#and its a mixed bag. and like i appreciate a lot of what hes trying to do in the first bit and retell her original origin which i love to

[themyscirah]

Just gonna put this here.

[etoiile]

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

starring itoshi sae!

synopsis: itoshi sae thinks valentines day is stupid. its a stupid holiday for stupid people to give each other stupidly overpriced chocolates and flowers. he's never done anything for any girl for valentines day, so why does he find himself wanting to do something for you?

requested by @unknownedvampire !

notes: a small drabble for the gals who don't have valentines </3 (me...)

"kaiser," sae grumbled, looking up from his lunch, "what now?"

kaiser plopped down across from him, ignoring sae's attitude. "so, what are you gonna do for y/n this year?"

sae glanced up at him and went back to his food. "her birthday isn't for months, stupid."

"no, for valentines day." kaiser grinned, trying to get into the mind of itoshi sae.

sae rolled his eyes, a flicker of annoyance crossing his face. "valentine's day is stupid. it's just stupid people making a stupid holiday for their stupid overpriced chocolates and flowers. i've never done anything for any girl on valentine's day."

kaiser chuckled, nudging him. "come on, if you don't make y/n happy on valentine's, someone else will..."

sae glared at him, but chose to stay silent.

but as the days passed, sae couldn't shake the thought that unlike him, y/n actually liked valentine's day. she would talk about it from time to time, her eyes lighting up with excitement. she talked about her love for all the hearts and all the pink, though she would quickly shut herself down, knowing how sae felt about it.

kaiser continued to pester sae about his valentine's day plans, saying something like, "someone's gonna snatch her up!" but sae remained resistant, dismissing the whole idea. however, a tiny seed of consideration had been planted in his mind. he found himself observing y/n from a distance, noticing the subtle joy that valentine's day seemed to bring her.

eventually, that seed grew into a reluctant acknowledgment. he realized that even if it meant participating in the holiday he deemed "stupid" and "lukewarm," it would be worth it to see y/n smile. so, with a hint of bashfulness and an uncharacteristic softness, sae found himself standing in front of y/n's locker on valentine's day, an equally uncharacteristically sweet, thoughtful gift in his bag.

"oh! sae? what's up?" you smiled, bumping into him after putting your stuff in your locker.

"i, uh, have something for you." he mumbled, a pink dusting on his cheeks.

you put your cheek out expectantly, knowing how this is how he usually tells you he'd like to kiss you, but you were surprised when he instead pulled out a small gift bag.

too stunned to speak, you slowly took the bag. "sae? what's this? i thought you didn't like valentine's?"

he rubbed his neck nervously. "yeah. but you do."

your heart swelled at his sweetness. "thank you, sae."

excitedly, you opened the bag to reveal one of those eternal roses and a small card.

a smile spread across your face as you pulled out the contents. sae shifted awkwardly, his usual gruff demeanor replaced by a rare (actually, not-so-rare nowadays, but he'd rather die than admit it) moment of bashfulness.

"uh, yeah. it's dumb, but... happy valentine's day, or whatever," he muttered, avoiding eye contact.

"it's not dumb," you replied sincerely, admiring the rose. "thank you, sae. this means a lot to me."

sae mumbled something incoherent, a mix of embarrassment and a faint hint of satisfaction that he made you happy. you decided not to tease him, appreciating the effort he had put into this seemingly small gesture.

"i love you!" you grinned, pressing a sweet kiss to his cheek.

his face flushed, matching the color of his hair. "i love you too."

sae was never much of a guy for valentines day, but for you and your sweet smiles and kisses, he thinks that maybe he can be.

extra:

you got home later that day and opened up the card sae wrote for you. inside, it read, "valentines day is stupid, but you aren't. i know i don't show it much, but i love you a lot. just like this rose, my love for you will never die. happy valentine's day, y/n. -sae"

(you texted him later teasing him about how cheesy he is.)

© 𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐈𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 please do not copy or repost my work on any other site. interactions appreciated! 🤍

[bloomries]

be my valentine!

includes : lucifer, mammon, leviathan, satan, asmodeus, beelzebub, and belphegor.

summary : it's valentine's day, how will you spend it with your beloved?

warnings : gn! reader. food mention. valentines is my absolute faaaavorite holiday i love love and hearts and pink and chocolate~

LUCIFER

Loves the classics~ gets you a giant bouquet of red roses and has made a special, private reservation just for you two.

Today is really just an excuse to spoil you, Lucifer is secretly happy he gets to do so! Even though he claims Valentine's Day is a little silly, he doesn't miss his chance to celebrate it.

Very romantic and sincere and sweet, ugh, he's perfect~

Taking your hand in his, his thumb gently rubs against your wrist as he smiles at you. "Thank you," He says, a softness in his tone that puts you on edge— it's not often he lets down his walls to be so vulnerable. "For staying with me, and putting up with those idiots... I love you."

"I love you, too." And Lucifer certainly wouldn't mind if you leaned across the table to meet him in a sweet kiss.

MAMMON

Stayed up all night to try and make you chocolates but somehow failed— however its very last minute and he can't run out so this is what you're getting!

He's actually super nervous about it, getting bashful as he hands you the chocolates.

"If ya don't like 'em you can just throw 'em out," Mammon says, clearing his throat as he avoids eye contact. Burnt chocolates mixed up in a bag, the molds not holding together well and crumbling but you didn't have the heart to throw them away, so stealing yourself, you grab a chocolate and eat it.

"It's delicious!" You cheer, and although you're clearly lying through your teeth, Mammon appreciates it nonetheless.

"I- I'll get you some real chocolates next time."

LEVIATHAN

Sends you a bunch of those valentine meme cards/posts and a lot of 'this is us' with cuddling cats and such.

Braves the outside world in order to take you out on a date— to the arcade of course, where he wins you a bunch of plushies!

Panics when he realizes he hadn't asked you to be his valentine.

"And then I-" Levi cuts himself off mid sentence as he stares at the mirror backing of the claw machine. Today is Valentines Day, and he's just realized he hadn't asked you to be his valentines yet. Pathetically, he turns to you, eyes glistening a little.

"H- Hey, you'll be my valentine's right?"

You have to hold back a laugh, unless you want him to start balling in the middle of the arcade. Accept his request quickly now so that you two can continue your lovely date.

SATAN

Plans a scavenger hunt from the moment you wake up. It leads you to several locations in the house that hold some sort of present before leading to him in the kitchen, where he's made your favorite breakfast.

He's wearing one of those cheesy 'kiss the cook' aprons, and you happily oblige.

"There you are." You coo, entering the kitchen. He curses under his breath, turning around to greet you with a smile— you solved his riddles much faster than he thought, but this fact also makes him proud.

"I made your favorite." He grins, plating your food and then his. You pick at it, sneaking a bite before it can reach the table. He chuckles, sitting down beside you.

"Eat up, because there's another riddle under your food."

ASMODEUS

Romcom marathon! Asmodeus has already set you out a matching loungewear set (it matches his) and a bowl of popcorn and candy and some drinks.

Cuddling all day and flirting in between movies- Is there any better way to spend the day?

Tuffs of champagne hair tickle your neck and Asmo wiggles about to try and get comfy again. Your fingers grazing against his arm softly and sending goosebumps down his spine. He sent a glance up at you, a smirk forming.

"Are you trying to get something more than a movie out of this, hmm?" He asks, leaning up to meet your lips in a kiss. "Not that I'm complaining..."

"Uh-huh," You lean in to kiss him again, only to tease him by placing a candy in your mouth. "Pay attention, you're going to miss your favorite part."

BEELZEBUB

Almost forgot it was Valentines, and gets flustered when he remembers. He's not the most romantic, but he wants to do something for you.

Decides to make you breakfast in bed, although by the time it gets to you...

"Well, at least you didn't eat my favorite part?" You try to calm him down, taking the food and taking a few bites. Delicious. He sighs, rubbing his arm as he looks at the ground. "I'm not that hungry right now, you want the rest?"

Dejectedly, he takes it and devours it. Then he perks up as he gets an idea.

"How about we go out? That place you wanted to try opened up downtown just last week."

"Sounds perfect."

BELPHEGOR

Teases you for celebrating the cheesy holiday.

Might cave in and get you flowers and a simple box of chocolate, don't mention it, okay?

Is he blushing? Yes, yes he is.

"Oh? I thought the holiday was a waste of money and time, a corny holiday invented by capitalist?" Belphegor rolls his eyes at your words. You sure know how to irk him, don't you? But he loves that about you too.

"Yeah, yeah, if you don't want 'em, I'll just give 'em to Beel."

"Nope, they're mine." You coo as you snatch the bouquet and chocolates. "Thank you, Belphie. I got you a little something too." Well he certainly won't deny a gift from you~

[generalsdiary]

what if ratio breaks down and falls apart?

Dr. Ratio (x Aventurine at the end)

warnings: mental breakdown

word count: 1.9k

a/n: lots of ppl seemed to like this idea so here it is, not beta read, ffs come home aventurine

description: Dr. Ratio breaks down (angst), Aventurine mentioned/shows up at one point (fluff dare I say)

his hands shook immensely with the keys in his hand, the heavy doors open and close. he can feel it. he can no longer hold on. being a victim of routine, he manages to push on just a few moments longer, to put away his bag, lock the door, and take off his shoes. few steps through the hallway and it is over. his body trembling as his chest swells up with pain and sadness, so many emotions mixed up in one. filling up in his throat like a peach pit, choking him and making it harder to breathe. he falls to his knees, his breathing heavy, rapid, and irregular. in moments like these, he knows how to take care of himself, how to help himself, how to fix this. but it is too much. he can't. he also... why does everyone get to break down but not him? he can barely breathe in and breathe out, as many thoughts fill his mind.

eyes filling with hot tears except he cannot cry that much, he has always been incapable of actually crying and letting it all out.

like a water dam overflowing and drowning him along with it. the dam filling with water and using it in useful ways until the workers don’t show up, the tools get clogged, old, and broken. the dam overflows. nature always comes back to take its due, to pick up the price, especially human nature.

he isn't enough. he will never be enough. it is a fool's job, what he is trying to achieve. how could he ever spread knowledge everywhere, making it available to everyone? how is that being realistic? hopeful fool, he knows better than to hope. an idiot. a failure. why did he even think he could be capable of doing that? the aeons were right to not recognize him, he isn't worth their attention- he keeps failing. isn't it the definition of insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome? not enough. never enough. such expectations were put on him and he jumped to fulfill them- and when he didn't achieve the last one- to become a true genius, then he failed. failed the mold he was put in. failed the beliefs of everyone around him and their expectations. they were all wrong; everyone who said he could do something, become someone relevant, someone who matters and makes a significant change. and the things he did, well they were never perfect and always could have been done much better. for fuck's sake he fails his students, just how many get the actual knowledge, and how many give up? he isn't good enough, he should be better, and get the knowledge across in a way everyone would accept and know and learn. why is he not good enough? he keeps trying and it is never enough. not once has the universe said, ‘okay, you have done enough, you can rest now.’

why does he keep trying? and he is alone in all of it. who is there who cares for him- who puts his view of self aside, who can.. please.. who can please view him as a human.. a person.. just... as someone who doesn't need to be extraordinary- can he be loved in such a way, appreciated? who would care for him? when all that is said about him is that he is rude, when he only tells the truth and tries to help, he is told that he is insensitive, egotistical, and he is so far from it. why does everybody hate him? aeons, he hates himself. why was he born, created like this? it would've been so much easier to have been born an idiot, dumb, to work a normal job, and be happy.

he stares at an empty spot as these thoughts overtake him, and then he sobs as the next ones come... he wants to be held, oh so much. to be embraced, to be cared for, thought of in a positive way, for his name to be called with love. no one is enough, he isn't enough.

his thoughts keep spiraling in a whirlpool, almost like he is frozen in space. eyes fixed, hands shaking and the occasional warm tear falling down his cheeks, which are now red and hot.

his skin feels like it is burning, the clothes on him overwhelming him but he cannot move, it hurts, it all hurts. why does it hurt so much? this vicious cycle never ends. how could he stand up again when he is falling apart at the seams? is he worth it at all, the life he lives, if he cannot even help himself? he will never be enough. he wants to shout, to yell in frustration and anger- all swallowed in his throat while he continues to sit.. broken on the floor.

his thoughts become more incoherent, how could he.. why.. help.. not enough.. and so on. curses, hatred directed at himself, sorrow, and pity. his ears deaf at any sound, he is so lost in his mind, it is like he isn't even there.

this isn't the first time, but it was never this hard. he picked himself up before; standing, going automatically around his home to take care of his basic needs. but now he has no hope, no care for it, he cannot move. immobile and lost, so… so deep in this vortex.

the doors open and close. there's a voice, he doesn't even register it, “..tas?... home?”

the person makes a few more steps and sees Veritas, sitting on the ground. Veritas manages to register distant footsteps, rushed- it doesn't matter; he isn't even there. only his body is.

the person sits down in front of Veritas and hands him a glass of water. his eyes are unfocused, he appears still, hands on the floor with a slight tremor, cheeks shiny from the tears and a warm red color. instinctively he accepts the glass and drinks the water. the cool fluid makes him consciously blink and float back to the present moment. he registers the voice of the person in front of him.

