#(sorta. I talked about canon stuff for a long time)

[diabolikpersonals]

I was bored and decided to look at old shuuma posts. I saw one of your posts where you were asking 'what shu likes about yuma' and there were a lot of people answered that question. I think we all know what shu likes about yuma and WHY he likes yuma but do we have a decent answer for what yuma likes about shu or why he likes shu? Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to say yuma doesn't like shu but I just wanna know and I'm sure you (as the goddes of shuuma) have answers.

AAAAA IM SO HAPPY thank u for letting me talk about what I love anon <3 here u go, under the cut!

As Yuma is re-getting to know Shu throughout the games, he says in a few scenes (like in the LE fistbump scene for example) that he's realizing now that he misjudged Shu at first. He thought Shu was like, apathetic, right? Shu likes to pretend that he doesn't care about anything. But in scenes like the LE fistbump scene, Yuma is like, "I see now that that's not how you really feel. You actually want to do things for other people." I think that's suuuuuper important for Yuma so that's when he starts liking him ^^

I'll point to that Shu CL scene as evidence too, the one where Yuma gives him sugar cubes to cheer him up after his fight with Reiji. Again, the main point is like, "I know that you care a whole lot." It's just that Shu has trouble showing it, and because he tends to keep everything to himself, he sometimes needs help. Yuma recognizes that, so...

...Yuma has a strong drive to be a person Shu can rely on! Yuma has been described by other characters as someone who is good at taking care of others, or someone who just can't leave someone alone if they need him. That's why he does such drastic stuff for Shu's sake in LE. So to be honest, I think the fact that Shu needs a little help makes Yuma wanna get closer to him lol. Kinda like "I can fix him" LMAO

From the way Yuma acts in his own CL route, we also know that Yuma values Shu for his loyalty, right? Because when (brainwashed) Shu believes Kino over him and chases Yuma away, Yuma gets super fuckin mad and he's like "This isn't right!! Shu wasn't that type of guy!!" lol...Like, he trusted Shu would make the right decision and take his side.

I know I talk about it a lot, but in every point up till now, there's been this sense of "Shu hides this part of himself but I know how he really is," you know? I like to think that it makes Yuma really happy to know Shu better than other people. It's like, Shu is always so grumpy and closed-off in front of other people, but Yuma gets to see him smile, and he understands the caring and loyal side of him, and it makes him feel lucky, like he has a secret or something. So I think if they were doing romantic stuff, and Shu had a different expression than usual (heheh), Yuma would be like "...I don't want him to show this face to anyone but me."

I have this one headcanon!! Shu is really popular at school as this kinda handsome ice prince character, right? He has fangirls and stuff. I imagine Yuma and Kou talking about it, like Kou's all, "The girls in my class keep talking about how handsome he is...Shu's really popular huh~" and Yuma's like "Tch, what's so good about him? He always looks half-asleep!" and at the next opportunity, he gets a real close look at Shu's face, and realizes........h-he really..........is attractive >////>;;;;;

[the-dumpster-fire-of-life]

hey! I saw your writing for Miles earth 42. I was wondering if you could write what it would be like dating miles earth 42. Like some headcannons. Thank you!!

(hello! Sure I can and here ya go! Enjoy!)

Dating Earth 42 Miles Morales

I not gonna lie, he can be an ass at times

Especially when mad or annoyed or in arguments

Tries not to but is late or sometimes can't make it to daes and feels so bad

Tries to make it up to you the best he can

But other than that, he's probably the best boyfriend to have

Obviously before he was the prowler and before his canon event, he was just our Miles

After the canon, that changed but with you sometimes old peeks of that Miles bubbles up

He's protective

But in no way is possessive

You could do whatever you want and he would let you

Nobody is willing to mess with him or you because as you're doing your thing, he's nearby and watching you

If anyone looks at him and then to you, they can tell you're together

He's willing to fight if someone ever talks shit about you or makes you uncomfortable

Let's you braid his hair as long as you don't mess it up or pull on his hair too hard

He likes the feeling of sitting between your legs, his head like resting on your thigh as he just feels your hands making their way around his hair

It's a very comforting feeling and don't be surprised if he puts little pecks onto your thighs

Will not let you feel insecure, especially in like revealing or tight clothing because you just look so good

A sorta deep and sorta rough kisser at times, especially in the moment but in more soft and intimate times a slow and passionate kisser

Likes having his hands on your waist and sorta leaning you down as he kisses you, your arms around his neck and shit

Favorite place to kiss gotta be your neck and your jaw, he just has too

A hand always in your hip or on your back

Arm around your waist or around your shoulder

If you steal his clothes and he sees you for the first time in them he's gonna stare for a moment

Then just watch the smirk form as he comes up to you, kisses you and oh my Lord

Or he's hugging you from behind

Likes having his hands like roam your sides

Slips his hand onto your neck or weaves his hand into your hair, pulling you closer when you guys kiss

You can kiss him for an eternity and then some

Kissing you is like addicting to him

He always wants to make sure you're safe, and can handle yourself so he likes you to carry like a pocket knife or he taught you some shit

And if you get into fights he's obviously proud of you because you bet your ass you won

Makeouts are actually pretty common as he makes up kisses he missed

he either is hovering above you while you're on your back and kissing you

Or you're straddling him and kissing him, his lips slip down to your neck or your collar bone mind you

Or you're against a wall or he is against a wall

He likes flirting and making you flustered

He's an asshole with that shit

Calls you nicknames in Spanish or says stuff in Spanish, if you don't understand he does it even more

I feel after his dad he was more closed off, a wreck inside but wanted to be strong for his mom and you

You need to help with that and you di, you're practically his rock now who he goes to for anything, even when he doesn't want to talk

Just being around you helps him

He likes laying his head in your lap

It's just so nice and comforting to him, kiss his knuckles or play with his hands

"I love you, you know that, right?" Or "Don't worry, you got me." Is stuff he says on the daily

Hold his hand and run your hands over his knuckles and feel how relaxed he gets

He can hug you from behind, put his head on your shoulder and just stay there for god knows how long

He buys you a lot of shit to make up for what he cannot say as sometimes he can't say how much he loves and appreciates you

So he does stuff to show it

If you like cuddling he likes either having you by his side, arm wrapped around you with your head on his chest or him laying on your chest

Spoon him from behind, he loves it but will deny it entirely

Make him flustered, he'll be frozen for a minute before a real smile comes onto his face

On days where some shit is hard, either by being the Prowler he likes laying on top of you as you whisper shit into his ear

He needs stuff like that

If you got on with his mama he is not letting you go

Especially if his mom liked you because that shit is rare

Let's you steal his clothes on the daily

He sees you eyeing something when out with him, or he sees you about to buy something or have a new interest?

He's buying you it and buying you whatever you need

Go nuts, baby, he loves seeing the smile on your face

Play fights with you, likes pinning you down and just kissing you or tickling your side

He loves hearing your laugh and seeing your smile as they just calm him at the worse times

Likes sneaking away with you from anything possible

Little compliments mean so much from him, makes you feel good about yourself too

Arguments don't happen often but he doesn't yell at you when they do

He raises his voice but never yells at you

Some shit may slip, inconsiderate shit that makes him an asshole but he knows that immediately

Not the best at apologizing so give him time when he does come to apologize

Make him grovel ISTG

Nicknames from him are just so smooth and so- oh my god

Head on your boob and hand on your ass

I say no more

Will not let harm to you come no matter what as long as he breathes

He didn't plan on telling you he was the prowler for a long time

You had to find out yourself and he thought the relationship was over

He was saying over and over it was okay, he does it to protect his family and you, that he wouldn't hurt you and so on

You may need time but he understands

Always is sneaking in through your window also

If you have siblings and they meet him prepare because they now love him more than you

Babysits them with you and is now their partner in crime against you

He's so husband

[pixlokita]

Hey guys, I think it’s time I set some boundaries!

1. No arguing or pushing your head-canons if you disagree, just move on 🙏 we’re all just having fun.

2. No self promoting -w-

3. I am not a licensed therapist, please don’t treat me like one.

4. No dubs allowed and no reposts ฅ(≚ᄌ≚)

5. Please don’t ask about when the pages of my comics will update ฅ(•ㅅ•❀)ฅ

6. I can’t believe I have to say this, please don’t send me nsfw or suggestive asks much less with pictures to go with them.

For more information click under the cut 🫶 thank you and have fun and stay safe 💖

Tbh I appreciate all the comments and asks I get so much but sometimes when you want to start an argument about my headcanons because they contradict yours or your AUs it sorta kinda ? Bothers me ? Since it’s my blog and my safe space if you don’t like it just don’t say anything or unfollow me ^^ otherwise I’ll just block you without warning (｡･･｡) nothing personal. Like it’s ok to talk about your headcanons and your AUs but don’t use my blog to self promote them specially if we don’t agree on stuff.

The reason I’m not allowing dubs is because reposts and dubs without credit have gotten way out of hand, people aren’t even asking or crediting the correct artists if they even decide to credit at all. Sincerely, I do appreciate the dubs that got permission and proper credit 💖 but for now I just need a break for a bit because it gets overwhelming and pretty depressing. Thank you for understanding 🫶

While I’m ok and happy to offer advice on general matters I’m not a therapist.

If you need professional help please don’t vent to strangers online or take it out on them, get professional help. There’s resources and options, everyone is dealing with a lot of things so be mindful.

Ballpit is indeed discontinued, long story short I don’t feel comfortable drawing Gregory anymore, there was a lot of disrespect for huge boundaries and now I just can’t bring myself to draw him (・´ω`・) thank you for following the comic and being supportive 🙏 💖 yall made it worth drawing as much as I did of it ^^

[wannab-urs]

Pedro Pascal Character Fic Recs | Vol 39

AO3 | Kofi | Main Masterlist | The Spreadsheet Masterlist

Howdy folks!

Welcome back to the Spreadsheet Digest! It's been.... a while. In order to make up for that, I have a nice long list of fics to rec. Also, surprise! I'm posting this on thursdays now.

All tags and summaries provided by the authors unless they didn't provide one, in which case I filled it in.

Wildest Dreams a Dave York series by @janaispunk

You meet your father’s new friend for the first time, but he’s a lot different than you expected.

explicit smut (18+ only, mdni), dbf!Dave, unhealthy relationship dynamic (reader becomes very dependent on Dave), dom/sub dynamics, angst, feelings, daddy issues, secret/forbidden relationship, corruption kink, able-bodied reader, reader has hair, no use of y/n, divorced Dave, Dave doesn’t kill people in this

the hitman’s guide to getting the girl a Dave York seriesby @kiwisbell

It's just another job, until Dave York decides to kidnap an enemy’s wiseass daughter. It’s just another job, until he falls in love.

kidnapping, murder, violence, the world being horrible to women, reader having a very terrible sense of self-preservation, unprotected piv, oral sex (m and f receiving), dave york finding his second calling as a pussy-eating god, pining, possessive sex, jealousy, daddy issues, (stockholm syndrome?), dirty talk, actually filthy talk, hitmen and politicians, revenge, scary man with a soft spot for his woman, philosophical foreplay, tramp stamp worship (you'll see), a little sprinkle of breeding kink if you look hard enough, obsessive behaviour, anal fingering, anal sex, implied age gap, light dom/sub vibes, light bondage

Obscenery a Dave York/Tim Rockford series by @sin-djarin

Dave is worried about the day ahead and Tim offers him some advice.

M/M, Established D/s dynamics, edging, orgasm delay, these two come with their own warnings - in particular Tim's mouth and how much Dave really likes it.

