#AND THEYRE JUST. HERE. IN THE BUILDING. FAKING IT ALL

[alstroemerian-dragon]

been having some thoughts again. thinking about pre-sim, post tragedy, that middling ground where they were taken in by the foundation but not yet discovered.

under the cut bc it might get. long

okay so. idr how much ive gone into this but the anime made some Wild decisions when it came to how the despairs got captured by the foundation because in the game its. its pretty clear how they got there and its Not by fighting the agents and getting captured. they turned themselves in. as Survivors. as Innocents. ive talked abt this i think but its pretty clear To Me from the emails we read in the last chapter of sdr2 that izuru sent anonymous info to the foundation about fifteen survivors of the hpa tragedy that they werent originally aware of and where they could be found, and that the despairs lied and pretended to have amnesia about who they were and what had happened in order to get into the foundations facilities. incredibly risky. izuru knew several things that could happen, and he knew that the survivors of dr1 would be there, and may recognize them

so now im thinking about that uneasy period after theyve turned themselves in one by one, joined together as a group pretending to be traumatized amnesiacs, but secretly plotting a destruction from the inside. And Then The DR1 Survivors Start To Remember Them.

i think it would be Really interesting if makoto remembered nagito first. just by virtue of their shared talent, and how nagito would see makoto, i think they saw a lot of each other in school, and so something like. i dunno. maybe after one session of the memory therapy trying to retrieve the survivors school memories makoto sees someone flipping a coin and it hits him like a train. and then he and kiyoko start putting the pieces together as the feeling of dread rises in them all as they all start to remember more and more, the uneasy relationship between their two classes, the snippets of memories of junko acting strangely with class 77 and how close she was to them out of everyone else in 78, and then their death at the end of the school year before the parade got to them. like. they should All be dead.

but theyre not. and theyre here. and the signs start jumping out to the dr1 cast like neon red flashing warnings.

im just thinking about them figuring out how to get the despairs on a ship without tipping their superiors off to their goal, faking paperwork, getting other people to go along with it, the despairs being confused and alarmed as to whats happening but. izuru says to go with it. dont make a fuss. dont act up yet. and so they go quietly. and only once theyre already on their way to jabberwock does kiyoko pull a gun on them and the truth comes out

man. i need to write something.

[toytulini]

dont get mad at me this is a subjective opinion but like. like i enjoy stardew a lot and this is by no means a criticism, more of like. just a Wish.

I want a game very similar to stardew valley in terms of play and "difficulty" but animated/artstyle like, botw.

[pinkpluswhite]

i do kinda think abt how his comments in that interview really do align with the character seth has been playing for years atp. from my understanding he turned on the shield initially to be at the top. is he there now? probably not in his eyes. because no matter what he does, how many matches he fights, how many times he defends his title, how many times he WINS over roman, he's still in second place to the big dog. always his little brother.

[nyoomerr]

For the drabble request, I can never get enough shixiong!SY bingqiu. But only if you're up to it :)

ok it turns out i'm fundamentally unable to write a drabble as short as theyre meant to be, so here's over 4k words of shixiong!sy for your perusal 🤡 (+ a decent helping of cranky peak lord sqq and his wayward head disciple sy)

---

Shen Yuan… has possibly let himself become a bit too relaxed, since he first transmigrated. He used to spend every day on high alert: every cute little kid might be the protagonist, every mistake he made might have been logged somewhere for a petty revenge side plot later. He wouldn’t dare miss anything plot relevant, not when it might cause his doom. After all, ‘Shen Yuan’ wasn’t even a named character within PIDW - he was well and truly canon fodder!

But then, ah… Then Shen Yuan was accepted as a disciple on Qing Jing, and then he was a personal disciple of the notorious Shen Qingqiu, and then - 

Well, not even Shen Yuan can keep up that sort of hyper vigilance all the time, okay!! He’s the scum villain’s head disciple - basically a henchman! If he lived in fear for every moment he might be condemned, he’d never have a second to rest!

It isn’t Shen Yuan’s fault that the best way to relax in this world is to go on years-long expeditions off peak! 

…It might, maybe, be just a tiny bit my fault, Shen Yuan thinks, staring at Luo Binghe with horror. How does he manage to take such a long vacation that he misses the protagonist’s arrival onto Qing Jing? What kind of fake fan is he, ah?!

Luo Binghe has not introduced himself as such, but there is no way he can be anyone but Luo Binghe. His hair falls into perfect curls around a face so cute and round Shen Yuan wants to squish his cheeks until they turn pink, and he’s wearing an expression so determined and focused that it puts Shen Yuan to shame as the head disciple.

And he’s chopping wood. That’s the most recognizable part, obviously. 

Shen Yuan forces himself to step forward into the small glade he found Luo Binghe in, clearing his throat awkwardly. Luo Binghe whips around, and Shen Yuan nearly cringes at the nervous apprehension on the boy’s face.

“Ah, I didn’t mean to startle you…” Shen Yuan trails off. Luo Binghe stares at him and says nothing. Shen Yuan’s perfectly nice and friendly smile starts to slip. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before…?”

“Apologies to Shixiong, this one will be sure to cut wood further away from the main peak buildings, so Shixiong doesn’t have to see me again.”

“Wha - wait, wait, that’s not what I meant!” Shen Yuan cries, becoming increasingly concerned about just how long he’s been away from Qing Jing. 

For Luo Binghe to already be this wary of any Shixiong who looks his way… ah, Shen Yuan has basically already failed every single one of his loose plans to keep Luo Binghe from blackening! He wasn’t even there to witness Luo Binghe’s initial perfect white sheep days, let alone keep him out of the warpath of bullies and bitter Shizuns!

“This Shixiong is Shen Yuan,” he says, taking a few slow steps closer to Luo Binghe. Somehow, he gets the feeling that he has to be ready to catch Luo Binghe by the scruff if he tries to run off or start a fight while Shen Yuan is just trying to introduce himself, ah!

“This one is Luo Binghe,” Luo Binghe replies, dipping into a perfunctory bow.

“Yes!” Shen Yuan says. “I mean - well, it’s a good name.”

Luo Binghe’s expression only grows more wary. 

“And ah, how long has Luo Binghe been on the peak?” Shen Yuan asks, even though the look Luo Binghe is giving him makes him want to slink back off into the bamboo forest. He has to know - if he’s lucky, it’ll only have been a year or two, and Shen Yuan can -

“This one has been a disciple of Qing Jing for over three years, now,” Luo Binghe says.

“Hm!” Shen Yuan says, because what he really wants to do is yell but he can’t do that with this customer service smile plastered on his face. 

Inwardly, he allows himself to monologue out a list of swears that would’ve gotten his old online accounts temporarily locked. Over three years is too long!! The blackening has already started!! Luo Binghe has already started damaging his meridians by following that cursed fake manual, has already started training under Meng Mo, and most importantly has already given up hope of being accepted here and started farming resentment instead!

Shen Yuan is fucked!! What sort of half-assed blackening prevention plan starts this late!?

“Ah, so Luo-shidi must already be 15, or nearly there,” Shen Yuan says aloud, laughing nervously. “Are you, um, sure?”

Please, please tell this pitiful Shixiong of yours that you just misspoke!!

Luo Binghe looks at him like he’s an idiot. Shen Yuan can feel nervous sweat beading along his forehead.

“It’s just - well, Luo-shidi is quite small, for being 15,” Shen Yuan says, and then nearly bites his tongue in an attempt to correct himself. Who is he to call the protagonist ‘small,’ ah!! “Not quite small! Only a bit! Only - uh, only slightly smaller than I’d expect! It’s only that I’m already 19, and Luo-shidi is much - I mean only a little! - shorter than I am, so -”

Shen Yuan makes himself shut up. You’re making a fool of yourself in front of the protagonist, you idiot!

“This one will be sure to train more to get bigger,” Luo Binghe says, though it sounds a bit like he’s talking through gritted teeth.

“No, no, you’re training plenty!” Shen Yuan rushes to say. “Uh, that is - admittedly, I’ve been off peak for some time now, but when I was Luo-shidi’s age, things like chopping wood were a group chore, so if you’re managing it all by yourself, surely you’re… big and strong…”

Shen Yuan shuts up again. Luo Binghe stares at him some more, but there’s something in his expression that seems more considering that it had been just a moment ago.

After a long stretch of awkward silence, he seems to come to some sort of resolution, and takes a hesitant step towards Shen Yuan.

