#IM SORRY ive never liked it. genuinely.

[lunar-lair]

never going to be over red hoods muzzle/actual hood look. its so good. like, just. the muzzle period. my baby boy who is a wolf and a dog and loyal and bites and should not be trusted and just wants to go home. you could even slap it on the original red hood outfit and id be happy!! i just like it when his hair is visible ok :( and also muzzles are cool

[clickety-clacker]

Been seeing so many cool Clickies on my dashboard since getting into GGG, I just had to take the time to draw a few of them- plus, it was a bit of a challenge to try new styles. A lot of these guys were also super influential to how I draw and even think about Click Clack on my own time, so you should definitely check them out! Names below the cut cus it got long heehoo

Top left: @malartsorte

Top middle (holding papers): @scribblelimbo

Top right: @wishgraanted

Leftmost middle: @beastwhimsy

Middle (peace sign!): @sootnuki

Rightmost middle: @molabuddy

Bottom left: @pespillo

Bottom middle: @artuurle

Bottom right: @modmad

I know I said it already, but all of yall are super cool and I had a lot of fun challenging myself to make this! Keep on being awesome 👍

[hoshiina]

pairing: hoshina soushirou x gn!reader (no prns)

request: hiii idk if u take these kinds of requests but id like to see jealous reader (preferably if reader and hoshina are already in an established relationship and reader works in a different division, meaning they dont get to see each other much) like maybe he’s used to calling okonogi “my dear” and its the first reader heard him call anyone with a pet name like that and she starts to overthink and gets pouty/ sulky and hoshina doesnt notice it at first but when he does he starts teasing her which doesnt help HAHAHAHA if its ok can it be hurt/ comfort and end in fluff & HELLO!! can i request an angst to fluff with hoshina where reader thinks he likes okonogi more than him especially since he is against revealing him n reader’s relationship to the third division (for other reasons of course). hopefully this isnt too specific!! i hope u have a wonderful day:))

notes: hoshina calls the reader “darling”, hurt comfort, him accepting jealousy a valid emotion (very important to me i fear), so sorry i merged the reqs!! i hope this was satisfactory for both TY FOR THE REQ!, this is a twt thread i thought about while writing this, (l/n) mention in the bonus part

wc: 1400

Oh, you hated when this happened. You hated when your heart started to tighten in this horrible way you knew well. You hated being jealous.

You hated how self centered it made you feel and how it ate away at your thoughts and feelings. It made you feel like your good thoughts were disintegrating to horrible ones. However, what you hated even more was how it meant you were doubting his love for you— and that was the last thing you wanted to do. You didn't want to doubt him, nor did you doubt him, but when the jealousy got to your head it was over. You were stuck in a loop.

To top it off, the cause of this all was truly harmless and hardly that big of a deal, but that's usually how most anxious thoughts start. They start little.

You were called to visit the 3rd Division to help with research on a field you were particularly knowledgeable on, and you happened to hear Hoshina's laughter from the operation room, so you went in to take a peek.

“It was not that funny,” Okonogi was saying to him, but Hoshina only continued to laugh.

“Yes, it definitely was,” he laughed. “I knew Kafka would forget about that hole in the training grounds again.”

“Why don't you remind him, then?”

“Comedic relief, of course.”

“Alright then.”

“Okonogi dear, you're no fun,” he said.

They said a few more things, but you couldn't seem to focus on their words. ‘Dear’? Was that merely a simple pet name? Or was there more to them than you initially expected?

Oh, the worries started to fill your head. And they were things you didn't want to be worried about— Okonogi was always so sweet to you when you popped by and you knew Hoshina loved you. The last thing you wished to do was doubt them, nor did you want to make things awkward around them. There were just so many things that you just didn't know about, being in a different division as him. You doubted they even knew you were dating, and the voice in your head would only get louder.

It was then that Hoshina saw you at the doorway and called over to you.

“Are you done with work?” he asked, his voice excited and hopeful. Your heart stung.

“Not quite yet,” you tried to sound disappointed, but for the right reason. “I’ll get going now.”

You walked away from the room as quickly as you could, seemingly naturally. You didn't want to be there and you didn't want to talk to him before calming down first— you were sure you'd say something silly if you spoke now.

Yet, immediately you heard footsteps behind you and a hand you knew well grab yours.

“Soushirou?” you asked, turning to look behind you.

“What's wrong?” he asked, his voice soft and visible concern in his eyes. “Do you feel unwell?”

Pang in your chest again.

“Not at all, nothing's wrong?” you said, but you could see the way he pursued his lips— the hurt in his eyes from how you wouldn't tell him what was troubling you. Gosh, why did you feel this way? Why must you feel much silly emotions.

“It's truly so stupid,” you said. “I'll tell you another time.”

“Alright,” he said, letting go of your hand. That one was your bad— you knew he wouldn't push you any further, even if he wanted to.

Dinner that night was awkward. You weren't even that jealous, but the fact that you felt something was gnawing at your brain upset you. Not to mention the fact that you were keeping something from him made you feel even worse.

“How was your training?” you asked.

“Alright, I suppose,” he said. There was a horrible moment of silence. You weren’t sure what to say.

“I think I’m getting a hang of this new technique,” he finally continued, but you wouldn’t look up at him— you were afraid he wouldn’t look your way.

“I see,” you said. “That’s really cool… I’d like to see someday.”

“I’ll show you as soon as its better,” he said.

The rest of dinner felt… quiet. The two of you still talked throughout it but it was terribly different from the usual lively catch-up you’d have— it was heart-wrenching quite frankly.

So as you’d imagine, going to sleep was even worse. You subconsciously faced away from him and pretended to fall asleep quickly, hoping he’d sleep soon too. You hated what was going on, but you just couldn’t bring this up. You knew it was silly and you knew you’d forget soon enough. You’d probably regret making such a big deal out of it.

“Darling,” he said, and immediately you turned to face him. He was already facing you. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t feel like it… I’m sorry I pushed you.”

Gosh, you thought. You gulped. You wished he wasn’t so kind.

“You’re going to think I’m so annoying though,” you said, voice cracking in a way you didn’t wish for it to and immediately his eyes widened.

“Darling, what happened?” he asked, suddenly worried. “You could never be annoying to me.”

“I… heard you…” you started and he just listened— he waited. “I heard you calling Okonogi, ‘dear.’ And suddenly I—”

“I’m so sorry,” he said, without hesitation. “I hadn’t even realized I did that, it was completely by habit. I won’t anymore.”

You finally met his eyes and the way he looked so horrified he had made you feel bad was so prominent in his eyes.

