#I technically have one more but I don't like her as much I don't think her concept is as interesting

[inkedbybarnes]

blind date

bucky barnes x fem!reader

summary: convinced that bucky will never like you back, you agree to a blind date arranged for you to forget about him.

word count: 3.7k

warnings: fluff. two idiots pining over each other (i know, i know. i love the trope). blind dates (they honestly scare me). boundaries being crossed. not so gentleman of a blind date. protective & grumpy bucky (yes, that's a warning!). pet names such as doll. lowercase writing. not proofread.

notes: happy 500 followers to us! hehe. sorry it took long, i waited until i reached that milestone and we finally did! we're growing in our small delulu home, and i love it. <3 i hope you enjoy this one!

dividers by @cafekitsune

comments, reblogs, and likes are highly appreciated. thank you! ♡

“come on! tell me more about this mystery guy.”

natasha plopped down the couch beside you while she held a pint of ice cream in her hand and a spoonful on its way to her mouth. you were talking about the blind date that sam arranged for you, and she hasn't stopped asking questions since you mentioned it.

“there's really nothing to tell besides that he's a guy looking for a date and that he's friends with sam. i'm actually surprised that sam set this all up, but i trust him, you know? maybe it'll be nice,” you answered, ignoring the fact that sam suggested this to help you get over your not-so-little crush on a super soldier.

your phone beeped, showing a message sent to you by your teammate. “speaking of the devil, sam just sent me the details but i'm really not sure if i should go. it doesn't feel right.”

“and leave the poor guy waiting? not happening." natasha stuck her spoon into her pint and set it down on the coffee table. “you feel that way because you like someone already, but nothing's going to happen if we'll sit here waiting. you're either giving this date a chance or ask bucky out. it's time you finally go out there and see someone. aren't you sick of us yet?"

“i'm quite sick of you, that's for sure.” you joked, having natasha as your room neighbour and basically your best friend. if you weren't spending your time sleeping in your room, you'd be spending it with her. “i just don't think i should be going on dates when i know i'm technically not emotionally available for others yet.”

“oh, you can't be sick of me. i'm great company." natasha replied confidently. “then why did you agree? we all know, besides barnes, that you've liked him for so long. plus, he's never been with anyone for ages. the two of you makes sense.”

you gnawed on your lower lip, hesitant to tell nat the reason why you agreed to this stupid date, but she was your best friend and also one hell of a spy to even try and hide it. “he told me that he found someone similar to bucky and that i might want to meet him. we agreed to let it be a blind date to avoid the mess of telling them that they're meeting an avenger.”

“i knew it. you're going on a rebound date!” she jumped on her seat, as if she'd solved the winning numbers to the lottery. “there was no way you'd suddenly go on a blind date without a catch. you're too hung up on bucky!”

“keep it down!” you pulled her back into the couch, nervously looking around the room to see if anyone was close by. “i'm pretty sure rebounds only apply to people i've dated. bucky's hardly a candidate for that list.”

“you've liked him for way too long that it basically feels like you had a relationship, and i'm pretty sure he likes you too,” natasha said. “trust me, my guts? golden.”

you winced at the thought. there had been zero signs that bucky liked you back. as much as you trusted natasha and her instincts, this was something you couldn't just assume.

“i don't think so, nat. i've given him enough hints. it's either he's too dense about it or he's just not interested. maybe it's just how it's supposed to be, and i can't keep myself stuck with maybes forever.” you sighed, deciding to finally go to the blind date. “help me pick an outfit?”

“like you even have to ask?” she smiled, dragging you to your room while you were still left with uncertainty in your heart.

the restaurant was one of those hole-in-the-wall places in downtown new york. it had a lot people dining inside, their noise easily heard from the outside, yet the ambiance already felt warm and welcoming. you wondered if sam suggested the place or the guy you were about to meet.

you sighed, giving your chest one last tap since it wouldn't stop beating so fast. it was a wonder how your heartbeat remained stable during a risky mission, while a harmless date had you this nervous. although with that, you felt human.

“okay, let's see where this goes,” you muttered to yourself, glancing at your watch that had a tracking device in it, as requested (or ordered) by your best friend.

natasha initially opted to come with you and seat somewhere far, but you told her that you didn't need it. so, she settled with a tracking device, as if you weren't an avenger who could defend yourself. you couldn't find it in you to complain, since this was natasha's own way of showing that she cared.

you entered the restaurant, eyes wandering around the room despite not knowing exactly what to look for. the only details you were allowed to know was that “joseph” knew where to take you, so you assumed that person was one of the staff that you had to look for.

once you found a waitress that didn't look too occupied, you approached her with a smile. “excuse me, may i know where joseph is?”

the lady looked up at you, recognition evident on her face. you were slightly worried that she knew your identity, but she gave you a warm smile and held your arm gently. “oh, he's right there by the counter. let me take you to him!”

she escorted you towards the man handling the counter that seemed to be where the orders were taken. he was shouting various orders behind him while arranging the food on the counter. by the looks of it, he could be the manager or the owner of the place.

“she's here!” the lady beside you exclaimed, catching the full attention of joseph.

“ah, there's our special guest for tonight!” joseph walked around the counter to hug you, as if you knew each other for a long time. “come, come! we have the best spot reserved for you. it's right outside where you can enjoy the view while also having some privacy, eh? your date already arrived, but no worries. he wasn't waiting for too long.”

you were rendered speechless as he took you to the patio, not expecting your date to arrive first, and most importantly not expecting to see him right away. you thought you were early enough, but it seems that your date was an earlier bird than you were.

once outside, all you could see was an empty patio with one man sitting not so far from where you were standing. you hated how you could only see his back and not his face, since he was facing the opposite direction. although, you immediately noticed how he was dressed similarly to bucky.

similar haircut, black boots, and a black jacket. while you weren't sure if they actually looked alike, sam wasn't kidding about them having some similarities.

“how come it's empty out here?” you asked with genuine curiosity. the restaurant was oozing with customers tonight, and they could surely use the extra space outdoors.

“well, uh...” joseph scratched his head, smiling awkwardly as he looked for an answer. “oh, well, stop worrying about that! you're here to go on a date and nothing more! let us worry about that ourselves, hm? come, let's not make your date wait for too long.”

you both walked towards the only table occupied, taking a deep breath before joseph announced, “your date has arrived!”

the man turned around, eyes widened at the sudden noise, but he eventually smiled once he looked at you.

“hey, nice to finally meet you.” he stood up, extending his hand. “i'm martin.”

one look at him and you knew that your heart stubbornly stayed with someone you shouldn't be thinking about.

“i still can't believe that i'm on a date with an avenger.”

you were barely done with your meal despite being here for more than an hour, and martin hasn't been able to stop gushing about your whole avenger sideline. while you understood his excitement, this wasn't the type of date that you hoped for.

“you think i could tell my friends?” he asked, suddenly nudging his chair closer to you that he was basically sitting beside you. “they probably won't believe me, so will it be okay if we took a picture?”

oh, so that's why he moved closer.

“sure.” you forced a smile. “but don't get too close, maybe? i'm.. i'm not that comfortable yet.”

as if you said nothing, he placed an arm over your shoulder, pulling you even closer to him. you've been through worse situations than this, but you were highly uncomfortable having your boundaries crossed.

bucky wouldn't do something like this. how did sam think that any of his behaviour was similar to him?

martin already had his phone out, capturing pictures and squeezing your arm, when you decided that this isn't what you wanted, but before you could open your mouth, you felt someone pulling his arm off of you, causing martin to scream.

“what is wrong with you!?” martin shouted, standing up and stepping away while he held his aching arm. when you turned around, you felt your heart stop to find the person you least expected to be here, but wanted the most to be with.

“bucky?”

he did not look at you, his eyes still fixated on martin, nostrils flaring as he took a step closer, standing in front of you as if he was shielding you, while martin took the same amount of steps backwards. “she clearly said no. what the fuck was so hard about understanding that?”

“look, man, i don't know what you're doing here, but i think this is between me and her,” he said, his eyes showing fear as he watched the ex-assassin approach him, hearing the gears of his metal arm whirring.

“give me your phone.” bucky ordered. “now.”

martin immediately fished for his phone, nearly dropping it, and gave it to bucky. “w-what are you going to do?”

“no, this is what you're gonna do,” bucky started, crashing martin's phone with ease and carelessly throwing it to the side. “this date never happened, your friends will hear nothing about tonight, and you will get out of here before i finish counting to three. one...”

in a snap, martin was already out of your sight. if you hadn't known martin before this, you would think he idolised pietro with the way he ran so fast.

“are you okay?”

forgetting about bucky for a split second, his voice jolted you out of your thoughts. you looked up, your heart racing, to find him right in front you.

“what are you doing here?”

“that doesn't really answer my question, doll. answer mine first, will ya? then i'll answer yours.”

“i'm okay, but i can take care of myself. you didn't have to scare the guy.” you sighed, trying your best to look displeased when in fact this has been the happiest you've been tonight. “so? why are you here?”

“well, it's really hard to explain...”

“you better try, barnes, because i am very confused right now,” you said. “one moment i'm on a date with someone, then suddenly my teammate, who i told nothing about said date, appears and crushes the phone of the guy i'm with?”

“natasha told me about it.”

you frowned, not surprised with natasha's gossipy nature, but confused about what she could've said that made him go all the way here.

“i was looking for you since you're always with us during dinner, and nat told me that you were on a date. i couldn't help but ask where and with whom, but she said that she had no idea, that it was a blind date. she was more than glad to tell me where you were, so i came here looking for you.”

“why?” you asked, confused and suddenly hopeful at the same time. although, you tried to keep your hopes down, not wanting to set yourself up for a heartbreak.

“what do you mean why? that's it. i was just worried, and now you're okay. can we go home?”

he turned his back on you and walked away, you were quick enough follow him, still unsatisfied with his answer.

once you've reached a dark alley where he had his motorcycle parked, you sighed and decided to ask one more time.

