#I have a few weird little bits like this idk where they came form

[sp0o0kylights]

Steve wearing a ring Eddie gifts him as a joke (so he can be less prep/more cool) except Steve ends up wearing it all the time.

Something happens-- Eddie misplaces or otherwise forgets his rings one night, and ends up having to go about the day without them.

He's so used to spinning and fidgeting with them that he feels practically naked. Keeps touching his bare fingers and wincing.

Without asking and mid conversation with Robin, Steve offerings him not Steve's own ring, but his entire hand.

Just gives his hand over to Eddie, an intrusive thought he followed without sparing so much as a second to think it through.

(Eddie plays with the ring on Steve's finger anyway, trying not to blush about it, but very much needing the distraction. )

Robin calls them out about ten minutes in, asking why Steve didn't just take the ring off. 

“Oh. I didn't think about that. Sorry Eddie.” 

“Don't apologize man, this is better."

Steve nods like that makes perfect sense, and Eddie refuses to elaborate further.

Robin wants to choke them both because they're fucking romance-blind idiots.

[icewindandboringhorror]

I've referenced before how I have a big google document to keep track of every media I've ever seen in my entire life (just for reference because I like to track everything possible lol… I am the Data Collector), but recently as I was updating it, I thought of actually evaluating them to find out random percentages (like for example, out of Total Shows Watched, what percentage did I finish vs. stop watching, what percentage did I like or dislike, etc.)...

Evaluating these things is made easier by the fact that I already place everything on each subsection of the list into 6 broad ranking categories, so I don't have to go back and guess to figure out how I feel about them or anything. The categories are: Ranking 5 - overall best* (despite some criticisms of course because I'm too much of an Analyzer to ever find anything Perfect lol) Ranking 4 - more positive than neutral, but not good enough to be 5 Ranking 3 - either the good + bad negate each other, OR it's just not memorable/interesting in any way enough to be ranked higher or lower (this is the Default category ALL things are placed in if no other rank applies) Ranking 2 - maybe a few redeemable elements but largely more negatives than positives Ranking 1 - So bad that it circles around to being fascinating to observe in some way (not necessarily Funny, or Good, but just interesting somehow) Ranking 0 - Bad in a genuinely frustrating or obnoxious manner

*("best" primarily defined here as most interesting, rather than most good in a technical sense, or some other measure. I tend to value more highly whether there's something novel or thoughtful about the worldbuilding, tone, writing, base premise, etc - than about whether it's actually executed perfectly.)

And here's the amount of shows that have so far been placed into each category -

TV shows ~ Rank 5 (highest) - 20 shows ~ Rank 4 (mid-high) - 28 shows ~ Rank 3 (neutral/default/meh) - 114 shows ~ Rank 2 (mid low) -33 shows ~ Rank 1 (low low but intriguingly so) - 14 shows ~ Rank 0 (iredeemably low) - 2 shows

This would make for a total of 211 TV shows overall. However, there are 57 shows within these list marked as "didn't finish" (typically meaning I quit on the very first or second episode - but log them still to keep a record that I at least had a brief view of them).

So my total of genuinely fully watched shows would be more 154. 211 Total, but a More Accurate Total of 154.

Counting them all and using the Total Number Of The List (211) -- that means roughly 9.5% of all total shows I have ever watched (or at least attempted to watch) have been Mostly Good, 13% have been Moderately Okay, 54% have been either entirely Forgettable or some mix of good + bad that lands them right in the Neutral Middle, 15.6% have been Mostly Bad, 6.6% have been Bad (but in an interesting way), and 0.9% have been Terribly Bad.

Additionally, I didn't even get past the first two episodes of about 27% of the total.

Sooo, discounting ones I didn't finish, my total TV shows ever watched in my life would be about 154 (maybe give or take a few, assuming I might have forgotten some from very long ago).

But instead of entire life, let's just say this is the total for 'About 20 Years' (so, not counting very early childhood when I likely wouldn't remember things I saw/have no detailed recollection of them (like for example, I'm sure at some point when I was like 4yrs old I must have seen an episode of Spongebob or something, but I have zero distinct memories of it, can't quote anything of it, and barely recall the premise - so I don't count it on the list, etc.)).

In that case, 154 divided by 20 would be roughly 7.7 shows a year.

Which is actually surprisingly low considering that I often have stuff on in the background for hours whilst I make sculptures and do costumes and stuff (maybe I should have also marked some distinction between 'things I fully paid attention to' and 'things I kind of half listened to whilst sculpting', but that would further split the categories too much probably lol), but I guess a lot of that is youtube videos or random documentaries, so .. eh.. maybe I get it being lower.

Now, doing the same thing for movies-

Movies ~ Rank 5 (highest) - 4 movies (3.4% of total) ~ Rank 4 (mid-high) - 12 movies (10.3% of total) ~ Rank 3 (neutral/default/meh) - 91 movies (78.4% of total) ~ Rank 2 (mid low) - 8 movies (6.8% of total) ~ Rank 1 (low but interesting) - 1 movie (0.8% of total) ~ Rank 0 (irredeemably low) - none in this category (0%)

That makes 116 for a Total (Actually Remembered) Movies Watched In Lifetime (Or At Least In 20 Years).

116 divided by 20 is roughly 5 or 6 movies a year (I feel this has probably been skewed though by adding everything since like elementary school onwards, as I remember a lot more movies from child/teen years.. Whereas, the past 3 years I feel like I've barely seen maybe even 5 movies?? lol). I also have "Didn't Finish" marked on 18 of them. Which means I quit halfway through about 15% of the total movies.

So, a for broader summary stuff..

I seem to be less forgiving to movies than tv shows, by far. Which makes sense to me, I guess, because I love elaboration and details, so "short form" things that only last an hour or two are often lost on me a bit. My biggest complaint with movies is indeed usually walking away just wishing there had been more exposition, more scenes where characters are doing nothing, more "mindless bantering" conversations, more Quiet Downtime and Lore Elaboration and so on lol, so... of course most 1-2hr films end up feeling a bit Not Enough To Draw My Interest/Nothingy to me.

If you count 5 and 4 as "like" and rankings 2 to 0 as "dislike", then for TV shows I at least somewhat liked 48 of them, and at least somewhat disliked 47 of them.. So it's almost exactly the same lol. I'm just about equally as likely to find something bad as I am to find something redeeming about it. But overall, the largest chance is that I just won't really care much for it at all and it will be tossed into the 'neutral' pile, forgotten forever. Movies have a bit better of a balance, "liking" 16 of them, and "disliking" only 9 of them. So I'm slightly more likely to enjoy a movie than to find it annoying - though still VASTLY more likely to just not find it anything in particular, possibly not even finishing it.

ANYWAY.. this is vague and literally pointless, but like I said, I just really find information fun. Like my document where I've rated every apple flavor I've ever tried (like 40 of them now?), or reviewed every oreo flavor (32?), or ranking data from my entire 10 years of Trying To Make Friends process (out of 100 people, roughly 8% chance of a moderate compatibility, 3% chance of high), or etc. etc.. I love to have random pointless things to analyze I suppose lol.

I doubt anyone tracks things in their life in this same exact way, but I'd be interested in hearing any at least somewhat similar data !!! (like, how many TV shows you watch a year on average, and what percentage of those you like vs. dislike (if you keep track of that sort of thing), etc.)). I guess it might be easier with movies, since I think some people use those websites where you curate a list of movies you've seen and you can rate them or something, so maybe the numbers are already available on those places. :0

[gh0st-t0wn3]

I finally had time to make proper designs for the Trio!

Redson: Ver 1

Ver 2

I couldn't decide on if I liked it better with the braids or not so I just posted both, but anyways!

I gotta admit, I used to not like the idea of redson having Bull features (except for a small pair of horn maybe) but the concept really grew on me and now I really love it and wanted to try making my own design and I'm really proud with how it turned out.

I would've added more scars, since Guanyins throne pierced his entire body, but there came a point where it just looked like there was too much going on so I had to get rid of a few scars to tone it down, so we're just gonna say they faded over time, okay? Okay.

I also made him Miao (one of the largest ethnic minorities in southwest China) on PIF's side, and Mongolian on DBK's.

The Miao ethnicity of China has a long history, rich culture, and an ancient folk religion. Adorned in beautiful traditional clothes, possessing natural talent for singing and dancing, they live in uniquely designed indigenous architecture, which I think fits perfectly with how I imagined Princess Iron Fan and with her; Redson.

As for DBK being Mongolian, I saw someone else talking about this headcanon and I just liked it so I decided to use it, I don't really have a specific reason for it, I just thought it fit, not sure why though, it's just one of those things that makes sense even if you don't know why, you know?

Mei:

I made her taller and gave her a long dragon tail (like really long, it drags along the floor if she's not holding it up), though her scales are pretty much everywhere across her body they're most noticeable on her shoulders, thighs, and face (they're a bit hard to see in this photo because they're kinda hidden behind her hair, but I did give her scales beside her eyes)

I also gave her horns these little spiral designs around them, gave her sharper nails, and designed her ears to look like coral, since she's a water dragon and I thought they looked cool.

Honestly idk what else to say about her design, I didn't have anything specific in mind when designing her, I kinda just had to wing it, but I'm happy with how it turned out :)

(I also made her Bengali, on her dad's side, but it's not really important or has any reason behind it, just a headcanon I've had for a while, don't know where it came from though)

MK:

Alot of people have speculated that the monkey form we see during the fight against Azure in season 4 isn't MK's full form yet, that we're just seeing a fraction of what he's yet to become, based on the fact that while he has the weird side burns, the tail and the face marking, he also lacks a natural skin tone, they didn't give him a proper nose etc, so I wanted to play with the idea.

I decided to make him this strange mix between human and monkey, leaving him pretty much human with the addition of his tail(s), and weird li'l monkey feet.

(I was also gonna give MK more arm/leg hair, it was in my first sketch, but I forgot to add them when I was doing the line art and didn't realize until after I saved it as a jpeg, so that's my bad, but I'm gonna add it in to any other art I make)

It's also a bit hard to see in this, but I designed his staff with more details, specifically adding dragon-esque imagery to the Golden ends, this is because (for anyone who's new to the fandom/hasn't read JTTW) Wukong's staff was originally one of the several pillars that held up the sea in the dragon palace, until he stole it and shrunk it down to use as his weapon.

