#I'm not sure what her name is going to be but maybe something ocean related?

[aerkame]

WIP oc that started off as something based on the Godzilla police car in Japan that turned into more of a artistic police sea captain oc?

I wanted to put in everything that I love into this oc so I changed the "hat" to look more like a captain's hat and gave them graffiti and artwork done on them by some human friends.

I love coastal and nautical themes in case you could not tell :)

[mwahsturns]

First choice // Matt Sturniolo Pt 1

matt sturniolo x fem!reader

Contains: cussing, fluff, flirting, talk of death, Semi-proof read! I think that’s it let me know if there’s more! Also if there’s any grammar or spelling mistakes please ignore them 😭🙏🏻

Synopsis: Y/n works at a record store and one day while she’s working two very cute guys walk into the store but one especially catches her eye and later so happens they end up having more then just there music taste in common ;)

Word Count:1,890

Author’s notes: Hii bbys !! <3, So I’ve never written a fic before or posted on tumblr, So I’m sorry if this is bad I’m new at this please go easy on me😭🙏🏻. If you guys have any suggestions, tips or advice please message me I hope you enjoy my new series!!, this took me a very long time to come up with so I hope you love it💗.

* *:･ﾟ✧💒*:･ﾟ✧

The sound of music always brought me peace, I work at a record shop because I love being around vinyls and just anything music related really. I also really enjoy reading It's always brought me a sense of comfort as well as writing and poetry. Honestly it makes me really happy, and ever since I was a kid I've always written songs and maybe sang a little bit but that’s a secret. I don't know what it is but I always feel like it helps me forget about everything that’s wrong in my life, my parents died when I was 16 so it’s always been just me and my two little brothers. I love them more than anything and I'd do anything for them. Today was just a regular day at work I was putting vinyls on the racks that they go on when two guys walk into the store, I look over and give them a soft smile.

‘hii welcome let me know if you need any help finding any artist or vinyl specifically’ they smile at me and nod as one of the boys catches my eye, I’m a very shy person so I decided not to say anything unless I needed to. After a couple minutes I felt a tap on my shoulder, I turned around and saw the guy who caught my eye standing in front of me. ‘hi um i wanted to ask you something’ he seemed very nervous but also very confident weird mix. ‘yes of course how can i help you’ I smiled softly at him hoping to make him more comfortable, ‘do you happen to have “circles” by Mac miller’ he says as he does a side smile. I smile at him as I think about how I also enjoy mac miller.

‘yea over here!’ i walk over and pull it off the rack, ‘this is one of my favorites’ i say chuckling, ‘i really like this one’ he says turning the vinyl around. ‘what other artists do you like?’ ‘i really like d4vd and um frank ocean oh! Omg Dominic Fike omg Tyler the creator?! is so amazing and oh my god i'm rambling im so sorry’ I blushed getting a little nervous, ‘nah you're good’ he smiles as I look up at him and smile softly. We stand there until the guy he came with comes up to him ‘woah you guys twins or am I dumb?’ ‘nahh triplets’ he says laughing ’oh cool” i say and start checking them out. ‘You're the first to not ask us a million and one questions about being triplets’ he chuckles, ‘yea nah y'all will tell me over time’ I smirk i say with my boston accent coming through a little.

‘oh so you plan on getting to know us’ he smirks a little ‘oh totally y’all look cool’ I laugh, ‘you're from boston?’ The other guy says noticing my backpack in the back with the Boston logo. ‘yes i am’ i laugh ‘us too!’ ‘What's your name?’ The guy who got my eye says ‘I’m y/n’ ‘cool im matt and hes chris’ ahh Matt hot guy hot name. ‘cool!’ I hand them the bag and me and Matt make eye contact, ‘have a good day’ ‘thanks you too’ matt says smiling at me. They walk out and i really hope i see them again.

* *:･ﾟ✧💒*:･ﾟ✧

  I finally got to clock out of work It was so tiring and I needed to make sure my little brothers were ok. I get to my car and get settled in and connect my phone to the aux and play “Ivy” by Frank Ocean. I’m so glad to be going home I think as I started driving I decided that I was gonna pick up a pizza for my little brothers because I got paid today and I know how much they love pizza. We aren't broke completely but we definitely struggle sometimes recently things have been rough but I finally got a promotion so it's getting a little easier I got the pizza and started heading home I got home and when i opened the door and my brothers cody and alex run up to me and ‘sissyyyy we missed you’ alex says hugging me, ‘aww i miss you too bud’ ‘sissy you bought pizza!’ Cody says looking like his eyes are gonna pop out of his head. 

 

i walk over to alexa who’s been my best friend for years, she helps me with my brothers and just around the house ‘thank you so much lex’ i say hugging her ‘Of course love that's what best friends are for’ she says smiling softly ‘wanna spend the night and when i put them to bed we can talk?’ ‘yeah okay sure’ Alexa smiles at me while i feed the boys.

I start to give the boys a shower and as i’m showering cody he looks up at me with the biggest smile on his face. ‘sissy I wanna be just like you when i grow up.’ He says playing with the bubbles, ‘aww little c i love you a lot bub and i know one day you’ll be even better than me’ i say tearing up, cody has always been more clingy to me than Alex is but not as much, cody doesn’t like to leave my side and he is the sweetest kid ever. Him saying he wants to be like me does hurt a little because I've been through a lot of shit but the fact that I look strong in his eyes makes up for it all. I put them to bed and Me Alexa got some wine and took a seat on the couch.

‘So how was your day?’ She says sitting next to me. ‘it was good omg lex these two really cute brothers came into the shop and oh my god girl’ I say blushing thinking of Matt ‘speaking of cute brothers you know the guy i was talking to?’ ‘yes why?’ ‘this is him and his brother I’d think you like him’ she turns her phone and pulls out a picture.

‘hold up hold up let me see that?!’ i say taking the phone from her ‘omg thats the cute guys that came in today’ ‘Omg?! yeah i've been talking to chris for a minute now’ ‘matt’s pretty attractive just sayin’ I couldn’t help myself but blush i don’t know what’s wrong with me fuck Y/N get it together. ‘oooo y/n has a crush?’ ‘oh shut the fuck up’ ‘oh come on you haven’t had a boyfriend since your parents died’ she says starting to get serious, ‘i know but my brothers mean the world to me lex i need to make sure there ok i don’t have the time’ I would love to give Matt a chance but i don’t know.

‘your brothers would want you to be happy y/n/n’ she says rubbing my knee, ‘I know but it's not about me being happy i need to make sure there happy i have to be a mother figure to them they need me’ ‘i get that babes but you need to remember you lost them too your only 20 rasing two kids you need to be a kid too especially since you were forced to grow up so quick’ i look at her and nod I mean I understand where she’s coming from but my brothers are all I know. ‘i love you y/n i'm just looking out for you ima head to bed goodnight love’ ‘night babes’ as she walks off and goes to into the guest room i kinda sit there think about what she said and i mean she's right but i can’t risk something happening to my brothers.  I head upstairs and head to bed because i have another day of work but holy fuck thank god it's friday. 

* *:･ﾟ✧💒*:･ﾟ✧

I woke up the next morning only because my alarm for work went off and i see it’s 9:44 so i know Alexa is getting my brothers ready for school I get out of the bed and i started to get ready for work. I finished getting ready for work when my younger brother Cody came into the room with tears in his eyes. ‘sis…’ he says in a sad tone I turned around quickly and scooped him into my arms ‘aww what's wrong love?’ i say concerned.

‘i don’t wanna go to school i wanna stay home with you can you please skip work..’ he says in a whiny tone, ‘Aww bub i wish i could help but you know the rules’ When i got custody of cody and alex the court gave me really strict rules to follow, i had to make sure they were always at school, they weren’t falling and that i kept a stable job and make enough money or else they would take them away. ‘I know but i hate being at school kids are mean to me and alex’ i look at him feeling bad but i don’t wanna risk losing them. ‘I’m sorry bub if i could keep you and alex with me 24/7 forever i would’ i say hugging him tightly.

* *:･ﾟ✧💒*:･ﾟ✧

i got to work over an hour ago and to say its boring is an understatement. Just as i think that i hear the bell ring meaning someone walked into the store, i look up ready to greet them and i realize its matt. ‘Matt? Hey’ i say smiling. ‘Hey um i know this might be weird but i um.. Well so my brother chris the one that was with me last time uh i found out that the girl hes been talking to happens to be your best friend right?’ ‘yeah shes my best friend’ ‘well um she kinda encouraged me to come back..’ ‘what do you mean?’ ‘well i uh wanted to see if you were willing to go out with me… you don’t have to its o-‘ he starts to say but i cut him off. ‘Sure why not’ i say smiling i don’t know what happened but he was too sweet for me to say no to.

‘Wait really?’ ‘yea i mean i can’t deny you are pretty cute..’ ‘well thank you’ he laughs damn something about the way he laughs i dont know but it feels almost addicting to listen to. ‘Uh are you free saturday?’ ‘yeah i am’ i smile ‘sweet! Ill text you’ ‘okay bye matt’ ‘bye” he blushed a little bit as he left the shop. Shit who’s gonna watch cody and alex?!                                                                   

Author’s notes:heyyy I’m back! So I hope you enjoyed the first part of this series and I’m sorry if there was any typos, spelling mistakes, etc I’ll try to fix the ones I can if I miss anything please let me know but I hope you enjoy and have a great day 💋

[bee-devilling]

Oooh, that's so cool! Been a while since I listened to Ride the Cyclone. What's the fic about? And how much angst are we talking about? I am a sucker for angsty fics sometimes, whether or not I'm in the fandom.

The fic is set in an Everyone Lives AU (well, except Karnak and Virgil I guess. They're still very dead) but it goes into some detail as to how everyone is left after the accident. It ranges from temporary disabilities like broken bones, permanent disabilities like amputated limbs, and also not accident-related permanent disabilities, because when your body is under immense stress sometimes you discover shit you didn't realise you struggled with before.

But most of what I've written has been little bits and pieces after these events, some of which include:

All of the choir members learning ASL to communicate better with Ricky (unbeknownst to him, at least for the first while). Some members were fluent already (Specifically Constance. Noel would also sort of be in this category, but the second anyone tries to fingerspell something longer than 3 letters, he gives up.), some knew bits of it, like "please", "thank you", "yes" and "no", etc. and some were complete beginners. But they realised after the accident that Ricky has a lot to say, even if it wasn't verbally, and they wanted to bridge that gap. The first thing Ocean's signs to Ricky is a genuine, heartfelt apology for the way she's treated him.

Everyone is just A Little Off after the accident. Nothing big, no major health risks or nothing, and also I haven't quite decided what's happening to who. But one of them is just incredibly twitchy, and it's entirely uncontrollable. Another has levels of brain fog that is really starting to affect their studies. Another has heart palpitations, which took several incidents for them to realise they're not dying, this is just a thing that happens to them now. Not entirely the "came back wrong" trope, they're all basically the same people, but their bodies just didn't quite catch up to being reanimated.

Talia passing away. I feel a little horrible writing it, but I wanted to give her character a bit more respect than what most of the fandom gives her (which is just removing her in the quickest way possible to make room for Nischa) and I feel like letting Mischa grieve is a kinder way to remove her from the story. Also I haven't written the actual chapter in which this occurs yet, but I've written the 3 page letter (could be more, it's not 100% done) Talia sends Mischa to apologise for not telling him about her illness sooner.

Ocean dealing with hEDS after the accident (cos we love giving characters similar disabilities to me), because why not have her learn to stop spreading herself too thin by making a physical barrier in her way to stop her from pushing herself.

Mother-son bonding between Noel and his mom. Because yes, this is the woman who told her son to "dial it back" on his queerness but at the end of the day, it's 2009 in the middle of Bumfuck Nowhere, and I just feel that she wants her son to be safe above all else. Parents go about things the wrong way, but it doesn't make them inherently evil or abusive. Give her some understanding, some empathy.

