#NOT QUITE THE SAME KIND OF GREMLIN BUT A GREMLIN NO LESS

[goldentigerfestival]

something I really love about Yuri's character growth between childhood and teenhood is how... relaxed, openly nurturing, sillier, and happier he became.

I think a lot about how sometimes I feel like Yuri was a bit too harsh with the other kids. like, yes, they did a LOT of dumb things, but I think Yuri's reactive responses, which were understandable annoyance and aggravation at their behavior, could've been better solved with calmness and softer tones. if he had gently nudged the other kids when they all went outside the barrier to be quieter for instance, such as suggesting Jareth simply sing extremely softly (thus being accepting of his feelings and happiness outside the barrier but still warning him/reminding him to be careful), I think the other kids would've been more receptive. I think if he'd been understanding about their excitement and just softly urged them to be happy but quietly, they could've avoided more problems.

and I think that's really noticeable in how Yuri acts as an adult and as a teen. he is softer in his voice - something he started doing as a teen. he's less reactive and more likely to speak softly and understandingly, even at times that he feels he needs to be firm. as a teen, his first reaction to situations that he's not fond of in relation to Flynn, Jareth and Jiri aren't as whiplash emotional. he's more understanding and more likely to stop and think about how to respond. he gets emotional, but he doesn't react in outbursts anymore. by the time he's an adult, it takes a lot to get Yuri angry, and he also cools off very easily.

Jareth especially is a big one. as kids, Yuri used to get snappy at things he did. as a teen, he instead gets quiet. he'll raise some concerns and he won't hide if he's bothered, but he's much calmer about it and more openly worried than he is annoyed. as a kid, Jareth acted out if he was yelled at. they had this sort of back and forth, push and pull relationship sometimes. but if Yuri had been more receptive to Jareth as children, Jareth might not have been so pushy about his responses (or to Flynn in turn).

and of course they were just seven year old kids, so like, of course Yuri didn't really have that logic pipeline, but that's what I love about his progression to his teenage years. by then he does have that ability to make a logical conclusion. when Jareth is upsetting him at dinner, he voices his concerns, but he doesn't snap at him. when he's worried about Jareth's behavior, he's quiet and thinking about it and it's noticed by Flynn, but Yuri doesn't react to it in any way that would put Jareth on the defensive like he did as a child.

I just really love the huge differences in his personality and his reactionary behavior between the child and teen arc. I know I joke about teen Yuri being a perfect little baby angel and the sweetest little guy ever, but I do really think he's at his best and happiest in the teen arc than he is in any Vesperia media that's prior to post game. like, after the game's timeline, I think Yuri is starting to heal from all the emotional damage he's had since his teenage years (that's a whole other post I've already made LOL). I just think that Yuri would be a very different person as an adult if Jiri and Jareth hadn't died and if Flynn hadn't moved away after that insanity. I think if all the chaos hadn't happened in the teen arc that Yuri would have become a very different person based on who he was as a teen.

[babyleostuff]

𐙚🧸ྀི 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲'𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 "𝐦𝐨𝐦"

domestic fluff. established relationship. sulky and pouty seventeen. dad!svt + mom!reader.

s.coups

choi seungcheol - whiny™, pouty™, sulky™ - would never forgive you, he’d treat it as the biggest treason against him (as if it was your fault that your baby decided to say “mom” as their first word). he spent so much time repeating the word “da” and “dada” that he was 99% sure one of those would be its first word. but when you heard “ma” coming out of your baby’s mouth, and not “scoups is the best father ever”, cheol was so so dramatic about it. he refused to acknowledge you for the next week, which turned out to be quite problematic as you had a literal small human being to raise together.

jeonghan

your baby turned out to be as much of a gremlin as his father, so of course - even though jeonghan spent hours on saying different versions of the word “dad” around your baby - it did the exact opposite. it said a loud and clear “ma”, as if trying to get back at his father for… whatever reason. jeonghan wouldn’t be as dramatic as coups, but he’d still talk your ear off for some time, about how unfair it was and how you probably manipulated the child to say “ma” instead of “da”.

joshua

for some reason a lot whiner about that than you thought he’d be. you had a feeling that the baby’s first word would not be “dad” (and that was definitely not because you took your time to repeat the word “mom” around it) (joshua did the same when you weren’t around, just with “dad”) (so it kind of turned into a silent competition of who had more influence on the baby’s brain i guess). so when shua “lost” he turned into a big drama queen - not really that bothered by the “ma” coming from his baby, but at losing against you. 

jun

he just straight up panics for some reason, because what do you mean his baby is talking now??? when it was just this big 🤏🏼 couple of weeks ago??? (it’s still ridiculously small, especially when he’s the one holding it, and any other person wouldn’t say that the baby was talking per say…). jun is just really overwhelmed by how fast everything is going that he doesn’t pay too much attention to what the word was exactly. maybe that’s just because he never really cared about what it’d be in the first place. 

hoshi

immediate beef with the baby. soonyoung didn’t just spend these past weeks saying “dad”, “dada”, “da” and any other variant of the word for it to say “ma” in the end. the audacity of his firstborn to say anything other than “dad” was unbelievable, and hoshi took it upon himself to try and erase the word “mom” from its little brain and replace it with a proud and loud “dad”. well - that did not work, and whenever soonyoung tried to make the baby repeat the sound “da” he got a “ma” every single time. he was sure his child had a personal vendetta against him. 

wonwoo

not bothered by it at all. to be honest wonwoo didn’t even catch what the baby had said, or tried to say, he just ran as fast as he could to get the camera BECAUSE HIS BABY JUST SAID SOMETHING MORE THAN JUST A BABBLE!!! he’d spend the rest of the day with his little one in his arms trying to make it say “ma” over and over again, smiling like an idiot every time he heard that cute little sound. (after a while, though, he’d be like “okay that’s enough, now say “da”).

woozi

something in him melts when he hears a faint “ma” coming from his baby. did he hope that its first word would be “dad”? sure. was he going to be dramatic over the fact that it wasn’t? nope. at this point, it’s still surreal to jihoon that he’s holding a literal child, his child, in his arms, so what it said didn’t really matter to him. it wasn’t like he could force it to say “dad” anyway, so why waste his energy on being dramatic over it? the baby still had so much time to learn all of the words in this world, and he was more than happy to wait for a “dad”. 

dk

could not care less, period. the baby’s first could be “poop” for all he cared, and he’d still jump around the house screaming his lungs out that his child just said its first word. in fact, seokmin pushed the “mom” agenda more than the “dad” one, because in his mind - you deserved it more. besides, just because the baby said “mom” first didn’t mean it loved him any less, and with how many “baby guidance books” he had read before the baby was born, dk knew that the sound “ma” was just easier to say for the baby.

mingyu

you had to give it to him - gyu really tried his best not to show how much it bothered him that its first word wasn’t a sound resembling “dad”. he didn’t want you to think that he was disappointed by your baby’s first word, and deep down he knew how irrational it was for him to sulk over something that neither of you had control over. but the pout mingyu had on his face whenever he held your baby told you just how much he wished it had rather said “da”. gyu quickly got over it - he wouldn’t let something as silly as that distract him from the fact that your little one just said their first word.

minghao

actually, he’s over the moon when he hears your baby utter a quiet “ma”. there’s no other person that deserves this more than you - you, who carried that small human being for nine months, who spent hours in the bathroom throwing your guts up, who went through all that pain. you gave hao everything he could’ve ever dreamed of - love, safety, and a family, so there’s no part of him that’s disappointed in the baby’s first word.

seungkwan

on one hand, he feels so proud and so happy - boo never knew his heart could be filled with so much love for such a tiny human being as when he heard its first word, but then again… of course most fathers hope that their baby first word would be “dad”, so there is some disappointment there. but after he sees your bright smile when you're holding your little one, and how excited you got by the “ma” - all the disappointment vanishes. there’s no point in being sulky over something that he has no control over.

vernon

he was so caught off guard when you suddenly started freaking out over your baby, and when you told him that it had just said “mom”, vernon did not believe you. he was like “na ah, it was just another babble.” (he was just in denial) (what do you mean his baby is talking now?). so he spent the next hour kneeling in front of the baby and trying to make it repeat the “ma” again so he could hear it too (turns out his child is very stubborn and only said “ma” in your presence).  

dino

you were sitting in a double rocking chair with your baby, when suddenly you both heard a tiny sound, awfully resembling the sound “ma”. chan could not care less about it not being a “da”, he was just so happy to hear your precious bundle of love say something. besides, chan never really cared whether “mom” or “dad” would be the baby’s first word - all he wanted was for you both to be safe and healthy, so if it decided to say “ma” first then he was more than happy to keep repeating the “ma” for the baby.

