#I don’t really polar post on here but I quite like this!

[buildoblivion]

i’m reading worst journey in the world again and I can’t get enough of these little dudes

[panerasbox]

Until It Feels Like Home

Pairing: Melissa Schemmenti x Fem!Reader

Rating: M for future chapters.

Word Count: 541.

Summary: When your best friends die unexpectedly, their will names you and Melissa Schemmenti—your polar opposite and barely more than an acquaintance—as co-guardians of their four-year-old daughter. Neither of you feels ready. Neither of you thinks it’ll work. But for Bea, you’re willing to try. Grief, love, and an unexpected family take root in the house they left behind. inspired by the movie “life as we know it”

A/N: This is just a little sneak peek/test run of a new fic idea I’ve been playing with—kind of a soft launch to see if there’s interest! If anyone’s into it, I’ll keep going with full chapters. Appreciate any thoughts, reblogs, or likes!

(update) I decided to continue this! thanks for your support & encouragement! however, i will be continuing the fic over at A03. I will still try to post the links to the chapters here. i’m also panerasbox over there! https://archiveofourown.org/works/65239519/chapters/167825491

The world doesn’t stop when someone dies. The emails keep coming. The neighbors still walk their dogs. Your boss still leaves voicemails about that project you said you’d have done by Friday.

But all you can do is sit, hands clenched in your lap, watching the second hand on the lawyer’s office clock tick louder than your heartbeat.

You’re not sure how you got here. One moment, you were buying coffee on a rainy Tuesday. The next, you were standing in a hospital corridor with a trembling hand over your mouth as a nurse said the words you’ll never un-hear.

Car accident. No survivors.

Now you’re in this sterile office with its fake ficus plant and framed degrees on the wall, waiting for your whole life to change.

Melissa Schemmenti walks in five minutes late. Her coat is soaked at the shoulders, and she doesn’t look at you right away. Her jaw is set like she’s bracing for war, not grief. But her eyes—bloodshot and rimmed with smudged eyeliner—betray her.

She sits across from you without saying a word. That’s fine. You don’t know what to say either.

The lawyer clears his throat and begins reading from a stack of papers. You only catch fragments.

“…beloved friends and family…”

“…custody arrangements…”

Then:

“…Melissa Schemmenti and [Your Full Name] are to be appointed as co-guardians of Beatrice “Bea” Bennett-Russo, effective immediately.”

Time stops. Air rushes from your lungs.

You glance at Melissa. Her head jerks up like she’s sure she misheard. “You gotta be kidding me.”

The lawyer pushes his glasses up his nose. “It’s quite clear. Gina and Tasha made the decision jointly.”

“No offense,” Melissa says, turning to you, “but you and I can’t even get through a dinner without arguing. You really think we’re supposed to raise a kid together?”

He holds up a hand. “They believed you’d balance each other out. That Beatrice would have the best of both worlds.”

You want to scream. You want to cry. You want to run back to your quiet, one-bedroom apartment and pretend this is just a terrible dream.

But then you picture Bea—four years old, with Gina’s curls. You remember the way she used to fall asleep on your shoulder during movie nights. The way she called Melissa her “Auntie Lissa” and insisted on helping her cook spaghetti every Sunday.

And you know—deep down—you can’t walk away.

Melissa’s jaw works as she stares at the paperwork. She doesn’t say anything for a long moment. Then she sighs.

“Fine. We do this. But on one condition—we take her back to their house. That’s where her stuff is. Her room. Her toys. She needs stability.”

You nod stiffly. “Agreed.”

The lawyer offers a faint smile. “I’ll have the paperwork drawn up.”

As you leave the office together, Melissa turns to you, eyes hard.

“I’m only doing this for Bea. Don’t think this means we’re suddenly friends.”

You look right back at her. “Trust me, I wouldn’t dream of it.”

She scoffs, pulls out her car keys, and walks off into the drizzle.

You exhale and lean against the wall, letting the rain find your skin. Because ready or not, your life just changed forever.

so what do we think? should this become a full story after 30 days of melissa schemmenti ends??

[cozycottagetarot]

Random Things About Your Person

From Elle: Pulled This One From The Drafts... wasn't going to post it but maybe there's something useful in it for someone. It's a chill one ✌️

Notes:

Definition of 'Your Person': At this point, I'm not sure how I personally define 'Your Person', so I guess I'm leaving that up to you're interpretation. For now, let's just say someone you'll have an impactful connection with.

Reading Layout: This reading is done in a brain-dump style where the info is just bullet as it came to me and less organised.

Dividers From X

Reading Masterlist | Patreon | Paid Readings -- Open 🥂

PILE 1

This person is such a loving and nurturing person… they could even help heal your inner child. If you want kids then this will transfer over to how they parent and it's very heartwarming.

They give off ethereal vibes. Very in tune with their intuition or have a strong sense of knowing

They could be your 'perfect match'

Someone you 'grow old' with or could envision yourself 'growing old' with

They could have a diverse friend group or their friend group is very important to them.

Night and the moon could be super important. They could be born at night, you meet at night or you communicate with them through your dreams.

They’re very abundant. Regardless of how much money they make, they just have such a rich life that you can see they are without want.

They’re very calming. They could calm your nervous system.

You’re going to have a very passionate/intimate relationship

There could be a 1-3 year age difference between you two (this is more so if you're interested in age differences... I don't why but I ended up reading those here)

They’re trustworthy and reliable

A very strong, gentle and protective person

PILE 2

Could live by the water or be very emotional.

They’re your heart, your everything. It might be hard to deny your attraction to them… but not physically. More so like a knowing once you meet this person that they play a significant role in your story

'Lionheart'... Regal energy

Lots to learn from them... So much that I actually wrote it twice lol

Kind of exotic… very beautiful

They don’t bark, they bite

They're someone who makes things happen

Very quiet…. It makes me think of something that I saw that goes along the lines of "You're harmless, not peaceful. If you’re peaceful you’re capable of great violence" or something like that. This is not meant to say that they're this aggressive/violent person. I feel like it's quite the opposite really.

I kept seeing this image of coming across a wounded animal, a wolf to be exact. You can see they've been in a fight/injured and are on guard. They're not going to hurt you but you can see that they are alert and will attack if you show you mean harm. A case of survival...

I feel like they hold the key to your happiness in a way

Something angelic about them… it could be their mind too

3 to a 8 year age difference (this is more so if you're interested in age differences… I don't why but I ended up reading those here)

An unexpected meeting

Beauty in darkness. Easily stressed or anxious. It feels very tense compared to pile/group 1

They’ve overcome a lot… flexible at a cost

One of you is further ahead in life than the other

Protective of their energy. Loyal, ambitious.

Overstimulated frequently or easily

PILE 3

They may be big on naps. Like napping together is their love language

They may be a little weird

Grumpy x sunshine vibes

Whimsy or connected to their inner child, youthful vibe

Very calm and peaceful

You two could be polar opposites but you work well together.

Their appearance can change a lot... I think more so through them willingly changing it. Really, don't be alarmed if you come home and they look completely different. I feel like they're mischievous and would get a kick out of your reaction

You could have a 2-6 year age difference (this is more so if you're interested in age differences… I don't why but I ended up reading those here)

They've managed to maintain a positive disposition despite the hardships they've faced

They could give off a met you in a past life vibe

Either good at helping you relax or they easily get stressed out but then can just as easily relax themself

Could be very creative or artistic... muse energy

Could like to take their space/time alone.... but could get lost in their head if not careful.

"Living in alignment" could be important to them... they may have a set of personal values or principles they really like to adhere to.

[dissolvedprincess]

‘need papa frank so so bad him telling you you’re his good little baby 😢’

- Anon

• ┈ • ┈ • ┈• ┈ • ┈ • ┈ • ┈ • ┈ • ┈ • ┈ • ┈ •

This was actually an anon req that i accidentally posted an unfinished version of and had to quickly take down. Didn’t know if anon wanted smut or comfort stuff, so i just went with the latter. Also dbf! Frank bcs i can. Enjoy!

