#I just felt like I'd be doing him a disservice if I didn't give it to him

[ecogirl2759]

OKAY, UM--

So I kinda showed @mossoroni's Crystal Ball Taka AU to my sister and we both loved it so much we literally died--

She told me that I needed to make a Mondo version of it lol, so say hello to my new Discord PFP :)

This is so dumb lol, how is the best pomp I've ever drawn on a ball??

Can you tell I got lazy with the shading?

(And I'm sorry for the ping (if it does ping you) idk how Tumblr works I'm still new and scared lol)

[secret-smut-sideblog]

Possession

Gale x F! Sorcerer Tav

18+ enemies to lovers (sort of), antagonistic relationships, crossed signals, misunderstanding, physical roughness, rivalry/jealousy, mean domGale, rough sex, manhandling, semi-public sex, consensual voyeurism, light humiliation, masturbation (m!), fingering (f!), oral (f!), face sitting, p-in-v, pulling out

With natural challenge and charge between them and a misstep at connection, an unexpected competitor appears in camp. Things come to a burning head between sorcerer and wizard...

Masterlist

-

Magic ran through her body. It was deep inside her bones, a force she could not reason with even if she tried. As vital as breath.

So as Gale explained Weave to her, she rested her chin on a curled hand. Giving him a highly bemused smile that he was entirely unaware of.

"The simplicity that Magic of the Weave - An Introduction supplies is quite misleading. Though those unfamiliar must start somewhere, I suppose." He held the small tome up in demonstration, letting it fall flat in his palm to a page he had affixed a colored tab to.

"Like here!"

He began reading aloud a passage, Tav smiling wider at the unconscious raise of his pointed finger.

"While that is accurate," He snapped the book shut, turning to look at her. "To distill the Weave so crudely down to a new student is akin to stealing their capacity for wonder. So much of the power of the Weave is in its limitless beauty, to rend it so small is a disservice."

"Not all spellcasters experience magic in such a profound way as you do." She offered, that bite of jest falling back into her words.

"Ah, I've forgotten." He sighed, leveling her with a withering stare. "I'm speaking to a sorcerer."

She felt her smile widen even further.

"And I'm speaking to a wizard. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you kiss those books to sleep at night."

His ears filled with blush, pulling the tome off of his lap and setting it with an annoyed thump on an ever growing pile.

"As I've said, no sense of wonder." He sniped.

This was a dance they did. He would talk her through a concept she was already familiar with and, inevitably, get frustrated with her teasing. But he kept coming back, a new topic, a new book, to dissect to her. A dog with a bird in its teeth.

"I really do think it's sweet. Your love for your craft. Maybe you'll be a teacher one day, you clearly have a knack for it." She sighed out her last words in a mock weariness.

"Though I could argue I experience magic just as deeply as you do, wizard. Maybe I should be the one giving you lectures."

His eyes seemed to light at the thought, turning to her expectantly.

"No," she raised her hands. "I'm not going to be the one to break that hopeful glint in your eyes. My relationship with my magic is not nearly as fulfilling."

He stared at her, stubborn. Turning fully towards her, eyes held in unwavering interest.

"You're very irritating." She stated.

He scoffed.

"I'm well aware. But go on, enlighten me."

She gave an exaggerated eye roll, then fell quiet. Bowing her head in concentration, allowing the slow closing of her eyes.

The sound of rustling fabric next to her as he leaned forward.

As she focused in on her power, the sensation, the fluid of it, she felt it rise along her body. Lifting the ends of her hair, air crackling with chill. She leaned her head back, feeling the delicious cold move up her spine.

Speaking in a hushed, vulnerable voice.

"It's ice water in summer. It's the chill of early morning. It's the plunge of a hand into a cool river."

Her eyes slid open, her gaze falling back on her hands. Now alight with glacial magic.

"It's the hunger of winter. It's the icy maw that swallows the unprepared. It's the frigid grip on skin, stealing breath away. Lulling so sweetly into sleep, burning alive."

She stared at the curl of her palm, frost lines traveling in slow pulses down the valleys of her veins.

"What you call Weave I know as blood. Inescapable and as giving as a blizzard. It's not about learning, it's about controlling."

Her eyes finally rose to his and found him scribbling in the front leaf page of Magic of the Weave. Looking up at her expectantly, his hand pausing as she fell quiet.

"Are you... writing this down?" She stared at him in disbelief.

He looked down at his pen, then back up at her, innocent confusion tilting his head. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"By Drizz't's Blades, can you not be an academic for one second?" She huffed, rising to feet.

"Just like a wizard, you bear your wounds and their taking notes. Gods."

He looked at his work again, his own frustration creasing his brows. Opening his mouth to surely argue.

"Save it." She held her hand up flat. "You've got your research. Frigid drow is a compelling footnote in your paper. Goodnight, Gale."

Her feet took her away on frosted grass. Hands clenching at her sides, ice cresting over knuckles. Feeling his eyes following her back.

Turning the corner on the largest crimson tent.

"Karlach! I need thawing!"

-

"You know he didn't mean it like that."

Karlach's blistering hand rubbed in circles along the ice holding her bare back. Melting it down only to have new sheets bloom behind her hand.

"I dont know that." Tav hissed, the tight hurt in her chest speaking.

"Oh, come on. He's far too sweet on you to be studying you like an experiment."

"He's not."

"He is. Hells, Tav, it's obvious."

Tav rose her legs to her chest, leaning on her knees. Pushing her chin into the curve of her folded forearms. Angry tears spiking her eyes, quickly turning to frozen rain pooling.

"That's just how wizards are, mate. They digest the world through books. If anything, it was a massive compliment that he was taking notes."

She picked at the seam along her knee. Turning her head into the fold of her arms with a shaky sigh. Focusing on Karlach's heat to bring her body back down from the threatening squall.

"I just want to be..."

She tried to gather her words, but an angry lump sat frozen in her throat.

"I know, baby. You want to be understood. But that shit hurts."

Tav nodded, reaching back to squeeze Karlach's knee.

"Thank you." She sighed, ice water slipping down her temple and the curve of her nose.

"Of course, Frost. Elemental bitches gotta stick together."

Tav let out a wet laugh, chill air leaving her in a burst.

Leaving her tent, she gave Karlach's shoulder one more grateful squeeze. Misty eyed again, seeing how happily she pulled a frozen Clive to her chest. Her spell set to last through the night.

Though her ice was often a burden, it was setting up to be a sweltering night. Passing by each tent, she tapped on canvas. Setting the temperature down with an incantation, hearing grateful sighs and soft thank you's from within as she made a loop. Slipping a bottle of cooled blood into crimson canvas, chilled fingers taking it eagerly.

She eyed the deep turquoise tent, soft light still dancing inside. Sighing, she stepped forward on quiet feet. Stopping to kneel down and straighten the piles of books that he had haphazardly left.

Crouched on haunches, she rose her hand. Pressing a cold palm into canvas. Giving him a little extra in silent apology.

Hearing no acknowledgment outside of a pausing of movement, she rose back on feet.

"Goodnight, Gale." She hushed.

Turning back to the lone point of her black tent, at the lowest slope of their small world. Faded with scrubbed away symbols of Lolth. Smiling at Minthara's tent opposite hers.

Her fellow drow laid inside, leaned back on her hammock. Sharpening a dagger with the precision of a practiced war matron.

Giving her an affirming nod as she cooled her tent.

"I'm retiring for the night." Tav spoke in Undercommon, the words sliding out so much more natural. Minthara respoding in kind.

"I'll take watch." Rising from her lounge, she sat her dagger back with a snap. Heading up the slope.

"Rest well, sister."

Finally alone, she entered her tent. Content to wallow in her sharp hurt.

As she settled, lighting a candle, pulling a spidersilk robe around her waist, a new shape revealed beneath her pillow.

She cut her eyes, picking up a tome.

Impractical Magic, Volume 1.

Another sat beneath it.

Book of Poetry.

She flipped through them. A beginner's book, written by a wizard, about the nature of elemental sorcery and a small book of poems. Recognizing her own speech patterns from her attempt at explanation earlier in the prose.

She shot to feet, angry chill rising through her neck. The books gripped in her fist.

Ripping aside turquoise canvas. Casting Private Sanctum on his tent as she stormed inside. Tossing the books at his feet.

"Are you mocking me?"

He glanced at the books, eyes rising to hers. Turning his head in that maddening tilt.

"You have wildly misunderstood my intentions."

Her hands twitched into fists again, breathing hard through the frost.

"Okay, then dumb it down for me since you're so superior. My meager education couldn't possibly rise to the occasion."

He rose to feet, his breathing picking up with hers.

"Why do you keep inferring that I find you lacking? How have I made that impression?"

She nearly screamed, biting her icy tongue. Turning from him to face the tent wall as furious tears rose again.

"Hey, don't turn away. I'm trying to understand!"

His hand pulled on her bicep, and it snapped a fracture in her frozen lake.

Wrenching his wrist, she forced his arm behind his back. Flipping him to the ground, knee pressed into his spine. Taking his hair in a tight bunch, forcing his head into a turn on his pillow.

He gasped, his back arching into her hold. Body so unbearably warm beneath hers.

"Don't touch me." She commanded. Pressing her knee harder.

He tried to nod, but her fist held harder into his hair. A soft moan left him, hips rising into a curl.

"Don't go into my tent again. Or I will do far worse than this."

"Is that a promise?" He gasped.

She raised her lip in a snarl. Lowering her head down to his ear, hissing into the well.

"You're too soft and warm to talk back, wael faern. Or do I need to show you that?"

"I'd love a demonstration, if you don't mind."

She smiled dangerously, pinning his arm under her knee. Hand snapping down on the side of his throat.

He breathed hard under her constricting fingers, eyes fluttering up into lids as her cold tongue drug up the curve of his ear.

She pressed the full freeze of her body into his back, chuckling darkly as he shivered.

"Too cold? I thought so."

Rising off of him with a shove, she twisted her fingers into her magic. Glaring down as he turned to stare flushed at her.

"Enjoy the heat."

With a pull, she removed her chill on the tent. The air filling sweltering again as she ducked out into the night.

-

"No Gale today?" Astarion clicked his tongue in mock disappointment. Shouldering his pack to accompany her.

"No. I'd rather not see him." She responded in a clipped voice.

"Cold." He lilted. "But I do so enjoy that about you."

Karlach and Minthara met them at the crest of the trail. Blue light still bathing the sleeping world.

"Any reason we're heading out so early, soldier?"

"She's avoiding her kicked puppy."

"Do you want to stay back, Astarion? I'm sure you could use the beauty rest."

"Would you like me to educate the spawn on manners, sister?"

"Gods, I'm going to hate you two together."

Her eyes darted back to the distant point of camp. Seeing a soft light ignite inside his tent.

"Enough talk. Head out."

-

"Shadowheart! To me!" Tav called.

Rolan moaned out what sounded like 'Where are we?' His eyes rolling loose in sockets as he coughed.

"My camp, we're not close enough to Last Light. Now focus on breathing." She hitched his arm higher over her shoulder.

Minthara took up his other side, face stoic.

"Shadowheart! We have wounded!" Tav called again, eyes tracking around the camp.

She rushed down the hill, hands lit in magic. Potions gathered under her arm.

"Injuries?" She urged, Tav and Minthara laying him on a soft patch of grass. Halsin came up behind Tav, his hand coming to Rolan's forehead. The other braced on her back as he kneeled down.

"Shadow wraiths. The curse almost got him." Karlach gasped, running up to the gathered help.

"He's very near death." Halsin urged, hand lighting along his forehead. "Something's wrong, he's burning up."

Tav leaned back and whipped off her robe, kneeled in her underclothes.

"Lift him." She instructed. Halsin appraising her with an impressed glint.

