#Anyway I love this game I love seeing where it borrows from from real life I love figuring out what it's about ahhh

[papastarion]

I know everyone has their different takes on Astarion’s character, and what they think his story should look like/what he would or wouldn’t do with his life after the events of the game, and I think they’re all valid. And not everyone is going to like your read or what you want him to pursue or be like after all is said and done. And there’s nothing wrong with that! Could you imagine how boring things would be if we all agreed? I personally love seeing the diversity of takes.

That being said, I am very much a fan of the idea of non-Ascended Astarion starting a family after everything, just me personally. Now, I know that’s a whole can of worms for people who don’t like that concept or who don’t like the idea of kids/pregnancy in their fiction. That’s completely fine. Funnily enough, I have no desire to have my own kids, but I love exploring that sort of lifestyle and the dynamic it creates when it comes to my characters in my own writing.

And I do think he wants kids, in my world state (to borrow a Dragon Age term), anyway.

I always go back to Astarion’s confession, when he says he wants “something real.” All those years where sex and love were nothing but a performance to seduce people and lure them to what he thought was their death. And now, with Tav/Durge, he wants the real thing. He wants to love and be loved.

He says he doesn’t know what “real” looks like anymore, which means he’s got to figure it out. And we know he isn’t much for plans, so that means a lot of what he learns is learned as he goes. That must extend to learning what he wants, too.

“I Want to Live” is the song that is consistently played in relation to his character development (despite being the players song.) Want. For all of those years, he was told by Cazador that he and his fellow spawn were a family. If he doesn’t ascend, then what he desires, and discovering what he wants, and taking what was false for so long and learning what the real version of it looks like to him all come together to make it easy for me to see him enjoying fatherhood.

He wouldn’t be Astarion without that prickly personality of his, but as his relationship with Tav/Durge progresses, you get to see the softness and sweetness he has in him, too. And I believe he really does mean it when he says he wants to protect them. He does genuinely care, as sarcastic and standoffish as he can be. That’s part of his personality and his character arc.

Now, do I think he likes all kids? Not at all. I think he likes certain kids, and for certain reasons. He may not encourage taking in Yenna, but he does insist on saving her from Orin. He seems to have a high opinion of Arabella. It depends on the kid. In a strange way, I think his own personhood being taken from him has made him view kids as more individual than most people tend to.

And I think he would adore his own kids because of who they are. They’re proof of how far he’s come, they’re proof that he’s alive and he’s living and that Cazador didn’t win in the end. He’s here. He won. He’s growing past everything.

And, most importantly: they’re his kid(s.)

Do I think he’s ever considered having children prior to having one, even before he was turned? I doubt it, honestly. But especially prior to his vampirism, I don’t think it matters whether he did or not. He can’t remember what color his eyes were, let alone what he wanted or who he was. And it doesn’t matter, he makes that much clear. He isn’t that person anymore, and he won’t ever get to be them again. So whether he had thought about children specifically or not, whether he wanted them or not, I don’t think that matters to him anymore.

He never saw himself as a hero, either, but he’s a Hero of Baldur’s Gate now. He cares. In his own way. And he defines and does things his own way in his life now. He’s still not your stereotypical hero, but he’s also no longer your stereotypical vampire. He wouldn’t be Astarion if he was easy to define. And after everything, he is still Astarion. He’s complex, and he can be quite contradictory and inconsistent. That’s both part of his personality and a result of the 200 years of trauma he survived, I think.

And again, he’s also not one for plans. I don’t think he considers being a father until Tav/Durge is telling him that he’s going to be one. And that kind of life-changing news can rattle even the people who have planned for it and wanted it their whole lives. Sure, I think it takes some getting used to, and I’m sure there are complex feelings that come with it. Rediscovering yourself and building a life are never easy. Living isn’t easy.

But this is another part of the life he’s living—really living. This isn’t the mockery Cazador forced the spawn to play pretend in, it’s a real family, his family. And I think that means everything to the person he chooses to be now.

[eflen-n-reegee]

Regressor Emotions Headcanons (Inside Out 2)

@imjustaspie and Anon suggested regressor Anxiety headcanons, but I just could’ve leave the others out. XD Bonus Nostalgia! No real spoilers, but still under the cut until the movie’s been out for longer

Anxiety

She is incredibly nervous about regressing for the first time. Relaxing is hard enough for her; being emotionally vulnerable is terrifying. But, with the others’ help, she eventually starts regressing.

She is a crier. Any little mistake starts the sad tears, and the slightest kindness makes her weepy.

She is super snuggly, cuddling up to everyone. She needs all the hugs.

Her regular life involves a lot of long nights, so when she’s regressed she’s a frequent napper.

She LOVES visiting Imagination Land when she’s regressed. She runs wild in the pillow fort and blows giant soap bubbles and completely forgets her fears.

Embarrassment 

He’s the only purely involuntary regressor out of the Headquarter’s crew. He usually slips after he’s done something he feels is super wrong.

He needs a lot of patient reassurance to convince him that his mistakes are fixable and that he’s not bad for messing up once in a while.

His favorite activity is coloring. He loves coloring sheets and always runs to show his completed pictures to Sadness.

He often forgets how big he is and asks to be picked up. The other emotions make him a big hammock swing so he can feel like he’s being held.

He’s a pacifier guy, and almost always has one in his mouth. Even when he’s not actually regressed he finds them soothing.

Ennui

She’s obviously a tech kid, constantly playing games on her phone.

She can be very whiny when she doesn’t want to do something. “That’s boring! YOU’RE boring!”

(But she always does the thing anyway, because she’s little and the others are The Boss.)

She LOVES action movies and regresses even deeper while she’s watching them.

All her pleases and thank yous are in French, and she says them sparingly. You know she’s really grateful when she mumbles “Merci”.

Envy

She’s a major hair toucher; she loves to play with (and tug on) hair, both her own and other peoples’.

She loves being carried around and gets all wiggly from excitement.

She frequently borrows one of Embarrassment’s hoodies and runs around, dragging fabric and giggling like crazy.

She loves to play with the others, though she sometimes needs a reminder to not snatch toys.

Everything she sees is cool! Everything is awesome! She wants to experience everything!

Nostalgia

She prefers classic cartoons and movies; things like “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You” and “Fantasia”.

She also loves children’s books - “Matilda”, “Little Lord Fauntleroy”, “The Swiss Family Robinson”, etc.

She’s not a play-pretender, but she loves looking at and collecting toys.

She crafts glasses chains for herself, and changes them out frequently. (They are a necessity, by the way - she will lose her glasses in seconds without a chain.)

She likes to watch memories of Riley playing. Even if she doesn’t play along, watching makes her feel smaller.

[daftpatience]

heurhgh. thinkin abt the prince and the sea witch AU because i am an ocean boy and and and theres so much to thinkabout with this one!!!! i love aus that tap into classic fairytales becasue theres so much to work with!!! connections to make and parallels to draw

context and thoughts under tha cut cus this au sorta escaped me at first and there's very little stuff about it in english

the original au came from a leaflet that was bundled with volume 8 on toranoana:

rough translation explains that mermaid princess hinaichi rescued prince ronaldo, and sea witch draluc offers to give her legs to meet him again (and if he doesn't like her she'll turn into seafoam) which she declines. (literally what she says is "no need!" and the big words to the side of her say "no regrets" which is hilarious.) thats the end of the story and ronaldo is left alone. also, john is a sea turtle that lives in a clam.

im lifting my own headcanons and such from the original little mermaid story (not so much the didney one) where the prince doesn't see the mermaid and instead falls in love with this woman who comes to help him from a nearby temple (who he doesn't realize is actually the princess he's betrothed to later.) in this au that's draluc who was observing from a distance. (i just drew a half sunken agora and im calling that a temple. watever. its refd from one of the old arts and i think its pretty)

i like the idea that ronaldo exaggerates his own memory of spotting draluc that day due to the distance making details difficult paired with the fact that he was probably a little delirious. the idea that he doesn't immediately put together that draluc is the person he saw is kinda fun 2 me, and of course he'd make up some beautiful girl in his head. of course he would.

im messing with some ideas about draluc deciding to meddle with ronaldo instead - does he offer to turn him into a merman to look for his made up maiden? or does draluc come to land for his own reasons? maybe they visit each other at the temple every day and bring each other little things and talk and stuff. itd be cute if they butted heads but still went to see each other every day anyways.

a popular thing in the au is draluc being captured - maybe ronaldo, desparate to find his love and only knowing she was some sort of fish, does something stupid like setting up nets and traps. hahah. maybe he catches draluc and takes him to his castle to learn about merfolk and such. iunno. whatever the case i hope they fall in love in the process and also bicker a lot like their usual schtick

ive got a little sad idea that borrows from some 30 years later au stuff where draluc is worried about ronaldo's lifespan (this is also in the orig little mermaid where mermaids live longer than humans by hundreds of years) but also can't turn human to match ronaldo because it's too painful for him to walk on legs (since one of the au rules is that he must always be weak and the orig little mermaid made it clear that legs hurted real bad)

also also i very big headcanon draluc the sea witch has a sunken castle that looks a lot like ponyo's dad's house on the inside. fulla potions and stuff. wouldnt that be cute! maybe hes got an interest in human life/a collection of old things kinda like didney little mermaid - since canon draluc is so well adjusted to modern human stuff like games and livestreams and whatnot. in this au i think he'd be a lot more stubborn and reluctant to admit it, though, cus i also like the idea that his grandpa went the route of loving a human and going to land and maybe he doesn't want to end up like that? but it might be fate just cus draluc and ronaldo parallel D and helsing so well.

also i still want hinaichi to be in it but her rejection of the plot is so funny and good, i don't want to shove her in without thinking of a good way for it to make sense. she's good friends with draluc and likes his cooking...can you cook underwater??? maybe magically?? maybe draluc takes up cooking on land and brings hinaichi things he makes??? maybe then she gets interested in humans and wants to come to land to try all the cooking theyve got. iunno.

i usually keep this sort of note taking and doodling to myself but this fandom needs all the stimulation it can get. hiii hellooo :]

[blue-spider62]

These are mostly WIPs… Anyways, are you tired of people always pairing Gwen with Miles instead of Peter ? Are you sick of seeing Gwiles/Ghostflower fanart everywhere you go ? Do you wish Earth-8 wasn't a thing ? Well, that’s where my AU comes in !

