#and aside from shadow's stuff - not in the Least. Damn

[demi-pixellated]

Sonic 06 AU where Princess Elise is instead the dimensional equivalent of Blaze because none of this really matters anyway so why not

[amaranthinespirit]

new neighbor!simon riley whom you bring cookies to as a way to welcome him to the neighborhood, so naturally he has to pay you back, right?

you'd seen the moving trucks pull up at the little house next door, peering through the frilly curtains that frame your window, pulling back the blinds to peek through the cracks at who this new neighbor is.

you couldn't get much of a glimpse, though you saw the tall, looming stature dressed in a dark void for clothes, and a mask over his head that made your tummy writhe with unease.

nonetheless, you turned to your kitchen and decided you'd make a housewarming gift. it was the nice thing to do after all!

so with a warmed plate of fresh cookies in your palms, you tediously stepped down the stones from your little abode to the sidewalk between yours and his new house. your shoes padded along the concrete before approaching his door.

a tender fist knocked knuckles against the firm door, an innocent glint in your eyes as you patiently waited for the man to open the door.

simon wasn't expecting anyone, hell, he hadn't even told anyone he had moved. his ears perked at the shallow knock, his socked feet padding against the wooden floors before peeking in the little peephole.

last thing he was expecting was a sweet little thing such as yourself to be waiting for a brute like him to answer the door, but he didn't want to keep you waiting much longer now.

with a creak, the door opened and revealed his daunting figure that towered over you. you felt his shadow cover you as you look up to him, mumbling a few measly words welcoming him to the neighborhood.

his face, more like his eyes, were stoic, but you noticed a slight crinkle in his skin, the mask shifting ever so slightly as a gruff voice responded to your words, "thanks, luv', why don'ya c'mon in?" he offered.

because the least he could do is invite you in for a cuppa, sit down and chat while you shared the plate of cookies over the island in the kitchen, right?

it felt sinful, leading a little doll like doe into his house, the door slowly creaking shut with a slight push. nonetheless, a large hand splayed across your lower back to guide you to the empty kitchen, boxes scattered along the floors.

your hands gripped the edge of the island tightly, your knuckles turning white as you bite back soft mewls. simon was kneeled, a hand pressing down on your back to keep your stomach against the counter, face buried in your sopping cunt. its compensation, lovie!

he groaned, slick drooling down his chin, nose buried in your pussy. the warm of his breath caused goosebumps to rise along your skin, his other hand full of fatty flesh from your plush rear, pulling the muscle aside to allow himself access to your sweet, drooling pussy.

you were so sweet, just like heaven, how could he refuse! besides, you were dripping for him anyways.

his lips latched to your folds, slurping up your slick with lewd squelches, teeth grazing your clit with soft nips as his tongue pushed past your walls.

your spongy walls contorted around the pink muscle as he coated your pussy in saliva, mumbling almost incoherently, "fuck, s'sweet, luvie. tastier than the damn sweets."

your knees trembled, buckling because of the pleasure as your walls pulsed around his tongue. a convulsing pattern as the heat in your tummy built with rising anticipation of ecstasy. your hips squirmed under him, but his strong hands manhandled you to how he wanted.

come on, lovie, you'll learn he needs quite a few sweets after having been deprived of them so long.

he'll take care of you, wipe you clean with a damp washcloth and throw a warm, definitely too big shirt fresh from the dryer over your body and convince you to stay the night.

give him your key to get your stuff, lovie! but don't question how he managed to get a copy so quick.

[jeonginsleftcheek]

Me or him (part 4)

~ part 1, part 2, part 3

pairing: felix x afab!reader x hyunjin genre: angst, smut word count: 3.2k warning/s: swearing, oral (f and m receiving), fingering, squirting, unprotected p in v (don't do it), creampie, no happy ending!!! a/n: this is the last chapter of this mini series! i hope you enjoyed it as much as i had fun writing it🫶🏻(and also made myself cry while writing this last chapter dkdldl) ~ check out my: Masterlist

The last few days, you were nothing but miserable. All day, every day you thought about what you did and the more you thought about it, the more it depressed you.

Felix has been texting and calling for days. But you couldn't deal with him and the last thing he said before he left that night.

'I'll never give up on us.'

What he said made you even more mad in that moment. You tried calling Hyunjin but it seems that he blocked your number as soon as he left the apartment and your life.

You knew there was no going back and there was no way he would ever forgive either of you but you wanted to at least tell him how bad you felt for betraying him and breaking his heart.

Changbin came to pick Hyunjin's stuff up and he gave you the cold shoulder as soon as he saw you.

"H-how's Hyunjin?"- you ask quietly as Changbin packs his stuff.

"How do you think he is?"- he scoffs, not even looking at you.

"I- I know I fucked up real bad. But can you just tell him how sorry-"

"No, y/n. You don't get to apologize and feel better because of it. Hyunjin deserves more than a shitty apology you're making just because you feel guilty. I hope you feel guilty for a very long time cause you really broke his heart. Both you and... Felix. I don't wish anything ill upon anyone usually, but honestly whatever karma you two get, you deserve it."- Changbin says, shoving the last of the boxes closed.

You're silent. There is nothing you can do, you know Changbin loves Hyunjin like a brother and nothing you say to him in this moment can repair what you've broken.

"Also, here's anything you gifted to Hyunjin or him to you while you were together. He doesn't want any of the stuff to remind him of you so sell them, throw them away or something. I don't know."- Changbin shrugs, bringing in a box.

"Goodbye, y/n."

-

Your apartment might as well be completely vacant cause that's how it feels. Half of your closet is empty. Hyunjin's favorite snacks are gone from the pantry. His paintings that adorned the walls were gone, the paint on the wall lighter where they used to hang, leaving just a shadow of what once was.

The smell of his skin has almost completely faded away from your sheets. You can't even sleep in your bed because every time you lay down in it, you remember how you said your lovers name in the most intimate moment shared with your boyfriend, and your chest squeezes in anxiety.

You sleep on the couch, you force yourself to eat, you exist at work, your days seem to be seeping into one long painful experience. It's like you're barely even real, like the world is moving around you in slow motion and you're just there.

You can't take it.

You can't take being alone.

-

Your hand trembles as you lift it up, contemplating if you should actually be doing this.

It's still not too late to turn back and just go home. But what are you going back home to? Empty walls? A cold bed? That damn box of things that remind Hyunjin of you that you still didn't manage to bring yourself even to touch?

No, you can't go back there. Not like this.

So you ring the doorbell.

"Coming!"- you hear his muffled voice.

The door opens and a disheveled Felix widdens his eyes at the sight of you.

"Y/n!"- he gasps.

"I... I didn't know where else to go."- you say weakly.

Felix stares at you for a moment, the look in his eyes becoming softer.

"Come in."- he says and steps aside.

You end up sitting on his couch, where everything started. Pretty ironic, you think. He sits down too, and the two of you struggle to say something.

"Didn't you say that you don't ever wanna see me again?"- he asks quietly.

"That didn't stop you from calling and texting."- you answer equally as quiet.

"Well, I said I wont give up on us. That wasn't a lie."- he says and you sigh, finally finding the courage to look at him. He waits for you to say something and you stare at him, his eyes still warm when they look at you. You hurt him too though, haven't you?

"Felix, I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't really mean it. I was angry at myself and I took it out on you. I mean that's no excuse but we both did a really shitty thing. I feel so fucking guilty, sick to my stomach for hurting someone as wonderful as Hyunjin is."- your eyes water. "I think about it every day. I really hope he can heal and find someone better. And I... well I want to try giving us a chance if you still want me."- Felix's eyes widden.

"But I need to know that you feel guilty too. I need to know that you know what we did was wrong."- you add, wiping away tears that slowly made their way down your cheeks.

"Ofcourse I feel guilty, y/n. I'm not some kind of monster. Hyunjin is- was one of my closest friends. I broke his heart too, I betrayed him too. And I do think about it. But, I can't help also thinking about you every day. I still want you, I want to be there for you. I want to be yours."

Your heart speeds up when you hear those words and you wordlessly lean in, closing the gap between you and Felix. His lips are soft against yours and only when he reciprocates the kiss, you realize you missed him.

"Wait a sec."- Felix gently grabs your wrists, leaning away from you.

"What is it?"- you ask as you notice his lips trembling.

"I don't want this to be just fucking to you. I don't want to be a rebound. I want to have a real chance of a relationship with you, like we're starting from the beginning."- Felix's eyes are big as he scans your face.

Your chest tightens.

"I... Okay."- you nod. "But I need you now. I missed you."- you confess and it's exactly what Felix wants to hear.

"I missed you too. I thought I'd never see you again."- his hands cup your face as he talks between kisses. "I need you too."- he adds and kisses you more passionately as you tangle your hands in his hair.

Something in your gut feels wrong, something nagging at you in the back of your mind but still you let Felix take you to his bedroom. It looks exactly how you remember it and everything smells like him. He kisses you, his tongue exploring your mouth, his hands holding your hips tightly.

You're drunk on the taste of him, it's all so familiar, so comforting that you lose your mind to his touch.

You grip his waist and turn him around, pushing him down to sit on the bed.

"Y/n..."- Felix lets out a shaky breath as you place your palms on his thighs, spreading his legs apart before you slowly kneel down in between them.

"Fuck..."- he whines as your hand comes in contact with his hard, clothed member. You grip him and move your hand on him, feeling him grow under your touch.

You don't want to waste too much time so you hook your fingers in his sweatpants and slide them down with his boxers and Felix whines as soon as the cold air hits his leaking cock.

You lean in and lick at his tip gathering the precum, swirling your tongue around until you take him in your mouth and suck gently. Felix grips at the bed, the sight of you on your knees, pleasing him like that makes his heart beat fast.

Drunk on the feeling of his cock heavy on your tongue you keep taking more and more of him in, swallowing and humming around him, driving him crazy with desire.

His hands tangle in your hair and he grabs a fistful of it, pushing his hips up and accidentally making you gag around him.

"Ah, shit!"- he whines as his cock twitches inside your mouth.

You bob your head faster and moans keep spilling from his lips as you bring him closer to the edge.

"Stop, stop, don't make me cum yet!"- Felix whines and you lift off of him, licking your lips and looking up at him through your eyelashes.

"Let me taste you too, sweetheart."- he says, his voice deeper than usually and his pupils blown, the nickname he always uses for you making your pussy throb.

Pretty soon, you're naked with him between your legs, his tongue lapping at you hungrily like he was deprived of actual food for months.

His fingers work to open you up as he sucks on your clit, tongue darting out to tease your wetness.

"Missed your taste."- his voice is muffled as he speaks into you, his eyes closed in pure bliss as he keeps eating you out.

