#BUT WHY ARE ACTUAL DINOSAURS STILL ALIVE

[the-sunshine-dims]

every now and then i remember a plot point of a childhood show and its just like,, what the hell are you talking about

[altered-and-broken]

Maybe listen to Cuda BEFORE TRYING TO STAB A LITERAL BEAST? He knows Prism more than you all and managed to calm her down ᵇᵘᵗ ˢᶜᵃˡᵉⁿᵉ ʰᵃᵈ ᵗᵒ ʳᵘⁱⁿ ⁱᵗ⁻ SO YEAAAHH…..

The serpent is still frantically trying to talk down the beast, but at this point, it's clear she's not having any of it...

"Prism!! Please just- listen to me!!!

Stop this! These shapes do not want to hurt you!!"

He only gets a growl in response, as she continues to bite down on the supposed "Guardian" of the shapes.

"Stop! Don't do this!!"

"I know you're mad! And I know you're hurting because of him!!

But these other shapes are NOT at fault!! They do NOT want to hurt you!!"

The snake stuggles, trying to keep the large dinosaur still, even for a moment.

"Just stop moving! Please!!

I promise I'll help you, it'll all be okay, but stop moving! You're losing a lot of blood, and it's getting to you!!

You'll die if you continue doing this!!!"

[singleactionjack]

Mh wilds spoilers

I'm genuinely surprised how frequent it seems people are misrepresenting Nata's character arc and saying that they don't like him, every time it feels like they're actively leaving something out. I don't know if it's a lack of critical thinking or failure of narrative comprehension but idk

Like, it's not the most well written dialog but I think the kid has a pretty fleshed out set of motivations, his arc makes sense and none of it felt rushed to me.

Like, kid is in an isolated secret civilization, he doesn't know shit, he seems almost too innocent to be informed of anything. The most he seems to know is that monsters are dangerous, which seems very informed by his experiences in the intro. He doesn't know shit, his village is attacked by a terrifying creature he doesn't know much about, and his elder pushes him out of the village to "find help". His only community being presumably destroyed, everyone he cares about presumed dead, as a kid seemingly no older than 12 or something.

He gets picked up by hunters from the West or whatever, and they start an expedition to the forbidden lands because this kid is the first proof that there is /any/ civilization out there, and this traumatized child is having to be a part of this expedition because he's the only one alive they know who has any knowledge of the land. But the fucked up part is, he doesn't really know the land.

He spent the last few days (?) running scared out of his mind, luckily avoiding anything too particularly dangerous, across lands so large and dense the player needs a super fast dinosaur to navigate. The kid doesn't know much of anything about the land, only hoping he recognizes enough of the way out to see the way back home.

So you have a kid who's scared shitless, having to help an expedition to his home that /no one else/ knows about, through lands he doesn't know anything about, with the implicit expectation that his entire people are dead at the hands of a creature that still lingers in his nightmares. The glimpses of the brutality of Arkveld still plastered in his mind. And it seems until he travels with Alma and the player, this brutality has no context.

As he follows along with the party, he starts to see reasons for the behavior of monsters (which is probably subtly indicating that his home isn't a place where regular monsters live) He sees an ecosystem thriving, a cycle of life and death, things doing things to survive. This further stokes the growing hatred he has, survivors guilt and thinking he's the last survivor of Arkveld. He thinks his people are probably gone, and he can't see any reason why a creature would do that. Narratively, Arkveld isn't a Monster™️, but a Monster, who does things out of maliciousness, cruelty, with no rhyme or reason.

Later, Nata and friends actually spot his White Wraith, attacking the Apexes, draining power from Rey Dau. In this part of the story, this "Villain Arkveld" conceptualization is firm in his mind, a target of revenge for his fallen kin. He is too weak to enact any meaningful revenge, just wishing to stop Arkveld from hurting anyone else in the way his people were hurt. The Hunters he's with prevent him from doing anything reckless, but he's fully in the fuck Arkveld club.

All the while, he's still a child. Optimistic, still has hope. They're able to actually find his home, in Sild, and he (despite really thinking everyone would be dead) still calls out for Tasheen. He hopes that someone else survived the horrors he was saved from. And lo and behold, Tasheen lives, among many others. His people weren't wiped out, many did survive. Tasheen then does something that changes Nata's path directly.

Tasheen tells Nata about his people and their actual purpose/role as the ones who reside and look over this land filled with guardians, artificial monster shaped constructs who only exist to be tools for a civilization that no longer exists. And that the "White Wraith" was simply one of these creations who was behaving erratically, unable to be controlled.

Tasheen specifically does this reveal in combination with celebrating Nata for successfully escaping and getting help as something they were not supposed to be able to do. The people in Sild weren't supposed to be able to leave really, bound by duty and second hand shame from a civilization that no longer exists, but Nata was freed from that cycle of imprisonment.

In doing all this, Tasheen gives purpose for Arkveld AND Nata. No longer just a child, he was supposed to be one of these protectors. Arkveld, no longer a creature without direction, but a guardian who is acting strangely.

This information is given to him with the explicit understanding that Nata's purpose (as ascribed to him) isn't set in stone, and by him leaving and finding help he has already been given agency to be his own person and make choices his people could/would not. In this part of the narrative, the vengeance seeking Nata is largely replaced with concerned curiosity. He knows /what/ Arkveld is, but not why it's doing what it's doing.

They eventually discover a reason why. Arkveld, seemingly too powerful a construct, is attempting to revert to it's original status as the wyvern it was before extinction. Trying to engage in the behaviors it knows it should do, either from instincts or seeing other monsters in the wild. Predation, subsistence. Arkveld, as an extinct predator reinvented, has all the tools to hunt but not all the tools to survive, leading to it seemingly rampaging in acts of violence as it attempts to overcorrect by eating and hunting despite not needing to.

When Nata understands this, his perspective on Arkveld is informed and he becomes very sympathetic to it. It isn't the monster he was lead to believe. It's a creature who's agency was taken from it, that found freedom and sought to behave in a way it felt right over what it was predestined to do. In a very literal sense, Arkveld and Nata /ARE/ the same. Both are children of the ancient civilization, given purpose by people who no longer exist. They are both given opportunity to understand the outside world, and in doing so are given chances to make choices for themselves. If Nata decided to stay in Sild once he knew people were safe, this wouldn't be the case. He was given opportunity to do more and see more and he took it because his horizons were broadened. By Arkveld's attack both of them were unchained by fate.

Nata at this point starts to truly empathize with Arkveld for two reasons: one being the stuff listed above, but also his learned understanding of the ecosystem. Arkveld is just doing what any other monsters are doing. He's seen several environments where the monsters fight and struggle for survival. Arkveld is textually (for Nata) really "just like him frfr". Steeped in wylk, finally able to see the sun, able to eat the cheese (animal flesh) and be their own person.

When it is deemed Arkveld has overcorrected and is too dangerous for the ecosystem, Nata objects, but he does so purely from empathy. Before Arkveld had no purpose in its cruelty, now its cruelty is somewhat overstated and its purpose is no different from anything else. Why must it die for doing what everything else does? Why must it die when it was finally free?(Like Nata himself has come to recognize in himself)

It's very straightforward honestly. None of his arc feels rushed, he is a scared and traumatized boy who is then given new information and hope, and that hope informs his empathy. It's like if a kid grew up in a cult and his whole family got attacked by a knife guy ™️, they escape into the outside world to find out that Knife Guy was actually kidnapped and kept in his cult family basement. Knife Guy only did what they did to escape but now they're too maladjusted to society to not be knife guy other places. I'd probably feel bad for Knife Guy ™️ too if I was the kid who escaped.

[revelboo]

cue getting picked up and carried like a damned puppy/kitten by a huge robo t-rex, eh?

Pretty much

Shiver Pt 2

IDW Grimlock x Reader

• Wheezing softly, aware of the keening, pitiful noises you’re making as you dangle by the back of your jacket and backpack from its jaws, swinging with the monster’s heavy steps. Honestly shocked that it had picked you up like a momma cat with a kitten and without a single, huge pointy denta so much as scraping your skin. Far from reassuring, you’re just sure it’s taking you somewhere to eat later.

• Can hear you making soft, frightened noises still. And he has no idea what to do with you. Let you go and you’ll just run screaming and bring back trouble when he just wants to be left alone? Doesn’t want to hurt you, but he nearly had trying to pick you up in his jaws. It’s so hard to focus and your panic stirs all sorts of instincts. Acting like prey. Because if you run, he’ll chase again. He can’t not. Venting to pull the scent of you, warm, alive, and afraid, deep into himself, he heads deeper into the woods, hunting for the dilapidated building he’d found by accident. Head lifting to place you on the roof when he finds it, he retreats as you scoot backwards, stopping as the surface creaks under you.

• It’s dropped you on the roof of that ratty old hunting cabin. Afraid to move as it stares at you, head turned sideways to see you better, it grumbles. Well, if it doesn’t kill you, falling through the rotten roof will. Or trying to jump down. What even is the thing? Your first thought, dinosaur, T-Rex isn’t quite right. It is, but it’s also a robot. A big, impossible monster that doesn’t seem to know what to do with you. Scooting to the edge of the roof, heart in your throat as the rotten shingles shift and sag under you, you look at the closest tree. Can you jump to it and climb down? No. Can you reach it without jumping? Sliding onto your hip, you stretch out a foot for a branch. Hear the snarl. “Don’t.” The rough word, more growl than an actual word freezes you. Giant, robot dinosaur can talk? Then, can it be reasoned with?

• “I just want down. Okay?” That voice is shockingly soft when it’s not screaming or hissing frightened nonsense. Head tipping to the other side, his optics narrow as you try to reach the branch of a nearby tree. “And I’ll pretend I never saw you, okay?” Why does that voice stroke over him, chaining the chaos in his processor so sweetly? Wants you to keep talking. Say anything. Moving closer, he uses his muzzle to push you away from the edge of the roof. Hears your frightened gasp and feels those tiny hands on him as he nudges you to safety. And then lingers, jaw against you. Studying you, organic and so strange.

• “Talk,” it growls, lip lifting to show off those awful, jagged points. And yeah, it wants you to talk? Absolutely. Its massive head is warm against your leg and side, every venting growl washing warm air over you as you just nervously ramble like your life depends on it. About your family, your job, your neighbors. Anything. And then yelping as its head shifts to knock you flat, jaw resting on top of you and it’s so heavy you can barely breathe. Making that low, grumbling sound that your stressed out brain decides sounds like purring. Wheezing, you keep up the chatter as it makes that rumbling, purring noise. Trying to think of a way to escape.

