#I think it would be really funny if that second in command is kinda the opposite of Bael

[empress-simps]

A Gryffindor's Grief

Pairing: James Potter x Fem! Slytherin! Reader

CW: Reader's family and language

Genre: Angst

Masterlist

Note: My first ever marauders fic! Kinda nervous to post this ngl… I'm still thinking if I should make a second part. I want to hear what you guys think about this! Requests are open! Photos used are from Pinterest! Credits to the owner!

It was forbidden love, really.

Those little moments of not-so-accidental touches, stealing glances, and discreet smiles sent each other's way were your means of communicating with each other.

James Fleamont Potter, a Gryffindor boy that was absolutely smitten with You; Slytherin's Princess.

An odd combination that would only lead to chaos.

Being one of the sacred twenty-eight wizarding families meant that you command power and respect from everyone you meet— intentionally or unintentionally. The idea about blood purity, power, and influence was already in your mind as soon as you were able to grasp things your toddler brain could handle.

You were taught to only mingle with pure-blood families, people who could be useful and loyal to you, and those with power, influence, and wealth. Your family’s distaste for muggles and muggleborns were also ingrained into your mind, as if they programmed you to believe what they believed in. It wasn’t that hard, after all you were surrounded by rich witches and wizards who are blood supremacists.

For someone who grew up with those ideals and values, you thought it was right. Although, your belief came tumbling down the longer you spend time at Hogwarts and got to know James Potter and the rest of the Marauders.

James, he made you feel alive.

It felt as if he was the breath of fresh air that you never knew you needed. Away from that suffocating Malfoy Manor, the scrutinizing gazes of your family, and away from rich pure blood problems. Being with him felt exhilarating, he was the buzz in your life. James brought so much joy into your dark, lavish, and empty lifestyle.

It was quite funny, picturing him as your knight in shining armor, whisking you away from your pretty, gold cage.

"Malfoy!" Evan Rosier, a pure-blooded Slytherin raised his hand in your direction, motioning you to come over and sit beside him during breakfast in the great hall. Cold eyes like Lucius Malfoy's travelled in his direction, a questioning brow raised.

"Rosier, you are being too loud." She commented, walking, and sitting next to him before greeting the person beside him, Regulus Black.

"Good morning, Regulus."

"Good morning, Y/n."

Barty Crouch Jr. looked up from his meal and snickered at the both of you. "Good morning, Mum and Dad." He teased, greeting you both as Evan laughed along with the other Slytherins near them. Heck even Severus has a small smirk planted on his face. "If you wish to make your family line extinct, then please feel free to continue with your remarks, Crouch."

He smirked, putting his hands up in mock surrender "Just kidding, Y/n. Geez. Rough summer, I suppose?"

You felt your lips press into a thin line, an obvious answer to the question; It was horrendous.

Evan’s laughter slowly dies, he shakes his head, “Give her a break mate, she just got the biggest news of her life during summer. Isn’t that right Y/n-“

“Shut your mouth Rosier if you do not want to be hexed into next month.” Her empty threat really doesn’t do damage to Evan, he just shrugged, taking it as a warning that you’re not in the mood for jokes.

Your father, Abraxas Malfoy and older brother, Lucius Malfoy made a huge decision for your future. Hearing rumors here and there about their Slytherin Princess being romantically involved with a blood traitor in Gryffindor enraged your father, Abraxas. That will certainly not do, they will not sit idly and watch as the Malfoy name be... tainted with those rumors.

You remember how you felt dread entering your system, fighting the urge to run and throw up as you mustered up a façade, “Those are just baseless rumors, a plot to ruin my image in school." You held your head high, praying they do not see the truth.

Abraxas stared at you, his daughter, with a monotone expression. "Your brother and I do not care whether those ridiculous rumors are true or not." Lucius nods, agreeing. What a lie. You know your family well enough to not believe what comes out of their mouths in situations like this.

"We do not care if you had relations with the boy, even though it is rumored that he is a blood traitor, you knew well enough not to fool around with mudbloods. Well done, Y/n. Perhaps you could change his views, get him to join our cause.” Lucius looked at you. You could press your lips into a thin line, trying to find an answer.

 “That tactless boy's role is to only be a bed warmer for you, remember that Y/n." Your father stood from the chair he sat in the drawing room. Slowly walking towards you. “Although, I suppose it ends now. I heard Lady Walburga Black is looking for a potential bride to their heir, Regulus Black.”

After a week, it was official; You are to be wedded to Regulus Black, your friend, Sirius’ brother.

You could not do anything about the arrangement, what fight would you have put up? A young girl like you, who does not have any power, influence, and wealth could only suck it up and accept.

How you wish it was James you were betrothed to.

“James, you came.” You breathed out, seeing him take off the invisibility cloak. The moonlight in the astronomy tower complimented his features, he offered a small smile sitting beside you.

The stakes were high, you were sure underlings of your brother (and possibly father) in the school have their eyes trained to you as you enter another year in Hogwarts. You would need to find new ways to meet up with your lover. Regulus’ eyes discreetly looked towards James, who is undeniably looking at you.

“Wouldn’t want for my girl to be alone, you know?”

He joked, intertwining his finger with you, a second nature to the both of you. Squeezing his hand, you softly looked at him. “I missed you, pothead.” He leaned towards your face, kissing you on the forehead. One of the things he does that never fails to make you feel flustered. “I missed you too, love.” You rolled her eyes, slightly shoving him playfully, “Stop being sappy, Pothead.”

“You secretly like it, love. You can’t lie to me.” He grinned, although the last sentence made you tense up. James shot you a concerned look, noticing your body language. “Something wrong, love?” You were torn, deciding on whether you tell him about the engagement rather than keeping quiet and leaving him in the dark about your current situation.

“I got engaged.” Before you could even stop yourself, the words flew out of your mouth. Shit. It wasn’t how she planned to tell him. The light atmosphere suddenly became dark and heavy. You can feel James turn rigid, freezing up as he muttered. “So, it was true, huh?” He scoffed bitterly, hurt overtaking his features. “James…” You gently called, carefully placing a hand on his shoulder. He flinched, turning his body away from you.

She tried to ignore the hurt she felt, pushing it down as she understood why James was acting this way.  “Sirius told me.” He choked out, still not looking at you. James really does know you well, answering the question you haven’t even voiced out yet. The slight tremble in his voice made your heart crack. You bit your lip, of course Sirius found out; he was still a Black after all.

“I love you, James. I really do.”

You spoke to him, you raised your hand, about to put a hand on his back that was still facing you but deciding against it before it touched him. Your hands faltering before dropping down to your sides. He shakes his head violently, his curly locks getting messier than they already were.

“Don’t… Don’t say it like that, love.” He pleaded, slowly turning to face you again, eyes glistening with unshed tears. “Don’t say it like you’re about to leave me. This. Us.” He croaked; you felt his large hands placed on top of yours. He brought it up to his lips, kissing the knuckles.

“James…” You managed to utter out, voice getting caught at the throat.

James knew he was acting like a child, but damn- he never thought it could hurt this much. He pictured both of you marrying each other, living in a large house with a big backyard because he insisted it will be great for when you have kids. Merlin, he even imagined about 3 or 4 kids looking like the perfect mix of you both, running out and about with their names already carefully thought out.

out. He daydreamed that the both of you grow old, watching you tell stories to your grandkids about their grandfather’s mischief during your years at Hogwarts.

“I have to, James.” She chokes out, tears spilling onto her cheeks. Those four little words made James’ little bubble of happiness burst with just a bat of an eye.

“Don’t… don’t do this to me, love.” He pleaded; he even went down onto his knees as he saw you standing up from your place beside him. Poor James, luckily it was only you, the moon, and the walls of the Astronomy Tower watched him become a wreck.

“I love you, please remember that you will always have my heart, James. I wish you find happiness.” The part ‘without me’ was unsaid but was heard. It took a lot of courage, strength, and self-control not to fall apart. Deep down, you wanted James to say the same to you, proclaiming his love again for the last time you’ll be together.

“I love you Y/n, so much. No one will ever make me feel the way you did. I’ll find a way; a way for us to be happy together. I swear on my life.” He promised, looking at you straight in the eye. You could only close your eyes before smiling at him, trying to blink the tears away. Stars, you hoped James really does find a way.

“Goodbye, Potter.” She turns, walking away.

Maybe Slytherins and Gryffindors really aren’t meant to be together.

[cursedcatchild]

Ok, so I watched TOTTMNT and I am here to rant. Also, SPOILERS ahead!

So First of all, if I had to sum up my thoughts into a single sentence it would be: For the love of God, put those turtles back together, where they belong!!

I didn’t hate the show, but I didn’t come to like it either. And no, I did not have any prejudgment just because it was a new iteration. Honestly I was super hyped for this version, because the movie was a blast. Yea, I ended up being disappointed. But let me just elaborate on that:

First let’s take a look at our turtles from worst to best in my opinion.