Heaven is Hell a Dieter one shot by @inept-the-magnificent

Writing prompt: “I don’t get it,” says the demon, “This person’s lived a perfectly good and virtuous life. Why are you sending them to hell?” The angel nervously rubs the back of their head. “Honestly? We’re pretty sure they’d be happier in hell than heaven.”

demon!Dieter, Angel!marcus pike, mild angst, fluff, mention of drugs, alcohol, orgies, etc. The usual dieter rabble.

Scars and All a Din series by plaidamoosette (AO3)

Hidden away in the desert land of Jakku, you are slowly chipping away at the debt that you and your mother had accumulated following the death of your father to the horrible Denga Niima. But, after the recent passing of your mother, the debt has fallen on your shoulders. Using your skills as a mechanical engineer, you accumulate wealth for your slave master in the hopes that one day you will be free. Free to explore and live as your parents had always wished for you. But things change when you meet a certain bounty hunter when he comes to you to repair his ship. But, nothing is as it seems, and as the lies that were built around your life begin to crumble, you find yourself sucked into a journey of truth, betrayal, and... love.

Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Canon-Typical Violence, Angst, Drama, Deceased Parents, Indentured Servitude, Soft Din Djarin, Soft Dominant Din Djarin, POV Alternating, Din Djarin Removes the Helmet, Protective Din Djarin, Intimidation, Male Masturbation, Touch-Starved, Loss of Virginity, MC doesn't know how to take care of herself, Female Masturbation, Burried Trauma, Readers knows how to fight back, Mandalorians (Star Wars), Mandalorian Culture & Customs (Star Wars), Some Canon material, A whole lot of other made up stuff

Just Can't Say Goodbye a Din one shot by @saradika

a final night is spent in the arms of your bodyguard, before your arranged union the next morning.

sorta medieval vibes, references to antiquated societal expectations, mentions and references to virginity, arranged marriage, technically infidelity because of said arrangement, light angst, sneaking around, first time, fingering, PiV, creampie

Back to You a Din series by @kyberblade

You’ve been friends with Mando for years, and he drops by your hole in the wall bar from time to time to catch up. This time, however, he’s carrying an extra little green passenger with him. They are on the run, which is unsettling because Mando doesn’t run from things. Things run from him. A tracking fob, a dead body, and a confession later, all three of you set out to help the child find it’s kind. (Aka: a really typical Din x Force Sensitive reader plot, but instead of the going from stiff scary Mando to friendly Mando it’s gonna kinda go the opposite way. Not in a bad way but she’s gonna finally get to see what exactly he was running from all those times he came back to see her.)

Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Angst, Humor, Friends to Lovers, Introspection, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Romantic Friendship, Emotions, Grogu | Baby Yoda Being a Little Shit, Din Djarin Needs a Hug, Protective Din Djarin, Good Parent Din Djarin, Soft Din Djarin, Force-Sensitive Reader, Feelings, Feelings Realization, Spicy thoughts, but no smut

Familiar Strangers an Ezra one shot by @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin

When your boyfriend's band opens for Familiar Strangers, you get the chance to meet the lead singer. A man whose work you've long admired. A connection sparks a flame that may change your life forever.

Rockstar!Ezra, Infidelity, reader's boyfriend is a huge asshole and deserves it though, Smut, Mildly Dubious Consent, everyone is consenting but they are impaired by alcohol

Brat a Frankie one shot by @freelancearsonist

You've been torturing Frankie, so he decides to return the favor.

short and filthy lil giflet, unprotected p in v sex, power dynamics kind of

Down the Hall a Frankie one shot by @frannyzooey

Your bedroom, just down the hall from his own, proves too tempting for Frankie to resist - even if he is your mother's boyfriend.

age gap, explicit smut, mom's boyfriend!frankie

All Through the Night a Jack one shot by @baronessvonglitter

after it's made clear that you're not welcome as a Junior Agent for the Statesman organization, Whiskey takes you under his protection for an unforgettable night

18+ Only! Mature and Explicit, mentor/mentee relationship, forbidden relationship, vandalism, nightmares, 'only one bed', first time, oral sex (f receiving), unprotected p in v sex, no use of y/n

Is Joel Okay? a Joel one shot by @djarinmuse

Based on this edit that @/iamasaddie shared, and the tag by @/wannab-urs, thanks Gin for the input "#Joel has a menty b and shaves his head". Reader is there for him. No idea who did the original edit but thanks.

Joel cuts his hair, the utter horror of that alone. No explicit smut but 18+ physical intimacy. Depressed Joel, soft Joel. Established relationship but no background given.

Unearth a Joel one shot by @ezrasbirdie

When your normally strict parents go out of town for two weeks and leave you on your own for the first time with little warning, you're left reeling and afraid of being on your own for so long. Luckily, Joel Miller, your father's best friend, very generously offers to let you stay with him. Your long time crush on him shouldn't be a problem at all.

smut, yearning, Joel is a little manipulative, loss of virginity, dad's best friend, nice big age gap (reader is 21, Joel is 40), liberal use of baby girl, religious trauma of the Christian variety (no denomination noted), reader wears a sundress, shaming of sexuality, bad relationship with reader's parents, insecurity, flirting, trouble orgasming, pussy pronouns (she/her), humping/grinding, masturbation, unprotected PIV, oral sex, references to early 00s media, soft Joel

What it is to grow a Joel one shot by @burntheedges

Joel knows he can't keep running from it – from Her – forever.

angst, hurt/comfort, hope, mentions of the canon depths of Joel’s depression (pills, alcohol, darkness, etc.), canon character death (Sarah), AU with Greek lore/gods & goddesses in the TLOU universe, character study

Birthday Boy a Joel one shot by @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin

Even with a house full of party guests, Joel can't resist when he finds a moment alone with you in the bathroom.

Masturbation, Frottage, light d/s, orgasm denial. Just general Joel Miller filth. There's like a smidge of plot right at the end.

Duality of a Man a Joel series by @wildemaven

A woman shows up at your door looking for your boyfriend

Mentions of food, Mentions of killing, death, birth, birth trauma

Consider it a Favor a Joel one shot by @chaotic-mystery

Your AC breaks in your car and the one person around to help is your neighbor, Mr.Miller.

Age gap (Not specified but I put Sarah in college) DILF Joel mowing his lawn, reader is able-bodied and is wearing a swim suit/coverup, reader has hair Joel can pull, kissing, swearing, (1) blowjob, size kink go brrr, pet names (good girl, sweetheart, baby) facedown ass up, babey, a little manhandling, unprotected penetration (don't look at me okay, the whore in me jumped out), dirty talk, Joel hyping up his ego, pussy ownership, creampie, a little glimpse of aftercare and what really happened to your AC.

Absolution a Joel series by @pedgito

Moving in with your soon-to-be stepfather under the roof of his brother, Joel, ends up being a turning point of change in your life.

DDDNE - stepcest, religious trauma, parental trauma. addition warnings: no outbreak, step-uncle!joel (reader's mom is engaged to marry tommy) age gap (20/late 40s), inappropriate relationships/behavior, slight dubcon (voyeurism), eventual smut (will tag with specific on each chapter), skewed morals, joel using alcohol to cope with life and loss, reader is in the depths of deconstruction.

Imperfect for you a Joel one shot by @joelscruff

you never thought joel miller would accidentally call you baby.

age gap (joel is mid 40s, reader is 23), fluff, very brief instance of blood, tending to a wound, joel is eepy, soft kisses, cuddles

rotten a Joel one shot by @alltheirdamn

Sharing land with Joel Miller has always been infuriating, but when your bad attitude finally gets his attention...things get messy

No-Outbreak AU, banter and arguing, explicit language, brat taming, semi dark!joel, dubcon elements, degrading, choking, rough spanking, hair pulling, face slapping, throat fucking, touch of dacryphilia, rope/bondage, rough unprotected piv sex, hint of a subspace moment, orgasm denial, squirting, creampie, no aftercare because joel is an old, grumpy asshole

Lost Cause a Joel one shot by @Joelalorian

Joel thinks you shouldn’t waste your time on him. You disagree.

Explicit MDNI; Jackson-era Joel; canon-ish but also not; drinking; mentions of cigarettes, drugs, dark thoughts, and death; unprotected p in v; oral (m and f receiving); interesting use of red wine; unspecified age gap; despair and hope

rosemary by the garden gate Joel/Tim Rockford/Dio series by @marisferasiop

(set in an approximate late nineties/early aughts timeline) Shane, turned out by his family after being outed, is sleeping rough when he is abducted by a sex trafficking ring. Joel is Tess' lead enforcer in her gang. His twin brother, Tim, is a highly decorated detective in Major Crimes for the NYPD. Together, they help Tess and her investments navigate both sides of the law. When Shane is given to Joel one evening at a truce meeting between Tess' gang and their rivals, a human trafficking syndicate, he calls Tim to initiate a bust on the opposition. His one request: he wants the kid. Problem is, once Tim meets him, so does he. Most importantly: what does Shane want once his freedom is granted? Or does he even want his freedom, if these two are holding the reigns?

dead dove!! Human trafficking, unhoused gay minors/unhoused gay youth, abuse (physical, sexual, mental/emotional), sex trafficking, sex work, homelessness, food insecurity, stealing to survive, abduction, sex slave trade, gagging/choking (later consensual breathplay), rough oral, "painal" kink, non-con drugging, enemas, forced sex work, bondage for sex and for binding/imprisonment, non-con sex/rape, mafia-esque work and associated unpleasantness (gore and violence), mean but soft Joel, face slapping, spanking as foreplay, caning as punishment, orgasm delay/control, spitting in mouth, body modifications, marking, cum play, all the soft life-affirming gay sex after rescue (Joel and Tim are twins and don't fuck e/o but they do fuck Shane together at one point) a mention of the Meat Rack, the gay sex worker alley where serial killer Des Nilsen abducted his victims.

Win a Date With Javi G + Part 2 a Javi G/Jack Daniels/Reader series by @absurdthirst and @wardenparker

You and your best friend are huge fans of Spanish pop star Javi G, and she managed to convince you to enter a contest to win a date with the singer himself. No one is more surprised than you when you actually win. / Going home with Javi and Jack after the Grammys might be the most important decision you've ever made...

Cursing. Food/alcohol. Pure fluff and flirting. A little dirty talk/dirty flirting toward the end./ Dom/sub dynamic. MMF threesome. *This story features an established MM relationship!* Sex toys, collaring, dirty talk, enthusiastic use of 'Daddy', oral sex (f and m receiving), hand job, vaginal sex, unprotected sex, dom!Jack, sub!Javi, cumplay, rimming, light choking, spanking, double penetration, double vaginal penetration, after care, exploration of power dynamics.

Waffles and Cigarettes a Javi P one shot by @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin

After you are attacked during a night out, your ex boyfriend comes to your rescue

Attempted sexual assault (not Javi), violence, descriptions of blood and injuries, fingering, spit as lube, unprotected PIV, kinda rough sex, creampie, angst. absolutely feral, protective ex boyfriend Javi

Midnight Rainstorms a Javi P one shot by @thundermartini

Javier is coming home late, escaping from a storm. You’re trying hard not to drown in the incessant rain.

no y/n, female reader, reader is not physically described (except she has long hair), javier and reader are married, mentions of anxiety, mentions of trauma, mentions of guilt, mentions of narcos plot but it’s a blur, nightmare so it may be triggering, grief, no beta.

Crawl a Max Phillips one shot by @proxima-writes

Gym owner Max Phillips offers to let you use the sauna. In return, he uses your mouth.

explicit sexual content (18+ MDNI), no use of y/n, able bodied reader, dirty talk, crawling, oral (m receiving), no aftercare, semi-public sex.

Dancing Phantoms on the Terrace an Oberyn one shot by @janaispunk

You show up to Oberyn's party

(somewhat) modern!Oberyn, able bodied reader, reader has hair that wind is "whipping through", no use of y/n, alcohol consumption, once again it's all aboard the angst train i'm sorry babes

Happy Reading!