Open Arms

✷ CW : angst, afab reader, hurt, plenty of comfort, dbf! Frank Castle, reader has an emotionally absent father, 20+ age gap, reader is in her early 20s

(Not proofread)

━━━ ━━━ ━━━ ✮✮✮ ━━━ ━━━ ━━━

The line rang exactly five times when he finally picked up the call.

“Hello?”

“Frank—“

You swiftly let out the breath you’ve been holding at the sound of his voice. As if on cue, the tension in your body instantly unfurls. Frank has always had that effect on you, ever since you were younger. Maybe the whole reasoning behind it was the fact that your father was never really there for his only daughter. No matter how many times you try to convince yourself with the lavish gifts he gets you, the big house he bought for the three of you, the expensive college he chose for you.

You’ve always lived with the fact that a good husband doesn’t always come hand in hand with being a good father. Even after losing his wife, your mother, the only good part about your messed up little family. He never stepped up to take any weight off your shoulders.

Even so, at least he brought one good thing into your life.

Frank.

The first time you met Frank was when he suddenly appeared at your doorstep. You had just arrived home from college to lounge out for spring break when a set of three knocks on your front door echoed through the house.

The first thought that crossed your mind when you opened the door was how handsome he was; tall and well built under the black hoodie he had on. You’ve never seen this man before, he looked to be around your father’s age.

“Hi. Sorry to bother ya.” He briefly paused to comb his fingers through his thick locks. “I wanted to know if uh- Richard still lives here?”

You were surprised to hear your father’s name. “Yeah, he still does. Don’t think we’ve ever met though— I’m his daughter.” You reached out to offer a hand. A smile crept up your face to mirror his, trying to be as nonchalant as possible when you looked into his eyes.

“Oh! Yeah, yeah, i’ve heard about you. I’m Frank.” Your heart stuttered when his hand clasped around yours. His touch was grounding and the way he smiled was so sweet, you were immediately smitten.

“Nice to meet you, Frank. Come in, please. He’s out right now but he should be back in 15.”

“Thanks sweetheart.” You ignored how your stomach flipped at the pet name. It felt like your were doing something innapropriate when you inhaled his cologne and burned the scent into memory as he moved past you.

The both of you sat at your dinner table when he starts to tell you about the friendship that him and your father used to have. They were childhood bestfriends that sadly lost touch when Frank moved away for a job opportunity and only recently moved back here for a different job. The last thing they talked about through the phone was the news of your arrival into the world and Frank couldn’t have been happier for him.

Though you found it hard to imagine them being anywhere near each other when they were such polar oposites. The stories he told seemed to have showed you a different side of your father, a side that you’ve never seen or experienced before.

You briefly wondered of the possibility that your life could’ve been entirely different if only Frank had stuck around. Maybe your father wouldn’t have been as absent. Maybe Frank would’ve been there to talk some sense into him when he was being a horrible parent. Maybe you could’ve had someone to run to when things got too much for you to handle.

In the following years, the two of you have grown quite attached to one another. He took the responsibility of helping you with things that your own father was too caught up to do. You like the fact that Frank was now a prominent fixture in your life, a person that is always steps ahead of you; hands always ready to catch you if you fall.

Even as the time read ‘02.37’, he still came to pick you up. Unbeknownst to you, he had rushed out of his house the moment he heard you sob quietly into the phone. Before you even had the chance to ask him to come pick you up, he had responded with a brief ‘Already on my way sweetheart.’

That’s how you found yourself in Frank’s living room. You weakly wrap your arms around your midrift as you sat sideways on the couch, facing Frank’s tired form that practically collapsed into it.

“Sorry if it’s not what you’re used to honey.” The exhaustion is apparent on the man’s face as he turned his head towards you, and the sight caused an anxious pit to form in your stomach. You felt helpless to stop the tears from welling up again.

“I apologize for calling you so late Frank. I just- i needed to get out of there. I can’t be around him anymore, for just one night. I promise i’ll go back home tomorrow, just— please let me stay for one night. I promise i’ll be good, i’ll just sleep on the couch and—“

Your frantic and panicked rambling is put to an abrupt stop as Frank wrapped his hand around your arm. Anything that resembles fear or doubt is swiftly wiped away from your mind with every stroke of his thumb on your bare skin. You missed his touch as soon as he lets your arm go.

“Come here.” You see his arms open for you to climb into his lap. On shaky legs, you hesitantly waddle on your knees and straddled his waist. Hugs have always been often between the two of you, but this one felt too— intimate.

He gently pulled your head to lay on his chest and more tears escape you as he lovingly stroke the back of it while the other one wraps around your back. You felt your body relax as you wrap your arms around his while nuzzling your face on his chest.

You lift your head as you felt a kiss on the top of it, taking in how dark eyes scan your face. His hand leaving your back to push stray strands of hair out of your face and smooth them out.

“I hate to see you cry sweetheart.” He mumbled, swiping away a tear, you leaned on his palm and kissed it.

Frank hesitantly leaned in and trailed kisses all over your heated face. From your cheeks, your nose, your still wet eyelids, to your forehead. All while whispering little praises, ‘my good girl’, ‘you’re the best thing in my life sweetheart’, ‘sweet girl’, ‘you’re so easy to love’.

Emotions were high, and you understand that completely. You weren’t in the best position to do anything impulsive, but you couldn’t deny yourself of this anymore; not when all you could’ve done was yearn for years.

Without letting yourself think any longer, you leaned down and pressed a kiss to his lips. It felt like the right thing to do. Frank gasped at the feeling, but he eagerly returned it. His lips were much softer against yours than you expected. The way he moved was careful and sweet but you wanted more. You wound your fingers through his hair, tugged him deeper into your mouth and licked at his lips against yours.

But the kisses ended as quickly as it started and you attempted to chase his lips again, even as he put a gentle hand between the two of you, pressing lightly against your chest. “Why’d you stop.” you whined.

Frank closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the couch. He let out a staggering breath, seemingly struggling to hold himself together.

“Sweetheart i— i can’t take advantage of you like this. It’s not right.” He looked sincere and honest, all of the things that he’s always been for you.

Sadly, the only word that came to mind was ‘Rejection’. Your mind ran to do what it does best, to sabotage and quiet down any external voices, be it positive or negative ones. The only focus was on you, you, you and what you think.

“Do you not want me?” You let out quietly, almost a whisper.

“No, no, no honey don’t— please don’t say that. You know i do.” His hands went up to envelop your cheeks, not giving you the chance to look away.

“I just…i don’t think we should be doing this right now. You’re vulnerable and you might think that it’s what you need, but trust me..it’s not.”

You were quiet and intently listened.

“I love you and fuck i’d do anything to take the pain away, like i always do. But i would never. You hear me? Never let you do anything you might regret, not when you’re all up in your head like this.”

The flood of emotions felt different this time. You openly sobbed as you buried your face in his neck.

“Shh…It’s okay. It’s okay, I’m here for you sweetheart, i’m here.”

Frank nuzzled into your hair as he held on to you like you were going to slip away from his arms, like he always does. You’ve always liked that about him, you’re never too heavy for his hands to hold. He’s good at taking whatever pain you have to turn it into something else entirely.

“I got you baby. I got you.” He whispered.

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Sheesh! I know anon’s request was very short and to the point, sorry that i had to ramble on and on before we actually got to the point of the request lmao…Dbf! Frank is such a delicate topic that should be handled with care and i needed to build up the relationship between reader and Frank first to fully delve into it.

Still, hope you guys had a blast, and please do stay tuned for the next Dbf! Frank fic! We’ll fuck the dilf in the next one don’t worry.

Love u guys.

-Z

P.S

Thinking of making a taglist for my Frank Castle fics. Let me know if you want to be added into it!

[cod-blurbios]

Btw if anyone wants to use ideas, I’m too tired to write them properly. So here is an odd list.

- “Too Old For You” M!Reader x Soap (who likes that fact)

- Hybrid!Pangolin Child Reader saved by TF141 who happens to curl in on themselves when scared

- Emotionless Reader who learned to fake emotions, but when really tired just becomes super numb towards everybody (awkward shoulder pats, glazed over eyes, disinterest in gossip, etc)

-Emotionally Filtered Reader who doesn’t get into the romance game, doesn’t have sex because they don’t find the meaning of it and nothing seems to be engaging enough to try, but is super interested in learning about how sex and romance plays with our brain chemicals. A sex and romance enthusiast.