“No, Soushirou,” you said. “I didn’t mean for you to have to change anything— I know so well that both of you are so sweet to me and there’s nothing going on. I just—”

“Darling, calm down,” he said, cutting you off. “You’ve done nothing wrong, why are you beating yourself up? This was my bad and that’s about it. None of this is you.”

“I—,” you said, taking a moment to collect yourself. “I hate to be jealous, Soushirou. I’m so sorry.”

“Why?” he asked and you paused to look up at him, utterly confused.

“Why?” he asked again.

“It’s such an… ugly feeling,” you said.

“Is it?”

“Is it… not?”

��What’s wrong with being jealous?”

“Because it’s like I’m doubting you or something… when I don’t at all.”

“I think that’s a different thing entirely, no?” he asked. “You can know in your head that I’m in love with you and still feel something else— they’re not always the same. A little jealousy is perfectly healthy, I think.”

“Oh…” you said. You wanted to say so much more but there was so much to process first. Your heart swelled with such warmth.

“I get jealous too. I hate when Narumi gets too close to you or bothers you when I’m not around,” he continued on. “But in my head I know you’d never do anything to hurt me and you’d stop him if he crosses a line. I’ll try to stop if that bothers you though.”

“No,” you said. “That sounds… nice. I’m rather… happy… you were a jealous actually. But I’ll make sure to keep some more distance between Captain Narumi next time.”

He laughed. “Sounds good. But you tell me if there’s anything more that bothers you okay. I’ll fix myself up.”

“I will,” you said and he kissed your forehead. “But Soushirou, I don’t mind much anymore. You can stay the way you are.”

“No, no, stop overthinking. You need to sleep now, you have an early morning tomorrow.”

“Yeah. You too Sou,” you said and he hummed.

Once you were certain he was asleep, you kissed his cheek and slipped your hand into his. You liked holding his hand when you fell asleep, but you weren’t sure if it made it harder for him to fall asleep.

“Thank you,” you whispered to him. “You mean the world to me.”

You lightly kissed his cheek, careful not to wake him up, but to your surprised he smiled. He squeezed your hand and without opening his eyes, “You missed,” he said.

He kissed you on the lips and you laughed, snuggling up against him. “You were awake.”

“I was waiting for you to hold my hand,” he said. “I like when we hold hands when we sleep.”

BONUS:

From then on, Hoshina stopped calling Okonogi “dear” as much, and it’d only happen when it truly slipped out of him from force of habit.

“Vice-Captain, you’ve started dating (l/n), haven’t you?” she said to him one day while they were sorting through files.

“How... did you know?” he asked. The two of you had been dating for quite a while now, but he was more surprised she guessed you correctly.

“It’s terribly obvious you’re completely in love,” she said.

He blinked. And then he laughed. 

He’d have to ask you that night if he can share the news with everyone, properly, then.

[doomedclockworkdotmp3]

heeyyy gaaanggg

the pose and the background of the album version (left) are based on oingo boingos only a lad album art. not cause i think he has anything to do with it but just cause ive been wantin to draw that pose for like. weeks and i didnt know who to put there. so why not my latest bug man.

[pickled-flowers]

I would like to be allowed to be horny in an asexual way please thank you

[knightingale]

Not that it really matters but the thing about the Darry Trial™ in AGoT that I think so many people get wrong is that Sansa was protecting Arya when she said she didn't remember what happened by the Trident. Lets say Sansa told the truth in that scene; she'd necessarily have to include that Arya hit Joffrey with a broomstick, because he was cutting Mycah's cheek for hitting Arya, and that's what led to the fight that had Nymeria biting Joff. But if Sansa said this then Arya would be wrongly seen as the guilty party.

Like, these people didn't care that Mycah was killed, so why would this room full of nobles and mostly Lannister knights care that Joffrey cut him on the cheek? They'd most likely view the situation as their Crown Prince chastising an impudent peasant for hitting highborn Lady Arya Stark. So Arya attacking her "defender" over this could be seen as an unjust (or even an irrational/crazed) assault on the future king. Don't get me wrong, I think Arya was totally right to beat Joff, just like Dunk was right to beat Aerion for the same reason, but their classist and sexist nobility isn't going to view the situation like we do.

And as we learn later, the punishment for striking a royal is to lose the hand that struck them. Do I think Robert would've cut Arya's hand off? No, of course not, but I'm sure that Sansa thought her sister would be punished in some way if she confirmed that Arya had hit a royal. We don't actually learn that Robert thinks the whole affair is no big deal until after Sansa has spoken and with further context we know that Sansa is frightened by Robert... so ya'know.

[lemongogo]

viktor prev 🤖

[reel-fear]

Genuinely so curious who Mike thinks is gonna be buying The Cage or the new DCTL GN bc with the way he tweets as far as he's concerned, it's not gonna be:

The queer people he has actively admitted he will never show any representation of in the games.

2. The POC he has actively fought against representing in his franchise. [Who he also mocked for thinking they would be represented in his franchise]

3. The Bendy fandom which has always been concerned with topics of diversity esp in the sense of queer people since its creation. Who he has responded to really poorly esp in regards to the GN.

4. The fans who critique him. [He blocked me for doing so lol]

5. His fans in general who he tweets about like this currently. [He's being vague about why people were mad at him or sent him 'nasty messages' because if you actually looked into why you'd see he was in the wrong. Either way, a very hateful way to speak abt ur own fanbase.]

Reminder while Mike is trash talking his fans he has always treated them rather poorly. The fans who won the fanart contest for Chapter 5 never got their posters actually in game due to it being rushed. Not only was chapter 5 a big slap to the face story wise, but it was literally so rushed he couldn't be bothered to add in the art his fans gave him for his game FOR FREE. [Meatly blames this on a crazy timeline, reminder him and Mike are the literal ceos of this company. The proposal of future updates here is also pretty cruel considering Mike nowadays happily admits he corrupted Chapter 5's source code and therefore literally can't update it At All currently. Because he is a moron]

At least they got to be in Boris and the dark survival, and by that I mean that was the Only game they got to be in so far, isn't that just treating your fans like you love them? Shoving their hard work into a spin off game almost nobody has played or addresses much. [Hell, who knows if with the Lone Wolf rebrand they'll even stay there. In which case they'll be in None of the games, only in the credits of BATIM]

6. The Bendy fans who just generally disagree with him on stuff. Like the new ink demon design where there is literally a public poll showing people generally prefer the old one.

7. The Bendy fans who can see he is actively lying to them. To their fucking faces.

He says this has always been the case, but screenshots and links to tweets regarding the books being canon prove it was not. Does he really think bendy fans are stupid or something? [Unless he's admitting here he lied to Kress when he told her the books were canon which sounds worse!]