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[ncvqk]

Temporary Guardians | Alex Cabot x Casey Novak

the accidental baby acquisition you have all been waiting for

fluff (what else would it be?)

I will finish editing this when i have the energy to open my laptop

It’s 5:03 a.m. when the doorbell rings.

Casey stumbles toward the front door in her pajamas, hair a mess, eyes barely open. She peers through the peephole, squints, and opens the door a crack.

“Amanda?” she mumbles.

Rollins looks like she hasn’t slept in a week. She’s balancing a squirming toddler on her hip, a diaper bag slung over one shoulder, and car keys clenched between her teeth. She spits them into her hand and thrusts the baby—Jesse—into Casey’s arms.

“I have to go to Georgia,” Amanda says in a rush. “My sister got arrested again, my mom is spiraling, I booked the first flight out—can you please just—just take her for a day or two?”

Casey blinks. “Wait, huh—?”

Amanda’s already tossing over the diaper bag and fishing another key off her keyring. “Here’s the spare to my apartment if you need anything. Her snacks are labeled. Oh, and she doesn’t like oranges this week.”

Casey fumbles to catch the diaper bag while Jesse clings to her like a koala. She stares down at the child like she’s holding a live grenade.

Amanda’s halfway down the hallway. “Thank you! I owe you big time! Love you, bye!”

The door shuts.

Casey looks at the baby.

The baby looks back.

Five minutes later, Alex blinks awake to the sound of creaking floorboards and a faint rustling. She sits up groggily, rubbing her eyes.

“Casey?”

Casey is standing at the edge of the bed, frozen, holding Jesse at arm’s length. Her voice is quiet but wild with disbelief. “Alex…?”

Alex squints at the bundle. “…Why do you have Amanda’s baby?”

“I don’t know!” Casey whisper-yells. “She just showed up, dumped her on me, and vanished into the sunrise like some southern child-depositing cryptid!”

Alex stares for a long beat.

Then, because it’s 5:12 a.m. and nothing makes sense anymore, she scoots over and lifts the covers. “Get in. We’ll figure it out after sleep.”

Casey carefully climbs into bed, still holding Jesse like she might detonate at any moment.

Jesse curls into Casey’s chest and is asleep within seconds.

Casey glances down, awestruck. “She’s…kind of cute.”

Alex yawns and rests her head against Casey’s shoulder. “That’s how they get you.”

They fall asleep like that: Alex’s head on Casey’s shoulder, Casey holding Jesse like she’s made of glass, the early morning light just starting to peek through the blinds.

By mid-morning, the apartment is a war zone of makeshift baby safety strategies.

The coffee table has been repurposed as a gate. Couch cushions block off sharp corners. The actual couch? Shoved halfway across the room to form a barricade between Jesse and the bookshelves.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Casey grunts, shoving the armrest into place. “We are two very educated women. With degrees. And this is what we’ve been reduced to.”

Alex, sitting crisscross on the floor with Jesse, doesn’t look up. “You’re the one who opened the door.”

“I didn’t know there’d be a baby on the other side!”

Jesse squeals happily and bangs a toy dinosaur on Alex’s knee.

Alex winces but smiles. “At least she likes me.”

“Yeah, well,” Casey huffs, brushing her hair out of her face and heading for the kitchen, “I’m the one trying to keep her alive.”

She opens the fridge and stares at the contents like she’s defusing a bomb. “Okay… does it—does she—have teeth?”

No response from the living room.

Casey leans around the fridge door. “Alex?”

Alex glances up. “What?”

“Does. She. Have. Teeth? We have to feed her. I don’t want her choking and dying in our care.”

Alex looks at Jesse, who’s now attempting to feed her dinosaur a sock. “I think she has, like, four?”

“Four?” Casey mutters, turning back to the counter. “Great. So… mushy.”

She ends up chopping a banana into microscopic pieces, so small they look like they’ve been grated. She sprinkles them onto a paper plate with the care of a Michelin-starred chef plating caviar.

When she walks back into the living room, banana plate in hand, she stops in her tracks.

Alex is completely engrossed in Dinosaur Tales. Jesse is snuggled up beside her, wide-eyed and drooling slightly.

“Are you seriously into that?”

Alex doesn’t even blink. “It’s surprisingly educational.”

Casey raises a brow. “You’re watching it without her now.”

“She wandered off and came back,” Alex murmurs, eyes still glued to the screen. “There’s character development.”

Casey sits beside them, balancing the plate on her knees. “Do I give it to her like birdseed?”

Alex takes a banana piece, offers it to Jesse, and watches as she shoves it in her mouth with enthusiasm. “You did great.”

Casey leans back against the couch barricade and lets out a breath. “Okay. One banana down. Just… however long to go.”

Jesse claps and throws a piece of banana at the TV.

Casey sighs. “Perfect.”

Morning came and went, and Jesse is no longer the sweet, drooling cherub they woke up to.

She’s fussy. Grouchy. Whining just enough to fray nerves but not enough to indicate what’s wrong. She refuses banana. She throws her sippy cup. She lays on the floor, face down, in full silent protest.

Alex stands near the barricaded living room like she’s observing a wild animal. “What’s happening? Is she broken?”

Casey paces nearby, hands on her hips. “I gave her food, she had water, her diaper is clean. That’s the whole baby checklist, right?”

Jesse lets out a long, miserable groan and kicks a stuffed giraffe across the floor.

Alex glances at Casey, exasperated. “Don’t you have, like, eight cousins? Shouldn’t you know babies?”

Casey shoots her a look and rubs her temples. “Not when they’re surrendered with no warning at five in the morning.”

Jesse grunts and curls into a ball.

Alex sighs and crouches down. “Okay, maybe she’s—wait. Do babies… get tired?”

Casey blinks. “Oh my God. She needs a nap.”

Alex straightens. “We let her skip the nap. We broke the baby.”

“We broke Amanda’s baby,” Casey mutters, eyes wide. “She’s gonna kill me.”

Ten minutes later, the apartment is dimmed, the white noise machine is an old fan on medium, and Jesse is passed out in the middle of Casey and Alex’s bed, starfished and snoring softly.

Casey tiptoes out of the room like it’s a crime scene.

Alex meets her in the hallway, whispering: “That was horrifying.”

Casey nods, dazed. “I think she looked into my soul.”

Alex pats her on the back. “She’s asleep now.”

Casey leans her forehead against the wall. “I feel like I need a nap.”

Alex sighs and rests her head next to hers. “I say next time, we leave you on Amanda’s doorstep at five in the morning.”

By dinnertime, the illusion of control is gone.

Casey stands in front of the fridge again, hands clasped behind her neck, staring into the abyss of condiments, expired yogurt, and a suspiciously soft cucumber.

“Unless we want to feed her mustard and shredded cheese, we’re out of options,” she says grimly.

Alex sits at the kitchen table, Jesse balanced on her hip, chewing contentedly on her own fingers. “Didn’t Amanda leave snacks?”

“She left a pack of teething biscuits and three squeezable pouches that expired in March.” Casey closes the fridge. “We’re taking her out.”

Alex raises an eyebrow. “Like… to a restaurant?”

“Do you have a better idea? Because I’m five seconds from giving her dry cereal and hoping for the best.”

They settle into a booth at a quiet diner with the kind of sticky menus and warm lighting that says “we don’t judge.” Jesse is in a borrowed high chair—too big for her, but she’s thrilled regardless.

Casey orders pancakes and applesauce for her, pancakes and coffee for herself and Alex. The waitress coos at Jesse, who responds by flinging her spoon across the floor.

“She’s got an arm,” Alex mutters.

By the time the food arrives, Jesse’s in a mood again—fussy until the moment applesauce hits her tray. Then she digs in like she’s been stranded on a desert island.

Alex watches, completely entranced. “Okay, she’s… kind of cute.”

Casey sips her coffee. “Don’t say it.”

Alex gently brushes a crumb off Jesse’s cheek. “What? I didn’t want to like her. But she’s got these little—these cheeks.”

“You’re bonding.” Casey points at her, mock-accusing. “You’re emotionally compromised.”

Alex scoffs but she doesn’t put Jesse down for the rest of the meal. Even when the baby finishes eating and starts dozing against her shoulder, Alex just shifts her gently, resting her hand protectively over Jesse’s back.

Casey watches with a soft smile. “You’re a natural.”

Alex snorts. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. I also once tried to microwave a frozen burrito with the foil still on.”

Back in the car, Amanda still hasn’t responded to any texts or calls. Casey sighs and taps the wheel at a red light. “We should swing by her place. Grab extra diapers, maybe a couple of changes of clothes.”

Alex nods, looking down at Jesse snoozing peacefully in the backseat. “If she stays another night, we’ll need reinforcements.”

Casey glances at her. “You okay with that?”

Alex smiles. “She’s already survived one day with us. We owe her a second one.”

Amanda’s spare key sticks a little in the lock, but Casey jimmies it open with a grunt and pushes the door inward.

The apartment is warm and cluttered, with baby toys scattered everywhere, an overstuffed diaper bag flopped in the entryway, and at least two mismatched socks on the kitchen counter.

Alex steps in cautiously, Jesse once again on her hip, peering around. “This place is… lived in.”

“Yeah,” Casey says, flicking on a light. “Lived in by a tornado.”

They start gathering essentials: diapers from the hall closet, a box of wipes from under the sink, a crumpled grocery list scrawled in Sharpie that just says “cheddar bunnies???” and “plums?”

Alex sets Jesse down on a play mat in the living room, where she immediately grabs a plastic truck and starts chewing on it.

Casey reappears from the hallway holding a tiny pair of dinosaur footie pajamas. “Okay, this is unfairly cute.”

Alex smiles. “You’re the one getting emotionally compromised now.”

Casey glares halfheartedly and tosses the pajamas in their growing supply pile. “I’m being practical. Pajamas are necessary.”

As Alex digs through the changing table drawers, she finds a small, dog-eared notebook jammed between a pile of extra bibs and a lavender-scented burp cloth. She flips it open curiously.

Inside are scribbled notes in Amanda’s messy handwriting: “Jesse loves ceiling fans,” “sings along to Grey’s Anatomy theme(??),” “says ‘mama’ only when mad at me,” and “likes when Casey talks. seriously, her voice calms her down.”