"Lix!"- you whimper as your hips spasm towards his face, his fingers finding that gummy spot inside you. "Ah, don't stop."- you say and he speeds up, making your legs shake and your heart race as he keeps hitting that sweet spot, his tongue lapping at your clit.

Pleasure washes over you and you explode, squirting all over his face and the bed.

"Shit, sorry!"- you gasp and Felix chuckles.

"Don't apologize, that was really hot."- he smirks, fingers caressing your wet folds. "I guess this pussy really missed me."

"It did."- you whisper breathlessly, as he leans in again and gives you a few kitten licks.

"I missed her too."

"Felix"- you tug at his hair and try to lift him up. He looks up at you and smirks, his thumb on your clit.

"Want something?"- he asks.

"Don't tease me now. You know what I want."- you whine.

"Say it, sweetheart."- he says, his deep voice sending vibrations through you.

"I want your cock, please."- you give in immediately and Felix smirks triumphantly as he slides his hands up to cup your breasts, hovering over you. One of his hands grabs his neglected cock that's screaming for any kind of attention and he gives it a few pumps, the tip caressing your wet cunt.

You grip at his arm, nails digging into his skin as he pushes in, your pussy molding around the shape of him, the familiar stretch.

Felix loses himself as soon as he feels your warm, wet walls clenching around him and he fucks you with vigor.

"Oh my god!"- you whimper, holding onto him for dear life.

"Fuck, I missed you so much."- Felix whimpers, face buried in your neck as he keeps shoving his cock inside you, waves of pleasure making you feel like you're floating on air.

"More, more, more..."- you keep chanting.

"I love you, I love you, y/n."- he says desperately holding onto your hips, but you only moan in response as you spasm, your juices spilling all over his cock.

"Felix!"- you moan his name as he keeps fucking you, hips snapping into you strongly.

"I'm close. Can I cum inside? Please, let me cum inside."- he begs repeatedly and you've never seen him this desperate.

A brief thought of a rule runs through your mind, one that the two of you have already broken before. The one where you told Felix that he can't come inside you, only Hyunjin can, and your mind races, a pang of guilt hitting you again.

"Please, y/n, I can't hold it much longer."- Felix ruts into you sloppily.

"Okay, you can cum inside me."- you whisper, nails digging into his back as he growls lowly, hips picking up speed again.

Between his low grunts and the whispered 'I love you's', his hips stutter as he finishes, his hot cum filling you up and making you feel incredibly wet.

"You didn't say it back."- Felix whispers as he pulls out and lays next to you, facing you so you face him too.

"I'm sorry."- you whisper, tears threatening to spill.

"I'll wait for you."- he says.

"Okay."- you say as his hand gently caresses your cheek.

-

Felix promises he'll work on himself and on your relationship. You promise you'll work on yourself too and give this a real chance.

And you really try but deep down you know you don't love Felix the way you loved Hyunjin which makes you even more confused at why you even started the affair, and how you ended up sharing pancakes on a date with him instead of celebrating four years with Hyunjin.

Felix looks happy, the happiest you've seen him and you can't even count how many fake smiles you fed him. It's wrong and it makes you feel like an even worse person than before.

The box of stuff Hyunjin returned to you is buried deep inside your closet, still unopened and untouched. It's been a few months and you still can't make yourself sift through it or even just throw it away.

Whenever you're at home, you want to run away because your apartment still reminds you of Hyunjin, and you still can't let Felix in and you definitely don't want him in the bed you and Hyunjin shared. So you go to Felix's place but whenever you're there, he's there and he doesn't want to leave you alone for a moment, and his apartment just reminds you of the many times you ran into his arms behind your boyfriend's back.

Felix is too excited, too happy and you know he's not stupid, you're pretty sure he can feel that you don't love him the way he loves you, he's just trying to ignore it.

Maybe it's best if you actually start fresh, away from everything and everyone that remind you of the biggest mistake you've made in your life.

-

"Lix, can we talk?"- you start one afternoon, as you hang out in his apartment.

"Yeah, what's up?"- he asks, his attention on you.

Oh, boy. Even though Felix wasn't a saint, he didn't deserve to have his heart broken but the more you thought about it, the more you came to the conclusion that it would be best if the two of you went your own separate ways.

"This isn't something I'm doing just like that, it's something I thought over and over about and I'm doing this with a heavy heart- but I think we should separate. And for real this time. I mean actually never talk again."- Felix's face morphs from sadness to annoyance as he listens to you.

"Why would you say something like that? I thought we were making progress. I thought you-"

"Felix, please, just listen for a sec. I'm sorry but I don't love you like you love me. I care for you but that's as far as my feelings go."- you say and he looks at you like a kicked puppy. "I don't want to keep lying to you because I feel like I'm doing that constantly. I can't move on from what we did to Hyunjin, I can't heal or become a better person. Neither can you, because this isn't healthy. Our relationship was never healthy. And I think both of us are just keeping each other stuck and lying to ourselves thinking that this could work when it started out as betrayal to someone who cared about both of us. We can't build a healthy relationship on that. I said I'd give it a chance and I did but I can't do this anymore. Not to myself and not to you. I want you to also be happy and find someone who will love you properly."- by the time you finish talking, both of you are crying.

"I don't know what to say, y/n. It just hurts a lot to hear that you don't feel the same for me because I've been loving you for years. I know that I made the first move and I was wrong for that. I was wrong to come between you and Hyunjin. B-but I thought if he had a chance to start over, maybe you'd grow to love me. Obviously, I can't force you to."- he sniffles so you grab his hand.

"It's really over now, huh?"- he asks, squeezing your hand.

"I'm really sorry Felix. For everything."

"Me too."- he nods. "P-please just let me kiss you and hold you one last time."- he whispers.

"Okay."- you whisper back and Felix presses his lips on yours, the taste of salty tears making your heart ache. He puts his arms around you and holds you tightly. You hold him too, while you both cry. But it's better this way. It's better to start completely fresh, for all three of you.

"I'll always love you."- he whispers.

"I know you will."- you whisper back and Felix smiles sadly.

He watches as you walk away from the window, lips trembling, still not completely aware that that is the last time he'll ever see you.

-

You're sitting on your floor crosslegged, the box Hyunjin returned in front of you.

You think it's time to finally open it.

You slowly lift up the lid and look into it.

It's like a time capsule of your moments together. There are three sketchbooks inside, filled with sketches of you. You smiling, cooking, sleeping, existing. Just you through Hyunjin's eyes. Cologne you bought him that makes you tear up because it brings up memories of his scent that he always left on your sheets and your skin. Shared jewelry he always got for the two of you so you could be matching. Couple rings you wore that made you remember all your friends teasing you that you got engaged within 3 months of dating. Your favorite t-shirt of his, the one he gave you to wear the first night you made love. Since then it became yours and Hyunjin loved seeing you in it, nothing else just the shirt and your pretty legs. There were tickets to art exhibitions you went to together, where Hyunjin would pull out his camera and take pictures of you and the pretty paintings surrounding you. Tickets to concerts you attended together, where you would dance like crazy and have fun like you had no worries on your mind. At the very bottom there were some photos. Photos of you, Hyunjin and Felix when the three of you first became friends. The smiles you had in the photos, pure happiness to be in each other's company, innocent and unaware of what the future holds.

You start crying as you put everything back in the box fast. You don't know how long you lay on your floor crying and hoping that this was all a bad dream and the three of you were still friends and your feelings weren't complicated and you didn't fuck everything up and no one's heart was broken.

But, sadly your reality slaps you in the face. The reality where you ruined your relationship and your friendship. The reality where you betrayed someone who loved you selflessly. The reality where you gave false hope to someone who cared about you. The reality where in the process of breaking hearts, you broke your own heart too. You hope one day you'll be able to pick up the pieces.

Today is not that day.

Taglist: @moonchild9350 @janepg @velvetmoonlght @selinia86 @ihrtlino @hash2013 @yongbokkiesworld @xxkhxndlelitexx

[inkblot-inc]

DEATH ROLL

Summary: When you're at the end of the rope and you're given one last chance, what lengths are you willing to go to climb your way out?

Pairing: Crocodile!Hybrid!Reader x Snake!Hybrid!Wanda Maximoff

Warning(s): Dark Themes; Depictions of violence, a general warning for racketeering and all that that entails my guy, strong language… extensive Identity Theft I guess?

Note(s): It’s a brand spankin’ new AU bud! Hell, I've seen the movie Bobby Z about a billion times since I was… probably too young to understand what I was watching, but rewatching it as an adult led me inevitably down this particular rabbit hole, of course with my own changes and shenanigans and all that good stuff. Reader written as a butch lesbian that uses he/him pronouns for clarification. All of that being said, I hope you enjoy :3

Word Count: basically 2.5k

ALSO: *squints* I give NO ONE permission to repost or translate my work. Make your own shit

Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola, Louisiana)

It’s not like you were ever  meant for greatness. Born to a croc hybrid mother who could never hold onto a man, raised in a city where even the rain felt sticky and oppressive most days. You were  a burnt end, a measly little asterisk in a world that couldn’t pretend to care long enough to reference properly. You grew up on the streets of New Orleans, moving from foster home to foster home until the system gave up on you entirely. By the time you were eighteen, you may have been a two-bit thug, but you’d already accumulated a rap sheet longer than most politicians' promises.

But if there was one thing you weren’t gonna do, it was give a damn. About anything. Especially the people who told you what to do. And by the time you were closing out your twenties, you were locked up on death row for a slew of robberies, assaults, and eventually manslaughter. It sounded about right, you going out this way; a selfish coward that came into the world with a crack and a whimper about to fizzle out with no impression to leave behind.

But then, on one particularly hot night in a cell that felt more like a coffin, you’d gotten an offer.

Inside a dimly lit prison cell, You sat with your back pressed against the cold cement wall, staring at the flickering bulb highlighting the peeling white paint above you. It’s all you really could do in the  cramped space, the scutes along your tail scraping against the concrete floor as it lashed idly back and forth. The rhythmic tick of a clock echoed through the room, its sound blending with the distant hum of the crickets outside. It was a lonely, suffocating place — but at least it was a familiar place after all this time.

The unlocking of your cell door broke you out of your thoughts.

The warden entered, his face expressionless as always, but there was something different about him tonight. He sighed before he spoke. “Y/Ln. You have a guest… With  a proposition for you,” the warden said, moving aside to make room for a man behind him. This “guest” wore a pressed suit and his eyes hid behind sunglasses propped up on his face like the poster boy for some secret agency. The man held a file with him that he  dropped onto the small table in front of you.

You didn’t answer immediately. You’d heard enough rumors around the penitentiary. Deals made in the shadows, trades that only the desperate and the damned would consider.