The druid lifted him easily into a slump.

"What's going on?" Gale's voice rose over their heads.

Tav arched her thigh around Rolan's lap, taking up his weight into her shoulder. Her chest pressed to his, she snaked her hand inside of his robe and untied it at the waist. Letting it fall back as she spread her hands on his bowed back and pressed into him.

Halsin and Shadowheart took up at his sides in front of her. Speaking healing magic into his body.

"Breath, faern." She hushed, pulling him to her.

Rolan's breath filled and emptied shallowly against her neck. Burning into her skin.

"I'm going to get colder now, take a deep breath." She warned in a soft voice.

She focused her temperature down, feeling him try to pull away weakly.

"Good, that's good." Halsin encouraged, spreading a hand between hers. "He's stabilizing."

Rolan whimpered into her shoulder, arms coming up to grip into her back. Body shaking with cold and frustration. Tears hidden in the fall of her hair.

"I know, I know." She hummed, hands running through his long hair. "You're alive. Feel your anger."

Rolan wouldn't leave her side, even after his body had cooled. Leaning his head in exhausted shame.

"We'll head out for Last Light, first thing in the morning." Tav instructed, her gathered companions nodding. The fire burning low between them.

"Return Rolan to his family and secure the whereabouts of Oliver. We should search where we last saw him."

Rolan's head rose, staring down at her.

"Family?"

"Yes, we found your siblings in the prison at Moonrise. They were on their way back to you when we found you."

His eyes filled with tears again.

"You saved them?"

She nodded, then was taken into him.

He pressed a kiss into her lips, hands cupping her face in desperate joy. Pulling away with spilling tears.

"Thank you." He breathed.

She smiled up at him.

"No trouble."

Rolan smiled back, then turned his head. His eyes widened in confusion, then settled into a cold stare.

Tav followed his gaze.

Gale sat across from Rolan, glaring dark under his brow at him. Fingers digging on his thighs.

"Something you'd like to share?" Rolan chided, tilting his head in a slow challenge.

"Oh, not presently. After all, your health is far too important." Gale's voice came out in a low warning.

The air crackled with malice. A silent combat taking place between eyes.

"Gods, you wizards are like fish too close in a pond. Get over yourselves." Shadowheart scoffed, rising to feet.

"I'll set you up in my tent tonight." Tav turned to back to Rolan. "I'll occupy myself elsewhere."

"I'm sure there's enough room for the two of us." Rolan purred, eyes lighting in petty accomplishment as the shadow darkened next to them.

"And I'm sure you'll freeze to death."

"Mmm, I'm still a mite warm, actually."

Gale rose to feet, shoulders hard with effort.

"Tav, a word?"

"My tent is there." She pointed down the slope, rising to feet. "Get some rest. We have a long walk come morning."

Gale came to her side, rushing forward. Caging her body forward with his own. Fast steps forcing her body to a brisk walk.

His hand came up to pull on her wrist, finding her pace not removing them quickly enough.

"I will end you." She promised, his hand falling away with a huff.

"Okay, we're beyond the treeline. I think we're far enough from the wizard I just helped."

She crossed her arms, leveling an unamused stare at him.

"What do you want to say?"

"Why did he just kiss you?" Gale hissed. Ducking his head down low to her.

"Ask him. I haven't detected his thoughts."

"That's not funny."

"It wasn't a joke."

He huffed breath hard, chest heaving. Eyes burning.

"You're impossible." He growled.

"I'm a drow. Bitch comes free." She tilted her head up at him. A mean glint in her eyes.

"Why? Are you jealous, wizard?"

His back bristled, eyes widening in contained rage.

"Do you need healing, too? Do you have wounds for me?" She stepped forward in a challenge. "Show me where it hurts, and I'll lick it better."

He held his ground, and she stepped forward again. Egging him on.

"Come on. You're clearly angry with me." She smiled. "Spit your venom."

"I'm not angry with you."

"No?" She stepped into him.

"Then why are you so warm?"

His eyelids lowered into a grimace, panting as she pressed into him.

They breathed into each other's space, his hands arching in hard clenches at his sides.

"Then what are you feeling towards me, Gale?" She hissed, staring into his dark eyes.

He finally snapped, crashing his mouth into hers.

His mouth pushed, desperate and mean. Wide hand gripping into the back of her hair. Breathing hard through nose. Tangling into her in angry pulls. Demanding fingers pulling at her clothes.

She pulled out of her robe, ripping into his ties. Disrobing him with the same aggression. Pressing her body hard into his in rolling waves. His heat battling her rising cold.

"Down." He growled into her swollen lips. Pulling her by the hips roughly to the forest floor.

"I don't take orders from you." She breathed, falling under his body.

"Shut up." He hissed, pulling her bralette down to her ribs in a hard yank.

Mouth diving on a hard peak.

Her back curled up in pleasure, gripping into his hair.

He lapped at the buds, playing mean fast strokes that he pulled up into his lips. Sucking in hard popping pulses.

Her head arched back, panting into the grass. Cunt flooding with slick, hips arching up into the tone of his belly.

He forced his hand between them, cupping her cunt and pushing her hips hard into the earth.

"I'm going to make you regret kissing him." He promised in a dangerous rumble. Eyes glaring up at her in dark slits.

"Do it, then." She breathed, her eyes burning ice.

"I dare you."

He ripped her panties off, eyes smoldering anger. Wrenching under her thighs and lifting her hips high into the air. Forcing her thighs onto his shoulders, holding her up by her ass.

She cried out into her palm when his mouth latched onto her clit. Pulling vicious wet suckles, his arm locking behind her hips as they tried to squirm away. The pleasure near unbearable, his anger leaving her merciless.

Her shoulders writhed on the grass, hips trying to give out. He cracked his hand down on her ass twice, rising her hips back up with a growl.

Her eyes rolled marble in her head as he took her apart, gasping shallow breaths. Already a shameful mess. Delirious with wrenching pleasure.

Frost spread across her belly, orgasm circling dangerously tight. Muffling pleading moans in her throat, coming out as choking whimpers.

He laughed into her cunt, dragging his nails hard down her thigh to get her to gasp her mouth open. Leaving pink scratches in his wake.

Her mouth fell open, the pain pushing her pleasure into an unrelenting high. Gasping out in Undercommon.

"What was that?" He murmured, pulling back to stare down her belly at her.

She glared at him, tightening her thighs around his head in warning.

"No, no, use-" He sucked hard on her clit in hollow pulls of his tongue, her thighs falling back open in a shudder. "-your words."

"Fuck you." She hissed.

"Not what you said." He retorted, pushing two fingers inside her without warning.

She twisted, cunt clenching hard on his fingers. Hooking into punishing slow strikes.

He slapped her ass again. Demanding an answer.

"I said-"

She clamped around his head, twisting him down to the ground. Straddling over his face.

"Rip me apart, wizard."

His eyes lowered into dangerous slits. Grasping her by both hips, forcing her cunt into his mouth again.

She shuddered as he latched back on in near biting pulses. Completely engulfing her clit. Reaching up to pull on her throat, forcing her into an arch forward to push his fingers back inside. Slamming into her beneath, sending jolts up through her pelvis.

She gripped into his hair, face crumpling in desperate pleasure. Hand cupped over her mouth to not shriek.

His eyes cut to the edge of the trees. Pulling her hand down by the forearm and forcing it behind her back.

Her eyes followed, rocking with the force of his fucking.

Rolan stood wide-eyed on the edge a tree, hard cock in his hand.

Gale's hand spread up over her hips and belly in clear petty possession. Cupping her breast, pinching her nipple between his long fingers. Rubbing his nose in it.

Tav couldn't take it anymore, being displayed like this pushing her over the edge. Body buckling as she came hard into his mouth.

He grasped onto her hips, quickly forcing her onto her belly. Cock pushing inside her in a viciously savoring thrust.

She cried out into the dirt, her orgasm still in its throes. Clenching hard onto him, his breath hissing out with his thrusts. Rocking her forward in hard snaps.

"Look at him." He whispered, lifting her head by a pull of her hair. Winding it into his fist.

Her glazed eyes locked with Rolan's. Both of them aghast with shameful pleasure.

"See how much he wants this?" He hissed low into her ear. "Poor thing, he can't touch you. Not like I can."

As if to demonstrate, he circled his fingers hard into her clit.

She curled her head in, hands clawing at the dirt. Choppy begging cries smothered as a second orgasm threatened.

"Gale, I'm-" She pleaded, hips rising higher as it climbed. His hips slamming faster into her backside in response.

It ripped through her, sending her whole torso into shuddering spasms. Back arching down into the dirt as her cum pushed out to drip down his thighs.

Her wrenching contractions forced him to his end. Hand bracing on her shoulder. Pulling out to spill on her lower back, gasping shallow as his pleasure dripped down her spine.

She heard Rolan's muffled release and looked over, seeing his eyes flutter back into his head.

Gale was a preening exhausted shadow behind her. Rolling her ass in his palms in pure accomplished revelry.

She heard Rolan scurry away towards camp. Gale huffing out a righteous laugh.

"Oh, he's going with the others in the morning."

Tav nodded, too fucked out to regain her role as leader. Pliant and loose under his command.

"And you're going to stay with me tonight." He smiled dangerously, clearly enjoying having tamed her.

"Yes, saer." She sighed.

"Oh, do keep talking like that. You're going to be wonderfully obedient, aren't you?"

~

[zephyr-rat]

Arcane Season 2 Act 2 Thoughts: Shockingly Cheap

The more I think about Arcane season 2, act 2, the more cracks I see in the story. To me, it's definitely the weakest of the 5 acts of Arcane we have seen. I do have my complaints with the general canon and direction, but I don't believe such criticisms are that helpful. I'll make another post concerning what canon Green Giant Saga ends up following (My Zac/Twitch fanfic series) that will have those complaints.

Instead, I'll just focus on my biggest problems with act 2

Characters Exist as Plot Devices for other Characters

There just seems to be a lot of characters that just act as props. Isha, a small non-verbal child with death flags everywhere, just exists to force Jinx to turn a new leaf. Warwick just exists to provide a potential happy ending for the Warwick/Vi/Jinx family so that the writers can take it away in emotional gut punches. Orianna (I think), a dead kid in a capsule, just exists to make Singed more sympathetic. That whole warden squad with Maddie, fish-guy, and big-guy? Maddie just exists to be Caitlyn's conscious for a scene and Big-guy just exists to show how much Vi deteriorates after the events of Act 1.

This in of itself doesn't need to be a bad thing. If you want to look at it in a very utilitarian, doylist perspective, all characters exist to tell a cohesive story with a clear theme. Not all characters will get the spotlight and must simply exist to support other characters, especially in a story with only 9 episodes, but it's getting very annoying how seemingly important these characters are to the plot when they're given little depth.

Isha and Warwick, to me, are the worse offenders. Isha who plays a significant role in redeeming Jinx, is a non-verbal kid with little backstory and interiority other than she wants Jinx to be Zaun's hero. She just exists to be so innocent and cute that even Jinx sympathizes with her, but with so little depth, she might as well just be a teddy bear. (I'd also point out that this does a disservice to Sevika who should've been more in Jinx's corner but just disappears from act 2 after episode 4... ugh..)

Warwick feels more like they revived Vander's corpse for more tragedy points. They really hammer home how much Vander wanted to take care of Jinx and Vi as kids with 2 big music video sequences. Vi even thinks about living in Viktor's cult town as a happy family, a happy scenario that exists so that the writers can gut punch us with the tragedy that's about to come. Season 1 had the sappy dad too, but what made it work for me was that it's combined with his reluctance to advocate for change in the undercity and his struggles of being a parent in grimdark capitalism as he tries to guide Vi to be a better leader. But now, with all of his rank and the context stripped down from him, he's just the sad dad character that gives the character fake hope.

