#all the others were just not cooperating so i was like

[meritksi]

equally yours • kinich x gn!reader

With Kinich, everyone gets what they deserve. You can either name your price or accept what Kinich offers in return, and no matter which option you choose, you won't be shortchanged—ever. That’s just how he is.

However, you are an exception. No matter which choice you make, you always end up being shortchanged—at least that’s what he believes.

This annoys him. He tries to make things equal while you insist on giving him more. Sometimes, it makes him wonder if you have ulterior motives. Yet, deep down, he knows that being nice is simply in your nature, just as he has his own tendencies.

But it really, really annoys him.

He dislikes being indebted to others, and he doesn’t like when others owe him either. He might be able to tolerate the latter, but the first thought truly bothers him to the point that he finds himself lying in bed, thinking about how to repay you in the middle of the night as he stares at the ceiling while Ajaw murmurs about how he is going to rule the world when he takes over Kinich's body.

And that -the first thought- always seems to be the case with you.

So when he spotted you sleeping in one of the trees near the Children of Echoes with your saurian companion, as some Saurian hunters approached you two, he acted without thinking—which was out of character for him—and dealt with them in an instant.

Looking back at you, who was still asleep while cuddling with the said companion, he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

It seemed like you two were equal now.

That was good. You weren't aware of it so you weren't going to do something about it too. Perfect.

From that day on, Kinich never accepted jobs from you, fearing that if he did, you’d do something so in character of you that would leave him empty-handed again.

Now it was your turn to feel annoyed.

Whenever you caught a glimpse of Kinich, he vanished at the moment you blinked. Everytime!

He still interacted with Mualani, Kachina, Chasca—anyone, really!—except you, of course.

You thought Kinich and you were getting along just fine. Since he was always taking jobs from you and you were helping him out every time he did that too. He was desperate to repay the kindness, that was the reason behind the upcoming requests of taking jobs from you. But you didn't know that.

This new approach(could it even be called approach if he didn't approach at all?) made you feel lonely. And he didn’t know that, too.

Kinich felt restless. No matter how much he tried to avoid you, his mind wouldn’t cooperate. He found himself thinking about you more—it was not just at midnight anymore. It reached the point where he would lock his gaze to somewhere far away while his customer talked, trying to rid himself of thoughts of you by repeating, “We are equal now, equal. Equal. Equal.”

He even almost called Mualani by your name. Whenever that memory came to his mind, his ears burned bright red.

He missed your voice.

Wait, what?

Who said that???

Kinich felt himself blush furiously. The worst part? He was in the middle of a conversation with Mauvika, the literal Pyro Archon. He excused himself, and Mauvika gladly let him go.

But Ajaw wasn’t having it.

“Do you have a fever? Please die in silence so I, the great Dragonlord K'uhul Ajaw, can—”

He couldn’t finish his sentence because Kinich put him on a timeout.

He didn’t even know how that happened, but when he came to his senses, he realized he was standing in front of your house.

At that point, he didn't mind owing you; in fact, he felt like he was already indebted to you (especially considering he still felt shortchanged even after the previous encounter, he thought you deserved so much more).

He just wanted to see you.

And maybe, you also wanted to see him too. Given how tight you hugged him when you two finally made up.

He was empty-handed. It felt weird, he doesn't remember coming here like this in what felt like forever.

But now thinking about it, he didn't feel empty-handed at all. Especially when his fingers brushed against yours, intertwining them with such care, he thought he could get used to this.

Through the embrace of you, he felt his eyes soften when he realized there was no such thing as being indebted between the two of you. Whatever you had was his, just as whatever he had was yours.

Because he belonged to you, just as you belonged to him.

Equally.

𖤐⭒๋࣭ ⭑ notes! ☆ not proofread; it was just a thought that came to my mind while I was trying to sleep, and now it's 3 am lol ☆ i might rewrite this, who knows

[anistarrose]

Hey. Here's some things the Temporal Chalice says:

I was made to want to be used, and to make others want to use my power. But I remember before all this, before I was a cup, and before I was torn into seven parts and jammed into dishes and gloves and what-have-you, I was something incredible. I could breathe life into entire realities and shape existence at my master's will. [Griffin: And when she says that, June kind of gets lost in thought a bit. And she says…] In this form, as a cup, with a seventh of the power that I once had, I just don't have that kind of freedom anymore. I have some broad power over time, yeah, but not enough to actually change anything. And I'm hoping that that's where you can come in.

Things we can take away from this include:

the Chalice, and presumably all Relics by extension, remember being the Light of Creation.

the Relics are aware that they were more powerful as the Light of Creation, and are less powerful now.

at minimum, the Chalice, and possibly other Relics too, look back on being the Light of Creation with a sense of longing — for that time, for that power, and for that freedom.

The Chalice wants to be used — but mourns that it can't create a full new timeline. The Chalice wants to be used... but hey, wait. Doesn't it sound like the Chalice would much rather be used as part of the Light of Creation?

So, on that note... here's a question. What if Lucretia (or a non-Voidfished Tres Horny Boys, in some kind of early-reconciliation or no-Voidfishing AU) had just... talked to the Relics? And... told them the plan? Told the Relics what they were going to do with them? Promised to finally reunite them as the Light of Creation, and to use the Light at full power to stop the Hunger?

Do you think any of the Relics might've just... agreed to that?

According to the Chalice, the Relics can even turn off their thrall if it serves them, or they want to have a conversation on equal terms. (And judging by THB not having to roll for the Chalice, I think the Chalice was telling the truth about that.) In theory, any Relic literally could've just said "wow, I thought you'd never ask!" and clicked off the thrall, happily agreeing to let themselves be restored to their former glory.

Now, that's all in theory, because maybe some of the Relics wouldn't trust that offer. Especially if they realize it's their creator, who split them apart in the first place, that they're dealing with — there might be bad blood there. Or maybe some of the Relics would just be too impatient, too eager to be used — unable to get behind delayed gratification.

But... would some of them agree? I think the Chalice absolutely would. And we know so little about the Bulwark Staff's reclamation that I wonder... if this was an approach Lucretia took. And if unbeknownst to us, the Bulwark Staff actually did cooperate.

That's even a potential answer to why the Staff's thrall doesn't affect anyone on the moonbase. The common and reasonable answer I've seen from fans is that it's concentrating its thrall on Lucretia already, since she's the one wielding it — but another answer could be that it's consciously "playing nice," because it wants to be reunited as the Light of Creation more than anything. Maybe the real answer is somewhere in-between. Trying its best to thrall Lucretia, just to ensure she'll stay on her current course, because the Light has been betrayed by its wielder before — but simultaneously, recognizing that no one else it could thrall has nearly as much to give.

You know. Food for thought. We don't get much characterization for Relics outside of the Chalice, but what we do get from the Chalice says so much, and opens so many possibilities.

[deathworlders-of-e24]

Danny, Security Chief

Part 5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These kids are making me feel so old, Danny though, running a hand through his hair before setting his ball cap in place and walking out the door of his room. The talk he’d had with Liz Collins the cycle before was still reeling through his brain on a loop. Once again, he questioned the merits of keeping GAIL Command in the dark, but once again followed the logic of Admiral Townes and Captain Skitch. At this point, they didn’t really have conclusive proof of sabotage, and if they started raising any alarms, any evidence would point back to the Terrans. The codes used to send encrypted messages were the science team lead’s, a human’s, and the more vocal opponents to the Earthling’s membership would use that against them.