“You’ve been selected for a special mission,” the guard continued. “A chance to get out of here alive.”

Despite everything, your brow raised in intrigue. “Get out alive?”

“That’s right,” the guard replied, pushing the file closer. “We need you to become someone else,” the agent continued, his tone casual, as if talking about a simple job. “More specifically, we need you to impersonate Boon Ballou.”

You stopped fiddling with the corner of the manila folder. “Boon Ballou?” You had heard the name. Everyone had, human and hybrid alike. The infamous drug and arms dealer with charisma that could charm a snake and a temper that could end a life. The kind of person who operated in the shadows of the world, pulling strings and ruining lives. “I’m sure he’s probably off in the Bahamas doing fuck all, ain’t he? Why don’t you just go and hunt the real thing down and leave me out of it?”

The agent's words were blunt and left no room for debate. “Because Boon Ballou is dead. He was killed a year ago during a botched escape attempt from a Colombian prison.”

Well that was definitely a reason…

“No one other than the authorities knows this information. So that’s why you’re gonna slip right in to assume Boon’s identity, Y/n”

They sure sounded like they had this all figured out for you. It didn’t even sound like you had a choice. “I don’t even look like him,” You eventually spoke up, your voice laced with wariness and a bit of disbelief.

The agent smiled, a cold, calculating expression. “I’d beg to differ. Aside from you both bein’ crooked crocs, you got the same general build and the same scales. You two even have the same damn face, Y/Ln. You could walk right into his operation, and no one would know the difference.”

“I’m sorry, can we double back to the part where you want me to play a dead guy?” You leaned forward, your voice laced with incredulity. “Why do you even want me? Is it slim pickins out there in Quantico or wherever the hell you’re from?”

The warden smacked you upside the head as the agent ignored your jab and opened the folder after he flipped it around.

You stared at the folder, reaching your cuffed hands forward to leaf through its contents. Photos of Boon, the swagger in his walk that translated even through static photographs. The designer suits and gold chains he wore glinted in the light of the pictures taken in the daytime. The file also had pictures of Ballou’s associates, with detailed entries on Boon Ballou’s exploits, his connections, and his patterns of behavior. There was even a small baggy that held the gold custom-made piercings he’d had in his face. Hell, it was as if his entire existence had been reduced to these documents.

There was one photo that caught your eye: a woman, stunning, with dark brown hair and the telltale piercing eyes and scaly accents of a snake hybrid. Wanda Maximoff. She was listed as one of Ballou’s last known lovers, someone he’d had a deep connection with before his rather lackluster death.

“What do I get outta this?” You quipped, your voice sharp.

“The deal’s simple. We get you in with Boon’s crew, and get you close to his operations. You help us take down Ballou’s empire, take down the members of his circle who’ve also been slipping under our radar for years, and put this shit to bed dead in the dirt. They have one of our operatives captive as we speak, and your final test will be the trade off to get our guy back in exchange for you. All of Boon’s biggest players should be there, so this is a one and done deal. You play this right, you walk free. No more death row. No more prison. You’ll be free to go with a clean slate.”

Your eyes narrowed. “And if I fail?”

“You won’t,” the guard said, his voice suddenly cold. “You’ll be dead before you realize you made a mistake.”

----------

Eight months later

It wasn’t as easy as it sounded… And it didn’t even sound easy in the first place-

You had to change everything — your voice, your mannerisms, the way you carried yourself. You’d spent the last few months in seclusion, with a team of experts helping you get the look just right. Every detail was crucial.

You idly fiddled with the two new golden snake bite piercings while biting the inside of your lip. They were the first thing you were made acquainted with during your damn near right after your agreement left your mouth. You got new ink moths ago too, all pieces the OG Boon had, but they weren’t nearly as much of an adjustment as the fucking metal in your mouth.

The cosplay aside, Boon Ballou wasn’t just a name; he was an institution. Every piece of the kingpin’s past had to be learned and studied, every habit adopted. It was like walking around with your gut sucked in until you forget you were doing it at all.

Nobody even called you Y/n anymore.

You’d spent hours in front of a mirror, practicing Boon’s sneer, the tilt of his head, the slow drag of a cigar between his fingers. Your diet had shifted to match Ballou’s preferences — whiskey instead of beer, crawfish instead of steak.

You were fed stories of Ballou’s notorious escapades, his love life, and, most importantly, his final days — how he’d disappeared from public view for more than two years now, last heard going off to The Philippines for business before his body turned up in Colombia where he’d very quietly died. Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on who you ask), the underworld kingpin of the Hollywood South had an operation that practically ran itself while he was gone.

And now Boon Ballou was coming back.

-----

Then came the night of the deal.

The night was humid, the sky hanging heavy with the promise of rain. Adrenaline coursing through your veins, you could hear your heart pumping in your ears.

The deal was supposed to go smoothly. Now dressed in Boon Ballou's signature black leather waistcoat over a suit, you stood surrounded by armed agents, the tension crackling in the air. You were about to be handed over to the waiting criminals, Boon Ballou’s people, in exchange for a government agent who looked like he’d seen better days. You didn’t know how long he’d been over there or what he’d seen, but it was painted thick on his face. The melodramatics aside, it was supposed to be a simple handoff.

But most things start off simple until they’re not.

You had been betrayed. You inevitably outlived your usefulness to the government agents escorting you across the territory line. They’d planned to shoot you while you walked across the invisible line, gun you down, and leave your body behind as evidence that the criminal empire was dismantling itself.

“Boon Ballou” was meant to die here and tonight.

The first shot came from behind you. For the first time in your life, you felt a real rush of fear. But you had a way of surviving. You didn’t think—you just acted, charging through the chaos and breaking free. You spun, using your tail to knock an agent off their feet and then tore through the surrounding chaos, all teeth and claws. Gunfire erupted around you, but your strength and speed had always been your advantage. You were a croc, after all—built for survival.

You dashed into the thick shadows of the bayou, moving through the dense foliage, but no matter how fast you ran, the shots never stopped. In the distance, you could hear the shouts of your would-be killers as your massive tail sliced through the muck and submerged beneath the murky waters.

For a long while, you just swam through the bayou, the only sound being your own breath and the gentle lapping of the water against the shore. Eventually, when you surfaced against the endiscript bank, you caught sight of a blacked out SUV. You weren’t sure if it’d always been there, but an owl hybrid, grizzled and rough-looking, stepped from the cover of the nearby truck. His eyes locked onto you, recognition sparking.

“Boon?” the man asked, his voice low but urgent. “That you?”

You didn’t respond verbally at first, still catching your breath. Nobody called you by your name anymore, but it startled you how quick you responded to being referred to as Boon Ballou.

“Get in, man. ’Less you tryna get shot out here. You straight?” The barred owl grabbed you by the arm, still soaked, and pulled you toward the SUV. 

That seemed to pull You out of your stupor. “I’m fine,” You grunted, your voice rough, trying to mimic the deeper tones of Boon’s Southern drawl. “Just get me outta here.”

 "Two years talkin’ to nobody an’ ya still act like youse untouchable." the older man grumbled as he opened the back door to the SUV and ushered you inside. As you sat in the back of the vehicle in wet clothes and squelching boots, you watched the glimmering lights coming from the edge of the French Quarter. This city was now both your prison and your possible salvation.

As the car screeched to a halt outside a lavish estate, Your mind was spinning. The game had just changed. The owl hybrid that drove you here got out of the van and opened the car door for you to get out, both of you walking up the steps leading up to the front door.

Inside the house, amidst the luxury and wealth that seemed so far removed from the prison cell you’d left behind, you found yourself face-to-face with her. Wanda Maximoff.

Her eyes locked with yours, and for a moment, you saw something in them — something that made your breath catch. The woman who had once been Boon’s lover, the woman who had been a part of Ballou’s past.

But now, she was standing in front of you, looking at you with the same intensity.

This is the woman that Boon Ballou left behind.

And in that moment, you realized something: You weren’t just impersonating the deceased croc. You were responsible for breathing new life into his name.

You were Boon Ballou now. And in this world, that might just be the most damning thing of all.

“You’re back,” she said softly, her brows furrowed in disbelief and voice trembling slightly.

You swallowed hard, your heart heavy. You were way beyond your depth. You don’t know how to run a fucking drug ring. Sure you studied for the test, but you didn’t know a damn thing when standing in front of people with no choice to interact. You couldn’t go back out. There were no takesies backsies. Not if you wanted to live. And when everything you’d worked for for over half a year, when your freedom depended on her and all the people around her believing that you were Boon Ballou? You have no choice but to step up to the plate.

So, you lied. You embraced her.

“Wanda,” your voice was rough with just a hint of unspoken guilt as your fingers brushed the deep red scales that fanned across the outside of her neck and her cheekbones as they gleamed even in the warm, dim light. You didn’t have to pretend to admire her. You’d run into a lot of snake hybrids in your own time, but you hadn’t met one that had so quickly held your attention like she did. That tempted you toward her gravity like she did.

“I’m back.”

No one knew Y/n, the orphan slated for lethal injection. They only knew the man that was their lover, their boss, their friend, and even their rival. Could you really fill those shoes when your foot was essentially forced into them? And more importantly—could you survive long enough to figure out your next move, or would the past of a dead man, and the lies that came with it, consume you until there was nothing left of you?

You were playing a game with stakes that were beyond deadly– and if Boon Ballou proved anything, he proved that no one gets to play forever.

[tara-the-quiet-bookworm-2016]

Home Alone Yandere! Simon 'Ghost' Riley x Female Reader Chapter One

Summary- You didn't know when it started, but lately you constantly felt like you were being watched. At first you thought you were being paranoid, until you started catching glimpse of someone in the shadows. Someone wearing a mask with a skull on it, he seemed to be everywhere you went, and sometimes it felt like he was in your house. For your sake, Y/N I hope you made sure the doors and windows were locked before you went to bed...

Authors Notes- And here I am back again with yet another COD Yandere fic. This time I'm trying my hand writing Yandere Ghost. Let's see how well I do his character justice. And let's see what terrifying stuff poor reader will have to endure because of his twisted obsession, huh?

As you can gather by now I like to mention trigger warnings to my Authors Notes. So this Chapter will feature stalking, paranoid thoughts, breaking and entering, non-con touching. Nothing over the top...yet. But I hope you enjoy. Without further ado here is chapter one. Of Home Alone.

Chapter 1: In The Shadows.

Today had started out as a normal day, in fact it had started out pretty damn good if you were being honest. You had got to work with little to no car troubles, and had got to your job at the local craft store with time to spare. Not like it would have mattered as most of the time you were normally on time. And your day started out pretty smoothly, aside from some kids knocking over a display that is but at least the kids seemed rather apologetic and helped you clean it up. So that was good.