“Forgive this one’s ignorance,” he says, slow and careful. “The other Shixiong said it was a chore best done alone to build strength. Is that wrong?”

“Very wrong,” Shen Yuan says, nearly beside himself with relief. 

Good, very good! Luo Binghe hasn’t lost all hope for his time on Qing Jing Peak just yet, after all! Given the chance, he’ll still try to carefully raise the issue of his bullying to a responsible Shixiong to take care of!

Shen Yuan can so be a responsible Shixiong that takes care of reports of bullying for Luo Binghe!!

“Oh,” Luo Binghe says, edging even closer to Shen Yuan. “Then what does Shen-shixiong think I should do?”

“Luo-shidi doesn’t have to do anything about this,” Shen Yuan says firmly. “This Shixiong will take care of finding out who’s meant to be sharing this chore with you and make them do the rest of it.”

“There might be multiple people,” Luo Binghe offers, still speaking with a caution that makes it quite clear how likely he thinks it is that Shen Yuan’s assistance will vanish as soon as Luo Binghe complains too much. 

“Because Luo-shidi has been made to do this chore alone for many days, now?” Shen Yuan asks. 

Still looking a bit wary, Luo Binghe nods. Shen Yuan sighs, having expected that answer, and takes the final steps needed to get within arm’s reach of Luo Binghe. Luo Binghe watches him closely, his hands curling tighter around the ax he’d been using to chop the wood. 

Moving slowly so as not to spook him, Shen Yuan raises one hand to place gently on Luo Binghe’s head. He really is too short for 15, but Shen Yuan knows all the details of ‘why’ - having to work too hard with not enough rest, having meals withheld from him or being served with spoilt ingredients - any kid would be a bit small, when under those conditions.

Luo Binghe had gone stiff under Shen Yuan’s touch, and Shen Yuan takes a moment to pet the top of his head for a moment before saying anything else, hoping to get Luo Binghe to relax again. 

Ah, I really did mean to try and keep you safe, Shen Yuan thinks to himself, feeling regretful. He’d come to Cang Qiong with the intention of finding Luo Binghe early, after all, and had worked as hard as he had in order to be ready for Luo Binghe when he came.

But then he had worked too hard, and Shen Qingqiu had promoted him to head disciple, and suddenly Shen Yuan thought he might go insane if he wasn’t able to get off Qing Jing Peak and stay off for as long as he could possibly get away with, and - 

How stupid of him. Luo Binghe must have been taken in during the disciple selection the very same year that Shen Yuan had taken off on his extended field trip. How very, very stupid of Shen Yuan, to think that things wouldn’t go upside down the second he looked away - this is Luo Binghe’s story, after all, and it’s always been a bit of a tragedy.

“Then this Shixiong can only apologize to you,” Shen Yuan says softly, with perhaps just a bit too much sincerity. “And in the future, if you’re given this sort of work again, I’ll chop wood in your place.”

Under his hand, Luo Binghe peers up at Shen Yuan with wide, hungry eyes. Shen Yuan gives him a final pat before withdrawing his hand, and plasters his friendly smile back on his face. 

“Now, why don’t you get cleaned up, hm? I’ll meet you again later - this Shixiong of yours still needs to report back to Shizun that I’ve returned from my trip.”

Luo Binghe nods, still watching Shen Yuan with an intensity that would feel more at home on an emperor than a scrawny 15 year old, and Shen Yuan beats a hasty retreat.

Despite all the pretty promises he made to Luo Binghe, he’s going to have to think of something clever to actually be able to fulfill them.

After all, not even all of his meta knowledge combined would be able to save Shen Yuan from his Shizun.

---

Shen Yuan has been pacing outside Shen Qingqiu’s bamboo house for ten minutes now. Nothing he can think of is good enough to convince someone as petty and stubborn as Shen Qingqiu. 

Once, at the start of his time on Qing Jing Peak, Shen Yuan had tied his disciple robes wrong, unused to wearing anything quite so complex. Shen Qingqiu had sneered at his mistake in the moment, and then for every major event in the next five years straight he’d made a point to comment snidely on how well Shen Yuan has managed to dress himself.

That’s the sort of mean streak this man has!! If he doesn’t like something, he’ll keep harping on that one thing for years, even after that thing isn’t around to bother him anymore! How is Shen Yuan supposed to coax Luo Binghe out of the jaws of a man like that?

Ah, forget it, forget it! Shen Yuan would just - he’d come back another day! Greeting Shen Qingqiu wasn’t really necessary, Shen Yuan could just -

“I was under the impression that Shen Yuan was a head disciple returning from field work, not a child trying to avoid bedtime.”

Shen Yuan whips around, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end like a spooked cat. There, kneeling elegantly on his front porch not ten meters from Shen Yuan, is Shen Qingqiu.

“Shizun!” Shen Yuan cries, trying to force his grimace into a nice, polite smile. “When did - I mean - this disciple means -”

Shen Qingqiu closes his fan with a harsh snap, and Shen Yuan shuts his mouth so fast he almost bites his tongue.

“Well?” Shen Qingqiu asks dryly, and Shen Yuan hurriedly drops into a bow. 

“This disciple greets Shizun!” Shen Yuan shouts, his ears burning with embarrassment. 

Shen Qingqiu hums, and Shen Yuan risks peeking out from his bow to look at him. 

He does not look especially pleased.

With all the elegance of a wild cat, Shen Qingqiu unfolds himself from his kneeling position on the porch and glides over to Shen Yuan. 

“Too low,” he says, slapping at Shen Yuan’s wrists with his fan. “Or was Shen Yuan hoping there would be a replacement head disciple waiting for him by the time he came back from his trip?”

“Ahahaha,” Shen Yuan wheezes, carefully correcting himself into a bow of a slightly higher ranked disciple than the one he’d originally slipped into. “Of course this disciple is honored by the position and very very grateful for Shizun’s benevolence in leaving it to him even during his absence…”

“What advice does Shen Yuan think his Shizun has for him?” Shen Qingqiu asks sharply, and Shen Yuan winces.

“‘Talk less,’ Shizun,” he recites dutifully. It is advice that Shen Qingqiu has given him many, many times.

Shen Qingqiu sniffs haughtily and walks a slow circle around Shen Yuan, inspecting him. Shen Yuan tries not to sweat too profusely. He really had been hoping that Shen Qingqiu may have forgotten about Shen Yuan in his years away, ah!

Finally, Shen Qingqiu completes his inspection, stopping once more in front of Shen Yuan. 

“What sort of pathetic creature has Shen Yuan carved the bones of to make his hairpiece?” He asks, using his fan to prod at Shen Yuan’s hairpin.

“A Hundred Year Crystal Tortoise, Shizun,” Shen Yuan answers.

“And the leather of your belt?”

“A Golden-Footed Acidic Bear, Shizun.”

“And did you even bother to remove the -”

“- the needle hairs beneath the Bear’s skin before treating the pelt,” Shen Yuan interrupts. “Yes, Shizun.”

Shen Qingqiu scoffs. “How bold you’ve gotten, interrupting your Shizun.”

“...Sorry, Shizun,” Shen Yuan mumbles, deflating a bit.

“Still,” Shen Qingqiu sighs, and Shen Yuan peeks back up at him again. ��You did decent enough, I suppose.”

Shen Yuan perks up, half-standing up out of his bow. “Thanking Shizun -!”

Shen Qingqiu whacks him over the head with his fan. “If Shen Yuan’s trip had been only a single year, instead of nearly four!”

Shen Yuan very quickly gets back into the proper deferential position. 

“Fleeing so quickly after being promoted, only to stay away for this long - I hope Shen Yuan is comfortable sleeping on the ground, because I’ve long since given up keeping the side room in my house for an absent head disciple. I filled it with cursed artifacts and dusty books two years ago.”

“Shizun -!” Shen Yuan protests, starting to stand up again. He’d liked that little room, damn it! It was the one decent part of being promoted to head disciple in the first place, even if it meant sharing a roof with this asshole!!

Shen Qingqiu whacks him again, and Shen Yuan obediently shuts up.

“Foolish boy,” he scolds, before promptly turning on his heel to stalk back to the bamboo house. “Hurry up, then,” he calls behind him, “I want to see if you still make tea as dreadfully as you did before.”

Shen Yuan makes a face at Shen Qingqiu’s back. Without looking behind him, Shen Qingqiu uses his qi to send a single leaf flying to Shen Yuan’s head, slapping him on the forehead right over where Shen Yuan’s brows had bunched together.

