#also her weapon is an ambiguous stick

[humbledoodles]

BUFF SUMMER

[shadesoflsk]

        MOONTALK

pairing: Leon Kennedy x GN Reader.

summary: After retiring, Leon often has nightmares about his past. Talking under the moon's gaze seems to help.

warnings: Smut MDNI, just oral (m receiving), angst to fluff to smut hehe, mentions of death, violence, and alcohol, catholic symbolism, dad bod leon hehe (x2) subby leon, reader is called spouse.

word count: 3.5k

author's note: Hello! This is very simple since I'm trying to get better at writing smut for gender neutral readers :) There's not enough content and while I improve at writing the whole sex scene I shall bring you this! (I'm open to suggestions or constructive criticism.) As always, I hope you're having a good week!

The starry night is chosen to be Leon’s witness in the middle of his stolen slumber. 

It’s a common occurrence, part of himself longs for the pain-filled activity since it serves as a reminder of his own life. Night terrors scare him more than his anxiety. The first one clings to his soul and threatens him with an inability to wake up. Helpless to his own mind, he prefers to be fully awake.

However, his brain isn’t his friend. Even when awake and aware of his surroundings, his mind would recreate scenarios he has lived before. Blood dripping and sticking to his combat boots, the smell of the iron-ish liquid filling his nostrils painfully making its home in Leon’s head, messing up with his perception of the world and himself.

Somewhere in that messed up path, he had found you. 

He didn’t intend to, it wasn’t in his plans to. He had locked his heart and thrown the key somewhere in the sea of his failures. 

A feeling of regret brimmed in Leon’s soul. How could his name be attached to yours if the sole mention of Leon Scott Kennedy brought memories of hell on Earth? A former rookie cop, ready to risk his life on duty turned into the government's best weapon.  He’s made peace with that, ever since his mission in San Francisco his life has gotten significantly better.

But that doesn’t mean it has stopped hurting.

He once heard Jesus presented his left cheek to be slapped. In the past, he’d have imagined the mere thought of being that naive was ridiculous.

“You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”

Now, that passage has been planted in his heart like a thorn that wouldn't go away no matter how much he pinched the skin. But rather than being a bothersome feeling, it shaped him into the man he is now.

He would never be Jesus, he knows that much. Ever since he was a kid, his connection to religion was always dangling between trust and distrust; faith and doubt. Fear crossed his juvenile and innocent expression whenever he came across a statue of the people’s lord and savior.

God bad, Jesus good. People good and bad. The Old Testament was the backbone for Leon’s hatred towards God. If this supernatural being ‘loved’ his people, why would he punish them?

Sins are ambiguous. Killing is bad. But if he had killed creatures that were no longer humans, is he a sinner without redemption?

He’s still coming around that last statement. Were they really no longer humans?

That’s why he prefers the New Testament. A fresh start, a new life being born. Jesus wouldn’t judge him for the man that he was and is. 

And just like him, he turned his left cheek in a mission in San Francisco years ago, when he ended Maria’s life. Bitter and revengeful for killing her father, the woman made it her mission to murder Leon. But ultimately (and ironically) she ceased to exist in Leon’s arms. 

‘Revenge’ was met with a ‘Now you can be with your dad again.’ Merciful, he had granted her a last moment of peace.

The soundless night heightens Leon’s senses. As he tries to brush off his worries, some footsteps break the unnerving silence that Leon is in. His ears focus on the soft pace that he easily identifies as yours. 

Recognition turned into monotone and monotone into mundane. And don’t get him wrong, God he loves feeling he has finally found his home.

Leon’s arms are resting on the balcony railway, blue eyes focused on the starry night. 

“You should be sleeping.” He flatly says without turning to face you. Not out of apathy but guilt. Not being next to you has woken you up.

“Can’t sleep without my husband.” 

Sensing you approaching, he opts to tease, trying to divert your attention somewhere else. “Wouldn’t be my dear spouse if you weren’t clingy.”

“I’m not clingy.” But you wouldn’t allow Leon’s usual antics. You know them by heart, lighthearted jokes instead of facing reality. “I’m just worried,”

“You worry too much.”

“But I’m always right.”

A sigh. 

Teeth biting the inside of his cheek.

“It’s hard to sleep sometimes.” The phrase is not directed at you, but a response to his own thoughts. For him, safe and sound sleep is a blessing he’s not lucky enough to receive. 

“I know.” And then again, your reply isn’t about yourself. A feeble smile appears on your face out of empathy and partial understanding. Standing next to him, your elbows rest on the balcony railway, the chill air sending goosebumps through your skin. “Did you dream about something?”

Leon’s eyebrows knit in concentration as he mull over her question. When he tries recalling his past moment of slumber he is met with the usual gruesome scenario and the same gut-wrenching screams.

“Same old tale.” He exhales. In the past he would have had a glass of whiskey in his hand, tilting the content to one side as he gazed over the starry sky. But he made a promise, and as much as his past comes back to haunt him, he’d keep it. 

“Is that it?”

“Yes.”

“Why I don't believe you?”

He brings a calloused hand to his mouth as he registers your words. Under the moonlight, his expression gives away his exhausted state, a hint of darkness around his eyes, a permanent faint frown. 

“You don’t want to know.”

“Yet here I am asking.” It’s not until now that you notice Leon’s shirtless torso. Most of his scars are turning a light white color while his bruises are changing their hues. His body is not the same from a few years ago. His abdomen no longer shows off his chiseled abs but a slightly round and soft belly. 

“Feels like I’m walking in circles.” He finally answers with his eyes closed. His restless mind can’t give him a break. Unable to completely live in peace, he finds himself pondering about his own humanity.

“The past is always clearer at night.” With an expression akin to resignation, he looks at you. “And the past tells me I’m a monster.”

The faint sound of the clock could be heard even when they were both gazing into the sky and letting their thoughts be consumed by the chill night. It reaches the dreaded ‘Devil’s hour,’ 3 AM. 

“You aren’t a monster.” And it is the truth. While Leon is a complex man, it is not a difficult task to unravel and search through the layers he has covered himself in. His heart beats for the nation and therefore its citizens. 

“If I’m not a monster then what am I?” He replies, his face growing somber. “If what I’ve done isn’t destruction what is it?”

“Salvation.” 

It is far from salvation. It’s selfish to even think that way.

Sadly, Leon was the designated pawn to complete the job nobody wants to do. 

Sadly, Leon is no more than a victim in the web of despair and destruction.

“Salvation.” He scoffs, a sharp ironic demonstration that your words weren’t the best. “I used to fight while the innocents kept falling at my feet.”

A glimpse of a past self appears in front of you. Chaos and loathing unfurls. 

It’s been years since you last saw the man who used to drown himself in the deadly burning liquid. However, the alcohol no longer filled the empty spaces in his body and soul.

Truthfully speaking, nobody can fix or heal anyone. But you gladly took the role of being Leon’s partner in life. Not only romantically speaking. Silently, you made a home in Leon’s heart and he was too comfortable with you to ask you to leave him. 

“You didn’t do it in the first place.” You place a comforting hand on his shoulder. “The government did.”

“But I was just another bullet in a gun.” He replies softly, his gaze drifting forward. Even after all of these years, he couldn’t completely shake off the guilt that kept haunting him. “Another man with his finger on the trigger… I was just a man with a gun.” 

“And you’re also a man with a heart.” You respond immediately, not giving him a chance to continue his venom-filled words toward himself. 

“If you were the demon you think you are, these late-night thoughts wouldn’t be haunting you as they do. You wouldn’t be mourning every soul even after all these years.” Your words bring a sense of comfort amidst the internal battle that is occurring inside him. The weight of his burden has always been more bearable with you.

“You think I’m that much of a saint?” A faint smile tug at Leon’s lip. A troubled expression on his face tells you he is still not believing your words. Or perhaps, he feels like he shouldn’t believe you.

“I don’t think you’re a saint. Humans are much more than black or white, good or bad. We are gray.”

Your statement is true. Humans are far from being one-dimensional beings. The balance has always been there and he knows it. When he was a child and religion was still an important part of his life, he remembers when Jesus protected Mary Magdalene. 

‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.���

Leon had stained his hands with blood and gore, but he had also saved countless lives when the odds were against him.

“God… I’m pathetic, aren’t I?” He laughs, finally bringing you closer to him with his arm around your waist.

“No, you’re just human.”  You reply, admiring the view your balcony provides, you think about the endless possibilities in life. If you hadn't met Leon, where would you be? And if Leon hadn't met you? How his life would look right now?

Universe works in mysterious ways, if you hadn't been in the right place at the right time, you wouldn't have your soulmate next to you.

A comfortable silence sets in as Leon finally relaxes and gives his mind a break. There were days and nights in which his brain was weak, but that doesn’t mean he hasn't gotten better.

“I would do laundry and taxes with you in every timeline.” You break the silence with a quote from a movie both of you had watched and Leon being the moviegoer he is, you know he’ll recognize it.

“That's not how the line goes, you silly.” 

Bingo.

