#Though it would make for intriguing drama I suppose

[pushing500]

I sort of thought that Randy Random would start cutting me off from getting new colonists at the 22 mark, but no. Here is colonist number 23, Eva (formerly called Lips, but that was weird, so she's going by her given name now)! Randy decided to give me a 'wanderer joins' event, which was nice of him. Unless she's one of those mime things from Alpha Animals... I'm onto you, Randy.

I didn't get a screenshot of it because it happened too quickly, but I've noticed the teensiest little flaw in my ravenous desire to make a pet of every animal on the map.

Recently, Kawoo used an animal-taming inspiration to acquire a very big, very cool scorpion (a pulmonoscorpius) named Frisbee. I thought this was great! What I failed to take into account, though, was that Zonovo has the entomophobia trait and is terrified of Frisbee. Every time he comes close to her, he gets a red exclamation point above his head and flees in the opposite direction.

He happened to run straight to Baz today, and I imagined it would be funny if he was running to get his fiance to shoo the scary bug away.

Randy thinks so, too, as immediately after Zonovo ran from Frisbee to Baz, I got the pop-up that colonists were gathering to celebrate their wedding. It's very cute!

First | Next | Previous

[doodler16]

If you asked me during the hazbin hotel pilot era who my favorite character was, it be Alastor 100%. He unironically stole the show with his mystery (if the pilot didn’t have Vaggie lore dump unnecessary I would’ve enjoyed a bit more), personality, voice, charisma, and heck even his design especially his consistent smile intrigued me. Even the way he interacted with the entire cast made me excited.

So what do I think of Alastor now? Alastor to me is a loser, unironically an attention whore in terms of screen time and merch, an egotistical, petty person, and a man child edgelord. He lost most of his mystery and charisma throughout the show (though I will admit I am interested in his backstory but I won’t be surprised if he, himself has daddy issues. And, I did find some of his jokes funny).

The pilot portrayed Alastor as this powerful overlord who didn’t care about his status which made him so unique. He wasn’t gloating about how he’s the radio demon about to end your fucking life. Alastor in the pilot was subtle. At the snap of his fingers he destroys Sir Pentious with no hesitation and no exchange of words. Meanwhile, Alastor in the show has to blab and go this tangent of how sloppy, slow, and unprofessional Adam is only to get his ass handed to him.

Alastor in the show frequently mentions his status and gets pissy when most don’t care that he’s back or straight up not recognize him. Meanwhile, in the pilot you will notice that it’s the opposite, Charlie (the princess of Hell) and Vaggie are freaking out that Alastor is here at their door. It truly shows much power and control presents in the pilot without even trying.

The thing that disappointed me the most was his lack of interaction with the main hazbin squad. It was the driving point of why I was excited for Alastor and how his involvement was going to shake up the hotel for better or worse. Only to find out He barely interacts with them and I’m supposed to “care” when the most of cast members hug and get excited that he is alive in episode 8.

Speaking of the hotel, he barely contributes much regarding the hotel and fucks around. Like I was expecting him to at least help Charlie and Vaggie brainstorm activities for the sinners to do or even take control in his own of how he would handle Angel dust and Sir Pentious. Heck or even go outside with Charlie and Vaggie to promote the hotel to other sinners via singing and cause some drama/mischief along the way. Specifically talking about the hotel, the only things he did was do the commercial, fix the walls, and protects the hotel twice. But That’s it.

As I mentioned earlier, Alastor is an attention whore in terms of stealing the spotlight in the actual show and being in most episodes, which may be good for Alastor fans. They got the full course meal but Vivziepop needs to focus on other undeveloped main characters who desperately need the attention and development. Which why Alastor should be used sparingly, this would also make the audience more interested with him and creates more mystery.

For example: Episode 5, Dad Beat Dad: you would think the episode would focus on Charlie and Lucifer’s relationship which it does for a small portion but we also gotta have Alastor in there so he could drop the biggest F bomb to Lucifer to show that he means business and hatessss him. We also gotta dedicate a 2:30 minute song duet between the two men having a pissing contest, along with our home girl Mimzy being a plot device/prop for Alastor in order to HYPE HIM UP and tell his origins. Because Alastor soooo mysterious and such a hunkkkk. Oh yeah, Charlie is there I guess…

Also, Alastor’s smile in the show bothers me personally, more specifically the way it’s drawn. It’s to jaded and sharp, so it’s pretty obvious to tell how he feels and emotions Alastor goes through. Meanwhile, in the pilot his smile and energy is so goofy and I miss that. That really added to mystery because not only keeps you on your toes but you don’t know what’s on his mind for the most part or his long term goal.

This is by far my longest post and I wanted to get this off my chest regarding Alastor. 😭

[honeybubbledivination]

What do you need to hear right now? 🍯🐝

✨ Hello, hello, busy bees! ✨

Today, I just felt like pulling some cards and seeing what happened! Below, I have some cards for you to choose from!

[At the end, I have my ko-fi linked if you’d like to donate! Not required! Just appreciated if you’re feeling generous!]

[Cards to choose from are from the deck ‘The Divine Masters Oracle’ by Kyle Gray and Jennifer Hawkyard’]

Pile One:

Isis - Calling Your Power Back

‘Grapejuice’ by Harry Styles “There’s just no getting through; without you…”

‘Angels On the Moon’ by Thriving Ivory “Don’t tell me if I’m dying, ‘cause I don’t wanna know; If I can’t see the sun maybe I should go…’

‘Tarot of The Divine’ by Yoshi Yoshitani: The Emperor, KnoC, 7oS, KoP, 6oP, QoP, 2oS, KoS, 10oC, The Empress, 2oW, The Magician, 7oW, The World, The Chariot, 9oS, Judgement, 10oS, The Devil, The Hanged Man, 4oC, KoC, The Hierophant, 4oP

‘Oracles of Shadows & Light’ by Lucy Cavendish and Jasmine Becket-Griffith: Marie Masquerade //Glamour, intrigue, drama. Dried-Flower Fairy //Sweet Memories. Sea Storm //Calm amid chaos. Witch at the End of the World //An important end, a new beginning.

‘Moon Magic’ by Marie Bruce: Blood on the Moon, Star Gazer, Toad, Arcturus, Wolf Moon, Moon Stuck

Hi, Pile One! I feel as though I’m speaking to a peer. I’m 22, so you might be close to my age. Either that or you have a pretty youthful energy. I also feel a soft masculine vibe from this pile. Which leads into the reading. You know you don’t have to be all macho to honor your masculine side, right? Masculinity is about providing and strength. It’s not about being a massive dickhead. You can be ‘soft’ and still be a good husband and father. You aren’t a pansy or anything like that. I feel that you probably have family or friends who have more “traditional views”. But, no offense, they’re idiots. You’re uniquely you. You don’t fit into the boxes your social group tries to put you in, and that’s okay. To hell with them! Do what makes you happy, honey! Be you! You aren’t alone in not liking labels. You are human. You don’t have to be put into a box. Live freely. You may be highly sought after, but you aren’t making good friends or lovers. You have a very sweet air about you once you start to open up to people and most of those people tend to take advantage of you. You may want to pursue something in fashion or you might have a keen eye of what looks good and what doesn’t. You may tend to dress down to keep eyes off of you, but if wearing cute clothes makes you happy then do it! Who cares what anyone says! This is your life and you deserve to present how you want! Your new life will always cost you your old one. Don’t be afraid to let people, things, or situations go to move forward with who you truly are and what you truly deserve. Have the confidence to be who you truly are! And honestly, your family isn’t going to care that much. They’ll come around and truly just be happy that you’re happy. When you feel good about yourself, you do better in life. You have the ambition to go after what you want and take it. Plus, being a people pleaser is a form of manipulation. It’s not good to lie to yourself and in turn lie to others. Be mindful. You aren’t a bad person or less than for being ‘different’. You’re just you. And that’s exactly what you’re supposed to be, little bee!

- Bunny 💛🍯

Pile Two:

The Blue Beings - Light Transmission

Gold Rush - Taylor Swift “Everybody wonders what it would be like to love you…”

Permanent Vacation - Arrows in Action “I found my peace; In places I had never been…”

‘Tarot of The Divine’ by Yoshi Yoshitani: Judgement, The Lovers, The Fool, 3oP rx, 8oS, The Hierophant Rx, 9oP, 6oP, QoW, 10oP, The Wheel of Fortune, KoC, 3oC, 9oC, KnoP, 7oC, 8oC, 1oP, 5oP, 10oW, PgoW, 7oW

‘Oracles of Shadows & Light’ by Lucy Cavendish and Jasmine Becket-Griffith: Sea Storm //Calm amid chaos. I Am Kali //From death comes rebirth. Fairy of the Divine Hand //Intoxication, distorted view, overindulgence! Snow Angel //The signs are with you already!

‘Moon Magic’ by Marie Bruce: New Moon, First Quarter, Esbat, Black Cat, Unicorn Moon, Glimmering

Hey, Pile Two! You’re living as your authentic self! Congratulations! I feel like this took you some time and you may have felt a little called to pile one at first. I see that you’re getting to go out and party and have fun with new people! Black cats might be significant to you. (I take them as good luck!) You’ve learned to keep friends close, but not too close. You have good boundaries with other people and how the interact with your life. But, do you have good boundaries with yourself? Yes, you’re having fun and making money. But, are you remembering to keep your limits in mind? Are you overindulging in sex, booze, or just staying up too late? Make sure you’re still focusing on how to make yourself feel good, without getting lost in it. I’m so proud of you, though! I know it’s hard to find the balance, especially when you’ve only recently learned you DESERVE to feel good about yourself and have fun. But remember to reel it in and relax sometimes. You don’t have to go, go, go. And you don’t have to be lazy or greedy either. Just find balance in all that you do! Great work on choosing yourself, Pile Two!! To add a little treat for all your hard work and continued efforts to better yourself, you seem to have love offers coming in! That’s right! You’ve got options! I feel like you’ve been manifesting them (through prayer or just having something like a Pinterest board with relationship ideas and goals). They’re on their way! Keep yourself in check to be the best version of yourself for YOU and how you want to handle these new love offers!

[P.S. you don’t need as much confirmation as you think! Start trusting yourself more, busy bee. You’ve made it this far all on your own, why have still doubt yourself?]

- Bunny 🍯💛

Pile Three:

Hanuman - Devoted Warrior

Under Pressure - Queen & David Bowie “Pressure, pushing down on me; Pressing down on you…”

Take Me To Church - Hozier “I’ll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies; I’ll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife…”

‘Tarot of The Divine’ by Yoshi Yoshitani: The Magician, The Tower Rx, 8oW, The Lovers, The Devil Rx, 2oC, PgoP, The Moon, The Empress Rx, 3oS, 7oS, 4oS, KoS, 5oC Rx, 6oC Rx, 9oS

‘Oracles of Shadows & Light’ by Lucy Cavendish and Jasmine Becket-Griffith: Autumn Is My Last Chance //Please don’t lose hope! Strangely Lonely //Holding on way too tight. Witch at the End of the World //An important end, a new beginning. Fairy of the Highlands // It’s time to be brave.