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[1anxiousbeancrying]

Something that bothers me in the arcane fandom is there treatment of in game skins and skin lines.

Like I am all for shipping different skin lines together or adding characters to skin lines they don't exist in yet, or even shipping different characters within the skin line, but omg can people please learn the lore or at least read the character bios before hand.

Because most of the skin lines are alternative universes and while the characters personalities are mostly the same they are completely different characters and more often than not act nothing like the arcane counterparts.

I mostly see it with jinx since she's the one who's content I interacted with the most. So many fans will write her so heinously out of character when depicting her different skins because there assuming she's just like her arcane self. Here are a few examples (just the popular ones though and a very brief summary).

Star guardian jinx is a semi troubled high school student who literally only wants to keep her friends safe and causes chaos by semi- bullying her friends and blowing up void creatures.

Odyssey jinx is a hopeless romantic crushing on kayn (lmao) who's besties with malphite and is a chaos gremlin. But she's also extremely friendly with absolutely everyone in the Odyssey cast.

And then you have the less popular ones like cafe cuties, battle cat and chromacrash, where she's just kind of vibing, (we don't know tones about those ones).

People tend to make jinx well more insane or violent for the sake of angst when talking about the skin lines when that very must isnt the case. Or will just assume she hates centern characters but if you read through the short stories or the wiki you will she that it's very much untrue. I've seen this a lot with characters like ezreal, when it's shown in valoran town and star guardians that they would absolutely be friends.

Crime city jinx is one I can kinda excuse because at least she kills people and we know basically nothing about her other than the fact she's a hit woman.

The skin closest to arcane jinx would be project jinx. After becoming a project a power failure during an experiment corrupted her core causing memory loss which made her extremely violent and unpredictable, she hears a woman's voice in her head and listens to it causing chaos, this is the program lissandra making her do her bidding. So I absolutely understand people portraying these to as similar. (I haven't seen much tho since project jinx is unpopular, I love her so much.)

I see this a lot with shipping. People wanting there faves to be together in every skin line, which is fine except for the fact they know nothing about the characters or the world and completely butcher the characters. This happens quite a bit with star guardian jinx and ekko, where people will make jinx hate absolutely everyone but ekko or will make them both extremely mean to lux simply because they don't like the her being shipped with jinx. Lux is still jinxes best friend in the SG universe regardless if you ship them or not.

Or people will see the skins and will simply deny that it's the character to begin with or just do it to hate on the game(which the OG game does suck, but don't harass people for liking skins) . I saw a comment under a Odyssey jinx post saying "ew thats not jinx at all" like I get it they look completely different but it's still the same character, just in a different universe and when people tried to correct them they just doubled down.

I'll see people hate on the skin lines because it doesn't aline with there view of the characters (and tbf the views on characters are usually strange anyway.) but there not ment to, there meant to be different interpretations of the characters with different lives, experiences and abilities. Just like the world ekko got sent to. Power and jinx are still the same character but are completely different people because of there experiences and I think it's funny and this is the only au people want to see as Canon is because it has timebomb canon, but if people want to bring up ekko canonically dating other people in pulsefire and star guardian people will act like it's not canon because it doesn't have the relationship they want.

I'm not saying people have to interact with ships or aus they dont like all I'm saying is that you can't deny canonicity of one au only to claim another as Canon. All I want in this fandom is for people to at least do research before depicting characters they know nothing about and claiming they do, because they end up erasing everything that makes the characters interesting in favor of relationships.

And I all honestly I think apart from cait and vi I don't think and of the arcane cast are dating anyone in more than two universe each so shipping is fine.

And before anyone accuses me if being a league fan who hates arcane fans. Arcane got me into league and I only play wild rift, I just became hyper fixated on the skin lines because I love alternative universes.

Sorry for the rant just some thoughts.

[thebroccolination]

THE EX-MORNING Q23 - FILMING HAS OFFICIALLY WRAPPED!!! (EPISODE 1 AIRS MAY 22nd)

- SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! -

[source: @.kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk_kiat on Instagram]

As unbelievable as it feels to type it, KristSingto's comeback series has at last finished filming! At 23 Qs, "The Ex-Morning" is set to begin airing on Thursday, May 22nd, for ten episodes.

Just as a speed-run refresher for anyone joining, KristSingto debuted together in 2016 as the leads in GMMTV's first proper BL series, "SOTUS," and continued as a branded khuujin ("imaginary couple") while doing joint and solo projects until late 2022, when Singto began a temporary freelance career, and then he rejoined GMMTV officially in January of 2024, a few months before GMMTV announced "The Ex-Morning" in April of 2024. According to Aof, Singto called him at some point in 2023 and asked for a series for him and Krist, so Aof and Jojo collaborated to create an original concept for them.

And now we're only a little over a month from seeing that concept realized into a full series. :')

OKAY SO! Q23 was a lot, so let's dive in. :D

First off, we had Aou, Earn, and Jamie all check in:

Those of us who clocked Q22 as a potential proposal location had our eyes out for signs of a wedding in Q23, and that led to some extremely amusing shenanigans between the fans and the crew.

This already felt very promising.

Then we got these photos of who do very much appear to be wedding guests and a traditional band:

[source: Facebook]

This is all pretty solid, right? Well. Then this Instagram story popped up and caused absolute mayhem:

First of all, a bride and a groom? And what's "YK"??? I was at work, so I didn't give either of those things much thought, just went along with my day still assuming we were all happily basking in the forthcoming marriage ceremony of Pathapi and Tamtawan.

Then I got a message telling me the fandom was melting down and the crew were teasing them saying it wasn't their wedding, they were just guests. :)))))

Also, apparently that same account first posted that photo with the emoji of two men kissing, then quickly deleted it and re-uploaded the version above.

I imagine the crew were like, "Let's be gremlins," and frankly, I applaud that sort of sinister shenanigan.

Not to be tricked, though, fans began the kind of detective work that should both impress and intimidate:

Now, if you're like me, you probably zoomed in and thought, "I can't see anything," and moved on.

But if you look even more closely, you'll notice two salient details:

The PT of "Pathapi" and "Tamtawan" on the left, and their photo on the right. Also, can we discuss, in detail, how intimate that PT looks? Because damn.

So that was it, right?

I mean, that's quite enough to go by, right? To know it's their wedding? (Plus, y'know, the fact that Peraya would chop the Grammy building down with a very big axe if they used KristSingto's comeback series to marry off a different couple.)

WELL.

Fans also spotted Singto in the background of one of Jamie's videos wearing what seems to be a wedding garland.

Explained in this magnificent post by @thaifanfests:

Floral garlands, generally known as phuang malai (พวงมาลัย) symbolize respect and luck across Thai culture. Garlands and other forms of floral art were historically used in various royal and religious ceremonies and are traditionally made with fresh flowers. Garlands are handmade, with the garland highly symbolic of the patience and attention needed for the threading process. Today, you can find markets and stalls that sell garlands of all shapes, sizes, and arrangement types across Thailand. Some of the flowers used for phuang malai include jasmine, champaca, orchids, marigolds, and gardenias. 

So fans were content at that point that they'd been trolled by an endearing crew of gremlins and a repeat of "Ossan's Love: Love or Dead" (2019) wasn't in the making. (In which the movie did marry off a different couple. A straight couple no less. Of brand new characters. They made up for it in 2023 by having Maki and Haruta's actual wedding in the sequel series, but ooooh was I mad for those three and a half years in the middle there.)

And now, please join me in having so many feelings about these two pairs of formal shoes beside one another at the temple:

[Oh, this series is gonna make me cryyy.]

Filming continued elsewhere after the wedding and wrapped in what seems to be a pet shop with their cat daughter.

We have a few videos from different angles of the final wrap moment in the clips below, but I took some screenshots for y'all to enjoy as well:

After celebrating, KristSingto took commemorative photos:

And that was it! All that's left now is several weeks of postproduction and promotion, and then we'll officially have Pathapi and Tamtawan as the newest part of KristSingto's legacy. <3

But wait…

There's more. :>

We've also been getting some extra treats from the crew over the past twenty-four hours since filming wrapped, liiiike:

I'm gonna guess those could be flashback sequences to their uni days but I won't be sure until we see the show.

And now, the last assortment of clips! There's a ton in there this time, so have a li'l watch. The first clip is going to be in the series itself, I feel?