So when Isha goes to blow Warwick and the attacking Noxians up with an overloaded gun, destroying the hopes of the main characters, I didn't feel emotional or sad or anything, because ultimately they just felt more like props to me instead of actual characters, and this is a big issue for act 2. If act 1 belongs to Caitlyn, then act 2 belongs to the Jinx/Vi/Warwick family and those 2 characters are extremely important to that plotline. Them being props, flattens the impact dramatically and makes it cheap.

If you felt very emotional during that scene, good for you! I'm happy you were able to be that invested. I'm just not one of you.

Less Political Intrigue

Part of what made Arcane really cool was that it highlighted the politics of Piltover-Zaun in a way that made the setting one of the main characters. You totally understand why Zaun acts the way they do and why Piltover acts the way they do and seeing the characters get entangled by that setting is deeply fascinating. It's part of the reason why Arcane is a great introduction to the Piltover-Zaun region. I'm also just a big fan of the setting and the political discussions you can have with it. (Green Giant Saga ends up doing this a lot)

And season 2 does continue that with act 1 and even episode 4. Ambessa making Caitlyn a dictator by exploiting her grief? Great! Mel trying desperately to do political damage control to avoid a war? Cool! Making Jinx a political figure to unite Zaun around even if she doesn't feel comfortable with it? Awesome!

But then with episode 5 and episode 6, the role of the setting diminishes. We start focusing more on the Warwick problem separate from the setting. Most of episode 5 takes place in a mine and most of episode 6 takes place in Viktor's cult town in the sumps, an isolated bubble away from Piltover-Zaun. Mel, the main figure leading that political aspect, got teleported away by the Black Rose. There are specs of it there like Singed agreeing to track down Warwick and make weapons for Noxus, but it doesn't play as large of a role like in previous acts, and it just can't. Not when we need to bring Warwick in since the act belongs to him. However, I already mentioned why he felt cheap, and the lack of integration with the setting, especially compared to previous acts, makes it feel all the more cheaper.

Now I will still say, Arcane season 2, act 2 is still good. It never bored me and it did keep me hooked on the screen. I just wouldn't call it great like I did the others acts of Arcane and the more I look at act 2, the more cheap it feels.

[swan2swan]

bit of a shipping rant below, but also not...

...I'm really kinda hoping they don't do a "Just Kidding!" with Brookenji.

I liked the notion that a fourteen-year-old and sixteen-year-old who fell in love while abandoned on an island running from dinosaurs would just gradually drift apart. I don't want them to have done a Shrek-style breakup because his Evil Dad was texting her at Exactly The Wrong Time, and maybe if she'd taken five minutes to come up with a better excuse, things would be better and they'd be Just Fine.

Especially because Kenji still had his Romantic Lead style...it was all her messing it up, not him. Kenji didn't fumble her, she lost him, and I found that a compelling story: she's getting lost in her own life, and it's pulling them apart. It felt mature and realistic, which really made the show refreshing.

The one thing keeping me from resigning myself to the future is that I do feel that it would be a disservice for Brooklynn to "learn her lesson" and "settle down", and I don't think Kenji would be tearing off into whatever adventurous life she's going to lead. Maybe both of them will quietly retire somewhere (in their early 20s???? THEY SHOULD BE AT THE CLUB! But they're not living this down ever), but...I dunno. Maybe there's a future for those two, but I dunno what it's gonna be.

Dinostar, sorry, I think you got mangled this season, I REALLY don't see a path to victory for you, baby. Not enough focus on you two, and I know I don't want a "prize" or "reward" ending, the best hope for you two is--once again--the "sometime in the future" option. But Darius also kinda seemed to come to the "it was a crush" realization when he admitted that he wasn't there for her. Brooklynn's just got the Charm.

Which brings us to--*microphone feedback*--which, let's be real, is never ACTUALLY gonna be a thing but has all sorts of on-and-off incidental possibilities. Definitely has Power, though.

But back to the Brookenji thing...I do appreciate the "Asian Man Romantic Lead" rep, it's criminally underrepresented, but I still don't feel like they were ever executed perfectly. But this isn't about ship preference, it's that they're going to need to have REALLY nailed the romance writing in Season 3, and frankly, I'd much rather that energy be given to the Yasammy wedding. And speaking of Sammy...I kinda hoped that we'd get some stuff with her and Brooklynn, but I don't think there was much (EXCEPT for the fact that she went and asked if that was Brooklynn there, meaning that she was having doubts about really seeing her because this is just a thing, oh look, it's Brooklynn again...but this time, she has hair Sammy's never seen her with, that's different, she always had familiar hair when she's a ghost). I dunno, there was extreme focus on Kenji (he WAS in love with her, give him that always and forever), but if that's a big thing in the next season...hm.

I'm just hoping we don't get a monopoly again next season. Kinda hoping that Brooklynn is off on a Clean Break. I noted in an earlier post that the girl is actually kinda being an accomplice...under extreme duress, mind you, but she DID volunteer for the DLN without hostages. Faked her death. Probably gonna have to pay years of taxes. It's not like she was put into Witness Protection or given permits by the government, that girl was Doing Crimes, and if they don't expose EVERYTHING (which, given that Soyona is up and running during Dominion...), she could actually need an identity change. Or to stay "dead".

I guess I'm just having a little worry that they're going to just go back to the way things were in the Camp Cretaceous finale, which Chaos Theory's stellar first season did a phenomenal job of gently prying it from our hands. We were all ready to let Brooklynn go, even without the reveal that she's alive (at least, I was), because they were all processing and moving on...and I don't think this season did enough to convince me that we should flip back.

[quinsixtridrupled-k]

Disney TVA Platform Fighter

Last December, I thought it'd be neat to have a Disney-focused platform fighter especially since Nick had some success with Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2. So I figured... why not a Disney one? For those who don't know, platform fighters are a sub-genre of fighting/party games - the most famous and primarily example being Super Smash Bros.

And so, with that idea, I asked a friend to assist me in aiding with creating a graphic for this hypothetical game's roster, lo and behold:

Pretty neat, eh? Now you might be asking... why Disney TVA specifically? For one, focusing on the animated tv production side might be more feasible compared to the whole Disney library, that, and it allows some spotlight on very interesting and varied roster choices.

And for another... I just like the animated series side of Disney better. Now, the most important thing to remember is that this encompasses strictly the Disney TV Animation production label only, so any animated series not created under that studio will not be included (more so to keep consistency). I've also elected to choose some more unconventional picks (Yzma, Genie, Bonkers, for example) just to give some variety.

And what's a fighting game without DLC characters, eh? So here are the three waves of it:

(Wave 1, featuring Stitch, Wasabi, Kick Buttowski and Shego)

I'll admit that Shego's placement as DLC over base roster in favor of Drakken is purely thinking from a marketing standpoint, but it does make sense on the long run. In Stitch's case... I mostly forgot Lilo & Stitch had an animated series while making the base roster lmao.

Wasabi was left out of base roster because of limitations, and I felt Hiro, Go Go, and Fred offer a more balanced variety of size and playstyles but I still didn't want to leave him out, so I figured DLC is his best bet.

(Wave 2, featuring Mike Wazowski, Marcy Wu, Spinelli and Zurg)

Color me surprised that Monsters At Work is a Disney TVA production - Mike was chosen over Sulley or Tyler as the main rep for that series because he feels like he'd have a lot more interesting potential and material to work off of with his general slapstick and comedy routines.

Figured I'd complete the Calamity Trio with Marcy as DLC - just like Wasabi, she was left out of base roster because of limitations.

I figured people would want a Recess fighter, so I chose Spinelli since she's one of the more popular character and she'd serve as an analog to Helga in the first Nick All-Star Brawl.

Zurg was originally meant to be a boss character only, but I opted to put him as DLC because well... it is Zurg. I feel like you could incorporate a lot of Dr. Doom's MvC moveset on to him and they wouldn't feel out of place lmao.

And finally, they're here for you - they're the third wave of the DLC crew!

(Wave 3, featuring Oscar Proud, Simba, Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur and Oswald)

This is... definitely the most experimental of the DLC waves. I think I've exhausted a lot of the picks I wanted at the time so I figured we could do with a more different direction.

Oscar is definitely there to ride on the coattails of Hugh Neutron in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 1 as a funny joke pick. I haven't actually watched The Proud Family so I don't think I would know if there are better picks, but still... I enjoy the wacky picks, they make a fighting game a fighting game.

Simba was gonna be in as far back as Wave 1, but I held off because... I'm not really sure why, but I forgot about him until I was making the third wave, so there he is now!

Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur are definitely there for being the main Marvel series under the Disney TVA label (alongside Big Hero 6, by technicality), and would definitely make an interesting choice considering Devil's size - you'd probably have to shrink him down to a point where he still manages to be big, but not... gargantuan big, which may seem like a disservice to a character who is a large T-Rex but I think you can still make it work (it worked for Ridley in Smash, and Iron Giant in MultiVersus).

Oswald is included by a mere technicality, due to having a small cameo or two in the Paul Rudish Mickey Mouse shorts, and I figured he has a big enough fanbase to warrant an inclusion, so yeah there he is.

And just for fun, we also have a bonus character:

Powerline! From A Goofy Movie!

Powerline seems like a very out there choice, but I figured you could make a moveset for him entirely out of his theming of electricity! And if you think he'd overlap with Megavolt... then, yeah I guess you are right on that part. But I figure you can differentiate them with how they play (Megavolt being a zoner, Powerline being a rushdown). Note, this doesn't mean he's only available through pre-order, but you'd get him free with it - otherwise you'd have to pay, but he's separate from the DLC characters.

So yeah that covers the playable roster. I understand that there are still a lot of series I didn't rep mostly because of limitations, or I forgot to put them in (Fish Hooks, for one) but I'm only human in how I make these, mistakes do happen so please understand...

I do hope that Disney takes a dabble on this someday, although I'm not sure how keen they are on their characters fighting each other in a silly fighting game. Still, it'd be an interesting thoight, what do you think?

[brw]

1, 9 and 10 for your ask game please!

1) the character everyone gets wrong

I'd go with Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, and I know that's cheating because that's two, but in my defence, the ways in which people get them wrong independently absolutely inform the ways they get the other wrong to.

Janet is a lot more proactive in her relationship with Hank than people give her credit for, and was a much bigger reason of why their relationship failed than people also give her credit for. There's a push to rewrite history and make her a very flat victim, and I can see why, but it's frustrating because I think it's a lot more interesting that Janet repeatedly and purposefully ignored multiple warning signs that Hank's health was imperiled simply because she held on to a belief that love could overcome anything, including a man's undiagnosed and unmedicated schizophrenia. It is JANET who makes the decision to marry. She is essentially the one who proposed, after Hank–hallucinating as Yellowjacket and genuinely thinks he is his own murderer–kidnaps her, then briefly becomes lucid and backs off.

Genuinely, right. Genuinely. I don't think the Hank we see here, violently hallucinating, thinking he murdered himself and having a totally different persona and attitude, was in a position to give meaningful consent! I think it's very clear this is a man a danger to himself and to other people, who was not in the right frame of mind to agree to marriage, but people prefer to write Janet as a very basic victim, which I think is a massive disservice to the actually really nuanced way her relationship with Hank was sometimes written, where Hank was clearly unwell and Janet knew it but thought it was an issue that could be fixed with holiday's and sex and Avenging and not a more fundamental psychological one, and that's a far more interesting story to me.

