#I may be an outlier (I hope not) but if I see something I enjoy I reblog it

[mercuriallily]

Gonna sound really bitter but like. Are people allergic to reblogging or something

[leggerefiore]

Can I request how submas, piers and other celebrities would react to the whole mob wife fashion trend? How would they react to fans dressing up as their "girlfriend" or what not?

guessing this is like more of a weird cosplay thing than like what I did for villains. also an s/o there since. x reader blog and all lol.

also first time writing piers so it may suck💔

cw: light jealousy? kinda sorta

characters: Ingo, Emmet, Piers, Elesa

▲Ingo▼

● The second he sees something related to a fan dressing in a “train wife aesthetic”, whether it be from Elesa showing him a post she saw online or in person somewhere in the Gear Station, he instantly is distressed by it. Why? He had heard of people wanting to buy his and Emmet's coats and hats, but that made sense with them being local celebrities in Nimbasa. Their choices confused him further. Something about the focus on sweaters alongside a strange fascination with the colours black, purple, and white left him baffled. It almost felt like they were taking from his casual outfits, almost.

● He supposes he does not mind, though. It was nothing too out of the ordinary. He had witnessed people dressing up as him and his brother, so this felt like some other odd things his fans did. As long as none of them were actually claiming to be his partner, he decided this was nothing that he needed to address. Ingo would just wait this out, assuming that people would eventually get bored and move on after a little while.

● Though, if his actual partner was upset by this, he might feel less happy with it. Especially if there were a few outliers of the mean daring to claim that they were in a relationship with him. Ingo would hate for people to cause distress in you and would likely ask that people please stop pretending to be his partner since he is already in a relationship. Whether that would actually do anything is anyone's guess, though. He would definitely beg his partner not to try to fight the weird fans online, too. That was the last thing he would need.

● Ultimately, Ingo just hopes it will pass quickly as an odd but notable trend among his fans. The inspiration from his own clothing choices into theirs makes him a bit curious as to what they would think he would prefer his partner wear, however. Truthfully, he has no real preference. He is happy to let his partner wear whatever they please and enjoys how they express themselves with it.

▽Emmet△

○ Elesa absolutely has to show him it because he lives blissfully unaware of most things. He feels confused upon seeing this “train wife aesthetic” video, with a woman choosing to wear clothing themed among cutesy styles and bright colours. His expression is vacant, with his usual smile still on his lips. This made little sense to him. Were they dressing in styles they thought he would like? He asked Elesa, and she explained to him that it was related to some greater style thing happening in online fashion. Apparently, dressing up like your favourite celebrity trainer's partner was big. He just nodded.

○ He still does not understand for the most part. It was strange to him but ultimately harmless. People dressed up like him and Ingo often enough for him to just shrug it off. The only thing that may upset him was if one of these fans actually claimed to be his partner. That boundary was one thing that he would prefer not to be crossed. He just decided to go back to being unaware and figured it would go away, like most trends do.

○ If it was upsetting his partner, however, Elesa may need to take his phone before he makes a fool of himself. Even more so if it were someone claiming they were his partner online. He hates seeing his darling upset and does not want to allow anything that distresses them to continue! Emmet simply wants to make you happy. Elesa would help his draft a post to explain why people pretending to be his partner online makes him uncomfortable and how he wishes they would stop out of respect for him and his real partner. She had to stop him from threatening to send Joltiks after people doing it since he was so emotionally charged from it.

○ In the end, Emmet does not really like or dislike it, but he does prefer to pretend to know nothing about it. His curiosity about what led to the fashion choices that his fans all seemed to agree upon was his only real thought he gave it. Everything seemed so bright and cutely themed that he did not get it. He knew what he preferred his partner to wear, and it certainly was not anything someone could post online to normal social media sites. He just shrugs again. It was not the first time his fans had misread him, after all.

🎤Piers🌑

✖️ The singer sees it randomly while scrolling social media on his phone and cocks a brow up at it. “Punk Singer's GF Style”? He wants to assume it is someone else, but clearly there are too many elements in the various styles that call back to him. Hot pink, leather, and black and white stripes all dead giveaways. It did not feel anything far away from his recollection of fans making their own homemade dark-type gym uniforms before he started selling them at his concerts. He looks a little more into it and discovers its relation to a bigger trend with dressing like a celebrity trainer's partner. He scoffed at the “Gym Leader-Influencer's GF Fits” he saw.

✖️ He knows better than to acknowledge these things. No need to pour diesel on this when it would be easier to let it pass on its own. Fans do weird things – Piers is more than aware of this. He does feel a bit perturbed by a few audacious ones claiming they were his real partner, but even then, he knew it was better to just ignore it. They wanted attention and nothing more. Better to not feed it.

✖️ If his partner expressed discomfort at the trend, he would be inclined to agree. Especially if it were about the ones claiming to be with him. Piers did not want to force a public relationship with him on you, but if you wanted to do that to try to stop weirdos online, he would be down. 'Course, he is not forcing anyone to do anything. Even if you were clearly uncomfortable by it, he knows better than to bring attention to something. He assures you it will go away, and instead wants to channel your upset into something else. Help him write a song or something. Leave an impact on him in a way others only wish they could.

✖️ Piers does not really like it, ultimately, but he is more than aware of how the internet works. Though, he does find their choices in clothes most fascinating. Seriously? It almost feels strange seeing them in clothing similar to his own or, weirder, one he saw in a dress like Marnie's own. That one made him uncomfortable enough to block them. He does not really dictate what his partner wears at all. That is not his style. Not to say he would not prefer them to have similar tastes to his own, but he would not force that on them.

⚡️Elesa🌟

⭐️ The black-haired woman felt a bit intrigued when she sees something like “Model Gym Leader's GF Chic” on her feed. She enjoys fashion, after all. It was a bit strange seeing people dressing how they thought her partner would, however. All of it seemed yellow or blue and based around some of her previous looks or pokemon. Did they think she wanted to dress up a lover in some of her clothes? Well, maybe a little bit, but casually? Day to day? Not really. Though, she did hate how much she really enjoyed a lot of the styles. It was nice seeing inspiration taken from some of how styles and applied out on others.

⭐️ She would never speak about it openly, fully aware it would just bring more attention to it, but her inner circle and private account followers get to see her favourite styles taken out from the trend. Elesa does not really mind it, finding it mostly to be people online having fun, but she really does not like anyone trying to claim to actually be her partner. That is a boundary she does not like to have overstepped. Of course, she bites her tongue back on saying anything. Like most fads, it will pass and something new will replace it. She will just enjoy the lovely outfits that come out of it for now.

⭐️ Though, her partner expressing distress over it would make her a little less excited about it. Elesa gets what it is for the most part personally, but to you, it must have seemed like people wanting to be with her. Well, there were a lot of those, too. She would try to explain how she views it and hope it calms you down from your emotional high. Your feelings are perfectly understandable, too, of course. Especially if it is about the people claiming to be her partner online. Her best advice is to ignore it and let it fade, giving those people attention is the last thing to do. She is more than happy to remind you that you are who she loves in order to distract you both from it.

⭐️ In the end, Elesa does not mind a majority of the trend and even really likes certain aspects of it. She does, however, find it strange that they think she would like her partner to wear clothing really similar to her own. The model would not oppose that, no, but she really likes to see how they could express themselves individually from her. Their own style tells her a lot about their personality. That is what she loves to see more than anything else.

[anneapocalypse]

On Dragon Age II's Ending

The ending of Dragon Age 2 has always felt to me like the least morally ambiguous of any of the games' mage-templar decisions and frankly one of the least ambiguous "big" decisions in the series.

DA2 makes it extremely obvious that the Circle mages are about to be executed for something that absolutely none of them had any part in and no one, not even the Knight-Commander, is arguing that that isn't the case. You can feel whatever kind of way about what Anders did, and still recognize the staggering injustice of killing all the Circle mages for something that everyone, including the Knight-Commander calling for their deaths, is fully aware they did not do.

And just in case that wasn't clear, someone made a point of dropping in that bit of ambient dialogue telling us that Meredith is already trying to get clearance for the Right of Annulment before the explosion; she's just looking for an excuse. The game is pretty clear about the injustice of this situation, regardless of how many demons and blood mages there may or may not be in Kirkwall.

I'm a chronic replayer who enjoys making up new characters every time to see things I haven't seen before and I didn't have a particularly difficult time coming up with in-character, circumstantial reasons why a character might annul the Circle in DAO or recruit the templars in DAI and believe they're doing the right thing. For the former: dwarven noble who knows little about magic and believes what the Knight-Commander tells her, and chooses the wrong dialogue option with Morrigan in the party so Wynne attacks and therefore is not present in the party as an emotional anchor and a voice for the mages, and listens to Cullen when he says it's too dangerous to let any of the mages live. For the latter: non-mage human noble from a Chantry-connected family who just implicitly trusts templars, as he was raised to. Or Dalish elf who walks into Redcliffe, sees a magister stinking up the place and says "Well, the Dread Wolf take the lot of you then" and turns around and marches straight to Therinfal, conscripts the templars, disbanding the Order in the process. Just a couple of easy examples I've actually played.

But the ending of DA2 is a choice between "Yes, I will help to execute these people for something everyone knows they didn't do" or "No, I will not do that and I will help them defend themselves and escape." Of course it's possible to come up with in-character reasons to make the former choice, and I have! But it's much less of a choice a character could just stumble into, and you have to do a lot more ideological contortions for a character to do that and believe they're doing the right thing.

Yes, there are a lot of blood mages and demons in Kirkwall. While we don't get a lot of opportunities to treat blood mage NPCs with much nuance apart from Merrill as most blood mages are programmed to attack on sight (and this is likely a product of the game's tight development deadline), the game itself offers an explanation for this in the writings of the Band of Three, the Enigma of Kirkwall codex entry that you can collect throughout the story. While you have to look to find it, this history does make it clear that Kirkwall is meant to be an outlier, for reasons both political and historical (which is another post for another day). And Merrill herself, whether you agree with her viewpoints or not, does offer an important counterpoint: a character designed to be sympathetic while giving a more nuanced perspective to the player on why a mage might choose to use blood magic.

And yeah, even with the fact that the game makes you fight Orsino in the mage ending, I still think this. It's clumsily executed, yes, but Orsino going all blood magic harvester abomination is just one more example of what the game has been showing us all along: that mages (like most people) turn to extreme measures when they're backed into corners with no sense of hope, and the templars then use those extreme actions to justify further abuses of mages. I don't think it was strictly necessary (and for what it's worth, Mark Darrah agrees with that; it's a decision that was made out of concern for gameplay balance more than narrative and in hindsight he's said that he thinks it was a mistake), and I definitely think it could have been executed better, but as it stands it does fit an ongoing theme, and Orsino's actions still do not justify the murder of every other mage in the Circle.

And then there's that thing where Hawke can only receive the support of the nobility and become Viscount if they side with the templars, thereby agreeing to uphold the existing power structures in Kirkwall. It's easy to miss if you've never played through the templar ending (and also because Hawke doesn't hold the position for long and Inquisition doesn't really acknowledge that they ever did Correction: It is actually mentioned in the Champion of Kirkwall codex entry, and possibly other places as well, my memory just failed me), but to me that outcomes is absolutely inspired. It serves to highlight how deeply intertwined the nobility are with the Chantry. The nobles of Kirkwall want Meredith deposed because they feel she's overstepped her bounds by denying them a proper viscount, but they are not anti-Chantry or anti-Circle; they still want mages locked up, and they probably also remember what happened the last time Kirkwall's nobility decided to try and contest the Chantry's power in their city (see: Perrin Threnhold).