“Then enlighten me, Mr. I know every movie by heart.”

“It is ‘in another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you.’” He states matter-of-factly which gains a laugh from you. But in a way, you’re used to his antics and almost nerdy personality only you get to see.

But your words mixed with the ones from the movie hold a glimmer of truth. Even in a timeline in which he wasn’t an agent and just a regular citizen, you’d have fallen for him. Because his past doesn’t make him the man he is now. 

In another life, you’d love him over and over again.

“But I’d do all those things in this life and even in the afterlife.”

His eyes fall on you, the glimmer in them now being obvious. Just a few words from his love would pull him out from his depressive nights.

“You never cease to amaze me.”

“I’m just amazing like that.” You wrap your arms around Leon's neck while his hands rested on your middle section. “Now hug me because I’m fucking freezing.”

“Let’s go inside, shall we?” Laughing, he pulls you closer in a tight embrace. “I’d hate for you to catch a cold. Besides… I need my cuddling partner every night.”

As both of you move out of the balcony and away from the cold wind of the night. Leon’s hands move painfully obvious to your rear. After his late thoughts, he only wants to feel you close to him.

“I don’t think you want to cuddle.” You remark the obvious. Leon just chuckles, nodding.

“Aside from being the perfect partner you’re also a mind reader?”

You step in your bedroom. Place that has been witness to Leon’s most vulnerable moments, from the times in which he'd come back from a mission to the ones in which both of you would get lost in each other's bodies.

His sanctuary, your heaven.

You smile at him as you motion him to sit down on the bed. Both of your eyes are locked in a gaze that says what you are feeling, love. No matter how hard his or your days could be, both of you could always come back to a partner that takes care of them. No matter the situation.

As he takes a seat on the edge of the bed, you lean closer and press a kiss to his forehead, to his nose, to his cheek, and lastly to his lips. This last one lingers more than the others, sweet and slow, like how you want to treat him tonight.

“I love you.” You whisper as you pull back from the kiss, your thumb grazing over his stubbled jaw.

“Love you more.” He responds with the same tenderness you have brought him. After saying his words, his hands traveled to where your hips were, attempting to pull you closer.

“Nuh-uh. Tonight’s about you, sir.” You have your mind set that this night is going to be all about the perfect husband you have in front of you.

With that, your lips once again found their home but this time it was on Leon’s neck. 

With your lips giving some attention to Leon’s sensitive skin, you treat him like he was fragile porcelain. 

After a few moments, you slowly lower yourself until you're between his thighs. Another reminder of how much his body has changed, his thighs were fuller and bit less toned than before.

He has seen you like this before, on your knees and with the sweetest of looks but dear God it gets better every day. 

You press your cheek against Leon’s inner thigh, your hand rubbing the flesh that is still covered with his sweatpants. He was no longer an active agent therefore he had gained some weight which you completely love. He blames the alcohol he used to drink so much and the lack of high-impact exercise.  But you always reassure him that you love him nonetheless. 

Your hand creeps to his clothed crotch, you gently trace along the bulge that has already formed. Leon’s breath is starting to get heavier but nothing too scandalous, for now. 

“I haven’t even touched properly and you’re already this hard.” You are trying to be gentle, but there’s something about having control over him even when you’re on your knees that just prompts you to tease him a hit.

“Might as well cum in the spot, don’t you think? Bet you’re already imagining me pulling down your boxers and stroking your cock.” The face Leon was making could send you straight to heaven. 

“You’re the devil…” Leon tries, he tries to gather himself by making a joke. But his high-pitched speech comes out pathetic. A rebuttal? More like a whine.

“What? My handsome husband can’t handle the spice? I expected better.” The praise seems to hit a spot somewhere in his body because the way his hips just bucked and sought the friction of your hand was contradictory to his previous words.

“Please…” And after that whimper, you no longer want to tease the man. Especially tonight in which he deserves the best. 

“Ok, ok. I gotcha…” You murmur, wasting no more time and pulling his sweatpants down. A wet spot is already formed in his gray boxers. Then again, more teasing words flood your mind but you brush them off.

With a gentle kiss on his inner thigh, your fingers hook around the fabric and slide it down. His dick springs forward, and as always, it makes your mouth water. It’s the same image as always, slightly curved lenght with veins you had memorized by now and a reddish tip that tells you how bothered and pent-up he’s been.

Marriage has always been depicted as a boring and monotonous lifestyle, in which you get bored of your spouse after a couple of years. In a sense, you understand where they come from. However, Leon and you always made sure to keep things interesting, and as corny as it sounds, both of you try to make the other fall in love again.

You press a kiss on his tip, holding back a laugh as you know how sensitive he must be. The slightest touch has him gripping the bedsheets. 

“You’re teasing.” He says as his lips form a pout. His calloused hands flatten on top of your hair 

“Am I?” You give his shaft a few kitten licks, not breaking eye contact while doing so. 

Finally, your shenanigans are followed by your lips wrapping around his tip, sucking the area. That gains a whimper out of Leon, the ones you’re so used to. 

When you first met the stoic agent, you wouldn’t have thought that he’d be so vocal in bed. Even when he was supposed to be on top, he’d let the most beautiful moans against your ears. asking for permission to continue, asking for permission to fill you up.

For a moment, your lips continue sucking off his tip. Your saliva coating the area and sloppily making out with the head of his dick. Your fingers wrap around the base of it, almost overwhelming Leon with the amount of attention he is receiving. 

“Ah — Fuck…” His eyes roll back as you finally take him whole. The previous ministrations long forgotten as your mouth and part of your throat surround his sensitive cock. 

You bob your head, slowly at first, controlling your breath as Leon involuntarily thrusts his hips making his tip hit the back of your throat. You place your hand on Leon’s thigh, to motion him to stand still. 

“Shit — sorry, sorry…” His voice gets slightly higher, now his previous words turn into pleas or straight-up moans. Drool pools at the corner of your mouth as your tongue runs on the underside of his cock. 

“Too good for me…” He’s reduced to just babbles and whines, his knuckles turn white as keeps on gripping the bedsheets, an awful attempt to drown more moans. As you continuously bob your head, Leon could feel his high coming.

Unconsciously and given his dazed out state, he brings his leg to your shoulder. You were completely focused on him and this simple action made your concentration break a bit. He’s putty in your hands, his brain no longer functioning whenever you are in control.

You’d edge him, you’d definitely tease him for that. But now, you just continue sucking him off with the inner side of his thigh brushing against your cheek. 

“I’m gonna  — Fuck…” It’s not a warning, but a comment, a needy announcement. As much as he denies it, there’s not a better image than seeing you covered with his cum, or watching you swallow it whole. It made him feel a sense of pride, knowing that his spouse is the one making him come undone. 

And as your tongue runs along a vein, he couldn’t contain it any longer. With a high pitched whine and throwing his head back, he spills down your throat.

The warm liquid fills your mouth and some of it drips from the corner of your lips. 

You stay still for a moment, collecting every last drop of Leon’s cum. When you feel Leon’s hand on your shoulder —the one that doesn’t have his leg on it— you know he was asking you for a break. 

Pulling out with a pop, you gently move his leg for him to rest. 

For a few seconds, you just massage your jaw as Leon tries to recover. Heavy breaths fill the dark room, allowing you to relax once again.

“You good?” You ask as you are sitting down on the floor. 

“Yeah — Just… give me a second.” He laughs, closing his eyes. A loving smile forms on his face. 

You laugh too, getting up from the floor, you admire the scene Leon provides you: All of his body exposed to you, his sweatpants and boxers pooling at his ankles, and his fucked out expression. 

Heaven.

After a minute or so, Leon composes himself. 

“I’ll make sure to wake up every night if this is the treatment I get.”

“Next time I will just tie you up to the bed.”

“Oh? I like the sound of that.”

Laughing, you slap his naked chest as he pulls you closer. Nights like this are a reminder of his humanity and his right to love and to be loved. The past can never be changed or forgotten, but he can learn from it.

💬shadesoflsk: Comments, reblogs and likes are very much appreciated.

author's note 2: I just had to mention eeaao! It's one of my favorite movies and I know Leon would love it. Sorry if it was too sappy of me but then again... I'm always like that.

[bastart13]

Well, you said it, now it's on you, haha!

1) Apart from Love & Legends, do you enjoy any other stories from Lovestruck? If so, which ones are your favorites?

2) If you were to create your own version of the Love & Legends characters, how different would they look compared to the original versions you've shared?

3) Is there anything you wish had been explored more or done differently in the original, both in terms of design and plot?

4) You've mentioned changes made to Reiner and others, but have you discussed Altea's redesign? Can you share more about the direction you've taken with her and the reasons behind it?

5) I noticed the addition of wet-haired sprites for the MC and Helena. Have you created or do you plan to create other variations like this?

6) Have you started working on redesigning the weapons? Is that something that interests you, given the unique and interesting weapons in Love & Legends?

7) Do you plan to create or add heart gallery scenes, and if so, how would the process differ from creating the sprites? Would you aim to recreate them faithfully or put your own spin on them?

