#also this was hard to answer because A-TEAM ISN'T HERE BRING A-TEAM TO LIFE ]

[mari-lair]

It wouldn't make sense for Aoi to have her memories, much less fake her engagement with Teru, because we see Aoi at the start of the world reset and she is acting as if everything is normal, with no worries at all.

While Nene was confused and consumed by a sense that "something isn't right" and Teru was punching Akane in the student council, begging for answer, Aoi's only goal was enjoying the festival with Nene, which would be an extremely weird reaction to suddenly having her numb hand working again and being in a whole new world.

Plus, Aoi already knew Nene would be the star of their class play, something we and Nene, who are only familiar with the old timeline, had no way of knowing was the case.

So Aoi's memories and priorities do not match ours or our protagonist's right now.

The final thing that make me sure the engagement isn't some grand elaborate plan is that Aoi explains to Nene of all people that Kou is "Teru-Kun's brother" acting as if she is more familiar with Kou than Nene and using first names when there is no one to put on a show for.

Teru was as confused as Nene, everything Akane had explained the readers had been news for him too. He was scrapping for answers, even the most basic ones about the situation.

He is still prodding for more information. He does not have the upper hand here.

Even in the very wild possibility that Teru found Aoi first while searching for Nene and both awakened her memories and convinced her to have a marriage plan, it still wouldn't make sense? Cause Aoi had called Kou "Teru-kun's brother" from the very start.

Aoi also brought her mom into this marriage.

She never mentions her mom in the original timeline, so her mom will only visit the festival in this new world (once more, she is living in a different reality from the one we know.)

She is not the old Aoi, she acts way too different: determined to ignore Akane, clingier with Nene, and openly showing her anger/displeasure with Teru.

So I can't see her 'pretending' to be amnesiac. Or Teru pretending to be confused.

This feels genuine:

Teru only becomes smug when he notices the news has a giant effect on Akane, before that, he was just plain confused.

Which brings me to the second part of the ask.

"do you think this is the plot way to force Akane to join forces" and I don't think so. At least, not yet? It's hard to say with the minimal information we were given on the situation.

On the broad strokes Nene, Teru, and Akane are already on the same team the three don't like this reality. They don't want to be here. They miss their old world.

These two panels are after the 'Aoi engagement with Teru' reveal but this has been his mental state from the start. There are a lot of gags about the engagement and I do adore how pathetic Akane is in it, but he doesn't suddenly hate this new world because Aoi can't be with him.

He had hated it from the start.

The way he never includes himself when talking about how this timeline could be 'better for some people' is telling enough.

I have no doubt Aoi's engagement is one hell of a motivator but he had explicitly told us "I didn't have a choice on this, the only choice I had was to stay a clock keeper and hold on to any power I can" from the start.

But you may be asking if this is a plot device for him to have a proper team up with Teru and Nene, a true join forces and become a unit case! Not just a 'similar goal' type of deal.

Which... I find it unlikely.

Aoi's getting a big involvement will make Akane worried, will make him want to protect her, but I just can't see him asking for help, he trusts Teru to keep her safe, so no need to be glued to her side, and he is the kind of idiot who tries to do everything himself, even when his situation is unfair.

(Aoi still doesn't know he made a contract with the keepers to save her life, and he had kept his double life secret from his classmates for years, not letting it slow down his class rep duties, for example.)

So I can picture him hunting Tsukasa alone (and not mentioning to anyone, because that his duty as a clock keeper and of course he wouldn't shove it on someone else, especially when everyone is so angry with him for ruining their present.) but maybe the plot make his hunt cross paths with Nene storyline (which we know will involve hanako) or the wedding somehow (Akanes and Minamotos have history that involves sacrifices and their marriage begs the question of "what changed? why are they united in this timeline?") AND THEN a proper team up happen?? Honestly i have no idea.

It's too early for me to have a clear idea of what Aidairo intends to explore with Teru and Aoi's engagement but my hope is that it serves to flesh out Aoi and Teru's character and their home situation.

(Honestly, I just want Teru and Aoi to have a proper talk. It's a crime that the best teru and aoi conversation we have is from a spin-off. )

[bloodycyrano]

In reference to my previous post, Here's team tadpole and their relationship with Gales kids.

Lae'zel: She will swear she doesn't like kids until she's blue in the face, and even request that they don't call her their Aunt, but if she hears one other little bastard kid is being mean to them? All bets are off. She's teaching these children the art of war- And she's only stopping at that because Gale and Karlach said she's not allowed to hit someone else's kid.- If you keep the Githyanki egg and Lae’zel raises the gith child at the end of your playthrough, the kids will play together.

Astarion: Is 100% teaching these kids bad words and how to pickpocket. He's surprisingly great with kids, even though he pretends not to like them much. He's secretly jealous that the kids call him "Mister Astarion" and not "Uncle Astarion", even though he's heard them refer Wyll, Halsin, Karlach, and even Shadowheart as Aunts and uncles.

Wyll: Wyll fuckin adores these kids. He and Karlach visit Gale regularly to check in on him and the little ones. The only issue is that when Durge and Astarion are visiting at the same time as Wyll, they're much more.. Mischievous. Don't ask for sugar in your tea, because it HAS been swapped with salt.

Karlach: Karlach is so fucking proud of Gale, and she wastes absolutely no time beaming about it, either. She loves the kids, she loves having extra excuses to visit, and she's just all around so happy that things worked out well and now she's got two little kiddos to spoil rotten if Gale lets her.- She cannot be allowed to go shopping with the kids, because she'll get them absolutely anything they ask for.

Durge: Durge has never really liked kids, but they can sympathize with any emotional or sensory issues they might have. Durge isn't particularly maternal/paternal in any way shape or form, but they are begrudgingly good with kids. They're proud of Gale, and as the kids get older, they do get much more protective. They also make sure the kids know the absolute most vulgar insults known to man should they need to use them, and if they ever have problems with their gender identity, durge knows first hand how to help and support them through it. (I headcannon durge to be nonbinary). Durge would kill for these kids, and isn't afraid to answer weird or morbid questions about death or how the world works.- Unfortunately, Gale did have to ban discussions about the decomposition process at the dinner table.

Shadowheart: Wine aunt. Shadowheart is a wine aunt, and apparently has experienced identity crisis hard enough to lift black hair to white overnight. Cool aunt Shadowheart is 100% prepared to take those kids out for some pampering and bring them back home with a new outlook on life. As much as Gale loves the rest of team tadpole, Shadowheart or Durge are the two he calls when his kids are having some big feelings he doesn't know how to help with.

[lumenflowered]

[The video begins with no small amount of glitching, but it seems to sort itself out after a few moments. Those capable of understanding the speech of Pokémon can identify the mon behind the camera as Ade grumbling about how this had better let her prove that Maria hasn't gotten herself killed, again.

The visual feed returns just in time for a voice that sounds almost identical to Maria's, but not quite, to ask, "What are you doing?"

"I—" Maria looks flabbergasted, for lack of a better description, when the video returns to her staring at Dee, both women at least standing again, though both look significantly less dry than they were in the previous video. "What are you doing here? I was under the impression that you would be out of contact for the next week?"

"Mallory had a bad feeling," Dee says simply, looking at the vaguely Dratini-shaped creature coiled around her arm. "Her bad feelings tend to indicate very bad things, and while I am not entirely certain Professor Oak can handle that Porygon on his own... that could have killed you."

"...I know," Maria says softly. "But if that was what it took—"

"Why are you like this," Mallory grumbles.

"...I understand," Dee replies, "but I would rather that not happen regardless."

"Why are you both like this. Do you not have a shred of self-preservation between you?"

"I'd rather it not either," Maria protests, "but this is about more than one person. If Team Rocket brings Lugia under their control—if Giovanni brings Lugia under his control—"

"Rocket's back?" This, far more than anything else ever, seems to alarm Mallory.