Mikey:

Yepp, ladies and gentlemen so far I have never seen a single iteration where I didn’t come to like a Mikey. He’s always among my favs. But this version felt super shallow. He had just as much screen time in the series as his brothers and yet I still have no idea who this guy really is. His jokes were lame not really landing, I couldn’t really point out any particular goal or insecurity that anyone could relate to. Also, the guy is super oblivious. Like he took ten minutes to realize he walked into a robbery when he went for groceries. Heck he was having a casual conversation with the robbers. 

Leo: 

Another kinda shallow guy. Sure we seen a bit of insecurity, he literally quoted Rise Leo saying “ I’m nothing without them!” but it felt irreal. Because Rise Leo had a reason to think that, he wasn’t as much of a functional member of the team and he was always taken for jokes. But right from the beginning of TOTTMNT we see Tales Leo commanding his brothers, they listen to him  and even say it multiple times how planning is Leo’s thing. So at this point this Leo is just fucking blind. ( Also April slaps instant self confidence into the boy.) 

Raph:

Ok, this is also the first time, but I never really took a liking to a Raph before Tales Raph. Boy is filled with anger and sass, yet he’s not coming off as a total jerk like 2012 Raph. And of course he's not a super softie like Rise Raph ( I don’t hate Rise Raph for being a softie, he's my second favorite Raph) either. He had some fun pipe up and overall a personality I got. I think he’s the most perfect Raph I have ever seen. 

Donnie:

The best character of the iteration in my humble opinion. He was relatable, funny, honestly he was stealing Mikey’s job as the comic relief, but at the same time he’s the smart guy. The boy is ranting about not being the IT guy and then goes reprogramming an evil robot. Oh and he saved so many lifes, because he stopped a fucking train crash. He’s epic, I swear.

(My fave screenshot ever 🤣🤣)

Now story wise:

🔥What the fuck was this dumpster fire?! 🔥Who thought splitting up the turtles would be fine?! 😑Especially in a 12 episode season? Look, I don't mind solo or duo time. There were plenty of good ones, for example Rise. I adored the Mikey vs Leo cook off episode or the Gumbus one, but for the sake of my sanity Rise had twice as many episodes and the turtles were not split up for the majority of the story.

Like I'm not joking when I say they were together in 4 episodes intotal.😨😨

Now I heard rumors left and right that the fact that they need to make a show was thrown at the team at the last minute ( IDK how true is that) , but goodness gracious even if I was presented with the task with a “ Due tomorrow label” I could still write a better story. Especially with the goldmine what the writers decided to ignore.

Yes, something that would've made TOTTMNT be really unique….. School people! We were promised that we will explore the turtles from the teenage side. Ummm….Hate to break it to ya all but I think there is no better way to do that than putting them into school.

It would’ve been fire to see them trying to fit in, balancing all the cool hero stuff with school life, maybe wrecking the school, seeing how other teenangers adjust to the fact that now giant talking turtles are their classmates. It wouldn’t be some crazy mind blowing plot, but I swear it would've been amazing.

Now don’t misunderstand me. Despite the story feeling like being all over the place it wasn’t that super bad, but I’m pissed that it could've been better with ease.

Also another thing that bugged me, is the feeling of something missing. IDK if anyone else who watched it felt like this, but I legit felt like if we just grabbed the for example farm arc from 2012 TMNT and aired it as season 1. The fact that the turtles were split and they kept mentioning that they have always been fighting together made me feel like I should’ve seen them do that.

Anyways, If I did not take your will to watch it away, go and check it out. It's not horrible but not great either. I’m disappointed and I'm gonna need Rise back, thank you very much!

[beenbaanbuun]

okay okay so question, has san been informed of the relationship dynamics in the house? i’m assuming he knows about matz and darling but was he pre warned about darling and yeo? bc i just thought about it and image they just kinda forgot to mention that they have a bestie with benefits situation, so second nature for them, and then randomly one day san walks in on darling and yeo going at it. the poor guy is 1) startled bc no matter what scenario that’s awkward but 2) he potentially thinks that darling and yeo are doing something wrong. so now he’s left to figure out if he should say something to matz or if that’s just way above his pay grade. idk why this whole scenario is so funny to me but it is. poor sannie😭

san was 100% not prewarned…

of course he knows abouts hwa and joong and the weird pink thing that follows them around like a little puppy, but yeosang and darling?? he’s clueless!

so i’ve mentioned before in this post that sex between the two of them is technically banned unless mommy and daddy are there to make sure it doesn’t get out of hand. it just so happens that darling is a little brat and yeosang will do anything to make her happy (even if he won’t admit it) and no one ever said a little head here and there wasn’t allowed… if darling wants to suck yeosang off, it’s not technically against the rules, right?

and that’s absolutely what san walks in on one day…

the dining room door swings open, startling you as you push yeosang’s cock to the back of your throat. you gag around it, immediately pulling off of it to cough your lungs out. you’re half expecting to hear hongjoong scoff at the two of you before commanding yeosang get on the floor too, or perhaps seonghwa to give you a disappointed sigh before getting you to crawl to him. instead all you hear is a tray clatter to the floor.

“what the—”

“san!” yeosang cries, hands flying to his dick to cover his achingly hard member. he nudges you with his knee, trying to get your attention, but you just hit his thigh; can’t he see you’re choking on his dick? “we weren’t doing anything!”

you nod through your coughs, agreeing that you definitely weren’t breaking any rules. what san doesn’t know can’t hurt him.

“you weren’t— yeosang, she was sucking you off!” the butler practically screeches. yeosang hushes him harshly in return; the other members of the house definitely do not need to know what transpired between the two of you. “are you— do they—” san takes a deep breath to calm himself, “is this allowed?”

silence fills the room, neither you or yeosang wanting to answer that question. as much as the two of you like to pretend that anything other than actual penetration is allowed, you both know that it really isn’t. if either of your lovers caught you like this, you’d both be punished more severely than you ever have been before.

san swallows thickly, the worst case scenario filling up his mind. but you seem so in love with them? how could you even consider cheating on them with yeosang? he’s just supposed to be a cuddle buddy, isn’t he?

he should tell someone, he decides. after all, his bosses would be fuming if they found out that he knew about this. the last thing he wants is to get fired from the best paying job he’s ever had. he takes a step back to the door, preparing himself to sprint upstairs to hongjoong’s office.

“where are you going?” yeosang warbles, eyes going wide, “are you going to tell hongjoong? please don’t tell hongjoong…”

“well i—”

“san, no,” you say, voice gravelly from the effects of having a dick shoved down it. from your position on the floor, it feels like you’re begging him. perhaps you are; he supposes it won’t be pleasant for you if your lovers find out you’re cheating on them. “please, they’ll be so mad.”

“i need to—”

“it’s not like it’s actual sex,” yeosang tries to reason, “just small things; it barely even counts!”

“it’s still wro—”

“it’s not wrong, per se,” you whine, “they were just too busy to watch and we were both horny…”

“i don’t ca— wait, what?” san pauses, the cogs in his brain turning as he mulls over your words, “you mean to say you two are allowed to do this?”

you shrug.

“they’re supposed to watch but sometimes they’re busy and it’s not like we ever take it further than this!”

and suddenly, san doesn’t care anymore. he shakes his head, a heavy sigh leaving his lips. it’s his fault for digging, he supposes, but he wasn’t quite expecting for it to be a whole voyeurism thing rather than a cheating scandal. it serves him right for sticking his nose in places it doesn’t belong.

“no,” he mumbles, “this is above my pay grade… weird fucking family.”

[ardbar]

do you think with EMF as champion and parkour civilization no longer under constant threat there with be development of art? like parkour performances and festivals for example? Or the introduction of redstone parkour via the command blocks (since literally any element could be summoned into existence so long as EMF was imaginative enough) I feel like EMF would be better at inventing concepts like that given that he's never wanted for shelter or food. (Being born a master and all so it makes sense he's not great at imagining new buildings and homes). What he has always striven for is harder parkour/ways to progress his skill, so i feel like him being good at imagining new methods for it wouldn't be too big a stretch given he's had time to settle into his role of champion

Okay wait so there’s a lot to unpack here but there’s something I have to say first and this comment isn’t just directed at you but guys EMF was born on the noob level that’s not a head canon it’s fact. I don’t blame people for not knowing this since it was cut out of the second movie but in the episode, “Minecraft but I Discover the HISTORY of PARKOUR CIVILIZATION” Evbo uses the command blocks to see what the world was like before the evil champion took over and he see’s EMF on the noob level with leather boots. I don’t know why this wasn’t included in the super cut but yeah it has somewhat important materials in it and it teased Seawatt going to the parkour fighters level.