Introducing :

✨Earth-1220✨

I originally wanted to call it Earth-161650, but 1220 just sounds better. So here’s the basics on this world :

- Similar to Earth-1218, Marvel characters exist in comics, movies, but in real life as well

- Everybody knows about the 4th wall

-Earth-1220 borrows elements from the comics, movies and video games, so in Sonic's words, "Everything is canon" (Except for Sins Past and Days of Future Past)

- Characters age very slowly and their appearance doesn't change after the age of 20-40

- Peter and Gwen are married and have kids (YOU'RE WELCOME)

-The Spider-Clan is present in this reality (I always loved the idea of Spidey being a ninja)

Well, that’s pretty much it. I’ll give more info on my AU and its inhabitants on my upcoming posts.

Excelsior !

[sierice]

3, 11, 12, 13, 19, 23, 27, 37, 44 for the ask game? SORRY SIERICE I KNOW THIS IS A LOT IM JUST REALLY CURIOUS 😭YOU DONT HAVE TO ANSWER ALL OF THEM LOL

the longer i sit here the longer this list grows.. ill just have to come back next time (threat)

HI HELLO HIIIII !!!!!!!!!!!!!! i hope this is for that pjoverse ask game thingy bc if not this is gonna be uh. a little bit awkward but whatever here we GO

3. Favorite character

meg..........lester.......... explodes and dies (they are a package deal do not SEPERATE !!)

11. Favorite scene

oughhhh uhhhhhhh there is a lot tbh. im a very impressionable person you make a scene even slightly cool and i'll be like WOAHHHH WOOOOAHHH WOW. anyways i hope top three is fine instead

the scene from tdp where apollo shields meg from chaos and then they both come back out alive bc they both remembered that they need each other. this was only in the second book rick was insane for this

sorry 2 be cringe on main but. the bit in tlt where percy gets claimed. idk that changed my brain forever i loved it. the way it was shown how much of a serious and insane and never seen b4 event so ppl were both in awe and in fear and percy could tell that his life was never going to be the same. chills literal chills

TTT COMMODUS DEATH SCENE !!!!!!!!!!!! HE DIED THE SAME WAY BOTH TIMES BY THE SAME PERSON IM JUST GRAAAAAAHHHHH

LIKE DO YOU SEE THIS. DO YOU SEE THIS. THE FIRST IS FROM TDP THE SECOND IS FROM TTT GOD. F*CK

12. First pjo book you've read?

THO !!!!!!!!! i saw one of my classmates reading it and i was curious so i borrowed it for a bit and i was HOOKED. i WAS super confused who this 'percy' and 'leo' he was talking about so i decided to start from the beginning XD im pretty sure i was caught for reading in the middle of class that day lmao

13. Favorite minor character?

SO SO SO MANY. i collect minor characters like pokemons i adore them with all my heart. favorite is probably felix philip from tkc though. i love him and his penguins and his tendency to demolish bad guys with basketballs and also shoes

19. Favorite Olympian

APOLLO. claps and nobody joins in

23. Opinion on TSATS?

i couldn't even FINISH it i just couldnt. it was that bad like im sorry but i simply could not bring myself to like any bit of it 1/10

27. Scene that makes you cringe the most

oh the TTT reyna rejection scene for sure. and then the bit where he pees himself in TDP and TBM like girlie what 😭😭😭srsly why do subject me to this lester why do pee yourself in every single book without fail

37. 3 hcs about you favorite character

OOOOOOOOH DIFFICULT QUESTION. this one is a definite one though:

2. meg teleportation powers !!!!!!!!! (yes i know its basically canon BUT. it was used like one (1) time and then never again i need to see MORE OF IT NOW)

3. lester meg empathy link is REAL. to me. and also kind of to canon but whatever

4. basically everything in the headcannons channel in the toa discord LMAOOO i read it and then i forever incorporate it into my psyche its like my daily ritual at this point

44. Favorite rareship

apollo x happiness. apollo x therapy. apollo x revolutionizing against zeus. lester x some f*cking good things happening to him for once in his life. why are you dragging me out of the building

[ava-core]

me, a bethesda shill: so what if my courier six was an elder scrolls character

May Bell, Deathbells: Daughter of Coldharbour

headcanons under the cut!

so i also used to play so much skyrim back in the day! it was also my first ever game that i played (around 2016?) and it was a hilarious initial experience because it took me five playthroughs to realize succubi weren’t actual members of a real race in elder scrolls lore…rip my older cousin’s copy i borrowed that used to run with 200+ mods

ANYWAY! lore-wise, there were so many opportunities i could take here, but something called to me seeing may as…undead. this is mainly centered around skyrim, btw!

but of course, may is a vampire in tamriel. not just any vampire, however: she’s a vampire lord, ghosting about lord harkon’s court in castle volkihar as one of the senior keepers of the library.

i considered making her a daughter of coldharbour, but i remembered in the middle of my thought process train going choo-choo did i remember what it takes for women to be daughters of couldharbour…poor may already has so much trauma as the courier in fnv. i will spare her a similar fate in terms of her origin here in tamriel :’)

still, even for vampire standards—already within these folks who outright drink blood and cannibalize as rituals and habits—may is an odd egg. she keeps to herself, eats in the dungeons instead of with the others, and idles either in the dusty tomes of the library or silently beside feran sadri’s side doing alchemy. in short, may retains her reclusive nature even as an all-powerful vampire lord.

she’s also most proficient in alteration and illusion magic, as well as alchemy. she’s also better than most in destructive magic, but she’s the most adept in the two aforementioned schools of magic. she also practices restoration magic on some of the wounded vampires who go out into the mainland.

she’s also good with one-handed weapons, but prefers to use staves or daggers.

no one really knows where she came from; just that harkon put her into court out of nowhere, and that she was a necessary part of their strategy-making with a big mind like hers. she was, after all, a former priestess of Julianos—the divine in charge of wisdom and logic. that’s all they knew about her. they don’t even know what region she’s from. short: breton? but her features are peculiar, not like any breton girl’s…

in this vein…boone, i see becoming a dawnguard soldier, a valued one, in fact: his skill with a crossbow makes isran weep for joy. almost.

for him, i can imagine him being a former imperial guard who moved to skyrim because both his wife carla and child died during labor. he’s a full-blooded nord, of course

he has this one-track mind against vampires: as creatures of the night, they’re not really deserving of compassion and kindness as the suck the life out of their victims and constantly terrify the populace with their cruelty; it’s why he signed up with the dawnguard. they looked promising eradicating the scourge of vampires (basically the way he sees legion, but a smidge less personal since vampires had nothing to do with his wife and child’s death)

DO YOU GUYS SEE WHERE I AM GOING WITH THIS…

so can you imagine when boone tries to play hero and rescue a captured dawnguard brother in volkihar castle, only to be kept as well

he spits in the eyes of the vampires, cursing and muttering profanity at his captors…

until he meets the most captivating young woman dressed in a sleek dark gown of velvet…and when she speaks, her fangs protrude.

imagine falling in love at first sight while also knowing this is the enemy. how could he: this is a vampire, just like one of them, with her big, sharp teeth and irises of dark red; how could he not, with her unique, beautiful face and the fact that even if she seemed like she was doing grunt work feeding the humans in the dungeon she wasn’t disgusted by them or looked down on them

when after a few days, may sees boone’s uniform, she asks about the sun emblem. awkwardly. boone spits in her direction, and may sighs.

it’s only a day after when may comes back to feed the humans when he says he’s dawnguard. weirdly enough, may had never heard of them before. he tells her they’re here to rid the world of the plague of vampires

may only sighs. she doesn’t get mad, get angry, or be disgusted at the thought of being wiped out. instead, she nods her head. “yeah, i get that.”

it intrigues boone. of course he can’t sweet-talk her into getting information about her out of her, but the least he does is stop growling at him.

after a while, boone also notices may’s face. as beautiful as it is, she didn’t look like anyone he’d ever seen in tamriel.

all she murmurs as she feeds him is, “i’m akaviri.”

a foreigner in strange lands. a vampire, too. but why volkihar? why here? why couldn’t she have just been a priestess he could carry in his arms to mara’s temple?

boone, after months of trying to decide whether to kill or kidnap this strange, beautiful vampire who’s been helping him infiltrate the volkihar castle: i didn’t say you could feed off anyone else

JUST A LOT OF THOUGHTS RINGING IN MY HEAD

[yukidragon]

Could we have a scene where Jack has to get rid of his new rival Jähk who is taking away Alice's attention?

Pfffffffhahahaha! Oh that's a hilarious image. Thanks for sharing this funny idea with me.

For those of you in the fandom unaware, Jähk is the creation of Skrobnaught over on twitter. In a sense, it's an off-brand/muppet version of Jack. You can check out the various hilarious pictures of Jähk here, here, here, and here. There's even an Ian version here.

It's such a fun and silly series of pictures. I did imagine Alice giving Jähk a hug after seeing that picture where he's crying, but now you've got me thinking of what sort of scenario this little muppet might appear as an unintentional rival for Jack.

Since Jähk can be a horny little guy because he was made from a horny big guy like Jack, let's pause here to remind everyone that this series is for Adults Only. Some of this silly ramble gets a bit spicy.

Anyway, I'm thinking it all starts innocently enough because of Honey Bunny. Come to think of it, she looks kind of like Jähk in some ways, doesn't she?

Jack encourages Alice's playful side, which includes playing with this adorable little puppet that means so much to her. However, that's the only puppet Alice has, so he can't borrow another puppet to have some fun back and forth banter with "Honey Bunny" as another character on the same level.

What's a silly clown to do? Why, use a bit of supernatural ghost manifestation powers TV magic to summon up a puppet of his own, just like his spiffy robe and pajamas!

Instead of going with a little animal friend like Honey Bunny, Jack makes little Jähk, complete with silly spelling and making silly sounds. It's just a little innocent fun and goofing around. He treats Jähk like it's a real little person, even "arguing" with him at times... and winds up getting a little too into the play.

With this little puppet being made from the same supernatural forces that make up his actual body, pairing that with his issues against himself, particularly the identity of who he is verses the identity of Sunny Day Jack... he accidentally puts a piece of himself in the puppet, and thus Jähk starts acting on his own... and of course, being a part of Jack, he also loves Alice just as much.

At first Alice thinks it's just Jack taking the game a bit too far, and he tries to convince himself that's all it is, but Jähk starts acting up, expressing more of his shameless desires. After all, that's the sort of silly character he presented Jähk to be. It was to match Alice's energy, as she's always used Honey Bunny to express things she was struggled to say aloud, so she's made her puppet act extra silly and shameless, even smooching Jack for her. Because of that, Jack made Jähk just as shameless, so when Jähk got a life of his own... it's basically a part of Jack that he's been trying to suppress behind his bright and shiny mask as Sunny Day Jack.