But the odd thing you did notice when you went about your work was the man that seemed to be looming around the store in the aisles you were in. Once or twice you asked him if he needed something but he only shook his head or stared at you. You couldn't quite put your finger on it but something about him seemed odd, of course a lot of odd people came in here but they always seemed innocent. But something about the way he stared at you sent shivers down your spine. Maybe it was his eyes the way they seemed to see right through you, how dark they were. Creepy.

You know that was mean, but he unnerved you, and the way it seemed like he was following you? No, you were being paranoid, it was kind of a small store and such so there was that. And after a while he did leave without buying anything, though you did wonder why he wore that mask, it seemed odd. Giving your head a shake you went about your work until it was finally time to clock out.

And that was when things started to feel odd. As you stepped out into the cool night air you instantly felt like you were being watched. Looking over your shoulder you could only see your coworkers and customers milling around. But still that feeling of being watched persisted. Maybe you've been watching too many crime shows and novels. You told yourself as you shrugged your shoulders and got into your car. Intent on driving home and cooking yourself a nice dinner.

***

Simon didn't know what it was about you. Something about you just seemed to catch his interest, something that intrigued him. Simon didn't know what it was but there was something about you, something that called out to him, something he wanted to possess. Something he wanted to keep all too himself, keep locked away for his eyes only.

God what was it about you? How had he become so obsessed with someone like you? Shaking his head Simon turned away from you as you drove on home, while he decided with some reluctance to return to his own apartment, pulling his jacket closer around himself as he walked down the street. Several people moving out of his way as he did so, some casting looks in his direction as he reached his home. He if he could it that, considering that he was away most of the time he never really considered it home. And thus kept the place sparsely furnished.

Shrugging his jacket off he hung it up before pulling off his mask and tossing it onto a worn chair before moving to the bedroom. Turning on the light he looked around the room, his eyes settling on the wall by his bed. There on the wall were pictures, not of his friends, and certainly not of his family. But of you.

Pictures of you at work, laughing at something a coworker said, of you out in the city window shopping, a faint smile on your lips. And then there were the ones he took of you while were at home, lounging on the couch in nothing but an other sized t-shirt and panties, a half eaten bowl of popcorn on the next to you. Gaze fixed on whatever show you had been watching, unaware that he was so close. Others of you in your kitchen cooking dinner. You really should get better curtains, love. Anyone could be watching you, waiting to strike. Maybe that was why Simon was so obsessed with you, you were so innocent compared to him. Maybe because of that is why he took it upon himself to watch over you, to keep you safe from people that would harm you.

At least that's what Simon convinced himself was the case. Turning away from the wall he slumped down on the bed with a tired sounding sigh. The pictures he had of you were perfect, but nothing compared to the videos he had of you on his phone. Videos he took of you during one of his many visits inside your house, you were completely unaware though as you sat in your darkened living room completely oblivious. Or the one he took of you when you were asleep, a worn out teddy bear wrapped tightly in your arms as Simon sat by the window. The one he knew you were unable to lock, the one he crept through every night to watch you sleep.

The last time he had watched you had been last night after a particularly exhausting day, you had all but stumbled into your bedroom without pulling on your pj's. Or even crawling under the covers, leaving you exposed to his hungry gaze. He remembered ever so slowly creeping towards your bed, fingers brushing against your cheek, thumb brushing against your plush lips as you shifted ever so slightly in your sleep. Completely unaware of his presence.

And Simon wouldn't deny that there was a part of him that wanted more, that wanted to possess you, to keep you locked away for his eyes only. And while he tried to deny it he knew it was only a matter of time before that was a case. Pulling off his shirt he got ready for bed. He hoped you would enjoy your freedom while it lasted, because someday you would be his...

Authors Notes- I don't often post two works in the same day. But here I am. Sorry this is a rather weak start, I assure it'll get better as the story goes on. But I hope you enjoyed it.

[love---mandy]

A Fairy Tail Rant About Lucy in the Grand Magic Games.

So me and my sister have been rewatching Fairy Tail, and it’s been an up and down of enjoyment and infuriation. I love the characters in this series, especially Lucy. Like when I first watched the series I didn’t have very strong opinions on her. I enjoyed her, and I never disliked seeing her on screen. Flash forward a few years I rewatch Fairy Tail, and she’s become my favorite character. Like I love so much about her I swear I devolve into incoherent sounds when I talk about her. Which is why her treatment during the Grand Magic Games pisses me off to no end.

In the only fights she participates in she gets relentlessly abused, and for what?! She looses both of the major fights she’s in. In her first battle Asuka is used as hostage and that allows Flare to beat the daylights out of her (which in my opinion there should’ve been a barrier of some kind in place to prevent things like that from happening, but whatever). Even when Natsu gets rid of the thing preventing Lucy from fighting back, she still looses. Her magic energy gets forcibly taken from her, and Flare wins by default.

Now I could almost forgive this fight, if the same damn thing hadn’t happened in Lucy’s 2nd fight. The next fight feels even more gross cause Lucy’s in a swimsuit the whole time, and there is constant fan service which adds this extra layer of mixed emotions to the fight.

The Lucy vs Minerva fight is my least favorite in the whole GMG arc, and maybe in the whole series because it only serves as a means for us to hate Sabertooth, much in the way Lucy vs Flare made us hate Raventail. Once again Lucy is physically beaten to no end, and in this particular fight it’s, in my opinion, so much worse, and it’s because Minerva won’t let Lucy fall out of the water arena. She pulls her back again and again. And we’re forced to watch this take place just like the rest of the guild. Once again I ask, What is the purpose?! We already dislike both guilds before either of these fights take place. Raventail targets Gray in his battle, and Sabertooth humiliates Yukino, and forces her to leave. So please explain to me why Lucy, and why twice in a row?

Aside from making us hate both guilds, Lucy loosing the way she did served absolutely no purpose. My sister and I constantly talk about how Mashima loves to humiliate his women, especially the strong ones like Erza, which I won’t even start on cause that’s a whole other rabbit hole I do not want to think about. So if you look at Lucys fights with that angle, it all makes sense. I could just be blinded by my anger, but I swear nothing like this ever happens to any other character in the whole series (And I what I mean is being beaten to hell, only to lose).

Lucy is used as a device for anger in her fights. And she doesn’t even get to prove herself. Both moments where she is able to show off what she’s got, get forcibly taken from her.

I know she does helm the Eclipse Gate stuff, but her fights in The Games left such a sour taste that it almost over shadows so much of what she does.

This post is very all over so forgive me, but I just needed to be mad that in the Games themselves, she doesn’t get to do anything cool. She gets tortured, and robbed of any chance at a victory.

I love Lucy so so much, and i think she deserved better then loosing all of her fights.

[henrysglock]

High Existence and ZeroSpace: The First Shadow and NINA May Be Massive, Immersive Drug Trips

The blurb in last Friday's video from TFS sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. I found a lot of sites quoting The Alchemist about the universe conspiring to give you what you truly want (which is similar and it's probably what I was thinking of when this blurb registered as familiar), but I couldn't find this exact quote:

Well...not at first, anyway. I decided to stick every word I could make out here ^ into my search bar...and I found where the blurb comes from:

This blog post is quite literally the only source I could find for it, and the whole damn thing is directly lifted.

Right off the bat, the site fucking jump-scared me:

And it doesn't end there. Let's dive in, because this rabbit hole is a trip unto itself...no MDMA​ ​required.

1. The Fucking Website...#1 (HighExistence.com)

High Existence is a sort of drug-induced-spiritual-trip centered self-help site.

It's got blog posts and podcasts and all that jazz. Here are some of the highlights:

Wow! That was...a lot. A lot of words from the word show, too:

Wholeness, heroes, ancient aliens, prisons of politeness, and the fucking Shire, too, I guess. Why not?

(An Aside: I've included the VR in here too because of the sheer similarities between Henry's experience with the Shadow in VR, El's experience in NINA, and The First Shadow in general.)

Like fuck it, why not keep going, these posts date back to at least 2017:

And don't let me start in on that Creel boy and Faust...

[Jason voice] "[Eddie] made a deal with the devil and now he has his powers!" (Also we get it, one of them is neurotic and the other is psychotic. I've been saying this since like...forever)

Of course, all that insanity aside, the Russian base arc has just...an insane amount of ST4 and TFS stuff packed into it in general:

(And this isn't even all of it. I know others [cough] Stav Heroesbyler [cough] have covered it even more...but bro it is THERE)

But most importantly for the NINA arc:

Three things: Dialogue doubling (there's the one I showed, plus a) Robin yelling "Wipeout!" at Steve which has the pipeline -> "Wipeout!" at Rink-O-Mania -> 002-005 bullying El in a very similar manner and b) Steve's "that's amazing" line about the water fountain -> "This is amazing!" not only from Alice irt the Creel house but also from Mike irt Will's painting on their way to save El from NINA. Again, these are just a few of MANY instances), makeup doubling with the bloodshot eyes, and my beloved: set/prop doubling.

I love that beautiful framing on the nearly-identical square clocks. I have so much to say about that clock, but specifically:

The clocks being set 9 minutes apart, which happens to be the exact length of time from the end of Vecna's voiceover in 4.07 to the start of the fight sequence in 4.07 (aka the length of One's frozen-clock monologue).

Not only that, but the clock isn't even right. It says it's 3:55, but it's definitely not 3:55 AM (see: movie theater scene) but it's also not 3:55 PM:

(And why do we have a clock in an elevator anyway? That's the real question. That thang only exists to deliver subtext, baby! It exists to connect the two scenes further!)

Anyway, as you all likely noticed, this site mostly deals in psychedelics, stimulants, and empathogens.

link

Hell, you could even pull One's bit on the ecosystem into it, since he's describing connections between beings that are being disturbed/destroyed by humanity.

Anyway, the site tends to center specifically on DMT and MDMA...so let's talk about those:

MDMA & DMT An aside: Interesting to me that psychosis here can be counteracted with sedatives. Makes me wonder if whatever happened in 1979 could have been halted if they'd just tranq'd One. Hm.

First off: Did I read that right? Piggy-backing? Damn, son. 4.09, The Piggyback, is pictured in that paragraph. So is Brenner's candy bit with the children -> "candy flipping" vs LSD use in Brenner's lab.

Second: Ah, how nice. Intravenous/injectable. Just like how El is constantly being shot up with...something...to enter NINA.

Now, nearly all psychedelics can induce psychosis, but especially so if they're combined with other psychoactive substances and/or if the user has a history of psychosis (either themselves or in their family).