8) Do you have favorite heart scenes from the original? Are there scenes you wish had been drawn?

9) If you had unlimited time and resources, what ambitious additions or changes would you make to the revival?

10) Are there any non-playable characters from the original that you wish had been added as love interests?

I think 10 questions are a good enough start, lol.

1) Apart from Love & Legends, do you enjoy any other stories from Lovestruck? If so, which ones are your favorites?

I love most of the other Lovestruck series :D There’s such a broad variety of genres and characters, but they share this great focus on group dynamics that really makes you get attached to them as a whole. I think my other favourite series are Reigning Passions, Queen of Thieves, and Sweet Enchantments. My favourite routes are Amara, Fiona, Onyx, Zain, Emilio, and Razi, though shoutout to Remy and Onyx’s writers for being the ones to make me cry.

[Going to stick the rest under a read more to avoid the long post]

2) If you were to create your own version of the Love & Legends characters, how different would they look compared to the original versions you've shared?

Immensely hard to say. My tendencies aren’t towards classic medieval fantasy so the aesthetic probably would have ended up entirely different but I feel like I already took a lot of liberties with them? Honestly, they could have ended up like anything XD

3) Is there anything you wish had been explored more or done differently in the original, both in terms of design and plot?

Hm... Reiner’s probably my favourite character of the lot, but I do think I’d prefer his route if it carried over some worldbuilding from Helena’s and wedding traditions were different from modern western ones. Culture shock comes up a lot in the game as conflict and leaning into Reiner not understanding why giving the MC a ring makes her uncomfortable or the proposal being the first stage of establishing their relationship would make his end a bit more sympathetic.

Also, personally, I get a bit checked out with prophecies or acts of god, even in fantasy, so Alain and Saerys’ routes can get harder for me to engage with towards the end.

4) You've mentioned changes made to Reiner and others, but have you discussed Altea's redesign? Can you share more about the direction you've taken with her and the reasons behind it?

Ooh, yeah! So Altea’s design is a bit racially ambiguous but like the MC and Saerys I thought it’d be nice to draw her as Asian, though more south-east Asian like Cambodia or Malaysia. You get a lot of beautiful ornamentation and clothing from those cultures which I could style into celestial or winged symbols to suit Altea’s magical girl aesthetic while grounding it.

The general direction I’m taking with Eclaciel is combining medieval European silhouettes with the fabrics and styles of south east Asia + magical girl colours and sparkles.

As for her actual design, I wanted to make her chubbier as a further contrast to Helena and as another symbol of her subtle wealth. Altea’s the sort of character I imagine who took the peace time to flourish, especially after such a hard childhood > adulthood. The retainers care about their appearances in different ways and while Altea doesn’t want to rub it in anyone’s face, she does like to show off a bit with good quality fabrics, polished jewellery, and bright colours.

5) I noticed the addition of wet-haired sprites for the MC and Helena. Have you created or do you plan to create other variations like this?

All the main characters have wet hair sprites now and I think my plan is to create new variations where I see them. The MC also has a ponytail sprite and Witch Queen eyes when she’s being possessed, Alain has a messy hair sprite to echo himself as a child, and Reiner wears a silk cap when he’s sleeping to protect his hair.

I’m not sure right now what other variations might pop up but I’m planning wedding variations, makeup, and the timeskip hairstyles.

6) Have you started working on redesigning the weapons? Is that something that interests you, given the unique and interesting weapons in Love & Legends?

I... don’t have much practice drawing weapons. I did have to sketch them out for the promo art I did, though I only really made references for Atlea’s staff, Iseul’s bow, and August and Alain’s swords.

Like the characters, I veer towards more grounded, simpler designs vs fantastical and detailed.

7) Do you plan to create or add heart gallery scenes, and if so, how would the process differ from creating the sprites? Would you aim to recreate them faithfully or put your own spin on them?

I do plan to draw CGs eventually, though I’m a bit intimidated by the sheer quantity. The process would be the same as most of my illustration work: thumbnails > lineart > flats > lighting. Similarly to the sprites, I’d vary how much inspiration I’d want to take. Some I’d essentially want to redraw, I’d have a bit of fun with others, and maybe replace others. One major change is converting all the portrait compositions to landscape. I understand why they did it that way, but landscape orientation is far more comfortable for the game.  

(Some of my ideation thumbnails)

8) Do you have favorite heart scenes from the original? Are there scenes you wish had been drawn?

Like all of Love & Legends, it’s an interesting blend of incredible and strange art. I think they got a new colourist past Iseul’s 7th season and that definitely made a big difference but the compositions have always been impressive. My favourites from each route are:

As for scenes I wish had been drawn, I’m not sure anything comes to mind other that Reiner and MC’s Vegas wedding, since that was the climax of the season.

9) If you had unlimited time and resources, what ambitious additions or changes would you make to the revival?

Oh god, I’m not sure? Voice acting would be sick even if I never know what anyone sounds like. An animated intro/trailer would be awesome. Maybe updating backgrounds as well?

10) Are there any non-playable characters from the original that you wish had been added as love interests?

Weirdly I’m not someone who looks for other characters to become love interests. It’s fairly obvious when characters weren’t intended to carry a route by themselves and I'm content with the stories we have :D

[archduke42]

OK, I've had time to really reflect with this trailer

I still have some mixed feelings. Part of me hoped they would not bring Barriss back because maybe it was time to move on. After 11 years, I felt like I was just being suckered by red herrings. It's a little exhausting when opportunities happen and everyone speculates but it becomes a false alarm. Plus I used to be rather arrogant over the thought of Barriss being an Inquisitor. Used to irritate me a lot that fans even wanted that to happen. "How can anyone want this?" I used to ask myself. But I'm old fashioned, from a time when good guys were good, bad guys were bad, and Hero(ine) blows up the super weapon. All this character ambiguity people embraced for their Star Wars was a bit alien to me. It was enough that she was supposed to die in Order 66, but this was almost too much. The backlash against "The Wrong Jedi" was a tidal wave at the time, and lots of fans (myself included) cried hard at Filoni and Lucas' casual retcon.

But then, I'd been writing hero journey stories for Barriss since 2005 or 2006 and the whole villain plot twist was infuriating. And there was so much hate for Barriss on the internet at the time. I cursed Filoni's name with an old man's fiery blackened heart. My Muse had become the most hated character in Star Wars, and I had become a hot mess for several years after so much heavy emotional investment. I wanted to channel all my energy into Barriss stories (and eventually Barrissoka stories, since they were such a perfect couple) I also commissioned some shipping/wedding/marriage art to maybe push back against people's notions of a revenge fight between Ahsoka and Barriss. I have been blessed with discovering a huge Barriss Offee/Barrissoka fan community out here, and I think we have all built so positive energy in our love for these characters. Being a writer and reading the works of so many others has helped me grow with the community and learn so much. I am grateful to the art of people like @grissaecrim, and stories by people like @jedimasterbailey and @stellanslashgeode (and so many others) I can be excited that Barriss is officially coming back! The wait is over, and my anxiety returns. but I also have had a long period of time in 11 years to accept these new dynamics for Barriss. I am ready to accept whatever Destiny is in store for Barriss, though I suspect Filoni will be giving her a journey of sorts and not just leading these episodes towards a villain death for her. I suspect this journey may even go to live streaming with Ahsoka involved but time will tell. I still loath the concept of challenging expectations, but I realize that Star Wars characters have to grow out of two dimensional designs. Heroes don't need to be sparkling perfect and Villains can have a moral compass of sorts. I just wish Lucasfilm would stick to a consistent history with all this. I'm certain Filoni will have more retcons to drop on us. It's his style. But in fairness, the trailer was exciting, the animation looked really good. And I enjoyed seeing other minor characters involved, like 4th Sister, Grand Inquisitor, etc. I look forward to the exciting battles with Elsbeth and Grievous, etc. Most importantly with this trailer comes the enthusiasm to see Barriss return. Much of the hate is gone, and the Star Wars community in places like Youtube, Tumblr, etc is blowing up with excitement for this. The majority fans are ready for her adventure to continue with open minds. I think that gives me more joy than anything, that fans actually want to see her again, and want her to win at this in the best way possible even though she is starting from a dark place. I'm ready to see how this goes. This could be one of the best Star Wars experiences of 2024.

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for doing my job and protecting the Earth, even if it meant killing someone?

(Minor headcanons involved, namely that all parties are sapient when it is ambiguous in canon. I posted this here before but suspect it got ganked for length, so I trimmed it down).

Alright. I (Unknown but very old, M), am the guardian and protector of Earth. I do my best to keep it’s ecosystems and inhabitants- humans, nonsapient flora and fauna, and my kind- in balance, and to defend it from outside threats. Sometimes I have assistance in this role from who I’ll call M (Unknown but very old, F), who is my closest friend and confidant, especially since the rest of my species went extinct. However, she is frequently not around, leaving me alone. Recently, I have quarreled with another member of my kind (Unknown but young for our kind, M) who I’ll call K. He helped me defeat an archenemy of mine, though, so I decided to drop our quarrel provided he sticks to his territory and stays out of my way.