“Veritas.. I'm here, good- the water is good for you- I'm here, alright?” his eyes focus on the blond man sitting in front of him. Aventurine's eyes are filled with worry and his hands cup Veritas' face, caressing slowly. his voice is calm, “you will be fine- I got you, okay?” Aventurine nods to himself more than to Ratio. his hand moves to the indigo hair, pulling his fingers through the soft locks in a comforting manner. Veritas' eyes are trained on him, full of pain and heartbreak, yet his face is neutral, so hurt.

“your head got to you again? I keep telling you- don't listen to it- it isn't right it only says mean things which aren't true. do you hear me?” the only thing he gets in response is a slow blink from the taller man. and it is enough.

“it tipped over, it isn't as bad as your head claims- don't listen to it, listen to me, focus on me. I’ve got you, I'm here-“ he pulls Veritas into his chest, cradling him in a way. “-and I'm not going anywhere”

fresh tears soak Aventurine's shirt. it hurts to be cared for, to be seen, and for that person to stay and not leave.. it feels undeserving and it just makes him cry harder. he sobs into Aventurine's shoulder, breaking down fully. his voice comes out high-pitched, breaking, “I... I.. it is so hard-” he sobs harder and tightly embraces Aventurine.

“I'm here, you will be okay, this will pass, I have you, don't- don't struggle against them, focus on me, please?” Aventurine pulls away to raise Veritas' chin and meet his eyes, those sunset eyes filled with tears. and he weakly nods.

“focus on me, my voice, Doc, focus on my voice. and I'm warm- you can feel it yes? my chest is warm and my hands- my scent- you can smell the perfume right? focus on me, ground with me. leave that dreadful place- it never did you any good.” he continues using safe words, repeating them, and when Veritas manages to get a grasp on reality once more; he feels empty, numb and Aventurine takes care of him. Aventurine helps him eat a proper meal, bathes with him where he holds him close against his chest, kissing his temple, and repeating that everything will be okay.

Aventurine holds him tightly in bed and whispers only the softest affirmations. before Veritas falls asleep, Aventurine mumbles kind words with his fingers in his hair.

he stays mostly awake that night, just in case Ratio wakes up in distress or from a nightmare. he doesn't mind it. he cares for him, if needed he'd pick his pieces up every day and help him put himself back together. Veritas is his, and he will always be there for him.

the morning turns out to be a slow one. Veritas would tiredly gaze at Aventurine, the blond man asleep into the late morning, and he wouldn't dare start his day- not yet, not now, not without him. Veritas' thoughts are slow this early in the day, they are quiet. he simply observes the younger man. finding some type of solace in it. he doesn't dare touch him as if the beautiful man was a statue made of glass and might break from a single touch.

when his eyes do open he hums and moves to press his face into Veritas' soft chest.

like it is the first time, Ratio is surprised, frozen for a few moments before he relaxes and embraces Aventurine.

“sleep well?”

he nods.

“I rescheduled my stuff, and I hope you will yours too-“, Veritas interrupts him, “..I did.” his voice quiet, monotone.

“today.. today will be easier, okay?” he raises his head, looking up. “I will be with you as long as you need and then some. please be kind to yourself. you need it” he whispers the last sentence and presses his lips into Ratio's cheek.

“I'll try... thank you.. for.. yesterday, dear gambler”

Aventurine nods, “I love you,” he says, easily, as if he didn't have to think those words through before he said them but it conveyed everything he wanted them to say. that he would be there for him, that he'd take care of him, that he would be his.

slight shock is obvious in Veritas’ eyes, that he would be loved gives him a stutter in his response. he feels so vulnerable, bare and naked in front of him. his emotions nude especially after being seen in the state he was in yesterday and despite that... or perhaps specifically because of it... Aventurine said that. with fear, felt on both sides, but also assurance that this is right, that it is a fact he softly says, “I... I love you too.”

beat. both staring into the other's eyes. Veritas cups his cheek. thumb drawing small circles, voice but a whisper, “please don't ever leave me” in that moment he is baren, vulnerable, his cards are on the table for the gambler to gamble off or hold tightly to his chest and fold.

Aventurine answers quickly with a small nervous smile, “the same goes for you too, Doc”

with all those emotions being so loud and scary, Veritas cannot keep up a coy act and even when he does Aventurine sees right through him.

“I promise” Veritas utters and seals it with a soft kiss.

[lurkingshan]

Japanese QL Corner

We've suddenly got an abundance of shows with dark themes and adult vibes, with a bit of a mixed bag on their execution. These are available for weekly streaming on Gaga unless otherwise noted.

Smells Like Green Spirit

A fan subber came through and we are now able to watch this show on a slight delay from the airing in Japan. This first episode was great, but be warned that this is not a light watch. This show is less a full blown romance and more of a queer coming of age story with a rather bleak worldview that will likely include a romance subplot. Our story centers on Mishima, a young person who is questioning their gender and just trying to live while being constantly targeted by school bullies. The bullying in this show is graphic and violent and Mishima has already been assaulted and targeted by creeps in the first episode, so take care and ask for content warnings if you need them. I have read the manga so I'm aware of what's in store--if you would like to know what to expect before watching, feel free to ask.

Happy of the End

CWs: Assault, attempted murder, blood, death, forced fellatio/rape (against a main character, graphically depicted more than once), revenge porn, sexual coercion and exploitation, stabbing, suicide attempt, suicide, violence

We have arrived at the end of this story, and it did not quite come together for me. I liked a lot of what it was doing; the relationship between Chihiro and Haoren giving them both a reason to persist despite their general apathy toward survival was compelling, and the actors gave strong performances in some very difficult scenes. I thought the show had a strong sense of style and tone, as well. But for me, it crossed the line into over the top trauma porn one too many times, seeming to revel in making the characters suffer and piling on unnecessary traumas that were depicted quite graphically, making the show deeply unpleasant to watch. And in the end, it suddenly veered into a happy ending that felt like a mismatch for the rest of the story, which was achieved via a time skip and Chihiro and Haoren healing offscreen despite their circumstances only getting worse over the course of the show. @bengiyo laid out why that ending felt like the show pulling its punches, and I agree. I can appreciate a story that has an established bleak worldview telling us about a specific time in these characters' lives where they mattered to each other, but slapping that unearned epilogue on it just makes the whole thing feel like torture porn followed by cheap consolation. It didn't feel honest. I don’t recommend watching this one unless you are pretty comfortable with gratuitous sexual violence.

Love is Like a Poison

We’re zipping along nicely, with this week’s episode mostly focused on the case that Haruto helped Shiba win. That courtroom scene was wild. I’m intrigued by all the advances and the early confession from Haruto, because as we and Shiba well know, the man is a con. What’s his angle, and why does he think romancing Shiba is the way to get it? Whatever he’s after, I think Shiba should give in because look at him!

Chaser Game W 2

This week we met Itsuki’s first love Yoreum, who is now a famous Korean idol and still hung up on her from back when she did a homestay with Itsuki’s family. She did a livestream from Itsuki’s cafe in the special spot where Itsuki and Fuyu like to canoodle; jealousy and dramatics ensued. Then suddenly we were doing an elevator rescue? Idek. I’m rooting for the new girl to break this couple up to be honest.

[sbk-zgvlt]

Guys. I finally finished book 4.

Sebek doesnt go home for winter break, deciding to stay with Yuu and Grim in Ramshackle (He feels left out by Dia 3 and decides to stay back, not willing to put himself through more heartbreak) (Yuu and Grim dont question him when he appears in front of their dorm with a luggage bag)

Sebek wanted to see Dia 3 off when they leave through the Magic Mirror only to get there with Adeuce Yuu and Grim and find out they leave without bidding him goodbye

Adeuce's opinion on Dia 3 are slowly souring

Bump into Jamil and the rest of Scarabia!! Decide to help them with cooking. Idc about that theory that the culinary crucible cards that have their bows not properly done r bad cooks SEBEK CAN COOK AND I STAND BY THIS !!!

heads up! Sebeks previous interactions with Jamil (namely the ceromonial robes vignette) has already skewered his personal opinion on him, so he doesnt get suspicious of him until its too late

Something something about how easy it is for Sebek to love admire and respect someone something something about how he lets it blind him to peoples faults sometimes

SEBEK LOVES IT IN SCARABIA OMGG ITS SO WARM. Those green flames in Diasomnia heat JACKSHIT smh

The carpet likes messing around with Sebek and Yuu has to stop him from trying to set it aflame/lh

When they take to the skies, Yuu takes the time to look at Sebek and Grim and just be. Insanely glad that theyre with them (AUGHHH THEY MAKE ME SICKKK)

Kalim's "mood swings" do NOT mix well with Sebek "autism" Zigvolt. Works well in Jamil's favor because Yuu gets upset on both Sebek and Grim's behalf

The whole thing with Yuu unable to say no because of Jamil's UM and Sebek and Grim scolding them, but the former admits that it leaves a sour taste in his mouth if they leave Jamil without helping for some reason

Try to escape and FAIL spectacularly. Try to call the headmage, and Grim eventually tells Yuu to message Adeuce. Sebek messages Jack ("Why do you even have his number in the first place 🤨" "It is none of your concern, human!")