Okay little rant over now I’ll address the actual point of your comment. I do agree that EMF would usher in an era of advancement when it comes to Parkour, however, I am reluctant to believe that it would bleed over into the arts. While I do think it would be really cool and of course I’m kinda speaking out of my ass here but I don’t think it would make much sense. In their world basically everything revolves around parkour being used as both a currency and a way to settle disputes, while possible for both to exist I think it would be unlikely. However that isn’t to say it’s impossible given that even their writing is in Parkour it is possible that everything including the preforming arts would make use of Parkour in some type of fashion. I think it would be funny if the battles incorporated this aspect into a dance battle format but with parkour.

Back to parkour advancing I think that would make a lot of sense. The champion before Evbo definitely didn’t want things to change or for people to grow in their skills, if he ever introduced too many new ideas it would greatly increase the odds that he would be beaten, I would view this time period as a type of dark age. Now the Old Man’s civilization I think would be rather interesting in terms of advancement. We know that he did try and introduce new ideas into the world examples being the barrier blocks and totems. However, he was also reluctant to certain changes if we look at him hating the parkour races. Little side note I think this fact is rather strange, I know in canon it’s because people would die from the races, but don’t they die anyway? I forget if it ever says it makes it impossible for people to respawn or is somehow different than other parkour battles but yeah. Anyway I think while amenable to change he could still be stuck in his ways somewhat and scared of radical changes. Now I think EMF would differ from both of the champions we have information about. I especially think EMF would be welcoming to all types of new ideas especially since Evbo has become the god of parkour. I could see him believing that coming up with new ways to do parkour or to shake things up as a type of worship to his god or as some type of offering. I also think that because Evbo is the parkour god he wouldn’t be too worried about anyone doing nefarious things because if anything ever does go wrong than evbo could step in. These two factors I think would lead to a type of parkour renaissance. As you mentioned I do think red stone would play a large role in this. What I think would be interesting about red stone becoming commonplace is I could see their society moving away from impromptu battles. Instead of people making their own course to fight there might be a type of parkour colosseum with prebuilt courses that people either race on or it could be a last man standing type of situation. If this were to happen I could see parkour kind of shifting into the arts, as it stops being a means of battle and more of a spectacle and a kind of honor.

I think a really interesting point you made was about parkour festivals. I wonder how this would take shape. We know that people did do rituals at the parkour temple to try and get the attention of the parkour god to no avail. I wonder if these types of festivals would actually carry a lot of weight now that there is an active parkour god or would they remain a thing of the past brought back as a fun memory, like how we celebrate holidays but without any of the orginal historical value.

These were just a few ideas I had on this matter.

[basilpaste]

Act 4: Bathroom Tangent

If: No "On Command!" Ability

〔You close the door to the bathroom stall softly.〕

〔Haha! That's so unlike you, isn't it? You're supposed to be loud!〕

〔Big, strong, stupid Isabeau who slams doors and just had to use the restroom right before a super important fight! That's you alright!〕

〔You haven't actually had to use the restroom since the first time. You could just stop coming here, couldn't you? You could just do something else? But… it would feel weird to break the habit so far in.〕

〔You swallow and it feels like your tongue is caught in your throat.〕

〔Like you're choking.〕

〔Your head feels all fuzzy and your body is like lead and—〕

〔You cough down a sob.〕

〔It's not like you think it's bad to cry!!! It's just, uh, you have to be quiet right now!〕

〔Plus! You're a pretty emotional guy! You cry plenty!〕

〔Except… that's not really true, is it?〕

〔Do you even remember the last time you cried?〕

〔Okay. Maybe crying is the answer, then!!! Catharsis, y'know? It might help to finally get some tears going!〕

〔So. What's the hold up?〕

〔You almost cried a second ago, right? So what changed? Is it just that you're actively thinking about wanting to cry now? Because that hasn't stopped you before! You're actually pretty in-tune with your emotions! So this shouldn't be so hard!〕

〔Seriously! No one will even see you! So it's not a big deal!〕

〔…〕

〔Obviously just wanting to cry isn't enough!!! That's fine! That's okay. You can just… make yourself cry.〕

〔You open your eyes as wide as you can and stare at the stall door.〕

〔Seconds tick by.〕

〔Your eyes itch and burn with the effort and your vision has gone all hazy from dryness but this isn't really working! Like at all!!!〕

〔You blink. Tears coat your eyes but do not fall.〕

〔Okay! That's alright! Maybe you were wrong! You don't actually need to cry.〕

〔You're fine.〕

〔You've just gotta keep moving! That's all!!!〕

〔You need to figure out how the loops work. Understand them better than you do right now.〕

〔It's… kind of your last option? You know about the King (you don't think about it), you know about Time and Wish Craft, you know about things that don't even matter to the loops at all!〕

〔All that's left is to figure out why everything restarts when you talk to m'dame Head Housemaiden.〕

〔You don't want to assume that it's something she did! Because she's someone that your friend really cares about!!〕

〔…〕

〔Your friend.〕

〔Haha!!! Funny joke, Isabeau!!! Forgetting stuff is Sif's thing!!!!!〕

〔See? SEE?! You remember his name just fine! Sif! Siffrin! Sifarooni!!!〕

〔So why don't you—〕

〔No, no! It's okay! Sometimes when people are stressed, they forget stuff! It's not like you actually forgot her name! It'll come to you any second now!!!〕

〔She's… She's kind and clever and she's nervous a lot of the time but you've watched her grow so much over the course of her journey. You were the first one to go along with her! The two of you spent a lot of time by yourselves before meeting anyone else!〕

〔You know her name. You do! Of course you do.〕

"Um… Isabeau?"

〔MIRABELLE.〕

〔"Mirabelle!!"〕

"Oh! You haven't called me 'Mirabelle' in a while!"

〔You haven't.〕

〔"Sorry! You, uh! Spooked me, Mira!!!"〕

"I did? Oh, Change! I'm so sorry! I was just… checking in on you? You've been in there a while."

〔"Hah! I didn't even realize! Got caught up in saving-the-country thoughts, y'know? I'll be out in a minute!"〕

"…"

〔Was that… too much energy? Even you can tell that came out kinda forced.〕

"Okay!" She pauses. "I will see you! Outside of the bathroom! In a minute!!!"

〔"You've got it!"〕

〔You hear her walk away.〕

〔Wow. That was a pretty weak performance, Isabeau! That's why you should leave the acting to the pros.〕

〔Mira. Mira, Mira, Mirabelle. You know her name. You didn't forget. See?〕

〔You press the heels of your palms into your eyes.〕

〔Okay. Okay! You're good! You're alright! You've got stuff to do!!!〕

〔You're okay.〕

〔You exit the bathroom.〕

If: Yes "On Command" Ability

〔You close the door to the bathroom stall softly.〕

〔Haha! That's so unlike you, isn't it? You're supposed to be loud!〕

〔Big, strong, stupid Isabeau who slams doors and just had to use the restroom right before a super important fight! That's you alright!〕

〔You haven't actually had to use the restroom since the first time. You could just stop coming here, couldn't you? You could just do something else?〕

〔What'd be the point, even if you did?〕

〔Nothing's going to change.〕

〔You swallow and it feels like your tongue is caught in your throat.〕

〔Like you're choking.〕

〔Your head feels all fuzzy and your body is like lead and—〕

〔Oops!〕

〔If you do that, you'll end up looping back! And wouldn't it be embarrassing to do that when you don't even have to?〕

〔It'd be super embarrassing, yeah!!! So! You're fine.〕

〔You're fine, aren't you?〕

〔You're making progress. Even if it's… kind of slow. The more answers you have, the longer it takes to find new paths to go down! It makes sense! The logic follows.〕

〔For now, all you've got to do is understand the loops better than you do right now! Why stuff restarts when you talk to the Head Housemaiden!〕

(from here, the scene plays out as normal, starting at 〔You don't want to assume that it's something she did! Because she's someone that your friend really cares about!!〕)

[stoic--rose]

over the last two weeks or so ive played through earthbound two and a half times, and mother 1 three times. replaying both back to back repeatedly has made me realize a lot of things

1.) mother 1 is a LOT more open in what it lets you do, where it lets you go, and when. once you open up the train tracks, you're free to go do the rest of the game in pretty much any order you want. hell, you can make it all the way to R7038xx without ever getting a single melody, which i find to be pretty interesting. not only that, but you dont even need to get most of the party members. strictly speaking, the only one you truly need to get is Loid, and that's just to get rid of the rock on the train tracks. and even then, with the use of an exploit i found out about only a few days ago, you can get rid of him and go fight giygas by yourself, which is pretty funny.

2.) mother 1+2 is like, wicked impressive. nevermind the fact that they crammed earthbound onto the gba, they also packaged it with mother 1 as well, and they're both the full games. it ain't no rayman advance kinda deal either where it's a super botched port, like it's a perfectly valid way to play both games, and some people even prefer the gba version of mother 1 since it makes a couple of quality of life improvements. not to mention, they rebuilt both games from the ground up, it's not like they could emulate snes on gba. (i mean, you can emulate NES apparently, since there's that nes classic line of games for the gba, but... this is cooler.) the sound department could... definitely use some work, and the colors look pretty washed out, but there are patches to fix the colors, and if you're playing the game on a real gameboy, i think the sound is the last thing you'd be concerned about. also, apparently some people took the time to apply the earthbound script to the mother 2 half of mother 1+2, and even reprogrammed the text system to have the original fonts and make it non-monospace, which is SUPER impressive. for my second playthrough of earthbound i played it with the new fantran patch, and it's pretty damn slick.