"Giovanni is... oh dear," Dee says mildly. "I was under the impression that you saw him die?"

"I was under the impression that I saw him die," Maria mutters. "Never mind that. We have other problems right now."

"By all means, continue," says Lugia, who has been oddly content to simply watch these three very strange Fallers talk. "This is strangely entertaining."

"Entertaining?" Dee echoes.

"Odd word for it," says the noodle-like thing wrapped around Dee's arm. "Very odd word for you trying to kill someone."

"You, godling," Lugia replies, "are far less so."

"Good. I wouldn't want to be—" Mallory pauses, suddenly. "Godling?"

"Your powers may be born of a different source, from a different world." If Lugia seemed to not be particularly fond of Maria, his words to Mallory are practically dripping with disdain for her. "But you are nevertheless a god, and you have not once since forcing your way into this world acted like it."

"You...!" Mallory hisses at Lugia, which would probably be more intimidating if she wasn't a fairly small noodle of a being wrapped around Dee's arm. "You have no idea, no idea, what I have been through to get here. How hard I have fought to get here. But I've fought gods before. I've killed gods before."

"...Please don't," Dee says quietly.

"You are nothing compared to life's very beginning," Lugia replies.

"...Listen," Mallory says, turning towards Maria. "You need to convince him that Rocket is a threat? He'll probably be more willing to listen after I've kicked his ass. And I'm pretty good at that."

"I am aware," Maria says.

"Also, at this point, she's really starting to make it personal," Mallory continues. "I won't if you don't want me to. But I could."

"...Could I stop you?" There's no answer before Maria sighs. "Fine. I'll be back. Don't make things worse."

She looks far paler than she normally does, when she turns toward the camera and begins to walk away.

"Good to know you have so much faith in me," Mallory grumbles, right before she begins to glow, with... actually, that glow looks a lot like a Pokémon's evolution. Which is weird, because she isn't a Pokémon at all, is she?

...What's next to Dee, when the light fades, looks a lot more like a Pokémon than what was there before. It's a lot bigger, too. Smaller than Lugia, certainly, but not by very much.

Great purplish tendrils grow out from the creature's head, in a manner that almost looks like hair growing down its back. Its legs are clawed, almost more like arms than like legs, and it has a massive, whiplike tail.

It looks similar to the presence once behind the Hunter's Dream, to those familiar with it. Yet at the same time, it looks very different. More batlike than squidlike, without an exposed ribcage, and its face looks far more human.

Its eyes, especially—they gleam.

Dark wings—that look kind of like a bat's, and kind of like a Dragonite's—unfurl from the creature's back, as it, as she, launches herself at Lugia with a furious, earsplitting screech.

"...We should go," Dee says faintly, standing back from where the gods are beginning to fight each other in earnest.

"That... yes," Maria agrees, still staring. "That we should."

Even so, she doesn't move until Dee hesitantly grabs her arm and begins to pull her back toward where the Kimono Girls are.

It's at that point that the video ends.]

[dc-marvel-life]

My Queen

Pairing: Valkyrie x reader 

Request: I humbly request a fan fiction where female reader (if that's okay) is Valkyrie’s soulmate. The avengers saved you from hydra and Thor immediately recognized your soulmark. But hydra wants you back because you can talk to animals and turn into a small wolf but Val isn't going to lose her Queen. She had lived through reader dying and lived long enough for her return, she won’t fail us again.  - By Anon 

Word Count: 1276

The Avengers just finished taking down a Hydra base experimenting with people for their powers. Everyone thanked him once they were free and escorted by SHIELD agents to a plane. Thor is in one of the holding blocks releasing all the people into cells. Thor goes into the last cell in the block, and he freezes. He freezes because the prisoner has a mark of Asgard, more specifically, an Asgard soulmate mark that matches Valkyrie’s mark. Thor has heard many stories of Valkyrie's mate and how she was a kind and loving person who could light up a room, but that is sadly not true now. She is wearing torn-up clothing that looks like it has not been washed since she put it on, cuts and bruises are all over her body, and she is chained to the wall on a short chain. She is in the corner of the room in a ball, shaking. It is a hard sight to see for Thor because she is supposed to be a mighty and strong warrior. Who knows what she has been through for all these years locked up. 

“Y/N…” Thor says softly, not to spook Y/N. Y/N turns around slowly to see Thor and sighs in relief. 

“Y/N, it is time to come home; Valkyrie is waiting for you,” Thor says, and Y/N’s face lights up at hearing her soulmate’s name. She tries to stand up but falls right away. Thor is there to catch her. Thor breaks the chain and carries Y/N out of the building and into the Quinn Jet.

“Thor, why are you bringing one of the prisoners here and not with the SHIELD medics,” Tony asks Thor.

“We have to get back to base quickly,” Thor says, putting Y/N on the medic table and strapping her in. 

“I will get you back to Valkyrie, Y/N. I promise you that,” Thor says quietly to Y/N.

“You never answer my question, Thor,” Tony says.

“She is Asgardain and needs to go home to her soulmate, Valkyrie,” Thor says to Tony.

“We should be heading out in just a second. Let me start up the jet. Also, please don’t tell Valkyrie that I was holding you back. I am kind of scared of her,” Tony says, looking back to ensure everyone is in the jet before taking off. 

The team gets to the compound and rushes Y/N to the med bay with Dr. Cho. While they care for Y/N, Thor calls Valkryie to tell her the news. 

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

Valkyrie is in her house in New Asgard, drinking in the middle of the day. This has been normal for Valkyrie since she lost Y/N all those years ago. Things have improved since she met Thor and returned to Asgard to be the new king, but the loss of her love never goes away. 

Valkyrie had already been through one bottle and was about to start another, but her phone ringing distracted her. She looks at her phone and sees it is Thor and doesn’t answer at first. Valkyrie sighs and continues to open her bottle, and her phone rings again. She looks, and it is Thor again. Thor usually doesn’t call two times in a row because she doesn’t like using phones, so it must be important. Valkyrie picks up her phone.

“What do you want, Thor? You are interrupting someone very important right now and-” 

“We found her, Val,” Thor says, interrupting Valkyrie. 

“She is here at the compound in the med bay. He found her in a hydra base today” Thor continues talking, but she stops listening after we found her. Valkyrie knows what Thor means by her; it is the love of her life that she lost all those years ago. 

Valkyrie hung up the phone and rushed to the Avenger’s compound to see Y/N. She gets to the compound, and it is silence in the air. Everyone is staring at her, not knowing what to say.

“Where is she?!” Valkyrie yells at everyone staring at her. Thor comes to her and leads her to Y/N. They walk to the med bay in silence. Once they reach the med bay, Thor lets her go in alone. Valkyrie walks in slowly, not knowing what to expect, and the sight in front of her is much worst than she thought. Y/N is lying on the bed and sleeping with machines all around her and multiple needles in her. Y/N has bruises and cuts all over her body from being a prisoner of Hydra.

“My queen, you have come back to me,” Valkyrie says, walking over to Y/N and sitting beside the bed. Valkyrie grabs Y/N’s hand and kisses it.

“You have no idea how much I miss you, my love. I thought about killing myself, but I knew you would bring me back to life and kill me yourself, so I never did it. I am so glad that I didn’t so we can be reunited,” Valkyrie says, holding back tears.

“You are right that I would have brought you back just to kill you,” Y/N says, then laughs, but her body hurts and winces. 

“My love, you are awake” Valkyrie places one of her hands on Y/N’s cheek.

“Of course I am. Did you really think that you could get rid of me?” Y/N says, turning her head so she has a good view of Valkyrie.

“I mean, I thought I did for thousands of years,” Valkyrie says, and a tear runs down her face. Y/N wipes away the tears from her face.

“Well, I am back, and why do you look like shit, my beautiful angel, I can smell the alcohol on your breath too,” Y/N says with a raised eyebrow. Valkyrie tries to speak, but nothing comes out.