9) worst part of canon

Lotta things I can put here. I think at the moment I am most frustrated by "Krakoa had no people on it before mutants fine, therefore it isn't an ethnostate and it's totally cool and awesome", because the lie of "there were no people here before us!" has been used time and time again throughout history to justify genocide, oppression, violence and colonialism, and I do not think it is the place of the white Americans in charge of writing Krakoa to essentially legitimise those lies because they didn't want to write Magneto or Nightcrawler or Wolverine and company to be out and out colonisers. If you are writing this kind of project, I think you should have the dignity to commit to it.

10) worst part of fanon

in no particular order

Dadneto, House of M dynasty as a whole

Charles is walking. More than anything else with Cherik this annoys me the most. Motherfucker I'll break his legs myself. Please at the very least let the disabled character be disabled.

The notion that Sue/Namor is real and happened

Logan Howlett girldad

Crystal doesn't exist in the Maximoff family conversation, related to that I once saw a haha fandom meme where Crystal was called an absent parent and that is so fundmantally untrue it felt like I was being trolled

Claremont's racism and zionism isn't real don't worry about it. Close your eyes and only mention it when it's something you can't pretend doesn't exist like Kitty Pryde saying the n word multiple times

Hank McCoy was Always Evil and Always Fated To Go Dark. That's just a regular man forced to hang out with his high school friends after three years of doing nothing but smoke weed with a gay 1950s theatre nerd. You would turn "evil" too.

That Reed Richards doesn't love his wife??? He invented comic guys being really intense about their wives. Leave him alone... that's the love of his life above all else??? Excuse me.

[khruschevshoe]

Jim and Oluwande got the worst end of the deal. I'd even say they regressed as both characters and partners and anything they had built up in s1 was almost completely stripped away from them. The way they're portrayed together and apart in s2 is not only unlike the characters we saw in s1, but their rich storyline was reduced to extreme side characters used only as plot devices in a way they absolutely did not have to be used. I LOVED them in s1, and I was so disappointed by what s2 did to them and their potential growth, which I think applies to pretty much everything in s2, not only them.

Mind if I piggyback of this ask to go into all my critiques of the handling of Jim/Olu in Season 2? Thanks!

OFMD Critique: Tealoranges, Dropped Storylines, and Wasted Potential

God, the issues I have with the writing of Season 2 extend in so many directions. Jim's character, I felt, was well-handled for at least the first two episodes but then slowly starts skewing wrong as early as episode 3 (I am still chewing glass over the way their reunion scene with Oluwande was written- or, rather, NOT written). Episode 4 was good, but everything after that? Someone said that Jim in the back half of the season feels more like Vico than Jim, and though I do love and appreciate Vico, it's completely true. Jim doesn't feel like the same character we've come to know, whether from Season 1 or even what is set up in early season 2.

And yet, I STILL feel like they're written better than Olu, if you can believe it? So, I haven't talked about this much, but I feel like Olu is done dirty from almost the moment he is introduced in Season 2. At least Jim (through editing alone, but hey, we'll give the show the smallest benefit of the doubt) gets an acknowledgement that they miss Olu during that flashback sequences while they talk to Archie- Olu doesn't even get that. I read about a deleted scene that would have had Pete and Olu desperate to reunite with Lucius and Jim in episode 1 and I feel like that was DESPERATELY needed to make the Season 1 finale -> Season 2 jump make any sort of sense. I like Zheng, but for the love of God, her romance with Olu (which I had my own issues with for the disservice it does both their characters) is not worth destroying the tealoranges build up from Season 1. Just cut something from the first episode or one of the Zheng/Olu scenes from the second episode to make it make sense.

Then, moving onto later in the season- I've posted about how Olu and Jim deserved the grand, epic reunion otherwise 1x10 and everything set up with them in Season 1 doesn't make sense. Could the writers of the show have possibly redistributed some of the glorious cinematography from Ed and Stede over to Jim and Olu? All I need is one shot of their reunion (a proper, emotional one, not played for laughs or friendship or whatever) framed by the sun to parallel Ed and Stede's being framed by the moon and I would have been happy on that front.

And then later in the season...I was down for the poly elements if they could have been executed better. Fanfics have shown that the Archie plot could have been executed well. But the fact that Zheng is straight up NOT MENTIONED until 2x7 by Olu? And then Jim says that he's been pining for her the whole time? I'm sorry, but it doesn't compute. Show, don't tell. There's a reason why I'm down for Jim/Archie/Olu (if executed well), but can't see Zheng/Olu at all.

But of course, 2x7 comes along and we get the "family who fucked" line. And the implication that Olu could have ever left the Revenge without Jim, when in Season 1 he became a wreck because Jim left for A FEW DAYS, much less was FORCEFULLY SEPARATED from him for MONTHS. Then in the finale, at the lupete wedding, they were separated out, him with Zheng and them with Archie, and, well, at that point...I was tired. I'm not gonna lie. Because this wasn't questionable or problematic writing, it just fundamentally DIDN'T MAKE SENSE.

And this is just on a romantic relationship POV. I hated seeing Olu lose his leadership arc from Season 1 and his loyalty to Jim and his nuanced emotional level-headedness/sense of logic. Season 1 really felt like it was slowly building up the idea that the ideal Captain was neither Stede nor Blackbeard but someone a bit more rational, a bit more grounded, a bit more communicative with his crew- someone like Olu. And he gets shoved into the back in Season 2 and reduced to the guy who can't sort scrolls or know that the BOATS ON A MAP MATTER. He gets no influence on plot or major decisions when he was often the voice of reason in Season 1 (we all remember Lucius being a romantic voice of reason in Season 1, but rarely remember that Olu was a major supporting deciding factor in a number of decisions made on the Revenge).

And as for Jim, I wanted more exploration or even just acknowledgement of their trauma post episode-4. I wanted an actual organic continuation of their character arc post-vengeance quest and post-Blackbeard, not just them getting defined by "funny knife thrower with a girlfriend and an ex-boyfriend who they want to get with his crush." They were so much more than that, and it killed me to see the two people who were basically main character 3 and 4 in Season 1 get shoved aside for unneeded subplots about Ricky and Zheng or Gentlebeard's three separate breakups when Jim and Olu's plotline had so much more potential than any of that. They weren't just star-crossed lovers- they were a slow burn ship built of absolutely interesting, complicated, and well-developed characters who brought out the best in each other with a DEVASTATING midpoint to their arc and it honestly would have made a better season not just for them as characters, but for the show overall if someone had just realized that the parallels between a couple that fights and claws to stay together no matter what (tealoranges) and a main ship that was still figuring itself out (Gentlebeard) would have SLAPPED.

(I am now picturing a version of this season where instead of the Izzy fakeout death/Gentlebeard reunion in the beginning of the first episode, we get an Olu/Jim reunion in episode 3 to parallel whatever reunion the writers wanted to slap together for Stede/Ed. I would have actively cried over the Olu/Jim reunion and it would have drastically improved the season.)

[alicepao13]

Hudson and Rex S03E09 - Grave Matters - PART B

"I told you departmental policy, Sarah". Literally 15 seconds later: "Maybe if I dip into Camilla's college savings..."

Joe: "You could lose your house". Sarah: "I know but this is Charlie we're talking about".

What do you mean you're going to search what kind of sprinkler systems are on this time of year? How could that be an amount small enough worthy of investigation?

Not the wheezing sound!

Wrong grave, guys.

Regardless of grief and whatnot, that woman and her husband were psychotic. If you really think that the police has done you such a grave disservice during the course of the investigation on your son (which they hadn't), then just shoot the guy. Don't torture him like that.

If tortured, then why so sexy?

"I'm giving you hope and then I'm gonna take it away". I mean, this is seriously fucked up. Imagine the entire thought process behind that. You can murder someone in less than a second. But imagine the thought process in all this. The lack of regret. And they've had him for hours, not one of them felt remorseful enough to let him go.

"So you can feel what my son felt in that coffin after you botched his investigation". Okay, but he wasn't the one who did it, not to mention that it was ultimately the fact that they paid the ransom that killed the kid (which they don't know). Why torture him like this?

"What have you done?" Ugh, I love the moment where he realizes that they probably buried another innocent person. His reactions and everything are show on point.

"The judges and lawyers were covering up for SJPD's mistakes". Okay, that might happen, at least from the police's side. It's rare that the entire judiciary system helps with a coverup (unless we're talking about countries like Greece). Still, not what happened here.

No comment. Just enjoy.

"You wouldn't talk to us even after the trial was over". That's not a crime punishable by torture and death!

"All to protect your precious reputation". lol what the fuck are you on about? Dude seriously solves crimes with a dog! I'd expect the entire police aside from those working close to him (who I assume respect him) to be calling him Ace Ventura.

"I didn't want you to know that paying the ransom triggered Noel's death". See? Next time tell the people everything, no matter how callous it may sound. Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves.

How did you miss, man? It wasn't that much of a distance.

"I smell Charlie!"

In such episodes, they always end up digging with their hands out of desperation. A dog pulling the rope, though, that's new. Not necessarily what I'd put him in charge of, given that he has four paws.

Found him!

This is a friendly hug. Also, look at Charlie staring at the sky. He really thought he would never see it again.

You two are never beating the "in love with each other since at least S3" allegations.

Charlie burying his face on Rex's fur, saying "Hi". I'm fine.

"You and your husband buried Patrick Gillespi" What about you, Charlie? Also, this is highly inappropriate, having the victim of the abduction interrogate his abductor.

"The bad news is that you're going to jail for a very long time". No, that's actually great news.

"I'm really sorry". Apology not accepted!

"Why did you go in with her? Are you okay? Can I bite her?"

"How'd it go?" "About the same as it always goes". Oh, do you get kidnapped often? She's not asking about a regular case.

"I heard about the money. And what you were willing to do for me." "It wasn't just me. Joe too." Not to minimize Joe's input but the minute the ransom demand was heard, Sarah was already on the phone.

"Thank you." "You would have done the same for us." "Well, I don't know. I really do like the house I just bought." Stop it. Also, I'd love to see the opposite happen too.

"I didn't think we could do this anymore." Well, it's not every day where they have to dig you out of a grave, Charlie.

Even more looks.

"To this team, and the fact that we're all still breathing." Who would have thought that being a cop in St. John's would be roughly as dangerous as a Mission Impossible movie?

Exposure therapy. Count the traumatic cases, by the way. They're starting to pile up. Keep that in mind.

This is one of my favorite episodes. It's too bad they never mention the whole ordeal again. What deity do I offer a sacrifice to in order to get this kind of angst again?

[cowgurrrl]

The Actress

Pairing: rockstar!joel miller x actress!reader

Author’s note: hehe

Summary: Red carpet interviews with Joel

Warnings: talk of an intimate scene, idiots in love, Joel Miller being a wife guy, PDA

You're walking the red carpet for the premiere of your and Ryan's movie Hyde when you recognize one of your favorite interviewers. She's done a few interviews with you in the past, and she always asks unhinged or extremely thought-provoking questions; that's why she's one of your favorites. You gradually approach her, snapping pictures with Ryan and Joel along the way, and hug her.

"Oh, my God, hi! How are you?" You ask, and Rosie smiles.

"I'm good. How are you? You look stunning."

"I was literally just about to tell you the same thing. This blue dress is everything." You gesture to her beautiful baby blue dress, and she does a little pose for the camera, much to your excitement.

"Thank you! Alright, I've got some questions for you. Are you ready?" She asks.

"Always."

"Hyde has garnered a lot of online discourse about parenthood and the choice of having and raising a baby or seeking other options. When you read the script, what were your initial thoughts?"

"I thought it was an amazing script, and I knew it was an important story to tell, so I'm glad it's getting people to talk! Amber and Nick's relationship and decisions are so nuanced and complex, and I think it would be a disservice to the story if we didn't talk about it. But yeah, I remember being excited and a little nervous, but I knew I wanted to do it." You say.

"That's amazing! Okay, what was the hardest scene to film and why?" She asks, and you sigh as you bite your thumbnail.