Some of them just being a little queer. Or a lot queer. Noel fucking around with his gender expression, wearing dresses and makeup (though maybe not as risqué as the Monique Gibeau outfit), Ricky and Penny using each other to test out new pronouns, also I read a fic (I'll tag the writer if I can find it again) where Penny/Jane uses the name PJ and I wanna steal that idea so bad, I love it. Ocean cutting her hair short and wearing the "boys'" St. Cassian uniform (Butch Ocean is not a want, it's a need)

Anyway this is all I can remember right now, I'm sure there's more I could add. Thanks for the ask :D

[jpitha]

Just a Little Further 16

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

The group of Administrators - former Adminstrators? No, I'll still need Administrators. These though? Maybe? - leads us through the promenade of the Starbase, past the gawking crowds. Now that they're pretty sure I'm not going to start a riot or a war, I have a lot more curious onlookers following a... respectful distance behind. We continue on through the promenade towards a...

group of shops?

They're small, ramshackle shops, selling hot food and other small trinkets. If tourists came to this Starbase, I'd call it a tourist trap but I have a feeling that many locals rely on places like this for their daily meals no matter how much the Aviens and Mariens say there is plenty of food.

We stand in front of a shop where one of the Insect people is frying something in a large, shallow pan with a flame under it. Oh!

"Rapid River Roaring, what is the name of this species of sapient?" I ask.

"They are known to us as Azurians."

I look at the Azurian. They are making small efficient movements, transferring food to the large fryer, turning them quickly, and then another moves the cooked food to a rack to dry.

"Good day, may I have one of those?" I ask gently.

"2 Skys, exact change." They say without looking up. I make a show of patting my pockets dramatically, and then look at The Smell Of the Ocean and raise an eyebrow.

"You stand in the presence of a Builder! Know your place!" He barks at the Azurian at the fryer.

The Azurian lazily looks up at them, then over at me with my royal blue outfit and crown and wings, and then back to The Small Of the Ocean and says "1 Sky then. Discount."

I tip my head back and laugh. Really, I love these Azurians. I need to make sure they're taken care of. They don't care a single bit about who I am. I look again at Ocean and say "Well? Pay them please. I would like to try what they're cooking."

Ocean looks at me with a shocked expression. I'm sure they had not planned on this when their day started, but even for that they're still surprised.

You are not how they expect a Builder to be.

Good. Maybe they'll stop trying to treat me like they already know how I'm going to react.

Ocean takes out a small purse and digs around and takes out a small, green, metallic coin. They plunk it into the box next to the fryer, and the Azurian who was removing the cooked treats hands me one. It's hot and oily and crunchy and delightful.

"These are so good!" I say around a mouthfull of food. I swallow and look at the Azurians cooking. "Thank you so much, those are amazing." I turn to Ava, Mei and Fer'resi. "You need to try these. Ocean, buy three more!"

The Azurian looks up again. "2 Skys each since they're not Holy."

I look at Ocean again and raise an eyebrow. They dive into their purse and pull out six more coins. Three fried treats are produced, and everyone tries them.

Ava gobbles hers down. "Melody! You're right, these are amazing! We have to make sure we can get more from them. I wonder if they'll give us the recipe?"

"Probably, but I know we can't get the ingredients back home." I say with a smile.

"Well then, we'll just have to stay here. These are worth opening up a trade relationship with the folks at home. Mel, Fer'resi, what do you think?"

I look over and the food is gone. Both of them practically inhaled them. Mei'la is grinning "Melody they're amazing! They taste...familiar. Like a food we eat during one of the festivals."

Fer'resi nods. "It's very similar to the fried treats we eat during... The Ceasing." He thinks a moment.

"The Ceasing?" I ask.

"These days, it's a harvest holiday. When the work in the fields cease and we take a week or two before rotating to our next fields so as to not overwork the soil. It's a time to get together with family and have a party, visit with your neighbors, that kind of thing. There were records of the holiday being related to something else in the old religion, but most people figured it was always a harvest holiday, but now I wonder."

"What, like celebrating the closure of the Gate?" I ask.

"Yes, maybe it originally celebrated when the Builders ceased coming."

Fer'resi looks at his empty skewer thoughtfully. "Well, we can research the history of K'laxi religion later I suppose. And as delicious as these were, why are we here?"

Actually, he's right. I turn to Ocean. "Other than the snack break, why are we here, Ocean?"

With a sigh, he walks between the stands. We follow.

The people running the stands stare as we weave through them, but nobody stops us or even asks what we are doing. The benefits of being a Builder with the station Administrators I guess. We reach the wall behind the stands and The Smell of the Ocean looks at Rapid River Roaring. "It's around here, isn't it?"

Rapid River Roaring nods "Yes, but neither we or any of the Mariens could work out how to open it." They turn to look at me. "Empress, the entrance to the Throne is around here, but as we are not Builders...we don't know how to open the door."

I look out at the wall. It looks ancient. Like it's been here forever. Soot and dust cling to the walls. There has to be a switch or a lever or something right?

No. It's designed for a Builder to open.

Yes, but I've been a builder for what, two full days at this point and Empress for one? I don't know what I'm doing.

Think like an Empress. Think like a Builder.

Ugh, that doesn't help. Everything I've felt so far as shown me that they're self righeous, demanding people who just... get what they... want.

Is it really that easy?

I look up at the wall again. We seem to be in the middle as near as I can tell. Over on one side, it goes for 10 meters or so and then ends in a decoration that looks a little like a pillar. I turn and look at the other side and... yes, it's the same.

This isn't a wall, it's the door.

I look at the door now, and think about it. It looks like it would slide into the floor, or up into the ceiling. I bet it hasn't been opened in millennia. I don't want to hurt anyone who has set up shop here.

Think like a Builder, Melody. What do Builders do? They Build.

Okay okay. Let's think. If I have enough Nanites that I can make clothes for myself and my friends and I can make a frigging glowing crown and wings then there is probably enough to be able to...

I look at the wall and concentrate. Think like a Builder they say. Fine.

A breeze erupts from me and a light fog flows around my feet towards the wall. It clings to the wall until it covers an area that would be a comfortable doorway. A moment passes, and

"Hey, a door!" Ava says. "How did you do that?"

I turn back to her and wink. "I'm a Builder. I have no idea." Ava giggles.

Mei'la looks at the hole. "What happened to the matter in the wall? You can't just make it disappear.

Hmm, I look around, the walls didn't seem to get thicker, and I don't think I took the wall material and rebuilt it into more nanites, but the floor... sure is dusty.

"Look at the floor Mei'la, I think it's dust now."

Drifts of dust blew at our feet as she looked. I guess it was the same color of the wall. That must be it.

I walk over to my new opening and stand there. It smells of stale air and dust. There are no lights and no air movement.

"Come on everyone, let's walk purposefully into the dark and scary hole I made into the wall without really having a good understanding about what I'm doing or how I did it!" I call out to everyone as I go through the door.

The light from the market illuminates a small patch in front of me. It's just bare, dusty floor. I look up and see... nothing. Okay, okay, think like a Builder, act like I own the place.

Because - in a very real sense - you do.

Okay, first thing I want are lights. I think about how I'd want it to be lit, and concentrate and...

There is a loud, distant humming sound and with a dramatic flourish, lights come on in the room, just the color I was thinking.

Ava pushes her way in behind me and stops dead. "Melody... is that your Throne?"

It's breathtaking. About 100 meters from us, nearly 10 meters over our heads is what can really only be described as a Throne, A wide staircase leads up to it with platforms every 10 steps or so.

The Throne itself is... massive. It's a chair made of green shimmering metal. Towering and spindly, it reaches up behind where the Empress would sit, almost organically, towards the ceiling. Touching the ceiling it spreads and branches like the roots of a tree and disappears into the ceiling. I think it's connected. Maybe data connections? It is clearly meant to impress.

Doesn't look too comfortable to sit in though.

"I think it is, Ava. At least the Throne for this Starbase. The Nanites tell me every Starbase has one."

"Do they all look like this?" She looks around, eye wide.

"I don't know. I suppose in time, I'll go and find out."

Mei'la comes in and hearing that turns to me, "So, you're going to stay? Be their Empress? After how many millennia of them not having one you'll just... show up and say 'Hey, I'm in charge now' ?"

It is your right.

"I-I think that I can do some real good here" I say, weakly.

You don't need to justify it to them.

"How Melody? You're an Information Warfare Officer, you never even had a command."

You are a Builder.

"But, look at the people here, look at the Aviens and Mariens who are in charge hate each other! It won't be long before they start shooting each other!" I'm feeling panicked and I don't know why. Mei'la is right, what am I doing?

She is nothing. You are everything

Mei'la crosses her arms. "The only person who has said that they hate each other is you Melody. Nobody else on FarReach who has been to the station has seen it."

They can't see. They won't see.

I look out through the door to the promenade. "The people that live here sure don't look like they're living a free and easy life. We met a slave! Those food vendors we bought treats from sure don't look rich to me. If you look around it looks like... poverty. Like people barely hanging on. I can fix that."

Mei'la keeps staring at me. "How Melody? How will you fix it? You don't know the first thing about how to rule."

I whirl around "Do you? Please, enlighten me then." Wow, I almost used the Voice. I have to be more careful. That was close.

I throw up my hands. "So, what do you expect me to do then, just... go home? With all this that's happened to me, with all that's been given to me, to just waste it on tricks and being able to watch movies without the subtitles? Dr. Irenimum says the Nanites can't be turned off. So now I live for who knows how long with the full package giving me the ability, the knowledge and the power to rule and... I don't?"

Mei'la looks at me, eyes wide. "Melody, what are you saying?"

Ava stands next to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. "She's saying she's an Empress now, and she intends to rule."

I nod without thinking. Ava gets it. Ava gets me. No, wait. What's going on, what am I doing? Ugh, I need a minute to think, my head hurts.

Mei'la turns away and looks over at Fer'resi. "Fer'resi, you talk some sense into her. She isn't interested in listening to me."

Hey, wait a minute, that's not fair

"Hey Mei'la, that doesn't seem fair. I've got... a lot of stuff that I've just been introduced to. I need time to... process it."

"Fine then, let's head back to FarReach, we can process it while we go to the next system." She turns to leave.

Ņ̶̛̞̬̲̪̲̝͑́͆̈́͌̈́̊͝ͅȍ̸̡̞̫̖͕͈̮͌̍̆́͌͗͛͛͒̌͘!̶̢̛̫̦̺̣͍͕͇̳̟̂̊̓̀̕͜͝

She stops without thinking. She turns and looks at me, fearful.

I clap a hand over my mouth. Uh oh.

"Sorry! Sorry! What I mean is... No. I'm going to stay here and think things through. You can head back to FarReach if you want." I look at everyone "You can all leave, you're free to go anytime, But I'm going to keep going and see what's here for me. I need to do this."

The moment I say they're free to go, the Aviens and Mariens with me bolt. They run away as fast as they can. Ugh, good Empresses don't have their subjects run from them in terror, do they?

No, Great Empresses do.

Mei'la looks at me sadly. "Goodbye, Melody." and turns to leave. Fer'resi looks at her, then back at me, then at her. "I-I'm sorry Melody." He stammers "I-I-I need to get back to FarReach and... learn more about these translators you got us. Thank you for them, and for showing us how to wear them." Looking back one more time he leaves.

Ava smoothly transitions her hand on my shoulder into a hug. "You aren't getting rid of me that easily. I'm here to see this through. This is too cool just to give it all up and go back to FarReach and continue on like nothing's wrong." I lean into the hug. Ava knows what I need right now.

She's right. See it through.