I find the templar ending genuinely interesting to play through in terms of seeing the story from that angle, and in terms of what it has to say about power structures and politics in Thedas generally and in Kirkwall in specific, which I also wrote about recently. (To say nothing of how differently it frames Varric in Inquisition when the Hawke he idolizes is the Hawke who slaughtered Kirkwall's mages to a one.) I would honestly recommend playing it at least once for lore reasons if you're into that sort of thing. But I would hardly say that you as a player come out of that ending feeling like you're playing the good guy.

And I'm not even arguing that all choices in the games should be this in-your-face. On the contrary, I don't think they all should. I like it when it's possible for a character to make a choice with unintended outcomes, or get accidentally locked into a worse choice because of previous decisions (like annulling the Circle and then being forced to kill Connor or Isolde). Those are some of my favorite kind of choices in these games. In this particular case, I do think the extreme nature of the choice is important to the story, both as the catalyst for the mage rebellion and to underscore why Anders did what he did.

So when people tell me that DA2 "both sideses" the mage-templar conflict... I respect that it's possible to feel that way about it, but I just don't see it. The game allows the player to role-play a character who might make various choices within its narrative; that is not the same thing as presenting all choices as morally equivalent in-universe, and it has never been the same thing, in any of these games.

If you're looking for one mage-templar choice that puts the injustice squarely in your face, I think the ending of DA2 is very much that.

[jasmyluv]

011. Are you satisfied?

this happens on January 4th, sorry for the time skip hehe

After what seemed like hours of staring at the same book, you finally look at the clock.

“2:39 AM” Your digital clock said. You sigh for the nth time, your body almost falling because of exhaustion. 

“Study, study, study. That’s what they all said, fuckers.” You whisper under your breath as you write down your answers for the practice exercise.

“Like they can even get as good grades as me. Who am I kidding, of course they can.” You realize your mistake, shaking it off and continue to write. Your hand hurts and your eyes are begging to close. But I can’t stop until I get all this perfectly. 

‘You can’t learn properly if you’re tired, and hungry.’ A certain someone told you. You never bothered to listen. Studying was more important anyway.

A few minutes later, your body was screaming that they can’t do it anymore, maybe you’ll let them win this one. You drag your tired body all the way to your bed, not bothering to fix anything or turning off your lamp. Your midterms were at 2:00 PM anyway.

[Timeskip: 9:32 AM, January 5]

It’s 9:30, a little bit later than usual but it was fine. You quickly hop into the shower, change into pants and a seemingly oversized sweater from a certain someone, toast bread, packed your bag, got your notes and went on your way to get coffee, you could not function without it.

You walk inside the new coffee shop, enjoying the sweet aroma of coffee and pastries in the air. Walking towards the counter, you see a familiar blondie.

“Signora?” You call out. Immediately, she turns her head back and her eyes sparkle.

“Hi, [Name]. What would you like today?” She says, calm and collected. How is she not stressing over midterms?

“Uhm, a latte is alright with me.” You say. As she puts in your order and prints out the receipt to give to you, you study your notes, trying to get as much study as you can. You sit by a vacant seat in the shop, waiting for your order.

“Can’t you stop studying for a bit and look up? Your latte’s getting cold too.” You hear a snarky tone of someone’s you know all too well. (did you see what i did there)

“Hi, Kuniku-Scaramouche.” You quickly cut yourself off, forgetting about his new name. You didn’t bother looking up from your notes, getting your latte and taking a sip from it.

“Hello. What are you doing here?” He asks, obviously knowing already. 

“Studying.” You answer with a simple remark.

“Hmm, ok. Let me test you.” He snatches away your notes, looking at what you’ve written.

“Your handwriting sucks.”

“Thanks.”

“Ok, in statistics, what is an outlier?” He asks the first question, looking at you afterwards.

“It is the strange data points that fall far from other observations. Outliers may be mistakes, or they require further investigation.” You explain what an outlier is with ease. 

“Good god, this is going to be boring.” Scaramouche whispers, not seeing how you could hear him.

“Come on, I need as much time as I need to study.”

[Timeskip: 1:54 PM, Examination Room]

You enter the room with Scaramouche and Signora, who you both waited for so her shift could be over and you three can walk there together, though, separating because each strand has different rooms. Yours is room 318.

“Let’s hope this exam isn’t too hard.” You say, looking at the many students panicky looking at their notes. Did they not study or something? 

You put your bag beside you, sitting down and getting your notes out once more, just like the rest of the students.

Five minutes later, you heard a voice. “Alright, students. This is your first quarter midterms. Do your best, this will count for 40% of your final grade. Put all notes, notebooks, and textbooks in your bags.” You hear Sir Zhongli announce to the room. After doing what is asked, you silently go over what you’ve studied.

“Your test papers have been passed. You have an hour and thirty minutes to complete your test. Good luck.” With that, everyone starts writing, the faint scribbles of your pen can only be heard.

previous :: MASTERLIST :: next

Of All People... - scaramouche x fem!reader smau

SYNOPSIS When you, a student who finds her best friend admits the terrors of high school. A best friend who've you'd hated ever since he left. Of all people, why was he the one to make you swoon, a person you swore to hate?

Fun facts!

[Name] was wearing Kazuha's sweater

[Name]'s dorm looks like it was owned by a mathematician

Signora is the "pretty lady who works at the coffee shop" in [Name]'s character description, if you still remember it

Childe #1 #scarayn shipper even if they don't have feelings for each other

Tag list;

@viridescent-ivy @sakiimeo @cynzcir @lxry-chxn @stopandget-help @r0ttenhearts @h-8chi @thenightsflower @killuixz @linn-a-a @vodkistt @raideneiari @yuyan @layla240 @barbatosfavouritenun @plinkuro @taikabae @beriiov @ghostxrism @rifran @elakari @kairxse @belovedxiao @alwaysmentallyill @mellowknightcolorfarm @xingyunclouds @scooofyaei @nambii @scaraapologist @samyayaya @kunikuzushisbeloved @dee-bignuts @kaekazuha04 @monochromaticelliot @erosdevil @wisteriarain

[strawbubbysugar]

Ok, so I have another set of questions about the world, particularly about the Cultural differences between Porphyal and Atomata.

1. What is the traditional look/outfits of each kingdom? Do they have specific colors? Accessories? Textile decorations?

2. What is the architecture like? What does it look like? What materials are used?

3. Is there any traditional music for each kingdom? (Lol I just pictured techno being played in Atomata for all occasions, I apologize for my immaturity)

4. What is the main language that is spoken in each kingdom? Do they have other dialects?

5. I imagine they have spies during the war that get intel for the kingdoms, but do they have any citizens that are genuinely invested in the other culture? Like, citizens that would love to go visit and write books about what they learned? Obviously they can’t because war, but maybe they have libraries with information?

6. What traditional festivities do they have that the other culture may find confusing or maybe be blown away by it if relations were better?

7. What urban legends do they have? Or traditional cautionary tales? Stories children or young bots are told during bedtime/charge time?

8. What are the schools like or rather how does each culture handle education?

9. What would you say is one of the coolest thing about each culture you really like?

10. Is there a tradition Sun, Moon, Pry/ncess dislike/love about their culture?

I hope these aren’t too many questions… 😅

Never too many questions! 1. In general, I lean towards whatever looks coolest/most interesting, but its really just fantasy medieval clothing. However I will say that Atomatan clothing leans far more colourful with big shapes and styles, while Porphyal leans more into subtle textures and practicality

2. For porphyal, classic medieval architecture! For Atomata, classic medieval architecture with a TWIST that it all looks like sets for a childrens tv show! I have a pinterest board here with some examples! Atomata: https://www.pinterest.ca/strawbubbysugar/atomata/ Porphyal: https://www.pinterest.ca/strawbubbysugar/porphyal/

3. Porphyal enjoys a classic lute, while Atomatan instruments mimic human ones, but sound like chiptunes/8bit music! Like this!

4. its just "common", like dnd, so as not to single it out as being english for people who read in other languages :) There are def dialects, for animatronics their dialects mimic humans but they also have varying levels of echo/static to their voices. Older models tend to have far more echo

5. Of course! Both sides have citizens that are just normal people, and want to see the war end!

6. Animatronics know all about the human world's holidays/festivities, but they all are shifted ever so slightly. Humans know little to nothing about animatronic festivities, thanks to the level of information control in porphyal

7. Humans have an urban legend of "The Mangle", an animatronic that steals people from their beds and twists their bodies into something unrecognizable. Animatronics have an urban legend about a purple man, but it differs so widely from person to person, there isnt a consensus on how the story goes

8. Simple schooling for humans, small villages usually have one person that teaches children in the same class regardless of age, simple stuff like reading & writing, maybe a small bit of math, and some history. Animatronics have basic knowledge downloaded into them at birth, and if they want more knowledge they need to seek it out themselves

9. Ooo good question! I love that human beings are practically built to create, and any human can make art if given the tools and time to do so. I love that animatronics use kindness and compassion as a staple of daily life, with being anything else an outlier

10. Sun loves animatronic kindness and willingness to share, but he hates how hard it is for them to step outside their comfort zone. Moon loves the ease of access to knowledge, but hates that kindness is expected when it is not earned. Pry/ncess has a hard time feeling any particular way about anything in porphyal. Theyre a little bottled up about those feelings.

[archivalofsins]

Hello!! I know it might be too early to talk about this but i wanted to know: what are your cover song predictions for the prisoners in trial 3?

It's never too early! I say as I answer this late so it really can't be too early now.

I was actually thinking about how cool it would be for the Milgram characters to cover the Musicians songs from Caligula Effect 2 because I'm in too deep now. So, this is the perfect chance. Too bad there are only eight musicians but right now my thoughts on that are-

Apologies for the late answer by the way.

Yuno: Alter Garden

"It all comes crashing down without a single sound. Vanishing in cold blood leaving nothing behind and when I think back on it. I just feel like a total fool for ever giving my love to you."/ "The day will come when these words of mine will no longer reach you either."/ "If you're not able to show me the light then don't give me anything at all. If the things I come to trust in can start to crumble so easily. Then I won't let anyone in anymore."

"“UNDER” My cord’s being pulled but nothing’s ever enough Contractual desires, oh what to do, FUTURE."/ "“UNDER” I feel the emptiness inside me. We agreed to seek each other, I wish we could do something about it, Future."

"Just the two of us, I feel a little tingle inside. Our love links us together. Just me alone, the warmth starts fading away. Let’s reload the warmth." - "Let’s just do it, please smile? Hooked up till the morning to this sweet “Umbilical Cable”. Let’s just do it, please smile?"

When I think back on it I just feel like a total fool for ever giving my love to you- And yet despite it all, somewhere deep inside my head, somewhere deep inside my heart I keep on crying out. But see though these feelings show only through tears. They aren't out of sorrow I just want you take these words to heart.

Though if we're talking about trial three I hope Yuno kind of gets a sad song- But at the same time.

Rabbit Hole or Poison Apple would be really good to hear her sing.

Though if Mahiru isn't lost it'd be interesting to see her get Rabbit Hole instead. Though it'd be interesting for Mahiru to get Status Effect Girlfriend. Basically, most songs I can think of for Yuno would be good for Mahiru too. Oh but no one has gotten Dilemma so that could be a good one for Yuno as well.