“what are you actually doing here, barnes?” you asked. “i want an actual answer or i'm walking home.”

“it doesn't matter,” bucky answered shortly, frustration. written on his face. “why did you agree to this anyway? doesn't feel like something you'd do.”

“you have no idea about what i feel and what i want to do,” you answered. “and you still haven't answered my question.”

“i don't know, okay? i don't know. i just..” he sighed. “i heard the word date and everything didn't make sense. all i knew was that i wanted to follow you here and stop whatever you were doing. i didn't like it.”

“what gives you the right to stop me from going on a date?” you asked, your head jerked back in disbelief. “and why would it even bother you? this is the first time someone went on a date in the team. so what makes mine so different?”

“what do you think?” he asked, his gaze challenging and curious, waiting for your response.

you stood in silence, his question causing a sudden drift in the conversation. you could feel the tension in the air.

“sam made me go to a blind date as well,” he spoke again. “i just remembered that he was asking me where i'd take someone on a date. days after that, he said he found a girl that i might like, and that i should go on a date with her, he suggested that it should be a blind date, knowing that i'm an avenger and all.”

“why didn't you go?”

“i couldn't. i wasn't interested. i knew it wouldn't work.”

“why?”

“because i already like someone.”

your heart sank, a lump forming in your throat as the reality set in that the person you've been pining for was already interested in someone else.

so much for going on a date to forget about him.

“what about you?” he asked. “why did you go?”

because of you, you idiot.

“trying to get over someone,” you simply answered.

“you were seeing someone?” he asked, completely clueless, but suddenly looking uneasy. “i never knew you were in a relationship. i guess, we're not that close, but i thought i'd at least know abou—”

“what? no!” you replied, voice rising as you spoke. "god, i agreed to this date because i wanted to get over you!"

the words slipped out of your mouth, your eyes widening in surprise as you accidentally reveal the feelings you had kept hidden.

bucky blinked, silence hanging in the air. the confession felt heavy between you as you waited for his response.

“i didn't agree to going on a blind date because i have feelings you,” bucky finally spoke, taking a deep breath before continuing, “because i knew i wouldn't enjoy it knowing i'd be thinking of you anyway, because as convinced as i was that you had no interest in me, i'd rather keep my eyes on you than on anybody else.”

“wait, wait, what? you like me?” you repeated in a slightly disbelieving tone, searching his face for confirmation.

“why would i follow you all the way here if i didn't?”

“because you care? and it might be dangerous to go on a date with someone i've never met?” you guessed. “i mean, i think you'd also do it for everybody else, as grumpy as you look like on the outside, you can be a softie sometimes.”

“if i had no feelings for you, i wouldn't be here. you're an avenger for christ's sake. some random guy would be like a training dummy for you,” he answered. “and no, i wouldn't be doing this for anybody else. if the situation's that dangerous, maybe, but a date? you're all adults. you know what you're doing.”

you couldn't help but giggle at his answer, which earned you a glare from him. “what?”

“nothing.” you shook your head. “you sound like an old man lecturing the younger generation.”

“are we completely ignoring the fact that we like each other?”

“that's the only thing on my mind right now.” you admitted. “are you sure about what you just said? it could be the hunger talking.”

instead of answering, bucky took his phone out of his pocket, swiping and tapping on it a few times before taking your hand and placing it on your palm.

“what am i supposed to—”

“just read it.”

choosing not to argue with him, you grabbed the phone with a frown. his messages with natasha were on the screen, starting from their messages from nearly four months ago. you scrolled through their messages, and while they lasted for months, they were all short and straightforward.

three months ago

bucky:

did you arrive safely?

romanoff:

since when did you start asking?

bucky:

?

romanoff:

yes, we arrived safely.

bucky:

👍🏻

romanoff:

really???

two months ago

bucky:

is she okay?

romanoff:

ohhh, that's why you keep texting.

bucky:

answer

romanoff:

geez, barnes.

yeah, she's okay.

bucky:

ok

one month ago

bucky:

she's sick?

romanoff:

yeah, wanna visit her?

you're basically immune.

bucky:

i have a mission

romanoff:

oh yeah

oops

bucky:

are you busy?

romanoff:

nope

why?

bucky:

take my place

romanoff:

no thanks, barnes.

bucky:

i'll take your next task

and the next one as well

romanoff:

why can't you just take this one?

bucky:

nothing

romanoff:

a reason or i'm not doing it.

bucky:

she's sick

i want to stay

romanoff:

oh my god

you're such a sap

fine i'll talk to steve

bucky:

ty

romanoff:

you're using abbreviations now???

bucky:

👍🏻

one week ago

romanoff:

movie night later, don't ditch us again

bucky:

busy

romanoff:

she planned this one

she's worried you won't come

bucky:

i'll bring snacks

romanoff:

i love knowing your weakness

bring popcorn!

bucky:

she prefers pizza over popcorn

does she like popcorn?

romanoff:

nope, but some of us do.

bucky:

ok

romanoff:

so you're bringing popcorn?

bucky:

no

once you were done reading, you returned his phone back to his hand. “you do like me,” you said, the confession finally sinking in.

bucky nodded. “and you like me too.”

“where does that leave us?” you asked, hoping. “are we.. dating now?”

“no,” he answered quickly.

you felt that ache returning in your chest, but before you could say something, bucky already sensed your worries and he wasn't letting you slip away that easily.

“no because i want to do this right. i want to take you out on a date first, bring you flowers, play music and ask you for a dance, all that stuff that you deserve,” he explained, bringing his warm hand to your cheek. “but trust me that it won't take long before i call you mine. i don't think i have the patience for it at this point.”

“you promise?” you rose to your tiptoes, wrapping your arms around him. “i don't want to wait that long either.”

“you won't,” he replied, leaning into you, his lips brushing against your nose before pulling you in a kiss. “i promise.”

this was supposed to have a lil bonus when they got back to the tower, revealing the team's true involvement with the blind date, buttt i might just do it some other time as a snippet/part 2 instead. i still have a few to write anyway, woops.

if you have any requests for bucky, send them my way! 💌

[kashverse]

How do you think would bf!gojo survive the flu, "IF HE SURVIVES IT"

I think that dudes rarely get sick maybe also because of his infinity but if he gets sick, that he will be the babiest of the babies

the real ones remember @naomigojo's germophobe reader x gojo...can't say i wasn't thinking about it when writing this 🙂‍↕️

gojo satoru, the strongest sorcerer alive, lay draped over you like a particularly dramatic victorian-era widow who had just received word of her beloved's tragic demise in the war. except, in this case, the war was flu season, and the tragic demise was his immune system.

"i have fallen," he wheezed, dramatically throwing his arm over his eyes, his long limbs effectively pinning you to the mattress. his forehead burned against your shoulder, sweat slicking his white hair to his skin. "love has made me weak. love has made me—" he coughed, a truly pathetic sound, before groaning. "—love has made me sick."

"no, i made you sick, dumbass," you croaked, shoving at his shoulder, but he clung to you tighter like a koala with abandonment issues. "i told you not to sleep next to me!"

"and let my sweet, sniffling angel suffer alone? never," he gasped. "never!" another dramatic cough. 

"but now… now i too must bear this curse."

"it's the flu, s'toru."

"oh, so now you don't care that your dear husband is dying?"

"we're not married."

"technicalities," he rasped, reaching for the tissue box and dramatically dabbing his forehead like a victorian lady about to faint at a ballroom dance. except, unfortunately, it was the same tissue you had just blown your nose into.

you gagged. "ewww!"

"sickness of love," he whispered, looking at you with glassy, feverish eyes, voice hoarse but still somehow smug. "our love transcends germs."

"our love is a biohazard."

he chuckled weakly, pressing his fever-warmed forehead against yours. "i feel like i got hit by a train."

"you sound like you got hit by a train."

"oh yeah? well, you sound like a cartoon villain with bronchitis," he shot back, voice cracking pathetically halfway through. he punctuated his insult with an even more pathetic sneeze, which sent his whole body jolting. you felt the full force of it because he was still sprawled on top of you. "get off of me," you groaned, shoving at his heavy frame, but he only groaned dramatically in response.

"no. i must remain close to you. i may not have much time left…"

"you're not dying!"

"…but i shall spend my last moments with my beloved. tell me, my dear," he sniffled, clutching onto your hand. "if i go, will you—"

"i am going to smother you with a pillow."

"oh, how cruel, how heartless!" he gasped, covering his mouth with the back of his hand, as if he were a fainting maiden in a period drama. "to think i have loved you so deeply, only to be cast aside in my weakest moment! oh, woe is me!"

"woe is me," you muttered, forcefully shoving a tissue into his hand. “blow your damn nose, properly, before you start monologuing about the fragility of life again.” he sniffled loudly, taking the tissue before collapsing dramatically against you again, sighing like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"this," you grumbled, voice clogged with congestion, "is exactly why i told you not to sleep next to me."

"but what would be the point of my infinity if i couldn't let it down for the one i love?" he murmured, blinking up at you blearily. despite the absolute mess of tissues, the shared misery of high fevers, and his insufferable dramatics, you sighed, feeling your chest soften ever so slightly. 

"…you're still an idiot," you muttered, tucking the blanket over both of you.

"ah, but i'm your idiot," he murmured back, before promptly sneezing directly onto your shoulder.

…you were going to kill him.

[fluffyfeatherfun]

Dinosaurs can laugh! (Antoher Dandy's World Tickle Fic

Made another one speciallt for the requester to fuel their Lee!Shelly needs

Requested by: @mosaichunter (I ALSMOST PING THE WRONG PERSON)

Lee:Shelly

Ler:Vee (Yup, again!)

Starring:None, just two of them!

Word Count:1,585

Warning:This is a tickle fic, again. If you don't really like those kind of stuff, scroll pass

Bits of angst. Just a bit at the beginning but it'll tone down

((brackets like these are creator's notes in the fic))

Extra note:While this is technically connected to the previous fic , you don't need to read it in order to understand this fic.