Fine. If I'm the Empress, then I'll be the Empress. With newfound determinization, I walk up the stairs. I approach the throne and look at it.

There's no dust.

It's completely clean, how did they manage that trick? I'll have to ask the Nanites later. I turn and plant my rear end into the Throne.

I lean back in shock and gasp.

Part 17

[p5x-theories]

I might be stating the obvious, but since the game themes are about desires, i think that the costumes, expecially in the phantom idols' case, are a manifestations of what they want instead of their rebelion. Okyann misses when she was a fashion icon, Rin misses her culture, Mont misses being an ice skater champion. The new girl (dont remember the name) wants to be a nurse, Reo wants to be an actor. Riddle probabily wants to be a detective when she grows up instead of a model, Puppet a marine biologist etc etc. But in some cases it can be a bit confusing. Im not sure what Seji or Seppia's costume could be. maybe Seiji its a butler because he wants to serve instead of being served? Seppia's homeless so maybe he wants to have a lavish life? Idk im just rambling rn

Honestly, I think it's really just a mix of both. Okyann might miss being a gyaru, but you could easily also tie it to her sense rebellion- besides herself mentioning in her Confidant that she tends to do things her own way, the gyaru subculture was born from a rebellion against "Japanese social and aesthetic standards" (quoted from Wikipedia). So there's an inherent aspect of rebellion to dressing like a gyaru. It might be that her strongest point of rebellion was just in the past, so her outfit reflects her gyaru days, as that's rebellion to her.

Similarly, with Rin- sure, she misses her culture I'm sure, but you could also consider it part of her rebellion against society that she's sticking to her overtly Chinese culture rather than, you know, moving to Japan for school and then conforming to Japanese society wholeheartedly. Holding onto that is her rebellion.

Leon and Marian (that's the nurse girl) both have something they're aspiring to be, despite other forces (Leon's parents, Marian's sense of responsibility to her family's store) pushing them to do something else. Probably Puppet, too, since she ran away from home, so I bet she wanted to be something (presumably related to the ocean) other than what her parents wanted her to be. Being these things in their Metaverse outfits is their rebellion.

I'll admit Riddle, Mont, Fleuret, and Sepia are a little trickier, but in large part because I have less to go on about them at the moment. Riddle's been set up by her video as kind of a smart kid for her age, and her outfit seems to be some kind of miner/inventor, so it might be her using her intelligence + curiosity to do things that adults think she can't? Mont's rebellion could be that she wants to keep skating despite the injury that stopped her, or, you're right, it could just be her desire to go back to when she could skate. Fleuret reminds me of a revolutionary, around the era of the Revolutionary War and the French Revolution, which has inherent ties to rebellion, but I don't know enough about him in the real world to speculate exactly what it means to him. Same with Sepia, except I'm not entirely sure what his outfit is to begin with, hah.

All that to say, I think there's just a strong correlation here between rebellion and desires, haha! To be clear, I don't think you're wrong, I think it's just typically a mix of both here.

[beatrizamante]

First of all, I'd like to thank @renru @reesevernerlovebot @honeylemonbutte and Bee too (I believe I don't follow her ç.ç) for giving me the courage to start posting these. And @lacunafiction for thins wonderful story omg, I love her book.

_Fallen Stars

There were books sprawled all over the floor. Astronomy, physics, star charting ones. Papers and journals filled with equations that were almost impossible to read, covering up huge constellation maps made by hand. Doctor Yu used to joke that you'd write even on the walls of the lab, given the chance. 

Well, you're in your Pa's old apartment now, there's nothing stopping you. If you had some neon blue makers, you'd be sure to write down your chartings, it would look beautiful at night. Maybe people would lock you up in an asylum this time? You know that, if Dr. Yu ever hears someone repeat this to you, you’d fear for the person’s wellbeing. You got this style of brainstorming from Dr Kuiper, after all, and the trio of you were best friends since freshman years.

Dr. Lara de Armas, the astrophysicist. Dr. Sieben Kuiper, the mathematician. Dr. Morgan Yu, the engineer. 

You guys made some amazing discoveries and built amazing things together. You miss them dearly. 

But that's not important right now. Well, you did trail off a little bit... A portion of the wall south of the kitchen had some scribblings on. Huh, you gonna have to clean that later... Or not? It could be related to art, right? Right? 

The intention was to put a monitor in that wall, anyway. Nobody has to see this. Yes, good plan, big brain. 

The apartment was still getting its new decor. There were some boxes of new purchases you intended to use in this place. You've already asked for some midnight blue wallpapers. And the kitchen had some new utensils for you to use whenever you had another sudden craving for strawberry smoothies.

But where did you put your telescope...? Too many boxes! Too many boxes!! 

Your thoughts are derailing again, aren't them? Ugh. 

Focus! 

Today was a special day, after all... 

The wristwatch beeped and you stared at the time with a slight frown. There was still about an hour to gather your things and go. Getting up from the mess you were, you ask yourself how that marker ended up in your hands, but there isn’t much time to dwell on it. 

There’s a smile on your face. A happy one. The kind of happiness that Bee would instantly click a picture of. 

A meteor shower today was the cause for your happiness. You were the first one to discover it. Dr Yu even tinkered with your telescope for you to get a better view. 

You wish they were here. The bright smile on your face dampens a little bit. But there's no time to lose. So, you march around the mess in your apartment and gather your things. 

Telescope? Check

Chartings? Check

Camera for stargazing? Check

Something to sit on? Check

Time to go, Lara. 

Things were loaded in your car especially fast, even if with all the gentleness in the world. There was a humming beneath your breath, a soft melody, your body moving at your tune without much thought.

       " - Ok, Frodo, how are you gonna name it?   

- Just because you're taller than me, doesn't mea- 

- Hmmm, I'd called it the one ri-

- You're a brute, you know that? 

- Morgan, stop annoying my student! 

- I'm sorry, Dr. Kuiper. Now, now, Doctor de Armas, would you name it? You're the one who found its trajectory first, after all. 

- It already has a name... It's a perseid!  

- Are all astrophysicists this uncreative? Come on, give it a name. What would you call it?

- Uncreative? You called your arm bot "Morg_4rm".

- Better than perseid, still. Go on.

- Ugh! Possibly Ocean fall.? Ocean... drops?... Scintillans falls! 

- I like the sound of that. Keep at it, Sam.

- I detest Yu. 

       "  

Oh! You've forgotten something! There’s nothing to drink! That's why you stop at the diner, right...? Right? 

Well, it doesn't matter, you're parched and when the diner enters in your field of view, you don't rummage your brain as for the "whys". The fact that you have butterflies in your stomach doesn't register instantly. Did you eat something you shouldn't? 

Your pulse just spiked up? There was no physical activity today. Well, Mal did show you a beautiful place that he may not even know how much it meant to you. You can always bring him photos of the shower!

Why are you thinking of him right now, though? Oh, right! Because you're at the diner! And he's interesting! You like his company, even if can be really charged. The fact that your heart, at the thought of him, makes you feel like a little rabbit, doesn't matter. Must be the lack of sleep. Nothing about that cheek kiss? It can't be, right? It is because he knows too much about this town and you’re trying to understand what he is. Surely!  

You find yourself inside the diner, your mind still wandering to a certain lake, the brightest smile on your face. Except when those hellish creepy spoons sound like an undead knocking in the glass. You hate those, sparing them a murderous glare. 

Clyde welcomes you, mimicking your smile, and you go instantly to ask for some tea and energy drink to pack while your eyes wander. You're just taking in the diner. It's not like you already had the whole blueprint of the building in your mind. You're just taking the ambient in, right? 

Right!

Must be nothing aside from that.

"Someone seems extra bright today, Ms. De Armas!", Clyde comments from his place at the cooking top, cleaning his spatula from some leftover batter. He's cooking some pancakes? The smell makes your stomach rumble. Haven’t you eaten today? Well, it doesn't matter, you can eat later. 

"Nighty night, Clyde! Today is a special day, after all! I'll bring you guys some photos from a phenomena that only happens once a year. And we've managed to get some cobalt reading in this year's batch, so-", you stop suddenly when you see confusion in the chef's face. You manage to breathe in a little bit, slowing down your thinking process to make sense for the middle-aged man, a softer smile on your face. "Pardon me, Clyde. I got a bit caught up. But there will be a meteor shower today, in about... ", you stop to look at your wristwatch, pouting a little bit, "40 minutes. It's going to be to the west, and it will look like ocean blue stars."

The old chef returns your enthusiasm, smiling back at you with energy. "Then you'll need these as fast as we can make it. Maybe a special someone can make the tea just the way you prefer and you can take him with you?", the suggestion in his tone takes you off guard for a moment and you fumble with your words, blushing hard. 

Wait, he means the drinks! Yeah, totally the drinks! Hundred percent sure... You think? 

It wouldn’t make sense otherwise, right? 

Ugh, some social cues are hard to read.

"I'd... love that!", your eyes sparkle with delight. If you manage to make it to the spot you encountered earlier, you for sure will have a great view of the event. Your hands tremble in excitement. There’s also the need to go fast, though, it’s a thought you don’t quite enjoy.

That’s when you feel it. It begins as a featherlight sensation in the nape of your neck and travels down. Your hair stands up at the end and a shivering sensation crawls beneath your skin. The bright smile vanishes from your face, replaced by an intense focus. Your gaze rests in every exit of the diner, trying to understand where the sensation comes from and where you can take cover, if needed. There’s a slight pressure in the back of your neck. Annoys you so deeply that you can’t understand why this is happening. You stand below a hanging cupboard, it acts as a protection for your thoughts as you analyze the diner. If you can pinpoint the direction it comes from, maybe yo - 

“Hey there, Charmer.”, the voice comes from behind your left. It’s a honeyed tone, slightly hushed if not amused, as if you both were sharing a secret. You didn’t notice him coming. Not that this is abnormal. Is his modus operandi, after all. But you were not expecting to be taken off guard, so his sudden awake gives your body a slight jump and you hit your head in the cupboard, releasing a pathetic “Yiiik!”. You instantly protect your slightly throbbing head, looking back at him with watery eyes. 

 “Mal? Hey!”, your eyes abandon the diner and are naturally drawn to him. You don’t stop to think about how it is always like this. Exits, covers and possible weapons forgotten, shoved back to the back of your mind. The shivering sensation, though, intensifies. You wonder if it’s the cold coming from the fridge. You can hear its motor in the back of the diner, and the place where you are can be an air duct for both cold and hot air masses to meet. He is dressed in his diner uniform, holding a bag in front of your face. There’s a very disarming smile on his lips. Lips that you're so not staring. Shaking your head slightly, you smile up at him, flushing heavily. “Something could’ve fallen from the cupboard, so be careful, please? But it’s ama- great! Great to see you!”

His smile becomes less disarming, and a touch more genuine. His eyes are hypnotic to you, so you decide to stare at the diner bag. Maybe you should take some medicine for your heart, something is surely not right. But the shivers stop, replaced by a warmth you don’t quite understand. Weird. 

Especially because Mal didn’t move a muscle. 

“Something falling would be the least of this place's problems, wouldn’t it?”, you slightly narrow your eyes as his mysterious words, opening your mouth to say something, but he just continues. “Besides, having something falling for you wouldn’t be so bad.”

Oh! Oh…  Ok. Remember. Night sky. Ocean Blue meteorites. Don’t stare too much. You have other things to see tonight… And he’s just being friendly, right? Right! 

DON’T THINK ABOUT THE NOTE HE TUCKED IN YOUR BACK POCKET. I SAID DON’T! 

Friends do that, right? Is it a normal thing? 

And the way you felt about it… You weren’t expecting any kind of slap, it wouldn’t make sense. Who likes to get slapped? 

Not that you liked his hand in… You know what? You’re not going there.

