#I'm a totally different person and it's great

[pretty-bratty]

'It's Peter. Parker.'

He slides the phone back into his pocket without much hope. No one will reply - haven't in all these months - and even if someone would, it would be a very annoyed Happy.

It's September, and the mornings are foggy-pink like apples, the evenings are orange from streetlights and fallen leaves - and Peter's been living with this bittersweet mix of hope and anxiety since Germany.

Since Mr. Stark gave him that little talk in the car. Peter tries not to die from embarrassment every time he remembers that not hug.

"You sure you're okay, kid? No feeling sick, dizziness, any other fun stuff?"

Peter hurried to nod, then shake his head. The movement echoed with the pain.

"Yeah, no, I'm-I'm totally fine!"

I don't want you to go.

But Mr. Stark - Tony - had a long night ahead. Lots to discuss with Captain America and the others. Lots to figure out about Cap's friend, the one with the cool arm. And Peter, well, Peter wasn't needed in any of this. Not anymore.

That fight in Berlin airport ended almost as soon as it started. Everyone stopped throwing superpowered punches and started talking, right after-

No. Peter forbids himself to think about it. This memory is saved for before sleep.

And right now he better focus on whatever Ned is saying.

"...in the news."

"Huh?" Peter whips his head to look at his best friend. "Sorry, what's in the news?"

"Mr. Stark," Ned repeats patiently, slurping apple juice. "Saw them in the morning news, him and Cap."

"Really?"

Peter almost asks what suit was Mr. Stark wearing, but bites his tongue before the words slip out. He's not a fangirl gossiping about a popstar. He's just gonna see it himself on YouTube after school.

"They've been asked if a part of the Avengers tower could be open for school field trips."

"Really?!"

Okay, he's repeating himself, but - seriously, he missed that?!

"Yup." Ned smiles dreamily. "Mr. Stark said it's a great idea-"

"Really?!?"

This time Ned gives him a look, and Peter giggles sheepishly. Yeah, alright.

"Yeah dude. Don't get your hopes high though. Cap banned it."

Ugh.

"Said it's dangerous and blah blah blah."

"And rightfully so." Michelle chimes in, and Peter didn't even know she was here. "Imagine all this herd near the alien weapon and superpowered technology."

"O-o-oh, you're the Avengers fan?!" Ned's eyes immediately sparkle as he turns to her.

"Who said so?"

Peter tunes out, looking at the cafeteria. Flash is trying to pour juice into someone's - surprisingly, not Peter's - milk. Yeah. Michelle and Captain Rogers have a point.

But at the same time, what if he could go?! What if they saw him, and remembered how good he did in Berlin (they said so themselves back then), and then Cap would be like 'You could actually help us out with this one, Peter', and Mr. Stark would be like 'I was actually about to tell you to start reporting straight to me, not Happy', and!

And even all that aside, it's just. It would be so cool to just see Mr. Stark.

"Duuude, you totally have a crush." Ned gives him a toothy smile, and Peter realizes, horrified, that he said the last phrase out loud.

"No I don't," he quickly looks around, feeling how hot - and undoubtedly red - his face is. Apparently, Michelle already went away, and Ned was the only one to hear that. Thanks God. "I don't really do crushes, Ned, you know. It's-it's different."

"How different?"

The bell rings, getting them hurrying to Spanish class and saving Peter from the inquisition.

Well, not fully - Ned keeps whispering questions the whole class.

Do you wanna play Kiss-marry-kill and pick from Mr. Stark, Cap and Black Widow?

Would you like him to personally check your internship work?

Imagine if he picked you up from school in one of his cool cars, would you - scratch that, who wouldn’t have wanted it.

Peter is almost grateful when Mr. Ramirez threatens them with detention.

After school he manages to run away, yelling about being late to the internship. The look on Ned's face tells him he's already planning to bombard him with questions tomorrow.

***

The patrolling goes as always. Boring. Yeah, no, it feels great to swing around the city, getting all his energy out and helping wherever it's needed. But so far the highlight of his day is the churro from this nice old Mexican lady - until he sees a robbery near Mr. Delmar's place.

Everything goes exciting at first - he even manages to make a cool fight-talk, before one of the guys pulls out that weird-looking weapon. Peter's muscles tense - and seconds later the whole place explodes. Literally.

He barely remembers how he runs into the sandwich place, helping Mr. Delmar and carrying Murph out. The next thing he sees is the splash of red, white and blue, accompanied by the big wings shadow in the sky. Captain America and Falcon. Peter looks for the flash of red and gold, with the sounds of Led Zeppelin or whatever - heart rabbiting faster than when the actual explosion happened. But there's nothing. He ducks from the Avengers' sight, running into the alley where he left his backpack and clothes, tugs the mask off, and-

"Peter."