-------------------------------------------------

Shelly can hear the roaring cheer outside. She can feel the plastic texture of her dino toys. She can feel the cold stone floor beneath her. She can feel the scars on her heart. It hurts to know that the crowd outside dosen't even know her name. It hurts to know that the love she gets is just as little as the attention the kids pay when she talks about her dinosaur facts. It hurts that there are only a few toons who are aware of her problems. It hurts....

Until her thoguhts were cut short when she heard a creek from the woodeen door, follow by a familiar looking TV host((totally not because we just saw her last chapther)),follow by a powerful slam.

"Oh, your done already?"

Vee held a grudge from the loud blasting crowd behind, turning to Shelly and nodding with one foot on the door.

"Wish it was even earlier. Being a host is quite stressful sometimes. Now, what did yoy want to talk about when we were at the hallways? "

The ammonite's face switch to that of a teary looking one, darting down on the ground and not muttering a word until the TV head host broke the silence.

"Was it because you are being ignored again?"

"Wh-No! I promise this one is different." She waves her hands around in denial.

"Really? Tell me more about it." She respond, as she took a seat beside her.

It was hard for Shelly to make eye contact with how hard is it to word this new worry, but she still did her best to keep the point straight:

"I've been thinking a lot about..... Changing what's mainly about me.... To be more specific, my liking for dinosaurs. I tried a lot of things:baking, sewing, roleplay, even game hosting with the toons, but it's either I..... Don't enjoy it as much or I'm not as good at it.... Mostly the first point... "

She fiddles her fingers around, as tiny drops of tears fell on the floor. Vee can clearly she how desperate she is for just a little love, for just a little attention, for just a little recognition, so she pat her on the back to soothe her aching heart a bit and gives a pep talk:

"Hey there, dino girl, look at me."

"Hmm?"

"I know that dinosaurs aren't the most popular among the kids, but that dosen't mean it can't be interesting. There are so many fun ways to express it out, but that dosen't exactly mean your way isn't good. You know what they say:" Sometimes it takes time to find the right audience." etc etc.... "

She widens her eyes a bit, feeling a bit better with Vee's ramble (Or pep talk again I'M NOT REALLY GOOD WITH WORDS), as she countinues to listen to her:

"And besides, fame isn't everything. Sure, it seems like the greatest gift when you have lots of it, but when it dies down, what now? Barely anyone knows you, there is some new kind of thing that's all the rage, and worst of all, you know what was it like to be loved. Not to mention busy schedules and having little to no privacy. Seriously, I can't even remember the last time I had a nice and normal chat with Teagen. "

She quietly opens her shuttle, looking at the old, janky wries for a short moment in a bit of quivering sadness, before closing it and turning back to Shelly, who was just nodding her head this entire time.

It was quite the akward stare, to say the least, just for her to process everything Vee said and wipe her tiny tears.

Suddenly, a little idea spark in the television's CPU. Without scaring her too much, she taps on her fat dino finger(okay she dosen't really have those but cmon, think about it) to get her attention and spoke:

"Hey, I can prove that your dino knowlage does have some use."

Of coruse, you can't just say that to some person your trying to comfort and expe t them to understand. The ammonite's head tilts like a confused dog, before responding with a few studders:

"Wh-wh-what?"

Wagging her mic tail nervously, she scrathes the back of her antenna and replies back:

"Uhmmmm, how do I say this....... Could I........ Dust off your ribs?" (A luttle silly secret word of 'Can I tickle'. Aka the creator forgot the the term for secret word so her worsing is super off AHHH)

Her eyes light up in excitement as her dino tail wags rapid and her hands wave, turning around and fully exposing the area.

"Of course you can! I'm still not sure how that relates to what you said earlier, buttt I'll go with the flow."

With a smile on her face, Vee retracts her cold, metal fingers to give them little fur tips, before extending her arms to grab Shelly by the shoulders and wraps her mic wire tail around her body.

((Alright IK there might be too much creator notes, but this is important, I promise. I honestly don't think I can contently write both Shelly and Vee's names for this psrt since it rapidly switches the focus, so you, the reader will need to keep track of that. If you are reading this thank you :)))

Without warning, she felt a few of her top rib bones getting attacked by the fingers. That combined with the fact it's near her underarms, another vunerable spot, makes her burst of of laugther and flail her arms around helplessly. To say that she didn't expect her to immediately aim for it would be an understatement.

"VHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE, THAHAHAHTHAHHA WAHHAHAHAHA, GAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA."

As if that wasen't enough, the host positions her mic right in front of her mouth to amplify her laugther thoguh her speakers.

"You know, after what's possibly the longest gameshow, I could really use a bit of relaxing music to calm my wires down from the win of the other craft. Now, tell me, my deae ammonite, what's an interesting fact about dinosaurs and your sweet melt spot?"

Her blush was quickly forming on her face, especially with that little comment on her ribs. Regardless of how much tickles she is tanking, hiwever, she is still able to roll out one.

"AHAHAHA THEHEHEREHEHEHX HAHAHAHAS AHAHA SEHEHEHEHCHOHOHOHND SHEHEHEHEHET OHOHHOHOFHO RHIHIHIBS CHAHAHAHALLHEHED GASHHEHEHESTHAHAHAHLHIHIHIAS."

"Hmmmm, impressive! Perhaps you wouldn't mind naming me a flying dinosaur that flaps like your arms?"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ARHAHAHACHAHEHEHOHPTHEHERHEHEYHEHX DHOHOHOHEHEHS."

"Not sure how your able to say such a long name when your mind is as tangled as your body under my tickles, but I'll guve you credit for that. Perhaps we will need to increase the difficulty a bit more."

Giving her palms fluffy pads, she moves the the bridge of the sides and the belly, letting the it and the fingers work together around that area. This sudden increase of ticklish feeling jolts her body around and fills the room with even more of her laugthers.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, NHOHOHOHOHOHOHT THEHEHEHEHEHERHEHEHEHE VHEHEHEHEHEHE. THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHTHEHAHTS MHIHIHIHY MHEHEHEHEHEHEHELT SPHOHOHOHOHHOHOT."

"Everywhere is a melt spot for you, silly. Say, what kind of dinosaur has the largest stomach and how much it can eat?"

"AHAHA BRHAHAHANCHIHIHOSHAHARHUHS CHAHAHAN EHAHAHAT FOHOHOHOHUR HUHUHUUHUHNDRHEHEHED THOHOHO NIHIHIHIHNE HUHUHUHNDHRHEHEHED PHOHOHOHHOUNDS OHOHOHOHOF LEHAHHEHAHEHAHAHFY GRHEHEHEHEHENS AHAHA DHAHAHAY."

"Wonderful, really, wonderful! Last question before I let you go:Can dinosaurs laugh?"

"WHAHAHAHAHAIT, WHAHAHAHAT?"

"Can a dinosaur laugh just as loud as you? Hmm"

She repeats, as her fingers got closer to the center of her stomach.

"IHIHIHHIHT DHOHOHOHNT HAHAHAHAHAVE THEHEHEHEHE ANHAHAHANSWHEHEER THOHOHOHO THAHAHAHAT!"

"I'm just joking, silly, I don't know the answer to that either."

See her nearly cracking up to a little mess, she suddenly retracts the fluffy pads awaywhile still holding her body. Shelly babbled around like an idiot for a minite or two before she realized that the tickling stop. Feeling relieved, she takes her time to catch her breath and wipe of all the sweat on her head(don't ask me how is Vee not affected by that). She wags her tail playfully around Vee's stomatch, not fliching her by even a bit. Before long, her lungs had ctahc enough air for her to verbalize some words:

"Hey, Vee, thanks alot..... Huff.... For the tickles...... I've been craving some since this morning....."

"Haha, no problem! Look, I do want to apologize for not really spending time with you these past few days. I've got a lot of events to headline, including my own gameshow."

"Yeah, I understand,.... Haha..... Say, how exactly did you prove my dino knowlage...... Was worth something.......? "

"Don't you see it, Shelly? You could just pop one out even under such laughter as if it was nothing! That dosen't just take knowlage, but also some fighting energy and lung capacity! I'm telling you, you're a real fighter for this. "

"Oh!..... Well that's new..... Maybe that explains why I accidentally crack Tisha's.... Knuckles a bit too hard yesterday....."

"..... You what now?"

"..... Yeah.... I may or may not have.... Broke her arm?"

"..... I'm not even going to question that. Anyways, my next gameshow could use snother contestant. Wanna join?"

"Your kidding?..... Of coruse I would!"

"Alright alright, I'll register your name later. Come on, let's get some soft tacos."

"But you can't eat food, can you?"

"A robot can dream, Shelly, a robot can dream."

And so, the TV host picked up the ammonite by the hand and took the other exit back to the toon rooms, leaving the aftershow on a sweet note.

-------------------------------------------------

Thank you so much for your patience! Speaking honestly, I wish I could get thus done earlier, but hey, better late than never!

Let's thank Google for giving me some dino facts to incoperate into this fic, and thank my will to tease the requester the motivation to finush this fic! /silly

Have aa good day mate! And proud to say I enjoyed this fic alot more!

[midnight1nk]

So, this week's episode...

[spoilers below cut]

y'know, i've taken the time to calm down from what happened minutes ago and this might be the distraction i need. hey, the Karen and Swag dynamic is back (for real this time) and i got myself some instant ramen :)

(the following is my life reaction:)

hey luke, oh that's right the murder drones merch ofc

ah yes, just innocent child imagination. very nice :)

dude, it's good to see Karen and her kids again

THEY BROUGHT IT BACK LET'S GOOOOOO

and the corporation is at it again. OMG seriously leave Karen alone bruh

well, ig she didn't technically finish the job of killing Marty (nope i'm still not over that btw)

well we at least know what Karen has them under in her contacts, "Hitman inc"

YES YES YESSSSSSSS THE SMG4 KIDS ARE BACK BABYYYYYY

i have been WAITING for this to happen, i can check this off the bucket list

can they be friends PLEASE?????

oh hang on i gotta pull a Pitch Meeting (TM) here, give me a second...