"Probably the hospital scene. I won't give any spoilers, but that was a really, really long and emotionally taxing day. And Ryan couldn't even be on set that day because he'd start crying or I'd see him, and I'd just want him to be next to me, but that's not what the scene called for, so they literally closed set and told him he couldn't be there which was really hard for both of us. He's like my big brother, so it was difficult to do that without him, but afterward, he gave me the biggest hug, which was so nice."

"Speaking of Ryan, one of the parts of the movie that everybody is talking about is the cabin scene," she says, and you laugh. "What was it like to film that with him?"

"It was really strange! We've been friends for so long, so when we read that part of the script, we were definitely taken aback by it. We both spoke with his wife, Carolina, who's also an actor, before production about it, and at this point, I hadn't met Joel, so I was single, but she was so welcoming and knew it was just work. We also had an amazing intimacy coordinator, Tanya Reid, who guided us through every step and made sure we were taken care of. It really was a good experience, and I felt safe with him, and he felt safe with me, so that's really the only thing I can ask for."

"That's so sweet!" Rosie says, and you nod.

"Yeah, I'm really lucky to have gotten such a positive experience with someone I love so much."

"Okay, I have one more question for you."

"Hit me with it."

"Who's the better kisser? Ryan or Joel?" She asks, and your jaw drops.

"This is a horrible question!" You laugh.

"You don't have to answer it if you don't want to."

"No, I'm a goddamn professional," you purse your lips together as you think. "I'm going to say Joel because I haven't had to kiss Joel on a sound stage in front of a crew of about thirty people yet."

"Yet?" She asks, and you shrug as you glance back at where Joel is waiting for you.

"Well, he likes to come to set with me, and sometimes we'll need extras, and then he gets roped in, so I just have a feeling that it'll happen one day."

"So, you're telling me Joel Miller is doing non-union work on projects with you?"

"He actually said something about joining the union the other day, and I was like, "You've been in, like, three things. Please calm down." But yeah, I'm gonna go with Joel. Not that either of them are bad kissers! It's just weird to kiss Ryan at work and then go out to dinner with him and his wife, y'know? I think I'll stick with my own guy." You say as Joel walks over, hearing his name.

"Talkin' bout me?" He asks, kissing your cheek. He introduces himself to Rosie with a strong handshake and a gorgeous smile, that impeccable southern charm making an appearance.

"We were talking about how you're working on your EGOT status with all your non-union work." You say, and he laughs.

"Well, together, we've got, like, three-fourths of an EGOT."

"That's true."

"Joel, what do you think about all this?" Rosie asks, gesturing around at the event. "I mean, your girlfriend is pretty cool."

"Everythin' she does is pretty cool. I'm very lucky to have her in my life and to watch her thrive as an artist. I mean, there's nothin' better than watchin' your partner be happy, y'know?" He says, and you smile. “She’s also smokin’ hot. I mean, just look at her.”

“Joel!” You slap his chest.

“Do a spin! Show off the look!” He encourages you, grabbing your hand and raising it over your head. You oblige and spin under his arm. Joel wolf whistles in response, making you laugh, and fall into him. You two are the picture of domestic bliss: his arm wrapped around your waist and your hand on his chest, big smiles on both your faces.

“Well, you two are the internet’s favorite couple so we hope you guys have an amazing night. Congratulations on Hyde hitting theaters.” Rosie says, and you hug her.

“Thank you, sweetheart! Have a good night!” You say as you grab Joel’s hand. He uses his other one to shake Rosie’s hand one more time before walking the rest of the carpet with your guy.

[frantic-fuck]

Hey Ziri how's it going dude?

Snakelet - Chapter 9

@randowhump birthday event - Winged Whump (4) and Hallucinations (14)

Masterpost

Content: Nonhuman/vampire/winged whumpee, pinned to a board, psychosis, maybe unreality?

Figured I'd give you a twofer to make up for lost time, lol. Happy birthday!

~

Ziri jolts with a start at the unfamiliar voice, eyes darting back and forth to find the source.

"Tsk. I told you not to move, little bird," chides the torturer of the day. "Now I'll have to add even more pins."

"P— plea— GAAAAUGH!" He chokes out a scream as they drive another stake into his wing, splitting flesh and bone alike to pin him to a board like a fucking butterfly.

Desperate for a distraction, he focuses on the voice. It seems like it's still just him and his assailant in the room, and even if they did bring another torturer in, they wouldn't just... casually ask something like that. They'd be all gloaty and stupid about it.

It must be a new voice in his head. Wonderful. Like he needs more.

...Unless it's actually—

No. Stop. Stop. It's — probably — not real. And if it is, he'll deal with that problem later, because there's approximately fuck all he can do right now.

Fuck, what was the question again? It was a question, right? It felt like a stupid question.

Ah, right.

He responds in his head, as he does the other conversational voices. Janessa taught him long ago not to respond aloud, not around people who want him to suffer. He does not need help losing touch with reality, especially now.

Not great. Really bad, actually. Horrible. Worst I've ever been.

Another stake shatters his bones and train of thought alike before he can figure out another way to phrase the same thing.

He hopes this voice is one of the nice ones, if it sticks around. Good company is.. sorely needed.

"Last one, birdie."

His throat beyond raw, he cries out at the top of his lungs as they finally, finally, drive the last stake into his wing.

...Second to last. Bastard.

"Gotcha, didn't I?" They laugh. "Nearly done. Just need to take care of your pretty little arms and legs. Those ugly straps are doing them such a disservice..."

A shuddery sob escapes him as they unstrap one of his arms and lift it, no amount of faux gentleness enough to prevent agony shooting through his impaled shoulder.

"Oh, you poor thing. Does it hurt?" They grin as they lazily wobble his limp arm back and forth, further straining the wound. He wants nothing more than to tear it from their grasp, but even without the fear of punishment, he's not sure if he'd have the strength to manage it.

All too happy with his miserable resignation, they fasten a golden manacle to his wrist. It's too tight.

He nearly laughs at the complaint. It's so mundane in comparison to the rest of his suffering.

He clings to the amusement for any trace of comfort when they begin pounding another stake into...

Not him.

Not him.

The chain he hears, probably. With every strike, he has to remind himself that it isn't him. They're clearly relishing in his terror.

Once his arms and legs have all been chained up, the assailant finally steps back, appreciating his work.

"Oh, you're perfect. Don't go anywhere, little bird."

With an infuriating chuckle at their own stupid joke, they finally leave Ziri alone. The silent one resumes gently braiding his hair, and as much as he'd rather not be touched at all, he supposes beggars can't be choosers.

All too soon, the door opens, and the braiding stops. The first piece of shit walks in with another one, who ogles at him uncomfortably before they each grab one side of the board he's been pinned to.

"One, two, three, hup!"

They turn the board horizontal, and a scream claws out of his throat when his body weight suddenly pulls on the stakes impaling him, inflicting an entirely new level of pain. And of course, they make no effort to avoid jostling him as they carry him away.

It's so, so tempting to escape into his own head, but he forces himself to try to process what's going on. He can't risk making a habit of dissociating. As much as every ounce of his brain DESPERATELY wants to. He needs to be present when he gets back. He needs to be useful to Janessa.

For Zop.

For Zop.

For Zop, he strains to pay attention to where he's being carried. But every detail he takes note of is jolted back out by a bump in the ride.

...He's going to get Zop tortured again, at this rate.

Eventually, he can vaguely tell that he's being hung to a wall. Gathered around him are all the bastards with such a vested interest in his misery, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the pitiful display of helpless agony.

The piece of shit who did it stands back, admiring their work.

"You really are gorgeous."

[dear-wormwoods]

hello!! i’ve been reading your works for the character analysis and i wanted to say that i love what you write about eddie kaspbrak! especially, getting at all the details from the book. but i wanted to ask you.

which eddie kaspbrak is better portrayed? the 1990’s version or the 2017 and 2019? personally i love the 1990’s more. :)

Thank you so much! Eddie is one of my favorite characters to write meta about, he's just got so much going on that's worth reading into.

As far as which portrayal is my favorite, I'd probably rank it like this:

Dennis Christopher is my #1, but it's a close race. He really captures Eddie's youthfulness and nervousness without making him lacking in bravery. But really, it's the behind the scenes stuff that makes this version of Eddie so great. Dennis Christopher really put a LOT of thought into how he was going to play Eddie and even though the writers didn't explicitly say he was gay, that's how Dennis played him. He also chose the iconic Running Up That Hill as Eddie's song, and made sure his hair was perfectly flouncy for the role.

Jack Dylan Grazer comes next by a hair because he struck a perfect balance between Eddie's soft side and his fiery side. His Eddie is argumentative and neurotic while still being compassionate and truly adorable. He's also very brave! Jack really made sure there was a clear difference between Eddie as he is around his mother and Eddie as he is around his friends. And Jack clearly really loved this role and put thought into it - he kept adding songs to his Wheezie's playlist ages after the movie premiered. That being said - Jack in Ch.2 flashbacks was NOT the same... it really felt like he was just playing himself in those.

Adam Faraizl comes in at a low third because he's pretty much just cute in a grumpy sort of way. His version of Eddie captures how serious he tends to be as a kid but there's not a whole lot more to his portrayal. He doesn't open up as much as Eddie does throughout the summer of '58 in the novel. There's a lot less nuance to him, but I think if you combined his portrayal with Jack's, you'd end up with a close (but not exact) interpretation of kid Eddie as he is in the novel.

And finally... James Ransone. Honestly when this casting was first announced I was really excited about it because I really liked him in Sinister and a few other roles. He looked the part, too. I went into Ch.2 with very high expectations for his version of Eddie, and was very let down. It's partly due to the script being poorly written, because they really did a disservice to Eddie's character making him mean and cowardly for most of the film and then giving him a lame death scene. But a lot of the fault falls on James Ransone REALLY phoning it in and being lazy about the role. He basically just copied Jack's mannerisms without any of the heart and soul Jack put into the role in 2017. It was just bland and very unlike 'true' Eddie, who has SO much depth and SO much nuance and really isn't aggressive at all. I blame James Ransone for doing irreparable damage to the way Eddie was portrayed in fanworks after Ch.2 premiered, and that's unforgivable to me.

That all being said... nothing can ever compare to book Eddie. He's the best of all time.

[ccaptain]

@predvestnik: His hands had grown weary from the diversion of feeling along each blade left to his care. They were many, unique, Tartaglia has found it telling of one's personality how thorough their care of these weapons are. His fingertips studied their hilts, the carvings found in metal and wood; he felt how they didn't fit his hold, but certainly matched their true master's.

In the end, the Harbinger capped them carefully, even changed a few that were worn from use and, therefore, too unsafe to be strapped against skin and flesh. The pouch guarding them was nothing special, made of common cloth and a string the Eleventh himself twisted from high quality yarn looping around one of the extremities as means to keep it shut.

      ❛ They're not my style, ❜ he justified with a boyish smile as company to his voice. The pouch was left on the nearest surface, this being the only intrusion he permitted himself after knocking on the door to the spy Fatuus' dorm.  ❛ And who knows what disservice I'd be doing a comrade by depriving them of their claws? I'm sure they yearn for their master's clutch as much as the inverse is true. береги себя, Ambroise. ❜

   not many things could surprise Kaeya- by now Ambroise Petrov, a man blending in the Fatui lines.