‘Moon Magic’ by Marie Bruce: Sky God, Nightshade, Toad, Star Gazer, Full Moon, Moon Dust

You’ve been through the wringer, pile three! I see that you’ve been put in a situation to where you’ve had to pull away from a toxic situation involving a feminine energy who wasn’t reciprocating what you were giving them. This was really hard for you because you’re loyal and devoted. You would never turn your back on someone you love, but they turned their back first. You avoided a tower moment by stepping away and being firm in yourself and your morals! You aren’t a bad person, you just know when it’s time to cut the crap and leave people behind! Way to go!! I see that because of being able to cut this person out, you’ve made room for someone new! Don’t be afraid to open up and make new connections! Not everyone is here to use you, honey bee! You’ve cut off a lot of people lately or are at least hiding away to try and keep yourself safe. It’s making you lonely and you’re looking at things from a hopeless perspective. You are worthy of good things, love. Release control of what’s happening. Realize you have fought hard and deserve to relax and unwind. You can have fun with other people! Go on dates! Make friends with people online or in person! Go have fun! Get out of the house and go for a walk, you never know who you might bump into! Stop playing it too safe, pile three! Live your life! If you hide away, you’re still letting that old person and their energy have control over you! Remember who is really in control here! Keep buzzing onwards and upwards!

- Bunny 🍯💛

💛🍯 Bunny’s Notes:

Thank you for buzzing by! I hope that if this resonated with you, you gain the courage to keep being yourself and finding the balance of when to act defensively or when you should turn away from things/people/situations that no longer serve you! Love and light to you all!

If you’d like to tip me, below is the link to my ko-fi! Not needed to enjoy my readings! Thank you so much, busy bees! 💛🐝

[lurkingshan]

My mind has been spinning and spinning around episodes 3 and 4, and I have so many feelings about them that I have been struggling to decide what I want to write about. One of @bengiyo's questions is about the different feel of this part of the story in the transition from page to screen, including the overall kdramafication effect, and I felt that most keenly where Hyung was concerned.

Let's start with the obvious: Hyung is not supposed to be this young and hot. But then, Young is not supposed to look like Nam Yoon Su, so I guess we can let that one go. More than that, though, I think episode 3 went out of its way to make Yeong Su a more appealing love interest than he ever seemed to be in the novel, and that had a clear purpose: to make the comedown in episode 4 so much worse.

Episode 3 used the familiar trappings of romance dramas to help us understand why Go Yeong was so drawn to this man despite some of his rough edges. They had interesting dates with good conversations. They shared an umbrella in the rain. They kissed sexily outside. They danced together in Yeong Su's (much nicer than described in the book) apartment. I may or may not have actually said OH MY GOD out loud when they were moving together to that old song; it was intoxicating in exactly the way early attraction is. Instead of viewing Hyung through the bitter recollections of Young's memory already knowing he's a bastard, we experienced him the way Go Yeong did when he was first catching his interest, and it was easy to see why he would latch onto this man as a balm and a distraction while he was going through a very hard time with his mother's illness.

Which means it hurt so much worse when Go Yeong emerged from that initial haze in episode 4 and realized who Yeong Su really was. He got a hard look at the deep internalized homophobia Yeong Su was carrying and projecting onto him, and it was not pleasant, nor was the way it echoed across his experiences with his mother.

Another interesting change made in the adaptation was to increase the severity of Hyung's crime; where in the novel he only searched and read articles on the evils of homosexuality, in the show he wrote the damn article while Go Yeong slept in his bed. A much larger betrayal and blow for Young. And this makes sense for the screen version, IMO; the romance is deeper and therefore so must be the fracture. Everything is just a bit bigger and more dramatic to amplify the themes of the story and to help the audience understand why this might drive Go Yeong to such a low moment without the benefit of his internal monologue to connect all the dots.

I was reflecting on these changes and how they affected the tone when I read @solitaryandwandering's thoughts, because I was intrigued by her reception of these episodes as darker, where for me, with the (much) more depressing novel version in my head, they felt lighter than expected. Which is kind of a wild thing to say about a section of the story that includes Young's suicide attempt, but context is everything! The T-aras, of course, also contribute to how different this section feels. In the book, Young is presented as so isolated and alone with this relationship, but in the show he has friends who know and care and try to help and show up for him in his low moment to make sure he is not alone. It makes such a difference to the bleakness of it all, and also makes the story feel more cohesive across the different parts in a way the book intentionally does not.

I think ultimately the adaptation choices made here were smart, and I continue to be impressed with how thoughtful Sang Young Park has been with his different visions for his story in each medium.

[eds6ngel]

Please friend, I need Eddie and his equally feral grungy little girlfriend. Think like Allison Reynolds from the Breakfast Club before they gave her the hideous pink makeover. I want these two clowns to match each other’s energy, both of them nuts about D&D and metal, and I want her to be the one member of Hellfire who is in charge of drawing these insanely intricate drawings of everyone’s player characters.

being eddie's grungy gf would include ...

a/n: i think this calls for some headcanons! and i suppose this is my reminder to watch 'the breakfast club' as i still haven't gotten round to it ! :')

warnings: SLIGHT SMUT!! (one mention of sex, two allusions.) fem!reader. artsy!reader. grungy!reader. kissing. one mention of people calling eddie a 'freak.' tons of fluff and comfort !!

𝜗𝜚 you guys met in your sophomore year.

𝜗𝜚 eddie had been looking to set up a d&d club at the end of the year, knowing his middle school friends (jeff & gareth) were now going to be in high school with him.

𝜗𝜚 eddie didn’t know that you played d&d at the time, but he had sneaked a glance at your notebook during art class and was very intrigued into your drawings, many which consisted of your own monsters, fairies, dragons, anything magical and mystical.

𝜗𝜚 he knew the opportunity was even greater when you were pinning ‘battle of the bands’ posters in the school hallways. he couldn’t believe it was you making those incredible designs.

𝜗𝜚 asked you right there and then if you could help him design a poster for his new club.

𝜗𝜚 you were unsure at first, wondering what the hell this random dude who was in your art class wanted a poster for.

𝜗𝜚 however, you were immediately on board when he mentioned it was for d&d.

𝜗𝜚 you were technically the first member to join his club. it was you and him against the world at that point.

𝜗𝜚 you asked some of your artsy friends who were also in the drama club if you could rent their space on friday nights for weekly campaigns.

𝜗𝜚 they reluctantly said yes just because it was you. eddie was happy as it was one of the few groups of people outside of his own friend group that weren’t calling him a ‘freak’ upon arrival.

𝜗𝜚 over the summer, you and eddie met up to discuss how the whole ordeal would work. his trailer had basically become your second home by that point.

𝜗𝜚 you had started cooking meals together, you would go out to benny’s for a quick evening bite, you even started sleeping over at his.

𝜗𝜚 you began with bringing over a sleeping bag to camp out on his floor, but it soon turned into the two of you just sharing his bed. platonically, of course.

𝜗𝜚 it wasn’t until jeff and gareth came to visit the two of you so you could start drawing their characters for eddie’s visual reference that they encouraged eddie to grow some balls and ask you out.

𝜗𝜚 it took him a couple more weeks, but he finally got there.

𝜗𝜚 luckily you felt the same and you shared your first kiss that day.

𝜗𝜚 and by the time your junior year rolled around, everything was settled in place.

𝜗𝜚 eddie let you sit on his lap during campaigns, to which the boys always complained about.

𝜗𝜚 and after the boys had left, you got up to some… not exactly PG activities on his throne.

𝜗𝜚 or your throne, should you say. eddie said that the throne was all yours, since you decorated the entire thing.

𝜗𝜚 it was actually a 50/50 split effort.

𝜗𝜚 you were the couple who annoyingly blasted metal music out of his van on late night drives at 2am.

𝜗𝜚 hopper stopped you once as you had been getting noise complaints from locals.

𝜗𝜚 you and eddie both agreed it was only because it was metal music and continued anyway.

𝜗𝜚 eddie didn’t realise how feral you were until you got together. you were pretty excitable when you were simply platonic friends, but this was a whole different level.

𝜗𝜚 he didn’t care though as he loved it (and it also transferred to the bedroom.)

𝜗𝜚 sickly PDA couple alert ! eddie’s kissing you all the time ! the boy cannot keep his hands to himself ! he’s infatuated by you !

𝜗𝜚 always sharing cassettes. the both of you never buy new albums individually anymore. you either listen to them together and nerd out, or you share them back and forth.

𝜗𝜚 friday night dates after d&d ! i repeat, friday night dates after d&d !

𝜗𝜚 followed by some truly amazing sex. thank god wayne took the late night shift on fridays. and you hoped it never changed. because it was always the best ending to your week, and you didn’t want to change it for as long as you lived.

taglist: @cosmorant @ye0nvibezzn @tlclick73 @agxxb

[charlieg1rl]

𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡?

𝐥𝐞𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

𝐥𝐞𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟔𝟎𝟎

You sat at a small table in the corner of your favorite café, the soft light casting a warm glow on your book. It was a well-deserved break from your busy life as a student, and you cherished these moments of peace. You were about to immerse yourself in another chapter when you noticed a familiar figure striding through the entrance—Lee Minho.

His trademark smirk was present, and your heart did a little flip as he spotted you. He made his way over, looking effortlessly charming in a fitted black t-shirt and ripped jeans. “Hey there, bookworm. What’s so interesting?” he asked, leaning against the table, his eyes gleaming with mischief.

You glanced up, a playful smile tugging at your lips. “Just a novel. But I suppose it’s not as thrilling as whatever you were doing before you came here.”

He chuckled, sliding into the chair opposite you. “Well, I was just practicing some dance moves, but I could definitely use a break.” He stretched his arms above his head, showing off the muscles that had you fighting the urge to stare.

“Dance moves, huh? Show me what you’ve got!” you teased, knowing he would never back down from a challenge.

“Maybe later,” he said, smirking. “First, let’s talk about your reading choices. What’s this book about?” He leaned in, his curiosity piqued, but you noticed the way his gaze lingered on your lips, making your cheeks heat up.

“It's about a girl falling in love and having an affair with her sex therapist,” you replied, attempting to maintain your composure. “The guy's charming but also a bit of a jerk and toxic as fuck.”

“Sounds like a fun read,” he replied with a grin. “You should let me borrow it when you’re done. I like a little drama in my life.”

You rolled your eyes playfully. “Are you sure you can handle it? I wouldn’t want to ruin your innocent mind.”

His smirk widened, and he leaned in closer. “Oh, please. You’d be surprised by what I can handle.”

You raised an eyebrow, intrigued yet slightly amused. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

He let out a laugh, clearly enjoying the banter. “Of course! I’m a good son. But you might not want to think too much about where this mouth has been.”

You felt a rush of heat creep up your neck. “Minho!”

“What? I’m just saying,” he shrugged nonchalantly, though the mischief in his eyes betrayed his teasing nature.

You shook your head, trying to suppress your laughter. “You’re impossible.”

He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms with that signature confident grin. “Maybe. But you like it.” His gaze was intense, the playful atmosphere shifting slightly as the two of you locked eyes.

“Maybe,” you conceded, your voice barely above a whisper. “But don’t let it get to your head.”

“Too late,” he winked, and you couldn’t help but smile.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, he broke it again. “So, tell me about this hero of yours. I need to know what kind of trouble he gets into.”

As you started explaining, you couldn’t help but feel grateful for moments like these—where light teasing turned into deeper conversations, and a simple coffee date with Minho felt like an adventure of its own.

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

tags: @estella-novella, @therealmsbahng, @amarecerasus

[megistusdiary]

MMMMM idk if you write for al haitham— if you don’t ignore this request idm 🙏

anyways if you do write for him,, what about al haitham x fem!reader where someone breaks reader’s heart (kaveh perhaps for the drama) al haitham and reader are best friends and they’ve both had tension between them forever so he offers a little help ☝️ all consensual obviously we love consent here

yes ik this is like my one kaeya ask but i love this trope sm 😭😭

-🔮

oh, i absolutely will write for alhaitham hahaha. he is literally so mf fine idc idc 😇🙏

on my knees for him he is so 🧎🏼‍♀️🧎🏼‍♀️🧎🏼‍♀️ checks all my boxes

anyways yes, yes, imagine this happening back during his akademiya days oo

but this shit straight up 90% unsexy plot sorry. just wrote this all in one sitting, shawties

warnings: dom!alhaitham and sub!fem anatomy/pronouns reader

friends to lovers, fingering/penetration (sub!receiving), ex kaveh (mentions of cheating sorta), confessions, kissing

you sat beside alhaitham at the library, clicking the top of your pen repeatedly until alhaitham exhaled sharply.