However, MDMA specifically has been posited as a treatment for PTSD and retrograde/traumagenic amnesia:

link Like...wow. Okay, I guess!

tl;dr: One seems to have been tripping fucking balls during the monologue. Literally every fucking version of him. El likely is as well. Funny how that works. Was any of that real? [smash cut to the way blood pours down the walls and the dead children dance around in the VR version of NINA] And either way, Henry in TFS isn't far behind with his hallucinogenic moments.

The connection? Whatever the hell is going on in Hawkins Labs...and symptoms of drug use.

I was not expecting to get this much out of a single rabbit hole. But...that's life with this show, isn't it? And this is only Part 1.

2. The Fucking Website...#2 (Futurism.com)

The guy who made that original post that TFS lifted the blurb from (Jordan Lejuwaan) runs a couple different websites. The most interesting one is Futurism, which is basically an online version of the Weekly Watcher:

It won't let me filter by date, but it seems to have been founded in 2017, stemming from an infographic subreddit. (Now, it says it's a trustworthy news source, and maybe it is, but... Do your own assessment of that. I'm not your mother, yknow?)

Jordan Lejuwaan was also involved in something far more interesting irt Stranger Things...

3. Zero Space

Jordan co-founded an immersive, interactive theater experience called ZeroSpace back in 2018. As we all know, TFS was just in the beginning phase of its creation around this time.

So...This was like a brick to the skull:

"Alice in Wonderland" (don't get me started: rabbit fuckery, DRUGS!!!!!, clocks/being later, Alice Creel, Fringe connections (Through The Looking Glass and What Walter Found There being the episode about the pocket universe where 20 years passed in 5 days...and also wherein we find out about him hiding away an Observer child that he will later time travel with to save the world from the Observer takeover...erasing himself from time/the timeline by doing so...there is SO much) not to mention the "one pill makes you larger/smaller" vs teen El and baby El...it's too much to try and fit in this post), "ALIENS AND LASERS", "stretch the perceived reality of the sense", "art, actors and your own mind converge to prompt MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS" (which was a common complaint about TFS: it leaves people with more questions than answers).

("See you on the other side" being an in-show line from Henry in the lab to Patty in the void, but this image is ripped directly from the same promo video that the High Existence blurb appears in.)

Here's a little taste of what ZeroSpace is like, but I suggest going to the actual page to see it in action:

It's heavily heavily reminiscent of TFS, even just in the content warnings...

Not to mention the actual show content SFX:

However, the goal of TFS isn't to stretch our senses. We're just watching. We are not the volunteer seeing the other side.

For most of the show, that person is Henry (except the first 5 mins, when it's Cptn. Brenner and his crew literally experiencing the other side). Henry is doing the experiencing. He's the one breaking the fourth wall by picking at/breaking the sets, the one running through the audience and leaving out the theater doors (only to end up right back on stage just like El in the Rainbow Room in 4.05).

With each bit of info I find out adjacent to the play, the more convinced I am that this is some secret third boy's experience in a NINA-like simulation.

Overall—

a) TFS most likely isn't wholly real, and it seems very likely that it's the same kind of simulation as NINA.

b) El was probably drugged up with some kind of empathogenic psychedelic going into NINA, likely with the goal of setting her up to form emotional connections quickly and deeply only to rip that deep connection away in order to bolster her abilities.

c) NINA is not, then, wholly based in truth. Parts of NINA (staring at the bullying from 002-005) may have been generated from El's memories of the outside world.

d) With NINA and TFS seeming so similar, I wouldn't be shocked if parts of it are just one massive empathogen trip (staring at how quickly Henry and Patty bond, similarly to how quickly Henry and El bond in NINA).

e) Whoever is in NINA with teen El is also tripping balls, most likely, and may have gone off the rails in that regard. However, that's in a simulation...hard to assign guilt or blame for things done in a fictional/unreal world.

f) Whoever was with baby El in 1979 may have been in a similar situation "moving chess pieces"-style instead. Read: drugged in order to put him in a situation where he would bolster El's latent abilities...and it went wrong (see also: Walter Bishop's orchestrated/fake massacre meant to bolster Olivia's latent abilities.)

g) Richard Brenner having been the head of narcotics makes me question which Brenner we're seeing at any given time: Martin, or Richard?

[aspaceformbf]

70% of Yn's in the fandom: I turned my Peter into a true heartless psychopath equal or worse than his mother because I like violence, chaos and because it makes sense being the villain of his own work.

19% of Yn's in the fandom: My Peter is still what he was in his original essence. Although unfortunately he is currently just a shadow of what he once was, he is still my sweet prince and true love who sees me as an equal but treats me like a deity.

Me, the 1% of the fandom: I proceed to turn my Peter into an anime girl with a skirt and bows demanding that he call me Senpai.

All the Peter's in the multiverse: Darling Stopp!!! 😫

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

I know that Peters will do whatever their YN wants (at least the ones with a more Tumblr-oriented psyche and personality). But I can't help but think that some Peters would either feel ashamed of the things they have to do for their darlings (and other Peters from the multiverse would blatantly make fun of their multiversal variants) or there would be Peters saying something like: "If I have to dress like an anime schoolgirl, I'LL BECOME AN ANIME SCHOOLGIRL AND BE THE BEST!"

What's your opinion on this?

I firmly believe that YB Game doesn't give a damn about YN's wishes (unless they go according to his ideals). But in my opinion there are two versions of Tumblr Peter: One that no matter how crazy his love is and can make him put aside some of his ideals, there are limits that he will NEVER cross and another version that is SO desperate for YN's love (and sees him more as a deity) that even if it costs him in the end, he would cross limits beyond what he himself thought if it were to have some shred of his Darling's approval.

I don't think Tumblr YB will have a problem dressing up as an anime girl in a skirt for you.

If it makes you happy and it makes you like him more, then he's more than happy to do it.

If the idea is new to him, he might be a bit embarrassed at first but he will do it for you soon enough. Though if he is as obsessed with you as the Tumblr describes, I don't think he will actually have a problem dressing up as you prefer by the time he sees you.

I definitely see him blushing, shaking and sweating, but it's probably more because of how overwhelmed, excited and nervous he is that you finally see him.

That won't stop him from showering you with hugs and kisses of course, unless you tell him to stop.

---

For the last part, I see Tumblr YB leaning to the second option, where he really is willing to do anything for you.

His Tumblr version mentions that he would gladly sell his organs for you and is even willing to burn an orphanage down if you ask.

There's even a post where he offered to cut his dick off because OP said they were lesbian. This went viral several times due to how insensitive it was, but to me it shows he would gladly throw away his own masculinity for your affection.

I don't think his determination is limited to just "violent actions", it's just that the violent examples are like these obvious and extreme points to get his point across.

If he's willing to burn an orphanage down but is not willing to cosplay as an anime girl for you, that's just toxic masculinity.

Or someone who just wants an excuse to be violent, instead of someone who genuinely means they would do anything for you.

---

Another point is that he is a switch. He is happy to be top or bottom, dominant or submissive.

There's plenty of post where he outright shows enthusiasm about acting like a dog, or the idea of YN dominating him, pegging him, pinning him down etc.

I don't think stuff like dressing as an anime girl is that far off from this.

---

There are certain things he absolutely loathes- like his teen goth phase, his sister or the idea of sharing you with someone.

For the goth phase, if you insist enough he will talk to you about it. It's painful for him to remember but he won't lash out at you for insisting. This won't affect how much he loves you.

As for sharing you as in threesomes or a poly relationship.. they're strict nos for him by default. But if you really, really beg him.. he might try. That's the thing. He will TRY.

It still won't change how much he loves you but.. the other person will probably drive him up the wall and he will probably snap and kill them. He HATES sharing.

If you insist he will TRY, but he will probably snap and lash out at the other person. He won't lash out at you. The third (or fourth, fifth, etc) will be the one facing his wrath. Even if you insist he doesn't, that won't stop him.

For Sarah's case, my take is that if you show any kind of interest in her, he will just kill her, straight up. One moment you're talking to her, the next she's just fucking dead.

---

(A compilation of his reaction to being forced into threesomes might be more appropriate for this.

But for now I do have a compilation of his reaction to YN cheating on him.

It's not the same but it still shows that he gets mad at other people but doesn't lash out at you, even if you're the one who is doing the bad or abusive thing.)

---

As for the multiverse.. the Tumblr did press that if any YB were to be put in the same place, they would kill each other.

I think every YB just kinda hate each other by default.

If they knew that others exist, but can't kill them.. it makes sense to me that they would look down on each other.

They will probably brutally roast the other version of them if another YB came up in a conversation.

Talk about self loathing, amiright-

[geminialchemist]

More Shadow of the Erdtree discussion, because I seriously cannot shut up about it.

God damn, my posts must make it seem like I loathe this dlc, when it’s one of the best I’ve played in my life. Screw this just being a good DLC, this was an amazing Fromsoft GAME with the title of DLC attached to it.

With that said… I still have complaints to air, because I’m a whiner baby, and I find it easier to construct my thoughts around my criticism of things rather than my praise for them.

I’ve seen the idea floating around that some people think that some other people don’t care for the ending because they don’t like that Fromsoft made Miquella a villain. I’d like to utterly dash that idea. I don’t dislike that they made him a villain, I dislike that they made him a bad villain.

What’s Miquella’s motivation? We know his end goal. Become a god, make the world a compassionate place via brainwashing. We know how he put his plans into motion, convoluted and brow raising as the writing choices for that was. But what is his reason for doing it?

Messmer’s motivations, we know. He is, at least outwardly, a brutal tyrant. He leads a genocidal crusade against the Hornsent and any Tarnished he crosses paths with. We also know his motivation. To take the blame off of his mother for these actions. He doesn’t particularly like being so brutal, but has become the figurehead for the worst actions of his country, and has faced a willing exile with his loyal followers to shift the blame way from his mother, who he loves and cherishes, even after she has abandoned him to his fate. His villainy is his complacency in his mother’s conquests. This actually makes him a sympathetic antagonist, which is why everyone paints him as a soft boy in need of hugs. I’m simplifying this a lot, because outside of no plot for Melina, I have no major issues with Messmer’s side of the story in this DLC, it’s good stuff, great writing.

What’s Miq’s motivation? What made him wake up one day and decide he was going to be a god, and use mind control to pacify the entire world? I realized as I was theory crafting that I… don’t really know? I certainly have headcanon and ideas, I just can’t remember it ever being stated in canon. Just that he wants to do it. Did I miss something? I can’t have missed something, could I?

Was he evil all along? Is he doing this to control everyone just for laughs? Is he a broken person, who witnessed the horrors of war during the Shattering, unable and unwilling to fight due to his body and pacifism, showing up after battles to tend to the wounded but knowing that for every living person he found, a hundred more were corpses, and that for every one he did manage to save he was forced to leave a dozen others to die in agony and so decided to end the cycle of violence by any means necessary?