Yeah, thinking about it now Dilemma may actually fit best. For her given what I think is going on plus I'd just enjoy hearing her sing it. Speaking of Mahiru-

Mahiru: Q-Ai Senorita

"Say you love me! Say you love me! C'mon! Give me even more! Get stained! Get stained. Sate this greedy heart of mine. The words "I love you" alone can't tie me down. Embrace me tight with your- Embrace me tight with your- Embrace me tight with your genuine love."/ "Outside my head, true love, love. Inside my head, through with grief, grief. Outside my head, true love, love. Inside my head, through with grief, grief. Ravenous swelling emotions- Desperately seeking love, love. Dismay and disgust for birthdays. Impatient awareness of my self-styled "Prime"."/ "Tidy, conservative, humble? Oh, please! I nearly trashed it all. See, look! I'll chase after my bliss now. Oh, the pain. The pain. My stomach pangs."/ "This, right here, is how I truly am!"

"”UNDER” I don’t just want to give. Both giving and receiving are good things."" “UNDER” I don’t wanna just give. Giving and taking, this is how to be in love."

"I’m going to start relying on you if you’re kind to me, so please forgive me, thanks!"

(Fun fact in this interaction I chose are you alright not that's enough Kobato. Apparently, I am an outlier in this since literally every fucking let's player on earth apparently including the video, I got these screenshots from chose the that's enough response. Star jokingly made fun of me because if you do that you turn away from Kobato and just look at QP immediately to check on her. So, Star just said "You- 'Is this dude bothering you queen'." And the phrase and framing of my actions by them has lived in my head rent free since.)

Mostly using this because it gives a bit of context to Mahiru's statement about relying on people who have been nice to her or have shown her even a bit of human decency. Through using QP's response to the protagonist doing this. Like intervening was simply the right course of action in this scenario but QP falls in love with you because of this. Like let this sink in-

She falls in love with and views you rescuing her as doing what she said in her song embracing her with genuine love. The fuck is your reality like ma'am where your first response to being ran up on was to cower beneath your own arms and brace yourself and upon one person going hey now, we don't do this part here. We don't jump people after we've beaten them in combat and have never done that calm down. "Oh my gosh you rescued me from being assaulted directly after I said that guys anger was a red flag to me and indicative of a domestic violence case waiting to happen. I think I love you."

QP you shouldn't that is like the bare minimum of human decency what type of fucking people have you been around. If I didn't intervene, I would not only be a shit person but a bad friend who let's their friend do shit like that. That's not okay. Like this is the minimum to me what do you mean you're in love with me? What have your relationships been like before this? This is concerning but also fuck it we ball I guess... Are we gonna talk about this again because this is concerning. No hospital- Oh, okay.

Hopefully I don't learn anything about her songs lyrics that calls into question this sequence of events more-

See, look! I'll keep pursuing my paradise now. Oh, the pain. Pain! Damage: High! Say you love me! Say you love me! C'mon! Give me every bit you can! Touch me! Touch me! Fill the void in this heart of mine! The words "I love you" alone can't satisfy me- Embrace me tight with your genuine love.

"Do you really think you know what love is? If you do, let’s just overheat together!" "If you don’t hug me, even our hearts will start drifting apart. I pretended to be a good girl, but really, I don't want to say "I'm ok"." "I pretended to be a good girl, I don’t want to be “ok”." "The things that I only want to say to you, and the things that I want from you is love."

"It’s ok for everyone else but not for me. Unfair and stuck between in love and love." "This adorable, earnest, sincere ♥ Is bleeding, wailing, this is the end- What you trampled is my, “This is how to be in love with you”." "This can’t go on, something’s got to give, I even love saying the words, “I love you”. My emotions are out of control, that’s inconvenient? I don’t care!"

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE-

This, right here, is how I truly am!/ Tell me, oh tell me why, won’t you just accept me?

When it comes to her trial three cover song it's more than likely going to be Zombies considering the imagery in "I love you" and how the lyrics of Zombies would complement and add onto what we were given from her second trial song. Specifically-

I Love You: "This adorable, earnest, sincere ♥." "Mon-mon-monstrously in love in love. Mon-mon-monstrous, cuz I love you so much!"

Zombies: I'm transforming~ ♡♡♡ I luv you half-decomposed isn't bad. Why don't you too? I luv you, a secret between you and me. If we both just transform~♡♡♡♡

This Is How To Be In Love With You: "Let’s just overheat together!"

"I don’t need anyone else, as long as I have you I could do anything as long as you smiled, I actually believed that."

Zombies: If we just love each other- I luv you, you're the only one.

I Love You: "My love, it scored an own goal, destroyed my love and me with its weight- Tell me, oh tell me why, can’t I just do it right?!"

Zombies: I can't hear the thump, thump anymore. Our bodies are cold even when we hug. Oh well! If we transform, we transform!

"That’s inconvenient? I don’t care!"

Still would be interesting if she got Status Effect Girlfriend.

Back to Caligula Effect though- The next prisoner I've thrown into the musician microwave is Kazui.

Kazui: Swap Out

"Borrowed Satisfaction! Set it free, let your charms out. Everything you touch is filled with aspiration. Grant this clever TRICK-STAR the hope of rebirth. I wanna tell my past self, "Hey, dear boy I know you can reach the stars, real boy I know you're someone special.". Snatch up a pinch of envy as a substitute for self-love my signature ingredient from here on out."/ "Most things are no problem at all! That's right so let's keep dancing as we are."/ "I'll draw you in and guide you to them. So, c'mon take a look."

I know nothing's changed one bit. We're unshakeable professionals at deflection. The fraud on the otherside keeps growing rich in wit. Even if we went back it's all the same. So c'mon, take a look. Borrowed Satisfaction! What an ingenious world- Bet it comes from being so superficial. In the end we all get the short end of the stick. So, I've added to the epilogue- "Hey, dear boy you could've reached the stars, real boy I want to believe you're special."

"“UNDER” I keep on seeing dreams I am always indecisive, I can’t be saved."- "“UNDER” I just keep on dreaming half in, half out, I’m doomed."

"Where did I go wrong, probably from the beginning."- "All this time till now has hurt me, the scales of my heart has decided to sway If continuing to hide is called unhappiness, Not even one word will get to you." "Feelings shrouded in lies will float away and disappear."

"Since when have I ignored my feelings? It’s better to be a let down, than to be let down yourself." "INNOCENT, isn’t that right? Maybe, perhaps... or... could it come true... like It’s for the sake of true love, who wouldn’t lie for that?" "Love, it’s tacky, this two-way deceit." "Lie, until it gets better, follow the king of the masquerade."

Time and time again we lose sight of ourselves until we've circled right back around. Maybe our promises were too shakey. There's just no way to find out.

Lie, until it gets better.

Nope no singular way to find out what's up with that. Not a fucking one moving on. So, this is going to sound weird because early last year I said this was more than likely going to be a Shidou cover but that was before cat released showcasing very similar imagery to that in this recently released Deco song.

Really upping the chance of Kazui's third trial cover song being Poison Apple in my opinion. The lyrics of the song would accompany Cat well and would add more depth to Kazui. While keeping the energy of his previous cover songs.

Sadly, I'm getting fatigued. So, I'm not going to go into much depth these next parts. There are some prisoners that I want the trial three songs to be a surprise for. So I haven't put too much thought into it.

Mikoto (briefly)

I like to try to guess Mikoto's for fun but selfishly I still really want him to get Pseudo Hope Syndrome because i really like that song. Though Not A Devil may fit him on a surface level reading but I want to try to dive deeper there. Especially since his second mv didn't focus as much on his work as I expected it to. We still haven't even seen where he works at but apparently his job is what incited him to do the things he did. Kind of weird it's like he's just shifting blame where it's easiest and it's not just his job that was an issue but his entire life as his first glitched voiceline implies.

Just saying we see Amane's abuse but we haven't even seen this man at work yet that's a tad odd. Other than that. I personally think Pseudo Hope would add more depth to his character as well as wrap everything together neatly. Though I'll have to look it over again later with Double and see if my opinion on it has changed.

Mu

For Mu this may be obvious but Cinderella both her songs literally show her being in a coocon and starting over again from scratch only oming out when she feels safe enough too.

Her second song displays this more overtly while After Pain does it in a more subjective way. It would also fit with her last cover being MKDR.

Also,

"So irritating! Hello to the unfortunate me. I'm confused, hate it, hate it." "Getting angry, annoying, annoying- No, no, no! I want to say "I love you" when I'm cuter! AHH- No, no, no- It's not ok! I'll go back to a cocoon and try again!"

After Pain: "Postmortem makeup to hide my heart, how to solve it is a secret~ The stabbing of the little devil’s voice, counterattack being a suicide note “I love YOU”."

"Hey, um... Nevermind, forget about it. I've never been able to say what I want to say. I can't stop my eyes from diverting self-hatred again."

After Pain: "Maybe I’m done. Just one more time before saying goodbye. I’m just kidding, please forget I said that." "If I was gone, if I had just disappeared- I overheard, I found out How much I’m not needed."

Hello to the unfortunate me!/ I am always the drama queen.

So irritating! These shoes don't fit me! Getting angry, annoying, annoying- The bell is ringing, I'm covered in ash I don't want to go home yet. To the XX course. I want to try to dive into it.

The first time for Cinderela! So scared and dizzying, dizzying-

Ahhh- No, no, no I'm really not ok./ Hey, what if- If I am a bad girl?

Don't hate me.

The rest I want to kind of be pleassant surprises. So I haven't really been thinking about like I said before. Though I might think about some of the others at later dates. I really enjoy going in with as little guesses as possible for certain characters. Like Futa, Haruka, and Shidou. I still want to investigate Amane more later when I'm feeling well enough to and I do have a lot of Kotoko thoughts but I don't know if I have enough interest to interrogate what she'll cover next yet or not.

With the other three I just really like getting carried away for the ride and not thinking to much about what they'll get beforehand.

[shihalyfie]

Hi. I'm someone who has come back to Digimon after enjoying it from my childhood and now watching through Ghost Game as well as watching episodes of Digimon: App Monsters. Something I'm wondering about is how the experience of binge watching may or may not be compatible with the various Digimon seasons. I realized that I enjoyed binging App Monsters more than I am Ghost Game even though I do enjoy watching Ghost Game more as it fits a lot more of my tastes.

I define the binge format as involving frequent use of cliffhangers, a larger overarching conflict those cliffhangers tie into, and a three act structure that stretches throughout the season instead of just one episode. I do recognize that both Ghost Game and App Monsters share at least some similarities with this structure, but the main difference seems to be that there isn't a bigger overarching conflict in Ghost Game. However, I see myself going back and rewatching episodes of Ghost Game more than I do App Monsters. To what extent were these seasons built with binge watching in mind? I live in the US by the way, so I imagine that cultural lens might be playing into the questions.

Hi! Welcome back, hope you're enjoying your watch! Also, glad you're enjoying Appmon; that's a series that's especially close to my heart.

Well, as you alluded to at the end of the question here, cultural stuff does play a role here, or more specifically, the fact that Digimon TV series generally use a format that Toei has refined and perfected over the years via their long-running shows, especially Super Sentai and Kamen Rider (tokusatsu and not anime, but with a lot of important factors in common). While it is true that the majority of these series are serialized, they are ultimately still made first and foremost to be watched by kids once a week. That's why there's still a loose monster-of-the-week format for even the more serialized Digimon series, because there has to be a certain self-contained nature to it, and that's why you get those recaps at the beginning of each episode (or sometimes even full recap episodes, like Appmon episode 26, which was released after the series went through a timeslot change). It's not that they think the kids have a terrible attention span or anything, but that even an adult would probably need to be reminded of what was going on after having been out for a week or longer.