Alex freezes. “Casey.”

Casey looks up from the pile of baby socks. “Hmm?”

Alex holds up the notebook, open to the page. “You’re in here.”

Casey steps closer and reads, eyebrows rising. “Well, that’s weirdly flattering.”

Alex smiles. “Or incriminating. You’ve got baby-calming powers.”

“I demand that be added to my résumé immediately.”

Jesse lets out a squeaky giggle from the play mat. Casey looks over, watching her lift the truck and smash it gently onto her lap with great pride. She can’t help it. Her face softens.

Alex watches her watching Jesse and murmurs, “We’re kind of good at this.”

Casey turns to her, surprised. “You think so?”

“I mean,” Alex shrugs, “no one’s died. She’s fed, clean, and we only got banana in one shoe.”

Casey grins. “That’s basically parenting, right?”

They gather up the loot: pajamas, diapers, a handful of teething toys, and the weirdly sentimental notebook, and head out, Jesse now fast asleep in Alex’s arms again.

As they walk down the hallway, Alex whispers, “Think Amanda planned this?”

Casey glances sideways. “Planned as in… tricked us into babysitting to prove a point?”

“She is from Georgia. Southern guilt is a deadly weapon.”

Casey smirks. “Next time, I’m leaving you on her doorstep.”

The next morning dawns soft and sleepy. No new texts. No calls. Amanda’s radio silence stretches into its second day like a held breath.

Casey wakes to the smell of coffee and the faint sound of cartoon voices drifting down the hallway.

She rubs her eyes, pads into the kitchen barefoot, and stops.

Alex is sitting cross-legged on the couch, her hair loosely tied back, a mug of coffee balanced on the armrest beside her. Jesse is tucked into her lap, babbling quietly between spoonfuls of oatmeal.

Alex guides each spoon with a calm focus, occasionally pausing to wipe Jesse’s mouth with a napkin, murmuring, “Slow down, kiddo,” with a fond little smile that Casey can’t remember seeing before.

It’s gentle. It’s quiet.

Casey leans against the doorway, arms crossed, just watching.

She doesn’t say anything at first, doesn’t want to break the spell, but Alex eventually senses her and glances over.

She startles just a bit. “How long have you been standing there?”

Casey smiles softly. “Long enough to question if I woke up in an alternate universe.”

Alex snorts, scooping up another bite of oatmeal. “You were out cold. Jesse and I decided to have an early breakfast.”

Casey steps forward, voice low. “She’s letting you feed her.”

“She also let me put her hair in these ridiculous little antenna buns,” Alex says, tilting her head toward the baby, who indeed has two tiny, lopsided pigtails sticking out like she’s halfway to becoming a Teletubby.

Casey grins. “Okay, that’s adorable. You’re doomed now. She’s imprinted on you.”

Alex looks down at Jesse, who’s now stuffing oatmeal into her own mouth with one determined fist. “Could be worse.”

Casey watches them for another moment, quieter now. “You’re good at this.”

Alex shrugs, pretending not to blush. “She makes it kind of easy.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Casey says. “That’s what makes it impressive.”

Their eyes meet—just for a second too long—and then Jesse sneezes oatmeal onto Alex’s shirt, breaking the moment entirely.

Alex groans. “Okay, no one tells Amanda about this part.”

Casey grabs a napkin and hands it over with a smile. “Too late. I’m mentally drafting the group chat now.”

Alex narrows her eyes. “I will take this child and flee the country.”

Casey laughs as Jesse squeals with delight, oatmeal-covered fingers waving in the air like she knows she’s won something.

As the sun sets on the second day, the apartment looks like a daycare collided with a crime scene.

There are board books in the couch cushions, a half-eaten apple on the windowsill, and someone (definitely not Jesse) has drawn on the wall with a purple crayon.

Casey is lying face-down on the rug, one arm stretched out dramatically. “This is how I die.”

Alex sits cross-legged nearby, her blouse stained with juice, gently brushing Jesse’s hair back as the baby dozes in her lap. “We survived. Barely.”

“You made her macaroni.”

“You bribed her with Tinkerbell.”

“You enjoyed Tinkerbell.”

“I was desperate,” Alex mutters.

They sit in exhausted silence, the only sound the faint hum of the dishwasher and Jesse’s soft breathing. For a moment, it’s peaceful again. Still, soft, even a little comforting.

Then Casey’s phone rings.

She fumbles for it and groans. “It’s Amanda.”

Alex perks up. “Put her on speaker.”

Casey does and Amanda’s tired face fills the screen. She’s clearly in some rundown motel room, hair up in a messy bun, a bottle of gas station iced tea in one hand.

“Hey,” Amanda says. “Don’t hate me.”

Casey and Alex exchange a look. “What happened?”

“My sister’s a trainwreck, my mom’s yelling at everybody, and I had to chase my nephew through a Walmart in heels. Anyway, I’ve got to stay two more days.”

Casey audibly groans. Alex slumps backward against the couch.

Amanda winces. “I know. I’m sorry. I owe you both like, ten brunches and a kidney.”

“Make it two kidneys,” Casey mutters.

Jesse stirs in Alex’s lap, then lets out a loud, dramatic sigh in her sleep. Amanda’s face softens.

“Is she okay?”

Alex adjusts the blanket around Jesse. “She’s fine. Chaos incarnate. But fine.”

Amanda smiles a little. “Thank you. Seriously.”

Casey waves a hand weakly. “Don’t thank us yet. You still have to come get her.”

Amanda laughs, and then the screen freezes for a moment—her connection dropping just long enough for them to miss her goodbye.

Casey stares at the frozen screen. “Did she hang up, or did we lose her?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Alex mumbles, already lying down. “We’re in this now.”

Jesse shifts in her lap, snuggles deeper.

Casey exhales, then reaches over to pull a blanket across both of them. “We really are.”

The three of them fall asleep tangled together on the couch.

[anonymouscheeses]

Drew my favorite! Sammy is the best I love her character smm >:3 she's also become more relatable with the problems she's been ignoring in episode 3! So I might kin her more now but thats fiine... I haven't watched past ep 3 SO NO SPOILERS ON THIS POST TY!!

AND THEN MY PRECIOUS BABIES 😭 YASAMMY FOR LIFE‼️ UGH IM SO GLAD THAT THEY ARE ACTUALLY CANON IT MAKES ME TEAR UP! BROOK IS SHIPPING THEM EVEN IN DEATH 😍 I CANT BELIEVE SAMMY SAID YAZ IS PULLING AWAY FROM HER?? NONONO IM NOT READY FOR ANGST. ESPECIALLY BETWEEN THEM TWO?? NOO!!

Anyway since I haven't watched the entire show I'm gnna theorize real quick heheheh

SO. The dinosaurs are definitely being controlled by someone but who? I'd say kenji's dad but I'm not sure, I kinda forgot what happened to him 😭 he's still alive tho right? So I wouldn't put it off the table but it could also be Dr. Wu or whatever tf his name is I completely forgor abt him. Anyway to the stuff im actually interested in- BROOKLYN. SHES DEFINITELY ALIVE. RIGHT?? (Don't answer that) THERES NO WAY THEYD KILL OFF THE BEST CHARACTER RIGHT??? THERES NO WAY. PLUS THEY ALREADY RECASTED HER IN THE FLASHBACKS(btw I think the voice is pretty good! Idk if people have complained abt it yet but if they have... shut up??) SO WHY WOULD IT MATTER TO KEEP HER DEAD? THATS A WASTE OF MONEY PLUS. PLUUS. idk. I just kinda want her alive bro.... SURVIVE BROOKLYN. SURVIVE.

Also Yasammy marriage proposal one day? Please? 🗣🔥🔥

[lynzishell]

The Present ❤️ Selvadorada

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Transcript below the cut:

Asher: Jesus, look at this place. This is the museum?  Atlas: Yep, this is it. Asher: Wow. Kind of intense, isn’t it? Atlas: Little bit.

Little Sister: What is it? Big Sister: It’s a dinosaur, stupid. Little Sister: I’m not stupid, you’re stupid. Big Sister: Good one. Little Sister: Shut up. I’m telling mom. Big Sister: [mocking] i’M tElLiNg MoM

Child: Mommy, why can’t we go downstairs? Parent: That section isn’t for kids, sweetie. Child: Why? Parent: I don’t know, I’ve never been down there.

Twin1: Why did they frame it if it’s broken? Twin2: Because it’s old, duh. Twin1: So, it’s old and broken and that makes it special? Twin2: [shrugs] I guess. Twin1: Dad, I’m bored. Can we get ice cream?

Atlas: Holy shit. Asher: What? Atlas: I’ve seen these before. Asher: Really? Where?

Atlas: Well, I… in a dream, I think. Asher: What? Atlas: Yeah, I used to have this recurring dream, and there were skeletons in it just like this. Three in a row. Asher: Weird. Atlas: You have no idea. [waves to museum employee] Excuse me.

Sam: Hi there, I’m Sam. Can I help you with something? Atlas: What are these? Sam: Ah, these are the Temple Guards. Atlas: Temple? Sam: Yes, the jungle used to be home to three ancient temples. They were said to contain great treasures, and people would come from all over in search of them. The Guards were one of many things that would protect the temples from trespassers. Asher: They don’t seem very intimidating.

Sam: [laughs] No, these wouldn’t. These are just replicas. The real ones are much larger and are said to have the ability to curse their enemies. Atlas: What kind of curse? Sam: It varies. Legend has it, they take the victim’s greatest wish and turn it into their nightmare. Asher: Creepy. Sam: Very. If you’re interested in learning more, we have the real thing downstairs. It’s a slow day. I can give you the full tour at a 25% discount. Asher: Um… Atlas: Let’s do it. Sam: Follow me.

Sam: Now, everything you see around you, with the exception of some reinforced archways and support beams, comes from the actual temple ruins. These temples were constructed as mazes with various floors, rooms, hidden doorways, and dead ends. They were designed to confuse their enemies and cause them to get lost, unable to find their way out. And, if that wasn’t enough, the whole place was booby trapped. These devices here, they would shoot arrows at anyone who tried to cross them. However, they contain a puzzle. By solving the puzzle, one could deactivate them and continue on.