“Don’t worry darling, I am back and do not need to explain yourself. We both had rough thousands of years,” Y/N says with a smile. The smile that Valkyrie fell in love with. No matter what the situation, Y/N always had a smile on her face.

“What happened to you, my love?” Valkyrie asks.

“Well, the last thing I remember was fighting in a battle with you, and I got hit. I fell all the way down to Midgard somehow. I was injured and called out for help, but no one came. Just animals came to me, and I thought they would attack me since I was down and hurt, so I shifted to my wolf. The only problem is that I only changed half of my body since I was so injured. That scared off all the animals, and I was left to freeze near a lake. I fell into the lake a froze. I don’t know how long had passed before Hydra found my frozen body in the lake and saw I had power and wasn’t part of the Earth. They have experimented on me ever since,” Y/N says, crying while telling the story.

“Well, don’t worry, my love, anymore because you are safe with me, and I will never let anything happen to you ever again, okay,” Valkyrie says, and Y/N nods her head. Valkyrie leans in and gives Y/N a long-deserved kiss.

“Also, you are a queen,” Valkyrie says after breaking the kiss.

“I know, you called me that always,” Y/N laughs.

“No, I mean you are the queen of New Asgard,” Valkyrie says, leaving Y/N speechless.

“Well, I am happy to be your queen,” Y/N says, smiling at Valkyrie.

Masterlist

[yourlocalqreator]

A New Driver

Paring: Sergio Perez X Flora Castellanos (OC)

While Sergio and Max are talking about the season along with stuff, A new driver then goes to the 2 red bull drivers which made Sergio Checo Perez Mendoza change his love life. Warning: Fluff

His mind was thinking about so much, The race, His marriage wasn't working out for him and his wife,. He was looking for a new love but that was never working, "Hey, Uhh Checo, You good man," Max asked as Sergio got back in reality and nodded, "Uhh you sure cause-" he cut himself off as his eyes got wide, he couldn't believe it, He had been talking about this for so long and he had never seen his friend so upset. He looked up to see Max's eyes were wide as well, his mind had gotten away from him, Max looked like he was going to cry, but he didn't, and instead, Sergio smiled and said, "I'm sorry Max, I didn't mean to upset you, it's just I have a lot to deal with right now, and my marriage isn't going so well." Max smiled as he looked at him in a brotherly way. "I know"

Who would want to be with a 31-year-old divorced man? He thought to himself as he looked into the distance. He saw Max's girlfriend Kelly in the distance talking to a .. New driver?

Sergio thought to himself "Hey Max, Who is that kelly's talking to?" Sergio looked at the blond female driver "Oh, that's the new driver, ". She was short and cute and her hair was in a dutch braid bun which made Sergio find someone. She then looked at Sergio who was looking at him also. She then smiled and walked at the two men.

Oh shit, she's coming.

Sergio started to get flustered but acted cool as the women started to walk up to them. "Hey, are you the driver?" she asked Sergio with a smile on her face. "Yes we are, I'm Sergio Perez and my partner here is Max Verstappen." She then came closer to him and put her hand out, "Hi I'm Flora Castellanos." "Nice to meet you, Flora, I'm Sergio and this is my best friend Max." The woman smiled as she took his hand in hers and shook it, "Well hi there, Nice to meet you guys as well." Her hands felt soft and warm, and her grip was firm. She then let go of his hand and smiled, "So what brings you to our team?" Max asked Flora. "Well, Your boss christain horner, and I talked because he said that I have what it takes to join the team," said Flora. "What does that mean?" Max asked curiously. Flora then replied to Max, "You know how Red Bull always wins the races, well your boss told me to come over here and get my chance, He said that there is an opening now and I should grab it." Max smiled, "That's great news Flora, but why do you think you can make it?" "Because I'm a fast driver," Flora answered confidently. "I've won all sorts of races before and I'm very good at driving and being quick but I don't think of myself as a winner cause, hah you know." "Yeah, I know, It's hard to win these days, but I'm sure you will make it." Sergio said happily. "Thanks, Sergio, I appreciate it." Max was chuckling "Hey, I think my Mexican mate has a little-"

"No, I don't" Sergio started to laugh at him

"But hey Flora, if you're interested, maybe we could go out sometime and get some food or something." "Sure, I'd love to," said Flora. As Flora was getting ready to leave, Sergio suddenly remembered something and asked her, "By the way Flora, where did you use to drive?" "Like anyone from Formula 4 to F2," said Flora. "And then?" Max asked. "I drove for some teams through my Formula Racing Career," Flora answered. "Can't remember since it's been a long time," she chuckled. "Yeah, I'm glad that Christian chose you as an official 3rd driver. Your Really Cu- I mean" Sergio was about to say something but "You're really fun to hang out with" He started to get flustered by looking at her. "Oh. Thank you, you too,"

she giggled. Flora started to notice how he was feeling so she started to let her hand down close to his. He started to feel her hand next to his, To tease her his fingers started to grab her pinkie and that's when Flora started to blush a little. Sergio looked at Flora's hand on his before his hand moved to her whole hand and started to hold onto her hand.

That's when Flora started to look at Sergio. "Oh sorry, just got a little too comfortable," he said before letting go scratching his head. "Nah it's okay" Both chuckled and laughed looking at each other. "Oh uhm, speaking of what you just did, do you have a wife or something?" Asked flora. "I used to but we're now divorced," He said

"Wait why?"

"Some problems," he said. "Damn, how you feelin now?" asked Flora, "Free" being honestly true," he smiled. "That's cool, So you wanna like get to know each other before getting on that Bahrain track?" Asked Flora.

"Of course, I can Amiga"

[seijorhi]

Hey, god it’s me again. 😔 LOL

I think that at this point of my life your beautiful and flawless fic ‘means to an end’ has physical intertwined with me. It is a part of my mind, soul, and body. 😩 Everything about it is chefs kiss.

I wish I could just kiss that beautiful big brain of yours for coming up with such delicious ideas. The way it’s on my mind daily since the moment I read it is SICKENING (in a good way obvi 😏).

I will go through my day and out of nowhere something will remind me of it and along will come a question. You did this to me Rhi 🫵.

NOW I know you’re very busy with getting your new fic ready (absolutely excited btw, I love Gojo and knowing your beautiful mind , anything you write will be to die for!!!!) but I wanted to ask a couple questions (I know, shocker right?). Since I know you’re busy, don’t feel obligated to answer these questions. In fact, I’ll be very happy if you even reply with a heart. (I simply just wanted to let you know deeply I appreciate/admire your work.)

But here are my troublesome questions:

- Did the guys on their volleyball team know about their obsession with the reader?

- I know you mentioned Atsumu having girlfriends through highschool but did that apply to Osamu too? (Especially since he liked the reader first?)

- This is sort of like my first question but did the girlfriends know as well? And if they did, did they feel any jealousy? (Jealousy from their boyfriend giving his attention to someone else.)

- Since there was a long period of time of not seeing the reader, did they have hopes of seeing her again? (before Atsumu found ame)

- While in that period of time did the twins still date around?

That’s all but please if you have anything else to add , it’s definitely welcomed. 🫶 (also I’m sorry if these questions sound silly or stupid but they’ve been taking up my mind for awhile and I’m sorry to everyone for constantly bringing up ‘means to an end’ but that fic has a strong grip on me yall. Like I’m down bad on my knees for this version/fic of the Miya twins 😔.)

OFF TOPIC: I’ve been trying very hard to be more active with my favorite writers to show love and support but still find the idea to be very scary. I still get nervous sending in messages or asks but I’m trying to take baby steps. I also want to gain the confidence of not having to press the anonymous button because I want you to know who I am but as a second baby step , I will now be signing my post with my nickname since I want you to (sort of) know who I am ☺️ (and not just some crazed fan lol.)