If a series is hard to follow when watched this way, that's considered a failure of the writing, especially since the series has a goal of selling toys during the duration of its run and would probably not accomplish this if it's hard to follow. The majority of Toei shows using this format run for exactly a year (with Adventure: and Ghost Game being exceptions due to what I suspect are pandemic delay related issues), so that means they basically have a year to sell as many toys during that period as possible before they pass the baton to whatever occupies the timeslot next. But of course, that doesn't mean people in the writer's room don't also care deeply about what they make, so they'll still try to make works that leave a lasting impression for adults who binge watch later. So that means striking a balancing act between making it possible to follow weekly or when binge watches, and how well they accomplish that depends on the series.

For what it's worth, Ghost Game's extreme episodic nature is an outlier not only for Digimon but also for this kind of Toei show in general; while "resolved in one episode" format is used elsewhere, Ghost Game not calling back to a huge overarching plot often is not often seen. (Although it has been quite successful in certain areas; one famous series I can think of off of the top of my head is Kamen Rider W, which recently got an anime adaptation of its manga sequel -- long story -- and is known for being pretty much entirely presented in two-parters.) That said, Ghost Game's lead writer did infamously say at one point that it was as episodic as it was because of the idea that kids are more into shorter content like TikTok and all that, which got ridiculed as hilariously out of touch, especially since the aforementioned Kamen Rider and Super Sentai are still doing fine without that. I'll let the Sentai experts weigh in more, but the one running right now (Kingohger) is so unusually serialized that it even just had a timeskip!

[humaforever]

@panthera-tigris-venenata I'm mildly sure this may not have been what you meant but it's what happened when I started writing. Kinda based it off your story. I hope you enjoy.

_______________________________

Seven Deadly Sins:

Uma is quite possibly the most powerful person on the isle. She has deals with everyone. But even though she knows everyone, she's possessive when it comes to certain people. Very possessive.

Harry is cunning, charming, and flirtatious. He has the looks, but the madness is always what shines the brightest. He's a damn good fighter and crazy as hell. A perfect mix with his utmost loyalty and willingness to kill for anyone he loves. But with that comes a certain jealousy.

Claudine is hidden in the shadows. She keeps her head down. Maybe if she hides she'll be able to avoid all the sins around her. Her father makes her feel like a mistake because she is disobedient. She tries not to be, she tries to avoid the fires of chaos. But when it's the people that start those fires who seem to make her feel like she's worth something, well it's hard to avoid the flames. Especially when blood can be so pretty, blades can be so pretty, people can be so pretty, oh and by God forgive her for thinking about how pretty women can be.

There is a clear outlier here. Where Uma and Harry flaunt all their confidence and power, Claudine tries to be invisible. After all pride is a sin, a deadly one. Where Harry and Uma display their affection and desire so publicly and proudly, Claudine would never do such a thing with someone, after all lust is a sin, a deadly one. While Uma and Harry promise the blood and screams of anyone who dare hurt or insult them or even worse, the other, Claudine wouldn't, (she shouldn't) even think about harming or hurting another soul. After all wrath is a sin, a deadly one.

So when Claudine saw Uma's jealousy and possessiveness as Harry flirted with another person, well she just assumed they were sinning again-

Envy.

Never upon her wildest dreams did Claudine think she would get involved too.

Uma kissed her. And unfortunately, Claudine didn't hate it.

Lust.

Harry watched with prying eyes as the bitterness grew within him.

Wrath.

Claudine was in a haze of desire and confusion as Uma walked away from her like nothing happened to rub it in Harry's face.

Greed.

Both Harry and Uma were too drunk and too cocky right now to admit that they were in the wrong.

Pride.

And it was all because of Claudine. All the drama surrounded her. She had just unwillingly, been in the center of five out of seven deadly sins.

Confusion was swirling. How did Claudine Frollo possibly get caught up with Harry and Uma? She couldn't be more different from them.

Claudine was the most confused. Uma was unfazed, this was nothing new for her. Harry didn't care either, well he didn't care about Claudine, he cared every last bit about Uma. How rude that they didn't seem to care that the other girl was having a life crisis.

Harry is beautiful. But he can be a real bitch.

Now Uma, she's gorgeous. But she caused one hell of a mess just because she didn't know how to properly deal with 'feelings'

Claudine would like to think that she is definitely not a bitch and she absolutely knows how to deal with her emotions. But she is wrong, and that is where the three of them have a mutuality.

In fact, Claudine is wrong about a lot of things in her life because she is in denial. But Uma and Harry see that she is just as sinful as them.

Actually, she's worse than them, simply because she believes she's not. Harry and Uma are proud of who they are, they are happy to defy the rules, they revel in the fact that people are scared of them, and they aren't afraid of each other's love. Claudine is simply just jealous.

Claudine believes that the Lost Revenge is a cult. They have strange practices. They seem to worship a goddess. Harry even prays to her, with every breath he prays to her. He lays down his life before her. He follows her every wish.

But it begs the question, if the Lost Revenge is a cult, then what is Claudine's religion? The lines are becoming blurred.

Did Harry have the right idea? The chances of Harry's Goddess saving everyone were high. The chances of Claudine's God saving everyone seemed slim to none, where was he now?

Did she even actually believe it was possible? Her father's ideals and church brought her pain. Uma's brought hope.

But see, Uma was making Claudine have a crisis. Clearly. Or maybe the turmoil was always there and Uma set it free.

Harry was making it hard to accept though. Because he's a stubborn, loyal, devoted bitch that is completely and utterly in love with Uma and he couldn't see that she could be at fault for anything so he was blaming Claudine.

It would be nice if he could learn how to share. Except Claudine shouldn't want Harry to share. She shouldn't want Uma. And she shouldn't be mad at Harry either, she couldn't blame him, anyone would do the same thing. She would do the same thing.

Uma kept Harry safe and grounded, she made him feel like he could do anything. Harry kept Uma from spiraling and giving up. He made her feel loved.

Claudine didn't know how to be someone's anchor and she didn't want to be. But when she watched them a part of her wished she had one. But her father was adiment that she had no will power to do anything and she was unlovable.

When Claudine accidentally became the drama she was confused and disgusted by the pirates immoral behavior. Until she saw a glimpse.

Claudine saw the pirate crews on the docks and she wanted to be apart of it. She wanted to be accepted and have a family that protected her. She wanted to have fun and drink and party. She wanted to let parts of herself free that she had hidden away. It was the complete opposite of her life and the conservative mind set that was fed to her. But that's why it seemed perfect.

It was wrong though. It was so good but it was wrong. And Claudine didn't know how to handle the contradicting thoughts in her mind.

Uma is a queen, the people love her for who she is.

Harry is a pirate, crazy but he is sure of himself, he's not afraid of others opinions.

Claudine is a disciple, she doesn't get any say over herself, she is told what she can and cannot be. And truthfully, she hates herself for it.

Claudine is so fucking ready to sin.

[yanderes-galore]

could you write a romantic concept for Ratchet with a lombax! Reader?

Oh sure! I only played the PS4 game as it was free for a time but I watched a video about the series! I hope you still enjoy it :) Takes place before the newest game.

Here's the video I watched

Yandere! Ratchet with Lombax! Darling

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Stalking implied, Obsession, Forced relationship, Jealousy, Manipulation, Overprotective behavior, Violence, Kidnapping, Delusional behavior, Possessive behavior.

Lombax are rare in the galaxy.

This is because after the war they were thought to be extinct.

Ratchet himself has only met a few in his adventures.

He'd be lying if he said he didn't wish to meet his people.

It would be nice to not be an outlier in the galaxy.

Many have heard of his heroic deeds alongside Clank, so Ratchet is known as a hero.

Such fame ends up attracting you...

A Lombax who's trained in technology and survival.

When Ratchet catches wind of another Lombax he thinks it's plausible...

But there's no way.

Clank encourages him to meet with you and Ratchet gives in with a bit of a sigh.

Then you meet up... his green eyes wide and never leaving yours.

"Nice to meet you, hero of the galaxy."

Honestly, when you meet so few of your own species in the galaxy there's no doubt Ratchet gets a bit too... attached.

You stick around as you like seeing another of your species.

Ratchet gets so excited about you at times.

Mostly because when he does meet another Lombax, they leave later.

He truly hopes you won't just leave after you meet him.

Not going to lie... Clank acts as Ratchet's moral compass at times.

His yandere behavior is usually kept in check by his robot friend, luckily for you.

Doesn't mean Ratchet can't be yandere, however.

Ratchet is Obsessive, Impulsive, Smart, Determined, Protective, Manipulative, and in this case he may be Possessive.

Ratchet is not easily manipulated himself, so if you try to lie to him he'll know.

You should also know as long as Clank's around then Ratchet's under control.

For the most part.

There's no doubt Ratchet's going to be a bit obsessive over the fact he's found another of his species.

It happens when your species is just about extinct.

Also... he happens to feel some attraction towards you.

Let's be honest, Ratchet's going to be awkward with approaching you about it.

You both most likely have no idea how Lombax romance works.

Clank will not be much help with that.

Despite this Ratchet is convinced he can make things work.

Which... leads to him following you around awkwardly and trying to find out how to bond with you.

Ratchet has always been eager, which makes him impulsive around you.

He often doesn't think before talking to you.

Which leads to awkward conversation at times.

Despite this he tries to remove any tension between you with a joke and an offer to help you with any tinkering.

He can't help it...

His mind has been thinking of you and only you recently.

As said before, Ratchet will know if someone tries to manipulate him.

If you try to lie to him then he'll figure it out at some point.

Which can end badly if you are hiding something from him...

Like leaving him.

Ratchet is determined and persistent.

In his mind he feels the fact you're staying and the fact he's attracted to you is some sort of fate.

Clank tries to convince him to take it slow.

Scaring you is not loving you.

Ratchet begrudgingly tries to listen and waits for the right time to confess his growing feelings towards you.

But he never pushes them aside for long.

Naturally Ratchet is protective of you.

Not only is he seen as a hero of the galaxy, he wants to be seen as a hero in your eyes.

His protective behavior teeters on suffocating at times.

This is because, even if he doesn't realize it, he's scared of losing you.

Not only are you one of the only remaining Lombax, but you are someone he loves.

If he has to kick tail to protect you then he will.

He has to be a hero for you!

At times Ratchet can be manipulative.

Most likely to convince you that you belong with him at his home.

He tries to beg with you at times, ears down if you try to go against his word.

Clank says what he's doing is wrong...

Maybe it is, yet Ratchet can't bear to lose another one of his people.

You two are the most compatible out of anyone to love each other...

Why does this not sound nice to you?

Ratchet can be possessive due to a fear of his love falling for another.

Clank tries to reassure him that even if you did fall for another, it's your choice.

Ratchet can't accept that.

He wants it to be traditional!

He feels no other partner would be the best for him except you...

Surely you feel the same, right?

Ratchet would probably harm others but not murder... hopefully.

He's always fighting between playing hero and his own desires.

These two thoughts may merge together... resulting in your abduction much to Clank's dismay.

Ratchet doesn't care if Clank hates his idea.

In his mind, locking you to his home is protecting you.

He's still being a hero and keeping you.

Ratchet can defect from logical reasoning without Clank.

He doesn't care... not when he has the love of his life in front of him.

[trailblczed]

[ sunglasses ]　/　"what a coincidence. just who i was looking for." the early morning sun catches stoneheart and nameless just beyond the steps of the quaint row of catered villas that came with the tickets' promised package. this planet didn't adhere to system hours, but heat hasn't risen yet to intolerable levels with the daylight still young. and just his luck, mister stellaron looked to be on his own — taking a leave of absence for himself this time? he remembers he'd explicitly extended his offer to the rest of the astral express too when this one'd accepted the deal.

anyway, that's not what he'd wanted to say today.