3.) man, fuck the sword of kings. i realized very recently that i'd never fully committed to the sword of kings grind, and decided that this would finally be the time i claim my birth right as a mother fan and do it. and like, it SUCKS. i mean, to begin, yes it's annoying that it's a 1/128 chance, but it goes deeper than that. the fact that it's only dropped by an enemy that you can potentially never see again, and it's the ONLY item poo can equip as a weapon is pretty fucked up. not to mention, the other enemies that they put in the starman base just absolutely suck, i hate the nuclear power robots so much. they made the grind WAY more painful than it already would have been otherwise. at the very least, i find it to be very gracious that jeff's spy command has the secondary effect of letting you steal whatever item an enemy would have dropped mid battle, just so it doesn't get overwritten by another enemy drop, which by the way YES that can happen, and YES i had it happen to me. it sucks ass. and the worst part is, the sword of kings isn't even that good!! and neither is poo on a gameplay level! you get the guy way later than any other party member, he has all these little catches like not being able to eat american food or equip anything but the kingly items, he gets taken away from you almost immediately after you get him, he just feels really weird. starstorm is pretty cool, but you only get the omega version right before the final area, and you can only use it on the handful of encounters you get there since you can't really use it in the final boss. (i mean technically you can use it in the first phase, if you want to get a biblical reflected beatdown when it hits both pokey and giygas) idk, the guy just isn't all that useful, and it's unfortunate since i really like him on a design level.

i have more words i want to say but honestly i might save them for an entry on my website instead since im very close to the tumblr word limit rn

[cozzzynook]

I like the idea of bee being a diplomat, like think about it. guy’s one of the most known bots for being nice, open minded (sorta), empathetic, and respectful bots. to most. bots who know him personally knows he’s a lil’ bitch, but he’s respectful and shit when needed to keep a neutral stance in a situation. and I’m mostly basing this off my own bee in one of my AUs where at first he started as a courier bot, upgraded to a spy and scout, then a commander for the autobot army, and then a diplomat. and almost everyone knows the guy!!

I just think he would be a great candidate for that job, I also hc that as a scout/spy he would need to learn a handful of languages from cybertron. y’know, for spy and stuff, to ensure he gets all the information he can. and because he knows a few languages, it makes it slightly easier for him to pick up other languages outside of cybertron. and look at bumblebee!!!

he’s short and yellow, with a kinda bubbly personality!! he’s approachable, say if you didn’t know the guy beforehand. at first glance, he looks defenseless and inexperienced, you wouldn’t know this bug would be an espionage agent and scout. I just think he would be a very successful guy for the position of diplomat because of his communication skills and approachability.

oh, and possibly potential prowlbee or soundbee?? no idea, you can choose, I just say those two because they hold positions that would probably have them involved with diplomatic relations. like prowl in IDW, in those comics prowl acted as an advisory or second hand man to bee, helping him make decisions and shit I have no idea I didn’t read the comics yet. and soundwave is commonly depicted as a communications officer, I think megs would have the common sense to get his CO as a diplomat for his faction to be properly represented.

so prowlbee; working in the same environment, different positions, possible angst with them not being able to have a relationship because of their positions?? I think that’s how it works, no clue. anyway, soundbee; again working in the same environment, almost similar positions, potential angst being the same with prowlbee or because of their different factions.

thanks for listening to me yap <3

— ♫

I really like this headcanon.

Bee is definitely a harmless little bug that hasn’t committed atrocities in war like all the other minis & bigger bots. Of course not. He just happens to know how to snap a mechas neck cables with two fingers because he learned it as a silly little hobby, nothing more :). Jk jk lol

Bee as a diplomat is pretty good but i like to imagine he’s a diplomat behind the scenes because he likes his privacy and doesn’t want that pressure. Also him with prowl is so interesting because Prowl is so evil in the comics but him being a deep down good inside bot with known sweetheart sassing bee is so funny.

I imagine bee in a secret relationship with soundwave and they are such an odd couple yet compatible in a way most bots didn’t see coming. They think Bee drags Soundwave to raves when in fact the music master himself is the one who planned and hosted it. Bee is just there for fun times and moral support along with making sure the cassettes don’t offline anyone who says something about Soundwave or Bee.

[mezz-merizing]

language, hypnotism, and you!

here in the Hypnokink Zone we tend to center our focus on inductions. and for good reason!! they're the purest form of hypnosis, the intentional induction of someone, an endeavour designed exclusively to take someone into trance. but what if we didn't want to do an induction, or even take someone into trance, but still have a hypnotic effect on them? as it turns out, this is extremely doable, and extremely cool!

if you've been here for a while now you might have seen this post from me, my first proper ramble about all this stuff, and you might remember that bit at the end, when i talk about just how hot i find the words "hypnotized" and "brainwashed" themselves, and how i sometimes just find myself repeating them over and over when i'm really feelin' it. i think that's a good representation of how just single words can fuck with our minds, and it's not just those two <3

so like, let's think for a second about what language actually is; we tend to take for granted the fact that we make air do silly tricks with our mouths and our throats in order to put ideas and concepts into other people's heads. really, a word isn't just a word- it's not just the funny shape that air takes on when you make just the right tongue movements, it's the idea that word actually is. and ideas are extremely powerful!! when you think of the word "brainwashed" you don't just think of the individual letters, you think of helpless subjects, spinning spirals, and complete, devoted obedience. and that has more effects on you than you might realise :3

sometimes people in the hypno sphere call this "neuro-linguistic programming" or "NLP" but that's kind of a misnomer, (actual NLP is a silly and weird pseudoscience largely invented by "pickup artists" to sell courses, so, y'know, i try and avoid the association) i prefer to just use "hypnotic language" because it's just as descriptive! the basis of hypnotic language is this: when you say words, you incept ideas into someone's head. if you have the skill, time, and familiarity with the person you're talking to, you can use this to control their thoughts nearly as effectively as if they were in trance!

a lot of this relies on what words mean the most to the individual you're talking to. let's take me as an example!! the word docile makes me fucking weak. it conjures up images of blank-face, calm-smile obedience, of gently nodding and going about the commands i'm given, of empty-headed servitude. the images it conjures in my head are vivid and hot as hell, and it's just a single word. use it a little bti around me, and you'll ensure i have all those thoughts swirling around in my head! thoughts of servitude. thoughts of enslavement. and so it comes naturally that i'd be easier to control <3

tone matters too! if you speak to someone authoritatively, they'll come to see you as an authority. even in tiny matters, insignificant ones, even in little ways- saying "hey, grab me a glass of water" is more authoritative than "hey, can you get me some water?" obviously, this is a double-edged sword! too much authority and you might give your intentions away, or just come off as kinda bossy, and that's more likely to make people actively resist you than let you in. once again, it's all about knowing your target! you gotta know what your subject's tolerances are for this kinda thing

take all this together, and you can have almost as much of a grip on someone's mind as you would if they were completely hypnotized :3 you break them down overtime, get them hanging on certain words, widen their tolerance for authority... and eventually, with a lot of effort and patience, they're yours. obedient to you- brainwashed, in all but process

can you imagine it? like, from the subject's perspective- being completely under someone's hypnotic control without ever having been hypnotized. maybe looking back at a long time ago and thinking "i sure acted different then", but not worrying about it at all. you're a thrall, and as far as you're concerned, that's just who you are!! that's just kind of how the world works

i dunno about you but i can't imagine a fate i'm more desperate for <3

[sanemisstalker]

Idk why but like I really wanna die in somebody’s arms- it’s like such a beautiful but sad way to die?

(**kny spoilers**)

kinda like how Mitsuri died in Obanai’s arms bc that was such a heartbreaking moment but it also was kinda sweet at the same time? Idek anymore 😭 ty for your time btw <3

Broooo-

I hate to be that guy and point to your username, but I think dying in Giyu's arms would be the worst emotionally. I think it'd be actually devastating.

CW// Death / Implied Major Character Death/ Implied Suicide/ Angst

A part of me reasons that Sanemi could handle it about as well as he handles anything else. Poorly, but he'd continue like he always does. That's all he can do because he thinks anything else is a show of extreme cowardice and he doesn't deserve to feel that way.

But when you're in his arms, dying, more color is dissapearing, and he's fighting to see your face past the tears- he's wailing and screaming, and trying to command you to come back. That normally works. Maybe he's gotten scary enough to scare death, but no. He'll never be enough to fend off the inevitable.

I don't think Shinobu would be much different. She has an astonishing amount of hate in her heart. Enough to patch up the wound long enough for her to pretend it isn't there anymore.