8. Anyone who doesn't like the idea of giving money to a guy who laid off tons of employees then afterwards thought it was a great idea to express his anti-union views! Also brag about how good of an employer he was, according to his employees, he was not!

So in summary; Mike is an awful person who has not learned anything from the awful things he did. I will not be purchasing The Cage because, combined with this and his absolute refusal to take any kind of critique or see any differing interpretation of his franchise, I have no reason to think my problems with the franchise will ever be addressed or fixed. I probably will pirate The Cage along with any future Bendy Products [Including the movie] and will do my best to avoid giving it any kind of monetary support. Unless this changes any time soon, I can't see myself making anymore positive Bendy posts soon.

Mike has just managed to make it so hard to speak positively or optimistically of this franchise when he's so willing to broadcast how little he cares about it or its fans. I'm at the point where I refuse to pull any of my punches with my problems with it. What's the point of trying to play nice with my critique when either way the people creating it don't care?

So with this post, I want to invite anyone who feels similarly about the franchise to tell me, make a post or send an ask talking about how all of this makes you feel. It may not change how things are, but genuinely seeing other people share my feelings of anger makes me feel better. It feels nice to see when other people share our same concerns and worries. I'd also love to know if anyone else thinks they'll be avoiding purchasing Bendy products over this.

I'm not forcing anyone to participate in it nor trying to say anyone who doesn't supports mike but genuinely maybe if we can collectively decide to boycott things like the movie, graphic novel and The Cage... It might at least make the bendy devs acknowledge how much they have destroyed their own fandom's faith and trust in them.

The way Mike tweets about his actions like he had no control over why people were mad at him at least proves to me he takes NONE of it back nor regrets it. If you didn't know about his actions and only went off his tweets, you would be led to believe Mike has been needlessly picked apart by fans over things he couldn't control [or in his own words, had his words twisted and taken out of context]. That is not how you speak about your actions if you have actually learned better from them.

anyway, that has been my bendy dev callout post. This is an open invitation to anyone feeling similarly upset about the way the franchise is going to talk about it. It's genuinely nice to see how people feel about this and the more we talk about the more it's likely the bendy devs are forced to address our concerns. I don't think they will but hey, that's why I'm not gonna support them with my money anymore nor am I gonna be nice to them in any content I make critiquing Bendy. I mean I'm also basically making this post just in case anyone asks me Why I feel this way towards to bendy devs/as a way to respond to anyone who thinks I am too harsh in my critique in the future.

As always, it seems the best part of Bendy isn't actually anything about canon but about what the fan's are creating with the ideas Bendy failed to do anything interesting with.

Also the books, the books slap.

[nnugatoryextravagance]

I don't know who needs to hear this and maybe I just sound insane but please I am begging on my knees try don't let yourself fall into having your only outlet for meeting new friends be mostly controlled by a single person, unless you are like 200% sure nothing will ever happen between you two or you genuinely have zero other options somehow, it's really not worth it

Socializing is one of the scariest things in the world but its even scarier when theres the chance that one day everything you've done and all the people you met could all be gone in a snap with no way of ever getting them back

Go join that little fandom discord server, go dm that tumblr mutual you think is cool, make small talk on an online game with your peers, do literally anything else that I should've done on my own instead of being carried around everywhere from place to place like an unsocialized dog for 5 years before being surrendered to a shelter without even getting to keep my collar

[natsmagi]

adding onto my last rant from a while ago a little bit, it is fascinating how many people in this fandom completely miss the point of tsumugis character and misconstrue what hes actually about which, ironically, is just what eichi did. and its done in such a similar fashion too, such as making assumptions about his motives, his family relationship, and missing the point in why he chooses to look the way he does. and, time and time again, eichi has been proven to be WRONG about tsumugi. he misunderstood him deeply, and now its eichi whos stuck mourning the past while tsumugi has long since moved on, not the other way around, as tsumugi is on the path of getting his happy ending. and i dont get why people keep trying to take this positivity from him

(s. element epilogue 2)

[raineandsky]

#86

Being a hero is stressful. That much is common knowledge. How a hero goes about unwinding from said stress is a mystery no one has yet figured out.

The hero settles in one of the little chairs in the circle. The man next to her gives her a light nudge. “Let’s see what you made this week, then.”

The hero reaches into her bag to show off her latest stress relief—a giant blanket, knitted in the downtime between jobs, sporting a rainbow of colours in bright streaks across its face. Everyone oohs and ahhs appropriately before the rest of the circle gets to showing off their own creations.

It’s been nice to have a place that isn’t entirely consumed by work, the hero thinks as she nods approvingly at someone’s mug cosy. No worrying about tomorrow, no wondering where the villains might be.

Her gaze flits to the next person in line to show something off, and her heart momentarily stops as she meets her eye. At least she doesn’t have to worry about the latter of her thoughts right now.

What the hell is the villain doing at the hero’s weekly knitting club?

“Go on,” the woman next to the villain prompts. The villain huffs and makes a show of it, but she pulls out a cardigan with a ghost of a pleased smirk.

The hero only realised why she’s so self-satisfied when she catches herself gaping in awe. The villain’s little cardigan is elaborate in pattern, swooping waves lining its shoulders. The yarns meld together in a perfect cacophony of colour. It’s amazing, more amazing than anything the hero could do.

The villain soaks in the praise with a humble nod before setting her gaze on the hero. It probably looks hopeful to anyone else, but the hero can see the glitter of arrogance in her eye. Go on, the villain’s practically saying, tell me how great I am.

“It’s nice,” the hero says through gritted teeth, and the villain’s smile turns humoured.

The hero can’t leave fast enough. Everyone else is packing their projects away. The hero’s blanket gets folded thankfully easily and she’s out the door before anyone can stop her.

Fine. A new project. Something to advance her skills and show the villain that she’s not the hot shit she thinks she is.

It takes all week. The hero holds her jumper up to show the group. The villain raises her eyebrows from across the circle.

“Inspired by another knitter here,” the hero says with what could almost be sarcasm, and the villain snorts a poorly contained laugh.

The villain shows off her creation. A pair of mittens, the patterns lacy and the colours bright. The hero scowls. Pissed doesn’t describe the feeling.

Next week. A layered scarf from the hero. The villain wins everyone’s affections with a tiny knitted elephant. “For my niece’s birthday,” the villain says innocently. “She loves them.”

Leaving is becoming more of a race with each passing week. “Keep trying,” the villain comments brightly before the hero can escape. “You’ve plenty of room to improve.”