I also did MK's clones :)

Porty MK:

I gave him stripes of coloured hair and gave his tails all different colours, though I don't think he would actually dye it, instead I like to think that he would use that really crappy dollar store spray in hair dye (or hair chalk). I kept the fishnet clothes that I added in my originally design of him for my headcanons post, and decided to give him striped elbow length fingerless gloves.

I also gave him a cropped shirt, ripped shorts and these weird fingerless glove-esque shoes for convenience, since regular shows seem like they would be uncomfortable.

Edit: my dumbass forgot Porty's stupid print jacket 😭

Artist MK:

For Artist MK I gave him overalls and a jacket over it, which he wears specifically for when he's doing paintings so he doesn't ruin too many of his actual clothes (I know I said that this was inspod by Circusapple, which it still is, but this is almost exactly what I wear when I'm painting too, just in different colours).

I also gave him those gloves that digital artists wear so they're hands don't accidently trigger something on the screen because everyone knows that every artist just walks around with their art glove on even when it's not necessary.

Delivery MK:

I have to admit, I was never a big fan of MK's work uniform just being his regular clothes with a work jacket thrown over it so I wanted to try and make him look a little more professional and decided to instead give him a chef coat (similar to the one Pigsy wears on the show as well), with a logo for the restaurant on the chest, along with it I gave him plain black pants, since casual red jeans didn't seem very professional (I know he's just a delivery person, but if you were to look at pretty much any food corporation, even people who do deliveries have to wear uniform, so it's always been kinda strange to me that he's just in regular clothes). 

The shoes were harder to make professional given the whole "half-monkey" thing so I opted to give him the same strange fingerless glove-esque shoes for comfort and convenience, but made them plain black as well.

[itoshiexx]

perfect

synopsis: rin remembers how perfect you are for him.

pairing: itoshi rin x afab!reader | words: 2.6k | warnings: established relationship, afab reader (referred to as "girl"), pet names (baby, pretty, love), fluff, smut, oral + fingering (reader receiving), unprotected vaginal sex, praising!!!, emotional sex

notes: i really wasn't gonna post this today but i'm EAGER. this is my first attempt at writing smut in english so pls be kind lol idk if this is good or like the worst shit ever. this is kind of a part 2 for this so i recommend you read it :))

masterlist

people could say itoshi rin was many things: cold, distant, a soccer star, a fan of horror, the number one. and he agreed with all of these. but he was also passionate, extremely determined and, most of all, hopelessly in love with you. and even though he was cold and distant, that was not the case when it came to your relationship. 

with you, rin showed all of that passion and determination by loving you in his own gentle way, always so full of devotion, pouring every ounce of the overflowing feelings he harbored in his chest for you only. because he did feel — and intensely, at last. that’s why he always wanted to make you feel happy, and safe, and loved. he wanted you to be confident and to value yourself just as much as he valued you.

that’s why sex with rin felt like some divine moment. 

as you stand there, dumbfounded with the proximity and his words, he takes the opportunity to close the distance between you, capturing your lips in a kiss that makes you melt in his arms almost instantly. he has this weird effect on you; one that makes you surrender all that you are to him until you become one.

“will you let me?” he murmured once you separated, sounding a little breathless. you, on the other hand, were a dizzying mess, unable to form coherent sentences with the way the air got knocked out of your lungs. 

“w-what…?” you stutter, and rin’s little smirk makes your legs shake. 

“will you let me show you how much i love you? how much i cherish you?” 

you’re pretty sure your heart stops for a few seconds before it races inside your chest like an orchestra. a tiny nod is the only answer you can muster, but rin’s not satisfied. 

“use your words, pretty.” he backs away, and, dreading any further distance, you’re quick to say “yes!” in a slightly pitched voice. rin smiles in that delicate way he only does around you, and his thumbs trace small circles on your waist as he hums, “good girl”.

you feel goosebumps as one of his hands goes up, tracing the curve of your body until it rests on your cheek, and then his mouth is on yours again, more demanding, trying to absorb all that you are willing to give. his tongue invades your mouth, and you moan when his wet muscle laces with yours in a lewd dance. your hands fly to the nape of his neck, where you tug at the black strands of hair, and the way he groans sends a shiver down your spine and spreads heat to the middle of your legs. 

but you still have a little bit of rationality left, so you gently push him apart to say, “we’re gonna miss dinner if we keep going,” even if your uneven breathing says how much you want to keep going. however, rin is also very stubborn, and, (un)fortunately, knows your body very well. 

“we can just reschedule,” he states, simply. “i think right now this is more important.”

you still try to reason, “baby, we can have sex any time…” 

“it’s not about the sex.” he frowns. “i want you to remember how precious you are.” a gentle kiss on your jaw. “i want to worship you.” another, and then one more at your neck. it’s unconscious, the way you slightly turn your head to give him more access. “i want you to feel so much more than pretty. i want you to feel beautiful.” 

if the tender nibs and the open mouthed kisses he leaves on the column of your throat aren’t enough to overwhelm you, his words sure can. there is no ounce of strength in your body to fight him anymore, so your answer comes in the form of a needy kiss, tugging at the collar of his shirt so he can be closer, because there was never such a thing as close enough. rin relishes in the way you eagerly try to devour him, more than happy to give you all of him. 

he was only ever yours to begin with.

and he makes sure you know by matching your kisses with just as much fervor, tugging at your waist until he can grind his growing need on your core, wanting you to feel just how much he desires you. it’s not a surprise he is rock hard in his pants, but this is all about you, so he can wait. he will wait until you are beneath him, writhing in pleasure to the point he’s all you can think about. 

rin is caring when slowly he pushes you to the bed, being careful not to put all his weight on you. his knee finds home in the middle of your legs, and he feels lightheaded with the way you grind against it, already desperate for some kind of friction. 

his lips go back to your neck, leaving a trail of kisses down to your collarbone. you can feel the plushness of his pink flesh softly hover over your skin, and it lights up as if something is dancing beneath it, this sort of giddy feeling that staggers you. it’s always there whenever rin touches you, though you can’t say you don’t love it. 

then, he’s sucking the mound of one of your breasts, while his hand is occupied fondling the other. it leaves a faint purple bruise on your skin, but you can’t find it in you to care — instead, you whine in approval, wishing for more of the feeling of his teeth grazing you, eager to bear his possessive marks. the stream of hickeys he leaves around your tits also makes you a little greedy, and you want to scream to make him take off your bra and give attention to your perky nipples. 

and rin is excellent at reading things. on the field, it was an admirable trait by both teammates and rivals, used as a powerful tool for his goals and more often than not leading his team to victory. in your relationship, it made you feel all warm and fuzzy, the way he was so observant to your needs and the little quirks that made you so you. in bed, it felt a lot like salvation, for he was always aware of what you wanted and needed, sometimes even before you did. 

the first flick of his tongue on your bud nearly makes you wail, and you can almost feel the smirk forming on his stupidly handsome face. “needy, aren’t you?” he coos, though it holds no bite. you are ready to retort, but any words die in your mouth when he licks again, circling your areola and gently scraping his teeth at your nipple.

he gives both your tits the attention they deserve, and by the time rin is done, your arousal is already pooling on your panties, leaving you squirming on the bed while touching every part of him you could reach. suddenly, you become conscious that he’s still dressed, so you take it as a challenge to unbutton his shirt until you can finally see his toned torso. 

“baby…” he sighs when you scrape your nails through his chest, all the way down to his perfect abs. before you can reach his pants, however, he separates from you, taking off the shirt that was bothering him. 

his hand laces with yours. “not yet.”

but you are impatient. you need him so, so bad it actually hurts. the ache in your pussy can only be solved when his cock splits you open, and for a moment, you seriously consider telepathy, but his voice in your head burns like a fresh memory. use your words, pretty. i like to hear you. 

and who are you to deny your boyfriend? 

“rinnie,” you whisper, “please.”

“hm? please what?” he arches his eyebrow, hands squeezing your hips.

you bite your lower lips, embarrassed, but answer nonetheless, “please fuck me.”

rin flashes you a bright grin that can rival the sun, and he kisses you once more as a reward, all while his hands slowly descend to your thighs, taking your panties off along the way. he feels impossibly harder when he sees the strings of your arousal on the fabric, moreso when you open your legs for him to see your quivering hole that’s just dying to be filled by him. 

“fuck, look at you…” he groans, sliding his fingers through your folds. your moans are the sweetest sound he ever heard. “so wet. so pretty. all for me, hm?” 

“yes, baby, yes… please, hah— please!” you whine, slightly desperate. he curls one finger inside of you, and you could almost cry. it feels good, so good, but it’s not enough. “m-more… need more!” 

rin is feeling generous, so he attends to your pleas by shoving three fingers at once. you wail at the pleasure of having more of him, his long digits hitting your sweet spots in ways you never could.

“taking my fingers so well, love,” he whispers in your ear. “you’re so pretty. my pretty girl.”

you shudder with the praise, clenching around his fingers and feeling closer than ever when he uses his thumb to start rubbing your clit. it doesn’t take much time to be hit with your orgasm, one that leaves your whole body trembling and gives rin one of his favorite sights. 

beautiful.

he doesn’t even let you say anything, kissing you again, prodding his tongue inside your mouth and muffling any surprised gasps by the sudden invasion. rin’s wet muscle laces with yours in a slow, sensual dance that makes both of you moan in union, the sound traveling all the way down and keeping your arousal alive. 

he keeps going until the lack of air forces you to part. you’re panting, but your eyes search for his teal ones, always a pretty shade of aquamarine that makes you crumble. when you see the hazy look on his orbs, you’re sure he will take out his cock and fuck you already, but instead he starts giving little kisses down your tummy, all the way to your inner thighs. 

“don’t tease,” you whimper. “just get inside me alread— ah!” you scream when his tongue makes contact with your sensitive clit. rin licks a long stripe along your folds that makes you quiver and shut up. 

“wanna taste you first, pretty.” his eyes find yours, “please?”

and, again, who are you to deny your boyfriend? 

especially when he says it like that. 

so you agree, and rin eagerly goes down on you, slurping through your wet pussy like that’s all he needs to survive. he prods his tongue inside you, in and out, motioning the movement his dick should be making, and you take a moment to realize he is rutting his hips on the mattress every time he does. 

then, he laps at your clit once again, twirling his tongue in circular motions that make your eyes roll back and your toes curl. you can barely contain your moans, tugging at his hair and crying out loud when his satisfied groan sends vibrations to your nerves.

his flow becomes quicker, sloppier, and the wet sounds are so lewd that you can feel your second orgasm building up in that familiar tingling feeling that sends you to the edge.