Sebek stops Grim from trying to dig their way out with a spoon, knowing it would be fruitless, and makes him rest

They have the talk with Jamil and the other dorm students !! When Jamil mentions why exactly he needs to be compliant to all of Kalim's wishes, Yuu whispers about how that sounds like someone they know. Sebek tries to ask them what they mean but Yuu says its nothing

Sebek criticizes the Al-Asims and Jamil is surprised by how passionate he is about the topic (Yuu tries their best not to call Sebek a hypocrite with how he's been excusing all of his Wakasama's actions that are CLEARLY hurting him) (Malleus sneezes in Briar Valley)

Jamil also finds out that technically Sebek is a servant as well, although it was by his own will. He questions how Sebek could so easily dedicate his whole life to someone just like that. Yuu agrees, mentioning how his Wakasama doesnt even seem to give him the time of day, which doesnt help

THEY ESCAPE WITH THE HELP OF THE CARPET 🔥🔥🔥 and crash into Octavinelle

Skipping a lot of chapters over here since nothing really changes drastically. Sebek goes with Floyd, Yuu, Grim and Azul to distract Jamil. He plays a board game with Yuu :3

Skipping again, they find out about Jamil's whole scheme and Sebek is CRUSHED to find out that someone he looks up to is actually a bad guy. Jamil once again ignores the teeny tiny guilt he feels upon seeing Sebek's distressed face

Something something about being the one praised for once something something about how Sebek freely gives his love and praise to anyone he believes deserves it and how Jamil feels appreciated even though he wont admit it

OVERBLOT GRAHHHHHH

Flings them to the edge of the desert, Sebek holds onto Yuu and Grim so he would be the one to get the brunt of injuries upon impact. It doesnt help that its cold

OASIS MAKER 🗣️🔥🔥🔥 Sebek uses his crocodile form to carry Yuu and Grim (Yuu was against it because WHAT THE FUCK SEBEK YOURE INJURED)

Fighting Jamil! Sebek connects with Jamil, servant to servant and all that shit, saying that what he's doing wont change a thing. Starts off insulting him ("SEBEK YOURE NOT HELPING???") before going "Will you really let yourself stoop so low and let them take the last laugh!?"

"You have talent and skill that could make others envious, and you're using them for what? Stealing some title? If it was truly yours to begin with, then prove it! Do you really want to become housewarden through such underhanded tactics?" "I truly admire you, Viper, so don't tell me that I placed my faith in someone so imprudent!"

Jamil scolds him, saying that Sebek of all people should understand why Jamil's doing this in the first place. Tells him that he can help him as well, offering his hand. Sebek doesn't take it

He gets in a bit of a funk after that, not being able to understand why Sebek is just okay with being a servant all his life, getting more aggressive with his attacks while the others try to push him back. He still has his hand stretched out towards Sebek, screaming about how he should understand

Azul tells them theyre running out of time, and Jamils going to be too consumed by his blot for any of them to snap him out of it. Against his better judgment, Sebek grabs Jamil's hand, Yuu barely holding onto Sebek's jacket when they tried to pull him back

FLASHBACK!!! Sebek and Yuu finally acknowledge each others existence when they watch the memories play out. When nearing the end, Yuu asks Sebek why he cares so much about this "Wakasama" when its clear that they dont care for him. Sebek doesnt answer

BACK TO THE REAL WORLD!!! Azul tries to convince Jamil to transfer to Octavinelle, and after some thinking decides to extend the invitation towards Sebek. Sebek immediately refuses. Yuu retorts and says the only dorm Sebek is ever transferring to is Ramshackle. (They look at each other like 🤨)

Jamil tells Sebek that he still doesn't understand why Sebek would want to serve someone his whole life. Sebek tells him that he doesn't need him to understand since it's his own decision anyway. Jamil contemplates on his answer

PARTY!!!! Adeuce and Jack FINALLY arrive and fuss over Yuu Sebek and Grim, still not admitting that they were worried

Yuu realizes that Sebek still didnt answer the question. When they ask Sebek about what happened in the memory Sebek feigns obliviousness

Finally back at Ramshackle,,, the ghosts are RELIEVED to see them again. They usher Sebek into the house, noticing how Sebek is SHIVERING

Before Yuu gets in as well, Lilia pops up, saying that they have something to give them. After he gives them the postcard and disappears, Sebek goes out to shout at Yuu to come inside

Yuu shows him the card and Sebek's face FALLS (YOU SEND YUU A POSTCARD BUT NOT. SEBEK. OKAY I SEE HOW IT IS !!!)

Yuu tries to ask him whats wrong, but Sebek says that its getting too cold outside and heads in. Yuu stares at the postcard like it just killed their entire family

"M.D." has a #1 hater and it's YUU 🗣️🔥🔥🔥

EDIT: I FORGOT TO MENTION FUCKKKK Sebek picks the stone up before Grim does, intending to throw it away only to become curious as to why Grim likes them so much. He pockets it instead

AUHUGHUG FINALLY DONE 😭😭😭 im goign to try and finish book 5 next !!

[nkville]

we're not just friends and you fucking know it

— genre: fluff, angst,

— pairing: bsf!yeonjun x female!reader

— tw: swear words, kissing, slight arguing

— wc: 1.8k

the fresh air hit your face as you stepped out of the house, feeling the warm smell of freshly baked bread as you went closer to your favorite bakery nearby.

“good morning, mrs. lee! hmm, it smells so good in here.. oh gosh i just love the smell of freshly baked items” you said as you greeted the shop owner, who youve also known since you were a little kid.

“good morning to you too, dear. its nice seeing you here again, what would you like today?”

“uhm let me see, can i please get 2 croissants, 4 small cinnamon rolls, 2 bagels, 2 chocolate and 2 glazed doughnuts please?” you said as she looked at you in shock “oh my, do you perhaps have some guests over today?” she said as she flashed you a surprised look.

“no no mrs. lee, im actually about to go to yeonjuns place, its our 10th year friendship anniversary today and hes been really off lately so i thought why not spend the day with him, starting off with a surprise breakfast with his favourite goodies, isnt that a great idea mrs. lee?”

“oh sure it is a nice surprise, and you know what, since it's your 10th year friendship anniversary, you can have them for free no need to pay for it, enjoy your breakfast dear.” she said flashing you a soft smile giving you all the items you ordered.

“aww thats really sweet of you mrs. lee, but you made them with such effort and id feel really bad for not paying.” you refused, searching for your wallet that was deep inside your bag but mrs. lee stopped you from doing so.

“its a gift for you, my dear. id be really happy if you'd accept it” she said as you quickly thought about it and eventually accepted it.

“thank you so much mrs. lee, i really appreciate it so much, thanks a lot. i wish you a great day ahead!” you said leaving the shop.

“wishing you the same, sweetheart. goodbye!” she waved at you as you left, the excitement of seeing him filling you up as you walked the way to his house.

as you went upstairs to his apartment door, you saw how the door was open.

it was weird, but you just ignored it and slowly went inside looking around, eyes searching for your best friend who was no where to be seen around the house.

“oh wait, he must definitely be in his room sleeping, let me go and take a look” you said to yourself as you placed the bags on the kitchen counter, slowly walking up to his room.

as you slowly peeked through the door, you stood frozen in the doorway, your heart dropping like a stone as you watched your best friend, yeonjun, who you've been secretly in love with for years, passionately making out with another girl on his bed.

the sight felt like a punch to the gut, shattering your heart and the fragile hope you had been holding onto. a lump formed in your throat, trying so hard to fight back tears but you failed.

you quickly turned away, mind swirling with a mix of emotions. the room seemed to blur around you as you stumbled backward, desperately trying to grasp the reality of the situation.

how could he not see the love i had for him, the way my heart beat faster whenever he smiled, or how his laughter could light up even my darkest days? how could he not see all of that? in that moment all these thoughts kept on running around your head nonstop.

you felt weak on your knees, stumbling backward again slightly opening the bedroom door as it swung open a little wider, surprising both yeonjun and the girl he was making out with.

they pulled away from each other, their eyes widening in shock as they realized you were there, witnessing everything.

“wait- y/n its not what it looks like” yeonjun stammered, his voice desperate as he reached out towards you. you shook your head, unable to find your voice.

“no im- im sorry for interrupting you guys, just go on with what you two were doing” you said with a heavy heart, tears filling your eyes as you turned away.

“y/n its really not what you think! its just a misunderstanding y/n believe me” yeonjun called after you but you didnt listen to any of his words, running out of his apartment as fast as you could.

breathless, as you hurried to your apartment, collapsing by the door, tears streaming down your face as the moment kept replaying in your mind again and again, making you cry even harder.

“why did this happen to me.. just why..” you kept wondering to yourself how your best friend, someone who you were deeply in love with, someone who you trusted the most, could be the reason your heart is shattered into a million pieces right now.

you were lost so deep in your thoughts that at first you didnt even hear your phone ringing nearby, not knowing who was calling you.

after a few more rings you finally looked at your phone, seeing the caller id, it was none other than yeonjun himself.

feeling numb, having no energy left to answer, you just ignored the call.

as the day went on, laying down on your bed, you replayed the moments in your mind. suddenly you heard the door bell ring, going up to the door you heard a familiar voice. it was yeonjun's.

there he was, begging you to listen to him and let him explain just once. “y/n just please hear me out once.. i never meant to hurt you and i really need you to understand what happened.” he urged, his voice filled with sorrow.

“i know youre upset with me and that's why im here to make things right, please give me a chance to explain. i can't stand the thought of losing you, y/n please let me explain im begging you” he cried out.

at first you hesitated as you stood frozen for a moment before finally letting him in. as he entered, you looked at him with puffy eyes, quite unsure of what he'll say next. your heart still aching from the hurt he had caused.

despite the pain, a small glimmer of hope flickered within you. as you brought him to the living room, you gestured him to speak, silently urging him to explain himself as you sat there, waiting for him to speak.

“so, what was it that you wanted to say?” you said breaking the awkward silence between the two of you.

“listen, i know ive hurt you a lot today and im really, really sorry but believe me it was all a big misunderstanding, okay?” he said with a shaky voice.

“misunderstanding? really? you call this a misunderstanding?” you said in disbelief as you shook your head, looking into his eyes, frustrated. “i saw what i saw yeonjun and you cant deny it”

“i know it looked bad but i swear it wasnt what it seemed” he pleaded, his voice desperate. “you just have to trust me, hmm?” he added.

“trust you?” you scoffed, giving him a sarcastic laugh. “how can i trust you when i saw you with my own fucking eyes yeonjun? didnt you know i had feelings for you since the beginning, didnt you ever see me the way i see you? did you ever realize how much i love you? all the moments we've spent together, all the things we've done together, you really think there was nothing between us all this time? do they really mean nothing to you?”

“explain to me, please, because i just cant comprehend how this could be a misunderstanding” you added making him look into your eyes with nothing but sincerity and pain reflecting in his eyes.

“look, y/n im really sorry.. i didnt realize you love me the same way i love you, all these years i kept reminding myself that we're just friends and nothing more than that. but seeing how you reacted to me being with another girl just proved to me that you feel the same.”

“wait- prove? what do you exactly mean by that?” you said in pure confusion, not able to understand anything.

“let me just get straight to the point, look, for many years ive been trying to hide this from you but im glad i no longer have to. ive had feelings for you for the past few years y/n but there was just something inside me telling me you dont feel the same.” he said as you looked at him in shock trying to process everything he's saying.

“whenever i saw you with other guys at school or any gathering it makes my blood boil, thinking youre having a better time with them. i just couldnt get myself to tell you how much i loved you because of the fear i had in my heart, thats why one day i finally decided to try and forget about you”

“thats why you had been very weird to me these days, avoiding me all the time ignoring my texts and all that?” you said giving him a soft buy confused look.

“yeah and i was so stupid for doing that, my dumbass really thought i could forget about you while spending time with other girls and ignoring you but ive come to realize that whatever happens my feelings for you will never change.” he said in a comforting tone that made you literally jump inside.

“you shouldve told me, silly, all these years i thought you didnt love me back so i kept quiet.” you told him giving him a soft laugh, sadness fading away as he spoke.