The hero considers strangling the villain with her scarf.

The hero settles at her computer that evening with a scowl and a cup of hot chocolate, mentally prepared to prowl the internet for several hours for ideas on how to one-up the villain. It’s madness. She’s meant to be out there kicking the villain’s ass, and here she is trying to out-knit her.

It’s been three weeks, and she’s only just realising that her stress-relieving hobby is suddenly a lot more stress-inducing.

“Fuck,” she hisses outloud, and she momentarily considers the idea of knitting the word into a coaster for the villain too.

[kitsunesakii]

Spider in the Dark

This was SO MUCH FUN

Printer issues, Lunch Date, Flower Shop, The Stranger pt. 1, 2, 3, 4, ur here, Two is Better than One

Sasha hummed in satisfaction as the program she had been working on finally yielded. An address popped up on the screen and she frowned. That warehouse was definitely empty. The police had cornered a small group of the People's Church along with Author Nolan; he was dead. Well, honestly probably not. Sasha had seen enough to not trust such a hopeful claim. But he couldn't still be there? 

She had been researching the claims that some statement givers had given on the Stranger. Honestly it was just idle work until Jon gave her a real task. But one search had led to another and now she was staring at an address that was supposedly where a mannequin had been dropped off for maintenance. So why was it the same warehouse as Author's group?  

It wasn't a mistake on her end. And she doubted it was a coincidence. Those didn't seem to exist in this place. Maybe Jon knew something about it, Sasha moved to stand when Jon's door flew open and Jon paused, looking around before frowning. 

"Where is everybody?" 

"Martin went to investigate a lead and Tim's taking some sort of vacation day." 

Jon scowled and Sasha grinned. "I, however, am right here and not busy at the moment." Besides the mystery of the warehouse but that was a side project at best. 

"I need to follow up on a location someone left us about a statement, it was last week so I hope to find something useful."

"Alright, where?"

He squinted at the paper and read the coordinates. Her eyes shot up. 

"Jon, that's the same warehouse they had the ambush at." She gestured to her computer screen. "What statement was it about?"

"An artifact delivered by Michael Silesa. I think Gertrude was looking into it, I found an older recording-"

"I'm going to stop you there," Sasha cut him off and rubbed her temples. "Have you really thought about this? This seems like a trap."

"Possibly. I'm going to check it out."

"I'm coming with you." She was leading him out of the basement before he could protest, glancing back just in time to see him stuff a recorder in his pocket. Sasha rolled her eyes. Recently he had been jumpier, at first she had thought it was just because of the worms. Then she shrugged off the suspicion to the fact that even after a very annoying, very persistent argument on why Micheal seemed interested in protecting her and having to listen to him list off all the reasons it was a horrible idea, she still didn't  change her mind. But now she was starting to think the paranoia was from something else, and if Jon needed a little extra confirmation of her loyalty she was willing to provide it. Hell just about anything to get out of the office. 

"But we aren't going anywhere without torches, and I'm going to text Tim to give us three hours and if he doesn't hear back to call the cops."

Jon frowned. "That won't be necessary."

"Tough." She said simply, shooting Tim a text as they entered into the afternoon sun. 

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

"This is definitely a trap." Sasha said matter of fact as they looked over a piece of paper that had been taped to the side door of the large industrial warehouse. The paper had the words "A Guest for Mr. Spider." Printed nicely. She hadn't the slightest idea what that meant but it left Jon three shades paler than before which told her all she needed to know. "We should leave." 

"I'm not leaving." Jon put the paper in his pocket and opened the door. "I need answers."

She followed in after him and quickly grabbed his arm. He paused long enough to allow her to hand him a torch. It was pitch black in there. 

They walked forwards and she tried to remember where they were. Along the wall she spotted a yellow door. She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or not. 

"What does the note mean?" Her question echoed. 

"Nothing."

"It must have meant something with the way you balked at it."

"Why are you so curious about it?" His words settled around them with an accusatory bite. 

Sasha rolled her eyes. "Oh I don't know, maybe it has something to do with the fact that I'm following you blindly into a place that could kill us?" Her heart was hammering in her ears. God she hated the dark, she shifted her grip on his wrist. Even with the torch she could barely see the wall beside them. 

"Well excuse me, I don't see the danger you could possibly be in with how close you are to deadly monsters." 

There was no way he was doing this right now. And Sasha knew that she shouldn't be fueling it but her nerves had her on edge and her filter was left at the door of the warehouse. 

"I don't appreciate your passive aggressive tone."

"I don't like being lied to." His words bordered on a growl. 

Realistically she knew the stress of it all was hitting him. They should leave now, she had already started to lose track of direction and he wasn't helping. 

Sasha tried to remain calm as she answered. "I haven't lied to you." She slowed them to a stop and looked around. "Jon, maybe we should leave."

"Why, " He ripped his wrist free and shined the torch directly in her face. "Why should I believe anything you've said to me? For all I know you wrote the note, I saw you already knew the location of this warehouse before I even brought it up."

Sasha swore the darkness was getting darker around them. Her calm was slipping. 

"Yes I was looking up a statement that had to do with the warehouse, specifically about a mannequin that was delivered here. I don't know anything about the note or why it might be significant, that's why I asked." She could barely see him over the blinding light in her eyes. Alarms were going off in her head that they needed to start looking for an exit. "Listen I know it's been a hard two weeks since Prentiss and all-"

"How would you know? You've been in the clear, chatting up the bloody distortion!" 

Obviously he wasn't finished with their previous argument. She heard a sound to the left and her head snapped in that direction, aiming her torch into fog. Was there always fog? She was shaking, woefully aware that they hadn't brough anything to arm themselves with. 

"Jon, please, can we please have this later-"

"For all I know you've brought me here to kill me, you certainly seem panicked enough." 

Sasha was just about done with his paranoia. "Damn it Jon, I'm scared of the dark!"

No sooner were the words out when both their torches flickered and died. 

Sasha just about lunged at Jon, gripping whatever she could as tight as she could. "You can accuse me of murder after we live long enough to get out of here. Now please tell me you still have extra torches in your bag." 

"Right. Yeah, yeah, I'm going to need you to let go of my shoulder a moment- thank you."

There was the sound of shuffling fabric then both of them froze. To the left she could hear a distinct clicking sound followed by tapping. She swore it sounded like footsteps, but too many to be human. She squeezed his arm. "Light, Jon, light." She whispered. 

The sound of a zipper followed a small swear from Jon. 

"They won't turn on."

Shit. "Jonathan Sims, if I die because of your paranoia for me I swear to Christ I will kill you." She needed to think. "Ok, the wall was to the left of us, if we can find the wall then we can find a way out."