As I've said and won't tire of saying, I'm so very proud of them, and I couldn't be happier seeing how happy they are. Not only is it a comeback series, it's the first one I'm going to get to experience since I became a fan of them five years ago. I always knew they'd have another series together, I just thought it would be even farther in the future. It's really special knowing it's so soon, and that it's a series hand-crafted for them.

I know there's some disappointment that it's not airing on a Saturday and that it's ten episodes instead of twelve, but considering the rewrites it underwent in December and the fact that they are a legacy khuujin who had a pivotal role in the industry becoming what it is, I think this series is, more than anything, a love letter to their existing fans who waited for them all these years. They've said as much already. As long as it's a tightly written script worthy of them, I don't mind that it's two episodes shorter than I expected. As I've been saying to friends today, "SOTUS S" would be about eight episodes if you cut all the side couples.

I'm so excited to see this story, mainly because Big, Nuanced Emotions are KristSingto's wheelhouse, and the two of them have grown enormously as actors since the last time they acted opposite each other. They've both said they feel safe with each other, and their trust in one another makes working together easy. I think now that they've both had experience working with others, they probably appreciate that ease of working with each other even more. And I can't wait to see what they've created together. :')

Thank you all for joining me in recapping the past twenty-three filming days of "The Ex-Morning"! I'm hoping once the series begins we can use these posts as a reference to go back and connect the dots to when certain scenes were filmed. It's always fun to figure out the order something was filmed in. :D

I'll still be posting under the "#special reporter kiranokira" tag with all upcoming promotion and sneak peeks, so y'all haven't heard the last of me. :>

(I doubt anyone was under that impression.)

Special reporter Kiranokira out!

[cha-melodius]

HAPPY 100 FICS / 1000 KUDOS DARLING

Could I please get Firstprince at some sort of pet store?

💜💜💜💜

(HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRICKET!!!! This is the fill for your fandom fest request of firstprince at a pet store. Thank you for being such an excellent doc gremlin and wonderful friend, I hope this fic brightens your day!!)

The Hazards of Unsolicited Toy Advice

(T, 2.2k, read it below or on AO3)

There’s a staggeringly gorgeous man loitering by a display of chew toys.

The sight of him momentarily brings Henry to a complete halt, which confuses David. He reaches the end of his lead and looks back at Henry with his head tilted, clearly wondering what could have interrupted their usual pilgrimage to the elaborate collection of bones, pigs’ ears, and various treats that make this store worth going out of their way to visit. Unfortunately for David, Henry needs a moment. He knows he’s being kind of weird, but surely he can be forgiven. It’s not every day one comes across the personification of pure sunlight in a pet store.

The man doesn’t seem to notice Henry’s watching, thankfully. His full lips pout thoughtfully as he pokes idly at a few toys, picking them up and putting them down again without much intention. A few dark curls fall forward over his forehead as he props one hand on his devastatingly narrow waist, perfectly emphasized by the way his tailored button-down is tucked into navy chinos that hug a truly perfect arse.

David chuffs softly, pulling Henry out of his reverie. Right. The beautiful man looks like he could use some decision-making assistance, perhaps. Henry will take whatever tiny opening he can get.

“If you need some advice on toys, I have some experience,” Henry said, only realizing the way it sounds once the words are out of his mouth.

Unfortunately, the beautiful man does not miss the innuendo. He looks up at Henry, warm brown eyes fringed by the longest eyelashes Henry’s ever seen flashing with mirth as his face breaks into a grin and, oh, if Henry was in trouble before, it was nothing on this. The man’s entire face lights up, nearly blinding in its brilliance, and Henry’s stomach swoops.

“Do you, now?” the man returns as his lips settle into a smirk. He looks Henry up and down, and Henry doesn’t think he’s imagining the interest in his expression.

Henry’s cheeks are heating, but he holds the man’s gaze. “Yes. David is a bit of a connoisseur.”

The man’s eyebrows shoot upward. “David? Is that your…”

“My dog, of course,” Henry says, gesturing toward where David is sitting obediently at his feet. “He’s got quite the collection.”

“Dog named David, ok,” the man mutters, laughing a little to himself. “Does he have a favorite?”

Henry reaches out and plucks a rubber toy shaped like a duck and hands it to the man. “This one is probably his first choice.” At his feet, David makes a noise of interest, and Henry glances down at him. “You have this one at home, Davey.”

The man turns the toy over in his hands, but before he can say anything an employee walks up and hands him a plain brown paper bag with the top stapled shut and some numbers written on the side.

“Anything else, sir?” she asks.

“No, that’s it. Thanks,” the man says, then looks at Henry and lifts up the duck. “Thanks for the advice.”

“Yes, well, if you need any further toy suggestions, we’re here regularly,” Henry manages to say, and it sounds like just as much of a come-on as he means it to.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” the man replies, smirking, then heads off to the front of the store.

~~~~~

Henry runs into the beautiful man again a couple weeks later, standing in the same place as last time. He’s wearing a t-shirt and jeans today with his curls combed and tamed, and is no less stunning for it (though Henry’s always been partial to curls). Today, Henry is slightly more prepared; he’s thought about—ok, fantasized about—running into the man again. This time he’s getting a name, at the very least.

“So, was it a success?” he asks as he walks up to the man. Warmth blooms in his chest at the look of recognition that takes over the man’s face, though it’s quickly followed by a furrowed brow.

“What?”

“The toy. Did your dog like it?”

“Oh. Yeah, definitely,” the man says, bobbing his head a little. “Any other suggestions?”

Henry lets his gaze skim over the toys until he sees the plush strawberry David’s been favoring lately and picks it up, but the man shakes his head apologetically. “No soft toys.”

“A penchant for shredding them apart?” Henry guesses.

“Hard to keep clean,” he says, wrinkling his nose.

“Always an important consideration for any toy,” Henry agrees sagely, only for the man to raise his eyebrows again. It seems to happen with alarming regularity. As does the way Henry’s cheeks heat. He clears his throat and picks up a rubber toy with numerous large holes punched through it. “What about something like this? You can put treats in these for a bit of a challenge.”

The man looks at the toy consideringly before taking it from Henry. “That one could work.”

“I’m Henry, by the way.”

The man opens his mouth, only to be interrupted by another employee with a brown paper bag. After accepting it, he looks back at Henry. “Well, thanks again, Henry,” he says with a little wave, leaving Henry decidedly unsatisfied with the outcome of this encounter.

~~~~~

“The toy with the holes was a hit.” 

Henry turns to see the beautiful man approaching him this time. He’s already got his brown paper bag clutched in one hand this time, and his other stuffed in the pocket of his jeans.

“That’s good to hear,” Henry replies, smiling. At his feet, David starts wagging his tail, apparently having by now decided that the man is a friend. “You’re back again.”

“Turns out you have good taste in toys,” the man says, shrugging a little.

“You’re not the first person to tell me that,” Henry says without really thinking about it, and the eyebrows shoot up again. Henry coughs. “I mean, dog toys.”

He does not mean dog toys.

The man grins wickedly, like he is not fooled. “Well, be that as it may, I thought I might try my luck a third time.”

Henry thinks that it’s about time that he tried his luck, actually. “How about, you tell me your name, and I’ll give you another suggestion,” he counters.

“Oh, I wasn’t aware this toy advice came at a price.”

“Too steep for you?”

“Nah, that’s a bargain, sweetheart,” the man replies. “I’m Alex.”

“Alex,” Henry echoes softly, tasting the name on his tongue, and Alex’s lips part slightly. “And what about your dog?”

It seems to take Alex a moment to parse his question. “Oh, Miss Piggy. She came with the name. I adopted her from a friend of a friend that was trying to get rid of her.”

“That was good of you.”

Alex shrugs. “She’s low maintenance, and it’s kind of nice to talk to someone else in my empty apartment. Not that she talks back.”

Henry tries to suppress the little thrill of hope at the fact that Alex doesn’t live with anyone. “I understand,” he says. “David isn’t much of a conversationalist, but he’s an excellent listener.”

“How long have you had him?”

“Since he was a puppy.”

“So you chose the name David,” Alex says, a touch incredulously.

“I did,” Henry confirms. “It’s after Bowie.”

Alex blinks, like he’s re-evaluating something. “Oh. That’s cool.” He crouches down, which of course makes David start squirming in desire to get to Alex, but he stays sitting next to Henry’s feet. “He’s very well-behaved. Can I pet him?”

“He’d like that.”

Alex reaches a hand out to scratch behind David’s ears, which David immediately presses into, his tail thumping rapidly on the floor. “Who’s a good boy?” Alex coos, and Henry honestly counts himself lucky that Alex’s soft smile is directed at David instead of him; he might not survive it. But then Alex looks up at him in his current position practically kneeling on the floor, and Henry comes very close to shuffling off this mortal coil right then and there anyway.