M and all the others I call “my kind” all are different species from me and each other, but all have certain similarities as well, which are very important for how we interact with the rest of the world. We are all terminarchs as well- “no more after me” and all that.

I know this is a lot of backstory (I’ve lived a very very long time and seen a lot of things), I do think all this is important for prior context, but bear with me here, we’re coming up on the important part. 

Now, an ancient emergency beacon was activated (from an area now in K’s territory). This beacon indicates the imminent escape of another ancient enemy of mine from the area where I imprisoned him, said area being accessible only through K’s territory. Said ancient enemy, who we will call R (Unknown, M, related species to K) has S (Unknown but elderly, F) a former semi-close friend of mine, mind-controlled as his weapon. R also has an army of the same species as himself, but they are younger and weaker than him. R wants to conquer/enslave all of the Earth. To my knowledge, he also abuses younglings, S, and his other slaves. I do not know if that’s important to mention here?

M is still gone and I don’t know if she’ll be back in time, I don’t know if I can rely on K’s help here but don’t expect to (We still aren’t on speaking terms, it’s possible K may side with those who are similar to his species. I know being a terminarch is hard and lonely). I also know I cannot fight R, mind-controlled S, and his army by myself. However, in the cold north seas there exists a repository of energy from the sun which my kind may use to make themselves stronger. I traveled there with due haste, and arrived to find another of my kind, T (unknown, F), already there and absorbing the energy (said source is finite and takes a long time to replenish once it’s used up). Now that the background context and current situation has been sufficiently explained, here, finally, is where I might be TA.

Me and T have never really gotten along. We get in territorial scraps with some frequency (I kicked her out of one of my old dens that she had since claimed a few years ago), we fill somewhat similar niches in our kind’s ecosystem (or what remains of it). And, personality-wise, we just don’t mix- I find her argumentative, contrarian, pugnacious, and irritating. We try to avoid each other whenever possible. I have yet another crisis to deal with, I don’t have time to fight T over this energy, and as protector, I shouldn’t need to explain why I need it more.

I fired a warning shot into the iceberg where T is currently absorbing the energy. T responds by emerging from the iceberg and engaging me in combat, attempting to constrict me. I bite a chunk out of her side and roar- second warning. T does not back down or flee, and tries to smother me with her frills. At this point she’s trying to kill me, so I have no choice- I fire a point-blank shot at her head/face and kill her.

Reasons why I might not be TA:

I needed that energy to stop R and protect the world, as is my job.

I don’t know what T was planning to do with that energy, she could have been getting stronger to try and usurp me (there was a similar minor incident like that with another of my kind, SC, recently).

I fired warning shots and gave T ample opportunity to back down, she tried to kill me anyway.

Nobody involved here is human and therefore cannot be judged by human moral or social standards (heard this before).

Reasons why I might be TA:

I don’t know what T was planning, it could have been totally innocuous, given her prior conduct I doubt it but still.

T was a terminarch like me and all the others, her species is now extinct. 

I didn’t try to communicate why I needed the energy, from T’s perspective I may have just been coming to claim her territory/kick her out of her den again like in our previous scraps. 

T’s ecological niche is now empty and that could possibly cause problems down the line. As keeping the ecosystem healthy and balanced is one of my job descriptions, I kinda feel like this is my fault.

[wildissylupus]

I know that your MW!Junkrat is a part of Overwatch, but he kinda is in canon, so I have an idea for a Vishkar Rat.

The key change in this is that the academy where Liveweaver and Symettra went to Australia for new students, and they chose Jamison because of his “extraordinary intellect”.(Junkrat in canon is actually really smart, just too crazy to realize it) Jamison’s parents deny The Academy, and they leave empty handed. soon after, the Omnium explodes, leaving Jamison an orphan.

Seizing the opportunity, The Academy comes back to Australia to pick up Jamison, since he doesn’t have a legal guardian. He goes through his term at the academy, graduating top of his class, and lands a job at Vishkar.

In Vishkar, he makes electrical weapons such as the EleMag launcher, which fires electromagnetic grenades(functions like Zarya secondary fire, with a shock at detonation)

the EMP mine, which deactivates technology in a 10 meter radius after a detonator is pressed(functions like canon Mine, except if enemies are in the radius, they get hacked)

the Taser trap, a bear trap that is outfitted with tasers(functions like the beta trap, except there’s 300 damage over time on top of 50 activation damage)

the Shock Tire, a

After a while, he meets Talon, who offer him a spot in their ranks because of the weapons he makes, but he refuses, saying that he has a steady job, and he’ll just stick to selling weapons to them.

The thing is, Jamison was never given permission to sell the weapons at all, and especially not to Talon, a terrorist group. They tell him to pack his things and turn in his blueprints, and they fire him.

That does not go well.

They forgot that Jamison was an irradiated Australian with a thirst for violence.

Let’s just say that they had to rebuild the entire west wing of the company building.

So now Jamison’s a part of Talon. The end.

The thing is we still don't know if the Junkers will join Overwatch, Talon or just be a part of Overwatch's rouges gallery, a wildcard third party. There is also the fact that while Symetra being a Junker makes sense on the mirror aspect, Junkrat being Vishkar turned Talon doesn't make sense for him. Sym's character is all about order, so it makes sense that her opposite would be a Junker, it makes sense that her complete opposite would be in the most chaotic factions. And while Junkrat is chaotic, that's not the key part of his character, at least it wouldn't be the thing to be reversed.

Not only that but faction and faction relations haven't changed, so Vishkar would still be working with Talon in this universe.

I do really like the take you did though but I think it would go in a more morally ambiguous way. With it not being clear if he will join Talon proper or join Overwatch. He would still probably leave specifically because of the restrictions that Vishkar has and the general way they treat other people with his background. So he would more dislike Vishkar proper and not either Overwatch or Talon.

[remesrobotics]

Slash Girl 

DWN.054β - スラッシュガール* “Time ta rip ‘em up!!”

Good Point - Foot speed Bad Point - Brakes Like - Hot coffee Dislike - Glass doors

7’ (213.36 cm)* - though bad posture makes her appear shorter. *Technically her height spec is “a head taller than Slash Man” and thus dependent on how tall he is, of which we don’t have a good, concrete number.

Purpose - A Robot Master 'created' by Dr. Wily, intended to be the ‘sister’ of Slash Man. Primary function is high-speed recon, wide-range intel/target acquisition and mapping. 

After Slash Man’s reassignment from forest-clearer to captain of the robotic dinosaur division, his speed proved too high to successfully lead, resulting in him frequently acting alone. Slash Girl, whose core components had been requisitioned from another robotics scientist, was shifted into development to match his speed, so he could have somebody to meaningfully coordinate with.

Though Slash Man was not directly a dinosaur by design himself, Slash Girl was given more dinosaur-like features to reflect Slash Man’s unit. “Raptor” was chosen for those features both to symbolize speed, and a pack-hunting nature.

*Her Japanese name is an intentionally ambiguous play on pronunciation and can be either interpreted as “Girl” or “Gal” depending on preference, though “Girl” is the more universally used (due to being the ‘baby sister’).

Skills

High sprint speed and powerful jumping capability.

Strong senses, capable of monitoring and transmitting multiple forms of data (visual, audio, thermal, etc.) at high speeds.

Melee attacks are primarily kicks. In a game environment, this would entail:

A fast ground slide, similar to Mega Man’s, but damaging.

A three-hit standing kick (high, middle, and low)

A front-flip into a one-foot ground slam, utilizing the brake-boosters in her shins.

‘Signature’ moves involve arm-feathers - the Slash Wing

As expected of its name, it can be used in a forward swipe similar to the Slash Claw, with a smaller shockwave that cannot cancel other attacks.

More importantly, though, SG can raise her feathers as a shield to block direct/discreet projectiles (indirect attacks may still hit around it). Any ‘elemental’ properties are absorbed by the feathers temporarily, either dissipating or used in her primary attack - 

A three-way spread projectile. Feathers stick to terrain to form temporary hazards. They take on absorbed elemental properties.

If the Slash Wing is copied, the single swipe would be an uncharged attack, while charging it will raise a barrier of feathers - releasing the charge launches the feathers. Feathers can absorb elemental attacks to take on their properties, but the usefulness of this when most RMs are powered up by their own elements is dubious.

Capable of swapping weapons with her brother, exchanging her wings for his claws. Slash Man's light frame actually makes more use of the Slash Wing for mobility, and Slash Girl's heavy body puts a lot more force behind swings of the Slash Claw, making their own weapons more powerful in their sibling's possession. However, they can only maintain use of those weapons for a limited energy duration, as Mega Man would.

Personality

Good at noticing small changes in the environment, making her an excellent tracker.

Puts a lot of effort into hunting; extremely task oriented. A ‘hunt’ could be of the physical sort, but also extends to recon/’research’ or even menial retrieval errands.

On all other accounts, somewhere between dumb lizard and idiot bird

Hunt-motivated, but quite lazy otherwise. Spends a lot of off-time sun basking.