Is it a social cue? You know your lack of actual romantic relationships makes it harder to navigate these things… But Mal doesn’t see you that way… Not him, and not with you…

… You think. 

The way he phrases things, though? Why does it slam you with so much strength? It confuses you a bit… He barely knows you, you don’t even know his full name yet. 

Then why do you feel like you’re lying to yourself?  

“I - I… Well, thanks for bringing me these. I told Clyde about the meteor shower tonight, would you like some photos? I wish you could see them first hand…”, you say, a dreaming look in your eyes fills Mal’s vision. Something passes through his expression as his jaw sets, your curious look isn’t answered, as per usual, so you just let a soft smile take place in our lips. Pushing is something you don’t enjoy when it’s done to you, so you won’t do it to him either.   

“Mal, why don’t you take some hours off? Ms. De Armas may need some help carrying those bags!”, the line cook shouts from his spot at the cooktop. There’s a huge smile on his face as he points at the duffel bags resting on the table you’ve put them on, when you’ve arrived at the diner.

Again, Mal’s expression shifts. You were too busy listening to Clyde’s offer to notice. His jaw tenses and the customer service smile in his face dies. He looks at you, giving nothing away. Is he expecting your reaction? Is he angry at Clyde for offering? You know something always stops Mal from spending any time with you unless late in the night, but you don’t understand or know why. You want to ask, but you know you won’t receive an answer. You’re still pulling the puzzle pieces together. Maybe when you get the whole picture, it will make sense. 

“Well, uhm, do you want to come? You don’t need to, I have… 22 minutes to get there. It’s around 15 km, so I can get there in time if I get a constant velocity o-... Oh, sorry. Again, you don’t need to go, I won’t be sad or anything, I always go alone on these. And I can bring photos!”, you stumble. You have to stop being too specific about things. Is something you got from Dr. Kuiper. 

“What a server wants isn’t really ever questioned in our line of work, Charmer.”, Mal smoothly replies. You glance at him quickly, a trace of sadness in your face. You wish you could help him. He doesn’t seem happy with his role. Truth be told, behind all of that confidence, there’s a deep sorrow, for what you could detect. You won’t overextend here, you don’t want to burden him. As you did with Bee. What if you have to leave, and he expects you to come back, like Reese and James did. What if you put him in danger, as you did to Silas. 

No. You won’t pile up your list of wrongdoings. 

Giving him a soft look and smiling in a way that draws his eyes, you nod. The waiter rests his left hand in the cupboard above you, his knuckles turning white. You take a step forward with intention towards the exit, looking at your duffel bags after taking the drinks from his hand with the same delicateness that you would use to take care of your telescope. There’s a slight movement from him, as if he wanted to reach out, but you don’t linger in that. “I care about your wants, Mal. So you don’t need to do anything on my behalf. Tell me if you need anything, ok?”  

“Lara…“, he speaks in a hushed voice, staring at the increasing separation of your personal spaces with a hard expression. His customer service smile isn’t coming up so easily at this moment, you wonder why. You collect your things and wave at Clyde, smiling. The line cook looks between you and your bags, giving a sad smile. You thought Mal would’ve already disappeared, but he stays there, holding the cupboard like it’s the only thing he can hold onto right now. You lift the diner bag in his direction and give him a smiling farewell.

Your steps are wide. Well, as wide as they can be, given your height. There’s somewhere to be, after all. Even if there’s a nagging feeling in the back of your mind wishing you were sharing this with someone. But you always did this alone, so why change now? Reese passes through your mind, and your heart beats a little faster at him sharing this with you. But is it him that you wanted to share this so badly?

No, you’ll do it alone, as it has been done for so many years. It brings you peace. Something needed right now.

The drive is free of any danger, as it always is with you in the wheel. Bags are unpacked with efficiency and speed, setting everything up is a matter of a few minutes. You’ve noticed this cliff surrounded by a bed of flowers and overlooking a lake some days prior, and knew this would be the perfect spot for your “Scintillans falls”. The trek was eventless and gave you some time to enjoy the nature around Fernweh. Even with everything awful that happened in this town, you can never deny how beautiful it is. It makes you wonder, if these things didn’t happen, this place would be a haven.

The night was unusually dark, even with a half moon illuminating the surroundings. You brought a small blue weak lantern and laid it within the towel beneath you. The wristwatch beeped again. It was time. Setting the camera and fixing the telescope, you began stargazing. 

A soft wind blew around you as the stars fell down, painting the skies in a blue hue. The colors of the ocean on a sunny day brightened it, as if hundreds of bright blue fishes jumped down from a huge waterfall. It was mesmerizing. 

How would this starlight frame Mal’s face? 

No, uhuh, not going there. 

Then your mind finds another thought that you shouldn’t linger… But it's there, anyway.

You wonder if your family is between them, traveling through the skies, watching over you with the love they always had. You miss them. More than you care to admit. It should’ve been me. 

You hear a faint noise in the distance. Maybe a motorcycle? But your mind is too occupied right now to pay attention. There’s a lone tear lining your right cheek that you fail to notice.

Blinking against it, you start to take pictures. 

It’s beautiful tonight. 

[starry-blue-echoes]

Okay no but Jolyne in Shattered Glass AU is such a funky idea to me.

Considering that she's separate from the whole Joestar-culty business, I feel like maybe she, as well as Josuke and Giorno, would still remain somewhat on the side of good!!

I wonder if, like, her situation in prison would either be similar to Cult of the Lamb, where she gets by exploiting the religion, or just like canon, where it's simply hell for her.

Also, maybe Ermes, Foo, Anasui and co. are like!! Reoccurring rivals that she just gets stuck with (Why did this remind me of Mean Girls??). Even better if they're actually the weird cultists here and just. Automatically assume Jolyne is also culty. She's gaslighting, gatekeeping, and girlbossing.

The idea of like,, fate would probably tie in so heavily here. Where she's part of this evil, cursed lineage, and decides to be free from that sort of burden by being something ELSE than a Joestar. She's Jolyne. It's why she changes her last name, even better in prison, 'cause she knows what that name entails and now decides to truly make it her own.

Would Jolyne even win in this one?? Part of me hopes so, was absolutely gutted watching the end of Stone Ocean, so maybe this time our girl can get a win.

- Bread

I'll admit I don't know much about Cult of the Lamb but yesssssssssss

just. Jolyne slowly learning with a growing horror just who exactly her father is and what he's done. Every wish for her father to have been more present in her life is shattered to pieces left with only a surging relief and terror at what could have been

honestly, the thought of exploiting the cult that Pucci's built up probably does cross her mind, but I think the possible dangers of revealing her name would out weigh the possible benefits. Who knows what they might make her do or expect of her when they learn she's a direct decendant of one of history's most famed dictatorships

so she opts to stay hidden, even though it'll mean getting information is gonna be a lot harder

I'll admit, I'm not super sure on her allies being part of the cult (genuinely a part at least, I can definitely see Hermes pretending to buy into it to get closer to Sports Maxx) but Rivals to Friends could definitely be fun to play with

actually, out of everyone Weather could definitely be part of the cult..... maybe he can get an arc where the gang helps him out of that specific situation. Perhaps Hermes is the one who makes contact first since she's "part of the cult" and since according to everyone he's been here the longest she thinks he'll know the most about the prision

also, Foo is definitely going to be an interesting character and looking on at all the human shenanigans and politics that have been going on with morbid curiosity but also "guys what the fuck-"

I think Jolyne And Co should get to win this one, just on the principal of the mater and to add more contrast to canon. Also, remember how AGES ago I mentioned a SWF Agent arriving in the prision who slowly ends up helping and growing to trust Jolyne? What if it's Dio

(also for a bit of dark humor, Jolyne gets REALLY badly wounded in the end, bad enough she Needs A Hospital and is unconcious for a while, and when she wakes up Dio makes a joke about how she's kept the running "Elder Joestar Dies In The Fight While The Younger One Survives" trend going (since in the first fight, George died while Jonathan survived, then way later Jonathan died while Joseph survived, then Joseph died and Jotaro survived, and then there's now)

also for some angst....... what if the first person who learns Jolyne's secret is Emporio

Emporio, who's mother was murder for the sake of supporting the Joestar Clan and has been on his own for his whole life, learns that one of the people who's the closest thing he's ever had to family is related to them

had he been older, Emporio might've understood things a bit better. He would've been able to connect how Jolyne had no allegiance to the Joestars and that she barely knew her father at all

but he isn't. Emporio is 11 years old and traumitized to high hell and in his eyes someone he loves has betreyed him in one of the worst possible ways

[radioactivepeasant]

Fic Prompts: Meddling Mar

A warning this chapter for a mention of Dark Warrior Program related violence (because Praxis is just. The worst.) It will be in italics for those who wish to skip it.

Click HERE to go to the chapter index for this fic

(From last time:)

The king studied him for an uncomfortable moment, then his lips twisted at the corner into a smirk.

"You let me fix that haircut you gave yourself, and I'll call it even."

Jak did not appreciate Daxter's howl of laughter. Or Mar agreeing on his behalf.

Nonetheless, he had nothing to trade, and so he grudgingly agreed to let this bizarre ruler fix his hair the following day. Thankfully, Damas didn’t comment on how absolutely abysmal Jak’s handiwork really was. Instead, he just asked questions about preferred length, and what he wanted his hairline to look like.

"What do you mean hairline? I mean, doesn't it just kind of look like that normally?" Jak asked, a little bewildered.

Damas muttered something under his breath, but his expression was kind when Jak turned around.

"You have options, you know. Look at your brother’s hair. We could do it like that, or you could do a fade-"

"A what?"

"...alright, we're starting at square one, then." Damas stood up. "It's a tapered cut, essentially shaved on the sides and "fading" into the rest of the hair. Give me a minute, I think we're going to need the comb my wife uses."

"You're married?!" Mar demanded with an incredulous expression.

"Yes?" Damas raised an eyebrow. "Am I not allowed to be?"

"Well where is she, then?"

The king pointed to the window in the ward, towards the ocean.

"Fishing. She spends two days a week at sea overnight, barring storms."

"Oh. Like Ollie."

Damas didn't know who Ollie was supposed to be, but the name obviously meant something to the older boys. (Older boys: plural. That was going to take some getting used to, trying to remember that the orange mustelid looking thing was evidently a teenage boy with a very unusual condition.)

"What's she like?" Daxter asked, tiptoeing as if he could see her through the window, "Is she hot?"

He quailed under a stern look from Damas.

"She is to be respected. And while I will settle for a verbal warning for a first time, -- considering you have likely not been subjected to particularly reputable influences in Haven -- she is within her rights not to."

Daxter flattened himself against the bed, ears pinned back against his skull. He mimed zipping his lips closed and covered his mouth with both hands. Jak rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Disreputable influences, huh," he snorted. "That would be "loudmouth KG on every street corner and hour shift" in our case."

"And Torn," Mar chipped in.

There was something unusually bitter about the way Jak answered, "Sure. Torn too."

After an awkward few seconds, Jak added, "You can do the fading thing I guess. I don't care either way."

"You should," Damas grumbled, "Didn't anyone ever teach you how to take care of yourself?"

"Nnnnope."

The boy didn’t sound nearly as concerned about that as he should have.

"Ye gods and little fishes," Damas muttered under his breath.

He needed to come up with some kind of guardian, and soon. If he let these three attempt to survive on their own, his wife would skin him alive.

"Alright then. Fade it is. You make sure that razor is sharpened -- run it on the leather strop. Yes, like that -- I'm getting the comb."

It was a calculated move on his part, leaving Jak with a sharp object. It was a gesture of trust -- or more of a leap of faith. Giving Jak the sense that no one objected to him being able to protect himself, while also showing him vulnerability. If the kid was inclined, he could very well try to slit Damas’s throat. Of course, he hoped Jak wouldn't do that. It wouldn't end well for anyone involved. But maybe he'd find the gesture comforting.