“im happy to know the feeling is mutual though, so glad for finding out you feel the same. to be honest, y/n, i cant describe it with words but i fucking love you so much, really” he confessed, making your heart skip a beat as you smiled widely.

“yeah, thank god both of us found out about each other's feelings. holy fuck i feel so relieved. and yes, i love you too, a lot actually.” you said, as you gave each other a warm hug for a first time in a while, feeling safe in each other's arms.

“soo are we official?” yeonjun asked, making you roll your eyes. “of course we are. what do you think otherwise, stupid”

“ugh i can finally call you mine y/n, all mine. you have no idea how happy i am right now.”

“the feeling is mutual” you said giving him a wink. “also lets just stay like this for a while, yeah? dont wanna let you go”

“as you wish, my love. i love you.”

“i love you too, junie.” you told him, hugging him even tighter while digging your face into his chest, feeling the warmth.

[sunny-lounge]

We got matching Christmas sweaters. (Ch 2/2)

Relationship: Sami/Jey (SamiJey)

Rating: Teen — feelings and emotions, fluff, Christmas, a kiss, fun and silly, ugly Christmas sweaters, slight possessive feelings, established relationship, secret relationship, relationship reveal, family

Summary: Jey and Sami have matching ugly Christmas sweaters, it's a secret. Until it's not. Part 1 - how Jey and Sami got their matching sweaters Part 2 - how the others found out.

Word count: 2,667

Ao3 link - Ch 2 / Ch 1 here. / *Other Fics*

A/N: I said I'd write something lighter this time so here it is, and I wanted to try something different. I didn't have a lot of time to write this because I wanted to get it out before Christmas. But hey, even if one person out there enjoys it!! 🥰 HERE’S PART 2!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!✨❄️🎄🎁🎅🏻🎉☃️✨ I hope you enjoy this! 🌸🌺

[— Again: I'm not a "writer" SO... Comments/Feedback would really really be appreciated (comments sec; tags; or asks- anon or not), to really just actually, and quite genuinely gauge how good or BAD this is. So I know for myself 😁. And obviously I'd really love to know if you enjoyed it! - comments are so wonderful and so motivating as well! Thank you again for reading! 🩷]

Tagging: @afterdarkprincess @fantasyismyonlyrealescape @imabillyami

——

He knows he's being ridiculous. The others won't care right? Maybe they won't even notice that it's part of a set, after all, Sami isn't scheduled to come in today. So Jey's confident he can get away with this.

And, really where would Sami even wear his 'Christmas' sweater, he doesn't actually celebrate the occasion...Jey thinks they're safe.

Walking into the locker room dropping his bag down Jey spots Jimmy immediately, grinning at his older twin. It's hard not to, Jimmy's always had that ability to make him smile, big smile, always been able to no matter what else is going on around them, no matter how bad or how chaotic, Jimmy always puts a smile on his face without even trying, seeing his face is enough to.

Jimmy's wearing a holly-green sweater that's looking extra soft and fluffy. At the top, "BITE ME!"— shiny silver sequins bordering it's glittering red letters, a large gingerbread man cookie dancing at the midsection one leg up in the air twirling, complete with a glitter candy cane in its hand being swung around, icing embroidery outlining its features, and the most gaudy obnoxious looking pompom buttons known to man going down its front. It looked like someone had thrown up a mix of different colored glitter in random patches all over the remaining parts of his sweater.

All in all it is hideous. His brother Jimmy has hit the brief of "ugly" Christmas sweater to perfection, he's understood the assignment and executed it to the highest standard. Jey is not one bit surprised...that Jimmy excelled at this.

“Ain't you all 'sweeet'  lookin' today, Uce,” croons Jey, leaning in with a smirk. Jimmy just grins at him like he's pleased with himself, throwing a candy cane at his head, which he manages to duck last minute.

“You so lame, Uce. 'Sweeeeet'!?  Really? This early with them lame ass puns?" huffs out Jimmy, laughing. "But, I am lookin' damn 'sweeeeet' aren't I?" he smirks, wriggling his eyebrows.

"I'm jus' learnin' from the best, Uce," quips Jey, shooting him a toothy smile. "Yea, you just soo...sweeeeet lookin', Uce, my teeth all gon' fall out."

He can see Jimmy gearing up to reply, but before he can, Solo's walking around the corner and giving Jey a stoic once-over. “Nice,” he nods, and continues on his way. 'Well, if that isn't the highest compliment coming from Solo..,'  thinks Jey. He's glad once again that he changed his mind and chose to wear this sweater.

The Wiseman already seated to his right is dressed in a purple sweater with a spectacular looking golden menorah on its front, orange flamed white candles resting in it, and immaculately detailed tiny multi-colored dreidels delicately embroidered all around the hem and ends off his sleeve. Classy.

“Wiseman! Lookin' good!” says Jey, a little too loudly, sue him, he's a little surprised with the holiday spirit and enthusiasm being shown, as he himself is feeling it. Seems like everyone's getting into it, he'd forgotten the Wiseman was Jewish.

Looks like Jimmy was right after all, he really is starting to feel an extra sense of camaraderie and togetherness already.

“Figured I'd join you rather than fight it," says the Wiseman, with a shrug, "I knew I was out numbered...,” trailing off, sighing. Looking and sounding down and defeated, if not for the slight smirk gracing his lips.

Always a sly low-key shit-stirrer...but that's what made him so unique, that's what makes him the 'Wiseman'— One minute he's showing off his brilliant and intellectual mind, the next he's strategically taking down their opponents with his hidden expertise. But, on the other hand, he's also cleverly busting your balls, and half the time you don't realize it till it's too late. They appreciate this side of him too, it's one of the reasons they all got on so well.

Solo's sweater is more subdued, a dark deep red with little white snowflakes embroidered around the collar, the midsection, hem and his cuffs, little shiny threaded brightly colored hollies in-between them. So Jey makes it a point to tell Solo, "You look nice too, Uce."

Solo's made the effort and that matters, and Jey wants to let him know it, it shows that Solo still underneath it all wants to be a part of the "family", to somehow even fit-in, in his own way, even if he sometimes acts otherwise.

"He does, don' he, Uce," adds Jimmy, cheesing at them from the other side. "You look nice, dawg!"

And of course, Solo responds with his single stoic nod, because that's what Solo does. And, it's the best they'll get from him, but they're used to it. And, it's okay, because that's their baby brother.

Just then the door opens and in walks Roman, announcing Sami will be dropping by soon to go over their tag team match together; it's unexpected, but he's excited to see Sami, just like he always is and he silently wonders if this feeling will ever fade. It's like he's perpetually living in the 'honeymoon' phase of theirs, just over and over, on and on, never completely escaping. Ever since, well, ever since the beginning, really. So, he's looking forward to seeing his boyfriend especially when they'd thought they would be spending today apart.

They've been in plenty of work situations since they've become boyfriends, and nothing's changed. Jey isn't worried about that.

'Boyfriends' it still feels weird saying it because it's such a foreign concept to Jey. And he's not sure, if he'll ever get used to the swarm of butterflies he feels that comes along with it. His stomach in chaos every single time, another occurrence that's completely foreign to him, every single time making it fluttering like crazy when he realizes that Sami is now—his boyfriend.

It hasn't caused any trouble yet, both of them being able to remain professional. Even though he's finding it harder and harder to stop himself from jumping Sami, and trapping those sweet pink soft delicious kissable...damn..he could go on...lips between his whenever he sees them, like they were always demanding to be taken—and really, he'd just be taking what's now his. The possessive bastard that he is, constantly wanting to come out and play whenever Sami is around. Something else he's never experienced, this constant need and want for someone, for them to be his and only his in every way, never until Sami.

“Told Sami we're wearin' Christmas sweaters, so he don't feel like a damn fool when he shows up,” shares Roman, walking past. And amused murmurs of agreement rise, from Jimmy and the Wiseman, waiting to see what the 'honorary Uce' will turn up in.

Roman himself is wearing a sweater that's a rich royal deep red, almost bordering on maroon, tight and fitting, an intricate extremely detailed golden snowflake carefully woven with fancy shimmery gold thread featuring right in the center, tiny white and silver snowflakes scattered around, the illusion of snow falling from the sky. Completing out the look of a magical, royal and regal Christmas—just like Roman.

So far, it looks like it's three for three. Three very decent, nice, and put together Christmas sweaters worn by Solo, the Wiseman and Roman. And, three 'ugly' Christmas sweaters worn by, Jimmy, himself and...

And, then it hits Jey. Now he's a little worried, because he knows Sami only owns one Christmas sweater—the one that matches Jey. The one he's currently wearing.

Jey is quickly running through his options, his escape plan, his excuse...

He's hoping maybe he'll get called out, by management or the crew for something that needs to be taken care of. Or, he can pretend he is sick. Maybe, pretend this is all just a big coincidence, and they just happened to have matching sweaters, he's fairly sure no one's going to buy that though. Or, he could just take his sweater off.

And, none of which would solve anything because everyone's already seen the sweater. At the very best he'll be able to avoid their reactions for a while, but what's the point, he's going to have to face them eventually and avoiding it will only make them rib him even harder. And, he can't find it in himself to leave Sami all on his own to face these bunch of brutes he calls family.

As though fate has been listening in on his lamenting, his inner dread, it is at that precise moment that Sami casually strides into the locker room.

Jimmy notices first, guffawing out a high bubble of laugher. “Jey, you and Sami matchin'! Man, I thought you 'n me was twins, dayoneish!”

Jey can't really focus on Jimmy, shifting his gaze a little, away from his twin now training it on Sami, wearing the matching set of their pair of sweaters. Sami just gives him a sheepish rueful smile in return, messily running his fingers through his hair, a nervous gesture of his. Shrugging, with a 'it is what it is and I'm going to run with it' motion.

Jey is stuck for a second, not knowing what to say or how to react, but he doesn't need to.

“I’m surprised by your taste, Jey. Nice ugly sweater you're wearing by the way,” grins Sami, with a wink, smirking like nothing's wrong at all.

'That smug cocky red-headed menace,'' thinks Jey, adoringly, still unable to say anything helpful as he hears Jimmy let out another bout of laughter, watching Sami heading towards Roman waiting on the other side.

Jey stealthy grabs his phone typing out a quick message to his boyfriend.

- - 'Shit. I don' know if I wanna punch you right now or kiss that damn smirk off your face. You enjoyin' this too much Sami...'

He watches as Sami, still listening to Roman going through all the possible scenarios of their match and how to strategically counter them, read the message. Sami's eyes widen just the slightest, you can barely notice it, almost like Jey is seeing things, eyebrows rising just a touch, again not noticeable unless you're really looking. He sees Sami's tapping out a reply, face blank again still appearing unbothered and nonchalant as ever to everyone around.

But, Jey knows him better than that, he can see Sami's body barely keeping from reacting, coiling tense in anticipation, something simmering at the surface.

- - 'Then do it, Jey. I’m game if you are.'

Jey's staring at the message, he stares and stares, dumbfounded mildly disbelieving what he's reading. Is Sami joking? So he looks up again and almost flinches, Sami is looking right at him, dead in the eyes with a seriousness so intense that it sends a shiver straight down his spine.

He didn't think Sami would ever go in for such a bold move, he'd have thought if it had been one of them suggesting it, it'd have been him—suggesting this, to kiss in front of everyone, in the middle of the locker room...but Jey can't deny that he really wants to. He wants his family to know how happy he is, he wants everyone to know just how lucky and complete he is, and he wants to share this. He wants to show Sami off. And, it looks like Sami wants to do the same.