Now, even while playing a bit more shamelessly, Jack didn't go too far, mostly just having Jähk smooch Alice and Honey Bunny, maybe being very silly and a bit suggestive. Once Jähk has a life of his own though, he starts getting a lot more shameless, burying his face in Alice's cleavage, squeezing her soft curves, and all that good stuff. It's fortunate that she's used to this behavior to an extent from Jack since they'd be lovers at this point, but it's still a bit startling when the puppet Jack was playing around with actually comes alive and moves on its own.

Jack, of course, tries to reign in Jähk, make him go away... but Jähk is just a part of himself, one he accidentally manifested as its own entity. He's been denying parts of himself in order to be the perfect image of Sunny Day Jack, and now that he has an outlet to express that... a part of him won't let it go. After all, he can be both shameless and squeaky clean Sunny Day Jack at the same time. It's a win-win!

Naturally, Jack doesn't consciously realize this is him essentially rebelling against the persona he's trying to live up to and express himself more. It's a very complicated situation mentally all around, under the silly guise of a supernaturally made puppet that's running wild, being very silly, and loving with his sunshine without shame or reservation.

When it becomes apparent to Alice that Jähk is now a new invisible roommate for her to live with... it's kind of surreal, especially since he's a silly miniature version of Jack. It's still Jack, even just part of him, and with that connection between them, she wouldn't help but feel affection towards Jähk, especially when he acts scared at the idea of Jack making him go away for good. Poor little guy clings to her, shaking and crying, womping pitifully at her, and her heart goes out to him. She asks Jack if they couldn't just keep the little guy around for a little while.

Jack doesn't want to deny his sunshine anything, and Sunny Day Jack certainly wouldn't bully such a pitiful little guy, so he has to give in. Though a part of him doesn't want Jähk around very strongly, because it's a more shameless version of him... those desires that don't quite fit the character of Sunny Day Jack, and Jack can't stop being the character or he'll be left unloved and forgotten. It's not that he hates Jähk. I mean, Sunny Day Jack doesn't hate anybody! It's just, well... there's a time and a place for nonsense, and Jähk needs to learn how to behave.

Of course there's mixed feelings when Alice dotes on Jähk. She's still doting on him, but at the same time it's that shameful part of him that he denies exists, and Jack can't help but feel a little jealous. Of course, he won't ever admit that he's jealous, even to himself, since that's something out of character for Sunny Day Jack... but of course Jähk doesn't have a problem expressing Jack's inner jealousy.

So Jack tries to be sneaky about it... but Jähk is still Jack, so it's a sort of Tom and Jerry game of cat and mouse. Some wacky shenanigans happen behind Alice's back as Jack tries to make Jähk disappear, and Jähk thwarts him, getting to the safety of Alice's arms so Jack can't do anything.

Understandably, Jack can get pretty frustrated by this.

Alice is perceptive to Jack's emotional needs though, and she would make sure to show plenty of affection to him... which Jähk gets jealous of. Sure they can share cuddle time, but not sexy times. Alice might've grown up with a love of her personal puppet pal, but it's definitely not a fetish of hers, so she's not thinking of Jähk that way, no matter how suggestive he gets.

Jähk can't go too far with the sexual advances either due to Alice's discomfort. Although he's the more shameless side of Jack, Jähk still has limits when it comes to his sunshine's consent and happiness. He mopes that she won't sit on his face and let him eat her out or do other naughty things, but since she's not comfortable doing it, he won't do it... though he will cling and cuddle more instead.

He'll also watch.

Jack, naturally, gets a bit more needy for Alice's attention because of Jähk trying to monopolize her time. Interestingly enough, this would be a good way for Jack to indulge in his voyeurism and exhibitionism fetishes. Alice isn't comfortable with other people seeing/hearing her do smutty things besides her partner, but Jähk is just a puppet made from Jack's supernatural powers. He's a part of Jack, so he doesn't count as a different person! He's just like Honey Bunny, only supernaturally powered. So it's not really like someone else is watching, right?

It's embarrassing and a bit awkward for Alice to be watched by a pair of puppets, but Jack is very good at distracting her. Jähk might not be able to do anything himself, but being part of Jack, he's not going to turn down the opportunity to watch his sunshine writhe in pleasure.

Plus, Jähk is a part of Jack. He has the same connection to Alice that Jack does, so he's going to be able to feel his sunshine's pleasure just like Jack can. He might not have the parts necessarily, since he is a puppet, but he can pantomime when necessary and make noises when appropriate.

Despite only making silly noises like "womp," Jack and Alice can both understand what Jähk is saying perfectly. Jähk is exploiting that mind reading/projecting ability. While Alice has no idea how she can understand Jähk, Jack knows full well.

Which makes it all the more embarrassing when Jähk gives silly praising commentary to Alice during a very intimate moment with Jack. Jähk is much more dirty with his language and innuendo than Jack is, his womping serving as a perfect G-rated bit of censorship so Jähk won't break the Sunny Day Jack persona too much. Even Jähk's shamelessness has limits after all.

Jack, naturally, does have mixed feelings about Jähk talking dirty to Alice and embarrassing her like that, but... at the same time it's arousing seeing her get so flustered... and after all the part of him that he's suppressing has some pretty naughty thoughts. It's an excuse to express that side he's suppressing, so he sort of... tries to ignore it and keep going, touching, kissing, and loving Alice thoroughly, while giving Jähk a show.

...

"Aww... don't cover your mouth, sunshine. I want to hear your pretty moans and hear you say my name. Let him hear you say it."

Jack had Alice in his lap, spooning her from behind. Their clothes were already gone and he had his fingers pumping slowly in and out of her wet pussy, spreading her open for their little audience made of felt. Though she tried to stop the shameful noises from coming from her mouth, she couldn't help but mewl Jack's name or the way her hips squirmed from his ministrations. Her face was red, mortified, and she couldn't look directly at Jähk, who watched from a front row seat directly between her legs.

"J-Jack! Jack... th-this is embarrassing! He can see...!"

"It's okay," Jack cooed as he nipped at Alice's neck. "Let him watch. Let him see just how much you love me."

"Womp! Womp!"

Alice sputtered at the lewd commentary, and her hands flew up to cover her face. "Oh my God, Jähk!" She never would've imagined hearing a puppet say something like that about her!

"Now, now, that kind of language isn't necessary, Jähk," Jack chided, though a part of him enjoyed how Alice squeezed his fingers when she was embarrassed. She was getting so worked up by being watched, and it gave him a thrill. "But he does have a point, sunshine. You're so wet. Maybe we should have an audience more often."

"Jack... this is... I..." Alice struggled to speak, but Jack was just so good with his fingers. He had a way of making it hard to care about anything else but the love and pleasure he showed her.

"Womp womp wooomp~!"

Alice let out a strangled squeak, and Jack chuckled against her ear. "Don't worry about a thing, Alice," he practically purred. "Just relax and let me take care of you, sunshine."

...

Oop, I think I wound up writing a slightly different scene involving Jähk than prompted. Sorry about that?

Anyway, Jack still is going to want to get rid of any rivals for his sunshine's attention, even if he gets an opportunity to play with his exhibitionism and voyeurism kinks for once. He can't just make Jähk disappear, since that wasn't working... so he comes up with an alternative solution.

If Jack can't make Jähk go away, and Jähk won't fall for any of his usual tactics to get rid of a rival... then maybe he has to get creative.

After all, like the saying goes, "if you can't beat them, join them."

...

It had been strange since Jähk entered their lives, but Alice couldn't help but have a bit of a soft spot for the silly little puppet. Jack had gone to "take care" of something, leaving her to watch TV on the sofa with the little puppet happily cuddled against her chest, focusing more on the softness of her breasts than whatever was playing on the screen.

"Womp, womp," Jähk sighed happily.

Alice stroked Jähk's head and chuckled a bit both at the silly puppet and the situation. "I'm glad you're happy."

"Sunshine, could you come here please?" Jack called from the other room. "I need your help with something. It's a surprise for Jähk~"

Jähk eyed the bedroom door with suspicion as he clung to Alice possessively. He wasn't ready to give up cuddle time with his sunshine, and he didn't trust whatever surprise Jack had that involved him. "Womp womp?"

Despite the barb, Jack laughed. "No, silly, I'm not going on a vacation. I've got a present I think you'll just love."

Alice perked up curiously. She was aware of the tension that hung in the air between Jack and Jähk. It was exhausting playing mediator at times. She stood up and went to the bedroom, cradling a suspicious Jähk in her arms, as she hoped this somehow might resolve some of the tension. "What is it?"

"I made a new member of the family," Jack said as he gestured with a flourish to the bed. On it sat a new puppet, one that looked a lot like Alice. "Ta da~! Meet Jähk's best friend Ählis!"

Alice gasped, startled by her miniature felt doppelgänger. Ählis looked a lot like her, but with features as silly and distorted as Jähk was compared to Jack.

Jähk dropped his mouth open wide in shock. He didn't even react as Jack snatched him up and placed him down on the bed directly in front of Ählis. After a moment, he recovered to let out a squeaky, "Womp!"

"That's right, Jähk," Jack said with a satisfied smile, his demeanor bright and enthusiastic. "It's your very own sunshine to love and cuddle with. Now you don't have to feel left out anymore."

Jähk eyed the still puppet that looked like Alice with suspicion. He didn't want to reject Ählis, but she wasn't the same as Alice... This doll lacked the same warmth she possessed.

Alice examined her miniature counterpart up close as well, noticing a lot of little details that Jack added to Ählis, such as her scar and making her smaller than Jähk. "So... is she... alive too?"

"Actually, that's what I need your help with, Alice," Jack said as he flashed Alice a big smile. "Would you mind helping Ählis get to know Jähk a little? You know, really put a little life into his sunshine for us."

"Me?" Alice asked as she cocked her head slightly. "You're the one with the powers."

Jack offered Alice a wry smile. "You have a lot more power than you realize, sunspot. Just give it a try. Please? For me and Jähk?"

Alice couldn't resist it when Jack looked at her with those big soulful eyes, and when Jähk joined in with a similar look, she caved. She sat on the bed and put Ählis in her lap. She tried to imagine what this miniature version of her would act like, and it came to her quickly after spending a couple weeks with a silly little guy like Jähk around.

"Meep meep?" Alice said for Ählis as she waved the puppet's little felt hand at Jähk.

Jähk jumped and stared at Ählis in surprise again, mouth hanging open, before he quickly bounced excitedly towards the other puppet. "Womp womp!" He shook the hand that Alice had waved towards him and gave the other puppet a hug. "Womp womp!"

Alice giggled at the cuteness of the moment and quickly got caught up in the game. "Meep!" she pretended to squeak in surprise before she moved Ählis to nuzzle her head against Jähk.

"Womp womp, womp," Jähk said, his voice softening a bit before he started planting kisses all over Ählis' face.

Alice giggled at the sight and made Ählis squirm a little, her "meep"s distorted by her laughter.

