killer and no filler. Just because the characters don't randomly go to a casino for an episode, that doesn't mean it's a lesser form of storytelling.

And the same goes for shows WITH filler. If you like Amphibia's first season because of how silly and fun it is, I don't blame you. To me, it was a show that got my attention because there was a hint to a bigger narrative, but it's not what the show tried to do in it's first season. It took its time and the end result was a finale that legitimately brought me to tears, so SURELY it isn't all bad, even if most of those silly adventures weren't my cup of tea. It's DEFINITELY a season of filler, but whether or not that's a detriment to a show is depending on who you ask.

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

Haha, yeah, uh... asks can get... really long 😅. I'm glad you read all that, though! I was a bit nervous, lol.

I would genuinely LOVE TO see the art piece you described, and I totally understand that being something that's been on your mind for a while with no proper way to execute it.

Also honestly? I will definitely admit that I'm a Kokichi sympathizer, but even I cringe seeing how he behaved in Ch4. So you're totally fair in being blunt about that! I think one of the most important things about reading Kokichi is chapter 4 is acknowledging that he could be justifiably terrified of his situation and hurt watching Gonta not remember anything AND STILL say and do things that are hard to if not impossible to sympathize with. He wasn't just an evil mastermind manipulating Gonta and hurting people for funnies, but he was not a blameless victim of circumstance. His and Gonta's roles are so tightly woven together and so insanely complex, and Kokichi did a LOT of things wrong.

But you're so right about there being a sort of fun in picking apart chapter 4 for everything that it is! It's a painful chapter, but it's just so interesting and nuanced. I could write a whole other long response about it and probably dozens more there's just so much to talk about! (And if you ever want someone new to chat with about ch4, and are comfortable with it, I would enjoy talking with you more about it.)

Thanks for listening to me ramble haha.

Yeah, you can imagine me being a Gonta diehard since ch2 painted my view of ch4 in a certain way, and then I had to stew on it for months without playing ch5 due to life circumstances. But my whole world got flipped upside down a second time when I saw how Kokichi acted in ch5. He's such a complex character and I adore that about him. I love the intense emotions he's able to invoke in me (both negative and positive ones!!)

I have a clear image of Kokichi in my head as part of my interpretation of ch4 that I've tried and struggled to articulate clearly. But to me, part of his "leader" talent involved him deeply repressing his personal feelings on the situation in order to lead/manipulate everyone into a position he thought would get as many out alive as possible. Which did involve sacrificing a few pawns, which probably did tear him up inside (considering his motive video). but also... good intentions aren't everything, and he did do things that hurt a lot of the other characters. But thats WHY he's a cool character. He's fascinating because he's not a straightfoward supervillain or a victim of circumstance (like you said) and I love love love this part of his character so much.

I super appreciate the offer!! Sometimes I get stuck in my head about ch4 but don't want to post about it because I struggle to be eloquent on my own, I'd love to talk to you more about ch4 sometime qwq

[just-a-carrot]

Re: the line about other side stuff you want to do in the future. Honestly that's so fair and I relate sijdiasdji, I'm always personally conflicted about how much more I should do because if I could I would make an infinite number of side games asaisdsad BUT OBVIOUSLY I can't I am but one Creature. I will be waving my little flags of support for you, the potato, and the possible Many Other Carrots™️, because whatever direction you decide to take your work in I'm sure will be-- and is-- worth it. Your skills keep on growing and while telling all stories one may wish to tell is impossible, the ones you're able to tell will be worth it. OW let me feel seen in a way that no other media has. It's up there as one of my top favorite VNs, and for good reason. MANY good reasons. Anyyyyywaaays that's all to say ✨you're doing great✨ and keep on keeping on. Whatever comes of it will be amazing.