For now, however, Danny decided to turn his attention to the other possible threat to human/GAIL coexistence in the galaxy. The Noah was scheduled to have a rendezvous with a Sed trainee ship later in the cycle. Apparently the GAIL council had decided that a group training session would be just the thing to drive home the idea of interspecies cooperation. However, the captain of the Sed vessel they were set to sortie with was a man named General Drinner, a high ranked figure in the Sed power structure. He’d been fairly curt in transmission between ships, and claimed he would be personally overseeing the exercise. When Danny asked who he was, Skitch hadn’t been able to provide much information. The Sed government had totally wrapped the man in red tape so any information about his military record or personal life was behind a security clearance wall that nobody onboard the Noah had access to.

Before he entered the lift, Danny Ducane paused and walked back to his quarters and strapped on his ‘work belt’, complete with pistol, stun batton, and combat knife. He chambered a round in the pistol before holstering it again. Danny had a feeling in his gut telling him it was gonna be that kind of day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I don’t understand why we have to do this,” Coola grumbled, arms crossed in her seat around the security command console.

“Because unfortunately bureaucracy is universal,” Danny said as he cycled through screens on the terminal, “and we have our orders. Now, the plan here is to head down to this planet here,” Danny pointed to it on the screen, “and meet up with Drinner and his crew for the joint training. Supposedly we’re going to be running standard drills, some close quarters work, and there will be a combat demonstration at the end. Any questions?”

“Yes,” Ritz chimed in, tail flicking around the floor in annoyance, “why is a Sed general taking part in this? This is a simple training procedure, correct?”

“I don’t know,” Homet said as he strapped upper armor to his thermal suit, “but I’ve seen Drinner before. He spear headed a GAIL mission to apprehend some pirates a couple rotations ago. None of the pirates made it to a cell, and two of his team died, neither of which were Sed.”

“You’re sure of that?” Hayte asked, sitting forward, concern starting to show on his face.

“Hundred percent,” the Doun said. “I was on the ship set to take the raiders to stand trial. All we did was transport the remains. After that, Drinner was removed from GAIL mixed forces and the Sed brought him back into the fold on their home world. I heard he got a promotion for the operation, it’s how he made general.”

“That just great,” Danny mumbled, “one big party like this.”

“Sir, what are we going to do?” Coola asked. Danny looked around at them, his team. He could feel the unease and anxiety coming off them, a sense of uncertainty surrounding them.

“We do what we always do,” Danny answered, “our jobs. We don’t start anything with them under any circumstances. Most likely the Sed government is just inspecting us on the down low, so as long as we show them we’re competent there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“Just saying it Chief,” Ritz hissed behind sharp teeth, “they’re going to see that the only Sed crewman in any position of power here got replaced. They aren’t going to like that.”

“No, probably not,” Danny signed, “thanks for that Ritz, I wasn’t already sweating about that at all.”

“You are very clearly perspiring sir,” Coola added.

“Sarcasm, guys. Remember our talk?”

“Right, sorry.”

“Anyway,” Homet popped the last plate into place with a solid metallic click, “I think what the chief is saying is just be prepared for them to try and antagonize you, but don’t react to it. Right?” He looked to Danny for confirmation.

“Right,” Danny took a deep breath. “Go get suited up, we’ll be dropping out of WARP in a few hours. Dismissed.”

The Quintin siblings Ritz and Coola left, alongside Hayte who gave one last look back into the security office before heading out. Then it was just Danny and Homet left in the room, with the holographic face of General Drinner oscillating above the console.

“So what’s the word boss?” Homet finally broke the silence. “You got your work belt on and your… hat, that’s the word, your hat is on backwards. Humans mean business like that, right?”

Danny chuckled.

“I think that’s mostly a me kind of thing man,” he said as he dragged a hand across his face and screwed his eyes shut. “I got a bad feeling about this. After all this shit with Grite, and now this Drinner guy is showing up… I don’t know if I’m being intolerant or what, but every bit of training I’ve ever had is saying somebody is making a play here, I just can’t see all the players.”

“Trust me, you’re not being anything but prepared,” Homet tapped a couple claws against his thermal suit and the added plating. “The Sed have a reputation in the GAIL for the collateral damage of other species. Couple unexplained accidents and botched missions, but never enough evidence to directly link them to any crimes or negligence. So as far as I’m concerned, do what you gotta do.”

Homet clapped his big paw on Danny’s shoulder.

“Who knows,” he continued, “maybe you humans will be the ones to finally teach them some manners.”

Danny’s terminal trilled, then his comm-link did the same.

Must be synced, he thought.

With a push of a button, Danny brought the message up on the holoviewer. It was a message from engineering.

We have something for you

-PADRINO UNIT H663K67Q6

“What do the Padrino want with you chief?” Homet asked.

Danny stared at the message a beat longer.

“Side project. Make sure everyone is ready for the drop, I’ll be there as fast as I can.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Unit H66-, uh, 3-,”

“You may refer to me as Sixer, Chief Ducane,” the unit said in its machine synthesized voice. “It is what the Human Thomas calls me for efficiency.”

“Sixer,” Danny started again, “what did you find?”

“Per your request, myself and the other Padrino have been collating the data from the ship’s AI CORE in an effort to find any clues to your… problem, as you call it. Using the assumed times that you claim Human Elizabeth’s access codes could have been used, we have begun searching through all long range messages during those time frames.”

“And?”

“We have found numerous encrypted messages going out, but no data could be acquired. It seems someone has uploaded a program to scrub the system after each message is sent, but it appears they did not implement this function until after this broadcast:

The mis[]io[] is s[]ill g[]in[] ah[]ad as pla[]ne[]. Th[]re w[]s a min[]r set ba[]k, but no one []board t[]e NO[]H sus[]ect[] a[]yth[]ng. We wil[] be []ictorious as we h[]ve alw[]ys be[]n. Pro[]ee[] with t[]e s[]cond pha[]e as sc[]edule[]

“Why is it all piecemeal like that?” Danny asked.

“I found traces of a scrubber program in the core systems, a less advanced version of what is erasing the more recent messages. It seems this message was sent early into the mission, appropriately forty hours after launch.”

“Seriously? This has been going on for that long?” Danny was dumbfounded. Forty hours. The numbers made his head spin. It was almost inconceivable. They’d been over confident, and now it turned out they’d been tricked from the jump.

“Is it possible to get surveillance data from the long range communications consoles? See who all was in there during that time frame? Maybe start narrowing down our suspects?” Danny asked. He clenched and unclenched his right fist a few times. Maybe now he’d finally start making some headway into solving this instead of staring at puzzle pieces for hours on end.

“It is possible, with your approval and from your terminal in the security lounge. With your permission, I could start reviewing footage on your word,” Sixer stated. Danny eyeballed the android before nodding.

“When I get back from this training, we’ll do it together. Leaving you alone in there is a major security risk you understand. It’d cost me my job.”

“Of course,” Sixer said. “Permission to inform Human Thomas of these events? I believe he’d be of assistance in this endeavor.”

No no no, not the kid, please, the corner of Danny’s mouth twitched a little. I can’t deal with the fucking kids anymore.

“Why?” He asked, trying to keep a straight face.

“I have been informed that it is protocol for friends to inform each other of important information regarding their interests. As Human Thomas is greatly invested in the wellbeing of the ship, it seemed prudent to inform him,” Sixer explained. “Though I do agree that yes, it does involve a security concern, which is why I’m requesting permission from you first.”