Shen Yuan smooths his face out into a perfectly polite smile once more. This asshole, he curses inwardly, he really is scum!! The lowest of the low!! A bully!!!

“Tea, Shen Yuan,” Shen Qingqiu calls once more, and Shen Yuan hurries to catch up.

---

Later, after Shen Yuan has dutifully given a retelling of his adventures over the last few years, and after Shen Qingqiu has grilled him on every mistake he made and how stupid that was of him and how shitty his tea still tastes, Shen Yuan finally manages to bring up Luo Binghe.

“This disciple met someone new this morning,” he says, pouring Shen Qingqiu more of his apparently awful tea. 

“Was Shen Yuan sure they were new? Perhaps it’s been so many years your brain has started to forget the faces of the idiots here in favor of whatever foolish beasts you’ve been studying.”

“Someone new,” Shen Yuan confirms, pretending to ignore Shen Qingqiu’s very pointed glare. “He was a disciple even younger than Ning-shimei, and you only picked her out the year before I left.”

“Ah,” Shen Qingqiu says, and all of a sudden Shen Yuan thinks that perhaps his Shizun has never been truly irritated with him in the past, because this expression is far more acidic than anything Shen Yuan has seen before.

“A-ah…?” Shen Yuan says, stupidly.

Shen Jiu sets his cup down with a harsh clink. “Shen Yuan should ignore that little beast. He won’t bring you any good news.”

“Shizun, this disciple likes beasts best,” Shen Yuan says. “Is he so bad?”

“Ignore him,” Shen Qingqiu repeats frostily. 

Shen Yuan swallows. This… there’s no way that he’ll be able to convince Shen Qingqiu to give Luo Binghe an honest shot in this one conversation. He can’t bet on being able to eventually wear him down, though, either - even if he does eventually convince him, if it takes a year to do it, that’s also not any good. Shen Yuan needs to be able to help Luo Binghe now.

Okay. This is fine. Shen Yuan has - he has so many very good ideas, all of them very well thought out and full of strategic benefits. He can use any one of these very good and smart ideas.

“I understand, Shizun,” Shen Yuan says, “That beast won’t be a shidi of mine, then.”

“Good, now -”

“But what about as a pet?”

Shen Qingqiu stares at him. Shen Yuan stares back.

“A pet,” Shen Qingqiu repeats. 

“A pet,” Shen Yuan agrees. “Shizun, I already said that I like beasts best - if I can’t raise Luo Binghe to be my shidi, can’t I raise him as my pet instead?”

“Don’t be foolish,” Shen Qingqiu snaps. “Beasts aren’t for keeping.”

“Sometimes they are - Cang Qiong has a whole peak dedicated to such a thing,” Shen Yuan points out. Shen Qingqiu’s scowl grows more fierce. 

“Qing Jing is above such dirty work,” he spits.

Shen Yuan swallows again, his hands clenched tightly in his lap. He’s already started down this path; he may as well place all his bets on making it through.

“Then perhaps Qing Jing is not for this disciple after all,” Shen Yuan says, trying to keep his voice steady. It still comes out a bit reedy, but at the very least, his voice doesn’t crack over the words. 

Shen Qingqiu’s eye twitches. “Speak plainly - Shen Yuan has already spent several years neglecting his duties. How much farther do you intend to stray?”

“Shizun so graciously held the position of head disciple open for this one,” Shen Yuan hedges. “On that topic, isn’t it possible for head disciples to choose to spend a decade or so on a different peak of their choice, to encourage diversity in education and cross-peak relationships before the head disciple becomes beholden to their peak as a lord? Perhaps I could take in a pet on a different peak, with such a method.”

“That’s a custom reserved for older disciples,” Shen Qingqiu spits, “intended to benefit them in the years directly leading up to their ascension as a peak lord, not when the head disciple is just a little whelp with a century ahead of them before they can wear a lord’s crown.”

“No such rule is written anywhere, Shizun.”

“Then I’ll write it,” Shen Qingqiu hisses. “Shen Yuan, you’ve had your fun these past years - now you are to stay on this peak.”

“Then I want a pet,” Shen Yuan says, tilting his head up defiantly. “It’ll benefit Shizun, too: you won’t have to feed or clothe him anymore, nor train him to be a cultivator.”

Not that you were doing any of those things for Luo Binghe before, ah!! Shen Yuan thinks, trying to focus on that feeling of indignation. If he just thinks about that - about the horror of coming across Luo Binghe in that clearing earlier, too scrawny to be 15 and yet wary enough of the world he may as well have been an adult - then Shen Yuan can hold his ground. 

If he just thinks about Luo Binghe as a neglected kid, and he just thinks of Shen Qingqiu as that child’s abuser -

If he just thinks about that, then Shen Yuan can meet the eyes of the man who has taught him and promoted him and housed him in the side room of his house, and he can demand this one thing.

“With what funds would Shen Yuan be able to feed and clothe his pet?” Shen Qingqiu asks sharply. “With what free time would he train him not to bite?”

“This one is the head disciple of Qing Jing Peak,” Shen Yuan says. “If a head disciple couldn’t manage that much, they certainly couldn’t deserve to ascend as a peak lord in the future.”

Shen Qingqiu falls silent, unfurling his fan and raising it high up his face until only his eyes peered out the top of it, watching Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan’s hands twist in his lap, but he keeps his gaze steady.

“A head disciple does not run away from the position,” Shen Qingqiu says. 

“Nor does a master run off from their pet,” Shen Yuan agrees.

There’s another moment of quiet as they both watch each other. When Shen Qingqiu speaks again, his voice is firm, like someone reciting basic peak rules and not the terms of the most batshit insane agreement Shen Yuan has ever brokered.

“You will stay on Qing Jing,” Shen Qingqiu says, “and you will accept the head discipleship position without fuss.”

“Yes, Shizun.”

“No more trips. No more pretending to forget to introduce yourself as my head disciple. No more pushing your pathetic disciple brothers at me with paperwork that you clearly filled out in some sort of foolish scheme to have me consider them over you.”

Shen Yuan winces. “Yes, Shizun.”

“You will not receive any additional allowance, for any reason, outside of the funds normally provided to a head disciple. Any pests you pick up will not sleep in my house, nor will you be allowed to request room in the dormitories for any such creature. Those resources are for disciples, not beasts.”

Shen Yuan hesitates. Luo Binghe can’t sleep in the rundown woodshed forever, and he wants to protest the idea that the dorms are for disciples, as if Luo Binghe was ever allowed in there in the first place.

Shen Qingqiu taps one finger on the table. “Answer, Shen Yuan.”

“This disciple agrees under one condition,” Shen Yuan says. “Using his personal funds, this disciple would like to request permission to make moderate renovations to a peak structure in order to improve the quality of kept wood.”

Shen Qingqiu scoffs. “Disciple Shen Yuan’s personal funds will be drained by feeding an animal - you will not be able to afford the standards that Qing Jing exacts for renovation projects.”

“This disciple has been collecting favors from An Ding. They will be repaid, and this disciple will be able to afford the project.”

“Shen Yuan had best not be caught collecting any such favors forcibly,” Shen Qingqiu warns, which is very distinctly a ‘don’t get caught blackmailing people’ warning and not a blanket ‘don’t blackmail people’ one.

“Of course,” Shen Yuan agrees. “This one is the personal disciple of Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu - how could I get caught in such a way?”

Read: you’ve made sure I understand how to not get caught when doing something shady, at the very least!!

Shen Qingqiu waves his fan once, twice - he’s irritated, but doesn’t necessarily disagree.

“Fine,” he says at last. “Permission for a renovation to that ugly woodshed is granted. And Shen Yuan’s answer to all other stipulations?”

“This disciple agrees.”

Shen Qingqiu slaps his fan closed in one palm. “Then Shen Yuan is allowed a pet. I won’t interfere further.”

Shen Yuan nods. He expected as much; Shen Qingqiu won’t egg on any further bullying, nor will he stop Shen Yuan from taking any measures he pleases when it comes to Luo Binghe, but he won’t help Shen Yuan dissuade the current bullying.

That’s fine - already, this is enough to help Luo Binghe.

“Thanking Shizun,” Shen Yuan says, bowing his head slightly. “This disciple will not disappoint.”