For a millisecond his heart drops in his stomach and freezes there, but then he recognizes the voice difference. He turns around to face Steve Rogers - starry shield and all.

"Uh, yes sir? Hi?"

Hi? How lame.

"You were there, fighting with the robbers."

It's not even a question, so Peter just shrugs. Like no biggie, he's doing it every day. Ugh.

"Would you recognize them?"

"No. They were wearing masks, Avengers masks actually. Maybe it's like, something personal?"

Cap makes a thoughtful noise, nodding absentmindedly.

"Where's your friend?" Peter shuts his mouth, but the words are out already.

"Sam?" Cap furrows his brows in confusion. "He's helping with the-"

"No, I saw him." Peter cuts him off. Yeeaaah, May would've been just delighted with his manners. "The other one, from Germany. With the metal arm."

"Oh. Bucky..." there are so many different emotions in how Captain says this name. It feels overwhelming. "He's getting...back to himself. I hope."

He adds the last phrase so quietly that a normal person wouldn't have made it out. Spidey senses deliver it to Peter loud and clear.

"He's nice." Peter offers him a little smile. "Especially when we stopped trying to kill each other."

Captain actually chuckles at that, shaking his head. Then nods back to the explosion.

"Stay away from trouble like this, kid." His face gets the usual shade of solemn. "Those are dangerous people, we'll take care of them."

"I can help!"

"Like I said, it's too dangerous. I'm glad Tony's keeping an eye on you..."

Apparently something's flickering on Peter's face, because Cap frowns. Uh-oh, time to go, time to go. He stumbles back, nearly tripping over a trashcan, and giving Cap a bigger and hopefully not so fake smile.

"Um, sorry, but I actually gotta go, Aunt May will start worrying if I'm not home!"

Captain Rogers crosses his arms, worry clearly showing on his face now.

"Peter? He is, right?"

But he just pulls his mask down, jumps off and swings away, leaving the national hero without an answer. Holy shit.

***

He should've just said yes. Because obviously, Happy being his curator is considered as Mr. Stark keeping an eye on him. And maybe Happy not replying to his messages doesn't mean he's not caring! And now Captain Rogers would tell Mr. Stark about his encounter with Peter, and Mr. Stark would come and yell at him, and oh my God. Well, at least he would talk to him. Except if he's gonna call Peter an ungrateful brat who he doesn't want to do anything with, and Peter wouldn't be able to bear that.

He stops mid-climbing, tears the mask off and presses his face into the red-bricked wall of his building. It's cold to the touch. The night air is chilly and dark blue and full of police sirens and big city noises.

All Ned's questions suddenly pop up in Peter's mind, but none of them are helpful. Peter doesn't know how to call what he feels for Tony Stark, what he's longing for, and what label to put it under. He almost wishes it was a crush, because it would be normal. He would be normal.

What lives and burns in his chest is something in between adoration of a role model, falling in love and needing a father figure - or maybe all of those combined.

He wants to be near him. He wants to do as he says and be good for him. Or not do what he says - and find out what happens.

He just wants Tony to really care about him. To care about him the most of all. Like during that short time - no, Peter, stop - in Berlin airport... He tries to stop thinking back to that moment but fails. He lets his eyes close and sees everything as if it's happening right now.

***

Thinking back, adrenaline - that's what Peter felt the most. The rest was just a big noisy mess, flooding the whole world and overwhelming his senses. He missed when and how the reasonable - well, sort of - conversation turned into a fight. Maybe it happened while he was too busy filming? But anyways, everyone was fighting now. And it wasn't a cool battle against baddies, wasn't protecting what's right from what's evil. There weren't bad guys. There were confused guys, hurt guys, guys who didn't manage to talk it all out, and now were too angry and adrenaline-infused to do anything but fight and hurt each other. They reminded Peter a bunch of riled up first graders. What could he do though? Mr. Stark got his full and devoted loyalty...he wasn't sure when exactly that happened. Maybe even before the man burst into his little room, spitting date loaf and making innuendos about May. That's - that's whatever. Peter didn't really want to fight other Avengers, and he wanted Mr. Stark to fight them even less, because he saw how hurt it actually makes him.

Yet, here they were. Fighting.

"Sorry, guys, I just really gotta impress Mr. Stark!" Peter yells to Cap's friends.

One just looks annoyed, and the other - the mysterious metal-armed one - bugs his eyes out. Peter knows that he's the reason the whole ruckus started and that Mr. Stark doesn't like him for some reason.

"S' just a kid," the metal-armed dude breathes out, and okay, now Peter doesn't like him too.

He webs him down to the concrete, smirking under the mask.

"How's that from a kid?!"