-🌬️🌫️ katia

(I keep on forgetting which emojis I used on the previous questions I sent but I hope I got it right this time 🥲)

(Edit: you’ll probably see the same message again but that’s because I’m sending it to you again because I forgot to mention this in the pervious one 😰.

You’ve inspired me to start taking a more darker route in my writing. I began writing maybe a month ago and it’s a romance novel. (So far I’ve got two chapters 🫠).

But these past couple days I’ve been REALL REALLY wanting to write more darker content (like the kind you write, you’ve inspired me a great deal with your writing technique).

But the problem is I don’t know how to write yandere/horror/gore. So I was wondering if it wasn’t to much of a bother, if you could give me some tips or advice. (Im very new to writing and I have my struggles but I want to branch out to more darker themes, like you and fairy.) Still learning the ropes but I hope with your guidance, I’ll get there 🫡. )

hello my love!

okay so first of all if ur gonna keep being so cute and complimentary i will melt into a soft gooey puddle and be of no use to anybody so be warned.

as for your questions:

i would say that most people who spent a decent amount of time around the twins, i.e. their teammates and classmates, would have at least an inkling about their interest in bullying her. the miyas are many things, subtle isn't one of them. having said that, i think out of everyone, suna was probably the only one who saw it for what it was

hookups yes, 'girlfriends' no

again, anyone who spent a significant amount of time around the twins was bound to eventually put two and two together. which isn't to say that they were all blind going in – some undoubtedly thought they could snag his attention once they were officially dating, only to find themselves bitterly disappointed

they 100% both kept tabs on the reader, it was more a case of biding their time and waiting for the right moment

yes. not serious, long term relationships (aside from ame) as neither one of them would be capable of faking it for more than a few months but relationships all the same

advice wise, i dug up this old post which hopefully will be at least a little helpful??

beyond that, all i can really say is that for me, good yandere/horror fics balance emotion with tension, and the build up of both. the characterisation is also really important – what makes you love to loathe them, or alternatively, not see them coming until it's entirely too late. nothing bores me more in a yan fic than when the writer hasn't bothered to give their yan a personality beyond a cookie cutter obsession.

but congrats on getting started with writing! i'm proud of you bby <33

[bookwyrm35]

I've seen a bunch of theories circling about what makes a person's Talents stronger so here's a compilation/my two cents on the subject.

1. The closer you've been with death, the better you can sense it. The first example that comes to mind in A. J. Lockwood himself. Orphaned at age six, his sister murdered three years later, and his uncle passing after a stroke somewhere along the way, Lockwood's life has been filled with death and maybe that's why he's able to see it so clearly. Lucy Carlyle, the greatest Listener since Marisa Fittes, has also had her fair share of nearness to violent ends. Her entire team from Jacob's was killed by that ghost and even if she doesn't dwell on it in the books, she carries their deaths with her forever.

A counter point to this theory is the fact that it implies your Talent gets stronger as you have more experiences with death, which isn't something we really see as the books go on. Lucy mentions after she (spoilers!) leaves that she feels she's getting stronger and more confident in her Listening abilities, but she hasn't had any brushes with death in that time.

If it's true though it does make me wonder what kind of life Marrisa had before the Problem that made her gifted enough to hear Ezekiel...

2. When you meet your soul mate, your Talent gets stronger. I remeber this being illustrated with Locklyle by saying that Lockwood seems surprised at the brightness of Mr. Hope's death glow in 62 Sheen Road. Despite knowing the abruptness of his end, Lockwood didn't think the death glow would be bright enough to warrant bringing his sun glasses. Lucy likewise seems to be surprised by the clarity of what she hears and the impressions that come when she connects to Annabel Ward's ghost, making me think that this is a new development.

It's a bit of a romantic spin on a gift that's only good for dealing with the dead, but in this fandom something like that is inevitable.

The counter point again stems from Lucy's resigning from Lockwood and Co. but this time it's a bit more complicated. Yes, she is physically far from Lockwood during this time, but it's only because she cares for him that she left. This is an entirely different tangent that I might get into later, but I truly believe her leaving was an ultimate symbol of love in her (subconscious) mind.

3. Talent in simply tied to your physical senses. I personally like this theory the best because I see a lot of evidence for it. Lockwood had good Sight because he's got good sight. If you read carefully you'll notice he's usually the one who tunes in to visual things first. He'll see someone coming to answer the door, detect movement from far away before the others do, and spot clues that have led them to sources many times. There's not as much on this for Lucy but I think that might just be due to the fact that she's the one narrating. The others don't hear what she does but she doesn't realize it. George, as we know from the scene when they're trying to get information from Carver before he dies, has very bad hearing. (that or he just has a hard time focusing on soft sounds when he's stressed. Which is valid, but really George? Bogeys?) While we're talking about George though, it's a good time to bring up that they never mention his Talent in Sight because, if this theory is correct, he's as blind to ghosts as he is to everything else with his glasses off. It's also worth noting I think that ghosts are best seen in the corner of your eye, an obvious blind spot to any glasses wearer.

It also explains (in my mind at least) why Touch isn't as talked about as the other senses. It's hard to gauge how physically sensitive you are, so I'd wager it'd be the same for the psychical side.

4. Strength in Talent is genetic. This one has the least going for it in my opinion. We know that some of Lucy's sisters and her mother had Talent when they were young, but it was barely enough to qualify them for Night Watch. We don't know much about the abilities of Lockwood or George's family, but I feel like we would have gotten some snippet of information if they were.

5. It's random, there's no rhyme or reason, and I spent way too much time thinking about this 🙂.

Thoughts anyone?

[cassiefisherdrake]

tell us about overclocked, what is it? you said 'a visual novel with tactical combat'?

EHEHE, thank you so much for asking!!!

Overclocked! is my idea for a strategy roleplaying game (combining a visual novel with tactical/strategy combat throughout) - sort of like Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, or Into the Breach, if you've ever played any of those games. If you haven't, you can imagine each combat as a chessboard, if a chessboard sometimes interrupted movement with difficult terrain. Usually the goal is to move your characters across the chessboard, eliminating all enemies or a leader enemy to win the match and advance the story. Outside of combat, you can wander around your 'camp' to talk to your NPC companions, build rapport, and learn more about the story at large!

This story would follow 7 AI who find themselves on a spaceship, the Independent Variable, headed toward an extinct alien planet:

Tex (he/him), the Trapper -- and the player character!

Peaches (she/her), the Bomber

Merit (he/him), the Utility

Nova (she/her), the Dynamo

Prime (he/xe), the Pyro

Gali (they/them), the Floe

Democritus (he/him), the onboard AI - unlike the other characters, he doesn't have a mobile platform body and is housed literally inside the ship itself, controlling and piloting it.

The player, as Tex, is awoken by Democritus during a missile alert and instructed to wake the other bots. Turns out the extinct alien planet they're going to isn't so extinct after all... well, the aliens themselves are long dead, but they've left behind defensive robots to guard their ancient ruins. With the other bots awake and the missile robots defeated, Democritus explains that they were built to retrieve an ancient artifact from this dead world, one that could potentially bring about world peace: an alien AI whose purpose was to govern politics, the economy, and prevent war. To get it though, they will first have to fight through the planet's remaining defenses to collect parts of the artifact that have been scattered across the globe.

As they travel across the dead world, however, they start to realize that things aren't quite adding up. Some horrible truths are revealed about the aliens, the world, and the crew of the Independent Variable itself. Choices have to be made, which can lead to one of three different endings I have planned: the happy ending, the scattered ending, and... the worst ending.

More under the cut because I got really excited answering and this might be a bit long. Oops.

Each of the six 'Power' bots has unique capabilities split into two categories: Mechanical (Trapper, Bomber, Utility) and Thermodynamic (Dynamo, Pyro, Floe). Mechanical Powers focus on your 'typical' kinetic forces: hitting stuff really hard or tripping things up. Thermodynamic Powers are more like magic!