Writer!Ink: "..And Frankie said that Beeg4 claimed the playground right before they did." Producer!Ink: "Wow, it's going to be hard to go against Beeg. I mean, this is the kid known to start fights with other kids to get what he wants, like that one time with the ice cream." Writer!Ink: "Actually, it's going to be super easy. Barely an inconvenience." Producer!Ink: "Oh, really?" Writer!Ink: "Yeah, because Zach is just going to poke Beeg with a stick and that should pretty much do it."

Producer!Ink: "If only we could do that irl... but wait, if they're in their imaginary world, could the stick be a stand-in for a sword or weapon in general? I mean, it was the same stick they used to execute that guy." Writer!Ink: "Well, sir, we're already pushing boundaries on what YouTube is allowing Glitch Productions to do. We're already doing the Knights of Guinevere and, with Dana Terrace and TOH team onboard, there's not enough in the budget to show a kid getting stabbed even though it's pretend." Producer!Ink: "Oh yeah, YouTube will definitely going to kick our ass for that. We got away with it last time with Terrence." Writer!Ink: "Also, death is sometimes not real." Producer!Ink: "...What?"

...let's just move on

sad moment for Beeg for sure, but I just like how he rolls around like that

Swag, my dude, no....

that was cute for Swag to call Beeg little buddy

EGGDOG NOOO (well, they are kids, they probably didn't realize how much it's affecting Beeg, even if it's pretend)

SWAG FLASHBACK? i did not see that coming

also these grown-ass men clowning on a kid, bruh how about you mind your damn business

this really sweet though and very on brand for Swag to go against a bunch of kids

*holding out for a hero shrek 2 version mp3 plays in bg*

yep, everyone in SMG4 has trauma 😀👍

"OMG IT'S SPIDER-MAN" *look at the camera* how did I get in this show? am i cory this whole time?

guess who's back from that call?

Swag, you're so dead. RIP already to you dude

(also weird how in the same week, the fandom found out that Kevin was going to be in a boxing tournament, huh...)

that R roll though, hold onnnnn

i really do love the switch between their game of pretend and irl

using a HIGHLY EXPERIMENTAL GOVERNMENT DEVICE on CHILDREN in a PLAYGROUND....

huh *sweats nervously* this isn't new, very on-brand for Swag to do, but... oh god they read my episode concepts /silly

honestly that's a good question Karen, finally someone says it

SWAG

This is giving "The Incredibles" vibes and i'm somehow here for that, hell yeah

PFFT HAHAHA YEAH KAREN FUCK THIS GET THEIR ASS

well Swag you did dare them to "stomp out" your spell

OH BEEG HE'S JUST A BABY 😭

YES YES THIS IS WHAT I WANT YESSSS

WAITER WAITER I WOULD LIKE SOME MORE 💳💥💳💥💳💥💳💥

*LE GASP* WE CAN HAVE SMG4 CREW MINI WITH ALL THE KIDS

...huh *to self, don't think about goop!4 don't think about goop!4 don't think about goop!4*

i'm going to point at whoever wrote this scene intentionally. you, yes YOU, if i'm thinking exactly what you are putting down, touché

OH SHIT GET THE KIDS KAREN

F in the chat for Swag o7 (ik he's not dead)

WOAH WOAH WOAH HOLD UP NONONONONO TEAM YOU CAN'T JUST DROP THAT ON US! ON ME!

oh fuck dude, that just slapped me across the face. "Reckless and chaotic", huh? WHO THE HELL IS THE KIDS' BIO FATHER? For all we know, this guy might be dead. divorce is an option, sure, but the way Swag's sacrifice caused a lot of destruction...

the implications, guys... i can't believe this...

ANYWAY Beeg4's little hops 💙 like father, like son

andddd Swag's not dead, i knew it. and in the sky just like Old Man who's also not dead btw :)

Congrats to choripandia for your art being featured in the credit 🎉 love the art, dude

.・-: ✧ :--: ✧ :-・.

omg... what an episode! This has been fantastic, honestly!!! Everything from the plot to the animation, all of it was SOOOO GOOD. It's crazy and wacky and I love it! It featured side characters the whole time, love those kinds of changes! and we got character backstories which WOAH that was a nice surprise :D

AND AND i get a dose of the Mini Crew? HELL YEAH

this has been phenomenal and I truly think this might lead to something. Aside from the imagery the Team likes to tease me and goop!4 theory with, this could lead to an arc, likely on Karen. A non-Mr.Puzzles arc, I'm all for it.

(and y'know me I would've called it the most non-Puzzles Puzzles arc potential of all times, that doesn't seem that it's linked to Puzzles in any way but it could be brought back bc character development. after all, Karen is linked to Marty, Puzzle Park, and the corporation and Swag to episodes related to IGBP. but for our sakes, let's not have Puzzles this time, it'll be a very creative challenge for the Team)

If there's no arc, that is totally fine! I am more than happy to just have more episodes like this without it being in an arc. not necessarily non-plot relevant bc of the corporation and Karen's mystery husband. it's still insane that the Team dropped that in for us and Swag's backstory like that. Amazing job, truly.

Now I know some people might've been confused about Mario being in the thumbnail and not in the episode. I get it really. According to Ben, he didn't see the episode itself until after its release and this thumbnail was what the Team sent him to do. It's crazy ik, but do understand that they're working on a tight schedule.

Take it from me: I work as a major editor for a publishing group (that i'm not going to specify) and we have to release a new thing every two weeks. It's not of "one team works on this and then passes it on to the next" like a factory production line. All teams are working at the same time and have to deliver at the same time, regardless of the amount they were given in the first place. And there are times when something's missing, we have to improvise (but still maintain good quality) just so we could meet the deadline. Even if we have good communication with each other.

Obviously for the SMG4 Team, they have a lot of things going on in their lives, other projects to work on, timezones to get through, and yet they still have the moment for this show. Perhaps when Ben was sent the request, they planned to have Mario in the episode but the writers (Aaron, Paul, and Wiz) decided to write him out. Who knows? Just imagine doing a thumbnail and then the group chat tells you to make a different one quickly before they release it. Plus, his computer is holding on by a thread from all the rendering, poor Ben

i know how that feels, man 😔 there goes my program crashing

For what it's worth, it's okay, the episode was still great. Thanks as always, Team. Anyway guys, that's all I have to say for now, really enjoyed nice little distraction. And remember: numbers go first!

I'll see you all next time!!! 💙

[nabi-unveiled]

The People on the Periphery

Just like everything else, When It Rains, It Pours has been very intentional about its use of characters. Every person that has been mentioned or shown has served some type of narrative purpose.

The coworker? She was a trigger for the conversation about dividing people into categories AND foreshadowed what was to come.

The other coworkers? They clued us in on Hagiwara's competency in work and his genial nature. They also served to contrast how Hagiwara LOOKS at Sei versus the other people around him.

The party people? They showed us more information about Hagiwara's relationship with Kaori and how Hagiwara has been repressing his inner thoughts. It also shows that Kaori has been controlling Hagiwara's narrative just like Fujisawa controls Sei's.

Hiraiwa? He contrasted Hagiwara with how he handled the LINE exchange. But he ALSO cemented that Sei had once been more social and gave blatant cues about Fujisawa's controlling nature.

Ayako was a mirror for Hagiwara's relationship and she spilt the tea.

The point is...every person has served a narrative purpose. Most of the time, they've served more than one.

This brings us to our people on the periphery: Fujisawa's editor and Kaori's parents.

What's THEIR purpose in this story? There's a few options.

Option #1: They serve no purpose.

There's always the possibility that they serve no purpose and are mere conversational fodder. I would be disappointed if this is the case as nothing in this show has been without purpose, and I'd make up a purpose for them just to please myself.

Option #2: Fujisawa/Kaori are also having a physical affair.

After all, lying to meet your lover has been established.

However, as much as I would LOVE for Fujisawa's secret to be the editor, I just don't think it is the case. After all, Fujisawa and Kaori BOTH have a very strong emotional response to finding out about the affair. Their behavior doesn't align. This option would also cheapen some narrative aspects if the partners had been cheating all along.

Option #3: The parents/editor demonstrate Fujisawa/Kaori seeking and having emotional comfort outside of their relationship.

It's possible that the editor/parents are meant to serve as a contrast between Fujisawa/Kaori and Hagiwara/Sei.

Fujisawa's having interesting conversations with his editor. Even though he would never want Sei to talk to a coworker.

Kaori's going to her parents when she's bored. Even though she doesn't like it if Hagiwara stays out late himself.

Fujisawa/Kaori had already went outside of the relationship to find connection and comfort, and they have the personal freedom to do so. But Hagiwara and Sei? They didn't have these people in their life. They were LONELY.

The editor and parents don't have to be shown on screen to serve this purpose. It's consistent with the show's writing. The customer with the broken nail stayed off screen but gave us the segue into all of the broken nail analogies.

However, I keep wondering if there will be more to it. After all, Ayako was mentioned several times in casual conversation before her full narrative purpose was revealed.

Option #4: They become important during Fujisawa/Kaori's spiral.

Technically, this idea builds on the previous interpretation. IF these people are Kaori/Fujisawa's emotional support, then it makes sense that they would play a role in mediating the spiral. Either getting Fujisawa/Kaori to calm down, realize the deeper problems in the relationship, or let go of Hagiwara/Sei. That said, I don't see this happening on screen. If Sei/Hagiwara are not in the scene for some reason, they aren't getting screentime. I also feel like this option isn't in line with the narrative choices thus far either. The narrative has focused on the actions and choices of our leads. It's focused on them wrestling with their decisions and inner turmoil. And I don't see the show taking a sudden detour from that. I don't really want it to.

Option #5: ??? I have no idea.

I have been wracking my brain for a stronger narrative purpose for these people if it's NOT a physical affair/cover up, but I just don't know. I give up.