Metal Arm is grunting something, but Peter doesn't have time to listen. There's something crazy going on.

"Hey guys, have you ever seen this really old movie, The Empire Strikes Back?!"

His spidey senses are overflowing with information. He's overexcited, high on adrenaline, giddy with being accepted by real superheroes, and-

BOOM.

Something huge, like a train on full speed, smashes into him. Peter sees stars flashing under his eyelids - cartoons don't lie, it really happens - and then everything goes black and he starts falling. He tries to use his webshooters, but for some reason it doesn't work out. Everything's going awfully fast. Peter hears someone cursing, flails his arms around, heart in his stomach - and suddenly there's a strong grip across his body. Peter opens his eyes - turns out he was squeezing them shut - and sees the metal arm. There's a red star on it. The next moment the grip changes, and there's a soothing glow of shiny upturned triangle, and red and gold suit, and Peter blacks out.

When he wakes up, Black Widow is giving Mr. Stark an incredulous look.

"Jesus Christ, Tony. If I knew that's what you meant by 'your guy', I would've said no right away."

Peter pouts at her, and it only makes her nod as if in confirmation.

"See? That's exactly what I'm talking about."

"It's an actual child, Tony!" That's Cap.

Seems like they didn't kill each other while Peter was unconscious. Which is, would be nice to know for how long.  Everything feels funny. Maybe he has a concussion?

"What?! Don't give me that judging glare, Capsicle. You just dropped half a building on that child-"

"And I was wrong!"

"-even your assassin bestie didn't do that."

That's the first time Mr. Stark addresses Metal Arm not as a mortal enemy, and everyone falls quiet, staring.

"And this is what I've been trying to talk to you about," Cap gets everyone's pointed looks and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, okay. I haven't really. And it was wrong of me. I should have."

Peter opens his mouth - for some reason, it feels awfully dry, and it takes an effort to part his lips.

"S' so stupid, you fighting." He cannot believe he's saying this to the Avengers, his heroes, for crying out loud. He definitely has a concussion. "S' how all the worst wars happen..."

He blacks out again after that, and when he wakes up, everything's over. The brewing war that was about to start never happens. Mr. Stark and Captain are talking, then them both and Metal Arm are talking, everyone is talking and no one has time for Peter.

And actually, he should've understood back then - he's just not needed anymore. Because he was just that - 'my guy' as in a help in a fight, not as in 'mine'.

***

He shakes himself out of the memories, realizing he's still clinging to the wall, without a mask, cheek warming up the old bricks. Without a mask! What if someone sees him! What if May sees him - what's he even thinking about!

Peter lets out a sharp breath and quickly picks up his pace. Up, into the window, climb over the ceiling, quietly close the door - why is it even open - on the floor. He taps the suit, letting it loosen and fall down, leaving him in boxers.

"Agility - 10 out of 10. Attention - we're going to negative numbers here." The painfully familiar voice speaks up from the semi-darkness of his bed, and Peter stumbles and plops on his ass.

"Correction, 9 instead of 10." Mr. Stark watches him intently, popping some snack into his mouth.

[thevoicefromanotherworld]

"PLEASE, DON'T STOP"

Another fic with Dave, cause I need him so bad every day, every night from the kitchen door to the bathroom seat love him

I hope you like it!

WARNING : EXPLICIT SMUT UNDER THE CUT

Dave walked into the library to study for Algebra, a subject he had an exam on next week. He looked around to see where there was an open spot. Then he saw you. You were in the same class as him, and he was 100% sure that you hadn't noticed him.

I mean, he always went unnoticed by everyone, especially by girls. You were his crush, that unattainable person he'd never talked to. He and you belonged to a totally different league: he was the nerd, and you were the typical girl who always gets invited to parties first.

All these thoughts were mixing in Dave's head, while his legs moved towards where you were.

Your mere presence made him very nervous, but the spot next to you was the only free one at the study table, so he gathered his courage and placed himself next to you, holding on tightly to the strap of his backpack.

You looked up at him, your eyes locked with his with curiosity and something else he couldn't quite place.

-H-hey –he greeted, swallowing hard- we're going to algebra together, I sit two seats behind you –he shook his head embarrassed- maybe this sounds a little weird, but would you mind if we studied together? These last few problems are costing me, and I need help to raise my average grade… -he paused for a moment before adding- although w-well, if you're studying with someone else or you're not taking algebra right now, I can go

-Relax, I'm not taking algebra right now, but I'll help you anyway –you said, smiling kindly-

-Really? –he asked surprised- Thank you very much! –he exclaimed before turning to the rest of the students at the other tables- I guess I should lower my voice –he laughed nervously- wait, I know a place where we can be where we can talk normally –he looked at you attentively- Do you want to…?