Danny pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Sure. Fuck it. Why not?” He said exasperated. “Turn this whole operation into a game at day care, I’ll go Vend some juice boxes or something.”

“I’m sure Human Thomas will appreciate the refreshment, sir.”

“Oh my god,” Danny cried, “okay, keep doing whatever this is, get Thomas if you want, keep me informed about anything you find, got it? I gotta go deal with the other problem that’ll give me stroke today.”

“Orders confirmed, sir,” Sixer gave a kind of salute to which Danny assumed was also somehow not sarcasm and walked away, taking deep, calming breathes, and wishing the Vending Machines could make something stronger than a juice box.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“All ready for the big drop Chief,” Homet called when Danny made the hangar bay. “You take care of that other thing?”

“We’re gonna have to wait and see about that I think,” Danny replied, making a face that said it better or I’m gonna lose it. “How’s tricks in here?”

“Everything protocol says is on the shuttle,” Homet gestured, “and a few extras, just in case. Just waiting for you now.”

“And the team?”

“Nervous,” Homet admitted, “but you gave them the brass they need chief. I think they got this.”

“Careful Homet, you’re starting to sound like a real Terran there,” Danny joked. Homet laughed, a deep, hearty sound, making his thermal suit’s armor clank and clatter against itself.

“Skitch and Commander Koatil are already down there, they sent the go ahead just a minute ago,” the Doun man continued. “We better get moving Chief.”

“All aboard then,” Danny clapped his hands together and stepped through the hatch.

“Once more into the breach.”

[darklove9314-blog]

A Kiss for a Kiss: A Gwynriel fanfic

Hello everyone, as some of you know today is Day 1 of SJM romance week (prompt: first kiss.) Thank you to everyone who helped me compile a list of couples for each prompt. and I hope you enjoy!!!!

Synopsis: When Azriel discovers that Gwyn is just as competitive as he is, a heated snowball fight turns into something more.

Snow clung to Azriel's eyelashes as he held his hands up for the flakes to fall upon them, watching them dissolve into his skin as he waited for both his brothers and his nephew to show up.

Footsteps sounded behind him, his fae senses picking up on them, noticing the difference in them as he whirled around dodging Gwyn's attack as she fell onto the snow with a groan, causing Azriel to lift his arched brows at her as footsteps sounded behind her, a voice calling out,

"I told you. There is no sneaking up on him. Trust me when I say I've tried." Nesta reminded her, Cassian's arm around her as Emerie stood at her other side.

"Is there a reason why you were trying to sneak up on me in the first place?" He asked Gwyn as she sat up, snow clinging to her cooper hair as she brushed it off of her coat.

"Nesta claimed that no one could sneak up on you, so I volunteered to prove that theory to the test."

A hint of a smile cracked on Azriel's lips as he said,

"Well I'm glad to prove her correct."

Gwyn huffed, stranding up as she crossed her arms over her chest in response,

"One day I will catch you off guard, Shadowsinger. Mark my words."

A chuckle escaped Azriel as he responded.

"You'll be waiting for quite some time. What are you all doing here anyway?"

"They were at the house with Nesta and I for solstisce, and when they figured out I was coming for our annual snowball fight, they followed me here." Cassian answered with a shrug making azriel glare in answer.

He had no problem hanging out with the females, he even formed a sort of kinship with Nesta after everything they had gone through, but that didn't mean he wanted them here when it was just supposed to be a tradition between him, Rhysand, and Cassian. He couldn't argue with Rhys bringing Nyx, he was a child after all, but the females...he wasn't so sure if he wanted them there.

snow crunched over to his side, making Azriel's head swing in that direction as he saw Rhys, Feyre, and Nyx come down the path, making him frown in response. Was there nothing that was sacred anymore now that both his brothers had found their mates?

"You too?" Azriel asked Rhys as quirked an eyebrow in question, his eyes finally flickering over to where the others stood.

"Feyre was just walking me over here, she was going to winnow to her studio as soon as she made sure we both got here safely." Rhys explained as Nyx babbled a greeting to Azriel, making him smile.

Nesta shuffled over to where they were, taking Nyx from Rhys's arms and giving him a hug in greeting,

"How is my favorite nephew doing?" She inquired as Nyx smiled, his two front and bottom teeth in full display. out of everyone in their inner circle, it was Nesta who seemed to make Nyx the happiest.

Nyx babbled to Nesta, making the female listen as Azriel noticed the love and admiration in Cassian's gaze. The two had decided to wait awhile before they had kids, but that didn't mean that he couldn't see that his brother was thinking about it, especially when he saw Nesta like this.

"What are you all doing here?" Rhys asked, directing the question at Gwyn and Emerie as Emerie answered,

"We wanted to see what all the fuss was about with this snowball fight. We were hoping we could watch three grown illyrian warriors launch snowballs at each other."

A blush painted Azriel's cheeks as Feyre laughed,

"I think it's adorable."

"Maybe we could all start our own tradition." Nesta said, glancing at Emerie, Feyre, and Gwyn as Feyre made a suggestion,

"Perhaps we could leave the boys to their game and meet the others for some hot coco."

"I'd like that." Emerie smiled stepping towards Feyre as Nesta handed Nyx back over to Rhys, giving the toddler a quick goodbye before joining Emerie and her sister.

Azriel wasn't sure why, but his gaze caught on Gwyn, her hair still flecked with snow, making her look even more beautiful than Azriel thought possible. He wondered how it would be like to-

He banished the thought away, not sure what had come over him as Gwyn barely spared him a glance before heading over to her sisters before saying,

"Sounds better than sitting here in the cold and watching the Shadow singer win."

"He doesn't always win." Rhys muttered under his breath as Cassian chuckled.

"True. I did win a couple years ago." He reminded them sending a wink over to Nesta, who blushed and giggled in response. giggled. Gods save him from mates, this was the last thing he needed right now.

Nesta sent him a week, a promise in her eyes for later as she extended her hand towards her sister.

"Shall we?"

"it might take me time to winnow all of us, but-"

"I could help you." Rhys told her, handing Nyx to Cassian as he came to meet his mate, offering his hand to Emerie as she took it and Feyre took Nesta, sparing a glance at Gwyn as she said,

"We'll come back for you in a second." She assured her as her and Rhys winnowed the two away leaving Gwyn alone with both Cassian, Azriel, and Nyx.

Azriel's gaze flickered to her while Cassian was distracted with Nyx, taking a moment to observe her. Although the priestess had gotten better at going out and being surrounded by fae who weren't the priestesses, Azriel knew there was still a small bit of hesitation and fear that still resided in Gwyn. A fear that wouldn't go away anytime soon, but Azriel still commended her strength and her willingness to take charge of her own life. it was definitely something about the priestess he admired.

Her teal eyes flickered to him in the mist of his stare as her eyes narrowed somewhat,

"Problem, Shadowsinger?" She asked as Azriel shook his head.

"Not at all."

Gwyn opened her mouth to reply, about to come up with some witty retort before Feyre winnowed in front of her, looking between her and the the shadowsinger before she addressed Gwyn, extending her hand outward.

"Ready?" She asked as Gwyn slipped her hand into the High Lady's answering,

"As ready as I'll ever be."

And before Azriel knew it, the two were gone.