It was an adorable scene, one that was almost innocent, but Jack watched in anticipation as Alice helped Ählis come alive in their play.

Jähk pulled back and took Ählis' hand in both of his, stroking it as he made happy noises, professing his love for his sunshine in his silly made up language. Some of the things he said made Alice blush a bit, her eyes darting over to Jack who looked back at her with a loving gaze.

By the end of the speech, Alice felt flustered. Jack had a way with words, and Jähk took after him in that department. The way Jähk spoke to Ählis made her feel similar to when Jack first used the silly little puppet to flirt with her and Honey Bunny. It left her feeling a bit too shy to speak.

Which was why Alice jumped when she heard an embarrassed squeak of, "Meep!" that she didn't make.

Ählis brought her hands up over her face, completely unassisted, and squeaked again as Jähk wrapped his arms around her, snuggling close to the now living puppet.

Alice let out a similar startled squeak as her felt counterpart when Jack scooped her up into his own hug.

"You did it, Alice!" Jack said triumphantly. "Now you don't have to worry about Jähk feeling forgotten anymore. Isn't that fantastic?"

Was it? Alice wasn't too sure. Gaining another living puppet as an invisible roommate just made her life that much weirder.

Still, despite the weirdness, Alice couldn't help but admit that they made an adorable pair. Somehow she could feel the warmth between the two as they held each other close. Seeing Jähk cuddling up to a blushing Ählis, who happily snuggled into his arms made Alice want to lean into her own cuddly partner, who was only too happy to snuggle her in return.

"I guess they are pretty cute together," Alice admitted as she rested her cheek against Jack's shoulder and watched the two puppets snuggle.

It was an innocent scene... until it suddenly wasn't. While Alice wasn't comfortable with Jähk doing perverted things to her, Ählis had no such reservations, and soon miniature clothes went flying as the puppets' mouths and hands went to indecent places on one another's felt bodies.

Alice turned bright red as she turned away and brought a hand up in front of her face to act as a blinder. "Whoa! Okay, time to go." She tried to stand, but she was locked up tight in Jack's gentle but firm grip. She turned towards her boyfriend, confused, only to gasp as his lips met hers.

"Actually...," Jack murmured before kissing Alice again, "I was hoping we could keep playing a little longer, sunspot." He moved on to kiss her neck, eliciting a shiver and a small moan from his lover. "I think Jähk and Ählis want us to stay and watch their show."

Alice sputtered, her face red from the implications and from what was going on in her bed only feet away from them. Somehow seeing a miniature version of herself and her boyfriend making love was almost as mortifying as when Jähk watched her and Jack make love before.

"Womp womp. Womp, womp~!"

"Meep! Meep meep meeeep!"

Alice outright gawked at the pair and her blush spread down to her neck.

Just like how Jähk could say things Jack wouldn't be able to, Ählis had no reservations with saying things that Alice thought about but was always far too mortified to say even while she and Jack were acting out those very perverted thoughts.

Jack smiled in amusement at the way their doll-like doppelgängers made love without reservation or shame. As his hands crept up underneath Alice's shirt and his lips went back to her neck, he decided to see if he could coax his sunshine into being a little more honest with what she wanted as well.

...

Yes, the problem gets resolved with a silly and smutty happy ending. I kind of have a fondness for happy endings with my OTP if you haven't noticed by now. ;3 I hope you enjoyed this silly and spicy little romp~

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur

[wretcheddthing]

Tav ask meme! 1, 3, and 12 for allllllll of your guys >:3c

HIIII THANK U <3 ok here we go

here’s the ask meme post btw for those. who want to also ask :)

Venali Kelvyre (Human wild magic sorcerer)

1) What would your Tav’s greetings be (at different levels of approval)?

- Negative: A disdainful “What?”, simply an arched brow, or “Make it quick.”

- Neutral: “How can I help?” “Sorry, did you say something?” “Sure, I have a moment.”

- Good: “Good to see you :)” “What do you have for me?” “Always a pleasure.”

- Romanced: Said with all the love in her heart, “There you are.” “How are you, darling?” “Anything you ask.”

3) What would their character quest be titled? Why?

A hard one to answer bc her full personal quest can’t be completed during the events of the game. So probably it would have something to do with Finally, after 7 years of searching, discovering what exactly she needs to do to rid herself of her magic. Which I haven’t figured out yet. But also she lied about being a wizard for seven years so Probably something along those lines. The Sorcerous Charlatan or something is that dumb

12) Does you Tav have any tattoos or scars? Why?

Yes to scars, no to tattoos. She has your general wear and tear of doing field work and then a side of adventuring to search for hidden information (even before being tadpoled), but most notably are the scars on her lips and forehead. She got hit by falling rubble while escaping The Ruin with her remaining friends.

My other friends under the cut

Tozra Cardove (Half-elf college of swords bard)

1) What would your Tav’s greetings be (at different levels of approval)?

- Negative: “Make it quick.” “Oh, you wanna talk?” “If you must.”

- Neutral: “How’s it going?” “Hail, companion!”

- Good: “Just the person I wanted to see.” “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”

- Romance: “Lovely as always.” “Sorry, I’m a bit flustered.” “Forgive me if I swoon.”

3) What would their character quest be titled? Why?

“The Would-Be Knight” bc before being tadpoled he did play fights during festivals in Baldur’s Gate. He was well liked by those he entertained, and is actually skilled with his sword. But he is first and foremost an entertainer. Idk the rest of his story yet.

12) Does you Tav have any tattoos or scars? Why?

Yes, two slashes across his nose. His opponent, both on stage and in real life, didn’t pull his blows. It was an intentional strike that knocked him out for an important show one season.

———

Mercury (Tiefling battle master fighter)

1) What would your Tav’s greetings be (at different levels of approval)?

- Negative: “Ugh, what?” “Why don’t I just drop everything?” “Talk.”

- Neutral: “Hey.” “Got something?”

- Good: “My favorite helper.” “Where are we going?” “Shoot.”

- Romanced: “Hey, love.” “You lead, I follow.” “Aren’t you a doll.”

3) What would their character quest be titled? Why?

“Her Sister’s Keeper” bc. Well I had to modify her actual lore a bit to make it work in bg3 bc she is Originally an alchemist artificer who makes potion bombs and she lost her sister in a lab accident so I kinda made her into a sort of. Mercenary fighter for the sake of bg3. Idk, she was my first playthrough and I didn’t really wanna start with a whole new chatavyer so I borrowed one of my other ones. Anyway, something to do with that.

12) Does you Tav have any tattoos or scars? Why?

Yes to both. She’s covered in tattoos of alchemical symbols because she thinks it looks cool, but she also has burn scars all over from her lab exploding.

———

Clandestine (Tiefling gloomstalker ranger/assassin rogue)

1) What would your Tav’s greetings be (at different levels of approval)?

- Negative: *Disapproving Grunt*

- Neutral: “Hm?”

- Good: “Hm.” (but nicer this time)

- Romanced: “Hello.”

3) What would their character quest be titled? Why?

These are actually really hard to come up with did you know! They’re a huge buff stealth build assassin with the outlander background. Idk her story yet. Maybe something about being an archer. “The Green Archer” perhaps

12) Does you Tav have any tattoos or scars? Why?

All Sorts of scars from a lifetime of picking (and winning) fights. A notable slash across his face from a particularly difficult job hunting an ogre.

[justmybookthots]

Caraval

Just finished my 50th book of the year and it's… Caraval.

Yes, by Stephanie Garber, who wrote the OUABH series, which I utterly despised. (I'd already forsaken this series by Book 2 and I'm just cackling people were disappointed by Book 3.) Caraval is claimed by many to be worse than OUABH, so I honestly was debating kicking it off my list or just ignoring it forever? But then I saw it in the library, and you must understand that it is NEVER in the library. It is always on loan for some godforsaken reason. So, I borrowed it, out of a scholarly curiosity, you can say.

I went into it expecting to hate it, and I… didn't. 

To me, this was more enjoyable than OUABH? At least, the first seventy-percent. I was really enjoying every page and wondering why the general public hated it? The premise was really fascinating—a girl trapped in some magical game with so many twists and turns—and I had soooooo many questions and… yeah.

Now…. spoilers.

The last thirty-percent kicked in and I went from intrigued to confused and not enjoying it anymore. The writing was so WEIRD when Julian 'died'. I couldn't feel anything at all while Scarlett wept in the most comical fashion for her man, lol. It's hard to put a finger as to what went wrong, but all  I can say is that the writing did not execute it properly. Lord, it was so over the top. Also, I just didn't care much for Julian and the plot twist about his identity came to no surprise to me. 

This man did the stupidest and most bewildering shit; why did he just stand there and let Scarlett's father slash his face? I swear to the heavens, Stephanie loves writing her men as martyrs, and the women their Bob the Builders. The whole "I'm bad and there's no redemption for me, I have secrets you should be afraid of so stay away" made me hurl. AND WHAT FOR? The ending reveals that none of his tragic backstory was real ANYWAY.

I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY JULIAN STAYED BEHIND TO STAY WITH SCARLETT WHEN HIS ROLE WAS APPARENTLY JUST TO BRING HER TO CARAVAL. You're telling me it was love at first sight? It was so confusing and unconvincing.

Also the last part where Tella introduces Scarlett to 'Daniel' and then Scarlett goes to the balcony and then 'Daniel' reveals himself followed by the sisters' father showing up and then Tella dramatically jumping off the balcony… I was actually laughing during this scene because it felt like I was reading a badly done play. It's supposed to be sad, intense and dramatic (I think?) but I was just like… "What is going on, why is everyone yelling" and when Scarlett wept again for her dead sister, I was on the floor.

It was so bad. 😭

And guess what? It turned out NONE OF THIS MATTERED ANYWAY. The whole play was Legend doing Tella a favour and pulling this whole charade so that they could escape their dad by having Tella fake her death in front of him. I……. WHAT. All this… when it was just to fake a death? Surely there were less dramatic ways than this? Julian's backstory was fake, Julian's death was fake, everything was a cop-out. Even him giving up one day of his life for her was… for what, exactly? I'm so lost. And Scarlett just went, "I FORGIVE YOU" and bats her lashes. I swear this happened twice. The man pulls something on her, she stews, then goes, "I fOrGiVe yOu". 

Seriously, how bored are Legend and his performers to pull this madness/rigmarole just for these two sisters to escape their dad? I understand he made a deal with Tella and now he wants her to give him something in exchange, but it felt so…. WEIRD. I cannot believe the first 70% of suspense and fun just got smashed into pieces by this horrible ending. 