“So,” Alex says as he stands again, brushing his hands off on his trousers, “what kind of toy advice do I get for my name?”

Henry very nearly suggests some quite different toy advice in response to that question, but manages to bring his brain back online at the last second. “Well,” he says, picking up a tube-shaped rubber toy, “if she liked the treat toy, then this one is a similar idea.” He holds it out to Alex, but he doesn’t let go when Alex grabs the other end. “I have another request.”

The eyebrows go again. “This is an expensive toy.”

Henry shakes his head. “Not a price. But I’d very much like to take you to dinner, if you’d be interested.”

The dimple in Alex’s cheek deepens and he drops his gaze before looking up at Henry through his eyelashes. Christ, but this man is lethal.

“I’m interested.”

~~~~~

Alex tugs Henry in by the front of his jacket as he backs up against the front door to his flat, and Henry wastes no time before sealing their mouths together again. At the end of their first date, Alex had dropped him off outside his building and pressed a soft kiss to the corner of Henry’s mouth; it had been utterly lovely, but Henry has to admit he’s very much enjoying this, the conclusion to their second date. Alex’s tongue in his mouth and the cut of his teeth, Alex’s hands grabbing onto his waist, Alex’s thigh pressing in between his.

“You wanna come in, baby?” Alex asks in the gaps between their kisses.

The endearment makes something warm settle in his gut, and he grins against Alex’s lips. “Thought you’d never ask, love.”

They stumble through the door, and despite the fact that Alex has now attached himself to Henry’s throat, Henry finds himself distracted, listening for the tell-tale sound of claws on the hardwood. Nothing comes, though. Perhaps Miss Piggy is a heavy sleeper?

“What’s wrong?” Alex asks, clearly noticing his inattention.

“Sorry,” Henry says, shaking his head. “I was expecting your dog.”

For some reason, that makes Alex look down and bite his lip, and when he finally meets Henry’s eyes again, he looks decidedly sheepish. “I, um. Don’t have a dog.”

Henry blinks at him. Opens and closes his mouth. “You don’t?”

Alex shakes his head. “No.”

“So you let me suggest you dog toys…”

“Because when a ridiculously hot guy wants to talk to you about dog toys, you talk about dog toys,” Alex says, a little helplessly.

It’s honestly hard to be anything but insanely flattered, but he still doesn’t quite understand. “So all of that about adopting Miss Piggy, and the toy reviews… it was all made up?”

“Oh, no, it wasn’t,” Alex says, nonsensically. Then he takes Henry by the hand and leads him into the living room, where there’s a terrarium set up along one wall. Amongst the water dish and a fake-rock hut, Henry spots the duck, and the toy with the holes, and the tube, which has the head and tail of a small brown-and-tan-patterned snake sticking out of one end. “Miss Piggy is a snake,” Alex tells him. “A western hognose, to be specific. Hence the name, I guess. I was in the pet store buying frozen mice for her the times I saw you. I did adopt her from a friend of a friend who didn’t want her anymore, and she does like the toys, as you can see.”

Henry bends down to get a closer look at the snake, who has big eyes and a little turned-up snout. “I never thought a snake could be cute,” he says, unaccountably and unexpectedly charmed by the small creature.

“She’s a drama queen, is what she is,” Alex says. When Henry looks at him questioningly, he explains, “When they feel threatened, they either pretend to be a viper or play dead. Turn over onto their back, tongue hanging out and everything. She hasn’t done that since right after I got her, though. I think she’s happier here.”

Alex gets a kind of soft, fond smile on his face as he talks about the snake, and Henry can’t help but be ridiculously charmed by that, too. He takes a step closer to Alex and slips his arms around his waist, pulling him in and pressing a kiss to his temple, and Alex’s smile widens.

“What was that for?” he asks.

“You care for her,” Henry says simply. “It’s endearing.”

“Of course I do,” Alex replies. “How could you not love that face?”

“Mm,” Henry hums in agreement. “I suppose this means we don’t have to worry about her waking us early in the morning to go outside.”

Alex’s eyes sparkle as he turns in Henry’s arms, looping his own around Henry’s shoulders. “You planning on spending the night, baby? What about David?”

“Is it terribly forward if I said I already arranged to have someone take care of him tonight?” Henry asks, biting his lower lip.

“Not any more than what I was gonna ask you,” Alex says, smirking as his fingers play idly with a flippy piece of Henry’s hair.

“Which is?”

“Well, y’know, I wanted some advice.” He leans in close, until his lips are brushing the angle of Henry’s jaw, and murmurs, “On a different kind of toy.”

Henry doesn’t need to be asked twice.

[kagoutiss]

I kind of love how you have all these interesting hcs for Ganondorf like animals loving him, his weird dynamic with Sheik, the approval he seeks from his mothers etc. while at the same time being like “he’s a horrible gremlin and bloodthirsty and no one would want to stay near him”. I feel like it really captures how absurd and chaotic he is. Thank you for your service.

oh…im holding this ask very gently…..this means a lot to me because like!! yeah all these things are sort of true to me and i feel like he’s one of those characters where the more you dissect him, the more discordant things you find, and yet they all somehow intertwine in a way that makes him compelling and whole :-) retroactively putting a warning here that i ended up talking a lot and going pretty off-track but. like,,, one of the main roots of his absurdity to me is that he just has these fundamental problems with connecting with people (outside of clever manipulation, which he is good at), which are very effective at driving people away, even when he genuinely loves them, and i think he does this thing constantly where he wants people to despise him and he wants people to think the worst of him, because he is so much more comfortable with that than just? learning how to actually differentiate between love & hatred? and to not immediately feel threatened by gestures of love as some kind of deception, because he probably can’t quite make out the difference? despite having such a high level of emotional intelligence otherwise? and this primarily ties in with the idea that the biggest most terrifying enemy he has ever known in his entire life has been the neighboring kingdom, which professes to be the epitome of love & light & benevolence while at the same time committing the most egregious hateful bloody acts of cruelty in the darkest recesses of kakariko’s catacombs

and like. i think all of his formative experiences have still led to him being fully capable of things like feeling love, but also consequently not having the faintest idea of what the definition of that actually is, or how it works, or how to relate to someone you care about without just projecting all your own experiences onto them, or communicating your affection in ways other than just. being mean. and him purposely antagonizing people who do love him and are kind to him is a kneejerk reaction that he might not even realize is nonsensical, just a way of avoiding the most fundamentally disconcerting thing he knows, which is the ambiguity of something that claims to be kind or good. and so i think he‘d find a weird comfort in things that either don’t have that ambiguity, or subvert it entirely

like animals! who are far less capable of deception, or monsters, who like him, are deemed inherently evil. or spirits, who shouldn’t technically even be bound by the concepts of good & evil, even less applicable to wayward souls than to living beings. above all other humans though, he is definitely closest to his surrogate mothers, who supposedly are the true highest authorities of the gerudo tribe, and who treat him more like a deity than a son, and might moreso love the idea of what they want him to be, rather than the person he is. and he is in fact mortal, and a human being, and extremely flawed, and prone to recklessness under stress, and makes silly mistakes, and is emotionally unstable, with an attention span that doesn’t actually seem particularly well-suited to politics or government. and i accidentally wrote way too much in one sitting again, but.

but yeah, he’s like. my point is he is so full of things. he is completely absurd and chaotic and yet also i think there are recognizable patterns in what he does, if you think about him way too hard for way too long. he’s an infuriating swiss watch of a person that functions with seemingly inexplicable precision, but is made to say rude things to you instead of showing you the time, and yet you can’t really judge him too harshly after making the difficult effort of trying to understand him, because it becomes more & more evident that. that’s just. the way he is. that that’s the inevitable way that he came together, entirely due to circumstance. he’s a reflection of the completely nonsensical universe that he lives in, an antagonist since the day he was born, defined as such by the world’s Inherently Good Authorities, who are themselves objectively guilty of mass kidnapping, torture, murder, displacement and genocide, and yet are still, by the immutable definitions of these words as they’ve established them, Good. and i NEED to go to bed but yeah i love him for being a horrible insufferable bitch, actually, because it’s meaningful in and of itself, and i love him for not being normal, and having unmanageable fears of inadequacy, and mommy issues, and ADHD and autism, and for bullying teenagers, and being more fond of monsters & parasites than people, and literally using his emotions as a weapon, and referring to himself as king of every evil thing in existence, and almost never bothering to explain his actual motivations to people who he knows have already decided that he is the crux of all the world’s problems, because he’s fully internalized that trying to be understood by anyone at all is completely pointless. wife material

[ao3-oner]

a ranking of your favorite ships and what you like most about them

Hi, and thanks so much for the ask! Really tough question - I feel like the rankings definitely shift around a lot depending on what I'm writing at the moment, but for LoL RPF ships, if I had to provide a top 3, it'd be:

CanMaker - Kim "Canyon" Geonbu x Heo "ShowMaker" Su

If you asked me a year ago what my favorite LoL RPF ship was, I would not have said CanMaker, despite the fact that they were my first-ever ship for the fandom. Writing for them has really increased my fondness for the pairing, though, because - I think I've said this on here before - I find CanMaker the easiest ship to write since their dialogue and interactions come so naturally. They are a very cozy, comfortable ship, with the crux of their relationship being how well they've come to understand each other through years of working alongside one another. Even if they're a bit unclear on where they stand with each other, they will always anticipate each other's wants and needs. They aren't quite a childhood friends-to-lovers ship (which reminds me: read 'so-called "friend"'), but it almost feels that way since they debuted at roughly the same time and grew up as players together. That's not to mention that they also fit the big x small and quiet x loud tropes very well - they really are a gentle giant x small gremlin pairing, and I love that for them. Overall, I like them because they're fun to write and have a very sweet dynamic, and they have the type of relationship that I one day hope to have.

2. RuLehends - Park "Ruler" Jaehyuk x Son "Lehends" Siwoo