You'd be lying in her arms, and all of it would be beating against her head. Every word you ever said, every piece of medical knowledge she had, and for her to be the only one able to know just how incapable she was of saving you- She'd start begging a higher power, probably, begging you to be strong in her stead- save yourself because she's not strong enough.

Rengoku wouldn't cry until you fully slipped away, doing all he could to muster his voice flat- you needed comfort, obviously. He knew it wouldn't heal the wounds, nothing could, but he was still denying that to keep his smile wide.

You wouldn't be in his arms but on his lap, his hand sweeping hair from your fading eyes. I think He'd sit there for a while. For too long, just trying to prevent tears, because you wouldn't make a move to wipe them.

Tengen would hurt, bad. You're in his arms, and he's rocking you, and he's having a panic attack- He'd deny it the hardest. For the longest.

There's a notable difference, Tengen understood, between the weight of a breathing person, and a dead body. He knew that difference the second you slumped against his shoulder, and his knees hit the ground. He'd try to wake you up, tell you to stop the act, it isn't funny, because God, what else could he do but joke in a half witted prayer to hear your laugh.

Giyu....

Fuck me , man. I don't think he's emotionally strong enough to handle anymore loss. He's already disliked by his peers, by himself, god, and everyone who breathed. You were the only person willing to talk with him- to waste time on him. To love him.

The imagery for this one is vivid- the rain. Ironic. Even in his own element he couldn't save you. He's hunched over you and mimics your shallow breathes, protecting your face from the down pour.

You can't get the words out to say how much you really, deeply love him. He keeps shushing you, trying to conserve your energy- He's panicking, too, hands unsure of their need. There were so many wounds, he couldn't possibly tend to them all.

The poor boy would whisper a beg- to let him go in your stead. He couldn't be left alone to survive again. Not again. He had too many lives he was carrying on his shoulders. Too many souls he was responsible for reaching heaven with, and he was never that good a man.

He's not asking God, he's asking you. And how cruel you were to not let him die.

'I can't- Y/N, I can't do this again.' He'd sound close to vomiting. A certain animalistic sound to his voice. Guttural, almost. 'You-You-God- no-no-n-'

But you'd be gone, unable and unwillingly to give him to permission he so desperately needed. Not deserved, He'd remind himself.

He'd all but rot next to you. The second your last breathe loosed, he'd stop breathing, too. Days would go by. Unmoving. Unfeeling.

I truly believe he'd die with you that day.

[cryingpariah]

Because it's almost Ace's birthday, I was remembering back to episode 1013 where Ace was telling Yamato about all the notable pirates of the New Generation and one of them was Kid.

Which seems to imply that the Kid Pirates were making a name for themselves in the Grand Line at least a year before Luffy started his journey.

I know the chances of them and Ace having crossed paths are slim since Whitebeard mainly stuck to the New World, but I don't know I still think it would have been neat if they met. Especially since they're both from the South Blue, which is pretty important since Kid's birth would have been right at the time marines were hunting down pregnant women and babies all over the South Blue in search of Roger's child. Ace could have very well been the reason Kid was orphaned (though I don't think Kid has ever cared about who his parents were and it's a headcanon of mine that Killer has been protecting him for pretty much all his life hence how he would have survived the search). Plus if Ace got to be born on time, he would have been Kid's age. Kid is probably one of very few surviving members of an entire generation from the South Blue.

I don't know, I just think that's an interesting if not sobering connection between the two.

(On a less depressing note and because it's hard for me to talk about the Kid Pirates without bringing it back to Shriek, I just love the idea of her meeting Ace while not knowing who he is and bragging to him about how her captain's going to be King of the Pirates. And Ace is sincerely trying not to laugh because this little mink is so sincere, but also he already knows it's gonna be Luffy 😭😭)

The hunt for Roger's baby was truly on the evilest things the Marines have ever done. It’s one of the few things about this series I actively don’t think about, it just makes my stomach churn.

Regardless Kid being potentially on the baby chopping block way back when and not even remembering it sounds about right. He’s not the kind of guy to care about the past when the future is right there and ripe for the taking. Though, every once in a while, when it’s just him and Killer in the room, he'll ask. Not super seriously, he'll act annoyed if anything but his eyes plead for something, anything.

As for Kid and Ace meeting I’d say it’s actually pretty possible! Maybe not with the whole Whitebeard Crew but maybe when he was in own captain back in the day! Or when he was on his hunt of Blackbeard! Both are equally likely in my eyes

If this was back during Ace's captain days I could totally see them getting into a fight of pretty epic proportions before working it out over some meat and ale.

If this was second commander Ace he’s not gonna fight Kid at any cost. He maybe be a bit of a loose cannon but he knows better than to go around attacking random captains! I mean if he’s provoked (and let’s be serious with Kid around he’s getting a little provoked) he won’t take it lying down, thank goodness Killer is there to cool those hotheads down! Afterwards Ace probably gets invited to dinner (because he’s Ace and he’s cool like that) and thus begins story after story after story about Luffy! (The idea of Kid being annoyed with Luffy before they even technically meet is just really funny to me 😭😭 bro got preordered hate).

He’d give the Kid Pirates a cheeky warning to watch out because the toughest guy on the seas is yet to make his debut and they’d better come prepared! Not only that, he was going to be the future King of the Pirates! This is where Shriek comes in with an affronted gasp! Sure this new guy was kinda awesome or whatever but he can’t just say stuff like that all willy-nilly! This begins an absolute ridiculous argument between the two. It’s not a serious endeavour by any means, Ace doesn’t run around arguing with little kids so naturally this debate is filled with things like “Nuh-uh!” And “Yuh-huh!”

[semi-sketchy]

Okay I 100% legally watched Sonic 3.

6/10, overhyped.

I think I enjoyed the second movie more actually, but let me walk through this.

As a brief summary, basically Gerald was imprisoned for 50 years and designed the Eclipse Cannon (it's just a flying saucer laser) in return for his freedom. GUN built it, but it needs two keys to activate. So it's kinda a race to see who can get both keys and either destroy the world or save it. Gerald was also the one who hacked into the system and disabled Shadow's stasis as well as stole Eggman's tech to lure him to the research facility for a team-up. That's the basis of the plot.

Firstly, the beginning is...a million miles a minute. I thought the trailers were hypercut, but no the scenes really are just that fast. (At least until we get to Carrey. Animating hedgehogs is too expensive.) Sonic's having a party, GUN shows up like "we need Team Sonic" and Sonic is literally just like "I like the name, let's go!" that's it. No briefing, no convincing from the organization that tased and captured him, just go.

I did find the little "What did you do, Sonic?" "I don't know, I do a lot of things" line to be funny, though.

Also before they jump out of the chopper, Sonic does the "talk about low budget flights" but it is...so forced. Like the entire idea behind that line in SA2 is Sonic is being a cheeky bastard because they captured him, here he just randomly says it for no reason.

NOW THE ACTUAL BEST PART OF THE MOVIE, Shadow and Maria. God they were SO CUTE. Like this is the stuff I wanted out of Dark Beginnings. Maria on roller skates while Shadow pulls her around the base, just getting into kid mischief, watching movies, slipping keycards to go sit out and watch the stars... Oh my god AND THE BUNNY FACE SHE DRAWS ON HIS TUBE. These scenes? 10/10.

Actually, when Commander Walters finally briefs Sonic, the way it was edited really made me think "oh shit did...did Shadow accidentally kill Maria in this movie?" that's obviously not what happened, but I was interested to see what angle they took.

Oh yeah and Maria didn't get shot. She died from an explosion CAUSED by a gunshot. The solider was trying to shoot her though, just Walters knocked the gun because "that's a child!" So there's that. (Not allowed to hate the GUN commander here, after all, he's on Sonic's side! He can't be for child murder!)

It was also...not as dramatic as I thought it would be. It's like 30 seconds. Gerald runs up, says "We have to go, they wanna take Shadow from us!" Then 10 seconds later, boom. I'm not paraphrasing, by the way.

Oh yeah, I guess I should mention Gerald. He's 110 and still alive. I was not opposed to this, I like to think I'm receptive to changes in AUs and I was curious what they could do with Gerald actively manipulating Shadow. Here's what they do: Jim Carrey. It's just double the Jim Carrey shenanigans and yes, it is tiring. Shadow has a moment like "I don't know if this is what Maria would have wanted..." and Gerald just goes "it's not about what she wanted, it's about what they deserve" and that's...basically it. YOU COULD'VE DONE MORE WITH THIS, BRO.

On top of that, Shadow was not created: he was found inside a meteor that looks A LOT like the Black Comet. Considering this is meant to be modern day Earth and not a huge fictional universe like the games where there's advanced space stations and such in the 50s (oh yeah the ARK ain't real here) I'm fine with this. Keeps his alien origins while aligning to the movie universe.

And I was kinda surprised but I THINK there's a reference to the fandub?? Sonic calls Shadow "Hot Topic" nooo my secret!!! so that was interesting. Could also just be some of their famous product placement, but this movie is also less...commercial than the others. No Olive Garden mentioned. Guess they used all the ad space on Knuckles.