That said, I really am curious as to Legend's identity, and I want to know more about what he wants in return from Tella. Stephanie Garber is definitely not for me as a writer (the way she writes her heroines is cringe as fuck, same as her heroes) but I still want to check this trainwreck out. I'll see how it goes. For the most part, I enjoyed this book more than I didn't. I'm GLAD Legend didn't show himself at the end. If the man that claimed to be Legend in the last couple of chapters had really been Legend, I'd have been so disappointed.

- 30 Oct

[projectorpheus]

KEPLER ⋅𖥔⋅ 27, W ⋅𖥔⋅ EXTRACTION

trigger warnings: death, drugs

Your life is a segment of unexposed film, the idea of a picture before it blurs. In another life, in an ideal exposure, you'd be breaking ground on a new galaxy, hands thick with red sand; a cosmonaut of the highest degree. It's why you grew up with scientists scribbling notes about you through countless space sims, spared from exile aboveground with your biological parents because you were wired to perform under pressure, to detach from others without feeling — TO LET GO. When you're eighteen, you take off once and never again, ACorp's Ibis barely breaking the atmosphere before its experimental fuel source reaches a fatal temperature. ACorp's spin goes like this: you and your loving adoptive father, an ACorp exec and the first man to step foot on Mars, reached the ISS and jetted back in record time. Unfortunately, due to a weight error, your father sacrificed himself so you could live. Truthfully? You weighed out your survival margin if you waited for him to stabilize the main cabin and meet you back near the escape pod. It wasn't good enough. You made the call. So it goes. S Corp's buyout ends the space program. They slap you on the "Public Experience" team, pay you to race state-of-the-art hovercars through their streets under the thrum of of neon and the sour-milk-scent of human exertion. You keep yourself in constant motion, your movements startling and uneasy, throwing yourself under the club lights, drawing friends close only to cut them off when you know it'll hurt most. But you are happy, so happy. Hopped up on whatever poison you can snort up your nose. Shark-smile. When you're so fucked up you can't do anything but remain still, you wonder: are your birth parents thinking of you? And then you're back on your feet, thrashing through your life on a whim. Glimpses of all you could've been, confetti spinning into a void. You find out about Project Orpheus after your biological mother denies your hard-fought telegrammed request to meet her on your 27th birthday, and borrow data to slide into a program your brain isn't compatible with. You'll die, yes. But what's the fun in life, anyway, if you can't for once be the hero? If you can't for once in your life do the right fucking thing.

DYNAMICS

VOYAGER  ⋅𖥔⋅ NO, EMPTINESS IS NOT NOTHINGNESS. EMPTINESS IS A TYPE OF EXISTENCE.

You've been gaming together on a procedurally-generated space MMORPG where all the avatars are birds for 12+ years, and they only know you under the alias BluePenguino69. Still, you've explored hundreds of planets with them, built giant bases, have talked to them more frequently than anyone you actually know. Sometimes, you wonder what they look like, but real real life is a boundary you never cross. Better to keep things in a place where you can't ruin the groove you've got going, the feeling of safety through facelessness in your online world.

SYCORAX  ⋅𖥔⋅ EVERYTHING I LOVED WAS LOST, BUT NO AORTA COULD REPORT REGRET.

You're two sides of the same coin: you, the lucky one, them, a cautionary tale of being labelled a reckless coward, — a person who has killed. You know they hate you; have seen the file on what actually happened on the Ibis, how being sworn to keeping your secret seems to hurt like acid corroding their bones. You can't help but sidle up toward them, see their jaw clench and wonder how many prods it'll take to push them past their breaking point.

JUNO  ⋅𖥔⋅ WE CAN NEVER BE GODS, AFTER ALL, BUT WE CAN BECOME SOMETHING LESS THAN HUMAN WITH FRIGHTENING EASE.

You love their company the way flame loves its kindling, their surprising sore points, their mousetrap-quick mind, the way you gore each other like bulls pressing against each other. You bore easily of most people, but they enamor you again and again. Yes, you could stay in this silly cycle forever, your hand tracing their jaw, your tendons squelching between their teeth.

TAKEN BY MOD JJ ⋅𖥔⋅ JESSICA HENWICK

[weebliss]

Thank God It's Monday!

I'm a morning person and I'm proud of that. I woke up 5:30 in the morning and prep myself for school. My uniform still fits me haha. And while waiting for breakfast, I watched some episodes of "TGIS" on YouTube. It popped out of my recommendation so, I watched it and fell in love with teen Red Sternberg. He plays Kiko in the show. He's such a cutie. I asked mom about the show and she got kilig talking to me about it. She even borrowed my phone and watched a bunch of Bobby and Angelu interviews while I ate my breakfast. It's a major throwback :D

It must have been fun hangging out with friends and seeing them face to face just like how the TGIS Barkada did it before. They hang in their friend's house talk about things, play games, and plan on going out together. No cellphones! No photoshoots! No social media! Shocker haha. It makes me compare my teenage life with theirs. I thought how amazing it must have been to be with your barkada in real life. I entertained myself with this idea as I headed to school.

I arrived at school by 7:14 am. I already prepared the slides and activities for my homeroom classes last Friday, so what I freaked about was research. I asked questions from my colleagues on what to do, what classroom policies to apply, where to get materials and the like.

First meeting with advisory classes went well. I am now more observant of students' behaviour. I can see potential blessings and headaches but I'm still at lost on relating with them. I asked them about their favorite songs and I haven't heard most of them. I'm growing old :'( Anyway... I did not say anything stupid (I hope) and I prepared for my research class. My students are well behaved because hello first day? But I knew I came in strong so, they better not mess with me. Anyway, everything was smooth. I still had time to do recitations after that it rained hard. I was tired for the day really tired. Lunch was only 30 minutes and my last class ended by 6 pm. When I claimed the stairs to the office, I heard the calm sound of the pouring rain. It was a relief. I stayed in the faculty room waiting for the rain to stop. I sat limp on my chair thinking that it was still Monday. MONDAY and I was that tired.

I went out by 6:44 pm. It was drizzling but I had my umbrella. I hunted for a jeepney and good thing I found one quickly. I went it and had small talk with my former student before. His class will always be my favorite class and he made it remarkable so, of course I was happy to see him. Such a cool kid. I went home by 7:30 ate a quick dinner with mom and went to my neighbour to help them with their assignments. It was still raining, so the grandparents understood why I was late. The kids smiles made me happy :) I'm back with them again and I could tell Nigel was now soft around me haha. He's not making my life miserable anymore. It was also their first day of school so, assignments were just reviews on topics discussed last school year. It was easy. I thought that was it but Ate Betty increased my fee because there are four of them now, all smart, and she gave me pasalubong from Dubai. So thoughtful of her :)

I went back home with two soaps, one bottle of shampoo, and a big bar of chocolate. I was really happy about my day but I was also tired at the same time. I spent the rest of the night meditating and scrolling Facebook. I slept by 10:30 pm because I have a 7 am class in research by Tuesday.

That is all :)

[nonbinaryeye]

What exactly is Le Retour about?

The obvious answer of course is that Le Retour - The Return is the revolution that is about to happen in Revachol in about two or three months in the future from events of the game. However what I feel like some players are missing is that Le Retour is *not* connected to any ideology in particular and trying to interpret it as second Communist revolution (something I keep seeing way too often) is really missing the the point of what the event represents.

First of all I love the aesthetic of the game I love the mix of France and Soviet Russia scenery. I love what a terrible mess the city of Revachol is, occupied by The Coalition of Nations with their MoralIntern "democracy". But now looking at history what geopolitical unit this all reminds you of really?

The Coalition of Nations is - I would dare to say - quite obvious metaphor for Soviet Union. Which makes Revachol into any country of Eastern Bloc - Estonia or Poland or Czechoslovakia or Romania or so on it does not really matter. The important part is that there is occupied state by foreign power who got to the rule there through questionable means under the claim of bringing the better regime and stability.

And so really in does not so much matter if you are communist or ultraliberal or nationalist or if you are really trying not to think about politics too much because you have one common enemy nonetheless.

And we *see* it through the game, we *see* the bitterness from the rule of The Coalition of Nations from nationalist like René, we see the bitterness in ultraliberal like Joyce it is not an ideology thing, it is not a communist thing. Because your beliefs are not everything and sometimes you have to put your differences aside and unite because of the common goal.

Le Retour is about freeing Revachol. And if you want to be hopeful about the chances you could assume that the year 1951 in the world of Disco Elysium is what is for us the year 1989 (in Baltic Nations it's called Spring Revolution, I could make my whole case on just that.)

Maybe I'm just Eastern European trying to fit narrative too much on my own experience. Or maybe I'm just spelling out something that is clear to almost everyone and overanalysing stuff unnecessarily. But then again I feel like lot of connections that might be really obvious to me thanks to my specific background and historical knowledge might be going over the heads of others as I do not really expect people to have deep knowledge of life under the Soviet regime.

[animatedrapture]

『 twenty-sixth: he loves her back 』

prev. | as friends | next

content warnings: (mild?) violence. angst. profanity. mention of sex.

word count: 2.5k

note: so. i was gonna hit you all with a whole possibly 4k word chapter but. ill put some interval because i really feel like it would've been too much to take in in one go JDLSHJK anyway, everyone thank mous for helping me through this chapter. :') also: as always, minors dni.

listen to shouldn't be - luke chiang while reading :)

When Rintarou looks at her like this, Kana thinks there's no way he doesn't feel the same.

Under his stare, Kana feels like she's melting. He'd always look at her like this, she doesn't get why she only realized it only recently, when the thought of him looking at you this way makes it hard for her to breathe.

The way he looks at her isn't something she ever wants to share—or lose.

He handles her best, he's been with her through the most ragged and misery-filled events of her life—so she wonders why she ever thought that a relationship with him would ruin anything when it could’ve been the best thing she could’ve ever had instead.

Hours away from Tokyo, she has him all to herself. Away from you. Rintarou gives her his attention; it's complete and undeniable because there's that familiar softness in his jaded eyes and the smallest hint of a smile despite his exhaustion, enough to make her think that maybe she still has a chance to turn this around and have him all for herself—for much longer than today, or much longer than this week.

Just like he always was. (Before you, at least.)

Heavy lids flutter close, the tension in his shoulders slowly easing up. "Where are you staying?"

Kana looks up at the ceiling of his hotel room, wonders if he would've fucked her here if only they were together—dating.

"Just an inn real close," she answers before turning back to watch his reaction.

His lashes rests on the apples of his cheeks and his lips barely part as he mumbles a response. "Don't you have stuff to do this week, Kana?"

Kana shrugs, even if he can't see her. "I put ‘em off for now,” she tells him, and before Rintarou could get a word in, she continued, "Wanted to see you play."