"sorry." you mumbled, setting the pen down as you read over your assignment again.

when your professor announced who the partners for this project would be, it seemed half the class was jealous while half pitied you for being partnered with alhaitham.

you felt like the archons had personally blessed you, however, finally being partnered with the man you considered your best friend.

some might argue it was impossible for alhaitham to ever have a 'best friend. the friendship bracelet matching the one on your wrist that he kept in his pocket begged to differ.

you glanced over at alhaitham, watching him flip through textbooks, letting his eyes barely even graze over the words before turning the pages.

"are you actually trying to learn anything, or just say you looked at the pages as you flipped them?"

"ha ha." alhaitham droned, tone devoid of emotion as he closed the book. "i don't see you making much progress."

"that's because i'm taking the time to actually absorb what i'm reading."

"hmph." alhaitham turned away, sifting through his pile of parchment notes. "we should finish this today. i do not want-"

"woah, woah, hold on." you stopped him, waving your hand in the air. "today? the semester ends next month." you protested. "i actually have other things to do today, you know."

"so do i. it just seems one of us is more efficient than the other." alhaitham scoffed as you rolled your eyes.

"yeah, yeah." you frowned, letting your head flop onto your hand.

"what other things are you doing today, anyways?"

"what? oh, i mean. i'm supposed to go on a date. today." your face felt warm as alhaitham cocked his head, intrigued yet slightly annoyed.

"oh. right. with kaveh."

"he told you about it?"

"i don't know why you're shocked. we live together."

"fair enough. but, yes, that's my very important thing."

"what about the others?"

"huh?" your eyes flitted down to watch alhaitham write down notes about the book he was reading, print perfectly straight and legible.

"you said important things. plural."

"oh." you paused, watching his fingers stop moving as he set his pen down. "i guess more studying as per usual."

"where's kaveh taking you?"

your eyes narrowed as he glanced over at you. "why the sudden interest in my love life?" your heart skipped a beat when alhaitham's eyes met yours.

"fine, no more questions. let's get back to business." alhaitham quickly turned back to his book, leaving you with a heated face and mixed emotions.

truth be told, you did like kaveh, but you also had liked alhaitham for years. no matter how many hints you dropped, though, alhaitham always seemed to dodge them.

and maybe that was the hint meant for you to stop pursuing him.

you had met kaveh earlier in the year. alhaitham never had guests over, so you always spent time at your place. you only ever got to speak to kaveh due to discovering you studied in the same place between classes. one crowded morning, you found yourself sitting together due to a lack of space. and the rest was history.

alhaitham never failed to make your heart flutter with anything he did. despite his witty remarks and snappy comments, he was a gentleman at heart. he always brought you an extra jacket if it was cold, prepared snacks for you, brought you more parchment before you could run out. he was always attentive, even without trying to be.

kaveh was much more easy-going, dropping flirty remarks in all of your conversations. he was very direct about his interest in you, though you were blissfully unaware of his habits to flirt with many people at once.

the rest of the study session carried on in silence, leaving you to finish writing your notes sloppily, hand cramping and exhausted as you slammed your pen down. "okay, i'm tapping out. it's getting late, and i need to go get changed." you told him as he hummed.

"how far did you get?"

"i'm done with page 8." you frowned, turning towards him slowly. "don't even think about making a 'i'm on page 15' comment."

alhaitham's lips quirked up in a faint, yet rare smile that made you smile back shyly. "i'll see you tomorrow."

"i hope your...dinner is pleasant." was all he said, turning back to finish writing his notes as you sighed.

"promise me you're not going to stay here all night. go home and get some rest. you work too hard sometimes, you make me all worried."

alhaitham scoffed, shaking his head. "it's not that i choose not to sleep."

your eyebrows arched at his remark, though he made no further comment, prompting you to collect your things and rush home to change for your date.

you couldn't help but admit you were excited. you had the perfect outfit planned, twirling in front of the mirror to admire it from all angles. and you were ready just in time, hearing three knocks on your door as you announced you were coming to get the door.

"kaveh!" you smiled, gesturing for him to come in.

"ready to go?" kaveh asked, adjusting his hair in the mirror as you grabbed your bag and shoes.

"yeah! sorry i'm running late." you apologized, slipping your shoes on and locking the door behind the two of you. "alhaitham and i are partners for this project, and he wanted to do a bunch today, and i think i can't read anymore."

kaveh laughed, eyes full of mirth. "sounds just like him. typical."

"so, where are we going?"

"you'll see." he smiled down at you, leading the way to a small cafe down the street. "found this place when alhaitham took my key and i couldn't get in to our house." kaveh laughed, opening the door for you.

once the two of you were seated, a waiter approached you rather quickly, greeting kaveh like a close friend. "the usual?" he asked as kaveh nodded. he scribbled something down on his notepad before turning to you.

your eyes widened, trying to take in the menu all at once before kaveh offered to order for you. "trust me, everything's good here, but i'll order the best. you'll love it."

while waiting for the orders, you noticed a few girls passing by on the street, some older couples, and even some stray kitties.

you did not expect someone to stand over your table and eagerly greet kaveh.

"hi, kaveh!"

you jumped, turning to see a girl your age at the table, smiling down at him as he sent her a smirk. "hey, long time no see."

"yeah, it has been pretty long, huh? funny seeing you here."

your eyes flitted in between them, brows furrowed as you took in their conversation. why hadn't she asked about you?

"um, excuse me-"

"can i help you?" she asked, cocking a brow as you frowned.

"we're in the middle of a date...right now..."

she rolled her eyes, shrugging. "okay? kaveh and i went on one like last week."

"what?" you turned towards kaveh who simply nodded. "kaveh, i thought you said we were dating."

"we are." he confirmed. "what's the issue?"

"i thought that meant it was just, i don't know, us..." your frown deepened as the girl held back a giggle.

"don't be ridiculous. just because you're dating someone doesn't mean you own them." she leaned towards you.

"i never thought i owned him- what is your problem?

"hey, maybe you guys should-"

"oh come on, kaveh, what did you tell her? so what, he goes on dates with lots of people. big deal."

"that's fine! i just...i thought we were different. i thought it was special." your eyes started to water and you panicked, begging yourself not to cry in the cafe.

"i didn't realize it was that big of a deal." kaveh awkwardly added, scratching the back of his neck. "most of the time it's just singular dates anyways and-"

you suddenly stood up, brushing the hair away from your face. "i'm going home." you announced, barely controlling your sniffles as kaveh raced to stand up. "don't. you should've just been upfront with me. because...because if i knew it wasn't serious to you from the start, i would've just told you no."

you pulled your coat on, storming off with kaveh hot on your heels. "hey, hey wait up! look i didn't mean to make you cry. i'm sorry-"

"sorry isn't cutting it right now, kaveh. i just- i need space, okay? i didn't realize it was just...dating around to you. i'm not looking to fool around. i thought we were serious."

"we are! but you know how hard commitment is for me, and i really am trying here."

you took a deep breath, finally feeling tears streak down your cheeks. "thank you for trying, okay, but if it's really all that hard for you, then we shouldn't force it."

"what, so it's just done? like that?"

you pinched the bridge of your nose, shaking your head. "yeah. just- just go drink your coffee and talk to that other girl. i can't do this right now."

kaveh watched, finally not following as you walked home, wiping the tears from your cheeks as you sat on a bench in the park, taking a break to wipe your face with your sleeve.

you considered going to alhaitham for comfort, though you figured he'd be the worst person to ask since he lives with kaveh. how were you even going to face him? it all made your head hurt as you sniffled, wiping snot into your sleeves as you took a deep breath.

you could only hope he was still at the library (against your advice) and not at his house. you shielded your face when you walked in, desperately looking for his table. though it seemed he somehow spotted you before you saw him.

he approached you, guiding you towards his table and sitting you down across from him. "what did he do?"

"nothing. it was my own stupid fault for thinking i was the only one."

alhaitham's usual stony facade softened as he leaned over to wipe your tears, smoothing a thumb down your cheek. "kaveh's always been like that. i'm sorry for my roommates stupidity."

"i just...i broke up with him and i left him. what do i do now?" you asked, confused and hurt as alhaitham sighed, leaning back to collect his things in his bag. "what are you doing?"

"i'm taking you home. people are starting to look over here instead of minding their own business. come on." alhaitham gestured for you to stand, holding his arm out for you to take as your lips parted. "are you coming or not?"

you quickly held onto him, cheeks heating up as alhaitham carried your bag for you along with his own bag filled with books. "i can carry my own stuff, you know."

"i can handle it, don't worry about me."

"i always worry about you." you admitted as alhaitham pretended not to hear it, leaving you to frown at your feet. the second you got to your door, alhaitham fished the key out from your purse, opening the door and closing it skillfully with his foot. he set both of your things down, perusing your kitchen for your kettle and something he could make you to eat.

your heart hammered in your chest as you sharply inhaled. "why is it that whenever i try to tell you i like you, you act like i didn't say anything?" you forced out, watching alhaitham freeze in place.

"what are you talking about?"

"i...years. i tried for years. i finally gave up, and when i tried to date someone, i couldn't even do that. we broke up after a month. i couldn't even consider reconciliation because..."

"because?"

"you're such a dick! because i like you, asshole." you snapped, tears springing to your eyes again as alhaitham crossed the room to stand near you. "i- you...you always just act like nothing happened. it fucking hurts-"

he suddenly gripped your chin, moving closer as he pulled you to meet his gaze. "do you really take my fear as a sign of rejection?"

"uh..yeah?"

alhaitham frowned, dragging his thumb over the apple of your cheek. "for that, i humbly apologize then."

"what are you afraid of anyways?"

"you know how much of a perfectionist i can be." he sighed.

"of course."

"i want to be the best for you."

"but you are good already, and-"

"'good' isn't enough. i don't want to be a subpar filler partner. and i certainly don't wish to be 'the one who could have done more.'"

"i don't understand." you told him, exasperated as he leaned towards you, shifting his thumb to trace your jawline.

"i want to be perfect for you. the only person who sees when i stumble and treats me as a human. not as some machine who can never possibly fail, or as a top student with drive only to knock everyone down."

you were shocked, lips parting in surprise as you listened to his sudden confession.

"i wanted to tell you this whole time." you admitted. "i was scared of rejection. i think...i think i only dated kaveh because i thought you didn't care about me. i thought i had no chance with you."

"your thoughts mirror mine then. i thought i wasn't the man you deserved."

"just...shut up and kiss me already." you blurted, neck and ears heating up as alhaitham turned light pink, leaning in and pressing your lips together nonetheless.

you sighed into the kiss as he tenderly cupped your face, feeling your smile against his lips. when he broke away, he pressed his forehead to yours. "i didn't know you were so demanding."

"only because you made me wait for years."

alhaitham kissed you again, stealing your breath when he swiped his tongue along the seam of your lips, prompting you to open them for him. you let out a soft moan into the kiss, thighs pressing together as alhaitham groaned.

"i think we should stop here."

"what?" you blinked up at him with confusion. "why?"

"you're getting over kaveh. it's understandable, and a common human trait to-"

"i don't think you understand what i said, alhaitham." you reached up to grip his face, hands tangled into his fluffy hair. "i liked you since we were kids. long before i knew kaveh existed. i liked you all year. i liked you when we ate lunch, when we studied at the library, when we argued over exam scores...if anything i guess i'm guilty of using kaveh to get over you."