He let out a shaky breath and they started moving, pausing every once in a while when the tapping got closer. 

Sasha held her breath as they walked in the supposed direction, her heart ricocheting in her ears, but this couldn't be right, they should have hit a wall by now. Jon made a small sound of disapproval and they both stopped for a moment. 

Sasha remembered her phone and used one hand to rip it out of her pocket, trying to turn it on. Dead. 

Because of course it was. 

Her gaze snapped to the left of her, she swore she had heard a sound. Not the clicking like before, it almost sounded like-

Something wrapped around her arm and she nearly screamed, nearly, quickly shoving her free hand over her mouth, dropping her phone. 

"What, Sasha what?" Jon's voice trembled with fear low and close to her ear. 

Laughter. She had heard laughter. And not just anyones. 

Before she could process an answer she was being pulled lightly, and in response she pulled Jon as well. They walked in silence for what felt like years, Sasha being led blind until she heard the subtle sound of hinges and the hand that was pulling her was gone. 

It took her a moment to realize she was in front of a door. She didn't need to see the color to know where it led. 

Her grip around Jon tightened and she felt him move closer. "What, why have we stopped?"

"I- I think I found us a way out, a door, but, Jon I already know you don't trust me but-" 

"If you found an exit why aren't we taking it?"

Sasha gripped the handle tightly. "I don't think this door leads outside." She whispered. 

A beat of silence went by before Jon seemed to understand what she was insinuating. 

"Absolutely bloody not, I will not follow you into whatever hell awaits us through there, there's got to be a better-"

His voice staggered and instantly a loud guttural sound burst through the silence followed by fervent tapping. 

"No time." Sasha threw the door open and pulled Jon inside just as the roar seemed to shake the ground beneath them. The door shut easily, leaving them with just the sound of their heartbeats. 

Sasha allowed herself to breathe again. Tremors were running through her body as she tried to keep composure. This was the final straw, either she was changing departments or Elias was giving her one hell of a raise. 

Sasha hadn't let go of Jon since they crossed into the corridors, and she couldn't hide her relief of sight. Even if the mess and ever changing blur of shapes hurt her mind a little. Sasha looked at Jon, he was leaned over, his hands on his knees and breathing shakily. He was paler than he should have been. She glanced around and saw a flickering door in front of them. But it was there. And she pulled Jon forwards. 

"Come on." Her anger almost surprised her. 

She still didn't let go of Jon as they tripped and swayed to the door. It didn't move, and when she opened it, it led out onto what appeared to be a street corner. Laughter echoed through the halls as they stepped through the threshold, the door disappearing behind them. 

Immediately she let go of Jon. 

For a moment it was silent, Sasha feeling something in her pocket and pulling out her phone. Hadn't she dropped it? She opened it to a message from Tim asking for a time check. 

She glanced at the time and frowned. 

Thirty minutes. Only thirty minutes. 

"My, my, that counts twice in one month. Dear Archivist, please tell me you walked into her web on purpose, if I knew how much you seemed to enjoy the thrill I wouldn’t be so quick to gift you such a free pleasure."

Sasha didn't have the willpower at the moment to worry about Micheal leaning against the wall and sneering at Jon. She needed a minute. Breathing through her nose as she prayed for her heart to relax. Jon responded to Michael's words with some barked reply. She wasn't listening, instead focusing on not breaking down and crying on the street corner. 

A few minutes went by, the wind filtering through her hair as she finally took the time to turn to the two behind her. 

She wasn't entirely all that sure on what Micheal said but Jon looked livid and Micheal looked overjoyed. 

"Shut it!" She hollered over the two of them, her voice not nearly as strong as she had hoped. Instead it sounded a level above a pathetic whimper. "Micheal. Thank you for getting us out, Jon, come on we are leaving."

She didn't turn around to see if he was following her, but it wasn't long till he was beside her. A new type of silence taking over. 

Sasha wasn't even sure if angry was the correct term. She thought over her words carefully before speaking, keeping them flat and almost monotone. 

"I don't know what's worse. The fact that we almost died from something neither of us could see, or the fact that you came to the conclusion I was going to kill you. Both are pathetic enough."

"I didn't-"

"Oh don't even think about taking your words back now." She wasn't making much progress on keeping her tone even. "Where did that even come from?! Logically, what do I benefit from killing you? We've already come to the conclusion that your job isn't the 'promotion' we all thought it would be."

His words were quiet. Ashamed "Gertrude Robinson was killed in cold blood." 

Right. She had had a suspicion that that had been bothering him. It made her let out a small crude laugh. 

"And here I thought it was because I had befriended what you call a monster."

"I just don't want to end up like her, you knew her! I was just-"

"Just what, Jon?" She stopped in front of him, anger and fear spilling through her words, unable to be held back any longer. "You are one of the most intensely skeptical people I've ever met, I've never heard you this paranoid before. Do you even have any evidence? Where's your proof? You criticize every single statement you read because they never have the proof you want, now you are going off of nothing and suspecting everything!"

"Gertrude Robinson is my proof." He shot back. Like a cornered dog she thought, shaking her head. 

"She's proof that someone was out to get her. I met her! I'm not all that surprised someone came after her and honestly neither should you! Christ Jon we were attacked by worms and now this, obviously there are things out there able and willing to kill. Why the hell suspect me?"

But it wasn't just her. Tim had mentioned that he thought he had seen someone outside his house, he blew it off but now she wasn't so sure. Jon suspected all of them, no doubt. 

Sasha shook her head, rubbing away the pathetic tears that begged to fall. She was so tired. Sick of things trying to kill her. Sick of feeling like she was on the witness stand. Sick of it all. 

"Jon I've always felt I understood where you were coming from. But I don't understand this. I don't understand shutting everyone out because of some suspicion. I didn't almost just die only for you to label it as some failed attempt on my end. I'm your friend, sure I trust people a little more often than you do but that doesn't mean I'm plotting behind your back." The anger fell away as she scowled at nothing. "I guess I can't force you to trust me." She shook her head and started forwards again. 

"Sasha, please don't- I- I don't, if you tell the others- listen I know I'm hard sometimes but I know something up I can feel it."

"I won't tell anyone."

"Wh-what?" 

"I trust you. Shocking right? Well I do, and if you genuinely think you are in danger then-" Sasha shook her head. "Well I've believed worse with less so, sure, let's go with that. But I'm not willing to believe it's someone on our team ok? Leave them alone." Sasha stopped and turned. Jon was staring at her with the most relieved expression. 

"You're serious?"