Rintarou hums and there's a heavy silence that pushes them apart as Kana rests on his bed, eyes trained again to the ceiling. It feels misplaced, the silence, because it's heavy and almost suffocating.

"Rin," she inches her body closer to him without shifting her gaze, not really sure why she's about to say it, "What if I still love you?"

A minute passes, and then another, the heavy silence turns empty. So finally, Kana turns to look at him—and then she laughs a little, because of course he's asleep right when she's confessing again for the second time in her life.

She lets it slip, because she has all the time in the world to try again.

Maybe she shouldn't be doing this. Kana recognizes that she's never been more desperate in her entire life—but hell, Suna Rintarou was worth it all; if it meant she had to play the villain, she would. That's why she keeps making him forget his phone in his hotel room with his team, that's why in the moments where he’s back from practice or from a match, she’s back there with him and she's borrowing his phone in the guise of playing games—while he’s too tired to do anything but sleep through the time he's not practicing or playing through the matches.

But she does regret not doing this sooner—she regrets not telling him the day after he fell asleep before she'd confess, because now she's nervous and she doesn't know how to tell him as she watches him put his socks on.

It's their last day; their last major match. If they win this, they'd be taking home a golden trophy for their university and have medals just as golden hanging on their necks.

Rintarou turns to her as he grabs his bag, "Hey, c'mon," he beckons her.

Kana stands from her seat, approaching him with slow steps. "What’re thinking 'bout?" He asks as they both step out of the door, locking the room—more out of curiosity than concern. She’s reminded that no one knows her better than him, so she puts on a wide smile, turning to him.

"I'll tell ya after you guys win," she offers.

"Yeah?" He starts, eyes set ahead, footsteps slow to match hers, "What if we don't win?"

From the corner of his eye, Kana whips her head to face him with an incredulous look, as if he's the one crazy for thinking they might not win. She huffs a laugh, "Guess you'll never find out then," she answers playfully.

He raises an eyebrow, "Mm? You forcin’ me to win?"

Kana's eager nod makes him smile, if only just a little. "Yeah."

Kana shifts her weight from one foot to another—breath caught in her throat as she eyes the ball flying through the air with each hit, each throw. They’re already on the third set and Rintarou has somehow managed to score point after point with pin-point precision, his concentration never once breaking. He manages to bring them three points ahead at 13-10. All it takes is two more points for them to actually win and for Kana to actually have to tell him that she loves him, most sincerely.

Her fingernails clack against the metal railings with incessant tapping. Yeah, her anxiety must be so obvious. She can’t even cheer for him as the ball comes flying back to their court, the setter reaching for it and throwing it back, then—

Right at the center, Rintarou jumps, arms reaching out, and at the very last minute his body bends—with a loud thud, the ball hits straight into the line and the buzzer goes off.

On their side of the court, Rintarou’s smile is bright as their team rejoices in victory. He turns to the bleachers, eyes easily finding her, and there’s a glint in them like he’s telling her off for challenging him.

Kana’s heart thumps against her chest. He gestures for her to wait for him, so that's what she does.

She stands right outside the lockers, her body buzzing from anxiety—which, she doesn't even know why she's nervous.

She thinks back to all the games they've won and the way his gaze falls on her no matter the crowd. As if always telling her, it was for her; so she can't be too late—not with Rintarou, because he loves her back.

He loves her back.

“Why do you look like that?” His voice almost makes her jump in surprise. “Upset we won cause now you have to tell me what’s going on that pretty lil head?”

Even at his teasing tone, Kana frowns. Yeah, she’s upset. Upset because Rintarou makes it seem like he’d just won the game for her, upset at the insinuation of him doing so—upset that he knows her so well but can’t even figure out how madly in love she is with him. At her expression, his eyebrows furrow, all the teasing in his voice fading over.

“Hey, what’s up? Somethin’ wrong?” His eyes search for hers. His face is so close she can smell the cologne she’s so familiar with. Her teeth sink painfully into her lip and the blush on her cheeks can’t be more obvious, Rintarou’s gaze drops, observing her carefully.

God, he can’t be serious. How can he not already hear her heart about to beat out of her chest?

“Yeah,” she breathes like she's bracing herself, 'cause she's really doing this. Right here. Her eyes lock with his. There can't be a more perfect time to do this, right? After winning with a trophy to take home, she confesses and they'd be a couple by the time they get back to Tokyo. All she has to do is lean forward and press her lips to his.

But Rintarou freezes the moment she cups his cheeks and kisses him—a second passes before her heart drops, because he doesn't melt into her and bring her close just like he did back then. His lips are soft against hers, though, it's a feeling that resurfaces and burns back into her mind. Why didn't she want this more back then? To feel his lips on her, over and over, all the time.

His lips are warm, but her world runs cold when she's pushed back against the wall so roughly that she stumbles.

Kana looks up at him to see his wide eyes. His eyebrows furrowed together like he's genuinely confused. "What the fuck was that?"

She gapes, the embarrassment flushing over her. This isn't how it was supposed to play out.

"R-Rin," she attempts, reaching out to him. The step he takes back before she's even near enough slaps her in the face. Tears are already brimming her eyes and she doesn't know why she won't just leave.

"I just thought—Rin," she cries out to him, pleading.

"Thought what?" His voice is cold as ice, she knows it like the back of her hand, what it meant when he sounded like that but fuck, how did it get here? How is she on the receiving end of it? "Thought what, Kana? What the fuck was that?" He repeats, practically seething.

Somehow, Rintarou feels taken advantage of—of the trust he'd given her. Kana had been his friend before any feelings had been involved, he'd trusted her from high school up until this point that she would respect his feelings; that despite whatever they had back then, she wouldn’t ever intentionally do something that would ruin whatever relationship he has.

“Don’t you—” she chokes on her words. Don’t you love me? She wants to ask, but now she’s scared of the answer. “I love you, Rin.”

A part of him wants to say sorry. I love you, Rin tugs on his chest that it almost brings him closer to her; especially at the sight of her in tears, it almost hurts him too. Because there stood the girl he used to have feelings for—the same girl who was his best friend before anything else, telling him she loves him with tears in her eyes.

“I love you,” she repeats, “I don’t think I ever stopped but... I always-I always thought you’d always love me too…”

Rintarou shakes his head, his jaw ticking. He feels lied to. "You know how I feel about YN,"

"That's—Rin, you're just infatuated with her! Everyone can see it's me. Why can't you?" She cries, almost yelling, but she regrets saying them as soon as they're out of her mouth.

If there's anything he hated more than anything, it was being told what he felt. She can see the way his eyes glaze over, looking at her like he doesn't know her. From where Rintarou stood, he didn't know who was in front of him.

"Fuck that," he grits out, "I don't even know who you are right now."

Her heart breaks; in a way, his heart breaks along with hers.

He loves her back.

So why is he walking away from her?

It's one in the afternoon when Rintarou wakes up. His body aches all over and for a fleeting moment, he considers if he regrets volleyball.

Still, he gets out of bed because the image of you burns behind his eyelids. If he smiles, he doesn't notice.

Two hours before seven, there's a message from Kana that he ignores as his finger hovers over the call button below your name.

He exhales heavily but the weight pressing against his chest doesn't let up. If he told you about Kana, would you still let him put the necklace around your neck?

Would you still be all his?

Yet another chime comes, prompting him to open her message.

Rintarou squeezes his eyes shut. He cares about her but 'everyone can see it's me' haunts him. Everyone can see, including you.

Would you believe him if he told you he wanted to be all yours too?

It's almost six when he reaches for his phone as he fixes his clothes, ready to drive to yours; but three strings of messages has Rintarou sprinting out of his apartment.

His vision practically blurs at the sight of it—a man with a crazy look in his eyes pointing a knife at Kana. Rintarou hits the man four times. His body is rigid and his heart is beating faster than he's ever felt before. What could've happened if he ignored her message again? What could've happened if he didn't find her on time? If he left her alone after all his promises that he would never?

The guilt gnaws at his chest; he knows it must be half past six now and he’s not yet standing in front of your door.

The man is knocked to the ground. Bruised and bloody, barely moving, but he keeps hitting until Kana comes to his side and begs him to stop—her sobbing doesn't cease, her body is rigid—against Rintarou, she's quivering in fear.

I didn’t mean for this to happen, she repeats in her head as if it would take back seeing him hurt, the skin on his knuckles cracked—bright red, wounded. Rintarou looks like he’s about to break yet instead of that, he wraps his arms around her. In his arms, she takes all the warmth.

He murmurs into her hair, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. The more he repeats it, the more Kana detests herself for this. She says I love you, Rin and puts him in misery.

It's half past ten in the evening and Kana's burning up in his apartment. She's laid on his bed, still trembling, visibly uncomfortable—the police report had taken hours, Kana knows it’s all her fault but in her head she promises, she’d love him long enough, hard enough to make up for all of it. Rintarou sits beside her, his body aches more than it did when he woke up, but he reaches out to her forehead and checks her temperature.

He’s exhausted.

But whenever he closes his eyes, he sees Kana and the way the knife had been so close.

It takes him at that very second—it takes him exactly four years before he realizes that he's only ever truly fallen in love once, because his fingers tremble as he nurses Kana the way he knows how to—because he's done it before and he thinks he'll probably keep doing it.

Seeing Kana in the face of danger has him trembling. He's only human, after all. No matter how cool, how passive he seemed—love always knew how to show itself. Inside the silence of his apartment, he holds her close as if it would protect her for much longer and he doesn't comment on the dampness on his shirt as she sobs.

Rintarou's heart aches.

He realizes what love feels like as he held Kana in his arms and took care of her. He realizes what it feels like to yearn and want so much that it makes you sick—because when he stands to get water, Kana's hands wrap around his wrist to stop him and she asks, "Don't leave me, Rin."

He tells her he won't, because how could he?

Rintarou knows what love feels like. Love felt like this, love was what it was when he'd been with Kana, when he put her first and when he'd given up past relationships because he'd been searching for someone who's always been there.

He figures, if that's how love was, then—he was surely in love with you.

in case you're confused, here's an explanation.

[safflowerseason]

I LOVE Gilmore Girls but it's weird that in a show so centred around class, it mainly only criticises the wealthy for being snooty and socially conservative. It has little to say on the wealth divide's uglier side. Its presentede that Lane, Dean & Jess couldn't go to Chilton or Yale because they weren't that academic anyway. Meanwhile it was only really Lorelai who had money problems (not Luke, Suki etc) and that was OK because she had a safety net that she was too proud/independent to use.