First up: team Mechanical! As the Trapper, Tex is fast, maneuverable, and great at battle field control, capable of leading enemies into well-laid traps like trip mines. Peaches, the Bomber, is... well. A bomber. Her main weapon is a grenade launcher that launches wire pods to deal damage and entangle enemies. What more could you want in a Bomber? Then Merit, as the Utility, is your strongest healer and buff support guy (pun intended on 'buff' - the guy is bara as hell). He's the one most capable of causing the other Power bots to overclock (i.e., land critical hits)!

And Team Thermodynamic! Nova, the Dynamo, is your go-to gal for a rocket-powered punch that leaves enemies quaking in their boots with dangerous electric currents. Prime, the Pyro, of course has a flamethrower, but is also capable of overheating enemy units such that they can just fall apart in a gust of wind. Gali, the Floe, is a sniper with pinpoint accuracy for freezing enemies out of their abilities, movement, or life itself. Probably the term Thermodynamic makes a bit more sense here now: electricity, hot, and cold "magic!"

While each Power bot starts off in their own niche of tactics, as the course of the game progresses and each bot levels up, they all learn new abilities that are more aligned with different strategies - DPS, healing, battlefield control, etc., - so that even if you lose one bot in the course of a battle, the others can fill in that niche a little bit.

Luckily, even if you do lose a bot, you can bring them back after the fight is over! After all, they're robots, they can be rebuilt! Luckily, no memories are lost in the course of a rebuild, so they can all keep on trucking until they acquire the treasure: the alien AI that can bring about world peace!

Thanks again for asking, I really love this story and the characters I have going and can't wait to share more about it! :'] Right now, I'm mostly working on dialogue (after all, RPGs in this style are MOSTLY dialogue!) since I have a majority of the plot line built up and slowly but surely working on each of the Power bots' character designs. I'm having a LOT of fun doing both!

[plumbobtv]

Plumbob Inside - Penny Pizzazz

Interviewer: Penny, our newest addition to the show. Thank you for doing this interview, how are you? Penny: Thank you for having me, and I am very good.

Interviewer: It's safe to say, you had a dramatic first season. How are you looking back on the season now? Penny: Uhm... Let me start by saying, I have no regrets. I think I put on a great show and entertained the viewers a lot... But I made some mistakes, that looking back, I would have done different.

Interviewer: Like? Penny: The whole thing with Mila's glam team, I should have been more clear on my feelings. Like I can see why she is upset with me, but I also think her team isn't telling the whole story.

Interviewer: Have you talked with her since the reunion? Penny: No, because I am hurt by the way she came for me... She knew I was already nervous and having a pretty tough day. And she chose, as my friend, to not come to me in private but to have a moment on the show... And that disappointed me a lot.

Interviewer: Do you have hope for your friendship? Penny: It's hard to say, you know she brought me into the friend group. But we weren't that close... So, who knows where we go from here.

Interviewer: Heather and you clashed a lot this season, why? Penny: Personally, I think it's because... I wanted to talk about what she doesn't want out, and she doesn't wanna talk about her life. She wants to bring up everyone else their shit, but not her own. Which some of the ladies told me before the show...

Interviewer: Oh, did some... Wanna share who told you? Penny: I don't... They know who they are and I think not everyone has been totally fair at the reunion about moving on with Heather. But what can I say, she has a lot of power and... They always said Saffron was a puppet master, but Heather is taking that title now...

Interviewer: You did grow a friendship with Lauren, how are you two now that the show isn't filming? Penny: We had dinner a few nights ago, I love her. She has grown into a very good friend of mine and I am happy that I got to know her.

Interviewer: Octavia is now doing Special Forces VIPS, do you think she'll make it far into the competition? Penny: I think she is a strong woman, that can do everything she sets her mind to... But, if she is physically strong... I doubt it.

Interviewer: Penny, if they asked you today if you wanna comeback next season... What is your answer? Penny: It depends... It would depend on who is on the cast, if they are open to being honest about last year. Because things didn't get shown, which doesn't make me look the best and... I think Plumbob Tv didn't show the whole picture, someone got saved... That's all.

Interviewer: That sounds, juicy... Thank you for this interview Penny. Penny: No problem, I am always gonna be honest... Thank you for having me on this interview. And I hope to be here again next year haha.

[pomfiores]

💐 - What small things go a long way for your muse? What small favors can someone do to get on their good side?

💝 - What's their love language?

This is near impossible because this is Vil, who's usually prepared for almost anything but trying to (and successfully) stay one step ahead of him. It sounds simple for this example but like - having sunscreen if he somehow forgot to bring his. The way Rook has Vil's skin care (that shits important)/will bring it to him if Vil doesn't have it.

Being someone he can fall back on, on the rare occasions that he ever does. It tells him you're always prepared. You're on the same team as him when it comes to looking ahead and having a plan. With that, taking initiative. Vil's usually doing that, it's second nature to him. But it's small if you just put some extra thought in. It's common decency yet most lack such a mannerism (unfortunately). Show him that you can understand what he's trying to do without asking and work with him - it's a mutual team effort. If you want it and he wants it, no obstacle is too great especially if the duo is right. Something like great minds.

Trying to see him. Not the celebrity. Not the villain. Not the kid from your favorite films. I know it's probably cliche but this isn't my first time writing a "famous" muse, he doesn't pay attention to his status so much especially not in school so while he dismisses it and pushes that fact about him aside, no one around him does. He's a celebrity, why would they? That's also hard to see him because he knows it's sus when someone suddenly has an interest in his personal life. Like who tf are you, what are you wanting from him? Clearly, there's intent. What kind? That's what he's trying to find out about you, you weird-ass potato-lookin' ass individual.

Love Language (1/2 [yes, making u guys hunt for different answers]): One of his languages is that he actually likes quality time. To him, quality time meshes with just about every "love language" if it's done right. Quality time meshes well with planning, again, if that's done right. The effort in quality time goes a long way for him. It says you're prioritizing time for him, he knows you're busy. You know he's busy. If it looks like it's been well thought out, he's happy. It shows you're not trying to waste his time and you're trying to show him you're reliable in time management, arrangements, and potentially solid [date] ideas and above all: respectful.

He doesn't mind gift giving, he likes to treat people if he knows he can trust them and it's not just for an occasion (birthday, holiday). He receives gifts often, it's a kind gesture but to him, it reads off as a fan. Or just being kind. No big deal. That's sweet but it's not what he's looking for. But when he's gift giving... oh, he's gonna take you to the finest experiences. To spruce you up that way you can both look, smell, and feel good together.

romance Our Queen: Vil (your cheat sheet right here)

[rhysintherain]

I was wondering if you had any college application essay writing tips. Those personal questions are kicking my ass fr

Well, the first and most important thing to remember about these is: they want to know you can write.

Not great, sweeping essays that will get you an A in a 4th year course or anything; just that you're not going to be in over your head in the program you're applying for. Nobody wins if you go to college and flunk out because you couldn't do the work.

Stick with simple, solid techniques like the five-part essay plan. Make your thesis clear, and organise your argument like you would for any academic essay. The fact that the topic is you isn't as important as how you present the topic.

Second, and a bit trickier to figure out, is the topic. Again, they want to know they're not wasting time on you, but it's really, really hard to think of yourself objectively as a topic for discussion.

Before you start writing, give yourself time to think. That's a very important step here, because you are the source and the research. Talk to friends and family as well, because they probably notice things you don't about yourself.

Then focus on three areas:

Achievements. What have you done that makes you a good candidate for this program? Why do you deserve to attend this institution? Here we're thinking awards, volunteering, jobs, or skills related to what you want to do. This is where you get to brag a little. Tell them why they should take you seriously. Don't feel too bad if these things don't feel like huge accomplishments; you're just starting out, and they know that.