"Are you still stuck on what happened earlier?" Nesta inquired as Gwyn's gaze snapped up to meet hers, the steam of their hot chocolate curing around them as they sat at a cafe by Feyre's studio where the others were bundled up inside.

"I wouldn't say that, no, I was- I was really hoping they would've let us stay earlier. i know that it's their tradition, and I can respect that, but-"

"Was it something that you and Catrin did together?"

Gwyn nodded, a lump forming in her throat as Nesta scooted to the chair beside her pulling Gwyn into her embrace as some tears escaped Gwyn's eyes, Gwyn swiping at her tears as she tried to pull herself together.

"Sorry, i didn't mean to-"

Nesta tipped Gwyn's chin up, her gaze meeting her own as she said,

"Don't feel shame for your grief, Gwyn. It's only natural. "

Gwyn nodded, laying her head against Nesta's shoulder until she felt like she could pull away.

She wiped away the tears, giving Nesta a sad smile as she focused on the here and the now.

"Thank you." She said as Nesta squeezed her shoulder in reassurence.

"Anytime."

She took a sip of her hot coco, letting the warmth fill her as she explained,

"Even though the memories are great memories, they still cut like a knife when I realize that she's still gone. When I realize that she's never coming back and I can never make those memories with my sister again."

Nesta listened, but Gwyn knew she could only understand so much, she never had to experience that kind of loss.

"Maybe we can do something to help ease your mind." Nesta suggested as Gwyn's teal eyes met Nesta's silver blue ones,

"What did you have in mind?"

A slow smile crept on Nesta's lips as Gwyn wondered what she had just signed herself up for.

Azriel crouched down in the snow, his fingers splayed on the ground as he listened and observed, waiting for any sign of his brothers as he hid behind the safety of the fort he had constructed.

Naturally he was in the lead, Cassian close behind him in second place as Azriel gritted his teeth, he would not let Cassian win this round. The last thing he wanted to do tonight was here his and Nesta's victory party at The House tonight if he did.

His eyes scanned the snowy landscape before a snowball flew past his head, making him dodge it as he growled, sending another snowball to Cassian's direction who swore, managing to barely dodge the one Azriel had hurtled at him but not expecting the 2nd one until it was too late.

A curse flew from Cassian's lips, making Azriel smile in response as another snowball flew at Cassian from Rhys and Nyx's direction, making Cassian swear again as Cassian rose his middle finger to both of them making Az chuckle. He was glad Rhys was on his side this time. Even if it was only for a little while.

He was so enamored by his small victory that he didn't see the snowball coming before it was too late. It slammed in the side of his face, the cold startling him and catching him off guard as Azriel's gaze flickered to that direction. Where the hell had that come from?

His eyes scanned the area, his senses tingling in response because he knew that had not come from Rhys or Cassian's direction as he caught a flash of golden brown hair before another snowball pelted him in the face making him throw out his hands in response. What the hell was-

Another snowball flew from another direction, pelting him as a flash of black hair caught his vision this time, him swearing he could see the flash of Emeries' smile before she vanished into thin air making Azriel's guard go up, what were they-

His back hit the ground, someone's body firmly slamming into his as he flipped them to the ground both their bodies colliding with one another as a snowball pelted the side of his face once more making him sputter at the coldness and shock of it as a laugh rose from his attacker's lips.

"Gwyn." He gasped out, the female grinning up at him triumphantly as he tried to catch his breath.

"And I thought you couldn't get caught off guard, Shadowsinger. Guess I proved you wrong, didn't I?" She laughed, amused as several emotions swirled around Azriel at once.

He didn't think, had only wanted to catch her off guard and swallow up her laughter as his lips meet hers in answer, catching her by surprise.

Still hidden by his snow fort, he knew the others couldn't see them as the kiss continued, Gwyn not pulling away as her hands cusped his face, their lips fighting for dominance as if this was just another challenge for the two of them to see who would pull away first.

He thought she would pull away when his tongue darted to her lips, asking permission to be let in, but what he didn't expect was for her to flip them around, straddling his lap as she deepened their kiss, his scared hands stroking her face as her hands met his own in answer moving her face to the side so she could deepen it.

He had been kissed by many people before, but none had ever measured up to Gwyneth Berdara, no one had ever kissed him like this, had made him feel this exhilaration like she did.

His hands moved to her waist, wanting nothing more than to feel the warmth of her flesh as her body answered his touch moving closer to him, both their bodies answering each other's calls as a cough was sounded in their direction, making them pull away from each other. A blush painting Gwyn's cheeks before his gaze snapped to everyone who had gathered around them. Embarrassment on all their faces.

Another snowball flew to the side of his face as Gwyn lifted hersef from the ground, a look of triumph in her eyes as she claimed,

"I win, Shadowsinger. Better luck next time." Gwyn laughed as Nesta and Emerie followed her, no doubt wanting every single detail as Rhys's eyebrows rose,

"You want to share what that was about?" He questioned as Azriel sat there, still stunned,

"I wish I knew." Azriel answered, swearing he could still feel her lips on his own as he gazed on Gwyn's retreating form, a smile curling on his lips as he sent the thought out to the universe.

Game on, Berdara.

@sjmromanceweek

[max1461]

Ok, so obviously this is not going to convince the people who already don't agree with me on this, who find it contradictory or unsatisfactory, but I'm merely stating and not defending the position in this post:

I care about about people, I care about the general population of every country equally, and I don't care about countries or nations as entities. Actually this is not quite true—I believe that caring, if coherent, has to involve some degree of adopting others' ends as your own. @tsarina-anadyomene thinks this is one characteristic of love, and I would indeed like to be able to say that in at least some minor degree I love every person (indeed every creature) in the world. Uh, Serbian nationalists care about Serbia and therefore I care about Serbia, at least a little bit.

But governments, well, first of all fewer people care about governments qua governments as much as they care about nations in the abstract, but more importantly I think that governments as individual entities do a lot of really heinous shit that makes it impossible for me to like them. This is distinct from any anarchist position that the state should not exist—it's more like, point at any individual national government. Do I like those guys? Do I think those are good guys? Well they do some good stuff, they keep the roads paved, hopefully, deliver the mail, all that's great. But they also do a lot of killing and torture, and economic sabotage and shit like that, that hurts a lot of people. And the closer you get to the top, the closer you are to discussions of "grand strategy", the more you're explicitly or implicitly talking about shit like economic sabotage and killing people and the less you're talking about delivering the mail. I guess building roads definitely comes up, and that's good, but it's always "building more roads than the other guys so we can sabotage and/or kill them better" which is :/

I've always been a little contrarian on governments. I've always been a little bit of the famed "median voter" on governments. Get me talking about my preferred system and I'll sound sound like those peasants from Monty Python. Uh. I've made a bunch of posts about it. I want some kind of decentralized, directly democratic, cooperative, federated bullshit like the ancoms talk about for real life and the techno-libertarians talk about for software. Everything other than that is, uh, bullshit, it's the man keeping you down, man. But second place, if we don't get that? I'll take a well-run oligarchy, I'll take the façade of democracy to reduce political violence and attract foreign investment while a party of crony-capitalist technocrats actually runs the show, I'll take the 1955 system before the Plaza Accords, you get the idea. Representative democracy is a sham, basically, it's a sham. So if you're not going to give me freedom, which none of the liberal democracies do, at least give me peace, stability, and prosperity—which they're pretty good at!