Sam: This is the kind of room one may find themselves trapped in. The only way out, again, is to solve the puzzle. Get it wrong, and each podium has a different punishment in store for you. Atlas: Why would anyone go into these temples if they’re so dangerous?

Sam: Oh, plenty of reasons. Greed, adventure… Sometimes people just think they’re special. That, even if hundreds have failed before them, somehow, they’re the one who will make it through, the one who will make it out alive. But I’ve yet to hear a story where someone did. Trouble is, once you’re in, there’s only one way out, and good luck finding it.

Asher: [pokes Atlas] Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Atlas: [nods] It’s perfect. Sam: This way, my favorite room is just up ahead.

Asher: Whoa. Atlas: This is amazing. Sam: Right?!

Sam: There are freshwater pools in the jungle. We have no idea how they got there, but they’re said to have been cursed. That they were originally created as traps for those seeking out the temples. It could be very temping to go for a swim, but if you were to try it, you’d be pulled straight to the bottom.

Asher: Fantastic. Atlas: You okay? Asher: How ‘bout we move on? Sam: Oh, uh, sure.

Sam: And here we have the real Guards. Asher: Okay, yeah, these are a bit more intimidating. Atlas: The real ones? Sam: That’s right. The very ones that stood inside one of the temples. Atlas: The temples, are any of them still there? Sam: ‘Fraid not. Only ruins. We’ve collected what we could and preserved it all here in this museum.

Atlas: I think maybe it’s time we head back to our rental. Asher: Yeah. This place is creepy, isn’t it? Atlas: That’s putting it mildly. Sam: Well, good news is, the next stop is the last on our tour. Bad news is, it’s about to get a lot creepier. Asher: Not sure how you’ll manage that.

Sam: This is Barbara. Asher: Barbara? Sam: Well, no. She doesn’t have a name, so I make up a new one every time I come down here. Just whatever pops in my head. So, today she is Barbara. Asher: You really enjoy your job, don’t you, Sam?

Sam: I do. And this is my favorite part. You see, it wasn’t only those looking for treasure or grand adventures that were trapped in these temples. Anyone who wandered nearby could fall victim. Legend has it, the temple

would come alive at night, and so would Barbara. She would crawl her way out of the ground and lure in anyone who dared to get too close. As I mentioned, once inside, there was only one way out. But also, there was a limited amount of time in which to escape. Once the sun rose, the temple went to sleep again, the exit sealed, and anyone left inside was lost forever.

Atlas: What happened to them? Sam: Nobody knows.

[Later]

Asher: I’m so glad we’re finally back. I’m exhausted after all that. Atlas: Me too. You were right. We never would’ve made it out of the jungle before dark. I’m glad we decided to wait. Asher: Me too. We should get to bed soon so we can get up early tomorrow, take our time. Atlas: Good idea. [snuggle] Hey, Ash, I— Asher: Jesus, do see this? Come here.

Asher: I can’t believe how many stars are out tonight. We never see this in the city. Atlas: It’s beautiful. Asher: Sorry for cutting you off just now. What were you going to say?

Atlas: Oh, um… nothing. I was just going to say that I love you. Asher: [smiles] I love you too.

[matchanon]

you know that doomed apocalypse isekai plot had given me some thoughts too and as the inspirator for this im holding u responsible for these ideas so im dumping these in your inbox (im sorry haha)

<<being isekai'd into an rpg-like otome game>>

- first of all, unlike the other reader, this one had lowkey highkey been playing this game and all its routes so they KNOW their shit. maybe this game is notorious for its difficulty and bad endings, maybe it's rng bullshit all together, who knows but the reader lmao

- the moment they wake up they either go panic mode until they realize what world is this or they excitedly roam around and figured out which faction they had woken into.

- if they had awoken into castrum kremnos, it's the hardest faction to stay alive and keep yourself afloat in the original game. it has so many hard events and scenarios, not to mention even meeting the main guy of this route (mydeimos) is a task and a hurdle. but wooing him is probably the easiest when you can prove yourself worthy and stay by his side.

- waking up in the grove is the easiest place you could start at as the beginning stages are the best places to level up and grind, only at the end is where the big harder events come in (and in game by the time you get there, you should be fully equipped and leveled) the hardest part about this route is no doubt the guy (anaxagoras) as he takes nearly as long as the entire route even for him to begin acknowledging you as he's much more interested in uncovering the secrets of the tide.

- the third route in okhema seemed to be the most balanced out of the three. There would be random battles and scenarios that would be hard when you are unprepared but it's nothing brain-numbingly hard like in castrum kremnos. and the main guy (phainon) isn't half bad or too easy to go for either! no, the main game isn't the hard part--it's the endings he would pursue. care too much and he becomes the villain deadset in only caring about YOU and not the world. care too little and why would he bother with anything else except for his revenge? make a minute mistake and he ends up as flame reaver rather than the deliverer. forget to do something and he fails his final trial.

so, what where would reader end up in and what route would they choose?

i didn't want to air out this ask cuz we were VERY close to anaxagoras banner, so i waited a bit for it, though it doesn't make particular difference in this case, the outline remains pretty much the same. anyways... have you ever watched overlord? i personally find it fun when game translates terrifyingly into reality :3

since we don't have an actual otome plot to go off from, i will be free balling this.

————

you, the reader, do not have the luxury of choice.

and of course you don't have a choice. if you did, you wouldn't be here. you would've never chosen this world from all the games and novels you could've chosen. you wouldn't have chosen to transmigrate, period. in this reality that should've remained a game, you do not choose the hows, the whys, the whens, or the whats.

games are games, novels are novels, they are fun to play or read after 8 hours of work, but the real thing is decidedly not fun.

in fact, it’s downright horrible.

no matter where you start off, it’s a very horrible world years (in the two digit numbers at most) away from utter annihilation. the people are on edge. the regulations are strict. the food is managed and the population in each city kept an eye on. the monsters are hideous and smelly and terrifying. they have dinosaurs for pets and one of them almost crushes you beneath its foot. this world sucks balls.

a world based off an otome is still a shitty world. you are not protected by a screen nor do you get to go back and redo your mistakes. you work, eat, sleep, except this time you're utterly alone. you're also kind of useless in stuff except game knowledge.

you can't use swords or bows. you don't know how to plant corps, sew a straw basket, or even skin an animal. you don't know the protocols and unspoken rules set in place. you only know that the world is real. you bleed. you hurt. you can die (or worse). a seven year old here has more survival skills than you do and had even comforted you when you had broken down like, twice, patting your back like your mom used to do when you were small (and what humbling experience that had been).

no one knows you. no one cares about you. you are truly, horribly, indescribably alone. you are terrified, and you must fight for your very survival now. the world is going to end soon. you are going to die if you don’t do something, but what can you do?

if “you” try to “wander” around, you are going to die either by monsters or fellow humans. if you stay without doing anything, the world marches to destruction. any day there is danger of corruption swallowing the place you live. what is knowledge worth when you had been a law-abiding civilian form the modern era and cannot act, fight, or survive on your own?

you know the characters. you know the routes. you know the items, the cheats, the lore. things you used to pour over in forums and discussion groups for fun are now things you desesperately try to recall and depend on for survival.

after mere weeks living in this game world, this knowledge is exactly why you can understand just how fucked you are.

the world is infamous for its bad ends, fights, and rng (oh god, the rng is the worst, you are NOT lucky), and so far none of it looks pretty in person. you certainly haven't been very lucky. if a single dromas can almost accidentally send you to heaven (not a fun experience, 0/5 stars review, despite the cuddle afterwards that left your face wet from licks), what makes you think you can survive fighting by the capturable targets' side and aid them?

drastic circumstances, you think, call for drastic measures.

ROUTE #1: YOU WAKE UP IN 《 "MURMURING WOODS", GROVE OF EPIPHANY》

one of the most hated routes ever because the gameplay used to have math problems in real time :) in the real world, it's even shittier.

after you transmigrate, you suddenly have to cram religion, quantum physics, history, agriculture, arquitecture, magic voodoo, alchemy, and math. you are not going to survive. might as well lay down and wait for death.

time is ticking. you don't have the time - nor the brain cells - to get into any of anaxagoras' classes. just thinking about studying masters degree levels of stuff makes you want to pass out. he might think you are lying, and by the time you can for sure prove you're not, you are pretty sure it's going to be late and you're all going to die.

this is the real world. you are not constrained to routes and choices in a screen. you must use think outside the box. think hard, and realize this: your only option is not professor anaxagoras.

instead, before doom decimates the grove of epiphany and you become a faceless face amongst the statistic, you must find a way to attract the gaze of cerces, the titan of reason residing at the core of the academia.

alriiiight, time to prep yourself to spout some of the biggest bullshit in your two lives.

gods, you can't believe all those hours pouring over game lore for shipping purposes is going to save your life.

(of course, your other option is to shoot all your subjects to hell and get yourself expelled, but that runs the dangers of being sent to a city that is not okhema.)

ROUTE #2: YOU WAKE UP IN 《 "BLOODBATHED BATTLEFRONT", CASTRUM KREMNOS》

simply put, you are fucked.

figuratively speaking, the dynasty of castrum kremnos had long since become an abandoned fortress by the time you meet the warrior of okhema, mydei, in the main storyline. it becomes a plot device used to bond with mydei and something many fans had gushed over and cried about. despite being a mere plot device, there is enough lore on castrum kremnos for you to know enough and understand that when you wake up in the still standing city of castrum kremnos, you are in deep, deep trouble.

the city was not felled by the black tides, instead, it had been taken down in rebellion against its current king eurypon by the banished and presumed dead crown prince, mydeimos. by the timeline of the main story, castrum kremnos is only an abandoned wastelant of madness and rubble.

(you don't know, you don't know when and where mydeimos is...!!! what year did castrum kremnos fall? when did he finally leave the sea and meet his comrades? how many years did he spend wandering? how long did the rebellion last? has aglaea already sought him out in alliance?)

it is not a kind city for the weak. glorious though its walls and warriors might be, its customs are steeped in might and war. people die for pride, glory, and senseless slaughter, something you have read in the game but cannot truly understand when seeing it with your own eyes.

even now, lurking in the whispering crowd, you watch as men and women venture into a labyrinth and come out as mangled corpses. more keep going in, and just as many come out. the kremnoan warriors are proud and seek glory through strife. your problem here is not the supernatural forces that will destroy the world, but the human civilization you find yourself locked within, like prey surrounded on all sides by predators.

you have to survive until the rebellion. you must.

but hey, at least you didn't wake up in the castrum kremnos ruins of present day, right? you would've died five minutes in, either because of titankins mobs or the boss monster itself, lmfao.