“baby, baby… ‘m cumming, ‘m gonna cum…!” you cry, gripping the bed sheets like your life depends on it. 

that’s all the incentive he needs to keep on going, sweeping his tongue on your bud until he can taste the familiar flavor of you cum and sense your thighs almost crushing his head. 

he’d die a happy man. 

your body goes limp, and you’re gasping for air like you’d just ran a marathon. rin hovers over you to appreciate the scene, and with the way his cock twitches inside his boxers, rin thinks he appreciates this — making you come undone — a little too much. he’s sure his tip is red and leaking pre. 

he gives you some time to recover by slowly unbuckling his belt, taking off his pants and throwing them somewhere on the floor. his boxers go next, and just like he thought, the spongy head of his dick is swollen and in desperate need of relief. 

he said he would wait until you were beneath him, writhing in pleasure to the point he’s all you could think about, before giving him some attention. so he doesn’t stop you from putting your hands around his girth, hissing when you pump him a few times. 

your eyes are blurry, but they look up at him with so much love and desire he could very much cum right there. god, how much he fucking loves you. it’s honestly ridiculous. 

rin lets you pull him closer and cage him with your legs behind his hips. 

“ready, baby?” he asks, as if you aren’t aching for his cock. 

“god, please— i need you. i need you inside of me,” you all but wail. 

rin thrusts into you at once, and you nearly lose your mind. 

he’s long and thick, reaching all of your swollen spots without much effort. you can feel his veins dragging along your walls, creating even more friction, unconsciously rolling your hips to get more of this feeling. rin moans in your ear, and he does it again when you squeeze him tighter. 

“always so tight f’me,” he sighs, dreamily. “god, you are perfect. you are perfection itself, baby.”

“rin, rin…!” is all you can muster to say. 

he presses you harder on the mattress, rutting into your cunt and relishing at the feeling of your velvet walls sucking him in and gripping his shaft like a vice. you’re scraping your nails along his back and shoulders, looking for grounding, but he keeps pounding the head of his cock in that one specific spot that makes you see not only stars, but whole galaxies. 

“rin, rinnie, p-please… r-righ— right there!” 

at this point you are babbling nonsense, rin being the only thing on your mind as you chase your third orgasm of the night. “fuck, pretty…” he curses, feeling the neglected coil on his lower abdomen threatening to snap. he can’t really help it, though. you feel too good. too perfect. 

and all his. 

the constant bullying of his cock on your sweetest spot, the overwhelming feelings inside you and the sweet praises given by your boyfriend on you ear make you come apart, and you scream with the devastating pleasure that seeps through your whole body, like you’re floating on cloud nine. rin hisses when your walls clench him tighter, and seeing you reach your high gets him to spill his load inside of you, finally getting his much deserved release with white hot spurts on your warm core. he fucks both of you throughout your orgasms, and when you start to feel a bit overstimulated, you wiggle him out of you, snapping him from his daze. he collapses.

the familiar weight of his body on top of yours is comforting, along with the soft tune of his breathing on the crook of your neck. you scratch his scalp lightly, your other hand patting his back oh so lovingly. he’s so happy — to have you, to feel you, to love you. 

“i hope you never doubt how beautiful and amazing you are, love,” he whispers, not daring to break the silence. 

you say nothing, embracing him tighter. your silent thank you. 

“but if you ever forget,” he continues, taking you by surprise, “i’m always here to remind you.”

© 2023 itoshiexx. do not plagarise, translate, or repost any of my work on here or other sites.

tagging @doobea and @auratux bc they voted for this

[herlondonboy]

Oh, My, Love Is A Lie

pairings: Taylor Swift x gn!reader / Taylor Swift x Joe Alwyn

summary: The one where Taylor falls out of love with you and in love with her PR boyfriend.

warnings: PR relationships, lmk what else. Is it weird that it’s Joe? idk. No way in hell am I writing about yk who though

word count: 0.9k

You were at home again.

At home alone whilst Taylor was off gallivanting with Joe. It wasn’t that you didn’t like Joe, he was nice and shared a few qualities of your own, it was that he was going on dates with your girlfriend. The part that probably pissed you off the most was the fact that when Taylor’s team had suggested a fake boyfriend to divert everyone’s attention from the two of you she agreed instantaneously.

You knew she wasn’t embarrassed by you per se, but the fact that she had already made up her mind on the matter before she spoke to you about it hurt.

Four years together were ruined by a photo of a kiss on the cheek that Taylor blamed herself for. She had let her guard down and loved you in public and now you were both paying the price.

The soft hum of the television was the only sound apart from your rapid beating. You stared down at the velvet box in betrayal before opening your phone to the messages from the night before, double-checking the time you had agreed on.

You: Are we still on to celebrate tomorrow?

Taylor: Yes, of course!! 10 pm, right?

You: Yep. See you then, I love you!

Taylor: Love you

You looked at the clock on your phone and sniffled, 00:13. It wasn’t even your anniversary anymore. A sigh sounded and you stood to go to the dining room. The dinner you had made Taylor was still on the table so you moved it to the oven just in case she got home and was hungry.

Next, you made haste with removing the wax that had melted onto the table. They Taylor’s favourite scent and you sniffled in remembrance before tossing them into the bin.

The television was still on as you found the bedroom. Plastic rose petals littered the floor in a way that looked random, but was anything else. You wondered if she’d even notice if you left before she got back. Probably not. You put the petals back into the bag that they came in and chucked them on the bed before walking over to the wardrobe.

You didn’t blame Taylor. You were nobody and Joe was somebody. Okay, maybe you did blame her a little bit. But she had fallen in love with someone who didn’t even love her back whilst the person that did love her watched from their home.

Four years gone. And for what? She let her insecurities get the better and now you were insecure. Constantly blaming yourself for being the reason she latched onto Joe. Had you seen the cameras sooner, she wouldn’t have kissed your cheek and she wouldn’t have needed the PR relationship in the first place.

Your thoughts were interrupted by the door creaking open and a small curse followed by skin slapping against the floor, “y/n, baby, are you awake?” She called out and you walked back into the lounge, frowning when she grinned at the sight of you. Taylor saw your look and pouted, walking over to you, “I’m sorry that I missed our date. I just got a little carried away at the studio.”

“It wasn’t a date,” You said softly, looking up at her, “And I wish that was true, but photos of you and Joe leaving the studio were published hours ago.”

Taylor tried to think of a response before just looking down guiltily. At least she still felt enough for you to feel bad, right?

“It was our anniversary,” You continued, a lump forming in your throat. “And I tricked myself into thinking that you wouldn’t stand me up for Joe on a day as special as this, but I was so wrong.”

“Y/n,” Taylor murmured, “I’m sorry. I lost track of time, but I can make it up to you. I promise, just let me try.”

You let out a shaky breath and looked down at the coffee table. Taylor followed your line of sight and gasped, covering her mouth. Picking it up, you held it out to Taylor, who took it regretfully.

“I love you, Taylor, and I always will, but I can’t be with someone that doesn’t love me back anymore. The way you look at Joe now is the way you used to look at me,” You explained. “And I wondered if you actually got here on time and we celebrated our anniversary would you have said yes?”

The look on her face said all. She knew she was falling out of love with you, too.

“Don’t worry,” You said, knowing that you didn’t want her to feel even worse, “I wouldn’t marry me either.”

“Y/n, that’s not-“ Taylor stammered, “I would- I would marry you. I just… I didn’t mean to.”

Sniffling, you nodded. People don’t control who they fall in love with, unfortunately. If they could, you wouldn’t be blaming yourself. A weak smile graced your lips and you leaned forward to hug the blonde, “I love you, Tay, and I want you to be happy. If that means Joe, then so be it. I’m sure, I’m sure he does love you back. You’re hard not to love.”

“I’m sorry,” Taylor whispered, “I really did love you.”

Can’t you see that your words are hurting me? You wanted to scream at her. She was trying to comfort you and was failing miserably.

[catboybiologist]

So. This has lived on my hard drive for over a year and a half now, and in my head for much longer than that. I have the entire plot mapped out in my mind, and it's not *too* long. But it's gonna require a lot of careful writing that I think is beyond my ability, and definitely beyond my current available free time level. Maybe when I advance to candidacy, or maybe this is the story I use a portable backpacking writing setup for.

Either way. It's very deliberately allegorical, and taps into a few sci fi cliche "twists" that you're supposed to kinda figure out early on, but are used for bigger themes later.

As I said. Probably beyond my ability.

But here's how I kicked it off a while back. It has a similar "flow" to the intro of biologics, where it cuts between expository introspection and the actual events happening. Idk if that's weird, but it's what made sense to me.

Also I hate the working title I gave it, but I can't think of it as anything else now.

Symphony of the Stars

The bar I found myself in wasn't much different than millions of others like it. A couple cheap liquors that could be found anywhere, maybe a halfway decent local beer or two, and some tacky tourist paraphernalia hang haphazardly on the walls. Absentmindedly, I swirled my drink. My eyes slowly drifted through the panel windows behind the bar, and onto the orange gas giant visible through it.

That was one thing that made me partial to this little backwater- that damn view. Sure, the closer moons might advertise themselves on their intimate little peeks at the red spot, or the faintest glimpse of Jupiter's barely visible rings, but the people there... Not that I minded the workers, I'm a mechanic of sorts myself- but the miners, water pumpers, and atmospheric skimmers of Jupiter's inner moons were a particular brand of insufferable. Thinking that a couple years managing equipment in the Hellas basin made them the most rugged people on the planet, and then shipped themselves out to the furthest flung inhabited spot in the damn solar system. Joke's on them- most of them don't survive 10 years out here. The ones that make it are a different story, I'll give you that. A certain breed of person actually has what it takes to make it out here, and those people have earned some respect.

But I digress.

Callisto was a remote place, damn far from the sprawling metropolises of Mars or the more cushy mining jobs in the belt. Up until recently, it had been my own little sleepy backwater that I had used to escape my extended hours fixing ships for the harvesters on the other moons.

That was before jumping.

Callisto boasted a small engineering and research center near the south pole, most famous for getting artificial gravity fields working nearly three centuries ago. That bit of notoriety let someone set up a particle accelerator that looped the whole damn moon on its equator. Forty eight years ago, a researcher hit the right island of stability when making ultra-heavy elements, and something just... came together. The exact right amount of mass was focused in the exact right amount of space to dent space time in a perfect little way. A few measurements later, they realized that they had created the smallest documented black hole.

My eyes again wandered to the space in between us and Jupiter. That was the other reason I came to this bar so often. It was also the only place around where you could watch the show.