Relationships. Think of the people you are doing this for, and the people who inspire you. Do you look up to a mentor in your field? Have a family member who is your biggest cheerleader? Want to set an example for the people coming after you? Connections are important, because they'll be your support network through your education, and also because they demonstrate your ability to connect with the people around you. Are you a team player? A natural leader? How do you relate to your positive relationships, and how will you build new ones moving forward? It's really difficult to get through school all by yourself, so show your audience that you will be part of the community and build the connections you need for success.

Goals. Where is this program leading you? What will you do with the skills you learn? They want to know you'll do something meaningful with what they teach you, so tell them what you hope to achieve. A bit of idealism isn't a bad idea here. Who do you hope to help with what you learn? How will this program make your life better? Remember that this isn't a set in stone destination, it's a hope for where your education might lead you. Talk about where you'd like to be, and how you plan to get there. Make your audience feel like they can contribute to your success.

Once you have concrete ideas about these areas of your life, you can answer most of the questions they present you with.

Remember that admissions staff want you there: they can't run a school without students. They also want to know who you are and what you're about, so they can tell if you're a good fit for their school. Try to be sincere in your answers: passion and connection show in your writing, whether you want them to or not, and your sincerity won't go unnoticed. We write best about things we care about, so focus on topics you feel passionate about and things you're proud of.

If the questions ask about challenges you've faced, put a positive spin on them. How did you overcome those challenges? What did you learn from the experience? How can this program help you to overcome future challenges? Personally, I don't like to bring up this sort of thing unless I'm asked directly, but that's up to you.

Finally, remember that not every school you apply for will be a good fit for you. Maybe your passion is something they don't have a good program for. Maybe you are really into theory, but they focus more on applied science. Don't be afraid to shop around, and don't be afraid to be flexible if you find what you want doesn't line up with what a school can offer. You'll find where you fit, but sometimes to takes some work to get there.

[spiegelgestalt]

This post touches on something that always bothered me about radfem (and sadly also some feminist) rhetoric: This world view is not only hopeless (what OP says) it's also deeply insulting to men and excludes them from the good things feminism can bring.

Storytime under the cut

I grew up with three older brothers. Whenever i tell that to people i usually get the response: "Oh you poor thing! That must've been hard." And i never knew how to answer that but i felt in my bones that it is deeply insulting to my brothers. They are good brothers. Yes we bickered, yes we fought. and yes i got hit, and i bit and scrached in return until our parents told us to knock it of. But we were in each others team, and we played a lot, and a laughed a lot and we still have a good relationship. It wasn't hard. They are good brothers. But they assume, because my brothers are bigger, and they are stronger and men are inhearently aggressive so of course they must've hit poor little weak me. I hate it.

Because here is another thing: For me feminsim is about the right of someone to chose their own life without anyone barging in. It's about creating a society where getting pregnant out of wedlock doesn't mean devestation. But it's also about valuing kindness, valuing housework/care jobs and helping people who learned to ignore their needs in favor for others to express those needs. And except the pregnancy one this is something my brothers can benefit from. Especially the last one. Guess what: men can also have trouble with expressing their needs, men can also do social care work no one sees. Men can have trouble with dominating men and women who exploit them because they don't give a fuck about others. toxic masculinity is something that appears more in men than in women because of patriachy but let's not kid ourselves: woman are just as capable of cruel, abusive, toxic and assaulty behavior as man. And this whole worldview of men as agressors and women as meek little lambs who can do no wrong, really isn't helpful if you want to stop this stuff from happening.

the idea that restrooms, locker rooms, etc need to be single-sex spaces in order for women to be safe is patriarchy's way of signalling to men & boys that society doesn't expect them to behave themselves around women. it is directly antifeminist. it would be antifeminist even if trans people did not exist. a feminist society would demand that women should be safe in all spaces even when there are men there.

[thatmcgwords]

Work Smarter Not Harder

To quickly get you the key ideas to help you get on the path to working smarter. Each brings a different perspective, which we've grouped into three focus areas. Prioritization, Nurturing Productivity, and Environment. Here's the TLDR version.

Productivity is not on a one-to-one input-output scale with work. It's the fruit of a lot of different inputs that have to be nurtured in order to reap the benefits. Of course, you can squeeze some extra productivity out by working longer hours. But eventually, your ability to be productive will be diminished. So the bottom line. First, we are not machines, we are organisms.

This means we don't increase productivity simply by working longer. Rather, we do so by nurturing the right inputs in a conducive environment. Second, focus. Trying to do everything is a surefire way to actually do nothing. So do less and do it well.

In the early 20th century, Ivy Lee crafted a now-renowned method of improving productivity. It's simple, elegant, yet deceptively powerful, all in five clear steps.

Every evening, take a moment to write down the six most crucial tasks that await you tomorrow. No more than six. This isn't about clutter, but about clarity. Next, you give these tasks a good hard look, arranging them in order of their true importance. Rank them. The biggest, the most impactful, they take the top spots.

You simply shift any unfinished items to a new list of six tasks for the following day. You keep the cycle going every working day, staying committed, staying productive. Why is it effective? Because it's simple. It reduces decision fatigue, manages your priorities, and keeps you on track, even after the inevitable interruptions of the workday. It's a beacon, guiding you through complex tasks with straightforward rules. Moreover, the Ivy Lee Method is about tough decisions. It forces you to prioritize, to choose what needs your attention the most. It eases the overwhelm of having too many tasks or ideas. Having a clear list of prioritized tasks at the start of the day banishes indecision and delays, sparking action. Finally, there's adaptability. Life is unpredictable, and so is work.

The answer lies in three categories, rest, connection, and purpose. Take rest, for example, and not just sleep. There are various types of rest we all need to truly rejuvenate, recover, maintain well-being, enhance creativity, and boost productivity.

The final category, purpose, brings us to the crux of it all. Work should not just be about doing for the sake of doing, but it should be about doing things that truly matter. Seeking fulfilling work, if possible, is a start, but what's even more vital and easier to implement is to start saying no to work that doesn't serve your goals. So productivity isn't about looking busy. It's about getting the most out of your work.

Creating strong bonds with your peers in the workplace has multiple benefits. Firstly, it becomes an excellent avenue to learn new techniques and strategies to improve your work. Secondly, it can ensure you get recognized for the work you're already doing well. Engaging with colleagues offers a platform for you to showcase your abilities, while also fostering a supportive environment to enhance productivity.

So as you set up your workspace, work schedule, or navigate your social environment, remember the aim isn't just to be productive. It's about knowing yourself and using that understanding to shape your surroundings, creating an optimal setting for success. That can mean seeking out quiet spots if you're easily distracted, bringing in more natural light if that uplifts your mood, or keeping your space clutter-free if it helps you focus. Ultimately, it's about respecting and responding to our individuality to enhance productivity and nurturing an environment where everyone can shine.

[nickcsbs]

Raising Funds And Banners For Youth Sports!

Nicholas Michael Palumbo 

To increase their social presence and expand their audience, nonprofit organizations need to create a social media plan that can grow their following and attract donors. The organization's purpose and mission are crucial elements of its branding. Social media channels should align with these goals or related objectives to support fundraising efforts. Often, social media is underestimated as a means to reach a broader audience and find potential sponsors beyond the local community.

   As the decline of youth sports increases, the likelihood of staying healthy by playing sports at a young age is really high. Pactices 2-3 times a week a game a week just is a recipe for kids to stay in shape. Sports can teach kids valuable life lessons, discipline, hard work, teamwork. The rapid decrease in youth sports  For all of their prayers to be answered for their dreams to become a reality. That is what All Kids Play is all about. The non profit organization aims to improve youth participation in sports all around the country no matter what sport, the main goal for them is to create for kids, a place to have fun, and also have access to change by playing sports and character building experience Although their goal is to come together and create teams of young children who may not get this opportunity because of financial restrictions. As a kid my parents didn’t have the funds to allow me to play ice hockey and that broke me so to have this organization out there funding families who can’t afford the luxuries that others may be able to enjoy is truly heartwarming. 