OH I MOSTLY JUST MEANT DIFFERENT TYPES OF OW SIDE GAMES THAT AREN'T RELATED TO OFW. like, i feel like i don't think i'll ever actually make another OFW side game because it's kind of self-contained and though i love thinking about it, i don't know if i'd have enough ideas to make another complete game. however, i'd still love to make other OW side games in general dkjfadsf unsure at this moment what they would be... but i have various Idea Kernels bumping and bopping about in the noggin. i also plan to do some sort of remaster of OW once it's complete -- there are CGs in the early arcs i want to go back and redo because they Pain Me now. also even some sprites kind of grate on me... guhh... at the very least, i want to make sure char designs and stuff are just made more consistent, as you can see where some of the early designs look a bit different to how i draw them now (mostly small details, though it's more apparent on some chars than others lkdjfads). coupled with that i'd love to do things like add some livelier scripting to some of the earlier arcs, as well as maybe even draw a few more CGs here and there. who can say. i also did that poll a while back about potentially adding optional iggy side images. i'm still thinking about that.

i think if i did return to OFW it would end up being something similar -- maybe a remaster type thing where i go back in and add some of the CGs that i didn't have time to do in the time restrictions but that i would have loved to add. then giving it the feature treatment like with OW by adding a gallery and other stuff. if i did that, maybe i would add some other little extra, like some extra scenes or hidden scenes. that could be a way to do a little bit more with the story without committing to a whole new game lakdjfad COMPLETELY UNSURE THO AND NO ACTUAL PLANS RIGHT NOW. i still need to finish the main game before any of this can happen LOL

as far as stuff completely unrelated to OW / future different games, i do have one idea i've been cultivating for a long time i'd love to potentially make into a game eventually. but i think it needs a bit more stewing time in the brain first. and i still have a lot i want to do with the OW world beforehand

HHHHHHH THANK YOU THO. FOR ALL THESE LOVELY WORDS AND THOUGHTS. i am really happy and touched if people can enjoy these characters and world... 🥺💕

[mizukagami-takamagahara]

About your tags on the Ignis post, I didn't know Aspec!Terumi headcanon was controversial? (Like, he's not human, I can't see gender or sexuality coming naturally to him.) What do people usually headcanon him as? Straight?

I'll admit I'm largely just assuming it's controversial. I think a lot of people equate "talking about sex" to "wanting to have sex," so with Terumi's constant dirty mouth and euphemisms it can make sense to read him as sexually motivated. Like, 'he talks like a pervert, why wouldn't he be one???' I guess I just think that Terumi doesn't fit the fandom stereotype of "asexual."

I'm really not involved in shipping and that side of fandom, so to be fair this is the opinion of an outsider looking in. But I think a lot of people headcanon him as gay or bi. He's paired with Relius, his hosts, or Trinity most often.

A lot of people are also inclined to interpret their faves as similar to themselves, so that bias may color my interpretations and those of others. I myself am an asexual Terumi fan, so that may be influencing me!

As for my personal hcs/interpretation...

It's been a while since I went through BlazBlue, and I've started doing these deep-dive character studies, so I might want to come back to these points at a later date- when I've really dug into his character and have sources to analyze, and see if my opinions change. For now, these thoughts are kind of 'off the cuff.' They've had a lot of time to stew in my brain and soak up the broth.

((I mean, I am aware that headcanons don't need to be canon-compliant, but I'm the type of person who specifically gets their enjoyment of this sort of thing by treating the source material as a mystery to solve or a puzzle to put together, so cross-referencing with canon and shooting for accuracy/believability is a large part of the fun for me.))

He talks dirty a lot, but it seems to be intended to either 1.) infuriate others and make them uncomfortable or 2.) hurt others directly by humiliating, defiling, or dominating them. I see his sexual commentary as a weapon- it's a power play, one more way he can harm, Hatefarm [tm], and make himself feel powerful.

He's implied to be somewhat averse to touch and connection. He's strict about interaction being on his terms and freaks out when it isn't. [As a separate but related point, connection itself is something he really doesn't seek. It likely isn't in his nature, considering what he is/was. He's much more inclined to use 'connection-seeking-behavior' as a tool to prompt vulnerability he can then take advantage of, or as a tool to annoy/aggravate people he knows won't be receptive to it.]

[Though there may be something to say about the intended relationship between the Susano'o and the Amaterasu- or the 'role' of the Susano'o- and how that could influence Terumi's 'natural' or innate perception of relationships as a whole. But like. The last thing I need is another tangent to go on.]