But this means I look at, say, China, and I think... sucks they don't have freedom of speech, that's a big issue for me. I mean not so big an issue that I couldn't live there, just a big issue. I'd strongly like it to be otherwise. But the rest of it? Single party state? Who cares. Standard of living is high (for the urban middle class—actually this is my biggest issue with Chinese policy at the moment, they need to do massive wealth redistribution towards the rural poor) but anyway, standard of living is high, there's political stability, it's fucking fine. I hung out with a tone of Chinese international students in college and none of them were like, unhappy with the state of China, although the really wealthy ones all wanted to park their wealth abroad for pretty obvious reasons—

Right, that's another thing China needs to fix: fears about overall stability lead the local elites to siphon money out of the economy and park it abroad. I think, as a non-expert, it seems like Xi's rise and centralization of power have been worse for this. Go back to Deng, go back to term limits and power sharing! God I love Deng Xiaoping.

Uh, freedom is a ruse, uh, Ted K was lowkey right that in a modern techno-world freedom is kind of a ruse. I mean people have to be uh, we have to act or be made to act like worker bees if we want a hive this big and cantankerous to function. Uh, sucks man, sucks that we had to choose between freedom and antibiotics. Maybe we don't, right, that's my whole idea. You know how they had the Juche idea, Kim and his assholes had the Juche idea, well I also have an idea. Maybe we can have decentralized, directly democratic control of economic and civil institutions and still maintain a modern industrial economy. Maybe we can escape Ted K's trap <- new name for it I am inventing. Well one can dream, one can solve a lot of math problems and maybe one day I'll read a bunch of econ books and solve the right math problems and discover the answer. Marx, I love Marx I'm a genuine Marx fan but he doesn't have it. Sorry. Just does not got it. Soviet Union was in a Ted K trap just like all the others. They drained the Aral sea bro! That's hard to forgive...

[xjulixred45x]

Okay changing this request could I please ask for a yandere Poseidon with kianna but where

he introduces her and his son to his and Hercules( mostly Hades) and they end up seeing a woman with a 10 year old boy behind her that looks exactly like Poseidon but acts like her even the same personality just with his father's looks

(their son's name is Yui he was named kianna's sister Yui) and where they find out Poseidon actually kidnapped her but her odd behavior is what shocked him the most since she just accepted it without fighting even conceiving a child with him

and I'm not sure what else to really ask so the rest is up to you

Ohhhh this is interesting!

Yandere! Poseidon x Kianna! Reader: Sickenly Sweet Home

Even if Hercules wasn't proud of it, he didn't like having to visit several of his now adopted relatives, even if they all held him in some esteem. The vast majority of gods, with few exceptions, were quite arrogant, self-absorbed and selfish, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

There were relatives he got along with, like Ares, his brother. Despite their beginnings, they learned to respect each other despite Hercules' humble origins. Even Zeus himself respected and, in his own way, loved his son.

But then there was Poseidon. The tyrant of the seas. His adopted uncle.

One of the first things Hercules learned from his time on Olympus (and which forever marked his relationship with his uncle) was Poseidon's obvious dislike of humans, not only seeing them as inferior beings, but as less than animals. Which needless to say, caused a lot of arguments and fights in the family on the part of a very indignant Hercules.

Zeus always made sure that all conflict was dispelled at the end of the day of course (partly by watching out for Hercules so that he didn't have Poseidon, of all the gods, as an enemy), but that didn't stop the one-sided squabble from continuing to exist quietly.

When news broke that Poseidon was married, Hercules honestly couldn't believe it, he thought it was some kind of fake news that had gone too far, but no. That idea went out the window when at a meeting, Zeus announced that Poseidon and his Spouse were having a child, much to everyone's amazement. Poseidon looked very upset by what his brother had divulged, so everyone realized, it was the truth, Poseidon REALLY was starting a family.

Hercules didn't keep track of the matter for several years, only praying for the safety of that poor woman and her unborn child, hoping that Poseidon wasn't as bad a husband as he was a person (which he sincerely doubted, but he would have to have faith), and he had no further clues about this mysterious person until Hermes dragged him to a ceremony at Poseidon's palace.

Hercules didn't even know what the ceremony was about, Hermes just told him that he HAD to come, considering that he had been avoiding that family for what felt like AGES, he knew that Hermes meant it. So he cooperated and reluctantly went to his uncle's Home.

Hercules isn't a person to be swayed by luxuries or superficial things, so once he greeted Poseidon, he walked away from the rest of the gods and simply watched them interact, hoping that time would pass quickly so he could leave. However, at some point in the night, he felt a pair of eyes staring at his back, but the presence remained motionless… until-

-“Yui! What did I tell you about people- watching?”- an unknown female voice sounded in the hallway, when Hercules turned around, he saw a young woman, a goddess, rather, scolding a boy of about ten years old at most, who had a great resemblance to…

Oh hell, it wasn't just any ceremony, it was a BIRTHDAY.

-“I'm so sorry for my son, Lord Hercules, he's very curious but also so shy”- the woman caressed her son's blond hair, who was now hiding behind her, afraid of having angered the big man in front of him. Hercules smiled at him.

-“Don't worry! Children tend to be like that. I don't think we've met before, may I know your name, lady…?”-

-“reader, and you've already met my son; Yui”- the little boy shook his hand while looking at him with big blue eyes –“Poseidon is my husband”- what?! It was all that Hercules had in mind.

-“Poseidon and I are married”- it seemed that he said it out loud…

-“excuse my reaction, it's just that—Poseidon and I don't have the best relationship and I--I didn't think he could be married to someone so nice!"-

The woman just smiled a little, amused. –“they tell me that often. It seems that Poseidon acts very differently with the rest of the gods than when he's with us”-

-“really?”-

-“that's right. He has always been a gentle, loving husband to me, not very wordy obviously, but he genuinely loves me and our Yui very much” – a part of Hercules wanted to burst out laughing. Poseidon and gentle in the same sentence? Yeah right.

But on the other hand, he was very intrigued by this woman, or rather, the idea that this woman had been able to find not only positive aspects in his horrible uncle, but that she had somehow managed to tame him, for lack of a more eloquent word.

- “Of course, we had some rough times”- Hercules felt his hearing sharpen at this. Of course, not everything could be so good –“but that was when we first met anyway, problems from the past”-

- “What kind of problems--if I may ask obviously! Has…uncle Poseidon…mistreated you?” —“-

-“Gods no! He never did anything like that. The only time he had to put his hands on me roughly was when he brought me here”- the woman exclaimed, laughing a little.

What?

-“our romance wasn't like any other”- she leaned a little on the demigod's shoulder-“like your story of how you became a god. You weren't always like that, but someone special helped you to be better”- Hercules felt a chill when he realized what that suggested.

-“But?”- he had so many questions, but was cut off again -“Poseidon did what was best. Now I live among gods, I have luxuries, a loyal and loving husband, we even have a son together...”-

The woman stopped talking when she saw her husband in the crowd, looking at her. She just smiled with some malice, taking her son's hand to go greet his father. But not before giving a few last words to the demigod.

-“Don't worry about me, I'm happy, this is what I want”- she said while turning her back on him -“Worry about yourself…”-

Shares, reblogs and comments are very welcome!

GOING BACK AT WOOOOOORK

I just put Hércules bc lets be honest, Hades would be just fine with this situation. Poor Hércules is traumatized.