Has good eyesight, but difficulty with glass. Can (and frequently does) walk into glass doors if they are well-kept, lacking decals, and not automated (and will still run into automated doors while overclocked due to internalizing their opening speed while not overclocked).

Arbitrarily territorial and over-protective. High likelihood to hyperfixate.

Acts like a badass, actually very easily startled, especially by thunder and lightning.

Due to quirks in her heating system*, the quickest way to increase her internal temperature without overclocking is to imbibe blisteringly hot liquid, which has given her a reputation for being a coffee addict (as it is her most frequent blisteringly hot liquid of choice). She has more or less burned out her machine tastebuds as a result.

Given reptilian similarities and shared functions as recon bots, Slash Girl fondly considers Snake Man to be an old uncle.

Totally dating Proxima Centaurii (OC of @dahlia-the-nurd)

Other

Due to her design emphasis on distance speed, she’s built to take g-forces and to absorb the impact of sudden stops, making her surprisingly tough and sturdy for a high-speed recon bot. 

Although her sprinting top-speed is higher than her brother’s she is far less nimble at close quarters.

Frequently overestimates her ability to brake; crashes are not uncommon. She even has foot spurs, and brake-boosters in her shins and arms, and she still manages to screw this up because she tends to use those more for augmenting her attacks than remembering what they’re actually for. If she used them properly, this would not be a problem. But it is.

Using her brake-boosters to augment her attacks causes unnecessary jarring wear on her joints and internals, as they were not built with that functionality in mind (they can take sudden, massive single impacts from braking, constant heavy pressure from g-forces, and rapid low-pressure joint movement and minor impacts from running fast in the first place, but repeated large impacts in a short time frame can cause compound problems). It also depletes her energy much quicker.

Higher base jump than her brother, but while she can grip to walls in a pinch, she cannot climb them very well.

Shares her brother’s sensitivity to cold but with lesser severity (usually only making her tired and sluggish). Completely lacks his milder vulnerability to high heat* and in fact gains a boost from it. However, her circuitry and other components tuned for maximum efficiency at dangerously high speeds are strongly susceptible to electric-based attacks.

Some ‘basic’ comprehension processing and databanks were removed to make room for the sheer amount of high-speed data she has to gather and transmit, rendering her effectively illiterate. She can still understand and speak English, Japanese, and other immediately RM-relevant languages, but she has no databank or even rudimentary capacity for any written language, on the assumption that she is transmitting all visual data she collects to somebody who can.

When she was built the first time, it was part of a full robot-dinosaur army scheme, which was halted by Mega Man. Slash Man nearly sacrificed himself to protect SG - still undergoing final diagnostics within a specialized egg capsule - and Wily was forced to terminate her programming prematurely in order to use her parts to save her critically injured brother. While she was completed properly at a later time, this incident remains an emotional mark on them both, but Slash Man more-so.

Additional artwork:

*Old "Technical Maintenance Info" textwall moved to a separate file; will link if asked.

[kurisus]

Chapter 103-2 thoughts

I'm here, I'm a little tipsy, and I'm ready to dump my feelings. Spoilers under the cut.

"So aren't you going to cut off my head or something?" love that foreshadowing. Father got killed by decapitation (presumably), which explains why last time we had him holding his head in his arms.

I'm really interested in the page where the villagers seem ready to hate Father for potentially not sharing food with the rest of them. He talks about how trusting they are, then they eye him suspiciously for mentioning he "made tea" at night. Everything's fine when Kaya brings her mochi, but did she make it just to cover for him? Then the villager apologizes to him, and it fades into him talking to Kaya with an extremely angry expression. I have no idea what to make of this, aside from what was presented--the villagers being agitated because of their lack of food.

Also worth noting Father sits away from the rest of the villagers. Despite saying they welcomed him, he doesn't seem to feel so welcomed, even after they apologized.

How Father died is really unclear but I found it funny. I think the horse kicked him hard in the head, snapping his neck in the process, since the bandits weren't shown to have weapons. Man did not think out his plan of attack, he just saw a jerk stealing rice and went murder mode.

I wonder why his head is fuzzy in Yomi. If it's just that he's been dead for a while and is losing his sense of self, or something else?

On that note, let's talk about Izanami. We were told her goal is to get people to stay with her forever, but in this flashback she seemed pretty willing to get friendly with Father, confess she's always hated being trapped down here (valid of her; ever read the myth of Yomi? She really got the short end of the stick), and she even gives him the idea of resurrecting and taking up arms against heaven. Although I'm not sure how serious she was, since she wasn't happy about him taking her koto no ha. Anyway, perhaps Izanami got more reluctant to let her visitors leave once this guy did?

Also, Father took up Izanami's mission because she was wearing Kaya's face. He fell right for her trick of adopting the guise of people you're close to, because he figured anyone with Kaya's face would certainly be trustworthy.

Considering how sudden Father's death was, it seems safe to say he didn't have an advance plan with Kaya to break him out of Yomi. She just happened to call his true name and summon him. So his status as an unknown being is coincidence?

We still don't know how Kaya dies. I assume Father returns from Yomi, where he's feared as a walking blasphemy, but she's as kind to him as ever. They grow closer, then she dies due to some ambiguous natural disaster, he decides to go after heaven. Basically, there's still a lot left to his backstory we haven't yet seen.

Interlude: Kazubisha mental breakdown. Bro I realized recently they haven't seen each other (with both being fully conscious) in uhhhhh six years? Before the hiatus. At that point I took pity on them and was like "forget Yatori, we really just need the Kazubisha reunion."

And honestly, I didn't want to get my hopes up last month. I was afraid Kazuma would return to her, then die in her arms. But this reunion is exactly what I'd hoped for and more.

Kazuma's pajamas. Kazuma tripping over Kuraha's tail. Kazuma lint-rolling the sofa. CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS?!?!

Bishamon holding him. Him asking if he's in heaven, staring at her face with her boobs right in his face. It's heaven to me!!!!!! I'm going through a lot rn.

Kazuma has remembered his name from when he was alive, but he didn't break. This is fantastic news, meaning he's survived GGS and is truly the shinki Yato needed to counter Chiki's power. But. But. Kazuma left Yato with the knowledge that Father was defeated, and now we can see he's not done yet. So what will Yato do now?

Yato will either need to get Kazuma back somehow (Bishamon still doesn't know about his second name) or persuade Yukine to rejoin the fight. Maybe we can hope Amaterasu comes back and handles the job instead?

The biggest development dropped on us this chapter was that Father has a second lifeline--Fujisaki himself. I think it's pretty astounding we as a fandom were dancing around this concept for years, wondering how much Fujisaki knows, if he's dead or alive, if Father is using him or colluding with him, but I don't think I ever saw someone predicting the lifeline thing. It seems we'll soon get an answer to how much he knows. My main prediction for next chapter is we'll get a flashback of the two of them meeting and see how that all went down.

Kind of what I'm thinking, with that point and the previous, is Yato will need to coordinate an attack on Father's spirit form and Fujisaki's physical form, using Yukine for one and Kazuma for the other. Either way, having to remove Fujisaki as an obstacle raises the moral question of if it's right to kill this human teenager. Even if he doesn't have free will over his thoughts and is essentially comatose while Father uses him, would it be right to execute an innocent soul? Have they been conspiring together this whole time? Again, how much does he know? It'll be a pretty interesting ethical question depending on how Fujisaki's relationship to trash dad shakes out.

On that note, what was he doing at the end there with drawing an eye on his face? Does that regenerate him or something? Our main knowledge of how masks operate is that you draw an eye on them with the koto no ha, and assign a name. The ayakashi named with the koto no ha are able to obey orders and even feel and think a little more beyond "smells nice" and "kill." So, is he turning himself into a being to be controlled by Fujisaki? Is that action saving his life? Or was that just a cool visual to end the chapter? So much we don't know. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them because I'm a bit stumped!