Ruler and Lehends, on the other hand, have a type of relationship that I hope I never have, yet they are so, so fun to read and write because of it. Their relationship is all about give-and-take and banter, it's all tension and build up and eventual explosion in some destructive way or another. The other thing about their relationship is that they both clearly have so much fun with it, like they treat their interactions like a game - watching their old streaming highlights, you definitely get that vibe. Moreover, they just can't leave each other alone - at this point, it's been years since they were together and yet Lehends is still waxing poetic about Ruler's ass and Ruler is still criticizing and teasing Lehends. This relationship is always high, tasty drama, which makes them especially fun to get invested in.

3. One2eus - Moon "Oner" Hyunjoon x Choi "Zeus" Wooje

Talking about One2eus now, for the first time since Zeus's transfer, is kind of bittersweet, but I'm sure the two of them will stay close despite the newfound distance between them. Oner and Zeus have kind of the best of both worlds from the above ships: they have the same foundation of trust and friendship from working alongside each other for years - since Academy - as CanMaker, but they also have the banter and tension of RuLehends, with Zeus acting all bratty and Oner scolding, yet indulging him. I think the moment that I first started shipping them was when I read an interview translation in which Oner called Zeus his "best friend", and I found something very sweet about a decently-social, taekwondo blackbelted, Calvin Klein model of a man saying that his best friend was the fuzzy-haired shut-in maknae with three Challengers League accounts at age 15. I guess this is true of all my top pairings, but it feels especially true here: I also just love Oner and Zeus as characters/people! So, so much. They are both so cute/sweet/funny, and I will miss seeing them interact with each other on a regular basis.

Those three ships comprise my personal S+ tier of LoL RPF ships, but also notable, in the S-tier, we have GumaKeria, KiinCuzz, Zegen, KanMi, and UmMo. I'm more than happy to talk about any of those, if so desired.

Below that, in A-tier, there are a number of other ships that I like, but am significantly less invested in, such as bddker, fakenut, mapo duo, maolan, doper, pernut, vihends, etc. Then, there are the B-tier ships, which I only like in a very specific context/flavor, such as choker, lushow, and kiihends. C-tier is for the ships that I personally don't vibe with for whatever reason, and F-tier is only for ships with uncomfortable age gaps and/or pedophiles involved. If you're ever curious about my personal ranking of any LoL RPF ship, don't hesitate to ask! I will gladly vent about my opinions upon request lmao.

Thanks again for the ask, and happy new year!

[slothquisitor]

2024 Fic Wrapped

Thank you to @eraserspiral for the tag! This was fun!

What’s been your biggest learning point this past year?

Mostly that I can still write a lot of words if I'm doing it consistently? I was in such a writing slump before BG3. I've been pursuing traditional publication and had some cool wins but not quite...getting there? And then that on top of some personal life shit kind of broke me. It's been fun to get back to writing and let it be fun again and not something I *have* to do.

How has your writing developed this past year?

I think I've tried out some fun and cool things this year. I wrote HORROR! I wrote an homage to Emily Henry. It was fun to push myself into really different directions, and I think it's made me better or at least I hope so. That's the thing about writing! It's so subjective and difficult to really pinpoint the places where you may or may not be leveling up. But I feel like I grew this year, so I'll take it.

Good writing habits?

Writing every day. Even if I'm traveling or even if it's only for five minutes on my phone before bed, I try to do a little bit. It helps me feel connected to whatever I'm working on, but also I'm the type of person who really struggles with feeling productive without clear goal posts. So, being able to look at actual words on a page helps me feel I've done something, you know? Also just generally reading widely. I think being a good writer is about being a good reader too!

Bad writing habits?

Impatience. I have the same issue with my art. My best pieces are always the ones I didn't rush. I have this like...desire to push things out into the world so that they don't clutter up my head anymore, and sometimes I think that means I'm publishing before things are strictly ready. My goal in 2025 is to do this less. But also, sometimes I'm excited!

Favorite thing you wrote?

Probably What Moves in the Dark though Invisible String is a close second. I loved the overall story of What Moves in the Dark, and I think it's technically plotted better than Invisible String where I was just like...coasting on vibes.

Favorite reads?

She's not on here, but TheWyvernRising is my writing partner, and honestly, her work is severely underrated. She's got a great Ghost AU featuring Halsin and her oc Rowan, plus our OCs are besties in every universe. What else is fanfic for?

Biggest win?

Finishing not one but two longfics in a year! Also, the response to Invisible String genuinely surprises and delights me. Someone called me diabolical, and I've never been more pleased with myself.

Goals for the new year?

Just keep writing things that make me happy. I'd like to maybe return to the original work, but I'm also just like...not pressed about it? I'm having fun and I think that maybe that's enough for right now.

Your favorite words of the year, aka the words you check each chapter for, making sure you didn’t repeat them 788 times?

Oh god. I overuse a lot of words or phrases and I know it! It just sometimes is hard to notice until I like...reread after posting and I'm like...whoa Sloth...did you use 'gaze' and 'smile' enough? lol

What are you excited for in the new year?

To not have a fic that's posting on a weekly basis so I can return to my chaos gremlin ways. I've been posting a fic update every weekend since Febraury (with a few exceptions), and don't get me wrong...when I'm working on a longfic I need that structure. However, it's nice to get a break from that. I'll probably let myself get too chaotic in a month or two and return to some sort of schedule, but for now, it's nice. I'm excited to keep working on Veilguard stuff too. I don't have any fic plans beyond that right now, but I'm sure the plot bunnies will find me. They always do.

I've been either skiing or painting my house, and I've been very not here. So I'm not sure who has done this....so if you see this and want to participate, consider yourself tagged! <3

[wishing-stones]

How would Ren feel if they got the chance to see and even interact with a bitty version of each of the boys?

Well first, they'd struggle with the concept that there are smaller, cuter, less-capable-of-murder versions of them. They aren't quite sure how that's possible, but these guys all have roughly the same attitudes as their full-sized counterparts.

With Killer, you have to keep all sharp things out of his reach. Fortunately, he's as much of a ham in fun size as he is in full size. He shoulder-rides and sleeps in pockets. He also keeps getting hold of sewing needles and breaking them into small weapons for himself. He goes by Razor

Dust's spends a lot of time sleeping in pockets and lounging where he can. He's pretty chill, but bitey, so if anyone's hands come near him who... he doesn't want to touch you... get bit. He'll also hide under hair, if he can, and prefers not to be seen. He goes by Speck

Axe's bitty is a little bigger than the others, but not by a whole lot. He's got a bit of a problem with resource guarding, but it's sort of expected. Give him his own snack-sized bag of chisps and he's fine. He's otherwise pretty placid and tolerant. He goes by Scrap

Cross' likes head rides. It lets him see everything around him and keep constant vigilance. He takes keeping them safe very seriously, even if they're vastly more dangerous than he is. He likes to pretend he doesn't need as much affection as the others but... kind of melts if you get right under the back of his skull. He goes by Chi

Baggs' bitty is a hilariously uptight little tyrant, who tries to keep everyone else in line. He is also a little gremlin who can be bought with pizza rolls. While he still possesses hypnosis powers, they're really only strong enough to deal with other bitties. The worst he can do to someone full-sized is make them a little drowsy. He goes by Dryl.

Nightmare's is a little grouch who doesn't like anyone, really, but... he's a bitty, so he has to put up with others. He prefers his own company with a book, and will happily bask in front of a space heater like a cat. If you are patient and gentle, he will eventually spend more time in contact with you, and relaxes somewhat. He goes by Dread.

If they ever do come into contact with these guys, it's liable to be brief, since... they're kind of fragile and not great in a group (unlike their larger counterparts). The playing field is more even, so power struggles are frequent. They generally get recommended to homes where they're the only bitty, or one of two. None of them play very well with others unless they're clearly the dominant one.

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

I may be an idiot but I adore that shanks was this mean to buggy in that quote you posted. I kinda always read shanks as this person who tries to hide certain facts and is probably not that mean not because he doesn’t want to, but he kinda can’t be to achieve what he needs to achieve? Idk how to word it better, I just like he was this childish with buggy and I truly believe he still could be. For me It adds to their relationship but only because I see shanks this way

(context)

no, no, i totally get what you mean! i’ve got a tag called *shanks hides his feelings for a reason, you know?

and i did devote a couple paragraphs in one of the later parts of the post-marineford fic to buggy’s thoughts on the present day “mature” shanks—mostly on how it pisses him off, because he knows shanks has the same capacity as him for awful gremlin behavior. (i’ve included those paragraphs behind the cut, if you aren’t interested in the larger fic; i think that section stands pretty well on its own.)

anyway, my point is i’m not mad about shanks being mean either—i was just a little surprised at my own reaction, at how i’d misjudged/misremembered things. because, if you think about it, for a character that holds so much of himself back, acting rude and childish is an act of trust. shanks knows he can show a less pleasant side of himself without fear of being rejected or disrespected for it.

Oh, the pranks Buggy had pulled!  Hiding a single overripe blueberry in all kinds of terrible places: the bottom of a bowl of porridge, on the seat of a chair, gently placed between the pages of a novel Shanks had bought at the last port town… man, he’d been such a menace as a kid.  But Shanks had given as good as he got, so it never felt unfair to mess with him.  As they’d gotten older, though, he’d stopped reacting.  Either stopped getting mad, or stopped showing he was mad, Buggy had never been quite sure which.  God, it had pissed him off. Shanks was only five months older than Buggy, where did he get off suddenly being so grown-up? And now Shanks was more easygoing than ever!  Buggy didn’t trust it; no one was that unruffled by him, especially not when he was being obnoxious on purpose.  Even now that he’d seen some of what Shanks had been hiding, Buggy knew there was more to it.  Behind those fond smiles and carefree laughter, there was a part of Shanks he didn’t trust Buggy with. Which was fine!  It was the most sensible thing he’d ever seen Shanks do, honestly—Buggy was a no-good, thieving, backstabbing pirate, he shouldn’t be trusted—but that he wouldn’t admit to it pissed Buggy off.  To others, sure, let Shanks play the fool, whatever, but to Buggy?  The least Shanks could do was be honest about lying to him.