"it looks like you just keep rolling high, friend. i was hoping to find someone to gift something truly remarkable, and you're in the right place at the right time. here, take this."

without preamble, he presses a sleek, velvety grey case into the young man's hand, declaring quality from its clean edges to the soft cashmere fibers against the fingertips.

"top of the line, the newest generation VITA-series frame eyewear, running at three-hundred-seventy-eight grand. the products they sent us are good, but i still prefer the ones i'm using. so, enjoy. i think the navigator style will suit you, and you're in luck — this color should fit you too. titanium rims and diamond-pressed detail. and, of course, ultraviolet protection and anti-reflective coatings. try them out while you're here ; protecting your vision is still important even on vacation."

Caelus makes a mental note that if the Express ever goes to another planet that has a semi-tropical climate, or has a temperature rating above 80Fahrenheit / 27Celsius that he is sitting that trip OUT. Most might not find it too awful a heat, but that does not include the silver-- to be fair, he's naturally hotter thanks Stellaron so his opinion may be a tad of an outlier.

At the sound of a familiar voice, lad turns to the source and is blinded both by sun and by bright blond locks. He was about to make a comment about how bad Aventurine's dice pun was ( teasingly of course, he loves a good pun and thought it was quite a Chef's Kiss one ) when something is ushered into his hand. Caelus stares at it, befuddled, before registering it's something he can physically open and that what the blond was referring to was inside.

A moment as he inspects the gift, curious as to what is so familiar about the specific style when it clicks- a roaring laugh unrestrained as he pulls the shades out of the box, quickly putting them on.

❛ I see I see! Is it part of a Brother Hanu collection? I must say the accuracy is fairly on point! ❜

Lad has to hold back jokingly giving a "hmph" and other grunting sounds instead of actual words when his brain seemingly catches up, or fully processes, Aventurine's words that came with the pair of sunglasses. Sputtering and frantic as Caelus takes the shades off, disbelief and concern etched on his every feature.

❛ T---Three-hundred-sev--------- Aven--- WHAT? I appreciate the thought, really I do! There's---- There's just no way I can accept something so fancy or expensive! I would likely get them broke within a week--! ❜

There is a reason he sticks to finding his goods in garbage bins. Can't break something that's already damaged. Still in a panic, Caelus glances around before looking at the ground, swiftly placing the shades back in their case before reaching into his pocket and pulling out all kinds of random things he's been collecting ( including but not limited to: cool looking rocks, a flat pale looking disk he was told was called a "sand dollar", and some shark teeth ). Through crazed rummaging he's able to feel the item he was looking for-- a very unique and gorgeous looking shell he had found earlier that morning. The silver wants to give the sunglasses back, but something tells him that Aventurine won't let him ( if their past interactions in Penacony's Grand Hotel were anything to go by ), so at least Caelus could give what he deems the most worthy item he has on him as thanks. Nameless yoinks it out, similarly shoving it into the other's hand in a way that leaves no room for argument, nor returns ( you ain't got a receipt to do it with! no take-backsies ).

❛ I know it's not nearly on the same level to be considered a fair trade but-- Here. ❜

[rayereil]

A short chapter with Kon and all of the Don Kanonji stuff. I won’t spend time on the Kon chapter, though I did like Rukia and Ichigo trying to clean him, and Orihime knocking him out of the park with a baseball bat. More Orihime creating weird sports, please!

Anyway, the next arc starts and ends with a comment about horoscopes. We see Ichigo’s dislike for things like that despite the fact they seem to be true…

Though, the only reason I’m bringing it up is because my favorite manga of all time has a part where one of the characters mentions his horoscope, saying “it’s supposed to be a bad day for Scorpios”. For Bleach, it’s supposed to be a bad day for Cancers.

We have some great moments with the rest of the cast doing Don Kanonji’s iconic laugh. I love Ichigo’s face when even Chad is doing it. I also like that it’s revealed later that Mizuiro is only doing it to annoy Ichigo.

There are also plenty of TatsuHime moments in this arc! I really wish Tatsuki didn’t mostly disappear after they go to soul society… at least she’s in HM some.

Also, Kubo gives us some interesting panels to consider:

The first is a good intersection between Ichigo and Orihime. It’s not romantic, but it’s our first glance into Orihime’s character beyond her bubbly friendly demeanor. We see her act… sad? Frustrated? With the complete disappearance of the background and Orihime repeating herself “yeah, you’re right… it’s normal… it’s normal…” even though she’s smiling she’s clearly conveying something else. My personal feeling is Orihime is surprised, and a bit upset, by Ichigo’s answer. I think she’d been hoping he came to the Don Kanonji thing to see her, and was surprised his real reason was so considerate. Her reason for being upset is two-fold. One, she’s sad Ichigo didn’t come to see her (I’m sure inside she knew it was foolish to hope for but couldn’t stop herself), and two, she really doesn’t think highly of herself or others. In her mind, Ichigo is truly an outlier. She may even think that she’d never do anything like that (even though she’s actually a very kind person). I don’t think she’s being mean with this line of thought, mind you. Instead, I feel like it’s hinting that Orihime isn’t just a kind, bubbly person - she’s multifaceted and complex, and can have feelings that contradict her “default” personality.

Regardless, it’s an honest interaction between the two. And probably the most personal outside of her introduction arc.

For the second panel, the thought of “kindness” comes back. Ichigo noticing how kind Rukia is, despite him thinking a basic level of kindness is normal. I’m not sure why Kubo’s juxtaposed this. Maybe it was an accident. But it’s interesting with Ichigo he says it’s normal to be kind, but then with Rukia he’s surprised by her level of kindness. It feels like Kubo’s continued efforts to showcase the main duo’s bond. Also, it leads nicely into some humor.

And more Tatsuhime!

I also like Orihime is the first one of the Karakura Gamg impacted by the spiritual pressure. Sure, we see Ichigo and Rukia, even Karin, but who’s sensitive enough to notice next? Who’s does Kubo identify? Orihime! We also have some low key Ichihime. I don’t think Orihime seeing Ichigo run off is peak ship material, but Kisuke seems to be alluding to the next arc (Uryu!), when he’ll confront Orihime and Chad about their powers and whether they want to help Ichigo. It’s noteworthy Kubo put Ichihime on the panel where Kisuke is alluding to the next big development in the story.

(Is Don Kanonji even going to show up in this review?) The rest of the story doesn’t do too much world building. The most important is the reference to the soul chain, which will come back later. Otherwise, we get some heroic ichigo, we get some of that humor I enjoy (ichigo- we can fight as long as Don Kanonji doesn’t show up! Kanonji- shows up), and an oddly emotional payoff for Kanonji’s arc. Especially since he’s mostly a throwaway character.

This was all clearly a buildup for Uryu and the subsequent chapters though.

So last thoughts:

“It’s my twin brother. Separated at birth” perfect humor.

This being told from Orihime’s POV? Oris it Ichigo’s… someone is thinking this. Sometimes Kubo does this and even when it’s clear who’s thinking it (Uryu’s monologue in SS and HM come to mind), we don’t get a sense of when it’s being said. Why is someone saying this in past tense? When are they saying it? (Is think after Rukia leaves, but why put that here?) I’m a bit torn between saying Kubo has a reason for this and I’m just too dense to figure it out, and that Kubo was just using a popular storytelling technique and it doesn’t have a specific reason, it’s only meant to foreshadow (some vague threat). Whatever. It’s not that deep.

And who do I spy on the horizon? The beautiful, the perfect, the wonderful Uryu Ishida!

(Also, I do this on mobile so I only get ten pictures. So I didn’t include Karin noticing Ichigo and Rukia running off… it honestly feels like Kubo was building something there. Karin was supposed to be more important or involved? He tries to pick this back up in HM but drops it again? No idea…)

[aro-wan]

ACOFAF STUFF

Ep 5 and Prior Remarks - Spoilers duh

Don't know how to tag this as this is something that I'm mostly posting for myself. I'm watching A Court of Fey and Flowers on D20 and have been mostly enjoying it up until now, but I have to say that I am a little upset that the group is falling into the party mindset more than I would hope. Also keep in mind for this that I am hopelessly a single-minded fan of Brennan Lee Mulligan. I appreciate the chaos caused by the cousins because they act more how I expect people of completely different courts to act towards the grouping of several courts with known tensions. Aabria has gone to lengths to express how much those around them are ravenous for gossip, both as a way to get an advantage for their own court as well as to entertain themselves for eternity, and yet it feels like our pack of pixies are mostly trying to shy away from the political intrigue of the situation and are attempting to be the outliers instead of in the thick of what makes it interesting. Is it interesting to stand out in a crowd? Sure, a couple of times, but when 5/6 party members are the edgy/chaos character, it makes it bland and annoying over time. Normally, I am all for the chaos goblins that are our strange adventurers, but I feel like this kinda shits on the vibe.

So, I adore Hob. We understand that, but (maybe it's the aromantic in me) I don't see the appeal of shipping Hob with Rue. I thought it was completely off the cuff in Episode two for Rue to react that way and that it was completely against Hob's nature to reciprocate. Hob is about duty and staying true to your cause, no matter the cost to himself. He acts in the interests of his king and his court because he cares for them. He cares for the goblins much smaller than him as a protective force and for those of similar heights as a shield that they may stand behind as they act in their nature. He may partake in the chaos of goblins less than those around him, but he is a goblin and he would not forsake that because of a confusing encounter that metagamed into a spring of attraction.

Truly, I don't understand.

Hob's main goal has been to understand why the Court of Wonder broke off the marriage between Prince Apollo and Viscountess Grabalba as well as protect the Lord and Lady Blemish and Boil, and yet, we see so little of this go on as time goes on. There is essentially no interaction with Blemish and Boil, despite him being described as their body guard, and there is so little investigation into the Court of Wonder despite it being a huge part of the reason he would remain in the company of Gwyn/Binx and Rue, as members of that very same court. That isn't to say there is no investigation because this does end up being one of the most explored side plots, but that speaks to how little the characters feel like they are doing what they should.

I expected there to be so much more conflicting politics from the PCs and it is overall disappointing to not see that more prevalent. I feel like the cast felt scared/uncomfortable about going all the way into the drama of having characters with opposing goals. This can be seen in the maze, when Hob doesn't even try to grab the necklace for Grabalba (I know he was forced to via DM but the point stands), or in the forest when Prince Andhera basically does nothing to get the antler from the elk (and somehow ends up getting some credit for it via the horn because he cast command on it to just look at him??? like Chirp took that horn all by herself!!!!). Emily outright said that she has a very party focused mind so this is difficult for her, which is understandable but it is frustrating as a viewer. I want to see how the conflict between the goblins as a court seen as lower works out, not how Rue looks at Hob with anger/sadness because of a miscommunication about a miscommunication about something that didn't fucking happen. I would read Wattpad for that, ya know?

Some characters I feel much closer to and have more of a connection to, and some of it is favoritism for the actors I dearly care for and some of it is presentation. I love Hob because Brennan but also because of the unique perspective that could be brought up by having someone that has a clear set objective. He wants to find why the Court of Wonder dropped the marriage and is tasked with protecting his Lord and Lady while on vacation, essentially. I love the cousins of the House of Birds because they bring in the perspective of people that are trying to be better for both good and bad reasons that both conflict with things going on in their personal lives. They bring chaos in ways that both feel right and move the plot (like sending letters about the duel and having tea with people of different courts in order to show that the House of Birds is not something to underestimate.) They were also tasked to find love, when it seems like they already have lovers. I want to know how that resolves! I love the connection that Rue has with Wuvvy, their friend, assistant, and confidant. The two of them (are supposed to) bring the perspective of those that are in charge of this event and are supposed to support the status quo and yet they don't. Wuvvy ends up doing all of the work during the event, and it sounds like she does a pretty hefty portion before the event as well because Main Character Syndrome. Rue asks so much of Wuvvy and gives nothing in return expect some sort of friendship. I know Wuvvy is an NPC but like, c'mon. I love the Warlock Patron, Gwyn, that sort of gives the perspective of someone viewing this with the eyes of "look at how fortunate you all are to be able to bask in your magic". Her character feels like it shouldn't fit within this group. Her character should be at odds with the group that uses magic and as has been said multiple times would not be effected by a loss of new Blooms because of how influential they are.