Anyways, while getting the second key, Shadow punches Tom because he has the key and is currently disguised as Commander Walters, the one who sealed Shadow away. This is important, this is like the basis for the entire end of the movie because apparently one punch to the chest is enough to knock Tom out and put him in the hospital.

Now Sonic ALSO wants revenge, so he gets the Master Emerald to go super and...I just gotta point out, Knuckles left it with Wade. The way EVERYONE IN THE THEATER GROANED WHEN WADE POPPED UP ON SCREEN it was beautiful. Nice to know we all hate the Knuckles show.

This all leads to Shadow's reform which was...ech? After Sonic is like "no I won't kill you, that's not who I am, revenge doesn't make things better" Shadow is like "I didn't have a choice in who I became" and Sonic says "you always have a choice", Live and Learn plays and they go to stop the cannon firing on Earth. It felt so...shallow for a character like Shadow. Nothing about how Maria loved the world, so he should protect the world to honor her memory, it's just "revenge is bad". I guess it's to be more relatable to Sonic because they lean more into them being two sides of the same coin, but it's just so rushed and hollow.

Meanwhile Eggman kills his grandfather in a really drawn out unfunny sequence because he wants to rule the world, not destroy it, but the canon is already set to fire so they instead turn it away from the Earth while Super Sonic and Shadow block the ray. (The moon getting hit is an accident.)

Also you have no idea how much I wanted them to show Sonic trying to save Shadow, but only getting his inhibitor ring, THOUGH SONIC IS THE ONE WHOSE SUPER FORM FAILS. In this universe, I guess it makes sense because Sonic isn't the absolute powerhouse his game version is. But does Shadow show his growth and try to save him? No, it takes Tails and Knuckles awhile to address that.

Anyways, the reactor is unstable so Eggman tries to buy time while Shadow pushes the weapon away from Earth and then it blows up, killing both of them. ...Well Shadow shows up in the post-credits alive so I guess just Eggman is dead...maybe. Because the other scene shows a shit ton of Metal Sonics a la Shadow Android and Amy shows up to save him as the 4th teaser.

Overall, my issue isn't that it changed SA2's story, I wanted something different because I literally have SA2 at home. It's just these changes have all their potential completely squandered in favor of a lot and I mean a LOT of Jim Carrey nonsense. He's like half this movie.

With the writing quality of these films, I shouldn't be surprised, but I really thought after the second movie, they were on a good track. After seeing everyone else love it, it's kinda disappointing to find it rather mid.

Oh yeah and nothing from the bowling tournament teaser line in the Knuckles series, either. After making us sit through that hell, I WANTED to see Shadow bowl. We truly were robbed.

[qedmirage]

Chapter 14 awaits! Let's go go go!!! As ever, gameplay thoughts first and then story thoughts below the cut. Which means...first off, disappointment!

Up until 13-5 instead of new mechanics you're dealing with Londinium Second Defence Artillery again, my least favorite arc 2 mechanic! At least I have a lot of practice dealing with it now. It was just kinda disappointing to see it come back...in my head I know it allows for a few interesting ways to handle things as you deliberately cause blue-on-blue incidents (for them) but I've never liked how it seems like the targeting can switch last second because a single scrimblo touched your defender. Once past that though we get a new mechanic, centered around these guys:

Bloodborn Spawn and Blood Ambers are hilariously tuned to be countered by Hoederer exactly. But enjoyably there's a bunch of ways past them. For those not familiar, the spawn deal arts damage and lifesteal; they also deal increased damage the more of them a single target is blocking. That makes them really good at chewing through defenders and really awful at fighting Crushers exactly; their enormous HP pools mean they're the best at tanking these guys. When defeated, Spawn turn into Ambers, which have enormous defences (3k Def, 90 Res) and negative taunt. If they're within the range of a Bloodcalling Altar, they'll die and spawn a Bloodborn Spawn at the altar when it activates its skill (every 20 seconds). So, many stages revolve around managing this endless tide of respawning arts-damage scrubs. And enjoyably, there's a ton of ways to deal with them! Some examples: - Hoederer's True damage to burn down Ambers - Virtuosa S3 to necrosis-> True damage Ambers - Ceobe S2 Mod3; with 3k defence she does enormous damage to Ambers - Manticore + Ascalon, who can infinitely stall the respawning horde - Pushers or Pullers to shove Spawn into holes, preventing respawning And I'm sure there's more. This was also the first episode I played entirely on its Hard (Adverse) mode, and it was a fun experience, with only 2 or 3 stages (13-5,13-15,13-21) giving me enough trouble that I felt the need to refer to a guide for ideas. The TF2 bomb-pushing mechanic is incredibly funny ('so then I rammed a VBIED into him') and gives Marksmen a day in the sun as the game's gradually inflating defences slowly leaves them behind. I suspect Exusiai would actually be good at killing phase 2 of the episode boss, if you could time it so her skill activates after a bomb hits him. The other new enemies are interesting enough; special mention to the Fluxcaster, which slowly grinds down my Ambusher Stall strat; and the Boneguard Torturer, who gets you thinking about splitting enemies up or using truly insane numbers of DPS. The Welfare op, Delphine, is cool and one of the few I've leveled, though I'm a known Mystic Caster partisan. I wish her last talent was just an anti-sarkaz one instead of a chapter 13 only one, but alas. Her animations and art are great though, 6* levels of glam on a free 5*. On to the story below the cut. Spoilers abound!

There's a lot that happens in this one, so much that it's kinda hard to pull out a specific overarching thread - it's an ensemble story alright - but I'm gonna be my boring self and start with the milhist portion. Which is, the Victorian Dukes get owned. This whole chapter is a gradually escalating military disaster that will be taught in Columbian war colleges to illustrate the perils of divided command.

For four goddamn years the Dukes have been locked in a stalemate with the KMC and each other. In that time they failed to stop enemy resupply, they failed to exert tactical and strategic pressure on their foe, and they failed to even begin to understand their opponent's strategic and political goals. In the earlier conversations the dukes and their staff are focused mostly on their future wars with each other, not the present war with the Sarkaz. They underestimated their foe and they paid dearly for it; because they gave Theresis time, time enough to build an airship that could blow them up at his leisure, time enough to construct the Shard, time enough to organize and then transport the Nachzeherer Legions via the Lifebone. This isn't actually unrealistic, imo, there are plenty of people IRL who have been way dumber - look up the battle of Bien Dien Phu. But it's striking how much their political infighting cripples them. Even with Caster's intelligence network penetrating Londinium, the Victorian Dukes didn't grasp that Theresis was going to go on the offensive and had the capability to do so. They didn't manage to find the Lifebone and its logistic network before an entire legion had appeared past their interdiction. They didn't even grasp the tactics of the Sarkaz military, until after Theresis's offensive started. The time factor is also truly unforgiveable when you keep in mind a remark that 75% of their armies are conscripts. For people who aren't huge nerds, that means they've been redlining their economies to support field armies full of workers who go and sit in trenches and stare at the Sarkaz while fields and factories go untended back home. For four years! Meanwhile Theresis has been conserving his strength, and only pulls a full mobilization of his best soldiers from Kazdel when he's ready for the decisive moment. And when that decisive moment comes at the end of the chapter, he commits all his forces in a singular thrust. If the Victorian Dukes had done the same at any point in the preceding four years, they'd have taken heavy losses, they may have lost their lives to the next duke to roll in - but they'd been able to win, instead of ceding the strategic initiative to Theresis and letting him choose to fight only when he's sure he can succeed.

They should have listened to Windmere. Anyways, on to other things - the Lifebone!

I love The Lifebone. It's kinda funny how each arc 2 chapter seems to have Theresis get a new mystical superweapon, but in a fun break from pattern the focus for this chapter is... a logistics vessel! It's weird and fantastical and somebody cared about logistics, I love it. Skeleton whale that dives through history to teleport cargo? fuck yeah. Other story bits... It's cool to see Siege step up and become a leader, though it's kinda sad to see the Self-Salvation Corps implode to make room for her to do so. Still, the Exemplars are cool and it's nice to see them fight. I like Amiya's final showdown with the Sanguinarch:

That's our king! She's very fierce!!

I also love the Logos Trans moment ('I thought all banshees were supposed to be girls?' 'correct.' 'oh ok'). But don't forget that in the same scene, Logos flashes back to the first time he used his bone whistle to mark a passing - for himself, and for the old identity of the Sarkaz, just before he left home. Symbolism!

The lives of the Brentwood civilians under occupation, and the Sarkaz officer's attempts to make it better, really ring to historical incidents for me. Alas, the KMC was not aiming for occupation so much as annihilation. The Reunion stuff this chapter was good to see too, their focus on being an all-hands liberation movement really gets to the core of the story past all the wizard nonsense. Not sure what Nowell's doing with them, I guess we'll deal with him later.