[thecharactersthatnevermet]

Guhh you know me I'm a little fckin gremlin for Passion Fruit Cookie so I have to take it out on ask blogs I can interact with. Sorry Jonas dawg I'm hard to get rid of!

Okay, here we go! This might be something only Sugar Orchid (almost called her Eternal Sugar there... I can see the resemblence) and Ermine Frosting can answer, but we'll see.

So what are your honest opinions of them, if you've met or heard enough about them. You can be fully honest they're not here :3! Like, maybe you don't see why they took the path they did (dabbling with the deceitful trio, abandoning a perfectly good kingdom in the process, etc), Maybe you know that they're not saying everything they are (oops, forget I said that!), Maybe maybe maybe. So many maybes, just... say what you think.

Passion Fruit Cookie? Well, what can I say? They’re an interesting individual. I’m usually more or less able to see through cookies and their intentions, see their talent and potential, yet they…intrigue me. It hasn’t been easy to do such a thing with them. There is something off about them, even though Sugar Orchid has only described them as trustworthy, kind and so on. Perhaps she knows better than me, considering their bond. Still, I cannot help but feel that they are more trouble than they seem - and maybe they didn’t wind up here on accident.

Passion Fruit Cookie is hiding something. And I don’t like cookies that hide things from me. After all, I only wish to help. Any doubts, insecurities or goals of theirs…I could perhaps aid them. If not, then…well, I’ve been told I’m quite persuasive. I don’t blame them for what they did; I did more or less the same thing with the Vanilla Kingdom. But they believe I’m foolish enough to trick, foolish enough to believe their every word and not doubt their master even once? …oh, well. Considering they’re the foolish one here…perhaps it will help to keep acting clueless. Such a pity, though. We could’ve really been good friends…

[notthestarwar]

does ‘the island’ also contain rats by any chance??? Will you talk about any wips you have that may feature rats? 🥺👉👈

You know all about rat island lol that's OUR baby

OK. For the uninitiated. Where to even begin lol.

So it all starts with a gremlins fueled haze. We'd watched the scooby doo movie earlier that day and au thoughts had been lit. Add codywan, my need for begrudging Anakin and cody buddy team ups, and the servers pet rat: it was a recipe for a fever dream. The gremlins music at 1am really just stoked the fire.

So the premise is: no order 66. It's post war, they're not quite at that happy ending yet. There's a feeling that they've all dodged a huge bullet. Cody is learning to live. Obi Wan has taken a sabbatical to figure things out post war. Anakin has been divorced, lost custody, and rejected the Jedi's help. He's a hot mess. He's trying to figure out who he is, in the most messy 'I'm 23 and didn't do any of this when I was 19' kind of way. He's partying. He's become a student. He's messing up in all the mundane ways that you can think of.

Then, he gets a mysterious invite to a all expenses paid resort. It's suspicious as hell, he pays that no notice. He's spiralling.

Now. The resort. Is rat themed. Don't think about that too hard. It's like Disney but it's rat themed and it's adults only so there's lots of rat bars ect and it's on an island. It's like the resort in the scoobydoo movie but it's more disneyfied and capitalist and also all of the rats are terrifying. Like. We have a storyboard of the worst rat costumes I could find (including our fav pet rat obviously) and that's the inspo we're working from here

Now if you're new to rat island you probably think that's the end. Oh no. That's just Chapter 1.

This is based on the scooby doo movie afterall. There's a sith conspiracy on the island. There's bodyswapping. AND. There's a dog.

i'm going to share 2 snippets of it. cause i love it too much to decide.

"Cody had always prided himself on his propensity for research. He was not one to walk in to a situation unprepared. As soon as they’d heard of Anakin’s trip, he’d done some digging.

Rat island was a combination of theme-park and party island, located on the beach planet: Muridae. The resort was, in its entirety, dedicated to a small mammalian creature native to the planet Eukaryota--which is not even in the same system.

Supposedly, the park was based around an ageing cartoon show that had only grown in popularity with civilians during the war, the war had brought many things, a wave of rat based nostalgia was maybe less expected than others.

Despite all his research, nothing could prepare him for the reality of it. As they leave the lander Cody finds himself in a corner of the galaxy he’s rarely had reason to imagine, let alone see. A place of over indulgence, excess and noise.

It isn’t one of the strangest places he’s found himself, Cody had seen weirder things during the war. Not many, but still, some. On one of the strangest planets. But this was maybe one of the least familiar. Kamino had never prepared him for this.

When they stepped out onto the landing platform, Obi Wan looked far too pleased. Cody only scowled.

He wished he’d listened when he was told to bring sunglasses but was utterly unwilling to admit it. Once, when he wore armour wherever he went he had a built in visor, he had tints! He squinted in the sun. Civilian life really was grim sometimes.

“Isn’t this nice.” Obi wan said, looking down at the nearby beach.

“We aren’t staying.” Cody told him shortly.

“Of course not dear, we are just here to collect Anakin.” Obi Wan agreed.

Cody gave him a suspicious side eye.

“Is the sun getting in your eyes, dear?” Obi Wan asked, tilting his head and looking at Cody through his own sunglasses, ridiculous bug eyed things.

“No. Not at all.” Cody lied.

Obi -Wan gave him a long look. Cody ignored it.

Eventually, Obi-Wan he spotted a map. “Ah look. Over here Cody. Look! There's a gift shop.”

“No.” Cody told him, flat, No gift shop.”

Obi Wan gave him a sad look.

“No.” Cody said again. He squinted at the map. “Where is the security office.”

Obi Wan sighed. “To the west.”

“Right lets go.”

Obi wan gave a pitiful sigh. Cody ignored that too.

Cody knew very well they’d be visiting one of the islands many gift shops before they left this forsaken place, there was no need for him to give in so early; Obi wan would only take advantage of such a weakness.

As they round the corner, a person dressed in a loose fitting grey costume, their whole head obscured by that of a rat, seems to pop-up out of nowhere, scaring the shit out of Cody.

“Have a Rat-tastic day!”

Cody will not be having a Rat-tastic day. He finds himself uncertain of what exactly a Rat-tastic day is, but he does know that he will most definitely not be having one."

Next, in this snippet, they finally visit the gift shop:

"Dear. Just pick a pair."

Cody continued to look at the sunglass stand in affront.

"I don't need any."

"Yes." Obi Wan gave him a stern look. "You do."

Cody gave the stand another spin, increasingly offended. "Does every pair have a rat?"

"Well…" Obi-Wan was looking towards the counter, where a sign declared that they where standing in an establishment of 'Rat-tastic Gifts'

Cody just scowled. "Why does the sun have to be so bright?" He made an irritated noise. "This place!" He huffed. "Couldn't Anakin have picked anywhere else?"

"Well, he was invited…"

"He had to accept! Who would accept an invite to Rat karking Island? Only Skywalker. Who would invite Skywalker to a Rat Island in the first place? The whole place seems like some demented way to torture people." He grumbled a few choice words under his breath.  

"Dear…" 

"Fine!" Cody picked out a pair with the least obstructive rat he could find, only a small metal rat shaped medallion on the end of each arm and a rat print that was, thankfully, reserved for the inside of the arms only.

As they made their way to the counter he caught Obi-Wan looking towards a display showing one of the worst rat costumes Cody had ever seen. It was made out of a kind of plush velveteen fabric that was quite frankly, monstrous. The thing was made of far too much material, giving it the appearance of wrinkly skin. And to add insult to the injury of having to see this thing (and see it he had, the staff in this place roamed the paths dressed in a collection of eclectic rodent outfits) the face was… The eyes. They boggled. The whiskers, were wonky. It was barely recognisable as a rat. 

"NO."  Cody managed, as he marched them to the counter. 

"Feeling ratty?" The twilek at the counter greeted with a bright smile. 

Cody swallowed a small amount of bile. "We are not." He grunted. 

The shop assistant seemed slightly caught for words, his lack of enthusiasm halting her usual script.  She looked to the sunglasses down on the counter. "Ah. Soon!" She threatened, with a smile. 

When they left the shop,  Obi Wan burst in to laughter.

"Soon!" Cody repeated. "I karking hope not. This place is like a cult."

Obi-Wan took one look at his face and burst in to renewed wheezes.

rat island is...ongoing. in the meantime, @felixeis003 has created an amazing piece of art of it here:

[some-triangles]

2023 IN REVIEW

So, the most important thing that happened this year is I got married. My wife likes to dress me up in extravagant outfits and draw me little cartoons. I am more content as a human being than I ever have been.

This doesn't mean my brain problems have gone away. If anything, the good stuff I have now has thrown the bad stuff into sharper relief, internally and externally. It's harder to ignore depression and anxiety when you're not by yourself. When the people around you aren't actively contributing to your agita and there are no more ambitions you got which remain unfulfilled (apart from the silly ones like being so rich you never have to work again) it kind of highlights how, y'know, the call is coming from inside the house, where the house is my body, and the gremlin living in the attic is my brain.

I am feeling less and less apt to tolerate bullshit. Maybe less willing, maybe less capable. This has unfortunately coincided with a significant uptick in bullshit in the outside world, as we continue our transition to an overtly scam-based economy and our sensible centrist president continues to fund genocide overseas. There don't seem to be any good guys left. I find myself unable to shrug and say that it is what it is with quite the same nonchalance as before. Maybe it's a product of getting old.

Oldness may also contribute to the fact that I no longer seem to be interested in listening to new music. My track of the year is 4Lung's "Sarab&e", which is a cancelled furry rapping anemically over a Satie sample - you gotta really kick me in the shins to get my attention these days. On the other side I find myself listening to a lot of jazz on the radio. Did you know Orville Johnson (that's right, of https://orvillejohnson.com/ ) put out a dobro-led cover of Gravy Waltz? And it's pay what you want on Bandcamp? Maybe there are some good guys.

In sum I don't care what band that sounds like one band but also another band came out with their music album anymore. Boards of Canada already solved music and that's fine.

Comics are still good. Gray Folie's "Idletry" continues to be completely fascinating. There seems to be an endless supply of good artists on Tumblr just making stuff and putting it out there for me to look at. Thank you to all of them. Also I hear a new zine from my favorite might be dropping soon - stay tuned for more on that.