-Werewolf!reader who gets super territorial over their spaces, and it’s an honor if they let you in or around those spaces

-Some very projective hc’s for randoms that really make sense for those characters

-Silly headcannons for Graves (he definitely painted his face to look like an American flag and CAAWWWED like an eagle when drunk. Yes his shadows had to embarrassingly shut him up and take him home)

- Vamp!Reader who doesn’t enjoy feeding, at all. Like it’s a life-sustenance but makes them terribly disgusted to need.

-Hybrid!Wolf!Soap x Reader who doesn’t ask for affection (he’s been called needy so much he just quit asking) so he just presses his knee against your own after grueling missions in the back of the humvee

-Roach headcannons that aren’t just: he’s a silly boy xoxo GET SOME DEPTH YOU UNDYNAMIC UGHHH

-Harpy!Gaz (thank you bluegiragi 🙏) who can’t hide when he’s upset because his feathers look so puffed up and messy.

-Harpy!Gaz 2 who can’t (doesn’t) preen his own wings, your hands are just…y’know, you get all the right bristles

-Price headcannons that delve more into his character (esp ‘09 Price) he definitely had to be the leader a lot among his family as a teen and takes on those leadership roles among his team, get more headcannons for his childhood bcs he’s just ‘dad type’ and it’s NOT ENOUGH

-Ghost, who is GENUINELY an asshole. Purely canon and will not hesitate to tell you to get out of ‘his seat’ in the mess hall. Whatever that means.

-Soap headcannons that don’t revolve around Ghost or revolve around being the opposite of Ghost.

-Laswell headcannons abt her and her wife 🙏

-Reader Aus that are straight up contradictions, but work out really well. Short but not fragile (and not the typical ‘sassy/fiesty/bratty’ trope either I hate those, like buff n shii) Like a 5’1 dude who is built like a mini tank.

-Laswell x F!Reader (ofc) that are super doe coded?? She knows what your favorite breakfast on Tuesdays is and you know which day of the week she takes everything showers??

-Just otherworldly outta pocket shit happening to Yuri and Makarov that mocks poorly written AI tropes. WDYM A TREE SUDDENLY FELL DOWN AND PUSHED MAKAROV EVER SO SLIGHTLY CLOSER TO THE POINT HE FELL AND LANDED IN A FOOT-TO-FOOT HANDSTAND WITH YURI

More Nik x Price headcannons that are sweet…ofc they go to the coffee shop every Saturday and just talk about every little detail from each others lives while apart…why wouldn’t they :(

-More hate post shit against Makarov. I want to feel your soul through the screen as you pour it out for what he did to Soap in MWIII

-Bear!hybrid Reader who has to deal with hibernation but it’s realistic (having to sleep for longer but not a whole damn winter)

-More Hybrid!Readers of very out-there creatures (Bees/Polar Bears/Reptiles/Nagas/Centaurs/Cryptids)

Uhh yeah I’ll make a part two in maybe a month or so

[paceywittters]

yes, i do think lucy has fault in their relationship breakdown - happy to talk about that elsewhere if you want

okay, so @to-the-east asked me to expand on this thought from my other post and while i know this is an unpopular opinion on a beloved character, i don’t mind talking about it (even if it’s become a really polarizing thing for the rookie fandom). the fact that lucy's flaws get looked over in favor of constant praise for her actions is kind of odd to me.

a note before you see how long this is: this is just my opinion about a tv show, i am allowed to have it just like you are allowed to have yours! if you don't agree with me that is ok i will be fine and so will you. please don't come at me for typing my little essays, if you've been here long enough u know i just like to yap.

also just to be clear: i think lucy's a great character. i think she's good at her job. she deserves happiness personally and professionally in whatever way that looks like for her. i also, however, recognize that as a three-dimensional character, lucy's flawed - and i like that she's flawed. i want the show to delve further into those flaws the way they do with basically every other character rather than pretending they're not there. me saying lucy has flaws is not an attack on her character. it is observation and analysis of the source material. that is all.

ok now you may proceed if you want lol

some chenford fans looked at the breakup in season six and saw tim’s issues, tim’s faults, tim’s lies, etc. as the root cause - and they were absolutely part of the cause, but there were bigger things at play than just what was happening in the moment. tim’s knee-jerk reaction to his deception/inability to see himself in his actions/breach of his moral code during 6x06 was to break up with lucy, because he didn’t know who he was. he couldn’t trust himself with himself, so he certainly couldn’t trust himself with her. we’ve all heard this a hundred times over, i’m sure, but it’s worth repeating because i actually think the breakup happening like this did a major disservice to the characters. while i wanted a breakup, after sitting with the way it’s played out, this breakup didn’t scratch the itch for me, so to speak.

throughout the end of season 5 and the beginning of season 6, tim and lucy both wind up facing a major shift in their lives. they decide to be together in 5x08/5x09, and this is where we begin to see the…lack of consequences, more or less, for lucy’s actions specifically.

just to reiterate, because i'm about to sound harsh: i want lucy to succeed, and i want her to grow. i am not trying to say lucy should have to face consequences for things while others shouldn’t - this isn’t meant to be a comparison to anyone else in the cast, but an analysis of what we’ve seen laid out in front of us.

throughout the show’s run, lucy’s had fairly good luck when it comes to not facing disciplinary action when she should’ve - but this goes absolutely batshit crazy in season 5 and 6. in the span of a season, lucy:

breaks up with her boyfriend of at least 6 months who has been expressing interest in living with her, giving little to no reason re: why (regardless of how you feel about chris, this should've have some kind of consequence or challenge attached)

begins dating her superior officer in secret without disclosing that information appropriately despite knowing she is supposed to legally (skirting around rules, ultimately without any consequence)

devises an inter-departmental swap with a group of colleagues in order to find a way to benefit her personal life without consulting tim, who this would directly impact (she does eventually face a professional consequence for this, but not a personal one)

expresses no remorse to tim when she gets caught and he is, rightfully, irritated (she quite literally says “sorry, not sorry”)

learns that someone within the inter-departmental swap is not happy that she’s manipulated a bunch of people for her personal gain and doesn’t seem to understand this is a problem (again, she will eventually face a consequence with this - but does not appear to understand why, which is the issue)

continuously appears to understand that her boyfriend, who has baggage surrounding undercover work, is struggling with her decisions but is trying to put on a brave face and doesn’t call him out for a lack of communication (to be clear, this part is very much also on tim - in moments even more so than lucy - but we’ll get to that later)

picks fights with her boyfriend for doing his job/treating her like his colleague when she has directly asked him to do so (i will not be engaging on the discourse surrounding tim's behavior in 6x01 other than to say that lucy asked him to behave like a TO and he did)

pushes her boyfriend again on his stance on undercover work when he’s openly trying to resolve his issues with it in order to keep their relationship stable (6x01/6x02 pre lie detector test is wild)

makes some deeply dangerous and mostly unnecessary calls that put her in extreme danger in order to make herself stand out because she doesn’t feel she’s getting enough recognition at work (lucy getting that dinged up radio as a trophy was sweet but we veer away from the fact that lucy quite literally chose to do something she didn't need to for kudos and could've died because of it - instead, we see her praised and applauded for her efforts without any ounce of "but you didn't have to do all that")

ignores the fact that she knows going into her detective’s exam that one of the proctors is not in favor of her, and then doesn’t anticipate the fact that it will impact her score/opportunities moving forward (again - this is a time where she does face a consequence, but does not anticipate it whatsoever, which i think is part of the problem)

and that’s just the big stuff. lucy consistently doesn’t face consequences for her actions - the detective’s exam thing is probably one of the few times i feel like i’ve seen her actually find herself in a pickle due to something she’s finagled. i love the fact that lucy can be crafty and creative, it’s one of the things i enjoy the most about her character…but a lot of the writing in the last season or so has felt less to me like she’s being crafty or creative, and more like she’s just skirting any legitimate consequences for her actions/ignoring any faults she’s shown as she’s moved through this phase of her career. even when she does have to face her decisions head-on, lucy often winds up trying to justify her behavior rather than admitting she was just...deeply over-achieving, or trying to do something to better her situation. she rarely sees a consequence coming, which is confusing when her character is clearly someone who can analyze situations for others.