I have a lot of thoughts about Terumi becoming sort of 'humanized' over the However Many Years since leaving the Susano'o Unit (kind of like how when you live in an area long enough, you start becoming more similar to the locals.) He simultaneously talks about himself as separate from and above 'disgusting, pathetic, powerless' humanity... while quite clearly acting very human (selfish, impulsive, fun-seeking) and engaging in man-made pleasures (guitar, live music, accessories) that he's just as likely to insult others for engaging with. He even seemingly identifies most with his 'human' form; when he Self-Observes we get that Yellow Jacket Terumi rather than his spirit form or anything resembling the Susano'o. To me, this suggests that that is the form Terumi most identifies with/sees as himself.

Because of the above point, I think Terumi isn't inclined to human connection, touch, sex, etc- they aren't instinctual/intuitive to him, considering his origin, they aren't a need the way they are for a social species- but he does enjoy and relate to more parts of the human experience than he's willing to admit. So, like, I don't think Terumi is necessarily sex-averse, but I don't think he's at all internally sexually motivated. Like, I can see him enjoying feeling sexy and possibly even pursuing sex under extremely specific circumstances, but that would absolutely have to be on his terms and it could be hard to predict when/where/how the stars needed to align for it to happen. 97% of the time it's much more likely that if he is making a pass at anyone, he wants them to hate it. If they reciprocated, he'd likely get upset fast.

[catboyfever]

Harvest Day - Reader/Rabbit

Well, here it is. The first piece of fanfiction I've written in probably close to... seven years? Fair warning I am incredibly rusty at writing this sort of thing so this might not be spectacular. I hope you enjoy it anyway though! It was therapeutic to write this.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mornings with Rabbit were ordinarily surprisingly lax. While Rabbit liked to keep to his tight morning routine, it became apparent early on that you weren’t as much of a morning person as he was. For him, that didn’t matter too much. It gave him time to get breakfast and tea prepared for you in the morning so that when you joined him everything was just so. However instead of the usual warm greeting to wake you from your slumber like most mornings, Rabbit thrust the door open and shouted. 

“Good morning! I hope you got plenty of rest last night because you know what today is!!” He stepped over to the window and flung it open, revealing the very first signs of dawn. The deep indigo and purples of the early morning sky were slowly turning orange and yellow as the sun continued its lazy ascent. You find it a bit funny, watching the sun's leisurely path while Rabbit is the exact opposite. He’s already got his list out. 

“It’s harvest day, isn’t it?” You ask, yawning as you reluctantly kick the soft blankets off of you. 

“Not just any harvest day. It’s time to harvest my prized carrots we’ve been working on all season !” Rabbit’s enthusiasm was contagious, even at dawn. 

Rabbit begins to rattle off the itinerary for the day while you make the bed, carefully tucking the comforter back onto the mattress. 

“First we eat breakfast, then it’s right out to the field to harvest. Then you’ll help me wash and peel the carrots for our stew tonight. Then dinner and then finally, we can afford some free time.” He looked to you after brandishing his list and upon seeing you sitting on the bed furrowed his brow. 

“Well c’mon! We don’t have any time to spend lollygagging!!” He said while tugging you along to the kitchen. 

Breakfast was quick and simple: just some toast with a generous amount of honey. Plain, but plainly delicious too. The sweet gooey honey contrasting with the crunchy toast was a delight. Watching Rabbit hurriedly chomp away at his toast earned a quizzical glance from him that curled into a warm smile. Rabbit took the plates and quickly rinsed them before pulling one of the cabinet drawers open to toss you a pair of gardening gloves. 

He donned his own work gloves and lead the way to the garden. Rabbit’s garden from an outsider's point of view was something to behold. But being actively involved with it made you appreciate it further. The amount of constant care and meticulous upkeep that was needed to make these vegetables look as good as they do is something else. But to Rabbit it all comes naturally. The result of all that hard work was what today was all about. The harvest. 

Rabbit took a deep breath of the crisp morning air and sighed as he stared out at the rows of small leafy tops of the carrots waiting to be pulled from the ground. 

“Ahh… is there anything more beautiful than a sea of green and orange on harvest day?” He said dreamily. 

Once Rabbit got his hands on his wheelbarrow you had to run to keep up with him. He became a blur of yellow fur while all you could do was push the wheelbarrow behind him to catch the whirlwind of carrots flying towards you. You’d done this with him a few times now but it still amazes you the accuracy with which he can fling the carrots into the wheelbarrow while moving so fast. 