All I read is contemporary SF for the podcast and that's also fine. Most of it. Apparently the new thing is books about raising autistic children or being raised by autistic parents or both, and that certainly works for me. My favorite book of the year is not about that, though, and instead asks what if the founder of the Ming dynasty was actually an ace AFAB transmasc with ADHD. It manages to achieve grand tragedy with this concept, particularly if you ignore the ending. (Also you have to read the first book first or it won't make any sense.)

My goal for the new year is that I manage to get the energy together to find a therapist or change my meds up or whatever. Things are good but they could be better, might as well try. I would also kind of like to move back to the east coast but we'll see. Maybe get a cat.

[indigoraven]

have to say I'm still a bit mixed on the re-released troy saga.

I enjoy most of the songs more than the original but there is some small things that annoy me?

(e.g. the horse and the infant is much more imposing, but I feel kind of weird about the way the voices of zeus and odysseus mix at the end now. It sounds more like a song and less like a conversation.

and I gotta be honest, i'm not the biggest fan of how the lotus eaters sound now. the lotus eaters sound far more gremlin like now (which is fun) but it doesn't quite fit with what they looked like in my imagination. They also seem less dazed. which I feel was, y'know, a big part of them?)

but on the other side I do love that the crew sounds a bit more diverse (if you get what I mean) in their voices now. The same goes for warrior of the mind. I like the changes in athenas performance.

the cyclops saga sounds good. a lot cleaner and stronger although the end of survive doesn't sound quite as goosebump inducing imo

but I'm sure that a lot of my reservations are due to the amount of times I listened to the original ones. The changes will probably grow on me quickly xd they are only small hangups after all

[little-lady-lioness]

They Said I'm Clever as The Devil and Twice as Pretty

𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐝 "𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞" 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫

Rosamund has many nicknames within her family as a result of having the longest name amongst her sisters, ones like "Rosey, Rosa, Sammy, and primarily Minnie" based off her name itself, but is equally called a variety of petnames such as "Gremlin, Bunny, Goblin, Kitten, Pest, Brat, and Lion Cub/Cub" all being used by some combination of her family members due to her combined high-spirited, some would claim chaotic nature, and being the youngest girl and second youngest overall of her family. Though "kitten" has come from Lady Cerelle's fondness for keeping cats herself, and "bunny" in turn has arose since Minnie took to keeping rabbits with equal enthusiasm; she currently has four, named Foxglove, Strawberry, Acorn, and Tulip, and while she's not generally known for a nurturing nature, Minnie loves animals of all kinds, gentler with them than any other living creatures, also keeping a pair of extremely well loved Ferrets (Pip and Squeak) and an equally well cared for pair of canaries (Itsy and Bitsy) as well.

Minnie's dynamics with her siblings is extremely variable between them, Cerelle and Tyshara are both in some ways nearly and in other ways more maternal figures in her life than their own Lady-Mother; Cerelle, however, is more of a caring and nurturing presence whereas Tyshara's own fiery personality leads her to be both more of a "fun" influence and to take on more of an authoritarian when required, though they both encourage and reprimand certain habits of hers in equal measure. She admires Cerenna the most and in some ways idolizes her but in practice this often means they have a much more touch and go relationship depending on when Minnie finds Cerenna admirable and when Cerenna wants Minnie to view her behavior as such. Leila and Minnie are basically the same personality with the exact opposite manifestations which means they agree and think the same the vast majority of the time and yet drive each other crazy, because that small mismatched portion leads them to argue very frequently. Finally, Minnie cares for Loreon but she does not like him; she doesn’t resent and she definitely isn’t jealous of him—she doesn’t want the kind of attention he gets nor does she think his lot is all that enviable or fun—but to her, especially still being quite young and not well in control of her empathy yet, there’s simply no redeeming qualities she gets out of either their relationship or having him around broadly which benefit her own life.

Minnie's relationships with her parents are no less complicated, though that manifestation is far less obvious. Her frequent practical jokes and baiting of her Lord-Father are frequently debated as signs of affection or resentment, and at least for now, she herself hasn't figured out how to articulate which is closer to the truth; what is clear however, is that whether he is amused or enraged by her antics, they are the lion's share of the attention she receives from him…and attention is a precious commodity for the youngest girl of six whose baby brother seemed the only thing her parents wanted but could not have for over a decade. Her Lady-Mother, as well, while more actively involved in her day to day life, is not a terribly reliable source of affection nor comfort due to a mix of personal tendencies and the objectively immense task of being the Lady of Casterly Rock. For a child of ten she is extremely, some would argue concerningly aware of what is expected of her not only from her parents but from the adults who surround her, but playing that role has yet to earn her any distinctive praise or recognition from either of her parents, so she is only motivated to do so out of avoidance or fear of making any tensions worse, and when none is present to enforce such propriety her actions mostly lend credence to her claim she cares little what her parents think, only if her older sisters approve.

In contrast to her sisters, Minnie only has passing skill in most traditionally valuable feminine skills; she enjoys and is good at dancing but has yet to learn the patience for most routines or steps, she's quite technically proficient in high harp, pianoforte, and flute, but she lacks the inborn talent of her sisters like Cerelle and Leila, she's adequate with younger children for short periods or in mixed company but little else, and is easily irritated by most visual art pursuits as being unable to quickly reach the level of skill required to achieve whatever endeavor she wishes is a near-guarantee to alienate Minnie from learning something all together. She further does not care for most stories and songs; in fact, she's upset most of her sisters several times and alienated several fellow noble children by positing her own "improvements" to many of them which—regardless objective merit—are abrasive to say the least in their critical nature and her apparent, persistent dissatisfaction with most's favored fantasies. Minnie is, however, an exceptionally talented embroiderer and seamstress, considered to be at least three years ahead of her expected progress, and has now won several competitions amongst her peer group. She has an eye for fashion, and just as much of a love for it, with extremely particular preferences for various fabrics and decorations, an impressive ability to will the designs she imagines to life, and great enthusiasm for anything which comes in pale purple that nearly rivals her eldest sister's fondness for baby blue. While her friendships with most girls her age have been complicated—though no less persistently desired—she is entirely in her element when permitted to accompany her older sisters on their own shopping adventures and long hours spent preparing for balls; though it helps most involved find her cleverness and sharp tongue amusing, leading both Cerelle and Tyshara to speculate that perhaps everyone else just needs time to grow into appreciating their youngest sister's wit.

Minnie's absolute closest friends outside of her sisters are the Princes Baelon and Maelor, and the three of them have been a trio found more often together than not, whenever they're all in the same place, for over half their lives now. They spend long hours playing games, many of which they make up themselves, in the gardens, go swimming and horseback riding together, read books, play war or explorers with their toys, entertain each other at feasts, and especially delight in playing tricks or practical jokes. Few if any members of all three's families, and most of the court writ large, are safe from their antics and while it's earned the trio reputations as pests and rascals to some and delightfully chaotic entertainment to others, there's no sign of slowing down as they've grown older; in fact, as they've grown to learn and understand more about the world, their tricks have only become more elaborate and ostentatious. Most recently, at the court session to celebrate The Father's Day of 130 AC, they managed to set off an entire crate of fireworks and sparklers specially imported from Braavos several days early to the delight of all the children present at the day's feast and equal exasperation of those who paid for the display. In the past year, Minnie's also been permitted by the Queen to take lessons with her friends at times, and the competitions they hold over calculations and debates that have begun to develop over histories and philosophies are the happiest anyone who knows her have ever seen the little lioness, Prince Baelon, in turn, eased of both his separation anxiety and restless energy when in her company which—alongside a litany of political considerations—has motivated negotiations to seal a betrothal between the pair to be undertaken in earnest; though the urging of Lady Cerelle and Prince Joffrey seems to have greatly favored their cause as well.

[darkboysroadtrip]

[this was supposed to be a part of the last ask so it is not drawn.]

"I can listen to almost anything" Remus says, "but the noiser, experimental, trash music is the best" he's shoving the rolled up tent into its bag, "I like loud, wonky, weird, shredding music the best!

"A lot of grunge and any and all other genres of punk can be found in my playlist, you'll also get the random musical, EDM, straight up horror noises" he windmills his hand, "y'know the usual."

"I don't think most people listen to actual screams of terror with flesh ripping, squelching and blood gurgling sounds" Virgil says.

"You don't know that, besides you listen to Doki Doki Literature Club soundtrack stuff, it's the same."

"That's totally different."

"How so My Little Nightmare?"

"That has music to accompany it."

"You... got me there" Remus agrees, "it is a pretty banging soundtrack."

Remus has finally finagled the tent back in its bag and hands it off to Virgil who hauls it on top of the car.

"No surprise to my music taste here but, any kind of emo, punk, rock, you know the stuff."

"You like jazz" Dee says, he's now sitting on the ground with Thomas and Marcy.

"I've come to like jazz because of you."

"True, but you still like it."

Virgil sits down with them, Marcy immediately goes to sit on his shoulder; Thomas in turn goes to sit in his lap to continue playing with her.

"My music taste is hard to pin point" Dee says, "I guess along with the jazz, I like whatever my boyfriends play and some classical in a movie villain type of way."

Virgil snickers, "yeah, sometimes it's scary how accurate that is."

"How do you figure?"

"Dude, sometimes I'll come into the office and you'll be standing at a window with a book in your hands, a glass of wine on the sill with low classical music playing" he laughs, "sometimes I think you're not even reading, it just looks like you're plotting something."

"Maybe I am" Dee wiggles his eyebrows.

"Oooh I love plots!" Remus butts in, "what are we plotting?"

Virgil pats Remus' head, "sorry babe, nothing."

"As far as you know" Dee mutters.