"kaveh isn't an innocent party either. he uses people as stress relief from his problems."

"well, you caused me a lot of stress you know." you laughed, shaking your head.

"you're guilty for doing the same to me."

"well, lock me up and take me in then, sir." you laughed, slowly easing up when alhaitham stared down at you differently. "what?"

"you're playing with fire. you should be more careful with your words."

"and what if i meant them?" you smirked, leaning up.

"then you should be aware of how i feel." alhaitham pressed himself against you, allowing to feel the hardness straining against his pants.

"archons...please, please i want you."

"you have me."

"you know what i mean." you frowned as alhaitham smirked ever-so-slightly, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

no more than a few minutes later, alhaitham had you leaned up against his chest, in nothing but your undergarments as alhaitham trailed his fingers over your bare skin.

"sensitive." he hummed as his touch left goosebumps, feeling you shiver.

he gently brushed his fingers over your clothed core, your hips moving against his hand to earn more friction as he held your hips down with one hand. "patience."

"alhaitham, please." you whined, feeling him hook his fingers into the waistband and slide the fabric down your legs.

he carefully spread your thighs, dropping the hand to slide through your wetness as you whimpered, shifting on his lap.

he nibbled along the column of your neck, leaving little bites on your skin as you bared your neck to him, gasping as his tongue slid across the expanse.

his fingers began playing with your clit, feeling your hips jump again as you sighed, trying to chase his touch. "oh, alhaitham, that's good-"

he couldn't help but find you cute as he played with your slick, swirling his fingers around your hole as whines of his name spilled from your lips. "come on!"

"be patient." he warned again, lightly smacking your thigh as you huffed. "i have to prepare you properly first."

you felt him ease a finger into your heat, allowing you to fully adjust before adding another and one more after that, curling them into your g-spot as you writhed against his chest. your hands gripped the fabric of his clothes into your fists, shaking and begging for more as he swiped his thumb across your clit, rubbing in circles as you cried out, moving a hand to grip his wrist tightly.

"oh, archons!" you gasped, back arching when you finally came, hole spasming around his digits as he eased you down from your high. "wow." you sighed, leaning back against him to recover as he hummed, reaching down to unbuckle his belt.

"i think that can be considered decent preparation."

"i'd say more than just decent."

"flatterer."

you snorted, suddenly being replaced by a gasp when the head of his cock tapped against your hole.

you glanced down, eyes bulging as you saw his dick against you. "you're huge, oh, archons...my classmates said you were packing but i didn't know this much!"

"your friends talked about my proficiency in bed?"

"classmates, not friends. and anyways, yes, but clearly it helped me for once."

alhaitham laughed softly, shaking his head. "take a deep breath and try to relax for me. just focus on being calm." he slowly pushed inside of you, anchoring you to his chest as he slid you down onto his dick, feeling you tighten around him. "relax, relax, please."

alhaitham bit his lip, shaking his head as he continued to try and bottom out, feeling you shiver and shake in his hold, eyes watering.

"you're doing well. i'm proud of you. just keep breathing."

you whined his name, leaning into him as he kissed across your neck and shoulders, "just be good for me, just stay very still and i will meet your every desire."

[thecorpuscorpse]

okay... it's a bit unhealthy, so if you feel uncomfortable with that, feel free to ignore!

buuut. Possesive, jealous villain?

and they're obsessed with hero? maybe they gave hero a necklace, because they want to mark their territory, but hero refuses to wear it, since to hero they are nothing but enemies. and anyway, why would they wear their enemies necklace?

Villain is frustrated, and decides to take matters into their own hands by tattooing their name on hero's body, shushing them gently when they panic.

Good evening anon!

While it has taken me a while to come back to some of my asks and requests (I have not forgotten you all), I hope to be more active now that more of my personal life has balanced out.

I was more than intrigued by this ask, so I hope you enjoy what I came up with. As someone with quite a few tattoos myself, this was a fun concept to delve into.

Readers: you read the ask (I hope), beware if that is not content you wish to read.

Enjoy <3

#7- "Your Scar To Bear"

TW: Dub-Con, drugging, kidnapping, some fighting.

"What do you expect me to do with this?" Hero asked, their fingers laced with a gold chain.

"Well, wear it," Villain replied as they sipped their wine. Hero always looked better in gold, after all, even though they insisted on silver. "You know, around your neck, like that tie of yours?"

Despite the nonchalance of Villains quip, their light demeanor was perturbed by Hero placing the chain back in the box, and setting it back on the table beside their plate of food. Villain set down their glass, feeling the need to sit up a bit more to properly take the blow of rejection as Heros brows furrowed.

"What's the matter? Is it because it's gold? I swear, just try it with that top you know I like and-"

"No, it isn't that. I... don't trust that you didn't put a tracker in this," Hero said, turning about the small, monogrammed medallion with Villains initials. "I don't need you having the upper hand?"

"Upper hand?" Villain chuckled, leaning in a bit over the table. "You don't seem to say that when I've got my upper hand around your neck while the lower-"

"Stop it," they flushed, but their voice held a stern resolve. "This is what I mean, this is getting too deep for what we are."

Villain tensed up, brows furrowing with confusion at how the mood of everything seemed to change. Just moments ago, they were laughing in the kitchen, and now things were getting too deep? They clutched their napkin in their hand as they watched Hero stand from the table, running a nervous hand through their hair.

"What do you mean."

"This was supposed to be easy!" They lamented. "Stop your plans, put you in prison for the horrible things you've done, and now.."

"Now.. What." Villain said, rather than asked.

Hero took a deep breath before bringing their hands together, clasping them tightly. All of this drama, over a necklace? Villain didn't know what to think, and their patience with how Hero danced around their point was not helping their case. Weeks, things had been fine, months had been fine. Through the broken ribs, bruised cheeks and torn ligaments somehow led to tender kisses, feather-like caresses and sweet words.

This, however, was different.

A bitter, sour taste in their mouth.

"There.. will be a day one of us defeats the other." Hero picked up their jacket from the back of the chair. "And I don't know if I could look at something like that, knowing what I did to you."

They slipped on their coat as they watched Villain with an almost cautious eye. Their grip on the napkin was almost as tight as their jaw. How did any of this make sense? Why was it now that they were making the decision for them?

"What you did to me..." They moved to take another sip of their wine. "Right, all the things that haven't happened, but everything before has been fine," Villain sardonically mused.

"But what will happen will be worse! And having that necklace.. doesn't feel right..."

"Then why the fuck are you still here?!" Their voice crashed through the quiet with the glass they held, the shards skidding across the tile.

Villain moved from their side of the table, and for once, Hero put up placating hands to slow their movement. Much to their dismay, Heros arms were twisted up behind them and wrenched so hard the pain burned in their shoulders.

"V-villain, wait! You don't understand-"

"Oh, I understand," They huffed as they wrenched the door open and pushed Hero out. "Can't stand having a reminder of me when I'm dead, but you can live just fine doing everything else until it puts you at risk."

The door shut, and the banging only lasted a moment before rapid footfalls descended down the driveway and were replaced with distant barking. The thrill of a chase, what a feeling it was to embrace while it lasted all for it to come crumbling down.

All over a necklace.

Villain fed their dogs, cleaned up the dinner the two of them made together, and brought the wine bottle into their office with them. As they sat back in their desk, looking over the spacious room lit by a small wood fireplace, they decided to continue work on their next plan. They rifled through their papers, and noticed a couple of drawings were missing from their schematics list.

Villain sighed, a small smile betraying their sulky mood.

"So that's why they wanted it so badly in here.. Damn bastard..."

~~~

Everything had been going according to plan. Villain watched from their office at headquarters as the trucks headed out from the garage like ants in a row, only to see the first explode in the distance. The gunfire could have been mistaken for fireflies on the hill. There was a faint click of the door, and the familiar sliding metal of a hammer being pulled back.

"Is this it then?" Villain asked as they watched their men die. "Is this the great defeat? Or are you going to fuck me here again and vow vengeance for another time?"

"Villain..." Hero sighed "I wish it was different, I-"

"I said," They interrupted, turning around to face Hero. Their shirt had been unbuttoned, tie loosened, and pants unbuckled and unzipped. Below, black lacy swirls curled along their skin, and delicate ribbon work held the sides of the bodice together. On the front of each strap were little bells that jingled as Villain pushed their shirt to the side. Villain sauntered up to Hero, took the barrel of their gun and kissed the end.

"Is this it, or are you going to Fuck. Me. Here. again?"

The gun was thrown down in a moment, just as Villain was against their desk. Villain couldn't help be proud at their choice in lingerie- Hero liked textures, and that much was evident with how their hands traced along the patterns and ribbons. Held in place between smooth oak and the warm body of Hero keeping them pinned, Villain returned the feverish kiss Hero attacked them with.

Hands roamed into their hair, tugging at all the spots which made them gasp.

They tugged Heros lip to make them hiss and bit along their neck to make them sigh.

The desk groaned as they did when Hero pressed their hips together, pulling Villains leg up against their hip. There was hardly a moment for Hero to keep up, and was left utterly breathless.

Just the way Villain wanted them.

Hero didn't notice amongst their sounds the gentle hum of the ventilation kicking in. They weren't paying attention to how Villain slowed their breaths. It wasn't until there was a sway in Heros stance that their kisses to Villains neck slowed. As they pulled away, their dazed eyes sharpened to clarity as they saw Villain holding a small respirator to their mouth. They winked, and used their leverage to kick Hero down to the floor.

Their legs weren't working. They were seeing two.. three... four Villains? It was hard to think, and they couldn't believe they hadn't considered it would be this simple. Villain moved off the desk, buttoning up their clothes after securing the respirator.

"My, my... stealing my sketches of the atomic phasers I was shipping off and intercepting my delivery convoy. I must say, you had good intention, but you let yourself get carried away with temptation. They were shipped out this morning, you're far too late."

Villain crouched down, and gently squished Heros face in their hand to purse their lips. "You want to have office fun, we'll have some office fun. I'll see you when you wake up~"

~~~

The dreams were unlike any that Hero had before. In the line of safety, it didn't come without it's downfalls. Sometimes, not everyone could be rescued and it lingered with Hero on more sleepless nights than not.

People falling they couldn't quite catch.

People not making it through a building fire.

They couldn't bear the idea of Villain being one of them.

And so many more caused Hero to jolt awake at night. It wasn't like therapy was an option, and so Hero held it just like they held the rest of the world together. Whatever Villain used in their sedation mist amplified these nightmarish instances tenfold until finally, they woke up.

Yet, their body did not thrash, nor were they capable of doing so with the shackles on their arms, ankles and neck. The cold sweat of their body was warmed by a fire in the room, and the burning sensation they felt from their dream lingered in more ways than just in their mind.

Their skin burned, and from what Hero could see, they were shirtless and tethered to.. oh.

Oh, no.

"Hi, darling," Villain cooed sweetly, standing up from their chair with a rag to gently dab Heros forehead with a cool rag. "Another nightmare? I promise, I only sent out a dozen men, its nothing really."

"W-whats.. whats happening?" They asked tiredly. It felt like they slept forever, but it must have only been a few hours. The sun had long since set, and there were only dim lights illuminating Villains home office.

"Oh, I can show you," Villain hummed as they unclasped the neck restraint, allowing Hero to look down and see the half-finished chest piece sprawling under his collarbones. The ink was smeared everywhere, speckles of blood splattered about randomly, and a Villain looking very proud of themselves.

"You started moving, so I let you get it out of your system. And I knew how much you wanted to use my Saint Andrews Cross, so it worked out well, I think."

"I-I need you to s-stop, why..." Hero couldn't even tell what it was before the panic started setting in.