-God, yes –you murmured- I'm sick of talking in whispers –you said beginning to gather your things- let's go

Dave nodded and led you to a room where there were a couple of bookshelves on the sides and a large table in the center. He closed the door behind him when you entered and put the “quiet, we're studying” sign on the outside so no one would come in.

-This is better –he looked around the room- we still have to speak quietly because we're in a library, but not too much because this is a more private room –he cleared his throat at your curious gaze, while he took out the book and notes from his backpack- okay, let's start –he said, but when he went to grab a pencil he frowned while cursing under his breath- shit –he growled- I forgot my pencil case –he complained- What kind of person goes to study and forgets their pencil case? Can I borrow a pencil? –he asked- I promise I'll give it back to you when we're done

-Sure –you said handing him the one you always carried as a spare-

-Thanks –he murmured, a slight blush flooded his cheeks, making you smile- okay, the exam is supposed to be on topics three through five, right?

-Yes - you said after checking the agenda where you had written it down-

-Okay - he opened the book and pointed to a couple of operations - this is what I have been having the most trouble with these last few weeks - he indicated, resting the pencil on the exercise, he looked at you out of the corner of his eye, the light in the place made his intense blue eyes shine brightly - Do you think you can help me?

-Of course – you said, taking a separate sheet of paper to do the necessary calculations-

-Great – he murmured, watching you approach him, your shoulders brushing-

-You should start by solving the parentheses – you began, pointing to the symbols as you spoke- then, the exponents, then, the multiplications and divisions, and finally the additions and subtractions

-Okay, this makes a lot more sense – he murmured, observing the calculations you were doing on the sheet of paper in your notebook- you are very intelligent – ​​he said, gradually overcoming his shyness- we should study more often – he said, leaving the question hanging in the air-

-That would be nice – you said, and Dave almost fell off his chair in shock-

Was that really happening? “Please, someone pinch me,” he thought

-Okay… mhmm, could you…? You could give me your number, w-to keep in touch and all that -he said taking his phone out of his jeans pocket, you noticed he had a book placed on his lap -Here -he said handing it to you -

You took it and went into contacts to save your number, before handing it back to him.

-Why do you have that there? -you asked pointing at it with your head, his face turning scarlet due to the embarrassment he felt- No reason -he murmured shaking his head -It's just that… I'm very sensitive to touch and when our fingers have touched, I think…-he swallowed hard- I think it turned me on -he confessed making you smile. God he was so cute that you wanted to pull him towards you and never let him go- Please don't think I'm disgusting or weird or anything like that -he murmured hastily-

-I think it's hot -you said approaching him, making him open his mouth wide-

-Hot? –he repeated, you nodded- I didn't expect that –he confessed-

Slowly your hand went down to the place where he had placed the book, to remove it slowly. The shape of his hard cock was revealed against the front fabric of his jeans.

You rested your hand on his thigh, getting dangerously close to him without actually touching him. A gasp came out from between his lips when he felt your touch.

-I don't think that… -he muttered- we should be doing this here -he said- anyone could find out -another new gasp- and let's be… let's be honest I-I'm a virgin, I-I don't know what I'm doing, I don't know if…

-Dave -you stopped him kindly, he made the effort to look at you- it's okay

-You know my name -he said making you smile-

-Of course I know your name, we go to class together -you murmured tracing the outline of his cock with your index finger, making him hold on tightly to the arms of the chair-

-Nobody ever comes to this place -he continued saying- but what if they do today? What if someone comes…?

-Nobody's going to come, Dave -you whispered- you put the sign outside when we came in, remember? It's just you and me -you said, getting closer to kiss him-

His lips felt soft and warm against yours.

You realized that this was probably his first kiss too, so you guided him to follow your movements, slowly.

He partially separated from you as you continued to kiss him, so the words barely came out from between his lips

-But –kiss- what happens if…? –kiss- What if we get caught? –another kiss- it will be your fault if someone finds out

-No one is going to catch us –you assured him leaving one last kiss on his lips- turn your back to me

-My…? –he asked confused before doing as you asked-

You slowly unbuttoned his jeans, letting them swirl around his legs, before pulling down his underwear as well.

His cock was released from the confines of his pants, fully erect, and ready for you to touch it.

A ragged gasp escaped his lips as you wrapped your hand around the base and began to pump him up and down, pumping him with your hand.

Gasps, moans and grunts left Dave’s lips as he slowly began to thrust his hips against your hand.

-God, that feels so good… -he murmured -I’m moving. Is that okay?