~~~

"As a Broadway Star" Roman starts with a hand fanned to his chest, "I can't see myself loving musicals."

There's a beat of silence.

"Less! I physically can not not love them, they are part of my passion, my very being."

There it is.

"I mean c'mon how can you not love musicals, they're just so enchanting!" he enthuses.

"Fun fact!" Patton pipes up, "Roman has his own recordings from his shows on his phone, so we tend to listen to them quite a bit."

"I can't help it, I'm just so talented" Roman says.

"I don't quite understand musicals, however I do enjoy listening to Roman sing" Logan says.

"Everyone does!" Patton agrees.

Roman, puffed up with all the praise is absolutely beaming.

"Eh, I've heard better" Remus teases.

Roman makes a high pitched and very offended 'ugh', "how dare you!, I can't believe my own broth- actually I can, that's so sad, you make me sad go away."

Remus gets right up next to Roman, his nose practically touching Roman's cheek.

"You'll never be rid of me" he whispers hoarsely.

Roman smacks Remus' forehead when he places it there to shove him away.

"Go finish your packing you gremlin."

Logan stops and looks off like he's looking at a camera in The Office.

"Music of all kinds are wonderful" Roman continues answering the question, "if you have the energy and/or an extensive friend circle-"

"You have other friends?" Virgil yells over.

Roman ignores him.

"-you can find something good in any genre."

"I agree" Patton says and sits next to Roman, "there's so many good music choices out there! And finding new things are always fun!"

He makes a face, "mmm well... there are some things I can't quite listen to, but that's more of a sensory issue."

Logan stops his packing to stand with his partners, "I have an appreciation for rap and I have a soft spot for nerdy educational but funny songs - I don't listen to much music honestly, I do enjoy whatever my partners put on though.

It's not that I don't like music it's just I don't go searching for it" he adjusts his glasses, "besides I like listening to podcasts so that takes up most of my listening to things time."

"You listen to uuuuus" Patton says in a lovey tone.

"I like listening to you, and I would very much like it if you would listen to me."

Patton and Roman glance at each other.

"We - we do though?" Patton says, his head cocked like a confused puppy.

"We've gotten really good at that" Roman agrees.

Logan purses his lips, "yes you have, and it is appreciated greatly"-

"I hear a 'but' coming" Roman stage whispers.

"Mm, yes" Logan says, "your butt specifically Roman, to help pack."

"But I am helping."

Logan blinks slowly just once.

"I'm looking for our next digs" Roman explains waving Logan's phone as added evidence, "and may I add: I am very graciously and humbly taking care of said digs."

"So gracious, so humble" Logan blankly remarks, "can you at least pack your personals?"

"Of course."

"Thank you."

"After I book these hotel suites."

"Fine, I suppose we do need to know where we're going before leaving."