After all, how hard could raising the protagonist be? This world revolves around Luo Binghe; all Shen Yuan needs to do is make Luo Binghe’s everyday life a bit less miserable, give him just one person he can trust. Luo Binghe will manage the rest himself, by nature of being who he is - what he is. 

Yes, this - this is the best way.

---

Outside the bamboo house, crouched beneath a window so still his muscles ache and his head feels woozy from how shallow he’s kept his breathing, Luo Binghe listens to his Shizun and Shixiong move on to discuss cleaning out the side room now that Shen Yuan has returned to the peak.

A pet, he thinks, his eyes blown wide, his fingers digging deep into the ground beneath his knees. He can feel dirt caking the underside of his fingernails, and the scars he leaves in the ground are very much like an animal, indeed.

A pet, he thinks again, over and over on loop in his mind, his pretty Shixiong’s voice fading to background noise. He thinks of Shen Yuan gently patting his head like one might coax a dog, and he thinks -

Yes, a pet.

[stiffyck]

im here to spread more Redscape propaganda Vampire Mumbo who is by no means immortal, but his life span is much longer then anything a humans ever seen thanks to magic. He spends his time disguised as a mortician, and part time funeral director because of his interest in death/the human life cycle as a whole. No ones aware hes a vampire of course, vampires had been socially outcast for typical vampire stuff, sucking the life out of others and whatnot. Something Mumbo has never been able to master, though he isn't opposed to drinking blood out of blood bags if he becomes desperate enough. Scar on the other hand is a con-artist and a scammer, popularly known, just not by his actual name. One day he walks into the funeral home with a huge backpack, and who happens to be working that day but Mumbo. He asks Mumbo if he would like to buy anything from his "one man shop" and attempts to do his usual scamming business. Its not like Vampires can read minds or anything, but he can tell Scars lying. Instead of trying to buy any of his clearly fake crystals he asks about his job, tries to make small talk and attempt to get friendly with the guy. Before he can even get close to figuring out Scars name hes gone far too soon, they were even having a half decent chat, but Mumbos co-worker shooed him out of the building. "You do know thats the scam artist i was talking about? You didnt buy anything from him did you?" "Of course not!! I'm not that stupid!" Scar comes back the next day to try again, and surprise surprise, Mumbos still there. Though not thrilled to see him, he asks what hes doing back here. Scar continues to advertise his products to the guy, offering crystals (dyed glass), handmade plushies and old amusement park merchandise. Of course he doesn't want any of it, but hes grown weirdly fascinated by the con-artist. He asks if he'd like to go out for coffee anytime, and to his own surprise Scar draws a blank. "Are you not going to buy anything from my lovely shop first? If you buy a crystal it could boost your friendship points!" are the words Mumbo hears, but doesn't exactlyyy *hear* if you get what i mean. Its not romantic attraction, its more of a "this guy is so odd. i need to put him under a magnifying glass and study him." type of attraction. I might write something for this but for now ill leave it here (i love redscape theyre the voices in my brain)

YESSSS I LOVE THAT.

with the way you started this off i thought Scar would be a zombie actually. i think a vampire and a zombie duo would be really fun.

ALSO. YES. AND I THINK THIS WEIRD "i need to study this guy" ATTRACTION GOES BOTH WAYS SKDJFHSKH

LOVE ALL OF THIS

[lily-alphonse]

for ur rare pair challenge, have you done Shane x Haley yet? I’d LOVE to see it

HEHEHEHEHEHE oh theyre both so rude its fun

Theyre actually SO primed for a bunch of romcom tropes I love such as

Fake dating

Dating on a dare/ losing a bet

Trapped and forced to work together to escape

Frump to fab makeover

OR MAYBE EVEN A COMBINATION PERHAPS

We have a makeover AND fake dating because Haley needs Shane for something and literally no one else is able. I would say willing and able, but Shane isn't willing either. She has to bribe the hell out of him and convince him that he will be able to get whatever girl he wants after this or something.

OH GOD THIS GOT SO LONG LMAO I got writer zoomies about it so I'm going to summarize and save what I wrote to hopefully write someday (pls pls pls)

Major influencer event soon in Zuzu, Haley's big break as an influencer, needs a plus one for driving and so she doesn't look like a friendless loser (which she actually kind of is, cuz she's too catty to hold down more than Alex and her sister, and Alex is away)

Begs everyone in town before getting to Shane, who only relents cuz money, he recently lost his job at Joja

Makeover part 1 she waxes his eyebrows and its insane and funny cuz he starts bleeding. Shes screaming WHY ARE YOU BLEEDING and hes like IDK WHY DID YOU MAKE ME BLEED and its a fucking mess and we just cut to Emily in the kitchen or something just regretting her entire life and getting up to help

Shopping montage my beloved AND we get a scene where fans recognize her at the mall and Shane begins to see what this is all about and we learn about her online persona and everything

He strongarms her into doing something for him that's just an excuse to make her suffer (like a day of farming) and she DOES she's miserable and covered in mud and breaks a nail, which at first Shane makes fun of her for, but when she starts crying and shows him she's bleeding he flips on a dime to serious and taking care of her

He tells her about a time Jas was hurt because of his negligence and he was beside himself. Discuss alcoholism?

She stays for dinner and the whole family have a little campfire and marshmallows and Jas falls asleep cuddling Haley (she fucking loves Haley cuz she looks like Barbie lol)

Makeover part 2 cuz Shane has been growing out his beard per Haley's requirements and she takes him to an expensive barber to get his hair and beard done, and at last his transformation is complete

D-Day arrives. Haley is super anxious and Shane is kind enough to give her a pep talk about it as they drive to the event.

At the event, the plan was always to ditch Shane if she found someone better. That was part of the reason to bring someone she didn't care about. All she needed him for was a ride and a photo-op before entering.

SHIT GOES DOWN AT THE EVENT (I'm not gonna spoil this one I really want to write it)

My logic behind how their characters fit together: He teaches her about not caring what people think. She teaches him that life doesn't just happen to you, you have to build it for yourself. They both struggle with self-worth in their own ways. Haley bases her self-worth on metrics she believes are objective; like beauty and number of followers. Shane on the other hand is great at not caring what people think, but that's mainly because he's already decided he's worthless.

This is one of my FAVES so far I really hope it makes it to the poll, but that is all up to you guys!

This ask is a part of the (now closed) SDV Rarepair Challenge! Check out the other answers here, and make sure to boost your favorite so it can appear in the final fic poll! More info on that here.

[kumezyzo]

i was rewatching the dream team all stars MCC and was thinking about streamer!reader cause im actually sick in the head :) so now everyone else has to deal with it 😌 so, as much as i love bad, reader does happen to be an honourary Dream Team member according to bf!sapnap.....

i like to think during this time (Nov. 2021) reader and sapnap are well into their talking stage and like, reallyyyy close to dating (they prolly start dating two weeks after this stream of sum). so this is technically crush!sapnap [so cutee]

also just bsf!george and dream moments cause why not (and cause i need some more fluff to feel gud)

lots of swearing (particularly fbombs lol)

so enjoy.... or dont lol :) m.list

crush!sapnap who cant help but giggle when you text him about the 'serpnerp and gerge' bit he did before the event started. when you ask about the fake kisses they gave eachother, he would be tempted to text you back with "i could give you real ones if you want" but refrains from it.

crush!sapnap who secretly had your stream pulled up on the side just so he could see your face as you hyped yourself up for the event.

if youre faceless, he'd just want to listen to you and hear the way you pause to read a text he sends you. he'd feel so cocky if you happened to quietly giggle at something you he sent you.

crush!sapnap who forgets youre on the call for a moment when he makes comments about needing to take a shit...

"if i really wanted to, i could insta-shit"

"ew wtf 😭"

"i actually forgot you were here for a moment, my bad" (he would be blushing so hard)

crush!sapnap who hypes you up so much during parkour tag (and makes sure youre not getting tagged) when youre the last person to be tagged

bsf!george who also hypes tf out of you when youre tagging people. he gets so loud that you have to tell him to stfu at times

crush!sapnap who subconsciously tries to protect you during the first round of sky battle until you call him out for it

"sapnap, dont worry about me! just try to get the other fucking teams. holy fuck..."

"y/n is getting toxic~"

"george shut the fuck up."

(it was mostly cause dream was getting heated at you but dw sap gets it 😌)

bsf!dream who blames you for a block placement glitch during sky battle

"Y/N!"