Roman and Sami seem to have finished discussing their move for their upcoming match, vaguely hearing Sami agreeing with the plan they've come up with. And, they say their goodbyes. Sami says his goodbyes to the rest of them as well, each in their own unique way, a handshake, a hug, a nod, or a combination.

And as Sami turns to leave, Jey calls out for him. “Hey, Sami?”

Sami turns around with a questioning look on his face.

Jey ignores it stepping forward, wrapping his large hand around Sami's shoulder holding him in place, softly sliding it up the back of his warm slender neck, and slowly pulling him in and kissing him—open-mouthed, long and hard, possessive and hungry, licking right into his mouth chasing the taste of him. He's putting on a show, claiming Sami in front of them, marking him as his.

Jey can feel Sami's sweet grin of acceptance and complete surrender under his lips, mapping it out with his own, and he's sure Sami can feel him smirking right back, he hears his twin whooping and wolf-whistling in the background, and he's pulling away with a laugh, huffing out a little breath.

Resting his forehead against Sami's, they're breathing a little hard, Sami with his eyes closed and Jey with his open. Sami savoring the moment the still phantom feel and taste of Jey on his lips, while Jey is savoring Sami taking in the beautiful blissed out man before him.

They probably didn't need to kiss for that long or with so much intensity. But, now there isn't a single doubt in anyone's mind as to who Sami really belongs to. He might be part of the Bloodline, but he's Jey's.

And, there's a pleasant prickling, a tingling against his skin at the thought of it. He knows he's become a possessive bastard, and now his family knows it too. He's just made it very clear, there's no doubt in anyone's mind. Sami belongs to him. He belongs to Sami.

He keeps looking at Sami and he wants to taste those reddened plumped up swollen lips in front of him once again, in front of everyone once again, the ones that he caused to look that way.

"We still on for tonight?” asks Jey, going for casual, acting like the last few minutes didn't just happen.

Sami just grins at him all teeth, dopey looking fully gone on Jey, with that twinkle in his hazel eyes that's so distinctly Sami, the one that Jey can't ever look away from. “Of course, Jey.”

Sami ducks his head a shy smile now gracing his kissed-out lips, face still flushed still looking slightly dazed as he leaves, making an obviously quick escape while he can, in these precious last few moments of silence when he has the chance to.

Jey slowly turns back to his family and catches Solo passing Jimmy a $50 note. Roman and the Wiseman solemnly doing the same. He hears Roman distinctly mumble something like 'He couldn't have waited another week?'

“You knew?” Jey asks Jimmy, as casually as he can.

He's surprised, but he's also really not to be honest, more like a little affronted if anything, he could never really hide anything from Jimmy—his twin, the one person who sometimes knows him better than he knows himself, knows his own thoughts even before he does, his own feelings even before he can comprehend them, his dayoneish.

“Course, Uce! You know you ain't hiddin' nothin' from me. Don' know why you even think to try. 'Sides we be blind not seein' it,” says Jimmy, rolling his eyes grinning, and Solo is doing his stoic nod in agreement next to him.

He looks to the others, at Roman and the Wiseman and they too are giving Jey the 'you really think we didn't know? Do we look blind and stupid to you?—that's sad...' look.

Jey just shakes his head not knowing whether to feel a little put out by the whole thing or rightfully elated by their reactions, and sits back flopping down. All the tension and anticipation leaving him, his body loosening up and relaxing. They finally did it. He and Sami had done it, and the world hadn't ended, Sami had been right all along, Jey had just been over thinking it all.

Jimmy is still giving him that stupidly large and wide grin of his, and for all it's worth Jey can't help but return it in equal measure.

His attention turns to the pinging of his phone and he scoops it out of his pocket opening it.

- - 'I love you.'

Another ping rings.

- - 'I've got dessert waiting for you 😏'

——

Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed it! 🩷

[crazylittlejester]

DAILY BRAINROT

I'm trying to type this all out before my oven finishes preheating, and I have to put the bread in.

Reading a Dead Dove for the first time. I swear it was an accident. That tag wasn't there when I started. My college friends can never find out about this. It's like that one post about the devil's sacrament... if you saw me in the comments section, no you didn't.

(Okay, but for real, it's actually super good and I do trust the author to not obliterate me with The Horrors.)

Anyway, onto business. Warriors would have Dolly Parton baking mixes in his pantry. Sky probably borrows them if he visits. I think they can both, bake/cook, but have a harder time making things from scratch. I mean, I've been doing it for a while because that's how a lot of country folk are raised, but it's still tricky. They are 100% taking full advantage of the baking aisle at the store.

That's all I've got today because I maybe ran myself into the ground running errands today.

Dead Dove fics are weird because sometimes its the most insane graphic thing you’ve ever read in your life but the author used it as a tag to mean “hey this fic is just hardcore explicit stuff” and didn’t tag half the explicit events and then you’re left shocked shitless and traumatized because the fic included crazy shit you never saw coming because it simply wasnt tagged, and OTHER times people actually use it to mean what it was originally meant to, which is basically “Warning: What it says on the tin is ACTUALLY what’s in the tin”. Like i’ve seen the tag incorrectly used before in place of other tags that really shouldve been in there 😭 Which defeats the whole reference??? Like i feel like you can’t tag a fic Dead Dove and then not tag all the other things there are tags for that SHOULD be tagged. Because at that point you’re sticking a dead dove in a bag with a large question mark on it and getting mad at people for being shocked to death when they find the dead dove in the bag that you did not warn them about. but anyways I hope you have fun with ur fic 😭

I feel like Wars is the kinda guy who like, can solidly cook like 3-4 things from scratch, but because he’s always so tired and doesn’t have time it’s hard for him to learn to make new things from scratch. Having something thats half made or comes as a mix would be life changing for him genuinely 😭 Sky DEFINITELY too. I’m not the BEST at cooking, despite desperate attempts to teach me all throughout my childhood 😭 I swear I’d be taught how to make one thing, have it down, and then forget it a month or so later. But hey, I can make rice and I can grill chicken 🫶

i also ran myself into the ground a bit today, which im so genuinely upset about because this was supposed to be a nice day off for me 😭

thanks as always for the brainrot :) i appreciate it

[kokofromwattpad]

WHAT DID YOU SAY?!

Featuring: The First Years Plot: You speak your(my)home language in front of them Cw: Reader speaks Afrikaans because it's the only language I can actually understand without a translator, Gn! reader, cursing, translations/explanations after every scenario A/N: Holy crap, the French translated version of La Seine is so *mmmmmmmmmmhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh* Also reader does say some South African slang as well.

Ace Trappola

You were busy in the library, stressing over a test that Crewel had set for the very next day, when Ace walked in, trying to find you so that you could help him with studying.

"Hey prefect! I was wondering if you would help me with studying with that test thats comin' up." he quires with his usual large smile plastered on his face.

You shoot your head up at him, your eyes staring at him with blood lust.

"Het jy regtig net my studie vir jou idiotiese gat onderbreek?!" you scream.

Ace stares stunned for a while, his arms hang stupidly by his sides.

" Nou het jy niks om te sê nie!" you yell angrily.

You gathered all of your books and your sling on bag and marched out of the library to retreat back into Ramshackle.

Much later at night, Ace messages you a fat apology, saying how he didn't know that you were stressed and wanted to make up to you. (He also says its cool that you know a different language)

Translation:

->Het jy regtig net my studie vir jou idiotiese gat onderbreek?! = Did you really just interrupt my studying for your idiot ass?!

->Nou het jy niks om te sê nie! = Now you have nothing to say!

DEUCE SPADE

Deuce was busy helping you out in Ramshackle with some cooking in the kitchen. You were on one end of the room, humming a song a song that Deuce was not paying attention too, until he hears a soft,

"Eendjies, eendjies, staan in 'n ry. Een, twee, drie, vier, stap hul' verby"

He turns his head curiously at you with a questioning face.

"Prefect, what are you singing?" he asks gently.

You stop your singing and turn to look at him. You did not realize that he had been listening to you.

"Oh it's an old lullaby my mother used to sing to me when I was little. I kinda just remembered it just now. Sorry for surprising you!" you explain.

The boy just smiles happily and continues on with the rest of day, but he just happier knowing that you relived a little bit more about yourself to him than you do to others.

Translation= Ducklings, ducklings, all in a row One, two, three, four, see how they go. {Fun fact: Most South African children learn this lullaby when they are in preschool/Grade RR}

JACK HOWL

The track and field team was going against RSA in a race today and you in the stands cheering him on.

As Jack is running, he suddenly hears form the crowd,

"SLAAN HULLE MY SEUN!"

It was you screaming your lungs out for him. Even though he had zero idea what you had just said, he still appreciates it continues to do his absolute best.

Translation: SLAAN HULLE MY SEUN! = BEAT/HIT THEM MY BOY (I personally like to assign my friends a family title, and because I said so, I assigned Jack as the son)

EPEL FELMEIR:

Epel was stomping down the hallway, anger painted beautifully on his face. He was absolutely pissed at Vil for booking a hair and makeup appointment for him even though he did not need it.

Once he saw you walk out of your final class for the day, he immediately runs up to you and starts to vent about the 'bullshit that Vil puts him in' and so on.

"Awww, shamepies" you teased.

Epel turns his head at you with a mix of anger and confused on. "What the hell did you just say?" he breathed out.

You stood surprised and then it hits you like a damn train. He doesn't understand your slang.

Quickly you explained that 'shames' means a lot of different things and it is not always bad.

Epel now uses it against Vil.

(Shames is usually not used to degrade or reprimand someone, rather it is usually used in a sarcastic or comforting way, like what reader did, they faked pity while teasing Epel for having to deal with Vil.)

SEBEK ZIGVOLT:

Sebek opened the door to Ramshackle to give you a message that was sent from Malleus. Something on the lines of meeting the prince in a different location for their nightly walk.

But when Sebek walked deeper into the dorm, he heard loud screaming coming from the lounge.

"Julle het regtig gedink dit is 'n goeie idee om soos 'n klomp apies op te tree!" you lectured.

The troublesome trio looked shamefully down at the floor, trying to ignore your harsh, blade like stare. Your hands were on your hips and thee were shattered pieces of a blue vase scattered all over the floor.

Sebek then decided that it would be better to wait in the foyer until you calmed down and decided the trio's punishment.

Translation: "Julle het regtig gedink dit is 'n goeie idee om soos 'n klomp apies op te tree!" = "You guys really thought it was a good idea to act like a bunch of monkeys!"

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

[rallamajoop]

Resident Evil 4 vs 8, and Ludonarrative Resonance

Having fallen so very hard for RE8 late last year, I’m incapable of talking about the new RE4 remake without comparing the two – especially when RE8 now occupies the bizarre position of being simultaneously the remake’s immediate predecessor, canonical-later-sequel, and also other pseudo-remake of RE4.

And it’s hard to appreciate just how much RE8 draws from RE4 until you’ve played them both – in broad concept (sinister bioweapon cult in isolated European village, lengthy castle section, awkward shift towards military-shooter-itis at the end – heck, did you know RE8 was even supposed to have Ada Wong showing up with a sniper rifle to rescue Ethan from cutscenes in early drafts? Because that was definitely going too far) and its initial chapter especially. I’d osmosed the broad strokes, but not, for example, the degree to which the first lycan attack in 8 is basically just the first village assault from RE4: mobbed by an endless stream of regular enemies and the one big guy (who you can defeat, but should probably just try to avoid) in an open environment until an invisible timer runs out and everyone goes home.