"Accuse me of killing again and this will be a drastically different conversation. Bloody hell Jon, I can't with you sometimes."

[northern-passage]

i've been thinking a lot about the word "representation" and what it means and how it's changed over the last few years, particularly when it comes to the writing/publishing landscape but also in movies and tv shows… and i really don't like it anymore. to be clear, of course i think it's important to have diversity in your work, i'm not saying i hate the concept of representation. but i do really dislike the way it's used now, and i really just hate the word itself

in a broader sense it's just become a marketing tool. i'm not impressed by any publisher or author who just describes their book by listing all of the minorities/identities the characters represent as if that should be enough. it feels very gross, very exploitative and disingenuous. it also really bothers me because it's always marginalized identities- which i understand Why, but it feels very othering to me (and again. Very exploitative as an advertisement). you would never list out "cishet able-bodied white man" as a character description to pat yourself on the back over. so why do it to everyone else? why insinuate that one is the "default" and the other one is "special"? (and when i say this i'm mainly talking about advertisements/marketing. i understand why people would specify about characters in descriptions with the plot, but i don't like to see an ad that's just "this book has gay people!" with nothing else)

which then leads me to my other point, which is that a lot of people treat "representation" as if it's "too hard." like "oh i don't know enough to write about that, i don't have that experience, etc" which is a fair way to feel! however… it's weird that people only say this about writing trans characters or characters of color. i'm writing a story right now with a character who is really into motorcycles. i personally do not know that much about motorcycles, so i researched what parts are what & what different kinds of models there are & what basic bike care looks like. i guarantee Most people will have to google something at some point in their writing process. so what's the problem? it also, again, feels very othering when authors treat certain groups of people as "impossible" to write, "too hard" to understand. they are just.. people. you write them as a person. and then you figure out the rest later.

and i think part of the refusal or fear to write something outside of your experience is because of the way representation is treated as So Special. these characters are So Special that they aren't allowed to be anything other than "representation." they're Not allowed to be characters with complex emotions and interesting motivations, they have to just be Trans or Gay or Disabled or whatever. they're not allowed to be people. which means, at the end of the day, we loop right back around to where we were at the start….

there is bad representation. there are depictions of certain marginalized people that are harmful and that are damaging, i'm not trying to minimize that or argue against it at all, in fact we should all be mindful of that while writing and reading. but i also think it's possible to swing too far in the opposite direction as well and put certain groups of people on a pedestal and not allow them to do anything at all but be Perfect Representation, if that makes sense.

[feng-shui71]

Lets say Luis lived.....AU, does Jordan immediately become more than in just a matter of days? Is it slow burn? How does her kids take thi? In fact how does her brother take it? Sorry for so many questions, I'm so curious. ;~;

DO NOT APOLOGIZE. I love asks like these I abolutely love love love how curious you guys are about Jordan and the “what if” situations you guys place her in ^^ !! small warning this is fairly long and I didn’t proofread.

Anyways yeah, if Luis lived it’d definitely be a really heavy slow-burn between the two, she wouldn’t immediately jump into his arms after the events of Re4. I think at this point she’s much more concerned in his condition after Krauser’s attack and is a bit shaken up after encountering Wesker again, those old feelings rising to the surface just a bit (a lot), so getting with him isn’t really the first thing that’s going to be on her mind, besides she just met the dude, she.. doesn’t really know him, and she certainly doesn’t want to lead him on or use him as a rebound, if she even really likes him, does she? that and .. she’s older.. would he even want to be someone with kids? why her and not some beautiful youth like Ashley? God it’s been so long since she’s had to deal with all of this again. It’s all a bit overwhelming for her, really.

And honestly? it feels a bit wrong. Wesker had left her for around 6 years at this point but it felt innappropriate even thinking of pursuing another man, she never even thought she would but of course her dear old ex husband had to fuck it all up in Arklay. I think during this time of contemplation she distances from Luis for a bit just to really think about it, besides it’s a good indicator of his intentions anyway if he really is patient and understanding of her. To which, he is! he’s still very annoyingly flirtatious though, but toned down just a notch, he can read the room, he knows when to back off. Eventually I think they’d get together, Luis is a kind and loving man, being with Jordan would definitely bring her chipper optimism back. In this Au she’d be much happier. As for the events of Re5 and Jordan’s involvement I’m a bit on the fence about it. Jordan’s abduction is due to an altercation between her and Wesker, as she personally sought him out for the B.S.A.A., for both the grudge she held and the yearn to see him once more. In this Au she wouldn’t have the incentive to hunt him down since she’s with Luis so I don’t think she’d end up in Wesker’s grip again, however he’d take her eventually against her will. I mean, what do you think you’re doing? you’re still mine after all. Wesker would be much more frustrated during this time because of her stubborn refusal of him, every single part of his plan is not going as it should. Unlike the original timeline she doesn’t succumb or fall for him again, she wants to see Luis, to which Wesker definitely threatens his life or something to make her comply.

As for her children, they are both pretty apprehensive, especially Alvina. Junior comes around much faster than his older sister, as during the events of Re4 he’d be 12 years old. Wesker wasn’t in his life long enough to leave a massive impact and during the short timeframe that he was there growing up he could either barely remember their interactions, or remember him to be .. a bit cold, strict but he uh.. atleast tried. kind of. So the addition of Luis into his life as a father-figure is something that’s easier for him to ease into rather than Alvina. Plus, he’s actually treating him like a son? yeah, not a step-father but the dad that stepped up. But Alvina, oh man, Alvina on the other hand is pissed, daddy’s girl for life. She loves her father dearly, despite his leave and just wants him to come back and apologize and tell her everything is okay, so the addition of this random ass guy is annoying to her. In her eyes it feels like her mother is replacing him, besides what the hell does she see in him anyway? he’ll never be him, never be her actual father. Is a bit vocal with her resistance in the beginning, though only telling Jordan about it through small remarks, she’s far too non-confrontational to actually say anything to Luis. Things like “He’s .. staying here now ..? 😕” or giving him a side eye, he’s strictly referred to as just “Luis”. Purposely mispronounces his name in the beginning out of pettiness (Louis😭😭😭😭😭😭😭) Eventually she learns to just tolerate him and his presence but she still doesn’t like the guy! get a job get away from my saint of a mother.