By the early afternoon the field is emptied and the wheelbarrow is overflowing with carrots, much to Rabbit’s delight as you push the heavy cart towards the house. Of course, the work isn’t done yet. 

You help carry in the carrots and rabbit immediately sets to work washing the carrots off in his sink while you peel them. The smooth peeled carrots are stacked neatly on the counter by Rabbit who readies a cutting board for the stew. Though the stew is primarily carrots, Rabbit tasks you with peeling some potatoes, washing some celery, and peeling an onion. 

Once you hand off the prepped vegetables to Rabbit you’re treated to another showing of his attention to detail. He chops the vegetables into neat, uniform pieces, working the knife deftly as the familiar sound of a knife striking a cutting board fills the room. You move onto your final task, bringing some water to a boil and in a separate pot preparing the vegetable stock. 

“Thank you for all your help. You go relax, I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.” Rabbit says. 

You try to convince him to let you stay but truthfully all that’s left is cooking the vegetables and then adding them to the stock. So you return to the living room, sitting down in the plush chair by the fireplace to read a book to pass the time. 

It’s not long before Rabbit calls you to the table for dinner. As you close your book you glance up to the window and notice the deep orange and reds of the sunset outside. You yawn, tired from the long day of work but eager to spend a bit of downtime with Rabbit. 

At the table, the two of you feast on hearty bowls of the fruit of your labors. At first you chalk up the silence at the table to the pace at which both you and Rabbit are devouring the soup. Only once you’re finished do you glance up to see Rabbit starting to doze off. His last spoonful of soup drains back into his bowl as the spoon slips from his grip. He shoots back up after it clangs into the bowl and he promptly apologizes. 

“Sorry… just a little exhausted. Here I’ll clean up and then we can-” You shush him gently while lifting his bowl from the table along with your own. 

“Go lay down, it’ll only take a minute to wash up.” You say. 

Rabbit is too tired to protest, so he takes what feels like the first slow steps of the entire day towards the bedroom. Washing the bowls and pots takes no time at all, but Rabbit tucked himself firmly into bed just as quickly. 

Once he notices you’re in the room though he lifts the blankets and lets you crawl into bed behind him. You hook your arms around the exhausted workbunny and hold him close, nestling your head against his shoulder while he sighs, relaxing at last. The bed only gets warmer as you lay with him. Your body heat joins his, your own tired limbs are finally demanding their rest. 

“I keep wondering how I get you to stick around when Harvest Day comes along. I mean, you could always go off and find Pooh to keep you company…” Rabbit yawns. 

“Are you kidding? There’s no other day when you’re more you, Rabbit. Harvest Day is my favorite day to spend with you.” You assure him while nuzzling his cheek. 

Rabbit turns his body to face you, wearing a tired smile. His black eyes stare into yours before he closes the distance between you, pressing his lips gently to your own. You melt into the soft, brief kiss before he pulls away and yawns, his buck teeth showing for a moment before he pulls you close once again beneath the blankets. 

Your sleepy chatter eventually tapers off to nothing but the slow, rhythmic breathing of Rabbit as the crickets chirp outside the window. You close your eyes, letting Rabbit’s heartbeat and soft, steady breathing lull you to sleep. 

[declanlikesmusic]

Today's Listens: Episode 001

August 5th, 2023

This is going to be the first in a series of posts where I basically go over what I've listened to in a day. I spend a lot of my usual day shuffling through my RateYourMusic wishlist and deciding what to listen to then, if not doing anything else. You can find them all on my RYM account and also sift through everything that I've listened to since I made that account. I might not post on every day, don't expect this to be consistent, but I like music, like talking about music and like sharing my thoughts to you all. Let's begin!

Green Day – Insomniac (1995)

Thought I'd kick my day off with a total rocker, which is definitely healthy after cleaning your ears. I'm not a big Green Day fiend, but I ended up just barely loving my experiences with their two big records Dookie & American Idiot, so I thought it only suited me to dive into their catalogue more and see what I can get out of it. Insomniac is more of the same that they contributed with Dookie, however, it's much more homogenous. At least ten of the songs here sound about the same to me and the only standouts are slight deviances or singles that I've already heard, which even then are not that different either. That said, if you're a big pop punk lover, I can't see why you wouldn't love this one at least.