with that being said, let’s get to this part: tim and lucy had problems before their breakup, and neither of them wanted to talk about them. think about the back half of season 5 - we see tim struggling with lucy’s uc work, lucy struggling to talk to tim about it or get him to own up to his feelings.

early on in season 6 we see them confront this a little, but it comes to no resolution whatsoever - and while it’s tim’s problem with lucy’s uc work, lucy chooses to act like that’s the only problem in their relationship. in 6x02, tim’s discomfort with uc work is treated like it’s their biggest issue when we as viewers know that there have been multiple times lucy’s just straight up lied to/withheld information from tim, either because she doesn’t think he needs to know or doesn’t want him to be in the know. lucy’s long-preached having great communication skills/knowing that open honest communication (5x18) is the key to her relationship with tim…but she doesn’t actually practice it.

lucy, unfortunately, is a bad communicator who thinks she’s a lot better at sharing her own feelings than she is. lucy is good at facilitating communication for others - it's a major skill of hers - but she's far less in touch with her own self, and we've seen that many times through the course of the show.

seeing her refuse to acknowledge her faults to tim, who she’s supposed to be sharing herself with fully, is a struggle throughout the beginning of season 6 - and so the tension was brewing for chenford when tim’s whole past-life-army-drama came into play.

now, here’s the thing: tim also has some serious baggage that he brings into this relationship (and just being real, in your 30s/beyond who is not bringing baggage into a relationship? i would be offended if they didn’t) and he has his own level of fault. the direct cause of their breakup in 6x06 is a tim thing. he’s not communicative, he’s a people pleaser (this is what i meant when i said we’d get into that later - tim’s people pleasing tendencies, esp in interpersonal relationships, are huge, to the point that he needed to be hooked up to a lie detector to even really grasp that he had issues with lucy going uc. that man gaslights himself into thinking things sometimes, and he’s always going to try to be amenable to the people he loves because he doesn’t want to lose them - which is a big flaw and a big reason why he broke up with lucy, but i digress), and he’s the kind of bitch that self-sabotages. things got difficult and he fucked up and he took himself out of the equation because leaving is easier than getting left - which, honestly, is probably a new feeling for tim.

but. this is about lucy, and the fault she has in the breakdown of their relationship. to be clear: they share fault. they are very much both at fault for the breakdown of their relationship (again - the direct break up was tim’s call, but we’re talking about what led to that), and i don’t think either of them grasps it just yet.

lucy has become used to getting her way more often than not (not all the time, obv, but enough) and if she doesn’t get her way directly, she can usually find a path into what she wants without much consequence. she doesn’t speak directly about her feelings or find herself probing for the feelings of others in tough situations where she’s directly involved. it's a strange dichotomy for lucy, who comes from such a psychology heavy background - and i often think it's one of the most interesting parts of her character, but the way she's been written in the last season and a half has really brought to light how misused it feels as a trait when she doesn’t see it.

so, tl;dr: lucy has flaws in her communication style and often finds herself lucky enough not to face the consequences of her actions, so when they do crop up at times, she's gutted by them. her chronic over-achieving has become her fatal flaw, as she's often trying to overdo things to make herself look good, rather than taking a step back to actually consider situations. while we can see these things on screen, they’re not addressed by the show which can be frustrating.

these qualities of lucy’s wrapped up in a bow make for her own set of issues that lent directly to the slew of issues that simmered into a boil of a breakup for chenford. while i don't think lucy was the whole problem by any means, i'm also not going to put that fully on tim. i want lucy to be able to grow and change and receive recognition for her work in a meaningful way, but without actually focusing on her flaws and acknowledging them, i don't really see how the rookie can do that in a way that serves the character.

ok don't hate me bye

[goops-system-shifting]

☆journaling our shifting together☆

a few days ago our system decided that we had interests in documenting our physical shapeshifting and semi-personal thoughts about it in a journal. we’ve so far written them in a way in which it is accessible and readable for others out of our system because we find that sharing experiences is an important part of communities as a whole. bare in mind that these are our specific experiences and of course don’t universally apply to others who also physically shapeshift or are otherwise physically nonhuman.

the words are typed out and printed on stickers as we have issues with handwriting and our writing is practically illegible.

quick side note that we are using the art by @/purple-space-aliens because that is our main blog. clarifying this as this is our first tagged post on this blog.

below the cut is the text version of everything in the journal (this also serves as a image id, although it is a bit lengthy).

the cover of the journal is purple with a slightly darker moon and tree design on the top left corner. it has a pocket in the bottom half and a latch on the top right.

the first page contains the title -which the same as our blog- “goops system shifting” and an image created by us which we have posted before, this time in black and white though (click here for hyperlink to the image with full color and its image id).

the second page contains all of the following text, separated on their respective stickers:

“Things we happen to subconsciously shift to based on who is fronting in order of frequency (anyone is known to shift to our default form slightly though)

Cosmo: rabbit/bunny, alien, main form

Pearl: main form, leopard

Tommy: main form, polar bear, newfoundland

Iris: anything winged (usually main form), canines, polecat, fictotype

Nikki/Nick: vampire/main form, husky, painted dog, piplup

Pup: canines, cheetah, fictotype, raccoon, salmon

Ace: hellhound, black wolf, demon (relatively similar frequencies)

Mars: labrador retriever, alien/main form

Q: main form, coyote

Lars: main form, blanford’s fox

Allium: samoyed, mainform

Dot: alien, main form

Shark: main form, shark

April 4, 2025

“Shapeshifter identity status

As of current, we have a lot of uncertainties on our shapeshifter identity. We do know that we physically shapeshift, though we haven’t looked into any logic on it or not as quite frankly the math does confuse us and we feel some things for us really don't add up. It’s unknown for us if this is delusion or reality, and while we do find it to be very real the signs of the former for us seem to be stacked higher, especially considering we do have delusions and have had them before as well. We don’t really know what side of the community we should be feeling at home with, though it does seem to be more on the physical side. One thing we do know is that we do feel safer in the community of physical alterhumans (especially other shapeshifters) over non physical alterhumans. Another thing we’ve looked at is the idea of our physical nonhumanity being a form of experiment, which seems to likely be true in some way though we’re not quite sure. Regardless of uncertainties though, we still feel very confident in fact that we are a shapeshifter, which is reassuring in facing the unknown.

April 4, 2025

“Delusion or reality

We keep wondering about whether or not us being a shapeshifter is a delusion from a technical stance. For us it's not really delusion but perhaps from an outside of body perspective it is? I’m unsure. It's all complicated and muddled.

April 5, 2025

“Feeling whale-ish

An older, now gone, headmate of ours (Yellow) used to be a north atlantic right whale and I’ve recently noticed that we seem to still be connected to that species. From what I’ve gathered, I (Cosmo) -or possibly Pup since it is the other one who is practically glued to the front- have gained this type after Yellow seemingly merged. The past few days especially I’ve been holding back urges to shift even slightly to be this form. It’s been mostly a subconscious urge, though I’m frustrated I’ve been unable to fulfill it. Perhaps I will attempt it soon, it would feel right anyways.

April 5, 2025"

[nynyhaha]

Machi and Shizuku — How to treat human remains

Both of the beautiful Spider members cause death with their abilities,increasing the number of corpses.But what do they do with them afterwards?

Despite being in the same organisation and doing crimes together their approach to corpses is very different.

I’d even call them polar opposites.

Machi is known for killing and healing people with her threads,but what matters here is her skill on restoring dead people to look better.

It’s made clear that she came to master nen Threads in that exact context.Kinda tragic,actually. We don’t see her trying to restore anyone to their original beauty so it’s unknown to what extent she knows Renkos craft,but since she wanted to learn it we can assume she knows quite a lot about it.

A personal headcanon of mine is that she took it upon herself to arrange the flowers for Paku’s “grave”

Look how sad it is :((

Meanwhile Shizuku,well…cleans up.