Did he simply want power and a complacent population? Did he want to fix all of his mommy’s mistakes(no, couldn’t be that one, fans would have woobified him to the same level as Messmer)? Or was it overpowering grief that drove him to tear his too-soft heart out and cast it aside? We don’t even know! Or at least I don’t. I’ve scoured the wiki’s for NPC dialogue, and item descriptions, but unfortunately those are still incomplete, and are missing huge chunks. I’m in the middle of my second run of the dlc, too, but haven’t come across anything yet.

Can anyone tell me what I’m missing, if I did miss something? Or is this just another example of the second half of Miquella’s questline being terribly written? If I did miss something, let me know, and make sure to shame me and call me an idiot, it’s the only way I’ll ever learn!

EDIT: Thanks so much for giving me some answers! I’ll go look more into Ymir’s dialogue, I’m curious to if reversing Marika’s Sin is his motivation, or just another endgame goal to add to the pile to ensure “World Peace(tm).” For instance, Hornsent still doesn’t trust or accept anyone in the group for what Marika did, even under Miq’s charm, so fixing that could make his charm sink in easier for the Hornsent population? I’ll go check it out in my NG+ run, I actually haven’t spoken to Ymir yet in that run.

[serendertothesquad]

Seren's Studies: Odd Squad UK -- "Part of the Furniture" Episode Followup, Part 2

Orli's Day: Mk. II shall continue! Don't pop those limbs off being pulled every which way, Orli.

Below the break.

That's the world's most fake plane. Not even an Odd Squad seal on it, so clearly Orwell didn't take OddAir.

Ha...wait, hold up, he's a PILOT???

Since when?! What are his qualifications?! Is he in pilot school? WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING AND WHY WILL WE NOT GET AN EXPLANATION FOR THIS.

Okay, these bits with Ozzie and Terry are actually pretty funny. The man's teaching the kid how to be aggressive, bless his heart.

And Ozzie...Ozzie is trying. He is trying very hard. Cut him some slack.

See? He's trying! He's bound by PBS Kids S&P, but he's trying his best!! Good for him!!!

I just let out the most deflated and saddest moan I've ever let out since Season 3 pulled that shit with "Ahead of the Times". And that had Olaf explicitly be mentioned, whereas I...don't have high hopes for this one.

Oh!! Oh, but it's unique because it involves seconds, ooooooh- shut. Just shut. This is not spicing things up any. SHUTTY-UPPY.

"Oh. Maybe it's fine?"

NO YOU I D I O T THE ROOM IS STILL RED ARE YOU C O L O R B L I N D .

Now, see, if she were green, she'd be dead.

And I am very happy I got to make that reference twice in recent memory.

Putting aside the reused spider-cat animation: if they freak out over this, never let 'em step foot in Precinct 13579. God forbid.

(On a side note: Asha really should have re-recorded her "I should say no more often" line. Tonally, it sounds too scripted.)

*violent coughing*

I'm sorry, but I'm finding it hilarious that there exists a gadget that apparently does agents' jobs for them. Like, you could base the entire fucking franchise around this one gadget. It removes any oddness? Has unlimited ammo? Hell of a Mary Sue!

God...Gemma, honey, what are you smoking?

You can hear the record scratching from where you're sitting. It's like Orli brought a gun to the world's craziest rave.

Or, for a more kid-friendly comparison, it's like that "girls at a party looking at you like you're gross" meme image.

"as usual" W-what??? TF do you mean "as usual"??? You've been fitting in since at LEAST the fourth episode, Orli, and you're pretty much part of the precinct's body. There is no "as usual" AND YOU DAMN WELL KNOW IT.

Having a villain deliver this message is less impactful than when Mr. Sides delivered the falsehood that "your group has no leader" in "Odd Squad in the Shadows".

Only here, it's even stupider. There's still a falsehood, it's just a stupid lesson for being this far into the season. At least "Shadows" was early on, y'know?

Why does someone not know how to put a coaster down after they've poured some TEA???

DISGUSTANG!!

nice agent, even nicer agent

Yep, PBS Kids execs have their dirty-ass hands all over this and I'm about to go RIP UP A FUCKING FENCE, TEAR UP THE YARD, AND GET A DOG TO SHIT ON IT.

Fuck you, genuinely. You tainted something good. Go to hell.

And your credits for this episode. Looks like Celestia's pet bird made an appearance in here...somewhere.

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

Overall, this was a swing and a miss for Gemma. It's basically taking the plot of "Olympia's Day" and sapping out what made it fun -- not just the wild hallucinations and the sanity slippage we saw along the way, but also replacing the character in question with one that has no motive in life. And that's not even getting into the math lesson torn from such episodes as "6:00 to 6:05" and twisted to include seconds like that means anything of merit in terms of uniqueness. It does not. Oh yes, and the whole "nice agent. not-nice agent" thing. It's watered-down preschool stuff. "Good cop bad cop" would have done fine and gotten past censors just like it did all those years ago. It being British, "constable" would have been a better-suited term. "Good constable, bad constable" would have worked. (Likewise, a slang term could have been used -- "bobby" is apparently popular.)

So yeah. No. Throwing this one in the trash too. Sorry, Gemma, but you need to try harder.

Next up will be "The Odd Ness Monster", which I hear is actually pretty good. At this point I'm at the whim of the fandom when it comes to "is this episode good or not?" I don't think I can trust myself to not keep getting disappointed like this.

Seren out!

[black-mask-babyyy]

Ok I’ve had like 24 hours to digest the ending of P3 so I’m here to dump my thoughts. Full disclosure this is going to have a ton of spoilers for Persona 3 Reload!!

The party members were good, I didn’t like them as much as 5 but I do prefer them over 4.

I was kind of annoyed to learn that Chidori could be saved, because the whole thing is easy to miss. I also think the whole idea of her coming back alive and not remembering anything about the Dark Hour or her persona is kind of… lame. It’s just a very convenient way to wrap up her storyline. I did like Junpei’s growth, though, and she obviously contributes to that. Their personas merging when she dies is really… bittersweet.

Speaking of character deaths… Shinjiro??? Hello??? Absolute shock, I was not expecting to lose a party member. Can’t believe they got me to instantly ship Shinjiro and Akihiko just to have Shinji die in Aki’s arms.

And bringing up both Chidori and Shinjiro’s death, let’s talk about Strega. Jin is overall pretty plain, I don’t have much to say to him either way. Takaya, on the other hand, I have so much to say. Full disclosure, I started calling him “Jesus” as soon as I saw him, which I mean… makes sense with the theme of the game. He’s a good, creepy, culty villain and he does it well. My only issue with him (aside from like, obviously disliking him because he’s the villain and a murderer and stuff), is his design. I absolutely hate that he is always shirtless, it is super uncomfortable and weird (which is presumably the point, but still it gives me the ick).

I enjoyed most of the social links, overall. I didn’t really like Kenji and his whole dating a teacher thing, but his link did get better once he was dumped.

I was also kind of irked by Nozomi because his character and the writing is… pretty fat-shamey, but my main problem was the way his storyline feels incomplete. We learn he was in a cult but don’t ever really learn directly what they were about.

I maxed out all but two social links. Chihiro was left at rank 9 and Kazushi at rank 6. I consider that a pretty solid attempt at maxing for a first run.

I knew this going in (one of the few things I knew about the game before playing) that the male party members did not have social links. It’s still a bummer though, because I would have liked to spend more time with them and see them developed outside of the main plot.

And speaking of main plot. I did actually like the pseudo-science involved in the Dark Hour’s creation, I thought it was kind of neat to have a sort-of explanation for how the world with shadows came about (at least for this game).

The way I lost my mind when it was revealed that Ryoji was death… damn. It was a little predictable, because something was obviously weird with him but I was not expecting it to be that weird!

The whole end of the world final showdown is pretty standard JRPG stuff, so I don’t really have much to say on that plot point, but I have to admit I don’t really like the ending.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the idea of the protagonist sacrificing themselves is fine, even if it’s emotionally charged, I respect that as an ending. I’m more irked by the idea that the protagonist basically fought to survive a few months in order to fulfill his promise to meet the team on the school roof, just to die right before they all arrive (excluding Aigis). It feels like the ending doesn’t really give closure, to see SEES happy together after their success or alternatively have them grapple with the loss of their leader and friend.

Overall, I thought the gameplay was fun. Theurgy adds an extra little boost to your character’s strengths which was nice and helpful in speeding up some of the full moon boss battles (and cheesing the Reaper). People (and cats) getting lost in Tartarus adds an extra reason to explore Tartarus along with Elizabeth’s requests, making extra trips to Tartarus worth doing.

The music is fantastic, of course. Bangers all around, and I don’t think this needs any additional explanation.

So here’s my final thoughts/stats for the time being—I’ll be back to 100% it soon:

Persona 3 Reload

Achievement Progress: 85%

Play Time: 85:15

Rating: 8/10

Favorite Song(s): Master of Shadow, Mass Destruction, Burn My Dread - Last Battle

Favorite Character(s): Yuko, Ryoji, Mitsuru, Shinjiro, Koromaru

[ultrvmonogamy]

Hi, I hope you're doing okay despite how crazy the anons are lately. If it does get too much for a moment you could always disable anon asks, these kind of people usually don't dare to lie upright when it leads back to them.

As an aside, when you're a woman in kink spaces, especially a younger one (I'd say 18 to 20), you realise just how many predators there are. I'm not even super active and I had to block hundreds of them. It's vile. I once threw up when I caught someone I casually talked to interacting sexually with minors.

It's extremely gross that such a real issue is twisted and manipulated to bring harassment to someone who, as far as I know (social media oblige, we don't know each other), has never done this type of things. There's not even a screenshot of the very specific thing they accuse you of. They only base themselves on the posts that involve kinks that many sane people share and can enjoy healthily between consenting adults.

Whether they believe you actually did this based on nothing or if they're a disgusting troll, they fucking suck. I hope they'll be ashamed of themselves. Instrumentalizing crimes this way is scum behaviour. It's a spit in the face to all the victims as well.

I hope everything will improve from there for you.