"Shh, shh..." Villains face went from soft and pleasant, to serious and focused as they brought a hand to Heros face. A thumb traced over their lips, and pushed in to drag against the teeth. Their eyes held onto Heros, which were likely glazed from having woke up or being on the brink of tears. Either way, they still looked pretty to Villain.

The moment Villain got their head down, they locked the neck restraints, leaving Hero to pull against the restraints in protest to no avail. The air stung, and Hero could feel their racing heartbeat through every thick line of the ink in their skin.

"Why?" Villain repeated as they filled every tiny jar to the brim with ink. "You have broken and scarred my body in so many unchangeable ways, Hero." More ways than they were able to discuss, but with how long they had left on this piece, maybe they'd talk about it now.

Villain dipped their pen into the ink, and moved onto the cross to straddle Heros hips. They wiped a small amount of moisturizer in the spot they were to work on, and readied their gun, but not before leaning up to look at Hero directly.

"V-villain! Please, you need to listen to me and-"

"This will hurt, and hurt for a long time so you know how it felt. This is my revenge, this is your scar to bear, and I suggest you not move if you want this to come out good," Villain cooed before giving Hero a slow, deep kiss before pulling away. "I have plenty of time to listen."

Villain started their piece again. Although Hero was tense, they maintained as steady of a physical composure as they could. Every swipe of the machine against their skin felt akin to having skin carved into, stripped away with every bit.

Low-impact skin, like the chest and inner limbs, all have heightened sensitivity. Every graze against a healed scar either went numb, or made Hero cry out in pain. All the while, Villain maintained their steadied hand, gentle hushes escaping their lips as they worked.

"V-villain this is t-too much, I can't-"

"'This is too much', 'this is too deep'," Villain listed dully with a sigh. "All of that over shit we can't control and yet you let it get that far with me because why?" They asked rather simply, a much more content composure compared to their dinner a few weeks ago.

"I... I don't regret it, if that is what you're asking."

"It's not, but I appreciate that. Why was a necklace the deal breaker for you compared to everything else?"

There was a nearly quiet moment, only filled with the buzz of the machine and soft whimpers from Hero every so often. It was possible they were just ignoring Villain. Sooner or later, they would come to find talking over the pain is a great distraction from it.

"Because I.. I don't know what to do when things get deeper," they sobbed softly as the machine dig against their chest. "With our careers, they have a set ending. I didn't expect that out of all the people I could love, it had to be you."

There was a brief pause in Villains work, allowing Hero a moment to breath. They gave Hero a gentle smile and wished they could caress that exhausted face of theirs. it wasn't like they didn't know it, but hearing out loud was always a much more jarring experience.

"And?"

"And.. taking the necklace, if it comes down to it and all I have is that to remind me I..." Heros voice hitched, either from what they could've said or the harsh buzz of the machine against their sternum. "I killed you, it wouldn't feel right."

Villain hummed with the tattoo gun, bringing the end up in light flicks for shading. Heros skin took the ink well, and despite the scars, they had a good feeling it would look even better when they were done.

"You don't think it would've been if I was giving it to you?" They retorted as they traced a finger along the inky, bloody skin. "I have been okay with you killing me in more than one occasion, yet you haven't. When will you ever?

"This will look so pretty on you, Hero. I know it hurts, but I'll make you feel so much better afterwards." Villain cooed through Heros soft sobs as the heavier shading ached more against their ribs. "This way, no matter when the time comes, you'll carry me always."

"P-please," Hero pulled against the cuffs, to which Villain had to pause with a quizzical face. "I-its.. its too big of a tattoo.."

Villain smiled, tilted their head and chuckled.