ROUTE 3: YOU WAKE UP IN 《 "ETERNAL HOLY CITY", OKHEMA》

you spill the beans to aglaea.

before aglaea decides you're a threat and kills you, you seek her out and swear to help okhema reach the most optimal ending to the prophecy. you would've even fall to your knees if necessary (it doesn't come to that, gratefully). of all the characters, she's the one you know will believe your words because you cannot lie to her strings.

all routes, all hidden endings, all enemy weaknesses, all hidden npcs, all the tricks, all the hidden items and weapons, all the knowledge you can remember-- you will offer it all up to the flamechase prophecy. you have seen the endings and the devastation of the world. you cannot presume to be smarter than aglaea or tribbios or even crown prince mydeimos, but by the gods, you will offer everything and also use your tiny brain to pour through everything like a good, obedient, obsessed fanfiction writer and seasoned reader of novels and games.

you do not even consider taking phainon's route. his routes are infamously easy to enter and just as infamously hellish to progress. even on other routes, he is the epicenter of the game and is embroiled in all manners of political nitpicking and conflict.

of all the targets currently stationed in okhema, he had been one of your favorites otome targets ever, but the fondness for character does not translate well to reality when you realize this is the very same man involved in approximately 325 endings (both his and the others'). haha, no, you are not touching him. you don't have the brain cells to deal with him. get out.

no, no, your best bet is the golden weaver, aglaea.

she's beautiful and smart and scary as hell. you regret not taking her seriously in the game. she is your most dependable benefactor for survival in this world-game. her goal is the completion of the prophecy and the era nova of amphoreus. just as well, they coincide with your survival.

no, your survival depends on her.

ironically, despite your allegiance to aglaea, anaxa might be interested in you if you land first in okhema, because you can't lie your ass about your faith and aglaea's strings pouch for it. your knowledge (which is affirmed as your truth by aglaea's strings) will also keep him close.

.

[i-draws-dinosaurs]

i was rewatching the rite of spring segment from fantasia and i've got to wonder. Why Did We Draw Archaeopteryx Like That. i remember toys having that same, boomerang arm shaped pose too. it's like a monkey lizard more than a bird.

Ooh okay this is a fun one cause while it technically is an Archaeopteryx and is listed as such in the production draft, I don't think the design is based on Archaeopteryx at all!

To me, this "Archaeopteryx" almost exactly resembles something else, the fascinating historical phenomenon called Proavis.

Proavis, or Tetrapteryx as some four-winged interpretations were called, was a hypothetical prehistoric creature that was proposed in the early 20th century as a best guess at what the unknown ancestor of birds could have looked like. The illustration above was drawn in 1926 by Gerhard Heilmann, a Danish artist and amateur scientist who argued that birds evolved from non-dinosaurian archosaurs like Euparkeria. In his 1916 book Vor Nuvaerende Viden om Fuglenes Afstamning and the 1926 English translation The Origin of Birds, he presented Proavis as the imagined midpoint between a scaly ground-running archosaur and Archaeopteryx, which at the time held the title of The First Bird.

Other versions of the same hypothesis, like William Beebe's Tetrapteryx above, were published and discussed around the same time, but it was Heilmann's Proavis that gained immense popularity to the point that bird evolution was considered essentially "solved" for decades. It was also painted by Zdeněk Burian, one of the Old Greats of palaeoart, which kept the concept alive in dinosaur books for decades as well.

Of course further study has shown this hypothesis to be incorrect and that birds are instead members of Dinosauria (and honestly Heilmann either missed or ignored a lot of evidence for a dinosaurian origin of birds even in the 1910s), but the Proavis to me remains a beautiful and fascinating concept that represents scientists and artists striving to understand the prehistoric world and the passage of evolution, much like we still do today!

And of course, its popularity in the early 20th century put it at the perfect time for Fantasia's artists to take... let's say heavy inspiration from Heilmann's imaginary Proavis when depicting a creature that was intended to be Archaeopteryx the whole time! The pattern of feathers matches up almost exactly, although the larger leg wings might have been inspired by Beebe's Tetrapteryx as well:

So to get back to your original question that led to this whole deep dive, artists didn't actually Draw Archaeopteryx Like That except when they were mistakenly drawing something that wasn't Archaeopteryx at all! If you want to read more about the Proavis and Tetrapteryx I recommend this Tetrapod Zoology blog post by Darren Naish, he does into more depth about the history of the concept and some of the unusual evolutionary ideas that Heilmann used to arrive at this weird and cool imaginary creature!

[alwayslurkinginthebackground]

Turn - A Pedrotober Drabble

Day 11 of Pedrotober: Any Max Pedrotober hosted by @norththelemon and @alyssamariag. View the full prompt list HERE and view my entire Pedrotober drabble catalog HERE.

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader

Rating: E because I apparently can't write anything non-explicit with this man. Unprotected p in v, brief mention of oral (f receiving), fingering.

Word Count: 1810

a/n: This is a No Outbreak AU because we like to live happily with Joel Miller as if nothing bad ever happened ever. a/n: I legitimately blacked out with this one. Completely. Originally I was going to write a cute little fic about Mr. Ben and the next thing I know this was on the page. Yes, a Max is involved here. You'll see. I offer this again to the wives of Joel Miller. I hope it holds you over until the wolf thing.

"I do not like horror movies, Joel."

He's been insistent all day. Horror movies, he has so proclaimed, are a Miller family tradition on Halloween, but you'll have nothing of it. They freak you out, with their gore and their jump scares and their monsters. Half the time the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park were enough for you to lose sleep, and now he wanted you to watch something with vampires?

"It's not that bad. It's barely horror at all, actually," he assures you, wrapping his arms around your waist from behind. You have to admit that his tactics are starting to wear you down, from the way he'd crawled under the covers the second you'd woken up to the way he was pressed against your back now.

Still, you shook your head. "It's not happening."

"Come on," Sarah moans from her place at the kitchen table. "He's not kidding. It's literally not even scary."

"Scary is a relative term," you insist, trying your best to ignore the way Joel's hands are teasing the skin beneath the t-shirt you're wearing. "I just never understood the hype. Why would I want to watch people get eaten alive?"

Sarah looks over at you both with exasperated eyes. "They're not being eaten alive, they're being turned." Apparently, she's the foremost authority on vampire terminology now.

"She's right," Joel mutters against the back of your head, pressing a kiss to your hair before stepping away to lean against the table, joining his daughter in a united front to convince you.

"It has the actor you like in it," Sarah emphasizes. This causes you to turn to look at her with narrowed eyes. She's smiling widely, ignoring her dad when he asks her what actor she's talking about, his own gaze flickering back and forth between the two of you as he tries to work out the secret you two seemingly share.

You sigh. "It's not scary at all?"

Sarah shakes her head. "Nope. I mean, there's some blood. Okay, a lot of blood. But it isn't scary, I promise."

You continue to contemplate for a moment, weighing your options. You know this is important to them, to Sarah specifically, and you want to be part of the traditions they're sharing with you. And it is just one movie. "Fine," you agree, and you know you've made the right decision when Sarah jumps up to hug you tightly.

Joel, however, remains where he is at the table, still trying to work something out in his head as Sarah rushes to the living room to start up the DVD player. You follow a moment later with your food, pressing a kiss to Joel's cheek as you pass to follow his daughter.

"Wait," he calls after you, "what actor?"

~

You have to admit, they were right. The movie isn't all that bad. Sure, it leaves you questioning why Joel allowed his daughter to watch this, but you also can't complain about the way his arm is wrapped around your shoulders, securing you to his side any time the gore becomes a bit too much. Plus, seeing your favorite actor play a cocky businessman named Max sort of makes it all worth it. He's younger here than you're used to seeing him, and clean-shaven. Still undeniably handsome, but it does make you grateful for the scruff of Joel's jaw when you hide your face against it.

You're somewhere in the middle of the film when you catch Sarah continuously checking her phone. "You gonna put that away?" Joel huffs from beside you because of course he's noticed too.

"My friends are having a sleepover and asked if I wanted to come," she explains, still frantically typing away on the screen. Your eyes fall back to Max, letting the scene between Joel and Sarah play out while you're distracted. Truthfully, you're unsure why you didn't watch this sooner.

"Hey," Joel nuzzles the side of your head, his hand running down to your waist and pulling you from the trance you've fallen into. "You still with me?"

The movie is nearing its climax, and you know already that you're about to watch yet another death scene from the man on screen. "Yeah," you whisper unconvincingly.

He shifts slightly, "I don't believe you." His breath is hot against you ear, and you whimper slightly when his lips trace down to your neck.

"Sarah," you whisper harshly, a warning reminder that his daughter is sitting right next to both of you on the couch.

Joel grins against you, one hand pulling the hair back from your shoulder to give him better access. "Sarah's not here. She left fifteen minutes ago."

You're pulled from your daze and your eyes dart to the last place you saw her on the other side of Joel. Sure enough, the seat was empty. "Where did she go?" you ask, your body reacting a lot faster than your brain as your boyfriend's hand trails along your body. There are screams on the TV, but you don't know from who because your eyes have fallen shut at the sensation of his tongue as he licks a stripe across your skin.

"Friend's house," he informs you. "Gone for the rest of the night."

Oh. Oh.

"Joel." You aren't sure if his name is more of a plea or a question, but you aren't about to stop him as his hand again teases the skin of your stomach, except this time it's reaching lower. "What are you doing?"

"Turning you," he jokes gruffly before latching onto your neck. You wince as he marks you, but you do nothing to push him away. Instead, your hands grip into his curls, searching for something, anything to ground you as he sets you ablaze.

"Gonna tell me about that actor you're so enchanted by?" he grits out, fingers dipping beneath the waistband of your leggings. "Because I'd be willing to bet that I can do a lot better."

You turn so you can catch his lips, teeth clashing as he swallows the proper moan he pulls from your lungs. Your hands are everywhere, and so are his as he encourages you to throw one leg over his lap, holding tight to your thighs as he stands with you in his arms. The movie continues to play as he carries you from the room, leaving Max behind to meet his fate.