[honey-tragedy]

a least to most likely list of which of the robins would hide injuries

dick, is surprisingly the least likely to hide injuries. he got told sence he was able to walk and do stunts that improperly cared for injuries could not only harm him but other performers and thats stuck with him. add in being the leader of the teen titans and trying to set a good example for them, hes fully open with his injuries when hes hurt.

--dick has a spread sheet of injury and when he got them, he thinks it funny

tim is the second least likely to hide injuries, now this is only because in the first year or two of being robin haveing a infection or improperly cared for wound would take him out of the field and away from doing damage control with bruce. and now its just a habit too keep track of his injuries

---tim would hid older injuries that wouldn't effects his field capabilities (spleen spleen spleen) but not anything recent or pressing

up next is duke! duke as the leader of the we are robins thing has had to deal with idiots under his command hideing injuries and he refuses to add that stress onto bruce and alfred. he knows how annoying and worrying it is to have to wonder if your people are actually field ready or lieing too you.

--he would only hid injuries if they came from civilian life or for a stupid thing like triping off a roof or swinging into a wall, but like tim he wouldnt if it was something big or would affect his capabilities

steph is next up, were edgeing into would definitely hide shit, steph does not see bruce as a parent and barely sees him as a boss. shes a latch key kid with a terrible dad and a try her best but not get mom, no way in hell would she come out with injuries outload but she would let alfred treat her if it came up. prefers to go to Leslie cause she trusts her more, and as such bruce usually only hears about her injuries after the fact.

---steph fully mocks bruce that if he was the worlds greatest detective he would know when shes hurt, goes to Leslie or alfred if its really bad

this was a toss up, but damian is next, assassins dont really lend them selves to being good people to tell that your injured, even the ones ment to serve you. damian is basically allergic to telling anyone anything is actually wrong with him ever, unless its him and bruce one of one. bruce is essentially the only person he trusts enough to admit hes injured.

--getting damian to admit hes injured is like trying to give a feral cat a bath, no one likes doing it but its necessary sometimes

jason!! second to last on the list, jason would actually fully chew off his own leg then tell the bats hes injured ever. not only because he doesn't trust 90% of them not to use it to fuck him over, but also because bruce will become simultaneously the most helicopter parent and the emotional brick wall the second he knows Jason's hurt, its honestly worse then being shot to see him try and ground jason like hes still a child, while also being full emotional brick wall batman mode

--jason has pushed tim down the bottomless pit in the cave before just so he could bolt before bruce could quarantine him in the cave cause he got hurt, jason would fully fist fight his way out of the batfam then ever admit hes hurt

and to round it off cass! cass will slink away to hide and lick her wound and you would never know shes hurt unless she lets you. raised as a weapon i dont think David cain was the kinda person to treat an injury with anything other then disappointment, and cass still sees her own injury as failures in her training. shes fully capable of doing most of her own medical care and useing it to her advantage in avoiding telling anyone her injuries.

--cass broke her arm once and as soon as it was put in a cast no one saw her tell it was fully healed. not even bruce is sure where she was or what she was doing during those months

[captain-mj]

i would kill for another part to the changeling ghost/selkie soap fic. I just want ghost to rip fergus’s throat out

Here you go!! I'm going to put the rest of the story on ao3 soon for ease but I couldn't post anything earlier?? Don't know if it was down or just my internet but :P

Ghost came back inside, doing his best to look angry. It must’ve been a little too convincing because all of them seemed to flinch back from him. 

“Soap.”

He really did jump up. Ghost wouldn’t tease him for it, give the circumstances, but he did think it was funny. He turned and walked to the spare bedroom they were staying in, hearing Soap’s heavier footsteps. 

“How you can be so much shorter than me and still be louder… it’s astounding.” He turned to look at him once they were safely inside. He pinned Soap to the door and lifted his mask to kiss him. His hands rose up to cup his face gently. 

Soap relaxed after a moment. “Was worried you were actually mad at me for a second…”

“No! Course not! Don’t wo-” Ghost cut himself off, rethinking his words. “You… Fuck this is hard.”

Soap tilted his head. “What’s hard?”

“Trying not to accidentally give you any orders. Want you clear headed and normal.”

Soap jumped on him and kissed him harder. “God, you’re perfect.”

“Soap, please stop being impressed by the bare minimum.” Ghost kissed back though, putting his hands on his back. Eventually though, he pushed him away and cupped his face again. “Love, though I wouldn’t mind doing this all day, I did bring you back here for a reason.”

Soap nodded, though he was still trying to chase Ghost’s lips. “What for?”

“We have two days. Technically 46 hours thanks to the time now and when our place leaves to be exact. It’s going to be tight, but we have a mission.”

Soap frowned, trying to figure out what this was. He half expected it to be a weird sex thing, but they hadn’t even had sex yet so it seemed unlikely. 

“Okay….”

“I want to find your mom’s coat. Maybe beat up your dad.”

Soap took a deep breath before burying his face in Ghost’s chest. “Oh my God you’re so… you…” He clawed at his shoulders. “Simon Riley you’re doing a lot more than the bare minimum here.”

“Before you were my husband, you were my second in command. If you would’ve told me about this, I would’ve done it anyway.”

“I don’t get it. I don’t get you.”

Ghost shrugged. “I’m a feminist.” He said it with a grin and it managed to get a laugh out of Soap.

“Yeah, I know you are. But still. We’re not even hu-” Soap must’ve realized that saying that to Ghost, a non human, would be a bit wrong. 

“I don’t like seeing people being controlled. Least of all innocent people who can’t defend themselves.” Ghost smiled at him and gently stroked his cheek. He followed the scar over his eye gently. “Gorgeous. You know that? Just gorgeous.”

Soap swallowed and held on to him tight. “Simon. You mean this right?”

“You being pretty or that I’m going to find that coat?”

“Both.”

“Yeah. I mean both of them.” He kissed him again. “I promise it to you.”

Soap shook his head and pulled him down. He made some promises of his own that made Ghost turn bright red. Followed by a bite to his shoulder through the fabric. Ghost shivered. 

“If I hurry up and find it, do you think we can reschedule our plane?”

“Probably.”

“Thank God.” 

Ghost looked at Soap, thinking. “I don’t think just looking is going to work. I’m going to need to get closer to your dad. We’re in a bit of a time crunch. Do you have any ideas?”

Soap shook his head. “He respects tradition. You being the boss kinda stuff and…. Oh. I have an idea but you might not like it.”

Ghost tilted his head to indicate he should continue. 

“You’ve been soft with me. Laughing at my teasing and stuff. The way you left and stormed in… He probably thinks you’re mad at me because of it.”

“Yeah… so?”

“Leave some bruises on me.”

Soap wondered if the cold that swept over him was because of Ghost’s glare, an open window or if Ghost secretly had some magic he wasn’t aware of that affected the weather. “I’m not hurting you.”

“It’s for my Mam and I’m asking. Just has to be something easy.”

“Easy. You’re saying I should hurt you. What if I leave hickeys? Would that work?”

“Might…” Soap opened his collar so Ghost could see his throat. “Just… do something okay? I promise I won’t be mad. Won’t hold it against you. No different than the time you shoved me to the ground to get me out of the line of fire. Was bruised then too.” 

Ghost hated how right Soap sounded. He grabbed a handful of his hair to force his head a little further back and then bit him rather hard. Soap tensed, having not expected that. He tried not to squirm even when it started to border on pain. Instead he pulled Ghost closer to encourage him. 

Ghost pulled away and admired the teeth mark. He also showed where he had put a handprint on Soap’s wrist while he was distracted. “There you go. Think it’ll convince him?”

“Let’s hope so.” Soap smiled at him and followed him outside. He was quick to look demure, holding on to Ghost’s sleeve like a scolded child. How someone could ever hurt someone like Soap was beyond him. 

Fergus noticed the bruising. His expression didn’t change though. 

Moray called them for dinner, gently touching Soap’s shoulder as she passed. She didn’t meet Ghost’s eyes and Ghost would have to talk to her later. Explain it was not like that. But if she did, she’d probably have to tell Fergus and… they couldn’t have that. 

They all ate in silence until Rosy came. Soap’s second sister. She hugged Soap close, glaring at Ghost the entire time. She didn’t really acknowledge him or her father, sitting at her place. A sweet looking lady followed her, sitting right next to her. 

“This is my girlfriend.” She stated it like a fact. “Her name is Iris. Please be nice.” 

Soap looked surprised but made a motion towards Ghost. “He prefers Ghost.” 

Ghost didn’t really react. He was more focused on the mask problem. He could hypothetically lift his mask to eat. But his face would be revealed. It wasn’t like the tea where he could turn away or not lift his mask enough for them to see. They were also in Scotland, they’d all know what Glasgow scars were. They’d probably assume gang related. Which wouldn’t be that far off but not for the reasons they’d think. He also knew he wouldn’t be able to play it as a battle wound. They were clearly on purpose. 