(also you don't have to answer or post that. I just wanted to offer a bit of support.)

hi, thank you, i am doing not only okay but quite well at this point, which i attribute in large part to the many kind folk such as urself who've reached out w support publicly, privately, anonymously, and otherwise.

u are undoubtedly right abt ppl not being so inclined to lie without hiding in the shadows, and i appreciate your suggestion but am not going to turn off anon (at least not rn). i'm not concerned abt what stupid ppl say to me directly, and i do appreciate the anonymous support. the good stuff is still good, and the bad stuff is potentially supportive evidence or clues to ppl's identities n motives.

hundreds?? holy hell that's awful. i knew it was bad but evidently haven't quite grokked the scope of it. i'm v sry u've had to deal w that. vile sounds like quite the appropriate (if insufficient) word.

there cannot be screenshots of things that didn't happen (at least not real ones which, well, the way things r going who knows what surprises might lie ahead), but it turns out that for many ppl these days it's a matter of guilty until proven innocent--or, if not guilty, punished and ostracized just in case. "someone told me that someone said that someone knows he did this thing" is somehow all that's required. unfortunately, as the claims diversify there's not a whole lot i can do towards the end of proving what i haven't done, but i know damn well where my intentions are and have been, and i know what i find appealing vs what i find repulsive. and i find it extremely disingenuous that not a single person making claims abt me has been willing to have a direct conversation w me abt what exactly they believe i've done even though i've repeatedly invited that in good faith.

yeah, i agree. i'm p sure that i said in one of my recent responses that the ppl doing this are either willfully malicious or r being incredibly irresponsible and are in reality making themselves complicit in the acts they claim to oppose. i cannot emphasize the extent to which i agree that it's a spit in the face of actual victims. i know this firsthand.

thank u bestie. i think it's probably all making me better at maintaining my own center n shrugging off even the most disgusting ridicule. and there's no question it's taught me a lot abt ppl, which is especially valuable to me bc socially i am a v v late bloomer. i'd prefer for this to all go away ofc, but i expect i'll be dealing w fragments of it for quite a while. kinda like being glitter bombed only different :)

(i wanted to respond bc i'm grateful for your very thoughtful, supportive, and sane message. you're good ppl and deserve to know you're effort is deeply appreciated.)

[kafkaoftherubble]

突然觉得...好像很好玩那样？

// It actually does seem kinda exciting!

Seeing Crow's beloved Mononoke successfully getting a zine going is so swell! Really reminded me of that one time when a handful of people in the fandom were floating the idea of making a To Your Eternity zine.

I mean, for that one, I can at least contribute something in terms of content!

Sorta!

Kinda.

Maybe...?

Look, my confidence is not too high lately and it's still recovering, okay? Damn, I miss my yellow font. These quiet asides being visible just ain't right. If Tumblr wants to take away my yellow font, at least give me a spoiler tag function à la Discord.

Nukes has been nursing some really amazing fanfic ideas lately, which made me think it could get its debut in the zine or something. It would be so fucking cool (source: my imagination)!!! And I'm sure π could whip something up in both the writing and art department, too. AND—

Honestly? I doubt we're lacking in the art + writing department. Maybe I don't need to pitch in for the content, after all. Which is a relief, I guess, because bruh what can I even contribute

I mean, surely we can easily pass an interest check, right? TYE is not that small a circle! It's just smaller apropos of, I don't know, stuff of Jujutsu Kaisen's status. But there are quite a few of us; surely it's enough to get the train moving.

Hmm... It's the logistics and management that will be the problem, you say?

Agree. I recall Nova's got experience in this sorta thing, but who else is interested in taking up tiring positions like these? There ain't no way one manager is enough. And she seems busy with her life as it is.

M-Me? But I'm a total greenhorn! I don't even know what the fuck are zines until recently! And I have only learned more about it because I answered that Interest Check questionnaire for that Mononoke fanzine and read all of its items to make inferences. Bruh!

Hmm. Maybe the timing is not completely right. Maybe one should pick a time when most people might be a bit freer/less hectic with real-life shit like school and college. So, uh, during the summer? It's always summer here...

But according to the Mononoke zine's uber-transparent timeline projection, producing a zine actually takes quite a lot of months! Is the team playing it safe, or overextending the time it actually needs? I have no idea.

Hmm. Or shall we only suggest this idea in earnest when Season 3 is announced in more definite terms? To drum up the excitement for the dawn of a new era in the story, ya know? And renewed interest from the anime-only gang could mean more candidates for both content creation and manning the logistics team.

And then the zine preferably gets published right around the time Season 3 is out. Consolidate To Your Eternity food into one period! Tasty.

I don't know what Future Lyns will think, but this present one certainly thinks if this zine is a go, I'd love to help out with the logistics. I love statecraft watching people handle things from the shadow and doing it myself. And I can always ask Crow for advice. She's so charmed by my rizz, there's no way she would ignore me! Right?

...Right?

Either way! The experience will certainly be very intriguing!

It's not one of my New Year's Resolutions at all, though. Damn. Now we don't have the satisfaction of crossing it out on A List Of Some Kind.

[shallowseeker]

Hey Shal, I have a question about your family diner meta. Mad respect, but in the Leviathan arc Biggerson's is made out to be a bad thing. I was wondering if you have any thoughts on that, since in the Cas tablet meta where Naomi attacks Cas, you talk about Biggerson's being bigger sons -> better than their fathers because of their bigger hearts is a good thing? Anyway, I'm hoping this comes across as a friendly question!

I tend to shy away from writing about some stuff from that season, because a lot of it seems very era-attenuated. Example: how an average librarian is referred to as "Chubby" and her beau as "Chub-chaser" in Repo Man. In general some of the mean despair over "fat people" in this season comes off Hollywood-seedy and thoughtless, but it's soooo of the times.

For a little while in this era, the documentary SuperSize Me reigned supreme in every bit of small-talk and in every classroom. Jessica Simpson was a frequent target of weight-shaming, including this hugely publicized fiasco from 2009, when she looked like a walking dream BTW.

In this way, SPN is like a time capsule. (Like how, if you were alive at the time during post-"war on terror," Torture was the big topic in every current events class, verging on a buzz word. This obsession with torture looms larger in early-mid SPN because ot it.)

///

Yes, Biggerson's is a BIG motif in season 7, and with negative connotations. It's a nod to SuperSize Me. It's especially damning for the punching-down attitudes in Hollywood.

I want to point out that although the name is cheeky, Biggerson's wasn't even inherently bad in-world.

The Leviathan was a rotten supplier to this family chain industry, dosing its food with additives, which mirrors a lot of the real-world chatter about trans-fats, partially hydrogenated oil, etc. People were working really hard to get them banned!

When you get down to it, the people inside Biggerson's were being actively preyed upon under the guise of family together-time.

///

What I think... I want to carefully pivot to, maybe...

is the dark side of humanity and family, that of consumerism and exploitation.

I think overall that the family diner itself is still a positive motif, but as with every motif, there's a shadow side--the uncharitable side, a side that can be carried to extremes.

And the "shadow self" of the family diner motif is excess and greed exploiting the family by ravaging its most basic requirement to survive: shelter and nourishment.

They are making humans into livestock.

This was also a rampant idea in the 2000s: about selectively breeding farm animals so that they get dumber and dumber, until they're easy to subjugate for meat, assembly-line style.

I think they briefly touch on this again in season 12...with the Moloch monster and family business of meat packaging.

Anyway, SPN was trying to loop this idea in, too.

///

So, yes. BIG erson's. Bigger Sons. Etc. Etc.

You want your kids to be better than you, with "bigger hearts" and more kindness. But bigger and stronger can have a heck of a downside, too.

But at its heart, the family diner also represents communion and community. It is, after all, the weak, vulnerable human family that Cas wants to protect in season 8.

It's both things at once.

(ASIDE//

And Cas becomes the ideal/idea/motif of the always-working dad/husband who wants to provide for you but doesn't indulge in happiness or nourishment for himself. At least... not until the family is safe/cared for.)

///

ASIDE 2//

Flagrant consumerism is a big part of Nephilim concept, too, and that's a very ancient story.

Theirs was an extensive appetite that so drained the world they had to be eradicated to save the world. In a very real symbolic sense, We are the Nephilim. (On the nose maybe, but we are empire: too tall, too strong, too wasteful, war-mongering, dominating etc. etc.)

And my point is, I think humans have always been aware of the tension and war that comes with the competition for finite resources. Resource-hogs. It's not just a modern, "American" concept.

In early days, our conceptualization of gods and demi-gods mimics the food chain. Ergo: If gods are above us, they're like other stronger animals...they want to eat us. Thus, sacrificing to them is a way to appease them. (Psychologically.)

Humanity and religion are historically oriented towards pooling our resources to survive. Many religions, even the big ones imho, are a clever family-extension devices, that's why it they’re so littered with parental components.

(It's used to bind people “under one roof” and funnel the resources appropriately.)

Certainly, that how Cults and Causes start; in meaningful ways they're all baby/early religions. And when enough time goes by, and the leaders die, etc etc...they devolve to myth and respectable religions proper.

The ultimate difference is just... time.

If angels are royal families, ancient knights-and-tribalism, then Leviathan were supreme capitalism.

It worked well in theory, even when the execution was sometimes lacking to too campy to get the satire across. Especially coming from, you know, Hollywood. And Biggerson's is a warped shadow of that appetite symbol.

[grazhir]

HL - Sebastian (again)

Some thoughts.

The main quests make us complicit in his actions, whether we learn the unforgivables or not. To an extent I can live with this due to the fact that PC is fresh off the train deadly carriage ride from London and may not have had many friends due to the late-blooming deal. I dunno. (Or at least, not magical friends, because she recognizes literally no student at Hogwarts.)

Sebastian is just a bit cocky, but generally personable at the beginning. No big deal. He's fifteen (maybe sixteen, depending on what month he was born in), and I expect that kind of shit from a teen. The "you got lucky" vibe or the "I could have done that (better than you)" thing he has going.

So we're complicit, because we literally have no choice, even if we side with Ominis every time (I do) and call Sebastian out on his shit (like the cruelty he shows the PC at times).

I can even understand—again, knowing that these people are teenagers—why the PC isn't shouting certain things down (such as Isadora can remove pain, so you can too, why the fuck aren't you helping Anne, when Sebastian is misunderstanding the situation) and the PC unhappily and gravely nodding at the end of the scene.

Spoiler alert: I'm muttering obscenities at the screen at the sheer idiocy involved in all this. And the lack of logic (I know, I know, we're dealing with wixen, who do not historically have even a nodding acquaintance with logic and such), or logical arguments.

In the end (first run) I chose not to turn him in. I as the PC am fucking complicit, forced to be, and I am as the PC a charming, polite, and probably too kind, mass-murdering psycho (what with the hundreds, possibly thousands of humans, goblins, and beasts I've slaughtered over the course of the game). I can't exactly judge without calling the Hypocrisy Police down on me.

[But let's be real. Punting wixen off a cliff is the equivalent of Skyrim's Fus Ro Dah, and hilarious every damn time.]