So for now, Option #3 paralleling Fujisawa/Kaori and Hagiwara/Sei is where I'll settle. It demonstrates Hagiwara/Sei's loneliness, Fujisawa/Kaori's personal freedom, and emphasizes yet again that NONE of them are really getting what they need out of these relationships.

Anybody have thoughts? I'd love to hear them.

3 Day Later....

The editor is a control tactic. Pretty sure about that one now. Sei mentions the party, and Fujisawa IMMEDIATELY brings up the editor as a way to try to keep Sei from going to the party. Still not confident about the parents.

[celtrist]

Was reading thru the tag and I'm curious now, on the off chance that Alastor IS able to break his curse, how would the other "love interests" react? I'm just imagining the kind of horror scenario for certain characters realizing that they have been doing some pretty heinous things to Alastor, versus some characters who, while not technically under the curse, still hold a really deranged torch for him . (It's vox.) But yeah, just curious about your thoughts.

I wouldn't say it's an off chance for it to happen (I'm definitely the type for as much as I like darker content, I do tend to need SOME sort of happy/bittersweet ending to be satisfied typically. There are some exceptions, but dead dove stuff does tend to need that for me) I don't remember who I did and didn't talk about, so forgive me for any repeats.

Everyone more or less feels immense guilt and horror for what they've done, simple as that (with a few exceptions of course). But I think most people in the hellaverse really aren't into the whole "unwanted attention" thing, so I think most would feel like shit about it. If not just sorta uncomfortable that they felt so strongly that way about THE Radio Demon.

Charlie would try to do as much as she could to make it up to Alastor, sorta too much honestly. I can see her accidentally being TOO reminiscent of "Obsessed Charlie" for Alastor's liking with her sorta hovering in concern and trying to overcompensate for what she's done. So Alastor wouldn't want to spend time with her as much. Vaggie would be the opposite to Charlie: Actively avoiding Alastor due to both guilt and genuine discomfort with him. I can see her having worries about actually being like that, or a potential to be like her obsessed version, due to how she knows she has the potential to be a murderous exterminator. But it's something she would bottle up and I can see her actively denying it as something she'd ever do with the forced fem, traps, and such. I can honestly see her and Alastor yelling about this, Alastor telling her to just ACCEPT that yes, she did do the awful things. It was her at the end of the day, even if a twisted version. Which, while that certainly can be up to debate, is more or less how Alastor saw the curse: Everyone WAS themselves, just a darker twisted versions of themselves.

Angel would feel like so much shit just because he'd feel what he did was a touch too close to what Valentino does to him, even if it's just one thing. I can imagine him having some underlying fear that he HAS done something to Alastor, but he was unable to remember it because of how often he got drugged/drunk WITH Alastor. It could certainly form a worry that Angel would have to deal with frequently "being another Valentino", which everyone has to assure him he isn't. Husk still would not like Alastor, but he also would not at all be happy with how he treated the guy. I feel like Husk would be embarrassed in addition to feeling guilty about his Obsessed-self, just due to it seeming kind of pathetic (the guy is in love with the man who owns his soul and treats him like shit is not exactly love story material). Husk knows when to keep his distance and let Alastor come to him if there are any points that his boss needs to talk it out or a begrudging shoulder to lean on. I can also see him asking if Alastor would rather make his own drink rather than let Husk do it, just so Alastor knows Husk hasn't put anything in as I think Alastor would still have a lot of paranoia post-curse in this ending. Husk still doesn't really LIKE Alastor, but he would certainly pity the guy. I think he'd honestly have mixed feelings about it because, Husk seems like the type to be like "Yeah, Alastor deserves the worst", but then also seems like he still wouldn't exactly wish the worst thing to happen (like unwanted advances or assault) to happen on his worst enemy. Funnily enough, where in canon Husk and Angel bond over being soul bound, I feel like in this ending of this AU they'd bond over feeling like shit for drugging Alastor and competing to do so when they were obsessed. I don't know if they'd have the same relationship as canon, but I do think they'd form some sort of friendship. I can see them trying to keep the other in check with the Obsession "withdrawals" or lingering effects. Like if Angel sees Husk unconsciously putting something in Al's drink, he stops him. Same with Husk, if he sees Angel doing something close to his old antics, he calls him out. I think everyone in the hotel tries to keep the others on track with that sort of thing, but Husk and Angel forming an agreement to help each other with it is something I can see happening.

Niffty is... well, she's Niffty. She's by no means dumb (at least I think she isn't personally, but she was described as not being very bright) but let us be real: she's a masochist and arguably a sadist to some extent. I think in all honesty, she'd be hard to read on how she felt post-Obsession. I can see her making comments about being jealous of Alastor having the curse ("Though, I could do without the girls. But all those bad boys-"). I think Niffty would more or less carry herself similarly as she does in the show, and I can see Alastor both appreciating and not appreciating it. On one hand, he does like seeing Niffty just as herself in full force and not receiving the pity party everyone else has for him. However, Niffty doesn't deny the things she's done in the past, and Alastor respects that as well. What he DOESN'T like is the total lack of awareness of disliking touch. While in canon he canonically doesn't like to be touched by others with the exception of Niffty, in this AU Alastor REALLY can't stand touch even by Niffty. I'm sure you can assume why. So Niffty just climbing on his person isn't something he's as tolerant of as his canon self. Niffty for the most part brushes off the obsession part. I can see her getting some moments of grief for Alastor, but I dunno. We'll have to see her more in season 2 to get a better grasp of her character, we just haven't seen her actually feel bad or have any real empathy yet so I'm not sure how accurate her just moving on from the situation is. I can see her having some guilt, I do, just not as immense as some of the others.

In this AU, Lucifer and Alastor never really got to disliking each other as seen in canon, at least on Lucifer's side. While Alastor was genuinely antagonistic to Lucifer, Lucifer during the curse was antagonistic in a more flirtatious way. As a reminder, Lucifer was under the impression that Alastor liked him as well and was just playing "hard to get" with him, enjoying the chase. Plus, Lucifer just didn't feel threatened as Charlie's father by Alastor because 1. He, in this au, would LIKE Alastor to be a father to Charlie. Just on account that he'd be in a relationship with Lucifer as well. 2. Alastor acts less "fatherly" towards Charlie in this AU. He doesn't even try to act it on the account that he knows any "affection" towards Charlie would've been taken as an affirmation of his "feelings" for her. And he didn't want to play into that to avoid any future uncomfortable scenarios. So post-obsession Lucifer I think, while definitely would get more genuinely mad about any off-hand comments made by Alastor about Lucifer's poor father role in Charlie's life, I don't think he dislikes Alastor as much as in canon. He would feel super guilty about it I think and genuinely try to give an olive branch of sorts to Alastor. I can see him withdrawing and keeping to himself as I'm guessing that's his go-to for dealing with situations like this (like think how Lilith's leaving made it so he kinda just stopped talking to Charlie and shut himself in). He'd feel super awkward with Alastor though, but I also imagine him to have the least amount of "lapses" into his obsession self out of everyone. So I can see, while not exactly being a fan of the king, Alastor going to spend time with Lucifer more often than you would think. I can actually see on one occasion Alastor still being so tired from being paranoid about the curse and just generally exhausted that he does actively try to push himself onto Lucifer, but Lucifer while very confused and awkward at first, does get to be stern with Alastor in that: - He wouldn't force a relationship Alastor doesn't truly want onto Alastor - Lucifer just isn't into him. I personally HC Lucifer as only being into women, so I lowkey would apply it to this AU, but that little nugget of knowledge can be left out for anyone who does not care for that idea, haha. Funnily enough, I can see Alastor and Lucifer growing to have a fairly close relationship post-obsession compared to most others. There's definitely an irony in me saying THESE two would have probably the best relationship concerning Alastor post-obsession. If you know you know lol

I don't think Vox or Valentino would feel bad. Velvette wouldn't either, but Vox already has a clear beef with Alastor (I imagine he'd just blame Al for making him act a fool), and Valentino is Valentino. While I don't think he'd be a fan having been "drugged" in a sense to love Alastor, I don't think that he'd be upset about his own actions. More than likely, Valentino would be curious about the curse and still want Alastor in bed with him as one of his whores. He's just, y'know... not as overt about it anymore? Especially since Alastor's energy would recover a lot more in this ending not having to deal with unwanted affection all the time anymore, so Alastor would be more likely to physically retaliate to that sort of thing. Velvette I think just would be frustrated and maybe a little grossed out that she "wanted" some old fad like Alastor. Of course, if she had managed to get him and dress him up like a doll for a bit, I'm sure she'd be interested in having him as some sort of model remembering how good he looked.

[saturdaylemon]

Actually I have too many thoughts about this for the replies so LET'S GO

The "virus"

Yeah, it's not actually a virus, bacterium, fungus, toxin, or parasite and it's definitely not a prion. It's a god's power masquerading as a contagious disease; the actual vector of infection is memetic. It's not unheard of for someone in a locked-down community to succumb to despair, go full zombie, and start a cascade that kills half the town.

This is probably Mindt's fault.

The general population thinks it's a "normal" pathogen, because it's not like Joe Average thinks about divine malice as a thing he can encounter - and theologians who look too close have a tendency to get infected. Or assassinated. Or assassinated by infection.

This is also probably Mindt's fault.

Ideas about the disease and its victims: it's not actually mutant rabies, but rabies has an interesting feature in the possibility of both "furious" and "dumb" states. "Furious" zombies are more active, attacking whatever they find in whatever ways come naturally (so zombie humans won't usually bite, but they will pick up rocks, sticks, and any weapons they knew in life). "Dumb" zombies are arguably more dangerous; they sit in one place until someone or something capable of opposing Vide gets in range of... some sense, then attack the source of good vibes. (This is how it was possible to keep Kura's remnant in a room for so long: there are absolutely no good vibes in Ku.) (Half the travelers are significant sources of good vibes, and are consequently Absolutely Boss at surviving. Like, more than usual in this world. Ever Elusive is a lifesaver.)