[our-reality]

ok im so so so tired and physically cannot draw new art for them but RUBY AND JAVA MASTERPOST BABY!!!!!!!!! (for @smallartistocbracket)

uhhhh im actually not sure what im supposed 2 put here but wtv. uh

ig ill talk about ruby first

full name: ruby kitamura

age: 19

height: 5'8"

gender/pronouns: cis woman, she/her

orientation: panromantic asexual

race/ethnicity: asian, japanese

spark color: coral pink

personality: she's extremely friendly and bubbly, she loves talking to people and can make friends with pretty much anyone she meets. she's also particularly caring and patient, even to the point of self sacrifice. she especially prioritizes her relationships with her family and her girlfriend (who i'll talk about later) and she loves them all so much i cannot emphasize enough how freely she loves. she definitely perfers being close to people and it can come off as her being in your face all the time which. is somewhat true but she's very kind and respects boundaries when she needs to!!! she's also absolutely a romantic and she always sticks to what her heart tells her to do

relationships: uhhh she has a big ass family!!! she has 6 other siblings (ivyn, natsuo, rain, akira, paul, eve) and a mom who loves them all very much <3 she just has to work a lot in order to provide for them all but they make it work!!!!!!! mostly because ruby's like a second mom to all of them <3 uh she's also very good friends with python and swift. who are gods (ish)!!!!!!!!!! so that's pretty epic. she's a bit closer to python than swift since she more frequently trains under python but yeah :o) and then of course she's girlfriends with java!!! their relationship means everything to me

notable abilities: uh under my magic system she's an averager, which basically means she's born with a higher intelligence than most people!!! she's also trained to use a bo staff in combat and generally does extremely well with close quarters fighting that's epic

other: she has adhd cuz projecting and used to be a full time gifted AND sports kid whadda hell. she played tennis and volleyball and still knows how to play them pretty well!!! she has some trauma as well but we don't talk abt that ❤

and then java's next or smth

full name: java collins (also goes by aerith or cosmic sometimes)

age: 21

height: 6'2"

gender/pronouns: trans woman, she/her

orientation: demiromantic demisexual lesbian

race/ethnicity: white, ambiguously european

spark color: denim blue

personality: much more laid back and sheltered than ruby. she very rarely chooses to talk to new people, and if she does, it can take a while for her to really come out of her shell. when she does, though, she's very easy-going and sometimes sarcastic and absolutely loyal. no matter how much of a mess she may be she can and will stick by the people she trusts through thick and thin. she's also much more of a realist, choosing to analyze things from an objective point of view rather than sticking to any one ideal.

relationships: unlike ruby, she tends to prioritize her relationships with her friends over her family. and that's because her family life is kinda shit oops!!!!! won't go into full detail here but she actively resents her father and is not on good terms with her sisters so we're not going to worry about that. but uh instead we're gonna talk about her friends WOOOOO!! she's also friends with afformentioned gods python and swift, except this time she's much closer to swift and lowkey doesn't like python for a while lol </3 but she's also got her best friend from teenhood c+ and tumblr mutual requiem that she goes through weird ass shit with that's awesome (c+ and ruby also know each other btw). and finally like i've said there's her girlfriend ruby and they are so so so madly in love and they make each other better and oughfjdkelah(×[#&=(÷;

notable abilities: she's an averager just like ruby, but she has a bow and arrow as her signature weapon (get it. bo staff. bow and arrow. this was intentional). and as you might've guessed she's more so a long distance fighter which mean that they cover each others weaknesses that's so awesome

other: she's autistic which is also me projecting and also means ADHD AUTISM SOLIDARITY BABY!!!!!!! she's also an artist on tumblr and like. an influential one at that what the hell. she collects art supplies and is a scary jokes + idkhow fan and she also has trauma go figure (if you decide to follow me. which you totally should cuz im sexy like that. all my ocs have issues LMAO)

AND IF I NEED TO ADD ANYTHING MORE I WILL!!!! THIS IS A SKELETON OF A MASTERPOST BUT HOPEFULLY THAT'S NOT AN ISSUE LOL okay bye

[arleniansdoodles]

So I watching Sifu and I was... thinking about the third boss's past,Kuroki's past actually. In the detective board, she had a sister.

And Kuroki's wiki said that her father blamed her for her sister's death. Do have any headcannons

About this? (My name is Desa,Btw)

Pleased to meat you, Desa! :D Hmm I'm not sure where the wiki got that part about Kuroki's father blaming her for her twin's death; I don't think it's ever mentioned or implied in the game, but it's a theory that works imo!

As for my headcanons, this one got a bit long loll so sorry about that! ^^;; To start off, I imagine that Kuroki was from a powerful yakuza clan in Japan which was ruled by her father. However, he couldn't have two children inherit the throne, so he had them fight to the death, and whoever won would become his heir. Kuroki killed Shiroizu (the twin's name is listed in the game's credits), but was so horrified afterward that she killed her father in revenge, then booked it to China to escape. Either the yakuza clan banished her / tried to hunt her down, or she just ran off by herself and covered her tracks, I'm not sure. But either way, she escaped and started a new life there in exile.

Regarding how the sisters are presented visually, I've chosen a theory that probably isn't widely accepted in the Sifu fandom, but it makes more sense to me than the "common" one - that Kuroki is the woman in white while her sister, Shiroizu, is the woman in black (in the phase 2 battle). My chosen theory is this one - basically, Kuroki presents herself with Shiroizu's appearance (white kimono, three-sectional staff, serene demeanor), whereas her phase 2 shows her true self, or how she ought to be if she wasn't living as Shiroizu (black kimono, kunai, chaotic personality).

What got me into this theory was the Family Photo collectible: one girl wears black and the other wears white. Kuroki and Shiroizu's names include the Japanese words for black (kuro) and white (shiro), so I just assumed that Kuroki is the one in black and Shiroizu is in white. This would mean that the sister in white is the one who died, which also makes sense given how her kimono is folded in a way that is usually reserved for the dead in Japan. Of course, this could've been a mistake by the devs where they just copypasted and flipped one girl to draw the other, but since their father is painted with the correct kimono folding, I have to imagine it was intentional.

Sticking with this assumption, I can see how the sister in white who fights defensively with the staff would fall in battle to the sister in black who fights offensively with the kunai. Though the Museum's clues leave it ambiguous about which sister killed the other; that final statue of Kuroki and Shiroizu shows the murder weapon being a katana, which means it could've been either of them and you're free to assume which one it was XD

Of course, I can't forget Kuroki's painting in her studio! In that painting, the sister in white cradles the dying sister in black while holding a kunai. How does that work with my headcanons? I can see it two ways: it's how Kuroki wishes the fight with her sister actually turned out - that Shiroizu killed her (the sister in black) instead of the other way around; or it's a representation of Kuroki sealing away her true self inside, or killing it completely so she can allow Shiroizu to live through her, in a way.

I hope that made sense! Sorry if I got a bit confusing; that tends to happen when I ramble loll ^^;;

[thebookofcommonprayer]

i'm answering this from my main; thank you for asking! here's my tweet for a little further context for everyone else:

essentially what i have going is that rusty and the boys live in death and decay in a miserable ramshackle apartment building in a bad part of denver (probably five points or capitol hill, i'm not sure yet, i'll have to do more research). rusty used to be the child star of the action/adventure show that his daddy produced and when he turned eighteen, hollywood realized that he's a terrible actor and jonas realized this too. he focused his attention entirely on funding jj's career, who became very successful for his science shows on documentary channels. jonas dies and rusty gets very little from his will. he uses this to very, very briefly live large and he tries desperately to make money by starring in terribly, critically-panned indie movies. he gets nowhere aside from briefly falling in love with one of his costars, knocking her up, and not trying that hard to make it work with her for the next several months. feeling miserable and confused and trapped, she leaves and abandons her twin infants with rusty.

so throughout the years rusty drags his kids from bad to worse places, getting constantly fired from wageslave jobs in fits of pill-addled hysteria or drunkenness. the boys are pulled in and out of school until they're around eleven or twelve and then they never go again. rusty continues to build up tolerances to prescription drugs and finally decides that things can't really get that much worse in his life and he maybe-sorta-kinda decides to try heroin via the ambiguously gay albino and little person duo that lives on another floor. and things obviously immediately get worse.

rusty's concepts of morality and shame and guilt are endlessly twisted past the point of no return after suffering so tremendously during his career and beyond that and even though he gets a little bit of welfare every month, it's not nearly enough to fund his drug habits and also pay his meager rent and also keep his children fed, and they're clearly never going to be able to go to college or amount to anything at all, so rusty starts to force dean into secondhand dresses and heels and stolen makeup and he sends him out into the streets with hank acting as his pimp (he's got more business sensibilities anyway and he knows how to handle money and sell a product). they both try very hard to make money for daddy even though this is really, really scary and weird and it feels so awful. they'll crawl back to the apartment at dawn and hand the money over and they always pray to a god who won't listen that it's enough.

over time, hank starts to pocket some of it so he can use it during the nights that he sneaks out. dean doesn't like it and he doesn't go with him, but he begrudgingly promises not to tell. if he's not trying to make awkward, insane conversation with the 24-hour convenience store cashier (21) a block away, hank will go see the gruff, ruggedly handsome former soldier a few rooms down from theirs who's been hiding out and doing spy work over the past six months. extremely sympathetic to the situation (despite not ever really letting it show), brock will let hank stick around and vent and complain and cry while cleaning weapons or doing paperwork. hank is absolutely crazy about him and whispers stories about him to dean when they're curled up in bed together, huddled on a twin mattress across the room from their father.

i have this idea that malcolm was also a former child star whose accomplishments were constantly overshadowed in comparison to rusty, who was always thought to be his much cuter, pluckier twin on screen. malcolm and sheila are a deeply codependent couple that also live in the crackhouse and they're trying desperately to scrape their way out of poverty and they've kidnapped the boys a few times for ransom, because they're really the only kids they've ever seen in the entire complex and they're very kidnappable. obviously, this never works and they're always quickly let go. malcolm is constantly overcome with rage that rusty pissed away all his money even after getting all the fame and glory over him and never being grateful for it.

there's a lot more to this whole thing knocking around in my head but this is all i have rn ... i'm thinking about it. i'm thinking about it hard

[rapeculturerealities]

Montana Republicans Can’t Handle Having to Hear About the Real-Life Impact of Their Anti-LGBTQ Bills | The Mary Sue

House Republicans in Montana are drafting a bill that (shocker) is an attempt to ban minors from seeing drag shows. Why? Probably because they’re worried about children “catching the gay”, but also to degrade and erase the rights of trans people by using purposefully ambiguous legal language. On paper, the bill stipulates that “male or female impersonators” are not allowed to perform in front of children, and are therefore banned from presenting in drag in public spaces where children might see. In a legislative meeting about the bill, Zephyr took to the floor in an attempt to explain that this bill could also be interpreted as an attack on the trans community at large. She was quickly interrupted by another legislator who said that this bill had “nothing to do with trans people,” who then threatened that she could “go all day with this,” presumably saying that she would continue to harass and interrupt Zephyr for as long as it would take for the bill to bass.