[doughliciousfrosting]

Your tmnt au meeting Monkey kid and the gang?

I think you're talking about my 2012 TMNT designs? Which I understand, theyre really far from canon HELPP but they're not really an au 😭 or they were never really meant to be. Anyways I have a lot of thoughts and I could explain why I picked each character and paired them up with each other and if I can I'll definitely draw the rest of them!!

I'll explain right now why I paired Mei with Donnie and Tang with April

First and foremost though,

⚠️ NONE OF THESE ARE SHIPS ⚠️

With that out of the way I'll start with why I paired Mei and Donnie. I like to think that Mei is a super good builder and tbh, this is actually pretty canon. We see her rebuild her bike in S1 Ep 3 and in S1 Ep1 she's also the one who builds their secret fortress which is INCREDIBLY made. With this information in mind it can be quick to assume Mei is a pretty good mechanic! In S3 of 2012 TMNT we know that Casey and Donnie spend a lot of time in the small barn out back working on stuff both seperately and at times together! While I do think Casey can understand some of the tech jargon Donnie talks about (as long as it relates to car parts) I don't think Casey can really understand the technical stuff. I think Casey's knowledge probably comes from self taught experience, as a result he can identify each part and what they do but not the technical terms for them and professional blueprints for things and stuff. Which is why I think Donnie would be absolutely ecstatic to have someone able to read his work!! And like I said earlier Mei is really good with tech as we see a lot in the earlier seasons before they delved hard into mystic magic and stuff. I would have paired Mei with Casey but I have other ideas grrr!!! If people are interested I'll explain more.

Moving on to why I paired Tang with April! I kinda rewrote April a lot HELP I think her writing had a lot of problems so I just changed stuff lol. I like to think that the reason April tried so hard to prove herself and stuff was because she doesn't want to be useless. I feel like she gets sorta babies a lot (mainly by her father) and it makes her want to overachieve to prove a point, prove that she's grown and that she's perfectly capable of handling herself. The problem though is the years of fighting experience she lacks. In a normal situation April can 100% take care of herself but in ones where she faces opponents with a lifetime's experience in combat versus her measily 1 and a half years the difference is huge. And on top of this April has to figure out her psychic powers, which in S4 literally blew up in her face. I just think she struggles with feeling inadequate, when she does something she wants to be the best and it's hard for her to feel like she has a place in the team when everyone else seems not to struggle the way she does in battle. She just tends to forget the difference in fighting experience even though they're all the same age. Anyways, being unsure of ur worth on the team and struggling with your powers seems like it would be right up Tang's alley!! Tang in S3 Ep8 has a huge tipping point where we see he struggles with self doubt and feeling like he isn't needed. Then later when he discovers he has powers he struggles to control them and get them to do what he wants. I think Tang reassuring April is just a really nice gesture!! Especially since Tang and April are like the most human out of the rest of the group (excluding Casey but he struggles in a different way). I think in a group full of spectacular talents, it's easy to feel ordinary which is a thought I think plagues Tang and April's minds while their characters develop. I tried to keep this short so I hope it makes sense ahhh if you're still reading you're totally awesome and cool!!!

[strawberrymilk-sunshine]

Watching u <3

I've been working on this for a while. Off and on since late June. Believe it or not, I have actually been having ideas throughout my entire hiatus, it was just a case of not being able to really write anything down...

This is probably darker than some of my other stuff, I just feel like I should say. Please do not read this if you're uncomfortable with this. Thank you, and have a good day/afternooon/night.

Warning(s): yandere behaviors, explicitly fem reader, death, some sexist stuff (it's not as bad as it probably could be but it's there), incel Idia I know he isn't in canon please don't be mad at me for making him one in this fic, delusional yandere Idia, non consentual kiss, blood hemorrhage mention, unwanted comments about reader's body, implied past trauma, doxxing, breaking and entering

It was a long day of boring classes for Idia. Today was one of those days he was forced to actually attend class in person... ew. He hated it, being around people for that long. But he had a test today, and apparently the professor didn't trust him enough to do it remotely from his dorm room.

Luckily though, Idia had something to look forward to. At the end of the day, when he gets back to his dorm room, almost exactly... something he looks forward to all week will finally start.

What is this thing he is so looking forward to?

Well, what other than your weekly livestream, of course!

He loved everything about you.

He knew everything there was to know about you. He even knew your name, despite you hiding your identity behind a fictitious catgirl persona~

(Y/N). (Y/N) (L/N). He loved that name of yours. It felt like honey in his mouth as the words spilled out of him... calling you by your real name without you knowing~

Idia considered you a friend- no, even MORE. He wasn't friends with you, no no no no no! You were his lovely little girlfriend! Cute and submissive and everything... ohhh, he loved you so much. Hearing your voice... listening to you... answering you like you were right next to him... donating to you every time you streamed, copious amounts of money... participating in chat every now and again, to have an actual dialogue with you... he didn't like talking with other people, oh, but he ALWAYS made an exception for you.

You two have even started chatting outside just your streams. He's a mod for your streams now, as well as on your personal server... you were a bit apprehensive about that at first, but don't worry, he convinced you!

One time, you confided in him about some... serious issues you went through irl. It was so cute, imagining you in that situation.

Oh, you've been through so much together... you're practically dating at this point! Oh... but maybe he should actually ask you, just to make sure you know you're dating him. Just in case. Just in case.

Idia happily logged onto your stream, anxious to watch you... and to pop the question later~

But as he logged on... he... he heard you... say... something...

"Sorry I wasn't able to stream last week... something came up in my real life!" He saw your semi-3d avatar smile, responding to your real expression, no doubt. "I know it sounds crazy, but somehow... I'm dating someone!"

At first, Idia decided to optimistically think about how, maybe you're referring to him... but, as the pre-stream chitchat continued... it became obvious you weren't.

...

HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO HIM?!

In a fit of anger, Idia unsubscribed and blocked you on absolutely everything.

...but then, he thought of something. A nice plan... one that would hopefully make you dependent on him... you'd dump whatever loser you're dating right now... and he would be your only source of comfort.

He unblocked your accounts on his main... and then, he logged onto an alternate account, one that doesn't connect back to him in any way; sorta like what you tried to do with your stream persona, but actually unconnected, unlike yours.

He sent you a message from his sock puppet...

Your stream ended for the day, and... you were confused to see a message from an account you didn't recognize. You thought that maybe it was just a fan deciding to message you, as you get that a lot, but once you accepted the message request to see what they sent...

[xNDRWRLDx] : this u?

...you saw... a picture of yourself... one a family member of yours posted a few years ago... you tried your best to make sure that your online persona didn't connect back to your real life at all, so... how... how did this person get this picture?!

As terrified as you were, you chose to ignore this message. About an hour later, you received another.

Despite your thoughts, screaming at you to not give this person the time of day... that last message just set you off. You decided to respond.

[xNDRWRLDx] : ignoring ppl is rude

[xNDRWRLDx] : u know that, right?

[xNDRWRLDx] : or is ur thick skull not able to comprehend that

[xNDRWRLDx] : lmao yeah, thats prob the case

[xNDRWRLDx] : u could get a much higher paying job if u quit streaming & decided 2 use ur tits & ass 2 ur advantage

[xNDRWRLDx] : getting railed all day would b easier than streaming. u wouldnt have 2 pretend u have a personality beyond "uwu im a girl who plays video games arent i cute??"

You suddenly saw a string of numbers appear on your screen in the next message from this person. Is that your IP?!

[n3k0-ebi] : who tf are you??

[xNDRWRLDx] : o right, u said smth abt not being comfortable w/ talking abt stuff like that

[xNDRWRLDx] : lmfao weak much??? cant even take a joke

[xNDRWRLDx] : wat a pathetic excuse of a human

[n3k0-ebi] : whats your angle dude

[n3k0-ebi] : are you just trying to make me mad on purpose? it wont work, so just leave me alone.

What could this person know? Just what you look like in real life?? As much as you don't want people to know, it... it isn't that bad. You're not going to pose like that. You're not even going to give this person the time of day anymore.

[xNDRWRLDx] : look familiar?

[xNDRWRLDx] : just saying u would look adorable laying under me w/ ur mouth agape & drooling w/ ur eyes half shut <3

[xNDRWRLDx] : maybe if u send me a pic of u looking like that i might consider not sharing wat i know w/ ur entire audience

[xNDRWRLDx] : ur choice bitch

You log off for the night, not giving any more thought to this person's likely hollow threats.

The next day, you woke up, not realizing what happened over night.

You took a nice, relaxing, early morning shower...

Strangely enough, as you left your washroom, you could have sworn you'd seen a strange, blue light outside your hallway window. Probably just your eyes playing tricks on you... or light reflecting off something...

You make your way to your living room, and sit yourself down on the couch, comfy in your bathrobe and hair towel. You turn on the tv so you can half watch whatever comes on, and focus the rest of your attention on browsing Magicam.

...

...that's a lot of notifications.

You decide to look through your mentions first, and... you see a post from that account that was messaging you last night. It details your full legal name, your address, your partner's name, your parent's names, your homeland, every personal detail you could think of was listed in this post.

In a sudden moment of not thinking, you decide to message them.

They... they just sent you... a picture of you coming out of your shower... and then another, of you sitting here on the couch-?!

[n3k0-ebi] : what the hell is wrong with you?!

[n3k0-ebi] : you fucking doxxed me?!

[xNDRWRLDx] : i told u it was ur choice didnt i

[xNDRWRLDx] : u chose 2 not send me that pic i wanted

[xNDRWRLDx] : so really its ur own fault <3

You look out your living room window... but you don't see anybody.

[xNDRWRLDx] : ur not responding?

[xNDRWRLDx] : rude

[xNDRWRLDx] : little missy cant think of anything to say huh

[xNDRWRLDx] : idk wat i expected lmfao

[xNDRWRLDx] : typical 4 a female pretending 2 know stuff cant even hide ur identity properly

[xNDRWRLDx] : wat an idiotttt

The next month is a chaotic one.

Being stalked by so-called "fans"... yourself and your family members being sent weird letters and death threats... your regular workplace firing you... your family and friends cutting ties with you... your partner breaking up with you...

...why did this all have to happen...?

Is this your fault...? Maybe if you had just sent that picture... no, no don't even think about it. That person probably would have done this to you anyways...

...oh...

Oh, you... you have a notification. Since what happened last night, you haven't checked any of your notifications, but... this one... it's from someone you trust...

Idia was absolutely enraged. He could barely even believe what just happened. You have nothing. He is the only person in the world offering you comfort and support, and you just... YOU JUST WRITE HIM OFF LIKE HE'S NOTHING?!

[Gloomurai_] : hey, is everything OK w/ you?

[Gloomurai_] : i just saw you havent rlly been online since what happened

[Gloomurai_] : not that i blame you obv

[n3k0-ebi] : hi gloomy

[n3k0-ebi] : things haven't been great... lol.

[Gloomurai_] : i heard youre single again btw

[Gloomurai_] : that must suck

[Gloomurai_] : i hope this doesnt sound too forward but uh

[Gloomurai_] : is there anything i could do to help?

[n3k0-ebi] : definitely not, but thx for offering

[n3k0-ebi] : it's enough to just know you're there :)

...but, all of a sudden, the anger leaves him. Everything leaves him. All rational thought is gone from his head... and he smiles.

"Ortho... tell the vice leader he'll be in charge of Ignihyde for a while."

"What-? Big brother, why would you-"

"I need to go home for a bit." Idia closes the chat log, and stands up from his chair. "I won't be gone long. I just need to... make a copy of a file on my pc back home and bring it back here. That's all."

Ortho didn't entirely believe his brother...

...it's raining.

It's dark, stormy, the dead of night...