"Now, I've never heard you complain about something being 'too big'."

~~~

The hours went by agonizingly slow, and not in the metaphorical sense. By the time Villain was done with Hero, they were tatted up and teased throughout the grueling process. There was some reward for having learned their lesson.

Even if Heros legs were cuffed open, they were eager to have some relief after the ordeal upon asking, and the whines and cries in Villains office were a much different type than during the tattoo. When it was all over, Villain carefully undid the restraints, and dampened a paper towel with cold cleaning mix.

"You did perfect and you're going to love it," Villain hummed softly, pressing a kiss to Heros head before wiping the ink down carefully.

The cooling sensation overtook hero, the tension leaving their body almost immediately as a gentle hand carefully cleaned up the piece. Villain brought over a bottle of water, which Hero chugged down hurriedly, much to Villains amusement.

"Keep.. Keep doing that.." Hero breathed out, and Villain complied. With a smile, Villain ran the cool rag over the extensive piece with slow, attentive motions.

"Come on, lets get it wrapped up and something in your body before you pass out again," Villain urged, guiding Hero up from their stiff position and brought them to face the mirror.

Sprawling from one side of Heros collar to the other were great coils of a dragon that funneled down their chest and sternum, the head opening up below the pectorals. Each scale was detailed to the finest hatch mark, the tufts of fur were wispy, and the expression on the dragon looked.. powerful. it was a gorgeous tattoo, and Villain could see their amazement.

"Villain, this is... my god," they breathed. It may be a little tough to hide in the employee locker room, but they could lie.. hopefully.

"And," Villain walked up, and traced over a set of scales along the collar, and soon another set, until Hero realized the pattern spelled out Villains name. Once they saw it, they couldn't unsee it. They could almost faint now.

"I don't know what is going to happen to us, but I'll be more damned than I already am if you forget about me."

Hero looked from the tattoo to Villain, before sighing. They leaned in, and pressed a gentle kiss to their lips. "How could I ever forget about you?"

There was a smile. Maybe Hero wasn't out of the doghouse yet, but Villain did help wrap their new tattoo, and reheated the leftovers from the dinner, and thought of ideas on what they'd do had they not chosen a life of servitude and villainy. Hero would want something mundane. Without the attention or the tabloids.

Villain wanted to be an artist, but given the path that was chosen for them, their skill went designing weapons of destruction instead of creation. In a way, they did create, but it was not the kind they wished for, and did not have the desired outcome.

They went to bed that night, muttering about plans, and giggling about the future where an end never came in the quiet comfort of VIllains room. By noon the next day, the two had gathered what was stashed away in Villains safe, and both vanished without a trace or word to either governing agency.

[peppymintdreams]

Crime and Idiocracy

Isaac x Pickle

It’s time to relax and Isaac and pickle choose to watch a crime show but everything angers Isaac

It was supposed to be a relaxing evening. Pickle had curled up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, Isaac lounging beside them, his feet propped up on the coffee table. The two of them had decided on a crime drama something simple to wind down with after a long day. At first, everything seemed fine. The detective had found the first clue, the crime scene was intriguing, and Pickle was getting into it.

But Isaac? Not so much.

"Wait, hold on," Isaac said, frowning at the screen. "Why are they bagging the evidence like that? The glove wasn’t even put in a sealed bag what are they, amateurs?"

Pickle chuckled, shoving a handful of popcorn into their mouth. "It's just a show, Isaac. They can't get everything right."

Isaac sighed, clearly unconvinced, but let it go for now. They watched in silence for a few more minutes, the plot thickening as the lead detective found a suspect, but Isaac’s expression grew darker with every passing second.

"No," he muttered, sitting up a little straighter. "No, no, no, this doesn’t make sense. Why would the killer leave a clue that obvious? That's literally the first thing you’d check! What kind of criminal mastermind are they supposed to be?"

Pickle tried to suppress a laugh. They knew Isaac had a tendency to overthink things, especially when it came to mysteries, but this was next-level frustration. “Maybe it’s a red herring,” they suggested. “You know, to throw the audience off.”

Isaac scoffed. “Throw the audience off? It’s throwing me off. That’s not how real investigations work! The guy would be caught in two seconds. Look at him! He’s practically announcing he did it. And why is the detective just standing there, acting like he’s solved the case already?”

Pickle raised an eyebrow, amused. “You could always turn it off if it’s that bad.”

“No,” Isaac said stubbornly, crossing his arms. “I want to see how much worse this gets.”

Pickle giggled, leaning into him. “You’re such a critic.”

“I’m not being a critic,” Isaac replied, though he was clearly annoyed. “I just hate it when shows don’t even try to be accurate. Like look, they didn’t even take fingerprints from the weapon. How are they going to solve this case if they’re ignoring basic forensics?”

Pickle smiled, resting their head on Isaac’s shoulder. “It’s for entertainment. Not everything has to be realistic.”

But Isaac was far from entertained. The show continued to throw curveballs, none of which seemed logical in Isaac’s eyes. By the time the detective miraculously found the killer based on a single, vague clue, Isaac was practically fuming.

“Are you kidding me?” he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “There’s no way he could’ve figured that out from a smudge on a window! They didn’t even check the alibis properly, and somehow they’ve solved the case in one episode? This is nonsense!”

Pickle burst into laughter. “You’re taking this way too seriously,” they teased, nudging him with their elbow. “It’s just a guilty pleasure. It’s not supposed to be perfect.”

Isaac ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head in disbelief. “Guilty pleasure? More like guilty torture. Who writes this stuff? They didn’t even do the bare minimum of research.”

“Maybe they thought no one would notice,” Pickle offered, still chuckling. “But I guess they didn’t expect you to be watching.”

Isaac rolled his eyes, though a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Yeah, well, I’d make a much better detective. At least I wouldn’t trip over the obvious clues or let a murderer walk right past me because I’m too busy brooding about my tragic backstory.”

Pickle snuggled closer, trying to stifle their amusement. “You’d probably solve the whole thing in five minutes and ruin the suspense.”

“I’d rather solve it in five minutes than spend an hour watching someone bungle their way through it,” Isaac muttered, though he seemed to be relaxing a bit now, the initial anger fading. “At least try to make it believable.”

“Maybe next time we’ll watch something more up your alley,” Pickle suggested. “Like a documentary or something with actual facts.”

Isaac let out a soft chuckle, wrapping an arm around them. “I think that’d be better for my sanity. But if you really want to watch this ridiculous stuff, I guess I can put up with it… for you.”

Pickle smiled, enjoying the warmth of his embrace. “It’s not about the show, anyway. It’s about spending time together.”

Isaac glanced down at them, the frustration in his eyes replaced by something softer. “You know what? You’re right. As long as I’m watching it with you, I guess I can tolerate the nonsense.”

Pickle grinned and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. “Good. But next time, you’re picking the show.”

Isaac smirked, already thinking of something more to his taste. “Deal. Just don’t be surprised if I pick something with actual logic.”

[toomanyopinionss]

Scattered thoughts after watching the finale of GEN V

Spoilers Ahead

i forgot how ANGRY homelander makes me. like i haven’t seen that awful mf in my screen in a minute but the candle full of rage i hold for this man is clearly not snuffed out. mr. how to ruin everything in 45 seconds or less. fvck homelander

lord, and the RACISM of this whole thing just has me so fvcking heated, because of course the two pretty cis white kids are the heroes (even though one of them supposed to be dead according to public records, and the other ones boyfriend killed the mf principal) and not the top ranked kids in school, three of which are poc and queer (possibly all queer, emma gives off a vibe). like emma, marie, jordan, and andre are arguably 4 of the most decent students on this campus. the only thing marie has done is fucking exist, and the world has just delivered nothing but awfulness to her. gtfo of here, im so upset.

if the term “morally gray” was a universe it would be this one. cause fuck indira but fuucccckkkkk homelander.

if they don’t do right by andre, im going to be so pissed. the fact that this episode showcased the most of him we’ve seen as a character and it was still half-assed?? i want moreeee

bruh, i know in the battle between action/drama and romance, that the former has to take precedence in this type of story, but even emma and sam got a fucking conversation. are you so serious? limoreau didn’t have time for a 2 minute discussion about their relationship??? the writers could have added a couple more minutes to this 30 minute episode? it’s been CRICKETS y’all, and i demand reparations. i mean we’re not gonna see them again for another, what… 2 years??The jordan and marie moments are so cute, don’t get me wrong, but they are minuscule after episode 5. I be having to run to fan fiction just to satisfy my need for emotional closure. do better

CATE. now ms. gorl, we were rooting for you. and you went and made a mess of things. and quite frankly, trying to get to jordan destroyed my last string of patience for her ass, and it was already fraying the minute she messed with sam. i am officially un-identifying as a cate apologist. if we bein honest, marie should have gone for the other hand too.

bruh, lowkey loved sam’s arch this episode, i don’t know. his character intrigues me, and he’s been through so much stuff, i just wanna give him a hug. When he said “I hate myself.” i felt like crying. homelander needs to keep his greasy no good, bloody mf hands off of him, i swear

Ok this is getting lengthy

i love this show and it’s characters, for the record, in case that wasn’t clear lol

8.5/10

[rosewoodroad]

Scattered thoughts on SoTO

Tl;dr: Lukewarm climax, lukewarm ending. Isgarren is still rude.

Finished the final chapter in an hour and a half. A lot of drama was condensed into those 3 instances, but it felt like there was zero point to the first two where we were just at the camp. It got a bit juicier in the third instance in Eparch's palace. Like, three drops of juice juicier.

The most interesting bits of the story I can recall are:

Eparch ate his entire army! At the time, I was like "oh shit" but in hindsight, I was really hoping for Eparch to be planning a massive attack or something. There was so much build up as to why he wasn't retaliating against Peitha. But no, his great plan was just to eat his own soldiers. I guess it makes sense with his character, but I think if the execution and consequences of the reveal was better, it would have been a real slap to the face.

Eparch's first contact with Tyria was the Maguuma Jungle and Mordremoth, the latter of which he was scared of. This is a real neat detail imho, and helps paint a better picture of the power hierarchy between our antagonists. Eparch truly isn't that big of a threat in the end.

Eparch's final battle was a letdown for all his intrigue. Heitor was harder than him. I literally stood there and tanked all his hits, there was zero mechanic to the encounter. It sure made the speedkilling achievement easy, though.

Meh battle aside, Snargle is always a pleasant surprise.

Isgarren is such an asshat. It makes him an interesting character, but I'm upset they didn't do more with him. Like, what was all that talk about the Commander being similar to Isgarren before? Everyone is like, "you remind me of him" but they never show how?? I thought they were gonna do some real in depth introspection into his personality by the time the story ends but I guess that's it. We're supposed to see the two of them as twins for some reason, but maybe the Fractal will shed some light?

Sounds like Zojja is leaving us for good this time. The exchange between Zojja and the Commander is the only element of the chapter that made me feel things :( Also, I love how the Commander's lines here mirrored their monologue in the prologue: "See? Everyone's doing just fine, Aurene" to "Everyone will be fine, Zojja."

I think my biggest disappointment with the ending is the lack of implications in the epilogue. We could talk with a bunch of people but they're all about the future with the Kryptis and whether peace is possible and whatever. Nothing about, or from, mainland Tyria. No hints for the next expac. No mention of our guild members. No Ivan, who sent us on the mission to begin with and heard nothing from us since. No Taimi, who really ought to be spamming calls on the comms device now that she knows Zojja is back. What is the point of the communicator device in our bags when it's literally used for the prologue and nowhere else???

Peitha's king now. I love how they kept the 'king' title instead of making her queen. But... that's it for her, I guess. I knew she wouldn't betray us, but I admit it's also sort of boring how the story just ended there. I think it could have benefited from more post-story achievements where we help out with turbulent politics or diplomacy instead of going on another treasure (or kryptis) hunt binge. Right now, it feels like the equivalent of brushing dirt off our pants and going, "welp that's done."

Nobody's gonna mention what Eparch said about Kryptis' predatorial nature, huh? They drop his (very, very tiny violin) sympathetic backstory and motivations, and then proceed not to bring its implications up at the peace treaty scene. Absolutely nobody is bothered by Kryptis possibly needing to feed off mortals.

All in all, honestly a forgettable ending. Looking back, the expac started off really strong thanks to the intrigue behind the Wizards and Isgarren. But once that intrigue is solved and we go delving into Nayos, it just feels like a rehash of all our previous adventures where we fight to overcome some Great Force of Evil- just that the Commander isn't in the spotlight anymore. I would've preferred it if the past three chapters were spent with the wizards instead, solving dumb magical problems (or even fighting to keep the Astral Ward a secret!) instead of partaking in a generic military storyline for the 9th time. Like, instead of Eparch, we could have been hunting down a whistleblower, or a traitor maybe, something that keeps the intrigue there.

At least it's acknowledged that the Commander is tired of this stuff too. They need a nap.

[fumifooms]

I feel we talk and speculate about post-canon Marchil. But what about pre-canon Marchil? They may not yet know much about each other's personal lives by the time the story starts. But from the start we could already see that they have some level of rapport and are able to bounce off each other quite well especially given that they see each other as the saner party members.

But we know its not how they started especially given Chilchucks disdain for elves, and the fact that the previous mage/sorcerer of their party supposedly almost broke the party up with their love agendas.

How do you think it played out from there and getting to the start of the manga?

Pre-canon and early Marcille & Chilchuck

Yes, very interesting topic!! There are a good few moments that are telling imo. I don't have any fun way to introduce it all so let's just go right into it, it's gonna be a long post though.

Pre-canon

We do see how they start out:

Like you said, Chil, like the other party members, was very hesitant at first on trusting her, that she’d be a good fit for the party etc, though he doesn’t seem to be taking it any worse than Shuro and Namari (which is interesting since Chil’s distrust of elves is more prominent).