"He's got you all transfixed," he drawls out as he tosses you onto the bed, immediately covering you with his body a moment later, lips hovering above yours. "Am I not enough? Joel grinds his hips into yours, his length hard against your center, and you can already feel how slick you are. How much you need whatever he's willing to give you.

How much you need him.

"Yeah? You need me, baby?" Joel questions, reading your mind as his hands make quick work of your shirt so he can latch onto your breast, the other pinched between his fingers in a way that has you arching off the bed. "Gonna come for me?"

God, you want to. You want all of him. Inside you, around you, completely smothering you, and you rake at his back, surely leaving marks on the skin beneath the shirt that still covers him. He lets you pull it off before he does the same with your leggings and underwear, revealing a mess that's solely for him.

He needs no guidance as his fingers circle your clit, back and forth until your whole world is spinning. You think you're begging him, to give you more, but you're mesmerized in an entirely different way now. It causes the world around you to grow hazy.

"Stay with me," he whispers, and you fight against the fog as he slides one finger, then two, then three into you easily. "That's it," he talks you through it, but you're long lost to the sensation. Completely absorbed in the way he drags his fingers along your walls just so. You thrust against him as pleasure sparks behind your eyelids, and then you're gushing against his hand.

It takes a moment for you to regain some sort of consciousness, but when you do, Joel is already sliding his cock along your slit, patiently waiting for you to come back to earth. "Still thinking about him?" he asks you, lips again finding that spot behind your ear, sucking your skin. You can only shake your head, words far from the forefront of your mind. His response is timed perfectly with the push of his length into your welcoming heat, "good."

He rocks against you, setting a brutal pace that almost matches the intensity of the film you'd watched earlier. The frantic need. Here, in his bed, it's not a need for blood, but for something else entirely. It's intoxicating, the way he grinds you into the mattress, driving you higher and higher and higher.

"Taking me so well." And you are, you know you are because he's filling you in a way that only he can. Completely. Thoroughly. Unconditionally. He shifts, hands pressing your legs further apart as you writhe beneath him, pinning you down as he hits something inside you that has you gripping the sheets at your side.

You whine out his name, the high-pitched sound joining the symphony of noises filling the bedroom. The creak of the bedframe beneath you and the slap of his skin against yours as he somehow moves faster. The heavy sound of your breathing, rough as it mingles with the grunt he makes when you shift your hips higher. The way you gasp breathlessly when he takes your hand and guides it to your center.

"Fuck," he mutters. "Come on, come on, come on." It's a chant as he changes the angle again to something devastating. You know he's close, you can tell from the way he's panting, but you know he won't fall without you. Thankfully, you're not far behind.

The room is silent then. That or you've blacked out entirely as pleasure consumes every fiber of your being. You're faintly aware of him spilling into you, heat radiating through your body before he collapses against you, his weight settling you into the bed as his lips once again find a home along your collarbone. You're tugging on his curls when you finally regain some resemblance of your consciousness.

"So," he whispers against your skin, "are you pro horror movie now?"

It's an insane thought, but you love him for the way that that's where his mind is at when his cock is softening inside you. "It wasn't really a horror movie anyway," you return, wrapping a leg around his waist to keep him where he is, "but perhaps I could be convinced if my favorite actor..."

Joel silences the thought with his lips. A convincing argument indeed.

[otiksimr]

Hellohellohello I humbly ask for uhhhhh Bob [Bob Beloved] information pls personality hobbies such and such pls

Sorry first time being really fixated on someone else's OC 🫶🫶🫶 W O R M 🪱🪱🪱🪱

Hehe. You’ve fallen for my trap card! [Bob]

Something I don’t tend to talk about his lore. At all. Even less his general species. Mainly the diet and appearance. They eat rocks! Or rather, planets to be more specific! Sometimes stars too! They can’t digest any organic material though, like grass and dirt. That makes them really sick whenever it ends up in them. So they’re basically spaces’ trash bin. They eat up all the asteroids and floating rock, plus get rid of dead planets!

So crystals and gems are probably like candy to them. Literal rock candy, hehe.

The ‘metal’ you see on them isn’t actually metal, those are their scales. They shed every century or so. Same thing with the ‘fabric’ and ‘flowers’ too. The fabric is their skin, flowers are mini scales. The small scales shed a lot, near constantly, which smaller space critters feed on.

But more on Bob. He practically grew up with Earth, his momma had him sometime around the late Hadean era (still hot but beginning to chill out a little bit), back when everything was really hot and uh. Literal. Hell on Earth. Heh. Perfect spot to incubate an egg! He was there when life started and will be there for when it ends! Great!

Yes. Bob has seen dinosaurs. Yes. Bob knows what every extinct animal looks and sounds like. Yes. Bob is the only person alive who knows what a Spinosauris actually looks and acted like. He is what every paleontologist wants knowledge-wise. Lol.

Considering how their scales look like metal, Bob would be really interested in things made of metal. Specifically gold and silver (his momma’s color), which is why I tend to draw him wearing gold jewelry. Not a lot of silver tho (I should do that).

Bob doesn’t have a big sweet tooth. Considering how he’s very familiar with ‘human culture’, humans consider some rocks special so he’s a lot more reluctant to eat those ones because ‘people like them!’ So for the most part, crystals and gems are off the table.

I like to think that Bob would really enjoy swimming. It would be familiar to space to him, as with my concepts I have my ‘space animals’ inspired by aquatic animals. Plus it’s cold. So to him it’s probably a lot like a mini version of space.

With that, Bob has likely tried a ton of ways to just stay cold. He’s a space worm, he’s not supposed to be warm outside of incubation. He’s spent time at the bottom of the ocean and in Antarctica, in the winter, still not cold enough for him. In canon (about 4.5 billion years old, same age as Earth, basically), he’s too young to begin traversing space so he can’t just fly out to chill down. So Bob is kind of uncomfortably warm 24/7. Until he grows up and eats the planet I mean.

Bob (in canon time) is still basically an infant. World Eaters (His species) sexually mature at 20, he's almost 5, he's basically still a baby. Still in the development and learning phase of growth, which also means he's still in the really playful and curious age. The playful part I want to focus on because there's literally no one who can really play with him.

He wants to tussle! Play fight! But he can't or else he'll cause an earthquake and partly submerge some islands :(

He just a babyyyy

[lore-of-the-mushroom-kingdom]

A Problem With Mario Theories And Lore Hunting

So there is a problem many people have when it comes to speculation, lore hunting, and timeline crafting I've come to notice in the Mario community, and it's something I've recently been having to deal with. So something I've noticed is people who have talked about the Donkey Kongs have tried to apply real world Gorilla lifespans and maturity to the Kongs. After doing this they apply it to the lore and or the Mario timeline. They will do things like place all the Party and Kart games at the end of the timeline. Others claim Donkey Kong Junior is was retconned out of existence, or Donkey Kong the Third is actual DK Jr. and Cranky's son instead of grandson. The application of real world gorilla lifespans and maturity is mostly thanks to certain Mario "timeline"/theory. Why does this not work?

First off they are going against the established lore about the 3 DKs, and how Kongs age rapidly. On a side note I've actually made a few posts about the DKs and Kong aging so if you want to know more look for those. Back on track why does this not work? Well before we get to the main point I wanted to mention another previous post of mine to put things into perspective.

In this post I talked about a hypothesis I had come up with in the past, which was that Piranha Plants aren't actually plants but reptiles. From there I talked about why my hypothesis was wrong. I used information obtained from manuals, descriptions, and in game dialogue establishing they are indeed plants.

So what was my mistake? I tried to apply real world logic to this fictional world. Now while some real world logic is a basis for this world such as needing to eat food and breath air to stay alive. This world also runs by it's own rules. So if in the world plants can have skeletons, tongues, have scales, and can hatch from eggs then they can.

The Mario world is basically a high fantasy world, and trying to force real world logic into it does work when it has it's own set of rules the world runs by. Keep in mind this is a world with man eating plants, alongside sentient talking trees and sunflowers, hexapod dragons, still living non-avian dinosaurs, reanimated skeletons, turtles that can remove their shells, straight up magic, clouds you can physically ride on, the ability to enter dreams, zippers on terrain you can unzip, etc. etc. etc. So in the end it doesn't make sense at all to try to force real world gorilla aging to fictional sapient gorillas who have their own language in a high fantasy setting.

Keep in mind this post is only addressing a problem. This by no means lore hunting and speculation is wrong. That should be self evident by the existence of this blog.

[bubblewrapsnek]

Phantomarine Reread: Chapter 1

For this chapter I don't have too much to elaborate on so it'll probably be mostly stuff I enjoy about it so uhh enjoy!

Let's begin:

The cover of the chapter is just very fun and good, I love how in a full page what acts as frame is the composition itself, using the rock as both a titlecard, flat space made to have Phae stand out in the centre thanks to less detail around her, and has a couple skeletons climbing on it too making it interacted with the enviorment too, it's just very good, plus lots of cute critters

Bonus, pretty lady with pretty dress

One sword lady just happy to be there, good for her!