-Yes, Dave -you praised, leaning close to his ear -You’re being a good boy for me

-Please, faster -he begged, and you did. He threw his head back, his gorgeous blue eyes fixed on the ceiling of the room -Don’t stop… don’t stop… -he moaned, matching the movements of your hand with those of his hips-

-You have to lower your voice, remember? –you whispered- we're in a library

-I-it's a b-bit difficult –he complained, you smiled- b-but I'll try, I-I'll be a good boy

-I like it that way –you answered satisfied-

-I think… I-I think I'm going to cum –he said pushing hard against your hand- don't stop please… no…

But you stopped, a gasp escaped from between his lips.

-Why, have you done it? –he complained confused- I-I haven't done anything wrong, right?

-No, you haven't –you affirmed slightly lifting your skirt to get rid of your panties, while he watched you attentively, curiosity and excitement reflected in his eyes- I want you to fuck me, Dave

The poor guy almost choked on his own saliva.

-H-how do I do it? I never… -he murmured before stopping and making a gesture with his index finger for you to come closer- come here, I suppose

You opened your legs and slowly sat on him. A squeal escaped from between his lips, at the same time you put your hand on his mouth to keep him quiet. He nodded and you took it away.

-Are you okay? –you asked, he nodded-

-I didn't know it was going to feel like this –he confessed feeling buried deep inside you- I feel like I'm being split in half

-I know –you said- when you're ready you can start moving

-Move? How? Like this? -he asked moving his hips back and forth slowly- oh, fuck- he growled holding your hips- oh, fuck it feels so good- he said moving repeatedly- I don't think I can hold on much longer

-You will, like the good boy you are- you said matching his movements- because you are, right?

-I am- he stated between gasps- I'm a good boy

He moved his hips up, making the tip brush against your clit making you moan loudly. You grabbed his shoulders and kissed him again, at the same time you tangled the curly locks of his neck between your fingers.

Unable to avoid it any longer, he came, and you with him. When he left you a choppy gasp escaped from between his lips, at the same time he did everything possible to catch his breath.

-We should study together more often- he commented making you smile-

[fan-of-encouragement]

I'm back, y'all. Gird your loins.

[egophiliac]

OMG EGO HAVE YOU SEEN THE BOOK 7 CATER CARD YET

80s britpunk Cater is such an incredible direction to take. his Sid Vicious jacket! his little british police cap! I wouldn't have anticipated that going full-on Sex Pistols would be his alternate self but it is SO fitting actually. 😭

(also th-the crown symbol?! the gavel?! is housewarden Cater real because I will TRANSCEND --)

[silusvesuius]

n*loth not being able to bag anyone over the (human term) age of 25-30 at most is the only logical and real conclusion to me because it can be just explained away as him wanting to prove and control everything and anyone (Cus he's a man!) but being stuck in that demographic because his unbearable and vile personality is a force that nobody can look past once they've outgrown the possible fear and idolization period of anyone but also n*loth in particular.

[bleachbleachbleach]

[Bleach 083]

I have never really identified this in myself before, but I am kind of maybe a little obsessed with Ganju. A lot of this has to do with my general superinvestment in Rukia and Kaien and the whole Shiba-Kuchiki situation. But I'm also just into Ganju himself? I think it's the 4WD boar. SUBARU FAM.

Also because it's interesting to think about what we can draw from these panels, in terms of how Ganju is thinking about himself. I'm pretty sure we don't yet know that the Shiba are former nobility (though now I'm not sure in what future context that, specifically, would come up? if I had to guess Byakuya brings it up on the bridge, because literally who else would). Regardless, they have this whole cannon situation, and they are adept enough at the spiritual arts to know/invent kidou. In this chapter, the ceremony of the cannon is a huge deal (and requires use of what we might assume is Kuukaku's zanpakutou?). Even if we don't know the specifics, we know these are not your average Rukongai konpaku by any stretch of the imagination.

From Rukongai

But Ganju has still narrated a version of his brother that excelled in the Academy "despite being from Rukongai." The Shiba are absolutely not "from Rukongai" in the way that, say, Parakeet Kid is, even if they have always lived outside the Seireitei walls, pre- or post-demotion. Despite that distinction, and their linage, Ganju still thinks of himself--and by extension, Kaien--as being of this place, this non-Seireitei place. I mean, he rides a boar, he has fully embraced the bogan lifestyle.

My point is, this distinction of being from Rukongai matters to him, in his calculus of the world. Being from a noble family, it's probably only as surprising that Kaien is as innately talented as he is, as it is that Byakuya would be innately talented (relative to other Kuchiki as well as relative to other shinigami). The reach isn't as extreme as it would be for some literally random Rukongai konpaku. But that's not how Ganju sees this.