It’s not a one-way street: it’s only fair to say that by the time of RE4make, Capcom was re-integrating a lot of what worked in 8 back into the new RE4. But as many elements represent a conscious step back from the reinventions of RE7 in favour of recreating gameplay elements of the original: 3rd person view, visible health bar, etc. The same basic arsenal of pistol-shotgun-sniper-rile becomes available to you in that order, but trying to play Leon as you would Ethan is not going to come off seamlessly.

Leon he can’t block, for one. He can parry, but that’s not the same thing. His knife works very differently, many of its uses contextual. You have to aim before firing now – hitting fire without aiming first makes Leon slash with his knife instead (very annoying when I have the sniper rifle equipped, the enemy is too close for the scope to be useful, and failing to get a round off in a hurry is about to make my life a lot more uncomfortable) – and if you’re aiming, you can’t parry. The gameplay in the RE4 remake is honestly my favourite thing about it (the story is... more of a mixed bag, but we'll get to that), but coming to it directly off RE8 is just a little frustrating until you get your head around it. GDI, Leon, Ethan can make a decent mine that doesn’t go off on its own if it’s not tripped in 30 seconds, why can’t you?

Questionable nitpicks aside though, having gotten the hang of RE4’s combat, the more I think about it, the more the differences between how Ethan and Leon handle do actually work for me, and even make sense from a character-centric POV. Intentionally or not, there’s a kind of ludonarrative resonance to it all.

If you’ve read any video game critique in the last decade or so, you’ve likely run into the term ludonarrative dissonance: coined to highlight all those times when the story a game tells via dialogue and cutscenes clashes with the ‘ludonarrative’, or story created by the gameplay. The classic example is something like the Tomb Raider reboot, where cutscenes linger on the trauma of Lara's first human kill, but gameplay will still see her easily mowing down enemies mooks by the dozen barely five minutes later. See also: any time a character is a total badass in gameplay, but can be easily overpowered by a single opponent when necessary for a cutscene. This kind of narrative inconsistency is to some degree the nature of the medium – it’s a rare game that can avoid it altogether, but it can still throw you out of the experience.

For a more Resident Evil specific example, consider that minor plot point from RE6 which reveals that Sherry (one of the many playable characters) has an Ethan-like healing ability as a result of her exposure to the G-virus back in RE2. This has no effect on gameplay, before or after the reveal: Sherry’s health bar works the same as any other character’s. Even the RE4 remake hits this problem: letting Ashley be carried too far away by an enemy mook is an instant game-over in gameplay, but you’d better be prepared to see the exact same thing happen in multiple cutscenes at specified plot points, with no way to avoid it (c’mon, game, I know they’re just gonna stick her in a room with no guards somewhere, lemme go find her!)

You could arguably find a similar problem to Sherry’s in RE8, where Ethan very-canonically comes back from the dead after having his heart ripped out in a cutscene, even though he can absolutely be killed in regular gameplay. And yet, here, I’m inclined to cut the game some slack – because there is arguably an explanation provided, and it’s suitably horrific.

Ethan may be able to reattach severed limbs and walk off falls from great heights, but having his heart ripped out puts him down long enough to convince Chris he’s really dead – definitely down for the count. And if you pay attention to the (many) death-scenes that play after Ethan is killed by a lycan or moroi, you may notice that most monsters immediately start eating him as they light fades away. Ethan may come back after having his heart ripped out, but being digested may be a step too far.

And Ethan can get eaten a lot in this game. Moreau can eat you. The mould-foetus-monster can eat you. Dimitrescu makes pretty-fucking-clear her own desire to eat you too. Sturm doesn’t, but is certainly equipped to reduce Ethan to a fine, pink mist.  Whether those final-moments were included specifically to fill that plot hole or whether they were just thrown in for ‘ordinary’ horror value I can only speculate, but it’s always nice when all those little, gory details tie together, isn’t it?

If we’re going to take games to task for all those probably-accidental moments where the gameplay and the story clash, it’s only fair to note a few of the ones where they do the opposite (likewise-accidental though they may be). Ludonarrative resonance, if you will.

On a basic level, pointing out that gameplay differences between RE4 and 8 make sense for Ethan’s vs Leon’s respective strengths and weaknesses may be a little too obvious. Leon can stagger an enemy with a bullet and then rush in to finish him off a roundhouse kick or a supplex because Leon is a certified badass with way more training than Ethan (who makes one vague mention of having had military training, presumably as an excuse for why he aims so much faster in RE8 than 7).

But it goes so far beyond that.

There’s the issue of blocking, for one. Ethan can block – roughly holding his hands up in front of himself to reduce incoming damage – but Leon can’t. This was initially annoying, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it as a logical change. Sure, Leon can’t block, but Leon doesn’t secretly have mould-powered super-healing, and trying to tank axe-blows to reattachable parts of his body probably isn’t a viable strategy. What he can do is parry with his knife: a more skill-dependent strategy for a more-skilled guy. Timing is much trickier, but only his knife takes damage – Leon doesn’t, so when it works, it’s much better than blocking. And given Leon has this whole backstory-thing about being trained by a knife-obsessed nutjob, that all adds up too.

Then there’s the thing with ladders. Ethan can fall any distance without taking damage, but convincing him to take a gravity-shortcut doesn’t always work: if there’s a ladder nearby, he’ll take it. Leon, by contrast, clearly sees ladders as a waste of time. Ashley will use them to get down from high places, if there’s one available, but Leon, to my joy, prefers to jump. And again, there’s an arguable logic there that appeals to me: Ethan may be immune to falling damage, but he’s badly in denial about it, and would much prefer to take the stairs. Leon isn’t superhuman, but he knows parkour, and he’s damn well going to use it.

Health arguably follows similar logic. Ethan doesn’t get a proper health bar (maybe you need training to accurately judge how dead you are? IDK), just various colours to tell you roughly how bad this is going, and Ethan will be reduced to stumbling through a distorted red haze if you let him go too far into the red zone. Stumble around long enough without dying though, and Ethan will eventually walk it off, automatically returning to about half-health. Notably, Leon doesn’t get this same power (unless you’re playing on the very easiest difficulty – Ethan remains auto-healing right up to Village of Shadows level). But for a dude who canonically has healing powers, you can’t argue that makes a lot of sense.

The same rules apply to Mia too, when you’re playing her in RE7 – but given she’s been infected with the mould too, that tracks (and even if you did choose her for the cure, who’s to say how well such a haphazard cure even worked?)

This logic does break down a bit in RE8 when you play as Chris, and blocking and walking-it-off remain core mechanics. And if you wanted to get really nitpicky, you might even point out the same mechanics are available to Ethan in his very first fight with Mia in RE7, where he’s (presumably?) not infected yet. But there comes a point where you have to admit that expecting the devs to change gameplay so much for one brief section of a much longer game isn’t really realistic (and would be that much more annoying to get used to for this one tiny section anyway).

Amusingly though, in the Mercenaries DLC, Chris has been reworked somewhat, and now can’t block anymore: hitting the ‘block’ button throws a left hook instead. Which is only too appropriate for Chris Boulder-Punching Redfield – but it’s interesting to note that Lady Dimitrescu (another new playable character) can’t block either.

The only other character in Mercenaries mode who can block is Heisenberg, and he does so by raising a literal wall of sheet metal. Intentionally or otherwise, Mercenaries does kinda seem to cast Ethan’s ability to substantially reduce damage just by holding up his arms as pretty unique.

Speaking of health, Leon and Ethan can both increase their maximum HP – Leon by using yellow herbs, Ethan by eating food cooked for him by the Duke. Ethan, however, can also decrease the damage he takes while blocking and increase his running speed this way. This is the sort of game mechanic it’s probably not worth thinking too hard about, but even so, the idea that mould-man Ethan can enhance his own powers by eating food from around the village where the mould originates (and specially prepared by the nigh-omniscient Duke himself) is something I raised already over in my post on Mia and Miranda – and it fits here too. Leon, meanwhile, can only increase his own durability by buying body armour, then paying even more to keep it repaired (there is a case charm that increases his speed a little too, but it’s bloody hard to get).

There are other little details that follow the same pattern too – whereas in RE8, I found myself mostly using the pistol to finish off any enemies who didn’t quite go down in one shotgun blast, in RE4, I found myself relying on my basic pistol a lot more, even when not going for kung-fu finishers. Mostly, that’s down to enemy speed and ammo availability, but you can’t argue it makes sense that the better-trained Leon would be better-equipped to get the job done with lower-calibre weaponry.

Now, to be clear, I doubt most of these little differences are down to the devs going “okay, this new game is about a mould-superman, how do we work that into gameplay?” when RE7 came out – and I’m pretty sure a lot of how the new RE4 plays is down to an earnest attempt to include as much of the old RE4 as still makes sense. Leon has a visible health bar and can supplex enemies into the dirt because people loved the original, and we’re not here to completely reinvent the best features of the wheel. Half the stuff that screams ludonarrative resonance to me is probably more happy accident as design.

But when, for example, you’re being irritated by the discovery that the only mines available to Leon will just go off on their own after 30 seconds if not triggered by an enemy, it’s nice to be able to tell yourself “bloody hell, guess you need a real engineer like Ethan to make a half-decent mine!” and treat that like an excuse. It doesn’t fundamentally change the way either game plays, but it feels like there’s some rhyme and reason to it, and that’s just a little bit more fun. And they’re both great combat systems in their own fun way.

YMMV, of course.

[courtofcravings]

Don't do anything stupid (1)

Bones thinks you and Captain Kirk are very similar, and it takes an away mission to prove him right.

Captain Kirk x reader

Fluff and Adventure (Completed Series) Warning: minor blood, needles, minor injuries. mild violence This is a rewrite of a fic called "Another You" I did. Fixed it up a bit. Read Part 2 here <3

Dr. McCoy was at it again, trying to coerce you into visiting the Med Bay. This time, he seemed to think that threatening to involve the Captain would somehow sway your decision.

“I’m telling you right now, Y/N, you can’t go on your away mission without getting your immunizations for this planet,” McCoy said, leaning against the counter like he had no intention of leaving. “Ever heard of the Quazulu VIII Virus? No? That’s because there’s a vaccine for it!”

“Dr. McCoy, it’s just a quick trip to the planet to grab a few specimens. I won’t be staying for the diplomatic engagements like the rest of the team,” you explained, continuing to pack your equipment in the research ward.

Your preparations were nearly complete when the ship’s chief medical officer decided to ambush you. The task was straightforward: collect samples of water and nearby vegetation. This planet had only recently become accessible, and much of its biological features remained a mystery.

McCoy gave you a pointed look, his expression clearly unimpressed. “As a scientist, I’d think you’d be the first to appreciate the importance of vaccines,” he grumbled.

“On the contrary, Doctor,” you retorted with a smirk, carefully placing empty sterile test tubes into your case. “I firmly believe medicines like vaccines are life-saving. But as a scientist, I’m also keenly aware of just how dirty hospitals and Med Bays can be.”

His face contorted in a mix of offense and exasperation, as he threw his hands in the air.

“You do realize you’re going on an away mission to a planet that is far from sterile—to literally play in the dirt,” he mocked, crossing his arms as he tilted his head in mock dismissal. “And when you get injured, will you refuse medical care, too?”

You recognized the "gotcha" moment he was relishing—and he wasn’t entirely wrong. The truth was, you just hated needles. They grossed you out.

“I’ll be careful,” you stated confidently, adding a playful wink, which earned an unimpressed scoff from the young doctor.

“Fine, you don’t like my Med Bay, but what if I gave you the shots here?” he countered, tilting his head slightly.