6.9 / 10

Standouts: Brain Stew, Walking Contradiction

Monstercat 008: Anniversary (2012)

I really don't take enough time to shoutout my love for the Monstercat label, especially their earlier years. I'm slowly going over revisiting their EDM compilations and I've now surpassed nearly their first year in releases. By this point, they've already reached their first utter peak with 007: Solace and while this slightly dips from that peak, 008: Anniversary continues their streak of great compilations that truly started with 006: Embrace. By this point, while some tracks still remain rudimentary and even a little primitive in a few rare spots, the collective of talented producers continued to refine their growing densities while still introducing more cool peeps in the process. I still recommend Solace if you're starting out, but this is still a great followup and a very consistent one at that.

7.8 / 10

Standouts: Hipster Cutthroat, Ocean City, Daybreak, Don't Push Me, Black Magic

Maxime Denuc – Nachthorn (2022)

This one was a very random recommendation given to me by IneptAndy, but one that I'm not opposed to now that I've given it a fair shake. I've always been fond of minimalism, even though I've hardly taken the time out to explore the genre myself. I've only gotten so far as the legendary works of Steve Reich & Philip Glass, but I already adored the sound of the genre from those two alone. This one is only Maxime Denuc on an organ, but a midi-controlled one, which leads to some wildly interesting and abstract soundscapes. I'm not a fan of the drone opener Edo, but aside from that, the rest of the album is a great listen. I can see people getting pseudo trance and techno vibes from the way this was orchestrated towards the end of the album. I highly recommend it if you're a fan of ambient and minimalist music, even if this one was a bit bare bones.

7.5 / 10

Standouts: Infinite end, Ouverture, Function Music

Cocteau Twins – Treasure (1984)

It's a few hours later and I return from my little casual job to tune into some Cocteau Twins to relax! I'm not huge on the band; I used to think that Heaven or Las Vegas was merely okay, but earlier this year, I came right around to loving it, for its gorgeous soundscapes, beautiful vocal performances and… lyrics. Treasure is their second biggest record, but with the detriment of coming out over half a decade prior. Couple that with said decade just so happening to be the 80s and I was worried I wouldn't dig this one all that much, because at the start, the 80s era production weaknesses really hampered what could've been great tracks to me. (I was even reminded of US Golf 95 for a bit, for some cursed reasons.) By the halfway point though, it really began to click with me and by the end, I could see why some people would consider this to be even better than Heaven or Las Vegas. I'm not in that camp, but it was definitely worth the chance.

7.4 / 10

Standouts: Persephone, Pandora (for Cindy), Amelia, Aloysius, Donimo

Chungking Mansions – 安全出口EXIT空间和时间 (2015)

The next record I tuned into was what I always considered to be one of the most underrated vaporwave albums of all time. This Dream Catalogue deep cut was a deceptively muted but spacious & mystical sci-fi experience that had numerous tracks crafted with really subtly curated samples and detailed, crispy atmosphere. It's a really narrow bridge between vaporwave & dreampunk that comes off as gorgeous & futuristic without standing off too much. It could take some repeat listens to be able to pick apart which song in the tracklist does specifically what, but I would wholly welcome future relistens to this album. If you're wondering, this is a potential hidden gem waiting to be understood more widely in the vapor community.

7.7 / 10

Standouts: 互動導遊機器人, 文化马赛克, Gare d'Europa, 同一地點，不同的時間

Dan Deacon – Mystic Familiar (2020)

The final record I chose to go over tonight was Dan Deacon's biggest break, Mystic Familiar. Believe it or not, there was actually a moment in time at the start of 2020 before everything went "oh shit, oh fuck" bad for everybody. Biggest proof of this was Dan's insanely colourful, whimsical, psychedelic and gorgeous crop of electronica and progressive pop! I struggled to listen to so much of 2020 that came after the pandemic, so this was always a lovely one to rely on coming back to, especially with some of the highest soars in music I have heard this decade so far. This always felt like a genuine love letter to nature & life itself and I highly recommend it.

7.8 / 10

Standouts: Become a Mountain, Sat by a Tree, Float Away, Far from Shore, Fell Into the Ocean

So that was my crop of first listens and relistens for today. What do you think of any of these, tell me what you think I should try and maybe give some of these a shot yourself! I'll see ya next time!