Being sucked into a vacuum like dust just to disappear in its void seems like a bad way for your body to end.I mean,what is a corpse really worth?

Is it not a puppet?🖊📖🕷

But if corpses were just puppets there wouldn’t be people like Machi and Renko.

If Machi had no emotions towards Hisokas corpse she’d just dispose of it or call Shizuku.But she fixed it up.

Because people care about the dead,their bodies and their wishes.

Treating corpses as humans allows one to spend a bit more time with them,to keep them alive a bit longer in their mind.

The importance of human remains being buried properly is also why Kurapika is so relentlessly searching for the eyes of his kin.

It’s why we can judge Chrollo’s moral state by his treatment of corpses and see that there’s clearly something seriously wrong with the way he sees people.Which isn’t just a Chrollo issue(Check out my Neon Nostrade post)but a broader problem in the HxH world.

Machi and Chrollo started out in the same place.

Horrified at how their friend has been dehumanised along with other kids of Meteor City,they vowed to take revenge and reverse this trend.Now they themselves kill people without batting an eye.

What started out as “we are humans so see us as such,even in death we have dignity”

turned into “human corpses are just like puppets and we can use them in any way that fits us.”

Surely,Pakunodas body and even Hisokas are very different than those of dead mafia men.That’s just how it is with close people.

So..what is it? a) human remains are to be respected

b)corpses are just empty shells,they’re inanimate objects so they don’t matter

c)corpses might have meaning and personhood attached to them but we will only honour that with those we care about/those who deserve it

It must be a mix of b and c by now.Hypocrisy is a big theme of HxH.But in the general view of the Spiders, Machi included,human lives rarely matter and their dead remains are even less important.

Young Machi might’ve been horrified by Shizukus ability,I mean,imagine Sarasa’s kidnappers “cleaning up” her body in such a manner.

But now Shizuku and Blinky are very useful to the troupe and everyone appreciates them.

Shizuku is a troupe member that’s rather unsettling to me because of her innocence and young age(19).She’s calm and we don’t see cruelty or bloodthirst in her.Even out of the women in the troupe she seems the least threatening.Yet her ability is very bleak and shows acceptance and indifference when it comes to horrible things.

She takes Chrollo’s orders seriously even if that means letting him die.She’s one of the people that appear normal and could live a normal life. Or so it seems.We know nothing about her past but she must’ve had a reason to join the troupe.She no less passionate about it than Machi.

Oh,if only we knew how and why she developed her ability!

I don’t think that would be a happy story tho,haha.She even reminds me of Chrollo a bit,that mix of apathy and pleasant calm demeanour just has something to it.

Machi seems to have a bit more “rage/fire” in her.She’s closer to seeing corpses as people even now.But despite the differences,the Spiders get along.

So it really depends if your corpse will be patched up by Machi or deleted by Shizuku.

[monstersinthecosmos]

Hi, completely agree with what you said here but it makes me very sad to think about it. As someone who imprinted on Armand at 12, Marius/Armand was my first ship in VC but I find it hard to ship them post Venice era, even though Blood Communion seems to suggest some positive developments in their relationship (Marius standing behind Armand during his argument with Benedict supporting Armand being his own person iirc?). Idk I want them to work their shit out but it’s still hard to imagine them putting their differences aside sans an apocalyptic scenario like in QotD.

And sometimes idk if Marius loves Armand enough to work on it. I know that the corner of tumblr that loves Marius (And I certainly understand the appeal of a complicated and polarizing character like him. Kudos to Anne for creating Marius!) likes to push the idea that the turning of Benji and Sybelle was mostly out of love (and to a varying extent depending on the person’s pov, due to Marius’ mental health issues) but how much was that love and how much was it ‘my pet needs to have pets so that he stays alive for ME’. Not saying these 2 motivations are mutually exclusive but I’m genuinely curious about your views.

I’m rambling but guess what I’m trying to say is, how much do you think Marius’ love for Armand is unselfish, whether in Venice, at the end of TVA or after Blood Communion?

Asdghjakl yeah I have really similar feelings about them as a ship! Like the Venice era is my favorite time period in the VC but modern/present-day Marius/Armand doesn’t really hit the same way for me because it’s just such a motherfuckin mess lol.

What I do want to say, though, is that we’re kind of dancing around a topic here that involves the inhumanity and inherent monstrosity of Marius, and while I tend to think “THEY’RE VAMPIRES” is a lazy approach to analysis, there’s a deeper version of it that’s relevant here.

What I mean is that Marius can love Armand truthfully, sincerely, unselfishly and STILL cause harm, and still love him imperfectly, and still cause problems. I think when we really wanna start dissecting Marius/Armand as a ship, and the Venice era as a whole, and whatever trauma it left on Armand vs Marius’s motivations/intentions/character morals, it’s important to remember that Marius was not human. 

I think a lot about like, when we say that Armand is a “pet”, or that Denis, Daniel, Benji, and Sybelle are Armand’s pets, there’s sort of a connotation or shorthand to TLDR that it’s their cute little human. But I think about like, for example!, my fucking cats! Like, when I think about ACTUAL pets IRL, um, I would fuckin die for my cats? They’re my lil babies? I love them so fully and with my entire fucking soul but they’re dumb little animals that live in my house and I take care of them and I don’t think they have a single thought in their fucking skulls. 

So when you think about like, a 1500 year old immortal night creature adopting a little human, he can love Armand with his ENTIRE being, and I believe he really really did, and it’s still “aww the cute lil human that I feed”. And Marius is unique amongst the vampires for how hard he tries to stay connected to the human world, and it’s still never enough, he’s still never quite there, so I have always believed he had the right intentions even if he fumbled it or did things that could cause harm. It’s not like, he’s a ~MONSTER~ in a scary way, but literally, he’s so removed from humanity that he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing. 

(Don’t let me get into a side essay here but it reminds me so much of like, imperfect boomer parenting, like looking at different generations’ parenting styles and realizing how much harm they caused, but most people aren’t intending to harm their children and just don’t know any better. Every generation will likely experience a form of this as we learn and grow and try to be better, but I find this really interesting for Marius specifically because of the age of the author!)

He was fifteen hundred years old when he met Armand. I think in a lot of ways he acted with good intentions that wound up causing a lot of harm. But it does a disservice to the story and to him as a character to only look at the outcome, without considering the universe he’s operating in. 

And idk like, where is the line between selfish and selfless love? Like, Marius is clearly a fucking mess at the beginning of TVA and didn’t take the news of Armand’s suicide very well. Is it selfish to do something drastic because he’s worried that Armand is still suicidal? Where does one end and the other begin? Especially with immortals like, is your own death a gift? Is it an act of kindness to save someone’s life instead of allowing them to check out? Idk idk! Grief is fucking messy, it can be both, but I don’t think it’s fair to characterize it as purely for himself. He even immediately fucks off to Norway in shame afterwards. I think I prefer to think he just wanted Armand to be happy and safe. By the end of the book they're still struggling to communicate with each other about religion, and in some ways I think Marius doesn't think Armand truly wanted to die, vs seeing a religious fit for what it is. So I'm not sure he sees Armand's suicide attempt as sincere, either, and maybe doesn't feel the need to respect his wish for death.  

I think a lot about the conversation Marius has with Armand after he turns Benji & Sybelle and realizes how bad he fucked up. 

"You loved them selflessly," he whispered. "For all their strange faults, and wild evil, they were not compromised for you. You loved them perhaps more respectfully than I... than I ever loved you." He seemed so amazed. I could only nod. I wasn't so sure he was right. My need for them had never been tested, but I didn't want to tell him so.

Even at 500 years old, Marius still doesn’t entirely understand Armand as a complete person. He doesn’t completely understand Armand’s needs, or the person he wants to be, or what his human companions were to him. I think it even starts when Armand is still alive, how Marius treats him like a silly little pet, like, Armand’s piety is a cute little quirk that Marius humors without ever truly respecting. It doesn’t occur to him that Benji & Sybelle aren’t just pets. And I think Marius being stuck in his trauma means he’s just perpetually trying to believe in himself and control everything around him, while Armand stuck in trauma means he’s constantly trying on different roles and figuring out who he is. 