And most importantly, you're alone.

You used to like being alone. Not so much now, now you just feel... unsafe.

What with all the death threats, general threats, your home address and real face now being known... you don't feel safe in your own home anymore.

It's not a pleasant feeling, yet it is one you've felt before. One you never hoped to feel again. It's such a terrible feeling, knowing you might not be safe, in the place that you very well should be...

...

There's a knock at the door.

You are NOT going to answer it.

There are a lot of things that can happen in the exact moment of danger. Time feels like it slows down, and you have to make a choice... fight or flight, your natural instincts.

The door is kicked open and you drop down to at least somewhat hide yourself thanks to your couch. Maybe that pepper spray you lost last month is under there??? Hopefully...

And then... you hear a voice. A strangely familiar, sickly sweet voice.

"Ohh (Y/N)~" It calls out... "Where are youuuu~???"

That voice... you know that voice... you've been in a voice call with that voice before... that voice...

It's Gloomy... someone you thought was your friend...

"(Y/N), I know you're in here. Just show me where you are already. I-I won't hurt you~!!"

You frantically run your hand along the floor under your couch, looking for your pepper spray. You can't help but hope it's under there...

You hit something that rolls out from under your couch... it's exactly what you're looking for, but it also shows him exactly where you are.

A blue glow comes closer as the long, flaming hair drapes over your couch, the tips barely touching you as you lay on the ground. Then you see his face... piercing yellow eyes, and a terrifying, sickening smile full of sharp teeth...

"There you are!"

You scramble away from him in a panic, taking short glances at where the small canister rolled...

"There's no need to look so scared, (Y/N)." He smiles. "It's me, Gloomurai, Gloomy, Idia, your boyfriend."

"W...w-what... the hell... are you talking about...?"

"Are you fucking stupid? I think it's really clear what I said, isn't it?" He scowls at you... not just any scowl, it looks like he completely despised you... before quickly returning to a sickly sweet, and clearly fake smile. "I'm your boyfriend. You're my girlfriend. We've been dating for a long time, and I'm going to be taking you home with me now! I love you so much!"

"W-we've talked a few times... a-and I guess we're friends, but... but we aren't dating!!" You yell, clenching your fists tightly. You're absolutely terrified, but you don't want to just agree with him. There's no way in hell you're going to validate this...

"Yes we are. Do you not remember? Is your single braincell working overtime trying to understand what you already know? Aww, cute kitty..." The intruder suddenly pulls something out from his pocket.

He thrusts the object at you as you avoid it by crawling on your hands and knees as fast as you can towards your small canister. You stand up in the best defensive position you can, being sure to hide your spray from this creep.

"Ugh. Why are you so stubborn?? It won't hurt as much if you just stay still!!" He rushes towards you with the object, it's clear to you now that it is a syringe...

You spray him directly in the eyes as he screeches out in pain.

You run for your front door, hoping you can get away while he writhes in pain... but you feel something prick into your neck... and being flushed into your veins...

"YOU BITCH. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?! I HATE YOU SO FUCKING MUCH!!" He screams at you as you collapse. What is this... what in the world would work this fast...?

"...wh..." You try to ask what this is, before you feel a sudden metallic taste in your mouth, and blood begins to pour out...

"You don't need to know what it is. It's better if you don't know." The intruder shushes you. "I love you so much. I love you. We'll be happy together... me and a better version of you... I'll recreate you perfectly."

...he kisses you on the lips. He wipes your blood off of his face as he pulls away... when you realize he's wearing gloves.

"It won't be long before you hemorrhage all your blood... this stuff works really fast~" He smiles. "At least you'll look pretty as you die."

Idia's life entirely went back to normal after that. In fact, it's been a year since what he did.

Your body was found, but evidence to his crime was not.

Idia is a model student at NRC, despite almost never attending class in person. His grades are phenomenal, he hands in all his assignments in time, and he's going to get a good job when he graduates...

And... in his spare time... he's programming.

Idia is programming an artificial intelligence, based on a certain someone he used to know.

His lovely girlfriend.

"Don't worry... we'll be seeing each other again soon... I'm sure of it. I'll do everything I can to make it true... I love you, (Y/N)."

[thechillsquid]

Blind Eyes Au- Demon Stuff

Okay, so like, I am hyped cause folk wanna hear more of this shit so here we go!

So in a sense the summer precedes in an adjacent manner to canon, but ya know, Fidds and Bill hang out around the shack most the time as well otherwise they’re at the bunker which Fidds has been using as a sorta base of operations so him and Stan don’t gotta drag some shit in and outta the shack that would possibly attract unwanted attention

Fidds adjusts easily to the kids being around and certainly knows how to handle them better than Stan does, and the kids like him well enough cause he’s kinda a lunatic but less in a blunt criminal manner (I mean sure the kids come around to Stan and become mini criminals by the end of the summer, but they did discuss whether or not to dip out the window and report Stan to the FBI when they first got there soooo)

And admittedly, while Fidds has a much closer relationship to Tate in this au, just cause he’s got his head on right and kinda realizes yeeeesssh I did kinda sorta make a robot to go on a rampage after the divorce and that’s probably not healthy at all—

Certainly Fidds and his ex-wife did some talking behind the scenes, and while it’s unlikely he’d gain custody officially, cause you know, giant death robots, Tate probably started visiting in his later teen years and eventually settled down in Gravity Falls later on after moving about for a bit

Which speaking of Tate, techncially speaking Bill is his kinda sorta step-father? They don’t talk like at all but they got a mutual respect thing going on and probably just like sit and fish sometimes, which leads to Bill rambling about random bullshit while Tates just nodding along, and that’s kinda that

So you know what, yeah if Bill’s not around the shack, not with Fidds or Stan, he’s probably at the lake just hanging out with his ‘stepson’ which is oddly kinda weirdly wholesome now that I think about it?

Like Bill really changes in the 30 year timespan working on the portal and I’m not sure whether or not to just jump about that timeline to showcase how exactly that builds or whether to make Blind Eyes a multi-chapter, multi-work based thing

Meh, either way Bill certainly has chilled out in the sense of malicious chaos, though the guys still a complete and utter freak; dude really got treated like just another person and it made him realize how much he actually kinda liked that rather than straight up worship/fear and he kinda actually started hanging out with his henchmanics when not on earth (aka when things get a bit much and he’s gotta unwind or when he gets really fucking bored) and actually becomes friends with the group

Its kinda weird the snowball effect of that, like all these weirdos in the nightmare realm are used to instability and running amok and then their boss comes back and instead of the usual unhinged rants and low key threats of killing any of them if they step out of line, he very slowly but surely just starts… actually hanging out and talking with them? And its kinda weird? But they’ve all just been burning themselves out and it’s like, huh, this isn’t… that bad? Like yes, they’re still a bunch of intergalatical criminals but how long can you stand always having to go go go?

Like just that sounds tiring, and well, Bill was the first one to realize how fucking tired he was of it, like it takes a couple fucking decades for him to even say nice things to Stan or Fidds openly, but he gets there and it’s weird but it’s not too shabby

So like when the kids show up for that summer? Bill has no clue what to do with them, he’s glad they’re aren’t like babies and can actually move around and think, but he also doesn’t know how to act around them

He’s gotten used to the shack and the shack has used to him and now when he walks in there’s two tiny Pines there and the one kid reminds him of Ford and sure he’s figured awhile back that he really hurt that guy but it’s not like he can find the guy cause he’s been just running about the multiverse and—

Then he just has to walk away and take a breather. He hates emotions, has gotten used to expressing them, but now the kids remind him how much is actually at stake now. Goes became somewhat of a background thought and Bill realizes fiercely that he’s done what he always does when things go wrong, pushes it to the back of his mind and try to forget

This playing house with Fidds and Stan has been occupying his thoughts and keeping his mind away from Ford and all That. So yeah, he avoids the kids for a bit when they first arrive until Stan corners the weirdo and tell him to fucking buck up or stay in the bunker cause so help him he wants these kids to feel welcome and Bill slinking around like a nervous Hide-Behind isn’t helping

As time goes on he starts helping the kids out with their mysteries (aka I’m something with bigger teeth than the fuckers out here and if something tries anything it’ll be the last thing they do) and eventually he gets comfortable hanging around the shack

Progress keeps on with the portal and sure he suspects the kids might know he’s not exactly human but that’s fine because for now they seem to trust that he won’t hurt anyone (that he cares about at least; Gideon finds himself getting chased by a terrifyingly large wolf with glowing yellow eyes when starts trying to flirt with Mabel until Stan gets onto Bill about taking away his fun. If anyone’s going to torment the little weirdo it’ll be Stan)

And then Gideon summons Bill, the kids start having suspicions, and the triangle fuck avoids them again for the next few weeks until the kids track him down and demand answers

He gives the most watered down, vague answers, but for once it’s not all lies so that’s got to count for something

The portal opening throws a whole new shift to things and that in itself forces the bastard to think and think hard about what he really wants now after the one goal he’s been working towards for so long has been completed

He probably tries to drink his problems away and ends up crawling through one of the shack windows to raid the kitchen, him and Ford probably end up staring at each other and Bill almost gets shot trying to drunk ramble apologies

Its a total trainwreck

[tadbitsketch]

I haven't done one of these in forever but welcome back to Sketch Rambles About MCSM Stuff at an Unreasonable Hour of the Night 🎉🎉🎉

Tonight, I'm gonna discuss one of my favorite songs from the Minecraft: Story Mode OST, "Redstone Baby," and the potential lore that it holds. And why that's very Sorengaard related.

Disclaimer: this is me interpreting silly block people. Unless otherwise stated (or in the game), it ain't actually canon. Also, I am a teenage girl. I am not versed very well in the specifics of how music theory works and how it's used in media. Also also, I wrote most of this like two months ago and completely forgot about it.

(In case you needed a reminder of how it sounds)

This song appears twice in the season 1 episode 3: when you arrive in Soren's lab area, and again in the end credits. It can also be heard through the closed secret entrance wall in the Wool World™, and it gradually becomes clearer as you approach the door to Soren's lab, where a music disc is playing the song inside.

The instrumentation of "Redstone Baby" consists of guitar, piano, and violin. It feels comforting and cozy, whilst also giving a sad, longing sort of vibe. According to a comment written 6 years ago by Antimo on the linked video, they were going for a sorta "Fallout: New Vegas" vibe when they wrote it. The song holds an air of nostalgia, of better times. An idealized dream of how the world could be.

To get to the point: it's cute, it's cozy, and it's a love song in a game where they weren't allowed to explicitly write any canon ships (if I'm remembering correctly). Also one of the few songs in this game to be given lyrics. So, of course, we're gonna talk about this. Or rather I'm gonna write about it and you're gonna read it.

The lyrics go as follows:

In a marshmallow world, you're my sweetheart.

In a marshmallow world, you're my sweetheart.

You're the bed to my rock,

The flint to my steel.

My redstone baby doll...

My redstone baby doll.

(music)

In a marshmallow world, you're my sweetheart.

In a marshmallow world, you're my sweetheart.

My sugar baby...

aaaah ladada, awoah...

The lyrics are pretty strange, right? It seems nonsensical at first, but I (and many others) believe that it has more meaning than meets the eye.

This is a love song addressed to a someone proficient with redstone. Funnily enough, Soren's old friend group did have one of those. A brilliant Redstone Engineer: Ellegaard. And quite interestingly, these two were pretty close, as is said multiple times in canon. I think Magnus mentions their little "Nerd Club," in episode 3 at some point. Another fact to back me up on this: Soren calls the song "Symphony in E" in-game on the little radio-disk-program-thing.

And for whatever reason, Soren and Ellegaard didn't stay close or end up together. There's not really a way to know for certain what went down between them. All we do know is that Soren wishes it was different.