As for Jaiden he’s extremely hesitant upon knowing of Luis’ existence and insists for him to meet him before they get into it too deep. Guy does NOT trust Jordan’s taste in men after Wesker and is extremely protective over his sister, so I think he hounds down Luis and makes sure he has no ill intentions or ulterior motives regarding his sister. Upon that initial meeting it is a nightmare for Jordan because I think Jaiden would actually like the guy, they’re both charismatic and goofy ladies men I think they’d get along wayyy too well to the point of it being annoying, god forbid you catch them in the same room because holy shit this duo is 😭😭😭 Jaiden is like “I like this guy wayy more” and makes jokes wondering how the hell Jordan pulled him, who does this old hag think she is… smh

[st4rstudent]

i feel somewhat responsible for this, even if i’m not the one saying these things. I’m genuinely so sorry.

No need to apologize! It's not one singular person doing it and truth be told I don't think it's a large majority that thinks that (albeit the ones that do are quite vocal). I didn't mean to upset anyone or anything when complaining about it, I was just letting off some steam.

Having a yap session under the cut sorry I feel like rambling under your ask anon.

Admittedly, I do think there are reasonings for people thinking this way. A lot of the focus with Clash has been on the cogs, especially after the 1.3 update. Which I can't say I blame them! Managers were something new and exciting and (from what I can tell) really separated them from the other servers. I don't blame them for wanting to put focus on that because that was their thing. Alongside other things, but majorly when you hear Clash the managers are mentioned in someway shape or form. But as we all know, toons ended up taking the short stick from this. This isn't helped by the gameplay itself, being mainly a fetch-quest deal so you often only talk to npcs once or twice unless if they're repeated ones and the taskline wasn't entirely accessible on the wiki for a while (shoutout to the wiki maintainers. The taskline script is a savior). Which I'm quite excited to see if they deal with this issue with the rewrite. I imagine they will, but anyways. Social media posts would often contain more managers than toons, which I also believe they're starting to fix. And ontop of this, I believe most of the team in the early era of the sever is gone, so there's been some stuff lost in the change. So yeah, dialogue/writing has been kind of rocky. AGAIN- I am completely aware of the rewrite going on and I am not judging them harshly based off of their current state. I'm very appreciative of the fact that they took the time to listen and are focusing on trying to fix it up. And then there's also fandom mischaracterization- especially of the cogs. Forgive me for mentioning mischaracterization because normally I wouldn't really care (I've mischaracterized characters before..especially in my younger years. I think it's just a process of learning an having fun and I hate to limit anyone because of it). With that being said, there's a lot of baby-fying and coddling of the managers. Especially with those who have more 'sympathetic' stories (Misty, Chip, Winston specifically). Don't get me wrong, I like these characters and I can appreciate the story they're trying to tell, but I feel like so many people will hear their dialogue and then misplace their anger. People get mad at Bessie for trying to protect HER lighthouse or at the Elders for trying to keep YOTT safe (lets not forget Winston was there to brainwash toons). Yes, yes technically there would've been better ways to do it but consider this: The toons are scared. Their homes, stores, lives are being taken over by a big corporation that has more resources that they do. They don't have the privilege of waiting, seeing, and gathering. And then people forget that the company has such a huge role in both toons and cogs lives. If you're mad over the mistreatment of Misty or the fact that Winston is still in the dungeon, your anger should be directed at the company who doesn't care. I may be completely wrong in saying this, but I feel like the stories with almost all of the managers is a reflection of the company. The toons are only trying to protect themself and their environments and yet this seems to go forgotten when people start bashing them. And of course, I'd consider myself a toon guy so me saying all this and complaining may come off as "I HATE the cogs and everyone who posts only about them!" and for clarification that's not true. You all know how much I like that little brain thing. The cogs are interesting, their designs are fun, I don't blame people for liking them because I do too. I just wish that the thought process behind so many of these discussions wasn't so cog focused because I believe that this anger at the toons for, RIGHTFULLY, defending themselves helps push this mischaracterization of them as a whole. That they're mean, boring, unlikeable while the opposite is true. Yes there are some, what I'd consider, "filler" dialogue from the shopkeepers. This is just because of the gameplay. But there are some funny and cute moments with them if people would just listen and read.

Which also brings me into another point: people skip the dialogue. I've caught myself doing this before (on my first account. I have 4 accounts total, so I reread the dialogue on like 3 of them). But people will complain about lack of toon personalities while doing this. It's like reading through a comic book, only looking at the drawings, and then complaining because there "isn't a storyline". Luckily, there's been efforts to keep track of the dialogue on the wiki but I doubt a lot of people are going through and reading the entire script. It just feels very disingenuous to criticize the dialogue when you haven't even read it. Likewise, people don't seem to read the blogposts either. This is both from a dialogue aspect and from an update aspect (people continuously asking about hammerspace/mix-and-match under unrelated posts).

[enhanced-operatives-division]

Junicrane/Starstruck Ramble

I will not be brief, all under the cut

To clear some things right off the bat:

No corpse, no proof with Juniper. Obligatory this is set in a canon where he's alive and adjacent to the agency in some way.

Reggie & Juniper are just gay to me, but I don't mind any interpretation of their sexuality

The games are set in 1967/68 to me (based on a couple bits in game) which is before it was legal to be gay in America at least (1971), which is relevant to how I interpret canon as being somewhat grounded in reality, despite unrealistic elements.

This is just an insane amount of headcanons/elements of and AU all culminated into one post. I will talk about some headcanons like they're just facts because they are established in my head, and it saves me over explaining literally everything, however I will explain some parts a little bit for clarity.

Alright. Actual beginning of the ramble:

Juniper is a character to me who had gotten so lost in his job as an actor and a social presence that in the end his whole life revolved around that 'role'. Because of this, by the time he's put into the situation where he's around the Agency, he basically knows nothing about himself, though he doesn't realise at first. Furthermore, what little identity he had has changed in so many ways. He's no longer a beloved famous actor in the prominence of public light, he's legally dead and he tarnished his career just before he was supposed to die, with the bonus of that making him lose the majority of his estate. From that, he also has horrific facial scarring from the electrical burns from literally having his face fried. I believe a friend of mine made a post about this a while ago (I also think they were the first to think it up also), but, to me, Juniper has a permanent trimmer in his right arm (aka his dominant hand) from the electrical current and it is messing with his nervous system.

All in all, he's not doing great, but he's too proud to admit that he's not doing great, because if anything, what's left of his ego is all he has as a defense since he's deep in unfamiliar water.

Before ending up around the agency (I have multiple interpretations of this, so I'm just going to bring it up generally), he'd never actually seen Reggie, and his only impression of him is a single voicemail, which was his only reference he had to later impersonate him. Juniper probably has very little feelings other than the ones he projects onto him because of Phoenix and that, at the very least, he's physically attracted to Reggie to some degree (that's like the beginning of how everything else would tumble into place in this sort of interpretation at least).