[shuobox]

been having thoughts. Hence more spitballing here:

Bailey the caretaker

- Bailey is blind in one eye and missing a foot from two close encounters, which is why he personally rarely goes out on expeditions himself (his eye was a more recent thing . lost his foot around when the apocalypse started)

- manages cooking and water purification because he feels paranoid the orphans might try something or mess up

- usually has a scowl on his face, even when sleeping

- personal weaponry includes a pistol, coach gun, and probably a war hammer

- should PC get visibly infected and come to Bailey for help, he’ll most likely kill them lmfao . his ass is not taking chances and views it as a mercy

^ same goes for anybody who gets infected

- doesn’t really like Remy but cooperates with him for the sake of keeping the orphanage safe. Remy likes taking the piss out of him

- genuinely does care for the orphans somewhat . he’s mostly fond of the younger (and helpful) ones, meanwhile he bosses around the older residents

- if one of the older orphans refuses to do any duties/tasks consecutively for months for no apparent reason, Bailey views them as useless— he exiles them, or sends them on a scavenging mission he knows they won't return from with minimal supplies, saying it's a simple errand. He believes having dead weight will be detrimental to the rest of the orphans and eat up supplies (this is correct in his eyes . the ends justify the means)

- he was around 13 when the apocalypse first broke out, and around 16 when he lost his foot

- thinks eden left him out to die with a mutant when they were younger (resulting in the aforementioned loss in foot) which is why he holds such a grudge against him. the two have attempted to kill each other several times in past encounters

Whitney the leader

- whitney came into the school (which was under the supervision of Leighton) after arriving from a different town, originally was just desperate to have a roof over his head but started getting cocky

- thought it was ironic (and grating) that leighton liked acting like a saviour, while barely disguising what he did to other students as “payment” for letting them stay

- due to his charisma, was both popular and seen as the unofficial-official leader because he was in on basically everything and kept things even

- when it was Whitney’s turn for ‘payment’, he bludgeoned Leighton’s head with a broken chair leg, afterwards declaring himself as leader along w his friends

- in turn, the school is practically fortified and most weapons are scavenged or made with scraps

- Whitney tends to terrorize other parts of the town for their resources (usually for food), Sydney particularly dislikes him and dreads his appearances

- Whitney doesn’t usually go to the orphanage as he’s slightly intimidated by Bailey and Remy

- holds PC for hostage at one point to bribe Robin to give him something valuable

- i REALLY want to make him to get his ass kicked by scavengers in one encounter and he winds up relying on PC for help

- still probably calls PC slut

- uses a bat with nails embedded into it, assault rifle, and has a hidden deringer somewhere on his person

- Keeps up his rough-and-tough persona on account of being genuinely petrified at the idea of losing all the control he has been carefully cultivating over the high school

Kylar the stray

- Kylar was originally at the school but ran away before Whitney took control

- although was occasionally bothered by Whitney (because whit saw him as a hoarder)

- wanders around town (very rarely near the school), forest and wasteland . has a chance of rescuing PC if they faint from exhaustion during an expedition or any other reason

- otherwise, you spot him around in an abandoned house looking for food the same time as you, to which he practically pleads and begs for mercy

- regardless of PC’s paranoia the display is genuinely so pathetic they feel like it’d just be a waste of energy/bullets/whatever if they’re previously inclined to fight first talk later . you can tell him to give him something or trade as an offering of peace, to which he accepts

- theres a later encounter in the house (which becomes a meeting spot) w/ a mutant which PC saves him from, which is the point where he becomes infatuated w/ PC

- starts to pop up around town more often. If PC is out on an expedition alone, he stalks at a distance before eventually joining

- still the same freak ……

- main weapons include his handy dandy knife, something adjacent to a sniper rifle, and various tear gas/poison bombs he makes himself (could possibly be wearing a gas mask?)

Robin the orphan

- Robin is usually your expedition buddy, as Bailey knows you’re both on good terms and tend to come back in one peace

- you’re stuck going with him either in a pair or with a group . you also share a tent during longer expeditions

- durable guy but reaaally not that good at fighting. relies on you to ward away mutants while he gathers whatever scraps he can to bring back to Bailey

- robin’s trauma raises each time he witnesses something disturbing or sees another orphan die/get infected . spikes really high at one point when he saw Bailey exiling one of the orphans (petrified of being too useless in Bailey’s eyes/dying)

- at some point he himself gets infected in a freak encounter with another mutant and goes missing — staying away from the orphanage on purpose out of fear (up to PC whether you want to find and help him recover before he becomes a full mutant) . replacement of the docks scene except Bailey probably little to no part in it lol

- mainly uses a spare machete, revolver, and crowbar

Sydney the Archivist

- hello jogn . sorry for the deception

- manages the temple/hospital place’s library and medical records

- protective over the books — won’t actually let you take anything out, only letting you maybe copy information on a spare piece of scrap paper

- fond of Robin and PC, hates Whitney and is somewhat distrustful of Kylar (but eventually mellows out … if Kylar doesn’t do anything)

- the religion stuff is different in this so there isn’t chastity devices its more like . Just pseudo christianity or something. unlabelled religion all you need to know is that they like angels and praying and thats it .

- frequently fiddles w his necklace, holds it while he prays in his downtime

- reads to the children in the youth ward

- massive worrywart . if PC comes in even slightly injured he’ll insist on helping and cleaning them up

- golden boy of the hospital

- fond of poems. writes what comes to mind on his hand

- doesn’t have many weapons — mainly just a rifle and revolver, but even then he’s often reluctant to use them out of inexperience

- I'm not actually sure what corrupt sydney would be like. Hiding a parasite? Afraid he'll lose everything if he gives in? Possibly has hallucinations during moments of stress that reveal the parasite

Orphanage

- main meals of the day include:

• breakfast: usually tends to be porridge or some other gruel . not the tastiest thing in the world, but nutrient-dense enough to keep you functioning

• dinner: soup of any kind. Bailey mainly uses whatever ingredients are on-hand or however many cans of soup there is in the storage.

• supper: leftovers of whatever is available. Bailey tries to use up food before it goes bad, dislikes the notion of having spoiled food

- older kids tend to be grouped together by twos or fours, younger kids live in bunkbed rows. if an older one wants to move, that's something for them to hash out, as Bailey couldn't care less unless it interrupts schedule (Or if the child in question is particularly useful/valuable in something)

- younger kids don’t go on expeditions, but can only help in chores around the orphanage until they grow up

- Bailey sleeps in his office; had to lend his bedroom for more space (not the happiest about it)

- the tasks Bailey leaves up to the orphans/PC is:

• taking trash out

• cleaning

• farming

• organizing resources/taking inventory, which he later checks/supervises

• keeping themselves fed and clean

• going out on expeditions for resources/materials (organized by him)

• going out on errands around town (also organized and requested by him)

• fortifying the orphanage

• waking up the younger kids

• maintaining their personal weapons, while ensuring the ones they get lended remain in working condition

- loft is used as a base of operations and weapon repair

- you room w/ Robin . decorating your room grants a boost to stress decrease

- interactions in the orphanage include giving younger orphans a share of your food, comforting worried orphans, joining them in (playable) card games, offering to help with chores for + fatigue, finding lost items, getting to know various npcs around the orphanage and them having their own little side quests

temple/hospital

-- Harper manages most of the hospital. also has a strange fascination with parasites and infections . Following the theme of this game being less fetisjh-heavy, his demeanor feels like a scientist who sees everybody else like a bunch of rats scurrying around a maze . he has a few mutants he experiments on, and is particularly fond of this sickly cat-pigeon- melted into a vague slug-shape amalgamation he calls "angel". She's his little pet-project whom he is trying to nurse back to health . many workers find this mildly off-putting.