The "marshmallow world" that is talked about in the song is Soren's perfect world. It's safe, sweet, and fluffy. I am of the opinion that it could possibly be an indirect reference to the wool world that Soren built. It's bright. It's safe. No monsters can get him there. He can just build things and be happy. In a perfect, marshmallow world, Ellegaard is with Soren.

The metaphors Soren uses here, "the bed to my rock, the flint to my steel," they're both iconic, inseparable duos: bedrock, and flint and steel. In Minecraft, bedrock is the unbreakable foundation beneath all else in the Overworld. Flint and steel is used to set things on fire, and is most often used to light Nether portals, which is way less symbolic (unless someone can find something? maybe the whole flaming heart being a metaphor for love thing?) but still iconic and the phrase has a very nice rhythm to it.

When we first hear the song, it feels like normal wishful thinking. It's more just fluff and poetry than full-on wants and desires.

But when we hear it in the end credits of episode 3... We just saw someone die after sacrificing their safety for Jesse's. The monster that they died to help kill isn't even dead. Someone we thought was dead is actually alive and doesn't remember anything. It's loud, dark, and burning. A sickening storm of death and destruction. Anything but the marshmallow world.

Without considering which of the two died, this song is already quite jarring in comparison to what was just witnessed. This "marshmallow world" that seemed somewhat close just a moment ago now feels implausible, and thus it'd be worth so much more if it were real.

I will never not love when something in a piece of media is treated as a good sign or motif or something and then it gets recontextualized and hurts ya right in the feels.

And with Redstone Baby combined with Ellegaard dying, it's just that extra brutal.

Because now it's not just, "in a perfect world, we'd be together." It's "in a perfect world, you wouldn't be dead, and we'd be together."

If only Soren wasn't so much of a coward. How differently things could've gone.

[illegiblehandwriting1]

HI! :D

Do you have any Four/Sky headcanons you have yet to share that you would like too?

*cracks knuckles* Do i ever. (a bunch of these will be just. straight from some of my fics but eh whatever i love them)

Four absolutely heard stories about Sky, particularly as a child. Sky was probably a cross between George Washington and, like, Odysseus to his era. Someone legendary, a hero just toeing the line between history and myth. No one's 100% certain he's real, but Four believes it. (So does Dot)

In Four's era, there is a constellation known as the Godslayer constellation. Enough said.

Sky's love of flying and his experience in piloting parallels Four's ceaseless examination of minute details. Four likes dealing in the little things that make big results, so he ends up being really fascinated with how exactly Sky's Loftwing can fly and how it evolved. And hey, giant specimen that won't eat him? Big win.

Four gets along so well with Minish engineers and scientists. It's scary.

Sky took up woodcarving as a meditative art. He couldn't focus for long enough (inattentive ADHD) so woodcarving became a way to learn to focus and complete tasks, and he just sorta fell in love. He probably learned with Gondo.

Speaking of, Gondo is probably his favorite shopkeeper at the Bazaar. Sky was totally the type of kid to pester him with questions and stories and anecdotes while he worked, and Gondo was kind and patient enough to let him. He also liked the company.

Sky and Four both seem pretty chill (one's a mom friend and one's pretty smart/inquisitive/has common sense?), which is why no one ever suspects them when they team up and pull the most ridiculous pranks. (Wild knows, though. His best friend is Flora. He knows how absolutely insane scientists are, and he and Sky regularly drag each other around on misadventures. When there is a prank war, Wild only makes Four's and Sky's favorite dishes. They scare him.)

Sky's soul doesn't display his physical scars. In Silent Realms, you can only see cracks and impacts where Guardians have gotten him. They glow.

Sky likes listening to Four ramble about cool stuff he's learned. He has no idea what Four's talking about half the time, but Four is always so excited to have someone listen that all of his walls come down and you can see the Colors more clearly. Sky adores it so much.

Speaking of, after Four Swords, i think Four came back together, but rather than being four people piloting a meatsuit together or just a single person again, he's more like a granny square blanket. He's one dude, but different characteristics will show more overtly depending on the situation, and when put under stress, the seams begin to rip until he has to use the Four Sword to split. Otherwise, he gets a super migraine and just can't function. Also, magic fucks with him.

I read a fic where Four had a stutter and that's canon to me now. Like. yeah.

Sky much prefers the application of things to the theory. He's a smart guy for sure, canonically breezed/slept through all of his classes and did well while Groose had to work his ass off, but while he was able to absorb the information easily, it just didn't engage him and he wasn't all that interested. His favorite classes were in the Sparring Hall and in the air on his Loftwing. As I said before, real ADHD guy.

Sky's Loftwing is named Bird. Sun's is Blue, and Groose's is Fast. I'm sure some kids made up cool names like Felicia and Arnold, but I love the idea that they were childhood friends before, like, middle school years, so they probably shared a single braincell.

Four ends up teaching Sky metallurgy and stuff when they get a chance to chill at the forge. Sky teaches Four woodworking/carving.

Sky is good at physics.

Four is like. SO autistic to me, what a guy, and the Chosen Hero is and has been a big special interest, so meeting Sky is like the best moment of his LIFE. He was probably trying to do some detective work with the other Links as subjects when he meets Sky and he just gets SO excited, it's adorable. Sky sees him, learns he's his successor, and immediately loves him forever. They are besties your honor.

also any version of FD!Sky

thanks for the ask!!! these two are my favorite dudes, i love them :D

[fanficfish]

some random hetalia thoughts about the countries

mostly headcanons and character studies i guess. probably canon but who knows i'm too sleepy to go check. i'm gonna ramble and maybe it'll maek sense i don't know. Someoen tag me if they get anything idea worthy out of this.

link the inspired post: https://www.reddit.com/r/hetalia/comments/1eqt7ek/after_all_these_years_im_gonna_say_it_i_did_not/

I've seen a little talk about how England leaving America on his own for so long messed him up a little (thank you reddit user who go that talk going). So i wanted to think about some of Englands' other colonies and stuff i guess?

so like we have America. I still stand he's probably like, Jamestown or something and over time he became the main US rep, like how the UK has the four brothers (five? Six with Sealand) but England represents them at meetings. Or Japan reps all of Japan instead of like a couple dozen prefectures showing up. That kind of thing. And like that guy's a little messed up. In earlier parts ofhis story, he's shown to just be really explorative, stil strong tho, but mostly jsut a nice sweet kid who happens to have three teenagers fighting over him. Seriously couldn't they share? Oh wait it's hetalia no they can't XD

anyways, it's only wlater once America is firmly under British rule that he starts growing the yelling and loudness. I think that's like the sign hhat he wants a little attention f rom England- like, he's shown to just be a guy when it's Canada when they're kids but england gets the "SHOVE FOOD IN MY PIEHOLE" treatment. And I think that's just because England keeps leaving and coming back but sometimes he just ignores the kids and does his own thing for a long time. Canada ends up letting America take the lead for them. And then later on once all is said and done America revels in his big parties and whatnot because the attention is on him, and it won't heal the hrut of England just leaving all the time but it sorta helps. (Canada doesn't count they're basically joined at the hip it's not the same).

and if you compare it to like the Italies for example. Austria was still there to watch over Italy North even though he really went for the uh. Less optimal route. But he was till there, in his own way. Prussia definitely wasn't going to leave HRE and later Germany alone unless he absolutely had to. Spain didn't jsut go gallivanting around when Romano was there (no comment onhis other former colonies). Ofc you could make an argument for Iceland, but by the time Norway took over he'd been alone mostly for 300 years, and even if Norway and Denmark didn't exactly visit all the time because i headcanon Iceland stayed happily on his island 90% of the time like Aland and Faroe Islands to avoid the drama called "four nordics pretending they could get along under one roof when they definitely are not good rooommate compatable", I doubt he was entirely without parental guidance. Norway could always sense him (so themoment anything bighappened Norway would be marching right over), and Iceland mentions sending letters out. I'm jsut gonna guess he sent the letters via Mr. Puffin, and I'd guess Mr. Puffin could always deliver some words if needed from overseas. Iceland also apparantly has fairies at his house so there's that too. Not thet he'd admit it.

But if you notice, it's def circumstance that gives some character which is cool when we're talkign about stereotype-based characters. Ameriica becomes loud and "ignores" the room when he's given the stage, because if he outrages everyone then he'll get attention. Italy N.. had everythig taken care of for him and has few worries, and a pretty good work ethic since Austria isn't a slacker. Roomano is a spoiled brat. Iceland....honestly boy just needs to accept the others rubbed off on him and he's just as kooky as the rest of them. I know you're a teen and all but kid c'mon you love them mystical animals and you keep bringing up your weird museums XD (I swear this child got Norway's anti-socialness, Sweden's inability to admit things (in his case, he actually likes hanging out with the others), Finland's oddness, and Denmark's everythign else because we all know Norway probably saw Iceland at last and had a crisis over it, man knows when Iceland appears but can't get around to taking the ruling for how many years????

And then there's New Zeeland, who had to raise Austrailia when NZ was also pretty young. NZ doesn't even have the hope of hep fro manyone- America and Canada i'm pretty sure still had visitors from like France and I think the Netherlands would have popped by a few times, because they did do a bit of um. Trading. with the colonies and stuff. Austrialia used to be on the other hand where they sent English prisoners. New Zealand is not ready for that kind of craziness, and so of course we're gonna get a free range crazy Austrailia and a done with it New Zealand who got no help and probabl ygot even less parental support then America. BTW it's crazy that technically GB still techncialy rules over so many big places like Canada and Austrailia even though they also technicall ydon't like that's just so wild.

so what have we learend from this? England sucks as a dad, and Iceland's teen rebel phase is in full swing. WHat was the poitn of this? I don't know but you read it and i wrote it so.....

ima sleep i forgot the poitn already lol

[aceofnace]

Nancy’s Feelings for Ace

Nancy told Ace that the first time she realized she had feelings for him was during the dreamscape with the wraith, because that was her official “oh” moment, but as a viewer we know she had feelings for him long before that, even if she didn’t know it. The first real signs for us were her obvious jelly feelings as she watched Ace flirt with Amanda in 2x07 and her mind immediately jumping to Ace when she heard the sentence “the one with the pretty eyes” in 2x08. But really, it goes even further back than that.

Nick asking Ace in the last episode if it was ever really only friendship and nothing more between him and Nancy got me thinking back to the very beginning. And to be honest, I don’t think it ever was only friendship. For either one of them.

We know now that Ace had a crush on Nancy in high school. So naturally, when she started working at The Claw, that crush returned right away (even if he also had a crush on Bess at the time). And we know Nancy met Nick and it was lust at first sight and she immediately embarked on a physical relationship with him soon after. This all happened before the show began. What else happened before the show began and it’s one of the first things Nancy tells us about Ace when her narration introduces us to him?

The smoke break.

Upon first viewing, it feels like an unimportant throwaway line. A piece of information that could just as easily have been left out. But it wasn’t. Why? Because I think that smoke break, a moment we’ve never gotten to see, was when Nancy’s feelings for Ace actually started.

Think about it for a second. We know that Nancy has always found Ace attractive. When she hears the term “pretty eyes”, she’s like “Who, Ace?” When she’s under the spell of a lust dress, she lets it slip out that she’s always imagined how soft his hair would be. In as early as episode 1x02, she’s placing a hand on his shoulder for no reason while she talks and she doesn’t let go until she’s done. He may not have necessarily been on her radar in high school like she was on his, but he certainly was as soon as she started working at The Claw.

So, now that we have obvious physical attraction out of the way, that smoke break. We know very little about it. The most of what we do know about it is made up from the minds of countless fans who’ve written their own fan fic version of it (myself included). But the one canon thing about it, the thing Nancy told us herself, was that he didn’t judge her for tanking her grades after her mom died. And how did he even know about that? Because she told him.