You hesitated, but admittedly, it wasn’t a bad compromise. The Med Bay gave you more of a sinking feeling than the needles themselves ever did. You’d always noticed that too many people who went in didn’t come out—or if they did, they weren’t the same. That persistent sense of dread lingered every time you stepped through its doors.

“If this place is too dirty for you, then you’ve only got yourself to blame,” McCoy added dryly, motioning around the room. “You are, after all, the head lab runner.”

You pretended to mull it over, feigning indecision for a moment before muttering your reluctant agreement. “Fine. Go get them, then.” It was standard policy to receive the immunizations, and deep down, you knew they’d be a lifesaver if something went wrong on the mission.

“Great!” he exclaimed, grabbing a red bag you hadn’t even noticed he’d brought in. Your jaw dropped as he began pulling out the vaccines.

“You knew I’d agree?” you asked, narrowing your eyes suspiciously as you reluctantly took a seat on the stool in front of him.

You had spent countless hours working alongside Dr. McCoy in the labs, and you liked to think you knew him well. What you hadn’t anticipated was just how well he seemed to know you—including your aversion to the Med Bay.

“I deal with you the same way I deal with him,” McCoy said as he prepared one of the doses. He paused, smirking as if a thought had just struck him. “You two are a lot alike.”

“Who?” you asked, curious about who you were being compared to, as you rolled up your sleeve.

Before McCoy could answer, the doors to your lab chimed, signalling someone’s arrival. You kept your eyes tightly shut, bracing yourself. McCoy had your skin pinched at the top of your arm, and you knew the needle was coming.

“Bones? We’re supposed to be having breakfast,” a familiar voice said. You jumped—and not because of the needle. “Chapel said you were here waiting for me…”

Your eyes snapped open. “You were actually going to tell the Captain on me?” you muttered through gritted teeth, glaring at McCoy. A small chuckle sounded from across the room, drawing your attention. Your gaze locked with his piercing blue eyes, and your heart skipped a beat.

“Y/N,” Kirk said, walking over and leaning casually on the counter in front of you. “Causing trouble?” His tone was light, laced with amusement.

“Captain,” you mumbled, feeling your face heat up as you turned back to McCoy, who looked far too pleased with himself.

“Jim,” McCoy interjected, preparing the second dose with a practiced ease. “Why don’t you explain to our young scientist here the importance of getting inoculated before an away mission?” He glanced at you with a smirk. “After all, you have the most experience finding out the hard way.”

Ignoring the second half of McCoy’s comment—one you were far more interested in hearing about—you turned your attention to the Captain who asked, “Y/N, will you be coming tonight?” His voice was so alluring, that it sent a slight tremor through you.

Clearing your throat, you offered a simple response. “Yes, Sir.” It was all you could manage, as it often was when you found yourself in conversation with him. He was so handsome, so kind, and so funny—it was incredibly intimidating.

“And Bones is giving you trouble,” he said with a soft chuckle, breaking your gaze as he began to casually scan the lab. He had a habit of doing that whenever he came in to talk to McCoy—picking around at things like a child unable to sit still.

You watched him smile to himself as he pulled open your backpack for the mission, his easygoing nature only adding to the warmth in your chest. Then, something about how he had called McCoy ‘Bones’ dawned on you. “Bones?”

“Don’t start calling me that too,” McCoy grumbled, clearly unamused.

“Ouch!” you jerked at the unexpected jab, your focus finally breaking from the Captain. You began rubbing your arm, still sensitive from the injection. “You didn’t warn me,” you muttered, your voice tinged with mild frustration.

“You’ll survive,” McCoy said dismissively, preparing the last dose. After a moment, he added, “Captain, you were about to explain the merits of getting all your inoculations.”

It was odd to hear Dr. McCoy refer to the blonde man by his official title, and it seemed to dawn on him as well. “Right,” Kirk muttered, dropping everything he was tinkering with and walking back over to you. “As your captain, I’d inform you that it is mandatory, and refusal can compromise the health and overall well-being of the crew…” He finished with a thumbs-up directed at the doctor.

To be honest, you weren’t really listening. His voice was far too distracting for lectures. So, it wasn’t until you heard the clatter of the final needle hitting the counter that you realized McCoy had finished with you. “All done,” he announced.

As you began pulling your sleeve down, the Captain cleared his throat. “If that’s everything, then—”

“Oh, Jim,” Dr. McCoy interrupted, launching out of his chair and grabbing the Captain’s arm before he could say another word. “Leaders lead by example… Can’t be a hypocrite now.”

You noticed the three other needles lined up on the counter. This had been McCoy’s plan all along. Despite feeling a bit of satisfaction that you weren’t the only one afraid of needles, you couldn’t resist teasing, “For the well-being of the crew and all.”

“Right,” the Captain replied with a dejected sigh, taking the spot McCoy had just vacated. His warmth brushed against you as his shoulder lightly nudged yours. “Just make it fast,” he muttered, lifting his shirt just enough to free his arm. Your eyes darted anywhere but at him.

“You two are very similar,” McCoy remarked, earning a scoff from you.

Feeling the eyes of both men on you, your cheeks flushed with heat. You hadn’t meant anything negative by your comment; you simply couldn’t imagine having much in common. He was important and useful, and you… well, you played in the dirt.

The silence stretched on, and feeling embarrassed, you muttered, “We do have a pretty good style.” You were thinking of the mandatory uniforms you all wore. While yours perfectly matched McCoy’s, the Captain’s gold uniform complemented him far too well.

The Captain softly chuckled, about to add something before a jab of the needle interrupted him. He let out a hiss of pain.

“Dammit, Jim, stay still,” McCoy muttered before adding, “You’re just proving my point.”

“What? That we’re both good at making fun of you? Have a good sense of humour?” You laughed, debating whether now was a good time to ask about the Bones nickname.

“You like my sense of humour?” the Captain asked, looking down at you. You were flustered over what you had just admitted, but thankfully, McCoy spoke up.

“You both like causing me stress and making my job harder than it already is.” The doctor complained though the small smirk on his face betrayed his irritation.

“That’s hurtful, Bones,” you said sweetly, finally using the nickname Jim always called him.

“Dammit, Jim,” McCoy muttered under his breath as the final needle clattered to the table. “Just promise me you both won’t do anything stupid tonight.”

----

[oddygaul]

Into the Monsterverse - Godzilla 2014 and Kong: Skull Island

Godzilla 2014

Oof, don’t have a lot of positive things to say about this one… I’m gonna keep at it because my friends tell me the American ‘Zillas grow into their niche, but this was a poor first showing.

Godzilla 2014 kicks off with Bryan Cranston doing an impressive TtDW* speedrun, and then his son, Ford, our protagonist, basically spends the rest of the movie trying to follow in his footsteps by telling his wife to stay put in a city that’s about to be nuked and then refusing to call her for the rest of the movie. Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Ford is one of the least charismatic dudes I have ever seen star in a movie, a big piece of cardboard absolutely void of character or convincing pathos, and I laughed out loud multiple times at his dicey acting choices. This quickly dashed any hopes of me appreciating the movie as the serious, credible drama it’s attempting to be.

*Time to Dead Wife

pretty sure I’ve seen this exact shot in every Air Force recruitment ad ever

I wasn’t a big fan of the MUTOs. They look like designs from a PS2 game: not in terms of rendering, the VFX are fine, but they have this incredibly flat, polygonal design that brings to mind a 2005-era pause menu bestiary. While the silhouettes are fine from the front or while flying, the body plans and musculature are not convincing, and I truly hate the design for their hind legs – they give the impression of a hunched-over human in a suit, with their butts transitioning into ill-fitting digitigrade legs.

One of the movie's weirdest stylistic choices, seemingly a result of Godzilla 2014’s attempt at a more serious, grounded* tone, is a refusal to indulge the audience in cool monster fights. At least three times during the movie, just as Godzilla and the MUTOs meet up to throw down, we hard-cut to another scene rather than seeing the battle play out. Once, it cuts to a little kid who sees the fight on the TV, forcing us to watch him as he watches the fight instead of getting to see it ourselves; in another instance, a character is sealing themselves into a bunker, leaving us to literally watch a door slowly close on our view of the monsters' clash.

It feels like they were going for a Cloverfield-esque found footage angle, where we don’t always have a good view of the action because we’re following the boots on the ground characters, but it doesn’t commit to this aesthetic anywhere else in the movie. We have plenty of wide-angle, omnipresent cinematography for all the other scenes, so it makes these fight cutaways feel like a gag or running joke. Look, I’m fine with a Godzilla movie taking a more serious tone rather than being a monster beat ‘em up, but when the human story is as bland as this one, cool fights would have been a nice solace.

*I mean, as grounded as you can get in a movie where the military’s Plan A is to nuke San Francisco

The treatment of Big Zil himself is a mixed bag. Visually his design is pretty cool, but I was shocked at how weak his SFX were. Godzilla’s iconic roar is replaced with a strange, machine-like screeching noise, and his atomic breath lacks any sound at all. I think this was done as a stylistic choice – the classic Hollywood contrast trick of suddenly cutting out all the background noise, the score, the effects, to tighten focus on the visuals for a big moment – but Godzilla’s SFX are a pretty core part of his identity, and the moment felt anemic. In terms of character, Godzilla is pushed all the way onto the good guy side of the spectrum, helping humanity to push back those pesky interlopers, which is a wild choice for the first movie in a franchise, and feels bafflingly unexplained.

Honestly, the movie was at its best when Bryan Cranston was yelling at everyone about his disks. Get the man his disks!

Kong: Skull Island

Wow, what a pivot.

Kong: Skull Island has a scene where Tom Hiddleston straps on a gas mask and strides through a deadly chemical cloud while using a samurai sword to slice up a flock of pterodactyls. And yet, despite the movie being filled with this sort of gleeful action schlock, it has a significantly more coherent story and tone than Godzilla 2014 ever manages. The narrative is no masterpiece, especially compared to recent efforts like Minus One, but Skull Island’s ensemble cast all have enough going on to glue things together.

“Yeah... that was an unconventional encounter.”

The characters are tropey, sure, but they’re handled well; particular standouts include John Goodman as a desperate but charismatic cryptozoologist, and Samuel L. Jackson as a soldier who’s been at war so long he quakes at the thought of returning to civilian life, and become obsessed with finding a new battle to fight. Hell, even John C. Reilly’s character, a stranded WW2 pilot whose role initially seems defined by goofy non-sequiturs, ends up having a lot of heart and serves as the movie's emotional capstone.

There’s certainly some missteps with the characterization and themes – the Vietnam setting doesn’t add much to the movie outside of the aesthetic trapping, the Iwi tribe is a lazy, undercooked attempt to sidestep the Kong franchise’s history of orientalism while walking head-on into the noble savage trope, et cetera – but the character conflicts are compelling enough to keep things interesting.

Plus, even with so much focus on the humans and their motivations, Skull Island remembers it’s about Kong. It’s about the world he inhabits, the enemies he protects his island from, the dangers he faces as the last of his kind. The movie makes a lot of smart choices to facilitate this focus, including plenty of slower, endearing moments with Kong. In 2014, Godzilla feels like a bit player in his own movie. We learn less about him than the random MUTOs, and he basically just shows up, saves humanity for unexplained reasons, then leaves; given the much more serious tone of that movie, it comes off as fairly ridiculous. By the end of Skull Island, on the other hand, we have a solid understanding and appreciation for Kong and his motivations.

Also he uses a propeller like a flail, are you fucking kidding me?? hell yeah

Alright, now I’m fully bought in. On to King of the Monsters.

[azure-firecracker]

ATLA Live Action Episode 7: Overall Thoughts.