Zephyr was visibly shaken by the interruption, no doubt sensing the hostility towards her in the room, but continued on undaunted. She went on to say that many private citizens who expressed their support for the bill included trans people in their definition of “male or female impersonators” and added that many of these same people referred to trans people as “groomers and pedophiles” in their statements. She was interrupted again by a lawmaker who objected to her use of the terms “groomers and pedophiles” on the House floor, conveniently forgetting these two terms were first introduced by supporters of the proposed bill. Nevertheless, Zephyr continued on.

Zephyr explained that banning drag performances would effectively ban public pride events (such as pride parades) altogether, and inferred that the bill’s unclear language could be weaponized against trans people whom civilians think are performing “in drag.” She explained that this bill could be used against trans people effectively stop them from existing as who they are in public spaces. She was then reminded by the person leading the discussion of the bill to “stick to the bill” itself, as if that wasn’t what she was already doing.

[donfadrique]

Previous part

Part Seven

14/🗡️

So, we will not just return to the possible homoerotic plot line—I will be extremely sincere in my conclusions, because my goal was to understand the intention of the director and the film crew.

Let me immediately say about the only negative thing about the scene, and close this issue.

Tyrone Power's poorly drawn mustaches annoy me :) Maybe this was done on purpose, but they annoy ME aesthetically xDD Well, let's move on.

This scene is ambiguous. Look, Diego comes to the party with a lorgnette, begins to act mannered and explains his lateness by saying that his bath was tepid, etc. In general, everyone is indifferent to this—except Capitán Pasquale, who tells Inez, "His bath was tepid. Poor Lolita. I'm afraid her wedded life will be the same."

This can be interpreted in two ways: Pasquale considers Diego to be a pampered and weak fop, unable to use either a steel sword or the sword that he has in his pants (it is believed that men who are too careful about their appearance are not, erm, temperamental). But this could also be a hint at Diego's homosexuality (remember the book's canonical "he seldom wears a blade, and I doubt whether he can use one", "the flashing dark eyes of lovely señoritas do not disturb him", and even "he may wear petticoats, if it please him").

Why does Pasquale say this? Because he is angry that Inez is infatuated with Diego. Regardless of his sexual orientation, Diego is the Capitán's rival (which Pasquale says directly when he sticks a knife into the fruit, hinting to Diego that he would like to do the same with the young man; on the other hand, if someone wants to see in this act of violence against the fruit act of same-sex love, then who am I to restrain your fantasy? xD)

Perhaps the Capitán wants to tell Inez that Diego is physically incapable of satisfying her, but he cannot say it directly because that would be an insult.

It is beneficial for Diego that Capitán Pasquale sees him not just as a weakling and a dandy, but as a "gay caballero" (an expression from Guy Williams). Why?

Well, firstly, this is a book canon, and we are dealing with a film adaptation.

Secondly, it is beneficial for Diego that Capitán Pasquale, instead of envy of his rival, begins to feel complacency, seeing that handsome Don Diego Vega, the son of a rich man, is fascinated by a "second-rate soldier of fortune" who is much older than himself.

So Diego, sitting at the table opposite the Capitán, begins to flirt with him so openly that even a blind monk would have seen it xDD

However, as a result, Pasquale is more surprised and wary than charmed (the Capitán is not a fool, and Diego is more likely to mock him than flirts, and, if you look closely, Diego’s black gaze is much harsher than the Capitán’s gray one).

Capitán Esteban Pasquale: I had the misfortune to kill a man of influence.

Don Luis Quintero: A lady was involved, I believe.

Don Diego Vega: The gentleman's wife, no doubt?

Capitán Esteban Pasquale: Just how did you mean that, señor?

Don Diego Vega: I had hoped to be amusing... Have I failed?

Capitán Esteban Pasquale: Somewhat. With me.

Diego dances with Lolita and proposes marriage to her (more precisely, to her uncle, and Lolita herself, disappointed in Diego and in love with Zorro, runs away—later Diego/Zorro will pay a visit to her bedroom).

Vega also demonstrates magic tricks again (this Diego has a variety of skills: he knows how to flirt with men and to handle weapons, shows magic and acrobatic tricks, understands fragrances etc).

Diego tells Inez that his marriage will help their extramarital affair remain a secret, but Inez is too jealous and tries to dissuade Lolita from the marriage. It's funny that not only does she not consider Diego incapable of loving a woman, she doesn't even notice how Diego flirt with the Capitán (Inez is too confident in her attractiveness to pay attention to such things).

At the end of this scene, Diego admits to his mother that he is not indifferent to Lolita.

NB! Thinking about Diego's "ghostliness", attractiveness, cunning and mockery, I suddenly remembered... kitsune. Kitsune, a mythical creature in Asian mythology and folklore, a fox with supernatural powers. Often plays the role of a trickster. According to legends, it lives for hundreds and even thousands of years, and can also turn into other animals and humans.

There's something about it. Yes, of course, El Zorro is only a mortal, but he's unique.

[imawa-borderland-dweller]

Another happy citizen family fic on them taking on the K♡ (I decided to split this one into multiple chapters)

Chapter 1: "Difficulty: K♡"

"Attention all players. There is only one face card game remaining. Good luck for the last game, players!" The robotic lady voice responded over the speakers.

"Wow! Only one face card game left!" Kuzu was shocked.

"That means someone cleared a game today." Shiirabi commented.

"Which means these radio exercises are coming to an end too, eh? Ah, I know! As a celebration, why don't we all participate in the last game? Well, no matter what it is, no hard feelings!" Kyuma, obviously aware of the dangers of participating in a hearts game with friends yet ignoring them, suggested.

"Hey guys, this is purely hypothetical, but... what if the reward that awaits us after we clear all these games... is s nerve ending position as citizens running these games?" Mira's simplistic curiosity was clearly taking over her again.

"You mean, we replace the current citizens, and keep running the games until the day comes that we are defeated in a game?" Kyuma questioned her.

"In that scenario- what happens if we decline citizenship?"

"I don't know. Maybe you'll be sent back to the original world, maybe you'll be exterminated on the spot. A reasonable risk to take, don't you think?" Mira answered the old man in a rather ambiguous way.

"Haha, honestly speaking, in terms of a place to live, I'm fine with anywhere!" Kyuma replied the young woman.

"Then, if that is true, I shall bear the burden of slaughter, And save the coming soldiers from now agony to come ," Shiirabi was back into his old habit of rambling on about any everyone who was breathing was suffering.

"As for me, I can't really think of a reason, I'd want to go back there anymore anyway," Kuzu shared his opinion when it was his turn.

"Well, Mira, do you think your hypothesis will come true?"

"I don't know, but we'll find out soon enough, won't we?"

"Alright then! Let's go help the current citizens retire! Let's have the best game ever! YOLO!"

"Difficulty: K♡

Game: The Sleeping King

Premise: After a terrible crime, the K♡ and his subjects have been ousted from the kingdom. In order to repent for their sins, they must find and sacrifice the K♡ within the time limit at the centre of the maze, while also enduring the trials and surviving the K♡'s card knights.

Rules: One of the twenty people among you is the K♡. You are currently standing at the entrance to a maze. Inside the maze there are many perilous trials. Endure them all and reach the centre of the maze and announce the identity of the K♡. If you are answer correctly, it is game clear for everyone. (provided you are at the centre of the maze at that time) If you answer wrongly, it is game over for you. If you do not manage to reach the centre of the maze and announce the identity of the K♡ within the time limit, it is game over for everyone. During this time, the K♡'s card knights will chase after you and will do everything they can to eliminate you, so you must avoid and run away from them. Weapons are allowed."

"As expected of a hearts game, another find-the-impostor game. Well, at least it'll be easier for us since we know us for aren't the K♡, right?" Kyuma piped up.

"It's GAME START! You have two hours to reach the centre of the maze and announce the identity of the K♡. Your time starts now. "

"Should we be splitting up? I mean, we'll be able to reach the centre of the maze faster, and-" The young man whose name was listed as Takuya listed his honest but rather naive opinion.