-- one of the few npcs who won't react with immediate violence if they see PC visibly infected by a late-stage parasite. Harper will find you intriguing and often ask to experiment on you or observe your changes/draw blood . he's aware other npcs will freak out at the sight of you, so he offers you a hiding place until the visibility of your infection simmers down and you're able to rejoin society without looking like a freak of nature. in return harper will uphold your end of the deal via light and slightly questionable experimentation

-- weirdly enough DOR harper is more . affectionate rather than creepy/perverted with PC here? even if they react aggressively or dismissive towards him, they'll continue to hover around in hopes of coaxing them down enough to take a peek at their changes . this guy really wants to put you under a microscope .

-- the hospital itself is quite spacious . waiting room/front desk is used somewhat like a communal area. aslyum section is used similarly to quarantine zones for infected

-- the temple has sort of assimilated into the place . works out for the hospital as they get more helpers around, while the temple gets to preserve their sacred texts and ways of life

-- the youth ward is heavily guarded. most children very rarely spend more than an hour outside, and if they do, they're closely monitored to ensure they do not roam away from the group .

-- there is a small graveyard of children who died of health complications and were unable to be treated due to a lack of resources . the graveyard sits in the courtyard

-- aforementioned library/archives is also quite large . workers will confront you to give up any flammable items before entering -- resisting while having a lesser physical level will result in getting kicked out and temporarily banned from the hospital unless you're desperate (aka dying)

high school

-- heavily guarded by "gangs" (essentially clubs) and overseen by Whitney, whom everyone relies on thanks to his suave and brute force

-- closed off from the rest of town - most locals dislike the area because of how trashed it is

-- groups come and go, Whitney doesn't oversee anything nor demand people go out on scouting missions unlike Bailey. most resources follow the "first come first served" rule, but sharing your supplies leads to your status amidst the school increasing

-- getting high enough status makes people consider you either a saint or a secondary leader, which Whitney - depending on your relationship - happily flaunts or sees it as a threat to his own rule . if your demeanor with him is negative or hostile, he'll attempt to corner and fight you

-- high school mainly operates through intimidation, threats, and attacking in large groups, hence why most locals dislike them.

-- despite the brash and prideful front, the high school genuinely struggles in keeping up food supply because there's never any organization or schedule. Most have taken to hoarding anything edible because of a distrust between various gangs.

-- being affiliated with one gang (not necessarily joining it) leads to an increase or decrease to other gang's perception of you. It's possible to even the scales out perfectly across all counts and be friendly to all

-- the school, on account of being connected to the nearby forest, is highly paranoid of the wolf amalgamation that roams near the forest caves - the main reason why they don't feel willing to go out and find their own food and water supplies. helping to kill it or tame it leads to a high increase in status, as well as increasing Whitney's perception of you

-- if status is low, the gangs may bully around the PC or attempt to rob them on sight. This is different if PC reacts with aggression and win in most encounters, whereas most gangs will feel wary at the sight of them.

-- a few events could happen where the player could possibly help out Whitney from getting attacked by a gang planning to stage a coup, or by rescuing one of the members from the wasteland and bringing them back safely

other notable locations

town hall (communal area, where most trades take place)

sewage tunnels (mutated fish, random encounters)

junkyard (dangerous zone -- mutants roaming, however valuable items and materials can be found)

houses in districts (various abandoned homes. yield random items, but also carry the risk of having a mutant or monster housing them)

abandoned farm (various horse and cow amalgamations roam. there is one. there is a chance one may spontaneously begin to hunt you. within the farm, there's various food items, weapons, and tools scattered about that could prove useful)

arcade (wires and other electric components here. a few machines could possibly be re-wired if knowledge points are high enough. enables the area as a little leisure/date location)

forest (self explanatory -- most interactions will be about scavengers, strays, or parasites/mutants)

wasteland (more commonly for scavenger interactions. main and only path on-foot to get to the next town over)

northern, southern, western, eastern towns (separate from the center town where the orphanage etc is -- these four areas are usually where Bailey sends you out to scavenge supplies. PC will normally be sent in a group and spend around 3-4 days inside a camp until returning)

lake (found within forest - radiation wraith's lair. don't enter the water.)

degrees of lewtidy but instead of getting your freak on its called degrees of radiation and you’re busy trying to survive against some evil ass monstrosity of flesh and toxic waste because Bailey thinks you’re a lazy bum who hasn’t brought back supplies in some time (robin is a few yards away trying to shove as many scraps and resources into a duffel bag as he can)

[fisheito]

NoooOOOOOOO MORVAY NOT AGAIN!!! Two haloween s?? When will you be freee!! 💦💦💦

MR FATHER PLE AXSSE

[mistykaru]

i got stuff from the csp asset store and i wanted to play with it so this is a mess but i did have fun and i kinda dig the vibes

[trans-leek-cookie]

listen I'm not gonna be a Curly apologist he did Fucked Up as captain but I genuinely recommend ppl watch a playthru that goes thru the game in chronological order. It kinda helps clear up the events and gaps between them, bc even tho u See the times, you still experience it out of order.

The stuff Anya says definitely sets off alarm bells but it doesn't seem like he Fully Understands what she means, and I'm going to be 100% honest I think she was trying to repress it herself. This isn't to say that she is AT ALL "at fault" for what happened after and she should've gotten help even if she wasn't ready to fully discuss the issue but I genuinely think she herself was still coming to terms with things, so she didn't necessarily process the full impact before talking to Curly, and a lot of what happens occurs after they're laid off- like this delves into personal interpretation but I genuinely think Anya only registered Jimmy as a serious danger after his outburst towards Curly. Ofc my interpretation is limited bc of the limited pov in game and not having gone through what she has, but it personally reads more akin to coercion over time than a singular Obviously Violent incident (like. Not to say that Sexual Assault isnt violent in nature, just that coercion often specifically works to obfuscate the fact it is a form of violence.) The layoff is a Massive catalyst for her bc of Jimmy, in that she now has a very clear understanding of his capacity for aggression.

To extrapolate a little from the "Dead Pixel" conversation, she starts by saying she Likes The Screen (even though it's fake). While Curly has his quotes about the pixel "not ruining the illusion" which. Y'know is Symbolic Of His Flaws. She doesn't say the pixel ruins it, just that she can't get it out of her mind.

If we take the pixel to represent her Or jimmy, either way the way she talks about it kind of downplays things, like it's a Minor Thing that's Slightly Upsetting, but she's still okay with the big picture. Idk I could be 100% wrong but that is my take

Besides that, Anya tells curly she's pregnant 2 days before the crash, and it isn't until she outright states it that he starts Putting The Pieces Together. I want to note, he says "I'd do anything" and "this doesn't have to go on our performance evals" 1. Before he knows shes pregnant 2. Under the assumption she might attempt suicide, and I doubt he even thought about her using the gun on anyone else before she brings that up. He says literally before the line where she tells him she's pregnant that "being laid off isnt a reason to hurt [herself]". Like I've seen ppl talk about the performance evaluation thing like it's about her and jimmy, but I think he's referring to (his belief) that she might attempt suicide or similar which might genuinely be a consistent thing he's seen her struggle with, given she's able to go through with it. Also just to note: assuming their society is like ours (hellish) reassuring her he won't blab Abt her mental health is like. Genuine reassurance- lots of mentally ill ppl will Not Open Up bc it could have long term consequences (like. For example. On employment) ANYWAYS I hope it doesn't come off like "Curly never failed Anya" but rather "Curly approached this specific situation without the context of why Anya is panicking and (possibly validly) assuming she's dealing with a very different issue"

Also let me say again the time frame is 2 days. We don't Really see what happens, but we know Anya tells Jimmy without Curly knowing. I genuinely believe he maybe didn't do a Great Job in those two days (the fact he says Anya should've talked to Him before telling Jimmy is uhhh. Mm. 1. Your job to create an environment where she comes to you my man 2. Weird to tell her what she should do with HER OWN PERSONAL INFORMATION) but like.