Damas dug around upstairs through his wife's cluttered washroom. As sparse as it was, he was amazed by how much junk Phobos managed to drag in. It was always "I'm gonna make something out of that", but then she hopped from project to project as time allowed, leaving half finished blades and combs and cups all over every available surface -- and even some unavailable surfaces.

By the time he'd actually found the comb, Damas had accidentally knocked over a box of shells in the process of being ground up into paint, dislodged a sketch hanging over the mirror, and gotten pigment dust all over the right side of his head when he'd stood up too quickly and knocked his head on a shelf.

His attempts to hide the evidence were mostly successful, but not enough to keep the little Not-Mar from noticing a streak of gold on his cheekbone and hair. He let out a delighted shriek of laughter and pointed, so of course Jak and Daxter turned and stared too.

Ah, the judgement of teenagers. Just what everyone needs.

"Phobos booby-traps her bathroom, I swear," Damas sighed. "At least there were no snapping turtles in the sink this time."

"This time?!" Daxter echoed, alarmed. He fell back onto Mar's pillow. "Eesh. Jak used to do that too, til we got the dog."

Mar stiffened in something akin to panic. "Chopper! Where's Chopper? Did they take her too?"

"Calm down, squirt." Daxter patted Mar's knee. "I left her with Tess. She's gonna be fat and spoiled when we get her back, but Tess won't let anyone hurt her."

Mar relaxed. "Oh. I remember her, she's good."

Daxter grinned. "See? I know what I'm talkin' about." He elbowed their little brother. "Hey hey, maybe Spike King should put some of that glitter on Jak, since he's already having a spa day, huh?"

"Shut up, Dax," Jak huffed.

Jak would never have expected a haircut to be soothing -- embarrassingly.

Nobody was yanking through his tangles, complaining loudly about how "unmanageable" it was. No one was sloshing burning plant extracts into his hair, untwisting his coils into stiff, "good" hair. And somehow, Jak wasn't afraid.

The Baron’s prison had never bothered to cut their victims' hair; they hosed prisoners off to avoid vermin and wash away blood and that was the extent of it. But the Baron still had a habit of yanking prisoners around by the head on his few "inspections".

Especially Jak.

The worst had been a moment when they'd thrown him into the blood-soaked "training course", with the few other surviving members of the experiment. When Jak had refused to salute the Baron. A day when he'd been brave enough to spit in Praxis's face. Enraged, the Baron had hauled him bodily from the ground, hard enough to rip a couple of hairs from his head. He'd flung Jak headlong into the half-cover brick wall for his insolence. It had knocked out one of his canines on impact.

He still hadn't saluted.

Jak was glad they'd never figured out that his first dark transformation had completely regrown his missing tooth. He had absolutely no doubt that the experiments would've taken horrifying new turns if they'd learned about the regeneration. Jak's muscles twitched in a suppressed shudder.

Less than a second later, Damas quickly withdrew his hand.

"What is it?" he asked, "Did I hurt you?"

How had he known that had been a reaction? Even Daxter had trouble telling what was a fear reaction and what was just a spasm.

"Muscle spasm," Jak lied, "Sorry. It happens sometimes."

"....uh-huh."

Damas didn’t sound like he was completely convinced, but he didn't say anything more about it. He rinsed his comb in a bowl of water and continued easing through Jak's hair, gathering it up with a clip on the top of his head. Once or twice he sat back and made thoughtful humming sounds.

"Well, young man, now we find out how well you sharpened that razor." Damas held a hand out, just waiting.

Jak held his breath.

And handed him the blade.

"Well done. I'll be quick," Damas murmured. He trimmed and shaved in careful motions, pausing whenever the castaway tensed up. "This won't take as long as your brother’s hair did-"

Then he whispered, "-and clearly I won't have to bribe you to sit still like I had to with him."

After pausing to imagine the strange king trying to comb a squirming, thrashing Mar's hair, Jak scoffed and grinned.

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

They descended into silence, and Mar lost interest after a minute or two. He slid off his bed and began boldly rifling through Damas’s bag before the man reached back and caught his wrist.

"Excuse you!" Damas scolded, "What do you think you're doing?"

Mar shrugged. "Looking for the peg game."

"So ask, barbarian!" Damas gently pushed Mar away. "Pick a pocket like that in the city and you'll bring more trouble down on your head than it's worth. No more of that, understand?"

The little boy scowled. "Your hands were busy! Asking makes people mad at you for bothering them, anyway. What are you scolding me for?"

Wolves. They were raised by wolves. For a moment, Damas felt like he was dealing with one of Mar’s tantrums.

He stared at the little boy incredulously and leaned forward.

"Ask. First. We aren't mind readers. And this isn’t Haven."

Mar's frown deepened. "Fine. Can I have the peg game?"

"I didn't bring it today," Damas answered, "But you may get the green canvas bag out and play Pathway if you like."

"That one's hard!" Mar complained with a frustrated grunt. Nonetheless, he pulled out the bag and undid the drawstring to unfold it into a game board.

Jak raised his brows and studied the nondescript grid on the mat. "How does this work?"

Daxter shuffled a stack of battered cardboard squares with lines on them and separated them from several tiny figures.

"You start at a corner and put down tiles to make a road. Can't cross another line or go off the board or you're out."

"You have to trap other travelers in loops or send them off the mat," Mar added.

He pouted.

"Daxter always wins."

This, Jak was shortly to discover, was not an exaggeration. At their warden/potential new boss person's encouragement, Jak picked up a token and joined the game, only to find himself cornered within three turns. Daxter wasn't even that good at the game; Jak and Mar were simply too impulsive to consider strategy on something that wasn't life or death. (And even when things were life or death, they were still reckless.) Now and then Damas made an observation or suggestion, but for the most part he focused on Jak’s hair.

After getting his token run off the board for the seventh time, Jak was getting frustrated. Still, he was too stubborn to admit defeat -- especially in front of someone he was probably going to end up working for. (It was the only way he could think of to pay off whatever their medical care had cost, anyway.)

He was about to demand another rematch when he heard the razor drop into the bowl with a soft splash.

Damas thumped him on the shoulder in a kind of rough, playful gesture and stood to shake hair clippings onto the floor. There was more of it than Jak had expected.

"You're done. Look in this and tell me what you think."

He handed Jak a small, scratched mirror, no bigger than his fist.

Jak stared into the glass and a stranger stared back at him.

The face in the mirror looked softer, rounder. More like Mar than he'd ever believed possible. He was still pale, but it almost looked like the dark circles under his eyes were fading away.

With one finger, Jak traced the sharp, neat, line delineating his forehead from his hair. It would take some getting used to. But he liked how the sides of his head looked.

"Oh," he said softly.

"Oh?" Damas repeated, "Is that good or bad?"

"Good, I think." Jak ran his fingertips through gold coils -- the green was starkly obvious at his temples now -- and idly twisted a longer strand around one finger. "I look..."

I look like someone cares about stuff like my hair. Never had that before.

"It's new," he settled on.

"Better than before, at least," the king said. He shook the last stray hairs from his tunic.

Someone cleared their throat from behind them, and both Jak and Damas turned to find one of the monks a few feet away at the door. She looked faintly perturbed by something -- Jak wondered if seeing a king doing menial tasks was normal or not here -- but waited to be acknowledged. Immediately, Damas gathered up the comb and razor and left their alcove.

"Strip your bedding after the noon rest," he ordered, a little distractedly, "You'll be moving to Alma's building tonight, so your beds need to be ready for new patients."

Then he hurried to the corridor to speak with the monk.

"Ruth, yes? What is it?"

The woman glanced over his shoulder at the boys, and the lines around her mouth deepened. "Word from the medical records keepers, sire."

She fidgeted with the hem of her sleeve, clearly uncomfortable. "It's about the young exiles."

Damas ignored the foreboding whisper in the back of his mind and held his customary facade of stoic thoughtfulness. "Already? I was under the impression that the cheek swabs wouldn't yield results for another two weeks."

A muscle twitched in Ruth's ghostly white cheek. "Tam sent me to inform you that their gene samples are causing some trouble in the system. He requires four extra days to ensure that there has been no contamination of the samples during transfer. In the meantime, he had a question regarding the childrens' fingerprint records. There is an anomaly we are unable to account for, despite it being completely impossible."

"What kind of anomaly?"

Despite the heat of the afternoon, Damas felt a chill across the back of his neck when the monk answered him.

"The younger boy's fingerprints are fully identical to the elder one's, down to the last line. In all ways save the size, they are the prints of the same person."

[milkmaidovich]

Milkmaidovich Plays Catch-up

I am BEHIND pals

Had a long week and a half of Book Stuff to finalize (who knew cover design would take up so much of my brain [it's me, I knew]) but it's all finished so it's time to CATCH UP!

(This post will be a Tag Game Tuesday post, with everything else getting its own)

Jul 18 Tag Game Tuesday

Thanks to @howlinchickhowl @auds-and-evens @mickeyheartian @scurvgirl , @tanktopgallavich , @metalheadmickey , and @vintagelacerosette for the tags!

name: kat

pronouns: she/her

where do you call home? A state I don't particularly like in the southeastern US (it’s very red which is hard for this queer anti-capitalist socialist) but it was a career-related move so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

favorite animal: hiphopopopotamus

cereal of choice: love me a strawberry & yogurt Joe’s-O from Trader Joe’s, or the churro Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and also a Honey Nut Cheerio if I can’t get the other two

are you a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner? Kinesthetic is the main one, the writing/doing is helpful for my ADHD, especially if I mix and match with visual/auditory

first pet? Carnival Goldfish that we had living in a crystal punch bowl

favorite scent? Tuberose, amber, oud, leather (I love a darkspicy scent)

do you believe in astrology? Eh? Kind of? I see some undeniable traits of the signs in myself and those around me but also I see a lot of incorrect stuff so it's more for fun than for basing life choices on

how many playlists do you have on spotify/apple music? Literal hundreds, I'm not going to count

sharpies or highlighters? Sharpies FOREVER

a song that makes you cry: uhhhhh most recent one is Unknown/Nth by Hozier

a song that makes you happy: SO MANY! Most recently: The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala (Suck It and See is always in heavy rotation in the summer)

and finally, do you write/draw/create? if so, use this as an opportunity to shamelessly (😉) promote yourself! I write sometimes! Hopefully more now that I've got some more time! Find me on AO3

July 25 Tag Game

Thanks to @celestialmickey, @transmickey, @lupeloto, @harrowhark-a-vagrant, and @scurvgirl for the tags!

name: kat

age: 33

pronouns: she/her

your sun sign, MBTI type, and enneagram type (google them if you’re not sure!): cancer 🦀, ENTP-T, 9w1/8 (I don't really understand the MBTI/enneagram stuff if someone feels like explaining)

how tall are you? 5'3.5" (1.6m, 161cm)

what color are your eyes? Greeeeeeen

the last time you saw a movie in theaters (bonus: what was it?): UH the super Mario movie with my kid? I think? A couple months ago

favorite dessert: peach pie/cobbler ALWAYS

outer space or the ocean? The ocean, why the fuck do we need to keep going to space when the ocean is RIGHT THERE

you’re in a McDonald’s drive thru, what are you ordering? 10pc chicken nugget, fries, sprite

are you good with plants? Maybe?????? Genuinely unsure

would your current self and high school self get along? Lmao maybe?????? Honestly it's 50/50

a food you can’t stand: FUCK BEETS

something you’d do if money were no object: TRAVEL AND CONCERTS AND TRAVELING TO CONCERTS

the last app you opened on your phone (tumblr doesn’t count!): DayForce

and finally, compliment yourself! You are better at learned skills than you give yourself credit for!!

Since these are so behind I won't tag anyone but if you didn't get tagged and want to play, consider this your tag!