"WHAT?! WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO?!"

it led to a strange disagreement about where you were standing before crush!sapnap interjected and told you guys to leave it be. (we stan)

crush!sapnap who feels his heart flutter when you giggle about heated dream was getting over you standing on a rail in grid runners.

bsf!george who gets very hyped when you dont mute yourself during ace race.

"y/n are you muting yourself?"

"nope, are you?"

"LETS GOOO! ITS JUST Y/N AND GOGY"

"Lets go!!!!...... but shut the fuck up a little"

crush!sapnap who tries to gather your materials whenever you need them during buildmart and ultimately pisses off dream when he doesnt bring back what people need.

"Sapnap, how the fuck are you leaving but not bringing back fucking anything we actually need!?!?"

"okay! okay, what do you need?!"

bsf!dream who gets wayyyy too heated at you during battle box.

"y/n just use the fucking bow!"

"i am you dumb fuck!"

"oh my-"

crush!sapnap who gets annoyed too, but tries to not direct it towards you.

"george if theyre building to middle, block them!"

"y/n is supposed to be covering me!"

"they are, so pull your weight!"

bsf!dream who gets yelled at by his chat for yelling at you.

'say sorry to y/n'

"what? you know what, fuck y/n! ive known them for over 5 years, im not saying sorry!"

"good! i dont want your apology anyway! we are no longer friends!"

"good!"

(literal toddlers lol)

crush!sapnap who says a small 'hi' when he passes by you in sands of time. even if youre in the same call. and have been for 2 1/2 hours.

dteam who just lets you do youre own thing in the last to games of the event (sands of time & tgttos).

"i actually havent hear y/n speak in like five minutes," george said with an impressed smile. "i thought they just left the call for a moment, ha."

"me too for a second-"

"both of you shut the fuck up, im tired and tryna get this over with."

"PFFFT-"

bsf!george who could help but cackle when you yell at him during dodgebolt.

"george if you dont stop talking about the arrow, i will fly to london and shove it so far up your ass-"

crush!sapnap who calls you after both of you end your streams to talk about how you feel after the event.

"how are you doing, you seemed..."

"angry? annoyed?"

"tired..."

crush!sapnap talks with you until either one of you has to hang up. you feel like youre back in highschool talking to your crush for hours on end.

ngl, i dunno how i feel about this one. it might be too much tbh but im tired asf writing this and dont wanna change much. and i got a little carried away having fun writing it....sorry... -Nony

[johndescole]

despite how much i love miracle mask conceptually it can never really be my favorite bc i hate some of the writing choices they made . heres a list:

angela being the only female member of the stansbury crew and basically being defined by her relationship with male characters

every male character being vaguely to overtly misogynist bc of this, when i really want to like them

most of the game focusing on randalls relationship to angela and hershel and then making it all about henry in the end

hershel acting like he has no personal stake in the matter as soon as he pulls randle out of the pit, and skipping their reconciliation

implication in the credits that henry and angela want randall to be like he was half his life ago, by cutting his hair and giving him fake glasses again

HENRY BEING A CHILD SERVANT?

and also heres a list of odd decisions i actually dont have a problem with (i think theyre funny), just for clarification

it was descole the whole time!

henry not just building a rich city, but a clown city. for some reason. did he think randall loves clowns

desert in england

[st7arlight]

meet the sims-blackwood family!! this is set post-200 in a new world where the fears are weaker and more hidden in the shadows, but quickly building strength as more avatars and artifacts are born. meet blaire and not-adam, two students in jon’s homeroom and english class!

worldbuilding and brainstorm notes under the cut :D

the student ocs i created here are

-a transfem student who straight up doesnt have a name. you can call her anything but her deadname. its a fun game the class plays. it started as a gag but jon went “yeah okay ive seen weirder and kids deserve a chance to explore” so he comes up with a different name every day during roll call. shes v chaotic and inspired (personality wise, not funky name lore) by an irl friend of mine

-the student she has a crush on and is best friends with, an AP art student who uses they/she pronouns

they both eat lunch in Jon’s classroom, where they eventually notice that he never really eats much? just. reads a book in his free time, maybe has cereal bars occasionally

they form really close bonds with jon and he sponsors their lgbt club,,,, the second student realizes she’s agender when hes explaining the ace spectrum,,,,,, they come across The Horrors that were released when jmart moved on to Somewhere Else and he saves them,,,,,,,,, after they start to understand that “something spooky is here bc of mr sims but he was a victim in it” they sneakily start categorizing what they call “The Horrors” into 9 groups and get into shenanigans. they save jon at some point

their romance follows the plot of jmart’s but jon notices student B treating student A like he did martin at the start of the year and intervenes

so theyre healthier

(maybe jmart adopt student b, as they’re in a rlly unsafe home environment and thats why they started lashing out at their buddy)

at the beginning of the year student A knows shes trans but isnt sure what name to use. her buddy suggests not-adam (as she isnt suuuper uncomfy with her deadname, just that its too masc for her) so they call her that for a good bit and it comes up occasionally until they learn about the fears and the joke kinda. sours.

jon called her anything but that. not-adam thought it was because he didnt want to deadname her (and she insisted she was cool with it and thought it was funny) but she said that he can use a name that isnt adam, just not to stick to one bc she didnt want to feel boxed in

so the joke of her being anything but adam began

!!! WHAT IF NOT ADAM HAS AN ENCOUNTER WITH A STRANGER OBJECT THAT MAKES EVERYONE UNABLE TO SEE OR REMEMBER HER??? AND (character B) IS THE ONLY ONE WHO REMEMBERS HER BUT STILL CANT SEE HER!!!! AND THIS IS HOW JON REVEALS HE KNOWS STUFF ABOUT THE SUPERNATURAL

student b breaks down only a couple days in when she realized something was deeply, truly wrong, earing lunch (seemingly) alone with jon in his classroom. she says something with “not-adam” and “nobody remembers her but me” and jon’s trauma plus eye powers helps break his illusion, even though he doesnt remember her still

WHAT IF THIS IS AROUND WHEN NOT ADAM IS STARTING TO SEE HIM AS A FATHER

he adopts her bc she still legally doesnt exist and her family doesnt remember her , and its not like jmart already have fake identities anyways. they break the curse but everyone but B and Jon are completely wiped of her memory, just can finally see her now. its a mush of stranger, spiral, and lonely bc the horrors work different here

…she eventually settles on a name because she desperately needs to be reminded that they know her, they remember her, and that they remember all of her. (jon doesnt remember *everything* still, but most. every now and then she or B references something and they pause when they realize it was another memory lost to The Horrors)

oh also jon wears combat boots bc of daisy now. unrelated but important

im realizing my plan of them adopting B is a little funky with them adopting not-adam. however, unconventional found family prevails in tma. B just stays at their house most of the time bc she is neglected a lot at home so it usually isnt noticed when she disappears. theyre both 16 so fighting for custody when they can move out so soon is deemed too much stress on the teens. not-adam’s family actually are v loving and great, they just. dont remember NA. they dont remember how to love her, that they ever did

(thats why B needed to remember her. also, the effect intended of the horror was to torture NA until she died unnoticed and she will either be remembered by everyone when her body is found or will rot unseen until shes gone. or become an avatar, if she chose to embrace it. B was an intended victim of the leitner, the fear of nobody believing you and losing someone you love feed the Horrors)

(jon and his funky eye powers are likely the only reason NA didnt die)

in the end A picks the name astrid, but jon still calls her any name he can think of that starts with A when calling her down for food n stuff

anyways jmart unofficially adopting queer teens bc found family is so themcore but i *know* the fates would never allow them to do anything conventionally or fully legal

(all of this copy-pasted from me infodumping in a tma chat in the past couple hours)

[lesbiandarvey]

i am just in here to ask for more deleted scenes plz 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

after work in harvey’s apartment donnas stirring martinis in a three piece suit harvey walks out in a silk robe + thigh highs and garter and heels! and takes the drink out of donnas hand sips it and straddles her on the couch

awkward mother’s day brunch of donna, harvey, his mom, and her parents. her parents have been explicitly instructed not to bring up The Thing They Dont Talk About aka the fact harvey and lily didnt speak to each other for 15 years because of his parents’ shitty marriage but obviously it comes up. also they all argue about who will pay the check

donna and harvey are forced to attend a dinner party at louis and sheila’s while in the middle of a fight

something in the early seasons where donna and harvey have a Spa Weekend planned and its all theyre talking about all episode and then for Plot Reasons they cant go so they decide to have facials at the office. scene of mike walking in on them in harveys office in identical bathrobes with cucumbers over their eyes

donna harvey hot yoga scene

something something donna and harvey both have dates with “a cute guy in the building!” and then they realize theyre both dating the same guy. he is frequently referred to as “our boyfriend” and they all go out together and are obviously both insanely jealous of the other person. <- framed as jealous of the guy giving the other one attention but we know its not really about that. he is never seen in the episode.