Soap noticed and put his hand on his thigh to reassure him. Ghost glanced over and just fully slipped his mask off. He heard Davina’s tiny gasp but he ignored it. His hair was long enough it would cover his ears and everything else about him looked human enough. He started casually eating, not thinking about his start shaped freckles or his scarring. None of it was important. 

Soap started eating like there was nothing going on and his family eventually followed suit. Iris started at him for a moment, a little taken back. First time she meets the family and he’s here. It’s a fair reaction. 

The food is good. There’s not enough though and he refuses to ask for more or take more than his share. He’s the odd one out here, having a much bigger appetite than the average person. Soap kept his hand on him throughout the meal. 

“Ghost, do you cut your own hair?” Rosy asked and Soap hissed at her. Literally. Like a cat. It caught Ghost and Iris off guard. 

“Don’t trust people with knives around my face.”

“Yeah, I can see why.” 

He respected her a lot. However, he could not let this disrespect slide. “And what’s your excuse for your haircut?”

Her eyes widened and Soap coughed hard, side eyeing him. 

“Alright. You’re funny. I’ll give ye that.” Her accent thickened and she was clearly pouting. 

Ghost smiled and she tentatively smiled back. 

The rest of dinner went without much of a problem. Fergus gave him a nod before leaving the table. 

Ghost, mostly on instinct because that’s what he did with his mom, helped gather the plates. Fergus was gone so he didn’t think he had to play the evil human role. 

“You need help doing the dishes ma’am?” He looked down at her. 

Moray relaxed. “I can just have one of my kids do it.”

“You sure? I don’t mind helping you?”

She blushed. “You’re such a good kid,” Ghost ignored the fact that besides her, he was the oldest in the room, “Fine, I could use the help and they always leave water spots on my dishes.” 

All three of her kids immediately made excuses as she rolled her eyes. Ghost smiled at them, looking a tad smug before following her. 

Rosy looked at Soap. “Iris knows about the seal thing so let’s cut to the chase. What was that?”

“What was what?”

“One, no way that guy is a human.” Iris butted in. 

“Two, he just… changed! His whole personality!”

“Oh. Yeah he and my mom are close. They talk all the time.” Soap sipped his drink.

“He has your coat.”

“Look… you guys can’t say anything. But I gave it willing. I just didn’t want to let Dad know. I like Ghost!”

Davina and Rosy exchanged glances, frowning. “You sure?”

“Yes. He’s given me my coat back multiple times. We’re technically married but we’re taking it slow.”

“It looks like he mauled you.” 

Soap turned bright red and touched his throat. “We get handsy!” It’s not that he distrusted his sisters. Not at all. But he was worried they’d say the wrong thing to Mom or Dad and ruin the delicate balance they had going on if they knew what they were doing now. “But he’s a gentleman.”

Rosy frowned. She was never very trusting. He supposed she just did it to protect them. Usually just him. 

“Promise. You’ll like him.” 

“I doubt it. But I’ll give him a try.”

[t0ast-ghost]

okay get ready, strap in, we got a two parter. Time for my notes on episodes 12&13 (The Menagerie):

- I wonder if they’re really gonna put the men into menagerie

- I got whammied. They all appeared at once. Together.

- OMG PIKE

- the kuleshov effect doesn’t work to well in this situation

- Spock’s gonna betray them? Kirk believes that Spock can literally do no wrong

- Spock sneaking around is hilarious but again hiding in plain sight should not be an effective strategy

- UHURA! Yes!

- SPOCK! No!

- He’s so stressed, look MORE EMOTION

- where has Bones puttered off to- oh there he is

- Kirk devastated that his boyfriend could lie to him so he confides in his other boyfriend about it

- Bones sitting on surfaces compilation (12:35)

- “there’s a false entry that doesn’t jibe with the facts” jibe…

- Bones defending Spock my heart ughhhggg

- Why is Spock trying to get Doctor McCoy back on the enterprise??

- he yoinked the ship- he fuckin yoinked it

- uh oh McCoy is suspicious. “Follow Spock’s instructions to the letter” like hell he will

- Spock listening to “shuttlecraft is past point of safe return” and you can see him look like ‘god fucking dammit Jim’

- “I keep thinking who would be coming at us in a shuttle craft, and I keep coming up with the same answers” yeah it’s your idiot boyfriend, McCoy

- “for mutiny, doctor. I never received orders to take command” and that’s your second idiot boyfriend

- Bones is so worried, he doesn’t want Spock confined, he also doesn’t want to believe he’s been deceived by his friend

- Spock looks so ashamed and sad. He’s sad.

- “whatever he’s up to, he’s planned it well” no he hasn’t. I see his fear and panic. (Edit: this turned out to be somewhat untrue)

- wow that’s a good angle on those tapes. That’s so cool that they’re bringing back the pilot tho

- forgot this was how he chose to lay down to wait for his doctor

- wait wait wait so you expect me to believe aliens filmed this episode?

- so is Spock trying to send Pike to this planet so that he can live with Vina?

- *close up on Spock from episode one. Cut to the meeting room present day* Kirk: I’m so glad Bones bought you that eyeshadow, Mr. Spock

SECOND PART STARTS HERE - checkpoint

- considering how blue Pike’s eyes are it’s so funny how Chris Pine ended up playing Kirk and not a guy called Chris Pike…

- that’s kind of amazing how it almost seems like this is just apart of the episode (especially considering the fact that all the stuff in the original episode had so much world building. Like it really seemed like all the adventures were already normal.) like they made this past storyline as just another part of the episode.

- forgot how awesome number one was, kinda excited to watch strange new worlds now

- get sent to hell, dipshit

- I FORGOT ABOUT THE ‘bouinngg’ NOISE

- since they get to replay a whole damn episode I get to put in my favourite notes I made from watching this the first time

- WHAT THE COMMODORE WAS FAKE?!?

- the nod from the beings at the end is so like “yeah that sounded so good.”

- and they lived happily ever after

The end

Master post

(note to self: Pls draw Bones doing Spock’s makeup but like that one pic)

[mgmm-shifts]

DR: fun fact 11/11

I've decided I'm going to post a fun fact or something about my DR everyday. Not that I think anyone is gonna care but 🤷🏻‍♀️

If anyone does actually read this than thank you 🥹

My DR is modern and like not really a fame DR but we are famous public figures? Idk how to describe it but the military is a huge deal and has a giant following and since it's peacetime things are just calm. We are kinda grouped in as celebrities but there isn't fame toxicity like there is here in my CR, like paparazzi don't exist and people respect boundaries and treat famous people like human beings. But because we are such well known public figures, all the other celebrities (the same as who we have here in CR) know us and we all attend events and whatever celebrities do idk. Anyways... We all have tik tok accounts and insta and whatever and a gigantic fanbase. Like people make ships of us and normal fandom shit and edits and we have collabs. For example we have the Sanrio collab and plushies of us and Gudetama but thats a story for another post. But anyways, me and Connie have a series we make called: "MEL reacts" but it's not me (he just thought the name was funny because it would confuse ppl) it's Miche, Erwin, and Levi. We make them react to random shit or we just do random shit to them and it's the funniest thing ever. We take turns recording/doing it and one time it was Connie's turn and I dared him to tell all of them "I love you" out of nowhere at some point throughout the day. ~Miche: "...boy if you don't get your bald ass outta here with that shit-" ~Erwin: "That's nice. Most people do. 😄" ~Levi: "..........." he just stared at him and didn't blink for 10 seconds before he flinched at Connie and Connie sprinted away. Or it became a regular thing where I go live whenever I'm with any of them after our workouts and we just eat and do whatever. Usually with Miche it's in his truck after we get lunch post workout. ~Miche: "What's up fuckers, I'm back. This little demon dragged me on another live." With Erwin it's earlier in the morning so probably breakfast and it's outside HQ on one of the benches most of the time. His reactions are like Paul Wesley answering questions on insta if anyone has seen that 😭. ~Erwin *reading a comment on the live*: " 'Hello Smithussy...' Smithussy? That sounds inappropriate. *reads another with a straight face* 'Commander Daddy.' I think that's my contact name in Miche's phone." With Levi our schedule is random but it's usually in the officer lounge if we are eating an actual meal, otherwise it's in one of our offices. We just do random activities and he acts like that chimp in the zoo on tik tok that people bring slime too and he's all like ☝🏻👇🏻👉🏻👉🏻 if we are doing something or scrolling through tik tok or ASMR. Or he's like Nicki Minaj where she just reads the most insane and innapropriate comments for no reason. Sometimes we also rate things like snacks or whatever. ~Levi *we did a one minute drawing challenge and we were showing our drawings and he reads a comment*: " 'It looks like shit.' Fuck you, you look like shit. 'Levi marry me!!!' No 😐. 'Kiss you won't' I'm literally eating can we not."

Anyways this was more because I wanted to yap about my DR than anything else but I'll be back tmrw with another detail no one asked for 🧎🏻‍♀️.

It's 11/11 GO SHIFT YALL I LOVE YOU <3