"If we do that, we won't know who the K♡ is, since we won't even get to observe them," Another man who was about in his mid-40s immediately pointed out a flaw in Takuya's idea. Tsuki was his name, apparently.

"I think his idea works fine. Does everyone around here know each other and can click for each other's innocence? Ok, let's start by introducing ourselves. I'm Ryuunosuke. I think-"

"We don't give a fuck what you think, Ryuuno-whatever-your-name-is. I think we should all stick together. So that we can be prepared to sacrifice each other should a trial require it." A gangster-like guy smoking a cigar responded rudely to Ryuunosuke.

"Why so hostile, Mr... Shariya? Well, I personally have a feeling that this hearts game is quite different from all the others we've seen and g-"

"Oh? You have a feeling? How would you know? Maybe you're the king, and you just exposed yourself, you-"

"I'm not the king! You are acting more suspicious! Why are you so quick to point fingers a-"

"Why so defensive, huh? Suspicious!"

And as usual, Mira was watching everyone's reactions from afar, giggling to herself while she amused the others.

Many others watched along with her, afraid of making a sound in case they were to be slaughtered. Although they obviously weren't watching with such amusement as Mira was.

"So we all know we're not the K♡, right? Unless, of course.." There goes Kyuma again with his "conspiracy theories but just with no evidence to back them up" as he liked to call it.

"...No. Anyway, we're not going to get anything done just sitting around like this. Let's just go into the maze already," Kuzu snapped everyone back to reality and reminded them of the matter at hand.

"Grrr... fine. Let's just hurry and reach the centre of the maze so I can out this guy."

"...Ugh..."

"Are you done yet? Can we go?" Mira was growing rather impatient. Shiirabi was already advancing into the maze. The rest, not wanting to be left behind, quickly followed.

"... The first trial. Get the door open?" No sooner had they advanced into the maze and found themselves caught up in a rather sticky situation.

"A... pressure based mechanism. What happens if I step on it?" Kuzu made an observation, then proceeded to step on the pressure based plate.

Mechanical noises could be heard as the door slowly opened. "Woah! It opened! Let's go in!" A young girl said.

Kuzu, realising what this trial was meant to be, quickly stepped off the plate. He looked at Mira. She scoffed. Seems like she had realised it was, too.

As he got off the plate, the door immediately slammed shut on the young girl again. "What! What happened! How do we make it open again?"

"..." So Shiirabi had caught on as well. And as for Kyuma... he was still clueless as ever.

"So if the plate detects weight, the door opens, but if the weight is removed, the door immediately closes.. which means..." Takuya realised.

"Someone has to stay behind to keep the door open." Ah. Kyuma was finally catching on.

Just as they were carefully pondering over who to sacrifice, a man's loud shouting and cries for help could be heard from the entrance to the maze, and everyone immediately rushed to the entrance of the maze.

"Please, I beg you! Let me go! Spare me! Please don't... please don't kill me!" It was Ryuunosuke.

And why was he screaming for help?

Because he was kneeling, hands clutching his stomach and blood-stained shirt, in front of a gangster-like man smoking a cigar.

A gangster-like man smoking a cigar, holding a knife.

A blood-stained knife.

Stained with Ryuunosuke's blood.

Thank you for reading until the end! I'm still learning and improving, so if you have any feedback on how to improve this fic, be sure to let me know! Btw the game idea isn't mine, it's by a reddit user yurotube, but how the game plays out is original as well as many of the characters.

[smallfry372659]

okay so we know about your Neo 3, mod, but what about your other agents?

(This was the question I wanted to get since I introduced Chevelle lmao thank you!!!)

(So my agents don't follow the same kinda pattern a lotta other people do with theirs!)

(My Captain 3 is named Osprey, Ozzy for short. She's Australian, Aboriginal most likely. Not the brooding type of Captain, but still a massive dweeb. Talks like an anime protag, conductor of the chronic pain train, kinda chipper and more of a mentor to agents like Neo 3 and 4. Likely to kick your beak in if you're being a jerk tho so they're not a pushover. She/they pronouns! About 22/23 still deciding here. Probably Pan, probably Poly, doesnt care about gender. VERY stupid about self care and pushes themself too hard a LOT. Captain of both the NSS but also the squid sisters fanclub. Probably was in a lil fling with each Squid Sister separately at different points. Both ended on good terms!)

(Agent 4 is Polaris, or as Marie calls them "Lari", which makes them f u m e. They also get called Bi-Polar for being an easily ticked off bisexual who can't stick to a gender identity. ADHD/Autism swag is off the charts too. Like this is my lil skrungle who punches people during Turf. Probably has rabies? Ate a raw bird once for 3k G. Has trouble applying themself to anything other than Agent Work, which they love. 20, they/them is their usual pronouns but they'll switch em around with she or he or sometimes it pronouns. Most likely French Canadian if I had to give them a voice. 100% Dated the Fiddler from Bottom Feeders, broke up because she wanted to fight to keep things "fresh".)

(My 8 is Oracle. Former Elite who fell into the Metro after engaging with Captain and Cuttlefish while out on patrol with her partner. She's got quite a checkered past that's actually tied to an oc centric story I'm writing but the short of it is that theyre a clone of an AWFUL scientist from Octo Canyon and she's really trying to distance herself from that. Trans lesbian swag. She/they, cynical and sarcastic but in that big sister kinda way. Highly intelligent, suffers from injuries received during the NILS statue fight and the trials [mostly seizures, migraines, PTSD, and anxiety the poor dear], her and Cap3 are probably an item but won't make it official, shes 24. Enjoys modding weapons and stabs as a warning. Venomous! Pearlina Shipper #1)

(And you all know Chevelle hopefully. If not, they're an orphaned Octoling who got adopted by a Maws [Mamaws]. They didn't wanna be an agent, but felt like Cuttlefish could pay them and then didn't so they were going to back out but then fell into Alterna and the rest is history. Started out super poor and spends time getting money to donate it to other poor kids in Splatsville. REALLY hates Grizzco. Steals eggs back. Sabotaged the copter more than once. Thinks of Deep Cut as bad influence older siblings [gets treated like it too by those 3 like they LOVE Chevy like a sibling]. Very dry-wit, motivated and resourceful. Lil Buddy is basically their adoptive baby brother who eats glue. Ambiguous race for now, though I see them with a bit of a Spanish accent so might be of Latin descent. Can speak Salmonese, Octarian, and Inklish but prefers to be quiet. 18. They/them. Gay gay homosexual gay. Has a crush on Polaris)

[thewickedbohemian]

Thoughts on a Tracker that really showed how much of a RPG the show feels like (and also took a turn for the southern gothic potentially confirming magic in that universe)

singing, that's a new one for ways to open an episode

here comes trouble

and I'm not talking about the snake

a little bit of Velma backstory

Colter must have just kept his Airstream parked hours away where it was

I'm not just saying this because of the part of Kentucky they're in but this is starting to get a little "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive"

that's a lot of dead animals

creepy dog for a creepy dude

well he's not hiding something /s

rhetorically asking if she's a witch why was she singing a Christian spiritual (unless either she was doing some kind of Christian mysticism, it was just the healing no other magick or "Wayfaring Stranger" has a backstory and original lyrics I don't know about)

that's one ice-cold manager and I saw what she did to his coffee

so a potential relationship issue

no, she was a healer (and the guy's nicer than you'd think once Colter made him drop his weapon)

I can't make out half of what he's saying through his accent

thank frak Colter's tracking in the light

but shouldn't he not be going there alone esp. with spotty cell service

witch has a hut in the woods, nice

how the heck can he call the bro

so healing was a family business

found the compound of whatever-the-hell-they-are and there's the girl

and Colter managed to safely run through their gun range

a whole lot of convenient flora so he can get through with nothing but crossbow jumpscare

no way they didn't hear him get in the house

that must be why they wanted a healer

found her via her singing

so her healing doesn't take because they're dumbasses and whether magick exists in the Tracker universe is as ambiguous as if aliens do

Chekhov's bang stick (I kept wanting to think land mine because of that Doctor Who episode)

and now things have taken a turn a bit for the Last Of Us

desperate times call for hiding in the creepy abandoned store full of mannequins

does he have another knife or did he just (even temporarily) give her his bro's

that's one way to get around low ammo

we know he doesn't die here of course so let's see how (y'know, "Scorpion climax")

cue the improvised smoke bomb and the damsel saving herself

enjoy crossbow karma

I figured it was going to come down to her healing him (and she also called 911 but why didn't they show up)

looks like her healing the dad actually worked (hmm...worldbuilding implications)

I know she's bluffing but who knows

and then you cut to the coroner truck and scare the crap out of me

did Colter feel like he was saving his sister this whole time

how is he well enough to be able to discharge himself etc., her healing, luck or something more intriguing

bro rewards him, sis rewards him

and they're gone (perhaps another evocative parallel doylistically)

sure he can call Dory let's see if he actually follows through on the getting together or w/e he might have wanted her to call him about