Trousseau's poison makes a good model for the "disease." Shortness of breath, tremors, numbness and/or shooting pain, disseminated blood clotting and inflammation of blood vessels, with blood turning black at the point of no return. Slow the progression from minutes to days and you get a passable zombifying pathogen. (After her first brush with Trousseau's poison/plague, Castti's blood is several shades darker than normal - the inflammation went down eventually, but the scarring stayed. Hikari and Throné also have some hematological strangeness going on, but less immediately obvious.) The zombies aren't technically dead. They don't need to eat or drink, because god power, but they do breathe and their hearts still beat. Weakly, slowly, but they beat. (So, uh, that flashback in Hunter and Apothecary 2? The man totally turned into a zombie. Nobody is happy with this.) Counting zombification as death, the mortality rate is yes. It's yes. Humans either die or turn, with a very small chance of recovery if given medical care. (Trousseau had the best success rate before... the things that happened.) (It was like 3 people saved out of hundreds of attempts, but still.) Beastlings have a slightly better recovery rate (1 in 50 compared to "you're pretty much screwed") and don't turn at all. If they don't pull through they just die instead of rising from the sickbed to eat faces. Animals usually die if infected, but a rare specimen will turn before that happens. (Mugen's horse is a zombie. It was the only one that would actually let him near it.)

I don't think the zombies would be called zombies in-universe; Solistia doesn't seem to have a Haiti. "Walker" is conceptually too similar to "traveler" for my liking either. Could be called "blackbloods" after the defining symptom (don't ask me what this means for the Blacksnakes. They predate the zombie apocalypse as a concept, but brand recognition is important), or something like Restless Dead or Mourning Dead.

The Moonshade Order

Re: Sacred Flames, I gotchu sib. Petrichor takes the Darkblood Bow from Roi sometime prior to the game's events, shortly followed by his thumbs and his life. The Toto'haha Flame is isolated enough to theoretically snuff without setting off the alarm bells, so that one's probably out. Arcanette gets her hands on the Staff sometime around the end of Throné's Chapter 1, but for various reasons I don't think she kills Tanzy with it until later. Tanzy is a major player in Agnea's story and it feels off to have Agnea 90% done with her journey when Castti is just rolling off the ship. Agnea "Don't stop me now" Bristarni is very much the type to keep travelling after her final boss but having her as effectively the veteran is weird. Arcanette doesn't know where the other two flames are. She knows Toto'haha, she knows Flamechurch (SHE LIVES THERE)... she does not know about Crackridge or Ku yet. If their Sacred Flame went out, Flamechurch would burn to the fcking ground. Town. Gone. Which is an interesting plot point, but maybe not one to start off with.

And then the Blade and Grimoire are dependent on the travelers' actions.

Meanwhile Mindt is dong some kind of heresy 100% speedrun, as you proposed.

On Lostseed: I remembered that bloodborne illness includes STDs and now I need to excise that memory.

There is a Zombie Apocalypse going on and Ori still doesn't get hazard pay. You can imagine how she feels about this.

The Book of Night

THIS FUCKING THING

This fucking thing is the largest single infection vector in Solistia, and on top of that it makes lucid zombies. Mostly asymptomatic lucid zombies. They develop the signature black blood eventually, but no other symptoms except occasional Cotard's Delusion. Which is exactly what you'd want brain-baking cursed knowledge to do! /sarcasm (This is another thing the characters wouldn't actually know - except Arcanette and maybe Claude - because of all the people who were infected this way, only Tanzy was otherwise low-risk.)

Night ability buddies (and also Hikari)

It's slightly implied and entirely possible that Throné was carrying the Darkblood Staff tied to her back (or something) for the entire exfiltration part of The Job. Which, uh. Yeah that sounds like a reason for Spooky Scary Shadow Shit. She's not actually infected - Arcanette is trying but Throné is so fast and crafty - but as time goes on / she levels up in game terms, she gets faster and craftier while dealing with the infected - to the point where she seems slow against normal humans and beasts, and her "it's what I would do"-based predictions grow uncannily accurate. And every night, her blood seems a little darker. (Basically, during the day, she's a totally normal human. Her blood is red, and she has to dodge zombies. During the night... less so. Zombies grow more and more likely to assume she's another zombie, meaning they either ignore her or shove past her without attacking - the smarter ones will try to include her in their formation and get backstabbed for their trouble, and her blood is black.) (That last part takes months to notice because blood looks black in low light anyway, but the party loses their collective shit upon finding out.)

Temenos is just a wee bit eldritch. Regardless of which theories you do or do not subscribe to, there is something up with this guy. One of the things is his faith. True Faith is not as common as religious piety, especially in these difficult times.

This is not entirely Mindt's fault, but she is not helping. She is the exact opposite of helping.

Doubt may be what Temenos does, but Faith is at his core. And that Faith can do some very strange things when pitted against existential despair made manifest. So an idea I had was that in a slightly stress-addled moment of frustration (in the last week the party has had to field three murder attempts by two different cults, somehow taken the longest possible route through a night event, and there was an unannounced zombie in the latrine of all places; he just wants to sleep in a bed) Temenos pins a zombie to the ground with his staff, locks eyes, and demands to know... something. He could be after any info, the important thing is that the zombie answers right before its heart gives out under the strain. Entire party like WHAT. "Hikari" in the background like "Bury me, he actually did it." (Temenos caught a mind's eyeful of Things Man Was Not Meant To Know doing that and made himself very sick. Fortunately he's pretty spiritually resilient and Castti is Right There. She's got this.)

Hikari has been exposed to the Shadow since basically forever, bro has antibodies for years and the highest base health. (Unfortunately for him, his blood type is AB+ and the technology to isolate antibodies doesn't exist yet.) Unless he commits ego-suicide by "Hikari" he's not going to turn. And, self-sacrificing to a fault as he is, he absolutely will get himself infected at some point... and basically sleep it off.

SO NATURALLY HE TAKES ANOTHER BITE FOR SOMEONE AND ALMOST DIES OF TETANUS.

And then there's the other guy. Haver of bad ideas and wrecker of shit. "Hikari" says things like "Paint the woods red!" in canon, and in canon most things have red blood. (He may or may not ignore invertebrates, plants, skeletons, and skinks of the genus Prasinohaema left to his own devices, but mechanically he can be sicced on at least three of those.) But in this story there are zombies with the defining characteristic of black blood - and a connection to the same force that gave rise to him, but "Hikari" doesn't give a damn about that part. So he might be more of a friendly fire risk here, even taking into account "mechanically, you can't target your own party." And his attacks are infectious because of course they are. We love to torment Hikari here.

Pros of all this is that even outside the Shadow's Hold state Hikari can sniff out uninfected survivors like a bloodhound. (Why didn't he twig that something was very wrong with Kazan? Why would he? The man's a tactical genius, there's no point in time when he could have been infected and anyway he doesn't look sick.) (Also Hikari has a massive betrayal shaped blind spot when it comes to people he considers his friends.) (Which is everyone.)

Cons? Oh, you know :)

Intrigued or possibly amused by the thought that whether Hikari pings as infected or not changes based on what test you use. Animals like him. He tried to walk into Flamechurch Cathedral and took himself out on the wards. Temenos had to piggyback him. (Throné thought this was hilarious, right up until she tried to enter at night and took herself out on the wards.) Ochette is trying to figure out why he drops like a sack of hammers and smells like dead skunk after pushing himself. Immobilized zombies seem unusually blasé about him walking toward them with a sword.

Six Degrees of Kevin D'arqest

Because like 90% of this is his fault.

Harvey (the bastard) has dissected at least one zombie in his time, much to the consternation of the entire university. Somehow he didn't get infected from this. Not that the Book of Night strain is any real protection, because it can go from asymptomatic to full-on shambler whenever Vide (or someone else with the power and knowhow, like Arcanette for example) feels like triggering it, but technically he can't catch the black blood while he already has it. He also experimented with the few zombie animals he could get his hands on to make Shadow-element chimeras. This proved to be a dead end; they tend to... sublimate. Or sporulate. One of those.

Lostseed is almost literally a ghost town. Almost. ...ghosts would be preferable.

There's probably some interesting stuff going on in Sai. Between general Hinoeuma conditions, the conflict with Timberrain, Masoud is there... how do sand lions react to zombies? Possibly by going out of their way to sink and entomb any they find. A lot of stories have animals be violently averse to any whiff of the undead, but an overstimulated sand lion is unlikely to be much help to survivors. -The Sai sand lion is like "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP" and trying to bury anyone that makes too much noise, but since it has a history of attacking the Mourning Dead people are accusing each other of hiding infection, which leads to shouting, which makes the sand lion freak out and try to bury everyone... and there's a war on.

Lemme expand on that: a lot of the wildlife has magic or near-magic powers. Trained beasts and lively flora could be some of the best defenses out there, especially since they so rarely turn. Toto'haha must be a very dramatic place. Beastlings have earlier warning of any infected, but there's a language barrier between them and the human colonists. Master Juvah adds "they keep turning into zombies and trying to eat my face" to Reasons I Don't Want Humans In My House. Cohazeh is there.

Do the Blacksnakes (and maybe some other crime syndicates) have a more legitimate front as zombie exterminators?