[halliescomut]

Love Sea Ep1 Watch Along

-Already need to know more about what Mut does....what is he making notes about.

-Conner/Love Sand mention already... interesting 🤔

-As someone raised in a rural area the 'I'm borrowing this' to a seemingly random person and them just nodding bc everyone knows you is relatable, even if it seems farfetched

-Cat sounds for Peat/Rak is sending me.

-Will we meet Connor I wonder?

-As someone from a family of beach/coastal ppl, totally understand the awe of the ocean, even if I'm dealing with mid Atlantic and not sub tropical. (Also, I really thought I was going to cross off one of my bingo squares with that one, but no😔)

-Okay I gotta be honest - the knocking on the glass door by Mut is just reminding me of when my dog scratches at our glass door to come back inside and it kinda just sounds like nails tapping the window. Cute

-If I call that number will Mut flirt with me?? 🥺

-Aya!!!! Khaimuk is me at work fr, but far more fashionable

-Test Love???? What is this???

-Ja already? Or is this the only ep we'll see him in?? I'm curious.

-I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I love grumpy almost rude love interests. It's why I liked Sky so much and it's why I'm certain I'll enjoy Rak.

- Not a drinker, but I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to just drink a martini like a shot 😂😂

-Aww a little montage of Mut being thoughtful and sweet.

-Is the breaking and entering cool? Not really, but it is nice that he's straightening up.

-Rak all curled up like a kitty 🥺🥺

-Cat sounds effects...but not catlike reflexes

-Rak trying to seduce him and Mut being totally oblivious is hilarious 😂😂

-Is this mfer eating a dry salad? Man is clearly a psychopath.

-The close ups of Peat's face and his eyes in HD is so 😍😍😍😍 I kinda need them to switch seats so I can see Fort's eyes in the good lighting.

-The guilt tripping and puppy eyes are working!!!

-You ever just think about how pretty Fort's lips are???

-I guess Mook is Aya's character's nickname. Hopefully I can keep that in my head. I struggle so much remembering names.

{Okay I saved this as a draft because I had to go do something and then come back and finish the episode and it didn't save the second half. So I'm going to retype what I can remember but it's iffy}

-Interesting idea that he must be having sex to write about it. (And honestly a little fun considering how many Ace smutfic writers I know....including myself)

- The matching scenes of both of them late at night before bed is sweet.

-While I do understand how frustrating it is to have someone interrupting your work, Mut is so cute.

-Boat adventure!!! 🛥️

-Grouchy Rak after being told to sit still so he doesn't go overboard 😂😂

-"Get lost"....and go fucking where? We're on a boat!

(lemme know if you catch the reference)

-Oh no....Mut has accidentally traumatized him. ( Was that on my bingo card?? No...dang it)

-Aww😭😭 Rak does need a strong warm hug poor baby. 🫂🫂🫂

-"This is good stuff too" in reference to Mut's body is.....amazing. Simply a amazing.

-"Which do you want to eat?"...well you see I actually don't like clams so....👀👀

- A wet dream!! Or I guess maybe it would have been if Mut hadn't woken up. 😂

-Seems like we're gonna be moving at a good clip based on the preview for next week. Though I'm not surprised...Mame's never been one of the first kiss in episode 7 types. (& we love that about her)

-End credits is Rak(?) alone on the beach....I wonder if that will change as we go through the show?🤔

Well this was fun. I'm excited for next week. I have some critiques, but that's to be expected and honestly it was a nice distraction for an hour from the dumpster fire that is existence.

[lanatusnebula]

I Want To Like Aeolus

I'm going to type "Helios" because I played a fan translated version of the game so I could avoid the eng voice actors. (I refuse to buy anything else Capcom releases related to Megaman because I physically own most of this stuff anyway LOL)

So, so good points about Helios;

he has a cool head on his shoulders (deisgn-wise)

he had model H (my favorite MMZ character is Harpuia and ZX I love Model H big)

I like his face and hair! It's super silly but the more I look at it, the more he reminds me of SOMEONE I can't actually put my finger on. It's funny. And he has... one earring? Hanging off the ear mechanic things? Not sure what to call them... audio enhancement device? Vestibular Enhancement Piece? I wish they got some nerd to official label the reploid/cyborg body parts...

He's pretty neat in that regard, haha!

Model H is super fun in ZX! I enjoyed it in ZX. In ZX it is my favorite! So good on him that he's a biomatch for pocket Harpuia.

--

From here downward i will slander Helios's name and everything he will ever stand for.

nb4, "dude if you dont like him, then ignore his existence like you do with everything else you dont like" bro you dont understand this is a struggle i must endure for the sake of my own completeness (self-torture)

This whole this is biased and abandoned by reason, but I will put on a brave face and embarass myself anyway...! ò 0 ó

Points to touch on;

his design

his writing

his personality

biomatching with Model H

background

moveset

Design

I hate his design so freakin much. He has a sleeveless vest (ok), the weird skin-tight extra padding (sure) a skirt attached to ABSOLUTELY NOTHING (ok) and PANTS (dress pants). Each of these things on a character in the Z series would be like "eh whatever". But looking at how everyone else dresses, I always wondered "what happened HERE???". I'm hoping that it was a mistranslation of the concept art to the official marketed stuff, and they added volume to the skirt when it was supposed to be attached to the torso piece. I just can't mentally comprehend his layers otherwise? Like I'm picturing he and Ciel had the same thing going on, except he has dress pants instead of tights.

I'm more than aware that fashion in the Z/ZX series is a bit unhinged and abnormal. That it might even be lore related or somehow touched on by the fact that every human is a cyborg. Maybe he's a reploid and we can't see it? I'm holding onto the hope that Atlas and Helios are reploids who hide this fact. (Unlikely)

His Writing

Because I am an ugly Harpuia fan, I was expecting more than the game actually gave. This section is my personal gripes that have no real basis for complaints. They are, as a whole, completely unnecessary and ignorable.

Siarnaq has a backstory that is briefly mentioned in his little disk thing. Okay!

Thetis has some sort of motivation that hints that something else could be there, but doesn't have a backstory in in the disk thing. Okay!

Atlas has a backstory that is briefly mentioned in her little disk thing. Okay! (she has been ruined by the fanart in select places and thus she does not exist to me LOL - same with Ashe tbh)

Helios has... a shallower motivation than even Thetis *and* lacks a backstory. I mean, sure I guess? I am biased towards Thetis because I figured for a reploid to have that much of an interest in oceans - something *happened*. It isn't even suggested that anything did happen, it's just... a good set up for me to fart out fandom crap. But Helios... I... man.

Man.

"Everything is imperfect and full of foolish fools I will kill everyone." His personality is so god damn bland. Harpuia was the highlighted guardian for most of the MMZ games and I ended up really enjoying how he evolved and how he struggled in the drama CDs. There was a lot to work with! Part of me thinks, "yes well Fefnir had jack shit going for him and you'd die for him". I DIG HIS DESIGN A REALLY LOT. But THIS GUY I simply struggle with! I want to like him because bootleg model H biomatch but I got nothing to workmwith! And that frustrates me. :(

Bland personality (I like Death the Kid ffs), shit motivation, no background - I know this is grounds for "blank slate, do what you want" but I just don't operate like that for this guy specifically.

His Personality

This section is biased.

Helios's personality doesn't really go beyond "I am a pretentious snob." He has... four lines? Maybe? I can recall four instances of dialogue off the top of my head.

"I don't have time for this lol"

"Fuck you, you imperfect crackhead" (I played as Grey).

"Fuck everyone on this planet for being imperfect."

"Self sacrifice is beautiful for friendship."

Maybe I can work with these? They are not obviously direct quotes, and are obviously played up for the hahateehee, but... I dunno man. It Should be enough to work with but I can't get into mindset of doing something with it.

Biomatching With Model H

This one is a little tricky. I assumed the biometals were either broken, muted somehow, or ditched by whatever personalities lived within them. Model Z kinda suggests to me that it IS the original inside of the biometal, but it's pure speculation based on a few lines.

I understandnthe relations some of the MegaMen have with their biometles, right

Atlas is powerhungry, which can loosely be connected to Fefnir in a very idiot way

Thetis has a "childlike innocence with attached cruelty" that we can poke ourselves in the eyes and say Leviathan had. Also ice water go brr

Siarnaq is a freaky little somethin ninja who is the complete opposite of what we assume Phantom is like based on the extremely limited dialogue he gives us. (but is substantially more to work with than what Helios gives us)

For Helios, we have to accept the "pompous homogeneous ruler mentality" as Harpuia's link. Which I don't get. What is the point of the entire Z series then? Aren't we supposed to look at Harpuia's growth and go "oh he actually is dedicated to his cause but was stuck in some muddy circumstances"? He had pride, absolutely (thinking about his post-repairs in Z3) but it's such a small part of who I thought he was personally? Granted, I did not write the game. I have no say in this; pride could have been his very essence. I just thought it was... justice.

We can say Helios is very much connected to justice - that he feels there is a sense of justice in nuking the flawed beings off this planet. (which is somewhat skewed by the fact that humans get bot'd after a while - what age? 13??? - and are basically cyborgs or robots themselves. So in a sense, they're already leaving behind their imperfect bodies) But... the super secret ending - the fact that he is present AT ALL makes no sense. If the goal is to put an emphasis on human bodies in the future, then... why is Helios present for this? Humans are the epitome of imperfection - we know this. It's blatant. It's why they do these mechanical enhancements to begin with.

Helios can't even commit to a cause right? I know all the MegaMen are exceedingly braindead and that's cool. But at least the others COMMIT to it. Thetis doesn't go "I'm gonna eliminate an entire race for the ocean" and then piss in the sea. Atlas doesn't go "Power is everything." and then break down crying and throwing away her biometal to embrace her weakness. Siarnaq doesnt go "HYPERFOCUSING ON TASK AT HAND" and then hold hands with everyone at the amusement park with a smile. THEY COMMIT.

Helios is stupid. He doesn't commit. Not if that is the truest ending leading up to this ZXC they planned.

His Background

Helios has no background. Okay. That is fine. Thetis doesn't have one either. Two focusing on the present and two focusing on the past.

But what could his background have been? Aristocrat? Poor? Feral child? Living in squalor? No parents? Abusive parents? Was he training to be one of the Sage Trinity? Albert came out of nowhere right? Maybe anyone qualifies - clearly they don't do background checks on anyone.

Maybe he was a sword enthusiast? Maybe the sword plays a part in this? Maybe he idolizes Thomas and felt his methods weren't extreme enough? I feel like the sword is very important to him as a character.

But why didn't they elaborate? They spent so much time making the Floating Islands a Shit Stage and Ouroboros absolutely mind breaking they didn't think to go "maybe we should add a line about his sword that he never actually uses." Are the writers andnstage designers different people? I don't actually know. Might be in the credits. Sure doesn't feel like it in ZXA.

His Moveset

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

why is model zx's reach so short

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[honeyviscera]

i would like to hear the rant !!