on the flip side, something in season 1 where theyre both vying for the affections of the same woman . theres an episode of curb your enthusiasm where larry david and rosie o’donnell are both dating the same woman and theyre trying to decide if shes straight or a lesbian. i feel like donna and harvey could do that (the possibility she is bisexual is never mentioned in the episode.)

for donnas birthday (obviously they talk about it first) and invite samantha over for the night as their third. at the beginning she and harvey get into a bit of an argument and donna clears her throat to remind them this is about her actually

oh i have thought about this a lot so like. when they get together yknow they were best friends for over a decade right. and now they’re Together so harvey is trying to switch from gay best friend mode to Boyfriend Mode. and he slips up and their first big fight is because he says something wayyy too bitchy about her shoes.

episode where donna dates a woman named harriet. i dont know what happens i just think it would cause a lot of problems

scene in season 1 after the cameron episode where theyre alone in harvey’s office and harvey’s head in in donnas lap and hes talking about cameron saying “it just brought up a lot of stuff for me yknow.” // and then a scene in season 9 after mike leaves where harvey and donna collapse on his couch and his head is in her lap again and he says mike coming back brought back a lot of memories

maybe not a deleted scene per se but i have this idea in my head of like, the first five minutes of the episode donna and harvey are in like a decontamination shower by the CDC surrounded by guys in hazmat suits and donna is furiously scrubbing her hair telling harvey “if i ever invite you to a bachelorette party again, shoot me”

just like . a scene between harvey and lily that establishes she did All That aka the cheating on his dad thing for attention. and then hes like i cant believe you! you did all that to me just for attention?? and then later in the episode back at the office harvey fakes a panic attack cus no one had talked to him in the last twenty minutes

[hellonerf]

this strawpage... @_@ anon ok i love thinking alot abt 1p&2p caname now how they'd all interact with each other (all a ruse to drive the two canames closer together as most things are) conjuring things in my mind now

funnily enough i think 1Pcana 2Pame is actually likely to go well together haha.... maybe at first cana is like wow (T_T) hes even more of an asshole than the ame i know... then blablabla WHAT?! he is being sincere transparent ?!?!?!?! the bewilderment of seeing a version of ur brother without his constant effort into projecting a specific image... i think cana is always. a little fascinated by these kinds of moments from ame but its moments he has to wrestle out of or comes after a kind of peak of things building up... and here it just comes out of this new ame?! without prompting?!? only awhile after they just met?!?! so heres the little weird bonding theyd have afterwards... easing of first impression hostilities.... and 2Pame is like haha a polite cana can u imagine... haha lol... haha hes sooo nicer and accomodates to me hahaa.. (looks down at feet).... then theyre projecting images of their dear brother with more agreeable behaviors into the other hahaha i love it.... both going if only he was this likeable!

even so i love base caname so in my mind this still comes to a head like... well you cant replace the bond and shared memories here... and i think 2Pame especially is more anxious or fidgety that this cana doesn't know the same things the other does... ohh hes nicer (missing the kind of specific care he needs)(looks around nervously) and 1Pcana is just not used to how this ame is... unable to talk to him about his little grievances... or joke about the same things they hate... this ame wont just sleep in the couch with me... (7_7) what will they do now?!

on the opposite end i think 1Pame and 2Pcana would just not like each other LOL i think i mentioned them before, finding what they could be interesting. i still find them interesting but in the way that i really dont think theyd get along and its really funny to me. just from first impression theyre like i dont like this guy... and then upon spending more time theyre like i REALLY dont like this guy... from 1Pame specifically i think hes just someone who doesnt mesh well with tough or more hostile demeanor guys i think... he doesnt like accomodating people and hes definitely not interested in this. this jerk?! (he was also kindof a jerk). especially since he looks like cana... i think he can deal with people who are colder like that if there is a semblance of attention or affection there.. with this new cana hes like u wont be nice to me and u wont even pay attention to me. (kills him in his mind). meanwhile 2Pcana is like hes annoying (without the inherent fondness he'd have for his ame from their shared childhood) Lol...

i think theyd just butt heads all the time... nobody willing to give in... especially especially since they look like someone they love. 1Pames just like what the hell :( wheres my cana who puts his hand in his face all exasperated and then drives me to where i asked him to anyways :( what the hell :( kill this fake cana with flamethrowers now (gritting teeth). and 2Pcana also cant stand him hes like this fakeness... fake politeness... who is this for. why are u saying excuse me. hate this performative behavior... (throws cigarette in his face). its like the worst traits of their loved one was put to the max... theyre like. sick of this guy already...

in my beautiful world ofcourse this makes the canames be like ok... so i love my... not his others... i just love him! all canames are beautiful and really funny and fun and cute! thank you anon idk if u'll end up seeing my ranting or if ur from twitter and not tumblr... but its really fun for me...

[bepisbee]

and now for your regularly scheduled random vidow au

featuring transgirl Vio and afab enby Shadow :) theyre dating your honor. i wanted to play with giving shadow a midwest accent. Think of them as like Wisconsin vs Cali for Lorule vs Hyrule respectivley. mostly writing practice for the accent and descirpters of character building (focusing mainly on shadow tbh)

Read on ao3

“You what?” The group paused at Zelda’s inquisition. They had this huge plan to set up their resident nerd with a date and it was backfiring horribly. A boy from another class, admittedly pretty cute, stood there awkwardly.

“I have a partner.” Vio repeated. “They go to Lorule, I’ve told you this before?” She looks incredibly annoyed.

“I- we…” She looked sheepish.

“We thought you were just saying that to get us off your back,” Blue scoffed, “The whole goes to another school excuse is overused.” he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, haha no. I am dating someone. We have been since middle school.” She uncrossed her arms and pulled a long chained necklace from her uniform blouse. It had a ring attached. “And considering we’re all graduating next week I’d say it’s still serious. And not fake.” she glared at Blue. “I’ve told you this. I met them when our family went to that resort years ago and left me to read in a corner in the kid section. They stole my book and I chased them up to the playground tubes and we stayed there for hours. They needed to search for us when it was bedtime and we refused to go to seperate rooms. We pranked the fuck out of all those kids the whole weekend.” She grinned, fondly remembering it.

“...” Zelda smacks Blue on the arm, “Are you kidding me!? You roped me into all this for nothing?” The boy snuck away while they argued. Poor dude.

“I still don’t believe you. Do you even have a photo?"

“None that I can show you without betraying their privacy trust.” Vio sighed, “We video call every night, I don’t really have their face in a photo.” Zelda giggled at the scandalous admission.

“No face photo?”

“! Sh-shut up.” she flushed. “None of your business.” Vio flipped them off. “Doesn’t matter. They’ll be here soon for the summer. They had their graduation already and wanted to spend time with me here. I was planning on going to Lorule for a while this summer too, so we can decide where we want to stay.”

“You’re moving!?” Blue didn’t like the implication. “With someone we don’t even know?”

“You would know them if you were ever listening to me.” Vio played with the ring. “We haven’t decided anything. We both have family and friends to consider and futures and shit. It’s an in person kind of conversation.”

“Well.” Zelda clears her throat. “I think we should have lunch sometime, and meet them.”

“That would be nice,” Vio is grateful for her speciality in neutrality and problem solving. Blue just grumbled.

He still thought Vio was lying. Until one day she brings someone back from the airport. He notices as he was walking over to bother her, Red in tow. Vio was taking some luggage out of the car trunk and someone with purple hair was investigating the scenery. The small stone brick cottage that someone’s great grandma once loved was in better shape inside than out. 

“It’s so… rustic.  And worn,” A soft voice commented. “Inna nice way, like when cats nap in a sunbeam. Or someone’s Granny makes pie.” they clarify. They step around to her side of the car. They were tall and lithe, grown into what was probably a lanky awkward puberty. They had stunning eyes, one red and one blue. Freckles scattered across their milk chocolate complexion. They looked like tiny stars. Fluffy medium length bright purple hair bounced as they walked. Two black rings of snake bites in their lips, and a ball in their tongue as they talked. A dangling earring in the shape of an eye indicating their relation to Sheikah at some point. 