The distrust of mages for their party specifically was due to their old one, implied to have stirred drama by being a marriage seeker with every man in the party yes. We don't know the details but it does paint a certain picture I suppose, I really hope The Adventurer's Bible 2 is gonna have new info or pages about the old party members... Doing an analysis of the party configurations pre-canon would be interesting too, for example there’s the buzzcut guy that’s implied to have betrayed Laios and it’s soo cryptic but intriguing and implied to be a significant moment for Laios, would be worth analyzing the crumbs of info we get in canon... But yes yes point is that's one side of the coin, which is eased when the party gets used to Marcille and she earns their trust by being friendly and nice, BUT there’s the other side of the coin to it where magic has been used to persecute half-foots historically, especially by elves, so there’s that bias that remains even for a good part of canon for Chilchuck, and it's stated the most explicitly when he and Marcille argue over dark magic in chapter 34.

To go back to the pictures above, the panel that shows Marcille "working hard to befriend everyone" contextualizes the extra comic in Chilchuck’s Adventurer’s Bible section(the third picture above) to be set during that time of integration into the party for her. We see they indeed had already their comedic dynamic schtick down by then… And I think that makes sense. Even at the start of canon Chil is still adamant about not making friends and keeping emotional distance, so though I’m sure he was much more standoffish and quiet at first I think going from "I don’t know you and I’ll avoid you" to "I’ll engage with you but I’m not gonna be friendly about it" isn't a big jump and it would happen naturally with time as they get somewhat acquainted.

Chilchuck does value having a good professional dynamic, so he wouldn’t want to be rude or shoot her down, and it’s also that will to help a coworker be efficient that gets him to go out shopping for a pouch with her and makes her able to bond with him on that occasion (Yes I do want to make a fanfic about it hehe. He doesn’t like to wait after people but still went with her for a pouch isn’t that sweet). Considering the way she acts with him in that extra comic, she was already very open and didn’t mind overcrowding him and seeming eager and whatnot. Imo she already looked favorably upon him from the get-go because he’s "a kid" and thus sweet and cute™️, but I still think especially with the added context of the pages on her perspective that she was extra trying to be friendly and encourage engaging with her. Even at their "on good terms for work but no actual relationship" stage at the beginning of canon, Marcille worked to get there and to have that good (decent) of a dynamic with Chil.

Although I don’t think it was especially hard either, I just think it took a while for people to acclimate to her. A lot of the prejudices in Dungeon Meshi are eased and challenged through exposure and contact, like getting a scared dog to see you as safe. "Oh, this guy isn’t so bad after all, guess there are good ones -> guess they have a point -> guess that maybe they’ve always had a point and were never all that evil" etc etc, it’s more nuanced and has variations but hopefully you see what I mean, how prejudices are tackled in Dunmeshi is a very interesting & layered topic for another day.

Ah yes there’s also the extra above in which Chil says how awkward it is to wait with Toshiro and Marcille for the others to arrive, and though it certainly could be mostly about how Toshiro and Marcille don’t get along and that's what makes the air tense, I do think it shows a good level of distance and disinterest between them. It’s often referred to in canon that, previous to canon events, they all truly just had a coworkers dynamic.

Even just hanging out outside of work for a drink was very uncommon. The closest thing to a friend Chilchuck would see someone as in the party would have been Namari I imagine, since it’s shown a few times that those two did go out to drink after work a couple times and got along well (as per the extras about it and some small canon moments).

I think it’s very central to their dynamic at that point that their relationship is professional. According to the timeline it’s been around 1/1.5 year that Marcille has joined Laios’ party at the beginning of canon, and since they dungeon dive regularly that’s a good amount of time to develop a dynamic with a coworker. So yes I think a good way to frame their relationship is that they’re two coworkers, who have been working together well for a while but never developed it into a proper friendship, either from lack of interest or failure to do it, like two cashiers sharing the same shift. They have a bond forged in forced proximity and casual familiarity accumulated over time, which does make their relationship a bit unique and interesting since they would have never become friends under regular circumstances. They're like that sweet & salty sandwich that you have to give a chance to, that'll surprise you and have complementary flavors if you try it out despite seeming disastrous.

Early canon

Their early dynamic is super interesting though!! Both see each other as capable, which I do think is the foundation of their relationship early on, since Marcille thought of him as a kid too closed off on himself and Chilchuck saw her as a somewhat annoying person (afaik) and an elf mage (both which make her more distrust-worthy for him) which doesn't make them very friends material at that point. But like I said, they do see each other as capable not only in their job but with their respective strenghts:

Early on we get the sense that they of course have worked with each other for a while and have a good grasp on the other’s character though, and what they say is insightful on how they think of the other. Above, the excerpt is when Laios and Chilchuck come back with the dead Kabru party’s wet food. "She’s right that wasn’t okay to do. Not good I didn’t catch that, that’s Marcille for you." implying he sees her as sort of the moral compass of the team, that she’s strict on such things but seemingly he values it instead of being offput by it. On her side she says how "he’s usually the most mature here." This is in the kakiage chapter so she still fully believes he's a kid at that point, so it's interesting to see that she still recognizes his maturity demeanor wise.

There is respect there, however how kneecapped or begrudging it is. I think the "you’re the next most normal person in the party after me and you have common sense thank god" dynamic was mostly forged right from the beginning of canon but not before that, since Laios while yes still having some of his questionable leadership previously (since his part was losing faith in him before Marcille joined) was more stoic and controlled, so 1) there is no great evil to band up against in the party, plus there were just more people, so 2) less reason or occasion to seek specifically each other out. But then without Toshiro and Namari they were the only person the other had when Laios started showing his interest in monsters and whatnot, the whole party dynamic got thrown upside down which made them gravitate towards each other more than they usually did. And then Senshi came into the picture but Marcille and Chilchuck had already traumabonded like kittens /j and Senshi turned out to also have an interest in monsters. I do feel like pre-canon they simply didn’t interact as much, more one-off moments and short shallow interactions and the occasional deeper, pleasant enough conversation than anything, so canon events is what really kickstarted it into something more than (acquaintance level emotional distance) coworkers.

And on that note, I think that the true shift in their relationship starts after the red dragon arc, when their goal becomes more convoluted and they’ll have to stick to each other’s side through truly thick and thin. It’s right after that Chilchuck gets a shift in character and motivation where he admits that he cares about them, and when the characters start being overall more vulnerable with each other.

I think about this page a ton for example.

"Still, that Marcille…" Maybe I should check out how the original phrased it, the ‘that’ does add a lot, but even without it there's a very impersonal feeling to it. Like they really are just starting to get accustomed to each other after all and sizing each other up, which isn’t all that wrong considering the context of finding something very important about her out that would shift everyone's perception of her, but it does definitely show distance imo, even with this being after the dragon arc at chapter 29. He thinks of her as silly and sketchy at that point as per the scene with Leed... It's rocky, it's rocky, but they do hash things out together and continue to respect each other's perspective and points, as seen for eample how they strategize together when they meet Shuro and Kabru's parties. And yes, that's super interesting!! The scene after his talk with Leed where he admits he cares about the party member is the point where Chilchuck stops pretending to only be in it for the money and he lets himself bond with the others more, so it makes sense to me that he'd have processed the whole "Marcille dark elf" thing and moved past it, but it does show a lot of trust in Marcille that even despite her dark magic show he goes to her for strategy talk and like, doesn't worry about her doing faux-pas and getting themselves killed or in jail unlike with Laios or Senshi which he feels the need to monitor lol.

I think the bicorn chapter is the chapter that truly cements them as having a relationship in its own right. He opened up about himself and let her in on personal aspects of his life, and that makes him finally ready to fully drop the wall of "coworkers only, no friends nope, our relationship starts and stops at when we enter and leave the dungeon". And of course by the end he's straight up saying he'll introduce her to his family lol <3

Conclusion

So yes overall they do seem to know each other the way longtime acquaintances would, and they have a good grasp on each other’s character, but their vision of each other is severely kneecapped by other factors, Marcille seeing him as a kid and him having a bias against elves and mages and also just optimistic nosy people lol. Chilchuck is only interested in working with her efficiently, without making friends, and besides him being a coworker whose skills are very needed Marcille is only interested in him in a gossip curiosity way and in a ‘Aww I should make an effort to include the kid in things, he should open up more!’ patronizing and infantilizing way. You can’t really bond as an equal with someone you think is a kid after all, so early on it’s more of a caring after attention/interest she has for him, and the process of her growing to see him as an adult is very slow and gradual. They're tough to feasibly work with in a shipping sense early on, like yes ok they have very funny chemistry but at what cost... But I sure do love slow burns and complicated people growing to love each other through learning about them through thick and thin and compromising to better themselves and make it work, so!!

It’d be interesting to have marchil (wether platonic or romantic) fancontent exploring their pre-canon relationship, especially if we were to try and have them learn to know each other more and form a deeper bond and all, but it literally took all of canon to get them there. It took them having to do a desperate emergency dungeon dive with initially only 3 party members, where they don’t have any choice but to spend a lot of time in almost only each other’s company and have to forgo the usual boundaries, when fighting for each other’s lives and learning things about each other like being a 'dark elf' or a 'father of three'. It took 57 chapters and a lie-detecting virtue-detecting monster for him to open up about his wife and family, and who knows how long it’d have taken without that monster or without it having attacked him, serving as evidence that he’d been lying about it. Who knows how long he’d have been fine lying, y’know?? And learning that he cheated on his wife made her esteem for him tank, it’d have made them more tense with each other if anything if the bicorn hadn't proven his lie wrong. Beause it's def implied too that Chilchuck would have said that lie if super pushed int otalking about his wife, which would have happen with or without a bicorn appearing in their path right then.

In the end it’s like how Laios said, thank you Falin for being eaten, and thank you everyone for being the gender that you are, because if any detail had been different the adventure either wouldn’t have happened or would have happened very differently (worse). Best marchil slow burn is canon real?!! Jk there’s so much that could be done with them both pre-canon, during canon and post-canon, but yeahh they’re such complex characters with a complex dynamic that making it both organic and IC would be so hard. I do like the take that he is attracted to her to some degree though, and I feel like Marcille has a general curiosity and interest in romance and maybe experiencing it herself, so I wouldn't say that spontaneous interest would be impossible, but the biggest obstacle is Chilchuck's wife situation tbh because the man is planning on staying faithful and celibate right up to at least divorce if not his grave lol.

Now I do want to write a canon divergent thing where Chil refused to try and tame the bicorn and the party kept on thinking he’d cheated on her and the new dynamic with Marcille though… Eventually she wants to understand him and ask about it, and it keeps getting worse, before it starts getting better because this time around exhaustion caught up to him and he didn’t need the bicorn to make him admit he hasn’t… The whole end thing of his arc would have to happen pretty differently man, whew, especially since he has a complex where he doesn’t see himself as a good man, not virtuous or moral, cowardly and selfish etc etc, so without having a monster with its objective monster senses going "ew you’re a virtuous husband I hate u" it’d have been harder for him to truly consider that maybe the situation isn’t quite as hopeless as he thought and he should at least try blablabla. But Marcille is the next best thing to a bicorn, she can psychoanalyze him and hype him up, I have faith I have faith. Most feasibly though I feel like pre-canon fics with them would be ficlets of moments in which they unexpectedly interacted and went the small extra mile of going beyond small talk and both try to connect a bit, learning to know each other just a bit more, piquing interest or curiosity or making them re-evaluate each other, that’d be fun.

Like you said it's not a topic that's often analyzed and all, so I ended up going all out and being somewhat rambly... Apologies apologies, hopefully this wasn't hard to follow along with, and was good food for thought and had good points! Maybe it feels a bit far from your initial question that was only about going from their first meeting to the start of canon, but I feel like only analyzing their early relationship in that scope and consider the first hurdle in them growing closer fully over and done with doesn't encapsulate the core of their issues with each other and how they deal with them and eventually overcome them. It took a lot of time and insistance and efforts and for their prejudices to be challenged and proven wrong many, many times for it to truly stick and for them to be truly comfortable and open with each other. Early marchil truly has traumabonded retail coworkers energy to me lol, speaking from experience and traumabonded being meant as an hyperbole.

[hils79]

Hils Watches In Blossom - Ep 29

A-Ze is the MVP of this drama. Going off and doing all the important research while Yang Caiwei feeds Pan Yue soup at home

Even Pan Yue would rather be doing research

I'm intrigued as to how they're going to get Pan Yue out of this fake engagement given that everyone around them is dead set on the wedding happening

Four episodes from the end is when we should be starting to wrap things up not introducing extra drama

How the hell does he know that?

I'm glad at least one person thinks the whole face swapping thing is weird

I keep thinking Pan Yue is the criminal mastermind but then it turns out he's just doing something nice for his son. OH! He's evil! Oh, wait, no he just rescued Yang Caiwei OMG IS THAT POISON? Oh, wait, it's just a healing powder for Pan Yue's injury

I love that whenever a character is in jail in a cdrama they're always in an enormous cell. I mean it's probably meant to be for multiple people but there's only ever one person in there.

I would laugh if the princess's seemingly affable brother in law was actually the criminal mastermind

I'm sure this whole illegal salt subplot is important but I just can't seem to bring myself to care about it

OMG IT ACTUALLY IS HIM!!!

If they get Pan Yue out of his fake engagement by killing the princess I will throw my fucking laptop out the window!

Ah, okay, he's not going to kill her he's just going to threaten to kill her sister.

I FUCKING KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN! With the added bullshit of Yang Caiwei now being made to look like the murderer. God, if I wasn't so close to the end I would nope out of this drama now.

Hongjoong went live while I was watching this episode. I should have watched that instead.