ALRIGHT so. last summer im working for a summer camp, and in the training phase us staff members are all trying to get to know each other yknow and the higher-ups leading the training seminars and stuff are asking for us to go around and share names and pronouns. and see at the beginning of the summer i was like. trying to figure out what exactly is going on with my gender like. i know something's a bit off but im not sure how i want to express that, and like im also not super ready to share that with everyone.

and just in general, im not super loud about my queerness, and it's taken me a while to become even somewhat comfortable being out as queer irl. but anyways back to the story.

so at this point im like, to myself well, im still okay with she/her, and im not super ready to add they/them or anything like that, so i'll just say im ocean, she/her. (using ocean here in place of my real name, you get it.) anyways we were asked this in the morning, and i was fine saying it then. but then every time a new presenter for a new section of the training would come in, all of us would have to go around and introduce ourselves to them again. hi, im ocean, she/her. now im becoming increasingly uncomfortable with this, because i present pretty femme, i have a high voice, tits, all that, so i just know that the box im being put in by everyone when i, afab, say my pronouns are she/her, is "cis". i am being read as cis. and i have to repeat myself maybe five times in one day. but it gets worse.

now all of this comes to a head when the whole entire staff comes into our training area and. you know the icebreaker game that's like. everyone stands in a circle and says their name and what they're bringing to our imaginary "picnic" and the next person has to say everyone before and add their own? ie:

person 1: im sally and im bringing apples! person 2: that's sally and she's bringing apples, and im joe and im bringing bread. person 3: sally brings apples, joe brings bread, and i'm lily and im bringing pie 4: sally apples joe bread lily pie and im wally and im bringing juice

and so on all around the circle. the goal of this game is to get to know everyone's names. now we were going to do this, but somebody spoke up and suggested that instead of picnic offerings, we say our pronouns.

oh.

my.

god.

so i had to listen to everyone during that game (which we played TWICE bc the group was so large so we had to split into 2 groups and then switch) look me in the eyes and say ocean, she/her. over and over again. ocean. she/her. ocean. she/her. ocean. she/her. and i had to say ocean, she/her. so. many. times. that is definitely the most times i have ever had to say my pronouns in a single day ever.

see, i usually never experience dysphoria. im very comfortable with how i look, sound, dress, act, and present. like i am very comfortable with myself. dysphoria is not a thing i normally experience. but that day for the first time, having to say my pronouns over. and over. and over again i just. i felt so so viscerally wrong. i knew everyone was reading me as cis and i didn't want that.

and it didn't stop there bc the staff had a discord server to communicate over the summer about work related stuff, and the requirement was for you to put your server nickname as [name] [set of pronouns]. a month into looking at my name with she/her attached to it i got so fucking fed up that i changed it to she/they on impulse and that's how my summer job basically forced me to out myself before i was super ready.

dear fucking god. i know that sharing your pronouns is supposed to make spaces more welcoming, but all that this fucking did was make me feel violated and dysphoric, for the first time in my fucking life. i hate that i was required to share my pronouns and there were so many better ways to go about this. one of my coworkers and i were talking about this later in the summer (they also use she/they publicly) and she agreed with me that the "pronoun game" was horrible and that she was going to make a complaint about it bc it was so unnecessary.

AUGH.

[let-kowski-alone]

The Walmart Version Part 4

There are probably more days that they have spent together because all I post it is publicly available. Of course these are only fragments of their hook up. Even if they "mutually founded " My Own Part Records, there is no need for them to spend so much time together. Unless the reason why he travels to Berlin is to visit his daughter.

In January 13, he posted some photos and caption saying something like "2024 got me in Stationärer Aufenthalt". I searched for the meaning and it its something like you go to the hospital for something specific and they tell you that you need to stay overnight, or only by day, depending on the severity. I may be wrong but I also saw that the translation would "in-patient".

At least 3 days after that post of him, I saw that he and Nichols started following a hotel called Landhaus Wasser.

I searched for some other people, like their friends/musicians, or any other similar, because I didn't want to jump to any dark conclusion, but I couldn't find any related person in terms of work relationship. I thought maybe they went there to shoot a music video, an interview, a photo session, but...until this day, I don't know why after he was at the "in-patient" stay at the hospital, went there with Nichols.

I remember when he shared several stories about Nichols, with the caption "support your local healer". As if he forcibly wanted to make everyone believe that there is/was more than work between them.

Also in January-February, I tagged C. Nichols on YT, and in my community post I said something like ..." this could have stopped if you or him could have clarified if there is a professional relationship between you two...or not " And she replied:

The way she replied was more like a short "you want to hear this ok, I'm single". But it didn't feel genuine.

On February 12, 2024, he shared this story (psst, my old blog was called Ocean Tidal)

This felt like a mockery to me. And that he was giving me the middle finger with that emoji.

Context: I posted on my now deceased blog (Ocean Tidal), that word he always misspells :"presafe", instead of pre-save. Now I think he does it because he's a contrarian. He still does it , on purpose of course.

I replied to his story that same day with one word: IMMATURE.

I felt so ridiculed, that's why I needed- I HAD to reply. I never did it before. NEVER. I always stayed far away. Never commented, never even followed him on Instagram, but when I saw that, I felt so humiliated, mocked, to be honest.

This is the reply to that story:

Second part:

Third part:

4th:

The message in german, his last message, says-and please,while reading it, focus a patronizing tone in your mind:

"I in no way wanted to deny you your feelings and reality. Please, excuse me if I did this unknowingly, the intention of gaslighting is far from me.

And now let’s be clear: this psycho nonsense stops now. Mary ( I changed the name) , we know it’s you. My lawyer was able to have you tracked and we’ll see you in court soon. We’ve collected enough evidence now. You’re liable to prosecution. Until then, there will be no more conversation".

All the time I was replying to him via Instagram dm's, he was sure I was that other woman. So all his messages, all his words are FOR HER.

How could a lawyer "track" someone ? how ? with what ? based on what ? For the tone of his words, specially the first ones...omg, it is like hearing a narcissist "did I hurt you ? oh, it wasn't my intention....NOW LISTEN !". That is so scary, if you think someone can be this agressive via messages...how would he be in person when he's angry..? could it be possible he could hit a woman for example ?

Now, I don't think anything is far fetched. To me, this moment was when the bubble of idealization burst. Actors are human, it is obvious to say this, but it needs to be reminded of this constantly. They have flaws, some more than others.

Continues HERE

[wigglepiggle]

so basically from what I remember: (this is only about the pokemon bc this got really long there were human characters too which I'll talk Abt maybe)

It was called ardentia. part of that region name is an actual word but I forgot what it means

it was supposed to be Germany but I'm not german nor have I been tehre so I wasn't sure so I changed it to be my home state because I never go anywhere else

but america/unova already existed in pokemon when I thought of this so my solution was "it's an island off the coast of unova" which is made even funnier by the fact that my state does not have land that touches ocean in any spot lmao

but also nothing much about anything but the characters and some pokemon were ever fleshed out bc how the fuck do you stretch out the boring ass state of pa into a cool story

also the gimmick for this was mega evos bc I couldn't think of anything better (but at the time I was thinking about a way to nerf them for this)

I did think of something like last week when I randomly thought about mega evos again, limit the amount of turns you can be mega and then the pokemon maybe has to recharge or something after

so anyways the pokemon that I made for this none of them were original they're all regional forms of the bisharp, hypno(it was removed but at some point it existed here), gogoat, eelektross, hitmon, and dusknoir lines

I think I was gonna add a squonk and another urban legend creature thing of pa that I can't remember the name of inspired pokemons but I didn't end up thinking of them past that

what's really funny is that I made the eelektross lines forms based off of a mudskipper I think. those don't even live here why did I do that PFFT

The bisharp and pawniard forms were both based off of yellowjackets, pawniard was pure bug and bisharp was bug/dark (which is actually why my lokix in scarlet is named Adre, because that kind of looks like ardentia and also it's existence as the first bug/dark type made me remember ardentian bisharp lmao)

they had this mechanic were there was this rare form of this called the queen wasp form where it was always female but it was bigger and stronger than the normal arde bisharp

there was also a point in the game where one of the rivals (her name was christina I think??) takes you to a bisharp hive bc her bisharp she found hurt and was rescuing ran in there while it was too hurt to leave, and after you defeat the queen bisharp she gives you the bisharp back and it becomes the rival's partner for the rest of the game

hypno line I forgot what they were based off of but I think they where psychic/dark and also its whole thing was literally just goddamn hypno's lullaby

and bc of that everyone started killing them or something and now they're rare and also hsuian zoroark levels angry or something idk even me back then realized that was dumb and nuked arde hypno

gogoat's line was actually the only interesting one (I feel like it could have been better though) it had the only actual original pokemon I created for this it was called spiriram and it was ghost/dark (it should have been grass/ghost that would have been so much better grrgrgrgr) and it was the final evo of that line (arde skiddo and gogoat were the same type as spiriram)

spiriram was based off of the waterford sheepman (big bipedal sheep thing that eats farm animals)

the other rival had one of these (I forgot what his name was crying I actually kind of liked him)

and now the regional forms are just random and not based off anything related to pa

hitmon line were all psychic/fighting (except tyrouge it's just normal) and I think for some reason they were biblically accurate angels that could also beat the shit out of you ???

already mentioned how wack the eelektross line was

dusknoir lines were fairy/ghost and the best way I can explain this is "ooh cute ghost come play with me :333333 actually I'm gonna fucking kill you now thanks for you body lol :33333"

no haven't played much of any mystery dungeon game yet but ik dusknoir pulls some betrayal somehow I think which makes this really funny bc I swear I didn't know about that when I thought of this thing

oh my god I completely forgot to talk about the terrible pokemon fan region I made a long time ago

[shyrose57]

Elder Council:

Aphmau - She could be a forest spirit or a fae. Orrr my personal favorite since I’m assuming we’re using the MCD Aphmau she could be a normal human that was given magiks.

XD - Since he is probably going to be either Dream’s brother/father or something he should be an elder demon

Herobrine - I would like to make him related to Eret probably either his father or brother sooo prob fae(also he could totally be the one of the reasons faes are seen on bad light)

Lizzie - Mer - Blue axolotl - she was the first to figure out that Tommy is human. I believe that mers can be anything from the ocean so it fits(maybe we could make her related to Sally or Niki?) Also could be current or past ruler of the ocean empire

Scott - Elf - He could be either the current or past Elf king.

FWIP - One of his occupations is alchemist so we are going with that.( I’m pretty sure he falls into some sort of witch category soo)

GeminiTay(Gem) - Wizard one of the rae humans in the world. Though at this point she can’t exactly be considered a human anymore. After spending literal centuries in the magic realm(+from her profession) her body has absorbed so much magic that just like Tommy ended up as something else. The only human thing left is her appearance. Just like Lizzie she was able to know that he was human but stayed quiet for unknown reasons.

Joey - Ihavenoideahelp

Katherine - Fae - She can either be the current or old ruler of spring court.

Mythical Sausage - He is a warlock so I think that works

Pearl - Probably something similar to Aphmau but I’m not sure

Pix - I don’t know

Shubble - Gnome - Wolf spirit - you chose

Joel - human - he isn’t part of the council but I think we should mention him :) also he smol

Jimmy - Ancient ocean dueler - cod - Maybe another ruler of the sea? Like lizzie

Also not everyone has to be in the council

but I thought everyone should be included and then decide who should go and who should stay.

I haven’t watched many perspectives of the empires so most information I got was from the wiki.

I think most elders would be past rulers some may have kept their position until now.

Aphmau: I have no idea what an MCD is!! I'll have to look it up!! But? Wizard Aphmau, perhaps?? Or whatever you think the equivalent of MCD!Aphmau is?

XD: Sounds good! Dream can be his younger brother! Maybe XD's some sort of Eldritch Demon? He's technically probably powerful enough to rule himself(and at one time did), but he'd rather mess with people and hang out with George.

Herobrine: I think we had this as Eret's original true name, but them being a brother could be cool too! Hmm...maybe twins?? They split the name between them, until Eret's changes, but Herobrine's didn't, instead just taking on the entire name for himself. Take that as you will.

Lizzie: Very good, very good! And hey, why not both? We already have Niki of the Glow Squid, so now we can have Sally of the Salmon! As for Lizzie and all the other rulers, I'm going to say that for the most part, they're past rulers. But every now and then there's a successor crisis, and they end up back on the throne for a bit.

Scott: He's an ice elf, maybe? Or just elf in general. Elf/spirit, if we want to tie in Aeor somehow? Either still ruling, or just the one who ends up back on the throne the most.