[veiledfox]

An Unintended Metting III

Kyuushi's eyes were watching the Witch across from her. Green irises still trained on her, ringed by glittering gold, as the Woman reads into the binding that keeps the fragment of her Ancestor with her. It'd been a bit since she first started focussing in this manner, staring deep into the Kitsune's very being to figure out how things worked. She had finished her own bowl of stew a bit ago, while Cato took a little longer with the slowed and distracted pace.

It was... interesting, being observed so intensely. Almost felt as if she was seeing herself when she would find an object of mystery and intrigue when visiting another Realm. Didn't take long after she had begun her inspection for her to realize this Half-Elf was just as dedicated to learning the details of such binding, as she was about other Realms. She felt a bit more comfortable here than she had already, merely knowing they were similar in such manner.

However, as comforting as such was, this had been going on for a fair bit. It made her wonder if anything had been discovered, or if the binding was just so intricate that it needed such time to detail it. Kyuushi was beginning to feel just a little bit restless, considering it all, raising a hand to scratch lightly at the side of her neck, over the bite mark from the Guuji, as she leans back in her seat. Waiting a moment longer before...

"Everything alright?" Appeares between them, typed out in the air in illusory text. The presence of the querry seeming to catch Cato's attention and snap the Woman from whatever trance she had fallen into. Eyes, initially, glancing over before a blink ends the golden ring around her irises.

"Apologies," she begins " it was just rather captivating and intriguing, getting to see a binding placed by the Crimson themselves. Not directly, of course, and it's rather intricate so it's a little hard to read, but from what I can tell it's essentially bound to your bloodline. Moving to the newest member of your lineage each time one is born, after having been with the predecessor prior."

It was a little surprising to hear for Kyuushi, that her Mother would've dealt with some of these things, and her Grandfather before her. For some reason she hadn't expected it, yet she had some sort of feeling that it might have been the case. Made more sense to her now how and why the fragment of her Ansector was with her at all in the first place. It had been millenia since they passed.

"However, I've not seen a binding like it before. I see aspects of other forms of binds, the kinds that have been in use for centuries. Yet it's a rather... complex mixture of them, with some touch of a binding I've not seen before. It's... I almost want to say otherworldly."

"Makes sense." The illusory text the Kitsune was willing to being almost instinctively changed to reflect a response. She could see a raise in Cato's brow in curiosity and surprise, and she couldn't blame her, she was surprised too. Though for a different reason. Still, however, supposed she needed to explain further now. Willing the text to change further to do so.

"Our family has been able to travel to other Worlds, other Universes entirely beyond just variations of this one, for millenia. Different laws of existence, different existences entirely From the little info I've learned of the Crimson, it's known that they gathered power for a while, but not even my Family has known much about them. I assume they utilized such travel to gather those powers.

Between how eldritch it's said they became, and some... experiences I've had... it makes the most sense to me. I've acquired some myself in a similar manner, though by a very different and much less... gruesome method than what I expect they did. I'd not be too surprised if the unknown aspect of the binding you're seeing is due to that."

"Truly...?" The information seemed to hit the Witch rather hard, her eyes wide as she leans back in her seat and slumps down a bit. Taking a moment after to rather clearly just process such information. The idea of multiverses had been well known theory globally for a long time, and in the Mythos community it's not been unheard of that beings could travel between the different variants of the World. To go to others entirely, however?

"Have you seen the footage of that fight over Tokyo?" The text quickly changes.

"Yours, against the Necrotic Dragon?"

A nod.

"Last I was in the area I did find a video of it, yes."

"The times I was enveloped in light, my outfit and weapon changing due to it, is because of my time in one of those other 'Realms', I call them." Reaching down to a pouch on her hip to retrieve a ring with over a dozen framed crystals of different colors and shapes with different symbols hanging off of it from within. Setting the ring onto the table in front of her to allow the Witch to see it.

"These are Soul Crystals, from a world called Ethyris. They have nothing to do with the soul itself really, but they memorize information and powers from each individual that has ever owned it. Granting the current owner access to the power of those before them, allowing them to further develop such power, then recording that for the future owner. They also memorize the current owner's equipment when attuned to it, allowing them to instantly re-equip it all when they attune to it again."