And on Crane's side? His feelings towards Juniper are probably very intense and muddled. On the one hand, he adores musical theatre, and that's his now ex-favourite actor. The thought of just casually being around him blows the bit of fanboy in him away at first because THAT'S the GUY, plus the inklings of a celebrity crush which still poke at him. And then there's the rational side of him, which knows Juniper has committed absolute atrocities on the side of Zoraxis, and hates him for that. Then there's how much Juniper comes off as an asshole at first because he refuses to cooperate with anything the Agency tried to put in place. He finds Juniper endlessly frustrating, and yet he's stuck working with him since, afterall, he's the one who knows the Agency's history with Juniper the best. I imagine him acting a lot like how he does IEYTD 1 around Juniper.

At this point, I'm just describing the pitch for a romcom.

I think the start of their relationship with one another largely started with Juniper trying to wind Crane up. It was a way of getting his attention, and I don't think Juniper knows why he's so dead set on that at first, because I don't think he realises he has a crush on 'this grump' at first. (I think that's actually the fun part about these two, because it's almost like a role reversal of the celebrity crush dynamic. This ex-big name actor has a TERRIBLE crush on an average joe and it is KILLING HIM.) But of course the Agency keeps them together because Juniper is at least conversing with Crane, so it's a start.

Through one way or another, they actually get talking casually, at least mildly at first. It takes Juniper a long time to fully deconstruct the wall he's built, and the thing is, Crane isn't the one trying to deconstruct it, at least at first, because yeah, Juniper realises if he wants Reggie to actually like him in any way, he can't keep winding him up. So they talk. Small talk at first, something rhythmic and almost easy to keep to a script. And over time that turns into actual conversations. Genuine ones in which Reggie rips out the occasional one of his jokes which Juniper is endlessly endeared about. The way he smiles just before he makes them, like he wants to chuckle at what he's about to say before he says it. That's probably when Juniper realised that he does have some vague crush on him, and that it wasn't going away.

This is what kickstarts John I can't-buy-you-things-to-impress-you-so-acts-of-service-it-is Juniper to do little things for him. It mostly starts off as him trying to make Reggie his tea how he likes it. However, the nerve damage in his arm makes that hard, as the weight of the kettle and trying to pour is hard all of a sudden. And he refuses to accept that, so he tries for a very long while. Long enough that Crane would go to investigate what was going on. And when he does see Juniper leaning over a cup with the kettle as he uneasily tries to pour it, and when Crane asks Juniper responds so matter-of-fact that his intention is nothing but genuine. And it catches Reggie off guard because Juniper hadn't done anything like that up to that point, and his very apparent vulnerability is so clearly on show.

It shifts something between them.

From that point on, conversations are longer, more familiar. Both of their attitudes soften, and Reggie makes more jokes. Juniper learns how to better use his left hand while strengthening his right back to a point where it could be used again. Slowly, they're both spending time with one another not because they have to, but just because they can. Little bits at first, not too far outside what they already were doing, but those little bits turned into long bits to a point where the other person's company was genuinely desirable.

As time passes, Juniper probably realises that he doesn't genuinely know much about himself or what hobbies he's into, because he never really had the time when he got big, and his home life in his youth wasn't bad, but it wasn't picturesque. I think Reggie would pick up on it, and absolutely try to introduce him to some things he's into. Some things stick, other things don't (corn husking very much stays Reggie's passion, and John will go with him sometimes because it's him, but it's not something he strongly cares for). Crane introduces him to a lot of music, and it's something that becomes a staple between them, with tracks they listen to more than others (tragically, I know relatively little about 60s music so I couldn't really say what). Occasionally they dance, never anything intense, think slow dancing, but the closeness is nice.

Through all of it, Juniper is battling the worst crush of his life, and he can't stand it, because I think he struggles to read people since he doesn't have anything like a script or a director to refer back to, so he has no idea if Reggie likes him back or if he's just desperate for that to be true. I think because of that any sort of confession between them would be incredibly raw, not only because of the time they live in making it hard for them to be truthful about how they love, but because it's a complete show of Juniper who's worked to be this better person. I don't exactly know how that would go, mainly because I don't have one set version of their dynamic, this post is just a generalisation of main consistent points.

Reggie does like him back, because he's gotten used to Juniper being just this guy, not a figure in the public eye, not a Zoraxis lackey, and not any sort of Agency operative (despite being under their care to some degree). He's someone he genuinely cares for, because they've given one another the time of day to learn one another, and I think because Reggie was a field agent, he was a lot better at reading Juniper than Juniper was at reading him. Eventually Juniper's company becomes something he could see around him for the rest of his life, and I think he accepts that he likes Juniper a lot more gracefully.

I think any affection directed at Juniper would at first be met with him feeling a little muddled. Reggie was a very physically affectionate person when he could be, and sure the initial flirting with one another came with the occasional little touches, but everything now was so deeply intentional. I also don't think Juniper would almost ever get over the novelty of being able to kiss him, or many other gestures, because it made the fact that they were together so very real, and it was great. I do think it comes easier to Reggie, and it's a big way of showing how much he cares, so it's important for Juniper to try and show it back because he knows how much it means to the other.

I like the idea of them eventually living with one another, too. I think Juniper would have always had a quiet little daydream of sorts where he does just live a domestic quiet life, and he can with Reggie (well, as close as they can get between the Agency and Zoraxis always being at odds), and he loves that, and he loves him, and it's immense.

I think they cook for one another a lot, it helps Juniper work on his dexterity in a controlled environment, which means a lot because it's a huge point of insecurity (that and his scars). He does improve, and Crane is proud of that and shows it and it's great. I also think they'd probably cook together too, because they can deal with being in the kitchen together and they work well with one another. It's probably a good way for them to unwind because over time they can do it in relative silence.

As I said before, I also think music is a staple in their household, and that Reggie listens to things on vinyl almost all of the time because he likes the background noise. Sometimes Juniper will catch him chuntering along to the music which he finds endlessly endearing. I wouldn't put it past his dramatic ass to also join in to fluster Reggie, but I also don't think Reggie would mind that terribly because Juniper has listened to the music enough to know the lyrics, and that's huge to him.

I don't think they are without rough patches, no relationship is, but I think the good part about them is that they're willing to talk about it (... eventually). They're used to long conversations, and while they're often less fun conversations, they're needed and they know that, and it works out.

Alright. I think I'm done for now. I haven't mentioned everything, but this definitely got the worst of it out of my system. If you ever want to hear any specific thoughts my ask box is open but other than that, behold my general dynamic for these two which has been festering in my head for years. I think they're great