   The Eleventh was one of those things.

   it had been a few days since he started walking around with a very peculiar item of dressing- the black and white coat, symbol of the Harbingers, handed to him by Tartaglia personally. his dorm-mates drank up the lie that their favorite superior saw Ambroise trip and ruin his coat, promptly and chivalrously giving the poor fatuus his- and he almost felt sorry as he had to make the story up.

   the coat was lovely- yet, he felt strangely naked with it on. it had a few hidden pockets... and no knives.

   granted, if his precious daggers had to be the price to keep his disguise, he would have gladly paid so a thousand times over. 

   and still, Childe manages to surprise him once again.

   as he sees the Harbinger himself peer into his dorm, thankfully empty for the time being, Kaeya's eyebrows can't help but almost lift all the way up to the end of his mask- expecially at the seeming gift placed on a furniture, at the return of his weapons like it's the simplest thing in the world to do. there's a moment of brief embarassment, when he's caught with the other man's coat still on- like he stole it, like it's a private situation to sport himself with the slightest of flushes on his cheeks.

   there's a moment when he raises to meet Childe- yet, he can't find anything witty to say. 

   he holds the makeshift pouch in his hold like it's a child, with an hand cradling it close to his chest. there's no doubt that the blades inside of it, pressing snugly against his fingers even from the fabric, with the gentle way the bottom is held just before he looks back up at the other man.

   the other man, who just returned his tools of survival like it was the most natural gesture in the world.

   ' i trust you've treated them well, ' he finds his words again, and that particular brand of soft and playful disrespectful smile that seems directed at the Eleventh and for the Eleventh only. ' they have indeed missed me- and i hope i can find an use for them, soon! ' a soft laughter follows, his mask long discarded on the bed as he was coming to meet his Harbinger. he shows his eyes to Childe without fear- after all, Kaeya thinks...

   he thinks that he has found a very good ally.

   that- or he's going insane.

   and if he is, he'll add to the growing hystery of the situation: ' you should come meet me more often, by the way, ' he teases, an hand applying a gentle pressure on Childe's shoulder to push the other's frame at an height his face can reach...

  -he presses soft lips right on his cheek.

   it's barely a pressure, a gentle one that leaves a faint, pleasing scent of the cocoa butter he carries, to avoid his lips chapping, on freckled skin- but it's gentle, and warm to boot. after that, Tartaglia is safely released without further harm- perhaps a flutter of his heart, and nothing more.

   ' thank you, ' it's almost coy, the way Kaeya whispers it in his ear- it borders on bashful, the persistent redness not leaving his cheeks.

   ' and... береги себя тоже, Childe. '

[notmuchtoconceal]

Beautiful response. I know I said this before, but you don't have to dignify each of my asks with a response. You can ignore as many as you like. Especially when I'm drunk and say something incredibly stupid and worthless. I'm not embarrassed about those moments put on display (sometimes I need a good reprimanding to get my head back on)--it's just that I don't believe my id and my impulses should be enabled. When someone's being too stupid to breathe, deigning to speak to them is doing them a disservice.

I think you'll find your life is happier when you only reward people who give you worth. And the reward you should give those who give you their worth is your voice. If what I'm saying holds meaning to you, respond. If it doesn't, please don't.

Remember how I was talking about principles? That's one of the principles I follow, and it is the opposite of stifling. It's liberating.

When I make these asks, I do them for me. It's easy to mistake that for selfishness in its purist form, but like, it's more akin to the selfishness of someone who's faced with their own mortality? The selfishness of someone dying of cancer who has let go of their concerns and embraced a sort of optimistic nihilism. And since I ask them purely for myself, you can decide if they have consequences or not. I'm both complex and simple. The simple part of me is that I enjoy watching you perform. The selfishness comes from the fact that you're so good at what you do and so intoxicating that it's easy to forget you aren't some Performance Golem, and there's, y'know, a person behind the mask. Maybe that's a compliment for you. I'm gonna trust my gut and say it is.

I ain't a sociopath. But I'm like a recovering alcoholic. You really, really don't wanna put alcohol in front of me, bro. Because you know and I know that I want it. And if you want passion, you're gonna place that bottle in front of me, and you're either gonna get something really, really wonderful or really, really terrible. Either way, it's the path of chaos. If you don't want to experience a migraine DO NOT put that bottle in front of me. When I grin mischievously, don't look at the grin. Don't even look at the coy eyes. Look behind them. Look for the pain. Look for the person who's screaming for you to NOT, DON'T DO IT, DON'T YOU DARE and pounding fists against the irises.

What you are describing is the healthy attitude formerly adopted which allowed me to beat depression and drastically recomp my formerly morbidly obese body. I'd lost this attitude once I had to seriously reassess the motivations of the self-professed faggot for whom my ire is the substance of life itself.

His behavior was so confusing to me, I took on his perspective, changed the shape of my soul to understand him. I did it voluntarily and let him ruin me. There was a part of me that didn't think I deserved to get better. A part of me that thought I was cheating. A part of me that was leaving behind my family, whose abuse I was complicit with for most of my childhood, partly out of survival, mostly because I didn't know any other way to be. I felt as though I needed to forget so much of my past as I could to change, this faggot refused to forget and thus refused to forgive, and so always focused on surviving, could never thrive.

I did much penance and psychological and spiritual castration in my 20's to separate myself from my former brutality, and I'd felt myself in a place where I had understood my own values and my own limits well enough that I could take on the weight of my darkness in a productive way. I was wrong. I'd become too yielding. The faggot was evil. I remember all the ways he tried to talk me down into agreeing to be as pathetic as he was. I remember how transparent some of it was and couldn't see what was right in front of my own eyes. He wasn't any more evil than anyone in my own family. No more evil than my own little brothers. Small, scared, shivering, needing to poison you for an ounce of self-validation.

I don't owe my family shit. My family are even bigger assholes than I am. They choose to be this way. They don't fucking turn themselves into other people to reach transcendent self-destructive catharsis. Neither did this faggot. When I started ignoring him, it was because subconsciously I realized the game was up and he'd gotten out of me what he needed. If he wanted me to be a finance bro with him, fucker should have had the patience to help me with money blocks, cause I don't like being mindwiped and brainwashed. I got fuckin money issues and trust issues and I don't appreciate some fairy screamin at me.

I'm not gonna become a fuckin Ubermensch listening to scared farmboy chickenshit faggots, okay? Use your big counselor nerd brain to avise your king or go your own fuckin way, but I ain't your lackey. I was your muscle when you deserved it, but when you're a bitch, I ain't yours. St. John My Everlasting Light. It was so fucking confusing to me how pathetic you were. Bafflement. Sheer and utter bafflement is how you got eyes on you, sweetie. Holy shit. Must feel good to finally be totally figured out so you can be totally reduced and limited to a footnote just like you need to do to everyone else to make yourself feel less than tiny, huh? Holy shit. Every time I think about you now, I think about how I'm better in every way and how you deserve to be miserable for being so stupid. Holy shit. I've experienced all your thoughts from the inside and you are a total insipid garbage loser. Completely worthless. You have no value. If your brains were on the wall like Kurt Cobain's (who you admire and resent and long to be, with his beautiful hair and beautiful lyrics and beautiful bitch cunt breeder wife who reminds you of your bitch cunt mother who violated your boundaries so hard, every other woman feels like cheating, so you'd rather just be her and hate your father, the model of all shitty men who abandoned you) then everything would be beautiful.

I can imagine now the beautiful world where you've blown your brains out. I can see you screaming FUCK in that empty room for no reason, then unloading the pistol in your brain. A white flash of light engulfs you and a heavenly Cinerama score plays. The streets of a summer day in Milwaukee are lined with beautiful happy smiling couples in love, and everything is clean and the flowers are in bloom, and your ghost is there, invisible, watching all happiness, screaming about how you're alone and don't deserve love, and your ghost unloads the pistol in your brain again and there's a second flash of light and the day only gets brighter and all the happy couples more in love. I picture you blowing your brains out over and over and everyone around you just being happier.

I picture you being the only person in the entire world miserable and alone, trapped in a box in space filling up with your own piss and feces wile your eyes are spread-open clockwork orange style while you watch other people's happiness forever, damn-well aware you are the cause of your own misery. You have gotten me to temporarily ignore the German boy cause you've gotten your stain on him, but once you're washed off his 5D genius aura, all links between you and me will be gone, and your mental illness will only continue getting more hilarious.

Thanks for pissing on all my time and sympathy and attention, loser.

You begged to be fuckin worthless, and daddy's a giver and an accommodator. Way to go. You didn't like being encouraged for your art. You didn't think Tumblr was worth your time. Frankly, I don't think Tumblr is worth my time either, but what I make on Tumblr definitely is because I value myself. What the fuck was it with you and your heart button bullshit and bitching about people saying "hi"? Oneword? Uh. Is it cause you were a coward who followed broad trends to never be known? See, I believe you can work with broader trends without compromising your integrity, and this is the process of artistry? You don't understand that, though. You only know how to cowtow and beg. That's what you meant when you kept calling yourself a simp and a bitch and I was confused? I really couldn't understand how you saw yourself, cause I was reacting your writing, and not yet aware to the degree to which we were both drawing (as if in trance) straight from the unconscious, and so mutually had blindspots. See, if you had only given your attention to people who were worth it (like I did) you would only attract the people you wanted to attract. You played it safe and attracted safe people, then complained cause you wanted to be told what to do. You chose to be dumb and worthless.

That's why you go into the purgatory sex fantasy hell realm where your infinite suicide procuduces heavenly love auras now. That's why Ask Friend Crazy Guy is You, But Better In Every Way. He's a version of what you could have been if you had an iota of self-respect, but you pissed on everything you were given.

That guy who liked Xiu Xiu who you were bitching about and seemed to just think I was for reasons? Like... come on, dude. Did you just think that we liked similar things and thus were the same person? Are you not aware that art transcends ideology and you can't make blanket assumptions about an audience unless you're giving the game away you can only think like a targeted consumer bot? You're aware different people can like things for different reasons? Was there no thought whatsoever, and it was something like a sympathetic magical association? Are you way more a horny pagan witch than you're willing to admit? Why were you bitching about witches all the time when you so clearly are one? How completely unaware of yourself are you, and how much of the manipulation was deliberate? Are you just manipulative at the level of automatic implanted animal reaction? Are you trapped in the false garden of Eden? Do you just see things that you are and panic cause you think you'll get hit, so you pretend you're not that thing? Do you ever just slow down, stop and think and tell yourself there's currently no danger here? The past is the past? The person you're talking to is not your abuser? If you're hypervigilant, maybe engage responsibility instead of attaching yourself to someone? You're aware that other people have different feelings from yours? Maybe you're not because your crippling mental illness has left you in advanced state of emotional retardation.

You probably already knew I could understand people in ways you couldn't and produce art you couldn't fathom cause I had a deeper grasp of reality, huh? That's why you felt so worthless? I was just loving you and assuming the best, bro. I was hurt all my life and you were special and unique to me and you brought me into a different place. Thanks for shitting on me, though. You taught me I definitely had far more value than even I could have ever imagined possible.

Thank you, man. Enjoy the bullet through your brain, forever.

All is love is love is all.