My brother who's in the Gotei

As far as determining Gotei norms, Ganju gives us a lot of cool info, provided we take him at this word as someone who would be intimately familiar with how the Gotei works. SURE, everything I've said thus far suggests we shouldn't. But I also feel like his pride in Kaien--and the kinds of weird things grief makes fixations out of--would suggest that even if Ganju knows nothing about the Gotei, he knows these little Kaien-shaped pieces to the letter:

Perhaps obviously, it is unusual to have lieutenant-class levels of reiryoku on entry into the Gotei

This does not automatically qualify you to become a lieutenant (even if there are slots available, which it kind of seemed like there were, re: Ukitake)

Kaien makes lieutenant within 5 years of joining the Gotei, which is also an exceptionally quick ascent. Given that Ukitake is nudging him in that direction during TBTP, this gives us something of a timeline on how long Kaien had been in the Gotei at that point (not very!).

"I was just a kid"

Then, between 40-110 years later, Kaien dies.

It's wild to think about Ganju being "a kid" when this happens. When was Ganju born???? Given that neither time nor aging are linear here, that's an impossible question to answer with certainty. Plus, I think "a kid" in this context could mean a whole lot of things that don't necessarily mean "I was exactly seven years old."

Even if I don't think I buy it entirely, I'm into the possibility that Ganju really is BABY, and was born after Kaien was already a shinigami and living apart from the fam (are the Shiba parents still alive and living and even weirder and more itinerant life than even Kuukaku--perhaps on the high seas??).

I'm also into the possibility that, honestly, Ganju has had a hard life, and that Kaien's death fundamentally separated his sense of who he was prior to that moment and who he would become, and that this is what he's referencing when he says his memories are dim because he was "only a kid" then. He had to grow up fast, at the same time as he's in no rush to grow up (running around with his boar gang, self-proclaiming things, rushing home for supper, acting the dutiful little bro to Kuukaku). Regardless, there's a lot of trauma surrounding Kaien's death, for sure. Which isn't to say Ganu's entire and only personality and reason for anything is his trauma, LOL. But it's not like Kaien's death and absence isn't a huge part of what's made him. It's not until this moment with the cannon, and the Hero Garb he made himself (using the Shiba crest) that he really says, okay, let's get some real info. Let's move forward.

DIY Regalia

Even the fact of his making his own Hero Garb really intrigues me. There is a long history that the Shiba are a part of--and again, we see this in the ceremony of the cannon, and perhaps even in Kuukaku's clothing and tattoos. It's not as though the Shiba don't already have regalia. And we could take this as Ganju finally fashioning literal, specific garments for himself as he takes up more of the mantel of his family's legacy, in the style of their usual regalia. I totally buy that.

But I also feel like the focus on this special getup being self-made goes back to Ganju not necessarily having access to the full picture of who his family was as a Great Noble House, and what all that history really is. We know that sometime after Kaien's death, the Shiba ceased to be a Great Noble House. If Ganju really was that young when Kaien died, there's another disruption. Like his memories of Kaien or his notions of who Kaien was, what the circumstances of his death were, Ganju is kind of piecing these things together without a map. ...Not unlike Ichigo!

(Must run in the family.)

[allthebestcowboyshavedaddyissues]

"SMG is the only one acting well in this scene" Angel is completely disoriented after months of not being himself and she stabs him within a minute of 'gaining consciousness'

[glngrbred]

I got into a fight with my little brother a while ago because he insists that I'm neurotypical, (I was diagnosed very late, after he'd already gone through his whole life being diagnosed)

and my mom had to break it up and was like "you know, the two of you just have different struggles, [little brother] you're disruptive in class, and Glngr has severe social developement delay so bad that he didn't learn any of his friends' names until highschool."

*queue 4.5 angle of anime charachter going insane or something IDK

[goldentigerfestival]

Yuri's dialogue (JP) is so fascinating to study, like... the repetitive use of certain words/phrases that others use sparingly but he uses constantly. the way it feels like his vocabulary is more expansive than what he uses, but he defaults to a "comfort" level of speech. the way it mixes in with his sort of "street talk" words and the sheer level of informality. the way his "street talk" phrasing is contrasted by the tone of his voice (on that note, people I know who also know JP are also very endeared by these aspects of him so I KNOW IT'S NOT JUST ME!!!).

'cause the thing is, he uses phrases that yeah, other people do use, but he uses a handful over and over and over (contrast to other characters' sparing use of repetition). it's actually... really refreshing? it sounds more relatable and less "video game/anime/JRPG/RPG" writing or something, idk. like closer to how a real person would speak.

I do my best in my translations not to make things sound too stiff across the board, but Yuri makes it so easy. it's why I'm so interested in translating all his lines in Vesperia, like... the actual, original tone for him with his original wording because it's smth Eng only players don't get to experience ('cause even if you listen with JP audio, if you don't know the language, ofc you're gonna miss out on context. it's nobody's fault for not knowing, just... they unfortunately miss out). the thing is, there are a lot of times when the lines in and of themselves are not contextually incorrect in the English ver (usually the situation for smaller scenes, because they altered the text outright for more important stuff which was the stuff that originally set me off, but there were also plenty of cases of just vocal tone shifting with the correct context that still gave off the wrong impression), but Yuri's tone is shifted away from the original in Eng even though it's completely and perfectly translatable.