Some of the characters feel like they fit in the setting and are doing the things they should be (even if it isn't to the degree that is narratively satisfying) and others feel like they were added to the group and not in a way that I can root for. I can't root for the Prince Andhera to best Hob in battle because it does not feel like Andhera has learned enough from that time in war. He has only become bumbling and feels like he is a NPC that occassionally throws some sort of child of destiny theme in, that feels unwarranted. This is supposed to be political drama not an adventure drama.

I don't know. I know that Hob and Rue end up together because of both the leanings of the cast and from spoilers I saw about the show months before deciding to watch it. I don't know if I'll be able to sit through it, especially as the group becomes more of a group and less of political adversaries. I thought they were going to go all the way in making it less of an adventuring party but yeah. Anyway. Happy New Year

[ingo-ingoing-ingone]

Hi! Here’s a pinned masterpost of all the content I’ve made for this fandom under the cut. Also I have a small tag directory of things to black/whitelist as you see fit.

Also a personal post about my blog

#SUBMAS ANGST is for anything involving sad, potentially upsetting things. Even if it’s funny, or a shitpost. I use this liberally because I want my blog to be for any fan to enjoy!!

#SUBMAS POSITIVITY will be used for any post involving non-angsty content of the boys. Certain things like “Ingo takes care of Emmet with a cold” will still go in here, just no actual angst

#REUNION will be used to tag just that: post-PLA reunion content! Now this one is pretty positive but! Some people may want to block the tag due to the fact that it’s all noncanon and that makes them sad. Or whitelist it. Either way! Reunions will be tagged!

#PLA ERA will be for any and all content during the separation. Either Ingo or Emmet or anyone else. Ingo in Hisui content will all get this tag!

#MINORS STAY BEHIND THE YELLOW LINE is for suggestive content. Once on a very blue moon I may reblog something suggestive, but it has to be funny enough for me to do so. Wanna keep this for all ages! (I am an adult and do swear though, just a heads up.)

Also, ***no blankshippers or anyone like that***. I will block on sight, I swear. This keeps happening. GO AWAY.

Anyways! My content is under the cut :)

Fanfictions: Since I ran out of links for this post, find all my fics HERE on my AO3! Below are quick descriptions of them all

Closing Doors - Emmet angst St. Elmo’s Fire - reunion fic Remember Who You Are - Ingo angst w/ hopeful ending Negative Space - Emmet angst The Nimbasa Trio Walks Into a Bar... - silly fic about drinking with friends Declaration of Intent - Gift fic about Ingo and a friend’s OC Positive Space - post-reunion hurt/comfort Storm Song - collab fic of Ingo in Hisui and Volo The Good In Me - Pre-PLA angst, heed the tags; what if Plasma attacked the subway Two-Headed - Gift fic of a submas fusion AU. Contains angst. I Can Feel the Darkness - Tragic alt end of The Good In Me. Mortal Singularity - Submas fusion AU hurt/comfort Trying Again - Gift fic about Ingo and a friend’s OC doing their best Ingo-syncracies - Since Ingo’s from the future, he has weird habits Subway Meme-sters - Ingo vs. Emmet meme competition! Do Not Stand at My Grave and Cry - Ingo is laid to rest He Trusts You - Spinoff of I Can Feel the Darkness It’s a Wonderful Life - the classic Christmas movie but make it submas The Trial - Ingo crashes his own murder trial Fear Not the Descent - Emmet gets into caving while Ingo is missing Remembered - Ingo remembers while still in Hisui Always By Your Side - submas conjoined AU longfic *disclaimer* Spare Parts - Ei deals with insecurity while back in Unova I Am Not There, I Did Not Die - Ingo and Emmet, post-reunion, contemplate time travel and graves Rise - Emmet runs to his brother Beyond All Reach - Ingo returns home to things not as he left them. Ghetsis Wins AU Keep Us Together As the Lights Go Dark - ABYS Ghostmmet spinoff Outliers Together - college submas; Ingo worries about them sticking together and Emmet reassures him. Derivatives - Emmet fears change, especially after the Hisui years, but now he has Ingo to help. A Tale as Old as Rime - the Grey family goes to pacify Kyurem

No Turning Back - Destination Unown zine crossover fic with Demon Slayer You're Still You, After All - Emmet and Ingo deal with a bad day post-Hisui Home Station - Jackie X Furze cute oneshot What Can You See On the Horizon? - Ingo comes out of a portal terribly injured I'll Sleep When I've Fainted - Akari fights Arceus in the Eternal Battle Reverie; for the In Pursuit of Victory zine A Lost Light Looking to Be Seen - Ghost Emmet and Ingo learn ghost lore

Fanart:

True Story ▲ Joltiks Georg ▽ Violence! ▲ Two of Them ▽Drawpile #1 ▲ Who’s Driving? ▽ Hair Headcanons ▲ Endling ▽ Train Nap ▲ Forget-Me-Not ▽ Where Do We Go? ▲ Brother’s Day ▽ Post-PLA Ingo ▲ InGhost ▽ Shaming Mankind ▲ Sexyman Shenanigans ▽ Masking ▲ 1: Ghost ▽ 3: Robot ▲ Ingo Doodle ▽ Beach Day ▲ Sleepy AU Twins ▲ ABYS References ▽ ABYS Kids ▲ Apartment Layout ▽ He Won! ▲ 1: Pokemon ▽ 2: Family ▲ 3: Alt Outfit ▽ 4: Memories ▲ 5: Hobby ▽ 6: Emotions ▲ 7: Trains/Subway ▽ 8: Festival ▲ 9: Storm ▽ 10: Monster/Fusion ▲ 11: Visiting Another Region ▽ 12: At Work/the Office ▲ 13: Favorite Ship ▽ 14: Music ▲ 15: Summer ▽ 16: Memes ▲ 17: Silly ▽ 18: Food and Drink ▲ 19: AU/Crossover ▲ 20: Bug ▽ 21: Loss ▲ 23: Dreams ▽ 24: All Smiles ▲ 25: Emmet and Your OC ▽ 26: Home ▲ 27: Fairytale ▽ 28: A Day Off ▲ 29: Flowers ▽ 30: Party ▲ 31: Free Space Reunion Hug ▽ Con Doodles ▲ Sneasler Sticker

Christmas Sweater(s) ▽ 1: Bug Hunt ▲ 2: White ▽ 3: Battle ▲ 4: Sound ▽ 5: Forest ▲ 6: Cook ▽ 7: Voice ▲ 8: Cozy ▽ 9: Accessories ▲ 10: New Pokemon ▽ 11: Photo ▲ 12: Illusion ▽ 13: Stars ▲ 14: Game Night ▽ 15: Coffee Break ▲ 16: Hat ▽ 17: AU ▲ 18: Dance ▽ 19: Rose ▲ 20: First Day of Summer ▽ 21: Road Trip ▲ 22: Favorite Food ▽ 23: Fishing ▲ 24: Books ▽ 25: Rainbow ▲ 26: Comfort ▽ 27: Routine ▲ 28: Reunion ▽ 29: Smile

Other:

Submas Playlist - Youtube, contains angst

Submas Song Sunday:

Still Feel ▲ Always Gold ▽ I Bet My Life ▲ I Lived ▽ Fresh Static Snow ▲ When Can I See You Again? ▽ Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying ▲ Never Be Alone ▽ Home

[tamayosclinic]

Hello I have returned again with Mitsuri and a female reader. May I please have the prompt: “I wish I was brave.”. Reader wished she could be a demon slayer so she could help Mitsuri on her missions or save people but she's too scared to. Reader tells her insecurity to Mitsuri and Mitsuri comforts the reader about it. Thank you very much for your time.

"I wish I was brave." | Mitsuri x F!Reader

Warning(s): Mentions of Harassment

Author's Note(s): Sorry for my slowness as of late. I have a class that has really been stressing me. I think I'm going to fail it or (I'm hoping) at least pass by a few points. Anyways, enjoy this oneshot.

Word Count: 1007

100+ Followers Event [Closed]

The concept of Final Selection was plain and simple: survive for seven days in the demon-infested mountain. Theoretically speaking, you don’t even have to fight the demons—not that it was possible. It wasn’t uncommon to see participants trembling in fear as they waited for the start, but when all was said and done, they would muster up a brave face and pass through the wisteria barrier.

However, a few outliers turn tail and left in the opposite direction away from Final Selection, and (Y/n) is one of them. When the start came, her legs buckled as fear overwhelmed her.

Come on! Get up and go!

(Y/n) flinched when she felt a hand lay gently on her shoulder and forgot her fear when she laid eyes on the woman knelt beside her. Her pink, green-tipped hair was certainly eye-catching to (Y/n), but her gorgeous green eyes left her breathless.

“Hey, don’t be scared. You’ll be okay.” She tried to reassure though her clammy hands gave away that she was afraid herself. Still, she kept a brave, determined face trying to encourage (Y/n) to move forward. “It will be over with before you know it, and you will be okay.”

“I’m not going into there!” (Y/n) shuddered and sat firmly on the ground, unmoving no matter how encouraged the woman. In the end, (Y/n) was unconvinced and made the walk of shame back to her cultivator.

Having failed the Final Selection exam by default, (Y/n) went for the next best option and became a Kakushi. She didn’t have to confront the demons, and wearing a mask allowed her to remain anonymous—something she felt she needed as the only participant in her year to bow out of Final Selection.

The pink-haired woman remained in her mind, though she dared not think too long about her given the cruelty of this profession. To her pleasant surprise, (Y/n) came across the woman a couple of years later after a shift at the Butterfly estate. The woman flashed a bright smile as they passed down the hall.

“It’s you again.” The woman hummed at (Y/n)’s sudden comment and picked her brain for where she may have seen (Y/n) before but turned up empty. Without hesitation, (Y/n) unmasked herself—Kakushi rules be damned. “Do you remember at Final Selection? You tried to encourage a scaredy-cat participant.”

The woman’s eyes flashed with revelation as she put the pieces together. She bounced up and down on her tippy toes. The smile on her face turned even more gleeful, “It’s you! I’m so glad to see you! How are you doing? O- wait, first! What’s your name?”

“(L/n) (Y/n). And you?”

“Kanroji Mitsuri.”

Fascination sparkled through (Y/n)’s eyes, “The Love Hashira?”

“Mhm, it’s great to meet you,” Mitsuri took (Y/n)’s hand into a lively handshake that (Y/n) swore came an extra ounce of strength away from getting her hand crushed into oblivion. Both women spent the rest of the evening talking, catching up on the years apart.

(Y/n) listened to Mitsuri’s stories of demon-slaying. Most of them were intense, life-and-death situations, but she was intrigued. The most heartwarming moments came in the aftermath of battles where people were in danger. Hugs, thanks, and grateful smiles only made a smile spread across Mitsuri’s face. Those moments are one of the reasons she fought like a demon slayer.