Nancy Drew, who at the start of the show was the queen of high emotional walls who didn’t like divulging personal information to anyone, divulged some pretty personal information to this boy she barely knew (and even though it’s never discussed again, there’s a pretty good chance that wasn’t the only smoke break they ever spent together). Meanwhile, she was hooking up with Nick and even sorta calling herself his girlfriend, but any time he tried to get her to open up and talk about anything, she shut him down immediately.

I feel like this is something that should be discussed more. The fact that she was able to so quickly and comfortably share stuff like this with Ace and nobody else is a huge deal. And in the beginning, it’s completely overlooked because Nancy’s love interest was Nick, and then after they broke up, Owen was next in line. For most of season one, she did not outwardly show any significant interest in Ace as anything more than a stranger–turned–co-worker–turned–sleuthing buddy–turned–close friend. But that interest was there.

And why wouldn’t it be? As I already mentioned, Nancy was always physically attracted to Ace. She knew from before the show began that he was a good listener and easy to talk to. And then early on when she learned about his hacking abilities, she saw how smart he was. Soon after that, she learned how loyal and dedicated he was. The boy risked his entire future to break her father out of prison, and he did so without her even asking him to. He willingly drank what could’ve been poison to prove she was right and to keep her from getting arrested. Every time she called, he answered. Every time she needed help or needed a favor, he delivered. How could she not possibly fall for him?

So, she did fall for him. Most likely even in season one. It was evident during the library scene where they were reading Ryan and Lucy’s emails out loud. Hearing Ace say things like “I think I love you too” and “I want to be with you, I don’t care what anyone else says” made her feel something, hence the look the two of them share afterward. But here’s the thing: if Nancy recognized that feeling at all, she would have shoved it down so far and so fast because that feeling was something real. Something more than she was used to feeling. And that scared her.

Nick was a distraction from the grief over her mother’s death. Owen was also a distraction from that grief, as well as from her break-up with Nick. Ace wasn’t a distraction. He was a friend. A confidant. Someone she could rely on. Someone she could count on under any circumstances. This kind of relationship with a guy was one she wasn’t accustomed to. And she knew that it could someday lead to something more serious—something she most definitely wasn’t ready for.

In 2x10, while under the spell of the lust dress, Nancy theorized out loud that perhaps the dress was intensifying feelings of attraction she already had but was repressing, and she said it while turning and looking directly at Ace. Keep in mind that (somehow) 2x10 in the timeline is not that far from where they were in season one, so to assume those repressed feelings started in season one is not that much of a stretch. And looking back, even starting within the first few episodes of the series, you can clearly see she has always been drawn to him in a very subconscious way. She would always stand so close their arms would almost touch. She would lean closely over his shoulder when he was on his laptop, their faces sometimes only mere inches apart. She would practically bump into him while walking side-by-side. She’s always had this unrealized need to be near him. To be close to him. And he’s the only one. I challenge anyone to find scenes that show her casually existing so closely next to Nick, Owen, Gil, Park or even now Tristan. You can’t. Because they don’t exist.

And this makes sense. Canonically, they are soulmates. And that would explain why Ace could simply see her make a volcano erupt in high school and develop feelings for her. It would explain why since day one, Nancy has had a bond with Ace that she’s never had with anyone else. And I know the writers say that Nace wasn’t the plan from the beginning, and I do believe that, but somehow, they inadvertently set it up perfectly for these characters to end up in the situation they’re in right now: desperately in love and desperate to be together. They are each other’s person. And they always have been from the very start.

To go back to what they were before would just be staying the same. They’ve never been just friends. And the sooner Ace can admit that to himself, the sooner they can get back to trying to break that curse and securing their future together.

[tmf-confessions]

Back with more Liam ranting because I’m going insane.

I find many things about his character interesting, but one of the most interesting things about him to me is definitely how his character relates to romance.

Like, think about it. Jake has a crush on Daisy(+Hailey?), Hailey is pretty obviously being set up to end up with Jake, Sean has a crush on Daisy (most likely), Daisy possibly reciprocates those feelings, Zander and Luke are dating, Milly has a crush on Elliot, Drew and Zoey used to be dating, Lia has her long-term crush on Jake, even Henry has a long-term, very obvious crush on Lia.

My point is, there are very few characters in this series who don’t have some sort of romantic ties to another character. In fact, the only characters other than Liam who don’t have some sort of love interest are probably Sadie and Maria, which makes sense since they don’t get much screen time (Maria more so than Sadie).

And to me that makes the romance aspect of his character a lot more interesting, especially since his attraction to women is an almost comedically large part of his character.

You’d think someone who’s main gimmick is romance-related would have more of a role in the shipping stuff, whether it be showing romantic interest in any character or being a matchmaker or something, but no. Liam shows no interest in any girl at their school other than maybe one time where it’s mentioned he tried to ask an offscreen unnamed character out, and he actually seems pretty clueless when it comes to things like why Jake is even going through everything he does for Daisy, the show itself even pointing out how he doesn’t understand traditional romanticism. He’s not even the one who realizes Jake might have a thing for Hailey, either. If I remember correctly, it’s Drew who realizes first while Liam just sorta stands and listens.

And honestly, when almost every character has a long-term crush or love drama, having a character who just doesn’t get any of that and thinks they should just cut to the chase and confess or whatever is really funny. It does, however, make Liam a bit of an outlier and makes talk of his sexuality pretty interesting to me, especially since the lack of canon content leaves more room for interpretation.

Like I said earlier, Liam’s romantic interest in women is such a large part of his character that it almost feels performative. And I’ve seen that lead to a lot of people headcanoning him as gay or aromantic. And I think that’s cool!

As an aromantic person myself, I’m probably a little biased as to which one I think about more (even if I do love some of the Liam ships). But him mostly focusing on people he has no realistic shot at being in a relationship with (Stacy’s Mom, that girl he sent the donation message to) does remind me of aromantic experiences.

And I don’t know, I imagine that he’s the kind of person to get a new ‘crush’ every week, ask them out, and when if they say no, he’s a little sad for less than 24 hours then moves on, almost like he never felt anything at all. Which is why he’s so confused over why Jake would go through all this trouble for Daisy when he could just ask her out right then and there.

I guess I think it’d be something like him wanting the emotional closeness of being in a relationship with someone, who he assumes should be a girl, and so he pursues that without realizing what romantic feelings he’s ‘supposed’ to feel in relation to that. He doesn’t understand why people act the way they do when they have a crush because he just doesn’t feel that way when he thinks he likes someone (If we go with the aromantic reading).

As for the him liking guys headcanon, I’m probably not as confident as to what that would look like. But I presume it’d be something like him trying to do what he thinks he’s supposed to do as well, and never realizing that when people say they like a girl it’s different from how he feels, which is just “they seem pretty and nice and relatively pleasant to be around” while feeling no actual attraction. (Maybe idk I’ve never had that experience)

To get back on topic, I guess I just like how out of the ordinary he feels compared to everyone else. In a universe where every other character seems to show their romantic feelings in a similar way, (has long-term crush and feelings for a long time before they finally dramatically confess), Liam does not do that, and that’s pretty cool.

(I have no idea if this makes any sense sorry if it’s just incoherent rambling lol).

confession #830

[laugtherhyena]

Now that you brought it up I'm SUPER curious how sdra2 -2+2 would go down, especially the aftermath!

Since you said especially the aftermath, allow me to ramble about just that! It is something i really like thinking about with this Au, but i can totally make another post talking about the changes in the actual Kg if asked :]

-The exit code Teruya and Rei had in canon has been signficantly changed here. It's basically this safety that could exit them out of the game on command but also save them if they ever died in the sim by creating a copy/backup of their avatars, this however was never properly tested before they went in since they were in a hurry and when they needed it this code didn't work as intended.

Teruya and Rei

Rei used it to exit the game in the prologue but instead of getting her out she became glitched in this sorta digital limbo through the rest of the Sdra2 Kg and all she could really do was try to communicate with Sora (since she's an Ai and not a human). When the sim resets/shuts down during the mass execution she essentially died, and Teruya died as well because of the Ch5 stuff. However! The backup code did work! Just not as well as they wished.

It did do its job, but the backup avatars were on a glitched state. The two are essentially in a coma of sorts, so only Tsurugi and the girls join the sim to be a part of the Ch6 trial.

When they do finally wake up a good while after the Kg ended, they're still left with a few sequelae even though Kokoro did her absolutely best to restore their avatars as much as she could. Teruya now has a couple memory issues and Rei has chronic headaches, but hey, that's certainly better than not coming back at all.

Kokoro

-Their predicament is the whole reason why Kokoro wasn't arrested immediatelly after the killing game ended, as the person who basically created the simulation she told Kinjo that she could fix their avatars and bring them back safely. After much consideration (and convincing from Ayame, Kizuna and Hibiki's part) he agrees to have Kokoro work on bringing back Teruya and Rei + search the simulation for any remnants of Ai Mikado to delete him completely. She also tries to find what's left of Sora and put her back together, but that's not something Kinjo or anyone ordered her to do. (Sora was one of the few that believed she could change and were sympatethic to her in some extent after the reveal that she abused Mikako and helped set up the Kg. Essentially this fic i wrote a while back is basically canon in -2+2 now.)

During this time she stays working at the Kisaragi foundation they give her a room in the facility to live in and she's given an ankle bracelet that tracks where she is, so she's essentially in a house arrest of sorts and can't leave the foundation without a permission from Kinjo and agents to come wherever she's going. Not she leaves at all, she really just focus on messing around in the sim since it's part of her wanting to make up for all the terrible things she did in her life.

No one from the foundation talks much with her (friendly talks, that is) at most some higher up comes to check on her progress, but Hibiki stuck around the foundation for as long as she was working there. It was also during this stay that she met Beni when she was on break and saw her arguing with her dad, from analyzing her unusually intense emotions for a situation like this she can tell there's something off about the kid and steps in to take a closer look at her.

She tells Hikaru he should definitely bring her to child psychologist for a mental health evaluation which leads to Beni being diagnosed with BPD and autism, from there Beni gets curious about Mitsume and wants to ask more about her condition + get to know her in general because "Woah, Mrs.Mitsume is super smart". She's around the foundation most of the time so she starts to go after her in the area she's working on the sim stuff, which annoys Kokoro initially since she's working, so she tells her to wait for her breaks because then she can awnser as many questions as she wants.

So they do just that and start hanging out in the foundation's break room were Kokoro explains more about her conditions and mental illnesses in general, she also ends up telling her about alexithymia and the two bond over neurodivergent experiences. Overtime Kokoro softens up to her more and let's Beni follow her around in the lab she's working on the sim stuff, she let's het know a lot of what she's doing too and they chat a little even ad she's working.

Beni has a pretty messy relationship with her family at this point, she's a kid that barely sees her dad since he's so overworked at the foundation and with her mother being dead ever since the start of the tragedy the only person she had always around her growing up was her older brother, so this lack of a father/mother figure is why she ends up viewing Kokoro as one, or at least the closest to during her childhood. To the point she gets annoyed at her actually family when they suggest ot try to get her to stop being around her, especially since neither Hikaru or Hamato want to explain why they don't want her around Kokoro. (Obviously you should tell a 7 year old about human experimentation and the orchestration of a killing game, but since Beni is a lil kid she doesn't understand why they can't just explain to her why they dislike Mitsume so much)

As for Kokoro, she doesn't necessarily view Beni as her daughter, she more so sees much of her younger self on her which is why she takes a liking for the kid and wants to know how she's doing (and help if she can) because there's a sentiment of "Maybe this one won't turn out as bad as I did." Though by the time she takes notice that Beni sees her as a mother figure she tries to slowly distance herself from her because the idea of being seen as a mother brings her a lot of pain because of knowing what she did in the past to her actually daughter and Kokoro does not think any kid should look up to her out of all people.