Book of Night infectees by Cotard's Delusion status: Trousseau: got it bad. Oboro: it comes and goes, but Ori's had to stop him from trying to embalm himself more than once. Harvey: status unknown, probably wouldn't care if his organs really were rotting. Tanzy: no problems here. Apart from the obvious. Ori?: very confident in being alive, has mixed feelings about this. Claude?: nope nope nope nope don't know don't care get him away from me Arcanette?: maybe, but she's chill about it.

someone's gotta hear me out here;

octopath traveler ii apocalyptic au.

it has SO MUCH raw potential, no matter which route you want to take for it.

soooo.... prepare yourself for a ramble on potential ideas. do keep in mind i divided it up by sections only after writing most of it though 💔

-- general concept //

i've mentioned the idea to a handful of friends, and most of them assume i mean an apocalyptic au placed in a more modern setting. that in itself is interesting and a whole other concept to explore, but what i've *really* been thinking of is one set in solistia.

at first, i wanted to use the stereotypical zombie virus. but when i further thought on it, that wouldn't really make sense in ot2's context. i mean, yeah, it could be a situation like castti's - but how would a mutated virus tie back to an overlooming shadow the same way trousseau's poison does?

there were a billion different ways to create or sever that tie. the virus' mutation could have been caused by the darkness, or the virus itself originating from a creature of it, or something else among the lines of that. i couldn't really settle on just one solid idea - until i remembered osvald's final chapter.

osvald's final chapter features people who are "possessed" by this shadow magic. they are unable to speak and appear violent to *some* extent. plus, after you're able to free them from this trance, they seem to be unaware of what had only just taken place.

in addition to this, while playing the game, you have a set chance of encountering a monster who looks *just* like one of the others, save for its darker palette and shadow-themed battle scenery. this also appears in ochette's final. and temenos' final, when that magic mutates kaldena into some sort of monster? AND the darkblood blade causing a similar instance with mugen?? ANDDD the dark akala/mahina for ochette's final???? and not to mention trousseau using "poisonous shadow energy" to cause fatal illness. the perfect set-up for a zombielike concept is literally all RIGHT there

-- hikari //

HOWEVER. using the shadow as a direct cause of it brings up a few questions that need solving. if we go with a "the last of us" sort of concept, where the people who are infected are *alive* but serve as "hosts," then what would that mean for hikari??? there's a bunch of different ways to explore that. would he technically be born infected and, therefore, have partial immunity?? if so, how would his infected state affect not only him but the other travelers as well??? i imagine it functions pretty similarly to the original curse, maybe with a few sickly symptoms?

i think one of the key differences with hikari and other forms of the shadow is sentience. with the people from osvald's ch. 5, they're reduced to just making animalistic sounds in place of speaking. in hikari and temenos' finals, both mutated versions of bosses have a VERY limited speech pattern and seem to entirely lose themself. in ochette's story, it afflicted animals. on the flip side, when it comes to hikari's curse, we have this shadow within that can speak and think for itself. while it is a possibility this sentience is limited because most (if not all) of what it thinks about is violence, it's perfectly capable of interacting with people (...if it ever wanted to without hurting them)

so...maybe it wouldn't act like the other infected whenever hikari loses control of it? but it probably still has a strong lust for blood. PLUS, being that this is set in an apocalyptic setting, being around violence is going to be an incredibly common occurrence. hikari'll have to be dealing with it. a LOT. i feel like at some point the other travelers start to notice that something's up, depending on which representation of the curse you wanna go for. like, if it's just partial infection immunity, hikari could be bitten at some point, start feeling a faint bit sickly, and everyone's grieving and preparing for his loss, and then...it just. doesn't happen. or, if you wanna go for something like the shadow being recognized as something similar to the infected, there could be an instance where hikari is struggling against it, and the infected they were in the middle of fighting charge toward him, set to attack, and— then they just walk around him, as if he didn't exist at all. this would probably act similar to the whole smell disguise thing in the walking dead or like the zombies ignoring the ill in world war z

-- throné //

the shadow's relation to the apocalypse would also raise a few questions for throné. for instance, if this widespread infection is marking the beginning of vide's return and the end of time, what would this mean about throné being a 'vessel?' what about her own blood ties to d'arqest (and the ones she shares with hikari)?

since throné doesn't have 1-to-1 interactions with her dark ancestry (the shadow), i wouldn't go quite as far as hikari's concepts. like, i don't think she'd be immune to them. buuuuut, as she was born as a potential candidate as vide's vessel, i can see her being better at handling the infected. maybe it'd be something like a heightened sense or intuition of their actions. there could be more of an understanding that's beyond just empathy of the tragedy. after all, these things are technically vide's creation, and she's not so far off from being considered one too. i wouldn't go off into fantasy land and say she can talk to them or something, but i can see her predicting some of their behaviors. if they ever try to sneak up on the cast, both because of her assassin/thief history and this trait, she'd be the first to notice them and spring into action-- even before they're actually near the group. it's like a feeling of paranoia except, most of the time, it's true

ochette could perhaps possess a similar ability (though not quite the same) due to the orign of the beastlings, and because of her being basically pure light LMAO. even vide couldn't find a way to corrupt her

another note- i feel like traveler stories relating to vide would be much more rooted in cultism than they were originally. you've probably seen films or shows of post-apocalyptic scenarios. cults spresd FAST. and, speaking of which...

-- the moonshade order //

THESE GUYS. eugh i both love and hate them sm i'm gonna throw them

anyway. so, in this version of what i'm describing, the only main world change is the timeline order. long story short, these guys managed to pull a lot of the big bad strings way back, maybe even before some of the travelers were born (glances at agnea) but i haven't fully arranged it out yet

ALTHOUUUGH, as we know, there are circumstances that were only capable thanks TO the travelers. (ex. kazan using the ku civil war to retrieve the blade). i think this is EXACTLY why vide has yet to fully return. maybe they've managed to get 2 or 3 of the flames out (i'm not completely sure which ones are possible and which ones aren't. i'd have to look back at it later... it's currently 12 am at the time of me writing this, so there's zero way i'm checking atm </3). in this csse scenario, i see this like a weakening on the seal, and hence, allowing for the beginning of the end to start

otherrr than that, post-apocalyptic, i see them functioning as a cult. ..well, they technically already are, but a more influential one. like, let's take kazan, for example. he would definitely use the apocalypse as an opportunity to 'advise' the king and general mugen. ...iiiin other words, basically manipulating them.

!! subsection about ku because i rambled a bit //

since ku's so war-heavy, after the kingdom falls (and, geographically wise, they'd likely be one of the last standing), i envision them having a survivor group ran by the royal family. kazan would use the chaos and conflict to paint himself in to a higher, more influential role in this group. as hikari would be pretty young when the apocalypse began, i can picture kazan becoming his mentor in this au. he'd probably speak to hikari and other people of ku about vide and the end of the 'cruel and ugly world' and such, and, because most people are willing to listen to just about anything in this stats of emergency, they start believing in it, too. maybe not as deeply as kazan, but it might influence them in behaviors or habits, like serving to only worsen ku's war-thirsty nature or people of the group beginning to adapt a more "ah, well, it is what it is. this cruel and ugly world will end soon anyway" mindset

also, on kazan mentoring hikari, this would definitely be another manipulation tactic. enough people of ku know about the curse (and, in mugen's case, about hikari's mixed ancestral bloodline) for it to be expected that kazan is fully aware of it. i wouldn't even be surprised if part of the plan was to use hikari to, at last, fully free vide. orrr, maybe kazan treats hikari as if he's vide's intended vessel? either way, this would cause much deeper rooted psychological problems for hikari. like...ku's violence meter probably went WAAAY up due to the stress and panic of the apocalypse. and then you add in the blackouts associated with the shadow within that he's not fully aware of until adulthood. and also a lot of the similar event sequences to his original storyline.

i just really quickly fetched a few small hypothetical concepts i sent to a friend about post-apoc ku late october;

" hikari's upbringing would therefore likely have a lot more of kazan's involvement in it, as well as all those bad behaviors.

ofc, just like he strays from his family's history of violence in canon, hikari often strays away from the path kazan tries to set up for him. he disagrees with all the violence and a good amount of the questionable behaviors clan ku exhibits

in facctttt

one idea i had for this version of ku, was that they sometimes keep others hostage for bargaining, torturing for information, cult-like related reasons, etc. but this would be pretty rare because ku would fucking murder most of their hostages

there was one scene i imagined would perhaps make a tie between him and another character (most likely partitio due to ku and oresrush's proximities)

in this case, lets say there's been a group near their area that they've been struggling to "sniff out," and they finally happen to find one of the members of that group. if this was as a tie to partitio, then this would likely be one of his friends - nikki, joe, maybe even alrond, etc.

young hikari realizes he's roughly the same age as the hostage and, ofc, feels super fucking bad. and hence sneaks out at night to bandage the captive's wounds and maybe try to free him

during that whole interaction, i imagine him saying something along the lines of "it's okay," offering out his hand to show the bandages and his intent to help, "...i'm not like them."

if/when he frees this person, kazan would definitely have the suspicion it was hikari and eventually find the evidence it was (likely through manipulating hikari to spill), and young hikari would get *a ton* of shit for it

to mimic a lot of things that happens in hikari's story, another thing i did sort of want portrayed was his mother's death;

but i thought it more similarly to a twd character, where his father clings onto a zombified version of her (and this could serve as another reason for the occasional captive and excessive bouts of manslaughter)

until, one day, she's found fckin dead. wound indicates a sword to the head and all. hikari personally felt a sort of peace with the fact, because he saw it as her *finally* being allowed to rest properly. he knew and recognized that the walkers were anything but human, and while they once were, the person they were before was most definitely *gone*. (hence he'd be the type to go out of his way to put an end to walkers that're trapped or hung, because he wants those people to finally feel a sense of peace instead of being trapped in whatever sort of hell that was. if the shadow was to have a big hold on him, it would also contribute to this sympathy because he'd *know* some of the hell they'd gone through)

....however, the rest of clan ku would *not* see it that way and treat it as an assassination. and that's another pointer to hikari that things around him are kinda lowkey fucked up

....and because of the way he viewed it, and him being young and not yet really knowing that view was VERY frowned upon, a lot of the clan ends up thinking he was the one who carried it out. henceee more of the shit hikari receives. the shit w/ jin mei would also be connected 2 this "

!! back to moonshade //

mindt may cause something sort of like that among the church, or be able to spread the word of vide under the disguise OF the proper church of the sacred flame. people are 10x more likely to listen to official clerics instead of some rambling lunatic, right?

okay i'm getting too tired to keep writing tjis it just turned 1 in the morning and i didn' sleep yesterdah. 😭😭. i MIGHT come back and revisit this if anything else comes to mind!!!! most of my thoughts have pertained to hikari and thr ku kingdom, so if this post somehow manages to pique anyone's interest at all, i'm really open to hesring any ideas you might have for any of tje travelers or ot2 chatacters! orrr any input about things i've already thought up. i really wanna find some way to implement ships into this too but i haven't gotten to think on it much. i'm personally a sucker for partikari, castthroné, and knightlight/crimenos. but also just relationships in general, like the close-knit friendship between throné and temenos. .....this is making me realize how much more thinking and planning i have to do 😭

ps i'm newer to tumblr so i'm sorry if the formatting in this is god awful💔. i wanted somewhere to rant about my silly little slow work in progress apoc au in the middle of the might and thought you guys would be best suited lmfao

[mollysunder]

The pacing in s2 really distracted us all from really inspecting how funny and genuinely fascinating Jinx and Viktor's one and only direct interaction was. I don't mean the snark, I mean Viktor had to have known Jinx fired the rocket, either from gossip in Zaun or being literally in a bunch of Zaunites (and Salo's head).