(But FUCK ME, christ, “I wasn't so sure he was right. My need for them had never been tested, but I didn't want to tell him so.” this really fucks me up so bad, we have to keep talking about this another time because like, these two can NOT communicate with each other! They are useless with the barrier between them maybe they need to drink from each other more often and iron this out.)

Someone can do their best, and mean well, and still cause harm. Humans do this, too. I’m sure we’ve all been there. And Marius is a great example of vampires being stuck in the trauma of their turning—it doesn’t matter how wise he tries to be, he always comes back to the same trauma, over and over. Even the way he treats Armand in Venice is a direct result of Marius trying to fix his own trauma. And like, would therapy even work on a vampire, or are their brains stuck forever where they were? How much of their “changing” is just learning behavior, and learning to mask?

Because I think Marius 100% could do that for Armand. He loves Armand. Armand is his child. He was the first fledgling Marius ever made of his own will, after 1500 years! But I think canon left us off in a place where neither of them are quite there yet. Marius is in decent shape at the end of the series, I think—it feels like he’s made some huge strides in accepting himself and his nature, so I think there’s some potential! Armand also has to learn how to use his fuckin words a little bit better, which he’s never been good at, but I think the way he goes off on Lestat after keeping that inside for 200 years is a really great sign! 

I go back and forth about “does therapy even work on vampires” all the time, like, do they have neuroplasticity, are they capable of change, have we uncovered something in the PL Trilogy that could be a key to them functioning better and learning to change. I don’t really have an answer because canon doesn’t, it’s just a fun thing to think about, but it’s the best way that I can reconcile Marius’s intentions vs his actions, and how he somehow continues to make the same mistakes and never learns! 

Basically, I think it’s not helpful to ask if Marius loves him enough. He does! But loving someone doesn’t mean we magically know how to behave, and the qualities in Marius that cause him to behave selfishly are so deeply tied to his trauma, his control issues, his use of ego as a defense mechanism. And even in real life we can have boundaries and hold people accountable when they hurt us, even if it’s because of mental illness. We can have empathy and still have boundaries, and we can be hurt and still know when something wasn't personal. That feels kinda IRL and serious to frame vampire meta but like, Marius can love people and still fuck up, because he can’t help it, and I don’t think it’s a fair reading of the text to insist he’s a diabolical abuser because it just doesn’t really match his characterization otherwise. 

I hope he gets better! 

[banana-pancake5]

MOO

Absolutely no pressure at all, but I was going through some of my old blog posts and I found one from back when we started taking about Haikyu, and I asked you who your favorite was and you said Tanaka. But you said you couldn’t fully explain why since I was only on season 1.

Since I have now watched everything I can get my hands on Haikyu-wise (No OVAs [other than the Nekoma ones] and I don’t have access to the movie), I excitedly invite you to tell me more about why Tanaka is your favorite!!

Ok so I’m trying to really wrap my brain around all the fantastic things that make me love Tanaka but it regrettably has been a good bit since I watched the show so things probably won’t be too specific

So to start off, the second he showed up on screen I thought “heheh this guy is funny and will probably me by favorite.” When looking at all my favorite characters, he fits in so well; he is a chaotic boio XD. And then there’s the scene in that wonderful gif and big brother vibes are immediately established. Of course, that’s all season one. But throughout the show his friendships with everyone are pure GOLD. He hypes up everyone and bounces off of Hinata’s personality SO WELL. And his friendship with Nishinoya is so fun and fantastic justbcdejhbefdjinffebijferibjfifbejbkefjfffjbekfefbijffejibjbfifebijffebjfef I love them. He is also the mental ace and that concept was the coolest thing ever. I was SCREAMING at the screen when the other team kept targeting him over and over to try to break him. He is such a core member of the Karasuno team. Like I said, he hypes them up, he encourages them, he keeps them going. HE IS SUCH A WHOLESOME GUY I LOVE HIS INTERACTIONS WITH EVERYONE!!!

BUT HERES THE THING!!! I already loved him so much, and then there was lore. Now, for some reason my brain is telling me this is spoilers but I really really don’t think it is because I’ve seen the movie and know this wouldn’t be in it, but if you haven’t seen the Tanaka backstory yet then spoilers are ahead!

Tanaka was in such a polar opposite state then where he is now— (oop I just realized this is similar to why I love obi so much XD). Tanaka was this awful jerk when he first joined karasuno. Then he met Dachi. Then he met suga. (And I don’t quite remember if the others were important to this plot line but I KNOW they were). And his life fully changed. He was thing moody broody aggressive teenager, and they helped him regardless. They were kind regardless. And he saw that, he saw how they acted and he changed. And just BAH. The contrast of his younger self to where he is now. From a jerk to the heart of the team. I LOVE IT. I LOVE THE CONCEPT AND ADDING THAT LAYER TO TANAKA AFTER HE WAS ALREADY MY FAVORITE WAS SO GOOD.

Hopefully this sheds some further light in why I love him so much :D

[snakepitgunner]

1. Incredible, once I got over the starstruck ‘I can’t believe this is happening’ moment, he was so attentive and loving. I’m on the pill so I’m covered, he told me he didn’t like condoms and wouldn’t be able to get off with one. He’s not at all what I would’ve expected, we ventured as far as choking in terms of kinky stuff but he’s just a really tender, loving guy.

2. He just said she was kinda ‘there’ all the time, she suffocated him on the GNR tour and he felt like he couldn’t be himself so they’re taking a break but he hasn’t been happy for a long time.

3. I’m working on anonymising my account as I don’t want backlash (I have quite a few GNR fans on my tumblr) I’ll send the photos later today, you’re welcome to publish anything.

4. Just internal disagreements as far as I know, the lead singer was very controlling and mad that London was in a relationship so she flipped and he quit.

I just wanted to get my story out because I do feel bad that he lied to me and Meegan, when I came home the next day, I headed straight to instagram and saw he’d sent her flowers saying how much he’d missed her, like, dude? I’ve just left your hotel room.

Now this is the content I'm here for.

1- I'm not surprised about the attentive thing. I remember reading some interview he did from forever ago (the early days of guns) where he said he like to get his partner off and that was hot to him.

2- This doesn't surprise me either. She isn't just there all the time, she always has a camera in his face. A while back, his brother made a comment about her attaching herself to Slash to get attention for herself.

She was the polar opposite of Perla and would go along for the lifestyle and that was convenient to Slash. -At least that's what I've heard.

3- Can't wait to see the pics.

4- That's a shame but it's probably for the best. He seems to be doing well without them so that's good.

I doubt they are separated, as in, not living in the same home. However, he sent Perla flowers the entire time they were separated too. From what I've heard, the women he dates like to keep up appearances. That's something Meegan and Perla have in common. It's even been suggested that they sometimes send them to themselves and just make it look like they're from him. I don't know if that's true but it's been said.

[Originally posted February 2, 2024]

[this-game-has-themes]

short vignette between vegh and knicks based sometime during the game events that i wrote a while back and didnt post bc, well. gestures vaguely to knicks

on that note, cw for vykker bodyhorror warcrimes and fantasy pervert racism. you know how it is

“All of my pieces are of the highest quality stock, of course. I don’t use any discards or body clearance material. All of these installations were 100% untouched, mentally intact Mudokons.”

Every time a Vykker opened up his mouth, he would say something that was somehow even more abhorrent than before. But, Glukkons were accustomed to their monstrosity. Some of them were complicit, even revelling in the worst the Conglomerate had to offer.

Vegh was no investor himself, though he ran into Knicks a couple of times when their respective businesses traded with one another. The routine exchange had reversed its polarity in the past couple of years: instead of receiving raw corrective material from Knicks’ enslavement firm, Vegh was now providing corrective stock directly to him. He didn’t see the results of their transactions until now, outside of business hours. At the Vykker-run crimp show, where he saw familiar mud faces on display. The muds who still had faces, that is.