Yeah, I figure she'd probably stabbed herself but this is still utter bullshit

Of course she had time to impart important info before she died

Not even a kneeling in the rain scene can make me feel better

He does look good being all damp and sad, but also you can see the edges of his wig

I'm actually not quite sure what the kneeling is going to achieve. Or is he being punished for cheating on the princess?

Ah, there we go. Thank you for explaining.

Some of us like men who are pathetic. Don't judge.

Another single person in a massive jail cell

Given that Pan Yue's dad is the one who told him about all the secret plot stuff in the first place I don't know why Pan Yue doesn't just tell him who the mastermind is.

Well, that was very annoying but I only have 3 eps left so I suppose I'll push on. I'm not happy about it though.

[silviakundera]

Lust Love in the Desert, ep 8 liveblogging

FL's 2 servants are hyped that there's a local festival to attend while FL is the personification of 😐 because she's actually hyper aware that being in this harem is dangerous

That maid servant is the weakest link tho. She keeps dropping like HEY ABOUT YOUR SECRET IDENTITY (face palm)

So, huh, FL bakes for faux enunch instead of rewarding him valuables. He gives her a pro tip about the Lord liking tea that contradicts what he told the other concubine. I'm a lil curious to see if this eventually goes anywhere.

Yunpei Lord is tricking himself out in a fancy outfit, playing emperor, while ML is plotting to search the grounds while everyone is at the festival

Red ribbons in the tree branches to make FL feel bittersweet longing. Nice move.

I'm kinda intrigued by the dynamic between the Lord and FL. She keeps things coldly clinical, polite but distant, and makes excuses not to have sex or join him for a meal. But in abscense of this she highlights that her focus in on mastering the scrolls - so he actually allows it - when normally this stuff would get a concubine punished.

In a world where she hadn't already gotten attached to her mystery man, these 2 might actually have worked out a very functional partnership? He would have his sexy ladies and she would have become his trusted advisor. 🤔

FL was doing some delicate probing about Lord's sentiments towards Masui (her actual homeland). But we don't really learn anything new.

I only wonder how much Lord would truly care where she's from, if she is ready to openly consult on the Special Scrolls. Part of me thinks he's already suspicuous, he's just not gonna explore it while it seems that she's useful

Ruo Wen, bandit extraordinaire, is also at Yunpei. Why? I have no idea. (They probably explained but I didn't care.)

Princess 2 has tracked him down like a bounty hunter for looooovveeee.

Her actually professing to be in love with him clearly disturbs the dude, who's likely thinking, but WHY?? just like I am.

She throws some rich girl tantrums to get his compliance and he basically stops fighting it and allows her to tag along.

This truly is that deranged, obsessed supporting FL character energy you'd see in another drama, where she clings to the ML's arm and constantly plots to force-marry him and have the FL framed & sexually assaulted....... Except here it's all directed at the villainous 2ML, which is objectively hilarious.

It's like the guy instinctively KNOWS this isn't how the story is supposed to go and he's thrown completely off balance. 😆

The entire cast has shown up for the lantern festival. 2nd couple playing tourist while probably scheming. FL floating lanterns and promising mom she'll avenge-- OH HI ML

They're strolling on opposite sides of the river. Longing but forever parted. It's all very romantical. 😢

United on the bridge! Soft gazes and slow-mo running hand in hand. Kissing vibes but NO KISS.

"Do you miss me?"

cdramas love masks with a passion I will frankly never understand.

Any time you introduce a mask into the situation I just lol. Instant clownification. It kills any badass or romantic vibes for me

But hey, both main and second couple fireside join dancing

The princesses touch hands 👍

They change up partners, so Ruo Wen can clutch the FL all 🍆 🍆

👎

2FL bullies her bandit into wearing a flower crown, though he's still thinking about FL. You can't change a dog.

[anonymoosen]

ZIMPAI SHIZPOST STORY PART 5: REALISATION 🤯⁉️

(WE’RE GETTING REAAAL CLOSE TO THE LAST PART GUYS-)

(THE LAST PART WILL BE RLLY SHORT CUZ THIS ONE IS PRETTY LONG KSSKDK)

Our lovely majestic tsundere green lizard boi ELEEEGANTLY pranced over to Dib-chans house with the cherry blossom petals blowing as intensely as ever.

“DEEEB-STINKKK BAH-KAAAHH!! I HAVE RETURNED AND- BLEHHH WHY DO THESE PINK FLOWER THINGIES KEEP HITTING MY FACE!?!”

Dib-chan immediately crashed through his own window from his room and landed on top of Zimpai, “accidentally” pinning him to the ground like that romantic move a lot of people use in movies.

The big headed boy giggled cutely with the usual sparkles in his eyes, “Ooooh woopsiess!! I totaaally didn’t know this cliche romantic trope would happen!!”

The alien rolled his and blushed deeply from the close proxZIMity and the way his crush’s voice sounded like the most adorable thing in the whole world— even cuter than their old class pet hamster, Peepi! (hehehehe peepeepoopoo)

Wait- NO! This is a disease! A CURSE!! The Dib-thing wanted me to fall prey into his hands this whole time!! Zim immediately shook his head and pushed Dib away. Dib-chan looked to the ground and wondered worriedly if he had gone too far in invading the invader’s personal space.

(HELP I JUST DOODLED THIS ON MAH PHONE SO BADLY 5 MIN AGO-)

Zim-kun tried not to feel bad about Dib looking a bit saddened and growled, “GRRR YOU’LL NEVER CURSE ME WITH THAT STYOOPID FEELING!”

Dib sighed and tried to hold back his once again returning sparkling anime tears. Of course it was one sided. Of course he got rejected by even the most annoying alien in the world. Who would even want some creepy weirdo like Dib?

Meanwhile, Gaz was eating popcorn while the whole cheesy but slightly angsty in a way Fanfiction scene played out. “Why are they acting even stupider than usual?” The whatever-colour-her-hair-is girl asked out loud. The question was then answered by a familiar British voice. “Innit!” Gaz blinked.

“Uh- what?”

“WAIT WHERE DID THAT BRITISH STEREOTYPE OF A WORD COME FROM- I MEAN-” The dark purple / indigo / dark blue (HELP IM BAD AT COLORS) alien girl continued, “Ahem, I meant that this whole anime stupidity Fanfiction scene was all part of my revenge plan! MuahahahAAHAHAAHHA!!”

Gaz face palmed. Was the hideous not-so-new girl, Tak, the one who she once viewed as the biggest threat to earth, THIS pathetic??

“Dude- you’re STILL plotting your revenge on these idiots? And you’re doing it by zapping them with some in-real-life-anime gun thingy??” Gaz asked, trying not to sound slightly intrigued by this. Tak saw the undeniable interest in Gaz’s eyes and smugly nodded. The shorter of the two gave up and shrugged. At least she had some show to watch! (even though it was too cheesy and stupid for her liking sometimes)

Back to the main drama going on, Zim noticed Dib trying to hold his tears and gulped. Why the heck did he even feel bad about his ENEMY?? He’s supposed to HATE that big headed dork! The dorkiest dork ever! The cutest- WAIT-

The alien tried to look away. However, it couldn’t be helped. The so-called ���curse’ was too strong, like the big-headed boy was a magnet pulling Zim’s eyes to look at his adorable face.

Could it beeeee… that the feeling Zimpai was feeling…

WASN’T a curse?!11!1?! hOW ShoCKiNG-

NO!! (Z)IMPOSSIBLEEE!! Invaders needed NO ONEEEE!

…But no one is perfect, and Dib can be his no one-

“LIEEESSS!” The alien desperately screeched out loud on the top of his lungs (or whatever aliens had). Dib raised an eyebrow in confusion, distracting him from the overwhelming sadness he was trying to hide. “I…uhhh- didn’t say anything…?”

———

WELP ZIM IS SLOWLY (SO FRIGGIN SLOWLY) REALISING HIS FEELINGS FOR DOBBLE DIBBY BOO BOO BEAR MIGHT BE REAAL!1!1!1 HOW UNEXPECTEDDD!1!1!

(HELP ME IM RUNNING OUTTA IDEAS SO IM MAKING THIS A VERY VERY SLOW PROGRESS FOR THEM FIRKFK)

———-

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[gillianthecat]

I have Not been doing what I should have been doing this week, which is Not Great. BUT. I have been feeling the urge to watch BL again, so I been flittering around streaming services and binging some and dropping others. Here's the list of the 18, in the order I watched them, with brief thoughts on each. My rating (out of 10) are in [blue]. Feel free to ask me to say more about any of them!

Pit Babe (2 eps) [7]

Fun, enjoyed the tropiness of it, intrigued by Jeff/Alan, whatever secrets Charlie and Jeff are keeping, and that drifting competition which was hella sexy. I like my omegaverse fics "non traditional" so i appreciated that the first BL out there was alpha/alpha. I wasn't engaged enough to keep going, but would like eventually to pick it up again. One of the few shows I'm not filtering the tag for, so I'm enjoying other people's reactions and gifs.

My Personal Weatherman (finished) [8]

I wanted to love it more than I did, many aspects were wonderful, but the leads never felt like real characters to me, just seme/uke tropes fulfilling their roles. Actors very pretty though. I have a bunch of notes I may finish and post eventually.

Laws of Attraction (finished) [9]

10% of it was terrible, 10% was completely nonsensical (instagram live-ing your date while on the lam? really??), 10% was mediocre, 50% was good, and 20% was sublime. Film was phenomenal as the complicated lawyer with his thousands of smiles, and I now have a crush on him. I started watching a het lakorn for him afterwards (Lucky Star, free on Viki, very soap opera, he and his costar are great). I loved grandma and the batshit ex. I've already forgotten parts of the plot. Wish it could have been higher heat, the restrictions kinda fucked with Charn and Tinn's chemistry in the second half, after they got together, but Film made it work with his coy blushing maiden routine. And their chemistry pre-dating was fire. Second leads were cute and I do love me a pining bodyguard, but sadly the actors were kinda eh.

I Became the Main Role of a BL (1 ep) [9]

I am very excited about this, doing so many things well, balancing slapstick and humanity, all the little details are great. I like how the "real world" is still tropey and absurd but also noticibku more grounded than the "drama" world. I'm invested in the managers' stories. I have hopes for its sexiness, given how Aoyagi was touching Akufuji's arm in their rehearsal. Love love love Akufuji stanning.

Double Mints (finished) [5]

um. I didn't hate it. I didn't like it exactly, but there were some poignant moments. My first actually dark BL (I know Pornographer is classified as dark, but it didn't feel that way to me). Possibly there's some profundity in it, but it didn't grab me enough that I want to spend the time thinking about it. Also many plot things that didn't make sense to me. Perhaps just translation issues? Unlike the next on my list, this wasn't porn, it was a violent yakuza story. Not actually very explicit given that it's supposed to be high heat, with the significant exception of a rape scene.

The Shortest Distance is Round (Noir) (finished) [5]

I mean this is literally softcore porn with a weird dark plot around it. I think most of the actors are actual porn actors; I know the lead is. I could have thoughts on the story, but I feel like I'd need to know more about Japanese cinema to say anything meaningful. Just saying, the sexual harassment at the beginning is the tamest bit. Also a hilarious misdirect with the dead fish sleep kiss (at least for me who was going in blind). Some of the sex was hilarious (goat boy!) some of it was creepy and rapey, and some was genuinely hot.

Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss (3.5 eps) [7.5]

Fun and fluffy, like the premise, the seme character has charm, but soon lost interest in that level of slapstick and tropiness. May eventually finish.

Love Stage Japan 2018 (half an ep or so) [6]

Liked it more than the Thai version, which I saw a few episodes of. The set up makes more sense. Soon lost interest in that slapstick style. Wouldn't avoid it, but no current urge to return.

Utsukushii Kare 2 (My Beautiful Man 2) (finished) [9]

I love them so much! As the middle section, it didn't work as well on its own as season one (a hothouse masterpiece) or the movie (their blossoming), but it was an important bridge in their journey.

Utsukushii Kare Eternal (My Beautiful Man Eternal) (finished) [10]

So amazing. I wasn't sure that they could make a good ending of this story but they knocked it out of the park. Managed the tricky balancing act of having Hira and Koyoi grow up and learn to have a healthy relationship while still remaining their kinky weird selves. Echoed season one in so many beautiful and meaningful ways. I may eventually write more about it.

Long Time No See (movie) (finished) [7]

I didn't recognize the title so o started it without knowing anything about genre or plot. I wanted to like this much more than I did. Theoretically I am into all the elements. But somehow it didn't work for me. It felt hollow, or rather like the outline of a movie rather than the movie itself. Nothing really felt real to me. Perhaps just my mood, perhaps because I didn't recognize the name and so went in to it completely lost and confused. And the sex scenes all felt a little off, a little fake to me. Like the actors were kinda uncomfortable with it. It was very low budget for its concept, and I think needed to either be full kdrama length (maybe 8 full episodes) of get somehow even artier about it to be an atmospheric film. Which it should have been, and all indicators pointed to it, but somehow wasn't. I think I needed to know the characters better to care about. Which may or may not have required learning more about them; there are characters I've felt deeply that I knew very little about, but somehow not with these two. Also I couldn't get the sister's deal. It felt like she was hinting she knew the assassin secrets? But also not. Anyways, the leads were very pretty. And the shot of them stumbling out of the final fight was moving. I may write more later.

Dom (a Strongberry short) (dnf) [4]

Only 13 minutes long and I couldn't finish it, even with 1.5x speed in parts. Experimental little short about anthropomorphized condom boxes, and there's some sort of human plot about a virgin and his cheating boyfriend that I lost track of. It's not bad, just not what I was in the mood for.

Bake Me Please (like 10 minutes of ep 1) [5.5]

When I was talking about not being into cooking themed shows this is the kind of show I mean. It already had a bunch of tropes that are not for me, particularly random normal people treated like celebrities, and people on tumblr seem frustrated with it so it didn't feel worth pursuing.

Ossan's Love (2018 Japan) (2 of 7 eps) [8]

Seems very well constructed to be exactly what they wanted it to be. My enjoyment of that sort of slapstick and yelling style show depend on my mood, and I lost interest, but want to return eventually because it's a foundational show.

Love Mate (less than 1 ep) [7]

Some appealing elements, but got annoyed at the employee's negging and pushiness. I guess I'm too particular about realism, but in what company would it be acceptable to turn a meeting about their product into a psychoanalytical critique of why your boss can't love. Also I es confused by the bosses dating strategy. He just regularly meets up with men 1 time for awkward meals that he seems to hate and then doesn't even have sex with them? Or were we supposed to infer the sex was just censored out? Not the biggest deals but both together indicated that this show was going to play loose with logic in a way that would irritate me. And the seme was being a pushy ass.

Naked Dining (Zenra Meshi) (finished) [8.5]

Loved it overall, though had flaws. Loveblogged it so many thoughts in the tags.

My Ride (4 out of 10 eps) [7]

See today's liveblogging for my thoughts. I like many aspects, but lost interest after four eps. Didn't catch me up enough to want to binge it. I think I'm in an actor centric mode, and unfortunately none of the actors are that good in it.

Every Moment That I Think of You (finished) [8.5]

Randomly found on Gaga, 2 very short episodes from China 2021. Very appealing leads, censored, high school romance/intense friendship, partially through the pandemic. Fit a year's worth of story into 28 minutes. Surprisingly solid, though made me want to see the full length uncensored version of their love story, same actors. Ending confused me. Subtitles of voiceover implied that was their last night together but didn't say what happened, but nothing and was shown. Perhaps just a bad translation? Very low budget (sound mixing was amateur) but did a lot with what they had. Chaotic adolescent boy camera work and editing style, always moving, which fit story very well. Recommend if ok with censored stories.