They had a crop top with some metal band logo across it and shredded jeans with combat boots. The light purple happy trail under their navel surprised the two, showing the color was natural. “?” Shadow caught them staring slack jawed. “We have an audience darlin’.” they drawled.

Vio turned confused, raised her eyebrows up. She was in her cutest sweater with a dinosaur holding a cup with a straw and regular jeans and hair pinned up in a butterfly clip. She never wore her nice sweaters outside of home, let alone makeup. That was clearly significant, Blue frowns. Shadow would have been dolled up too, but flights and napping took priority.

“Uh, hey.” She shut the trunk of the small black car. “Good timing! Shadow, this is Red and Blue.”

“You actually weren’t fuckin’ with me? Yall have color names?” They smiled at them.

“They’re real?” Red and Blue exclaimed, Red way more excited in tone. She ran up and surprised them with a hug.

“Hello! Wow you smell nice! Are you Vio’s boy-girl-theyfriend? Partner?” Red wasn’t sure what term they preferred. “Gosh you’re pretty.”

“Partner. Yer sweet,” They chuckled, “You must be Red then?” They patted her head. “Nice ta meetcha.” Her eyes sparkled.

“I like them.” She decided and let go. “Lemme help!” she grabbed one of the carryon duffel bags. “Blue! Stop staring and come help!” she reprimanded.

“I- uh- whuh… ahem.” He took a bag too, mumbling about Vio being ridiculous. He was just embarrassed over being wrong.

“Sorry, we can’t really hang out much right now.” Vio led the way in, unlocking the door. She was so glad she had this shitty old house to rent, even if it was tiny and heated by a wood stove.“I’m sure Shadow needs some rest from the time difference and flying.” They didn’t protest either, the rest or Vio time was their goal. They helped bring in the bits and bags and set them in the living area. It was all open space, a living room with just enough room for a tv set, coffee table, loveseat, and cabinet. Across on the other side a kitchenette with stools at an island wrapped around and hanging cabinets. Vintage, but well cared for. The wood stove was cast iron and in near perfect condition.

They set their bags around the living space and Red dusted off her hands.

“Well make sure you text Zel! We have to have a lunch. And send a pic! She is going to lose her mind. You are super attractive.” She gushed, “Don’t mind Blue, he’s just mad he lost a bet.” She smacked his arm while he bristled. “Well go, enjoy your ‘nap’” Red pushed him out the door. “See you guys soon!”

“See ya, thanks for helpin’!” Shadow waves and turns to assess their girlfriend’s reaction. “They seem nice.”

“I’m glad Red likes you.” Vio admits, “Come rest with me? I saw that yawn, you can't hide from me, love.” She offered with a motion. They gladly took the offer. They explored Vio’s room before sliding their jeans off and laying on the big soft purple bed. It took up most of the room space. They both laid just looking at each other.

“...this is weird ta say considerin’ I talk to you everyday, but I missed you.” Shadow cupped her face, and kissed.

“Aw, love.” She sighs into it, no protest when that hand gets wandering under her sweater. Shadow freezes in realization.

“Have you not been wearin’ a bra this whole time??” Vio’s response was a cheeky grin. Shadow lifted the sweater up to admire the view. They whistled, “Well, damn! No wonder you feel soft. They’re so big now! I’m prouda you.” They squeezed one gently. “I did notice they were bouncin’ a lot, but I didn’ wanna be crude.”

“You are welcome to comment on my boobs anytime.” Vio laughed. “I worked hard to grow those.” Shadow hummed in agreement. She pulled out her phone and sat on their legs. “Photo for zel?” Shadow posed with one arm behind their head. She snapped and sent it off with a “Legally obligated hot partner pic”. They sent each other some questionable things sometimes. She was sure she wouldn’t mind the snap including her bent thighs and Shadow in their pretty black underpants. Zelda had seen more of her for opinions and advice than that. She turned it around first for approval.

“Mm. Hot.” They grabbed her thighs. “Ya know what’d be more hot darlin?”

Vio set down the phone, ready for the chaos. 

“No, why don’t you show me?’

Shadow woke up shivering, Vio not next to them anymore. They sat up, rubbing their eyes. “Mgh?”

“In the kitchen,” She called from the other room. A metal hinge creaked and shut the stove. They wandered out. Vio was heating the old gas oven, a large pot on top. A cutting board with vegi bits and ends sat on the counter. A few small containers and shakers filled with stuff. Shadow could burn cereal, they had no idea what was what but it looked fancy.

“Whatcha doin?” They yawned, walking to their smallest bag, unashamedly nude. Shadow dug in and pulled out a hygiene bag with toothpaste, a comb, and a few other things. They hummed and took a comfy outfit as well.

“Making soup, found the recipe online.” Vio got distracted watching Shadow’s bare legs and ass walk by. “Everyone’s coming over later…”

“Sounds fun,” Shadow carried their goods to the bathroom. “I’m gonna clean up, if you wanna join me?~” their eyebrows waggled up and down.

“Don’t tempt me,” She sighed, “I have to make sure this doesn’t burn.”

“Damn. You’re comin’ next time though!” Their double meaning is obvious. Shadow doesn’t shut the door anyway. Vio chewed on her lips before huffing. She set the gas on low and gave in, following Shadow. Hot water is already steaming the glass panes, slight fog from the temperature difference. They peeked over their shoulders, smirking. They knew she couldn’t resist. Vio joined them.

[ichig0tchi]

southern utah facts for fnaf fans

ok so as a person who lives in utah and has been to southern utah many, many times, i thought id write some info for people who want to know what its actually like! sometimes i see fan content from people who don't know anything about it and i cant help but laugh a little because yall imagine all this cool stuff there and its just like. gas station.

its pronounced hurra-kihn with a short [ih] /ɪ/ sound, not hurriCANE like the actual word. don't ask me why i have no answers

the VAST majority of utah has a religious suburb vibe. ESPECIALLY central and southern utah. imagine the type of place thats juuuuust big enough to have some big box stores and a couple of chain restaurants. thats what hurricane is like. many smaller towns in central/southern utah are tiny farming communities with the population of a few hundred people (and probably double that in cows)

This is a picture of hurricane from google maps, this is the vibe for most places south of provo!

The cities closest to hurricane are st george, cedar city, las vegas, mesquite, and the general provo area.

-St george is a smallish sized city with things like a mall, many national chain businesses, local businesses, an amphitheater, and manyyyy retiree communities with golf courses. - Cedar city has an ~olde towne~ feel with many historical buildings and small businesses. -Vegas is about 2 hours from Hurricane and its not unusual to take a day trip there -Mesquite is a casino/golfing town about 40 minutes from st george. Its right on the border of NV/AZ and its pretty common for families to drive out for a couple days to mess around the casino and eat over priced buffet food. -Provo is about 3 hours north of hurricane and is very mormon in culture. Feels like the twilight zone if you arent white and/or mormon. they have good restaurants tho and a water park. mainly built around Brigham Young University (byu) which is a very strictly religious campus. Apparently its a really good school if you can handle the restrictions.

Southern utah generally never gets colder than 70 degrees and is often over 100 in the summer

I've seen some people refer to hurricane as "south west utah" which is..not wrong? but no one says that. nearly all of the south east of the state is national parks with extreme geography that people cant exactly live in. There are some towns, but they rely heavily on tourism for the national monuments and such and are still smaller in population. If you say you're from southern utah, people will just assume you are from the st george area.

Southern utah has some of, in my opinion, the most beautiful views on earth. Views like these are within 25 minutes of hurricane. (image of canyon junction bridge from visitutah.com)

People in southern utah tend to be very friendly. If you're not from around there, you'll probably get polite stares in the smaller towns. In bigger areas like st george, customer service is typically very good. LDS people tend to take acting like a boy scout and being over the top helpful pretty seriously. (you know the mormon missionary stereotypes lol theyre persistent folks).

Silver reef is mostly really nice expensive homes now! Definitely not a ghost town anymore. The museum there does tours of the old ruins and an extremely nice cowboy will tell you all about how the founder of the town discovered the titular silver vein, but got run out of town by crazy prospector type fighting over the land (i like to imagine there was much hootinany-ing and pickaxes afoot) They do have a single animatronic, its of a donkey in a fake mine shaft exhibit under the museum!