I am by no means about to translate the entire game because let's face it, I really don't care that much for Vesperia on the whole. I'm kinda stuck with it because Yuri's there lo and behold I actually am WAY more engaged in his stories in Rays, Link and Asteria because it's an amazing character put into circumstances where he actually gets to shine and feels more alive, which Vesperia did not provide nearly as well with its very disjointed story. also, Tales gachas have banger stories that are arguably better than the mainline games, and they regularly make Yuri a very central character to the gachas. Crestoria was also about to do it until they pulled the plug on that game and I'm pretty confident something interesting has been lost to the world. also I just generally don't have the energy or motivation to do that, so... I'll only be focusing on Yuri's lines, especially because his stuff is where the bulk of the messing around was. he's just insanely fun to translate for and I love burying myself head first into his speech.

will I actually finish this project? dunno. will I get around to posting it? whatever I get done (so all of it if I complete it), and if I decide to call it quits then I'll post what I have at the time I decide that. will it take a long time? probably, but I can always mention stuff along the way...

[ginnyrules27]

You know how people say 'write what you know'? Yeah, sometimes writing what you know might seem completely insane and completely implausible.

Take for instance using things that happened in my family. If I were to have a scene where characters got into a feud over one character using another character's enema bag, people might think that would be too out of character for anyone to be that stupid. Such a thing has happened in my family's history. It devastated my late-Great Aunts because you can't get rubber-tipped enema bags anymore, only plastic.

Or if I were to have a character sneak out in the dead of night to save a china cabinet from other characters who wanted it for themselves even though said cabinet was several miles away, it might seem insane. My father drove from Fairfax VA to Buffalo, New York to claim my great-grandmother's china cabinet that my grandmother wanted my mom to have but my great-aunts also wanted it and my grandmother sobbed on the phone to my mother about it.

Or if I were to have a character shout 'dad, dad, mom's gonna show her feet' when her mother is about to show her gnarled, bunion and hammer-toed ridden feet to her daughter's boyfriend who was there for the second time...yeah I don't know how people would react because it seems like something no one would do, doesn't it? Replace 'character' with 'my mother' and you have the story of the second time my dad met my mom's parents.

I have more stories about how out there my extended family is but this post is getting long enough. So if there's a moment in my fics where a scenario seems unlikely to happen to someone in real life...I give you my real life lol :D

[dailyfigures]

Hi! You've probably answered this question before so sorry for asking it again but I'd love to get into figure collecting I'm just not sure where to start, could you tell me some sites that are reliable for buying figures? Specifically, ones that ship to the UK? Thank you!

it's okay anon! :)

first of all i'd be a little careful with local figure stores, secondhand figures (like on marketplace apps) and ebay when you're new to the hobby since it can be difficult to spot bootlegs and overpricing!

i personally chose my go-to site by going through all of the partner stores on myfigurecollection, comparing prices and shipping and then reading reviews for the cheapest options.

i use nin-nin game, their reputation is not perfect (main complaint is that their customer service is said to be not great) but since it's by far the cheapest site for me i decided to take the risk and i haven't had issues with them so far.

i'm not familiar with any local uk sites (except for forbidden planet but i see they seem to overprice) but some other very popular figure sellers are amiami, solaris japan, good smile company's own website, crunchyroll store and hobby search.

i didn't go super into detail so please do feel free to ask if you need any more help, i genuinely don't mind at all! :)

[nikkisticki]

You know what you all get to suffer another pointless post about reddit and what I call the Defensive Wave

Whenever a game has common critiques that a large share of players agree on (generally bearing discontent about the state of the game) places like reddit will undergo this amusing shift of dialogue where a post or posts will get some hype, usually looking like

This [content] isn't well done because of (reasons)

Instead of the people who disagree actually trying to prove their stance, within 24 hours another post (or posts) will arrive making counter arguments without actually making anything resembling a real defense. Instead, it'll just be:

Well I loved [content] and your opinion is just an opinion, it doesn't make it objectively bad!

This is happening on r/FFXIV right now and has been since 6.5 launched three days ago, with that exact post chain happening yet again. I'll save you the braincells and just tell you that none of the posts or comments are actually discussing the issues presented, nor are they even acknowledging them. Instead, it's a direct critique of the ones who complained for speaking, usually while engaging in sideways manipulations of reality to pretend they are simply mad because of x and y reasons.