Among the mutilated and surgically transformed Mudokons, Vegh could recognize Knicks’ penchant for blackened leather, latex and metal to garnish his installations. It reflected his own appearance; a ghoulish, sharp-toothed smile of self-installed dental implants, legs that were capped with sharp prongs that clicked against the panel floor. Vykkers were known to be eccentric with their self-modification, seeing theirs and others bodies as material to be transmuted to their liking.

They were disgusting to their Glukkon associates, but it was no secret that the Magog relied on Vykker ingenuity. They held the strings, but they had no interest in pulling. Too obsessed with their fetishistic passions, too content to be creatives rather than rulers. Easy to control, when given the resources to keep them content.

Vegh was learning more about Vykkers than he ever wanted to here, but he came seeking Knicks for a reason. If that meant humoring his revolting nonsense, then so be it. He was used to dirty jobs.

“So they’re all…” Vegh grimaced as he looked at the still, vacant things encased in latex. “... Aware?”

“Let’s check!” Knicks clicked over to one that had been forced into a quadruped position, shakily balancing on the stilt ‘legs’ that their bent and bound limbs were attached to. The Vykker tapped the side of its gimp mask. “Hello in there! Do you want to say ‘hi’ to Mr.Vegh?”

The Mudokon shook a little on its stilts, and let out a muffled sob behind its mask. Knicks stilled them before they could lose their balance. “Don’t go getting too excited now, we just got you used to standing and walking. And you better not fall off the runway during the presentation! Do you hear me?”

The bound mud nodded as best as it could in the highly restrictive suit it was squeezed into. Vegh sneered at the sight of it. “So are all of these my correctives? It seems a waste.”

Knicks preened, inspecting his black-painted claws. “My work has meaning behind it, you see. It's actually quite important to use corrective materials to convey the total subjugation of their paltry species. If I used scrub stock, the message wouldn’t be as impactful.”

“... Right.” Vegh, like many Glukkons, never really ‘got’ art, save for its role as a status symbol. He tried to retain his proud posture as the Vykker scuttled too close for comfort, making him instinctively shrink back.

“You of all Glukks should understand the message behind my work, being a scion of poor dear Kwalia. My condolences, of course. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.” The wrinkles on Knicks’ hideous face pulled into a mocking smirk. He looked the Glukkon up and down, And Vegh vaguely wondered if a Vykker would ever be so bold as to involve a Glukk into their perverted ‘artwork’.

“And you… have come suspiciously absent of an escort to the gala. Quite unlike a Glukkon of your recent status.” Knicks gave Vegh a knowing look. “I would have expected you to adopt that queen I sold to him all those years ago. Unless women are not to your tastes?”

“That’s… actually what I came here for.” Vegh bowed his head, and his eyes shifted around suspiciously. All of the Vykkers on the show floor were preoccupied with their show-muds, and all of the Glukkon patrons were preoccupied with not throwing up in their mouths.

“I actually sold her upon my advancement; it was a practical matter, I needed to offload some liquid assets, and she was becoming a problem.”

“Well, now I’m just disappointed you didn’t sell her to me.” The Vykker licked his exposed teeth. “I would have loved to make a masterpiece out of her for all she-”

Vegh cut him off. “I sold her to Molluck.”

Knicks’ smirk fell, and he did a bit of a double-take as that information sunk in. “Really? That Molluck?”

“There isn’t any other Molluck all over the news.”

“Well, that means the queen is charcoal in that smoking crater of a meatpacking plant now, so what of it?”

“I don’t think it's that simple.” Vegh leaned in closer. As repulsive as the Vykker was, he valued their privacy more. “I’m sure you’ve heard about the other rumors following that disaster. The ones about worker revolts, and several high profile Glukks being involved in ‘accidents’?”

“What are you getting at, Vegh?”

“I’m just saying, I’m quite suspicious about the plant just happening to blow sky high after my little ‘delivery’. And not even a week after that, General Dripik ‘accidentally’ falls on a trophy spear? Be serious.”

“You alright in there, Vegh?” Knicks gave him a suspicious squint. “I know the disinformation these days is ridiculous, but are you honestly saying that mute little cocksleeve has something to do with these unrelated incidents?”

Vegh steeled himself, momentarily wondering if he really was crazy. If all this paranoia was just the blowback from his years of planning, culminating in that near-impulsive heel turn against his accomplice. “I… know her, Knicks. Far better than you do. I know the things she is capable of, and I know the sort of things she would do if she ever caught wind of either of us.”

Knicks’ smirk turned nasty again. “I’m sure you know her quite well. From what I understand, quite a few men could say the same.”

“I sold her to RuptureFarms because I thought the problem would take care of itself.” Vegh scoffed at his own error, looking back. “And surely, she would have been butchered and eaten by that old bastard within the week. So why do I feel like my days are numbered?”

“Stress, maybe.” Knicks, ultimately, was unbothered by what Vegh had to say. He dusted off the immaculate leather that lewdly hugged his body. “Getting rid of your fucktoy right when you’ve come into an executive seat will do that to a man.”

“I just feel like a lifetime of bad quarma has been building up to this.” Vegh straightened up against Knicks brushing off the term ‘quarma’. “I came to warn you, Knicks. If Howler is out there, loose, she’s going to want both of our heads.”

“Oh, if I had one moolah for every life I've ruined, and every time I've been ‘cursed’ by fresh captures reciting their woo-woo tribal nonsense at me. I would have retired richer, earlier.” The Vykker shrugged. His capped legs tapped the floor impatiently. “Howler wasn’t even the worst I’ve had to process. Just another piece of wasted potential to shove off to Viss Madre at the end of the day.”

Knicks turned to Vegh, amused by how the Glukkon’s tight brow had begun to sweat under the floodlights of the show floor. He gave him a patronizing smile. “Oh, she’s just a bushmud, Vegh. How much damage could one Mudokon do?”

[autistic-writer-angel]

OCtober Day 16

Prompt: Lament

Words: 665

Canon to my other stories: Yes

Additional notes: Another scene I've had in my head for a while. Context? Don't know her.

@mooshie-blue I think I told you I was going to post this one.

TW: Slight self-harm and quite a bit of self-loathing.

Credit to @apromptingwewillgo for the prompts.

Lament

“Angel?” Captain Barnacles called. He could hear her on the other side of the bushes. It wasn’t like her to just run away, though. Something must have been wrong. “Angel?!”

He pushed the bushes aside and was shocked by what he saw: Angel had grabbed a long, thick tree branch and was hitting herself with it! She whacked her arms over and over again.

“Angel! What are you doing?! Don’t do that!” The polar bear took the branch off of her and tossed it as far as he could without fear of hurting any creatures. “You could hurt yourself!”

“That was the whole point!” the girl countered, beginning to cry.

The Captain was alarmed. Angel got upset very easily, but she rarely cried. He knelt down beside her. “Angel. Why are you crying?”

Angel let out a sob. “Because I keep screwing up!”

“Angel-”

“It’s my fault we’re stuck here! And I just keep making things worse! You could have gotten back to the Octopod ages ago if it weren’t for me, but we’ve been stuck here for three days! Your big day is completely ruined! And it’s all my fault! I’m sorry!”

“Everyone makes mistakes, Angel”, Barnacles pointed out gently.

“NOT AS MUCH AS I DO!” she exploded. “All I do is screw up! I just can’t do anything right! Here!” She slipped her Octo-watch off her wrist and threw it not at him, but towards him. “I don’t want this anymore! I’m never going to be good enough!”

Captain Barnacles knew that Angel struggled with self-esteem. He knew every Octonaut and Octo-Agent had their areas to work on and this was Angel’s main one. Still, it was hard to listen to the rant that followed. She bawled her eyes out, describing herself as completely useless and the worst thing ever. At first, he said nothing. He just allowed her to lament. Maybe all of this just needed to come out.

Eventually, when she was crying too hard to keep going, he decided to intervene.

“Angel. Take a deep breath.”

The thirteen-year-old drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then she did it again and again.

She sniffled and wiped away a tear. “I’m sorry. You should have told me to shut up.”

“No”, he told her gently. “Angel, everyone feels the way you’re feeling sometimes. Everyone feels like they’re not good enough, but it’s not true. Any of it.”