After a few times generating and collapsing this infant of a black hole, some idiot of a scientist decided that they just had to throw something into it. It wasn't much of anything, just a probe that blasted a repeating live image from its camera in all directions. And hopefully, if it survived in any identifiable form, someone would pick up on it.

Well, someone did. A little over four years later, we got a picture of a star. Real helpful- there's only a couple septillion of those out there, right? But what mattered was the timing, and the direction. The star was eventually identified as Proxima Centauri. The moment the image from the probe had been received, the receiver was exactly 4.2465433 light years away from Proxima. And the image was received exactly 4.2465433 years after the probe was thrown into the hole. Meaning that the probe was at Proxima, exactly 4.2465433 years before the image was received. And it was thrown into the hole, on Callisto.... also exactly 4.2465433 years before the image was received. One moment, Callisto. One moment, Proxima Centauri. In some unit of time that was smaller than our ability to measure, it had traveled to the next star system. It was the textbook definition of a wormhole.

And with that discovery, well....

Jupiter's red spot quivered ever so slightly. They were right on schedule, it seemed. Just need to gain a bit of mass in the accelerator, get the magnetic railgun to throw it all into the space above it....

Like fluid down a drain, the image of Jupiter swirled as a dark spot appeared in front of it. Slowly, it grew, twisting the orange and red tones of the gas giant in mosaic patterns, until the black orb stopped, hovering in the emptiness.

After the initial wormhole generation all those years ago, it was found that by nudging the mass to be a little less, or a little more, or nudging to position of the superheavy object that created it, you could target distant parts of the universe. Soon, small spacecraft were being sent to distant stars. The scientists started it, of course. Shortly afterwards, the Callisto government began lobbying to make our little outpost the first official launch point for interstellar settlement.

That was forty years ago. And at this point, the five established settlements were fairly self sufficient- they just needed occasional contact and resupplies. Every week, a wormhole would be opened to one of the colonies. And every week, a freighter would be there to make the jump through, grab what supplies it needed, leave behind a new list of requests, and then disappear again until their specific colony was contacted again in another five weeks. And every week, I would be in this same bar to watch the fireworks.

My eyes narrowed as the perfect black circle reached its stable state. I watched these things every damn week. Part of me wants to say "blink and you'll miss it", but the truth is, at this point in the process, there's nothing to miss.

One moment, a featureless orb. The next moment, a deep space freighter. No flash. No gradual fade. No coming out of a tunnel. The hole was large enough for the entire mass of the ship to fit through at once, and the jump was seamless.

And to tell the truth... I didn't like it.

Humanity had reached and settled the furthest reaches of space, because of a magic substance that broke physics, stumbled upon by accident, in a random lab, by a some guy who was just trying to whip up a new element.

It was perfect. It was too perfect. And it bothered me.

And well, that's why I was here. I'd been visiting Callisto for years, and the pressure to make jumping more and more accessible to small spacecraft was insane. Pretty soon, everyone trying to engineer or maintain any kind of ship would need to have half of a quantum physics degree, and I wanted to be ahead of the curve. So when the launch point was made official, and they called for mechanics to service the ships that made the jumps to the colonies and back, I lept at the opportunity.

But the push was always for more applications, with little thought to the physics. More jumps, more colonies, more resupplies, more energy efficiency to increase the frequency at which it could be used. Some people were interested in the mechanics of the phenomena to exploit it further, sure, but most seemed to stonewall when you questioned too far. How the hell had this been missed? Why is everyone pushing for applications, and no one freaking out over how much this broke our understanding of the universe? Is it possible to measure the unit of time that the jump occurred in? Was it below detection limits? If it was, what did that mean?

And so, here I was. Sipping some herbal thing, staring at Jupiter, and thinking a little too hard about reality.

Eh, at least I could fix that last part.

"'scuse me bartender?" I asked. "Can I get another one of these, with an extra shot in it?"

He silently nodded, and poured me the synthetic gin mixed with... well, I didn't question it much. Anything to help keep these ideas in check.

The carbon fiber fingertips of my left hand gripped the glass with their usual calculated precision, while the skin of my right idly tapped the bar. I sighed.

[murder-cookie-dust393]

I saw the yandere hcs for lord Oyster and I saw the ending of them comforting and thought it was kinda cute so I'll bite for hcs! I got an idea for a type of reader I don't see often but I find the trope interesting. May I ask for hcs of a yandere clotted cream x poor reader?

Bonus little addition to reader if you want: maybe, to make it by, reader works really hard...day and night...and often neglects themselves, like they skips meals, barely sleeps due to a mixture of work and stress, work themselves to the bone just to make sure they have a roof over their head and food on the table?

Just always curious how yanderes react to a love like that lol! Sorry if this sounds weird! Just stumbled upon the idea of poor reader and thought it was interesting!

YOU DONT UNDERSTAND- I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO THOUGHT THE POOR MC TROUPE WAS INTERESTING.

[disclaimer: I’ve never had such a situation so I’m just going off of other people’s experiences]

Tw: spying through documents..?, Hierarchy misuse(?), Clotted gaslights ppl

• Let’s say MC is like a cook or something for idk any form of public gatherings. They work their arms off trying to quickly get lots of food cooked- that tastes good enough.

• Even if more they have lots of co-workers, they still have to do so much to have enough for so many people. Hell, they’re still cooking to keep making enough while the gatherings go on.

• Clotted Cream found a little defect in his food, maybe a dessert that was a bit undercooked. So he quickly sneaks into the kitchen to tell one of the chefs, just so they could fix the food before anyone makes a commotion. After all, he is a very kind-hearted, empathetic consul isn’t he…?

• He ends up talking to MC, showing the small defect. To his surprise, MC is panicking like crazy, afraid of losing their job. They quickly go out to the foods and take the tray of the desserts with a defection and shove it in the oven. They’re thanking him greatly, bowing a few times.

• Clotted Cream notices their hands look a little wrecked, with a few bandages over their fingers. “…Say, are your hands alright? They look to be in a quite- rough state.”

• MC is surprised at the question, answering that they have to work a lot to get the food out in time.

• Clotted Cream ends up talking to them longer than needed, and he’s- interested to say the least. He wonders what they’re life is like, given he was adopted into a noble household.

• Clotted Cream ends up scouring through official files to scour more information about them…He ends up seeing all the bills MC is paying, it could be literally anything: debt, medical, whatever. He feels an odd sense of pity? Or is it…something more humane?

• He ends up throwing himself into a hole of complete curiosity- and soon obsession. He wants to know more about their life, how they survive their endless hours of work. He works endless as well- but not in the way they do.

• At every public gathering, [where they’re serving food] he’s talking to them more than he is to the guests, always asking questions about their life and how they’re doing.

• At some point, he can’t take it anymore, seeing them suffer to keep their surviving. So one day, MC finds that all the bills they had to pay are just gone. Paid for. It confused them.

• The next day, MC goes over to the bill issuer, questioning things. Which the bill issuer responds, “Oh, a cookie came in and said he was your fiancé so he paid them all for you.”

• MC, absolutely flabbergasted, tries to question the bill issuer, wondering who the cookie was. But the bill issuer didn’t know. Only noticing he had green eyes. He’s in a disguise.

• MC goes back home, confused af. For one thing, they don’t even have a fiancé, and two, they don’t even know who this dude is.

• Meanwhile, Clotted Cream is laying in his bed, giggling like some girl that has a stupid school crush. He couldn’t believe he managed to get away with it! Not that it would matter, he could easily trick people into thinking the two of you were engaged.

• A few days later, when MC comes home from a long day at work, they notice literally ALL of their stuff is packed up. And guess who comes out from the closet with clothes in his hands? That’s right, sir fucking Clotted Cream.

• Before MC can even question him, he pressing a kiss to their cheek and smiling. “I’m just getting everything ready for you to move in with me! Don’t worry darling, this is the last of everything.”

• MC can try everything to question and defy him, but he’s just pulling the “I’m sir Consul, I can ruin your life. Now love me.”

• Poor MC, going from poor to confused and weirded out.

• If MC is compliant, he’s a needy mf, who’s super affectionate behind closed doors. Constantly giving them hugs and compliments.

[Ok- ngl this was self-indulgent. I would say this is my longest post on here lmao]

- Celina

[submariini]

Thee Antwerp Gig Overview (by #5)

me and @jeevm arrived around 7:50am at the gig, numbers 4 and 5 bc belgians simply are not a queuing people. not much happened beside chaotic uno and trix doing a short interview with us seven? i think at that point i forget

the bus arrived a little before ten am, and we were allowed to sit inside at that point so we just all went outside again and just stood there for a whole ass three hours being clowns.

jaakko, jukka and jesse walked by a few times entirely undisturbed bc belgians also do not talk ever. (and dutch ppl ig). respectful times.

eventually, at around one, Häärijä got off the bus (mostly as a distraction for K going the other way). This man came by like proper we thought he was gonna just walk by, but he waved and then decided to ignore everyone and beeline straight into my direction for a hug? hello? unsure how he still knows what i look like (was not in the yellow tshirt yet bc cold and he hasnt seen me since simerock).

K and Jesse came by as well -- please note at this point there were like goddamn 40 people there. Nothing like the Munich papal visit scenes at any point.

K just the nicest. Didn't remember me from simerock (fair, it was a factory of photographs) and was like wtf rollo (as per ushe), complimented my boots bc he likes them (they are r+ but usually kids sizes) and i got to be "mean" abt the r+ ticket sale and the bus making it stressful. When he asked it I wanted him to sign anything, I didn't have anything and he just offered to sign my boots? Man did not expect the clown to clown communication that was happening bc he seemed very oh god for real when I agreed.

Someone gave him a necklace and instantly wanted to put it on. The person who gave it couldn't fasten it bc nails/shaking hands so I offered to try and then idk how it got fastened bc christ I shook as well. Not helpful: Mikke both filming that and the boot signing up close 😭

Told Jesse he told me at simerock that I should just join the tour bus and he went "yeah that sounds like something I would say." then scolded me for not having been in Berlin for that 😭

H wandered back and forth a bit, had another weird football chat (rip hazards career) where I was sitting on a little wall, back to the bus still at that point, and he just leaned into me turning around and just held my shoulders the entire time? When I got sweaty and took my hoodie off later he also suddenly grabbed my tshirt when it was riding up I am Feeling Fine.

Was wearing the yellow tshirt w the cross stitch and he made me turn to show Jesse??? And Jesse did the nicest "wait can I touch this?" bc I guess he thought it would be fragile???