This is around the time he's basically done working for the foundation and once Teruya and Rei are awake and being treated by Ando and the rest of the medical team at the Kisaragi foundation +Ai Mikado and the sim are no more, she finally goes to jail, (thought Hibiki did try to change her mind about it). Hibiki visists her prision and Beni does so as well when she's old enough to do that.

Emma and Syobai

-They're both arrested immediately after the Kg ends. He tries to get her to do a prision break with him, hoping that the sliver of luck she still has could help, but Emma refuses since in her mind, what good would that do? Where would she go afterwards?

He still tries to make a break for it and takes Midori as a hostage, but then Emma uses the remainder of her luck to free herself and chase after them to stop him. She gets stabbed by him in the process, but at least things don't escalate to the point Keisuke almost shoots Midori like in canon and Syobai gets sent to a higher security prison. Afterward that's taken as a sign that she really is trying to change because if she wanted to she could have tried to escape and all, so a while after Emma is given a job at the foundation as a way to pay for her sentence and also keep showing that she's no longer a threat. (She's on the same division as Midori, she's meant to keep track of her in a way, that was her idea after all.)

Hibiki

-Whike she's initially brought to be interrogated by Kinjo out of his own paranoid suspicious that she had a hand on Kanade's murders, after that's cleared up she goes on to give her account on the events of the killing game so that Rei's division can document and know exactly what happened there. She spends a good while on that, alongside Yoruko because the intelligence division wanted to compare the facts between the two not-cirminal members to see if they were being truthful + Foundation higher ups found Hibiki's takes to be biased in certain aspects, so a second opinion is always great to have.

While Yoruko leaves shortly after they're done with these interviews Hibiki sticks around the Kisaragi foundation for basically as long as Kokoro was working for them, she's the person Hibiki became the closest with after the events of Ch3 and she stays by her side after the killing game ended as the one (living) person out of their "class" that doesn't hate Kokoro's guts.

While she's there to keep her company and listen to her ranting when things don't go as she planed or just feels terrible after everything she did, there is part of Hibiki that's using Kokoro as a clutch to not move on with her life. The thing is that Hibiki has truly never been on her own, before she was always around Kanade and after she died she was always around Kokoro. But the killing game is over now, everyone else has gone their way already and she knows Kokoro will get locked up sooner rather than later, so she's in a state where she's not sure where to go next or how to do it with nobody by her side.

So her stay around the foundation is half her wanting to support someone who helped her a lot, half her procrastinating on this soul searching she's gotta do. Though in the time she's just fucking around there she meets Ayame and Kizuna's kid and while Akira is not the biggest fan of idols she does know about Melody rhythm and liked a handful of their songs, so with Hibiki there she asks her for some singing lessons, tips and whatever.

Through these informal classes of sorts Hibiki discovered she really likes passing on all she's learned through her years as a singer, so later down the line she becomes Akira's producer/career manager and the two even have a few songs they made together.

Yuki and Yoruko

-These two's fates after the Kg change the least from canon. Yuki still dissapears basically immediately after they leave the sim for the final time and while Yoruko hangs around the foundation for a bit longer than canon, she still ultimately decides to leave and move on with her life instead of getting a job there. Much to Hibiki's dismay since that's another person she had to see go with the knowledge that they probably wouldn't see each other again afterwards.

She tried to get Yoruko to stay by telling her about how Kokoro was trying to bring back Sora too (this was kind of a secret between Kokoro and Hibiki). But since Yoruko doesn't like Mitsume at all anymore she doesn't want to believe in what she's doing or wait around when she could be met with nothing but dissapointment.

[ms-scarletwings]

That Speculative Analysis About Irkens No One (Originally) Asked For: Part III

Hey! Huge thanks to everyone who took an interest in the first two parts of this fun I got into about Jhonen Vasquez’s funny green guys. I didn’t really expect to kind of rebound back into this old flame the way I have been lately and it’s actually a pleasant surprise that other fans have been getting something out of it and enabling my latest thinkworms.

Check out the part one of this extended analysis here, for broad tids and bits about Planet Irk and the mention of its inhabitants being basically cyborgs.

Part Two, takes on Irken physiology and focusing on their tissue differences from humans, here.

So alright, I’ve been holding this one in since the very start. Previously, I brushed the topic of the control brains, and I’ve sorta gestured acknowledgement toward the Irken obsession with height. Now, I’m really ready to get some thought goo flowing all over and in the crevices of the matter of Irk’s power structure, and, perhaps the one social W that this marauding pack of space imperialists get to claim.

Bearing no further ado, let’s talk about the Tallest. Can we talk about the Tallest? Please Mac, I’ve been dying to talk about the Tallest with you all day.

I’ve said once and now repeated twice that I think the canon implied that the homeworld of our favorite invaders is dummy thicc; consequentially, it’s left a lasting ripple on the evolution of their species as well.

Planetary gravity has a ton of invisible effects on the skeletons of large fauna, to the point where it’s the main thing that you, filthy Earth creature, can shake your own fist at it for taking a huge slice of the blame behind the prevalence of back pain in upright hominins. All that downward tug can really wear a spine down good over the years. In fact, would you believe that astronauts actually grow a smidge taller in Zero-G environments? Legit. So… use your brain and consider what we could have ended up looking like with our same bone structure, but many times that compression.

You take that mental path, and suddenly, height outcomes may not seem like such an arbitrary measure of general survival fitness after all. Especially in the days before the Irkens represented an intergalactic super power. It may seem counterproductive in their modern intelligent society, but no doubt this aesthetic affinity is something that runs much deeper ingrained than practical programming. Respecting tallness is something Irk takes on dogmatic intuition- to the fault of barely being able to comprehend the notion of another species being both tall AND intellectually primitive.

Nevertheless, I pose that the connection may also be more than traditionalism, and not so vestigial after all. My reasoning suggests that The Almighty Tallest are in fact, not randomly born… they’re planned and made by the real overlords sitting atop the pyramid. And even so, they have existed in the species long, LONG before the PAK even did.

• Caste Polymorphism & Bug Stuff

The insectoid inspirations of Zim’s kin are something so obvious they really need no recapping, yet, I’m pining to make a more specific comparison. Some people like to go for wasps or bees, but if you ask me, the roving militarism of the armada is begging for the ant metaphor if anything.

And I got a hell of a species to whip out that you’ve probably never heard of.

A quick context breakdown- Polymorphism is another one of those long biology terms for a pretty simple concept: when one species has different distinct forms or types of forms that appear in its population. And it’s not talking about continuous spectrum differences like height alone. It’s talking about when animals/plants can have one gene with different possible phenotypical presentations. One good example (in humans no less) is the existence of different blood type groups. One of my absolute favorite cases, by the by, is in Side-Blotched Lizards. The females are samey and look pretty generic, but the males deadass come in 3 completely differentiated color variants, all of which are playing a perpetual game of rock paper scissors with the other two for breeding success.

And this kind of phenomenon of course gets way less subtle in the insect world. Everyone here probably knows the simplified version of what a colony critter’s caste system looks like, with sterile female workers, breeding done males, and one big fat queen at the top, pumping out replacements for the other two. This is the part where I tell you it’s a hell of a lot more complicated, weird, and varied than that, actually.

Consider army ants, as I see them, the most Irk-ish of real world animals. Some fun facts on the most notorious handful of species below:

+ Nomadic by nature, they do not build any form of permanent hill or nest, and instead make temporary pit stops inbetween periods where the entire colony swarms along the forest floor in search of resources.

+ Army ants are aggressively predatory and forage in the style of legion-like “raids” that overwhelm their prey with sheer numbers and speed.

+ These raids often take shape by way of linear traffic columns that guide the direction of the swarm. This is because the ants have poor vision, relying on following the paths of the scent trails of the workers that are spearheading the legion.

+ Eciton burchellii, in particular, demonstrates a stark example of polymorphism by way of a rigid caste hierarchy. I.e., The non-reproductive colony members are divided into 4 sized tiers of worker. From smallest to largest there are minors, medias, porters (sub-majors), and soldiers (majors).

And let me tell you… the difference between the Soldier (major) caste and the rest of that batch is a pretty surprising gap.

This is what ONE major-type ant looks like hanging out with colony mates from the lower worker castes.

Oh wait, getting ahead of myself. Ahem… sorry, I meant THIS is the image I was referring to:

Not only is that obviously the bossiest bitch of the bunch, but she has some pretty cool features unique to her status… The more spidery looking body shape and those absolutely wicked mandibles being a standout.

You know what drop I already had coming, so I’ll cut to the chase.

It’s clear that the Almighty Tallest are NOT the Irken equivalent of a hive queen. They are not drones, either. Besides the glaring fact that they are non-reproductive individuals, the role they serve in Irken society has very little if anything to do with running the day-to-day lives and functions of the larger population.

Instead, we have always seen them (and would have seen them more in the unmade episodes such as The Trial) involved more with the military front of the empire. Tallest Miyuki’s one known planned appearance would have featured her overseeing the military research happening on the Vortian base. Tallest Spork’s brief entrance (and exit) was planned to take place on Devastis, where he addressed those who were being evaluated to join the elite ranks of the armada. And our very own iconic duo have,

also,

never even once been seen on their home planet since their introduction. Their first appearance? Conventia. Ever since? Aboard the Massive, where they directly command and supervise the operations of the active invasions.

Why, the Almighty Tallest in all cases… these aren’t emperors at all, they’re generals! Sure, they have power, they have reverence, but even they must obey the final judgement of a Control brain at the end of the day. The same brains that grant them their status in the first place. Note, in real ants, the mechanics of how exactly any one egg is differentiated into its decided caste, from worker to queen, and all between, is… to say the very least, really fucking complicated. And all over the place. Broadly speaking, it’s a mix between genetic potential and nutrition during development. In some species this determination is near entirely up to the whims of DNA, and in others, it does come heavily down to how many protein shakes the colony decided to give their brood that day.

For the purposes of this hypothetical, I’m going to assume the people of Irk fall somewhere in between those two polar options. Now, being a futuristic network of coordinated supercomputers using cloning tech, the control brains have a more precise handle on the gene pool/diversity of their underlings than anything possible with natural breeding.

Let’s also assume they record and monitor the current population of each potential class of irken (they literally assign and code the PAKs’ occupational roles themselves). With each batch of smeets, they can predetermine certain percentages aside with the potential to fill whatever roles need replacing and expansion… keeping the genetic height markers attached for those downline to understand who should be looking down on who. Ergo, not ANY Irken can one day become the almighty tallest, but within each generation of smeets produced, there are potential candidates hidden among the upper ranks of would-be soldiers.

This way, the sudden death of the current armada commander would not disable current operations or throw the offensive lines into utter chaos for years on end. The Control brains need only select out the cream of the crop from their “proto-Tallest” and then cue their body (via diet or hormones) to switch the proper genes on, get a new growth spurt going, and complete the metamorphosis into their true potential.

As for why they seemed to break a historical precedent and jump for a two-for-one special in Zim’s generation… yeah, I’m not sure about that really. There could be a link between that and the very sudden death of the two previous tallests in a row, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. It could just be a remarkable coincidence that Red and Purple were decided to be equally viable successors. Or, Operation Impending Doom could have been deemed an ambitious enough endeavor to warrant the appointing of two regents at once, given the scale of Irk’s expanded army for the purpose.

So, that’s it, then? The Irken species became so reliant of their technological advancement that they have casted aside and replaced every bit of their natural life cycle and order some

computer deemed inefficient? Substituted the seat of their leadership and even their ability to procreate with the soulless calculations of their AI programs?

:y Well, yes, but actually no.