“Yes it is!”

“You’re so hard on yourself. You have done so much more than you give yourself credit for… Do you remember when you and I first met?”

Despite herself, Angel had to smile a little. “I wish I didn’t.”

“You were so scared of me, but look at you now.” He smiled at her. “And you saved the life of a little penguin. You’ve helped me in the Caves of Sac Actun and helped save creatures in the Ring of Fire. You’re kind, you’re funny and you brighten up every day on the Octopod. And I'm very proud of you.”

Angel let out another sniffle. “Really?”

“Of course.” Seeing as she wasn’t convinced, he held out his arms. “Come here.”

The girl collapsed into his hug, resting her head on his chest as she sobbed. Captain Barnacles stroked her hair and talked to her gently.

When her sobs slowed, the Captain let her go. “Come on.” He stood up and pulled her up to her feet as well. “We’d better keep moving.”

Angel let out another sniff and shook her head. “Go on without me. You don’t need me getting in your way. You should just get back to the Octopod.”

“I’m not going anywhere without you”, the polar bear countered. “Oh! One more thing.” He picked up her Octo-watch. “You’re going to need this.”

Still not believing she deserved it, Angel put the Octo-watch back on her wrist. Then the Captain took her hand again.

“Junior Octo-Agent Angel. Let’s do this!”

[theatrekidenergy]

I don’t think I’ve never made a post about it before but I’m a huge fan of Ben Brainard, he’s a great comedian and I especially enjoy his state series (wttt), especially Texas and Austin’s dynamic so here’s a couple things I personally head canon:

- Texas has an innate fear that he will one day wake up blue blue hair and piercings because the hat fell off in the middle of the night and Austin did Austin things

- California: *viscously trying to grab cowboy hat away from Austin* DON’T BRING HIM BACK- PLEASE- PLEASEEE-

- Texas has like an agreement except for himself- Like Austin gets Thursdays and Tuesdays and Texas gets the rest of the week yk

- Texas: “Look I hate to say it but sometimes, SOMETIMES, your food is.. okay.” - Austin: *beaming* “Really? 🥹”

- Alaska and Austin are polar opposites (quite literally) which frequently results in very interesting conversations, however Alaska definitely favors Austin over Texas purely because Austin isn’t as much of a jerk

[struggling-author]

Hey what are your avatar otps besides azulaang?

oh umm… I wouldn’t call them OTPs since that is exclusively Azulaang, but my bi Azula headcanon lives in a variety of ships. Azutara, Azuki, Maizula… not Tyzula tbh because that feels like… imbalanced? and not Tophzula because they are menace-besties but not romantic, but with any of the other girls I think it could be great. Azutara has the enemies to lovers from Azulaang but with more spice and less forgiveness, they‘d tear eachother apart first but that makes it even sweeter if they eventually fall in love. Azuki is kind of different because Suki is more rational and holds less of an emotional grudge, it‘d be difficult for Azula to earn her trust but she would not be openly hostile to her unless necessary. I imagine this one could only happen if Azula is already in the middle or post redemption though, because Suki would not put up with any EtL shit. I guess that is exactly why it intrigues me too, I feel Suki would be more willing to give Azula a chance, more than Katara for example, but at the same time it would be impossibly hard to win her trust and I‘d like to see if Zula can manage it. Lastly Maizula, and I prefer this one over Tyzula because I feel Mai is more capable of holding her own against Azula in a relationship. It’s a complicated version of childhood friends to lovers and I‘m kind of here for it. No idea how it would work though lol.

Aside from Azula ships, I think Zutara is pretty cool and works well alongside Azulaang. Kataang is kinda cool in theory too, but I don’t like shipping Aang with anyone except Azula, it feels wrong 🤷‍♂️ The only other Aang ship I can imagine liking is Zukaang, but I don’t talk about it much.

Oh and I have to give a shoutout to Sokkla, I don’t particularly vibe with it but they’re the sister ship to Azulaang and I do see the potential of the two genius strategists, so if Aang didn’t exist I would definitely ship Sokkla instead. Nothing but love to the comrades over there. 🫶🏼

edit: totally forgot this but I actually also love Tylaang aka Ty-Lee and Aang, it just has absolutely no fandom so it’s hard to get the ball rolling. I just feel they would be such a wholesome bubbly cute ship, and I dig the Ty-Lee airbender ancestry theory so she‘d love to learn all about airbender customs and they‘d have so much fun and probably a huge family 😅 anyway I think party of why I ship this is just because I think these two deserve the world and it represents my wish for them to be totally carefree and happy. you can also add Azula and make this a throuple, I think that would work because you have Tyzula as the polar opposites and Aang in the middle to bridge the gap.

speaking of throuples I enjoy the idea of… Azutaraang? (Azula/Katara/Aang) but it is very difficult to make work. The only way I can see it is if Azula and Katara fall in love first because nothing good could come of them fighting over Aang. or maybe I could see like a stranded on a deserted island AU where the three of them have to work together and learn to rely on eachother… idk, difficult but not impossible.

Oh and I love Zuki too (Zuko x Zuki) …damn I guess I do have quite a few non-Azulaang ships. anyway this is essentially a bodyguard AU and it’s actually my favorite Zuko ship (sorry Zutara) not much to say about it cuz I’ve barely engaged with it, but I love the idea and think they would just work really well together. I also can see this as a throuple with Sokka again. I don’t really vibe with Zukka on their own but if you add Suki then I love it, because Suki deserves two good boys and it’s more fun for everyone involved if those two good boys are in love with eachother too.

final edit hopefully: Sokka Azula Aang is good too, for the same reasons listed for Zuko Suki Sokka, I swear that’s it now. goodbye lol.

[tempests-bards-and-birds]

venti

I’m sure you don’t talk about him enough ; )

ah anon. you know me so well. anyway *cracks knuckles* here we go

how i feel about this character: i think about this character so much it's probably worrying. he's just so complex and compelling - from the moment you first meet him you realise that he has a really unique relationship with the world in general, and just. every time he makes an allusion to something that he doesn't expand upon either because he feels he shouldn't yet or because he's perhaps trying to protect himself i simultaneously want to throw him in the horse plinko and hug him. how do you even live after the first person who was ever really your friend, whose wish was to see the sky from beyond the barrier that was made by a god, dies after you fought for that with him and barely even got a glimpse of the freedom that he strived so hard for. how do you live after you take his form when you end up becoming the very thing that was the cause of your friends' suffering because you maybe feel that it's the only way to keep his ambition and hope for freedom living on after he died because maybe having a god's ideal be a human's wish for freedom is one of the only ways to negate the inherent respect that godhood commands but also probably because you just can't bear to let him go, at least for a period. how do you- *gets dragged forcibly off-stage*

all the people i ship romantically with this character: i can appreciate a lot of the popular venti ships however the only two that have ever really appealed massively to me are xiaoven and zhongven. you can see my post for this ask game about xiao for some my thoughts on xiaoven (i can elaborate if need be though) but for zhongven i just find their relationship sooo fascinating. they've lived through wars together, so chances are they've seen each other do utterly unspeakable things, and even that by itself can produce a very close kind of relationship. on the surface they're polar opposites but when you actually think about it they are fundamentally quite similar, despite their opposing natures. idk something something about a mountain that can erode and change but won't fall or move and the wind that comes and goes as it pleases but can still change it's course and can still come to rest sometimes. you get it right

my non-romantic otp for this character: *chanting* venti and jean. venti and jean. venti and jean. venti and jean-

ok but in all seriousness i just think that explorations of jean's religious devotion to barbatos being put under insane amounts of duress after the events of the mond archon quests very interesting. what do you do when you find out that the god that you devoted your entire life to is not just a concept and is, in fact, a person who's probably pretty depressed. idk. "met god and he's just some guy" type shit

my unpopular opinion about this character: uhhh i can't really think of anything right now? maybe how i actually think he's way more moon-coded as a character than sun-coded but i don't see many people on here actually talking about that so idk

one thing i wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon: hehe. haha. forced barbatos reveal to all of mondstadt babyyyyy i feel like backing him into a corner and stopping him from running away from his problems so much would be good for him in the long run