People formed a nice selfie line and K just said he's santa claus 🎅

H vanished, then came back out of the bus, and we had a weird mime moment bc I wasnt sure if he was motioning at me to get to him away from the rest. He was and I got fucking free merch??? Like free, not yet available merch. Genuinely what the FUCK. Im making an extra post abt this most likely bc I cannot explain what the hell happened in that moment and the things around it.

When Mikke did the interview w the first queuer, H just stood behind the glass door into the venue and started miming at us. Like not even properly in character? Help.

Gig

Jesus Belgian audiences proving once again we just Are like that. Refusing to goddamn shut up. Every time. Man disallowed to banter by loud belgian screaming. He seemed so touched though jesus christ time to cry

Got roasted for basically slut dropping and shooting my Häärijä sign up in the air before Mic Mac. "yes that mean fucking häärijä" local man fed up w my antics.

Got roasted AGAIN straight after Mic Mac because I was the person he pointed at during the "this is your home now" bit. (promptly decided diving behind the barrier and Face In Hands was the best reply)

Mild bit before the 2nd Cha Cha Cha as I was the front row person he called out for not sitting down. Just yelled that I got bad knees and I'm not sure anyone caught his reply properly 😂

Overall 10/10 excellent gig what the HELL. The belly flop on the balloon, the whole banter before paidaton bc so much of the queue ppl I was with took their shirt off, the way we refused to kept chanting, him trying to eat the bubbles, him talking about Hs dick and the whole balls convo??

Post Gig

Had to pick up merch for a few people, so went with the hope of a third Häärijä hug. He eventually got a bit held up outside of merch by people (lit at the door into the merch room) and I got to just "Sorry it's me again" but he just instantly hug. We talked a little about the gig (did I like it, how I was doing) and like K feeling much better/doing better ft. some dumb crap.

Merch was in fact gotten after I just LOST my friends bc of H.

CANNOT wait for London. and Glasgow but thats with normal people. Like met so many fun people in the queue who are going to be at London jesus christ. Party time.

[moccasins]

i realized i don't always have to use blog this for art..

so last night i had a dream where all the "godlike" aus, fanon or canon, were all created in a white void. the ones i could see were life, reaper, ink, error, dream, and nightmare. my dream was from the pov of error, but he didn't have his strings.

the dream started with them appearing in what looked like the anti-void, confused. none of the other aus were created yet, but us creators had made these gods to start the balance that would eventually form the aus. most of the ones there were excited at the idea, but error wasn't. he didn't know why he was there and what was happening, but as he watched from a few feet away he heard a voice calling to him from somewhere in the void. curious, he followed it.

after only a little bit of walking he met a figure, idk who it was, and they were the source of the voice. they told him that they could help him find his place among the other gods if they made a deal with him and, after a little bit of convincing, he agreed.

almost immediately some weird symbol was burned into his forehead and the sides of his eyes where his tear tracks would go, they kinda reminded me of a circuit board? or some kind of celtic symbol?? idk. he was on the ground in pain when the other gods found him. ink tried to figure out what was happening but error wouldn't respond, the voice in his head was so much louder now and he just wanted it to stop.

my dream ended with error touching the marks near his eyes and the strings came out of them and he, and all the other gods, were horrified.

[madlittlecriminal]

Jonathan and a reader, gender doesn’t matter at all, who just kinda…attracts corvids. Like, they’ve formed bonds with several crows and ravens, to the point where they just spawn around them. Jonathan and his darling could be taking a walk in a park or something, and a random crow just hops onto readers shoulder, and they don’t react at all. It’s a normal thing at this point. I can only assume John, the freaking scarecrow, would absolutely love it.

Corvidae Magnet ↦ Jonathan Crane × GN!Reader

Warnings: Corvidae family, so if you have a fear of ravens, crows, magpies, etc., this fic is not for you, mentions of jonathan being a bit distant

i love how this request showed me that i make jonathan call the reader "darling" so much. idk, i just feel like it's both gender neutral and a nickname he'll call his s/o without a second thought.

You and Jonathan have been together for about a few months. However, he still had no idea you attracted corvids as you never told him anything. It was something you wanted few people knowing anyway, so you were just waiting for the right moment to tell him, but it never came. In your defense, if your boyfriend wasn't working at the asylum, he would be in his lab perfecting his fear toxin, so you didn't have room to tell him anything.

Then again, you weren't sure if you were completely ready to tell him. You shrugged and opened the window to your kitchen, causing a crow to stop by and sighing. "Unfortunately, I can't feed you anymore, little guy. I got fined the last time I did it and I'm not trying to get another fine." Did he understand you? Maybe. Did you care if people thought you were weird for it? No, they were just boring.

Did you know your boyfriend saw you talking to said crow? No.

As you grabbed a glass from the cabinet, the crow quickly left making you raise brow. You shrugged it off and grabbed the pitcher of lemonade from the fridge before pouring yourself a glass. "Darling?" You jumped slightly and turned around. "Dammit Jonathan!" He chuckled. "Sorry. Are you alright?" You nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, you were speaking to someone, so I had to ask..."

"Oh! Don't worry about it, Jon." You gave him a small smile before taking a sip of your lemonade. He sighs with a nod. However, his eyebrow raised when he saw a raven land on the windowsill as you walked past it. However, when the raven saw Jonathan, it flew away rather quickly.

"Let's go for a walk, darling. Being inside in the lab all day is hurting my head." You nodded before finishing your lemonade and heading towards the door with Jonathan right behind you. He took your hand and you both headed towards the park for a walk.

What you didn't expect though was the magpies and blue jays, crows and ravens to come towards you.

Ironic enough, a crow landed on your shoulder and crowed at Jonathan.

Your boyfriend stared at the crow in confusion while you continued walking as if it was nothing new. "Darling?" You turned around and the crow flew off to a branch. "You were talking to a crow earlier, weren't you?" You gave him a faint smile. "I didn't know when or how to tell you since you were always busy..." He sighed and pulled you into a hug. "I'm sorry, darling." You smiled. "It's fine."

"But crows?" You laugh. "Listen, you scare them, but I'm their buddy! If you don't like it, you can go!" Your teasing made him laugh. He planted a kiss on your cheek and held your hand. "I actually think it's unique. I love it, darling." You smile at him and squeeze his hand gently. "I'm glad you do. Someone has to comfort them when you scare them away." He fakes an overexaggerated gasp, resting a hand on his chest to add to his dramatic show. "You wound me, darling!" You shake your head with a smile before grabbing his hand. "Oh hush! Now come on, you promised me ice cream." He raised a brow. "I did?" You gave him a glare. "Yeah, you're right. I definitely did. Let's go."

[romaevelizz]

Crush Culture˖ ࣪⊹

V. Idk if I’ll see you again..

sum: The last few days were finally starting to wrap up two weeks together but still there this uncertainty that lingers in his chest, what if he doesn’t see her again..

warnings: cursing, fluff, flirting, tsukii and yams being dramatic best friends , dramatic teenage movie vibes(sorry chat couldn’t help it.) little hot and sweaty, angsty?

(VI.)

.˚₊‧ ── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ‧₊˚.

One more day. One more day here in Tokyo, one day left with her. It was strange, the gross nervous feeling he felt had gone away, his nerves becoming less intense. Yet she still gave him butterflies, every time she laughed, smiled at him or even openly flirted with him. Still he had one more day. A day left with her. A girl he knew almost everything about, a girl that knew so much about him. More then he’d like, but he’d just talk and talk with her, her pointing little things out he’d never admit. Their snarky banter towards one another, people would take as rude and out of pocket but all around it was such aggressive flirting. Shit eating grins on their faces as they jabbed at one another, then when they where by themselves sitting outside on some steps as she watched the stars. Her knees up to her chest as they talked.

The air around them comfortable, warm. He felt as if he could share with her without the fear of being judged. Their bodies close together as they did, he always watched her as she talked, a small smile forming on his face whenever she got excited when talking about something how she would quickly sit up her legs crossing facing him. His heart beat so heavy in his chest as she did, her energy changed his whole demeanor. How he actually laughed at something she talked about, she could feel her heart racing, as she laughed out as well. Her face falling into his arm as she told his it’s not even that funny or how it was embarrassing.

Then there were the nights the would talk about more intimate things, such as family, she loved her family. He remembered all there names, just because, because she mentioned how they would love him. But to be fair she had a big family, so he would be shitting his pants if he met them, her mostly having brothers, two sisters and five, yes five brothers older and younger.

“How do you all like, i don’t even know.” He asked as she told him how many siblings she had.

“Well Nat, Michael and, Ness live on their own they’re the oldest, then it’s Jackson, me Rapht, Caleb and Sekani in the house, I’m the only girl right now.” She laughed lightly a fawned smile on her face.

“Never a dull moment I take it geez..” he spoke.

“Oh god never luckily I have a room with my own bathroom so I’m living peacefully.”

He nodded, she loved her family so much talking of them so highly. These were the people that would die for her and she’d do the same.

“What about you I just know you have a smaller family..” He did kei came from a close family of four, his parents, him and his brother. He didn’t really talk to his brother unless he had two openings up about it a bit but not spilling enough, how him and his mother were closer but didn’t have any problems with his father but from how he described it they were very similar.

They knew that this would be one of their last heavy conversation for a while. So they talked even about things they already knew, little shit talking here and there. One more full day, then in the earlier morning they’d be going back home. It was weird to think about how a girl knew so much about him, how she knew more than he’d ever like. But with her it was different, he wanted to tell her these things. He wanted her to know him. Know that he’s actually not some dick everyone makes him out to be.

What if this is the last time they ever talked? A sickening thought that ran through both their heads.

The last day, she didn’t want it to be, she wanted some more time. Everyone knew something was going on with them even if it was just in a friendly way. The last day was all around chill, the coaches deciding to do a barbecue for the last day giving the players a break.

They spent every last second together, Kei following her around like a lost puppy as she did her manager duties. Caring things for her helping her fill up water bottles, simple things. The day went by so fast, the sun starting to set. He sat against the counter watching her finish up the dishes, her playlist playing in the background on a speaker. Her humming along to see you again by Tyler the creator.

“What are you staring at?” She asked, splashing him with the water on her hands.

He flinched lightly glaring at her “your stupid face.” He scoffed reaching over flicking her back with water.

A gasp leaving her lips as water hit her face. “You dickhead! You wanna do this Kei!” She laughed.

Their eyes met Kei giving her a look. “What are ya gonna do about it- AH!” He yelped the feeling of cold water hitting him.