Fwhip: I mean, if we want to have him as twins with Gem, he can be in a similar situation to her? Oh, or maybe he's the reason she delved into magic, and became what she did? Alchemist/witch!Fwhip, for the win!

Gem: I like that! When someone asks her why she didn't say Tommy was human, she likes to give a cryptic answer-usually something about letting time take it's course-but honestly, she and the other former humans just like to take bets on this sort of thing. You'd think after three or four times, supernaturals would be a bit more willing to go 'maybe they're just human', but nope! 'How Long Does It Take Them To Get It Right' is one of Gem's favorite guessing games, closely followed by 'Who's original guess comes closest when they stop being human'.

Joey: Jungle spirit? One of those creatures that guards tombs? God? One of whatever he calls his cat villagers?

Katherine: We love to see it! She can be on the throne, as a treat. And also because the Overgrowth(shard of Mother Nature, long story), is a bit finicky, and it's hard to find someone besides her who it'll listen to.

Sausage: Good enough for me! Does that also make him human, or would that be like Fwhip's situation? Do we need to start a category for this stuff? Warlock under Witch-would Witch be the broad term for natural magic users, thus automatically making them non-human, or?

Pearl: Harvest god, perhaps? Ancient summer fae?

Pix: Immortal prophet? Former human like Gem? One of Mumza's angels?

Shubble: Hey, we can have both? Spirits take whatever form they choose, and anything can become a spirit. Or we could have them seperate, who knows?

Joel: He's an honorary member, because Lizzie lets him tag along sometimes to judge people's life choices.

Jimmy: Ooh, works for me. Both he and Lizzie are probably just a tiny bit Eldritch themselves. Maybe they split it, when they're on the throne. Lizzie takes care of salt-water affairs, and Jimmy deals with fresh water.

As for who's on the council, hm. Okay, so we've got Aphmau, and XD for short. Potentially Herobrine, depending on what we want to do with that. I feel like Lizzie and Jimmy kinda share a spot? They switch though, and just share details later. Scott and Gem, I'm thinking, along with Katherine. And Pearl too. Maybe some others, I don't know.

How should the council be set up? Specific people who are there for certain reasons? People representing each supernatural species/area/side? Leaning towards the latter, just because there'd be fewer, but if we want to expand, then we probably want the former.

What do you think?

[txemrn]

What About Us?

I am participating in this week's @wackydrabbles prompt number 99: "How about once more--for good luck!" (Prompt will be in bold)

Warning: fairly fluffy with a smidge of angst

Word count: 1575 (+/-)

Song Inspiration: "What About Us?" by P!nk

A/N: It's another Royal Roulette! What is RR? It's simple! Set your music to mix, and be inspired by the first song that pops up! I'm super excited about this one because it worked out perfectly with my desire to write something in honor of 🏳‍🌈PRIDE🏳‍🌈 month! I hope y'all enjoy! Big ol' hugs and special thanks to @burnsoslow and @chemist-ana for pre-reading this! The characters, some of the plot and dialogue belong to our friends at Pixelberry

🌈

A pair of deep ocean eyes anxiously shift around the New York hotel suite. He chews mindlessly on his pink, raw cuticles while his crossed-legs bounce with nervous fury. His other hand casually back-combs his playfully-styled locks, raking them upward into melted spikes. But, luckily for Maxwell, his close friends are preoccupied with excitement; they don’t notice that he is adrift with his raging, thunderous thoughts. Although their pressing questions have been answered, Maxwell wanders aimlessly with a broken heart.

Thanks to their clever sleuth work and strong desire for justice, Tariq was found; and better than anticipated, after careful discussion, he was willing to come forward about the false accusations of his relations with Lady Riley. But, time was of the essence if they were going to stop the Cordonian royal wedding. Riley along with her press secretary Justin, Drake, Hana, the Beaumont brothers work quickly to decipher the next course of action: a public statement to be broadcasted during Liam and Madeleine’s wedding shower.

Hana gently places her petite, manicured hand on Maxwell’s shoulder. Her warm smile and endearing touch calm his outward erratic nerves. Peering into her bright chocolate eyes, a roaring sense of courage overwhelms his internal timidity; he now has his own plan.

“You’re with me, Tariq,” Justin delegates, clapping Tariq’s back. The sound of his name breaks Maxwell from his fog. “We’ve got an appointment.” Maxwell’s eyes track the men as they exit the room, his opportunity for his own justice walking away in a tailored Brioni suit. He thinks quickly; this can’t be it. He needs answers.

“I don’t know about the rest of you,” Drake stifles a yawn, turning towards the open door. “But I need some sleep before we go to this shower.”

Perfect. Now is Maxwell’s chance. “Yeah,” his voice cracks before clearing his throat. “My eyelids feel like they weigh a hundred pounds.” Hopping from the tufted leather chair, Maxwell smooths out his slacks. He finger-guns the ladies, hoping his humor covers up his awkward eagerness to leave. And to get to Tariq.

“Justin!” Maxwell calls out from down the hallway, jogging to catch up to the two men. Leaning into Justin’s ear, he begins to whisper an inaudible request. Though he keeps his head bowed, fixated on his notecards, Tariq casually sneaks a glance at Maxwell.

“Right now?” Justin scoffs, “we don’t have time--”

“Please. Just for a minute.” Maxwell pleads, a wave of seriousness washing over his body.

Justin sighs, placing a hand on his hip, looking at his watch. “Alright,” he motions with his head, “my room. Five minutes. But, then we have to leave if we’re going to get this statement out on time.” Justin ushers an unsuspecting Tariq into his hotel quarters before leaving him alone.

Maxwell takes a deep breath, willing the waves of his churning stomach to cease. He grits his teeth into a smile as his racing heart returns from the clouds. He pops his knuckles one last time before heading into the room to face him.

Maxwell slowly makes his entrance, easing the door closed behind him. With his arms crossed, he leans against the entryway to a small, breakfast nook. Ensuring that his presence is known, he softly coughs as he watches Tariq’s reaction.

Tariq quietly looks out over the busy Manhattan traffic, not acknowledging Maxwell’s presence. He wrings his hands as his thoughts appear to wander.

“Well?” Maxwell starts, chewing on his bottom lip. Tariq rolls his eyes to Maxwell before returning to the view. Maxwell scoffs. “So, that’s it then, huh? That’s what this has come to?” He puts his hands on his hips as he begins to pace. "After everything we've been through--"

“Maxwell--” Tariq meekly whispers.

“And then," Maxwell interrupts, "to hurt my best friend, trying to take away her happy ending, too--?”

“Stop it, Max--” Tariq gruffly mutters.

“I mean, God, Riq!" Maxwell stops pacing, searching for the right words. "What did you think--no, what did you feel when you looked through that peep hole and saw me on the other side, knocking on your door?”

His question hangs in the air as Tariq turns towards an angry Maxwell. Relaxing his shoulders, he slowly steps closer. “Relief?” Maxwell shakes his head in disbelief at the answer. Tariq comes closer, cupping his hand on Maxwell’s face, gently stroking his thumb. “I had always hoped you would find me.”

Maxwell grabs his wrist to stop his tender touch. “Why, Riq? Just, why? Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn't you call me--?”

Tariq sighs, walking back to the window. “Constantine.”

“What does he have to do with anything--?”

Tariq let's out a long sigh. “He saw us, Max--” he looks to Maxwell, widening his eyes. “He--saw--us. You know? That morning?” He clears his throat. “At Applewood--?”

Max gasps, his cheeks flushing like a wildfire. “He saw us?” He tries to hide his grin, covering his mouth with his fingers. “But--”

“I know,” Tariq runs his hands nervously through his hair. “Later that morning, he requested my presence, only to threaten to reveal our relationship to the entire court--” he swallows thickly, “--not to mention our families-- and to the world.” Tariq’s eyebrows knit with worry as he continues. “My only deliverance was if I followed through with his plan to eliminate the American competition--” he defeatedly sighs, “--what I did to Lady Brooks, ‘for the sake of Cordonia and the Crown’.”

“Riq, I--I had no idea--”

“He told me I could return after Liam was married, but why would I want to?” The storm clouds gather in his eyes. “He would always have the truth about me--about us--hanging over our heads, not to mention how everyone must feel about me, how everyone must be disgusted with me--” he catches his head in his hands as his sobs. “How you must feel about me…” he whispers.

Max kneels in front of Tariq, taking his smooth, broad hands into his own. His eyes sparkle with adoration as Tariq stares at the floor. “Look at me.” Maxwell presses his lips to Tariq’s knuckles. “It’s okay--”

“I’m sorry,” Tariq stumbles over his tears. “I’m so sorry for what I’ve done against Ramsford, against you--God!” He grips tightly to Maxwell’s hands. “I’m so sorry what I’ve done against us--if there’s even still an us--”

“Shhh,” Maxwell hushes his cries. “Riq, do you remember the last time we were here?”

The corners of Tariq’s mouth curl, his swollen eyes meeting Maxwell’s gaze. “How could I forget?”

Both of the men chuckle as Maxwell touches his hand to Tariq’s cheek, his thumb wiping away his tears. “We talked about finally going public--”

“I know, I know. And Max,” he sighs, “I’m still scared. Of what people will--”

“No, no,” he interrupts, smiling kindly at Tariq. “Do you remember what I told you?”

“Before or after the third bottle of that cheap Merlot?” Tariq raises a mischievous eyebrow, squeezing Maxwell’s hand. Maxwell’s eyes grow dark with desire, giving Tariq a knowing look.

“This was definitely before,” Maxwell titters; but his tone quickly grows serious. “But, seriously? Do you remember Riq?” Tariq softly nods, lacing his fingers with Maxwell’s. “I mean what I said--and I still do.”

Tariq leans forward, resting his head against Maxwell’s forehead at the sound of his words. Closing their eyes, they cherish the moment, savoring each other in the stillness of being together. They’re hearts intertwine, beating as one, keeping perfect time and rhythm.

“I still love you, too, Max.” Lifting Maxwell’s chin up with the soft touch of his hand, their lips meet passionately. Maxwell slips his arms around Tariq’s neck, deepening the kiss. Tariq quietly moans into Maxwell’s lips, teasing them with his tongue as he pulls him into an embrace.

“Gentlemen?” A sudden knock at the door makes them jump apart. Justin appears, tapping on his watch. “We gotta go! If we leave now, we will make it--”

“Just-in time,” both Maxwell and Tariq groan. “We know. We know.”

Filing out of the room, Tariq takes Maxwell’s hand in his hand. Maxwell pauses, giving Tariq an inquisitive look, looking at their laced fingers before continuing comfortably down the hallway.

“I’m ready, Max--”

“I know you are.” Maxwell squeezes his hand as they stop to wait for the elevator. “You’re going to do great--”

“No, no--” Tariq raises their hands, kissing the back of Maxwell’s hand. “This. I’m tired of hiding. From court, from Constantine, from everyone. I’m ready for this. For you.”

“Riq,” letting go of his hand, Maxwell’s eyes flutter, blinking away a tear. “Maybe we need to talk more about this whenever we get home--because, oh boy, I don’t want you to feel any pressure, and you know, I’m willing to wait forever for you, you know that, right? I just want to make sure--”

Tariq steps up, pressing his hands against Maxwell’s chest. He leans in to place a gentle kiss to his supple lips to quiet his rambling. “I’m sure.” He smiles, mirroring Maxwell’s toothy grin. “Now,” Tariq continues, tapping on his lips with his finger, “how about once more--for good luck!”

Maxwell grazes his lips tenderly against his lover’s mouth before embracing him tightly. Leaning into Tariq’s ear, Maxwell lowers his voice: “we don’t need luck. babe.”

As the doors slide open with the chime of the elevator, Maxwell takes Tariq’s hand. Smiling at each other, the men step onto the lift and into their future together.

🌈

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