As if to display such power, Kyuushi briefly attunes to one of them. A dark red crystal, shaped almost like a heart with multiple spiked points, and a symbol of a star-like formation with a triangular shape below. The crystal shinning as she attunes to it, her form enveloped in a swirl of soft blue light briefly before it fades again. Leaving the Kitsune who was dressed in more modern clothing, a sweater and sweatpants, now dressed in something entirely different.

A long blue Haori, with floral patterns in white and jade and black and gold trim, draped over her shoulders with an open front. Her chest wrapped by cloth bindings to keep it covered, secured, safe. A pair of Hakama on her lower half in the same blue as the Haori. Hands now enveloped in black gloves with jade green lining and golden accents. The brief glow of the Soul Crystal has subsided, but the Crystal itself still glitters a bit with a gentle light within, displaying it's active attunement.

However, that very same light fades after a few seconds longer. Kyuushi ending the attunement, disconnecting from the Soul Crystal entirely. In doing so, the same swirl of light engulfs her again. This time, as it fades, her clothing is back to how it had been a moment prior. The display had the other Woman's eyes practically shining with intrigue and awe.

"Before you ask, it's fine that I show this here and now. Others from our Realm would be unable to utilize them as I can, because it requires the body to produce and be able to manipulate the same kind of Aether as those on Ethyris can. The Aether or Mana in our World is different, and incompatible. Those of my bloodline who have been able to travel to other Realms, our bodies adapt to those Realms while we spend time in them. Thus, my body now produces both forms of Aether, making me compatible with the Soul Crystals."

"I see..." Cato speaks up in response, sitting forward in her seat again now after the display. Arms propped on the table atop elbows, hands interlinked, chin rested on their backs. Scanning the crystals for a moment with her eyes, that ring of gold now circling her irises again.

"Certainly explains the unfamiliar aspects of the binding, then, if it's from another World entirely... I'm assuming you wound up coming across my hut by some form of Fate, wanting that bond broken for one reason or another. Unfortunately it'll take time for me to figure out just how I can even manipulate it, with how complex it is, let alone break it..."

Silence falls for a moment, Kyuushi's ears easing backward hearing such from the Witch. It was true she was hoping to find a way to be freed from her Ancestor's constant presence, after having spoken with Brant. Though she hadn't initially set out with intent for any of this to happen, she couldn't deny she had gotten a bit hopeful upon hearing of what Cato specialized in. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised, however, that it would take a while to figure out this binding.

"Would you mind giving me a little bit of your hair?" The other Woman speaks up again, earning the gaze of the Kitsune with a raised brow. "I know, a little odd to ask, but I can use it to contact you or find my way towards your area of Japan should I figure something out. I'll give you something that'll let you come straight to my hut too in return, because I want to help you with this. It's been a while since I came across such an intriguing binding, and it's got my brain churning wanting to figure it out."

It was understandable, such exhilirating excitement and motivation. To hear she would be so willing to help, and to remain in contact to some degree even, as someone who was clearly so protective of their isolation. It was quite the relief to Kyuushi, one light amid such a dark time, to know she had gained a new ally. Nodding her understanding and agreement to such a request from Cato.

"Of course." Her illusory text forms quickly. One hand reaching up to her hair, she finds a few strands and follows them toward the top of her head. A quick tug pulling them free, five or six strands about four feet long now freed from her body. She gathers them together, wrapping them 'round her fingers into a more compact bundle before setting them on the table's center.

At the same time as she does, Cato presents a small stone carved with a slew of different symbols, emblems, and sigils, framed in silver and wrapped with leather. Placing it in the center of the table as well, as an exchange. Kyuushi takes the stone in hand after having set her offering down, bringing it back to inspect it a bit more closely. Already feeling the strong magic imbued into it.

"I'll keep take care of this and keep it close." Her text changes again, looking across to Cato again.

"As I will do the same with your hair. I'm glad we've met, Kyuushi, and I hope things start to turn around for the better for you soon." The Witch responds, standing and reaching her hand across above the table for a handshake. A gesture quickly recognized, and reciprocated by the Kitsune.

The two part ways, Cato seeing her off as she steps out from the hut after getting her footwear on again. Kyuushi watching as the door then closes, the light of the lantern flashing and both vanishing from the space where they had been. Then looking down to the token she had been given again, with a soft smile taking her face, before she turns to take a step and call out to the Tori.