She laughed as she sprayed him with the hose, his hands reached out of her grabbing the hose taking it from her spraying her quickly as she tried fighting back. The sound of them going at a full on war in the kitchen as they sprayed each other with water, their laughs echoed through the empty hall. Her voice echoed as she screamed playfully, him enjoying himself as he drenched her. His long arms pushing her back as she came for him trying to get the hose back. Her chest pressed against him, glancing down he could see the color of her bra through her white shirt that now stuck to her skin. His eyes lingered oh her breast holding the hose above his head a smirk appeared on his lips.

He felt the water stop. His eyes meeting hers as her body shifted turning off the sink. Taking a step back hitting his chest as she looked he him her hand on her hips, “your soaking..” she laughed. Her eyes looking him up and down. His black shirt sticking to him and his hair wet the fluff gone now.

Unlucky her for wearing a white shirt the color of her bra, the darker green shade standing out. But lucky Tsukishima for his glasses not being terribly smudged for he had basically a full view in front of him. Did it make him a bit pervy? Maybe.

A snap of her fingers caused his eyes to meet hers quickly, her body close to his now. “My eyes are here.” She teased. His face going red, his mouth opening but nothing coming out. Causing a hearty laugh from the girl.

“Here,” she spoke softly the feeling of his glasses sliding of his face as she took them.

A small smile on her face as she moved next to him sitting on the counter, drying his glasses making sure he could see through them. As blurry as it may have been he watched how carefully she held them, looking through the lenses making sure there’s no smudge.

She soon offered the glasses back to him, but instead of taking them he stood up his body moving in front of her. What was he doing… you do not have the confidence for this move.. he thought he felt as if his body was moving on its own. His arms trapped her body as he leaned forward a bit, “You want me to put the on you Stalker..” she whispered, she could hear his heart beating in his chest.

Her lips curved up, he was nervous. His hands shaking, as confidently he tried to play this he was failing, but it was cute. It made her a bit nervous even, his hands trapping her. His eyes keeping contact with hers the feeling of his hand starting at her upper thigh sliding down to her knee his index finger tapping the side of it as a quite demand. She slowly opened her legs letting him in between them, his hand returning back to her side.

“common stalker you gotta use your words..” she spoke her face getting closer to his as he leaned down a bit.

“can you put them on f’ me..” he finally spoke his face relaxed.

Gently she put the glasses back on his face, he could feel her breath on his face, the warmth of her body radiating off of her. For a moment they just sat there, Kei felt her nails graze his throat, “What’s wrong Kei, how come you haven’t moved baby.” She asked watching his eyes move to her lips back to her eyes.

His body shifted quickly his lips meeting hers. The kiss was soft, gentle as if he didn’t want to hurt her. As if he had to savor her, on of her hands holding the side of his face the other on the back of his head. Her nails playing with his hair, her nails slightly digging into his scalp causing him to groan. His hand grabbing the top of her thighs keeping himself balanced. He wanted this to last forever.

God he tasted good, the lingering flavors of lemonade and mint gum. How his kiss was so fucking gentle yet so desperate. The feeling of his hands pulling her closer, the need to feel him pressed against her. She felt dizzy, her heart beating out of her chest, his hands squeezing her hips.

She wish she could make this last forever, afraid if she pulled away she wouldn’t see him again. That this was some silly dream, that they would both wake up in a cold sweat a tingly feeling in there stomach as they yearned to touch one another more. To share each others warmth again, to taste one another again.

“Y/N!”

The loud crash of the doors opening, the sound of Kuroos voice calling out for her aswell as Bokuto right behind him.

Tuskishima pushed himself of her quickly facing the wall as the two third years came around the corner into the kitchen.

“Wanted to ask-“

Kuroo stoping his eyes glancing back and forth the two of them, “is he alright?”

She hummed not answering for a moment, “OH! Yeah just a bloody nose the heat got to him.” She said the towel in her hands offering it to Kei.

“Why are you wet?”

“Doing dishes, the hose was left on.” She answered.

She watched as the two third years gave one another a knowing look before looking back at her, “we’ll be in the gym, if you two wanna come later.” Kuroo spoke smiling, he knew something was up. And he was gonna get it out of her later or tease the shit out of her till he heard what he wanted.

“Mmhm!” She hummed watching them leave.

Her eyes glanced over at Kei, his eyes were close his hands covering his eyes his glasses pushed up. He was breathing heavily, hers just as heavy. A full rush, adrenaline pumping through them both, but they never came to look at each other. For minutes the just sat there in silence, both to nervous to say a word.

Tsukishima finally stood up straight facing away from her, “I-I’m gonna head out, I- shit, I’ll still walk you to bed..” he muttered his back still to her.

Fuck. She messed up.

“I’m sorry kei, I-”

“You’re fine. I have to go though.” He spoke adjusting his shirt and shorts.

She bit her lip, the echo of the doors shutting being her queue “Shit!” Her voice shaky, her hands coming up to her head pulling on her hair in frustration. “God fucking damn it!” She cried throwing the wet rag in her hands. She messed up, she had of crossed a line, he would even look at her. He wouldn’t fucking look at her, not say a fucking word. She should’ve just backed off left the fucking guy alone. The first guy she actually likes and she fucks it up.Her hand touched her lips them still slightly numb, his kiss lingered so heavily.

“What’s your problem.”

A deep voice spoke, a far to familiar one, “Go away Konoha .” She muttered.

Konoha rolled his eyes stepping in to the kitchen “What’s wrong?”

He knew what was wrong she could hear it in his tone, how he mocked her “I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Well looks like you can’t go talk to your little first year.” He spoke shrugging his shoulders. “Scared him off didn’t ya? That why he ran out his face all red, you came on to him scared the poor kid, common baby not everyone can handle you.” He hummed his body moving behind hers his hand going to touch her arm.

“Fuck you. You couldn’t handle me either you piece of shit.” She snapped snaking his hand away.

“I handled you just fine.” He spoke, she felt gross as he said that knowing it met so much more than just her attitude, or her strong personality.

Pushing past him she walked out, she wanted to go to bed. After what just happened with kei, she just wanted to sleep it off maybe it would be best if she didn’t see him again. That she left him be.

“Tsukii you alright you look sick..” Yamaguchi asked his friend as he walked into the locker room.

Kei headed straight to him “she kiss me, no we- we fucking made out.” He spoke quietly his tone shaky.

Yamaguchi just looked as his best friend his mouth hanging wide open, “And I just walked away.”

“No.”

“Yes.” He winced.

“Tsukii..”

“What- What do I even say to her after that,” he laughed nervously. “I just walked away after making out with her.” He spoke.

He was so stupid, what did he do that. It was so lame, he didn’t even look at her. God she must feel terrible, sharing an intimate moment just for him to leave so soon. “Hey!”

“Snap out of it!” Yamaguchi spoke shaking his friend.

“I have a feeling I messed it up, that me just leaving hurt-“

“Shut up! Talk to her before we leave tomorrow it’s too late to go to her, she’ll be up talk to her before we leave. You have to talk to her.” Yamaguchi said.

Tsukishima only nodded.

That couldn’t be the last time he saw her..

[autisticrosewilson]

First of all, you have given me so much to work with, thank you so much. Second of all, I’m really glad you could see where I was going with Grant’s real test not actually being about killing Slade. Third of all, I absolutely love what you’ve suggested with the powers and I am currently designing met gala esque outfits for the trio and Tara’s specifically is really fun to play around with. I’ve been thinking to show they’re becoming more divine I’ll change their hair and eye colours but not their faces for the most part. I was drawing robin Jason with Natalia and decided he should have brown eyes and a crooked nose from breaking it as a kid but once he returns his eyes get weird (eg go blue and occasionally other colours), a patch of his hair went white and he lost all of his scars. Also, I think the closer they get to divinity I’m gonna draw cracks on their body that glow with their specific colours just to hammer home how they’re shedding their mortal forms.

With Tara being able to see the strings of fate, I though it’d be fun to give her a harp and then with Jason having the see no evil trait I thought it’d be fun to give him weighing scales since lady justice wears a blindfold. Idk what to give Grant though. I mean probably a weapon of some sort or maybe a Shepard’s crook that he can turn into a scythe to play into the sheep, wolf, Hunter thing.

With Jason and Tara’s splintering, I love the idea of them making fun of Grant for being the baby god. He hasn’t even had a cult yet, gosh he’s so young. Also them being besties just holds a special place in my heart.

And I just came up with this, of course they have parallels to the trinity but in universe rumours of their existence have been around much longer than Bruce, Clark and Diana. They’re the big three of the justice league but these guys are justice gods. So they start calling themselves the justice trinity but then people get confused about which trinity is which because the justice leagues’ trinity sounds awfully close to the justice gods’ trinity. The new all caste is certainly more distinctive branding but the point isn’t to be distinctive, it’s to be petty.

I'm so glad my unmedicated rambling helped!!! And I'm so excited for the outfits!!! I love when characters start becoming less and less human, when they're stuck in that uncanny valley spot of not quite human but not entirely Other, when they lose control and the cracks start to show...um I should probably give a warning for slight body horror elements. Not in the gore sense, in the "this body is not made of flesh and there is something divine clawing it's way out". Uh also there are teeth. Just. Teeth. I dipped into a little bit of cosmic horror at the end there because I wanted to cover my bases with mixed mythologies

Jason, with his defined splinters, is usually depicted with three faces in ancient texts. The Child, gaunt and dark colored, is said to appear before the downtrodden and impoverished. The few stories remaining tell of kindly people who give him an offering, and in exchange he reveals his true form, with his crown of golden ivy and beautiful strong wings to gift them bounties of food and water and riches. Other stories tell of not so kind encounters, where The Child witnesses an injustice - typically against women or children - and again reveals his true form, one with clawed hands and a mouth dripping with blood. Scholars argue what the wings looked like, but whichever All-Caste member annotated it before has compared their likeness to either a Robin or a Shrike.

There's also The Ghost, He appears young at first glance, but his hair is wirey and gray, his eyes milky and unseeing, in bloodied armor he greets the souls of the damned as they're delivered to him, and with scarred hands he wipes the tears of children taken too soon. Accounts of this face are few and far between, but all of them are entrenched in sorrow.

Finally there is The Soldier, scarred and still smoking from the ruins of battle he emerges, giving voice to the weak and resources to the needy. He champions revolutionaries and philosophers first, a strategist who delights in the liberation of the people from corrupt systems. Accounts of him usually come from times of famine and war, and he was particularly popular with poor villages, who would mark the graves of their dead with the symbol of his sword as offerings. For some reason or other, he got particularly popular with the youth, girls and boys both seemed to pray for him and leave him offerings.