   Finding an organization was easy because as a sports lover I wanted to talk about the youth sports in the world. The vanity metrics for the organization are really low, on a first glance for instagram its 1k followers only about 200 following, which is upsetting because if you're looking to grow to post more pictures and get your information out to the public. The most recent post was february so they are not active on their causing there followage to trend downward. Their presence on Facebook too. The organization only has 780 followers and has not posted since months ago. The brand could improve on these metrics first by defining some clearer goals. Yes they posted their goal but it doesn't seem they follow through weekly as If I could improve it I would have more weekly or monthly posts going out even if it's a reminder to sign up or reachout for some information. If they describe specific attainable and measurable goals the number’s will rise. Especially engaging with followers, on all of theirsocial media platforms they aren't up to date recently enough. This furthermore affects The reactions the customers/followers will feel. Not responding to comments, messages and mentions.  

For their instagram page, I suggest more branding, going around the country trying to promote this brand. Because they haven’t turned the promotion up to the next level. 

Weekly posts need to happen first of all, a weekly basis of promotion will increase the viewership, bring potential followers and drive in more people and opportunities. 

   After analyzing facebook, the organization doesn't put much effort in nowadays to the apps page. Being silent  for the last year or so they haven't been active . The metric here is ruined, they need to show a lot of attention first. The inconsistent posting, no active users isn't gonna get the organization to be more involved as they were in recent years. 

[kirisaki-daichi-scenarios]

a discussion of jabberwock with team interaction hcs + deeper nash analysis

for anon who asked "Can we get some headcanons for jabberwock members or like headcanons when they're together? (its okay if it was jason or nash only)" and made me realise it's about time i get these guys' personalities down

note before we start: cause i didn't know their names until i wrote this

zack is the bald one, allen is the one with a headband, nick is the other white guy apart from nash.

team hcs

nick gets bullied for being under 6ft, but not by jason

nah good old jason teases all of them for being short fucks, emphasising that they’re all 5ft tall in comparison to him

he 100% lifts things out of the others' reach and then laughs for ages after when they try get them

unfortunately though, they’re all used to this and now just ignore him. either that or nash stares at him so intensely jason actually repents and hands it back

zack’s another one with a very good glare, but he’s used it too often on jason and it’s since stopped working.

also jason gives me ‘straightens his back as much as possible when getting measured so he’ll measure in as 7ft’ vibes

oh and he thinks he could wrestle a gator and win. i’ve got no explanation for that except for the fact you can't tell me it's ooc.

allen’s very protective over his white headband - it’s his lucky item - but he’d never let anyone know that

he’s confident in his abilities like the rest of them, but there’s nothing wrong with wearing a headband just in case

(nash knows anyway)

they watch nba matches together and do not shut up once throughout the entire match - lots of jeering, booing each other if someone criticises a player they like, lots of “i could do that”, lots of “get your fucking hand out of my popcorn do you want me to punch you in the face” etc

they used to all live together, but nash has since moved out. he was sick and tired of trying to make people do chores, as the only one who kept their room clean.

yeah the others’ house looks like a heap of trash but also very much “where’s my toothbrush?” “it’s in the third coke can by the orange peel behind the sink” *silence* “yeah thanks” *a minute later* “who the fuck has been using my toothbrush”

they’re all “bro your dribbling sucks why are you on this team loser” to one another, but also very protective (aka arrogant for one another) if anyone else Dared to criticise one of their teammates

then again, what kind of person would criticise jabberwock

half of the time he spends with jabberwock, nash is a Single Mother TM trying to get a bunch of man children to behave; the other half of the time, he's just as bad as the rest of them

i talk about this a lot but i get the feeling nash is an exceptionally hard worker, but at least he gets to let his hair down around his teammates sometimes

nash is also the only person jason thought was truly ‘strong’ at first sight

and nash is also the only person who can beat jason in a fight, and also the only person who can get nash to train, and also the only person who can.. [etc. you see my point].

(n.b jason calls himself the ‘almighty me’, nash says that ‘even god can’t beat me’. point made.)

you know how jason silver’s motto is “I have never thought”

imagine him proudly stating that, before zack adds with a straight face, “yeah cause nash does it for you.”

in short, the team would fall apart without nash.

although the team’s communication and coordination is very fine tuned, nash is the guy who keeps everything in order off the court to prevent what is essentially a team of aces ('main characters', if you will) from falling apart

they hang out together a lot, but do all have other friend groups that do not overlap

team bbqs

unofficial rule not to criticise anchovies on pizza because the one time nick did, nash snapped

however pineapple on pizza is fair game, even though zack quite likes it

more than once, jason has brought a girl home and nick has stolen her attention away with effortless trick shots, funky ball manoeuvring etc

more than once nick has had to trek to nash’s place (with a black eye) at midnight to have somewhere to sleep

do you see a correlation?

oh and everyone in the team has been walked in on by nash when they were naked with some girl

nash has absolutely no shame

he apologises to the girl with a charming albeit insincere tone, and then remains standing in front of the bed/couch until his teammate does what he expected of them

usually it involves not having come to practice

allen learnt a few (emphasis on ‘few’) words of japanese before they travelled to japan and was disappointed that he never got to use them

that said, one of those words was hentai

and now a quick analysis of some panels

a) so there's at least one player who wasn't underestimating vorpal swords. if i were to overanalyse, i'd add that nick's wearing a hoodie (possibly athletic wear) whilst nash has a 'fancy' shirt on; perhaps nick wasn't expecting them to be going to host clubs instead of chilling/training?

b) i know what you're thinking: "how can you say nash is a hard worker when he didn't want to practice for the match". i reckon he was still pretty high on the complete and utter success of their previous match, that plus being around girls, encouraged him to have a more 'jason-y' personality. (either that or fujimaki didn't want to add too much depth/realism into nash's character bc he's unequivocally the villain, right? and obviously this helps with the plot and the jabberwock bad geniuses gom good geniuses rhetoric.)

earlier, i mentioned how nash is the only one that could keep the team together, and is thus the undeniable head of the team; here's a clear example. you can see both jason and zack have no interest in continuing - if anything, there's disgust in their faces, kinda just saying "we spat on all of japan, now we can go home". whereas nash won't allow for the slightest of possibilities that there might exist a team stronger than them, and hence agrees to the match. the key thing here is that the others do as he says without too much fuss.

another thing to note is nash's reference to harakiri. now what can we make of that, alongside his proficiency in japanese, in relation to his character? the way i see it, he's either a weeb or possibly has some japanese lineage. (you could spin that even further and say his mother was japanese, taught him the language, then abandoned him, and hence his almost excessive hatred/mockery of the japanese people.) (is that why he wanted to do another match in japan..?)

just a quick point. "thanks to him" - jason isn't so superior as to think that he could win this match effortlessly without nash's support. links pretty nicely with my earlier idea about how nash is the only person jason has always considered 100% strong.

yet another point about how nash is the strongest of the team in pretty much every way you can think of. you know how scary/powerful you have to be to shut jason up (after he's getting real pissed from being prevented from scoring?)

i personally think this is a pretty important panel, though i've never seen anyone mention it before. did nash grow up training in a professional basketball training situation, as opposed to growing up playing streetball like i suspect the others did? well, to answer that question, imma bring in another panel.

here we see visible rage on nick, zack and jason's faces - they can't accept their loss, which is fair enough. but i'd argue that nash's face seems to depict sadness more than it does anger like to rest of them, look at how downturned his mouth is - and he's looking away from the 'camera', as if hiding his shame.

when you combine that with what he says here, i have no doubt that this is someone who has experienced some proper lows in basketball - as would be expected from someone who's played 'properly'. he's possibly not even a prodigy like the rest of them - compare jason's motto with his. "i have never thought" versus "do not suppose opportunity will knock twice at your door".

there's various lines of thinking you could design with this - he might have been trained by alex (hence, himuro having heard of jabberwock, though he should have known of a team as popular of jabberwock regardless), he might have grown up with professional basketballer parents etc. but here's my own little theory:

nash received serious basketball training from early on - maybe because his parents were living vicariously through him, or maybe he always loved the sport and wanted to be no1. so there he was training away, but, as he grew older, it started getting all a bit too much.

he didn't want to dedicate his entire life to basketball. after all, his hobby is water sports and his speciality is boxing; that's a lot of different things to be keeping up with, whereas the pipeline for promising athletes demands people focus solely on basketball. as a result, nash become bitter: stopped attending practice regularly, got in trouble for trash talk of increasing severity, etc.

result was he was kicked out of the program.

only when he was no longer playing basketball again, did he realise how much he missed it. and hence he got into streetball, where he was tremendously successful as someone with so much training, 'elite skills', and the overly confident attitude to boot.

then, one fateful day, he met jason and the rest is history.