“That sounds lovely,” (Y/n) looked down at her feet. She could not help feeling a sense of regret.

Ever since her cultivator scolded her for failing final selection, (Y/n) needed praise more than ever. The masked life of a Kakushi concealed her embarrassing identity as the participant who chickened out of the exam, but she was not safe from insults about her career choice though. Many demon slayers have big heads on their shoulders, believing that Kakushi is inferior due to working behind the scenes, so to speak—doing the clean-up, but not the life-risking work.

Harassment is more common than one thinks, and (Y/n) faced plenty of it in her time. She thought of leaving, but she had nowhere to go. She also thought of resuming her training to retake the final selection, but heading back to that demon-infested mountain made her queasy. If only she could be like Mitsuri—rightfully scared but brave to face that fear and push forward.

“Are you okay, (Y/n)-chan? You seem to have a lot in your mind.”

There it was again. Mitsuri’s green eyes looked into (Y/n)’s own eyes with concern. The nostalgia of that day a couple of years back at Final Selection flooded (Y/n)’s memory.

“I wish I was brave,” (Y/n) started. “I wanted to keep people from going through the same thing I did, but if I’m not a demon slayer, what good am I? I may have pulled through if I hadn’t been such a baby and chickened out back then. We could have become partners out in missions as equals. But instead, I let fear get to me, and this is where it got me. I’m pa-”

(Y/n) was hushed by Mitsuri pressing a finger to her lips. (Y/n)’s eyes widened at the sight of her glossy eyes and puffed-up cheeks from trying to hold back her tears, “Don’t find that sentence, (Y/n)-chan. Importance isn’t measured by who’s in the spotlight. You are essential to the corps. Anyone who thinks otherwise, you can be sure, will be saved by a Kakushi later down the line. And bravery isn’t measured by who handles what. Both our jobs have risks, but we face the same horrors, and it takes courage to go out and face those horrors.

Mitsuri pulled (Y/n) flush against her body in a near-bone crushing bear hug, “You are a brave soul, (Y/n), and I’m proud of you. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Thank you, Mitsuri.”

Perhaps it was the warmth of their hug or the Mitsuri’s alluring charm, but (Y/n) began to imagine that they could be more than co-workers. For now, she reciprocates the hug while blushing feverishly and trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach.

[beyondspaceandstars]

Happy Engagement

Relationship: Loki x Reader Warnings: contains some dark elements: manipulation Summary: Loki has always thought of you as his and there isn’t anything he won’t do to keep it that way. A/N: I’ve been sitting on this one shot for a while! I had the idea for it months ago and finally wrote it and then it just sat on my computer while I wrote other stuff but I figured since I don’t have anything really new this week it’d be perfect to put out! I hope you enjoy it because I greatly do :)

Masterlist

Loki had always been an interesting force in your life.

You two met when you were just children in school. You two were the official unofficial outsides of your school year — he was a prince, you were a peasant. Despite his royal standing, he’d play with you at recess. For these outlier ways, you two never interacted much with the other kids, life practically forcing you two to one another.

At such a young age, you hadn’t realized how significant this bond would become. As a child, you were just glad someone was talking to you. He shouldn’t have even been looking at you, should’ve maybe been disgusted with your presence alone. You should’ve been some onlooker, amazed by him and his magic but you weren’t — well, except for the magic part. His magic was little when you were kids but it drew quite the amazement from you.

Over time, you two naturally grew with one another. From childhood into your teens and still, now, you two made an unlikely pair of best friends as young adults. All of this though did not come without some bumps along the way.

In your teens, Loki had almost completely shut you out. For some reason, he seemed to be acting embarrassed by you. Your mother had warned you this may happen but you thought he was different, swore he was, unless his sincerity was like the many other tricks he played. Eventually, supposedly after some talking down from his brother, Loki appeared back at your door asking if you wanted to go for a walk.

This disappearing and coming back had become a habit for him over his teenage years and into adulthood. Loki never explicitly told you why but you could tell there was something eating away at him. It had been there a long time and it felt like disassociating himself with you was his solution.

You thought everything was coming to an abrupt end when you fell pregnant. You had been seeing a nobleman who was a regular customer in your parents’ shop. He was absolutely charming and delightful, practically swept you right off your feet within minutes of meeting. Your parents were ecstatic when he asked to court you.

You yourself were stunned but you ran to tell Loki about it. He was speechless. You tried telling him about the man but something in Loki snapped. He got unreasonably upset, spewing hateful comments about the man, practically forcing you out of his chambers in the process. He went radio silent again.

You tried to ignore losing your best friend — again — and focused on your new relationship. He wooed you endlessly with dates to lavish dinners and dawning you in lovely gowns. It was all so much more than you had ever expected in life. He’d tell you you deserved it and whisper sweet nothings in your ear as you two would get so lost in one another.

A bit shamefully, hypnotized by the romantics of it all, you gave yourself to him. Tangled in the sheets with him as your guide, you let the man you felt you would marry have every last bit of you.

And for a while after, it was blissful. Nothing had seemed to change between you two until he announced he had to go away for a bit. Confused, you asked why suddenly now facing the fact you were losing another person in your life. He explained he was needed by his father on a different realm, part of the family "business," as he described it.

Days after his departure, you learned you were pregnant. Around this time, Loki popped back up in your life. You felt relieved having someone to confide in but when you told him of your pregnancy, he was far from the supportive force you thought you’d get. He didn’t yell or get upset per se but he was beyond stunned.  

He left for a bit then but can back in less time than last. This time he brought along baby supplies and congratulated you. It was a complete one-eighty from his prior behavior but you accepted it, gratefully. Loki ended up being your main person throughout the pregnancy as clues of when your boyfriend would return were nonexistent.

"Did he know you were carrying his child when he left?" Loki had asked you one night. You two were sitting in the living room of the makeshift house you had acquired. You didn’t feel very good that this was the home you were bringing a child into when you knew her father could’ve provided her with a better one. But, at the end of the day, it was a roof over both your heads.

You crocheted another knot in the baby blanket. "No, he didn’t. I didn’t even know."

Loki gave a passing hum at that answer. He didn’t ask about your boyfriend very much after that.

Once your baby girl arrived, she became your entire world, your entire focus. Between caring for her and working to provide, you had little time to worry about your boyfriend still being gone. But it wasn’t as lonely as it may have looked because Loki was always by your side. Working around his royal duties, he’d take time to come visit you and your daughter even sometimes staying for dinner or to play with her. You didn’t miss how he was unintentionally becoming the father she was missing. You never said anything, though, always biting your tongue as you waited for her father to return.

Hope began to face on that front after your daughter turned three. Maybe he was just a footnote in your life, a foolish hopeful dream, but at least he had given you the lovely gift of your child. You weren’t giving up, still placing him in the boyfriend spot of your mind, but you couldn’t deny doubt crept in. Maybe a relationship of any capacity just wasn’t in the cards for you.

Or so you thought.

As Loki continued with his royal responsibilities, he was growing older and more powerful. That’s when the rumors of marriage began floating about. Your mother had brought it up to you once asking if you met any of his potential suitors. Your stomach did a somersault. You didn’t even know there were suitors, let alone met any of them. You tried to keep your cool and just told her no.

Who these suitors were and if they really existed, you never found out. You never even had the guts to ask about them especially after Loki pulled you aside one night after a dinner at the palace.

He rarely ever invited you to dinners with his family so to get this spontaneous invitation, you didn’t hesitate to attend. He even allowed you to bring along your daughter. She was playing with some servants’ children when Loki asked you to the garden.

"Feeling like a nighttime stroll?" You asked with a little laugh. Loki just smiled.

"There’s actually something I want to speak to you about."

"Oh," you frowned. "Is everything okay?"

Loki nodded. "Yes, yes, everything is fine." He looked up at the sky, almost lost in thought as you walked. You thought for a split second how lovely he looked. "I’m sure you have heard by now the…talk about my anticipated engagement."

Your heart practically stopped beating at that moment. Your hands instinctively gripped at the skirt of your dress as if you were ready to run away at the drop of a hat. Trying to keep your voice stead, you said, "Yes, I believe my mother mentioned that to me the other day."

He shot you an unreadable side glance. Your hands gripped the fabric tighter. Why were you feeling like this? Was that…jealousy you felt? You didn’t understand where that had come from. This was your best friend. Your prince best friend. He was bound to get married and have a lavish life with his bride. You couldn’t stop that, you couldn’t change it.

"Do you know anything of the women I have been offered?"

Was this another one of his cruel jokes? You wanted to vomit all over the bushes of flowers passing you as you walked. You managed to shake your head in response. "I’m sure they’re all wonderful."

He scoffed. "More like they’re all incredibly boring."

You gasped, "Loki, I’m not sure you should be speaking that way of them."

"It’s doesn’t matter," he shrugged, "because none of them are what I want."

You didn’t know if you actually wanted to know what he was seeking. You looked at him wearily.

You two walked in silence for a moment. Loki was now watching the ground intensely. You couldn’t believe how much his gaze was wandering. It must’ve been for courage because the next words out of his mouth were ones you had never thought you’d ever hear. From anyone.

"I believe you could be what I want," he said. He spoke your name so softly. "I’d like to ask for your hand in marriage."

You stopped walking, your legs suddenly unable to move. Your eyes grew wide as complete shock raced over you. You didn’t know what to do, too scared to speak because you didn’t know what was going to come out. Your first thought was that this was one of his magic tricks. Maybe he wasn’t even here, just a clone of him as he wished to make a fool of you. It wouldn’t be the first time but he had never been so cruel.

"You’re not saying anything," Loki noted. He had stopped a few feet ahead of you, completely taken off guard by your halt.

"I-I don’t understand." The words felt so heavy forcing their way out of your mouth.

"I don’t believe I stuttered, dear."

Your jaw dropped, surprised it hadn’t hit the floor already. He was seriously asking this. Loki, a literal prince, and your best friend, was asking for your hand in marriage. But — But you just didn’t know why. Why would he ask such a thing? Not only were you an unwed mother, he knew very well about your boyfriend. It was almost insulting he’d think you’d give up just because business or whatever it was was taking a while. You didn’t even want to begin to think about what this could all mean for your daughter.

"Loki… I… I don’t know. This seems crazy—,"

"Crazy?" His expression turned dark. You suddenly regretted the word despite it holding true. "What is so crazy about me wanting to take your hand? I thought this could be good. You and your daughter would have everything you’d ever want. You’d be a princess for crying out loud!"

You flinched at his anger. You had never seen him so enraged before. It made your whole body stiffen.

"I see. This… This is very generous of you but my boyfriend…"

Loki chuckled but there wasn’t any humor found within it. "Of course. The nobleman." He rolled his eyes. "Tell me again, dear, how long has it been? Do you really think he’s going to just show back up one day?"

"Of course," you nodded. "He told me—,"

"He’s not coming back."

You began shaking your head, growing more and more upset as the seconds passed. "You don’t know that."

Loki sighed, defeatedly. "I do know that, dear." A heavy pause. "I know that because I’m the one that sent him away."

You were certain in that moment your heart had stopped. Everything had stopped. You could barely tell anymore how you got from point A to point B.

"Wh-What do you mean?"

"What I mean is I’ve had my eye on you for a long time," he explained. He was standing so tall making you feel minuscule. "I always thought you could be just right for me but then that nobleman waltzed into your life. Granted, he wasn’t me. He couldn’t give you what I could but he tried his best." Loki shrugged. "I had no choice, really. He threatened everything. He derailed my plan but it’s alright. I think after tonight it’ll be back on track, correct?"

You held your hands up in defense, practically begging Loki to slow down. Your head was spinning. "You sent away the father of my child?"