• Long Live the Cyberocracy!

When I said in part one that Irk was on track to eventually make the jump from cyborg citizens to an entirely mechanical or digitized lifeform, I was doing a ponderous thinking thing. I was supposed to just be speculating, and then I find out the most mind blowing revelation while doing the research for this bad boy- those alien bastards already did it. The madlads/madlasses… So, living Irkens DO actually run the show around here, hiding in plain sight this whole time.

I am still desperately searching for confirmation of the rumors I heard that Vasquez himself has said what I’m about to share, and I deeply appreciate anyone who can give me that as well. Even if this turns out to only be fanon, I’m still in love with this interpretation anyway: Within the Control Brains are the preserved consciousness of Irkens who have achieved this evolutionary end stage. WHO are they exactly is… honestly anyone’s guess. The important part being that they no longer have need of their meat suits to survive any longer and now exist as these hulks of nerve and metal.

Be this what it looks like to me, and it would be certain that this is actually the most coveted and honorary fate of any single Irken- immortalized and given a status on par with deification over the most powerful imperium the cosmos has ever known. Perhaps this was the path of particularly accomplished Tallests of the past, who had their paks integrated into the core of a fledgeling new control interface. What better way to commemorate those who have fallen in the highest level of glory? A single “brain” could in fact even be the summation of multiple beings, making example of the greatest the species has to offer and what all should be striving for. Conversely, the greatest punishment of their kind is the opposite- to be forever deceased, forever forgotten, forever excluded from this collective transcendence:

Damnatio Memoriae.

(But like… in a kids’ show)

There’s no clear estimate on how many control brains exist in the franchise, there are at least four that we have seen on screen, one on Devastis and the others within Judgementia. Probs safe to assume there’s at least one permanently built into the infrastructure of any planet of key enough importance to the Empire. Interestingly, lost scripts and show canon make numerous references to them still having gendered pronouns and voices when addressed individually.

Though, now that I think of it, that’s also really interesting that the same is true for the worker castes, too.

• Putting the “Trans” in Transirkenism 👉😎👉

When a worldbuild goes so far as to explicitly confirm a completely sexless, alien race of neuter cyborgs, the existence of a human-like gender binary starts to beg for some kind of explanation. You can’t just “suspension of disbelief” it aside the same as you can the fact that English is the most popular first language across the Galaxy.

Oh, lookie, it’s one of my favorite things to think about when toying around with postbiological concepts/philosophy. I knew there were even more reasons transhumanism always seemed like such a cool sci-fi trope, from the endless possibilities in imagining the badass super powers, to the worlds of knowledge, and to the absolute social equalization that would all be unlocked in a cybernetic future. Well, that future is already comfortably in the hands of Irk, and whether intentionally or not, it has apparently brought them to the threshold of not just a postorganic, but also a post-gender society too.

A feminine and masculine variation does still exist in the form of small aesthetic differences- voice, antennae shape, pronoun usage, and eyelashes- but is now so far disconnected from the original associated sex roles that the distinction might as well be no more than a cosmetic preference. While “female” irkens are seen much, much more rarely than their counterparts, neither gender is treated differently from the other, and both have been spotted in occupations all the way up to invader elite and the Almighty Tallest.

This is a blending, of course, far beyond the insect-like caste system that itself did survive to the modern day, and that shows some truly impressive progress from what I imagine they were doing before.

Army ants, like all eusocial insects, are matriarchal; as in, where the females run the colony from top to bottom, while the males lead short runs of being mutilated by the workers, mating with the queen, and then dying shortly after.

In this headcannon narrative, it was almost certainly the male-associated gender Irkens who were liberated by the technological jump.

And that’s all sum purdy neat food for thought, huh ! ?

[misc-obeyme]

my favorite theory re: why does barbatos hate solomon he would not be that mad about the list (at most a little passive aggressive about it next time he saw him) is that past!solomon knows nightbringer (or is nightbringer????) (has a pact with nightbringer if they're a demon????????) and used his pact to make barbatos take mc back to the past. i think future!solomon has had his memory erased of all this, possibly in relation to his reconciliation with barbatos. past!barbatos might feel taken betrayed which could also sorta explain why he used the list as an excuse in that he doesn't feel respected or acknowledged. more to the point though, this would also mean past!solomon had made barbatos break his promise with diavolo to not use his powers over time, which i feel would definitely be reason enough for him to be as angry as he is, especially if past!solomon had also prevented him from just talking to future!solomon about it

idk i might have explained this badly. i am behind in the storyline for nb so i might be missing stuff but i just don't think he'd be that genuinely angry for that long over something that petty. unless he had been cursed. which could also be an interesting subplot!

i dont think either of these will actually happen but its what makes sense to me and i think it could be interesting. idk idk lmao

Well hello there friend!!

OKAY BUT YES I also really like the idea that the reason Barb is angry at Solomon is that it is past!Solomon who forced Barb to do something he didn't want to do, such as sending MC back to the past!

I have a whole theory about past!Solomon, but basically it's just suspicious to me that we never run into him. And I really felt like that part where Solomon summons Barbatos in the labyrinth was meant to show us that Solomon can force Barb to do things he doesn't want to do. Why show us that otherwise? And when Solomon did that, Barbatos was pissed. Like even more pissed than he usually is.

I didn't even realize this would also mean Barb would have broken his promise to Diavolo, but you're right and that feels like an actual in character reason for him to be upset!

And future!Solomon clearly has no idea what's going on, which is why everything doesn't make sense to him.

And possibly Barbatos is aware of what's happening with the different Solomons, but he can't say it to him directly, so he makes up something about the list on the spot because MC asked about it.

You didn't explain it badly at all, I am right there with you!! I think there's something else going on and although I haven't talked about two Solomons theory in a while, I still think that could be part of the issue! We got past!Solomon causing trouble while potentially being under the command of Nightbringer and we have future!Solomon being completely confused because he doesn't even remember what's happening.

It would be interesting if it came down to a curse, too, though. Who put the curse on Barb? Why? How?? etc!

I just can't get behind the list being the real reason. If they never talk about it again, I'm just gonna go with my own ideas and forget about canon because that's what I do when I don't like what happens lol.

[shrinkthisviolet]

So obviously in the updated AA canon we know that it was the events of 1-5 that led Edgeworth to fake his suicide (or more likely seriously consider it before backing out) and go dark for a year...but what about in the original canon? Because 1-5 didn't exist then and 1-4 ended on a somewhat good note...what do you think Edgeworth's reasoning was in that 'verse?

YESSSS omg I’m so glad someone asked me this, because I’m delighted to talk about it! This got long, so more under the cut:

So one of the benefits of watching an Ace Attorney playthrough of JFA is getting to hear the players’ and commenters thoughts about Edgeworth’s disappearance…especially since a good chunk of them played the original DS version of the trilogy that did not include RFTA (1-5), while others played the new version (or a ported version, like me) that did include RFTA. And it changes a few things about Edgeworth.

For one thing, a change that I don’t really like is that it takes away Edgeworth knowingly forging evidence. It’s not technically contradictory because only Phoenix states it as fact and bases it on rumors he’s heard/read about and rumors can exaggerate…but it does diminish his arc a bit. I won’t go on and on about it (I could definitely do that another time), but I’ll say this to put it concisely: the arc still sorta works, it’s just weaker.

But anyway, on to the second change, and the topic of your ask: in the original version, we jump from 1-4 to 2-4 in regards to Edgeworth appearances, whereas in the new version, it’s 1-5 to 2-4. And this…is a point of contention for some.

I think in both situations, Edgeworth “choosing death” makes sense. In both cases, his entire worldview is upended. In 1-4, his mentor who he thought he could trust and greatly respected turned out to be evil and hateful enough to prosecute him for two murders, one of which von Karma committed himself (granted, von Karma wasn’t a great father himself, emotionally abusing both Edgeworth and Franziska, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t love him, strive for his love, and respect him highly as a prosecutor). And in 1-5, Lana revealed that she forged evidence during the Joe Darke trial, which Edgeworth presented believing it was legitimate, while Gant undermined and manipulated Edgeworth throughout the entire trial (and also for years before that) and directly compared them, which surely would’ve shaken Edgeworth to his core.

So to put it simply, I think in either case, the explanation is more or less the same: Edgeworth is pushed so far that his mental health suffers for it, he questions his entire career as a prosecutor, so he leaves that note and disappears. I think with either case as the final tipping point, it works…however, I think 1-5 explains it much stronger.

See, in either case, Edgeworth’s worldview is shattered in 1-4, right? It has to be. No doubt he starts to question his path after 1-4, but his responses are different.

In the original version, the von Karma case (1-4) breaks him (understandably) and he disappears, leaving his note behind, with everyone else none the wiser that he was struggling at all.

However, in the new version, in 1-5, we see him attempting to push down his emotions and keep going. This is very consistent for him because he’s been doing it for years (he repressed the events of his father’s murder so hard that he didn’t entirely remember what happened that night—his memory became a nightmare that twisted Edgeworth up and made him think he killed his own father, after all), it’s all he knows how to do, and he’d lean on it even harder after losing the man who raised and trained him for years. And it works…but then something else breaks him, because even someone as repressed as Miles Edgeworth has a breaking point.

The stuff with Damon Gant and Lana Skye, the revelations about the Darke forged evidence, Gant saying he and Edgeworth are the same after patronizing and manipulating him all trial (and for years prior), on top of everything else…yeah, that being the final impetus to break Edgeworth once and for all and make him flee absolutely makes sense and hits so much harder.

I will say, the only thing that doesn’t really make sense is Phoenix attributing Edgeworth’s disappearance to him being upset that he lost his perfect win record. Considering he worked with Phoenix in RFTA, considering Phoenix saw Edgeworth being patronized and manipulated by Damon Gant (and was there for the forgery revelation), it’s strange that Phoenix would then conclude “oh yeah he left because he got mad that his perfect streak was broken, and definitely for no other reason that merits my sympathy.” It doesn’t entirely make sense that he says that in the original version either, though (dude, you just watched Edgeworth’s mentor and guardian be convicted of murdering his dad, you think maybe that had something to do with it??), so I can let that go.

Phoenix was emotionally fraught at the time, and hurt about Edgeworth leaving without saying a word to him, so I can believe he was just venting and being unfair in his anger. Edgeworth does say that Phoenix sealing him off from a perfect win record caused him to start to change, and he acts in such a way that seems to suggest it did inform his decision to leave, but again…whether it’s 1-4 or 1-5, Phoenix’s actions were never the sole reason for Edgeworth leaving. So this isn’t necessarily changed.

You can argue Edgeworth in 1-5 is kinda OOC in that he feels like post-trilogy Edgeworth, and you’re not wrong (that’s another change I dislike), but…strictly in terms of explaining his disappearance and its circumstances, I prefer 1-5.

(sidenote: I know a lot of people consider that he contemplated suicide, and I don’t necessarily disagree with that reading, I think it’s very reasonable and possible.

However, I’ve also heard the interpretation that Edgeworth wasn’t suicidal, he just couldn’t continue to prosecute, and couldn’t stay in America with all its bad memories, so he left to go elsewhere and find himself again…hoping that when he returned, the prosecutor he once had been, the “Demon Prosecutor,” would be dead—and that’s an explanation I consider possible too, especially since his return is never really treated with the gravitas of “oh, I was suicidal, and I went to therapy while I was away, and I’m doing better now.”

Still, it wouldn’t be the first time Ace Attorney was flippant about something serious, so I find either explanation to be plausible.)

This was a looong one lol but hopefully I addressed your question to the extent you wanted!

TL;DR: I prefer RFTA’s version of events preceding Edgeworth’s disappearance because I feel it fits better with his characterization, but I also understand people who prefer the original, and I don’t think they’re as different as people might claim.