I get a lot of ppl want immediate consequences but consider that they can't really get rid of Jimmy (co pilot. Which is. Y'know it's Own Problems) but also like. Curly knows Jimmy, and we know that Jimmy tends to lash out. Curly should probably Not Confront Jimmy Unless He Knows Exactly How To Keep Him From Hurting Anya. Like I'm not an expert but this is something genuinely important- when confronting an abuser you NEED to take into account the impact it can have on their victim, and sometimes for the victims safety you need to wait until you have a Solid Plan. It sucks but it's important.

And theres discussion to be had about Curly kinda going along with Jimmy saying "well what if we all died" and like. I do believe he Didn't Realize What Jimmy Said. Like he was just processing/trying to keep the situation under control (and failing because he underestimated how willing Jimmy was to hurt everyone including himself).

Like he's definitely an enabler but I would say his problems are mostly before he understands the gravity of the situation, in that he's friends with Jimmy and assumes the best of a man with abusive tendencies, and fails to create an environment that can keep Anya and the others safe. Like, he definitely doesn't handle in game events perfectly (psych evaluation for one- he does do it instead of Anya which is actually helpful, but he still treats it like. Weirdly.)

Idk I have a lot of thoughts about this game and I don't necessarily want to defend Curly but more like. Anya's situation is very delicate (and light on details) so sometimes the way ppl talk Abt it feels like they aren't actually focused on what she wants and what it means to prioritize her safety y'know?

Edit bc I just now figured out kinda how I want to word it: curly is an enabler and making things worse bc he doesn't put a stop to Jimmy's BS, but in the specific scenario we see in game I think he's trying to use his Skillset of like, people pleasing not for Jimmy's sake but for the crews (like "if I nod my head and say I sympathize he won't lash out and hurt them") which like. There are situations which that is unfortunately the safest option (on an individual level yes, but sometimes it's also necessary to prevent abusers lashing out in response toward ppl who are more vulnerable) but it was the Wrong Choice.

It's like. I think Curly was trying and had good intentions, and understood that he needed to protect the crew, but he didn't have the toolset/experience to realize he can't Just go along with things and that he needs to be able to set hard limits, even for ppl he likes and trusts. Like he failed but the failure was "for want of a nail", where it began way before what we see (for want of an understanding of power dynamics I guess.) Again, don't think this makes curly more forgivable or whatever, I just think he's a good example of trying to make the right choices when you never realized you'd have to make these kinds of decisions and therefore are unprepared and/or unaware

Second edit: personally I don't think you can really incapacitate jimmy without there being serious risk (again he's the copilot) but curly should've given Anya the gun when she told him Abt the pregnancy

[ridl]

i love ganqing sm. keqing the capable, skilled in swordsmanship, kind yet confident and highly ambitious leader of liyue, with her capable, war veteran, gentle general secretary supporting the qixing, yet a bit weird qilin wife. And it's so important to me to underline that ganyu is just a bit weird and strange, bc that's her charm!!!

>appears for the first time on the roof >weird mullet hairstyle >eats raw wild flowers (her favorite is very bitter) >falls asleep in a haystack (can fall asleep anywhere really) >sensitive horns >raised by a bird mom

like yes, she's beautiful, strong and awesome but do you care about her weirdgirl swag!! keqing is beautiful, strong and awesome too, but i think she's also just some guy, with rocks for brain in the most genuine, charming way. It's so fun to think about them because of it

[danieyells]

?????? Why did he tell me everything was fine if my insurance requires me to have been on hormones for 2 years to approve the procedure. . .why didn't he say they won't approve it if that wasn't the case. . .is that outdated information???? Maybe we can lie????

Am i seriously about to have all of my fucking hype crushed???? Maybe I can convince my doctors to lie for me or we can say I was doing it DIY for a few years. People ask how long I've been on hormones a lot because my voice is pretty deep and I look pretty masculine surely we could get away with this???

I feel really fucking beaten down now. Why not stop the discussion and go 'hey they require X amount of time on hormones'. . .I really hope I can convince my providers to fudge the truth for me a little or i'm going to lose my mind i seriously don't know how well i'm going to take it if i can't get this done???? Like I already feel so anxious at the thought. Please everything about me needs this. I am going to go fucking insane if this can't happen this year.

[jasontoddenthusiastt]

I always smh at people who dub Jason as “whiny” “and therefore ooc” in tt 29. If you died and all everyone did was taint your legacy, and not a single person remembered you fondly or deemed you worthy of commemoration after your death, wouldn’t you be a bit upset too?

[selfinflictedgunshotwound]

i also find it very funny how people think laura actually cared about james at all when his name is only mentioned 4 times in the secret diary and they all occur in the same paragraph in which she's mentioning lying to dr. jacoby *scratches head* ... meanwhile here's just a few of the times she mentions bobby

like idk you tell me who she was actually in love with

[akkivee]

bonds are necessary for the true hypnosis mic to be used according to rei!!!! so bonds not only negate the effects on the target, but also on the user as well!!!!!

[gynaiko]

ㅤㅤㅤSTELLA   IS   NOT   A   GOOD   MOTHER,   AT   ALL;   QUITE   NEGLECTFUL,   ACTUALLY.   THE   KIND   TO   SAY   ‘THAT’S   NICE,   DEAR’   WHILE   NOT   EVEN   LOOKING   AT   VIA.   HOWEVER,   I   DON’T   SUBSCRIBE   TO   FANON’S   GENERAL   INTERPRETATION   WHERE   SHE’S   APPARENTLY   WILLING   TO   KILL   HER   JUST   TO   SPITE   STOLAS.   WE   STILL   HAVEN’T   SEEN   HER   INTERACT   WITH   OCTAVIA   BUT   IF   SHE   TRULY   HATED   HER,   SHE   WOULD   HAVE   THROWN   A   FIT   WHEN   ANDRE   POINTED   OUT   VIA   WOULD   GET   EVERYTHING,

ㅤㅤㅤ&   WHEN   SHE   WAS   SCREECHING   AT   STOLAS,   ASKING   IF   HE   WAS   ‘TURNING   HER   ( VIA )   AGAINST   HER   ( STELLA )’   —   CLEARLY,   SHE   CARES   FOR   VIA.   AGAIN,   SHE’S   NOT   A   GOOD   MOTHER,   PERHAPS   NOT   CODDLING   OR   ‘MOTHERLY’   BUT   ENOUGH   THAT   VIA   HAS   GOOD   MEMORIES   OF   HER   ( PER   THE   LOO   LOO   LAND   EPISODE ),

ㅤㅤㅤREAD   THE   TAGS   FOR   MY   TINFOIL   HAT   RAMBLINGS ,