Solomon was abusive, should never have been guardian to children, clearly needed a therapist, and tried to kill me with no proof I'd ever done anything wrong (aside, apparently, from killing those goblins who were trying to raze Feldcroft to the ground, when really I should have offered tea and nibbles and talked things through while being decapitated or my intestines ripped out).

[Seriously, Solomon's comments during that scene were so out of touch with reality it was awful.]

So the man was an utter dick in the end and I'm not sorry he's dead. It's just the way it was done, and the clear evidence throughout Sebastian's storyline that he was losing his mind over this Dark Arts stuff and his obsession with curing Anne that using unforgivables was somehow "instinct" and not "habit".

Is any of it believable? Yeah, mostly, again taking age into account.

Except for the part where none of these hard-core Dark wixen are using unforgivables. I guess because they want us to suffer as we die? Except, that is why Crucio exists? Huh, I'm suddenly confused.

[Except, you know, like Rookwood (and maybe Harlow? I can't remember), who does, but only for the dramatic "we read about/saw this at the conclusion of the TWT between Harry and Voldemort, so let's do it again and assume every player will assume we all have matching, twin/triplet cores"?]

What truly baffles me is this:

Why the hell does everyone have such a hard-on for Sebastian? We have no proof that he'll reform, that he'll stop this obsession, if we fail to turn him in. He knows Ominis' thoughts on the Dark Arts and more importantly why, and Sebastian keeps convincing him (or getting the PC to do so) to let it slide, what he's doing.

For all we know he'll immediately fuck off after OWLs to hunt both for a cure and what deep shadow Anne went off to hide in, not having learned a damn thing, because he'd rationalize what he's done up until now.

He's like the MCU version of Steve Rogers. And I loathe Rogers. I don't loathe Sebastian, but he's in the same zip code.

Will he listen for once?

Too little information from Sebastian, not enough proof.

Kudos to Anne for having enough of this shit and destroying the book (now that the artifact is already destroyed). And I can take that as both "I'm done with this" and "this is the polar opposite of sanity" as well as "revenge for murdering our really not so great uncle" and "without this maybe you'll come to your senses, along with me leaving".

No, in the end, I care way more about Ominis and Anne than I do Sebastian, and I somewhat resent that both the PC and Ominis (and even Anne) are dragged down this particular dark path, treated poorly, and forced to be complicit.

That said? The whole game is a theme of pain, obsession, failure to listen, mental issues, and lies. With whimsy. Often very amusing whimsy.

I also wonder exactly where Sebastian will be staying during the holidays, because I shudder to think he'd be at the Gaunt home with Ominis. And Ominis now has no decent-ish place to stay (as in, not with his actual family), and Anne? Cursed, random bouts of agonizing pain, and I don't even know where she would go and how she'd survive.

I'm not saying the whole questline is bad, because it's certainly cause for plenty of discussion, and it was interesting. (I don't necessarily place it on a higher level than Natsai and Poppy, though.) It definitely invoked feelings in me (empathy, frustration, anger, resentment, and hurt, so mostly negative), which means someone did something right in crafting it.

That said, part two? I hope the PC becomes besties with Ominis and helps him in a more sane way, even if it's only a shoulder to cry on at what whackjobs his family members are.

[rex101111]

Dunno why I haven't asked already (maybe I did and forgot) but if you had to pick which strive themes are your favorites and least favorites what would you go with? If you don't want to do the whole listing then maybe just a couple of standouts? I'd like to hear your opinion on stuff!

hey izzy i used this ask as an excuse to just listen to all the Strive themes for the first time in a while. So here's every character theme and my thoughts:

Find Your One Way: for the longest time I thought it was "own way" but whatever. Okay so this is where I put my cards on the table and say that Strive's overall kind of metal is kinda not my thing. Or at least it took a while for me to click with it since I still use the Rev2 soundtrack as a workout mix so I kinda have a bias. As such I think this song is fine but Give Me A Break is peak Sol so it just sounds to me like its trying to reach that same level and it. uh, doesn't for me. still cool though.

The Roar Of The Spark: and in a complete 180 from the previous song THIS ONE FUCKING ROCKS. Christian Hair Metal, fucking wonderful. From that keyboard intro, to that fucking sublime guitar solo, this one is so fucking good actually.

The Disaster Of Passion: In contrast to the metal (ironically enough) I adore Strive's "pop" themes. Every one of them makes me smile like a doopy dope. Seriously when May's trailer dropped I had "NONE. STOP. LOVE SONG!" on repeat in my head for like a month. So catchy. Really good drum work here also, underrated.

Out Of The Box: This song kinda passed me by honestly, so this was the first time I really sat down and listened to it all the way. Brit Rock can be hit or miss, but this is pretty fun! the Engrish is just bad enough that its really charming and the chill vibes fit Axl really well.

Play The Hero: You're saying this is the theme of a weeb? Never would have guessed. Okay real talk I fucking LOVE this one. Catchy, cheesy, uncomplicated Anime Butt Rock, if that doesn't describe Chipp Zanuff I don't know what does.

Armored-clad Faith: SOCIETY. YOUR SOCIETY. Okay meme-ing aside this one's great too. Gonna be honest though Bass Heavy Metal isn't really my cup of tea, but even despite that its still really catchy. Sometimes memes blind you to how good a song actually is. Chorus is the best part tho.

Alone Infection: To be honest this took a very long time to grow on me. Verging on Screamo didn't help it, and its honestly kinda weird. But hell, it did grow on me eventually. Not my favorite by any stretch but not bad.

Love the Subhuman Self: God what a banger and a half. If you don't sing along to the chorus there's something wrong with you. Also this is a song made in the current century that uses the phrase "bee's knees" in the wonderful way only people who don't speak English can manage. What a fucking miracle this song is, damn.

Let Me Carve Your Way: Bad news, horrible greasy shadow man has a pretty good theme he absolutely did not deserve. Tragic. Okay seriously this is pretty good, strong beat nice chorus and the end bit is nice contrast overall. Yeah its alright.

Necessary Discrepancy: Part of me still prefers Diva Of Despair, but this bangs so hard holy shit. From that weird ass electronic intro to the guitar and that climax, bro. Bro. Not my favorite but I'd say...third place.

Hellfire:

Ky:...Leo, I think you might be suffering with depression.

Leo: Depression!?!? What kind of nonsense are you spouting!?!? Can a guy with depression have a theme this rocking!?

Ky: Leo. Half of that song is you calling yourself a liar and hoping you die.

Seriously though another song I kinda slept on but its really good also can someone tie Leo to a chair and take him to a therapist? Thanks.

What do you fight for: Lesser than the sum of its parts. Like the chorus is good, the melody is nice, a few verses are cool. But its kind of a mess. There's a really nice solo, but it just kinda stuck a bit too early in the song for it to really built up to the climax properly. Crawl is better anyway.

Trigger: probably one of my least favorite, honestly. It just kinda meanders around without really coalesing into anything substantial and just like. refuses to pick up any momentum at all. it just changes itself up too often and its kinda tiring to listen to. Also the lyric "don't make a big deal out of me" is so ironic in hindsight when it turns out she contributed a big fat load of jack shit to the story mode of Strive. but that's a pile of meat that was once a horse I am kinda tired of beating so lets move on.

Rock Parade: MY FUCKING BOY IS DANCING AND IN LOVE. FUCKING LOOK AT HIM! God I love love love this one, so freaking good. It tells a story, its rocking, its catchy, and that that more gentle bit near the last third is so evocative. I always imagine him doing a fan dance during that part. Second favorite absolutely.

Requiem: Heavy Metal has always been I-No's signature sound and aesthetic, and mixing that with Alt Rock gives this one a pretty unique feel compared to her other themes. Midnight Carnival still stands on top as far as I-No themes go but this one ain't too shabby. Sick guitar solo, naturally.

Crawl: Intense, rocking, better than Nago's actual theme. Pretty gnarly boss theme.

The Kiss of Death: The only way to do good Industrial Metal is to go All In. And this song does that and then some. How the hell did this head banger get past me??? I'm genuinely baffled that a guy as big as Beef Dickinson managed to evade me for this long. Fuck yeah.

Perfection Can't Please Me: I really appreciate those call backs to Juno in this song since that one was one of my favorites in Xrd. Even with all my reservation with how the Aria plot got resolved I can't deny this song is a ton of fun. Though, hear me out, how fucking funny would it have been if they took Meet Again and remixed it into something this poppy?

Drift: My thoughts about this song are about the same as the thoughts I have about Happy Clappy himself. There are certainly things to like about this song, there are some really cool bits and riffs and the lyrics are cool, but it switches around so much its hard to really get attached to any one aspect of it. Like sometimes its really fun and bouncy, sometimes its rocking out, sometimes its pretentious because Chaos can't fucking help himself. I like it better than I did when it first came out, but still just kinda meh. The "Disney" bit still funny as all hell though.

Mirror of the World: Best song in the game. No. Zip! It is, no arguments will be accepted are entertained here. This song rocks, this song slaps, this song tells a story, not just the story Baiken is going through in Strive but her whole journey up till now. This song is soulful and harsh and beautiful and fucking everything. This isn't my Baiken Bias talking its just true don't argue with me just sit with me as we listen to Mirror of the World on loop for two hours and then You Will Understand.

Like a Weed, Naturally, as a Matter of Course: This song is just vibes honestly. A cool and smooth song about how just living for the sake of it is good enough, because if a weed can be why can't we? Also the pronouns getting changed every few words is like two steps away from screaming "THEY'RE NON-BINARY NOW PRETTY NEAT RIGHT?" and you know what that is neat.

The Town Inside Me: The most Song of all Trans. Seriously though this song is so much fucking fun. Probably my favorite "pop" theme of the three we have so far. Honestly it just feels like a complete, full song. Like you can just take this out of the game and play it on the radio it just feels like there's nothing missing here its awesome. Personally though, the thing I like the most in this song is how triumphant it is by the end. Bridget is out of the box and she ain't going back in, and she is glowing.

The Hourglass: His Xrd theme was honestly just okay so I was more open to give this one a fair shake. And honestly? Pretty fun! Nothing really major to say here except that it's peppy, positive, energetic, and has a nice strong sound to it. So, Sin, basically.

The Circle: I really, really wanted to like this song. I listened to it a few more times and I just. Can't connect with it. It's like Drift in that there's a lot of different things going on and also like Drift nothing really comes together here. I saw a post mocking people who don't like this song as people who only like music with wide appeal and to that person firstly fuck off with the gatekeeping and secondly just because a song has complex things going on or messes with the time signature doesn't automatically make it good and I just don't like this song because its a damn mess that barely coheres into something a bit more solid by the end but only just barely. Delilah deserves to be her own character if only so she can get a proper fucking song out of it.