Most of the towns around here have a shit ton of hotels and are mainly tourist destinations. Hiking and sightseeing are sort of classic state pastimes, outdoor sports bring in a ton of money so its really encouraged. Peak tourism season for southern utah is late summer/early fall. Mid summer is too hot to visit, its genuinely dangerous to hike in that weather. So september/october when its temperate is very busy.

As you might imagine, most of utah is conservative. Salt lake is pretty left leaning and is actually a pretty good place for queer people, but most of the state kind of just ignores anything that goes against doctrine. definitely a lot of maga types, but overall not violent or especially bigoted outwardly. The worst i tend to see is confederate flags, which are popular in agricultural areas. Mormons tend to be quietly exclusionary rather than confronting the sorts of minorities they dont like.

Another thing about mormons, they LOVEEEE SODA. SO MUCH. Those drive thru soda/cookie/icecream chains are all over the place, including southern utah. The sodas are usually mixed with things like coffee creamer or flavored syrups. Mormons cant drink coffee, so they get their caffeine/sugary treat this way.

Feel free to ask any questions or add your own tidbits!!

[trickstarbrave]

just blocked a blog i have been following a while bc "reminder all of those asks begging for donations are ALL SCAMS because gofundme cant run in gaza!!! theyre all fake and you're stupid for believing it!!! use your brains its all fake because i said so!!!" while the notes are filled with zionists.

no people currently living in gaza cant set up a gofundme. but you'll never believe this radical concept: people can know other people outside of their country. they might have family in america or europe. they might have a family friend in one of those places. its been talked about extensively how the money gets people out of gaza. and it's frankly baffling that you think all of these gofundmes with all completely unique images of destroyed buildings and skin infections and people living in tents are somehow all faked.

"well we used to have scams of ppl sending asks begging for money for pets, so obviously anyone sending asks on tumblr asking for donations is lying!!!!" THE PEOPLE SENDING THOSE DONT KNOW WE'VE HAD ASK SCAMS BEFORE. they arent tumblr natives. they havent been on here for years. they just know a handful of people had success crowdfunding on here and are begging for their lives. these are people with babies, young children, disabled people. imagine if your house was destroyed by bombs and your pets all died and half your family was gone and then when you begged and pleaded for people to save you and help you escape you were mass reported and called "a stupid hamas scam artist"

even if some of them are scams i literally do NOT care. i will not die because i spent a few dollars or euros on a gofundme i thought looked legit. if it is revealed that one was a scam gofundme will give you your money back. i would rather give away a few dollars when i have it to a scam artist than condemn someone to death because i feel like being a self aggrandizing bitch. "well you should instead donate to [insert humanitarian relief here that is not going to gaza rn bc israel keeps killing them] and oppose hamas instead!!!" i think israel as a government should be abolished entirely and all of palestine goes free if im being honest. do you know what humanitarian relief is running there? do you know how many of them are killed and thats why so many refuse to go back? do you know israel will deliberately kill them?

no, you don't know, because you're zionists. kys

[good-beanswrites]

LCSYS ask again(undercover asker here hiiiiiaufhghghgn)thank you for responding!!!! ilovfe seeing your ideas theyre such good fuel in between trials❤️❤️

i was wondering how th prisoners would react to es’ usage of violence, like some of the younger prisoners complaining about it while the older are concerned because Hello Where did that stem from???? you cant tell me es’ “phew, i feel so much better” after hitting shidou didn’t send his mind racing a million miles per minute

ALSO curious about YONAH………… similar to how red’s violence towards es was scripted, was kotoko’s monologue about es being imperfect Also scripted, or was it on her own? yonah is probably my favourite voice drama of all time and I’m curious about how it would be interpreted in this au 🫶

Ah hello again! Thank you so much for reaching out -- every time I think I've covered everything you guys hit me with a new insane detail that makes my brain go brrrrr >:3

Because OMG I spent so much time thinking of the faked violence, I don't know why I never put as much attention on the flipside! I love the idea of Jackalope assuring them, "there will be no physical punishments. We'll talk about restraints but that's all fake. We'll make up injuries between trials but that's all fake. You don't have to worry about any real pain." And then this 15yo strolls up, interrogation one, ready to smack someone😅😅😅

Seriously though, I think it would come as a pretty big surprise to the group. They knew it was a possibility, but didn't think Es was that likely to attack, since they've made a few comments about being against violent punishments. Haruka comes back to mention the slap, and Yuno follows their instructions and says she also suffered violence, and the group is Shocked. I think it would just kill Fuuta that he wasn't allowed to hit back and avenge the others. He probably has the most complaints about the situation (and is insanely relieved that he get by in his own interrogation.) In a feeble attempt to get back at Es and make them feel bad, he encourages Muu to cry and make a big show about being afraid of them. Muu is frightened enough that it doesn't take much persuasion... I think Kotoko and unfortunately Amane wouldn't mind the threat, they both have lives in which authority showing power isn't out of place (and maybe Haruka?). Mahiru, too, thinks it's just the way a prison guard can run their prison if they want, though she's determined her charm will keep things running pleasantly.

Kazui reaches out asap* to question the legality of the experiment, since they're allowing children to get hit, even if by other children. There's a tangle of signatures and consent from everyone involved so it's okay, but the whole thing still rubs him the wrong way. He knew the experiment was a bit shady, but he(Though, this does make his first vd kind of funny -- instead of actually talking through his theories on the prison, now it feels like he's just egging Es on to see if they'll actually hit him...)

And I really like that idea that Shidou's dad instincts kick in (or maybe it's doctor instincts)! He'd understand if it was a child trying to play the role of an intimidating adult, but the way Es is doing things, the things they're saying, it all points to something deeper going on in Es' head. I can see him sitting down with the others and Jackalope to discuss. Of course Milgram gives him very little to work with, but this still kickstarts everyone's efforts to make sure Es is also taken care of post-Milgram.

*I just realized I'm still a bit fuzzy on communication during the trials. Jackalope can definitely get information to the prisoners (most commonly the 'voices' they're supposed to be hearing based on Es' notes, but also in case of emergency changes or things). I was picturing the prisoners unable to communicate outward until the trial ends, as it builds up the feeling of isolation and imprisonment. The issue is, I feel like Jackalope would want to keep that line open in case the prisoners had questions/issues with the experiment that affected their acting. So idk if the prisoners voice these concerns about Es mid-trial or they're forced to wait. I'll get back to you on that, hm

And Yonah!!

I wasn't avoiding spoilers, I actively looked for snippets here and there, but it was this ask that finally motivated me to sit down and watch it through -- and I'm SO GLAD I DID 👀 It's really well-written and wonderfully acted!! I'm floored with the whole thing omg

I really like the idea that the Milgram team instructed Kotoko to mention Es' imperfection to rattle them a bit, but left the specifics to her. Jackalope thought she'd just make some quick comment, and does a double take when he listens in on the interrogation and realizes she has a lot to say on Es and the way Milgram is run.

Jacklope told her to be harsh with Es, and she thought that was no problem at all. She felt those opinions strongly and wasn't going to go easy on the criticism just because they were a kid. She goes into the interrogation ready to stay completely put-together... and then surprises everyone and herself when Es' distress moves her to pull them into a tight hug and tell them everything's going to be alright ;---;

[nagisaspolyeden]

okay but to be honest. in my head the wataei/watakeichi endgame is:

eichi inherits a significant portion of his familys stuff and reorganizes it to be in line with his design and values. then he writes a will where a significant portion of his stuff will be allocated to the people he cares about. this includes people who arent even expecting to get anything from him, like tsumugi and leo.

then, he and wataru fake eichis death.

a select few people are in direct awareness of the plan (keito, tori and yuzuru, etc) and i think a fair bit of people beyond that (pretty much everyone in ES) surmise that he didnt actually die. but for all intents and purposes, his death is legally honored, as are the contents of his will.

meanwhile wataru and eichi escape to a small countryside in europe where they live new identities in a cute mansion next to a small town where they make friends with all the locals who just adore the couple living up on the hill and eichi uses the money he allocated for himself in their scheme in order to build a local theater which wataru then happily runs, directs in, stars in, teaches children theater in, so on and so forth

theyre still in frequent communication with their friends back in japan (secretly) who will also occasionally come visit. this includes keito who eichi will just randomly call like "hi ^_^ the private jet is ready for you" "eichi im in a meeting." "i know, wataru is coming around with the helicopter to take you to the airport" "xe flew all the way here just to ride to the office building in a helicopter?" "oh no no, xes flying the helicopter!"