Hi Anon - I’m *so* sorry it’s taken me weeks to get around to your ask. But I loved your comment so much I wanted to take the time to offer a thoughtful response, especially because it’s a theme I’ve been chewing over in my head for the past few months, since I watched the latest season of AHP’s other show, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

I agree that Gilmore Girls has sort of become known over the years, in culture critic circles and online fan discourse, for its unflinching portrayal of how money shapes relationships across generations. And I also agree that for how much of the show revolves around money and wealth, the show never considers the other side of the middle-class divide - it just head-fakes there very occasionally, and usually pretty awkwardly. AHP is fundamentally uninterested in writing characters who truly struggle to make ends meet, as a basic condition of their daily lives. While that’s totally fine and fair, it stands out more on a show like Gilmore Girls, where money problems are a frequent plot device, a character having to deal with the true financial consequences of not having money never actually comes to pass. She uses the struggle to succeed as mark of valor in her characters, but even if that struggle has major financial risks (like Lorelai opening the Dragonfly Inn), the show never goes there. AHP is just not interested in exploring the material consequences of losing wealth or what it means to not have any money. Rather, a lot of the plot of Gilmore Girls is about how various characters on the scale from comfortably-middle-class to old-world-wealthy interpret money, wealth, and the idea of class status to define themselves in relation to others around them, and to influence the outcomes of interpersonal relationships. While the central conceit of the show is Lorelai turning to her parents for Rory’s private school tuition, she and her daughter live a mostly financially secure middle-class life in a prosperous town. In Gilmore Girls, AHP consistently mines the concept of wealth for conflict, but it’s always for interpersonal reasons, always to show something deeper going on within the relationships of the show, it’s never to actually consider what it means to not have that wealth in the first place. Unlike Jane Austen, none of AHP’s heroines ever run the risk of truly becoming impoverished.

As a result, you get moments on the show like Lorelai borrowing $30000 from Luke (which is the equivalent of $50000 in 2022) and then it’s never mentioned again, and Rory sputtering “but I’m a Gilmore!” to Logan when his family ends up hating her. No one in Stars Hollow is actually poor in a real sense, even those characters we might think of as having more traditional “working class” jobs. Even when Lane and her bandmates rent that one-bedroom house (a whole house!), you never get the sense they are *actually* struggling to feed themselves and pay utilities. Instead, that whole experience is framed in a primarily humorous way, with Lane having to find a way to live with two gross twenty-year old boys who eat all the food and play video games instead of being responsible roomates. Luke, who lives over his diner, has enough money stowed away to not only lend Lorelai half a million dollars but also buy a huge house without telling her. Jess is one of the few characters to be framed explicitly without a penny to his name, and yet we never actually see him dealing with the reality of that except very briefly in S4 (and that backdoor pilot in S3, I guess). Besides, the next time we see him in S6, he’s clearly on his way up, with a published book and a job at an independent press. This is another example of AHP equating the struggle to become financially secure as a sign of good character. Which, of course, it’s totally fine to want to get out of shitty economic circumstances! It’s just that on GG, no one ever stays in those circumstances for very long and/or the implications of those circumstances are never really explored. Where the implications of money *are* fully explored, it’s primarily with characters who have a lot of it, like Richard, Emily, Christopher, and Logan in their relationships with Lorelai and Rory. 

I was thinking about this topic while watching S4 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel a few months back, specifically the plot when Midge takes a job opening for Sophie Lennon because she’s so worried about money. The speech Sophie gives Midge about her finances, which is set in Midge’s apartment that she’s somehow bought back from Moishe in a way that was never satisfactorily explained, is very similar, almost identical, to the speech that Trix gives Lorelai in S4 about the Dragonfly Inn in “The Incredible Sinking Lorelais”, about how she’s very obviously bleeding through her original budget. Midge takes the gig, it blows up in her face just like Susie said it would, and then…well, she loses Sophie gig but we get no indication after that that her finances continue to be a source of angst. So I think of a lot of the way these themes of money and class are represented on Gilmore Girls are due to AHP’s particular quirks and interests as a writer. She likes to explore the interpersonal implications of wealth, but never the flip side of losing that wealth, nor are her depictions of the working-class and the middle-class especially realistic. Oh well! It is what it is. I wouldn’t describe AHP as a writer whose work is deeply grounded in reality. There’s a lot of fantasy in her world-building, which to be fair she has taken heat for. 

I suspect the reason the topic of money and class is a bit more sensitive within the GG fandom is because Rory has gotten so much hate over the years as the epitome of clueless white female privilege or whatever, and also because of the endless shipping wars between Jess and Logan fans. All of that discourse feels pretty exhausting to me—trying to reduce a character’s virtues down to how much money they have is pretty dumb (unless that person is a billionaire, in which case yes they are morally bankrupt). The point of Rory’s character is that she exists in the liminal space between her mother and her grandparents: she grew up with her mother in a middle class home but doesn’t reject the wealth and class status that is theoretically hers by virtue of her birth (and no, spending her early years in a shed doesn’t negate her financial privilege—sorry AHP, but the idea of Lorelai raising baby Rory in a shed on the grounds of a luxurious B&B where she worked as a maid is absolutely a rich person’s idea of what it means to be poor). Most of Rory’s blindspots I chalk up to AHP's lack of interest in figuring out how certain things work, like journalism and elite private universities.

I was going to go into a whole analysis of how class is specifically explored on the show (as opposed to money) through Rory's relationship's with Dean and Logan, but this is already a long enough essay so that will have wait for another time! Thanks so much for writing in, Anon, and for sending such a substantial ask!!

[che-chennya]

Malleus as a fellow player of Tomodachi Life is preparing Malleus-Mii to confess his feelings for Y/N-Mii, what would it be the worst that could happen?

Tagging @wolken-himmel​ and @infra-jaded​ because from the first one, I got inspirated by her writing and the second one was the one who proposed the original idea. 

Blame me if you find it hilarious, but I had to. 

The moment had come. Malleus knew as his saw in his borrowed Nintendo 3DS saw a heart icon on the apartment of Malleus-Mii, apparently his Mii was in love with someone, mostly because it seemed like that. He touched the screen with his DS pencil and enter. Suddenly, his mini representation seems to have a problem, but there was no problem that Malleus, the creator of Gao Gao Island, couldn’t solve. So, he touched again the screen to know what exactly to do.

“I have felling for Y/N. I’ve got to tell Y/N”

— How scandalous — Malleus thought as he turned a little bit red, it seems that Malleus-Mii was a loyal representation of himself in that game. He tapped the option “I’ll help you” since he’ll support his Mii to have the courage to confess to his beloved Y/N.

“How should I tell Y/N?”

Seeing the options of how he could act to court Y/N. There were some of them which called his attention: Be traditional, be romantic, give a gift, sing a song, and others. It was time to think carefully which it would be the best option among them to Malleus-Mii court Y/N-Mii. Of course, he could serenade Y/N with a violin, but for the moment he only saw a guitar, and he didn’t even know if we could use it during the confession, so singing wasn’t an option. Giving a gift could’ve been a great option, but he wouldn’t be able to express all his feelings for Y/N if he didn’t have the right item in the game. Then, he decided to not pick that choice. Now, Malleus surely understand Malleus Mii in the game, it was a tough moment that would cause anyone to be, at least, slightly nervous. Then the traditional way or the romantic one was the final dispute at this moment. From these two options, he selected the traditional way, because he strongly believed Malleus-Mii wouldn’t dare to act out of his imagination. So, he proceeded to continue after thinking hard.

“Where should I tell Y/N?”

This was another question that could have been tricky, but he had already an idea. The season in Gao Gao Island was in summer, so maybe he could take advantage of the environment to confess. Even though the park was also a good place to tell his true feelings, he preferred the beach. After putting his mind on it, he tapped the screen again.

“Should I get changed first?”

Checking his Mii clothes, he couldn’t say he didn’t look appropriate to confess. Well, at least his Mii, because the real Malleus was playing in his pyjamas. Asking some advice might be the proper thing to do, but he heard from Silver that Lilia was participating in an event in his online game, and he didn’t want to interrupt his game session for this matter. So, when he went change in his dorm clothes with magic, he asked Sebek. However, his answer wasn’t that helpful at first.

— YOU WILL LOOK GREAT IN ANY COLOR CLOTHES WAKA-SAMA — he shouted unconsciously as he saw all the possible options of clothes in the game. Malleus, for all the time he had spent with his loyal servant, is used to Sebek’s way of talking. In fact, Sebek was passionate regarding the main colour of his Mii clothes. To sum up, what happened there, Sebek recommends dark green and black clothes, since those colours were the characteristic of him and the dorm, it fit him nicely, to say the least.

Now again, the ultimate moment had come, Malleus was watching with his full attention to the scenery, the dark night with the moon and the stars making some company to the ocean, who was reflecting the two Mii. Anyone who could see Malleus at this moment would think he is obviously excited about this event, it might reveal a bright future for this two, and if destiny happens to support his real feelings, the real Malleus and Y/N might start courting.

“I’ve had my heart set on you since the moment I first saw you…will you go out with me?”

Malleus heart was beating faster in a couple of seconds. It is short, but it was completely honest at the same time, Malleus like how brief his mini representation was to be a little vulnerable towards his feelings. Malleus-Mii finally said it to Y/N-Mii, who didn’t beam at an instant. Malleus now was wondering why Y/N-Mii didn’t answer until he heard something weird.

“Wait” an unexpected voice pop out and enter the confession scenario, a piece of dramatic music turned on when his face was revealed. It was the stalker hunter who knew no limits of privacy. However, Malleus didn’t know why Rook-Mii was there.

— What — Malleus was speechless regarding the turned off events. His Mii was standing somewhere over the place as he walked towards the two Mii. As Rook-Mii makes it to his point, he said “I love you too”.

“No, I love you more” And Malleus-Mii defend from that accusation as the real one was cheering for his mini representation. He didn’t expect that when a Mii confess to another Mii, there would be an interruption. — In other words, this means that Y/N-Mii must choose— Malleus softly said to himself while he was worried about not being the one Y/N-Mii choose. He was about to face it, that Y/N-Mii will choose now, but he saw that the three of them, turn their head looking at the ocean and he hears again another noise.

“Wait” a Lilia-Mii revealed himself bumping out of the ocean and the little dramatic music replayed. — WHAT, LILIA WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE? — Malleus shouted in his internal thoughts, he was more surprised that his father Mii was interested in Y/N-Mii, when in real life, he was the one who only knew his feelings towards Y/N. Could it be that Lilia was repressing himself to not feel anything like that so Malleus could have an opportunity? Malleus didn’t know. But this was like a betrayal, why didn’t he tell Malleus something? Anyway, Lilia-Mii went out of the ocean and ran direct towards the crow of people to say. “I love you the most”

Both Mii denied those words. And Malleus was doing the same thing, it was obvious that Malleus-Mii had the strongest feelings among all of them, they were the first Mii in Gao Gao Island. They know each other for more time than Lilia-Mii and Rook-Mii, they had shared more moments together.