Loki sighed, sounding actually regretful. "Truly, that wasn’t ever my intention. I didn’t know he was going to do that."

"And you think since you forced him out of the picture, you can swoop in and ask for my hand in marriage? We never had a courtship! Are you even hearing yourself?"

"I’m a prince, darling." He sounded so casual. "We do not court like the rest of you."

Gosh, you felt like you were going to vomit. Your hands fell to your stomach as you tried to calm yourself. You had never heard Loki separate you two so clearly before. Like he had drawn a line, definitively.

Your words tasted like venom as you forced yourself to speak. "Can I at least think about it?"

"I’m afraid not. They’d like an answer tonight."

Tonight. That was what this dinner had been for. You weren’t invited just out of the kindness of his heart. You had been attending your own engagement party.

"Loki, this… I— This is insane. You’re— You’re insane—,"

"Am I, really?" He pressed, taking a few steps closer. You trembled under a darkened gaze you had never seen before on him. "I’m not sure that’s how you should be speaking to the man trying to offer you a bit of… stability."

"Stability?" You repeated. "You think that’s all that I want?"

"Would this not grant your daughter a better life? The little shop of yours is only getting you two so far, dear."

The shock had worn off as you were now being filled with rage. "Don’t you dare bring my daughter into this anymore," you gritted. "Of course, I want nothing but the best for her but I also deserve someone who will truly love me. You’re — You’re just asking to fulfill some royal commitment and trying to pass it off like this is some big, grand gesture to help me."

Loki looked a bit taken back by your words. Even you were a bit surprised by yourself. You didn’t know where this fight was coming from within you. Probably from the depths of motherhood, if you had to guess. But it felt good in a way.

After a heavy moment, Loki asked, "Was I so wrong to assume this proposal could actually help us both?"

That was the real kicker of it all, you thought. This actually could help you both.

"I want to marry someone who loves me."

Loki seemed to debate around the idea mentally. "I’m certain that within time something could bloom. I’m not a psychopath, darling." He smirked. "But I truly can’t believe you’d give this up all for the minuscule chance at love, the hopeless thing that got you where you are today."

You gasped. "I would’ve had true love if you hadn’t banished him away!"

Loki let out a humorless laugh. "You are so adorable, you know that?" You flinched as he got close enough now to place a hand on your damp cheek. You were practically forced to look in his eyes as he spoke. "That man was nothing but a spoiled brat and I refuse to believe you actually fell for his game."

You felt yourself crumbling down again. Way beneath him. "He… He was really…"

"Don’t you dare try to defend him, do you hear me?" Loki spat. That darkness was washing over but this time it felt like a storm you couldn’t escape. "I will not have my bride speak such niceties about another man."

"Your bride—,"

"While I’ve enjoyed this little midnight confessional, we have some good news to share with everyone, don’t we?"

You didn’t know what to do. What to think anymore. He wasn’t letting up. You were trapped. It was like the prison gate had shut behind you. You were stone-cold now, completely under his control. You were giving up in complete defeat. You could scream until you were blue in the face but you were running in circles. At least your daughter would know a home.

"Yes."

Loki’s face lit up. He removed his hands from you. "Fantastic," he said, heading back towards the palace. You helplessly followed beside him. He wrapped an arm around your waist and said, "Happy engagement, dear."

[preromantics]

Praise Kink with IronStrange; Tony seems to need a lot of reassurance.

(Continuing the trend of not being able to control myself when answering what are supposed to be short prompt fills…)

Hope you enjoy! Again, written on my phone so all mistakes are mine and also autocorrects.

Tony/Stephen, E, 1600 words (praise kink but also just dirty talk!)

-

“Total trash,” Tony says, throwing another balled up scrap of paper across the room.

This one, Stephen notes with a raised brow, actually makes it into the small hotel room trash can, an outlier to all the scattered balls of paper littering the floor around it.

He glances back over his book at Tony and sighs. “I thought we were on vacation to, what was it you said? Clear your mind?”

“And avoid that horrible Governor’s Gala,” Tony says, meeting his glance even though he’s already scribbling something new on his fresh page.

“I don’t see how what you’re doing is any different than what you do in New York, except you’ve decided to go with paper instead of your StarkPad,” Stephen says.

Tony is slightly hunched over the desk he’s at now, completely ignoring the lush view of Bali outside of the window in front of him.

Normally Stephen can admit that Tony looks good when he’s immersed in his work, and especially when he’s being quiet — but Stephen had agreed to go on this vacation and try and enjoy time spent not saving this world or another. Which meant Stark had to stop trying to save the world with water purification tech, too.

“You’re reading some ancient wizard book, doesn’t that count as work?” Tony says.

Stephen realizes with a small jolt he was narrating out loud — Tony seems to bring out the best and worst in him, sometimes. Including an honest inner monologue that tends to escape.

Stephen shuts his book with a snap. “Fine, we’ll both stop.”

Tony tears off and crumbles up his current sheet of paper and throws it at Stephen in what Stephen takes to be a childish form of agreement.

“Now what, Doctor?” Tony asks.

Stephen rolls his eyes. “You could start by cleaning up your mess over here. Your aim is terrible, by the way.”

To Stephen’s surprise, and a little to his delight, Tony comes over and drops down to his knees on the floor to gather up his scraps of paper and throw them all into the trash can.

Tony sweeps his hands around in a sarcastic gesture after he plucks the last piece of paper from near Stephen’s foot, a little gleam in his eye that looks enough like a challenge to Stephen to bait him.

For the record, he lets himself be baited by Tony. These days, at least. At first it was hard not to fall into arguments and traded quips whenever he was in Tony’s presence. At some point they went from thinly veiled annoyance to seeking each other out to trade insults like fifth graders with a crush and now — well, now they’re on a mutually agreed upon vacation. Funny how that works.

Stephen sets his book on the table. “Done already? See, was that hard?”

“Next time I’ll practice my aim with your face,” Tony says, though any threat is lost by the fact he’s still on his knees on the floor.

“If you say so,” Stephen says, as he spreads his legs into a more relaxed position in his chair. “In the meantime why don’t you move over here?”

Somewhat surprising is the way Tony complies without another remark, shuffling over until he’s between Stephen’s legs.

Unsurprising is the way Tony’s tongue darts out to wet his bottom lip, or the way his eyes are suddenly hooded, his pupils darker when he looks up at Stephen.

“Good job,” Stephen says evenly, tracking the way Tony’s shoulders slump a little, relaxing.

Stephen reaches down and undoes his belt, flicks the button on his slack and then the zip. It’s perfunctory, efficient. Nothing Tony hasn’t seen Stephen do before at this point. But the way Tony is waiting patiently between Stephen’s thighs, on the floor and watching, makes it feel more like a show, a tease, and Stephen is half-hard already.

He may be confident in his own power, his own abilities, but Tony Stark on his knees in a lavish hotel suite and expensive button down, waiting compliantly and without a word for Stephen to pull his cock out, is enough to make Stephen momentarily question his place in the universe.

The way Tony’s mouth closes around the head, all wet warm heat and eager suction is enough to bring him back down to their current plane and recognize this is where he’s meant to be right now.

“This feels like a better use of our time,” Stephen says.

He positions one hand around the base of his cock, angling it better for Tony to take him deeper, and the other hand lightly around the back of Tony’s head.

Tony groans, low and soft around Stephen’s cock at that. Stephen isn’t using any pressure, not even attempting to guide Tony’s head, and yet the idea that he could seems to be enough for Tony.

“That’s it,” Stephen encourages, just letting his fingers brush Tony’s scalp through his hair.

He leans back in his chair, tipping his head and closing his eyes to better enjoy just the sensations: the way Tony flicks his tongue on ever upward pass of his mouth, the way Tony’s hand is splayed over Stephen’s thigh through his slacks.

With his eyes closed he can also hear the rustle of Tony’s other hand, knows without looking that Tony is stroking his own cock, getting off on sucking Stephen and never having the patience to deny himself his own pleasure.

“You couldn’t help yourself?” Stephen asks, lazily looking down to see the way Tony’s mouth is stretching around the head of his cock, his lips trying to curl up into a smile at being caught but barely managing it around his mouth full.

“You never can,” Stephen answers for him. “Always taking what you want, what you need.”

Tony’s expression flashes to something slightly tense, maybe annoyed, and Stephen releases his own cock to stoke down the bulge of Tony’s cheek to soothe it away.

“I like it,” Stephen clarifies. “That sucking me off gets you too hard to wait, to take your time. That you have to touch yourself instead of waiting for me, even though you know I’d gladly return the favor.”

Tony hums softly in agreement, and Stephen sees the angle of his arm change, the movement of his stroke faster even as he languidly swirls his tongue over Stephen.

“Take me further, Stark,” Stephen says. “We both know you can take more than that.”

Tony’s eyes flutter shut as he shifts to accommodate the request, sucking Stephen further down his throat, velvety smooth and tight.

Stephen strokes through Tony’s hair, down his cheek. “Just like that, you’re built for this,” he praises.

“No more working,” Stephen adds, resisting the urge to loll his head back again as Tony quickens his pace, saliva dripping down to the base of Stephen’s cock now in a reflection of Tony’s enjoyment. “This is a much better use of your time, anyway. Might have to keep you like this the whole week.”

Tony moans at that, and the sound of it shoots straight down Stephen’s cock.

He’s learned recently that nothing gets him off harder than bringing Tony to incoherency. Something about getting Tony to shut up and stop thinking and working, knowing Stephen can do it just with a well placed remark and his mouth, his hands, his cock — the power of it is more heady than magic, sometimes.

“You’re just so good like this, Tony,” Stephen says. “So good at taking every inch of me.”

Tony does just that, taking Stephen to the root, this throat sliding open and pulsing around Stephen’s length as his gag reflex kicks in and his pulls back, licking and sucking at the salty precome beading out of the head. He moves his hand from Stephen’s thigh to wrap it around the rest of Stephen’s cock, too, stroking what his mouth isn’t as efficiently able to reach as he pulls Stephen closer to the edge.

“We’re in no hurry,” Stephen says, though he feels it gritty in his throat, the words almost sticking. They have days of leisure spread out before them, and Stephen is already almost ready to come, so he doesn’t have much mind to wait.

He focuses in on the way Tony’s hands are quickening on both of their cocks, slightly out of rhythm as his mouth and motion gets sloppier.

“You’re close, aren’t you?” Stephen asks, though he doesn’t need an answer. “So good at sucking cock you’re desperate about it.”

Tony pulls off with a low “fuck,” and Stephen finally increases the pressure of his hand at the back of Tony’s head, guiding him back until his mouth is too full to say anything else.

“It’s okay,” Stephen says, “you can come when I do. I’ll just take my time later, maybe teach you more patience if you can be good for me, Stark.”

Stephen feels it building, reaches down to knock Tony’s hand off his own cock so he can up the pace, raising his hips in the chair to fuck up into Tony’s mouth a little more urgently than he means to, using the soft spread of his lips to slide deep as his orgasm builds.

“So good, gonna make me come,” Stephen says, reduced to words between pants.

“You can come now,” he adds. “Want you to, right when I come down your throat.”

Tony’s body bucks between Stephen’s thighs as he comes, following directions more perfectly than he does on the battlefield, spilling into his own hand as Stephen spills between his lips.

“Wow,” Tony says, leaning his head on Stephen’s thigh and regaining his voice far faster than Stephen, though he sounds low and wrecked. “I have the best ideas.”

“I’m sorry, who’s idea?” Stephen manages in response — but in the end, as they fall tiredly into the shower together a few minutes later, it doesn’t really matter.