Cheth working like a lamp, getting turned off as soon as Phae chickens out is a very good bit xD

Something I also enjoy a lot from this chapter is just how present those godly veins are

You can clearly see them flowing into everything Cheth uses, they work at being somewhat subtle to me, at a first read I just assumed they were for flare, it's a god in the sea hopping bodies, of course he has an aura, but going back they are very consistantly threads coursing through what he touches and moves, around him at all time, and it makes the reveal that those aren't something he causes, but those are HIM very fun to go back to

Also Cheth being so unserious even when angry, giving eyelashes to a t-rex HE CHOSE TO THROUGH A HISSY FIT WITH, THIS GOD CHOSE THE DINOSAUR FAMOUS FOR HAVING TENEE TINY ARMS TO PERK THEM UP AND SHOW ANNOYANCE, love that for them

Something else I want to point out is how Phae is never still, every panel she is moving, posing with dumb bravado sometimes downplaying it a bit, it keeps her expressive and alive even when the obvious main show is Cheth's flamboyance and shapeshifting circus play, and that in itself is also a very fun thing, in a revolving door of actors, the play doesn't loose itself, Cheth's emotions are readable, a character is expressed constantly and flows nicely into a variety of states, and for both of them, keeping this bravado will pay off later in the chapter VERY well

Great visual, the veins themselves working as the smoke, showing he is loosing patience, he is fuming while being underwater

Another bonus point: Extremely rare instance where I find M!Cheth looking hot in a sense of coolness instead of the usual lovely dork clown (he is hot in both ways but this is a different taste)

Plus

The facless crowd of red eyes not playing, smiling or fooling around anymore, they are finally dead set on her, she created a play for them and he provides the pressure of an audience, more than the panel before, with her literally being portrayed in front of the t-rex's mouth, this feels like the maw of the beast surrounding her, sizing her and ready to devour her, ready to have her be part of the facless crowd of observers, very spooky

And this feeling of the maw of the beast pays off, 'cause shit gets real very fast, Cheth doesn't take it lightly and goes for the throat with a question that not only he thinks she would never know, but that hurts so so much, (and also shows what is in his mind when dealing with royalty, not the attacks towards him directly, not the damage to him, but the countless children who have been deprived of a family due to all this). This works as a tone shift, the first, altho minor, payoff from the swagger set up early in the chapter, and this question hits you in the face hard and fast

Cheth's frame while asking this is almost as big as the burden of that knowledge, a question so heavy the panel under it is quite literally being smothered, Phae's face accomapanying the reader who didn't expect the shift

And this leads to another piece of characterization that will come back later, Cheth cares for children, this isn't just a question done to hurt her but it's something he cares for, and why do I say this? well it's something I read not only in what will be said later on in other chapters, but in Cheth's reaction when Phae actually can provide an answer

He is confused, but also looks genuinely worried about her, he is dumbfounded AND concerned for the woman who showed to care about something he thought she would have only superficial empathy towards, for the girl who just admitted to being herself a lost child in grief (little headcanon, the cat showing up is there to be ready to help in case it got too far)

Something else I want to make note of that I find very compelling:

The background, Phae answers and the background goes BLANK, until now it consistantly framed her in either blue or red, either in Cheth's play or taking a step back from it, but now, this is something that wasn't part of his tease, this wasn't something he thought would happen, Phae's care and grief quite literally breaks Cheth's overwhelming, presence here, it feels as if not only is he shocked, but he is giving her a brief moment to breath, letting her have some space for just a moment, I love it

And this also leads to a moment I find very interesting, and I would like to give my reading to

The way I read it as of the time of writing this, is that Cheth has a deep fondness towards humanity, the anathema comic shows a devotion to his love for the people he fares in the afterlife, for the children of man who have all but forsaken him, and here he is ANGRY, but why would he be angry that the king actually cared for said people? I can think of one reason: at this point he has been waiting for a sign for 5000 years, made to sit back and watch for ages the humanity he loves sending their man foolishly to die in a war against him in which he isn't even participating, and I think he might have internalized how the people he loves have accepted a doctrine against him so deeply that they deem the sacrifice of their lives and the suffering of their children as worth less than fighting him. But what does he learn now? that the king, the guide of this war, feels guilt over this, that the mean leading all those people to die had to find a way to cope with how terrible that weight is, that they haven't forgotten how precious the lives of his people are, AND YET HE KEEPS SENDING THEM TO DIE, EXACTLY LIKE THEY DID FOR THE PAST 5000 YEARS. This is beyond foolish, this is pure denial of knowing that what you are doing is terrible, and thinking you can offset it by being kind instead of working on the problem at the root of it, I too would be angry if the man leading those fathers and mothers to abandon their children tried to save his conscience by doing charity instead of preventing those deaths to begin with.

God this came out rant-y, and probably not perfectly worded

Moving on

Remember when I spoke about how the constant expressiveness and bravado of the characters is a great setup, well here we get to the first very big payoff in my opinion

Once again, Cheth's overwhelming red get's completely broken, stark white coral framing the object of something that deeply hits him and breaks his flow, he stops to a screeching halt for the first time, speechless and astounded. without all that overwhelming presence before, all that bravado, this loss of control would hit so much less and it doesn't stop here, no this is the first punch of a two hit combo, the proverbial quiet before the storm

And this also leads to another reversal in their constant duel present in this chapter, up to now all of this has been a back an forth, a dance where Phae responds in kind to Cheth's provocations, and here, she doesn't reflect an attack, but just like Cheth seeing her at a low before had him react with a look of pity, she responds here with the same concerned expression

Sadly, Cheth isn't in a place where vulnerabilty is something that can be helped with pity or comfort, not now

Now all he is, is a raging storm of emotions

And how does he get back control of the scene? he lashes out, he once again becomes overwhelming, the entire scene becomes a vortex of red and anguished faces, Phae's bright yellow gets tinted in a red glow, something deep within him has been touched

And MY GOD is the subsequent page a mic drop, the red slowly drifts to the bottom, her emotions are settling down, there is a moment of reflection and quiet, of many things she probably couldn't hope to think about for such a long time finally piecing together, and with those elements coming into place, here comes a new face that we will come to know along the way, not only is this a new face in the chapter, this is an expression of Cheth's state of mind in my opinion, as we will later learn that the sign he was waiting for, all he is doing and setting up, it was all in the name of a promise made to this face. at least, this is my read atm, we'll have to see how the story unfolds to see how well it fits

Have you ever seen a lady so beautiful you forgot you are dealing with Satan and decided to flirt? Phae sure has

And here we arrive at the reason I said Phae's tired reaction to the death of children was the "minor" payoff to the bravado shown

Cause damn here we get to the main show of her fall

But also, shock factor aside, I want to point out how this is the first truly mean spirited move Cheth has made thus far, the question of children came from a place of care, this is purely mean, nothing can come from being this petty and evil in action, it's almost parody of the demonic figure he gets painted as, almost...

Yeah you all probably know what I'm getting at, this is the first action she takes after learning of the bonefish, of the sign, and we later learn that she actively decided to play up the evil aspect Phae knows her as, painting herself as a disgusting villain because that was the role she thought would work, after all, would kindness and explaining have worked? she is basically programmed to hate them...

And with this Cheth has completely put the curtain back on, the second act of the play has started and they are both the director and the actors, the scene once more tinges itself in overwhelming red as they start their show

After this point the chapter is quite straightforward to me, tho it doesn't shy away from some very neat shots that end up being some of my favourites of the entire chapter

Like this one, it creates a very good feel of having Phae on the backfoot, the textbox itself works in presenting her driven in a corner, against a wall, even amidst a boundless ocean she has no escape, and Cheth taking center stage to the panel also works in establishing them once more in control

Meanwhile, I honestly can't even explain why I like this laugh so much, it's just so visceral, so played to an extreme, the sea itself is laughing, Cheth looks like he could fall over on their back from how the laugh is bending them, you the reader aren't safe from the thunderous laughter as the panel itself breaks down, becoming seafoam, you are seeing them explode over the question of Shoshanna's return and once again, Cheth is playing up a villain, we see later down the line how the argument of Shoshanna breaks them and tears them down, and here I think they are masking it, they play up their bravado to an higher degree than ever before, a villain so incredibly sure of themselves that they can stop and laugh so much they aren't even seeing you anymore, they are completely exposed, not a single shade has their eyes open to keep watch on you

What grief could ever deserve such a boisterous mask?

AND HE KEEPS GOING, HE KEEPS UPPING THE FACADE

He both becomes and rides a wave about to wash Phae away, he both is master of a distaster and the disaster itself, all this part feels like is him deciding to play the villain and putting on his best theatrics to deliver it, they become mean, deameaning, ruthless, the teases don't feel as fun anymore, Phae isn't in a place to make it a back and forth anymore

The chapter starts as an ebb and flow between our main characters, but by the end there is no more pushback, Cheth has become a flood and Phae has lost the ground she was so confidently standing on before

And she manages to get a hold for a last desperate second, she has been pushed so far back in a corner that she lashes out violently, but in the end, even this is futile, in the end...

The tidal wave has crushed her, and she can do nothing but break.

[bumblehoneybee]

Wait can you actually go on about how u think the toys are biologically and such? I noticed how the toys didn’t get tired like the persona but still needed sleep and how dogday didn’t seem to be in too much pain when he was getting sewed together(maybe cuz that’s the fabric part of him and not vitals? idk but please share ur take if u want it sounds really interesting!)

Ok so this may or may not be a long one depending on how heated i get! we'll see as i go

WARNING: talk of gross anatomy and biological functions, body horror, the works

so, starting with dogday and the likes, the bigger bodies. we can see through both catnap and dogday that they retain parts of their original organic body, if somewhat twisted. catnap obviously has a spinal column, and dogday has organs and even blood within him that he loses due to being cut in half. so this implied that the bigger bodies initiative didn't just move a consciousness into the suit, but everything inside that person too

catnap is too big to say that there's simply a body inside the cat body. instead, i see it being something along the lines of the automail in FMA. somehow the scientists have not only transferred over the subject's brain into the toy body, but has also either transferred the nerves or created a delicate wire system that replicates the nervous system. and due to wanting the wires/nerves to be protected as well as the bigger bodies to look relatively normal, they add metal bones.

but the organs, you ask me! the organs are the fun part. why keep a stomach in a mostly artificial body? why keep a circulatory system? why keep lungs, blood, vessels, all that?

a brain can not run on electricity alone! it needs nutrients provided to it by the blood. nutrients gained from eating. and not to mention that the brain is a very delicate thing! it needs to be protected! an immune system is needed

THUSLY, seeing bones in the bigger bodies wouldn't be strange either! blood carries nutrients, bones help with immune system and such, they practically created frankenstein in that thing!

it also goes to show how much worse catnap would've had it if he was made into catnap as a kid as opposed to dogday being an adult when he was changed. kids grow, their systems are all small small small. he'd need lots of restructuring in order to be able to grow while being inside an artificial body. he's mostly stopped by the time the game takes place, if i remember correctly he's about 22 in the events of the game, and luckily so! imagine outgrowing your own body and being unable to do anything about

which is just a lot of blabber to say that catnap no doubt was sympathized by the prototype, even if he was used. y'all saw that radius and ulna. the prototype no doubt knows what that pain is like

so, and i never write it this way, but putting legs or a limb back on dogday, or any one of the bigger bodies is possible due to all the artificial parts of them, but not by the player most likely. artificial nerves, artificial vessels, it can all be fixed! rewiring and putting in new tubes isn't hard to do, when you're a professional scientific team like the ones we see when that guy is turned into that little dinosaur (which it's own thing i won't get into right now)

i can see the vessels too having some sort of shut off valve too, where if they're broken, to preserve blood, they can close themselves off. this would explain why dogday was still alive, and if most of his body is artificial, it can show why he hasn't had to eat as much. he doesn't have as much to support through biological means!

so dogday has eyes that can see without visible eyes. he has a tongue he can move, and a mouth he can open and closed. however, the minute details aren't there, either cause of disrepair, or because the scientists couldn't manage the details in the first place. he can close his mouth, but moving his lips is hard. luckily he has a voice box that modulates his vocal cords, meaning he doesn't need to make the words with his mouth to say them

i dunno if any of this makes sense. when i write, like seriously write the bigger bodies, these are the rules i follow! tho if anyone has other ideas, i'd love to hear them! this stuff is fascinating

[dioslesbianwife]

Hello! This is my very first time doing this, I'm so nervous. If you don't mind, can you make a Kanroji Mitsuri!reader x sbr side character (your choice) and please add Pocoloco too if that's okay cuz I really like him and I can't find any oneshot or headcanons about him(╥﹏╥)

Hope you have a great day!(≧▽≦)

hi! you don't gotta be nervous ^^ i need to get around to watching demon slayer lol. since i've never seen it, im basing the reader off what i've read from the wiki. i love pocoloco he totes deserved that win, hope you enjoy and thank you for requesting <33

Pocoloco

The second Pocoloco meets you, his first thought is: "Luck is REALLY on my side today!"