“Y/N who do you choose?” He didn’t pay attention to who ask, but his heart had become more anxious when he now realizes that one of them might be the lucky one.

“I’m glad you feel the same way, Lilia” Y/N-Mii smiled directly to Lilia, being the only one standing while Rook-Mii and Malleus-Mii felt on their knees. He got rejected, his Mii got rejected by Y/N-Mii.

While Malleus has in his own world of thoughts on why he got rejected by Y/N, if everything was perfect between them to him, a noisy sound brings him back to his borrowed Nintendo 3DS. Malleus-Mii was crying on the floor of his apartment while he said “I got rejected”

— I’m sorry I failed you, Malleus-Mii— He truly felt pity towards his mini self, because he had expected a match between them. However, reality proves him otherwise. Not everyone can predict what it could happen, and it might be time to move on and feel happy that Lilia-Mii is the one who already conquered Y/N-Mii heart, but he suddenly remembers one thing. He didn’t save that action.

Yeah, no one will know that happened in the game, no one had seen the first option and that his Malleus-Mii wasn’t successful in his confession. No one will know that he restarted that file. At least, not Y/N. However, today wasn’t the day to do it, he needs to recover from this intense battle to Malleus-Mii confess Y/N-Mii while eating some ice cream to lighten his mood. He might figurate out how to make Malleus-Mii court Y/N-Mii better and max out their relationship but for now, he will take a break.

[mymegumi]

drifting lights

pairing: kuroo tetsurou x fem!reader

genre: fluff

word count: 2.0k words

warnings: late night drive, sad thoughts, idk, driving and swears

note: another repost from zumis, but anyways giggles i hope you like it bc i wrote a bit more and edited it!!

dedicated: to @tetsustation as an apology for saying i hoped furudate’s least fav char would be kuroo </3 it was a joke /lh

“hey,” kuroo’s words are soft in your ear, volume turned down on your phone to make sure your roommates don’t wake up, “did i wake you?”

“mm,” you’re still groggy from sleep and his voice is a soft timbre against your ear, “s’okay, what’s up?

“can’t a guy just call his girlfriend?”

you hum as you think, turning in bed as you tuck your blanket underneath your chin. across the room, your eyes are blurrily trying to focus on the blinding red letters sitting idly on your analog clock. “not when it’s almost two am, ‘suro.”

“well,” he at least has the decency to sound as apologetic as he can over the phone, “i really did just miss you, wanted to hear your voice.”

it’s only kuroo’s fault when your phone slips from your hands, pillow pressed to your face with your hands as you scream as silently as you can into it. without meaning to, he makes butterflies erupt in your stomach and you try to gather yourself as you bring your phone back up to your ear, hand loosely against your mouth.

“it is way too early for you to be doing this to me,” your scolding is light, and from his faint chuckle, has most likely fallen on deaf ears, “is there anything you want me to do for you?”

there’s a pause and you can hear a little bit of shuffling around from kuroo’s end of the phone before his voice is back, slightly softer than before, “you could come outside.”

“what?”

“you heard me, sweetheart,” you can practically hear the teasing smile that’s on his face as you sit up in your bed, pushing the curtain away from your window to look outside. sure enough, you can recognize the silhouette of your boyfriend faintly illuminated by the streetlight, “come outside.”

“you’re so lucky,” his laughter is cut short as you hang up on him. you climb out of bed and grab a hoodie off of your desk chair, shoving your phone in your pocket as you open your door as quietly as possible.

sneaking downstairs isn’t an issue, and while you shove your shoes on carelessly, you take the quick minute you’re standing still to shove the sweater you had stolen from kuroo over your head. it hangs low, but you’re pulling the heel of your shoes back into their rightful positions as you’re leaving your house.

the door closes with a soft click, and a pair of hands end up resting on your hips as a familiar weight is pressed against the top of your head. it’s not long before kuroo’s arms are wrapped around your waist firmly, and you know you’re not getting out of it until he feels like letting you go, so you lean back into him.

your eyes close as you place your hand over his hands. you keep your voice low as you turn your head to try and get a glance at him, “are you okay?”

the silence itself is enough of an answer for you that you just run your thumb along the ridges of his knuckles. kuroo is one of the best communicators you’d ever dated, and it was always a bad sign if he was being too silent about what was going on inside of his head. you’d learned that unlike many of your friends, kuroo preferred the silence of your presence rather than small talk if he wasn’t feeling his best.

you turn your head backwards at an odd angle to press a kiss to the underside of his jaw as he holds you gently, the only light being the moon over your heads and the warm yellow glow coming from the streetlight a few feet away from your front steps. he’s still quiet when you end up turning in his arms, nose tucked into the warm spot where his pulse rests, steady and loud as you stand on your front step for a few seconds. it reminds you that he’s real and is a tangible reminder of the man you love.

kuroo’s car is parked on the side of the road a little ways away, lights off and engine running as he starts running his hands through your hair. it’s light, right by the outside of your ear and he kisses the crown of your head with soothing touches.

“wanna go on a drive?” his words are barely above a whisper and you can only nod against him, not wanting to move too much before you have. his hands leave your hair as he steps back to look at you.

most of his face is just shadows, the light illuminating the outer edges of his hair but you can still manage to distinguish the handsome lines of his face. despite covering an eye, he’s always had the type of face that you always want to look at and even almost two years into your relationship, that fact still hasn’t changed. when he offers you the smallest of smiles, you can see the exhaustion lining his expression, laced between the adoration he has for you in his eyes.

his hands find their way to your cheeks, cupping carefully as he rubs a finger along the curve of your cheekbone. he leans down to rub your noses together for a second, eyes slipping close and he looks at ease for a brief moment before sealing your lips together.

your hands hang off of his forearms as you press close together, warmth finding you in each other’s embrace. kuroo’s kiss is slow, unhurried, and it steals the sleepiness from you as he turns his head to the side slightly. he tastes like laughter on a summer day, endless nights filled with your hands shoved outside of the sunroof of your too-old-to-be-on-the-road car, and the citrusy tang of clementines and oranges you’d stole from your neighbor.

in the next few minutes the two of you share a few more kisses, each as quick and as dizzying as the one before. as he pulls away, you’re relieved to see some of the stress shed from his expression, eyes bright and awake as he looks back at you. his hand winds with yours as you start the walk to his car, lazily making your way there.

he pulls the door of his car open for you, waiting for you to get in before walking around the front to his own side. when he gets into the car, he double checks to make sure you’re buckled in before he puts his car into drive, pulling out onto your street as he fishes his phone out of his pocket for you.

“any preferences for tonight’s playlist?” unlocking his phone, you’re somewhere on his spotify—scrolling through the amalgamation of absolutely atrocious study playlist names he’d crafted over the years—when he finally settles on something a bit more relaxing than his most recently played playlist.

together, the two of you enjoy the passing scenery as you start to slip into tokyo’s nightscape. the lights are bright and you can’t help but be mesmerized by them as kuroo drives, no end destination in mind, just wanting to enjoy each other’s presence for the moment.

kuroo has always been spontaneous like this for as long as you have been dating. in fact, he had asked you out on a whim, coming off the high of winning a volleyball game in high school. you were in the crowd because he had asked you to come watch him. you wouldn’t get the privilege of wearing his jersey until you became official, but you still decided to represent your school in a borrowed sweater you had stolen from him.

he was sweaty, but his smile was so radiant when he looked up at you leaning over the railing protecting you from falling. he waved with both hands, and you had waved back with matched enthusiasm.

kuroo had ended up yelling up to you, asking you out for the very first time in front of everyone who had come to watch. while you hated the attention, you had nodded hurriedly before making your way down to the court to get enveloped in a big, sweaty kuroo hug.

you distinctly remember kenma thanking you later for saving him from having to hug kuroo that night.

“love,” your hand finds his where it rests near the shifter, “what brought this on?”

your head is leaning against the headrest as he sighs softly, turning his hand over to twine your fingers together in a warm grasp, “i just, i couldn’t stop thinking.”

you make a noise of acknowledgement, knowing that he would know that you were listening, but just letting him take his time to tell you what was going on. while very spontaneous, kuroo wasn’t one for staying up too late, citing that a good night’s sleep was one of the first and best steps you could take for a better education. his dedication was one of the things you admire about him, even if it meant you were missing your boyfriend for a good hour at night

“i’m just worried,” his admission is barely audible over the music playing and the soothing rumble of his car’s engine as you change lanes on the highway, “about everything that’s changing.”

“i know that things have to change,” while he talks, you just watch, the lines of stress crossing over his face almost disappearing in the darkness, “but i don’t want to leave school. i’ve made so many friends and i met you, and i just can’t help but feel scared for what’s going to happen when we don’t have it anymore.”

you tighten your grip where your hands rest as you smile at him, despite the fact he’s focusing on the road, “‘suro, you know how you made a lot of good friends in school?”

he nods ever so slightly, voice cracking just slightly as he answers, “yeah.”

“just think about all the friends you’re going to make when you go into the real world,” you’re worrying your thumb over the back of his hand, “you’re very charismatic, and you’re good with other people, smart, too. you’re not lacking in great qualities, and people will recognize that.”

“not to mention,” you’ve adjusted yourself in your seat, tucking a leg underneath yourself so that you can face him more directly, “kenma, yaku, nobuyuki, and myself will always answer when you call or text. you’ll be away from home, but we’ll all be available for you, ‘suro.”

“we’re leaving school,” you start, eyes tracing the skyline of the city as you feel a small smile spread across your lips, “but life won’t end, and our friends won’t stop being our friends, and i’ll never stop being yours.”

you’re pulling up to a stoplight when he turns to look at you, side of his face bright red from the light as he gives you an easy going smile. you press the palm of your free hand to his cheek, and his eyes close, savoring the moment. he pulls your joined hands together to kiss your knuckles, featherlight before pulling away to lean across his center console.

“i love you,” his words are a mumble against your lips as you enjoy the quiet moment.

it’s almost three am, now, so when the light turns green, the pair of you are unconcerned as kuroo doesn’t press his foot against the gas, instead just content to be with each other. the changing colors of the stoplight is a backdrop to the press of his lips, a hand curling into his hair as he pulls you closer to him over the center console.it digs into your side a bit, and the seatbelt presses into your chest at an uncomfortable angle, but it’s all very you and kuroo so you don’t mind it.

kuroo’s worries won’t disappear overnight, and you know that you can only begin to soothe the deep seeded insecurities he holds. you’ll be content as long as he knows you’ll always be there to drive with him and watch the sunrise together, your fingers laced with his.