Right so this episode was a mixed bag for me. On paper I should have loved it: it’s two big moments are Azula/Katara scenes and they parallel each other. Those are my two favorite characters and I love exploring how they mirror one another. But the actual execution of some of the scenes was…lacking.

Okay I legitimately forgot that Zhao tried to blow up Zuko’s boat in the original and it was funny bc I was reacting like it was something new this show did…nope lmao. Speaking of Zhao, I feel like this show can’t really decide what they want him to be. In the OG it was pretty clear: he was an asshole with lots of resources and therefore a threat, but he was also cocky and delusional and not very good at his job. Here I feel like this show is flip flopping between having him be legitimately threatening or a delusional idiot. Both are fine choices individually and honestly I don’t really care what they do since it’s not like he was a main character in the OG, but they do need to pick one. Like, objectively, from a writing standpoint.

I know some people disliked the changes to Yue and Sokka’s relationship, but I thought they were cute. I liked that they used the extended time at the North Pole pre-attack to flesh out their relationship more and give them some more bonding moments. It makes me buy into them more (I was never a love at first sight girlie). I agree that Yue’s character in the original was a really well written example of the good and bad things that come with being as loyal/dutiful as she is and that is missing here. But unlike our main cast, if you look at her without the lens of the original, she’s still a fleshed out, decently written character. I think she works (except for her hair of course).

Sokka on the other hand…I like that they’re allowing him to express his insecurities and trying to give him an arc, but I didn’t like Yue saying his heart was the most important thing about him. It’s such a generic line, and out of all of our main cast, it seems to suit him the least. It made it feel like they’re trying to give the whole main trio the same arc, which I…did not appreciate. But he does have good chemistry with Yue.

Speaking of generic arcs for the main trio…dear god I hate what they’re doing with Aang. It’s not offensive but it’s so overdone. Every fantasy protagonist in history has this conflict, and while it works for an episode of a cartoon, it does not work as Aang’s central conflict. Gordon’s doing his best with his lines, but I get bored watching his scenes. Also I didn’t love the stuff with Kuruk. Stay away from the Korra Spirit World stuff. Y’all can’t handle the material you have.

Okay onto my main girlies:

Azula’s arc definitely goes into the “it’s a different choice from the original but it works on its own category.” If you don’t compare her to OG Azula, these writing choices make sense. They work, and they go hand in hand with how this new Ozai is different from OG Ozai. OG Ozai really didn’t seem to care about his kids. They were tools in his play for power. We never got the sense that he’d really thought about either of them succeeding him, and or that he’d ever thought about his own death. This Ozai seems to be trying to turn both Azula and Zuko into younger versions of him (as we saw in the Agni Kai last episode), and he brings up the “heir to the throne” title a lot. This means he wants his kids to have a fighting spirit, a drive. It makes Azula’s defiance all the more twisted because it’s supposed to be this empowering moment for her…but really it’s exactly what Ozai wants. It’s objectively really good writing, and both Lizzy Yu and Daniel Dae Kim do a great job acting it out. At the same time, I feel a little loss of OG Azula. OG Azula was so busy fighting for Ozai’s love, being perfect, that she never had time to think about what she wanted because she was so stifled in the “golden child” role. That’s a type of abuse we don’t see depicted a lot in media, and I do wish the live action show had taken up that challenge. On the other hand, the arc we got was objectively good and I’m not sure they could have handled that subtlety. Overall, my feelings on these scenes are mostly good with some doubts in there. It does make me wonder what they’re going to do now that we know we’re getting a Book 3. Azula’s original Book 3 stuff with Ozai really wouldn’t work now that she’s already become so defiant.

Okay my girl Katara: FINALLY she got an episode to shine rather than being a side piece for Aang or Sokka’s arcs! Funny that all the filler episodes they cut were the Katara centric ones…but I digress. I understand not wanting to cut the stuff with NWT sexism, and I DON’T THINK THEY SHOULD HAVE. But with all their worries about Sokka’s sexism not translating well to a live action, they should have considered the fact that such heavy handed sexism might come off as cartoonish in a live action format. Most real sexism is more subtle, albeit just as frustrating and wrong, and I’m sad the show passed up their opportunity to portray that. I did like that Katara finally got to show both her anger and her hope. I felt like this was the first episode where she really felt in character. While some characters work while being different from the original (mostly FN characters), Katara’s changes made her an objectively more hollow character, so seeing sparks of OG Katara was awesome! She still felt a little flat, but it’s definitely a HUGE step in the right direction. (And Kiawentiio did awesome. Glad she’s finally getting to showcase her range). The end of the Katara/Pakku fight was a little weird but I’ll let it slide because she had that AWESOME line to Aang where she was like (I’m not going to get this exactly) “Fighting is my decision, not you or Pakku’s or anyone else’s.” I was CHEERING! This is the Katara we need more of.

I know I was largely critical in this review, but I really enjoyed this episode. This episode really solidified my belief that you have to think of these characters as totally new people. Different choices are being made, and that’s okay as long as they’re still good characters with ties to the original. Sometimes it works (Azula, Yue) and sometimes it doesn’t (main trio) but if you can enjoy it when it works, you’ll enjoy the whole show a lot more.

I’ll give this one an 8.5/10. Kind of the opposite of the last episode. With that one, there weren’t any great new choices they made (most of the best moments were straight out of the cartoon), but there was also nothing I really disliked. This episode made some great new choices that I thought were interesting and took some steps towards fixing some of the characters they butchered, but there was some stuff in here that I actively disliked (namely Aang and Zhao).

[swiftviolets]

top 23 screenshots of 2023 <3

i was tagged by @applesaucesims a while ago to share my top 23 screenshots of 2023 and it was actually pretty hard to pick just 23!!!! i've seen a lot of people do them by month but because i made this blog in like may i'm just post them all as one :) some are raw some are edited its a real mixed bag i've seen a lot tagged in this already but if you haven't done this yet consider yourself tagged <3!!!

i thought she just looked cool here :(

2. i like the vibe of it and again i just thought she looked cool here lol. i wanna remake this so bad

3. i really like the angle i got w this, like its from elvis' pov. he wants attention but neither are giving it him

4. this was initially from when i started to make pictures to go around lori's apartment but never got around to finishing them. its a little lori and her oldest brother before he goes off to fight in korea :)

5. elvis was not having being held!!!

6. this was when i first started messing around with tool and i just love this shot a lot

7. one of my faves of all time!!!! i cant wait to add more context to this as i get deeper into four to one

8. i was trying so hard to get that feel of an up and coming band and their first album. i looked at a lot of old 60s garage band album covers and some were so raw like literally just a bunch of guys posing somewhere and thats what i attempted to duplicate with this :)

9. i could've honestly included the whole post this screen was from but out of all of them this was my favourite. idk i just like its the first little glimpse you get of new orleans before the street scenes. i was trying to set the mood a little lol

10. literally not a thought inside his little orange head <3

11. i used another angle of this pose for the initial post its from but idk i also liked this one a lot too i think lou's awkwardness makes it for me lol

12. i really like how andy looks back to lori as she was leaving. he looks so helpless and ideally he'd have gone after her but a) he didn't want to deal with her anger and b) he was really not in the mood to receive any shit from the rest of the group, and out of the 2 he's not ready to face lori's wrath!!!! i also like the couple on the left bc they could legit be talking about anything

13. the way they're looking here.... ough. in the story post they take a few moments to watch lori pass before initially approaching her. the look they give her is mixed with the displeasure of spending their friday night tailing their boss' 'girlfriend' and just your typical male gaze of watching girls go by

14. i think i peaked with this shot. she was literally just getting into a car what an absolute icon

15. & 16. the way she looks at him and the way he looks at her...... chefs kiss. she's annoyed and he can tell but that doesn't stop him with appreciating how she looks

17. its my blog header image for a reason <3

18. i love this little moment of intimacy between them. their relationship can feel more like an acquaintanceship at times, especially with how marco speaks to lori and how he treats her. i like in this shot it captures a rare moment in their relationship where lori is genuinely sweet and he's soaking it all in. also i really like both their side profiles hehe

19. i was starting to take screens for a post i was going to make then i just forgot about it but i really like this and how it's a little sneak peak on what to expect later on in four to one :)

20. i just love how the preset i used made this screen look tbh

21. just a cute lil gameplay moment no poses or anything just love between a girl and her cat <3

22. & 23. taken from lori's magazine spread i just really like how candid they look both look

[lurkingshan]

Love Sea Final Thoughts

I have been trying to wrap my head around my overall feelings about Love Sea, a show that is undeniably flawed but somehow charming anyway, that drops so many threads but does such a good job with a few of its core points that it's hard to be mad. I can't really say that this is a great drama, but I can say that I enjoyed it a lot and I think it's a good watch if you go in understanding some caveats.

Let's start with a few things I really loved about this show:

Mahasamut. A great character, he will be going on my shortlist of Thai bl favorites. He's smart, honest, patient, giving and forgiving but he also knows himself, his limits, and his worth. On top of all that, he actually looks like a normal person, with a healthy body weight and beautiful imperfect skin. So rare in dramas.

Smart class dynamics. I appreciated how much this show grounded Mut and Rak's relationship in their class disparity, how wealth and lack of same was a constant issue between them that was never forgotten, and how its effect on their power dynamic shifted over time as their relationship grew.

Very well-executed sex scenes. The sex in this show is tied to character development and relationship arcs, and every sex scene mattered to the story. We watched the shifting power dynamics between Mut and Rak play out via the sex they had together and by watching their intimacy we learned more about them.

Ridiculous chemistry. The main love story was supported by truly excellent emotional and sexual chemistry. I always believed in the attraction and the feelings between these two, and that helped a lot when the story didn't quite take me where it needed to.

Rak and Vie's friendship. I really loved that we spent time with these two as besties, and that they were genuinely so supportive of each other. Vie was a real MVP in kicking Rak's ass when he needed it.

Meena, the best child ever. What a delightful character who brought a lot of fun and lightness to the story. Her scenes with Mut were a true highlight.

And here are some things that didn't quite work for me:

Uneven focus for the main characters. Once we left the island to go to Bangkok, the entire show was about Rak, his backstory, his issues, his ongoing problems, and his needs, and Mut was kind of subsumed in his story instead of having one of his own. I was glad we got back to Mut's life at the end, but they really should have kept it present throughout so everything didn't feel so one-sided.

Shallow engagement with family trauma. And despite the fact that the story was so much about Rak's issues, the story never actually went deep on them. I still don't really understand a lot about his family dynamics. The show used his dad and cousin as villains and then his mom as an easy out to solve everything at the end, but we never dug into how all these people ended up this way in the first place. It was a real missed opportunity.

Rak's emotional journey. I was on board for much of it, but other parts felt a bit haphazard and all over the place. Sometimes it felt like he was suddenly progressing out of nowhere, and others it felt like he was backsliding just because the plot demanded it. I liked where the story took him a lot but the path to get there was pretty bumpy.

The side couple. WOOF. I have no idea what happened here, but that was a fail on just about every front. Mook was a hard character to love from the start, Vie felt like a completely different person with Mook than in all her other scenes, there was so much lying and manipulation for no good reason, and in the end they were left completely unresolved. If you are on the lookout for great gl pairings, you will not find that here.

So there you have it. This show is absolutely a mixed bag on its execution, so how much you end up liking it will probably depend on how strongly you connect with what it did well and where it dropped the ball. For me, it was a good experience and one I'll remember fondly. I'll definitely be watching the special when it's released and I hope to see this cast again.