There's no way that Viktor didn't know practically killed him and irrevocably altered the trajectory of his life. In fact, he's likely gotten all kinds of angles on who Jinx is from everyone in the commune. Viktor really could seen from the periphery if his followers' minds the Jinx's growth from Vander's black sheep to Silco's darling terror. And after seeing all the things she's done, he invites her live at his commune!!!!!!

Insanity.

[outlying-hyppocrate]

i have officially returned. ask me anything.

[bitegore]

if your ocs were bosses in a video game, what do you think their boss fight would be like?

[kens-puku]

Y'all are gonna think I'm so weird.

But I'm running with this idea I've had for a while for my mcl ocs. Well, other than the actual other mcl ocs I've made.

It's part lazy, part bizarre.

Clones.

Yep, clones.

My MCL NG oc is a clone of the original Puku, but different. I haven't figured out the details yet, but it's like what I did with Pukun, Puku's male clone. It has the idea of a type of clone theory idea of nature vs nurture. The DNA and nature of the puku clones is the same, but the nurture is always a bit different depending on circumstances. Puku "prime" is the parent of all the clones made, but Puku "prime" had a different parentage and upbringing than the clones. Not to mention, the events of each mcl game has different outcomes for clone Puku.

This Puku has -teal- hair and is a zoomer, I guess. Raised by Puku "prime" and has the existential grappling of dealing with being a clone in general.

There's... still a lot of ironing out to do. Like... Where does Kentin fit into all this? How should I incorporate the family given to Puku 2.0 in New Generation?

Why am I giving this plot to an MCL OC!??

lol

[quantomeno]

I always feel mildly bemused when I read people post about stuff like systemic sexism in fandoms, particularly things like about how people complain more about female characters but ignore male characters with similar faults, or the fandoms loving gay ships but not making as much fanworks for lesbian ones.

Part of this is just because I like female characters (despite being male, I tend to prefer things with female leads etc) and I'm not that involved in a lot of fandom arguments nor do I read a lot of shipfics, so I only hear about a lot of the sexism when people complain about it. Which is kind of funny to me in the fact it must exist, but I'm just conveniently shielded from it.

The other reason is some of my earliest fandoms I got involved in were female-majority casts, so most people do ship the women. Like, I think Equestria Daily once put out an apology after they posted a Braeburn m/m fic (admittedly, the outrage from the bronies back then in 2012 or whenever was probably out of homophobia, which isn't nice either, but the point still stands that they were no issues with w/w shipfics and to this day they are the vast, vast majority of shipping fics (mostly because once you've shipped Braeburn, Sorin' and Big Mac together there aren't that many other guys left to ship, but nonetheless)). Or like Barbie with its vastly superior chemistry between the joint female leads over the threadbare male love interest they've thrown in. Even when the male leads are good, it's popular to ship the girls.

I don't think I have anything substantial to say. I just don't understand the issues other men (or indeed women) have with female characters (and women and femininity in general) (I mean I do understand I just find it bizarre it when like a friend of mine once said he wasn't really interested in stories with female leads. I don't know, maybe read more books with better female protags? I have a bookshelf's worth if you want suggestions) (also like when people suggest there needs to be more talk about good female characters like, most of my favourites are already females and I will gladly talk about them till the cows come home). But also that's just me.

Also I kind of do like m/m ships a fraction more but that's like 90% because I'm bi and so, you know, I like seeing guys together because I kind of would like to get together with a guy if the opportunity arose. But I mean other than that they're just ships. Like sure there can be a different vibe or flavour to w/w or m/m or straight ships, but I mean if they're good characters why should my interest depend on their genders? I read things to experience the lives of others, I don't want to just see stories that match my experience. And sometimes I empathise most with the female characters so like, you need to approach characters with an open mind. I don't know.

OK I'm rambling now. I think I made my point. I'm not sure what it was anymore but I guess it's that women in fiction are cool and I don't know what everyone else's problem is.

[youremyonlyhope]

why won't my brain shut up why won't my brain shut up why won't my brain shut up why won't my brain shut up

[nozomijoestar]

Took me a while to realize but I can see similarities in how Asuka seems to process grief and how Guts from Berserk also processed his grief after the Eclipse. They both get so overwhelmed by the wrong that happened to them (father's hospitalization vs the Eclipse and a lifetime of misery) their reaction isn't to seek comfort in others or help/protect their loved one who needs them after the tragedy, it's to go off and inflict their pain on others to self soothe, as if that'll release the feeling from their minds.

The difference is that Guts was called out for this by Rickert and Godo. He needed to snap out of wanting to prioritize ridding his own pain to remember Casca needed him, and that Casca even in the state she was in was all the good in his life who went through the same experience with him. Guts had to remember he loves Casca more than he wants to self destruct. Like Godo told him he was a sword called fear with cracks in it. He feared sitting with his pain and grief and seeing it on the person he loved after so much violation. He feared vulnerability.

Asuka doesn't do this reevaluatation and has no one to call her out for her self destructive coping canonically. She can't sit with anything bad or face looking at it on a loved one either. That's too bad and helpless of a feeling. She's just as much made of fear (primarily from any helplessness as much as violations of her inner ethics) which fuels her anger, but her one personal attachment to her father who needs her isn't enough to make her want to reevaluate what she does at all. Instead his tragedy is the permission she needs to self destruct and destroy in the process, not like Guts who always told himself everything was for Casca and the fallen Hawks, who always reminded himself of the pain to justify the bloodletting.

Unlike Guts I think she'd be stubborn even accepting to listen to someone pointing her behavior out. Though her anger toward Feng did start out carrying a reminder this vengeance is for Dad even if it kills her in 5, even in 5's branching narratives that excuse falls apart when she continues in the tournament for her own pleasure during her route. The moment vengeance is achieved critically injured Dad is out of her mind. Her behavior during 6 repeats this process, preferring to hurt herself and others rather than sit to process a shitty feeling over her and the world's situation. Like Guts in this state she pushes away anyone and everyone else including any comforts because the anger isn't resolved, the fear isn't resolved, the pain isn't resolved.

They're both used to everyone being against them and having to fight for survival until they found joy in it as a side effect. And because of that independence born from isolation when something like the tragedies that happened takes place they put resolving their pain not on sharing with others but into scorching the earth along with themselves.

I don't say this either to imply they're exactly alike or that they have enough similarities to make a true character comparison because they absolutely don't. There's also some stuff I'm leaving out simply because Guts is a far more complex character in ways where there's nothing from Asuka to compare against (I would say Kazuya is the closest, more fitting Tekken comparison for substituting Guts vs Asuka style notes). I just find it interesting that even across wildly different stories the outline for an angry, self destructive, terrified person who thinks self destruction makes them strong and puts them in control uses a lot of the same foundation. And the contrast in their depths really shows how far you can push the concept depending on what you want or need for the character.

[tardis--dreams]

Me panicking because i have 9 missed calls and 5 emails talking about my absence and how "a colleague could take over for me" vs. Me knowing it's really not that important no matter how pushy a client is and that on top of it I'm underpaid and have way to much overtime so i shouldn't even care

[gynaiko]

ㅤㅤㅤSTELLA   IS   NOT   A   GOOD   MOTHER,   AT   ALL;   QUITE   NEGLECTFUL,   ACTUALLY.   THE   KIND   TO   SAY   ‘THAT’S   NICE,   DEAR’   WHILE   NOT   EVEN   LOOKING   AT   VIA.   HOWEVER,   I   DON’T   SUBSCRIBE   TO   FANON’S   GENERAL   INTERPRETATION   WHERE   SHE’S   APPARENTLY   WILLING   TO   KILL   HER   JUST   TO   SPITE   STOLAS.   WE   STILL   HAVEN’T   SEEN   HER   INTERACT   WITH   OCTAVIA   BUT   IF   SHE   TRULY   HATED   HER,   SHE   WOULD   HAVE   THROWN   A   FIT   WHEN   ANDRE   POINTED   OUT   VIA   WOULD   GET   EVERYTHING,

ㅤㅤㅤ&   WHEN   SHE   WAS   SCREECHING   AT   STOLAS,   ASKING   IF   HE   WAS   ‘TURNING   HER   ( VIA )   AGAINST   HER   ( STELLA )’   —   CLEARLY,   SHE   CARES   FOR   VIA.   AGAIN,   SHE’S   NOT   A   GOOD   MOTHER,   PERHAPS   NOT   CODDLING   OR   ‘MOTHERLY’   BUT   ENOUGH   THAT   VIA   HAS   GOOD   MEMORIES   OF   HER   ( PER   THE   LOO   LOO   LAND   EPISODE ),

ㅤㅤㅤREAD   THE   TAGS   FOR   MY   TINFOIL   HAT   RAMBLINGS ,