He’s instantly smitten by your bubbly personality and insane strength. The first time you lift an entire horse cart to move it out of the way, he just stares.

“Damn… you’re really somethin’, huh?”

He absolutely loves that you hype him up whenever he talks about his luck. Even when other people doubt him, you’re there like, “I believe in you, Pocoloco! You got this!”

He constantly flirts with you, and your reactions fluster him because you always respond genuinely instead of getting shy.

If he tries to tease you, saying, “Ain’t I just the luckiest guy alive, havin’ you around?” you nod enthusiastically and go, “You are! I’ll protect you no matter what!”

He expects you to be the one needing protection, but nope- you're the one keeping him alive half the time.

If he ever doubts himself, you’re right there, grabbing his hands and cheering him on. He loves how supportive you are.

Hot Pants

Hot Pants is caught off guard by your sheer energy.

At first, she tries to ignore your overly affectionate nature, but you’re relentless in befriending her.

"Hot Pants! You’re so amazing!"

"...Thanks." (Why are you so nice? It’s suspicious.)

No matter how much she tries to act cold, you always find a way to make her flustered.

If she’s injured, you insist on taking care of her. She tries to say it’s fine, but you physically hold her still and start bandaging her up.

You’re one of the few people she lets her guard down around, mostly because you’re so genuinely kind that she doesn’t feel the need to be defensive.

Sandman

Sandman respects strength and determination, and you have both in spades.

He admires how passionate you are about things, even if he doesn’t always understand your excitement.

The first time you casually lift a whole boulder, he stops and just blinks at you.

"...That should not be possible."

You absolutely adore hearing about his culture, and he finds it refreshing that you actually listen instead of dismissing him.

He doesn’t show affection easily, but he does things like leaving water and food for you after a long ride. You always get so happy over it that it embarrasses him.

You constantly praise his intelligence, which flusters him because most people just focus on his physical skills.

Diego Brando

Diego is skeptical of you at first.

You’re way too cheerful, affectionate, and strong—it confuses him.

But when he sees you effortlessly take down an enemy, he gains instant respect for you.

He gets so flustered when you compliment him.

“Wow! Diego, you’re so fast! You’re amazing!”

"...Tch. Of course I am." (But he’s blushing.)

He tries to tease you sometimes, but you always respond with pure admiration, which throws him off.

You adore his dinosaur form, which he was not expecting at all. Instead of being scared, you’re completely fascinated and gush over how cool he is.

Eventually, he starts enjoying your affection and gets jealous if you start complimenting other people too much.

[right-there-ride-on]

Why did Diego save Magenta?

Did Diego Brando, jockey and misanthrope, finally grow a heart?

Chapter 62: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap - This is actually so embarrassing for Magenta but moving past that!

Lol no.

When I first read this section I was quite surprised by this reveal, since it seemed incredibly out of character for Diego to go out of his way for another person, especially since it required him putting in the time and effort to save Magenta's life when he was probably in critical condition. Subsequent rereads weren't exactly illuminating; and it wasn't until recently I think I've finally pieced together the motivation.

So basically, this fight between Wekapipo and Magenta occurs after Gyro has told Wekapipo to protect Lucy (though neither Gyro nor Johnny know exactly what situation Lucy is in). After recovering, Magenta returns to the employ of Valentine and is sent to seek out Stephen Steel to assassinate him.

Chapter 60: Both Sides Now (Part 1) - notice the 'we'

Through Stephen, Magenta realizes Lucy is impersonating Scarlet. After taking the pictures from Magenta, Wekapipo realizes the same.

The information Diego has at this point is only that the traitor the President is looking for is a woman. He does not know that it's Lucy Steel, nor how close Lucy is to Valentine at the moment. Basically, he doesn't know any of the information regarding Lucy's impersonation.

Chapter 62: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Then Diego's spy detaches itself from Magenta. Though the immediate reason is the dynamite plan, we learn through later narration that Diego has indeed overheard everything Wekapipo was theorizing.

Chapter 67: D4C (Part 2)

At this point you would think he knows everything he needs to and no longer needs to concern himself with Magenta or Wekapipo. However-

Chapter 66: D4C (Part 1)

Diego still seeks out Wekapipo after Magenta is defeated, with it left up in the air if he knows exactly what happened to Magenta (since his dinosaur bailed before Magenta drowned). Wekapipo was already following him

Chapter 68: D4C (Part 3)

Probably, since he knows Wekapipo is well enough to do so, Diego has deduced the outcome of the battle, and determines that Magenta is no longer useful to him, and as such is not worth the effort of seeking out.

So if he's going to drop him so easily, why bother to save Magenta in the first place?

My theory is that Wekapipo was the one Diego was looking for all along - and I mean all along, as in Wekapipo is the reason Diego saved Magenta. He probably came across Magenta is the strait, heard Magenta rambling about he and Wekapipo's encounter with Gyro and Johnny, and determined that he could use Magenta to get to Wekapipo, and after that Johnny and Gyro. By the time of the D4C arc Diego knows Gyro and Johnny are not in possession of any parts of the corpse.

Chapter 68: D4C (Part 3)

Which makes this line even stranger:

Chapter 66: D4C (Part 1)

This line always makes me raise an eyebrow when I read it. It still confuses me even with the context provided by Diego's POV in the D4C arc.

Chapter 68: D4C (Part 3)

Despite the further explanation of D4C shenanigans, Diego's line that 'Johnny Joestar is best left alive' is still strange. Sure, knowing what Wekapipo saw will help him deduce Valentine's ability; but Johnny doesn't need to be alive for that logic to still apply. Diego knows that Johnny and Gyro have no corpse parts, and also that Valentine is after him for the left eye. He should also know that Johnny (and Gyro) are after him for the left eye. So why would he want to keep Johnny alive?

Chapter 68: D4C (Part 3)

In the latter scene Diego sends out his dinosaurs, leading directly to the confrontation with Valentine and his close encounter in the alternate universe. However, he also sends some to Johnny directly, asking him for help against Valentine. Johnny, surprisingly, heeds this, and even while bleeding out saves Diego from Valentine (in both the base and alternate universe).

Diego, unlike Dio, frequently teams up with others. Superficially, he's a better team player than Dio, however the truth is that others are useful tools for him. None of them actually matter to him; moreover, as almost all of them end up dead. Johnny is the only one who does not die after teaming up with Diego, which is interesting since he is arguably the only one Diego actively did not want to die.

Despite his own thoughts on the matter, the reality is that Magenta was just another pawn to Diego. But returning to the original question: why did Diego bother to save him in the first place? What purpose did he actually serve?

Firstly, at that point in time he probably calculated that rescuing one of Valentine's henchmen would keep him in Valentine's good graces, not yet realizing he already had a hit on him, though I'm sure he wasn't blind to the possibility. That idea goes out the window when Diego finds out about the hit put on him, Gyro and Johnny; nonethless, it could have been one of the reasons he saved him.

But more importantly, in my opinion, Diego calculates that Magenta can lead him to Wekapipo. If Gyro tasked Wekapipo with looking after Lucy and Valentine tasked Magenta with killing Stephen Steel, then they will inevitably come in contact. Diego learns what he needs to about Lucy Steel from the conversation between Wekapipo and Magenta; yet upon his own investigation Diego realizes Lucy has already been found out, meaning that's a dud (since he does not know about the Lucy's situation with the corpse).

Then, knowing Wekapipo was the victor of the battle with Magenta, Diego subsequently alters his plan so he can use Wekapipo to track down Gyro and Johnny and team up with them in order to take out the president. However, Valentine ends up being much closer than Diego anticipated, forcing him to team up with Wekapipo in that moment rather than have Wekapipo lead him to Gyro and Johnny. Johnny, however, was also closer than anticipated. Diego recognizes that Valentine was the true culprit of the attack, and likely assumes Johnny realized as much as well (supposing that Johnny made out anything between the D4C shenanigans). As such, he's able to at least obtain Johnny's help, even if the corpse eye is taken.

Johnny subsequently witnesses Diego sacrifice Wekapipo in order to escape D4C's ability. Johnny already did not have a high opinion of him, but I think seeing that solidified that he did not want to work closely with Diego, even against Valentine; and with Wekapipo reduced to sponge pieces and Diego making a dismissive remark about the whole thing, he reasonably takes his leave.

Yes, I'm gonna talk about that page again lol:

Chapter 70: D4C (Part 5)

I think up until that point Diego had harbored hopes of working with Johnny (and Gyro) against Valentine. He saved Magenta to get to Wekapipo, who did indeed lead him to Johnny. However, Diego basically shot himself in the foot by sacrificing Wekapipo, even if it was his only option to save his own life. Johnny saved him from Valentine but isn't willing to work with him again, at least not directly, meaning Diego saving Magenta turned out less well than he hoped, even if he did ultimately get something out of it.

So basically, no, Diego did not suddenly have a change of heart when he saved Magenta. It was of course a scheme to further his own aims, and saving Magenta did ultimately work out pretty well for him; however, I don't think it ended the way Diego would have preferred. Hence the scene above.

If you read this far, thank you!