The way these manifest on Jason is subtle at first. I could go the body horror route, but I won't. Yet. Instead I think his splinters show up as reflections, shadows, imprints. The faint echo of bell-like laughter when Jason does a move he learned as Robin, the image of a younger him with longer hair and unblinking eyes staring at him in the mirror. It gets worse when he gets the blades, the white streaks his hair, the swirling mark covers more of his skin every time he uses them, he trails the scent of smoke and blood behind him like a signature. His scars...they should disappear. They have for everyone else who used the pit, but instead his skin starts cracking. Any place he's ever been scarred glowing cracks break up his skin. He can't feel them, but he's always aware of them, the meaning behind them, the divinity literally leaking through his body. His eyes aren't brown anymore. They aren't even green. He looks in the mirror and they are copper, molten and burning. He tries his best to keep his mask on.

What do you think of when you imagine the word divinity? Probably something like Tara. Something with skin carved from stone, with moss and fungus crawling up her legs and snow laden shoulders. They say her hair is made of swirling clouds and the sun and moon are her eyes.

Some say she's a nymph although no one knows what kind. You're just as likely to see her name among the naiads as the dryads. Whether flowers bloom where she dances or waves crash when she sings, she's known to be more vicious towards suitors than her sisters.

Others have said she's a faerie, who takes the faces of lost daughters and lovers, slipping into their places seamlessly, forcing unruly men to pay their dues. Others say she's a shifter of a different sort, with a shawl of feathers and a crown of twine and gems. Stories range from men trying to steal her coat (and paying dearly) to lost children returned safely home on the back of a swan.

Tara doesn't think about it at first, the way gravity tends to cede to her, she doesn't notice how sunflowers turn their faces towards her instead of the sun. She doesn't notice the way her face...shifts. it's imperceptible really, and it's not like she looks in the mirror all that often. But everyone around her notices it, on some level, the way her expressions are off. A little too exaggerated. The way her limbs bend just a little too oddly. The way she never looks quite the same as she did the day before, the way she picks up features from the people around her the way she picks up rocks from ground to add to her collection. Clay molded subtly into the image of those she loves, a museum of everyone she's ever met. She does notice when her hair starts going white at the ends, the strange way her hair starts to curl unnaturally, almost floating. She's not so upset about her eyes, the deep blue of her father that has glared down at her day after day, she has changed her hair, her face, her language but she could not change her eyes. It seems she didn't have to, when she wakes up with one a little too silver to be gray and one a little too gold to be brown. And then her skin starts splitting, a cavern made from a broken rib and ravines made by the slashing of knives. She doesn't even bleed anymore, they never scab over. They crystallize, amber like ambrosia, like ichor. Her body a geode waiting to be cracked open to let the thing within finally break free.

They know the least about Grant, whatever he used to be. Half written scrolls, torn or burnt or simply stopped abruptly, illegible journal entries with symbols never recorded in any known language, half finished sketches where the details are never quite clear. A few things are usually consistent though, signs that he's been there, usually from hunters down on their luck or the particularly old and sickly. First, the howling. Like a wolf or a storm, although later accounts would add that it occasionally sounds like a mechanical whirring. Then the rabbits, dead and gutted, but not a trace of blood. Piles of them left in heaps on doorsteps or windowsills. Some have reported knocking at strange hours or finding teeth in their homes, a mix of human and animal. There is one photo on record, the most recent thing in the archive most likely, of claw marks on the side of a barn, too big and oddly serrated, certainly not from anything native to the area. Elderly that report these phenomena typically pass from heart problems within the week, according to some of the old medical files.

Grant came back wrong. Physically, at least. He knows that he's still himself for the most part, dying didn't make him a selfish asshole he did that all on his own, but...but something is wrong with him. It's the way lightbulbs flicker when he's mad and how cameras, no matter the quality, never quite get a clear shot of him. The way Joey can't ever grasp his features, not fully, the details slipping from his mind like water. The way eyes on his face slide right past, unable to look directly at him. It's in the gray spreading from his roots and his eyes too wide and dark to belong to something human. It's the way death clings to him like a second skin, sickly and pallid turning the tips of his fingers gray. His teeth are starting to feel too sharp for his mouth, and he hears things no one else does, whispers of voices that Are Not and Can't Be. The worst part is the orange, liquid candlelight under his skin, lighting up all of his veins and scars, webbing together like the world's worst game of connect the dots. No, there is no mistaking him for something human, so there is no reason to try. If this is his fate then he will take it, because he is not a sheep and he will not be a wolf, he is a hunter, and he is hungry.

[cuteniarose]

See, I don't really think Avatar Suiren was consciously aware of Raava for most of the years before Harmonic Convergence. She knew OF Raava and that her being inside of her is what makes her the Avatar, and Raava intentionally fed her flashbacks and memories and weird dreams of the past Avatars to try dissuading her from becoming the Last, but she didn't have a connection to her like Korra does. Maybe establishing that connection was something she worked on in the months leading up to HC so she could convince Raava to not be so hostile to Vaatu once she fuses with him, I'm not too sure. But the point is, during Harmonic Convergence Suiren CAN hear Raava actively screaming at the prospect of Vaatu being freed, and it only spurs her own in her decision because how the fuck can ONE being be SO. FUCKING. ANNOYING???

So HC comes, Suiren opens both Spirit Portals (can that be done from the Spirit World? It can, right? I haven't rewatched LoK in over 3 years, I'm not too well versed on Book 2 lore. Anyway, even if it can't in canon, it can in my verse because that would be much more convenient than having to travel to first one and then the other while trying to not let the world find out that you're the Avatar. I imagine they head to the North and she opens that one, then opens the South one from the Spirit World), fights Unalaq for Vaatu and maybe kills him, and fuses with Vaatu. Ideally, she would have liked to let both spirits go right then and there, but if there's one thing her status as the Avatar is good for it's helping her parents achieve their goals – and also, she DOES NOT trust Raava and Vaatu to behave outside of a controlled environment, she'd rather they sort out their issues while not capable of destroying the world with their fighting – so for a while at least, she is still the Avatar. Probably for quite a few years afterwards since the world can't change in a day.

But anyway, she wanted Raava to shut up? Well jokes on her, HC had the exact opposite effect bc not only did Raava not shut up, now Vaatu is constantly yapping too!! But he's actually much more bearable, because while he can be rather edgy and emo at times, at least he doesn't nag like Raava, and 10000 years of being locked away left him desperate for conversation so he's up for talking about anything Suiren wants. However, he and Raava fight A LOT, sometimes getting carried away and forgetting to keep it from Suiren. As a result, poor Renny is often overstimulated by the sound and occasionally doesn't bother with the mental link and yells at them out loud

Honestly, idk where this whole ass meta just came from, my main point was that I found the idea of everyone sitting in total silence and Suiren just suddenly going "Shut the FUCK UP" extremely hilarious :D But I do like the idea of her speaking to Vaatu out loud, seemingly talking to herself, because I think that's rather endearing. And she does eventually form a good relationship with Raava once she and Vaatu settle a little, and is even a bit sad when the time comes to part with them, though she knows it's ultimately for the best, for the sake of herself, the world, the Spirit Kites, her past lives and whoever she reincarnates into

[jalo-parker]

I would like to hear your species assignment for xisuma and ex ^-^

Going to put a cut in this one cause omg it's going to be a lot.. so be prepared to read I suppose 😁😁 (came back to add after I finished writing that yes, this is pretty long..) (if you don't want to read the species info, xisuma is a voidwalker and ex is part voidwalker part Estrial)

Ok so ex and xisuma are both voidwalkers. Well ex is a little more than just a voidwalker but we'll get to that.

First up: voidwalkers + xisuma

So voidwalkers are a thing that I somewhat made up by myself (combination of me making things up and taking bits and pieces from media and other people's ideas). Basically to sum it up; there are 3 species of voidwalker end, overworld, and nether (cause yes all of the lore in my head is based on Minecraft to some degree). There are two types of end voidwalker though! Royals are one kind and the others are just called voidwalkers cause yeah idk. The main difference between royals and the others are the horns. Royals have horns and others don't (with a few exceptions but again we'll get there) so this does mean that x does not have horns. Another reason is x is actually an overworld voidwalker! So no overworld or nether voidwalkers have horns, though I'm thinking of giving nether ones like spikes or something cause nether = more dangerous in my brain (also yeah this species is slightly a wip.. oopsies).

The difference between the 3 different void walker species would be; overworld voidwalkers are a bit smaller in their void forms (most voidwalkers can shift between void forms and more human looking ones) something like a bit taller than your average human (think kinda like endermen) and have a bit more speckly star bits. They all have like average length fur here, though it's said that some of them can grow longer or shorter fur depending on their environments!

Nether voidwalkers are a bit taller, are typically more warm toned, most have spikes (yeah I'm giving them spikes actually), and have much shorter or no fur at all, some even have scales!

End voidwalkers are the biggest of the bunch, most of them towering over your average human. Royals are even bigger! My sona (weird case of both technically being a voidwalker and also not being one) is a royal and his void form is 9ft tall! These guys look the most like endermen, some of them even have purple speckles instead of white ones. Though most end voidwalkers barely even have speckles. Royals also have distinct markings and some have a weird little halo thingy in their void forms so there's no chance for anyone to confuse a royal for any other voidwalker. End voidwalkers probably have the longest fur of the bunch, it's pretty cold in the void here.

Void forms would be ones like this where the entire body is just a void (sometimes including their clothes sometimes not idk) (also impulse is here, he's not a voidwalker though)

And the more human looking ones would be like these where their tails and some extremities are voids. Each voidwalker has differing levels of void bits in this form. So some of them could only have void tails or maybe they have a lot more void, like their hair, their arms and legs, pretty much everything like their void form but theres now a bit that isn't void.

Also here's the royal markings (ft a couple other examples of voidwalkers and my sonas cat friend)

Voidwalkers live in the voids of their respective dimensions btw! Though now in the age of technology and exploration some voidwalkers live in other voids (like a nether voidwalker in the end or the overworld) and some of them don't live in the void at all! Hence the ones in the overworld getting different fur lengths based on their environments as the void stays around the same temperature everywhere (like one temperature for each dimension) so they wouldn't have changed there.