[sana-yan]

fantasy booking/meta post-nj cup 2023;

!! spoilers under cut ↴

on SANADA;

following his big njcup win, i would love to see sanada get strapped with the belt. it's a similar beat to okada, 2016 naito (sanada's debut!!), EVIL (*sighs in missed opportunities*), and ospreay. if njpw is going all-in on SANADA, and they should considering he's taken up the niche that was once kota's, they need to give him legitimacy.

i think we can foresee a reign with a lot of changeover, but i'd like for SANADA to have at least a handful of solid defences against challengers -- he has a great set of rivals now that he's in the same "league" as them: okada, ZSJ (!!!!!!!!!), naito, EVIL (*sighs in future missed opportunities*), pwnoah's soya, shingo, and ospreay (!!)

with taichi by his side, they might even tease a short tag team run too. dangerous skulls, let's goo

all in all, a great showing from sana-yan and he has a lot to show.

on OKADA & chaos;

okada's due for a changeup and i think that his recent aggression with his own stablemates and looking to milf ace tanahashi could be interesting to play into, especially since chaos hasn't been a unit lately. robbie's quiet defection into tmdk has had no effect on his stablemates, which is always kind of disappointing but at this point; what is chaos? chaos during the nakamura leadership felt more cohesive, just a couple of lads doing their thing, but since okada has moved onto greener pastures, the group as a whole feels aimless in the story they're telling together.

people might dislike bullet club drama but at least the players are trying to make a script that involves everyone. :/ chaos as of late only get together to film a ytr dvd

which is why okada's tag match against bishamon was super cool! he went all heelish on them to the point where it's like -- kazu, those are your stablemates, mate, you have to see them later after the match -- if they pull the trigger on okada breaking up chaos (instead of another chaos defection) or his stablemates worrying about his recent attitude change and challenging him, that would be a fresh take on a severely underdeveloped stable as of late

on STRONG STYLE (ren, szk, despy);

what did they do to my beautiful boy desperado.......... i hate cheap mask removal spots, especially with despy. it just pains me this is where he is at when he's elevated the jr.'s scene while hiromu was injured for so long. now that he's down in the muck with h.o.t. on the undercard, that signals his contract might be a freelancer's (see also suzuki).

i am torn because despy is a very versatile wrestler and he will be a crowd fave for this year's wrestle peter pan, but i hate that his home promotion in njpw didn't give him the big win over hiromu. (bosj 27 kicked ass btw so if you haven't seen it, i strongly recommend thistle's watch guide here.) maybe he's taking matters into his own hands and raising his value in other promotions, but it saddens me that they'd resort to unmasking him like that when bosj 27's unmasking scene was story-laden and signified a big moment.

SHO is a funny lad and all but this felt such a disservice to have h.o.t. beat down ren and despy. what happened to their tag partners, taguchi and yano? where did they escape to? this is the issue i have with njpw face factions such as hontai. if they're faces, shouldn't they try to help ren and despy?

ren has the opposite throughline to shota and i'm sensing some darker edge to him which has got me fantasy booking like crazy. if the honorable fighter style of his mentor, shibata, didn't work, why not fall into the darker desires to finally defeat h.o.t.?

with suzuki-san and despy supposedly out of new japan's main scene for the time being, it sure would be interesting if ren went to the other fighter with ties to shibata who isn't afraid to get sadistic to win... aka give me the shibata-kenta lovechild ren narita. son of strong style gone dark with KENTA as his new influence. KENTA's been talking on about how ren is shibata's clone, so it wouldn't be a stretch to give ren backup just to spite shibata and also because elp hates h.o.t.

ren, elp, and KENTA vs h.o.t. doesn't sound too bad, depending on how bullet club is going to fracture following debbie-chan's loss this tournament. the never trios have gone down in quality, so adding KENTA's star power and elp's surge of popularity could elevate the trios scene, as well as give ren some more charisma with the crowd that shota is surfing on.

i think suzuki is going over KENTA in their upcoming match. suzuki wants to work more in the US and him holding the strong belt is good branding for the njpw strong show.

on TAICHI & J5G;

taichi, my beloved

that is all

nah, nah, i'll do a more focused meta on the breakdown of taichi's character someday but i'll say that this era of "kingmaker taichi" is a logical progression of his character. while j5g has no leader (based communist stable lmao), it's clear that the "emotional leader" is taichi.

i expect to see more of douki and kanemaru in bosj, and of course, for SANADA to be heavily protected (as he should! that's their ace!) in upcoming matches. while i will weep with a heavy heart at our holy emperor might be staring up at the house lights like TAKA, he has a "kenta kobashi"-lite underdog grit that i think that his losses only further develop his character and won't cool him off that easy. his backstage promos are witty, and the moments where he heavily blames himself for not being up to the standard of his partnering ace (milano, ZSJ, and hopefully sana-yan) signify the character's hardships. he also gets the crowd going hot when he's doing his mid-to-late match fire ups. idk if the man behind taichi just binge-watched a lot of classic ajpw and king's road but i am all for it. he's got kingston-like vibes but instead of addressing his enemies, he's addressing his friends.

i don't expect j5g to suddenly dominate the scene, but i hope we get a kobashi type payoff for taichi and douki like we just had with sana-yan.

on TMDK;

this pains me to say but imo tmdk are the least interesting active stable as a whole. individually, zsj + fujita is great, but the way that tmdk formed its group feels rushed and out of the blue to the majority of the crowd who didn't know the wrestlers had connections from way back. i know those two other dudes are zack's best pub lads but comparing them to the the presentation of early united empire, they don't stand out for me much. robbie relocating to tmdk might be a good move since chaos is... chaos... however, just like zack's induction in the group, i wish their major beats wasn't skipped or spedrun.

i guess they'll say that zack's lads talked with robbie at tamashii in australia? the others should try to find something to grip onto outside of relying on zsj's popularity and his current storyline with fujita vs the spurned young lions. i hope they can turn it around. i don't really enjoy eagles as a performer and i'm holding on for the payoff to the zsj story, but without an interesting storyline, this is low on my priorities. perhaps a full faction vs faction feud can spice up tmdk outside of shota vs zack for the tv belt.

on UE;

aussie open are perfect lads!! njcup was their place to shine, and they did rightfully so. i adore big men such as dunky, the stan hansen comparisons are appropriate, and kyle's little brother vibes mesh well with the cockiness of the UE. hoping they get a good rivalry with bishamon. while i'm not high on catch 22, i love cobb, o-khan, and henare's trios bond. tbh i am not as invested in ospreay's journey vs kenny, but i am excited for potential matchups with sanada, taichi, and okada.

on BOSJ :(;

as pointed out earlier, despy is out. :(

if hiromu's goal, and njpw's goal, is to elevate the jr.'s scene as much as liger did back in the day, they can't have hiromu dominating this field so much. liger's time felt amazing because they built up great rivals for him (naoki sano, wild pegasus).

the parallels with okada are fine and all but because njpw devalued so many of hiromu's rivals, i'm not as invested in the scene anymore, which is wild since the jr.'s scene is what made me subscribe in the first place.

the most i can hope for is douki to advance far and for new fresh blood to join this year's tourney.

on BULLET CLUB;

i am so glad debbie-chan lost because this added pressure to the angle is what they needed to differentiate it from previous power struggle storylines. before, it was leader vs leader or mini factions within bullet club duking it out with each other, but now this feels more like an ideology of who and what bullet club should be and aspire to do.

as unhelpful as chase is with his "both sides have a point" schtick, elp's focus on bullet club and finlay's focus on bullet club will determine the post-jay white era. i have mentioned it in previous posts but wishing for jay white to return won't help to revitalize the club as a whole. bullet club merch moved because the leader was getting belts and wins, and jay advocated for himself a lot. cheating as well, same with breaking the pace, and cooling off the crowd. all of these are great and they work for jay.

but people seem to have recency bias. jay wasn't universally respected or beloved when he positioned himself as the new leader. a lot of people hated him because he wasn't kenny omega, the best bout machine workhorse. we're seeing it again with finlay.

i think gedo knows that recreating jay will never get finlay over. he's harkening back to the workhorse heel like late aj styles and heavyweight kenny omega. i think that's the best foot forward in a post-jay vacuum.

i flung this idea around before but i would not be opposed to finlay cleaning house and replacing who he thinks are "soft" with the bc rogue army at tamashii. they are fierce and vicious. not only are they based in australia, making it easier to bring them, maybe ace austin and chris bey will be in this upcoming bosj, making it a numbers game between those who side with elp and those who side with finlay.

on ELP;

i love this cheeky little jevil (jester/devil) and unlike the popular takes, i don't want him to go pure babyface. i know he can, but he shines the most as a smarmy tweener-heel who loves derailing the match. only he can pull off his petty tactics without getting "go home" chants from the crowd.

if not in bc proper, it wouldn't hurt to put him in more tweener or other heel factions. i know for sure i do not want him in lij, his beef with shingo works best as it is, and chaos is dead in the water. with how njpw strong is being remade, and my unbidden bias for the filthmeister, i'm going to throw a curveball and fantasize about a team filthy!elp. team filthy is small enough for elp to have a bigger spotlight and also raise the brand of strong to the audience. also i really like tom lawlor and want to see him and royce more in japan lmao

on SAKURA GENESIS 2023;

bishamon vs ao: gonna be a banger

hiromu vs eagles: ngl, if they don't amp up the story, it'll be a forgettable fued. while it'll be no doubt, flashy af, if it doesn't rejuvenate a "lolhiromuwins" scene, the jr.'s are kind of bland. i actually thought lio rush was a perfect foil to hiromu as a rival b (with despy being rival a), and he'd be sorely missed. a draw between the two would have been very rare but also very awesome. others have brought up KUSHIDA to challenge hiromu because i think it'll be a hiromu win at skr gen 2023, but i think if they want to move the jr.'s forward, they're going to have to bring in new beats to old rivalries, or new rivals altogether. i don't think eagles has it in yet, but i am always looking forward to be proven wrong, so i hope the build to this is good for both wrestlers.

okada vs sanada; ngl their feuds have not been up to par with sana-yan's previous persona, but if njpw keeps these matches shorter, this okada vs sanada could really be truly worthy of moty. i personally would love to see sanada winning, with more borrowed new moves added to his set, but i won't be surprised if okada goes over. i'll keep a close eye on both competitors because now this match up finally has a dramatic gravitas.

[casspurrjoybell-27]

Our Hearts Collide - Chapter 17 - Part 1

*Warning - Adult Content*

Simon

"We could go for a run," I suggested instead.

"I haven't shifted for a while but I'm sure they'd love to be out there. Even if they don't take the lead, being in our wolf forms could make it easier. Slowly let them out that way. It'd be less stressful than in a confined room, for sure and if anything, we could have Xavier or one of the Betas around if that gives you a sense of relief."

He stared down at his empty plate, thinking about the offer.

"A run would be nice."

I smiled.

"Perfect. We could go tonight if you'd like."

He blinked, his blue eyes searching mine.

"Sure."

"Really?"

He nodded.

"I mean, being in our wolf forms is the closest thing to simply letting them out. Going for a run is cathartic for both of us. He's practically begging me to right now."

Similarly, I could feel my wolf pawing at the surface, almost whining too.

As much as I wanted them to reunite face to face, I had the same reservations as Vince.

Taking this slowly was the best approach, no matter how much I wanted just to let them out and enjoy each other's company.

It wasn't that I was scared or fearful of what would happen but Vince's words of warning did have truth in them, as much as I wanted to squash those fears of his.

Wolves followed instincts and in the event mine of Vince's wolf decided to do something one of us didn't like, then it would only make things more complicated and we didn't need any more complicated things, we've already had a lifetime of complications.

"Mine too," I mused.

"We should let Xavier know, though. Before he freaks out and issues a search party."

Vince laughed.

"He's been on my case about that. He joked about putting a tracking collar on me after I came back from the Northern pack."

"I wouldn't be surprised," I said.

"Probably has motion sensors and cameras around the pack house to keep eyes on you."

"No kidding. I thought I was supposed to be the one looking out for him. He's slowly turning into my babysitter."

"Babysitter? No, Xavier's definitely like a young pup. He definitely needs supervision, all the supervision. You just need some love and attention."

I smirked at his blank expression, letting the words hang in the air between us for a second before adding...

"That's what I'm here for."

Vince

It felt like forever ago that Simon's wolf had been in front of me and although the thought of letting both of our wolves out was frightening, hiding them away was a disservice to them and the number of years of waiting.

Simon was eager to get into his wolf form, practically dragging me by the arm to the rogue center after leaving Xavier's place.