[ellstersmash]

references + extra salt below the cut, in case anyone wants that:

1. solas could've avoided this whole mess and probably had enough free time to take lavellan on a nice little date if he just took up archdemon hunting instead of all the rituals and the other dastardly deeds

i mean eventually the grey wardens will do it for you! tie the veil to you, let the gods die, fix the blight, bring down the veil. easy peasy

2. lucanis won't romance rook if they go to minrathous but will romance neve because despite saying he's cool, he's not cool

i'll say it again: no one knew the dagger would be key here until after arriving at their respective destinations and speaking to ghilan'nain. rook split the team evenly between the cities, which was the best call given the information they had. lucanis may be "a deeply passionate individual" but he has a brain. he can be reasoned with. i think this is stupid

3. everyone's nice and no one has slaves or anything because *checks forearm* the blight

this was a stretch but hey, give a stupid answer get a stupid summary

4. all your companions get along with you and each other because also the blight

rivalry does not mean they won't get shit done js if anything, saying the high stakes mean they'd commit REGARDLESS of personal differences (which i agree with) means that there should be space for those differences to exist, no?

5. even though he's like, really manipulative and uses people all the time, solas accumulated but then gave up an entire army's worth of spies and agents because he decided he wasn't ready for a management position

this is the FUNNIEST thing to me. if he already learned all this why did he gather them in the first place? and how would the Dalish clans know that he'd sacrifice them for his own ends? like yeah ahh he's the dread wolf but also clearly the dread wolf is not who they thought he was right? dumb

6. red lyrium isn't really around because—and you are not gonna believe this—the blight

what. red lyrium is blighted lyrium. so where there is (LOTS! of more infectious!) blight + lyrium + widespread fuckery of the Veil, would there not be red lyrium? also iirc the only reference to red lyrium in Harding's questline was pointing out that the red-colored lyrium was NOT blighted. just angry

7. solas just lies. all the time, outright, to everyone. so I guess he was actually only super careful to not ever actively lie in Inquisition as like a fun little challenge to himself

all he knows is be bisexual, eat hot chip and lie

8. tying the veil to his life force (you know, the guy who couldn't even take down an archdemon on his own and actually just got his ass beat so is not in great shape in the best ending) fully repaired the veil! \o/ don't ask how you wouldn't understand it it's not a big— / 9. everyone near minrathous is cured of the blight! but @ everyone else you may be entitled to compensation 🥀 / 10. the only ritual solas has ever gotten or will ever get right is cleansing the idol into the ritual dagger. good thing too bc it was way more dangerous than this one. other than that, wrong about everything ever

i'm sorry the veil is FULLY REPAIRED? explain. explain this to me. EXPLAIN IT TO ME!!!! and why does reading john epler's takes on solas read like a finance bro negging his romantic rival in front of his crush? the secondhand embarrassment makes me more uncomfy every time i read these

11. elven magic is like not that big a deal, dude

hey tevinter congrats on using all that boring ancient magic because you couldn't come up with anything better than those stupid neanderthal elves banging lyrium crystals together. "magic came as easily as breathing" shut up solas always wrong dragon age you don't know shit!!!

12. the griffons are, unfortunately, long-term fucked

thankfully, further evidence has since arisen to offer a kinder future for our catbird babies

13. the elves don't see the crossroads differently anymore because uh.. because....... war

just say you forgot that was a thing

14. spite does not get involved in rookanis sexytimes. so perhaps him spreading his wings was actually just in preparation to leave bc ew they're kissing gross

what a shocking display of politeness, a quality spite has historically been loath to embrace. "whatever demons do for fun" you mean like meddle in mortal affairs?

15. NO ONE cares about the goddamn spirits

not even Solas :')

1b. Elgarnan is so much of a prick he misgenders his archdemon! (No no no writers totally did not forget that dragons with wings cannot be male)

but wait it's not because he's an ass! it's actually because he's blinded by delusions of grandeur, which include: kinning his (very very big, the biggest) dragon

2b. Rook is never ever engaged with any of the companion activities in the lighthouse because that would be too restrictive on the freedom of roleplay~

which is obviously something that was very important to them for this game, you know, the game in which your background and race don't matter, all of your dialogue options are nice, and connecting to your team is directly tied to their survival in one big fight

3b. Crows we encounter in the game are actually the GOOD crows and not representative of the Crows as a whole - which should be evident to anyone as is even though the banter that was supposed to explain that did not make the cut, oopsie!

and thank god for Caterina, a famously altruistic idealist who would never abuse kids like those other guys

4b. Who knows why are lords of fortune even a faction in the game - the writers certainly have no idea! They shiny I guess

but didn't.. didn't you guys write the story

5b. Speaking of the lords - I hope everyone really enjoyed hall of valor fighting arena because apparently that was more worth keeping in the game than world states

thank god! what a fun nearly identical 10 rounds of combat to get the "quest complete" pop up that was! fuck the well all my homies hate the well

6b. Schrödinger’s evanuris! Can’t confirm or deny if the rest of the pantheon died with their respective archdemons. So now we have potential four other ancient elven gods to bring out in a case of an emergency

but we won't! they'll never matter!

7b. Southern Thedas is FUCKED fucked

but once again, everyone will get along. because the blight 🙂

@yali-the-sloth lmk if these weren't the Q/As you were referring to!

things i learned today:

solas could've avoided this whole mess and probably had enough free time to take lavellan on a nice little date if he just took up archdemon hunting instead of all the rituals and the other dastardly deeds

lucanis won't romance rook if they go to minrathous but will romance neve because despite saying he's cool, he's not cool

everyone's nice and no one has slaves or anything because *checks forearm* the blight

all your companions get along with you and each other because also the blight

even though he's like, really manipulative and uses people all the time, solas accumulated but then gave up an entire army's worth of spies and agents because he decided he wasn't ready for a management position

red lyrium isn't really around because—and you are not gonna believe this—the blight

solas just lies. all the time, outright, to everyone. so I guess he was actually only super careful to not ever actively lie in Inquisition as like a fun little challenge to himself

tying the veil to his life force (you know, the guy who couldn't even take down an archdemon on his own and actually just got his ass beat so is not in great shape in the best ending) fully repaired the veil! \o/ don't ask how you wouldn't understand it it's not a big—

everyone near minrathous is cured of the blight! but @ everyone else you may be entitled to compensation 🥀

the only ritual solas has ever gotten or will ever get right is cleansing the idol into the ritual dagger. good thing too bc it was way more dangerous than this one. other than that, wrong about everything ever

elven magic is like not that big a deal, dude

the griffons are, unfortunately, long-term fucked

the elves don't see the crossroads differently anymore because uh.. because....... war

spite does not get involved in rookanis sexytimes. so perhaps him spreading his wings was actually just in preparation to leave bc ew they're kissing gross

NO ONE cares about the goddamn spirits