Ex. The Cyberpunk subreddit claiming people are just mad that the game didn't hold up to the players lofty expectations, ignoring that the devs promised those exact things.

This will continue until something draws the discourse away, smothering any chance of the complaints to be taken seriously while also silencing those who wish to speak under the false positivity of...attacking people for not agreeing with you.

I've seen it happen dozens of times and it's at the point that I can predict the posts of a subreddit before they happen. This isn't difficult to do mind you, people aren't particularly bright and will readily waste a few minutes complaining about those mean people pointing out the issues! It's just human nature to be a fuckwit, I suppose.

If people were slightly more intelligent, they'd realize discourse and negative comments are important for the health of an ongoing game, but no no we gotta act like everyone loves this shit in case (Dev) is sad!

Of course repeated negative discourse cycles exist, but those are a separate matter.

[lenorarose]

I'm going to be going rose gold soon but in the meantime my hair has to take a break so I'm currently stuck with yellow/gold hair lol. They didn't color correct it because the warm undertones are going to help the rose gold but for the next week or so I'm just going to look like I got a bad dye job lol. I also cut like 8 inches off my hair but that was mostly because I had a couple dead ends and even though the hairdresser trimmed those off we still went through about 6 or 7 things worth of bleach and it required three people working on my hair at once so I decided to chop some off since it grows fast anyway

[neridiem]

i love going to the places where nobody knows me like here is my completely new personality i can be whoever i want to be in front of you and you won't even realise

[holyjost]

.

[weaselle]

i had to make a solution for this for myself, mostly because of depression, but it makes a nice How To for folks who are low on spoons or could use some help in the kitchen.

Fortunately i was a professional cook for over a decade. UNfortunately the first post i made explaining it was suuuuper long. Let's see if i can do better

So you select any protein that you can cook in a frying pan -- chicken breasts, ground beef, pork chops, sausages, steak, chicken thighs, whatever. You also select one or two types of veggie (mushrooms or tubers also work, i just did this with potatoes and carrots for dinner tonight).

[i like cooking for vegetarians, but this is how i cook for myself when i'm low on spoons - perhaps i'll do another post for meatless meals]

You'll also need some kind of oil, and a sauce or two of your choice in a bottle. All cooking gear is a large frying pan with lid (i prefer non-stick) a spatula, a cutting board, and a knife.

You cut the veggies into bite size pieces, cut up enough for two meals. One kind of veggie is fine, or you can do mix two or three

Put frying pan on medium heat with a little oil. Tubers or mushrooms or go in the pan a few minutes before the protein. 2 portions of the protein goes in the pan, about 5 minutes with lid (don't worry you can still get a good sear on both sides)

Now flip your protein if it's flip-able and add normal veggies, put the lid back on another five-ish minutes.

Take your protein out and put it with one portion of the veggies in a microwave safe container. That's going to be your lunch tomorrow. Put the other portion of protein on a plate to rest (you have to let a cooked protein sit a couple minutes before you serve it or when you cut into it all the juices run out and it goes dry - the liquids thicken as it cools, preventing this drying out if you let it rest, the goal is to serve it very warm but not hot hot)

While it's resting, pour some sauce from your bottle in the pan with the rest of the veggies and turn up the heat. A single sauce/bottle is fine, i like to get fancy and mix a couple. Two examples of personal favorite mixes are 1: bbq sauce and a hot sauce like sriracha 2: roughly equal parts low sodium soy sauce and worcestershire (makes something similar to a teriyaki sauce) A swallow of wine is almost always a great option if you want to add that to your sauce too, just add it to the pan before the other sauces so the alcohol has time to burn off.

...

Here is the important bit. While your veggies are finishing, wash your cutting board and chef knife. Then when you dump your veggies and sauce over your protein on the plate, while it is still too hot to eat, you wash your frying pan and spatula before you eat. Now the only dishes you have left to do are your plate and fork. Maybe a steak knife.

...

The whole thing takes about 35 minutes even with washing the dishes, and that includes your lunch for the next day- just pour a different sauce on and stick it in the microwave for a couple minutes (or five minutes back in the frying pan) and you have a full healthy lunch with a different flavor

You can use this technique every single meal and it yields hundreds of combinations, from pork and potatoes bbq, to salmon and broccoli teriyaki, to chicken and zucchini in a soy glaze.

It will keep you down to less than an hour of kitchen time per day total for both lunch and dinner including all dish clean up, uses the least dishes, the least effort, requires the least technique, and is, depending on what you pick out, very affordable

here are a couple more examples from this month; i didn’t take pictures of the salmon i did recently, but you get the idea

it's not super fancy, but it is easy, affordable, quick, and any flavors you want. Hope this helps some folks

Happy Cooking!