Flecks of his wolf's amber eyes flashed briefly in his when he turned to look at me and I'd be lying if I said it didn't encourage my wolf to the surface.

As our feet carried us closer and closer to the forest edge, my wolf was pawing at the surface, begging to be released but upon reaching the edge of the pack line, Simon turned to me with the same warm brown eyes.

He smiled, his hand not leaving my arm as his other hand pointed to the rogue center.

"Ready to shift?"

I nodded and followed him inside, greeting the new guards Xavier had instated.

Simon was better at remembering their names than I was, even making small talk about the guard's families.

A couple of the younger ones bowed to us as we neared one of the vacant shifting rooms.

"It's alright," I said, raising my hand to stop them but they insisted.

"You're the Alpha's brother and the previous pack Alpha."

Simon held back a chuckle as I glanced at him for help.

He shrugged, walking away from the guards and me to open the door to the room.

With a sigh, I turned to the two guards.

"Really, it's okay. Not even Xavier expects this. Please, don't bow."

They didn't budge, still hunched over, replying...

"If you insist."

Slowly, they adjusted their postures, their heads still downcast as I sent them a parting and followed Simon inside.

"That was beyond awkward."

He laughed as soon as we walked into the room.

"It was hilarious. It seems you still have some power around here."

"Technically, I've been demoted to a Beta, if you could even call me that. I don't do half of what our Betas do."

He hummed, peering up at me.

"Still a pretty hefty title if you ask me."

My face scrunched.

"If you ask me, I think you hold more power over me than I do over anyone in this pack."

He tilted his head, eyes widening.

"Oh, is that so?"

"I think you've proven that more than once."

I gulped.

"Definitely stronger and faster and of course, smarter."

The corner of his lips lifted, his eyes twinkling even in the afternoon glow.

"I love this new giving-compliments-Vince. Don't stop now with the flattery."

I blinked, feeling the blush work its way back to my face.

If Simon kept saying things like this, the blush was about to be permanent.

"Weren't we going for a run? Shifting... yeah. We were shifting."

"Totally," he mused.

"You want to shift first?"

I nodded, even though it felt like his eyes were stripping me bare before I could even remove my jacket.

It was almost childish how I turned around to avoid seeing his face as I stripped the shirt and pants.

He didn't say anything as I placed the clothes atop a cabinet, lowering myself to the ground to shift.

Shifting was something anyone should have been comfortable with doing around others, it was normal for werewolves.

Yet, shifting in front of my mate was a different experience than in front of a practical stranger but we weren't exactly the average pair of mates.

We hadn't been in our wolf forms together since the attack Michael had led and before then, I think I could count on one hand the number of times we've been near each other in our wolf forms.

As I let the past thoughts fade out of my mind, I honed in on my wolf, who seemed content in a room with our mate.

Shifting into our wolf form was a lot about focusing on our wolves themselves, something I had nearly forgotten when I took those supplements.

Now that it wasn't a muddy picture of him, shifting was much easier, still awkward and uncomfortable, of course but worlds better than before.

Simon was already in his wolf form when I turned around.

"You make it seem so easy," I mused.

He shrugged before walking toward me.

"That wasn't so bad yourself. Shall we?"

[councillor-roland]

Rhys' hand on his shoulder was welcome, a small physical comfort and tether that Roland could attach himself to so he didn't get too lost in the memories and sorrow. At least, that's what he hoped and he was grateful for it regardless. Rhys seemed willing to listen even if he was less than sober and in spite of his stalling, once Roland got started he was glad for few interruptions. There was the expression of sympathy, of course, which was entirely inadequate. It often annoyed him more than anything but Rhys couldn't know that, he was just trying to be kind so Roland just nodded as he expressed it, still mostly in the grips of the terrible memories and feelings that thinking and talking about Alix's death brought him to. It was likely because of that that he barely registered the removal of Rhys' hand from his shoulder and missed the small gesture entirely. It was taking most of his strength not to crumble under the weight of emotions that really should have been easier to bear after ninety years but somehow didn't seem to be. Perhaps it was because of the way he'd dealt with it, the boxing away rather than processing them, but that was neither here nor there. He'd done what he had to do and he was still here now because of it.

Roland did notice the surprise on Rhys' face when he once again spoke of his feelings even if he was trying to hide it. He might not have been so observant but he was trying to come out of the feelings and pay attention to Rhys so he noticed. The surprise seemed out of place but then Rhys had never yet reacted to the confession the way that Roland hoped he would. Perhaps he would just have to be patient. Surely Rhys felt something similar for him, didn't he? They likely wouldn't be doing this if he didn't so Roland would just have to wait though he couldn't help but be plain about how he felt now that he'd truly accepted it. He enjoyed expressing love, feeling it now that he allowed himself to, and Rhys would just have to get used to it.

Finally, it was all told and Roland immediately wished he had another drink or five but it didn't feel like he could get up for one just yet. He still felt exposed and a little raw as much as he'd tried to keep the pain in check it wasn't wholly possible, not with this. There was a long silence but Roland didn't really mind, gratefully taking the cigarette he was offered. He took a long drag, feeling like he needed it, and exhaled slowly, looking at Rhys again when he spoke. Roland swallowed at the words. "As am I." He agreed, softly, though part of him still mourned the fact that they hadn't had enough, that they should have had more time. Rhys was grateful and Roland tried a small smile and thought he just managed it. "You deserved to know." Rhys of all people deserved the story, the truth of it. All the councilmen who'd known Alix, who'd known Roland and Alix together, they weren't worthy of it, not really but Rhys? Rhys could know, should know, and it was the only reason Roland had been willing to be so vulnerable. If they were going to work it seemed important that he give this explanation. When Rhys reached over to tuck Roland's hair back he leaned into the touch, pressed against his palm and closed his eyes for a moment, like he needed it. It had been far too long since they'd touched each other and for a tactile being like Roland it felt like he was starved of it. His eyes opened when Rhys spoke again, looking at him though he practically winced at the suggestion. He was your whole world. Yes, he was, he had been, but Roland couldn't follow that thought too far or he'd drown again.

"I'd rather not." The words were soft and pained and he tried not to think about how he might be doing Alix a disservice by boxing him away so completely. "It's a generous offer and I appreciate it but I...can't." To talk about him, just randomly? No, Roland couldn't see how he could manage it. He settled the cigarette between his lips to free up a hand, curling his fingers gently around Rhys' wrist so he wouldn't withdraw his touch even as Roland leaned forward to put his glass on the floor. He settled back and took the cigarette out, just looking at Rhys and holding his wrist, stroking the inside of it gently with his thumb. "I've missed you." It was just as quiet as the last handful of words Roland had spoken and he seemed to remember already saying that since Rhys got here but he couldn't help it, it bore repeating. He turned his head and kissed Rhys' palm lightly, tenderly, but didn't break eye contact, his eyes still filled with emotion.

Though Roland’s words were reassuring to hear, it would be his actions following the fractious period that would show if he intended to stay true to it all. It wasn’t that Rhys doubted him, not really. It was simply the most practical approach to adopt. If it occurred again, the cord would be severed entirely, no matter the initial ache. Still, such severe consequences didn’t seem likely; there was no hint of deception or doubt in Roland’s tone and the verve alone was enough to quieten any faint traces of lingering doubt. 

The teasing earned Roland a halfhearted playful shove in retaliation as he pulled away to fetch them both a drink. “Don’t need you to comment on it, just need you do it. Don’t dawdle, yeah?” The grin that had settled onto Rhys’ face amidst the bantering faltered when Roland spoke again and the witch fought to stave off the concerned frown that immediately threatened to fall as Roland’s aura began to shift at a more noticeable pace. The lightness to his tone did little to lessen Rhys’ rising perturbation and the witch gave a tentative nod of agreement. “...Right,” he replied slowly as he moved to settle into the couch, making sure to keep an eye on Roland throughout. Rhys took the glass with an appreciative nod and shifted to face him better, the frown finally settling into place as he watched Roland dejectedly stare into his wine. Resting his free hand lightly on Roland’s shoulder to wordlessly reassure him, Rhys’ expression flickered to unwavering compassion as the vampire spoke again. “Take as much time as you need to get through it, ‘kay?” Whilst complete sobriety was likely the most sensible state to receive whatever this explanation was in, Rhys was silently pleased to have taken the edge off of his rational thinking a couple of hours prior. Whilst eloquent emotional support was likely off the table, Rhys was willing to make an effort regardless. 

As always, the ethics behind mind reading – even in the simplest form of catching a glimpse of an entirely inconsequential fleeting surface-level thought – were perpetually tricky to find a healthy middle within. Roland had firmly stated his boundaries with that aspect of Rhys’ divination magic and, despite the occasional slip-up, Rhys’ magic had stayed put. But for a split second, the need to see for himself as Roland’s discomfort registered more explicitly across his features was almost overwhelming. Forcing his full attention to his own drink, Rhys focused on taking a generous few sips in preparation, the faintly burning warmth of the whiskey providing the required distraction for the urge to subside. Rhys listened intently as the full story was gradually uncovered, subconsciously rubbing small, soothing circles against his shoulder to keep him grounded whilst delving so deeply into such emotionally raw territory. The cause of Alix’s untimely passing pulled a sympathetic sigh from the witch and though Rhys knew there was nothing he could say that would fix that kind of hurt, he really wished there was something he could say that wouldn’t sound hideously cliche. “I’m… I’m so sorry, Ro. That’s awful.”

Roland’s recollection of their final moments together flashed before Rhys’ eyes before he had the chance to process what he was seeing. He lifted his hand from Roland’s shoulder as subtly as he could to cut the shared memory short before he saw too much, already feeling as if he’d imposed on a moment that wasn’t his to bare witness to. If he’d been subtle enough, Roland hopefully wouldn’t notice a thing and Rhys could forget he’d ever seen a thing, or try to, at least. Fortunately, the sound of Roland’s voice as he continued was enough of a reassurance that the moment had passed unnoticed and Rhys took a sip of his drink in relief, sitting a little further forward with the inebriated logic of such a gesture helping him to concentrate. The ache in Roland’s tone was palpable as he recounted the relentless agony of afterwards and all Rhys could do was nod understandingly as the vampire gestured the extent of his sufferance. When Roland finally managed to bring himself to look at Rhys, the witch made a conscious effort to try and mask at least some of the surprise on his face as his mind once again tried to process the admission of love. It certainly wasn’t the first time Roland had said as much since the ghosting period had drawn to a close but it still managed to catch Rhys off-guard every time it was uttered Still, he didn’t interrupt; it wasn’t his place to do so, not while there was still undoubtedly more to be said. As expected, the explanation behind his behaviour was offered properly and Rhys nodded slowly as he mulled it over.

Giving Roland a moment to himself once their gazes broke, Rhys downed the remainder of his glass and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as he patted himself down with his free hand for his cigarette case and a lighter, plucking two out of it and lighting both before holding one out to Roland in silent offering. “I’m glad you had each other for as long as you did,” Rhys murmured after a long silence, finally moving to set his empty glass down on the floor before settling back into place. “And it goes without saying, but it means a lot that you were willing to share that with me, so, y’know, thank you for… well, for doing it. It must’ve taken a lot.” With the added alcohol gradually settling into his system, Rhys was less tentative to reach over to tuck Roland’s hair behind his ear with his free hand to get a better look at him, taking another drag from his cigarette as he took in every tiny detail. “If you ever wanna talk about him again, just know that I don’t mind, okay? Like, I won’t be offended or jealous or anything stupid like that. He was your whole world, so I get it. As much as I can, I get it. If you’d rather not, I’ll respect that too. Just want you to know that it’s always an option.” At least full closure had been given surrounding the exact reasoning behind Roland’s disappearing act from Rhys’ daily routine – that alone had inspired further hope in rebuilding something enduring between the two of them.