Ok I think that's all on voidwalkers.. uh if you have questions feel free to ask away I might be able to answer (if the question is "can I make my own voidwalker" the answer is always yes)

So now: evil xisuma + voidwalker hybrids

Now that voidwalkers live everywhere, there are more beings who are part voidwalker and part some other thing (maybe even multiple other things)! This is where you start getting voidwalkers with extra limbs, voidwalkers that aren't royals but they have horns, voidwalkers with slightly different features than normal, and voidwalkers who have next to no voidwalker features (a bit more rare as voidwalker genes tend to make themselves known one way or another).

Ex is not just a voidwalker, he's also an Estrial (another species I made up, they require their own post though.. too much info for just one post..)!

Ex happens to have tiny little horns (they would have a bigger pair but the voidwalker genes make them a bit smaller), fluffy ears that somewhat resemble cat ears, and a tail that's extra fluffy. It also has a pair of wings and an elemental power (provided by the Estrial genes) though most winged beings can magic their wings away for convenience (they can bring them back whenever) and ex very much does this. His elemental power is fire btw, though ex only really knows the lightning wielding aspect of this (cause lightning powers = cool and ex is cool).

Ok that should be everything.. again if you have questions do ask I will gladly answer, I like letting the thoughts out. If anyone wants to know about Estrials.. ask and you shall receive, but be prepared for another very long text post with a few images.. I'll make a species sheet for both voidwalkers and Estrials eventually (emphasis on eventually..)

[wandringaesthetic]

Let's try to talk about Baten Kaitos some more (i think I'm near the end of it):

I'm tempted to say the plot is bad, or simple, or that it feels like it would have been brilliant in the 16 bit era but is made ridiculous with a lot more text and voice acting than it can support (and the fact the voice acting is Notably Bad doesn't help).

And I guess that's true.

But there is also some Really Interesting Stuff here. Take Magnus, the gameplay concept, the cards. When you are attacking a monster you are not hitting them with a sword but with a copy of the core idea of a sword, do you understand? (It's okay if you don't, I don't really)

We could leave this as a gameplay abstraction and it might be best to do so and not worry how or if this idea interacts with the universe of the game. But we don't. It turns out the protagonist's parental figure, his grandfather, was a researcher of these Magnus. It was thought that one couldn't capture the Magnus of a person (though you can apparently do it with an animal. one of your cards is a chicken don't think about it too hard), but he was trying to find a way. He didn't manage it, but he did create a Magnus, and from one of those Magnus he created the protagonist. Kalas was born from the idea of a person. He was supposed to be An Ideal, but he kind of sucks, actually. He's emotional and immature and impulsive. He sells his soul to the evil god for revenge or something. For a little bit he leaves your party and you have to kick his ass and save his soul with a magic mirror. In a world where people have two wings that are supposed to be some kind of reflection of their soul, he's just got one. (WE'LL COME BACK TO THIS) He was Too Much. Too Human. But grandpa took care of his little Frankenstein's monster accidental son anyway, until his past with the empire came back to bite him.

I can't talk about this game too much without talking about Chrono Cross. Masato Kato directed that game and wrote this one. (He also worked on Xenogears and Final Fantasy VII--this is about to be relevant) The games share some other personnel, but without going down a rabbit hole of interviews and game credits and writing some fanfiction about Squeenix and tri crescendo and MonolithSoft in the early oughts I'm not going to know who else to lay all this at the feet of, so Kato is going to be the assigned face.

Both games are both nearly perfect in presentation. Colorful and evocative in setting and music. They both have gameplay that is Probably Good But Weird Ideas that needed a few more iterations of refinement. They both have Very Lofty ambitions that they Do Not attain most of but still attain a pretty impressive number of.

Must a game be good? Can it not be a series of beautiful and evocative locations?

Both games also make a plot point of their gameplay abstractions. Chrono Cross in terms of FATE/records of FATE, i.e. save points (Xenogears does a similar thing), Baten Kaitos in the form of the aforementioned Magnus and the fact that you, yes YOU, the person playing the game, are a character in it, a sort of spirit that is accompanying the heroes on their journey and whispering in Kalas' ear.

And about those wings. Xenogears has IIRC an in universe creation myth where mankind originally had wings, but only one each, so that in order to fly they had to cling to one another. And then there's Final Fantasy fucking Seven, where, idk whether to lay "One Winged Angel" at the feet of Kato or not, (that probably has more to do with Nobuo Uematsu and Tetsuya Nomura). But Kato was probably in the room where Angel Wings But Just One happened at least three times now. That has to mean something. That has to be significant.

When it comes to boss design of the antagonist's super-powered monstrous form, much has been said and extrapolated about Safer Sephiroth and maybe it would be better to say less. Both "try to create a perfect being with imperfect hands and imperfect ideas of perfection and you create something useless and monstrous," and "we are made cracked and flawed and that's where the love gets in."

Just like this game! (Just like this transition!) Both this game and Chrono Cross have a sense of the unattainable about them. Chrono Cross deals with alternate timelines and the things that happen in some future or past that will never be. Beyond that it seems somehow yearning for something it can't depict. Gorgeous as it is it doesn't look like that opening FMV attract reel. Nothing in its story reaches the heights of "Time's Scar." With Baten Kaitos it's mostly in the strangeness and beauty of its world. People have soul wings that look like a peacock's or a dragonfly's or a hawk's. They live in islands in the sky. One of your characters is a simple fisherman--of a river that flows out of a pocket dimension and through the clouds. Another of your characters attacks with what looks like a futuristic gun, but are actually Magnus of brass instruments, and the structures of the imperial city he hails from recall the tubes and valves of the same. Villages look like storybook pages, or ice cream. But the lofty settings are pinned down by a pedestrian plot. The evil emperor is resurrecting the evil god with five macguffins because of.... Reasons. You must take revenge on your evil half brother.

But again. Must a game be good? Don't we need flaws for the light to get in? Maybe Kalas is perfect with his one mechanical wing and his mangled soul. Maybe that's the point.

[cerebralabyss]

USELESS INFO I FEEL LIKE PUBLISHING!! and also just archiving on my blog 4 my own sake :D

here is the stories/reasons 4 all my alters’ names cuz they’re all weirdly significant in some way or another OR went thru a very long process 2 become the name it is today

putting it under cut cuz it’ll probably be longish

reffy & ramen - they both went thru different processes, but come from the same origin. VERY LONG STORY I AM NOT SHORTENING IT!!

we were finding a new collective name cuz our old one did NOT suit us at all!! and at the time, our understanding of our system was very different. we had a lot of trouble separating reffy/ramen cuz not having one host scared us, so ramen was a sort of “sub-alter” to reffy for a good while until we were comfy with the distinction.

we settled on the name remiel/ramiel, but couldn’t decide the spelling. we ended up using remiel collectively, but that name was also specific to reffy because again at the time afraid of deviating from host. so ramen ended up with the scrapped spelling!!

reffy - when we realized we in fact were not just one host, having reffy’s name as our collective name was rly confusing!! we ended up shortening it to “remy” for a rly long time. then, we ended up fusing the names “remy” and “maffy/maffal” (maffy is a sub-alter to reffy that we had treated as distinct for a while b4 realizing it wasn’t healthy for not fun reasons!!) so it became reffy!! and yes, reffy is short for reffal!! no one calls him that tho cuz it’s weird (other than dire cuz he’s strange but he only does that in private) (and sometimes jax scolds him using his full name cuz it’s funny)

fun fact: reffy decided 2 use the name reffy instead of remy in the vegetable section of a grocery store. very useful information ik (sarcasm)

ramen - this name didn’t end up getting changed till like a little over a year ago now!! they stuck with “ramiel” for a good while, purely because we have a dog tag with the name ramiel engraved on it and they didn’t want to change their name cuz then the dog tag would be WRONG!! but eventually they were like NO im CHANGING IT. the nickname “ram” rly stuck (since no one called them ramiel anyway cuz it was confusing with it being so close to the collective name) so took the ram and turned it into ramen like the instant noodles cuz enby behaviour (lh)

they actually considered the name “azriel” for a bit n couldn’t decide between that n ramen. ramen is much more fitting i could not IMAGINE IT BEING ANYTHING ELSE

(i’m writing this and im writing in third person to avoid confusion and it FEELS WEIRD!!!)

jax - ok i’m leaving out the context of my 2020 system yrs cuz it’s not rly relevant and complicated BUT!! this name came from back then. it came out of NOWHERE LIKE LITERALLY IT JUST POPPED INTO OUR HEAD LIKE “yea this guy… he’s jax” and i don’t know WHERE IT CAME FROM cuz we probably only ever heard that name less than 10 times our whole life. it’s RLY WEIRD but it kind of makes it feel oddly special cuz it just happened without us consciously thinking. like that’s just how the name was Meant 2 BE

his name has not changed a SMIDGE since then. he did end up deciding it’s short form 4 something else somewhere along the line, but only one non insys person& knows what it is cuz he’s weird abt it. it’s been years n he’s still keeping it a secret .. and no it’s not jackson !!! that’s ur one hint :3c

nuni - this one is kinda silly!! when we were like 8-12 our online alias name was our cat’s name and since nuni was the primary host at that time the name rly stuck with her. when she came out of dormancy a few yrs ago, we wanted to change it since it could get confusing differentiating our CAT from our HEADMATE so we went with a random nickname we called our cat!! idk where it came from exactly tbh,, but our parents still call our cat that sometimes like once in a blue moon and each time they do it feels SO WEIRD!!

dire - ima be real i know there was a reason behind this name but i can’t remember it 4 the life of me. none of us can it’s rly weird. just pretend this is an awesome cool backstory ok thx

BUT!!! there’s a neat story behind one of his many old names!!! he first developed/split as an oc introject, we called him “corgo” cuz he more closely resembled the comfort au version of said oc (which in hindsight was not a comfort au it was just the personification of the introject) and combined the word “comfort” with “margo” (the oc’s name)

driell - him n his sibling (who isn’t in our sys) both have names that r their parents’ names combined together n letters smushed around a lil bit!! his sisters name (alexis) is a combination of the specific alter names, and driell’s is a combination of collective names!!!

THIS WAS ACTUWLLY A LOT LONGER THAN I ANTICIPATED i expected it 2 be long but i underestimate how much i love infodumping about my system WAYGYH. if u read this all the way thru it means the world 2 me u have no idea

i wanr to infodump abt system stuff more cuz it makes me happy :33 just worry abt clogging up my blog a bit :P

that’s it that’s all!!! good day 2 u

- 🖤

(🥀🎀🧸 co-con)